UKE 24:13-36{THIS chapter tells us the beginning—how the Lord led His disciples on to the new ground on which they were to understand His relation to them and theirs to Him: In the last verse I read we find Him,." in the midst of them." Therefore it is a matter of. immense interest to us to know how it was brought about then, so that we may see how it is recovered to us now. But we must first understand that it has been lost, otherwise we cannot talk of recovery.
What then is the true order, of meeting for the saints? or, to make it simple, what is." church order "?
Now, there are hundreds, of notions as to what it is, so that it is evident it is lost, or there could not. be so many. This is the question then: What is the present relation of Christ to His people- on earth?
This twenty-fourth chapter of Luke is plainly the-beginning; everyone will admit. And next we must admit that very soon after it failure set in. We see this in the seven churches of Rev. 2 and 3., where things go on from bad to worse until in Thyatira we get to Popery. After this we get Sardis: " Thou hast a name that thou livest." Things were better in appearance. Luther and Calvin tried to reform the church, but they never got at what had to be revived. There was in that sense a partial recovery at the Reformation; but in Philadelphia the truth is recovered. Every student of Scripture admits that Thyatira is Romanism, Sardis Protestantism; and that these four last churches go on to the end. Finally we get to Laodicea, " neither hot nor cold," and spued out of Christ's mouth. I think then that you will admit there is ruin, and that it is proved by the diversity of opinion that exists. There was certainly no second opinion in Luke 24 As I have said, differences began soon after, and became greater and more confirmed as we go on to Thyatira and Sardis.
But now a point of great importance. When the greatest darkness has set in there is a revival. Mark this, for it is always_ God's way. When the ruin is irretrievable then He comes in.
You can trace this principle all through Scripture. At the very beginning in the garden of Eden the ruin was irretrievable, but before God turned the man and the woman out there was a revival. Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living, and the Lord made coats of skins and clothed them. Wondrous grace of God in the midst of all the ruin!
We find the same in Gen. 33; Abram was called by God out of Mesopotamia, and Isaac actually sent his son back there; but Jacob returns to the land, and in that sense Jacob is a revival. He has a new name given to him, and everything is bright for a time. He is pious: his altar he only calls El-Elohe-Israel: It all turns around himself. This is just the snare into which those who are now being revived are liable to fall in the present day-retaining the name of power without the character of it. Jacob ceases to be a pilgrim.
Another snare comes out in Haggai. The remnant, the captives, have returned from Babylon to the land, and it is a wonderful thing that they should have returned at all. But, while they were at first set upon building the temple, when they were opposed and hindered, they became occupied with their own blessings. There was a revival when all was in ruin, but there is a snare in that revival; and as we see Jacob lose the true place of a man restored to the land by the grace of God, cease to be a pilgrim and settle down at Shalem, so in Haggai we see the remnant cease to care for the house of God, and be occupied only with their own individual blessing. The temptation to us is to settle down here; and, while pious, like Jacob, to think nothing of the house of God like the people in Haggai's time, though seeking the good, of our own souls.
Thus we see that God does' revive; and) that when the ruin is irretrievable-; and that before it actually does, occur He' brings in a revival. Having established' this point I come to another.
But' first! I must make one remark. The word " revival" is often wrongly used:. A " revival. meeting " for unconverted souls is quite erroneous for there is nothing- there to revive. I can revive a sleeping- saint, but I cannot revive an- unconverted sinner. And when a word is wrongly used there is sure to be a wrong thought at the- bottom. So in this case. The great thing that is- wrong in this idea of revival meetings is the thought that there is, something in man to work on.
Now what- is time revival? The recovery' of what has been lost; and the first thing, to be recovered is the first thing that was lost: You will find; every one of you, that when you begin to fall away it is the best bit of truth that you have that you give up first; just as in a storm it is the top shoot', of the tree that goes. A man who talks to me of heavenly truth being impracticable, that man is going to, give it up as sure as can be; he may not be lost, but he is going back. Satan always addresses himself to the best bit of truth you hold; when you are growing cold. you will find that it is the most advanced truth you hold that is in danger. Just-turn, to Col. 2; there the apostle says: " I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you." What is this great conflict for? It is to get them to the top. The apostle from his prison has written to the saints three epistles: Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. In Ephesians he shows them the wonderful place the church has in Christ; but in Colossians he is eager by the Spirit of God to carry them up to the mark. Do you know what the desire of Christ is for you? Do not tell me you know what He did for you; the question is, Do you know what He desires for you-what the Holy Ghost is aiming at in your soul? It is that you should be complete in Christ-it is that you may actually know that you are united to one another and united to Christ.
He says: "I have great conflict for you; " it was a great point to be assured of this wonderful position. To walk in it is the desire of Christ's heart for us, the aim of the Holy Ghost and the labor of the servant, for it is the accomplished purpose of God. And what has become of it? It is lost. Look at all the sects around us. They have kept their own order, their own forms, or their liturgies, but that is not what the apostle had conflict about, and if it be not, then it is lost; and the thing to be recovered is the thing that was lost.
I will prove to you that it was the best thing that went first. The church of Ephesus, so richly endowed, so highly gifted, lost their first love. They lost true affection of heart for Christ. It is the spring of everything to know myself united to Christ; to know the saints " knit together " unto Him, and Ile in our midst, the One who keeps us in happy harmony by His Spirit. This' was what they lost, and the point of departure must, be the point of restoration. This is the thing to, maintain. It was what the apostle Paul was struggling for. And nothing stimulates me like knowing that it is the desire of the heart of Christ for me, for then I know that I have, the Holy Ghost to back me up-to be my power. The apostolic fathers never had it. You may read the folios in any library you come across, and during 1800 years past, though you will find most beautiful thoughts, you will not find what is church order-what is the relation of. Christ to His people, and of His people to Him. This,. then, is what, had to be recovered, and I come now to how it is recovered.
You are not a Philadelphian if you not know the relation of Christ to His people, and of His people to Him. A man may be saved in Sardis, but he will not be a Philadelphian; and if you are not a Philadelphian you are not entitled to the favors Christ bestows on. Philadelphians. By Philadelphian I do not mean merely a man out of system, but one who understands his relation to Christ.
The way in which the Lord first recovered it for His people was by bringing a devoted servant to see:-I have a Head in heaven, and, if I, so must other saints; and one Head necessitates one body. This was true recovery. In Colossians the -apostle says: " Not holding the Head; " the Head was lost to the church. But this was recovered, and the true relation of Christ and His people is made known. You must admit the fact that for 1800 years it was lost. If you say, How do you prove it? I answer, Show me anywhere that it was known. And, apart from history, you may see it from the attitude in which the Lord stands in the midst of the seven churches. John did not know Him: " His eyes as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the voice of many waters." Let me then describe to you what a Philadelphian is. We read' in Rev. 3: " To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write;... I know thy works behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength; and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." That is a Philadelphian. He is one for whom the truth has been recovered. And the truth that has been recovered is not a particular truth; all along there have been different attempts to recover different truths by earnest men, but now it is the truth that has been recovered. Irving made much of the Holy Ghost's power and of the Lord's coming, but he became a heretic because Christ was not his simple object. Christ is the One who has accomplished- everything, and the Holy Ghost is the One who establishes in the soul what has been accomplished, and that is a very different thing. Getting hold of Christ is like getting the magnet, whilst a person occupied with only one truth or two is like a man who has only got some points of the compass.
The truth then has been restored to us; but I -say take care lest you make too much of knowledge. I believe that many a one accepts the truth who has never been led into it of God. These tend to Laodicea. A person may be able to explain to me most thoroughly and completely the ground of meeting for worship, may be able to teach me how solemn a thing it is to give out a hymn or read a Scripture if I have not been led of the Spirit to do so, and yet he is on dangerous ground unless he has been led of God into it.
I find next that the Lord, in all revivals, always restores the best thing that has been lost. Jacob really had a very bright view of heaven. And when the whole nation was going off into desolation, God's own grace in dealing with them comes out. The Lord Himself is the light that God brings in: " The people which sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up; " and yet very soon the house was "left desolate."
And so in our clay, when the Lord restores true knowledge of Himself, the remarkable character of His grace is that He actually begins with us in the very same way in which He did with the disciples at the beginning. This is why I have read Luke 24, which I now turn to for a little.
I believe no person ever finds this true ground without being educated. I do not believe a soul can get it out of a book; the Lord only can teach Him. The Lord educated His disciples at the beginning, soon though they may have lost what He taught them; and at the beginning of our present revival He took just as much pains to educate souls.
Now there are three great lessons in the education of a soul that is to learn church order; and, as I have said, he will not get them from this or that theological folio, for they are not in them. In this chapter the Lord leaves on record for us how He taught them to His disciples.
First we find: "Beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
What was the first thing that God opened your mind to? Was it not that Christ is the object of all Scripture? The: immense thing brought before the soul is Christ. Some little while ago I came across a man who said to me: "I have been reading the Bible for fifteen years and never saw Christ in it, but now I find it is all about Christ." So in the meetings years ago, the prominent thing brought out was that everything in the word related to Christ, the Holy Ghost thus taking the same pains with us as He did with 'the first disciples.
Secondly: " He took bread, and blessed it,, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him." "He was known of them in breaking of bread." I do not mean that it was the Lord's Supper; but there is the simple blessed fact of the soul being able to say, I have by faith seen the risen Lord; I have by the Spirit of God known the risen One. It is not a question of the amount of knowledge, and it is not conversion.
These two (their hearts had burned within them by the way), now that they have seen Him, go straight back to Jerusalem, and, whilst they are telling the tale of what had been done in the way, and how He was known to them in breaking of bread, we reach the third thing, which completes the education of a Philadelphian: " Jesus himself stood in the midst."
Now if you turn to John ft. you will find a parallel passage. Here we see the Lord first sending Mary Magdalene with the message Go to my brethren, and Say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God." She represents another condition of soul to that of the two disciples. We find two different states of soul and of knowledge, one represented by the two going to Emmaus. If you had asked them their feeling about Christ they would have said, Well there is only disappointment as to it all; " we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." But Mary's state is different. She is mourning because they have taken away the One she loved. She has not union, but she has affection, and she finds it intolerable to be here without Him. You will find many varieties of these two states of soul. But my point is, that He first sends Mary Magdalene with a message, and then the two disciples with another, and thus having prepared them for it, He Stands in their midst and says, " Peace be unto you."
And it is thus He comes, when two or three are gathered to His name as on Lord's—day mornings, into the midst of the assembly, to impart to us the virtues of His own elevation. Have you got the sense of such a thing as this? It is wonderful to realize it-the fact that the risen Man, with all the proofs of triumph, with all the proofs of victory, should come into the assembly and say Here I am, your peace! I have come into your midst, having risen out of all that was against you and everything must now pass away but myself; I occupy the ground, that I have cleared.
Do you think people would come in late, and behave themselves carelessly, if they knew that they were in the presence of One whom they had known privately, as did the two going to Emmaus? I say that church order was understood there. We must go back to the very beginning, and this is the beginning I must go back to the babe: "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein." I ignore all human development-all church history. Whether it be the disappointed ones walking to Emmaus, or the loving hearts like Mary Magdalene, they must all be educated and revived. Then you have church order. He says to them: If you open that door-to anyone, I will ratify it; if you shut any one out, I will ratify it. He does not say, I will shut him out of heaven, but I will stand by what you do. " Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."
I trust you have now no difficulty in understanding what is revived. Christ in His true relation to His people has been revived in their hearth. The way He works is by educating the soul until it can say, I know what it is to be in this wonderful circle of which He is the center. My Lord is there, and the state of my soul is that of dependent expectation.—It is not a very bright meeting that I am looking for, but I am going to be where Christ is in the midst. And He cannot be " in the midst " of one individual alone; there must be the assembly-the two or three gathered to His name. And there He enters, saying, All care, all trial, everything must now give way, that there may be fellowship with the Father and Myself.
What has been lost is what has been restored to us; it is not anything new we have got, but it is that same cardinal truth which was lost. And, having this, you are a Philadelphian-no power apart from Christ. And He says to the faithful, I will stand by you. This is the wonderful reward of a Philadelphian.
The Lord lead our hearts really to understand it. How delightful to find out the interest that Christ takes in us! May we know His relation to us, and our relation to Him.
(J. B. S.)