Clifford H. Brown, 1964
I. Lord, “Where wilt thou?”
“And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?” (Luke 22:9)
Would to God that believers today had that simplicity to ask the Lord, “Where wilt thou?”
Nonetheless, we are living in a day of rebellion. Everything is brought into question. There is an attempt to throw off anything which has a semblance of authority. Man wants to free himself of restraint. And this spirit of things has infected the professed Church of God. Men often speak glibly about the “church of your choice.” The multiplicity of church denominations is in direct contradiction to the truth of Scripture, which teaches that there is only one Church and one body of Christ.
The personal history of C. H. Brown is given concerning the ever-frequent reality of Christians who seek the church that best suits their choice.
“Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in” (Luke 22:10).
In the Lord’s reply, he did not leave it up to the decision of the disciples. Let us never think that matters so important and solemn as the question of Christian fellowship, are left up to your decision or mine. Our preferences surely would differ. The instructions were given by the Lord!
The man bearing the pitcher of water is typical of the Holy Spirit who carries a vessel full of the water of the word of God. How important for each one of us as vessels that we should be full of the water of His word. Only then can we be led! The disciples were to follow this man. If you will let the Spirit of God guide you, and if I allow the Spirit of God to guide me, He will bring us to unity of judgment. Could you possibly conceive of the indwelling Spirit guiding us each into differing paths? Does that sound rational? There is only one Holy Spirit who has been sent down to dwell in our hearts by faith and unite us to one body, and that one body is united to our Head, Christ, in heaven.
II. The Large Upper Room Furnished
“And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished…” (Luke 22:11-12).
The large upper room was sufficient for all who would be there, and it was furnished. The ground upon which the Lord would meet with His people is not a narrow constricted affair, but it is a ground that embraces every member of Christ on the face of the earth. That is the ground upon which we are gathered.
The spiritual teaching of the upper room, is that it was the place of His appointment above the carnal things of this world. It will also be above the current religious standards and patterns of this world. If you and I are going to be in the mind of Christ, we are going to be of one judgment. We are going to be separated from the popular appeal of the day, so we will find ourselves spiritually in an upper room (that which separates us from the world, in its political or spiritual sense).
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).
“Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach” (Hebrews 13:13).
“A large upper room furnished”
Everything needed was there! By our own means and ways of expediency, we may devise methods, but we deny by doing this the very truth that everything has already been furnished. “When the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with him” (Luke 22:14). When the Lord came and sat down, the room was furnished, and everything was there! How good it is to have the sense in one’s own soul that the Lord is there!
III. Another Upper Room in Acts 20
“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…” (Acts 20:7).
The believers were found together on the first day of the week, conscious of their relationship with Christ, enjoying communion together, and commemorating His death. The foundation of their blessing was to hearken to that command, This do in remembrance of me!
“Ready to depart on the morrow” – Paul’s ministry left believers on the qui vive (on the alert) concerning the rapture, that the moment to depart is at hand. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). We will be soon snatched (raptured) up! Paul’s ministry will take us through to the break of day!
Midnight for the Church is a dark time! There are many appalling things circulated today in Christianity! We should not be surprised because Paul warned us about what would come. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3).
“And there were many lights in the upper chamber” – God doesn’t confine all of his gifts to one person.
“As Paul was long preaching, [Eutychus] sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead” (Acts 20:7). Here we find a parallel to the way the Church of God fell asleep, as it were, in its early history. The Church as a whole, except some individuals, fell asleep. We often refer to this time as the Dark Ages. Under Paul’s embrace, Eutychus was revived. And it was under Paul’s ministry that the truth of the Church was recovered after the Dark Ages of the Church. Believers who were gathered together, unto the name of our Lord Jesus Christ alone, were brought together under the powerful reminder of Paul’s ministry.
“Gathered saints” – C.H. Brown uses this term to refer to those believers, including himself, who meet according to the Scriptural principle that the Spirit of God gathers believers out of the world, and unites them to Christ and His body. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
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