We have referred to Acts 2:4242And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42) and considered in a general way some of the things that pertain to us while seeking to go on in accordance with what we have written there. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." Here we have two assembly meetings spoken of the breaking of bread and prayers. I desire to look at this first one. In Acts 20 we see the day on which the disciples gathered together in those early days for the breaking of bread. Verse 7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." We have already mentioned that it was on the first day of the week, the day of Pentecost, that the Spirit of God came down and baptized the believers, those who were the Lord's, into one body. What a marvelous thing it was. How marvelous it was to be introduced into this fellowship which is spoken of here. We find that at this time several years had passed by since that event and here, on this first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together to break bread in remembrance of the death of their blessed Lord and Savior.
In 1 Cor. 11 we have a letter to the assembly at Corinth and there were certain things in their midst which were not in keeping with the calling with which they had been called. So the Apostle has to write to them in this letter correcting these things. And he tells us here how he received a revelation concerning the breaking of bread. They had been gathering together and there had been disorders there, so he writes to them concerning it. Verses 17 22: "Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. What! have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."
Now he tells them something about this which should have been before them in their gathering together: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread: and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another."
Here we have some very wonderful instructions concerning the Lord's supper. We read in the gospels, when the Lord instituted that supper, how He desired to eat it with His disciples before He suffered. It was the occasion of His eating the last Passover with them. He evidently had eaten other Passover suppers with them, but now, as He was about to depart out of this world, He had a special desire to keep this one with them because He was about to institute something else, which is called here, "the Lord's supper."
The Apostle Paul brings to their attention that it was on the same night in which He was betrayed that He instituted this supper. Betrayal is an awful thing! It is one of the most disheartening things, humanly speaking, that one has to pass through. The Apostle emphasizes that it was the night in which He was betrayed. It shows the importance of what the Lord was about to do and His request to His disciples. The very occasion of it, with all that He had before Him that night they were to forsake Him, all of them; Judas was to betray Him and yet He thinks of them. And as He tells us elsewhere, He thinks of those who should believe on Him through their word. So this is passed on down to us. We see how much it was upon the Lord's heart to bring before them this simple request to remember Him in this way. So, the Apostle brings this before them, telling them he had a special revelation. The Lord instituted it, as we have said, on that same night in which He was betrayed. Now, several years afterward, the Apostle Paul (it had not been his privilege to be there with them that night because he was then still an unbeliever) received a special revelation from the Lord, after He had gone to glory, of the importance of this request. Oh that we had more before us this desire of the Lord to have us remember Him.
We have already considered the Lord's desire to be among His people. We also referred to the 4th of John, where He told the woman of Samaria that there was to be a change in the manner of approach to Him and to the Father. He said, "The hour cometh, and now is," as though the time had come for the old order of things to pass away. It was to pass away in His rejection. So here was something new that was to be instituted. In those remarks to the woman He speaks about worship, and He says: "The Father seeketh such to worship Him." So, in connection with what we have brought before us here, there should be worship. It is not simply a formal thing. Some have called it a formal thing, but it is not that. When we think of the way in which our blessed Lord and Savior instituted it, we would not dare to speak of it as a formal thing but something which brings before us the remembrance of Himself in passing through death for us. And so, when we are gathered together in this way, He would have the worship proceeding from our hearts to Himself and to the Father as we partake of this supper.
One has thought of something in the Revelation concerning worship. It is not a book you would normally turn to for the subject of worship. But there are some things there that I would like to call attention to: how that worship was in accordance with the way in which He was manifested to His disciples. Rev. 1. When this message was given to John concerning the addresses to the seven assemblies, we have the Lord brought before us in a certain way. Verses 4 and 5: "Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first-begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth." There we have the Lord brought before us in a certain way. It speaks of Him being the faithful witness unto death and it speaks of His resurrection. It also speaks of Him in His future relationship to this world, being the prince of the kings of the earth. I believe when He is spoken of as the prince of the kings of the earth it does not mean He is inferior to them, or in an inferior place, but that He is the One who is above them all. The word prince is sometimes used in that way, as one who is above the rest of the people. So He is introduced here as, "the prince of the kings of the earth."
Then we get the Church, the Lord being brought out in this way to them draws out the response of the Church. And it is worship and it is in accordance with the way in which He is manifested to them: "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." So here the Church picks up the theme. They understand what is due Him and so they speak of Him in His love for them He has washed us from our sins in His own blood. Well, I am sure that this should be before us when gathered together in this way to remember Him in His death.
Then it speaks of us as being made, "kings and priests unto God and His Father." We are introduced into a place where we can worship as priests. We have not yet entered into the kingship; that will come by and by. But it would seem as though the service the priestly service would never cease, for we read in chapter 20 of those who participate in the first resurrection, that they shall be kings and priests. So the priesthood continues. But what I wanted especially to call attention to here is that the praise was suitable to Him in the way that He is brought before us. And in connection with our being together to remember the Lord, there is a theme which corresponds with that. Sometimes the theme may vary because it should not follow a certain ritual, but the way the Spirit of God brings Him before us. So our hearts should be in tune with that, so that our selection of hymns and the scriptures that are read will be in accordance with the leading of the Spirit of God.
Then in chapter 4 we read: "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind." Then, verse 8: "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts [living creatures] give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."
Here we have the Apostle John caught up into heaven and he sees this throne brought before him. It is the majesty of it that seems to be brought to our attention here. And we see these living creatures speaking of the One who sat there, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." They speak of that One, His majesty and what He had been before, what He is, and what He will be in time to come. When that is brought before the twenty-four elders, (the twenty-four elders represent the redeemed who had been caught up at the coming of the Lord, and John's being caught up during that cry, "Come up hither," is perhaps an allusion to when the Church will be caught up—which we are looking for at any moment—and ushered into this scene), they fall down in worship before Him, and say, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." So we have Him brought before us in this way, in His majesty and in the splendor of that scene, and we see how their hearts respond to it. They give Him the glory that is due Him. We should be, I believe, like the Church on earth in the first chapter, who received communications and their hearts were tuned to those communications. And here we have them caught up to heaven; here praise is offered unto God and the Church responds in accord with that.
When we come to the 5th chapter, we have a different scene. We have the throne spoken of, but the scene changes. A challenge goes forth because there was here a book of judgment that needed to be opened and no one was found worthy. John tells us in the 4th verse, "And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne." Here the Lord is brought before us as the Lamb that had been slain. We can say that almost 2,000 years have gone by since that time there upon Calvary's cross when He was slain, but it is just as fresh in the mind of God as it was when it occurred. "For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." Psa. 90:44For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4).1 remember a brother speaking of this many years ago; he spoke about a thousand years being a watch in the night. He said, "Then the cross would be just like it was yesterday." But regardless of how fresh that would be in the mind of mankind, it is always fresh in the mind of God. And He would have it fresh in our hearts. He would have our hearts go out in worship as these did here.
In verse 8 of Rev. 5, we find, "the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." So we see how the praise which goes up at this time suits the occasion. Here is the Lamb who has been slain, and the elders and the living creatures offer up praise that is suitable for that occasion, the way the Lord is manifested to them. They say, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain." It is no longer now as in His majesty, in creation, but as the One who has redeemed them. And their hearts go out accordingly. One was just thinking of this, that, in connection with our worship, there should be a theme that the Spirit of God would lead us in. It is not just giving out a favorite hymn one perhaps we may have been singing, or one that we often sing. But there should be exercise that it is in accordance with the way in which the Spirit of God is leading. I know we cannot lay down rules as to these things, and one would not want to, because it would be a dead thing if we did. But I believe the Spirit of God would have us take these things to heart.
Now let us look at the last chapter of this book, verse 12: "And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments [wash their robes JND)], that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." 16th verse: "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." There the Lord reveals Himself to us as the One who was the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. And when He speaks of Himself as the bright and morning star, then we have the Church—the Spirit and the Bride. Here is the Spirit on earth leading the Bride to say, "Come." It is in accordance with the way He has presented Himself. Then there is going out, too, "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Then, verse 20: "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen." And then the response, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." How perfectly suitable this worship is! I believe the Lord would have us to be exercised about this, that our hearts should respond to the way in which He is brought before us.
In connection with meetings of the assembly, there are sometimes matters that come before us which have a different character, and that character is sometimes similar to the way in which the Lord spoke of the Church in the 18th of Matthew. There difficulties had arisen among His own. We have already referred to the 20th verse: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them," that He is in the midst. We also see how the Apostle had to speak to the Corinthians, that, in the way they were going on, they despised the One in the midst. We find then, in the 18th chapter of Matthew, that there were difficulties to be settled. One would not want to say, as sometimes you hear it said, that every case of discipline which comes up should be carried out in that same order. I do not believe that is the way in which it is presented there to us. It is presented as a personal trespass. So there is the going to see one and then if there were no reconciliation, they were to take two or three witnesses. Then, if there were no reconciliation, it was to be told unto the church. The assembly is then told of his fault, and if he neglected to hear, he was to be, "unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." It does not say that he was put outside, but if this condition went on, it could be taken up by the assembly for further action.
There are some things, as we learn in 1 Corinthians 5, which have to be dealt with by the assembly and which are not in the nature of a personal trespass. There he speaks of a case of fornication among them, and he had to call to their attention that they had not sorrowed over this matter as they should have. Verse 2: "And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you." He says they had not mourned. I believe the Lord would have us mourn. He would not have us rise up in indignation like the children of Israel did with the case in the Judges where one in a city of Benjamin had done a terrible thing; they rose up as one man and sought in their vengeance to punish the tribe, and they almost annihilated the tribe; they had their minds made up. They did not seek the Lord's guidance. They asked Him, "Who shall go up first?" Well the Lord had something to teach them. He told them Judah should go up first. So Judah went up and they were smitten, though they were far more numerous than Benjamin. Finally, when they had suffered defeat, they had to say, "Benjamin, my brother." Then the Lord tells them to go up and He would deliver them, and so they were.
Well, here at Corinth, it says they were puffed up; they had not mourned. And when these things come among us, there should be mourning. It is not merely that in the place or places where this matter has taken place there is the Lord's chastening. It could be for the whole church for our attitude wherever we might be. One very devoted servant of the Lord said that he wondered sometimes why these things were allowed to come among us, and he said, "Perhaps there is something in me or in my ways, that the Lord has allowed these things." So He would have us to mourn over it.
Then he finally tells them that they had to put this man away. In the end of the chapter he says, "put away from among yourselves that wicked person." And he brings before them in the 7th verse, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened." That is, it would spread. "For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." He would touch their hearts and call to their attention that Christ is our passover. He refers then to the passover feast and the feast that followed the feast of unleavened bread. In verse 8: "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." This feast of unleavened bread lasted seven days and, I believe, it is typical of our complete sojourn here in this world. That is, it i: the sojourn of the Church until the Lord takes it from this scene. So we are to keep the feast, no with the old leaven, not in the way we had former gone on, not with the leaven of malice an wickedness letting something of that kind come in But we are to go on in accordance with the new that is, "with the unleavened bread of sincerity an truth."
Now, verse 9: "I wrote unto you in an epistle' (or, have written to you in the epistle, I believe it should be, not in a former epistle, but in this epistle) "not to company with fornicators: yet no altogether with the fornicators of this world, or wit! the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolators; for then must ye needs go out of the world." In on midst this should not be allowed; there should no be company or mixing with such. But he says, "ye not altogether with the fornicators of this world.' In our business dealings with those we meet in the world we do not have to inquire what their status is in society before we can do business with them No, he says, "not altogether with the fornicators of this world... for then must ye needs go out of the world." We would have to go out of the world if that was the case.
He also brings before us here certain other thing connected with this, "With the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolators." Covetousness, yet know, is not looked down upon in this world. In fact, sometimes they look upon it as that which, a: they say, "Makes the wheels of the world go round." That is, it is man's desire and ambition to succeed in this world, either monetarily or to have a place in this world. But when it comes to that which is in our midst, He asks us not to mix with that. And one has been thankful in going on for many years and being gathered to the Lord's name, to see that merely having a position in this world or wealth does not give one a place in the assembly. One has been thankful that the Lord has preserved us from that.
Then, in the 11th verse: "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person." Here he goes over this list again and adds to it. We have a railer, or drunkard, or extortioner. It gets down to some of those things which are not much thought of in this world. Well he ask us not to company with them. We should not go on in a social way with them. We should seek their restoration but not go on with them in a social way.
Now, I would like to turn to Acts 15. We have often spoken of this chapter, and it is a remarkable chapter in the Word of God. Here the question of circumcision had come up. The Jews in Jerusalem, as a servant of the Lord used to say, were not really on Church ground. They never gave up Judaism in the way that they should have. So it clung to them, and they held to the Law and its provisions. Here some of them came down to this Gentile assembly at Antioch. The Lord had worked in Antioch and there was an assembly of Gentiles, for the most part, there. Well, some of these Judaizing teachers came down and tried to teach that they should be circumcised and keep the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas were there, having returned from a missionary trip. Paul and Barnabas are spoken of as apostles (Acts 14:1414Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, (Acts 14:14)). They had no small dissension and disputation with these Judaizing teachers, and it was determined by the assembly in Antioch that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.
It has been remarked that Antioch was quite an assembly. In the 13th chapter we have four or five that the Spirit of God mentions as teachers and prophets and so, in a way, we would look upon them as a fairly capable assembly. They ought to have been able to know the Lord's mind. But the Lord evidently told them, "You cannot decide this, you must send up to Jerusalem, the seat of this trouble where it came from." So we find that they went up.
There is a certain order in Acts 15 that I would like to call to your attention. In the 4th verse: "And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them. But there 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." So they bring that before them. And, you know, oftentimes when evil comes in among the saints to try and plague them, I believe we will find that those who are overcome with that evil are the most active. I heard it stated years ago, "It is because when we have a bad conscience it forces us into activity that we might have our conscience stilled in some way by the activity."
Then, in verse 6: "And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter." Whether it was the same time, that is, whether they withdrew or it was another occasion, has not been revealed to us, but the apostles and elders came together for to consider this matter. It has often been taught among us that the assembly is not a democracy where every one has an equal voice in a matter. Here it tells us that the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. We read in Timothy and Titus about elders. They are spoken of as those who have rule in the Church of God. And, it says, if a man has not his house, or his family, in subjection, how can he rule in the Church of God? Well, here they come together to consider this matter that is the first thing. And it has also been said among us that the assembly is not a deliberative body. That is, you do not bring a matter of this kind up where there is something that looks like it might need to be carried out, such as excommunication. You do not bring that up and discuss it in the assembly first. The apostles and elders came together to consider the matter. And I believe that is godly order, that the older ones should consider the matter. They may, if they choose, have some of the others there that they might learn. But one of our teachers of a past generation or two used to say, "It is better to have few than all the brothers in on a matter of this kind." And I believe some have seen that to be good advice.
So they come together to consider it. There must have been a number of elders in that assembly in Jerusalem at that time, because it was quite a large assembly. There was much discussion and Peter allowed them to say what they had to say. And sometimes that is a very good example to follow, because, if people are in the wrong, sooner or later they manifest it and they manifest that they do not have a good conscience. It is manifested more to all than if you attempted to cut them off in the first place. Then Peter rose up and told them how God chose him at the beginning to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, and how God blessed that message and put no difference between the Gentiles and the Jews. Then it is nice to see the way he speaks of it in verse 11: "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." He does not say, "they shall be saved even as we." It is nice to see the grace there that puts the Gentiles first.
There was power in that message of Peter's, and the multitude kept quiet. There is power in the assembly. I have noticed in my time that when people talk together individually they say lots of things, and some of it may be just mere hearsay. Well, you say, "Come on now, let's have a brothers meeting on this. Let's talk about it." And you find they do not say nearly as much as they did when the were talking freely together there is a restraint. And I have noticed that when brought together in the assembly there is a further restraint. That is, they will not talk as freely as they would in a brothers' meeting. I believe it is the overruling 01 the Spirit of God, and it shows the need for the assembly. It is not the brothers that do everything. Some may say, "Well, what good is it for the sisters to be there; they cannot speak." Yes, but the Spirit of God cannot act unless the whole assembly is together, which it cannot be if it is simply the brothers.
So they gave silence to Paul and Barnabas. Then we have James getting up and he sums up what Peter had said and presents it in a little different way. It is rather remarkable that we have these two, Peter and James, bringing this matter before the assembly two who never seemed to be entirely free from these Jewish traditions, with their laws and forms and it is nice to see the way that James presents it to them. He rehearses this thing and shows how the Lord is going to bring in the Gentiles. Then, in the 19th verse, he says: "Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God." He says, "My sentence is." "This is my judgment." Then, in the 22nd verse: "Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church." Here we have the apostles and elders, and they accept James's judgment on the matter; then the whole church is brought in. "It pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company."
In connection with bringing matters before the assembly, I have always heard it taught by those of a past generation that it took more than one voice to bring a matter before the assembly. One man could not stand up and say, "Now here is what we ought to do." That was out of order; it took two voices. Brother Potter use to refer to the silver trumpets that were made in the 10th of Numbers. It says that when they blew with the two trumpets the whole assembly would be gathered together, but one trumpet brought the elders together. Brother Potter used to insist on that. So for one brother to attempt to call the assembly together really is not in accordance with the teaching of Scripture.
We find then, that they accept James's testimony and write letters to those in Antioch: "The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law; to whom we gave no such commandment." So they say, "We did not send them they went down there on their own zeal." It was the zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. They went down there and attempted to introduce this. So in the 25th verse: "It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Now there is one thing I would like to call attention to. In speaking here of Barnabas and Paul, they call to their attention that these men have gone forth with the gospel and hazarded their lives for the gospel. It seems to imply that special consideration should be given to the fact that they had done that. Of course, if they were in the wrong, that would not be commendable at all that they hazarded their lives. But here were these devoted men; God had blessed and honored them, and they had carried the message to the Gentiles, hazarding their lives for it. So they call their attention to that and they had made a note of it themselves.
The brethren do send down certain necessary decrees. It has been noted that these decrees which they sent down were not based upon the law but go clear back to Noah. They go back to what was before the law was given.
Perhaps it would be well to consider what the Apostle gives us in Gal. 2 concerning this special trip to Jerusalem, which we do not get in Acts 15. He tells us in Gal. 2:11Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. (Galatians 2:1), that he went up by revelation. The Lord had a very special purpose in sending him there. He was an apostle and had apostolic authority, yet, in this case, the Lord would not allow him to use that authority in Antioch in order to settle this very important question. The Spirit of God also overruled in some way in the assembly; how, we are not told. But, in some way, they were made to realize that they should send certain ones with Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, unto the apostles and elders about this question.
They were being guided according to the principle brought out in Eph. 4:33Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3), "Using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace." (JND.) The epistle of the Ephesians had not been written at this time, but it was that which belonged to the truth of the Church. If this question had been settled at Antioch, those so active of the circumcision in Jerusalem would, in all probability, not have been satisfied. So the Lord overruled and prevented Satan from getting in a wedge and causing a division in the Church.
It was a marvelous intervention of the Lord, and this is very evident in the simplicity of those necessary things which they felt constrained to send to the converted Gentiles. These, as it has been mentioned, were divine principles in force before the law was given. They were what should characterize them as having been brought out from under the power of Satan into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. They cover three important lines of truth: 1. Worship of the one true God.
2. Life belongs to God.
3. Purity of life in man.
When the letter from Jerusalem was read to the assembly in Antioch, they rejoiced at the consolation and deliverance.
I believe we can see, in what we have been considering, illustrations of how complete the Word of God is in providing the Church with instructions to carry us on through all the trials and difficulties as long as the Church is left here, or until the Lord takes us to glory to be forever with Himself.
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