Letters of Commendation
F. E. Raven, C. A. Coates, J. Taylor

G.A.R.

Their fellowship in early days depended on the Lord and the Spirit.

• We do not need the truth of the body to maintain unity and discipline; but what is done in the way of discipline in the Antipodes is binding on us here, because it is done in the name of the Lord, and there is but one Lord.

• Letters of commendation do not maintain the truth of one body: they maintain practical fellowship, and this depends on one Lord.

• Bethesda is a practical ignoring of the truth of the one Lord and one Spirit; each meeting exercises its own discipline, and they are independent the one from the other.

• Discipline is never connected with the "one body", but with the Lord. It is for this reason, I think, that the apostle in 1 Corinthians so constantly brings in the title of 'Lord', because he wanted to arouse them to their responsibility; it is a question of fellowship.

When all you see around is so completely contrary to God's thoughts, you have to enter into them abstractly, in order to have before you an unseen sphere, as it were, in which you see an order of things entirely different to and outside the whole course of things down here.

• In great religious bodies such as the Church of England and Dissent, they do not exercise discipline at all; in fact, things are in such a state they could not do it.

• Perhaps if it is something ostensibly and flagrantly wrong they may exercise discipline, but it is for the maintenance of their own respectable front more than for the Lord's honour.

• I feel their lack of discipline is a good and sufficient ground for leaving them; you depart from unrighteousness.  FER 9: 241-42

It is very simple; if the man is disqualified for fellowship, we put him away. What I see in Bethesda is that they have no fellowship beyond the local assembly.

• We have a case now amongst us where the fellowship is broken up locally, but I do not see that the brethren there are as individuals out of fellowship with us generally. They have not broken fellowship with us generally.

If one came you would not make him sit outside?

No, but I should not force my judgment upon others. Of course, you must know the person, for we could not receive a letter of commendation, but if anyone were unhappy about it, I should not press it. Consideration is a great thing nowadays.  FER 10: 63

Rem. It has often been said that it is only the assembly that can put away.

Rem. I am a bit afraid of the collective idea. The meaning of putting away is to get apart from evil. I think the only thing that can act with the authority of Christ is the church. I do not think two or three acting in Christ's name is really the church, only they are guided by the principle of the church.

Ques. If you went into a place you would try to find those who are calling on the Lord out of a pure heart?

F.E.R. Yes, certainly; but I should not recognise a company. If I were asked to what company I belong, I should say, To none.

Ques. Would you address a letter of commendation to the saints?

F.E.R. Yes; but it is not because I recognise a company, but because I know there are saints there who call upon the Lord with a pure heart; but those few saints are not the church.

Ques. What is it if it is not a company?

F.E.R. A sort of two or three held together by the truth. In acting we can only act in the light of the church.

Ques. Would the expression "Tell it to the assembly" hold good now?

F.E.R. The principle of it would, but I think we are in danger of getting into an organisation. We have lists of meetings or address books.

Ques. When you speak of a company you are using the word in a sense of an ecclesiastical company?

F.E.R. Yes. People do their best to force us into some ecclesiastical position. Brethren are not an addition to the system around us; it is the very thing we have to contend against.

• I do not see any warrant for standing apart from what is in christendom, but in seeing that it is not according to God, and this is individual.  FER 15: 361-62

F.E.R. I recognise no company but the whole body of Christ.

O.O'B. Who are the "them"?

F.E.R. Two or three like you.

O.O'B. But that is a company.

F.E.R. You cannot call it a company, two or three people calling at your house could hardly be called a company.

W.M. And the church itself is the company.

F.E.R. That is the only company I know of. I decline to recognise any other.

G.W.H. You refuse the word "company".

F.E.R. I do not care very much for the expression. I dislike brethrenism.

O.O'B. What do you mean by that?

F.E.R. Building up a kind of ecclesiastical system on the pattern of the church.

O.O'B. Trying to make your own fellowship.

F.E.R. Anything you will; it works in many ways. A letter of commendation is often only a passport to break bread. Do you think Scripture meant that? People bring a letter of commendation, but do not trouble to hunt up any of the saints during the week.

O.O'B. Would you receive them without a letter?

F.E.R. I would not, but a letter of commendation is commending one to the fellowship of the saints, not simply a passport to break bread.

• When the apostle gave a letter to Phoebe it was commending her to the care of the saints. If I carried a letter I would try and find some brother in the place, and not simply use it on the Lord's day morning. It is a bit of formality.

O.O'B. But you are well known. Mr. Darby once went into a meeting and was refused and he commended the gathering.

F.E.R. So would I. I am only speaking of the misuse of letters of commendation.

J.S.A. And people often use them just as a means to satisfy their conscience on the Lord's day morning in a strange place and never use them any other day.

F.E.R. I think in going to a strange place one might spend some little time in finding some brother in the place.

G.R. In Timothy we read, "he sought me out very diligently and found me".

F.E.R. We want to get out of ecclesiasticism into realities, into following righteousness, charity and peace with them that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

• But in doing that, let us avoid attempting to set up a kind of organisation or system. I do not think that is according to God. I want to be as distinct as possible from all that is in christendom.

J.B. Would that hinder the activity of the Holy Spirit?

F.E.R. That is exactly what it would do, the Holy Spirit will not sanction anything that does not recognise the existence of the whole body of Christ.

R.S.S. I suppose organisation has really excluded the Spirit?

F.E.R. Undoubtedly.  FER 17: 154-56

• Phoebe was "minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea"; she was marked by active service for the assembly, which would intimate that she had been the ready servant of the whole company. She had been a helper of many, and of Paul himself.

• Higher commendation could hardly be given to a sister, and yet her qualities were such as every sister might possess.

• All may in some way serve the assembly and be a help to others. Phoebe was to be received in the Lord worthily of saints, and assisted in whatever matter she had need of the brethren.
  CAC 11: 239-40

I may add that in my judgment it is a mistake to suppose that the reception of a person to fellowship, or the subsequent giving letters of commendation, renders it out of order to raise any questions as to events in the past history of that person.

• If it was clear that certain facts were known, and the person had been received as having judged himself relative to them, it would be contrary to grace and righteousness to raise them again, but if things unknown to the brethren subsequently come to light they are by no means covered by the fact that such a person had been received or commended.
  CAC Letters 22: 203 - 1931

I know that it has often been said that all the believers in a place make up the assembly of God in that place. But this is looking at the matter very abstractly, and it does not carry us beyond what any pious person in the sects would say,

• and the practical result of holding this idea is that exercise is set aside, and believers made content to remain where they are.

• I do not see that Scripture contemplates the local assemblies of God in any such a vague and intangible way. They are always, I believe, definite companies of persons who have certain customs, and who can depute messengers to carry their practical love to saints in other localities, and who can receive letters of commendation.

• It seems to me that if we apply the term, "the assembly of God" to saints who are scattered and divided in the systems of men we are in danger of losing a sense of what is in the mind of the Spirit in using the term.

• It is to put an abstract idea in the place of a concrete company of persons. I cannot think that this is the mind of God …
  CAC Letters 22: 296-97 - 1941

Reading: Philemon 1 - 25

Ques. What is the principal feature in this letter?

C.A.C. It is a very precious illustration of the kind of links that marked the brethren in the early days. You see Paul bringing motives to bear which were exemplified in himself

• It is a good specimen of a letter of commendation. A letter of commendation often reveals the character of the person who commends as well as the one commended.

• This shows the spirit in which a true letter of commendation should be written. It thoroughly identifies the writer of the letter with the person who is commended; that, in principle, is what marks a true letter of commendation. The one who writes it identifies himself with the one who bears it.

• In this case Paul takes pains to clothe Onesimus with all his own worth. Whatever value was attaching to Paul in the mind of Philemon, Paul wraps it round this poor runaway slave; it is very beautiful.

• Paul does not take anything for granted, he brings the most tender motives to bear on Philemon. He does not assume anything until he gets near the end of his epistle; he says everything he can to invest Onesimus with the worth that attached to himself.

Ques. What was his object?

C.A.C. That Onesimus might be received with the most unstinted love; he was not merely to be pardoned for his past delinquencies but received with an overflowing welcome as if he were Paul. There is an assembly character impressed on this letter as there is on every letter of commendation.
CAC 23: 337

Letters of commendation sometimes make you wonder whether the person commended is worthy of what is said, but this letter is not like that. If Onesimus brought the spirit of Paul into that assembly at Colosse, that was a great service.  CAC 23: 340

C.A.C. 'In the Lord' is our place in the kingdom; 'in Christ' is the spiritual side.

• We walk together as brethren in the Lord, that is our status in the world, and it is in the common recognition of the Lord that we walk together.

• But 'in Christ' is the spiritual side of enjoyment, what we have in the anointed Man.

• But we ought to know why we sign our letters in either way. A letter of commendation is to brethren 'in the Lord', as responsible persons who meet in a certain room; it is what they are in the kingdom.

• What they are in Christ is what comes out when the meeting begins. 'In Christ' is really outside responsibility, it is in the spiritual realm, it goes as far as seated in the heavenlies. Well, you can hardly address a letter to people seated in the heavenlies, can you?  CAC 23: 347

C.A.C. I suppose they were perhaps charging him with trying to put himself forward. He did not need any letter of commendation at Corinth. If a brother came to a place where all those breaking bread were his converts it would be strange if he needed a letter of commendation.  CAC 25: 215

J.J. Do we get the authority side in the first epistle and the priestly side in the second epistle to Corinthians?

J.T. We get the priestly side in both epistles, but the first is more what Moses is typical of. The Aaronic character comes in more in the second epistle; but authority is stressed in both. In the second the apostle says,

• "Having in readiness to avenge all disobedience".

• But in chapter 3 he is dealing with them in the Spirit of Christ as the Mediator of the covenant; for that is the point. They went so far as to suggest that he should have a letter of commendation, and this gave him the "fresh jawbone of an ass", so to speak, that is chapter 3.

• It was there; I do not think it was premeditated, and the Lord was with him in it. The parenthesis, verses 7-16, was not premeditated, but what a wonderful opening up of the covenant it was! What a weapon the apostle had – what a means of leading the brethren on with him!

• I believe the servant will always find that, if he has the true thought of God as to the greatness of the saints whom he is serving. The Lord will furnish us with what is needed. We must not go too far ahead, but seek to bring them along the line that we ourselves are on.

Ques. Would the servant be very greatly cast upon God in his ministry to be able to handle things like this, and make way for the expression of the truth needed?

J.T. Quite so. Here it is a letter of commendation, which is a small matter, but God makes it a very great matter; for it is a means of helping the brethren at that particular juncture.

• He follows on in chapter 3, and speaks of the covenant by itself, and this, as we know, fits in with the Lord's supper. Then he alludes to bondmen, that is, himself in relation to the Corinthians. Chapter 4 begins, "Therefore, having this ministry …". He is going on with them in the midst of such rich thoughts as the thought of a letter of commendation has led to.

H.H. I suppose that Moses blessing the tribes would correspond with the letter of commendation that Paul speaks about. Moses spoke well of Israel in Deuteronomy 33.

J.T. Yes. Anyone meeting Moses at that time and asking about Israel would hear him speak well of them; he would not call them rebels.

• The whole chapter is a wonderful testimony to what Moses thought of Israel; he does not go quite so far as to say that he loved the tribes, but he says that God does, and we may see how thoroughly he is with that; indeed, he is "the man of God" in blessing Israel.

W.S.S. Does this come out in Daniel 9: 18-19? He says to God, "behold our desolations, and the city that is called by thy name", and then, "thy people are called by thy name".

J.T. Just so. There is a great destiny for that people, and all would be fulfilled. The man clothed in linen says, "Go thy way, Daniel … thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days", Daniel 12: 9-13. What a beautiful word for the servant.

A.P.T. Is Romans 16 something further than the jaw-bone of an ass? In finishing, the apostle brings in Phoebe and her relations with the saints.

J.T. Yes. Phoebe is a minister of the assembly and she is spoken of as possessing dignified qualities. She is evidently the bearer of the letter to the Romans, and the apostle's commendation of her is included.

• This brings up the question of letters of commendation, because sometimes a letter is a little out of keeping with the person who is bearing it.

• Paul in writing his letter of commendation of Phoebe speaks also of others, as if it furnished him with what was needed in the finishing of his letter. He evidently knew much about the persons he saluted, and his salutations would serve a good purpose, when commending this dear sister living near by.

• He had affectionate regard for the saints at Rome, and a specific estimation of some of them, and he takes advantage of the opportunity offered to give expression to it. It is necessary that we should have a right estimation of the brethren we meet. We are to hold them in our minds as God regards them.

• The apostle's salutations would strengthen the position, because through them the assembly at Rome would be in its own account greater. The letter of commendation would suggest the work of God in persons so noted; and of course there were other persons there equally the subjects of the work of God.  JT 44: 496-98

J.T. If we look at Ezra 8:24 - 34, we shall see the bearing of it:

• "I separated twelve of the chiefs of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, and I weighed to them the silver and the gold and the vessels, the heave-offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors and his princes, and all Israel present, had offered. And I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver; and silver vessels a hundred talents, and of gold a hundred talents; and twenty basons of gold, of a thousand darics; and two vessels of shining copper, precious as gold. And I said to them, Ye are holy unto Jehovah; the vessels also are holy; and the silver and the gold is a voluntary offering to Jehovah the God of your fathers. Watch and keep them until ye weigh them before the chiefs of the priests and the Levites, and the chiefs of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Jehovah. And the priests and the Levites received by weight the silver and the gold and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.

  "And we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. And we came to Jerusalem and abode there three days. And on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God into the hand of Meremoth the son of Urijah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites: the whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written down at that time".

• Now that seems just a fit finish to what we are saying. Of course, this is a secondary movement under Ezra; it is not the first chapter; but the principle is brought out fully as to priestly care; because the man in charge is a thorough priest; his genealogy is traced back to Aaron (Ezra 7: 5); he is an orderly man, too, for not only were the vessels counted, but recorded by weight.

• That would apply to letters of commendation; not only should it be mentioned that a brother is in fellowship, which would be on the principle of count, but there should be that which answers to the idea of weight.

Rem. It is very important that we do not say things that we do not mean.

J.T. A letter of commendation ought to convey just what a man is. A brother 'in fellowship' is one among others; that is on the principle of count; but weight is another thing; it would constitute a check on him.

F.G.B. What do you mean by a check?

J.T. There might be sixty in fellowship in the meeting from which he comes, and he might be commended as one of those; but then they are to be weighed; they are not all of the same value. One brother might be much more valuable than another; his weight suggests the idea of his intrinsic worth, what he is.

F.W.W. The brethren would be acquainted with his weight.

J.T. Yes.

G.S. Would that have to do with the glory?

J.T. It would indeed. There is glory attaching to that weight. Take a letter like that which the apostle Paul gave to Phoebe: what glory as to her there is at the beginning of it!

• "I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea …";

• then he runs on, taking up other brothers and sisters; the whole is a chapter of glory, filled with salutations of love; the apostle salutes one after another. I suppose the assembly at Rome would be more glorious after that letter was read. What the saints were would be better understood – hence how they were to be regarded.  JT 47: 348-50

The third scripture is in chapter 6: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you" (verse 33).

• Here we are dealing with the highest thought, with God's righteousness. This brings up another thing: not only the thought of righteousness, the quality of righteousness, but persons who are called righteous.
  • The Lord says that "he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward", Matthew 10: 41

• So that if I am moving about with a letter of commendation, seeking to be received among the brethren, it is a question of whether I am a righteous man. It is not just anybody being received. God has a great regard for righteousness, and if I am moving about it is a question of my being righteous. JT 57: 512-13

P.B.P. Would you say a word as to the distinction you have made as to loving one another individually and loving the brethren as assembled?

J.T. Well, I think that is something to think of. We meet each other as one person with another, but is that person an assembly person? Does he belong to the assembly? Is he characteristically an assembled person?

• Because in the book of Acts the persecution was in regard to the assembly and those who were of the assembly. Therefore it was a reproach to be of the assembly, whereas it is really an honour to belong to it.

F.R.G. Is your suggestion that we might speak of, say, the assembly at Milton? I was thinking in relation to letters of commendation in regard to brethren moving about.

J.T. Well, it is rather 'The saints assembling at so-and-so'. I think that is quite right, because the word 'saints' is a dignified word, and we assemble at a certain place. It is only a question of identifying the place where the saints are.

F.R.G. We have rather reserved the thought of assembly to the city, the saints breaking bread in the city of Brisbane, but you think that we should be at liberty to speak of the assembly in Milton or elsewhere?

J.T. I think the word 'saints' is what has been customary in letters of commendation, and, of course, letter of commendation is the very term used in the Scriptures, and the letter is couched in the terms of Scripture, and signed by a certain one who is known.

• That is about all that is needed, I would think. If anything else be said, the word 'assembly' could be used, only in a modified way, because it is scriptural.

R.P. I think the thought of the subdivision has been mentioned to preserve the thought of the assembly being an entity in a city, but you are encouraging us to regard the assembly and the saints in their dignity.

J.T. Perhaps we are dwelling too long on these points, because we have very limited time. The word 'subdivision' certainly does not agree with the word 'assembly', or the meeting together of the saints either. We ought to keep the dignity attaching to the saints.

L.P.M. So that you have the thought of the character of this great entity in any place, the saints are in that character. Would that be right?

J.T. That was the idea in the letter to Philemon, and also in 1 Corinthians 16.

• It is just that the brethren might have a matter of the kind before us in a fluid sort of way, and not fix it as a permanent term or name, but to just give the idea that will preserve us from any worldly or human tinge, and keep us as nearly as possible to the terms that Scripture uses.

L.P.M. Is the assembling of the saints prior to the service of God like the tabernacle being set up before the service?

J.T. Very good; that would preserve the dignity, that it is not simply a negative thought.

• The word 'subdivision' is not right, because we do not divide the assembly; it is not our part to divide it.

• The idea is that it is a company of Christians, and that should be carried through. It is a company of saints meeting in a certain place, and we are commending someone to them in love. That is about all.

E.N.J. So we should think of our halls in the various parts of any city as the place where the saints are accustomed to break bread.

J.T. That is the idea, according to the word used as to Philippi, "where prayer was wont to be made", Acts 16: 13. It was by a riverside.
JT 65: 125-27

January 29th, 1927

… The giving of a letter of commendation surely does not relieve those who give it of the responsibility as to the person commended, for he may not use it and may indeed go to some other place than that to which he was commanded, some place perhaps in which there was no meeting.

• He is not thus immune from discipline and the meeting commending him is directly responsible, of course the meeting or meetings nearest to him should be brought into such a matter, but that in which he was identified last is the best furnished to deal with him, and it would be lax if it failed to do so – maintaining the unity of the Spirit of course in acting with the nearest meeting.  JT Letters 1: 225-26

January 20th, 1931

I hear you say that the last brother and sister leaving Michigan City would need a letter of commendation from Chicago. Why so? Paul says, Do we need letters of commendation?

• They are not always needed. I and my wife do not take one anywhere.

• Letters of commendation are given when needed, and the brother going from Michigan City to Columbus would not need one from Chicago as he would be better known in Columbus than in Chicago.
  JT Letters 1: 302-03

August 26th, 1935

… Also the giving of letters of commendation – such a service is usually left to a brother morally fitted for it. All are committed to what he does on the principle of confidence which love for one another implies.

• Thus the saints, being characteristically children of wisdom, serve one another in a local and general sense, in this way ministering pleasure to God.

• Much of this service enters into what is called the 'care meeting' and can thus be carried into effect without formal reference to the assembly.  JT Letters 2: 1-3