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READINGS AT TEIGNMOUTH

CHAPTER 1

Ques. You were here when we spoke of Hebrews following Luke: perhaps you would help us at the beginning of this epistle?

C.A.C. It was thought that Luke presented what was of priestly character, the Lord being carried to heaven in priestly attitude. This epistle follows suitably on that; it presents the Lord to us definitely as in heaven, and as exercising priesthood there, the thought being that the service of God is sustained according to divine pleasure.

Ques. Is the thought that in the measure in which God's speaking becomes effective, in the same measure there is response Godward?

C.A.C. That is the key to this epistle; the service takes character from the speaking. It was so in the service of the tabernacle; this epistle is built up on the model of the tabernacle service. The first thing that God had in mind in setting up the tabernacle system was that there should be a place from which He could speak -- the mercy-seat. The whole service was ordered from the divine speaking, and God would speak from a spot that set Him free. The speaking in Exodus was from the mercy-seat, and the service was regulated and took character from the divine speaking. It is so now, the speaking being of the highest character and connected with the thought of the Son, which is the highest thought. The service must have an elevation and character that corresponds with it.

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Ques. If the speaking is in Son, only those brought into sonship can understand it. If that is understood, is priestly service taken up in the enjoyment of sonship?

C.A.C. Yes. We find that priesthood, even in Christ, is dependent on His Sonship. We read in Hebrews 5, "Thou art my Son", and then, "Thou art a priest", shewing that priesthood according to divine pleasure is only taken up in sonship, as the thought of God's delight enters into it. The thought of a Son in relation to God is very precious. The great thought that has come before the blessed God is an Object of delight and satisfaction.

Ques. In the covenant we read, "I will be to them for God, and they shall be to me for people" (chapter 8: 10), but in this chapter we have, "I will be to him for father, and he shall be to me for son". Is that not much higher?

C.A.C. Yes, I think it is, though the two are intimately connected. When Israel was to be brought into the blessing of the new covenant it is said, "In the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, it shall be said unto them, Sons of the living God", Hosea 1:10. That shows that in connection with the covenant God has a great thought of sonship in His mind. In Deuteronomy Moses addresses the people as "sons of Jehovah your God", shewing that when God introduced the thought of the covenant to His people they were not to stop short of what was in His mind -- sonship. So today the covenant comes in in connection with what is the cherished delight of God's heart; He has one Object before Him to fill His heart with satisfaction, and in which His love has found full delight; that is the thought in the Son. That becomes the standard, it is the measure of what is in the heart of God.

Ques. Is there any difference between sonship for Israel and for us?

C.A.C. They came into sonship as a people on earth; we

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come into sonship in what takes character from Christ in heaven. The blessing in Hebrews takes on a heavenly character. The blessing known by the saints today goes far beyond the covenant that will be known to Israel. He is bringing many sons to glory now; that is, they are being brought to the consummation of all that is in the heart of God.

Rem. The more we enter into it the more response there would be to it.

C.A.C. Yes, I am sure of that. God is the Speaker; we should ever keep that before us. The end in view is that we should be brought to God, brought to the blessedness that is in God Himself.

Ques. Would sonship be more for God Himself, although we get the joy of it?

C.A.C. Yes. Sonship is for God, and the inheritance is for the sons. Hebrews helps much because it gives intelligence in the thoughts and ways of God. The idea of sonship is that we have intelligent capacity to enter into things of interest to God; that is the great thought in being brought into sonship. God is pleased, not in our telling Him we are sons, but in our being able to speak to Him in a way that shows we are sons. The spirit of sonship does not occupy us with itself; the spirit of sonship cries, "Abba, Father". That is, the blessedness of God known in love and in conscious relationship is before the soul. We are not just to be occupied with the dignity of it but with the blessedness of it. What was the prodigal occupied with inside the father's house? We are to enter into what the Father is and what is delightful to the Father. It is a great matter to any earthly father to have his son enter into his thoughts, purposes and delights; that is the thought of sonship. As sons we enter into those things which are pleasurable to God, and we rejoice in Him. "Abba, Father" is an adoring utterance -- we think of the blessedness

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into which we are brought, and we enjoy it affectionately, so there is the rapturous expression of that in the cry, "Abba, Father". That is what the Father delights in.

God is speaking in Son, so the speaking comes from the centre of God's delight and love.

Ques. Can it be fully expressed in human language?

C.A.C. I do not suppose it can. As far as we are concerned sonship is only taken up in the Spirit. It is not what we have heard, or even what is in Scripture, but the ability to take up in the power of the Holy Spirit the relationship in which we are filled adoringly. There is a glorious Person introduced to us here, and that gives the spirit of worship.

God is giving expression to Himself and His own thoughts in such a way that they are not limited by the vessel that conveys them. There would be a limitation in what God made known to Moses, but there is no limitation in God speaking in Son. Everything can come out that it is possible for the creature to know. A great deal has come into expression which is beyond the power of the creature to apprehend.

These opening verses of the epistle are to give us a very great thought of the Son, the immense glory that attaches to Him.

Ques. In verse 4 it speaks of a more excellent name. Is that 'The Son'?

C.A.C. Yes, that is an inherited name. As soon as He was born He inherited every title that belongs to the Messiah; and among those titles was the glorious name of Son.

In the first few verses He is representative of God; the first thing said of Him is that God has established Him Heir of all things; He is competent to take up all things as God's representative, as succeeding to all the rights of God. Being Heir of all things suggests a great thought of wealth, and shews the immense value that He is going to

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confer on all, so they become the portion of the Son assigned to Him by God, that which will constitute His property and wealth eternally. All being committed to the hands of the Son to effectuate heirship goes along with sonship. We talk more of sonship, but I do not know why we should, for they go together. The thought of heirship in Christ goes along with His sonship. He is Son and He is Heir; we come in as joint-heirs. As sons we should be greatly interested in the inheritance; we should be interested in what love has assigned to us. What a beautiful character it has! All is made suitable to be the inheritance of the Son, without a defect or a blemish but a universe of bliss! The inheritance will be relieved of all that has come into it to spoil it for the divine pleasure. The thought of the Son being introduced as Heir of all things shews what a character the blessed God is going to give to the universe; He introduces the greatest thoughts of His love. Taking that up intelligently belongs to the service of God in the assembly, it is part of it. We should look at these things that are spoken of in connection with the Son as matters we have to take up affectionately and intelligently so as to be able to speak of them reverently and becomingly to God for His pleasure; it enters into the service of the assembly. I am afraid our worship often is in a restricted area, but God would not have it to be so. Think of the greatness of it! To be able to speak to God of His great thoughts in connection with His Son!

Ques. What about "the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance"?

C.A.C. It shews everything takes up the glory of God -- His effulgence in the Son. He is the effulgence of His glory and the expression of His substance. It does not follow we can take it all in. There is a great deal expressed mediatorially in the Son that is beyond creature power to apprehend. In the end of Revelation we find He has a

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Name and it is written, but no one knows it. There is the expression in the Son of all that belongs to the glory of God; it pleased God to set it forth mediatorially, but a good deal that is set forth mediatorially is beyond the compass of the creature. "The Son" is a mediatorial title, but we are told that no one knows the Son but the Father. By the Son God made the worlds. Creation was a mediatorial action, but it is inscrutable; we know nothing about creation; it belongs to God. We see the product but we cannot understand the power that made creation. Creation has a mediatorial character. In creation the Son was the Actor, one Person in the Deity was acting on behalf of the Others. The Word was with God, a distinct Personality. In creation the Son was the acting Representative on behalf of God. He could not have created if He had not been God. He was with God, He was God. All received being through Him; all belonged to His mediatorial glory. As this enters into our souls spiritually, worship is produced. Faith understands, though it is inscrutable. The Son is inscrutable; the sense of that is essential to worship. When we think of the Son there are no limitations; what comes into the mediatorial creation is without limit. The effulgence of His glory, the expression of His substance -- His substance and Being are expressed in the Son. As creatures we have limitations, but there are no limitations in the Son; the effulgence of divine glory is there, and there is not a ray of divine glory that is not there. What an elevation this gives to the worship of the assembly! All this is brought before us to prepare us for the worship of God in the assembly! We do not leave out of the service of the assembly the praise of God as Creator; that belongs to the assembly. The only assembly prayer recorded is one that belongs to creation (Acts 4).

That He is going to be Heir gives an idea of what is going to be the inheritance of this great and glorious Person. We

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obtain an inheritance with Him; we are to be joint-heirs with Christ; that is what belongs to children and sons. Paul says, 'If you are children you are joint-heirs with Christ' (Romans 8:17). If we were interested in sonship we should like to know the assigned portion. I think our stature as sons is largely determined by the way we enter into the inheritance.

Ques. Why is the purification of sins brought in?

C.A.C. It is to assure our hearts that all this mediatorial glory that belongs to the Son stands in relation to a condition of things marked by sin. He has made purification of sins for the satisfaction of God in this chapter, not for the relief of sin. "Having made by himself the purification of sins". It is effected. If God is free His people may well be free.

Ques. Does God speak from above the mercy-seat?

C.A.C. Yes, it is God as known in relation to a system of things where the question of good and evil has been raised. Before the fall God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life into the garden of Eden. God has been made known to us; we serve and worship God who has spoken in Son, but He has spoken in relation to an order of things where this question of good and evil has been raised -- our worship largely takes account of that.

Ques. What is the meaning of the word 'mediatorial'?

C.A.C. It is the way in which God has been pleased to work so that even in creation one Person in the Godhead has acted on behalf of the Godhead. The idea of one person acting on behalf of others is mediatorial. "God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus", 1 Timothy 2:5. It has pleased God to approach men in grace in the Mediator. God does not put Himself directly in contact with men; He has a Mediator; and there is a Mediator too of the new covenant.

Rem. All that we are brought into in relation with God

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mediatorially stands in contrast with what divine Persons enjoy in Themselves.

C.A.C. That is so. The relations which subsist between divine Persons as such are not revealed, but there are some that are. Our knowledge of divine Persons depends on what is revealed. This system has the glory of God in it, and our worship depends on our being intelligent in this great system.

Ques. Would an ambassador convey the thought of a mediator?

C.A.C. An ambassador does not sufficiently convey the greatness and dignity of the person. If you could fancy the king himself becoming an ambassador it might convey the thought.

Ques. Does the Lord have this place eternally?

C.A.C. Surely. Then we have, "Upholding all things by the word of his power". How inscrutable it is! All these things are introduced, not merely informally or even lightly, but for worship in the assembly. We worship in the light of them; we shew we are sons by our ability to apprehend and speak to God about these things. How wonderful to speak to God about His great thoughts and His things which are all substantiated in the Son! The best specimen of sonship in the Bible is seen in Ephesians 3. We see a man there who is speaking to the Father, and who has an astonishing acquaintance with all that is delightful to the Father. If we want to know sonship we should listen to Paul and see how he speaks to the Father: he speaks in spiritual intelligence of all that is delightful to the Father.

Ques. Would John 17 be an example of sonship?

C.A.C. Yes. I did not refer to that because I was thinking of sonship as we see it. The highest expression of sonship is the Lord's prayer in John 17, where the Son speaks to the Father in the simplest way in holy intimacy. How delightful to the Father must have been every word

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of that prayer, and how truly the Father could say, "My beloved Son"!

CHAPTER 2

Ques. There is no epistle where the Spirit of God calls such attention to the glory of Christ as Hebrews. We are told to consider Him. Is He presented personally here so that we may learn the grandeur of the christian position?

C.A.C. Yes, the primary object of the epistle is to deliver Hebrew believers entirely from the old religious associations.

"Crowned with glory and honour" is connected with Christ's exaltation: the whole position depends on the fact of His being at the right hand of God. The point of His being "crowned with glory and honour" is that it is a peculiar moment now between His establishing His moral title and having the inheritance. Faith enters into it now. Personally He is at the right hand of God; it is there that we view Him, but the point is not where we see Him, but how we see Him. We see Him in all the glory and holy splendour of the moral title which He has established through death. There is nothing more wonderful in the history of eternity than this parenthesis between the cross and the glory. His title to everything is established, though possession is not entered on, but we see Him crowned with glory and honour. God has crowned Him; God has done it to Him as Son of Man. Christ has come in as Son of Man to inherit all that is in the thought of God for man. All has come to light as to the Person to whom the world to come is to be in subjection. The peculiarity of this moment is that things are not subjected, but everything has come to light in regard to the Person. It is interwoven with the whole

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teaching of the epistle that He is at the right hand of God, but the point is here, How do we see Him? not, Where do we see Him? It is a great thing for us to apprehend the title of the Son of Man. He has moral title to have everything subjected to Him because He has tasted death -- no angel could -- and the grace of God has come out in the universe through His tasting death for everything. There was a moral blot, a stain in the universe, and One has come to remove it; and the Person who could remove the moral stain is entitled to be in the place of supremacy. That is His glory.

In this particular passage, we are considering the death of Christ in its widest bearing: He tasted death for everything. Man had brought in a moral stain on everything. How could God take up a stained inheritance? How could He set up His own order in the universe while that stain was there? So the Son of Man came in to remove that stain by going into death.

Now something appears that did not appear in creation. The grace of God did not appear in creation, but it does appear in the death of Christ. If something came in displeasing to God, it must be removed either in grace or in judgment; if in grace, what God is in His nature comes to light. The death of Christ is infinitely great because it has provided an outlet for all that there was in the blessed God to come out in His universe that had been stained by sin. It is an immense thing to be in the light of a Person who could do all that. We are in the light of the glory of the Son of Man. The power to do it was always in His Person, but now it has come to light.

There are two aspects in which the Lord is pre-eminent in this scripture, a very wide aspect in relation to all things, and a more limited aspect in relation to a sanctified company whom He is not ashamed to call His brethren. We get the wide aspect of His death, when He tasted death

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for everything; as Lamb of God He is the Taker away of the sin of the world (John 1). He died to remove all the stain from God's universe which will all be subjected to Him. He is morally entitled to have the supreme place. It puts you in touch with an immense sphere of things.

Ques. Is it that He has won all this glory and now He wants companions?

C.A.C. Yes. God is doing everything on moral grounds. The place the Son of Man will take is not only due to Him according to the greatness of His Person, but it is due to Him on account of all that He has done. God is bringing many sons to glory through a path of sufferings. You would not want a leader perfect through sufferings if you were not going to move along a path of sufferings.

Ques. What does His being made perfect mean?

C.A.C. That He is qualified in every way to lead.

Ques. Is the position of sanctified ones given to those who do not suffer?

C.A.C. I am sure the sanctified ones do suffer. The point is that there was nothing here for Christ but suffering. The sons are Christ's brethren morally; that is, they have the same character. It is not here the thought of companions but brethren. What God is doing is bringing many sons to glory along the road of suffering. If they are Christ's brethren they are like Him morally. When He was on earth He looked around on people and owned them as His brethren; it was because they were morally like Him, that is, they heard the word of God, and they did the will of God. You cannot go along that line without coming in for sufferings at once, but we have a Leader in it who has experienced every kind of suffering that can come upon His brethren. He is perfect as Leader; He understands every bit of suffering they can come through. We have all the long list of persecutions, and the register of the sufferings of God's servants going on for centuries; then

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Christ came into the same line of sufferings, and the cross was in keeping with it all. The sufferings were meted out to His own after, and each has a share. No saint is great enough to have the whole path of sufferings, but the whole path is known to Him; every detail that could come upon any saint who is set for God in this world came upon Him.

In verse 14 we see that He went into death to dispossess Satan of a certain right which he possessed over the children. It is not so much what the devil does to people generally, but to the children. The children were those who were kindred with Christ; He had a household when here on earth, no natural household. He was not Head of a natural household but of a spiritual household. They are delivered now; it is not the portion of children to fear. When we think of death now, we do not think of it as a dread power -- the judgment of God -- we do not think of it as caused by the power of Satan, but we think of it as the place where Jesus went.

Ques. What is the household?

C.A.C. "I and the children which God has given me".

Rem. It has been said that God desires creature companions.

C.A.C. It is right in principle that God has desired to have a creature who could walk with Him and with whom He could walk. God has sought a family. The Man who was Jehovah's Fellow now has fellows, but it would be blasphemy to say we were God's fellows. God walked in the garden, and in that sense man might have been a companion of God if he had remained in the state suited to his creation, but he left it.

Rem. Many dread death who are real believers.

C.A.C. I think no believer who has peace with God has the fear of death in the sense of this scripture. Every one fears death naturally, but this is a moral fear. The devil had the right of death and used it as a reign of terror. The

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more man feared God, the more he feared death. Now when you think of death you do not think of the devil's power, but that Jesus has been there. I remember there was a time when I had to contemplate death, and I well remember the exercise of it; then the thought came to me as a burst of sunshine, that whatever death was, Jesus had been there! When you think of death as where Jesus has been the fear is gone.

Ques. Does my death testify to the power of the devil?

C.A.C. I should not like to think the death of a christian testified to that. It is the fact that it is the judgment of God that made it such a tyranny in the hands of the devil; he could use it over man's conscience, but now that Jesus has been there it is different. "Christ has died and lived again, that he might rule over both dead and living", Romans 14

9. So you reach the domain of death and find in actual supremacy there -- JESUS. If we were to pass into the domain of death tonight, we should find Jesus absolutely supreme on this side and on the other side; so that He can succour the saint on this side, in the moment of nature's absolute weakness, and He is supreme on that side too. Death came in by sin, but something else came in by the love of God.

CHAPTER 6 (FIRST READING)

Ques. These words, "Let us go on to what belongs to full growth", would appear to be wonderful grace! What is your thought as to the word "us"?

C.A.C. I think it means you and me, if we get the good of it! There is no scripture in the New Testament more stimulating to movement than this. The whole epistle is

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not just exhortation; it is stimulation, what is calculated to stimulate the souls of God's people. The epistle is marked by movement and incitement to movement.

The Lord is spoken of remarkably as the Forerunner. There is active movement with the Lord Himself; He is not only a Leader but a Runner. That in itself incites us to active movement. The Hebrews were to be in movement, not sluggish. Our tendency is to be sluggish, and this epistle is to stimulate us to mend our pace.

Ques. In running is He the Leader?

C.A.C. It is remarkable that He is spoken of as running to the new position. I do not know of any other scripture that presents Him as running into the new position that is taken up. The Lord is running to the new position; He is the Forerunner in this chapter.

Ques. What do you mean by the new position?

C.A.C. It is a new position to what He occupied as Messiah. There is the suggestion that He ran into it, which is very striking. It is put that way because it is essential that we run too.

Ques. Is there necessary power to enable us to run?

C.A.C. It is a stimulant; exhortation is in view of some movement on the part of saints. It says that the words of the wise are like goads; they stick into you to make you move faster. All these expressions are in the nature of exhortations. We read, "Bear the word of exhortation". The whole of this epistle is full of the thought of movement. We get it first in the Lord and then on the part of those following.

Rem. It is as an incentive for us to move.

C.A.C. The tendency with us is to cling to earth. We all realise, if we are honest, this tendency in our hearts. This epistle is written to detach us from the earth and to bring us to our true position as partakers of the heavenly calling.

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Ques. In verse 11 we are each to have the same diligence?

C.A.C. That is the point. There were some who were going back; they had professed Jesus as the Messiah but they were going back. There is a tendency with us all to be sluggish in movement and to become dull of hearing, so this epistle comes as a remarkable stimulant for spiritual movement.

There were certain ones of whom the writer had confidence that they were partakers of the heavenly calling. They were going through and the great thing is to make sure that we are amongst them, that we are not sluggish and dull of hearing; we are all in danger of that. The Jewish system was there and was going on in its details and there was a great attraction about it; so the writer of the epistle was seeking to bring in a greater attraction. He shows them that what we have now is far greater than judaism. Christendom has gone back to judaism, so this epistle is very useful to us.

Ques. What is in your mind as to running?

C.A.C. It is only in that way we reach the new position. We have to run and flee into what is within the veil -- we "have fled for refuge". Judgment is coming on the earthly system and those who want to escape must flee to the city of refuge. We must flee to what is within the veil -- to what is heavenly. The only refuge there is now is the heavenly order of things.

Ques. Did Caleb and Joshua run to what was better?

C.A.C. Yes; they were in line with the purpose of God. This chapter is to bring us into line with the purposes and faithfulness of God.

Ques. What does the apostle mean by "leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ"?

C.A.C. It means leaving the principles that belonged to the babe state. The people of God were under judaism, in

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unfaithful conditions. It says in Galatians that a child is under tutors and governors whilst he is a child, so he is in bondage. Judaism is bondage. Chapter 9 gives us a system of things consisting of "meats and drinks and divers washings, ordinances of flesh, imposed until the time of setting things right" (verse 10). All these things were only there until the time of setting things right. In christianity things are set right, not in judaism. Although in judaism there were certain elementary truths, yet they do not represent the mind of God. Let us leave what belongs to the babe state and go on to what is manhood. Christianity is manhood.

Ques. Were these things set aside?

C.A.C. They have to be regarded in their spiritual meaning. All ordinances had a spiritual meaning; they belonged to the earthly system. All through the Old Testament Christ was in view. Whatever there was of God was elementary; it did not give the full thought of God. Now we come to the full thought -- to perfection. The purpose of God comes clearly into view in Christ. He entered as Forerunner for us, not exactly as representing us there but as representing the purpose of God for us. Later in the epistle He represents us.

Ques. Is "full-grown" what is set forth in Christ?

C.A.C. The apprehension of it on the part of the saints constitutes full growth. What is connected with Melchisedec has to do with the heavenly side. Christ in heaven answers to Melchisedec.

Ques. Would Abraham's being linked with Melchisedec suggest that Melchisedec has to say to those who are heavenly in character?

C.A.C. He was king of Salem. It is remarkable that there should be such a king in Abraham's day; Salem represents what is heavenly.

The Lord is seen as Priest on moral grounds in Hebrews 5. He gets His place with us on moral grounds first. At the

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end of chapter 6 He is Priest in relation to the purpose of God: that is another side altogether.

Ques. Is it the resurrection side?

C.A.C. It is the heavenly side. To come under Him as Priest we have to know Him on moral grounds first. The writer speaks of the intensity of the Lord's sufferings to secure a place with us on moral grounds. Melchisedec is a king of peace -- there is moral character. The thought of corning into obedience to Him in chapter 5 is very touching; it implies that He takes us by the hand according to chapter 2. If we feel how intensely He suffered, it gives Him a place with us; we let Him take us by the hand. We are only in salvation as we let Him take our hand. He gets thus a place in our affections; it is as Priest He gets a place there. It is a great thing to know Him as Priest. He is qualified for priesthood by suffering.

We see One who in taking up sonship has taken up entirely new conditions. He has taken the condition of creature perfection. The Creator has come into the place of the creature, and in doing so He has taken up obedience. I doubt whether the Lord has acquired His place of supremacy with us as Priest. We all know Him as Lord, but to be brought into subjection to Him as Priest is a matter of affection. In coming to the place of sonship as Man He comes to a position marked by obedience and obedience for Him involved suffering. He was made perfect through suffering. There was not an element of obedience He was not tested by; it all cost Him suffering of an intense character. He learned the whole extent of obedience by the suffering it cost Him to go through. In this way He gets a place in our affections. It is not atonement in chapter 5. He is the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Priesthood is not the same as lordship. Some of us do not know much about it.

He reaches from the exalted place He is in to lead us past

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every pitfall and snare of the wilderness pathway. It is an eternal salvation. He will lead us through every snare and difficulty if we do not take our hands out of His. We must learn Him as Priest on the moral side first. He comes to my side and takes up the path I have to tread; He has been in it more fully than I ever will be and it cost Him intense suffering. The thought of Son runs right through from chapter 5 to chapter 7. The Son learned obedience, and as Son He suffered. If He were not the Son He could not be the Priest. His sonship throws light on His priesthood, and His priesthood throws light on His sonship. Is my hand in His? Peter did not know Him as Priest and he sank in the water. Peter could have said, 'Lord if it be Thou bid me come to Thee on the water and give me Thy hand', and he would not have sunk. When he got the Lord's hand there was no sinking. The feature of priesthood in chapter 2 is the hand. We are often wilful, like a child pulling its hand away from its mother! What we have to see is that the Lord in His love is qualified by obedience and suffering to take us by the hand and lead us past every temptation and difficulty. In learning Christ as Priest our affections become engaged. Many christians recognise the lordship of Christ but to recognise His priesthood and feel your hand is in His every step of the way is fine.

CHAPTER 6 (SECOND READING)

It was evidently possible to stop short of what was in the mind of God; there was a possibility of persons coming into the christian profession without understanding where they were. And so it is today; we may come into what is outward without having spiritual realities in our souls,

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without being skilled in the word of righteousness. If we are not skilled in the word of righteousness we may fall away. Today there are certain elements of the truth that are recognised and accepted, but the wonderful things of God, brought in and established in Christ, are not much acted on. It is a time of setting things right; God has everything according to His mind, but how little that is preached today. We ought to be exercised whether we have come in the apprehension of our souls to the full thought of God, or whether we are short in our souls as to the full mind of God? He shews here how far it is possible to go on with even christian things outwardly without any inward work of God. It is possible to go on with the things spoken of in verses 4 and 5 and yet fall away. If we do not go on to the full thought of God there is no security. The writer of this epistle does not assume that his readers generally are of this class but there is a possibility and danger of it. He would stimulate us to go on to the full thought of God. If we are not going on there is a terrible possibility of falling away. It is a wholesome warning and should not discourage anybody who has been powerfully affected by what has come before in the epistle -- the greatness of Christ, His place in heaven, the offices He fills. It should not discourage any one who is after these things, and yet there is no security for those not interested in Christ.

It is a remarkable expression in verses 4 and 5, "For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those once enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come". It shews that, however great the outward privileges we have come into may be, yet they are no security in themselves. One might have all that is spoken of in verses 4 and 5 and still give it up, turn away from it

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and go back. Those who came into the christian profession came into that. The Holy Spirit was there; ministry was there, meetings full of the actings of the Spirit; in that sense one might be a partaker of the Holy Spirit. The normal acting of the Spirit is found amongst the saints. Those who make profession of faith and come in among the saints partake of all that is there by the Spirit without perhaps personally having any part in it. If a person is indwelt or sealed by the Spirit there can be no thought of such turning away. If we are indwelt by the Spirit it is for ever, sealed to the day of redemption; there is no thought of that failing. People may come into fellowship, profess to believe that Jesus is the Christ and enjoy all outward privileges, and take part outwardly in the service of God, and yet there is a terrible possibility they may fall away. The writer contrasts all this with "We are persuaded concerning you, beloved, better things, and connected with salvation" (verse 9). That is another thing, a positive stream of love acting in saints generally. That is not outward privilege but inward spiritual reality; where that exists salvation is found. There is nothing for those who turn away from Christ and give up faith in Christ as the Son of God, so that they crucify the Son of God. If a Jew professes faith in Christ and walks with christians for years and then gives it up and goes back to be a Jew, God has nothing else to work on, no means of renewing him to repentance. He has turned away from all that is good and God has nothing else. Every Jew who professed christianity and went back to judaism crucified the Son of God with his eyes open.

Today the christian profession is drifting into this position. There are men prominent in the christian profession and holding high office who deny the virgin birth of the Lord and the atoning value of His blood and that He is Son of God. While keeping up the form of the christian profession

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they depart from what is true christianity. They are apostates and God does not propose to bring people of that sort to repentance. He brings poor sinners to repentance as long as the day of salvation goes on, but not apostates. We must remember that in those early days these things were in great power -- heavenly gifts, the presence of the Spirit, the good word of God and so on. They were great realities. God worked miracles among His people; the Spirit's presence was made manifest in a more distinct way than now, and to fall away from that was to fall away from everything manifestly of God. Esau was a profane person. He had no sense of value in connection with holy things. This does not apply to persons being cold and carnal and letting the world come into their hearts. That happens with true believers sometimes. It is a dangerous position, but we could not say it was impossible to renew them to repentance. Those who have embraced christianity and leave it are characterised by thorns and briars; divine influence acting on them only produces thorns and briars. The contrast to that is the ground drinking "the rain which comes often upon it, and produces useful herbs ... partakes of blessing from God" (verse 7). The test is, is there any production for God, useful herbs, not anything about fruit, not anything special, but something useful brought forth for the comfort of the saints? It is a great thing to minister to the saints; it is a proof of divine life. It is blessed to serve the saints and particularly if it costs us something, if we do something we would naturally hold back from. We are always getting heavenly showers: ministry is continually found among the saints, rain from heaven, but the test is as to the result. Are there any useful herbs coming to light? It is not a question merely of what we enjoy but something produced which is useful. Rain brings out qualities of grace but certain ground produces only thorns and briars, nasty

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exhibitions of what we are naturally according to flesh. If I bring forth nasty tempers of flesh it is very near cursing. In the government of God it is always either blessing or cursing. That gives the point to these exhortations to go on to the great system of blessing to which God has committed Himself by an oath.

We have to see to it that we do not become sluggish in connection with spiritual things. Even where there is a genuine work of God we may become sluggish. Old Testament saints are brought in as those who might well be imitated for their faith and patience. Abraham came in to what was of a very stable character; God was pleased to swear by Himself. We are not just in a lazy way to accept these promises as true, but they are to be a vital matter to us. The fact that certain persons readily give up should stimulate us. A young man said to the brethren that he had ceased believing in the Lord Jesus Christ; what a powerful effect that should have on every one! It should produce purpose of heart to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and go on with Him more than ever. The fact that people give up should be a stimulant; it should incite holy horror to think that people who walked with us should crucify the Lord. When we see people giving up the deity of Christ and His atonement and so on, it should lead us to feel more determined to go on with what is right. It is a question of the word of righteousness. Giving up the companionship of the brethren is not right.

God is delighted to pledge Himself; He swears by Himself. How this must have come home to the Jewish believers, for it was at the time that Abraham offered up Isaac that God swore by Himself. Christ after the flesh had been given up; it answered to the time in which the writer was writing. The Son of God had been crucified, Christ after the flesh existed no longer, but the promises and the oath and the purpose of God are connected with Him in another

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scene. It is quite possible that Jews might have come into the christian profession with the hope that there would be some great intervention of God and everything on earth put right, but as time went on and there was no intervention from heaven they probably came to it that it was all a delusion and they gave it up. This epistle was written to shew that the system of the things of God was an unseen one, connected with Christ in heaven. The oath and promises are all connected with heaven and it is impossible for God to lie.

CHAPTER 9 (FIRST READING)

Rem. We did not touch on the last part of the previous chapter; we would be glad of help on it. At the end of chapter 8 the emphasis is on the word 'new'.

C.A.C. Yes; what is emphasised is the necessity for the work of God in His people. The writer has in mind the setting aside of what is connected with the old. In speaking of the new covenant the writer of the epistle was putting before them a new order of things in place of the old order which was a system that was passing away.

Ques. Is it in contrast with the covenant that was made with the fathers?

C.A.C. There was no corresponding work of God in the people. God was pleased to give them His law, but there was no corresponding work in them.

Ques. "All shall know me" (chapter 8: 11). Is that more than the covenant?

C.A.C. It necessitates a work of God in His people. That is an essential part of the new covenant, securing what is in the mind and heart of God. The present time is not only a certain expression of the grace of God in the

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gospel, but God is working in men, securing men's hearts. All that belongs to the new covenant.

Rem. The law in itself does not effectuate that.

C.A.C. No, it requires a work of God. At the present time the Lord is working in men the appreciation of what is in Himself. It is an extraordinary operation of God. We are living in the time of the extraordinary working of God in the souls of His people.

Rem. 'Consciousness in oneself', J. N. D. says in his note to chapter 8, verse 11.

C.A.C. Yes; such wonderful things could not come to pass through the incarnation or through Christ's death without securing an appreciation of it in the hearts of men.

Rem. The first order of man cannot respond. All must be of God, so we have to be born again.

C.A.C. That is most important. Think of the character of God's actings now. The law was majestic and awe-inspiring but it was nothing compared with His present acting and speaking.

Rem. Moses wrote the tables of stone but the people did not respond.

C.A.C. Moses had the secret. While the law was broken and dishonoured publicly Moses came down from the mount with the secret in his heart. He had been on the mount, which suggests what is heavenly, the divine provision. The tables were going to be put in the ark. That was the secret.

The first tables represented the first order of things but there was a second set which were to be put in the ark; they were not broken. The first set of tables represented the first order of things and the second set of tables represented the second order of things. In connection with the second set of tables, they were wrought by Moses: he was the mediator.

Every one who came under the hand of Christ got a

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touch. After His death there were five hundred brethren in one place; each one of them was the direct product of the Lord's touch, having come under His mighty hand. They were capable through coming under Christ's hand of looking with undimmed vision on the risen Christ.

We can always count on the actual working of God. People say that the gospel is not cared for now, and that people do not come to hear it. Well, do you think that makes any difference to God? God is going on with His working from the standpoint of what He is: all works from that side. Men may make a profession of christianity and turn from it but there are those into whose minds and hearts God puts His laws. God puts the appreciation of Christ and of His death into people's hearts and not all the powers of hell can take it out.

Ques. Is the new covenant the expression of God seen in Christ?

C.A.C. Yes. In the last days we fall back on this. Amidst profession the ground of our confidence is the work of God in man.

Ques. Is this why the holiest is brought in so soon here?

C.A.C. The tabernacle sets forth all that was purely of God; so, while in a sense the tabernacle had its place in connection with the first covenant, yet it does not belong to that system. It was a representation of heavenly things; it did not belong to the legal system at all. The law had to do with men down here, but the tabernacle belongs to what is up there. The tabernacle sets forth the system of heavenly things which is all divine in thought. The tabernacle itself is the perfect contrast to the whole legal system in which it was set up. There was perfect contrast in the Lord to the legal system into which He came. He came of a woman; He came under law, but there was a contrast in Him to all that into which He came. The tabernacle was the most perfect expression of heavenly things that we

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have in Scripture, apart from the Lord. The tabernacle is a wonderful thing; it belongs to us in a peculiar way. Israel will have a limited entrance into the types of the tabernacle, but the assembly is qualified to appreciate and understand the great heavenly system. J.N.D. says in his note to verse 1 of chapter 9, 'The holy order of the tabernacle, which represented the vast scene in which God's glory is displayed in Christ'. This is beyond the millennium. It is universal, it brings before us God's universe. We sing, 'Of the vast universe of bliss' (Hymn 11). The tabernacle answers to that; it goes into eternity; it is expressive of eternal thoughts; it expresses all that glory which is the result to God of the sin offering. The centre of all is the mercy-seat with the blood of the sin offering upon it.

Ques. Is not the burnt offering greater than the sin offering?

C.A.C. No. The blood of the burnt offering never went in to the holiest, but the blood of the sin offering was put on the mercy-seat. The whole tabernacle system had as its centre the ark of the covenant, the mercy-seat, and the cherubim, but the blood of the sin offering was put on the mercy-seat. There is nothing so great as the sin offering, because the whole universe of bliss is commensurate with it: we can regard every bit of it as the answer to the sufferings of Christ as the sin-offering. That is what gives the many sons their value to God.

Ques. God has been glorified: is that the basis of the sin offering?

C.A.C. God is glorified in mercy. The universe of bliss is to be the display throughout eternity of God in mercy. Every part of divine glory is blended together to secure the universe of bliss, filled with creatures who are all blessed in the sin-offering work of the Lord Jesus. There is nothing we need to ponder more than the sufferings of

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Christ in sin-offering character. All that is before God on the mercy-seat; all God is doing and will do is according to the value of that! God effects new birth. Why? Because of the value of the sin-offering before Him. He is working on that basis. We can say, 'Glory all belongs to God'.

These wonderful verses at the beginning of chapter 9 are most important; they dwell on things that exist at the present time. The Spirit of God can open it all out in detail to us.

Ques. Why is the golden censer mentioned here as within the veil?

C.A.C. He does not mention the golden altar here because for us the intercession of Christ is within the veil. He speaks of the golden censer within the veil. He puts a contrast between what is in the holy place and what is in the most holy place. He thinks of the golden censer as that which filled the place with the cloud of incense. Before the blood was carried in they carried in the censer, so the cloud of incense covered the mercy-seat. There is a moral order that the writer is leading us on to.

Ques. Is approach within in view?

C.A.C. That is the idea. It is how we go in. There are certain things that have a place in the service of God that are not within the veil. The candlestick is not within the veil. A brother comes to minister Christ; that is not within the veil, though we all listen to it. It is not in the world; it is in the holy place, but it is not within the veil. We are not within the veil now as we sit here together, but I trust we are in the holy place; we are not in the world or in the wilderness. We are sitting together, waiting on God as to holy things and we want the light of the candlestick, but we are not within the veil. So the table of the exposition of the loaves speaks of a spiritual order found on earth. The saints are viewed according to the work of God in them; they are not viewed as within the veil; but as we are come

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together we are privileged to view the brethren as the subjects of the work of God. We can take in the thought of all saints as forming a holy order of things here on this earth. The service of God cannot go on unless we bring the truth of the table and exposition of the loaves to it.

Think of a spiritual order of things which you cannot limit; you must have twelve loaves on the table. This helps us to think of the saints apart from flesh and blood conditions; we are privileged to take account of things from that point of view. God is working on the broad platform of all saints. All this would get us out of our littleness. This is not exactly the fellowship; that is our public place in the world; this is the holy place. The table is set over against the candlestick so that the loaves are in the shining. We have to learn to view the saints in the light of the ministry of Christ. You cannot think of part of the saints, there must be twelve loaves -- a complete administrative company formed after Christ. God wants to be approached in a manner that gives Him pleasure.

Rem. These are heavenly things.

C.A.C. Yes, very much so. Heavenly things are brought into manifestation in a people on earth, a heavenly people but on earth. Each has a ribbon of blue on his garment. We have to bring our minds and hearts into line with these things.

Ques. Is Christ the Minister of these things?

C.A.C. Quite so. There is a true tabernacle which the Lord has pitched and not man. There is a new system of things to be apprehended spiritually. That enables us to love all the saints; we get on to the Colossian and Ephesian platform; we love even people we do not know because we take account of them according to Christ Jesus.

Ques. Could you help us in regard to the veil? We have been told there is no veil in Hebrews.

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C.A.C. But we read here of being within the veil, and in chapter 10 of going through the veil!

Rem. I think the brother is thinking of there being no rent veil in Hebrews.

C.A.C. What the scripture says is, "through the veil, that is, his flesh". We must understand these things spiritually. Through the veil we can enter spiritually into a region outside the realm of sight and sense where the thoughts of God are viewed as established in Christ. When we come inside the veil, we come to the perfection and blessedness of the divine thoughts seen in Christ without modification. His death has opened up an order of things which is within the veil; He has entered as Priest within the veil.

Ques. Is it a kindred thought that He has reconciled us in the body of His flesh through death?

C.A.C. I think it is. Colossians and Hebrews go together. Colossians brings before the gentile believers a similar line to what Hebrews brings before the Jews. The two epistles correspond -- one is presented to the Jew and the other to the gentile.

CHAPTER 9 (SECOND READING)

Rem. You were telling us that the High Priest had gone in for us, and that the bells began to ring then and have been ringing ever since!

C.A.C. There is nothing more important than for us to see that He has gone in. He has taken something into heaven that was never there before. He has secured something that has enriched heaven. He has acquired the value of redemption (verse 12). It is a great help to see that He has

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"found an eternal redemption". It would help us to realise what Christ has acquired, not in the church, but what He has acquired by coming into this world. He has acquired what He could not have acquired in heaven. I was thinking that in the Authorised Version it says "for us", which shews that they were governed by selfish thoughts. It is far greater than that. It is what Christ has acquired.

Rem. He has secured a universe for God.

C.A.C. That will be, surely, but it is a very great thing to see what He has acquired at the present time. He has gone within the veil in the value of what He has acquired. It says here, He has "found an eternal redemption".

Ques. For whom was the redemption?

C.A.C. For Himself! The first thing that is important is that God should take to Himself His rights. In the Old Testament the thought of salvation is something that God has acquired for Himself. The Lord has acquired what is infinitely precious to Him. He is in the presence of God as possessed of it in all its value. I was thinking of a scripture in Isaiah which gives you something in relation to Jehovah -- chapter 59: 16, 17. The helmet of salvation was on His head: that is, Jehovah has acquired this for Himself. There is another similar verse in chapter 63, verse 5, -- "I looked, and there was none to help ... mine own arm brought salvation unto me". He moved in the greatness of His strength to! secure salvation. There was no one to help or intercede, so God has to take the matter in hand Himself. He acquires redemption, He has that glory. Men may get the benefit of it, but God acquires the glory of it first.

He is the first to be possessed of salvation. God is minded to acquire the glory of getting salvation. According to Hebrews 9, Christ goes within the veil in all the value of the preciousness of His own blood; He has acquired redemption.

Ques. Are others associated with Him?

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C.A.C. Quite so, because He is priest. The idea of priesthood is representation. God is jealous for His own glory; what God acquires is the first consideration. There is a special value now attaching to Christ.

Rem. The universe will display it because it is so great.

C.A.C. That is what I had in mind. Christ has acquired that which He can apply to the whole universe; He has found eternal redemption. The glory of His death and the glorious value of His blood we need to have much before us. This epistle enlarges on all this, and on the covenant, to furnish us with praise when we come to the service of the assembly. He fills a place before God now. He is our priestly Representative now.

Ques. The Spirit of God speaks so much of the blood in this chapter -- it is mentioned ten times, I think. What is the reason?

C.A.C. To bring out the sacrificial value of the death of Christ, the purifying power of it.

Ques. What is the thought in Luke in regard to the mount? They speak of His decease -- the word is 'exodus'. Does that point to what is here?

C.A.C. Yes. He was going out of flesh and blood conditions. Things concerning Him were brought to an end. The shedding of His blood secured to Him a new glory and value, something additional to His Person. That is very important. He is in the presence of God in all that value. His Person is unchangeable, but He is there too in the value of this wonderful offering. He offered Himself by the eternal Spirit to God.

Ques. Do we get that in Colossians?

C.A.C. Yes, what corresponds very much with it. That wonderful little word "it" -- "You, who once were alienated and enemies in mind ... yet now has it reconciled" (Colossians 1:21). I consider that "it" the biggest word in the sixty-six books of the Bible. The "it" means the Fulness,

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Father, Son, and Spirit; the "it" is a big little word! I think if we got more on to this side we would be liberated in the service of praise. The service of God is the great theme in Hebrews. We are purged to serve the living God; we are to serve in the way of worship. The tabernacle is the place of service. It was not perfect because it gave no immediate access to God. Now in "the high priest of the good things to come" we have the things that have come.

Ques. Do you mean promised blessings that are come in in Christ, not things in the future?

C.A.C. Yes, it includes all that will be unfolded in the future; all is secured in Christ. All that redemption means Christ has secured. By redemption things are brought back to God for the divine pleasure. God has exercised the right of redemption for His own pleasure and glory. The word is applied to transgressions here -- "redemption of the transgressions". Israel is looked at as God's property, He had taken them out of Egypt to be to Himself, but they were guilty of transgressions under the first covenant. God came in by Christ in order that those transgressions might be forgiven. God acquired something in relation to it all.

God is better off now through Christ and His blood.

God would magnify before us Christ, His death and His blood. Think of His Person as brought before us in chapters 1 and 2, and think of that Person having blood to shed and of its value! The whole universe is going to resound with the value of Christ's blood. Think of Adam and Eve clothed by God! Something was added to them that could not have found part in their original endowment.

Ques. Would you link these thoughts with the cup?

C.A.C. All comes out in connection with the covenant and the will of God, which links it directly with the Supper and indicates how the Supper stands in relation to the service of God. It is not simply the announcement of His death, but it stands in connection with the service of God.

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He likes us to handle the loaf and the cup in connection with His service.

Ques. Would the Lord give us the cup, put it into our hands?

C.A.C. In the account in Luke the Lord speaks of giving His body and pouring out His blood, but when the Lord gives it to Paul from heaven (1 Corinthians 11) He says nothing about "giving" or "pouring out". The Lord would take us away from the act to the preciousness of the thing. "This is my body which is for you"; "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; this do ... in remembrance of me", 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25. It is the preciousness of the thing that is given and poured out, not so much the act.

We need to dwell on that. All this would lift the service of God on to a high spiritual level.

Rem. "Thou hast prepared me a body".

C.A.C. Yes, the teaching is very much on that line. On entering on this we are qualified to serve God. The youngest of us can give God more pleasure than an angel can. Do we want to give God pleasure?

Ques. What is the meaning of the expression in verse 10, "Until the time of setting things right"?

C.A.C. I thought it gave a wonderful impression of the character of the present time; God is setting everything right; He is not improving things. When you come to Christ, what is effected by Christ is right, there is no defect; well that time has come; things are set right.

Ques. Is it in keeping with the epistle? Speaking in Son cannot be improved upon.

C.A.C. Yes. The Spirit would emphasise that to us. It would have a great effect on saints if they got that impression. It is an immense thing and very liberating. The Holy Spirit would never witness to anything else. He comes down to witness to Christ and to the blood of Christ. Christ has gone within the veil. That is all so right

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that it cannot be improved upon. We worship on that footing only. It may be very nice for people to confess that they are miserable sinners, but it does not sound nice to heaven. It is a delight to God to see us entering into these things, and to have a sense that what we enter into is good beyond description. The religious world is full of activity, but they are dead works which the living God can take no pleasure in.

Ques. Does the Holy Spirit witness to a divine Person?

C.A.C. In this epistle He is looked at as bearing witness to us. The indwelling Spirit is not seen in Hebrews, but you get the Spirit as a divine Person witnessing to certain things.

Ques. As we move in relation to a living system is there an increase as we come together?

C.A.C. I think so. Growth is a law to a living system -- "increases to a holy temple" (Ephesians 2:21) -- holiness increases. There should be more of the holy temple amongst us next Lord's Day than there was last Lord's Day. We should not have this in a formal way, but in substance in our hearts. Now we have a living service that God can take pleasure in. The Holy Spirit witnesses through this epistle; it is for us to allow Him to act on us; it will have great effect.

Ques. Would you help us in regard to verse 14, "who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God"?

C.A.C. It is connected with what we said before; the fulness of the Godhead enters into this. The Spirit gave particular character to the offering; Christ offered Himself by the Holy Spirit. All that He did and said in the service of grace was in the power of the Holy Spirit. He offered Himself by the eternal Spirit. A peculiar grace marked the offering character.

Ques. He "set himself down" (Hebrews 1:3); is not that in contrast to the priests who were always standing?

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C.A.C. Yes. If all that was in the mind of God has been secured, restful conditions are brought about. God has made a certain disposition of things, alluded to here as a 'will' or a 'testament'. Through Christ's death that disposition of things is made effective. All that God has in His mind is secured.

Ques. In Hebrews 9 it says, "the better and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, (that is, not of this creation,)". In the Authorised Version it says, "not of this building". Why is this?

C.A.C. I suppose it is to shew that the true tabernacle is heavenly. The tabernacle in the wilderness was made according to the pattern typically of the heavenly system; it was only a shadow; the heavenly is the reality.

Ques. The Scripture speaks of the eternal God. Does that refer to deity?

C.A.C. Yes. In this epistle the word 'eternal' is often brought in referring to a system of things outside time -- eternal redemption, eternal covenant, eternal inheritance, eternal salvation. They are things outside the limit of time. They stand in connection with what is eternal; they are not of this creation at all.

CHAPTER 9 (THIRD READING)

C.A.C. Our attention is called in this chapter to the fact that there is an order of things in which God is served. That could not be a passing thing; if there is a system that has grown old and aged and is disappearing, this contains an element that could not grow old or disappear. It is right that God should be served, not according to men's thoughts but according to His own thoughts. Our service

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to God applies to the morning meeting and the meeting for prayer; those two refer particularly to the service of God. This afternoon we have come together to get light from God, having in view that we should be better fitted to serve God, so this chapter is all valuable instruction for us. What is contemplated here is the great sacrificial work on which the service is based; the writer had not time to speak in detail of the tabernacle for he had in mind to make much of the great sacrifice of Christ. Great thoughts are presented in the tabernacle that could not pass away because they are God's thoughts and we come to the reality of them.

Ques. Is the golden censer additional?

C.A.C. The writer leaves out the golden altar and brings in the censer here, I suppose having in mind what was before him, namely, to magnify the work of Christ. It was not his thought to go into detail but to magnify the work of Christ; the censer is connected with that. Aaron went in with the incense before he took in the blood; the censer had a great place on the day of atonement and so it is mentioned here. The golden altar had no particular place on that day and so he leaves it out; the censer takes the place of the golden altar. In Revelation we see the golden altar and the Lord as Angel-Priest giving efficacy to the prayers of the saints on earth, which is a beautiful touch as to His service, for if He serves the saints of the remnant thus, He will not serve the saints of the assembly less! We may be sure of that! So that we can see that that throws light on His sanctuary service.

We do not get to God without the High Priest; His movements are the thing to consider. Every feature of glory shadowed forth in the tabernacle has its place now. The tabernacle sets forth, as J.N.D.'s note puts it, 'the vast scene in which God's glory is displayed in Christ'. What a wonderful thought that is! Every part of that system of revelation subsists in Him. What a comfort to

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think that every thought we have in reference to God comes from Christ; otherwise it would be a dark thought. As to response, all is in the Priest. We have to think how the Priest goes to God; that is how we go and we cannot go any other way. This is quite different from going to God as a poor sinner or as a poor saint! Our system subsists in glory; it is a glory-system and the moment we lose the sense of glory in our souls we are out of it! It is spoken of as subsisting in glory, "the surpassing glory" (2 Corinthians 3). Man's approach to God cannot be improved upon; we should consider that. Nothing in the universe can add anything to man's approach to God. The Lord when He brings us together on Lord's day morning would occupy our thoughts with Himself -- "This is my body", "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" -- it is Himself. We want to learn the majesty of what He is Himself and not let our thoughts wander, but give ourselves to consider what there is in the loaf and the cup; there is enough in it to last more than a thousand years! He would occupy us first with how He came out; the loaf and the cup have to do with that. We dwell on a lot of beautiful and true things but they may not be what the Lord is calling attention to. The more we set everything else aside and give ourselves up to what the Lord is saying, the more powerful the occasion would become. He would support that. Afterwards we get to the side of approach, but we must think first of the loaf and the cup. He says, 'I want you to think of that'. We should be concerned with what the Lord would impress us with; we want to give our hearts to that and not be diverted to the one hundred and one things which may be good and true but are not what the Lord would impress us with at the present moment; then we should get on.

As the assembly is convened the Lord does not act apart from vessels available. It would be through some brother that the Lord would direct our hearts into the right channel.

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If the Lord has something to say to His saints He would use a vessel through whom to say it. I should like to be that vessel, particularly in reference to the loaf and cup. The assembly is composed of intelligent persons. If we do not understand the terms on which God is with us, we shall not have any liberty with Him. What comes within our compass is what we commit ourselves wholly to. We give ourselves, spirit, soul and body to it.

The first tabernacle was particularly in relation to Israel, because we have the table with the twelve loaves on it shewing that Israel is in view. But then there is the candlestick thought and the table thought carried on in christianity; these thoughts have not lapsed, but we have something additional -- the holiest.

A great thing before the mind of the writer is the wonderful character of the offering, that it should be understood, and that the Lord enters the holy of holies by His own blood; that is what He wants us to think of in this chapter. All divine things are not equally important and we have to distinguish between the lesser and the more important. There is nothing more important than that we should understand that Christ has entered the holy of holies in the power of His own blood. It indicates that a Man has entered the most holy spot in the universe -- the holiest! There cannot be anything holier, and a Man has entered it. This is not a question of God coming out to us, but of how man is to go to God. How wonderful to think that there is only one measure for us by which we approach God; it is not one measure for one and another for another, but only one measure and that is Christ! How has He gone? On the ground on which I can go in, on the ground on which each of us can go in, the ground of His own death. He has gone to God in a new way which was never possible until after He died. He never went to God in the days of His flesh in this way; He was never on that ground with

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God before. The very ground on which He is with God is the ground on which we can be with God -- apart from sin or flesh or anything that would bring shame on the holiest. We adorn the place; every saint who reaches the holiest is an adornment to the place.

Ques. How is this possible?

C.A.C. It stands in relation to what is collective. One individual is hardly equal to the service of God; he would have to say 'I'. 'I' has no place in the service of God. We say 'we', and in principle that includes all saints. When we say 'we' on Lord's day morning how big is that 'we'? It ought in our minds and affections to include all saints, the sanctified company; we include all in our minds; we think of the whole sanctified company and it includes many sons, not just the handful in any room locally.

John 17 is the High Priest at the golden altar linking up all those the Father has given Him with Himself. This thought of approach to God is very important; the Spirit of God would lead us to dismiss from our thoughts anything less than this. No one enters the holiest except in priestly condition, hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, bodies washed with pure water. Think of a little company of saints and the Lord able to look round and see all taking in the thought of the loaf and cup, all turning in adoration to Him as the Mediator and the Head! He would be free to say, 'Come with me, I will take you somewhere'. He has something most elevated in His mind. The best morning meeting we ever had is not so good as what the Lord has in mind for us.

What a joy for God to have received Him! He has not only gone in, but been received, and received up in glory. The wav He has been received is the pattern of how we are received if we go with Him. There is no other way of approach to God but with Christ. If I do not go in the company of Christ I do not go at all. Let us all take that in.

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God must be approached according to His own glory and who could do this but Christ?

How wonderful if we shed everything else from our spirits when we come together! We have been occupied with a thousand things in daily and domestic life and alas! often with what pertains to our own foolish hearts; but we must shed all that off. I may be a nice or a nasty man, but I must shed it all off; a nice man is no better than a nasty! We go in to God in the company of Christ, as acceptable to God as He is; we are on the ground of Christ's death. God never questions the power of the ground on which we can be with Him. Our hearts may question it but God never will. This would set our hearts free; every brother's and sister's heart would be set free.

Ques. What is the idea of the power of the blood?

C.A.C. We can say of the Lord that He acquired new value in which to be in the presence of God, not value connected with His Person but connected with His work which was not there until He did the work. What ground can I have but His blood? Christ and His brethren are on common ground in the presence of God -- "His own blood". All eternity will never add anything to the value of the blood. We shall never be better with God than we are when we enter the holiest. The blessed God Himself has laid out and provided the conditions, and the moment we get there we realise it could not be otherwise; nothing less will do for God than Christ and the value of His blood. The sinner begins with Christ and His blood, and the oldest and most mature saint cannot get beyond it. It is elementary and yet profound. We can shed off our spirits all connected with the flesh and our natural condition and come into God's presence in spotless white garments! It is wonderful!

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CHAPTER 9 (FOURTH READING)

Ques. You spoke last week as to God making a will. Is not that very distinctive?

C.A.C. We get the thought in verse 16. I suppose the promise of the eternal inheritance in verse 15 leads to the thought of a testament or will which acquires force by the death of the testator, the object of the Spirit of God being to magnify before our hearts the death of Christ and what has come to pass through the death of Christ. There is nothing more important for us as believers than to see what has come to pass in His death; what is purely of God is brought in and secured by the death of Christ.

Ques. Verses 16 and 17 are put in brackets in the New Translation but not in the Authorised Version, why is this?

C.A.C. I do not know that there is any special thought in putting the brackets. It forms part of the line which the Spirit of God is pursuing. Having referred to Christ as the Mediator of the new covenant, He is Mediator in the sense that He has accomplished everything so that God is free according to His nature to give the eternal inheritance, which obviously has the heavenly side in view. Christ is introduced as Mediator and as having effected through redemption the full liberty in which God is acting and that leads the writer to refer to the covenant as a will -- a testament which acquires force through the death of the testator. It is a beautiful thought which comes in the line of the teaching of the Spirit in this part of the book. The great point is that God is free through the death of Christ; God can dispose of things according to His own heart. Among

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other things this brings out what is important, namely the deity of Christ. If He is the Testator it is the mind of God that is brought out. The Mediator is entirely on God's part; it is through His death that Christ has become the Mediator, the One by whom the thoughts of God's love have been made good. Nothing could give greater force to the thought of the eternal inheritance, the heavenly position. That is how God has disposed of things; He has assigned to His called ones a heavenly portion. In Hebrews we have a heavenly people.

There are all the provisions of the will and they are irreversible. If you entertain the great thought of God in assigning a heavenly portion to His called ones you can see that it all takes effect in the death of Christ. The covenant now is not like the covenant which was under law and which the people broke. The idea of the Mediator in christianity is different from the Mediator as seen in Moses. In writing to the Galatians the apostle will not have the thought of the Mediator at all; for from this standpoint a mediator supposes that there are two parties obligated, whereas God is one and all is carried out according to the will of one party. The thought of a will is that if a man disposes of his estate and dies, the death of the testator brings the will of the testator into force; it is not a question of the beneficiaries, or what they think or say. The Mediator as seen in Hebrews sets forth the particular way in which God has come near to men. God came here in Manhood in the Person of the Son, that He might go into death to secure everything. How wonderful it is to think of! It is a question of God's disposition. Christ is the Testator and Executor of the will; it is all on the divine side. That is what is so blessed. There are not two parties obligated; there are beneficiaries, but no part of the disposition of things depends on them. The thought of the Mediator includes the value of His death and His perfect

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efficiency as Administrator of the estate. What glories come together in that blessed Person! It makes us long for an opportunity to praise and glorify Him!

It is important that we should be confirmed in the thought of the covenant. The covenant made with Abraham was unconditional.

Ques. Is there no Mediator when it is a question of promise?

C.A.C. We have not here two parties who are both to maintain faithfulness to the covenant. That is usually the case; two parties must sign the covenant. That is how it stood under law, but christianity is different. It is what God proposes and His disposition is in the sense of the provisions of a will; it is important to see that. Two things are brought out commensurate with one another, the love of God and the death of Christ. The death of Christ in its value is commensurate with the divine nature. God's love is expressed in that death never to be so expressed again. This makes us think much of the death of Christ.

Rem. His death is for the redemption of transgressions.

C.A.C. It had to take into account the former histories of every one of us -- our sins, our guilt. All that was connected with our sinful state was taken into account when Christ died.

Ques. Was the first covenant set on one side?

C.A.C. Yes, because it did not make known the nature of God. It did not give men a purged conscience, so it failed on God's side and on man's side. The new covenant is the wonderful way that God has taken to dispose of things; it reveals His nature and secures a purged conscience so that the worshippers can approach. All this comes to us by the Spirit, but the prominence that is given to Christ in this epistle is very striking. As we said last week there is no indwelling Spirit in Hebrews. The Spirit is spoken of as a divine Witness but not as indwelling.

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Christ is the Mediator of the new covenant and His mediatorship is the carrying out of the office of executor. The fact that this matter of the will is introduced shews that it is a figure that God can take up and which is suitable to express the way of His acting at the present time. The object of it is that God should be known, so that knowing and loving God we may serve God.

Ques. Would the understanding of this help us in connection with the meaning of the cup?

C.A.C. Yes, and the loaf too. This epistle bears much on the Lord's supper without mentioning the Supper. Much is made in this epistle of the Lord's body -- His body being offered, and the covenant being in His blood. All this is to qualify us for the morning meeting, and to help us to enter into the Supper is to help us in the service of God.

He has made a disposition of things that is adequate to His own nature; nothing could be greater than that. In the presence of the death of Christ we learn what we are, and we can learn it no other way. I realise how sinful my life is when I see that in no other way could God approach me than in the death of His Son.

Ques. Who are "the called" (verse 15)?

C.A.C. That connects the whole thing with the purpose of God. The thought of being called introduces divine purpose.

Ques. Where does the gospel come in on these lines?

C.A.C. This is not exactly gospel for sinners, this is gospel for saints. What we preach to sinners is the righteousness of God through the death of Christ. God is just and the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus -- that is the gospel we present. But the presence of people on the earth in the good of the new covenant would be a powerful witness to the world in addition to the preaching. A man of the world would say, 'There are people who were once like me, seeking satisfaction from things here, but now they

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are supremely happy in the love of God; they do not want the world at all. I wish I had what they have!'

What kind of disposition has God made of His property? He has assigned to His called ones a heavenly portion; they have part in all that of which Christ is the Heir. The heavenly side comes into view in the fact that the Heir is already in heaven and the saints down here are joint heirs. God has made that disposition and carried it out in the death of Christ. Whatever is in the mind of God has been secured through the death of Christ for the called ones.

Ques. What is the inheritance? Is it sonship?

C.A.C. No, it is rather that sonship includes the inheritance; it is the sons who inherit.

I thought the promise indicated the proposition on God's part. The more excellent ministry is established on better promises which brings the heavenly into view. In Ephesians Christ is seen as the One who is in possession on the heavenly side. It is in Him that we obtain the inheritance on the heavenly side. The heavenly calling brings in the heavenly inheritance. This epistle is written to deliver the people of God from earthly thoughts and bring them to heavenly thoughts. God will give the earthly to Israel in a coming day. He gives the heavenly to His called ones today.

Rem. In the opening chapter of the epistle it speaks of the Son being established Heir of all things.

C.A.C. The inheritance in the full scope of it is "all things". The created universe is viewed as the subject of reconciliation through the death of Christ. God puts His saints into possession of it. How God enjoys the inheritance! The Hebrews were tested as to whether they had yielded themselves to the divine call, and we too are tested. The Spirit of God is magnifying in this part of the epistle the value of the death and blood of Christ. He

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shews how according to the first order of things the blood has a great place. Even the former covenant was connected in the mind of God with death.

Ques. Do not Psalm 2 and Psalm 8 touch this heavenly calling?

C.A.C. The heavenly calling is not a subject of the Old Testament. We have a lot of typical teaching we can take up in the light of the heavenly, but it was not the thought in that day. Take the words of the law; there is a lot in it typically that applies to us now. In Exodus 24 we read of the blood being put on the altar and on the people and then Moses and seventy elders of Israel go up the mountain and see the God of Israel. They go up to what was heavenly in character. All the things of the tabernacle made known the heavenly typically.

Ques. How would sprinkling the people with blood apply today?

C.A.C. The "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ", Peter says. That is how it applies today.

God is moving and operating that He should be made known to men. In God becoming known response is secured. It is not the thought of God that people should be unresponsive. If we come to the knowledge of God we shall be responsive. If there is no response it shews we have not come into the love of God. How could a creature know the love of God and not respond? It is impossible. A great many people live on texts, but texts do not go beyond comfort. People may get comfort in a text but that is not what we are talking about. The thing is to get the knowledge of God -- to get God before you. God in dealing with a people in flesh could not make Himself known; men according to flesh could not approach God. God is known in the light of the death of Christ; that is something altogether different from flesh. We get a new generation who are not in the flesh -- they can be in perfect liberty.

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Moses on the mount was there in liberty hearing things for the making of the tabernacle.

Ques. Would liberty be in the virtue of the blood?

C.A.C. Yes. If we come in the value of the death of Christ there will be no barrier, not only to heaven, but to God in the value of the blood. The nearer we get to God, the happier we are, and the more conscious of supreme delight and liberty. As we receive the value of the death of Christ into our hearts it produces response.

Rem. I suppose Hebrews 10 is, "Let us approach".

C.A.C. Yes, He encourages us to draw near. This epistle is a stimulant, a word of exhortation. We see the way God has come out; that is the great theme. This epistle dwells on the Person, the offices, sacrifice and priesthood of Christ. God thus comes out with a view to our going in. God has secured a heavenly inheritance for us. We are to be stimulated to draw near to God.

CHAPTER 9 (FIFTH READING)

C.A.C. One has often felt on reading this epistle how it occupies us with things which are exceedingly great. The Son is introduced to us at the commencement as having "set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high". In chapter 8 He is seen as sitting at the right hand of the Greatness in heaven. Our attention is called to Melchisedec -- who is a type of Christ -- as a great one. It seems to suggest a region of greatness and great things.

One might say that the chapters before us -- especially chapters 9 and 10 -- are to give our souls an immense thought of the greatness of the death of Christ, the greatness of His sacrifice. All this would have an effect upon

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our worship and upon our attitude in the house of God and the way we approach. God would give us a sense of greatness.

Rem. It was said of the Lord before He was born, "He shall be great".

C.A.C. Yes; all rests on the greatness of His Person. It is remarkable that the word 'greatness' should be applied to God; when it says in Hebrews 8:1, "Who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens", it is a remarkable way of speaking because "the greatness" there is God Himself.

Rem. It speaks of a greater and more perfect tabernacle.

C.A.C. That continues the thought. It is a tabernacle that as far as we are concerned is entirely heavenly. The whole system of heavenly things is purified by blood, purified by the death of Christ. Could there be anything greater? If God sets up an order of things that stands eternally in the value of the death of His Son, how wonderful it must be! God has no such basis as that for creation!

Ques. Is there any other foundation?

C.A.C. The death of Christ supposes the presence of sin in the universe, and is the ground on which God is going to secure His own pleasure and glory eternally.

The tabernacle and all the instruments of service were purified by blood, but that was only typical. Now we have come to "the heavenly things themselves". It is an immense help to us to see that everything that belongs to heavenly things stands before God in purification: there is no blemish in it because it stands in the purification of the death of Christ.

Rem. In Hebrews 2 it speaks of so great salvation.

C.A.C. That is another aspect of greatness.

Ques. In the types at every turn one is faced with the necessity than sin for that

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necessity of death. Does the death of Christ enhance its value thus?

C.A.C. In connection with the typical system blood is not only needed for remission, but blood is needed for purification, and purification has reference to all that God requires.

Ques. What does remission mean?

C.A.C. Sins are dismissed from God's account eternally. The word literally means sending away. Remission of sins means that they are dismissed eternally from God's reckoning. It is an unworthy thing to speak much about sins to God. If He has forgotten them, you may be sure that He does not want to be reminded of them. That is the difference between remembrance in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The day of atonement was a great day in the Old Testament and it brought sins to remembrance. What we do is not the calling to mind of sins, but the calling to mind of a divine Person who gave Himself to secure all in the presence of God.

Ques. What is the difference between forgiveness and remission?

C.A.C. There are two words for forgiveness; one means to shew grace and the other is remission. Sins are sent away never to count again. Scripture goes so far as to say that a worshipper once purged has no more conscience of sins. Such is the purifying power of the death of Christ that the question of sins never comes on the conscience of a believer.

Ques. Is that the force of this verse in Hebrews 9:24, "For the Christ is not entered into holy places made with hand, figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us"?

C.A.C. Yes, He appears there representatively for us. The nearer you get to God the more completely do you find yourself apart from sin and sins. There are no sins or

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sin in the presence of God. It is all obtained through the death of Christ; all is purified by blood, by death. Think of the wonderful character in which saints are spoken of in this epistle --

As companions of Christ: what a wonderful thing!,
Heirs of salvation,
Many sons brought to glory,
Brethren of Christ,
Sanctified,
All of one with Christ,
Partakers of the heavenly calling.

All these are heavenly things and they make up the system of heavenly things. Every detail is purified in the value of the death of Christ, so there cannot be any blemish in it. There may be weakness in our apprehension, but the thing itself is perfect. This would put spring into our souls if we entered into it.

Rem. It cannot be added to or improved.

C.A.C. No. This is the will of God. We may say we cannot grasp it, that it is too great. Well, it is the will of God and nothing else is going to stand. It stands in the value of the death of Christ. We might as well take it in and give God the praise.

Ques. Would this give us capacity to enter into the holiest?

C.A.C. If we think of the system of heavenly things we should accustom ourselves to think that we belong to that system by the calling and will of God and the death of Christ. We are constituted a part of this system of heavenly things, purified by blood. He has gone in representatively. If I want to know my place I must look at Him. My place is heavenly because my representative is there. We sometimes sing:

'He's gone within the veil,
For us that place has won;
In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone'. (Hymn 12)

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We stand there representatively.

So all the worship and service now must be of a heavenly order. No earthly service or worship is acceptable to God now. Much that is brought in in christendom like music and other things is all earthly and God does not care about what is earthly. Sonship is one of the heavenly things and it abides in the value of the death of Christ.

The Lord has in mind to introduce a system of heavenly things. He spoke of the necessity for new birth as among earthly things, and if Nicodemus did not believe what the Lord said about that, how could He go on to speak about the heavenly things that were in His mind? John's gospel might be said to concern heavenly things.

Ques. Would not all this give the Supper a bigger place in our affections?

C.A.C. Yes, indeed. We need to dwell more on the death of Christ. If we think of the immense place it has in Scripture, it shews how great it is in the mind of God. If we connected heavenly things more with the death of Christ it would enhance it. God is bringing out in these things the immense preciousness and value of the death of Christ; He is in heaven, but He is the Person who died.

'And, spotless in that heav'nly light,
Of all Thy suff'rings talk'. (Hymn 270)

In the book of Revelation He is seen as the Lamb; and the bride is the Lamb's wife.

Ques. Is the thing enhanced by what it says here, He offered Himself, not often but once?

C.A.C. That is most blessed. He has been manifested "once" for the putting away of sin by His sacrifice. That is one of the most absolute statements. He became incarnate for that very purpose.

Rem. John the Baptist apprehended this; he said,

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"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world", John 1:29.

C.A.C. Yes. The thought in Hebrews 1 is that He has made purification of sins for God; the defilement of sins was removed for God; it looks at the matter from the side of the detail of it. The sins are looked at in detail. The history of the world has been a history of sins. He has made purification of sins; He has done it within the compass of His own Person; He has done it for God.

You get the thought of the putting away of sin by His sacrifice in Hebrews 9:26, and you get the bearing the sins of many in verse 28; both aspects are brought in. There is the principle of sin that has come into the universe of God, this terrible principle of sin that has to be put away. God cannot tolerate the principle of lawlessness: He cannot forgive it; He must have it put away, and it has been put away sacrificially.

Ques. What is the meaning of "foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20)? Is that before sin came in?

C.A.C. That is important. All heavenly things are connected with purpose; they go back for origin before the foundation of the world. God had the death of Christ in mind before ever sin came into the world. By one man sin entered into the world: before that man came in, God had another Man in mind. He had a universe of bliss before Him connected with that one Man. "In the volume of the book it is written"; there is a book that belongs to eternity and in that book the Lord says, "to do thy good pleasure, my God, is my delight" Psalm 40:8. He does it through death -- all that is connected with purpose.

Ques. Are we weak on the purpose side?

C.A.C. Yes, I suppose we are slow to get to God's side of things. We think of our side and do not get to God's side. Have we a definite idea in our minds of what the will of

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God really is? The Lord became Man and died in order to do the will, or good pleasure, of God. Have we an idea of what that is? The question is, What is the Father's will? The prodigal was ready to be a hired servant, but that was nothing but wretched pride. He was as little worthy to be a servant as a son. The father's good pleasure was to have him robed, ringed and shod, but a son. The wonderful thing about the parable of the prodigal is that you are not told the secret. The secret is the death of Christ. How can we have the robe or the ring or the sandals without the death of Christ? The death of Christ is the explanation of everything. I could not explain why I am a son, but the death of Christ is precious and glorious enough to secure it all. It is due to Him that it should be secured.

Rem. His death has put us out of sight.

C.A.C. On one line it has put us out of sight and on another line it has brought us into sight as part of the heavenly system of things. F.E.R. said, 'God puts you between His love on the one side and the work of the Spirit on the other. Between the two you disappear'.

It is very good to get such an impression of the good pleasure of God that we do not mention anything to Him that does not please Him.

Ques. Is the thing summed up in, He "is able to ... set you with exultation blameless before his glory", Jude 24?

C.A.C. That is the God we know and worship! All this is a treatise on worship -- how the worshippers come to God to please Him. You find in coming in contact with believers that their thought of the will of God is how God would have them behave and where God would like them to go, but the will of God is far greater than that. "I come to do thy will"; it is all Christ's work.

Rem. The first man was made of dust and was unfitted for heaven.

C.A.C. Yes. If Adam had not sinned he would not have

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gone to heaven; he would be living still in an earthly paradise. He was made out of dust; he was made for earth, not for heaven.

All this at the end of Hebrews 9 is the setting aside of sin. That sacrifice having been offered, there is not going to be anything more done for the removal of sin sacrificially. We do not see the effect yet, but all has been accomplished. God has been glorified as to the question of sin in the whole universe: that principle of lawlessness and rebellion that came in at the outset in the devil has been judged in the death of Christ. It was the serpent that was lifted up; the mischief was traced to its source, the serpent; that has been judged in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not simply that sin in the flesh has been condemned, but the principle of sin has been condemned. It was condemned when Christ was made sin on the cross.

Rem. It says in verse 28 that Christ bore the sins of many.

C.A.C. Scripture does not say that Christ bore the sins of all; it is important to see that. The bearing of sins is limited. He bore the sins of many: He died for all; that opens the door of blessing for all. He is the propitiation for the whole world. He only bore the sins of the elect. The thought of election comes in because God knew every soul who would believe on His Son, and the sins of those were borne by Jesus: "Who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree", 1 Peter 2:24. That should make us very careful about sin. If I say an unkind word, or give place to a foolish thought, or speak what is not true, Christ had to suffer for those sins. We call things failure, mistakes and weakness, but God calls them sins; they were borne by Jesus; this should make us very careful and very holy people.

When He appears the second time there is no question of sin at all, there is no reference to sin when He comes again. It is not the rapture, it is a statement that we can

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take up ourselves; we are looking for the appearing. It is to those who look for Him that He will appear without sin unto salvation. We are looking for the Lord's appearing. To all who look for Him will He appear. He has gone in but He is coming out, and until He comes out the golden bells are chiming. There are many proofs today that Christ is alive. The fact that we are sitting here and enjoying Him and meditating on Him and His death is a proof that He is living and will appear with no question of sin but unto salvation.

CHAPTER 10 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. Our attention was called last week to the fact that Christ is in heaven representatively. He has entered into heaven itself now to appear before the face of God for us. The will of God in regard of His saints is seen in all its blessed reality in Christ as in heaven.

Ques. What is the difference between God speaking in Son in Hebrews 1, and what we have here, Christ entering "into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us"?

C.A.C. The one is the converse of the other. God speaking in Son is God coming out to men. Christ entering "into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us" is the answer to that. God speaking in Son is God speaking out the declaration of Himself; the answer to that is the Priest going in representatively. The will of God is to be learnt in Christ.

We were speaking last week about the tendency there is with many to get the will of God before them in regard of practical details -- how they walk and what they do. That has its place, but we get the right thought of the will of God

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as set forth in Christ in heaven. The great point in this epistle is to make us familiar with heavenly things, and heavenly things centre in Christ gone into heaven. He is there representatively, so all whom He represents are heavenly as He is. We may depend upon it that divine love will serve us in our necessities, circumstantial and moral, but if He appears before the face of God for us, He appears in glory and beauty. No one could question the suitability of Christ to be in heaven itself, but the wonderful thing is that He represents a vast company. His priestly glory is before us in Hebrews.

Ques. How is that meant to affect us on earth, that He represents us in heaven?

C.A.C. In order to give us the greatest liberty in approach to God.

Ques. Is it like Luke 15 -- the shoes on our feet?

C.A.C. That is the line. The great object of this part of the epistle is to set us free to go to God, which I am afraid we do not know much about. We know a little about God coming to us but the majority of believers know very little about going to God.

Ques. Is this the climax of approach?

C.A.C. The climax is that Christ has entered into heaven itself and we are all represented there; that is the will of God. Everyone goes in with Him; if He is there for us representatively we all go in with Him. The hymn of J.N.D. says:

'He's gone within the veil,
For us that place has won;
In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone'. (Hymn 12)

Do we believe it? That is the will of God. We are heavenly as He is; that is christianity. If you understand that that is your place according to the will of God you will like to go to God.

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Ephesians is full of the will of God. We get there the mystery of His will, the counsel of His will and so on; all is connected with heaven. We bring the will of God too much to earth. If we know what it is to have a place in heaven it would liberate us from the corrupting influences that have a damaging effect on our practical walk.

In Hebrews we are seen in heaven representatively. It is the will of God; everything that stood in the way of our knowing it and enjoying it has been perfectly and eternally removed. Christ came to do the will of God; that involves His dealing with all that stood in the way of His called people approaching God. Christ took up the question of sin and sins, but that was not His object. He came to do the blessed will of God, but to do that He had to take up the sin question or we should have been hindered from entering into the will of God. We needed to be perfected in our consciences from the sin question in order to enter into the will of God. Nothing is more blessed than the will of God, the will of supreme love.

"He takes away the first" (verse 9); that refers to the whole divine system embodied in the tabernacle and its services. They were the best in this world but they were not the will of God. They were a shadow; therefore they had to give place, for the will of God must prevail in the universe. It is wonderful to get hold of that. We serve God by coming to Him in intelligent appreciation of His own thoughts. That delights God; God's great pleasure is that we should come near to Him in intelligence and appreciation of His own will. If every moral question were not settled we could not be in appreciation of His will. The dealing with sin and sins by Christ was essential but it was incidental; the great thing was the will of God being established. We need a great increase of liberty; one feels that amongst the people of God there is a great lack of liberty. God loves to be served in liberty. All this is the witness to His love. You

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are not going to have anything better in heaven than the love of God. I do not expect to have anything greater to fill my soul with rapture than the love of God. The Holy Spirit is pouring the love of God into hearts now; that is heaven; there will not be anything better in heaven than that. It shows how great this is that we could never have known it apart from the death of God's Son and the gift of the Spirit.

Those are the two great realities; it needed them both in order that we might know the love of God.

Ques. Does not chapter 10 shew the wonderful way in which divine Persons have moved in order to secure this?

C.A.C. The good things to come which are referred to repeatedly in this epistle have arrived. They arrived in the outshining of God. Christ has entered into heaven itself and the good things have arrived. No one could say that there were better things to come. The millennium is a lower order of things; it is the earth blessed but it is not heaven itself.

In Hebrews "God" is mentioned more than "the Father", although "the Father" is mentioned in chapter 12 in connection with chastening.

The consummation of all blessedness is that God is to be all in all; that is the highest point reached in eternity.

God's countenance beams on Christ; God can say, 'My will is secured and established in that blessed One before My face'. He represents the whole company at the present time.

There is no such thing as collective approach apart from individual approach. If I do not approach individually my coming into the assembly will not cause me to approach.

Ques. The knowledge of that love must produce response?

C.A.C. Surely. It is important to see that the sacrifices they offered yearly did not perfect those who approached.

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The best Jew that ever lived would have been terrified to go into the holiest.

Ques. Is the holiest the answer on our side to approach?

C.A.C. We approach as being in liberty. We should encourage each other to approach. Every christian in this room knows what it is to pray and to get answers to prayers -- even the youngest here knows that -- but that is not approach.

Ques. Is approach more under the priestly service of Christ personally?

C.A.C. In Hebrews we have the priestly support of Christ. Unless we had the Priest we could not approach. Where He is we are, and are entitled to be. Coming to God means that you are delighted to go to God. The psalm says, "Unto the God of the gladness of my joy", Psalm 43:4.

Ques. How does this 'going in' work out practically every day?

C.A.C. It is an experimental reality. Most believers on the earth have never known what it is to approach. They confide in God in their circumstances; they have learned how God has approached them, but to know that God is delighted that we should approach Him is a different exercise altogether -- you do not want anything. Mr. Mackintosh said that approach was like a boy who knocks on his father's study door. The father replies, 'What do you want?' The answer is, 'Father, I want a pencil'. Ten minutes later he comes to his father's door for something else he wants. The third time he comes and knocks and the father asks what he wants this time and the reply is, 'Father I do not want anything but to be with you'. That is the idea! The fact is there is a great lack of liberty. Believers are relieved from pressure but they are not in liberty, they are not conscious of being objects of delight to the heart of God. If I go to Him He is delighted to see me; that gives me liberty.

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Ques. We get the thought of the throne of grace earlier in this epistle. Would that be prayer?

C.A.C. The throne of grace is favourable. Your Priest is there and you can come boldly to the throne of grace for what you need and it is granted to you.

Rem. David went in and sat before Jehovah.

C.A.C. He had been listening to God's wonderful thoughts about him and he goes in and sits down and has a sense of how wonderfully God has acted. We read, "The worshippers once purged having no longer any conscience of sins", Hebrews 10:2. That is a fine thing!

Ques. What about verse 22?

C.A.C. That is true of every believer; if it were true to him he would have liberty. To approach is that you are completely abstracted from everything, even the circumstances that are connected with this present world. If a man went into the holiest he would be abstracted from the whole scene of nature.

Ques. This is not specially for the morning meeting?

C.A.C. Why should I limit my privilege to one hour in the week? We shall not approach when we come together if we do not approach through the week. It necessitates spiritual movement, "Let us approach" movement. Do we habitually accustom ourselves to go apart to be with God? It is no thought of prayer but abstracting ourselves from creature conditions and going to God where only God is. That is what the Spirit is moving us for in this epistle.

Ques. What is the meaning of "His flesh"?

C.A.C. His incarnation. His flesh covers everything that was secured by His becoming flesh and going into death. The veil is His incarnation -- a divine Person become Man -- so a new way is opened up. A new way that is paved with love, His flesh makes it possible. All this magnifies the incarnation, which God has been calling

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attention to of late. "Thou hast prepared me a body" is in contrast with all the sacrifices and offerings. "Wherefore coming into the world"; that is His flesh; that is the hinge on which all stands. It was the will of God that that prepared body should be offered. There is the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. The fact that He is the Testator means that He is God Himself and yet the Testator dies.

Rem. It is striking that the Spirit uses the word "body" here, it being "ears" in the Old Testament.

C.A.C. Yes, it is. Those who translated the Old Testament into Greek translated the word "a body hast thou prepared me", and the Spirit has adopted that translation here in Hebrews. The ear is the characteristic member of man's body. In the reckoning of God the ear is the most important member of the body. So it is very important to give a right place to the ear. He shews here that the body which was prepared has been offered, and having been offered He is in a new condition. It is no longer the days of His flesh; that body which He came in in flesh has been offered and the efficacy of that offering has established the will of God. The will of God is established through the death of Christ. The incarnation is a human term; it is not in Scripture. The strict meaning of the word is that a divine Person has come here in flesh and blood; "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us", John 1:14. But He remains Man for ever. His body has been offered; He is raised in a new condition; He has gone into heaven representatively. He is in a glorified condition now. The will of God is that many sons be brought to glory. It is a new condition, a spiritual body in contrast with a natural body. We are all going to have spiritual bodies. We have never known Christ after the flesh, but we have the inspired record of what He was. We know that all He was morally He is still, in another condition but still Man. "Coming into the world", He says certain things that

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are in the roll of the book; that refers to eternity, but Christ takes up the language in time -- we must not attach the thought of obedience to Him as in the form of God. The thought of obedience is not connected with God. The roll of the book is connected with purpose and counsel. What was written in that book in eternity was to be taken up and voiced by a divine Person having become Man, but you could not think of a divine Person knowing obedience. "Coming into the world, he says, ... Lo, I come (in the roll of the book it is written of me)", but His utterance "Lo, I come", was as coming into the world. To carry the thought of obedience into the past eternity is derogatory to His divine Person and glory. We cannot be too clear on this point.

It is all worked out by a divine Person coming to a condition in which obedience was possible. Obedience is not possible for God. Who is He to obey? If we think of God becoming Man, He comes of His own will: "I am come down from heaven", John 6:38. It is His own act as a divine Person. He says, "not that I should do my will, but the will of him that has sent me". There He speaks as coming into the world as Man. It says in Ephesians that He descended -- that was His own act. In John He says "I ascend", that was His own act; He goes in the dignity of His glorious Person; He ascends to the Father.

Question as to the Spirit.

C.A.C. The place the Spirit has taken in the economy of grace is patterned after the place Christ took. The Spirit has been pleased to take a subordinate place. One divine Person has taken a subordinate place to another divine Person who has also taken a subordinate place. The Spirit in that subordinate place speaks of what He hears; He does not speak from Himself. The Spirit descending on Christ is the act of the Holy Spirit as a divine Person. The whole

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of the epistle of Hebrews has a golden thread running through -- the deity of the Son.

CHAPTER 10 (SECOND READING)

C.A.C. I suppose we might regard the entering into the holiest as the climax of the epistle.

Ques. What is in view in entering into the holiest?

C.A.C. It has in mind the service of God viewed in relation to His own will and His own purposes.

Ques. Is worship one thought of it?

C.A.C. I think that enters into the service of the house of God. If we are to serve God or worship Him acceptably it must be as those who enter into His thoughts. I suppose the holiest is looked at as the place where we become spiritually intelligent in all that is in the mind and heart of God.

Rem. The psalmist said, "I went into the sanctuaries, then understood I", Psalm 73:17.

C.A.C. Yes; there it is in regard of his perplexity in seeing the wicked prospering and that they got on much better than he did in spite of his piety. In the sanctuary he got intelligence and saw God's way was in the sanctuary. It is wonderful to see what God is about. He can only be rightly served or worshipped by those who know what He is about. God likes to be understood -- we all do. I believe the greatest pleasure of God is to be understood.

Ques. Is all service towards God in the holiest?

C.A.C. The service of God takes place in the assembly. Approaching in the holiest is to make us intelligent persons for the assembly; no one acts intelligently in the assembly who has not been in the holiest.

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This epistle contemplates a tabernacle, a greater and more perfect tabernacle than the one Moses made. It is not of this creation; it is a tabernacle which the Lord has pitched and not man. We have to think of a spiritual tabernacle and the holiest is the innermost part of that tabernacle. The thought of a tabernacle is a dwelling-place for God amongst men.

Ques. Would Mary of Bethany illustrate one who understood the Lord?

C.A.C. Yes, I think she might be an illustration of a person in the holiest. If we all knew what it was to approach in the holiest, all our utterances in the assembly would be intelligent. That is the thought of His service, ministering what is a delight to God. What He delights in is that He is understood. There are a people on earth who understand Him; they are priests and sons and have access to the innermost shrine of His thoughts and purposes.

They enter into all that and that is service to God. He is pleased with them; that is the idea of service.

Ques. How does that come about practically?

C.A.C. All the distraction around makes the privilege more wonderful. We can leave the distractions around and come in spirit to a place of divine rest. The holiest is where the ark rests.

Ques. Is this individual?

C.A.C. Yes, it is the privilege of the priestly family. We need to understand that we have boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The thought of the holiest is vague and misty to many of us but it ought not to be. It is really very simple.

Ques. Is it connected with the blood carried in?

C.A.C. Yes, the blood of the sin offering. In connection with that the ground on which Aaron went in was the ground on which his sons could go. That is the meaning of the scripture, "He that sanctifies and those sanctified are

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all of one", Hebrews 2:11. Christ has entered in with His own blood by a way that we can go in too. When Aaron offered the blood of the bullock it was for himself and his house. The first one to get the benefit was Aaron.

Ques. Is there light in regard of the way and state of the believer? We need light as to the way in and then state to enter.

C.A.C. The state comes afterwards. You see the way in and what is there objectively first.

Ques. In connection with apprehension as to the way into the holiest, do you think that the sovereignty of the Lord gives light to some more than others? Many souls are distressed at their smallness, but the Lord would have us exercised but not discouraged.

C.A.C. We are all equal in the value of the death of Christ; that is divine teaching. These Hebrews were babes. Are we amongst the called ones? This epistle is addressed to people who are partakers of the heavenly calling -- that is all on the divine side. Every one who has remission of sins is entitled to go into the holiest. You have to learn the way in; you learn it in Christ. Christ has gone in; He has not only come out but He has gone in and that is the way we can go in.

Aaron and his sons all put their hands on the head of the bullock. That is the point of view in Hebrews; we are not sanctified by any process in ourselves, but in the death of Christ. He has gone in with His own blood; all the saints go in on the same ground. All are put on the ground on which Christ is; He has taken up ground which He was never on until He went through death. He has taken up with God sacrificial ground; that is the ground on which the whole priestly family can go in. It is what is effected by the will of God and the death of Christ.

Ques. Is "all of one" His order?

C.A.C. The fact that we are of His order is connected

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with the work of God in us, but there is something greater than that, namely, what has been effected on God's part by Christ and through His death. Christ could go in to God on the ground of His own blood. Christ went in first and because He went in others could go in. It is illustrated by the thief. The Lord said, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise", Luke 23:43. Jesus was going in and the thief could go in on the same ground, the value of His blood.

Rem. No other ground could give holy liberty.

C.A.C. Quite so. We do not let the light of this enter into our souls. This chapter speaks of being illuminated. The way in is dedicated. The way in is the point here; it is dedicated by His going in Himself. He took up flesh in order that through death He might go in to God. There is no expression of God's purpose in Christ after the flesh. It is through death that He goes in; He goes through the veil by His own death. He took up flesh to make an exodus from the present state of things. He dedicated a way for us to go in. He came to this new condition. We must see the thing in Christ. In the Gospels the thought of the rent veil is God coming out; in Hebrews the veil is clearly connected with going in.

Rem. It has been said that there is no rent veil in Hebrews.

C.A.C. Yes, but you have to see the idea that Christ has dedicated a new and living way in. That way in is opened up for every one of us, old and young; whatever we are, there is only that one way.

Ques. What is the thought of the living way?

C.A.C. It is the contrast with the old dead system of things. If He goes through death He leaves behind all that is old and dead and He goes in as Priest representing a great company.

Ques. Is the first part objective and the second part subjective?

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C.A.C. We get the opening up of the way first and then, "Let us approach". If you see the love of God in the opening up of the way you want to go in, and that raises the question of state. You begin to move before you realise how necessary these things are.

Ques. Is it the same as "I am the way", John 14:6?

C.A.C. It is the same kind of thought. He is thinking of our coming to the Father. He is the great Priest over the house of God; this is a great objective and attractive reality. Everything that is objective in a divine Person is attractive to those who love God. A "true heart" means that we love God.

Ques. What about a wicked conscience?

C.A.C. You need to be liberated from that: your conscience is wicked when it keeps you away from God. Anything that keeps you from God is wicked; a good conscience would lead you to God. A wicked conscience is that character of conscience which makes a man run away from God. We all know that the conscience works that way in the natural man; it makes him shun God and keep out of His way. A man's conscience makes him afraid of God: that is a wicked conscience. The conscience is a very important thing. I have said sometimes it is the most valuable thing you have now and yet it will be of no use to you in heaven.

Ques. What is the meaning of "washed as to our body with pure water"?

C.A.C. It is the death of Christ applied morally. Whatever came under judgment judicially in the blood has to go morally by the water. This epistle speaks of the blood of sprinkling.

Ques. Is there any thought of the laver?

C.A.C. This whole scripture is an allusion to the consecration of the priests.

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Ques. Would a sprinkled conscience be additional to a purged conscience?

C.A.C. Here the affections are brought under the blessedness of the sprinkling, so you are liberated in your affections from a wicked conscience that would hold you away from God. Sprinkling in Scripture is a greater thought than washing. The heart is sprinkled; the affections are liberated from that action of conscience that keeps you away from God.

If we could take in these great objective thoughts it would help us much, because the objective is always the greatest. What is true in Christ must be greater than what is true in me.

Think of His coming here in flesh to go to God on the ground that we might be there with Him as His brethren! He has dedicated the way by going Himself; that is a great and blessed reality. He is a great Priest. He is there in the full intelligence of the purpose and love of God in regard of the sanctified. He is Priest to attract us. All that is in the thought of God in regard to us is perfectly set forth in Christ. Am I attracted by seeing the blessedness in which Christ is as Man? He can have the sanctified ones with Himself. He is Priest over the house of God; He brings God's thoughts to bear in regard to the whole house. If we realised this, how intelligently we should take part when we come together!

Who understands the ark, the mercy-seat, Aaron's rod that budded and the tables of the covenant as Christ does?

He is calling us to come where these things are perfectly understood. That is the holiest; you come where the thoughts of God are understood perfectly by Christ. See what a gain it is to have such a Priest to maintain everything in its fulness. He understands sonship, His brethren and so on. He understands them all, and if I get near to Him I shall understand too. It says, "Let us approach".

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Things are vague to us because the greatest realities are in the holiest and we know so little of it. The Lord calls us to follow Him through death; none of these things can be learned from Christ after the flesh; there was no new and living way in the days of His flesh. He says, "I have a baptism to be baptised with, and how am I straitened until it shall have been accomplished!" Luke 12:50. All the purposes of God for men were hidden while Christ was here after the flesh.

This epistle emphasises the thought of greatness. God Himself is called "the greatness", Hebrews 1:3. Christ is a great Priest; He causes the thoughts of God to dominate over the house of God, so God is served acceptably and according to His pleasure.

Ques. What is the meaning of "Which the Lord has pitched", Hebrews 8:2?

C.A.C. He pitched it as having come through death and having set up the divine system with every detail perfect to God. Things are set right. The tabernacle is the thought of a dwelling where God dwells among men and where He can be approached and His most intimate thoughts can be known. If we think for a moment of the prodigal; when he got to his father's house and sat at table my impression is that he had very little to say. In the holiest you do not say a word; you do not speak; you are there to learn. The prodigal would have drunk in the divine pleasure and divine thoughts. In the holiest we come to take it all in. You are silent in the holiest in order that you might have something to say in the assembly. If what we said in the assembly was the result of what we had learnt in the holiest it would be worth listening to.

It is a great thing to apprehend christianity as a system of perfection without a flaw. There is no flaw in the covenant nor in the Mediator; there is not a flaw in the

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system. It is a great thing to understand the system we belong to.

Ques. Is this the normal result of what is priestly?

C.A.C. Yes. The disposition of God as known in the covenant means the way He has disposed of things. God's disposition of things reveals His heart. A man's will is how he appoints things to be done. How has God disposed of things? He is going to bring many sons to glory, that is how He disposes of things. He begs us all to approach, "Let us approach". Well, if we want to approach that raises moral questions, the state of our conscience, heart and body even. If I do approach God everything must be suitable. A worldly man could not approach God. If people are converted to God they love God and would like to have as much to do with God as possible. The nearer we get to God the better off we are.

J.B.S. used to tell of one who had a dream. He dreamt he was visiting the king's palace. At the gateway he was received with courtesy; at the door he was received with greater pomp, and as he visited various rooms his reception was always greater than the last, until finally he came to the throne-room where he was received with acclamation! I think that just illustrates what we are speaking of -- how wonderfully benefited we are the nearer we get to God.

Ques. Would the body being washed be our associations?

C.A.C. It would be outward purity. We are to be marked outwardly with the purity that belongs to priests. Do people recognise that we are priests? There should be a purity about us as having to do with God. Are we walking about as priests?

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CHAPTER 10 (THIRD READING)

C.A.C. It is a great thing ever to keep before us that the will of God takes effect in all the value of the death of Christ. The will of God in its full sense and import is not something that remains to be done but something which is absolutely and eternally secured in the value of the death of Christ. To see that is very establishing and liberating. If we are thinking of the will of God we are not thinking of ourselves.

Ques. Would the perfecting of this will indicate that the full light of this dispensation has come in?

C.A.C. It comes in for persons who need establishing in the truth of it. The Hebrews are addressed as persons who had become dull of hearing and persons slow to enter into divine realities, so we can all come in. The youngest, feeblest and dullest of us can come in to the great and precious truth concerning Christ and His death and the will of God secured by Him through death. It makes no demand on us. It is all depicted by one act; nothing can be added to sanctification by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. People think of sanctification as a process carried on in themselves, but sanctification is effected by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ.

Ques. It is effected once and for all, and yet there is the practical side of it, is there not?

C. A. C. Yes, very practical. If I take in that by God's will I am part of a company sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ; what I am sanctified from and what I am sanctified to I need to understand.

Ques. We get in John 17, "Sanctify them by the truth". Would that apply to believers generally?

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C.A.C. Yes. The truth is what has been effected by God's will and by Christ's death; that truth has to be brought home to us so that we stand in the good of it. The Lord says, "I sanctify myself for them". The Son of the Father sanctified Himself -- He took a place apart from this world and from sin and death; that is the measure of our sanctification. It is the truth that sanctifies us, nothing is so sanctifying as the truth.

Ques. Are we set apart in Hebrews for the service of God?

C.A.C. That is the idea; we are sanctified -- set apart -- for the holy service. It is done once for all. It was an accomplished thing and was never repeated. It was effected nineteen hundred years ago.

Rem. The present system that is set up of men is very damaging to souls and to the effect of this.

C.A.C. Yes. The whole company of saints are viewed as sanctified by God's will, and the offering of the body of Jesus Christ has effected the whole extent of God's will. So the sanctified are perfected, "By one offering he has perfected in perpetuity the sanctified" (verse 14). In verse 10 we read, "by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". This is a divine reality, and then we read that by one offering He has perfected in perpetuity the sanctified. All this is designed to give us a profound sense of the greatness of the death of Christ. God would have us to think much more of it than we do.

Ques. Does this verse that we are thinking of bring in the divine thought that is brought in in Christ?

C.A.C. Yes. These people were in the babe state. Hebrews is a child's book, it is for spiritual infancy. Christ and His death and its amazing results are for you to look at and bow to and worship. The youngest babe in Christ can contemplate it.

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Rem. The Spirit of God calls attention to "this Man", Hebrews 10:12, (Authorised Version).

C.A.C. Yes, in contrast to the multitude of sacrifices that never took away sin. Now an effectual sacrifice has been offered and sins are all put away. The saints are perfected in perpetuity -- the thing stands. We may realise it one day and not realise it another day, but the thing stands whether we realise it or not. No question of sin can be raised any more.

Rem. Where He has gone He has set Himself down for ever.

C.A.C. Which shews He is a divine Person. Having accomplished this wonderful sacrifice He has set Himself down, so the sins of the sanctified are eternally settled. The question of sins cannot be raised again either by God who never remembers them any more, or by the devil. This is the character of the speaking; it speaks of the sacrifice which removed the sins of the sanctified eternally. They are sanctified in perpetuity.

Rem. Even the high priest on the day of atonement could not do this.

C.A.C. No; there is no type of this, although Psalm 110 is prophetic of it.

In the case of the Hebrews they were under the influence of the system they had been in. The system was judaism; they had been under that influence and they were thus kept in a state of babyhood. We are surrounded by the influence of the corrupted profession of christianity and the thoughts in men's minds which are not divine thoughts at all. That will keep those who are under that system in babyhood.

Rem. Paul is an extraordinary model of one who, although connected with an earthly religion, yet came into liberty in what came in in Christ.

C.A.C. Yes. It is liberating and there is need that we

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should take it in. Everything that could have hindered us from taking up the service of the holiest has been removed in the sacrifice of Christ. That stands for God and it stands for faith. The thing is not to take up anything that is contrary to what stands for God.

Ques. You have spoken of God's will and the offering of Jesus Christ; is that why the Spirit is brought in in verse 15?

C.A.C. Yes; he brings in the witness of the Spirit; that is the subject here. In Jeremiah the Spirit had given a certain witness and that abides as a living witness. What God said as to the new covenant -- putting it in their hearts and minds and not remembering their sins any more -- is the present witness to us.

Ques. What is the right hand of God spoken of in verse 12?

C.A.C. The settlement of every moral question. He has so settled it that He can take up the most favourable position towards God. Our sins are gone and are never to be remembered any more.

Ques. Is it mostly sins in Hebrews?

C.A.C. Yes, He takes up the question of sins because He is dealing with the thing practically. If the sins are gone the man is gone too. If the sins are gone by means of death, death is the end of the man that sinned; so dealing with sins involves the setting aside of the man. The epistle to the Hebrews looks at it thus; as a man in the flesh there is nothing attached to me but sin. If that is so, and the sins are disposed of, I am disposed of too because I have never done anything but sin as a man in the flesh. We have to come to it that as children of Adam we have never done anything else but sin, so nothing but sin is connected with us. If the sins are removed the man is gone that is connected with the sins.

The sense of the value of the sacrifice is most important

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and gives liberty for this extraordinary proposal. It is proposed that we should go into the holiest; that is a most amazing thing; there is no type of that in the Old Testament, and no promise of it either.

Ques. Has He not dealt with the sins of the present time?

C.A.C. The range of this scripture is the sanctified -- persons marked off, God's called ones -- called of God and sanctified in the death of Jesus Christ by God's will. This scripture applies to them.

Ques. Have we to work out the practical result in our localities?

C.A.C. We must keep before us that the theme is the service of God. How many souls in this locality are liberated in soul for the service of God? There are two parts in service, the service of the altar and the service of the holiest. Those are the two great parts of priestly service.

Ques. Would you go into it a little for us?

C.A.C. I am thinking of Numbers 18:7. Jehovah says to Aaron, "Thou and thy sons with thee shall attend to your priesthood for all that concerneth the altar, and for that which is inside the veil; and ye shall perform the service: I give you your priesthood as a service of gift". That defines these two branches of priestly service -- that which concerns the altar and that within the veil. What was in the mind of God was the present time; it is only now that there has been any service rendered within the veil.

Our brother was asking as to the two kinds of service. We have the altar first. The gifts and offerings concern the altar. That is the external part; the altar is outside in the court of the tabernacle; the altar has to do with what takes place publicly. The thought of offering is not prominent in Hebrews because the object of the Spirit is to furnish us with something to offer. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name" Hebrews 13:15. That is altar-wards;

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it is public. "We have an altar": there it is the priestly part going along with Numbers 18 where the priestly eating is the great subject. If we had more offerings we should have more to eat.

Ques. Does the altar bring in service?

C.A.C. Yes, priestly service. The Levites helped but the offering is priestly.

Ques. Is the holiest worship?

C.A.C. Scripture intimates that there is a service inside the veil which is part of the priestly service and must not be neglected. There is a tendency with us to think more of the altar service than of the service within the veil, but that is not right.

Ques. What is the character of the service within the veil?

C.A.C. It seems to me that it is the concern of the writer of this epistle to get us to go there. "Having ... boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus ... through the veil ... let us approach", Hebrews 10:19 - 22. It is as if to say, try it, try this unheard-of thing. If we get inside we shall know what to do when we get there. We get the service of the altar in detail in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but we have no detail of the service that is within the veil. You are at liberty to go in, but you must go in in a certain condition. If you go in in that condition, you will know what to do when you get there. We know more of the altar service than of that within the veil. There is not a hint in either the Old or New Testament as to what the service within the veil is.

Ques. Would you regard the service within the veil in Numbers 18 the same as on the day of atonement?

C.A.C. I had an impression that it did not refer to the service of the day of atonement because that is no part of normal priestly service. Aaron had to disrobe to do the service of the day of atonement; it was the basis of all the

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service, no doubt. The service of priesthood, of the altar and within the veil, in Numbers 18 has no reference to the day of atonement; it refers to an everlasting statute. What is perpetuated is the service of the altar and the service within the veil. It must have been astounding to pious Jews to whom this epistle is written to think of going within the veil. Yet the veil which was formerly a barrier is now the very thing that attracts.

We ought to get more words from the Lord; it is a sorrow that we get so little from Him. In Numbers 7 Moses speaks to God and God to him, and then Moses speaks again to God. So in the morning meeting if we speak to God He responds, He gives a word through a prepared vessel. The effect of this is that there is more speaking from God to us and from us to God. Christ takes His place in the midst of the assembly; He comes in as Head to sing the praises. It is wonderful, He takes a place on our side.

The service within the veil would make us more wealthy than the service of the altar because you go to the immediate presence of God! What an effect that would have on our whole spirits, souls and minds! We would be saturated with thoughts of divine love; we would come out to the service of the altar -- to what is public -- and what a power there would be for the service of the altar. The same things might be said but what a freshness and unction there would be in the offering! The point here is to see the amazing efficacy of the death of Christ. If we pondered the way of liberty, the nature of it secured by the death of Christ, it would set us free for the wonderful intimate approach to God. The public side depends largely on whether in private we know what it is to approach in the holiest.

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CHAPTER 10 (FOURTH READING)

C.A.C. We have been speaking of the privilege of going into the holiest as the place where we get intelligence in the mind of God. Then it would appear that it is to work out in the life of faith here. The holding of the confession of the hope would not be within the veil but outside.

Great confirmation and encouragement would be derived from approaching God in His secret place. One has thought of the encouragement and strength that was, no doubt, the result of being on the holy mount with Jesus. What a wonderful thing for the brethren, a testimony that left a lasting mark on them as we know from what Peter wrote in his old age!

Approach in the holiest is intended to qualify us for holding the confession of the hope without wavering.

Ques. Do you gather strength in the holiest?

C.A.C. Yes, we gather strength by becoming acquainted with what God has before Him. He brings it about by Christ. Then what we learn inside is a matter of hope; that is, everything that God has before Him for blessing His people is all future except in Christ. It is present in Christ but future as far as we are concerned; hence the prominence that is given to hope in this epistle. We are strengthened through going within the veil.

Ques. Would you say that the more we know of entering the holiest the more we are in secret with the heart of God?

C.A.C. Yes. J.B.S. used to say that entering the holiest corresponds with 2 Corinthians 3; beholding the glory of the Lord we are changed, transformed into correspondence with God. It is wonderful to be permitted to go into the sanctuary in a more wonderful way than the

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saints of old could go in, and to get intelligence there of what God is doing and in the light of that to hold fast the confession of hope. I think that confession comes out in a hostile scene where Jesus died. Confession largely consists in making much of the brethren.

Ques. Would you explain that?

C.A.C. We shall make much of the brethren if we have been in the holiest; we shall get a wonderful thought_ of them in the holiest. We shall find no failure or defect or blemish in the holiest. Wonderful thoughts are entertained of the brethren there! This gives you great interest in the brethren and you come out of the holiest filled with desire to encourage the brethren. We need to get away from all that we see with our eyes and get to that region where we see with spiritual vision. In the holiest there is nothing but what is divine; the thought of the blood is divine, and the thought of the glory is divine; there is no stain on the divine glory.

Ques. Would not verse 24 support what you are saying as to the brethren?

C.A.C. I thought so. The confession of hope lies in the fact that the brethren go on together and encourage one another in the light of what is within the veil.

Ques. Would it be the same thought as enquiring in the temple?

C.A.C. There is the thought of enquiring in the temple and getting intelligence in the sanctuary, whether as to the end of the wicked or in the way of God. His way is known in the sanctuary.

Ques. Would holiness be God's way of things?

C.A.C. I thought so. That would give us capacity to encourage one another. It seems to me that the thought contemplated in the assembly being together is that we come together because of our interest in one another. Does not every one come to give? We come to encourage one

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another; it encourages the brethren to see one another at the meetings. Every sister might think, 'It costs me something to get to the prayer meeting, but it encourages the brethren to see me there, so I will go!' That is the principle. The brethren all need encouraging; there are many depressing influences around us. We forget sometimes that the brethren are a suffering, disciplined and sorrowing people; therefore the prophetic ministry that the Lord gives us is for encouragement, edification and consolation. I like the thought of that; there is something consoling about all prophetic ministry.

Rem. What helps in our ways with our brethren is going within the veil; then we come out with changed thoughts and ideas.

C.A.C. Yes. You do not want to come to the meetings with a depressed spirit; one who does so cannot encourage others. It is the man who has been comforted and encouraged that can encourage and comfort others. Going within the veil is what can give us the best comfort.

Ques. Is this for sisters as well as brothers?

C.A.C. Oh! yes. Sisters can go into the holiest as well as brothers, and come out and hold the confession of hope and be in the meetings with peaceful and happy countenances, which gives encouragement.

Ques. Would the love of God within the veil affect us in coming out?

C.A.C. Yes. If we are to see the brethren according to truth, we need to be educated for that. We look at them too often as in the flesh. The value of going into the holiest is that you view the brethren as represented there in the great Priest. What we are in the flesh does not enter into that at all; going into the holiest gives us power of abstraction from that. You think then of the meetings quite differently. What are the meetings? They are the spots

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here on this earth where everything precious to God is cherished.

Ques. What is the difference between the holiest and the assembly?

C.A.C. We learn to assemble together by being in the holiest. The illumination within the veil would help us to assemble together with wonderful thoughts of God, of Christ and of the brethren. So in coming together the divine thought is encouragement in view of testimony. Going into the holiest is a privilege that is available at any time.

Ques. Is the holiest an individual experience?

C.A.C. Yes, but the grace and virtue of it would come into the company. If one brother came into the assembly who had been in the holiest he would colour the whole meeting. J.B.S. said that the most spiritual person in a locality, whether brother or sister, gave character to that locality.

One was thinking of the setting of it here; we consider for one another in verse 24; we do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together in verse 25 but encourage one another, and in verse 33 they not only suffered but became partakers with those who were passing through suffering. They were in sympathy with their suffering brethren. There is much suffering going on amongst us now in other lands. The saints assemble as in the light of the holiest.

Rem. We often go to the meetings for what we can get, but we should keep this side in view.

C.A.C. When we go to meetings for what we can get, sometimes we come away disappointed because they do not come up to our standard; but if we go to encourage one another we get all we need and more.

The hope is very distinctive; it brings the whole range of

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divine thoughts into view in their completeness. You look at the saints in the light of all that. It would help us much and we should be prepared to encourage one another.

It is an awful thing to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; it is not supposed in the scripture before us that any one would do that but an apostate.

We are on the ground of the faithfulness of God. He is faithful, He is going to put through to the finish every one of His thoughts in regard of His people. The present exercise as to meetings for ministry is the practical working out of that. Meetings for ministry are a necessity in the divine economy.

Ques. Would you say more as to this?

C.A.C. It is evident that 1 Corinthians 14 was never intended to be a dead letter. That scripture is a good word for us today; there is a tendency to let that means of edification drop out, "So much the more", he says.

Assembling together is the point here, not gathering to the name of the Lord, but assembling together. The brethren assemble because of their interest in one another; here it is not the Lord that attracts you but the brethren, that you may encourage one another.

Ques. Would you suggest that the meetings for ministry should become an exercise in our various localities?

C.A.C. I think the Lord has raised the exercise and He does not intend it to fall to the ground. It will produce exercise -- love and faith and exercise and prayer before God. It was for lack of these that this kind of meeting failed and became formal.

What comes out in this part of the epistle is that the just one lives by faith. God singles out 'my just man' as if there was only an odd one here and there (See note to Hebrews 10:38).

Rem. This epistle is not written to only one assembly.

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C.A.C. No, these principles are general. We go into the holiest and learn there God's thoughts about His people, then we come out to encourage one another. There is a danger of people drifting off. It is a tremendous exercise if anyone leaves the brethren; what have we been doing? They should have realised that their life depended on being with us. We have lost a good many, and I think that the scripture in this epistle applies, "Make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned aside", Hebrews 12:13. Those that are lame are the ones we sometimes want to get rid of! We are to make straight paths that they might be healed. Their walk and ways may be wrong but what are we to do? Walk right ourselves and get them healed.

Of course I am not talking of wilful people. Nothing can be done with people who are wilful. At the beginning of christianity there was a company with all sorts of failure amongst them but they were walking together in the light of Christ, and if any one left them it was apostasy, and the principle still holds good.

The day of the Lord is coming and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. All that is of man is coming under judgment in that day.

Rem. Malachi speaks of those who feared the Lord and spoke often one to another.

C.A.C. That is the spirit of it. There should be great power of encouragement in the meetings.

Ques. What leads to apostasy?

C.A.C. It skews that there is no work of God in the soul at all. A man may join the christian company and have no work in his soul and then he gives it all up. No true believer could ever apostatise. "They shall never perish" (John 10:28); that means that they will never apostatise. With the apostate there has never been any real link with the Lord. Judas was in great nearness to the Lord and

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engaged in His work, but he had no link with the Lord at all. Forsaking coming together means that. Professing christians who become adversaries are not true believers; they forsake the assembling together as in this chapter. But the principle of it is a solemn warning to us.

Rem. Demas had forsaken the apostle.

C.A.C. We are told that he left the apostle because he loved the present age. The last you hear of Demas is that he was moving from Paul. We should be exercised about these things. Thank God the saints are exercised.

It is wonderful how the saints are drawn together. Think of the numbers that assemble now for the ministry of the word! A great reason for such numbers assembling is the delight the saints have in the pleasure of being together and the Lord has pleasure in that too.

An old man was once asked why he came at great personal cost to the meetings when he could not hear a word. He replied, 'The Lord likes to see me there and the brethren do too!' Nothing pleases the Lord better than to see us drawn together in love. It is quite a feature of these last days that the saints are drawn together, whether it is for prayer or the reading of the word. What spiritual value there is in a company like this tonight! All here are loved by the Father and the Son -- all are redeemed -- what spiritual value there is in that! What a wonderful thing to sit down and speak together as those who have a living interest in these things! We are all so different and yet we can come together without a jarring note. The Lord encouraged those women who resorted to the riverside, and I think if there were only sisters in a meeting the Lord would send them a brother sometimes. I believe there is a peculiar pleasure in being in the company of the brethren even if we cannot speak a word.

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CHAPTER 11 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. It is fairly easy to see as regards the Old Testament saints that their faith laid hold of what was future. In the light of what is still future they suffered and passed out of this world without gaining anything outwardly. This is as true for ourselves; our portion is 'in the ages yet to come' as we sing sometimes. God is still maintaining the faith principle and the faith system is in contrast with all that is in the world and all that can be seen. Faith really links on with the purpose of God. The purpose of God in Ephesians is to place the saints in the heavenlies. No one can see that. It is a wonderful scene where Christ is sitting in the heavenlies, but none of us has seen Him.

Ques. It refers here to not casting away your confidence. Would you explain that?

C.A.C. I suppose they had known earlier days. It says, "Call to mind the earlier days". In those earlier days they had been prepared to suffer reproach and be joined in sympathy with those who were suffering. There is a tendency with us of those earlier days not being maintained: it is an exercise for us all. In the earlier days it pleases God that there should be freshness and reality so that there is something there that God can appeal to, as He said to Israel, "I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown", Jeremiah 2:2. These Hebrew saints had suffered when they were first enlightened and had been connected with others who had suffered and they are told not to lose their confidence. There is a danger of stopping short. Miriam is one of the most pathetic pictures in Scripture -- she died just in sight of the land. It is a

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solemn warning. Miriam represents at the beginning a happy believer; she went out of Egypt with dances and sang a beautiful refrain -- "Jehovah ... is highly exalted". She was happy in thinking of the triumph of Jehovah, but she took no account of what was great in the song of Moses, that is, the purpose of God, how He is going to bring His people in and plant them in the inheritance. So she stopped short of the land and never reached it. It is a warning not to cast away your confidence. It is a great thing to keep the purpose of God in view. The youngest believer can cherish Ephesians 1 and 2 as God's will for them. It is only a short time before the Lord comes; when He comes He will introduce us into all the purpose of God for us. In the meantime we live by faith; we not only believe but we live on that principle.

Ques. Is faith a peculiar characteristic of this dispensation?

C.A.C. Yes, and it links on with what has been in the past, as chapter 11 shews.

Rem. In Romans we see the kind of people who live by faith -- the righteous; in Galatians we live by faith in contrast to law, and in Hebrews it is a question of life -- we live by faith.

C.A.C. It seems so; you put the emphasis on three different words in the quotation. The thought of living is that we are for God's pleasure; that is the idea of living here. It is suggested in, "If he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him". Living is in contrast to drawing back to the world and the religious system that does not value Christ. We should covet to LIVE. Nothing in our lives is any pleasure to God except that which is in faith. If we do not come to this meeting in faith we are not pleasing to God.

Rem. In the gospels the Lord was refreshed by the different instances of faith.

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C.A.C. Yes. It is really what stands connected with the purpose of God, what God has in mind. In this epistle we get great things presented to us objectively -- the deity of the Son in chapter 1, and the manhood of Christ in chapter 2.

The sacrifice of Christ and the priesthood are largely presented in this epistle. These are marvellous things which throw into the shade this world and all that is connected with the system of sight. The purpose of God comes in in connection with the calling and it is on that line that the saints come into view as marked by faith and the divine nature. That is the subjective side: love to God's name as manifested towards His people; that is all on the line of purpose.

Rem. The apostle said, "I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God", Galatians 2:20.

C.A.C. Yes. The life he lived in the flesh he lived by faith of the Son of God. He walked by the light of an unseen Person: that is a wonderful thing. I ask myself sometimes, 'Am I walking in the light of what is unseen?' If I am walking in the light of what is seen I am no pleasure to God.

Rem. I suppose the Lord's coming you were speaking of is in connection with the coming glory. It is not exactly the rapture.

C.A.C. No. I was speaking of the time when all that is known to faith now will be known publicly. It is a great thing. I have thought sometimes that there is no time in our history when life is so in evidence as it is when we are in the assembly. What are we occupied with there? If we take the poorest morning meeting that there ever was, what is before the saints? What is unseen. Every hymn or prayer or word of ministry relates to what is unseen. As far as we enjoy that we live.

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Ques. Is it the same as, "He also who eats me shall live also on account of me", John 6:57?

C.A.C. It has often been remarked that that text refers to Christ as Priest. We live on account of the Priest; that goes well with Hebrews.

Ques. It has often been said by unconverted people, 'Shew us some element in regard to unseen things'. Does that lend force to the word 'faith'?

C.A.C. We expect the world to walk by sight, but those who come into the purpose of God are partakers of the heavenly calling and heirs of promise by faith.

Rem. These men in Hebrews 11 had not the Spirit as we have it.

C.A.C. No. The faith world is the only world worth looking at. What is this world with its schemes and improvements? It is a vast graveyard. The world of science is a dreadful snare, especially when it takes a religious form. Grand buildings and beautiful organs are all part of the sight system and there is nothing in that for faith. It is helpful to see that the idea of living is being pleasurable to God.

Rem. That must be the faith system.

C.A.C. Yes, because faith takes account of what is pleasurable to God. God takes no interest in the schemes of men. We want to be vital and to have things vital and they are only vital as they are in faith. The holiest is the place where you can be abstracted from the sight system. You spiritually reach a spot in the assurance of your faith where there is no intrusion of the sight system. Nothing is present to consciousness but what is within the veil. What a wonderful thing to live for five minutes there: it would change us for the rest of our lives. We come to the climax of things in having the privilege of the holiest. In the Old Testament we have the thought of going into the sanctuary, but that is intensified now; the holiest is the innermost

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shrine. God would speak to us of the world to come. God does not talk to us of this world, but of the world to come, and christians characteristically talk of the world to come. It says, "the habitable world which is to come, of which we speak". It has often been remarked that from the outset of sin God had in view the world to come. From the garden of Eden He had in view the crushing of the serpent's head. The world to which the serpent belonged was going to disappear to make room for another world which would be all of God.

Ques. Would faith always stand in relation to Christ?

C.A.C. Yes, surely. We need to remind each other of this because there is a continual tendency to go back to the present world instead of getting more and more interested and occupied with the world to come. We get the most solemn warnings that there are in scripture in this epistle. They would not be there if we did not need them.

Rem. Newspapers would detract us from the world to come.

C.A.C. One would not like to live in this world. We may have to touch it, but I would not like to live in it. We may have to work and get our temporal living in the world, but we should live in the faith world.

Rem. You alluded to Demas last week; it says of him that he "loved the present age".

C.A.C. Yes, and it is a solemn thing to be said of a man that he loved the present age, because it is of such a character that in a short time God is going to sweep it away with the besom of destruction. What a dreadful thing to love that world! I feel that we need to encourage one another in relation to this great matter of living by faith.

Ques. What is the world to come marked by?

C.A.C. By the exaltation of Christ and the dominance of all that is of God. All the things that are despised and thought nothing of in this world are what will mark the

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situation. It will not be a faith system then, but a time of sight.

Rem. It speaks of the proving of your faith.

C.A.C. Yes. Peter suggests that faith will be tried by fire. God has pleasure in having it tested. If you had a bit of pure gold you would not mind putting it in the crucible because you would know that it would come out purified: so God has pleasure in putting faith to the test.

The idea of recompense is present. Moses had respect to the recompense. He had great recompense: fancy being forty days in the mount with God, looking at the pattern of heavenly things and becoming a repository of divine confidence! Was not that better than the treasures of Egypt? If we give up a bit of the world, think of the things we have as recompense! That is the measure of our faith -- what we have been prepared to give up. There is a great system of things hoped for. You can see it in the faces of the saints in assembly; they are a people divinely happy in the presence of unseen things; things are profoundly real if they are unseen. God loves to give some distinct assurance of the reality of these things. In one sense faith gives a proper outlook on seen things; see Hebrews 11:3 -- "By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear". Faith enters into our apprehension of creation as connecting it with the unseen Creator. This delivers us from the wretched ideas men have as to creation.

Ques. Does it stand in contrast to Romans 1:20, things perceived by the mind?

C.A.C. There is adequate testimony, even by things made, to the eternal power and divinity of God. Every human being comes under responsibility and is without excuse. "There is no speech and there are no words, yet their voice is heard", Psalm 19:3. It is a silent witness. God

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is speaking from the heavens to every one of His creatures. There is enough testimony from the heavens to convert a man without his having ever heard the gospel. I am quite certain that where in such cases the testimony of nature is received and souls turn to God from a life of sin they will be eternally blessed.

Ques. Is there any difference between the world being framed and being created?

C.A.C. I thought the word 'framed' suggested a great design in it all. The word of God framed it all, so everything speaks of God. God has designed it to speak of Himself.

Ques. Does the word 'divinity' speak of God characteristically?

C.A.C. It is God in His creatorial majesty. Divinity is what God is characteristically as the great Source of creation; all testifies to His divinity. Creation testifies to His power and divinity; it is not a moral testimony. A watch shews the great skill of the watchmaker but it does not give his moral character. A man might make a good watch and be a bad man!

Ques. Why does Hebrews 11 start with Abel, not Adam?

C.A.C. The wisdom of the Spirit has passed over Adam; there is no thought of deriving anything from Adam.

Ques. Have we to start with a right idea of God?

C.A.C. God in His greatness must be before the soul first and then the necessity arises for knowing Him morally, so the thought of sacrifice comes in, which Adam did not take up. We do not know that Adam ever brought a sacrifice. The coats of skin were the divine provision, but what the Spirit brings out here is man's side.

Rem. Adam stands in contrast to Christ, so it would not be right to bring in Adam.

C.A.C. Quite so. Any reference to the faith of Adam is

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of an obscure nature. He called his wife Eve; that is the only indication that he had faith. He called her life; if he had not had faith he would have called her death, as she brought death in. There were not moral exercises in Adam as we have in Abel, who brought in a sacrifice. Adam got the benefit of a sacrifice but we are not told that he brought a sacrifice. Abel did; he is an advance on Adam. This chapter is a wonderful progression in faith: it goes on to the point of the gentile being in the land. Every incident adds to our conception of what faith does. It is cumulative, you have to put it all together. You get the principle of faith at the outset and then you have a system of household management in which every detail is in faith. Everything that is done in the household is to be done in faith.

CHAPTER 11 (SECOND READING)

C.A.C. There seems to be a thought of substance connected with faith. "Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for". The things that are seen are nothing, but faith is a most real thing. Another scripture says that the dispensation of God is in faith. "By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear", Hebrews 11:3. I wondered whether there is a thought connected with that, that God is framing the moral universe, from which the physical universe takes character. God is framing a moral universe on the principle of faith. God is referred to as the Artificer and Constructor of a certain city. God is engaged in a constructive work. In framing the worlds He had in view a moral universe which would be pleasurable to Him and of His own construction.

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Then there are the stars of the sky and the sand of the sea innumerable; it is the thought of a divine scene, a universe that comprises the heavens and the earth; it all has its answer in a moral universe. God is forming us to be constituent parts of that universe; we are formed for it in faith. We see these elements brought out in the Old Testament worthies; they shew the material. The wonderful thing is that God should use the whole visible universe and all that has come into it -- such as sin and death and the veiling of God -- in order to frame this wonderful moral universe. It brings in the thought of a universe marked by moral and heavenly splendour. There is nothing so splendid as the heavens; the sun is the most glorious object there is and the stars are a wonderful thing. All that is figurative; the stars are figurative of the saints, who are going to shine in spiritual splendour, but who are formed in faith. The faith period is the most wonderful time.

Rem. The physical universe will pass away.

C.A.C. I suppose it will; Scripture speaks of it passing away. There will be a suitable setting for all that God is forming in faith; there will be conditions of glory suitable to all that God is forming in faith. God is forming now indestructible material for His universe. The light of God is brought into the souls of His creatures to be substance there for ever. All these worthies bring out different aspects and elements of this wonderful universe of faith.

The first element of faith comes out in Abel. It is wonderful to think that God had a universe that rested on death. What substance there is in the faith of Abel; he could offer to God a more excellent sacrifice! He had the thought in faith that God was going to move on the line of sacrifice. Adam and Eve got a covering through death, but Abel got a thought of excellence as uncovered by death.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the moral universe being founded on death? Is that the purpose of God?

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C.A.C. Yes. Peter speaks of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, foreknown before the foundation of the world. God had a moral universe in mind before He founded the world.

Ques. Did death form part of the purpose of God?

C.A.C. It is the basis on which all the purpose of God is carried out. The purpose of God is proportioned to the value of the sufferings and death of Christ. The whole system of glory is divinely proportioned to the sufferings and death of Christ. That will give value to the purpose of God. We have all been accustomed to say that God's purpose is for the satisfaction of His love, but what gives God satisfaction is that His purpose is proportioned to the sufferings and death of His beloved Son. These things are below the horizon of the sight universe. God looked with approval upon Abel and on his offering. It met with God's approval; it was in line with what God had in His own mind.

Rem. He looked on Abel and on the offering.

C.A.C. Yes, God looked on him. That man commended himself; he is suitable material for the universe that God is framing.

Ques. Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat. Does that speak of the moral excellence of Christ?

C.A.C. Yes. God purposed to set up things on the ground of perfect devotedness to Himself and surrender to His glory. Those are the true foundations on which God frames His universe. It is all seen in Christ.

Ques. What is the thought of the burnt offering?

C.A.C. Abel's offering was not quite a burnt offering. It is called an oblation.

Ques. What is the thought of the oblation?

C.A.C. I think the idea of being presented to God is a great thought; something presented that God could

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appreciate because of its excellence. There is no thought of its being burnt; it does not say that Abel burnt it. Noah brings a burnt offering, but that thought is not seen in Abel's offering. In Abel's offering we get the thought of its excellence to the Lord and that all is uncovered by death; it is not exactly burning. God seemed to give the choicest thoughts to faith first. Nothing is greater than the substance of faith in Abel and Noah. God begins with the best.

Ques. Does God set forth the substance in the death of Christ?

C.A.C. He brings out the offensiveness of it to the natural man. What God delights in is very offensive to the natural man. Abel's own death becomes a figure of the death of Christ; one chosen of God and precious is cast aside as worthless by men.

Ques. Is the death of Christ connected with His becoming increasingly offensive to man in the flesh?

C.A.C. The thought of blessing coming in on the ground of suffering and death becomes increasingly offensive to men. It speaks in Revelation of there being war with the Lamb, as though the thought of the Lamb had become offensive. It is the work of God to put this particular feature of faith into our souls. In Abel's offering it is not a question of covering sin, but that the death of Christ has uncovered before God all His preciousness.

In this chapter we have a city that has foundations. What a foundation is Christ in death for God's delight! We do not wonder that it takes Abel so long to finish what he has to say! I do not know anyone who has so much to say as Abel; he has been speaking for six thousand years!

These different instances of faith are cumulative, they are not detached sections. Enoch is Abel carried on: so you must put these different worthies together and bring in Jesus at the end to get the complete thing which sets forth

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the substance of faith. Abel has so done with himself that he does not need to think about himself; he is occupied with the excellence of Another. That is a fine thing! There is no way of having done with ourselves save as being filled with Another! It may only last five minutes, but it is a good five minutes.

Ques. What is the moral feature in Enoch?

C.A.C. Enoch had a good deal of exercise in order to find God; he had to seek Him out. He believed that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that seek Him out. Enoch would never have walked with God if he had not sought Him out. God came to seek Adam and Eve; that is the gospel aspect, giving them divine righteousness and clothing them, but with Enoch it is a man seeking God. He was bent on finding God. He lived in a terrible time; the world was far worse then than now. A lot passed between God and Enoch in those 300 years during which he walked with God. A moment came to Enoch's soul when he knew that God is, and not only that but that God was worth finding. He is a rewarder of them that seek Him out.

Enoch sought God and when he found Him he walked with Him three hundred years.

Ques. How does that work out now?

C.A.C. Was there not a time when you thought it worthwhile to seek God? There is a wonderful word in Acts 17

26, 27. God takes a certain course that men might feel after Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. The greatest treasure is God. What is of more value to a creature than God? He is the greatest Object of pursuit that there could be.

Enoch was a disciplined man; his name means 'disciplined'. If he had not been disciplined he could never have come to the conclusion that God was worth finding. For sixty-five years God put him through discipline. No one seeks God until they are disciplined. God disclosed to

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Enoch the great thoughts He had in His mind, that is, the relieving man of death. In Thessalonians it says, "If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again" (1 Thessalonians 4:14). If we believe, there is no reason for us to die. Enoch walking with God learns of the rapture, he learns of something that has not taken place. He learns it in his soul so that he was ready to be translated. Before he was translated he was convinced that he was going to be translated. Enoch did not expect to die.

Ques. Was his life in accord with it?

C.A.C. That is very important. What is connected with the rapture in a very solemn way is the judgment of the world. One looking for the rapture and the appearing would be a very separate man. Enoch prophesied that the Lord has come amidst His holy myriads. There must have been but a handful of saints in Enoch's time, yet his faith saw holy myriads and the Lord amongst them. He did not see death.

Methushelah lived longer than any. His name means, 'When he dies it comes'! The flood represents the day of judgment and it came when Methushelah died.

Ques. Is there any thought of importance in the seventh from Adam?

C.A.C. It suggests a kind of perfection. A man who is translated without seeing death is a kind of climax. It is God's complete victory over death, founded on the death of Jesus. There are volumes in these simple statements. All these died in faith without receiving the promises. They got nothing outwardly but they had the substance in faith. The ungodly man leaves all that he has behind him; those who die in faith go to where the substance belongs. It is a great general principle that God will reward any of us who take the trouble to seek Him out. None of us will find God unless we seek Him out. There is a great difference between God finding me and my seeking God out. God

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becomes the portion, joy and heritage of those who seek Him out. The question of righteousness and how we stand with God has been settled in Adam and Eve and Abel; now in Enoch we get a man who seeks out God and that pleases God.

Then Noah gives you a third thing -- a third part of the substance. The thought of public witness comes out in Noah. We find him publicly condemning the world and thinking about his house. The household thought comes in here; he was moved with fear -- that is a motive that should act on us. We are apt to be slack because we are not influenced by fear. It is brought in as a feature of Noah's faith; he is warned of something that is not visible, and he is moved with fear. An awful judgment was coming. We ought to be much influenced by a fear of what is coming on this world: appalling judgment will devastate this scene and we are not sufficiently in fear. With Noah the fear made him concerned about his house; he prepared an ark for the saving of his house.

Ques. What are we to learn from all this?

C.A.C. Noah got no converts, but he condemned the world; there is public testimony. Nothing is saved that is not under cover of the death of Christ; that is the idea of preparing the ark.

Ques. Was not his testimony more what he did than what he said?

C.A.C. Yes. There was a practical testimony against the world which made him a laughing-stock. Noah preached and God waited and the ark was prepared, all went on concurrently. If my walk is not a condemnation of the world, it is not the walk of a saint. That is part of this substance out of which God is framing His moral universe. You see people now who look on baptism as the world does, that it is a decent thing to do, but you must go on as you begin. Parents baptise their children because they

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realise that it is perilous not to be under cover of the death of Christ, but they must keep them there. How can a parent want his children to get on in the world if he has baptised them? He will want their path ordered of God and not by earthly ambition.

CHAPTER 11 (THIRD READING)

C.A.C. There is a divine proposal to Abraham in a different way from anything that had come before. I do not know that any saint is "called" before Abraham. In Abel, Enoch and Noah you get faith, movement towards God, but when you come to Abraham the movement begins on the divine side.

Ques. Do you get the sphere of faith in operation in the first three men?

C.A.C. Yes; you get the great outline of the dispensation in which faith finds its opportunity. There is an inscrutability about the Person of Jesus in that He can carry through in His own Person every moral feature proper to man. All the elements that go to make up a world for God's pleasure are made up in His own Person.

Ques. What is the thought of Noah preparing an ark for the saving of his house?

C.A.C. Typically it includes all that is going through to form the elements of the new world.

Ques. Stress is laid on water. Would you say something about that?

C.A.C. The stress is on the water rather than the ark. Peter connects it with baptism. We must get to that side of things to be prepared for the divine side.

Ques. Would saved by water suggest that there must be

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the moral application of the death of Christ? Souls are saved by water -- that is the moral side.

C.A.C. That is important as forming part of the idea of baptism; it is not a mere rite or ordinance. In the religious world baptism is regarded as indispensable, but with them that is the end of it instead of the beginning.

Ques. Would these verses suggest the obedience of faith?

C.A.C. Yes; being called, he obeyed. The condemnation of the world preceded morally the apprehension of divine calling. God had a purpose before Him; that is the idea of calling. God has a definite purpose.

Ques. Would Abraham being called out of country and kindred be more than the world as such?

C.A.C. Yes, it is a calling out of the natural links. What is before God is something different from Canaan. Abraham understood that, so his thoughts and hopes were connected with a spiritual and heavenly order. It must have been surprising to the Hebrews to think of Abraham and others having the heavenly before them. God had His present ways and purposes in view and intended to make Abraham a pattern for the saints of the assembly; God's intent was to make him a man with the heavenly in view. Abraham got a wonderful impression of what was before God -- he waits for the city. It is remarkable that God gives to him what we call heavenly light. While his outward setting was connected with the earth, his real substance was connected with God's heavenly purpose.

Ques. Is that the city of Revelation?

C.A.C. Yes. The land of promise, when he got there, was a foreign country.

The snare of the Hebrews was that they were hindered by what was connected with the earth in a religious way.

Ques. Galatians refers to the glad tidings being announced to Abraham. What do we gather from that?

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C.A.C. It involves the thought of blessing, that God should be known in blessing for all nations; it was to be found in Abraham and in his seed. He gets to know God as the God of blessing: when He is thus known it is what God is. This holds good for all nations, and it is not restricted to any particular family. Abraham had the word of God that all nations were to be blessed in him; it was on the faith principle -- blessed in Isaac, blessed in Christ. All blessing is on the principle of faith on the line of Abraham; all blessing in Christ risen is outside the scope of man after the flesh; it is on resurrection footing. All that was to lead to the heavenly blessing and inheritance which God brought out typically in Abraham; so he did not get the land. God was thinking of the heavenly, and Abraham's faith laid hold of the purpose of God in the heavenly. These people who were seeking a country dwelt in tents, and it was not only old brethren but young ones. Jacob was only fifteen when Abraham died. It shews that there is room for boys and girls to be in this line.

Rem. In verse 10 the foundations of the city are spoken of in the present tense.

C.A.C. Yes; he looks at the preparation of the city as having been made. It says in verse 16 he has prepared for them a city.

Ques. Why is the city so prominent in regard to Abraham?

C.A.C. I suppose it is the existence of Babel that gives rise to it. Abraham had seen the building of Babel; man's city was coming into evidence. Abraham having seen the God of glory, gets a sense in his soul that God has a city and it takes all the shine out of the Babel world. It is very remarkable that God should bring the accomplishment of His thoughts so distinctly into the view of Abraham -- so that he waited.

Ques. Why is the thought of foundations in the plural?

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The city in Revelation had twelve foundations. Is there any link with this?

C.A.C. There are twelve apostles of the Lamb -- all comes in on the line of suffering; that has been the principle of construction. It is in contrast to man's city. This city, which is on the principle of construction set forth in the Lamb, is in contrast to all that marks the building of Babel.

Ques. Is the calling connected with purpose? Had God all this in His mind before sin came into the world?

C.A.C. Yes; all is clearly in view from the foundation of the world and even before it. God has an organised system of things before Him in which all that is of Himself is secured; that is His purpose. He brings it about on the ground of the sufferings and death of Christ.

Ques. "He has chosen us in him before the world's foundation", Ephesians 1:4. Does that apply to Abraham?

C.A.C. That is more the peculiar place of saints of the assembly. God has in mind to satisfy every exercise and desire that has been found in faith from the beginning. He prepared for them a city; God in forming a city had in mind to satisfy every exercise of faith and spiritual desire that He put in the hearts of Old Testament saints. It shews how necessary the assembly is to the Old Testament saints, a necessity to their faith and hope. This is the faith period in a more distinctive way than was the case in the Old Testament; it is all brought our in the city.

Ques. What is the thought of God as Artificer and Constructor?

C.A.C. The thought of the skilfulness of the work in detail would be seen in the Artificer. Constructor would be more a general idea. It says that the heavens are the work of His fingers -- not His hands but His fingers. It suggests the detail of skill which marks the works of God. We see it in nature and all that is a picture of the moral

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work of God. If you put the finest work of man under the microscope it would spoil it and would reveal flaws, but if you put God's work there you see perfection that was never noticed before. If we look at that in the moral sphere we can have no conception of what we may see. Look at the man in John 9; every movement brings out the skill of divine work. All is secured in the assembly first so that the all-various wisdom of God is seen there. Divine skill comes out there. We ought to be affected by these things; the youngest amongst us could say, 'I am a bit of that'. Then we should be more passive under the skill of the Artificer. It says, "Yield yourselves to God" (Romans 6:13); the divine Artificer is working, but the material must be yielded to Him. You do not wonder at its having the glory of God, because every detail in it brings out God.

Ques. Why is Sarah brought in?

C.A.C. Sarah is brought in to show that the city is to be populated; it is not an empty city. This principle of the conception of seed is a very important element in faith.

Ques. Is "artificer and constructor" in contrast to the earthly construction of Bezaleel? God's work must be of Himself.

C.A.C. Quite so. The model was there before they made the tabernacle. People used to have models of the tabernacle, but the model I like to see is there in the heavens -- all that God had before Him in the mount. A glorified Christ in heaven is the Model and all is to conform to that Model.

Ques. Did Moses see the city?

C.A.C. What he saw was in principle eternal because the tabernacle idea is an eternal thought, it goes into eternity. What was seen in the mount was an eternal conception of God. It was realised when the Lord was on earth. The true tabernacle idea was realised when He tabernacled amongst His disciples. They contemplated

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His glory. God was there. That is the picture of the eternal state when God will be with men, so it does link with the city.

Ques. What is the difference between Sarah's faith and Abraham's?

C.A.C. Sarah's is more the subjective side. There was active energy of faith in Abraham to go forth; with Sarah it is counting Him faithful who has promised. It is the state which takes account of the faithfulness of God to secure the seed to inherit the promises, whether heavenly or earthly. That is an important element. Everything that is brought to pass on the subjective side is through the faithfulness of God.

Ques. Does the subjective side apply to us?

C.A.C. Yes, because the seed is secured on this line. It is an exercise for us whether we are able to count on the faithfulness of God in regard of securing the seed to inherit. It is a question of faith counting on God. That is important in a day when all counteracts the production of a seed to inherit.

Ques. "As the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the seashore", Genesis 22:17. Is that what will people the new earth?

C.A.C. It looks on to what is eternal. The new heavens and the new earth are to be furnished with a population that is able to take up all that is in the purpose of God, whether heavenly or earthly. All is secured in a resurrection power which secures things livingly out of death.

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CHAPTER 11 (FOURTH READING)

C.A.C. These reviews of Old Testament history are very interesting, whether we think of Stephen's defence or Paul's preaching at Antioch or this great recital of the actions of faith. They seem to indicate that if we are to have an understanding of God's present mind we must be familiar with His ways and His work in the souls of men. I suppose every feature of faith that is brought out here is brought out with design in order to impress on the Hebrew believers in Christ a great spiritual lesson that is as important for us as for them. Every feature has a present bearing.

Ques. Do you mean that this chapter is in a sense cumulative?

C.A.C. Yes. It helps to remind us that Scripture is the word of God to us. It is not a history but the word of God to us now. How encouraging it was to the Hebrew believers to see that Abraham had to learn this lesson, to give up Isaac after the flesh and to get him in a new way, in resurrection. There is a divine testimony in all these things; each feature has to be taken up by the Hebrew believers and by ourselves. It is important for us to understand and learn this lesson of the giving up of Christ after the flesh and getting Him again in an abiding condition as risen. He is outside the life of the flesh and outside the whole scene where the life of the flesh is.

Sarah counted Him faithful that promised, and Abraham having taken to himself the promises in Isaac is prepared to offer him up, being assured that God would raise him up. The promises could not be separated from Isaac, so that if Abraham offered him up, it brought out

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the power and faithfulness of God; He would raise him. All this has a direct bearing upon us. It is not only that the promises are secured in Christ but in Him as risen. It is the greatest type of the risen Christ; there is none more distinct than that. Everything that God has for man is in a risen Man. God gives us a start outside the history of this world and outside all that is of the flesh and outside Christ after the flesh. From Abraham onwards we get the thought of the calling; even as to these Old Testament saints it was a heavenly calling. It must have been astonishing to these Hebrew believers to think that these worthies were looking for what was heavenly. The whole point is to put us on the line of the heavenly, a risen Christ who is outside this world altogether. God has lengthened out the church period so that it is the longest period there has ever been, and He delights to do it. Christ has been rejected here; His rights have been disowned and refused, but God has raised Him up and there are those on earth who are partakers of the heavenly calling. So God has a particular delight in this period; He has great delight in the calling and in the substantiating of things in a risen Christ.

Rem. We are not to regard ourselves as poor things who are waiting for a better day.

C.A.C. If we get to the divine side, and that is what faith takes account of, we get the voice of rejoicing in the tabernacles of the righteous all the time. God did not try Abraham because of his weakness but because of his value. God knew there was a bit of solid gold that would stand the crucible without diminution. The trial of faith is not anything to be deplored or depreciated; it is precious. God tries faith to bring out its value and preciousness. The severest test of the crucible shews how precious it is. We all have to come to the point where we are tested as to whether we are occupied with something this side of death, or something the other side.

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Ques. Do you mean the future?

C.A.C. No, the present. That is where Christ is, He is on the other side of death.

Rem. There is a reference to Isaac as the heir.

C.A.C. Yes, the inheritance must have an heir. The inheritance is heavenly. If we get before us that the purpose and calling of God are heavenly and the Heir is Christ, we come in as joint-heirs; but Christ is the Heir. The whole of christendom is built up on the supposition that Christ after the flesh and in relation to this world is the key to God's mind! It leaves them in the wrong place and with the wrong man before them.

Ques. Is "from among the dead" important?

C.A.C. Yes, the resurrection of the saints is from among the dead also.

Ques. Does this section set forth the Almighty God? Should we not know Him as One who is controlling things?

C.A.C. Yes. "He that draws near to God must believe that he is". That lies at the root of things. Paul says at Athens, "If indeed they might feel after him and find him"; that is the initial movement in the soul, a desire for the One who is unknown, a desire to feel after and find Him; that is a good beginning. In Athens they got to Jesus and the resurrection; that is a further development. This becomes a reality in the soul by the work of God; there is nothing apart from that. It is a fine start for any soul, whether heathen or christian, to know that there is a God and to desire to know Him.

Rem. Abraham believed that God would give Isaac back to him out of death.

C.A.C. That is a great step in advance, that God should be known as able to set death aside.

Rem. Death spoilt creation.

C.A.C. Yes; that is where the almightiness of God

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comes out. This is the language of Paul in Ephesians 1"what the surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead" (verses 19, 20). That is the almightiness of God. We should pray for understanding of the power of resurrection; we assume to understand it when we do not. The apostle prayed in Ephesians 1 that the saints might know it. "Making mention of you at my prayers ... that ye should know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints". Abraham had come to that.

Ques. If we are not to know Christ after the flesh, how are we to be conformed to His image?

C.A.C. It is not that Christ in resurrection is any different morally from what He was after the flesh, but He is in a new condition outside flesh and blood, a risen Man. Morally there is no change. He is the same yesterday, today and for ever; there is no change in Christ morally, but there is an immense change in His condition. If resurrection power were not with God, death would be the end of everything. All this is important in learning to separate between Jacob and Esau.

Ques. Would you enlarge on that?

C.A.C. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. I do not know that Esau had any part in the line of faith, but he represents man after the flesh with an outward place of blessing. He has no real link with the purpose or calling of God. He typifies those who are content with the place of privilege and favour on earth without any appreciation of the true birthright. Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, but on Esau's part there was no appreciation of the birthright, no appreciation of the heavenly. It ends in his being destroyed absolutely. The Spirit of God has in mind that in this epistle to the Hebrews

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there were certain persons who were participating in the precious things of christianity, and they had no vital link with the purpose and calling of God. It raises an exercise whether we do not often come to the meetings and lead respectable lives on earth and yet have no link vitally with God.

Ques. Was not Judas like that?

C.A.C. No unconverted man had such a place of favour as to be in association with the Son of God, walking with Him, hearing His words, seeing Him perform miracles, as Judas had, and yet he was a profane person.

Ques. Are not the two blessings distinguished here? Esau's blessing was connected with himself and the earth, whereas Jacob was blessed spiritually.

C.A.C. Yes. Esau was told what the end would be; he would cast his brother's yoke from off his neck. According to God, Jacob would lord it over Esau, and that was to be the key to blessing for him. Esau proved lawless in regard to the one who was the subject of God's election.

Rem. God promised that in Isaac there should be blessing as the stars of heaven.

C.A.C. Yes, and Esau represents those who miss the blessing, those who do not come into blessing. After having outward privilege they turn out lawless and rebel against the sovereignty of God. Look at the favour that people are in in the circle of christian protection! In the darkest part of christendom there is light enough to save men's souls. There is an outward place of favour apart from conversion. Esau represents that character of blessing. People know of Christ and of His death and resurrection and yet have no appreciation of Him. Am I interested in the heavenly or am I only interested in what is outward and earthly? It is a serious exercise for us all. Esau sets forth an earth-dweller. At the present time there is a great danger of professing christians (and it applies to us

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all) being earth-dwellers, of being occupied with earth and losing sight in a practical sense of the birthright. There is no blessing for the man after the flesh; he is given a place of privilege outwardly but there is no blessing for him. We have to learn to accept sovereignty. Does God bless the children of christian parents automatically? No. God is sovereign; God is entitled to pass my child by, so I seek His mercy. He is sovereign; you get everything on the line of counting Him faithful who promised. We have no title to anything except the sovereign title love gives. That is why sometimes the children of christian parents are not blessed until the parents are brought into submission to the sovereignty of God. We must recognise sovereignty. Isaac would have preferred to bless Esau! But he had the mind of God, and Jacob was the one that God chose, so faith blessed Jacob first. It was a great principle to submit to divine sovereignty. God sets aside natural preferences -- that is Esau -- God passes that by.

Ques. Why do you speak of mercy?

C.A.C. Nothing but sovereign mercy will secure blessing for anybody. Sometimes parents have to accept that before children are blessed. That is the only ground of blessing. I cannot expect my children will be blessed because of their natural connection with christian parents. They are blessed because God chooses in sovereignty to bless them.

It is beautiful to see that the household is linked up in the thought of God with its head. Through faith in the Lord Jesus there is salvation for the whole house, but individually they come in by pure sovereignty and mercy.

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CHAPTER 11 (FIFTH READING)

C.A.C. It is important for us to see these various actions of faith. They are not merely interesting matters in regard of the Old Testament saints but each feature of faith is intended to mark those who are the subjects of divine calling. We get the divine calling in Abraham; even for him it was a heavenly calling, not in terms but in the spirit of the thing. Abraham understood the spirit of God's approach to him; he looked for a city. The patriarchs sought a country, they sought heaven. It must have been wonderful to the Hebrews to see that these people sought a heavenly country.

Resurrection is introduced in Isaac; God comes out in resurrection power. Death is set aside; nothing can hinder God carrying out resurrection.

Then we get sovereignty in Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau, and in the way that Jacob blessed the two sons of Joseph. We must learn these great principles -- the heavenly calling, the power of resurrection and the sovereignty of God, whether in the soul individually or amongst God's people. Jacob crossed his hands and Ephraim was put before Manasseh; it was done by faith. That is important as giving the ground for worshipping. Jacob is the only man in Hebrews 11 who is spoken of as a worshipper.

Ques. Would you explain that?

C.A.C. We must learn to see that everything of God is in sovereignty, whether it is as to our being brought to know Him at all, or any place we have in God's Israel -- all is determined by sovereignty. Nothing produces the spirit of subjection or subduedness as this does; we cannot be

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worshippers without those features. None of us worship until we come to the recognition of divine sovereignty. Jacob had his staff; he leans on divine faithfulness. That is what his staff represents. God put his staff in his hand: we never understand God's faithfulness until we submit to His sovereignty.

Ques. Is it specially marked in the history of Jacob?

C.A.C. Yes, it is the result of a life of discipline. Jacob is a remarkable witness for the need of discipline. Jacob was brought in the end to recognise this principle of sovereignty; it was that to which he owed his own blessing. If we accepted that, we should be happy in the place assigned to us in the assembly. If any one is not happy amongst his brethren it indicates he has not accepted the principle of sovereignty. It is right to desire a good place in the inheritance; it is right to covet the best gifts, but at the same time we must accept the sovereignty of God. If we had more love we should more desire to be beneficial to the saints. We should all pray for more spiritual competency -- brothers and sisters -- that we might benefit the brethren. As we see in Psalm 16, the Lord was perfectly content with what was assigned to Him. In the cities where His most mighty works were done they had not responded, and He says, "Yea, Father, for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight". "I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth", that is the spirit of worship. It is a beautiful word; if we do not understand it we shall not understand what the Lord means when He says, "Come to me ... and I will give you rest". We are to come to Him in the restfulness of divine sovereignty, that is the place of absolute satisfaction. It does not mean only coming to Him as Saviour.

Ques. Was not Jacob's history like our history in the crookedness of his pathway and yet in the faithfulness of God?

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C.A.C. Yes. An old brother in the truth used to say, 'Did you ever see Jacob in your looking-glass?'!

Ques. In order to bless must we be in the knowledge of the import of resurrection?

C.A.C. Yes. We shall never get outside the shadow of death in our spirits until we come to resurrection. These patriarchs shewed that in the presence of the article of death they were outside it in their spirits and able to bless. In one sense the day of a man's death is the best day of his life. It says so in Scripture. The day of your death is the moment you are actually free from that which has been a harrowing thing to you all your life. We each have that to contend with which is a great difficulty. A man's death means that he is severed from the flesh. If we touch resurrection in mind and faith we come to where there is nothing but the purpose of God and we can worship.

Ques. Does that enhance the thought of sovereignty?

C.A.C. Yes. It is very important to see that God has set members in the body of Christ as it has pleased Him. We should all understand where God has put us in the body; God would tell us if we asked Him. Saints who have been breaking bread for years sometimes do not know their place in the body! Have I asked the Lord where my place in the body is? Where ought I to function? In Romans we have to act according to our assigned place. If a man prophesies it is to be according to faith, not according to his knowledge of Scripture. If we are not in subjection to the sovereign ordering of God, there will be some measure of activity of the human mind or will and there is sure to be discord; we shall not blend. If we are in subjection to God we shall blend with all our brethren perfectly and every member will function. Manasseh was Joseph's firstborn, yet he had to be content that Ephraim should be before him. God passes by natural qualities; an able man has often no place in the assembly and the most capable man in

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the meeting is often the most obscure in the world. It is sovereignty and we must all accept it; until we do we shall never be happy. If I do not want to be anything except what God would have me to be, I shall be a very happy man and serviceable to the brethren. Ephraim means 'double fruitfulness'.

You come to a climax in Joseph. He called to mind the going forth of the sons of Israel; he has before him the purpose of God. He has before him the thought of the sons going from bondage and distance into the blessedness of divine purpose. He cherishes the thought of the purpose of God for His people. There is a hint in it of resurrection: he gave commandment concerning his bones. If one thinks of the sovereignty of God it brings one over to the divine side at once. Think what God has in His mind and heart for His people! That is Joseph; he had in mind what God was going to do. He comes out as giving the complete idea realised by a man far away from the land of Canaan, but he has the complete thought of God in his mind. God was going to bring the children of Israel out of bondage and distance and bring them to the favoured spot which was in His purpose for them. The fact that Joseph gave commandment concerning his bones shews that he had the thought of resurrection in his mind. This would tend to free us from living in what is providential. Most of us live in the sphere of divine providence. We are fairly comfortable, have plenty to eat and drink and prove God's goodness every day, and there is a danger of living just in the sphere of providence. In a brief time we shall have to leave that sphere: what is going to abide is the sphere of divine purpose. If we live by the word of God, that is outside providence; the word of God connects us with the unseen, and faith does too.

It is important to see what follows in regard to Moses, where the process of going forth morally is presented. All

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the elect are going into divine purpose when they die but God would have us go there before we die, in divine purpose and faith.

Ques. How can we get out of living in the providential sphere?

C.A.C. The way out of the providential sphere is the death of Christ. He came into death to make a way out. We go out to the sphere of purpose.

Ques. Why are so many of us found merely in the providential sphere?

C.A.C. Because we have not seen anything better. If we saw the purpose of God in its glory we should be delivered from the providential sphere. "It became him ... by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory". Have we seen that? Suppose we had the nicest house and garden, the best of health and plenty of means, what is that compared with many sons being brought to glory? We are going to leave the providential sphere, perhaps in five minutes, and what is going to abide? The sphere of purpose. By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea; they went out with a high hand in the sight of the Egyptians -- it is fine!

Rem. We do not begin to live until we get on to the purpose side.

C.A.C. That is right. Life is connected with purpose; life was connected with the brazen serpent which came at the end of the wilderness. Life is for the land, not for the wilderness. Discipline comes in so that you should not get unmixed good in the providential sphere; otherwise you might be content to settle down. God sees that we have food and raiment and a thousand comforts by the way, but along with that we get His discipline, so that we may remember that this is not our rest. Jacob said that he would give a tenth of what he possessed to God, but all he had was a walking-stick!

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In Moses we see the practical way the thing works. In Joseph we have a climax, a man with the purpose of God in his mind and connecting it with resurrection. In Moses we see it worked out. It begins with a beautiful child, too beautiful for Egypt. "They saw the child beautiful" seems to suggest the idea that God secures by His own sovereignty something for Himself. You see the true levitical thought in Moses; a man from the house of Levi took a daughter of Levi. Moses is the personification of the levitical idea, something for God. Levi represents what is for God, and what is for God is beautiful, far too good for this world. God took the Levites in the place of the firstborn; the levitical tribe represented what was for God. Here was a babe of a few days old and they see it beautiful! Stephen says the child was exceedingly lovely. Moses' parents were a fine couple. We cannot always tell from parents what the children are going to be, but you can tell from the children what sort of parents they have! There is a treasure on which God's heart is set but He hides it. It is not something to glorify this world; it is too beautiful for the world -- it is for God. It should be the holy ambition of christian parents that their children should be for God, not simply that they should be converted and go to heaven, but that they should be for God. How delighted they would be when they saw some features of divine beauty appearing! What is spiritual must go forth; it is too good for this world.

Ques. Why did they hide Moses three months?

C.A.C. It was a certain period of faith. The Spirit of God in this chapter is dwelling on the triumphs of faith. We might say that Isaac was deceived into blessing Jacob, but the Spirit of God says by faith he blessed Jacob. "By faith Moses, when he had become great, refused to be called son of Pharaoh's daughter". He had a great opportunity, but he chose by faith to suffer affliction with

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the people of God. Another exercise of faith was in their putting the child in the ark, into the water. They thought what was beautiful under the eye of God must be brought out from the place of death. Both the ark and the place where it was put represent the death of Christ. However beautiful the child was, he must be drawn out of the place of death. It is lovely to see that. Atonement is the same word as is used for pitch in Genesis 6:14; it is the thought of covering. If there is to be any product for God it must be under cover of the death of Christ. God gave Moses a great providential place in order to give opportunity to his faith to abandon it. Moses gave up the greatest providence that could be proved by anybody; he gave up his lot as the son of Pharaoh's daughter to take up his lot amongst a despised people. Faith is sometimes put to the test that we may see whether we are prepared to abandon what is providentially favourable.

CHAPTER 11 (SIXTH READING)

C.A.C. The detail connected with Moses seems to indicate the steps by which faith finds its way out of the world. It is really by a process of reduction; that is to say, we cannot in any moral sense get out of the world merely by changing out habits and ways.

Ques. What is involved in the passover and the sprinkling of blood?

C.A.C. In the passover we seem to come to the root of things; it is like the last step. The first step is refusing greatness in the world and suffering affliction; the second step is valuing the reproach of Christ, not only bearing it; the third step is leaving Egypt. "He persevered, as seeing

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him who is invisible": that is a more searching exercise than refusing greatness and valuing reproach. The deepest exercise of all is in the passover and the sprinkling of the blood. These seem to be the steps of Moses' faith, and steps necessary if we are to be delivered from the world. It is not just a question of changing your manner of life but of inward exercise. Refusing greatness led to outward exercise but in itself it is inward. What is said in this chapter as to Moses leaving Egypt gives us what we have not in the Old Testament. It is more searching for Moses than the first two steps. He had to learn that his own power was of no use at all in delivering the people. He had thought that God by his hand would deliver the people (Acts 7:25) He had to learn that his power was no use at all; that is a great reduction. We have to learn the same thing too, that though we may desire to help the people of God we can do nothing; that is the greatest reduction of all. In the passover we see that the whole life of flesh is under judgment; that is the root of the whole matter.

Ques. Does the word "persevered" cover Moses' forty years in the wilderness?

C.A.C. Yes, it throws a flood of light on those years. Moses learnt that the power of his hands could do nothing and that only the One who is invisible could deliver. He persevered in faith for forty years and the burning bush was the answer. It is a good thing to persevere for forty years, and perhaps find when you are eighty you are no good and that nothing is done!

We get in these instances of faith the inward exercises. That is what led me to say that we do not get out of the world by changing our habits, but as the result of inward exercise. We find in the Old Testament history that Moses was afraid and fled for his life and also that Isaac was deceived in blessing Jacob. The Old Testament gives us the outward history but in the New Testament the inward

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faith is magnified. Sometimes there is a strange mixture with us, but God knows how to sift out faith from unbelief. God glorified their faith because their faith glorified Him. Faith is the result of the light of God coming sovereignly into the soul. This chapter should exercise us as to what faith we have. We all have a general knowledge of truth which we would not give up, but this chapter tests us as to what faith we have.

Rem. The apostles said, "Give more faith to us", Luke 17:5.

C.A.C. When the apostles said that the Lord seemed to doubt that they had any at all, for only one grain of mustard seed is needed! It was as much as to say that they had none. To another He said, "O woman, thy faith is great". The Lord loves to honour faith. It is the only thing in our souls that has value with God because it honours Him, it makes much of God.

The passover is the absolute setting aside of all that the flesh is; the judgment of God sets it aside. 1 Corinthians goes much with what we are reading. We get the passover in chapter 5, and the crossing of the Red Sea in chapter 10. Being baptised in the cloud and in the sea means the public profession we take up in this world.

Rem. The man under judgment is gone in judgment.

C.A.C. Yes, and also the Man who bore the judgment is out of it and is the righteousness of all who believe on Him.

Ques. What is the sprinkling?

C.A.C. The thought of sprinkling in Scripture is a greater thought than washing; it is greater to be under the sprinkling of the blood than to be washed by it. The washing calls attention to the effect produced on me -- "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7). "They ... have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14). "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

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It is the effect produced upon us, but in the sprinkling the soul comes under all the value of what is sprinkled, whether blood, water, or oil. It gives a more extended thought, the sense of coming under all the value of what is sprinkled. The blood of sprinkling speaks of wonderful things.

In the celebration of the passover the thought is the feeding on the Lamb roast with fire; Christ having borne the judgment becomes the food of the soul; it gives constitution. The more we think of Christ bearing the judgment the more we shall be separated inwardly from the life of Egypt -- the very life of flesh. So we are not only different in habits and ways but inwardly separated in soul. The sprinkling of the blood is for God; it secured everything on the divine side. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you". The blood of the Lamb secured everything for God; you cannot add anything to it on the divine side. You are made nigh. My thought is that the sprinkling of the blood brings all that value of the death of Christ before God, and it is the basis on which He can do all. He can bring them out and bring them in, give them His presence and shine upon them. It is the value of the blood that secures everything.

The two greatest types of the death of Christ are the passover and the sin offering on the day of atonement, because both are on God's side. On the people's side there are other types: first, the smiting of the rock, then the brazen serpent meeting all on the people's side, but nothing can be added to the blood of the Lamb and the blood on the mercy-seat.

Rem. The wilderness is a place of testing.

C.A.C. Faith is the subject here; the Spirit of God is not thinking of the testing of the people here; He is dwelling on what is substance in souls, what is divinely wrought in souls. It is the working out of, "the just shall live by faith".

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Can we live by faith like Abel, Noah, Enoch and so on? How much can we live by faith? What are we up to?

Ques. What is the difference between the passover here and over Jordan?

C.A.C. The difference lies in the standpoint from which you regard it. The position of the people changed, but the passover did not change. The position, we are in makes all the difference.

We can trace a difference in the passover in the wilderness. God says, 'It is My feast'; that was a great advance on Egypt. And in the land He says, 'You must eat it in the place where I set My Name'. I am thankful if the Lord's supper becomes more to us than it was.

Ques. Might we get back to having it more than once a week?

C.A.C. The Lord would have us to observe weeks, not days, months, or years. The week is built into the divine system; assembly history is by the week. We begin afresh once a week; it is a new start. When we wake up on Lord's Day morning, we ought to think, 'Now this is a new beginning, the first day of the week, and we are to have what we never had before'.

Ques. Does the Supper sustain us here as eating it?

C.A.C. I believe that. We eat our food to sustain life and in eating the Supper we are spiritually nourished and built up in a spiritual constitution. I covet this much; it is the only thing that will keep us out of formality. Formality is doing the same thing; my thought is beginning afresh and we should begin each week with a fresh exercise of having done with ourselves. There should be a self-review, a thorough overhauling before partaking of the Supper. No one is supposed to come to the Supper in any other way.

In the passover you come down to the root of the thing. There are four steps in reduction: (1) Refusing greatness; (2) Valuing reproach; (3) Giving up all confidence in

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anything of your own; (4) The very life of the flesh must go in judgment. There is no way of getting out of this world but by a process of self-reduction. All this leads on to passing through the Red Sea.

Ques. Why does it now say "They", it was in the singular before?

C.A.C. It is the collective idea, the public position is collective. The inward exercises of faith are individual. You move in the steps of your own faith, and faith in one would not conflict with faith in another, but when you come to the public position it is they pass through the Red Sea.

Ques. When do exercises of faith come in after the Red Sea?

C.A.C. No doubt there was faith in Moses in the wilderness, but the Spirit of God drops that out. Faith is concerned in getting out of this world and into the divine inheritance. The ways of God in the wilderness are humbling and instructive, but God's thought is bringing them out and bringing them in.

The walls of Jericho falling shew the collapse of every spiritual power of wickedness which would hinder the enjoyment of the inheritance. It was spiritual power against Jericho, no blow was struck. The public position can be imitated, as we see by the Egyptians following. Israel went out to serve God, for God had said, "Let my son go". There is nothing connected with the service of God that the flesh cannot take up, but it will be disastrous. We find that a mixed multitude followed Israel; they had not faith, but the Israel of God had faith. A lot of people went through the Red Sea who had not faith. It says in 1 Corinthians 10 they were all baptised in the cloud and in the sea -- that was the public position -- but God was not pleased with those who had no faith. A man in the flesh can ask for fellowship and we may receive him but the end

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is disaster; flesh can follow the public position and take it up. Baptism is what answers to the Red Sea. Christendom has taken up baptism; they are baptised and confirmed and take the sacrament; they take up the outward position, but we have to see to it that we take it up in faith.

Ques. What are the steps into the inheritance?

C.A.C. Walking around Jericho seven days in the presence of what is wholly spiritual. The priests and the trumpets and the armed men and the ark of Jehovah all convey a spiritual idea and not a fleshly movement. They moved round every day for six days and seven times on the last day. Did anyone ever hear of such a mode of reducing a fortress? Spiritual power alone can break down spiritual opposition. That is what hinders us; the atmosphere of the world is full of spiritual opposition.

Luke 22 indicates that there are certain moral links between the Lord's supper and the passover. It is a mistake to put them in contrast. The Lord linked on His Supper with the passover so there is a moral suitability in connecting them. The passover is important specially as taking it up on the divine side. In the passover there is the thought of a generation secured for God and that was the generation that walked round Jericho.

We see in Rahab how entirely it is all of grace. God takes up a poor gentile of disreputable character and gives her a place in the inheritance. She is put into the genealogy of Christ.

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CHAPTER 12 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. The saints are regarded as being surrounded by all these witnesses of chapter 11. It is a good circle in which to be found.

Ques. In what way do they surround us?

C.A.C. In the way it is put here: "Having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us" (verse 1). We are surrounded by these people; their witness is before us in the Scriptures. The Lord has been pleased to bring persons before us, and it is very encouraging. Hebrews is largely a book of persons and not of abstract truths. It is the kind of circle that we should be careful not to get out of -- a circle in which God has set us, where we are surrounded by persons of faith of all ages.

All this circle in which we are set is the circle of encouragement. These persons were men and women like ourselves. Scripture occupies us with persons; we are more apt to get occupied with truth. These persons were occupied with unseen things; God was their Object. Not one of these men and women is the author or completer of faith, but they encircle us with great encouragement. The Hebrew saints were a suffering people; their place as confessors of Jesus was one of suffering. The writer of the epistle puts them into this circle to encourage them. He says to these Hebrew saints, 'These people have been in the path of faith and have suffered as you have and died'. How encouraging to be surrounded by a circle like that! It is from persons that we get most of our encouragement now. If we want to be an encouragement to the saints, we

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must remember it is not by what we hold but what we are! There was such a character about these men and women that the world was not worthy of them.

Rem. It says that God foresaw some better thing for us and He was not ashamed to be called their God.

C.A.C. Yes; the whole character of faith had not come to light then, there was some better thing reserved for us. What they had was not equal to what we have. They embraced the promises, they beheld them afar off, but we are brought to them; we do not see them afar off. "Ye have come to mount Zion" and so on. The circle into which we are put is very wonderful. We are surrounded by men and women of faith of all ages; it is a great thing to be in that circle. People who are there are outside the world.

Ques. Such a "cloud" would obscure the world; is not the expression "cloud" rather remarkable?

C.A.C. Yes, it is a striking thought.

Ques. Would verse 5 indicate that they had forgotten what you are speaking of?

C.A.C. Yes, there was a tendency with them to slip back, as there is with us all. We have a tendency to slip away from the truth we have received. This epistle is the antidote to the tendency in our hearts to slip away and to forget.

Ques. Is not the force of the exhortation that it is the end of the path that is the test, not the beginning?

C.A.C. Yes. We are at the end of the faith period, in the last lap of the race. It is very important not to drop out now. Many drop out within sight of the goal; that is a sad thing. We are nearer the end of the race than when this epistle was written.

Ques. Is every believer in the race?

C.A.C. It is set before them; I do not know that you could say that every believer is in it.

Ques. Do we not get some idea of the goal at the beginning

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of our history, that there is something beyond this world?

C.A.C. God gives an impression at the beginning of what His end is. We get the impression that we are saved for another world. This epistle is to correct the tendency to slip away, and to restore us if we have become dull of hearing.

Ques. Is the "cloud" the thought of heavenly witnesses?

C.A.C. Yes. All these worthies had died without a place here; they were a heavenly company. The Spirit of God accredits them with seeking the heavenly. It says in verse 1, "Let us ... run with endurance the race". There is more the thought of the future than the past.

Rem. There is an immense thought in running a race.

C.A.C. Yes, and also in winning a prize. "Thus run in order that ye may obtain" is the same thought. Winning the prize is not something on earth but in heaven.

Ques. Has everyone a weight?

C.A.C. Yes; there is something for us all to lay aside, and "sin which so easily entangles us". Sin would be anything connected with the will of man; it entangles us and keeps us from having the heavenly in view. Being still in flesh and blood there is a great danger of sin entangling us, and a weight is anything that hinders movement in the race.

Ques. Are there not many things that are weights without being sin? It says, "and sin".

C.A.C. Yes; personal habits and associations may not be sin, but they may be weights to be laid aside in order to run freely in the race. We must find out what a weight is. When people begin to move spiritually they find many things that are a hindrance and they let them go. There are many things that hinder the pursuit of what is heavenly that are not exactly sin; they are connected with earth. There is much in the character of religion that is a weight;

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it hinders what is heavenly. I think in the mind of the Spirit religious things connected with earth would be a serious weight.

Ques. Is it not important to get into the company of those marked by faith?

C.A.C. Yes. Much depends on the company we keep. We should look out for people more spiritual than ourselves; we should look out for the best sort of company.

Ques. Does this correspond with the sin of inadvertence in Leviticus 4?

C.A.C. Yes, it is not sinning wilfully here, but sin that hinders. It is a principle of lawlessness in whatever specious form it may clothe itself. We must not think we are out of reach of it; it easily besets us. If we ask ourselves, 'Does this help the heavenly?' it is a good test. People say, 'I see no harm in this or that'. But does it help the heavenly? If it hinders the heavenly there is a lot of harm in it. If there is a book you would like to read, ask yourself, 'Does it help the heavenly?' Then you would not waste a few hours reading it.

Ques. What is the joy spoken of in verse 2?

C.A.C. It was the blessedness of the prospect of being with God in heaven in the blessedness of His purpose for man.

Ques. Is it like Psalm 16?

C.A.C. Yes. I thought the Lord Jesus had in view, as no other man ever had, the thought of God for men. While He was here on earth it was future, something of which He had no experience. At that point the Lord put Himself alongside of those in the path of faith. There was a joy set before Him of which He had no previous experience. The Lord had fully in view the purpose of God for man. He said to His disciples, "Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens". He said to the thief, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise". It was a new place for the Lord in

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a condition He had not been in before. It was a path that had to be made known to Him! He confided in God to make it known. He did not see corruption, "the path of life" was made known to Him in that region of "fulness of joy" and "pleasures for evermore" at the right hand of God. (Psalm 16). It was a new place for the Lord; He had never been there before. He was prepared to suffer and die in view of taking up that place in joy before God. There was a great joy before Him; is it before us? That joy that was before the Lord is to be before us. The Old Testament led the Hebrew believers to look for blessing on earth; it was new light to them to learn that the Messiah had been cut off from the earth and had nothing, and that His place of joy was in heaven at the right hand of God. That is the delineation of faith. It is remarkable that it is not connected with the Lord's pathway, but with His enduring the cross and despising the shame; it is connected with the hour of darkness, the closing scene. To be in heaven as a glorified Man was a new experience for Christ; He never knew it before.

Ques. Is, "that they may have my joy fulfilled in them" the same as here?

C.A.C. John 17 is on a more elevated basis; it is one divine Person speaking to Another; so one would not connect faith with that. The whole of what faith is has been delineated in Jesus. He accepted suffering and death here in view of a place in heaven with God that He never had before. It is not His official place, but Jesus as Man.

It is very important to note what is said here. The cross, shame, contradiction of sinners and resisting unto blood have not to do with the Lord's pathway, but with the hour of darkness. The Lord was not exposed to man until the hour came. In His pathway He was the sent One of the Father; He carried out the Father's behests and no one could touch Him. There came a moment when He was

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delivered to men; all this is connected with that hour. He was made to know in that hour all the hostility, contradiction and enmity that faith could possibly encounter. He faced the brunt of it. If we look at that One in that hour we shall see that He met the opposition of men and devils; He went through it in order to enter God's purpose for man. The loss, shame, contradiction of sinners and resisting unto blood are all things that the saints may know; it is not atonement, but what is met in the path of faith; He is the delineation of it. In His ministry He was immune from every hostile power, but there came a time when all was changed and He met the shame, contradiction of sinners, and resisting unto blood. He was received into heaven and He is there as a Man of joy now. The whole brunt of things that we may have to face has been faced by Jesus; He has gone through it and reached the goal. Now let us fix our eyes on Him!

Ques. Would you say a word as to that verse John 15:11, "That my joy may be in you, and your joy be full"?

C.A.C. I think the Lord was speaking there of all that was before the mind of the Father and entering into it anticipatively. Stephen had Jesus and heaven before him and so he accepted the stones and prayed for his murderers.

CHAPTER 12 (SECOND READING) VERSES 5 - 17

C.A.C. The chastening referred to here has in view the making good in our souls the precious things spoken of in this epistle. Think of the great things presented -- God

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speaking in Son, that is unlimited. There are these great things: the divine speaking, the priesthood of Christ, the privilege of drawing nigh to God and the walking by faith. These are great things which require education to be understood. We come now to the educational side. All the things mentioned in the epistle are permeated by divine holiness, so a people unformed in holiness could not compass them. When we come to the educational side we have to realise how necessary it is, for how much there is in us practically that has to be knocked out by severe treatment. This aspect is important in considering the truth of sonship. We think of it on the side of privilege, but the educational side is most important. We could not take up the privilege side without the educational side. God is bringing many sons to glory; that is the purpose side. In privilege we say, 'Abba Father'; but then there is the educational side which is most important.

Ques. It says that God conducts Himself towards us as towards sons. Is not that striking? What bearing would it have on us?

C.A.C. It shews that God does not behave towards us inconsistently with the place we have. We are always sons in the thought of God, although I may not be in my own consciousness. So He always conducts Himself in the way of love; even if He is severe it is in love. Every father who has a son has an ideal for his son and God as Father has a great ideal, and it is on the line of holiness. While God conducts Himself towards us as sons, many of us are only sons potentially; we have not come to it educationally.

Ques. "I will be to him for father, and he shall be to me for son". Is that educational or not?

C.A.C. That applies in the first place to Christ, where the ideal is fully realised. God has reached His ideal in one Son.

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Ques. Are sons ever not received? It says, "every son whom he receives".

C.A.C. We must make a difference between God conferring sonship as a gift and the educational side. He confers the place and dignity of sonship upon us, but it is another thing for Him to receive sons. That implies education and growth.

Ques. Is the ideal seen in David and Solomon?

C.A.C. Yes. Proverbs is a great book of sonship, and also shews the necessity for the educational side. The whole book is instruction for a son; chastening is a word that means instruction. We are apt to forget that when we come to listen to ministry of the word we come to be under chastening, and to be corrected and adjusted. If we come to meetings like this, we come to have some wrong thought corrected.

Ques. Does the relationship of son apply to chastening by the Father or by God?

C.A.C. I do not think there is much difference in the principle. Jehovah compares His chastening with the chastening of sons. It is a pleasure to God to bring me morally and intelligently into correspondence with His ideal. It is a delight to a parent when his son comes home with a good report from school. Do we want to delight the Father? If so we must subject ourselves to His correction, whether in the way of ministry or discipline. All comes into what is connected with being at school. We are all at school; every one comes in for this instructive dealing of God. It says, "of which all have been made partakers".

Ques. Would you think that, when Joseph's brethren came before him and he fully opened his mind to them, they had accepted the discipline?

C.A.C. That is a very good illustration, for they had come through severe discipline.

Ques. Is sonship for us set out in perfection in Christ?

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C.A.C. Surely. The Lord ever accepted the ways of God with Him. We were speaking before of what is referred to in this chapter in connection with the closing scenes of His life -- the resisting unto blood and wrestling against sin. It refers to what He said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness", Luke 22:53. The Lord is a Model for us in the way He carried Himself; we have not yet resisted unto blood, but He did. The Lord was tested in a peculiar way in that hour. The hostility of man could not touch Him until His hour came. He endured the cross and despised the shame; He went through the extreme testing because it was the will of God. He said, "Not my will, but thine be done". He had not to be perfected in a moral sense, but He was perfected in an experimental sense.

Ques. Do you think His enduring the cross refers to the atoning sufferings?

C.A.C. I do not think it is quite the thought of His atoning sufferings, because it is looked at as the way to His place at the right hand of God. It is a path where we might follow Him. All was in view of His taking up His new place as risen and glorified at the right hand of God. That was the joy that was set before Him. He had never known this before; He had never known what it was to be in that position, in "fulness of joy", as a Man.

Rem. It is an encouragement to us to go through to enjoy the system He was brought into.

C.A.C. Yes. Is not the particular form of chastening here the trials that would be encountered in the path of faith? The kind of sufferings contemplated here are sufferings that we could avoid if we wished. The shame of the cross can be avoided; no one is compelled to go that way. We have many sorrows as walking together as brethren that we could escape from. "Thy countenance is fulness of joy", Psalm 16:11. What a wonderful thing to have God's countenance, to know that we are pleasurable

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to God and that His countenance is beaming on us! That was the joy before the Lord, that God's countenance beamed on Him. The Lord never had Man's full place with God before. He was in Deity, He was God eternally, but He was never in God's immediate presence as Man in heaven with God's countenance shining upon Him until He went there by way of the cross. The terminus has been seen in Jesus and we are told to look at Him, to fix our eye on Him. It would be a pity to connect atonement with this.

Rem. Stephen was not sorry to go that way for he saw the glory of God and Jesus; and Paul also desired to follow the pathway of the blessed Lord. I suppose the Father would help us if we are lethargic or slow by His discipline.

C.A.C. Yes, and we should take trials, testings and education as the chastening of God.

Ques. Would you say this is the discipline of our souls or of our spirits?

C.A.C. That is important. It speaks of the Father of spirits. The spirit is the seat of intelligence in a divine sense. When we come together we should come in contact with each others' spirits. I suppose it is in the formation of the spirit that we arrive at sonship in the experimental sense. Perhaps many of us are content to believe statements of Scripture, that we are sons of God, and that "God has sent out the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father". But God is not content with that. That is initial, but what He wants is that I should say, 'Abba Father'. In Romans we say it, but in Galatians, where there is a defective state, the cry is connected with the Spirit. The Father desires that I should cry, 'Abba Father'. God has a company of sons who can intelligently say, 'Abba Father'. That is bound up with the thought of spirit.

Rem. The Lord said when here, "God is a spirit; and

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they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth". We need to come to maturity in the matter.

C.A.C. That encourages us to accept God's ways with us, the trials that come in the path of faith. Every movement in faith will involve some suffering. All in Hebrews 11 moved on the line of giving up the earth; they are regarded in this chapter as having arrived at perfection -- "the spirits of just men made perfect".

Rem. Hezekiah said in prayer, "By these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit", Isaiah 38:16.

C.A.C. Yes. Death had rolled in upon him. As we are plastic in God's hands we become partakers of His holiness. Our natural fathers chastened for their pleasure, but God does it for profit. There are no second causes in this; we should take all discipline from the hand of the Father; it is to do us good. That would save us a lot of heartburning. The Lord accepted all from His Father. If one is disciplined, one would raise holy enquiry so as to get the gain intelligently. We find sometimes that saints wonder why they are chastened. I have never any difficulty as to that! I am conscious there is much in myself that needs it.

Ques. Is it for adjustment in our spirits?

C.A.C. There is always the idea of rectification in chastening, something that does not correspond with the Father's ideas that must be rectified. As we are formed in sonship we are conscious of the great need of rectification. We bring thoughts with us that are natural in origin; all these must be displaced by spiritual thoughts. There must be increased intelligence and conformity to God.

Ques. What is the meaning of "discerning of spirits" (1 Corinthians 12:10)?

C.A.C. It is being able to discern whether a person is animated by the Spirit of God or some other spirit. Many spirits are gone forth into the world, and people profess to

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speak and teach by the Spirit. A man who can discern spirits can soon see whether one is speaking by the Spirit of God or not. It was important in the assembly that that should be discerned, so the Lord gave the gift of discerning of spirits.

CHAPTER 12 (THIRD READING) VERSES 18 - 29

Ques. In what sense would you say we have come to these things in these verses?

C.A.C. We have come to them, one might say, dispensationally. It is not so much whether we have apprehended all that is contained in these wonderful statements, but we have come to them that we might apprehend them. Things that are present realities in the mind of God have come into being according to the divine thought; they are the things we have come to in contrast to the tangible things. The things we have come to are intangible in a material way, but they exist so that it can be said that we have come to them; they are subsisting realities. In coming to these things we receive a kingdom that cannot be moved. We come to God the judge of all, so we need never have any misgivings as to whether we get our rights or not.

These things all form part of the divine speaking from heaven (verse 25). It is not like the ten words on Mount Sinai but another system of things connected with heavenly speaking. There is a majestic voice speaking from heaven. The voice here is not so much the voice of grace but a majestic voice. It is God surely, but God speaking in a majestic way. It is like the voice that spoke to Jesus on

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earth and those that heard it said that it thundered; it was a majestic voice. It is a voice that asserts the divine majesty; it is connected with the shaking of everything that can be moved. There is a system that cannot be moved.

Ques. The people could not endure the speaking from Sinai. Is this greater than that?

C.A.C. This voice has to do with the establishment of every divine thought. The speaking in Son is a majestic speech; it is God speaking in majesty greater than in the law. The voice of Jehovah must ever be full of majesty. It is not a voice to be trifled with. It is the God who is a consuming fire whom we have to serve; there is a complete shrivelling up of the flesh. That voice shook everything in Saul of Tarsus.

Ques. What does Mount Zion represent in this Scripture?

C.A.C. It is the place where the kingdom is set up in victorious power. The word Zion means fortress. It is called in the Old Testament the stronghold of Zion; it is the city of David. It is mentioned very little historically in the Old Testament. David brought the ark there and took the stronghold. There are many references to it in the Psalms and prophets, but very little is said of it historically. What Zion stands for is made good in the assembly; it is where things are set up in power. David is brought in as the chosen man fulfilling God's will and bringing in "sure mercies" connected with resurrection. Zion stands for what is set up on earth in resurrection power. It says that we have come to these things; therefore they must be there for us to come to.

Ques. Does Zion stand for grace in opposition to Sinai-law?

C.A.C. Yes. After the legal system broke down and God forsook Shiloh, Zion came to light in connection with

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David. It represents the establishment of God's will in resurrection.

Ques. Is it not spoken of in connection with God's sovereignty in mercy?

C.A.C. Yes, the chosen man and the chosen place go together. David represents Christ in victorious power subduing all enemies. The enemies' power is broken. Zion is a fortress -- a stronghold, it is the seat of the kingdom. It is a military thought which of course enters into the assembly. The Lord talks of building His assembly and hades' gates not prevailing against it. It is the assembly viewed as a fortress. Zion is established now in a spiritual sense. Zion would stand in relation to what is hostile; therefore it is connected more with resurrection than with heaven. In the power of resurrection every hostile power is defeated.

Ques. Would the city bring in the thought of administration?

C.A.C. The city is more administrative, the assembly of the firstborn more their personal relations with God, the family thought.

Rem. Christ is the Firstborn and the assembly is the assembly of the firstborn.

C.A.C. Yes, all are distinguished sons. There are none of second class; all are objects of delight to His heart. We were sadly astray when we said, 'In whom is all my delight'. This thought of "firstborn" would raise much enquiry in the hearts of the Hebrew believers, for we cannot suppose that they had much light. These things are presented as great subjects of enquiry; they must have been unknown to the Hebrews, yet the speaking from heaven and the ministry of this letter brought them before the saints. Mount Zion was a familiar thought; they would have understood that all that had been said of Zion in the Old Testament was somehow or other a spiritual reality

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now, but the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, must have been a new thought to them.

Ques. Would the faith system cover this? They apprehended by faith in contrast to the visible order of things.

C.A.C. It is necessary for us to get such an apprehension of this that we are freed from the things that are seen.

Ques. What is the difference between this and "Jerusalem above" in Galatians?

C.A.C. It is very much connected with this, but in Galatians it is a system of things that is our mother, not exactly heavenly Jerusalem, but Jerusalem above, stressing its character. It is a system of liberty in contrast to a system of bondage. It is not the heavenly character of Jerusalem so much as its elevation and ability to give birth to children who are spiritually free. It is interesting to notice that "myriads of angels, the universal gathering" comes between "heavenly Jerusalem" and "assembly of the firstborn".

An angel stood at each gate in the holy city, which suggests the thought of a guard -- an angelic guard. Think of the power of angels! The Lord said that He could ask for more than twelve legions of angels; that suggests the thought of the enormous resources of military strength that are with the Father. His Father could have given Him seventy thousand angels to protect Him. One angel could kill one hundred and eighty five thousand in one night and think nothing of it. Think what one angel could do! What marks the angels is that they excel in strength. One angel could bind Satan and cast him into the bottomless pit; angels have tremendous power. It speaks here of myriads of angels. John says that their number was ten thousands of ten thousand and thousands of thousands. I like the thought that it is protection. They are all sent forth now as ministering spirits to minister to the heirs of salvation.

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That is protective. Many a christian might be killed by a chimney-pot falling on him if it were not for the protection of an angel. The Lord was succoured by an angel from heaven who strengthened Him. That is one of the remarkable things in Scripture -- the Creator was strengthened by one of His creatures in His hour of distress! This explains why angels come in at this point. We get the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem and everything set up there administratively; then we get this great army, myriads of angels, safeguarding and protecting all that is of God so that nothing can touch the place in which the firstborn are with God. The firstborn are all registered in heaven; they have their place and portion in heaven.

Ques. Does this sustain the thought of majesty?

C.A.C. We need always to have that thought in relation to God; there never should be familiarity with God. The majestic character of God needs to be pondered; it needs grace that we may serve acceptably with reverence and fear.

Ques. What is the thought of the universal gathering?

C.A.C. The word refers to a festive assembly, a gathering that is marked by joy, the celebration of God in a joyful way -- the festive gathering of innumerable myriads of heavenly and intelligent beings superior in their order of creation to man. This is somewhat similar to the tribes around the tabernacle. The tribes around the tabernacle are for military defence; the tabernacle sets forth the place of the assembly.

Rem. The Levites, representing the firstborn, were within the square formed by the twelve tribes.

C.A.C. Yes, there was a cordon guard all round. God's system is a wonderful one. The character of the system is that they are persons who know God and stand in creature relationship with Him. That is what marks the system; it

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is God as He may be known. This system is not unapproachable light that belongs to Deity, but it is all of God that may be known by creatures, all set together in a wonderful system. God has come into the light of revelation that men may know Him, He is to be known in His universe through men. God as the judge of all assigns to each his proper place. We may say that God lets His saints be persecuted and ill-treated; the answer to that is that God is the judge of all. It would help us greatly to see this. He will never give me a place I am not fitted for, for He is the judge of all and appraises everything perfectly, so that each will have his proper place.

CHAPTER 12 (FOURTH READING)

C.A.C. There does not seem to be any imperfection in the things we have come to. It says in chapter 6, "Let us go on to what belongs to full growth". It shews that perfection marks christianity as a divine system. Here reference is made to "the spirits of just men made perfect". There was confidence with the Old Testament saints that they would be made perfect. "Jehovah will perfect what concerneth me" -- that is the faith of Old Testament saints. Job says, "I know that my Redeemer liveth"; he looked for a state that was founded on redemption when all the questions would be solved.

We come to great foundational realities at the end of this list; Jesus, and the blood of sprinkling, are the foundation of all, and these come last. It gives the sense of Jesus as retaining the character of Mediator of the new covenant. All these things are present subsisting realities. It is this

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Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant, with whom we have to do now.

Ques. What is the difference between this and 2 Corinthians 3?

C.A.C. I think 2 Corinthians 3 is that He is Mediator like Moses with glory in His face. The truth is maintained in its living freshness in Jesus. The glory of the Lord involves the setting up in Him of all that is connected with the ministration of righteousness in the Spirit. It is set up in glory so that it can be looked at. The thought of new covenant ministry is stressed in that chapter. Paul was made competent as a new covenant minister. God said to Moses that He would speak to him from above the mercy-seat -- "there will I meet with thee, and will speak with thee". That is the character of all divine speaking -- from the mercy-seat. God is speaking from the point where the full value of the death of Christ is known. John could see the Lord very much in the place of Mediator. The Father spoke to Him, and He spoke to His disciples. He is Mediator in the highest sense of the word in John.

Ques. Is not the cup we drink every Lord's day connected with the new covenant?

C.A.C. Yes, I had that in mind. It is as Mediator of the new covenant the Lord speaks of the cup. The pouring out of His blood was once for all, but the Lord speaking about it is continuous, each week. He takes a mediatorial place amongst His own.

Rem. This is not only blessing for men but divine Persons moving for Their own pleasure.

C.A.C. It is rather the divine side of it; it is that side in the cup. "This cup is the new covenant in my blood"; it discloses what is in the heart of God. It is not the meeting of man's need but what is in the heart of God in His own nature.

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Ques. In 2 Corinthians 3 it is said, "The Lord is the Spirit", but here is it not more the Person?

C.A.C. The name Jesus is used in this epistle several times. "We see Jesus"; "looking steadfastly on Jesus"; "the blood of Jesus". There is something that appeals to the heart when His personal name is used; it causes us to view Him in relation to God. How He loves to be thought of as a Man, yet near enough to God for God to communicate to and through Him all the great thoughts of His love! We should understand the great wealth of the place that He has brought us to; it is a large place. We need to look round and take stock of what is there. So great was the Lord's Person that He could be changed into a glorified state even before His death. The transfiguration brought out His personal greatness in a wonderful way. He is changed from a state of humiliation to a state of glory that is seen by mortal eyes before His death. It is a wonderful testimony to the majesty of His Person.

Ques. Moses and Elijah appeared with Him in glory. Did they anticipate the perfection?

C.A.C. Peter says, "Having been eyewitnesses of his majesty". His death and resurrection make no difference to the majesty of His Person. He is as majestic before His death as after. The transfiguration is a most remarkable thing in the life of the Lord. Men saw it who were going to die, but the Lord said they should not taste death until they had seen it. It is with that Person that we have to do. We have come to that Person. It is not merely a historical fact that He has been Testator in death, but He is a living Mediator of the new covenant; it is preserved in living freshness.

In regard to "the blood of sprinkling", there is a reference to the sprinkling of the blood in Exodus. I wondered if in the mind of the Spirit there was a gathering up of the different thoughts in connection with the sprinkling of

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blood. Hebrews 9:19, 20 refers to it: "Every commandment ... the blood of the covenant which God has enjoined to you". Chapter 10 refers to boldness to enter in by the blood of Jesus, and chapter 9 refers to the tabernacle and all the vessels being sprinkled with blood. I think it is a general thought of everything coming under the value of the blood of Jesus. He tells us that it speaks better than Abel -- it is a great speaking.

Ques. In chapter 10 there is a reference made to sprinkling, "sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience": is that another setting?

C.A.C. It has been remarked before that sprinkling is a greater thought than washing. There is the thought of being washed in the blood; washing suggests the effect produced on the person or thing that is washed. The idea of sprinkling is that the person or thing sprinkled is brought under the whole value of what is sprinkled. There is not only a moral effect but the whole value of the blood is brought in, therefore it speaks better than Abel.

Rem. I suppose the blood sprinkled in Hebrews is in a general sense.

C.A.C. I thought so. There is positive value in the blood of sprinkling; there is intrinsic value which speaks better than Abel; he speaks by his faith but this is something that has intrinsic value. All the immense value of the blood of Jesus speaks better than Abel. He could not say anything like what this blood says.

Ques. Is it not important to note that the New Translation makes the verse clearer?

C.A.C. It refers to Abel's own speaking. Abel having died yet speaks; his faith has given him a long period as a speaker, but the blood of sprinkling speaks better than Abel. I suppose that now the speaking is from the mercy-seat and it is according to the value of the blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat. It is rather striking that in Romans 3

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it does not begin with the passover as we should suppose; it begins with the mercy-seat. He speaks from His own side: That is why I thought that the blood of sprinkling would take in that as a kind of summary of the way the blood is sprinkled in the Old Testament.

Ques. Does the blood on the mercy-seat give the greatest thought of it?

C.A.C. Yes. There you have the value of the blood in its highest and most extended character that satisfies every claim of divine glory. In a sense the divine speaking now is largely the speaking of the blood.

Rem. "See that ye refuse not Him that speaks".

C.A.C. Yes, he calls attention to the powerful character of the speaking. God is speaking in Son; it is very majestic speaking. The Spirit of God is saying all through the epistle, 'Take heed how you pay attention to this speaking'. He emphasises the majestic character of the speaking. There is no escape if we do not heed it; it calls attention to the greatness of the Person. If such a Person is speaking, it is at the peril of any creature to disregard the speaking.

Nothing is going to abide but what can stand in the presence of the majesty of God; everything else will be shaken.

CHAPTER 13 (FIRST READING)

Ques. What is the thought in the altar in this chapter?

C.A.C. It is looked at as a source of food supply. Those who serve the tabernacle are regarded as serving a system of things which God has now discarded and in connection with which there were certain supplies of food referred to

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as meats in verse 9. They were not such as to profit in a spiritual way those that participated in them.

Ques. How would you regard the altar as a food supply for us?

C.A.C. It indicates clearly that what has nourishing power is the fruit of the sufferings and death of Christ which is outside the system of things these believers had known, and links on with the thought of the suffering of Jesus without the gate. The bodies of the sin-offerings which were burned without the camp could not be eaten (Leviticus 6:30). There is something outside the system that these people had known and that they had found to be unprofitable. The sin-offering is the basis of the whole thing. It has become food for us although the blood has been carried into the holy of holies.

Ques. If the priests were to eat certain sin-offerings, what connection has that?

C.A.C. This is a supply of food of a more excellent character, not giving any place to man in the flesh. The consuming judgment of sin has come on that man. The whole system of grace is entirely outside the man after the flesh.

Ques. Does not the altar give character to what we are connected with?

C.A.C. It is as necessary for us to see that clearly, as it was for the Hebrews. We see a system of things around, which is very much like serving the tabernacle. We cannot give any place to man after the flesh if we want to participate with the present divine altar. We serve God in relation to a system that gives no place to man after the flesh and it is abundantly furnished with food. "Let us serve God acceptably". We serve God in relation to this new altar; if we do, we find that there is an abundance of food.

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Ques. Would the altar spoken of in 1 Corinthians 10 be an altar of law and this an altar of grace?

C.A.C. Yes; it is a great thing to leave the material and come to the spiritual. We all have to take up these exercises.

Ques. Did Peter get to the light of these exercises on the mount of transfiguration?

C.A.C. He had a right thought in one sense and he desired to provide a tabernacle for what came before him in that scene of glory. The three tabernacles were there in Peter, James and John; they desired to enshrine what they had seen. God desired that it should be enshrined in a spiritual way in their affections and Peter became a tabernacle for it. All is connected with a system of glory to be enshrined in human vessels, morally now and actually by and by.

Rem. The Lord went outside the tabernacle system that then existed.

C.A.C. That was in order that He might sanctify the people by His own blood. It is a setting apart from the system that existed. The sanctification that has been effected by the blood of Jesus is absolute; it is not connected with the work of the Spirit in the saints, but it is connected with an absolute system of things connected with the blood of Jesus. All that was in the mind of God according to His revelation in grace has been secured in the value of the death of Christ. It has often been a joy to me to think that the sufferings of Christ and the whole system of divine glory are perfectly proportioned. There is nothing more important than that believers should enter into all that has been effected by the blood of Jesus. These believers were flagging and the writer of the epistle brings these things before them as stimulation. This epistle is not exactly teaching, but it is a stimulant. We all need spiritual stimulants.

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Ques. What is the force of the blood being carried into the holiest by the high priest?

C.A.C. It shews that the thing that was of the greatest value was, even in the typical system, not connected with the regular service of the tabernacle. What is outside the camp is not connected with the ordered service, nor is what was inside the veil: it is not part of the normal service of the tabernacle. That must have been striking to the Hebrews when it was brought before them. The system contained typically the promise of something greater and more excellent. Think of the greatness of it! God is glorified as to sin outside the camp, the bodies were burnt, everything was consumed that was obnoxious to the judgment of God. This is a great divine fact. It always strikes me in reading Hebrews that things are presented that are tremendous realities and they are there for the youngest babe in Christ and the oldest father. All through the epistle we get the greatness of God and the greatness of Christ and the greatness of the death of Christ.

Ques. Why is it that the greatest thoughts are presented in Jesus, which is His personal Name?

C.A.C. It brings out the greatness of the Person. The Person is greater than the office. Among men the office confers greatness on the person, but in the divine system the Person is greater than the office.

Ques. What is the altar to us? Is it a place where we meet God?

C.A.C. I thought it was the general idea of approaching God to serve Him. Those who built an altar in the Old Testament were impressed by some outshining or communication of God to them.

Ques. What is the thought of the saints making the altar?

C.A.C. It was available as part of the divine system; it

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was a very important part of it, and it is equally so now, but it has to be apprehended spiritually.

Ques. What would the camp be today?

C.A.C. I think it is that which professes to be in relation with God but where everything that is purely of God is under reproach. The truth today is used to darken and obscure the knowledge of God. Christendom is full of Bibles and there is a great deal of truth, but it is used to prevent God being known according to the way that He has made Himself known through His Son, and anything that diverts from that is idolatry. The ten commandments may be idolatrous now.

Rem. The Lord having suffered would be the antitype of what is typified in the tabernacle. We have no longer to do with what is material but with what is spiritual.

C.A.C. Yes. The Spirit of God would appeal to our affections in using His personal name so much. There is no more touching expression than "I Jesus".

Ques. What is your thought as to the gate?

C.A.C. This great sin-offering was outside the Jewish system altogether. It was not offered on the altar of the temple; it was outside the gate and it corresponds with outside the camp. Outside the gate would be where Jesus suffered. There is nothing more important for us than to ponder the sin-offering. We are more familiar with the burnt-offering than with the sin-offering. The sin-offering is the consuming of the whole thing. It determines our place in relation to the whole system of divine glory. The burning outside the camp is connected with what is carried in and put on the mercy-seat. God has set up a system of everlasting glory and He has done it on the basis of the sin-offering. He can set up a universe of bliss on the ground of the sin-offering. He has been glorified in respect to sin and He can build up a universe on that for His own glory. "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is

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glorified in him" (John 13:31); there is much more in that than the removal of what is offensive. God is glorified in the highest by the blood being put on the mercy-seat. He now has a free hand, He can fill the earth with blessing and heaven too. He does it all on the ground of the sin-offering. That makes man utterly insignificant; it would prepare us for reproach. Outside the camp is a place of reproach, but Jesus is there.

Rem. It is "to him", not merely outside the camp.

C.A.C. Quite, and that gives attraction. All this is important in connection with the service of God. If everybody approved of us we should know that somehow or other we had got all wrong!

Ques. Does going forth to Him make it entirely a spiritual movement?

C.A.C. It is there that we serve the altar. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name".

Ques. What is the sacrifice of praise?

C.A.C. We have understood the sin-offering and we go forth to Him. Jesus is the attraction; we understand that all is connected with Jesus. The blessed outshining of God must be under reproach in a world that is all wrong, but in that place of reproach we serve God continually. I have been struck in noticing that there is hardly anything said in the New Testament as to what we do when we come together. We have no example of the assembly meeting and the only thing spoken of in connection with it is the coming together to eat the Lord's supper. That is the only thing told us; there is nothing said as to what follows. We have simply to follow the hints that are given, but there is a great deal told us in Scripture about the kind of people that do assemble together. If there are people who have gone forth to Jesus bearing His reproach and offering the sacrifice of praise continually, there is not much doubt as to

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what will happen when we get together! I was asked once to have a reading on the assembly as convened, and I said, First, we must look at the kind of people that are convened. You can take Romans, Colossians and Ephesians, and note what appears in the saints in a general way as not convened, but if people are in the good of Romans, Colossians and Ephesians, what sort of time would it be like when we come together? It would be fine! The Father does not exactly seek worship, but worshippers. If I am not a worshipper continually in my affections I cannot worship when I come with others.

Rem. There should be a continual flowing of praise.

C.A.C. Yes. God has a people who serve Him all the time; it is whole-time service. We are apt to forget that and think that the meetings are the only time of service. But the thought is that we must all come as worshippers, we must come in that spirit. There is no thought of the sacrifice of praise going on independently of Christ. It is put very strikingly here, "the fruit of the lips confessing his name"; that is not public confession to man, it is purely to God. Do we habituate ourselves to confessing to the blessed God how we know Him and appreciate the way He has made Himself known to us? That is not done only in the meeting; it is the fruit of the lips. You give audible expression to God of what He is to you and how He has made Himself known to you. That is to go on continually, not at stated times, but you are always in tune for this blessed service. You put into the hands of Christ an offering that is suitable for Him to present. If a company of persons were on this line from Monday morning to Saturday night, what sort of meetings would there be when they came together?

It would be very good if we understood that leadership was first of all in relation to God. You recognise a leader by the way that he leads you to God; a true leader always leads

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to God. We should have more speaking to God if we understood the leadership of Christ. We often speak to the Lord in the meetings when it would be more in line with the truth if we allowed Christ to lead us to God.

Ques. What is the force of giving thanks at all times?

C.A.C. It supposes that you have come to a system of things where everything is an occasion for thanksgiving. You are in an environment where everything makes you thankful.

Rem. In the previous chapter we are told to be thankful in connection with grace (verse 28 footnote).

C.A.C. That is the true state of holiness. "Unthankful" and "unholy" are put together. If there is an absence of thankfulness there is an absence of holiness. A holy person is one who is continually thanking God. God loves that our thanks should be voiced in words; it does not altogether satisfy God if it is only in the heart.

Then there is also the practical side, "doing good and communicating of your substance". The two are put together; the fruit of the lips and then the practical correspondence, doing good and communicating of your substance, "for with such sacrifices God is well pleased". It is part of the service of God; it is not merely the fruit of grace. It is a positive part of the holy service of God to do good and to communicate. If there is a need and we have the wherewithal we supply it, it is part of the service of God. It puts these matters on a very high plane.

CHAPTER 13 (SECOND READING)

Ques. Is there any reason why it says, "Obey your leaders" in verse 17, not just leaders generally?

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C.A.C. I thought that the Hebrews are seen as identified with the general movements of the saints.

Ques. Does it apply to leaders who were contemporary with them or to those who had gone before?

C.A.C. I thought that the leaders that are spoken of in verse 7 are those that have gone before and that those in verse 17 are those of the present time. Verse 7 would refer to the apostles, "who have spoken to you the word of God". It has been noted that the apostles are not mentioned as such in this epistle. They are referred to in chapter 2 as "those who have heard". That is, there is nothing to detach either leaders or apostles from the body of the saints. The writer of the epistle takes his place along with the brethren all through. He says, "We have heard"; the gospel has been preached to "us"; "Let us". He identifies himself with the whole body of the saints. Leaders are identified with the general movement that is going on.

Ques. Would leaders have the character of shepherds?

C.A.C. It seems so. They watch for (or 'over') your souls. I think one who is watching for the souls of the saints is pretty much in the spirit of a true leader. He is going on and is free from himself and his things; he is occupied in watching for the souls of the saints.

Ques. Does not the shepherd feature come out in Moses and David?

C.A.C. Yes. They watched for souls. It is a great thing to see that the Lord has committed responsibility to persons. We ought to recognise those who are watching for our souls; it does not say that they teach or minister the word, but they watch for the souls of the saints. One would rather be a holy watcher than a minister of the word; there is something attractive in watching.

Ques. Do you mean caring for their spiritual prosperity?

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C.A.C. Yes; it is one of the abiding things. Watching for souls is going to be found amongst the saints whilst the church is here; it is a principle that operates in the care meeting. Those sitting down together in holy watchfulness are exercising vigilant care over the souls of the saints. There is nothing more precious than the care meetings.

Rem. Peter speaks of the Lord as the Overseer of your souls.

C.A.C. Yes; an overseer gives this touch of watching souls. Paul says, "Take heed ... to all the flock". This thought here is that they are leaders by divine appointment; it is not a man setting up to be a leading brother. Leaders have to give an account. There is no thought of a man being a leader unless he is a pattern. Timothy was to be a model of believers although he was comparatively a young man. Then there is the thought of responsibility. We are weak on that. Leaders have to give an account; if they do it with groaning they feel how ineffective their service has been.

Ques. Is not the responsibility on us to follow?

C.A.C. Yes. If someone in caring for my soul has to feel that his service has been ineffective, so that he can only groan, it is unprofitable for me. Suppose we lose a brother or sister, do we groan? Have we watched for their souls? If we let a sheep go, it shews that our service is so inefficient that we could not hold them.

Ques. Would those who are unestablished call for more care than others?

C.A.C. Yes. I know of no scripture that attaches responsibility to the sheep. If God has committed to us a responsibility as to the flock, it is a solemn thing if the sheep go astray. I must first of all blame myself, for I am responsible for them. The leaders seem to have responsibility as to souls, so they watch for our souls.

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Ques. It says "Obey your leaders"; is that the principle of subjection?

C.A.C. The divine economy can only work on the principle of subjection, nothing in the kingdom or in the house of God will work save on that principle. The whole thing is wrecked if there is not subjection. The recognition of the principle of care in the assembly is very important, and also that there should be the principle of subjection. We all have to be exercised about the spirit of submission.

Ques. What is the difference between obedience and submission?

C.A.C. Submission suggests that your spirit is in it. You might obey and yet be rebellious inside; that is not submission.

"That they may do this with joy" is an appeal to the spiritual affections of the saints. The saints would wish that those in responsibility for their souls should be able to give an account with joy. It is a dreadful thing if one set in responsibility by the Lord could only groan.

Ques. How far does this apply today?

C.A.C. We have all to see that the element of leadership is there. Every one should aspire to be moving in a way that will be an encouragement to others. That does not set aside the fact that there are, and will be, those to whom God has committed responsibility to watch over the souls of His people. It says in verse 24, "Salute all your leaders, and all the saints". There are persons who give a spiritual lead and watch for the souls of the saints, who are to be distinctly recognised. It may need grace for us to recognise them, but they are there and are to be recognised.

Ques. Is leading to be in the way of influence?

C.A.C. It would not do much without moral influence being with it. There is a certain principle of rule. A person who is a leader would be able to take up verse 18, "Pray for us: for we persuade ourselves that we have a good conscience,

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in all things desirous to walk rightly". The writer of the epistle puts himself on common ground with the brethren. It is striking that he should seek for prayer on this line. "We persuade ourselves that we have a good conscience" -- that is the ground on which he asks for the prayers of the saints. People who are walking well are entitled to the prayers of the saints. People who are walking badly are not; they may need their prayers but they do not deserve them! We are not entitled to the prayers of the saints on any other ground. Prayer is generally for those who are walking well. We read of no prayer in 1 Corinthians or Galatians; they were not in a state to deserve prayer. People in a bad, imperfect or defective state need to be met by ministry of the word in the power of the Spirit. Prayer is generally presented in Scripture as for people in a good state, so we read more of prayer in Ephesians than in any other epistle. They are viewed in the full height of the christian position. The Lord's prayer in John 17 is on the ground that they deserve to be prayed for. Prayer comes in for support, help and enlargement of what is of God; what is wrong is met by the ministry of the word in the power of the Spirit.

What sets the apostle praying in Colossians and Ephesians is that he has heard of their faith in Christ Jesus and love to all the saints. He had heard of their good state and so he prays. We do not study the prayers of the epistles enough. Paul is the chief one who prays; they should be studied as models for assembly prayer. Paul was persuaded good of the Hebrews, so he asks for their prayers. I do not wish to say that we are not to pray for those who are walking badly, but in Scripture prayer is more generally found for the people who are walking well and in liberty.

Ques. Are we not exhorted to pray for all men?

C.A.C. There you are evangelical. Prayer for kings and those in authority is important in order that we may lead

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tranquil lives, so we pray for the powers that be. That is rather a different line. Praying for all men is on the line of God's grace; prayer for kings is on the line of government; but that is different from what we are speaking of now.

I think we should say a little about verses 20 and 21. I thought the eternal covenant referred to the unalterable terms on which God is with His people. He brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus. The only mention of the Lord's resurrection in this epistle is this one. It is the great evidence that God is for His people. He has brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, "in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant". Things are on an unalterable basis; God is known in that character as working in the souls of His people. God as thus known is working by Jesus Christ in His people so that He may have pleasure in them. Every provision is made that God should have pleasure in a people made perfect to do His will through Jesus Christ: it is a wonderful climax to the epistle.

Ques. What is the meaning of "the power of the blood"?

C.A.C. I thought it was the footing on which all stands. The Lord Jesus has taken up office as the great Shepherd of the sheep after the sacrificial work has been accomplished. The care of the flock of God is now committed to Him. He is the great Shepherd of the sheep; He is the great Shepherd in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant. Things on the divine side are on an unchangeable basis. That is God's character, how He is moving on behalf of His people. He has provided the great Shepherd; all has been done in the blood of the covenant. God in that character is working in His people by Jesus Christ. Nothing can change these things; nothing can put the Lord back into death or take away His ability to be the great Shepherd. God who has acted in this glorious way is working in the souls of His people to make them perfect, so that His pleasure may be worked in them. It would be a

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dreadful thing to think of the blood of the covenant as common. Here it is what is secured for God; God is now free to work in the souls of His people. Sins and sin and the flesh are not there; God has dealt with all that and now He is free to work in the souls of His people by Jesus Christ. Everything pleasurable to God is brought about by Jesus Christ. Impressions of Christ are the only things that bring about what is pleasing to God. We may read books, or hear addresses and no change may be produced, but an impression of Jesus Christ will make a change. Every impression we get of Jesus Christ demands adjustment and brings about what is pleasurable to God.

Ques. Why is Timothy the only living saint mentioned here?

C.A.C. I suppose he was worthy to be put alongside the teaching of this epistle. That is the reason of the names of persons mentioned at the end of epistles; they are worthy of the teaching of the epistle. Timothy was set free to be under the influence of Jesus Christ. It would be well for us to take that home; nothing effects the pleasure of God in us but impressions of Jesus Christ; that brings about what is pleasing to God.

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SUMMARY OF AN ADDRESS 19 DECEMBER 1897
WHERE THE SON OF GOD IS THE MINISTER

Hebrews 8:1 - 3; Hebrews 2:11 - 13

I have no thought of explaining these verses but I just want to speak of the exceeding greatness of the fact that there is a circle of things where the Son of God is the Minister, where the only voice that is heard is the voice of the Son of God. In that circle there is no room for our needs -- it is a circle of love where the Father's name is made known. If we really accept it, our souls cannot settle down with anything less. That the Son of God is the Minister of the sanctuary gives us a great thought of the assembly; He is the Minister there. Some people object to one-man ministry; I do not, provided you have the right Man! There is only one Man to minister to the Father. "It is needful that this one also should have something which he may offer" It is a wonderful thing to see that there is a Man, the blessed Son of God, who takes the place of Minister to the satisfaction of the heart of His God and Father. He has taken that place and in that place He has His brethren associated with Him.

Beloved brethren, it is that Man, the blessed Son of God, who has taken that place. The wonderful thing is that we should be brought into association with Him, with His ministry to His God and Father. He ministers to the satisfaction and joy of His God and Father, and we come in with Him. The way we are brought in we find in Hebrews 2He declares the Father's name to His brethren; it is a wonderful thing that He has a company around Him. He

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can make known to them all that the Father's name is to Him. It is a wonderful thing that He has a company to whom He can freely speak. He has so sanctified them by His death that He can freely declare the Father's name to that company.

We can know the Father by the One on whom His affections rest. All the Father's affections flow out to the Son. He comes out from the Father to make known to His brethren the Father's name, and then He wants a response to it. How it takes us outside of the circle of our need! It carries us into the circle of the love of the Father. "That the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them". That is what He wants.

Can we really say that by the blessed ministry of the Son we know something of what it is to have that love that rests on Him in our hearts? That is the first side. And then the other side, "In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises". It is a wonderful thing! You get the outflow from the Father's heart first -- all that is in the Father's heart comes out to us, declared by the Son -- and then there is a return. And, beloved brethren, if it is the voice of the Son that declares the outflow, it is the voice of the Son that declares the response. He is in the midst. Have we thought of that? Have we been exercised about it? -- that there is a place where there is but one voice heard and that the voice of the Son of God! It is not as if the Lord was in the midst of His saints as a separate Person, the Leader of the praises -- a leader supposes others. It says, "will I sing". There is only one Singer; He sings in the hearts of His brethren, there is but one voice; there is but one song. And what is that song? The response to love that He has made known. It is the natural response to the knowledge of the Father's love. How much have our hearts known of that expanse of love? I feel I have hardly touched it. And, beloved brethren, what a wonderful thing the He should be in us,

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according to the last verse of John 17, "And I in them"! If we are His brethren He is in us. And where is the song, the response to the wonderful love that He has made known? I believe every bit of response to the knowledge of the Father's love reaches Him by the voice of the Son. Have our hearts been put in tune?

What would such a company as that be to the heart of the Father! That is the worshipping company that the Father seeks. And it is the offering of the Priest, "Behold, I and the children which God has given me". He offers the whole company of His brethren; He brings them into the holiest and He presents them all there. He has put His own song into their hearts and then He takes them in His hands, as it were, and presents them there for the satisfaction of the heart of the Father.

May we understand better what it is to be His brethren! On the one side, He declares the Father's name; on the other, He sings the praise. But He does not sing without His brethren. He sings in the midst of the assembly, but He sings by putting His song into the hearts of His brethren. May we know a little better what it is to belong to that circle, for His name's sake!

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SUMMARY OF A READING AT PAIGNTON 7 APRIL 1914
"JESUS .
.. CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOUR"

Hebrews 2:5 - 18

I thought it might be helpful to see what has come in in connection with Jesus as crowned with glory and honour. It is very interesting to keep in mind the psalm which is quoted. The Alpha and the Omega of Psalm 8 is that God's name is to be excellent in all the earth. The psalm begins with that and ends with it, but before that is brought in publicly there are babes and sucklings in whose mouths God establishes His praise, and that is God's present triumph over all His enemies. There is a circle where the blessedness of the world to come is anticipated. It will be anticipated in the blessing and testimony of the remnant before it is made manifest in the world to come, but at the present moment all blessing and testimony are found in the assembly; it is there that God's name is excellent.

There are still adversaries within and the enemy and the avenger without, but how blessed it is to be babes and sucklings out of whose mouth God establishes His own praise! It is interesting that God gets the victory over all His enemies in this way. Tomorrow He will sweep every enemy off the scene, but today He triumphs over them in the praise of babes and sucklings. There was a little anticipation of it when the Lord was on the earth; there were babes who cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David". They knew, as taught of God, what had come to pass in that blessed Man. It was a little picture of God's present triumph; His name is excellent in the praise of babes.

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All the excellence of God's name comes out in connection with man. That is clearly shown in Psalm 8. The full height of God's thoughts in regard to man is seen in Jesus crowned with glory and honour, but before we come to this we must consider two other things. Fallen man has been remembered by God, and the Son of man has been visited by Him. "What is man ... ?" (Psalm 8:4) is fallen man; it is the Hebrew word for man as fallen and mortal. That man has been remembered by God, and I think we may say that all the excellence of God's name as a Saviour God comes out in the fact that He has remembered fallen man. J.N.D. says that the word 'rememberest' implies 'an active recollection, because the object is cared for' (see note to Hebrews 2:6).

We do not need to go outside this chapter to see how God has remembered His fallen creature. Jesus has become a Man that by the grace of God He might taste death for every one of that fallen race. Then we think of Satan as having the power of death and holding men in bondage by it and we see that God has remembered that too. Jesus took part in blood and flesh "that through death he might annul him who has the might of death ... and might set free all those who through fear of death ... were subject to bondage". Then again this chapter speaks of His making propitiation for sins. God has not forgotten any part of the need of His fallen creature; He has met it all by Jesus. Is not His name excellent as a Saviour God? Has He established the praise of it in our hearts? So that in spite of the adversary and the enemy and the avenger the praise of what God is is established in the mouths of babes and sucklings.

Then the Son of man has been visited by God. In this connection we learn not the grace but the good pleasure of God. He visits Man as the Object of His delight and love. This is not fallen man; it is Christ. God visited Him at His

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baptism, and that visit brought out that as to His Person He was God's beloved Son, and that as to His whole course here for thirty years God had found His delight in Him. Then again He was visited on the holy mount, and I think we might say, too, that He was visited in the grave. The glory of the Father visited that grave and raised Him out of it. Every visit brings out more fully how delightful He was to God, and it all brings out the excellence of God's name; He is the God and Father of that blessed Man. And we look at all this as being on the way to His being crowned with glory and honour. His moral suitability to be crowned with glory and honour has been manifested.

Now He is crowned with glory and honour; the full thought of God as to man has been reached, and His saints see the full light and splendour of it in Jesus and are brought into the light of it; the praise of it is established in their mouths. In that way the excellence of God's name is known in the hearts that it may be told out in the praise of His people. What men did to Jesus brought out what men were, but what God has done to Jesus has brought out all that God is, and now the glory of God is in the face of Jesus. There are adversaries and the enemy and the avenger, but God has triumphed, and His triumph gives character to the testimony. When you see Jesus crowned with glory and honour you are in the light of heaven's coronation day.

Now that Jesus is crowned with glory and honour God has a free hand to work, and He is doing wonderful things for Himself. God is spoken of here as the One "for whom are all things, and by whom are all things". God is moving in blessed activity from the starting point of Jesus crowned with glory and honour.

Christ is viewed in four positions in which, as the result of God working, His saints are in relation to Him. He is Leader of salvation to a company of many sons who are

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being brought to glory; then He is the Sanctifier of a company for the sanctuary; then He is seen as in the path of dependence, and finally in the place of testimony. All must be of God and for God eventually, but at the present time His thought is to have Christ in relation with men, or men in relation with Christ, in these four positions. That is what God is doing today for His own pleasure and delight, and as material for His work He takes up babes and sucklings. If there is self-importance with us, if we have the idea we are somebody, that is not the sort of material that God can use. He "sets himself against the proud but gives grace to the lowly". We do not read anything here about people being converted or believing the gospel; all that is necessary, but here the work of God is looked at in its result.

God is bringing many sons to glory, but He is bringing them there along the road of sufferings. Sufferings and glory are very often linked together in Scripture. I do not think the Lord ever proposed to bring people to glory by any other road, and you must not expect anything else. If you take the path of God's will -- the only path that leads to glory -- you will find that it is paved with sufferings, but there is not a step in that road which has not been trodden by the feet of Jesus. The Leader of our salvation has been made perfect through sufferings, and if the Leader has been perfected by sufferings it indicates the character of the path in which He leads. When there were those who came to the Lord and asked for glory He said, 'Are you prepared for the path that leads there?'

It may be asked, 'Why does Christ lead the sons that way?' Well it is morally impossible that we could be set free from all the evil influences here without suffering. Wrestling against sin involves suffering; Christ resisted unto blood in doing it. His feet were ever found in the path of sufferings, for He was ever set for God's will and

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everything contrary to that will brought suffering upon Him.

But then there is another thing. The company of many sons will be a wonderful company when they reach glory, such a company as heaven has never seen, and, one might add, such a company as heaven could never have produced. God's purpose is to have a company in glory with tender hearts and with deep sympathies; that is with hearts like Him who is there now. He will have a people there with intelligence and affections suited to sons so that they may be all that He would have sons to be, and I have no doubt that these sympathies and affections are very largely developed in a path of sufferings.

Sufferings are looked at in Romans 8 as the portion of children but the end is that the company which has suffered here is revealed in glory as the sons of God. They come out to display, it seems to me, the moral result of the way by which they have been led to glory. It is in this way that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose"; everything works along the line of effecting conformity to the image of His Son. God is forming sons for glory, and He is doing it very largely by sufferings (see 2 Corinthians 4:16 - 18).

It is said of Christ that though He were Son He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. In Hebrews 12 the Father in His discipline deals with us as sons.

Sonship is set forth in the Son of God in heaven. We receive sonship as a gift, and the Holy Spirit is the spirit of it, but then it is essential that we should be formed in the sympathies and affections that are proper to sons, and I believe we get that very largely through exercise in the path of sufferings.

Sufferings come in many different ways -- suffering for righteousness' sake, and for Christ's sake, and suffering with Christ. The Father uses all these as discipline that we

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may be partakers of His holiness, and that sympathies and affections might be developed in us that we could not acquire in any other circumstances. But there is not a bit of that road that the Leader of salvation has not trodden. His was a path of sufferings all through, and in His death all sufferings centred. I do not see that He can lead us in any other way than the way He went Himself. There is no kind of suffering that can come upon man in a godly way that He has not known, and that is the way that He leads. I am sure the company of many sons will be a wonderfully developed company.

If God brings us into the light of His purpose, the light of sonship, we come into a very distinct character of sufferings. It involves a path of separation, and peculiar sufferings in that path. Romans 8 speaks of suffering with Christ, and this epistle speaks of the reproach of Christ. These are very distinct characters of suffering. He suffered at every sight of evil around Him; the misery of man, the sorrow, darkness and death which lay on man were the cause of profound suffering to Him. Now God is forming us by contact with these things, and the result is that we are formed in sympathies and affections such as could not be formed in heaven. The many sons are led by this road so that when they get to glory they will be formed in a character that is perfectly suited to God.

This scripture supposes that we are in the light of Jesus crowned with glory and honour; this is the work of God consequent upon that; it is christianity; it is what God is doing at the present time. Personally I may not be very much in it, but this is what God is doing. God is working to free His people from everything that is inconsistent with the character of sons, and He does so as we follow in the path where the Leader of salvation went. There is no way to glory but to follow that blessed Leader; He was made perfect through sufferings. With the Lord every quality

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was inherent in Himself, and the sufferings brought out what He was in all His perfection. But with us everything that is suited to God has to be formed in us by the work of God. Hence the importance of starting with "We see Jesus ...", and taking all up as following Him; there must be that lever in the soul.

Now we get another thought -- not the Leader and followers, but the Sanctifier and the sanctified. It is not now the road to glory that is in view but, as I understand it, our present relations with God in the sanctuary. Those who are really on the way to glory appreciate the sanctuary, and I question very much whether any one else can. The sanctuary is where you take up your relations with God according to the full light of your calling, and that in christianity is in the assembly. It is not explained here how the sanctified company is produced; it is without doubt the product of the work of God. What marks the assembly is that it is in the full light of the love of God, for His name has been declared by Him who said, "Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God". And on the other hand Christ sings God's praises in the midst of the assembly. These two things seem to me to connect themselves with the sanctuary; the saints are viewed as for the time outside the path of suffering and in the sanctuary where there is nothing to interfere with the enjoyment of the revelation which Christ has made of His Father and God, and nothing to jar on His song of praise.

When the Lord said to Mary, "Go to my brethren", she knew very well the persons He referred to. It was not an abstract thought; He referred to an actual company of persons. And the message was not sent by an apostle; it was sent by a woman who represented, as I suppose, the affections of the company. It is only in divinely formed affections that we are capable of taking up the declaration

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of God's name. The message, as J.N.D. said, brought the saints together, and that will always be the effect of coming into the light of that blessed declaration, and then you have the conditions of the sanctuary.

In Israel obedience and piety and love had place at home and all the year round, but when they took up their relations with God according to the full privilege of their calling it was in the place where He set His name. We are always to be marked by obedience, piety and love but to take up the full privilege of our calling we must be together. Hence the Lord left His Supper that we might be constrained in affection to come together. The affections must be touched.

Then Christ says, "In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises". It is very blessed to see the greatness of the divine thought whatever may have come in to hinder its practical realisation. The Lord is ever seeking to lead us on in our souls so that we may come in our affections to be in accord with Himself. We must be quickened in our affections for this. Many get light in a mental way, but nothing really moves souls but the work of God, and He always works in the affections.

Then when He says, "I will trust in him", it suggests another position -- that we are here in the place of dependence. Christ has been here in that spirit, and therefore it must be our place. It comes out in Psalm 16. There never was anyone so dependent as the Lord; He was cast upon God from His birth. We do many things because we have the power to do them, but the Lord was cast upon God for every thing.

If you know your place on the road to glory you will value your place in the sanctuary, and if you value your place in the sanctuary you cannot walk in any other state or spirit here than that of dependence. In every position

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Christ stands in relation with us and we stand in relation with Him.

Then lastly "Behold, I and the children which God has given me". This is for testimony. They are "for signs and for wonders", Isaiah 8:18. There is nothing so astonishing in the world as true christians; half a dozen christians would shake a town. I mean people in whom there was nothing seen but the qualities of Christ. God gives Him a company of little ones that His qualities and character may come out in them. Look at the apostles! Men could not understand what they saw in them; they had to take knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. There never was a greater sign and wonder than was seen on the day of Pentecost and the days that followed -- a great company in which not one person was thinking of himself, all acting in love one to another, all acting and speaking and thinking in the spirit of Christ. Being like Christ is the greatest sign and wonder that was ever seen in this world, and that is the testimony. What effect is the consideration of it going to have upon us? It must humble us very much. We cannot look at these things lightly, but still we may encourage ourselves in God. The testimony of God is of such a character that when in power it shook everything here. In the hands of men it has been spoilt, and it is a good thing for us to own that it has been spoilt, and that we are the people who have spoilt it. We need to repent, to get back in spirit to what existed at the beginning, and to do the first works.

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AN ADDRESS AT BRIXHAM 23 MAY 1924
"ALL OF ONE"

Hebrews 2:11 - 13

This scripture helps us as to the relation in which Christ stands to the assembly as Head, and as to the gain which the assembly derives from having such a Head. It will be remembered that in instituting the Supper the Lord took a place on our side. That is, He gave thanks; He appropriated for His saints in thanksgiving all that was involved in His body being for us. I understand that to be what He does as the Sanctifier. Chapter 10 of this epistle tells us that we are "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once"; the "offering" suggests the blessedness and perfection of what was presented to God in His body. It is not only the removal of all that was contrary to God -- we know that He effected that -- but the bringing in of what is far greater than what He took away. When He says, "This is my body, which is for you", it involves the accomplishment of all the will of God, so that we might be set apart from the world and from all that we derived from Adam, and identified with all the perfection that has come in for God's pleasure in Himself.

Then He has also brought us to know God as revealed in love through His death. This is new covenant blessing. It is in apprehending the import of this that we understand what it is to be sanctified, and to be all of one with the Sanctifier. In truly eating the Supper we are nourished and cherished afresh in the state and affections of the sanctified company. And in this way we are found morally suited to Christ as Head. He can take a place on our side,

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and call us His brethren. In that circle He is reverenced, and looked up to with affectionate subjection. What a character that gives to the joy of the assembly!

Just a word as to the way in which the assembly knows the new covenant. The Lord Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you", Luke 22:20. I should like every christian to consider how Christ knew the love of God. He knew it in a sorrowing and suffering heart, and that gives character to the way in which the assembly knows it. Israel will know the love of God in millennial conditions; there will be neither adversary nor evil occurrent; they will be surrounded by a scene of perfect peace and joy. But Christ knew the love of God in sorrow and suffering, and we know the love of God in the midst of a scene of desolation and sorrow -- a scene that is darkened for our hearts by its rejection of Christ. The conditions here are those of tribulation and grief, but in the presence of these things we taste the love of God in a sweetness that surpasses what will be known in millennial blessedness. Then let not sorrowing hearts be discouraged; the sorrows and trials give peculiar character to the present time, and it would not be well for us to escape the sorrow and lose the blessedness of being all of one with Christ on that side. The night of His delivering up gives character to the whole of this period. The real sorrow of the assembly is that Christ is not accepted here. The Lord had many sorrows here, but what He felt most of all was that there was no room for God here. The sorrow of the assembly is that there is no room for Christ here; men see no form nor lordliness in Him. But grace has wrought so that there are those who appreciate Him, to whose hearts there is none so lordly as the Christ of God. We have this wonderful and glorious Person -- this lordly One -- as our Head, and we are all of one with Him.

The effect of coming under the influence of what is

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presented to us in the loaf and the cup is that we get the consciousness that we have a Head who has sanctified us. He has set us apart from the world, and from all that we were as in flesh that we might be enriched with all the blessedness of Himself. Then we are regarded by Him as His brethren. He says, "I will declare thy name to my brethren". We are familiar with the setting of that wonderful word in Scripture. It comes in Psalm 22 after the deep sorrow of the sin-offering has been passed through, and the Lord has come forth in resurrection. Everything that was contrary to God having been judged and removed in that offering, all that God's name means in the blessedness of full revelation can now be declared. He has been glorified in death, and a company has been sanctified by being brought to participate in the fruit of Christ's body being given for them and of the love of God as revealed through death. It is to a sanctified company that the Father's name can be made known -- a company that was in the Father's purpose, the fruit of sovereign love. It is not that the Lord declares the Father's name afresh on each occasion when His own come together, but the company is there who can enter afresh into what has been declared by the Lord in resurrection.

The declaration of the Father's name has been made so that the love which rests on Christ the Head may be in the saints. This is something more than the love of God to men in new covenant character, a love that took account of all that man was, and met it all through death, and brought out what God is in relation to it. But this is a love of complacency -- the love that rested upon the Son in manhood. The declaration of the Father's name involves the making known the relationship that subsisted between Himself and the Son in manhood -- the making known of the love which belonged to that relationship. This was the culminating point of the Lord's prayer. "I have made

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known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them", John 17:26. That love was not only to be known objectively, but was to be in the saints, their consciously known and enjoyed portion.

Now the Head is seen in a new activity. In the midst of the assembly He hymns God, and the assembly is in accord with His singing. Sinners saved by grace can sing, and that song is heard in many places; but one would like to be familiar with a spot where Christ the Head can sing. He sings in the midst of those who are sympathetic and in accord with His singing. Have our hearts ever been thrilled with that song -- His own response to the love of complacency and relationship in which He is with the Father? The thought in a hymn is the bringing out of the blessedness of the Person who is addressed in affectionate response, and, beloved brethren, let us remember that as the called and sanctified company we are "all of one" with Christ in that. There is no discord between the voice of the Head and the voice of the assembly.

Then in Hebrews 2:13 we read, "And again, I will trust in him". I take it that this is a quotation from Isaiah 8:17, "I will wait for Jehovah". Our Lord is the Head of a waiting company. He has become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to Israel, and instead of the kingdom glories a period has intervened of the patience of the Christ. He speaks to Philadelphia about the word of His patience. Are we all of one with Him in that? Surely we are if we recognise His headship. And while waiting we trust; we are privileged to wait with quiet restful confidence in God. "He instructed me not to walk in the way of this people", Isaiah 8:11. Are we having our portion or city now, or are we waiting for it? Abraham waited for a city.

During this waiting time the testimony is bound up and the law sealed among His disciples. Our Lord is Head of a

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witnessing company. He is the Head of a worshipping company towards the Father; He is the Head of a waiting company in regard to all the conditions of this world where the kingdom of God is not established, and He is also the Head of a witnessing company amongst whom the divine testimony is bound up.

It may be pointed out that the word "disciples" is the same as "instructed" as applied to the Lord in Isaiah 50:4. The assembly is "all of one" with Christ in regard of learning the mind of God. Think of His having the tongue of the instructed, or disciple, His ear wakened morning by morning to hear as the instructed! The true teacher is the one whose ear is open to be instructed. He was the instructed One, hearing from the Father and communicating to His disciples the things which He heard. His ear was opened "morning by morning"! Do not let us miss a day without having some fresh communication from God.

Mark what is said, "Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples", Isaiah 8:16. This necessitates that things are to be firmly held, bound up and sealed. Beware of associations in which the testimony and the law are loosely held! Things all around us are rapidly changing -- winds of teaching changing every hour. To stand for God in such times we need to know what it is to have the testimony bound up and the law sealed amongst the disciples.

"Behold, I and the children that Jehovah hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel", Isaiah 8:18. Is there not instruction for us in the fact that He says "in Israel"? It suggests that the distinctive place of testimony in the last days is amongst the professing people of God. Many are zealous for missions to the heathen! May God bless every such effort! But let us not forget that the Lord

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cherished the children as signs and wonders "in Israel" -- that is, amongst the people of God.

If the testimony is to have divine value it must be the testimony of a company owning Christ as Head in the midst of all the lawlessness and confusion and human order which prevails. We are called to be "for signs and wonders" -- to be so preserved in the consciousness of our association with Christ, and so under His influence, that what is of Christ may mark us. Signs and wonders would be something quite different from all that is around them. The spirit of Christ, the grace of Christ, the meekness and gentleness of Christ, His faithfulness, His obedience, His love -- what signs and wonders are these! All this is involved in being "all of one" with Him. Professing christians often seem to aim at being as like the world as they can; such are not signs and wonders.

Isaiah 8 has a peculiar bearing today, for we are living in days when spiritualism abounds. This is clearly referred to here. "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto the necromancers and unto the soothsayers, who chirp and who mutter, say, Shall not a people seek unto their God? Will they go for the living unto the dead? To the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak", Isaiah 8:19, 20. Does not that describe the conditions of today? The testimony of God on the one hand controlling and regulating the family of witness, and on the other hand the testimony of the devil -- people going for the living to the dead. The "daybreak" is near for that company which is holding Christ as Head. But for that other company which is drifting into the utter darkness of apostasy "there is no daybreak".

May God give us holy and serious exercises that we may be found in the deepening recognition of Christ as Head! If we hold Christ as Head we shall hold the truth of the assembly, for the headship of Christ involves it. The great

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recovery of truth and the spiritual revival of the last century largely grew out of the fact that, by the grace of the Lord, a young man found his heart filled with the thought that there is a Head in heaven.

A READING AT DEFFORD 30 JULY 1935
TRUE GREATNESS

Hebrews 1:1 - 3; Hebrews 4:14 - 16; Hebrews 7:4; Hebrews 8:1, 2; Hebrews 10:19 - 22; Hebrews 13:20 - 22

C.A.C. It was in my mind in suggesting these scriptures that God would have His people to be familiar with the thought of greatness. As we have before us what is truly great we become what God desires we should be, that is a great people. We all remember that Solomon, in speaking to God, speaks of the people whom He had chosen as "a great people", and it seems to me that that is what God would effect by His grace and work, that we should be a great people and we become such, as I understand it, by being brought into the light and power of what is great as known in divine Persons. If we have had anything that has made us great in this world it is a thing that has to be refused. It is in that character that Moses is presented in this epistle where we are told that when he became Breathe refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. It

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was when he had reached a very elevated point of greatness in relation to the world that something else came before him, faith began to operate in his soul and he began to recognise that God had a people identified with Christ. That is the view the Spirit of God takes of it, that he esteemed "the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect to the recompense". Now my impression is that "the recompense" is a present thing; that is that Moses in refusing a place in Pharaoh's house had in mind "the recompense", that what was in the mind of God to give was far greater than the greatness of Egypt, so that he refused the one in view of gaining the other.

Ques. Did you say recompense was a present thing?

C.A.C. I think that is the point. What is divinely great is a wonderful recompense for refusing the greatness of Egypt; it is a privilege to go up and to see the operation of heavenly things in the mount and to be able to minister to the pleasure of God. "He is faithful in all my house" (Numbers 12:7), Jehovah said of him; that was the greatness which he had in recompense for refusing the greatness of Pharaoh's house. It is greatness in relation to the house of God. Now I believe that is "the recompense" that God proposes for us, for young people and all of us. He proposes a greatness that far surpasses in kind any greatness that can be known in the world. God's idea is that we should be great.

Rem. Moses was not very great in his own eyes.

C.A.C. That, I suppose, marks those that are truly great, because the greatness lies in knowing God and in being made acquainted with what is connected with His greatness. So that Moses, when he goes to write a song for the people, says, "Ascribe greatness unto our God!" Deuteronomy 32:3.

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Ques. Is that what you had in mind in the first scripture you read?

C.A.C. That is what was in my mind, that the Son "set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high". It is very remarkable the writer does not say 'at the right hand of God', because what he wants to indicate is that His greatness was on high; it was a greatness, surely, in God, but he does not say in 'God', he says, "greatness on high". I believe there is nothing so elevating or so enlarging as to get before us "the greatness on high". It suggests, so far as I can see, the greatness that stands in relation to the most elevated thoughts of God; it is a "greatness on high". Now the Son having set Himself down in such a place as that makes it available for us. It is a wonderful thought that the Son, a divine Person, has become Man and has taken up this place "at the right hand of the greatness on high" that what belongs to that place may be available for us. Nothing could be greater than that. So that the divine speaking to us today is from heaven. We must bear in mind that God is speaking from the full height and greatness of all in which He should be known to men; He is speaking according to the full height of that.

Ques. Is that why we are told to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession", Hebrews 3:1?

C.A.C. I think it is in view of that because such greatness attaches to the Apostle and a corresponding greatness attaches to the Priest and we are brought, as considering "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" into the region of greatness, and are constituted a great people. It is the will of God we should be so.

Ques. We get what you are referring to in relation to Moses and then Christ as seen over His house. Would that be the people of God down here ("whose house are we") set up in the light of what is established in heaven?

C.A.C. I think that is the idea and it is very elevating.

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There is a great house down here and we are to be great in the house. It is great because it is God's house and because the Son, a great High Priest, is over it and we are called to be great as having our place there in relation to all that is truly great. That is the way God takes to emancipate His people; anything that is below the level of heaven is too low and too small for the people of God.

Ques. Had Moses a sense of that when he said, "Is it not by thy going with us? so shall we be distinguished, I and thy people, from every people that is on the face of the earth", Exodus 33:16?

C.A.C. Yes, he desires that the people might fully correspond with what was in God's mind in relation to them. Now we know God not only as acting in grace to men here on earth and meeting their need as sinful creatures, but we know God as speaking from the elevation of what is in His own mind. It is the "greatness on high". I think it is wonderful that it is a greatness that we can understand; it is not an unsearchable greatness but a greatness that is connected with the divine thoughts that are in respect to men, and the Son, a divine Person, having become Man has set Himself down in the most favourable relation to all that greatness which is in the mind and heart of God in relation to men. It is most elevating.

Ques. Do we need to know the transition from David to Solomon in that David would bring Christ near to us, as you say, in all our need, and Solomon would be the light of His purpose connected with the house? I was thinking that David says, "Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for Jehovah must be exceeding great in fame and in beauty in all lands", 1 Chronicles 22:5.

C.A.C. Yes, that is the idea. It is "exceeding great" and the house is great because it corresponds with heaven. That is what makes it great so that Solomon in his dedicatory prayer continually refers to heaven as the

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dwelling-place of Jehovah; but then he has in mind, clearly, that the house was to correspond with heaven. It is to correspond with heaven as the set place of God's dwelling and that is the idea of the house of God. Even Jacob who had the first ray of light about the house said, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven", Genesis 28:17. It corresponds with heaven and in relation to men it is the gate of heaven. Men come into the house of God in that they have come inside the gate of heaven, and those who come there are a great people because they know God in the greatness of His thoughts and they know that those thoughts can never fall in the slightest degree below their own heavenly level.

Rem. He can speak of the earth as His footstool.

C.A.C. Yes, so the house only has value as it corresponds with heaven, and that is how Moses was made great -- as he was enlightened as to a dwelling for God, a tabernacle. It was altogether apparent that if it were to represent what was in heaven he must go up, so he goes up (Stephen says he saw a model). We used to have people going about with models of the tabernacle. Moses was told to write because he saw the model in heaven, and there is nothing more striking than that God should introduce that thought amongst an earthly people, showing that while God was dealing with a people in the flesh what He was cherishing all the time was what is heavenly. Now it must come to pass, and our place is really in the house where everything is great, because it is great to divine Persons and great to heaven, and every person who is in that house is great because he has learnt to appreciate it and to serve in relation to it.

Ques. Would the building with cedars of Lebanon bear out at all what you are saying?

C.A.C. That is, they came from an elevated region. The apostle addresses the Hebrew saints as partakers of the

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heavenly calling though they were not very well formed, we might say, in the truth of the heavenly calling, but we derive our greatness from the calling. That is what makes the saints great.

Ques. Would you go through the scriptures you referred to?

C.A.C. Well, I was just thinking of this thought of greatness. You get in the first chapter, "the greatness on high". The Son has taken His place in relation to all the greatness of God as expressed in His thoughts manward. There is reference to a place in heaven and to a place on earth which corresponds with the place in heaven. In the fourth chapter we get the fact that we have "a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the confession". That is, attention is called in this scripture and in other scriptures in the epistle to the greatness of Christ as Priest. We have before us the One who represents us before God sympathetically and He serves the pleasure of God in considering our weaknesses; He serves God in relation to that. He is great in the service which He takes up on our behalf, everything regarding our infirmities and our weaknesses. I do not think this has reference to our bodily weaknesses.

Ques. What does it refer to?

C.A.C. I think it refers to the human weakness which makes men shrink from suffering. That belongs to man's nature; he shrinks from suffering.

Rem. So you think if we are to be on the line of Moses choosing to suffer affliction along with the people of God we need a good deal of representing.

C.A.C. I think that is the idea. To be identified with the thoughts of God involves reproach in this world. Moses esteemed it so; he took account of the fact that what was of God and what was of Christ is in reproach and so it involves suffering. The infirmities for which Christ is

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Priest are of that kind. We all shrink from suffering, and it is good to remember that the Lord Himself shrank from suffering and it is in that sense that He is "able to sympathise with our infirmities". It is what attaches to man as such and the Lord took His part in that, so that He has met every kind of opposition and difficulty that can be encountered in standing for what is of God, and He has felt all the suffering involved in it. He felt it and He shrank from it; I think one might say that without hesitation. He said, "The reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me", Psalm 69:9. Did not He feel it? He felt it so much that He could say, "Reproach hath broken my heart", Psalm 69:20. Now none of us have gone to that length; we may have had a few pangs but we have not gone to that length. The Lord in the perfection of His humanity took His part in human weakness that shrinks from suffering, but He never surrendered the path of faithfulness to God by reason of the cause of the suffering. His path of faithfulness was unswerving though it led only to the cross. The Lord knows the human weakness that shrinks from suffering and it is that kind of weakness that He is sympathetic with. You may ask, 'Does not the Lord care about our bodily suffering and ailments?' I do not doubt at all that there is divine help from Christ for all those things, but that is not the point in Hebrews; the point is that we are standing here as confessors. "Let us hold fast the confession", and the confession of what is of God is bound to bring reproach and reproach means suffering. What we want, and what God wants, I think we may say unhesitatingly, is that there should be a great Priest who represents us before Him in a priestly way as sympathetic with all the human weakness that would shrink from reproach.

Ques. Is that involved in suffering to the uttermost?

C.A.C. Yes, I think so. The Lord can accredit His disciples in Luke 22, "Ye are they who have persevered

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with me in my temptations". What a wonderful thing it was for them to walk in company with the blessed Lord those three and a half years! Every day they saw Him coming up against some fresh trial, some fresh form of opposition and difficulty, and they saw how it affected Him. They could not be indifferent, as they observed Him, to the effect of the sorrow; it left its mark on His very countenance, but as they companied with Him they saw that He never faltered. At every moment and at every temptation He was always the overcomer; each was a great reality to Him but He was always the overcomer; and the disciples learnt to recognise in Him the power to overcome and the Lord has not forgotten it. He could say to the assembly in Laodicea, "I also have overcome", Revelation 3:21. This reference by the Lord in heavenly glory to His own path of suffering here is as touching as anything in Scripture, "I also have overcome". He is touched with the feeling of our weaknesses; He knows how we shrink from reproach but He is there in the presence of the throne of grace serving God, because the idea of priesthood is the service of God. God told Aaron he was to minister to Him in the priest's office, but whatever he did in regard to the people he was to serve God in doing it, and so we have a great Priest. Oh, how great He is!

Rem. If we were not ascending in our spirits by reason of the pressure we would compromise.

C.A.C. Yes. As we are conscious of the position of the Priest we are preserved from yielding, knowing that He is there representing us, and that we are represented there according to the greatness of the thoughts of God; therefore the throne is favourable to us. I take it that the mercy and the grace spoken of in the end of chapter 4 do not come from the Priest. I understand they come from the throne because the Priest is there. His presence there representatively secures the greatest advantage to us in relation to the

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throne, so that the throne is the spot in the universe where grace is supreme and the Priest is there on the throne. The Priest and the throne are in perfect accord. So from the highest spot in the universe there is a supply of grace and mercy for seasonable help, and so there is no surrender of the confession. You never weaken your confession so as to make it a little more acceptable to men; it is the consciousness of the position of this great Priest that gives us every assurance.

Ques. Do the names on the shoulders and breastplate of the high priest involve what associates them with the thoughts of God here?

C.A.C. Yes, the house was representative and in what is representative nothing falls below the divine level. He thinks of us according to the heavenly calling and He represents us before God according to the divine thought. Aaron was clothed with garments of glory and beauty; he represented the people in a divine way according to God's thoughts, and we are ever represented by this great Priest who cherishes us according to the great thoughts of God. His very presence there makes the throne of grace, the place where grace is supreme, so favourable to us that a supply of mercy and grace ever comes to us; we get seasonable help. I would give way but the seasonable help comes according to the measure and greatness of the Priest.

Ques. So if a brother is better in health at a critical moment (such as Paul) so as to be free in his spirit, do you think that would be the throne acting?

C.A.C. I do. So do you not think it is well to connect the supply with the throne, and to get a sense that it is the throne of grace? Grace is supreme, no matter what weakness there is in me. If we were to leave Hebrews for a moment, we might even say the failure that is in me, but that is not the thought there, because failure in Hebrews is

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contemplated as turning back from all that is great and going back to the smallness of judaism.

Then it says in chapter 7, "Consider how great this personage was". That is, he calls our attention to the greatness of Melchisedec as a type, a greater priest than Aaron for even Abraham paid him tithes. Attention is called to his greatness, which particularly lies in the fact that He lives. Christ lives in the power of a life that cannot be dissolved; that is His greatness. That is, the priestly office is taken up by Christ as in the power of indissoluble life. He is "always living to intercede for them", Hebrews 7:25. His greatness lies in the perpetuity of the service He renders. That is what makes it so great; it never fails for a moment.

Rem. You thought that Melchisedec was brought in to bring out that great fact, but he is assimilated to the Son of God.

C.A.C. Yes, He abides; He has "neither beginning of days nor end of life". It is a hint of the Lord's deity. He has "neither beginning of days nor end of life", but the testimony of Scripture is that He lives. It does not say when he was born or when he died; all that Scripture says of him is that he lives, and that is true of Christ whose greatness is that He lives in the power of resurrection life, a life that can never be dissolved. What greatness! Our greatness, as in the calling, is set forth in the fact that "such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens", Hebrews 7:26. It brings us into the greatness of the calling. So we learn how great we are by considering the greatness of Christ: "Consider how great this personage was".

Rem. So in Revelation, in view of the breakdown of the assembly as a public vessel, the Lord Jesus presented Himself as the living One who became dead and is living to the ages of ages (Revelation 1:17, 18).

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C.A.C. Yes. In the beginning of chapter 8 it says, "A summary of the things of which we are speaking is, We have such a one high priest who has sat down on the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens". The Spirit emphasises this thought of greatness, and greatness in the heavens. Now we have Christ as High Priest there, and in that exalted place in relation to all that is great He is also "minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man". Now it seems to me that in this way God leads us into the sense of the greatness of the true tabernacle which is here upon earth at this present time. We must understand that the true tabernacle is now pitched and that we are privileged to serve in it. The greatness of our place of service in the true tabernacle is the recompense we get for refusing the glory of the world. If there should be one who is suffering loss through confessing Christ and standing by what is of God and who has not got the recompense, one feels very sorry for him, because the divine thought is that there is a present recompense in relation to the service of the true tabernacle; there is a greatness in relation to the house of God which is the recompense for all that we may have surrendered in relation to the house of Pharaoh. We all have something to surrender in relation to that place in a small way as well as a great one. There was formerly no such thing as the true tabernacle or the house of God in any sense of spiritual reality, nor was there a priest great enough to be over it so as to govern it and by his influence bring it into correspondence with heaven. Now that is the thought of the house of God as I understand it. There is not a single thought in the house that does not correspond with heaven, and those thoughts are dominant in that house because Christ is over it as Son and as Priest. That is the idea of the house of God; it is, you might say, a divine sphere but looked at in a more intimate way than the

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kingdom. If you think of the king's own house you would expect that things were more according to his pleasure there, and I think that is more the idea in the house of God, that God is known there, one might say, in a more personal and confiding intercourse with Him. Paul shows in 1 Timothy that God is known in the sphere of His own ordering in regard to His personal pleasure, and nothing can come into that sphere that is not governed and directed by the influence of Christ as the great Priest. Greatness is a wonderful thought and it is greatness that is open to us. We may have been going on as a people on earth thinking of our infirmities as poor needy creatures but what God proposes to us is that we should take up our privileges as being a great people. Solomon said they are a great people and they are great because they stand in relation to what is great. It does not give any place to man in the flesh; indeed, he is entirely excluded from that order of things. Flesh has no place in the house of God.

Rem. The greatness is introduced by the angel in the message sent to Mary, "He shall be great", Luke 1:32.

C.A.C. That is very precious, as Luke's is the priestly gospel.

Rem. He goes on to say, "Son of the Highest".

C.A.C. So that gives you the elevation, the thoughts of God. The Lord begins His priestly service at the age of twelve years. He is found in the temple having intercourse with those that are speaking of the things of God. He is listening to them and asking questions and He had to say to His mother, "Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?" A priestly Son at the age of twelve -- how wonderful! How He was absorbed with the great things of God! Now that is the sphere into which He would bring us.

In chapter 10 we get the climax. He says, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of

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holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water". An instruction may be given to you and leave you where it found you, but an exhortation, as this is, incites you to movement, and so Paul (I take it Paul is the writer although it does not say so) calls it an "exhortation", that is, something that will stimulate and incite to movement. He says, "Let us approach"; that is, he incites us to movement, movement which stands in relation to the great Priest. Now I wonder whether we all know what it is to move spiritually in relation to the great Priest. God would have us to move as stimulated by this powerful exhortation. He says we have boldness "for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus", that is, the life of flesh has been poured out. The witness of that is in the holiest. Then there is "the new and living way" -- how remarkable that! He speaks of the "way" as if it were paved with divine love, "the new and living way". It is the declaration of God in love by His blessed Son, and that way, paved with love, is the way in which we can move into the greatness and nearness of God, leaving behind everything that is imperfect, all that is connected with the flesh, and find ourselves in a region where the dominant thing is that of the great Priest over the house of God. Is not it great, brethren? and all is brought about "through the veil, that is, his flesh". I take that to be a very comprehensive statement. I think it suggests every thought that was bound up in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, involving His incarnation and death. "The veil, that is, his flesh" is a comprehensive statement developing, if we are able to take it in, all that God has secured through the incarnation of Christ, involving

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His death, and in the light of all that we draw near in greatness. Does the great Priest regard us as according to flesh? No indeed, He regards us as those who are perfected in perpetuity. We should deny the perfect sacrifice if we regarded the saints in any other way than in perpetuity, and we are sanctified, set apart according to the pleasure of God in holiness; that is how He regards us and we are His brethren. We are companions of the Christ and we are in God's house; we are in His house now. These are great divine privileges and they are maintained in full height in perpetuity by the Priest. What an outlet it is from all our own weaknesses to apprehend that we have such a high Priest over the house of God who maintains everything according to its own height.

The thought of greatness which is very prominent in this epistle was before me, and there is no deliverance from the earthly system except by apprehending the greatness of christianity. We are lifted by the sense of greatness and we only serve God as we are in line with the Priest; there is no other service of God. We may fix it in our hearts that God is not, and cannot be, served at the present time by an earthly people; He can only be served by a heavenly people who have a heavenly Priest, for He cherishes the saints according to the great thoughts of God. That is the system of the service of all the sanctified company. We are all privileged to take our place in line with the Priest and if we do not, we do not approach at all; there is no other approach.

Rem. I was wondering whether the way Aaron serves and the way his sons serve with him in divine service would typify this.

C.A.C. I think that is so; that is the character of the service of God and we cannot take it on without the Priest; we are dependent on the great Priest. There is no such thought now as the service of God without Christ as Priest.

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Rem. The priests are absolutely unique. They are far away and above the Levites or a 'common person'.

C.A.C. I am sure that is right. I feel impressed with this thought and it should help us greatly, especially the younger saints, to know our great company privilege, to know the greatness that belongs to our calling and that belongs to God and to Christ as Priest.

Ques. Does the great Shepherd stand in relation to that?

C.A.C. The great Shepherd of the sheep comes in, I suggest, in regard to the need of the sheep for care and for food. The great idea of the Shepherd would be protection and pasture. The Shepherd would preserve the sheep from the wolf according to chapter 10 of John, where the Lord lays down His life rather than leave the sheep to the wolf; then on the throne the Shepherd cares that the sheep should be pastured and we are constantly in and proving that protecting care. He is the great Shepherd of the sheep, as if He belonged to the sheep. We are constantly proving how He leads us into green pastures and beside still waters. He never brings us together but what we prove His shepherd care in feeding.

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A READING AT EVESHAM 4 AUGUST 1935
HEAVENLY THINGS

Hebrews l: 1 - 4; Hebrews 12:25; Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 4:9; Hebrews 9:15 - 17, 24

C.A.C. This epistle was intended to be of great help to us in relation to what is heavenly, especially as being addressed to a people who were disposed to cling to what was earthly, as we all are more or less. The Hebrew believers were in the presence of most wonderful light from God but they were, like ourselves, slow to appreciate and to respond to it. So this epistle applies to us very much in what we may sincerely speak of as our dullness and slowness. It is not merely an exposition; it is an exhortation; that means it has stimulating power. It is designed to move us definitely in the direction of the divine thoughts, and that is very necessary.

Rem. I am sure we need the light of that.

C.A.C. I suggested these scriptures because they bear on the heavenly. We have first to take account of the fact that the speaking of God to us is heavenly. There is no other speaking of God at the present time but what is heavenly.

Rem. That is important, it is the only speaking.

C.A.C. Yes; the oracles are being uttered from heaven and if we do not take account of that we shall have no understanding of the present ways of God. And if we do not understand His present ways we shall not know God because God is known in His ways. So Moses says, "Make me now to know thy way, that I may know thee", Exodus 33:13. 1 believe the knowledge of God for us today lies

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particularly in the appreciation of the heavenly. Do you agree, Mr. C.?

S.J.B.C. Yes, very nice. I was thinking the apostle is labouring to win the affections of these Hebrew believers from what was earthly and fix them upon what was heavenly; as you say, it is no more an earthly Christ but a heavenly Christ.

C.A.C. So there is heavenly speaking, the heavenly calling, a heavenly Priest and the heavenly inheritance, and in this epistle the covenant stands in relation to what is heavenly, and the will of God stands in relation to what is heavenly. All this is very important.

S.

J.B.C. What you say about the word of exhortation is very nice. I think it is illuminating, because J.N.D. has said this epistle is not revelation exactly, although it is inspired. The writer gives Scripture for what he says, and he writes that we may be stirred up.

C.A.C. We all need that. We are all inclined to slip back and the only way to be delivered from retrogression is to have very definitely before us the present mind of God, and that is heavenly. If every young believer here could remember that simple thought it would be a life-long benefit, that the present is the time of the heavenly, and the "great salvation" (Hebrews 2:3) is the mighty power of God by which men are taken out of the earthly and brought into the heavenly. That would be very great in the mind of the Jew who had been accustomed to look for an earthly deliverance. The great salvation which had its commencement in being spoken by the Lord referred to men being taken out of the earthly and put into the heavenly.

S.J.B.C. Yes, very good.

Rem. "Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones", 1 Corinthians 15:48.

C.A.C. Quite so, and this epistle would move us; it is a

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"word of exhortation"; the idea is that the stimulus of it is applied to our souls. It is not merely that the thing is laid down in doctrine but the stimulus of it is pressed upon our souls.

"Better" is a characteristic word in this epistle; the covenant is spoken of as a "better covenant" (Hebrews 8:6), not only a "new covenant". Israel will have a "new covenant" (Hebrews 8:8), but they will not have the "better covenant" as we have it. That relates to the heavenly; the Lord brings the covenant to us in relation to the heavenly, and so the cup of the covenant in the Lord's supper relates to the heavenly. It has in view what He was going to commit to Paul. We should get clearly before us that it is a covenant in the sense of making known to us the disposition of God. In His love He has made a certain disposition of things and has assigned to us a heavenly inheritance. That is the idea according to chapter 9. The covenant is illustrated by the thought of a will. Now what are the provisions of the will? They assign a certain inheritance, and it consists in the heavenly. This is very important because it is the way by which we know God in the present thoughts of His love. We know God as being instructed in the heavenly purpose which His blessed love has formed and for which He has secured us through the death of Christ. The strength of His love has been testified in the death of Christ, but the inheritance which it has secured for us is a heavenly one.

Ques. Would that be involved in the Lord's words to Mary, "Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father", John 20:17? Former links of the earth would be done with.

C.A.C. Yes, I think that is involved in it. The "great salvation, which having had its commencement in being spoken of by the Lord" (Hebrews 2:3) was heavenly speaking. It was illustrated by the speaking from above the

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mercy-seat. That was the character of the divine speaking when the Lord was here. The tabernacle was figuratively representative of the things in heaven and the holiest was the very centre of the system, and the speaking was from there. It is in the light of that that we understand the great supper and the parable of the prodigal son.

Rem. So Moses was told to make a tabernacle after the pattern that was shown him, showing that the thing was there before Moses made it.

C.A.C. Yes, it was in heaven, and it shows that in presenting the covenant God had in His mind to introduce a system of heavenly things. We think of the covenant, I am afraid, far too much as Israel will think of it.

S.J.B.C. It used to be confined to Israel.

C.A.C. They will think of it in relation to their sins and iniquities being forgiven and forgotten, but as a people with an earthly portion. God will put His laws in their minds and in their hearts, but it will be His ordering in relation to an earthly people that will be put into their hearts. That is not what God is doing now; His laws today are His orderings with reference to the place and service of a heavenly people.

S.J.B.C. F.E.R. used to say all the blessings and privileges that Israel forfeited by their unbelief are, as taken up in christianity, made good in the saints by the Spirit.

C.A.C. And the kingdom now takes on a heavenly character. We receive "a kingdom not to be shaken" (Hebrews 12:28); that is a heavenly kingdom. The covenant stands in relation now to a heavenly people and the priesthood is taken up by a heavenly people. There is nothing for God now in an earthly people, so if our relations with God are connected with what is on the earth we had better get out of them and come into relation to the heavenly.

S.J.B.C. I think we have got out of them.

C.A.C. We are perhaps moving a bit, but I do not

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suppose any of us are completely transferred to the heavenly yet, therefore I beg the brethren to suffer the word of exhortation.

Ques. So would you say that through the heavenly speaking we come into some sense of the magnificence of what is in the heart of God and there is to be response to all that?

C.A.C. That is the idea. These things are not presented as things that should be, but as the positive light of God and of His working. The thought has been already referred to that God will put His laws into the minds and into the hearts of His people; that is, He gives us ability to appreciate what is before Him. Certain things will be suitable in an earthly people and they constitute the laws that God will put into the minds and hearts of Israel, but certain other things are suitable in a heavenly people and those are the laws which God, by His Spirit and working, puts in our minds and hearts so that we may appreciate what God has been pleased to give us, and that we may know God in relation to His will, and that will at the present time relates to the heavenly.

S.J.B.C. What you are pressing now is not warning us exactly against being worldly in a bad sense, but against being worldly like the Jews were; that is they were earthly. It is quite possible not to be worldly but earthly, like the two and a half tribes.

C.A.C. Quite. I suppose to learn fully the heavenly it is necessary to go into the holiest. I suppose it is true that in approaching the holiest we learn how to assemble together as a heavenly company. If we do not assemble as a heavenly company we are not in accord with the will, we are not taking up the inheritance according to the provisions of the will.

Ques. Would you open up a little what going into the holiest is?

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C.A.C. Well, the writer stimulates us to do it; he says, "Let us approach", Hebrews 10:22. It is a stimulant, he does not say we are there, but "let us approach". We have boldness through the blood of Jesus and we have a great Priest over the house of God and the great Priest is a heavenly Priest so that we go in as identified with Him, and therefore as a heavenly people. It is important to consider not only the Apostle but also the Priest.

Ques. Would you mind saying a word as to the holiest, and what is set forth in the ark of the testimony, and what the things that constituted the tabernacle system were illustrative of?

C.A.C. Well, the point in the teaching is that the ark of the covenant and the tables of the covenant in verse 4 of chapter 9 are both in the holiest, indicating that the covenant stands in relation to the heavenly. They are within the veil and the Priest is there. It is formally stated that He has entered into heaven itself, so that we are represented there. It is wonderful to consider that we are represented in heaven by Christ as the heavenly Priest. The covenant has in view our being along with Him there. As we sing sometimes, 'In Him we stand, a heav'nly band, where He Himself is gone'. That is the thought of the love of God, and the death of Christ has made the divine thought irreversible. It is a great thing to lay hold of that; the provisions of the will cannot be altered. The provisions of the will are that our place and portion, and we might say, our character, are all heavenly; and the will has been testified in the mighty power of death and therefore it cannot be altered.

S.J.B.C. I suppose Hebrews is really preparatory to Colossians. We have before us what is on the other side of Jordan; there is the stirring up that we might go on.

C.A.C. Yes, we are in the wilderness but we are not a wilderness people. We need to bear that in mind. We

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come together to break bread in the wilderness; we eat the Lord's supper in the wilderness but we do not eat it as a wilderness people. The cloak of the ephod of the priest was all of blue and the Israelites all had to wear on the border of their garments a ribbon of blue; they were typical of a heavenly people moving through the wilderness and taking up sanctuary service in relation to a heavenly Priest. Exodus and Leviticus were not written only for the Israelites, they were written for us.

Ques. Does not the will encourage us and tend to set us at liberty?

C.A.C. We cannot take things up on any other ground; we cannot change the conditions of the will. The will and the covenant in regard to Israel refer to the place of an earthly people, but in relation to the present period they refer to the place of a heavenly people. Our privilege is to go within the veil and we are represented in heaven. "Consider the Apostle and High Priest". Everything that He instituted is heavenly and all is founded on His death. When the Lord was here, what He referred to in the great supper and in the reception of the prodigal was all founded on His death. There could be no great supper, no festivities in the house of God except as being based on His death. The blood of the sin-offering is on the mercy-seat.

Ques. Is it not of great force that the ark and the blood and the Priest are in the holiest?

C.A.C. That is the thought; it is all typically that which is heavenly.

Rem. You suggested that we are slow and sluggish in entering into these things.

C.A.C. Well, I am afraid we are, and this epistle is a heavenly stimulus applied by the Spirit to all our hearts so that the divine ordering and disposition shall be really put into our minds and hearts so that we may not only have a heavenly place and portion but have capacity to appreciate

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it. That is the idea of having it in the mind and heart; there is intelligent capacity to appreciate it.

Ques. Do you think that one element with us may be that we are slow to accredit that God is speaking in this way?

C.A.C. Yes, I think that is right.

Rem. Thus the great danger is unbelief; we are slow to accredit that God really has this in mind.

C.A.C. And so chapters 2, 3 and 4 come in, and hearkening to the word is most important. It is in hearkening to the word we come into line with the thoughts of God. The rest of God in its application to us is heavenly; it is a heavenly idea. The rest of God is the sabbath, the termination of the ways and working of God, and that for us is heavenly, and it is that that we are to labour to enter into. It is to be the lively exercise of all our souls to enter into it.

Ques. Do you suggest we should always be in the holiest?

C.A.C. No, I do not say that. The drawing near is at certain times; there is no idea that we live in the holiest. "Let us approach" is the exhortation; it indicates the necessity for a certain movement on our part. It does not say that we are set there, but "let us approach". Entering into the holiest requires a certain movement on our side. All that is presented in the epistle up to chapter 10 supplies the stimulus so that we are able to move; if we do not move we shall not get there.

Rem. We have liberty of access.

C.A.C. That is the idea. We have boldness because the blood of Jesus is there; the life of flesh has been poured out. That is the blood of the sin-offering. It is important to remember the sin-offering is a great offering; the burnt-offering never went beyond the brazen altar, but the blood of the sin-offering goes in to the mercy-seat in the holiest.

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S.J.B.C. Referring to the rest of God, absolutely it is future, rest from toil and conflict, but in spirit we can enter into it now. Indeed, when we do get into it now we get out of Hebrews into Colossians and Ephesians. The believer is a very complex person, different from the Israelite; the Israelite was not in Egypt and the wilderness and Canaan at the same time, but we are, not at the same moment but during the time of our sojourn here.

C.A.C. And do you not think the way to get help is to take each scripture in its own setting? We shall never get on if we set one scripture over against another; we shall lose the virtue of Hebrews if we bring Colossians and Ephesians into it. Each scripture stands in its own setting and the value of it lies in taking it in its own setting. The value of Hebrews is that it has such speaking as becomes stimulating power to every one of us.

Rem. Those who have this stimulation as a heavenly people become different from the people around us.

C.A.C. The greatness of the speaking constitutes those who receive it heavenly. God is speaking from heaven now and the very character of the speaking makes us heavenly; thus we become partakers of the heavenly calling and have a heavenly Priest. These are things that cannot be denied.

S.J.B.C. The Jew who has not taken christian ground would say to the one who had, 'Here is our temple and our sacrifices', and they would have you show them what you have. Well, the believer could only say, 'Christianity is spiritual so the natural mind cannot see it'.

C.A.C. We need to consider the greatness of the Priest. We are told that He has "passed through the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14), and it says He is "become higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26), indicating to us that He is a divine Person; so that He represents us according to the full height of the divine thought. How blessed to think that we are represented in heaven in the full height of the blessed

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will of God; that is, His will in the sense of His testament. His will is that we should have a place there, and we are represented there this minute; we are not actually there but represented there. That is the force of Mr. Darby's beautiful verse:

'He's gone within the veil,
For us that place has won;
In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone'. (Hymn 12)

We are there representatively in the Priest. It is in the light of this that we do not forsake the assembling together. We should not assemble together if we were not a heavenly people; it is because we are consciously strangers here that we cling to one another. We assemble together because we recognise our spiritual kindred; we recognise we are joint partakers of the heavenly calling.

Rem. "As he is, we also are in this world", 1 John 4:17.

C.A.C. That is it. It is not as He was or will be, but "as he is". What a dreadful thing in the light of that it would be to forsake "the assembling of ourselves together", Hebrews 10:25! When people do, they give up the heavenly. It is a very solemn thing for people to give up the meetings; they practically give up the heavenly. It is a dreadful thing for that to become a custom, "as the custom is with some". That is very different from the line we have been speaking of.

Rem. Not just coming on special occasions.

C.A.C. Oh no; it is characteristic; the heavenly company is drawn together by a kindred feeling.

Rem. So it is important we should pay earnest heed to what is spoken.

C.A.C. Yes, surely.

S.J.B.C. The apostle wrote warning us against apostasy. In chapter 6 it is the abandonment of christian principle and christian privileges. I was thinking the speaking

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to us is His last word to men; He could not say more if He has spoken in Son. In the old times He spoke by the prophets in many diverse manners but now it is not a question of morsels; He has told out all His will in Son.

C.A.C. And in the Son who is now in heaven, because the speaking is from the One who has "set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high".

S.J.B.C. I think it is well to bear that in mind; He began to speak on earth but did not finish.

C.A.C. No, He did not finish. "Rejoice that your names are written in the heavens", Luke 10:20. That is the great salvation as it began to be spoken by the Lord, and to the thief, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise", Luke 23:43. He put him in paradise, that is the great salvation. The will of God, which Christ came to do, relates to our heavenly place and portion.

Ques. Does what the writer says in chapter 12 help in relation to what you are saying, that we have definitely come to a certain system of things?

C.A.C. It refers to what we have been saying, because the things we have come to are a holy system of heavenly things, the centre of which is the heavenly Jerusalem and the assembly of the firstborn registered in heaven. It is things seen in a heavenly setting, and we have come to that.

Rem. So they are not abstract, but something substantial.

C.A.C. Yes, they are present spiritual realities, though actually future. We get in this epistle the introduction of a better hope. All these things are a matter of hope; that is to say, actually they belong to the future but they are spiritual realities known to hope, and we approach God by that hope. Hope makes what is future present, so that we approach God in the light of what is heavenly. No service

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of God is acceptable now except the service of a heavenly people. An earthly people could not be in accord with the present mind of heaven.

S.J.B.C. I think that "Ye have come to mount Zion" and so on, refers to the whole system as come to in Spirit, but it will be in actuality by and by.

C.A.C. Yes, and there is a lovely little touch in connection with that, "And to Jesus, mediator of a new covenant". He uses a word that is nowhere else applied to the covenant; it is new in the sense of freshness, as being maintained in perennial freshness. Not only a new kind of covenant but in Jesus the covenant is preserved in perennial freshness. I believe on the Lord's day morning we should know what it is to come to Jesus as the Mediator of the new covenant. He presents it to us in the cup, and as He is the Mediator of it, it is preserved in perennial freshness; so there is a spring about it. All this is part of the stimulating power of this epistle.

Rem. You run with freshness.

C.A.C. That is it. The whole thought of the writer is to put the saints in movement and so he brings in great incentive. It is not the race of life from the cradle to the grave, but a moral race from earth to heaven. Do we get nearer heaven every day? We sing, 'A day's march nearer home', but is it true? Are we nearer heaven today than we were last Lord's day? If not we have lost a week in the race.

S.J.B.C. I remember reading in your writings years ago that we first of all get deliverance from hell to heaven, but then we need deliverance from earth to heaven.

C.A.C. I felt impressed in view of this meeting to suggest the thought of the heavenly in the way of stimulation. We all hold the truth of this, no doubt, in a doctrinal way, but in Hebrews it is presented as stimulation. One of the most encouraging words in Scripture is what we get in chapter 11 where the secret is told of what

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governed the patriarchs. They sought the heavenly; Abraham waited for a city. How remarkable that God gave the light of the heavenly to these men! He knew they were not going to get the fulfilment of earthly promises so He gave them the light of the heavenly. They sought the better country, that is the heavenly, and we read, "Wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God". He was so charmed with the thought of a people who had the heavenly in prospect that He was not ashamed to be called their God. If we want God to be in that relation to us, we must pursue the heavenly. It is suggestive that God would be ashamed of some, but He was not ashamed to be called the God of those who sought the heavenly. They had not the epistle to the Hebrews; I wonder how Abraham would have been affected by the epistle to the Hebrews! Would not his every desire have been definitely satisfied? A heavenly calling and Priest and inheritance! Why, he would have been in ecstasy.

Rem. He "exulted in that he should see my day", John 8:56.

C.A.C. Now we are called to be impressed with the faith of these men and especially to follow them on the line of the heavenly, because that is our present portion.

Rem. J.T. has said these men are set before us for they had not the light we have.

C.A.C. No, so what about ourselves? God has prepared a better thing for us. It is good to bear in mind that God's covenant relations have in view the heavenly. The "better covenant" (Hebrews 8:6) is based upon better promises; that is the covenant we know. God is with us and we are with God in relation to the heavenly. God would have us to cherish that with intelligence and affectionate interest.

Rem. It is a very stimulating thought that God is going to give us what they looked for, but God has prepared

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some better thing even than that which He is going to give to them.

C.A.C. It is indeed. So we have come to the best. All this is an encouragement to us to lay hold of the heavenly. God has spoken and He has confirmed His speaking by an oath. The unchangeableness of the divine purpose stands in relation to God's service and God would have us to be full grown men for His holy service. Full grown men in christianity are men who have heaven in view. Strong meat refers to heaven; milk, in Hebrews, refers to the earthly; the strong meat which makes men is the heavenly. May God encourage us to go in for it; we all need stirring up.

S.J.B.C. You have warned us against spiritual stagnation; we are very prone to stagnate. A beautiful word, "Let us ... run", Hebrews 12:1.

Rem. Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord", Luke 1:46.

C.A.C. She was one who moved affectionately and responsively to the wonderful divine speaking that came to her. She speaks of an exaltation of the lowly (Luke 1:52). Now our exaltation is heaven.

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TWO ADDRESSES AT NEWTON ABBOT
THE HEAVENLY CALLING

Hebrews 2:14; Hebrews 3:2; Hebrews 4:14 - 16

I have read these scriptures that we may see the place Christ has as Priest in relation to the heavenly calling. We are "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling", and it is as such that we are exhorted to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus". We are "holy brethren" because we have been sanctified by Christ. "For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren", Hebrews 2:11. Jesus was made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death. He came into death in order to set us apart from all the stain and reproach of sin, and from everything that characterised us morally as children of fallen Adam.

How this exalts Him before our eyes! If we see all the greatness and majesty of Christ as the Son, and then see the place He came into in humiliation and death in order to sanctify us, the effect must be that He appears before our hearts crowned with glory and honour. On the one hand God has crowned Him with glory and honour, and on the other, when we see the way that He has taken in order to sanctify us, it crowns Him with glory and honour in the estimation of our hearts. It is a fine moment in our history when we come to see Jesus crowned with glory and honour. Peter was greatly impressed on the mount of transfiguration. "We ... having been eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, such a voice being uttered to him by the excellent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my

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delight; and this voice we heard uttered from heaven, being with him on the holy mountain", 2 Peter 1:16 - 18. One may safely say that that was a wonderful moment for the three disciples. And it is a wonderful moment for any of us when we are taken up to a moral elevation where Christ appears to our hearts as crowned with glory and honour. In getting an apprehension of Him in this way we are taken quite outside the world and lifted above the earth, and prepared to perceive the nature of the heavenly calling.

The heavenly calling is set forth in a glorified Christ. God is "bringing many sons to glory", and the Leader of our salvation has reached glory. His place and acceptance determines ours. Aaron was the representative of all the people, for he carried their names on his shoulders and in his breastplate before Jehovah. Christ appears in the presence of God for us; He is the representative of the whole company of "many sons". He has entered for us within the veil as the Forerunner. The heavenly calling is set forth in the Priest, and it is maintained in Him so that it never falls below its own proper level. We can only learn the heavenly calling by considering Christ. Practically, it often takes us a long time to learn that we have to turn from our feelings and experiences and fix our eyes wholly on Christ in order to learn the blessedness of the heavenly calling.

In these early chapters of Hebrews Christ is presented as Priest in relation to the heavenly calling. He is a "merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God". We are still in the wilderness -- the place of testing -- and every influence here tends to carry our hearts away from the apprehension and joy of the heavenly calling. I believe that the temptation which is alluded to in chapter 2, verse 18 and in chapter 4, verse 15 refers to all the influences which tend to move us away from the true state of those who are "partakers of the heavenly calling".

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Two things mark the Priest. He is merciful and faithful. Merciful to our weakness, and faithful in dealing with our will. He will succour us in any degree of weakness, but He will not tolerate any action of will. In chapter 3 we are very solemnly warned against things which indicate the action of will. There are three downward steps contemplated. First we may have an erring heart, then an evil heart, and last of all a hardened heart. It is in this direction that will works. We are responsible, as holy brethren, to watch with the utmost diligence lest there should be with us the action of will. The Priest is faithful; He will not tolerate the action of will. In the case of a self-willed believer the intercession of Christ would probably be answered by the discipline of God. God would bring in something to check the activity of will so that, in result, the believer might become a partaker of God's holiness.

On the other hand, the Priest is infinitely merciful to weakness. He is able to furnish all the succour and support that our weakness needs. A saint may come under severe discipline and his hands may hang down and his knees become feeble under God's chastening. Then he will prove how merciful is the Priest to "lift up the hands that hang down, and the failing knees", Hebrews 12:12.

"Himself has suffered, being tempted", Hebrews 2:18. Christ has been in the place of temptation. Satan sought by all means to divert Him from the spirit and path of obedience and dependence. But Satan's suggestions found no response in Him; they only produced holy suffering. When the christian walks with the Spirit ungrieved the presentation of any suggestion to turn aside from the will of God only produces suffering. He suffers as feeling the evil of what is proposed. Such were the sufferings of Christ when tempted. For us to suffer in like manner requires a very lowly walk in the Spirit. We, alas! more often suffer

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from having yielded to temptation than from feeling with holy sensitiveness the evil of what is suggested to us.

He was "tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart". I should like to touch briefly on the four points in which the Lord was tempted, and which really cover the whole ground of temptation. (See Luke 4:1 - 13; Luke 22:39 - 46).

The first temptation was a natural one. The Lord was in wilderness circumstances, and He was hungry. Satan proposed that He should relieve Himself by an independent exercise of His power, by using His own resources without reference to the will of God. In answer to this the Lord replied, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God". He would not be turned aside from a path which was altogether determined by the word of God. He confided in the Father's care, and would not depart from the path and spirit of obedience.

It was said of the children of Israel, "They always err in heart; and they have not known my ways", Hebrews 3:10. They did not hearken to the word of God, and therefore they erred in heart. They were occupied with their hunger and thirst, and with the circumstances and difficulties of the wilderness, instead of living by every word of God. God had said that He would bring them "unto a good and spacious land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey", Exodus 3:8. If they had lived upon this word, as no doubt Joshua and Caleb did, they would have had implicit confidence in God's care over them in the wilderness. He had said that He would bring them in, and if they had hearkened to His word and lived upon it they would have known His ways. They would have been sure that His ways would be perfectly consistent with His purpose, and they would have trusted Him in the wilderness. But they

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erred in their heart, and said that He had brought them out to perish in the wilderness.

The more distinctly we have the heavenly calling in view, the more simple will be our confidence in God as to the circumstances and needs which arise here. The Lord Jesus would succour us by giving us the knowledge of the Father's purpose and the Father's care. "Fear not, little flock, for it has been the good pleasure of your Father to give you the kingdom", Luke 12:32. Will He then lose sight of our need in the wilderness? No, "your Father knows that ye have need of these things". Luke 12:22 - 32 is priestly comfort and succour, assuring our hearts of God's care in the wilderness, and nourishing our souls with the thought of His purpose concerning us. Thus succoured and encouraged it is our privilege to be at rest in the goodness and love of God, so as not to be diverted from the joy of our heavenly calling by anxious care about circumstances here.

The second temptation was a worldly one. The devil offered the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He would do homage to him. But the great world system with its glory had no attraction for Christ, because He viewed it in relation to God. God has no place in the world; all its glory is based upon the exclusion of God. There is not a thing that has greatness and glory in the world that would not be displaced if the rights of God were established. Therefore a man cannot have the world or its things without "turning away from the living God". To go in for things of the world is the outcome of "a wicked heart of unbelief".

The Lord's answer to this temptation was "It is written, Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve". He was not one bit attracted by the world kingdoms, nor would He in any way acknowledge their prince. The world with its glory was a judged thing

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for One who set Jehovah always before Him. And now as we find ourselves in presence of temptations of the same kind -- though not of the same magnitude -- as this, the Lord would succour and strengthen as against them by confirming our souls in the knowledge of Himself and the Father so that we might overcome the world. His rejection and death have shown the true character of the world, and proved that none of its things are of the Father. And as the love of the Father is in us we shall not love the world or its things. We may be sure that if the world gets a place in our hearts we shall be altogether diverted from the heavenly calling.

The third temptation was more subtle than the two preceding ones. One might regard it as a religious temptation. The devil would have Christ to assume publicly the distinctions and privileges that belonged to Him as Messiah. But the time had not come for that. It was no part of the Lord's intentions to assume distinction in the present order of things. To do so would be to tempt God, and with the quotation of the scripture which forbade this the Lord made His final reply to the tempter.

No device of Satan has proved more successful in diverting Christendom from the heavenly calling than the temptation to assume religious position and privilege in the present order of things. But the place for us is not the pinnacle of the temple, but "without the camp". It must have been a hard struggle for Jews to give up their place of religious distinction on earth, and it is not less difficult now for those who are identified with a christian profession which has become great and influential on earth. Hence the heavenly calling is practically unknown at the present day to many believers. They are more intent upon maintaining some kind of religious position here than upon being acquainted with the heavenly calling. Christ would succour His saints by presenting Himself to their

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hearts outside everything here, so that they might be held by affection for Himself so as not to desire any religious place in the world where He died.

Then the temptation in the garden was of an entirely different order. Satan was allowed to bring before Him all the terrors that lay in the path of obedience. But this only served to bring out His entire devotedness to God. I have no doubt that saints are often diverted from the will of God by considering the consequences that may come upon them. But Christ can succour us in this matter also in His priestly grace.

Every temptation has a tendency to move us away from the heavenly calling, and we very much over-estimate our own spiritual strength if we think we can stand unaided in the moment of temptation. We need the succour and grace of the Priest if we are to be maintained in brightness and freshness of soul. It is all a question of the place Christ has in our hearts. He succours and strengthens us by bringing Himself before us. The heavenly calling is set forth in Him, and we are kept in the truth of it, and in the brightness and joy of it, as we consider Him who is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. It is from Christ that Satan ever seeks to divert us. And it is to bring us increasingly under the attraction and influence of all that is set forth in Himself that the priestly grace and succour of Christ are exercised towards us. In presence of all the powerful influences of evil we have resources that cannot break down. Divine Persons are for us, and we have a Priest at the right hand of God. In the consciousness of this may we be increasingly set with purpose of heart to hold fast our confession.

There are two things connected with Christ as a "high priest according to the order of Melchisedec" -- salvation and blessing. "Though he were Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered; and having been perfected,

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became to all them that obey him, author of eternal salvation; addressed by God as high priest according to the order of Melchisedec", Hebrews 5:8 - 10. That blessed One came here in flesh and took up that which was the perfection of the creature. It was creature perfection to obey, and He, the Son, took it up and learned it. He whose prerogative it had ever been to command was pleased to become the obedient One on earth. He learned in His holy pathway right down to death all that was involved in obedience in a world where the self-will of a fallen creature had brought ruin and death upon everything. His obedience was greater than that which might have been possible in the Eden of man's innocence, or that which will be seen in the millennial age when Satan is bound. It was obedience in the midst of a world of self-will and Satan's power, obedience in a lowly and holy path that was uncheered by earthly smiles and led only to the cross. Having thus learned obedience from the things which He suffered, He is qualified now to command us so that in obeying Him we may find salvation from all that is evil here. Present salvation is found in obeying Christ. Obedience to Him is the grand preservative from all the evil influences that obtain in the world.

Then, on the other hand, all blessing flows from Him. Melchisedec "blessed" Abraham, Hebrews 7:1 - 6. Christ is "high priest of the good things to come". All the wealth of God's blessing for man is treasured up in Christ, to be brought forth by Him in a coming day for the joy of the whole earth and for God's glory and praise. That wealth of blessing does not yet shine forth in any public way in the world, but Christ is known by our hearts as the Priest of it all while He is yet "within the veil". What He will bring forth in priestly grace when the glory of God shines out into this world is a present reality to the hearts of those

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who know Him where He is. The "good things" have come for our hearts, and Christ is Priest of them.

We see an illustration of this on the resurrection day. The "good things" -- "the sure mercies of David" -- had come, and were all established in the risen Christ. But the dawn of that "morning without clouds" did not break in the hearts of His own; they did not know the good things that had come in Himself as risen from the dead, apart from His service in priestly grace. To Mary with her sorrowing heart, to Simon with his soiled conscience, to the two disciples whose straying feet were on the road to Emmaus He became the Priest of those "good things". Each heart was tenderly and faithfully touched according to its state and need, but the gracious service of that wondrous day ceased not until the disciples were together, knowing the risen One, and discerning in Him the fulfilment of all the Scriptures. He blessed them by introducing their hearts to the knowledge of Himself and of all that was established in Him. And as thus blessed by Him they did Him homage; they had "great joy", and were continually "praising and blessing God", Luke 24:53. It is as being in the good of this priestly salvation and blessing that we are fitted for approach to God.

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APPROACH TO GOD

Hebrews 7:15 - 28; Hebrews 8:1, 2; Hebrews 10:19 - 22

Consequent on redemption being accomplished, and Christ being set at the right hand of God, the whole course of God's dealings towards men is changed. "The commandment going before" is set aside because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. The law came in as a test for man in the flesh, but it made nothing perfect; it gave no satisfaction either to God's heart or to man's conscience. God found fault with the first covenant because it was incapable of bringing about what would yield pleasure and satisfaction to Him (See Hebrews 8:7 - 9). Then in Hebrews 10:1, 2 we see that the law could never make perfect as to the conscience those who approached. Thus the law failed to meet the case on both sides; it did not secure satisfaction for the heart of God, and it did not bring perfection to the conscience of the one who approached. "There is a setting aside of the commandment going before for its weakness and unprofitableness, (for the law perfected nothing)".

In contrast to this, Christ makes everything perfect. Christianity is really a system characterised by divine perfection. That makes all the difference between the old system and the new. One makes nothing perfect, but the other makes everything perfect. It is very important to see this. When the Holy Spirit says, "Let us go on to what belongs to full growth" (Hebrews 6:1), He does not mean some extraordinary spiritual state, but simply that we are to go on to the apprehension of the true nature of christianity. Many have not apprehended it, but the great system of blessing which God has established now in connection with Christ in glory is a system of perfection,

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and God would have our hearts instructed in that system. The result would be that we should find the greatest pleasure in drawing nigh unto God.

Now that redemption is accomplished and Christ is sitting as Priest at the right hand of God, there is "the introduction of a better hope by which we draw nigh to God". A whole system of blessing is brought into view where everything is perfect and of God. But what gives a peculiar character to the present moment is that, though blessing of the most wonderful nature is opened up to us, and known in our hearts as a divine reality, there is no present evidence of it to sight or sense. We cannot prove these great realities by any natural process of reasoning. If we speak of the two great facts which form the foundation and corner-stone of christianity -- (1) the accomplishment of redemption by the Lord Jesus going into death for the glory of God, and (2) that Christ is sitting at the right hand of God according to Psalm 110, where it is written, "Sit at my right hand, until I put thine enemies as footstool ... Thou art priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek" -- we only know these great and blessed facts by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. We have no other evidence whatever. And faith does not want any other evidence. "Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen", Hebrews 11:1. We have divine proofs of the great realities which have been brought to pass by God, but we have no natural or visible evidence of these things.

So that what is brought in in christianity is a present reality to the hearts of believers though it is not yet manifest in any public way. It therefore, to a very large extent, takes the character of hope in our souls. Hence hope has a very prominent place in this epistle; we read of "the boldness and the boast of hope" (chapter 3: 6), "the full assurance of hope" (chapter 6: 11), "the hope set before

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us" (chapter 6: 18), "the confession of the hope" (chapter 10: 23). The blessings which are established in Christ at the right hand of God have not yet come into public display; they are all hidden, if one may so say, in Christ, and this gives christian blessings the character of "hope" in the souls of believers. We know them as realities, but we await the display and manifestation of them. There is "the introduction of a better hope by which we draw nigh to God".

I may point out three things connected with this hope which are better than anything which was proposed in connection with the law.

1. "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings", Hebrews 2:10. This brings us at once to the full height of the heavenly calling, and unfolds in all its blessedness the purpose of God's love. Mark the words, "for whom are all things"! Everything has been created and exists for the pleasure of God (Revelation 4:11), but sin having come in and corrupted God's creation, things can only become pleasurable to God on the ground of reconciliation. To bring this to pass the Fulness of the Godhead has been pleased to dwell in the Son of the Father's love, by Him to reconcile all things to Itself. All things are by God as well as for Him. His mighty power and grace have wrought through redemption so that all things might eventually become the source of good pleasure to Himself.

But what is the supreme thought of God's heart? What family will have the central place in God's universe of bliss? Has He any company in a special way for the satisfaction of His own love? Yes! He is "bringing many sons to glory". Both the relationship and the state to which God is bringing the "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling" are set forth in Christ in glory. He has taken His

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place there as the Firstborn among many brethren who will ere long be conformed to His image in glory. The calling -- in the full height of its blessedness -- is set forth and maintained in Him. God will have many sons brought to glory -- to be with and like His beloved Son -- for the satisfaction of His own love.

Does not this transcend every hope that stood in connection with the law? The brightest hope that could be set before an earthly people, or that shines on the pages of the Old Testament, is infinitely surpassed. It is, indeed, the introduction of "a better hope".

2. Then in connection with the better hope we must take in the thought of the rest of God. "There remains then a sabbatism to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he also has rested from his works, as God did from his own. Let us therefore use diligence to enter into that rest, that no one may fall after the same example of not hearkening to the word", Hebrews 4:9 - 11. God has established rest for Himself in Christ, and there is a day coming when God will head up all things in the Christ that He may have His own perfect rest in a universe of bliss. He will "head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth; in him ...", Ephesians 1:10. The rest of God will be brought about in this way; He will have complacency in all the work of His hands.

All this is a present reality to the faith and hope of the saint. Is it not "a better hope"? Do you find anything like it in connection with the law? There was, indeed, a "shadow" of it in the tabernacle, but if we want the "image itself" of the universe of bliss we must come to Christ. There is the perfect setting forth in Christ in glory of everything that is pleasurable to God, and ere long God will head up everything in Him, and will bring His saints

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into the possession and enjoyment of His rest as their inheritance.

3. Then there are "good things to come": "But Christ being come high priest of the good things to come", Hebrews 9:11. "The law, having a shadow of the coming good things", Hebrews 10:1. I understand this to refer to the time when Christ will come out and bring all the goodness of God into this world. The priest coming out of the tabernacle and blessing the people was a figure of this. At present Christ is hidden from the eyes of men; He is within the veil. But when He comes forth it will be a wonderful time. Many Old Testament scriptures give us an idea of it. I will read one passage: "They shall come and sing aloud upon the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of Jehovah, for corn, and for new wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall not languish any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and old together; for I will turn their mourning into gladness, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice after their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah", Jeremiah 31:12 - 14.

This scripture -- and there are many others of similar import -- suggests in a wonderful way the thought of "good things to come". The great point, as you see, is the introduction of God's goodness. Men will "flow together to the goodness of Jehovah" and "my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah". All the goodness of God will be brought into this world where evil has predominated so long, and will become the satisfaction of men's hearts. And Christ is Priest of these "good things to come". They are not yet brought out, but in the meantime our hope enters into that within the veil, and apprehends

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them in Christ. "Whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen", 2 Corinthians 1:20. All God's promises speak of good things for man, and though they are as yet hidden from the eyes of men, they are all established and confirmed in Christ. And God has introduced to our hearts the knowledge of all this as "a better hope", we have the knowledge of it as a present reality in Christ though it is not yet brought into public view. The christian in the energy of this hope is thus satiated with fatness, and satisfied with God's goodness.

It is in the apprehension of all this that we draw nigh unto God. We are brought in view of the purpose of His love, according to which He is bringing many sons to glory. We are also in view of that blessed Person in whom God has found rest, and we anticipate the time when everything will be headed up in Him so as to afford complacency and rest to God. And we are in view, too, of all the goodness of God -- that inexhaustible reservoir of beneficence out of which He will furnish an answer to every form of evil that has ever been in this world.

In the apprehension of these blessed things we draw nigh to God. If we apprehend the purpose of His love, and the wonderful place Christ has in relation to His rest, and all the infinite goodness that finds its yea and amen in Christ, the effect must be that the presence of God becomes the most attractive spot in the universe to our hearts. I do not think any one truly draws nigh to God except in the apprehension of the "better hope". There must be attraction to bring us nigh to God. The principle of it is seen in Psalm 43:3, 4: "Send out thy light and thy truth: they shall lead me, they shall bring me to thy holy mount, and unto thy habitations. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto the God of the gladness of my joy".

I cannot conceive anything of greater importance than that we should apprehend the better hope in connection

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with Christ at the right hand of God -- that is, in connection with Christ as Priest. It is in Him that we apprehend our heavenly calling and the purpose of God's love, for He is the Firstborn among those who are being brought as many sons to glory. It is in Him that we apprehend the character of the rest of God. And it is He who is Priest of "good things to come".

It may be said, 'These are wonderful heights of blessing; they are out of our reach', I am sure that if we do not know the nature of the covenant of which Christ is Mediator, the things we have been looking at will be out of our reach. He has become Surety and Mediator of a better covenant which is established on the footing of better promises (Hebrews 7:22; Hebrews 8:6). Christ is Mediator of the new covenant on the ground that He has offered Himself spotless to God. Death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant. God's disposition towards man is made known in the death of Christ. The Testator has died that we might know the mind of God towards us. "God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us", Romans 5:8. In the death of Christ two things are plainly set forth -- that God has brought in remission of sins for man, and that He has made Himself known as acting in perfect love and grace towards man. When we see this it sets us free, in conscience and heart, to apprehend all the blessedness connected with the introduction of the better hope.

Then another thing is that Christ is an absolutely unfailing Priest, and is able to save completely those who approach by Him to God. I need hardly say this is not the sinner coming to God, but the saint -- it is priestly approach. There is power and present grace in Christ to save completely those who approach God by Him.

It is necessary to be saved completely in order to

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approach God. All the influences of the world, and all the motives and principles which work in our flesh, tend to hinder our approach to God. If we had not a Priest able to save us from these hindering elements we should not be free to approach God. I connect the thought of this salvation very much with John 13 where the Lord washed His disciples' feet in view of their having part with Him. This set forth in figure that all the contamination of the world has to be removed from us in order that we may have part with Him. The priests had to wash at the laver before they entered the sanctuary. The contamination of the world must be removed from our spirits before we can approach God.

I have no doubt we all know what it is to be unfitted for approach to God, though there might be no sin on our conscience. We have often, it may be, had to mourn that in private, as well as when together in meetings, we were not really free in spirit to approach God. It is quite clear that at such times some contaminating influence connected with the world or the flesh was acting on our spirits. Or, it may be, the pressure of some care or trial was a burden on our hearts. It is these things that make the service of the Priest so necessary to us. We need a Priest able to save us completely.

It seems to me there are two things which have an important place in connection with this priestly salvation. The first is the ministry of the word. You may remember that when Aaron went into the sanctuary there were golden bells upon the hem of his garment, so that his sound might be heard, Exodus 28:33 - 35. It is through the gifts which have been given from Christ in glory that His sound is heard today. "He has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to the

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work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ", Ephesians 4:11, 12.

Though Christ Himself is hidden His sound is heard. He ministers grace and truth to our hearts through chosen vessels; His living grace and interest thus finds expression towards us; and this is no small part of His priestly service. The ministry of the word is intended to perfect and edify us, and thus to deliver us from the false and defective ideas to which we are naturally so prone, and which all tend to link us with the course of things which obtains in "this present evil world". It is with a view to our salvation from all that is evil here. No ministry is worth a straw that does not tend to cleanse the saints from the contamination of the world. Timothy was exhorted to "Give heed to thyself and to the teaching; continue in them; for, doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee", 1 Timothy 4 . 16.

Another thing which must not be lost sight of in connection with this subject is the fellowship and unity of saints. This is clearly associated in Scripture with the anointing of the Priest. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Like the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments", Psalm 133:1, 2. The grace of the Priest comes down to us that we may be knit together in love, and that we may find in the company of our brethren a circle where there is salvation from the evil influences of the world. There is a circle here where holy love can be found; there are "holy brethren" here, and as we love them and cleave to them we find security and preservation from the contaminating influences which rule in the world. Let me urge upon you all -- and especially upon those who are young in the faith -- the importance of cleaving to your brethren. I have often seen the evil of friendships being

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formed with people with whom there could be no fellowship in the truth, or in the things of the Lord. The formation of such a friendship is a solemn indication of decline and departure; and has often led souls quite back into the world. The respectability or amiability of persons -- or even their profession of christianity -- should not be allowed to ensnare us. Our first thought should be, Do they know and love the Lord, and are they evidently seeking to walk in the truth? Our great object should be to cultivate spiritual relations with people, not social relations. If we love the "holy brethren" because they are "holy brethren", we shall find, in cleaving to them, present salvation from "the corruption that is in the world through lust".

We cannot but notice how prominently these two things, the word of God and the company of the saints, are presented in this epistle. The saints are exhorted to remember those who had spoken to them the word of God, and to "consider one another for provoking to love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another, and by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near", Hebrews 10:24, 25.

It is by the ministry of the word, and by knitting our hearts together in love, that Christ would deliver us from the contaminating influences of the world. There is a constant living activity on His part towards us. He intercedes for us with a view to our being saved completely from the influences of the world, so that we may be free in spirit to approach God.

Now let us pass on to where we read in Hebrews 8. Christ is the "minister of the holy places". Everything connected with the knowledge of God and that is for His pleasure is under the charge of Christ. He is the Minister or Administrator of the holy places; they are all committed

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to His charge. This great dignity attaches to Christ as Priest.

I think we may find an illustration of this in John 4. We read in John 3:35 that "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand". The Father has put everything into the hand of the Son so that the Son may give effect to the Father's pleasure in everything. And I think we must connect the incident in John 4 with this. It was the One into whose hand all things had been given by the Father who sat on the well, who spoke to the woman of the giving God and of the living water and of the Father's desire to have worshippers to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We see Him there as the "Minister of the holy places" bringing to pass the Father's pleasure, and declaring that He had meat to eat that His disciples knew not of. "My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work", John 4:34. The Father's will was that a knowledge of Himself should be poured into the empty heart of that poor thirsty woman, so that instead of coming in emptiness and thirst to draw water from Jacob's well, there should be in her a well of living water springing up into everlasting life. It was His will that there should spring up in her soul in the power of the Spirit true worship for the Father.

How blessed it is to think that the administration of all holy things is in the hand of Christ the Son. It is He who can present the blessedness of God to our hearts, and can order our souls in the knowledge of those holy things in which the love of God will find its eternal satisfaction, so that in result we may be constituted worshippers in the Father's presence.

Now just a few words on Hebrews 10we have "boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus". Everything that can be known of God, and of that creation of which Christ is the beginning and in which

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everything is for the pleasure of God, is summed up in the expression "holies" or "holy places". We can only enter into these holy places by the blood of Jesus. We could not bring the flesh into the light of God or into the circle of His pleasure. All that we are morally as children of Adam must be ended in death, and we should have no boldness for entering into holy things if we were not assured that the death of Jesus had made an end sacrificially of all that we were as in the flesh. We could not possibly enter into holy things except on this ground. We must appropriate the death of Christ as that which frees us in spirit from that which we are, so that we may enter into what God is, and into the purposes of His love.

The death of Jesus is the new and living way which He has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh. There is a way made of approach to God, and that way is by the revelation of Himself as made known to us in the death of Jesus. He has come out in the blessedness of His nature, and in the glory of His attributes, to make known His holy love, and this by the death of Jesus. And in the apprehension of this we find a way of approach to Him. It is a "new" way because it is formed by the revelation of God. Clouds and thick darkness are no longer round about Him; He is in the light. In the very place where we were removed in holy judgment God was revealed in holy love. The death of Christ is the blessed witness that God is love, and thus it becomes a new and living way by which we can enter into holy things.

Then as "having a great priest over the house of God" we are encouraged to "approach with a true heart". The house of God is where God dwells in all the blessedness of His holy love. And Christ is the great Priest over that house. All the blessedness of the place where God dwells is under the administration of the One whose love we know so well in that He went into death to make God known to

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our hearts. Why is this brought in here? That we may be encouraged and attracted to draw near. There is nothing in the house of God to forbid our approach, but everything to attract. And as a matter of fact we only draw near as we are attracted. Many a saint is convinced that the way is open for him to draw near, whose heart is not sufficiently under the mighty attraction of divine love to approach. We need "a true heart", that is a heart that has come under the attraction of divine love, and is responsive to that love.

May the things we have had before us be such great spiritual realities in our hearts as to be a divine power of attraction drawing us with fervent desire to embrace our privilege of approach to God. For this it is essential that we should have our hearts sprinkled from a wicked conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. If our consciences were not purged and perfected by the one offering of Christ, a thousand fears and misgivings would hold us at a distance. Then, on the other hand, we must be "washed as to our body with pure water". We must be wholly apart from the defilement of the world. I am sure that if we get a sense of the blessedness of the holy things which fill that house where God dwells, and if our hearts come under the attraction of Christ, we shall be deeply thankful to be cleansed from the contamination of the world. We shall not care to cherish, or cling to, anything that the word of God exposes as evil, or anything from which the priestly grace of Christ would save us. Thus should we be free to "approach with a true heart".

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AN ADDRESS
"MADE LIKE TO HIS BRETHREN"

Hebrews 2:16 - 18; Hebrews 4:14 - 16

Our hearts have often been comforted and elevated by the thought that we are going to be like the Son of God in His glorified condition, but it is necessary also that we should consider that in becoming Man in the circumstances in which we are, sin apart, "it behoved him in all things to be made like to his brethren".

We are told that "he takes hold of the seed of Abraham". In becoming Man, He took up a special relationship with the faith family -- with what God owned as having a link with Himself. There were features about that family which were of God, though every member of it had been by nature a child of wrath, even as the rest. But faith having come in, there was that in them which was not of the fallen man, but which had its origin in God. Christ could take hold of that, for it was suitable to Him; we might say that it was kindred to Him. It is as having this characteristic of faith that men are regarded as Christ's brethren, and it behoved Him in all things to be made like to them. This underlies the teaching of Hebrews: we hardly get the indwelling Spirit in this epistle, but all through, prominence is given to faith. Christ's brethren are in view, and "the people" are the elect nation -- those who have faith. They, and they only, get the good of the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. Those from among the Jews who received Christ were the true "seed of Abraham", and they became Christ's companions and His brethren. They were the seed of whom Christ took hold; He attached Himself to them and was made like to them --

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not that He could have them apart from His death and from His soul being made an offering for sin, for they all had sins for which propitiation was needed if they were to be with God in a righteous and holy way. The seed could not be sanctified -- they could not be "all of one" with the Sanctifier -- if He had not made propitiation for their sins. So we find later in the epistle (chapter 10) that by God's "will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". We also read that "by one offering He has perfected in perpetuity the sanctified". As purged worshippers they have no longer any conscience of sins. We need to shut out the flesh more completely from our thoughts of the holy brethren. They are to be regarded as the epistle to the Hebrews regards them. There are more than twenty designations of the saints in this epistle, but they all suggest suitability to God and to Christ, and not the contrary.

It is as having the exercises and trials and sorrows of faith that saints are Christ's brethren, and it is as having part in the testings and sorrows of faith that it has behoved Christ to be made in all things like His brethren. Christ's brethren are viewed here as in a position and condition in which they are sure to be tempted and tried, and they are also marked by infirmities. Faith is there as a ruling principle, but it is surrounded by almost universal unbelief, and is therefore continually exposed to temptation in the sense of trial. It has always been so, wherever there was faith. And along with faith there is always, in our present condition, the consciousness of infirmity. These things mark Christ's brethren here. The temptations or trials here referred to do not arise from the activity of the flesh; they are the result of faith coming into conflict with the influences that operate in the present evil age. If faith and a good conscience are maintained, there is bound to be suffering, and when we have part, however small, in the

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sufferings of faith, there is always the consciousness of infirmity. Infirmity does not mean that we give way before the power of evil, but it means that we are conscious that if we did not get divine support we should give way.

Now it is this experience which prepares us to appreciate how near Christ has come to us in becoming Man. He entered into, and took part in, all suffering which had been the portion of faith in all ages. He was tempted, or tried, by every form of trial which has ever come upon faith. And having passed through this experience He is qualified to be "a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God". It is in these things that we need a merciful and faithful high priest. Faith governs all matters relating to God, and when faith brings us into trial here, we need One who is able to help us as having suffered and been tried in exactly the same way Himself. When we prove that He does help us, it makes Him a very blessed reality to us.

We cannot for a moment think of Jesus, the Son of God, as having infirmities, but He had the true feelings of a man in presence of trials and sufferings. He was "tempted in all things in like manner". Therefore He is able to sympathize with our infirmities. He knows perfectly how trial and suffering affect man -- how they ought to affect man. In His case the sensibilities and the sufferings were perfect, and were all infinitely acceptable to God. They were wholly apart from sin. They are real trials which cause suffering, but they are not the result of evil-doing, but of faith. Now the Lord, in the state of a blessed, perfect Man, has been subjected to every such trial, that He might be able to sympathize with His brethren who suffer the same trials, but who are also conscious of infirmities. He never had infirmities, and He certainly has none as the great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, but His experience of trial and suffering here has qualified Him to

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sympathize with our infirmities. If I feel so weak that I cannot possibly hold fast the confession unless I get His support, He is exceedingly sympathetic with that feeling. It is the very reason -- or, at any rate, one reason -- why we have Him as our High Priest.

We have infirmities connected with our bodies, such as Timothy's "frequent illnesses" (1 Timothy 5:23) and the sickness of Trophimus. Christ has not been made like to us in these things, but He can enter perfectly into them because in the days of His flesh "Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases", Matthew 8:17. It has been well said that He bore in His spirit what He removed by His power. He felt in His spirit all that pressed upon men, even physically. This is not exactly what He became as Man, but what He took on Him. (See note to Hebrews 2:17 in the New Translation). But it enables Him to enter fully and sympathetically into all that His saints suffer, even in their bodies, and He is able to help them in those sufferings, as an innumerable multitude have proved.

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AN OUTLINE OF THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

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READINGS AT TEIGNMOUTH

CHAPTER 1 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. We have been considering lately the epistles to Timothy and Titus where we get teaching according to piety, the practical side of christianity developed in teaching. It might, perhaps, be well for us to look at christianity in real life; we see it in practice in this epistle; we see it in the conduct and spirit and ways of the apostle, and also of his converts. There is not so much detail of the actual state and conduct of any other company given. It gives one a remarkable idea of the kind of life that is the product of the grace of God. It is the moral effect of souls receiving the light of God in grace and coming into the truth of the kingdom.

Rem. The apostle speaks very much of the coming of Christ in these epistles.

C.A.C. It is interesting that it should be opened up to a company of babes. The truth of the kingdom had come home to them, and they were in the good of it. No other company of christians is addressed in this way, "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". It is the simplest view of the assembly, not the assembly viewed in the heavenlies, but the assembly of Thessalonians -- people walking about in Thessalonica, but brought to the knowledge of God and standing in the faith of their souls in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the first epistle Paul wrote. The exercises of the

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apostle are beautiful to consider. He was anxious about the Thessalonians; they had had a limited opportunity of learning the light of God in grace and he is anxious as to how they had been going on. No doubt they were prepared for the reception of the gospel, but it is the gospel that is looked at as producing this wonderful fruit; no influence that could be brought to bear on men could be as powerful as the knowledge of God in grace. Paul had so presented God to them that He became the blessed light of their hearts, and they turned to Him, to serve Him, and to wait for His Son from heaven. If Jesus is known as Lord it is in view of His coming back. We see in Acts 17 that the impression made by Paul's preaching in Thessalonica was that "there is another king, Jesus", that is, that the present condition of things in this world was going to be overturned, because Jesus is the Christ and Lord; all the rights belong to Him. There are two distinct sides of the gospel, the rights of God and the setting aside of man. If you begin to speak about the rights of God which are all taken up in the Lord Jesus Christ, you raise a storm at once. God has come in, in blessed grace; that is the way He is asserting His rights at the present time.

The character of the life of these young converts was what made such an impression. The report of how they behaved went about; it was common talk in all the district around. It is not what people say, but what they are, that is the testimony. We find they were marked by three wonderful things, the work of faith, labour of love and constancy of hope. The youngest convert can take up these things and begin to do the work of faith.

Ques. What do you connect with the work of faith?

C.A.C. That we do things on the principle that it is God's will we should do them; we have faith it is God's will we should do a certain thing. If we are under the lordship of Christ, He soon suggests to us things to do; something

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comes up and there is confidence in the soul that it is pleasing to God, and we do it. It flows from knowing God; God is known in the immensity of grace; we have to do with a God who has not spared His Son. Satan told such a lie in Eden; he said in effect that God was a mean God, that He was so mean He would not give His creatures the best in the garden. God has answered by giving His Son and bringing into existence a universe of blessing, throwing open His house, and giving all to man. God will be fully vindicated when the vast company of sons is seen in possession of the inheritance. This will be God's answer to every lie that came in through the devil. How far do we know God so as to walk under the influence of that grace? How far are we influenced by the free giving of grace, God telling His heart out, revealing His grace? That is the God we have turned to because He is so infinitely attractive. If the gospel was preached attractively, people would say, 'We had no idea God was anything like that'.

It is a new principle, a movement of life, the result of having come under the lordship of Christ, to begin doing things in faith because we have confidence it is God's will we should do them. The best way to leave off bad things is to start doing good things. It is said that when birds moult, it is because the new feathers push off the old; this is the way to put off the works of darkness. The work of faith is what characterised the Lord; He was a Man of faith and everything He did was on the principle of faith because it was God's will. "Preserve me, O God: for I trust in thee" (Psalm 16:1) expresses it. That is how we are to take up everything in relation to God in grace.

Then the saints come into view in the "labour of love". Love keeps us right with one another, and labour is needed for that; saints cannot go on together without exercise, so there is the labour of love, and as to outlook, there is nothing but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ;

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that is kept constantly in view, the "enduring constancy of hope". It is a helpful summing up of practical christianity. The "work of faith", that is, everything is done on the principle that it is God's will; then the active service of love among the saints which keeps us right with one another; and lastly the outlook, no other prospect is to be present to the saints but the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This would preserve us from looking for easier times, or from making any sort of advancement in this world an object. The coming here would be the appearing, His return to this world. They had heard "another king" was to come. When we see these things in people we are assured of their election (verse 4). The word "beloved" should be connected with God, "Knowing, brethren beloved by God, your election".

Rem. The apostle Paul's teaching was a labour of love.

C.A.C. Yes, the Thessalonians had seen the gospel in Paul as well as heard it. They saw a man prepared to suffer bonds and even death to secure their blessing. If anyone had asked them, 'Did you ever see a man who loved you as much as he loved himself?' they would have said, 'Yes, we saw a man who loved us a great deal more; he would have laid down his life for us'. Paul called them his joy and crown; he never expressed himself so warmly about any other company. He had nursed them and fathered them; he is full of joy over them. They saw the gospel in Paul's life; they saw the love of God and the grace of Christ in a man, and the power of the preaching was connected with the character of the man. The apostle was an extraordinary vessel of grace, but the same character should be stamped on every preacher. I think the reason there is not more fruit in the preaching is the lack of this character of man. There was wonderful power with the word and this was connected with the state of soul in the servant and with his practical walk and ways.

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"Ye became our imitators, and of the Lord". Paul was so walking that he could put himself and the Lord together. Then in their turn the Thessalonians carried it on, "Ye became models to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia". Paul had been a model to them and they became models to others, and that is how christianity spreads.

The reception of the word brought tribulation, "much tribulation with joy of the Holy Spirit". As the last days go on it may be there will be more tribulation; all the things christians have received and confessed will be more and more hated in the world, and if we are to go through tribulation in peace and power, we must have joy in the Holy Spirit. If they had tribulation all around, they had joy in heart. The two things work together; tribulation would stimulate joy. The apostle had great joy at Philippi.

We should consider these Thessalonians; it is encouraging to see that God can effect such wonderful things by His grace.

CHAPTER 1 (SECOND READING) VERSES 5 - 10

Ques. Would you say "our glad tidings" (verse 5) is the same as Paul preached in Acts 17?

C.A.C. I have always thought it was striking that the account in Acts 17 was only of Paul's labours in the synagogue, but when he writes this epistle he seems entirely occupied with those who were converted among the gentiles, who "turned to God from idols". In preaching to the Jews he reasoned from the Scriptures and shewed that Jesus whom he announced was the Christ;

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that is, he preached Jesus as the One who was God's anointed; the impression made on the people was that there was "another king". It shews that the promises connected with God's anointed and the kingdom had been prominent in his preaching. In the epistles the apostle speaks more of having set God before them.

Rem. According to custom he went to the synagogue first.

C.A.C. Yes, the work spread from that centre.

Rem. Reports as to Paul had reached the Thessalonians.

C.A.C. These reports were a preparation for Paul's visit; they had known how he had been ill-treated and insulted at Philippi. The gospel has only power according to the way it is lived out. They saw it livingly in Paul; he was prepared to surmount every difficulty and suffer anything to bring the gospel to them.

Rem. It says in the next chapter that they "received the word of the report of God", that is, God's word.

C.A.C. Whatever is God's word to us is effectual. We may receive it as man's word merely, but what we receive as God's word must affect us. We all know what it is to have been familiar with a text of Scripture, and some day it lays hold of us with a grip and becomes operative whether for exercise or for comfort. It has never been God's word to me till then. A great deal of our information is what we have received on the testimony of man, but when Scripture comes to you as the word of God it moves you, it becomes effectual.

There is such a living character about this epistle. Whether it is the life and labours of the apostle, or the way the converts are affected, it is all living and in relation to a living and true God. Verse 6 shews what a character of things had been set forth; Paul puts himself and the Lord together.

Ques. We find in verse 5 that the word was "in power,

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and in the Holy Spirit"; what is the difference? Power must be in the Holy Spirit?

C.A.C. Paul does distinguish them in 2 Corinthians 6 where he gives his credentials; "in the Holy Spirit" (verse 6), "in the power of God" (verse 7).

We see what it is to be converted here. Things were said of the Thessalonians that would be true of any soundly converted person. They were healthy babes.

Ques. Why do not we see such demonstration of power now?

C.A.C. We do. There are probably more people converted to God in this room than there were in Thessalonica; there is nothing to shew they were a large company. No doubt there was a remarkable working, but it has not stopped. If you could gather all the christians together in T. they would be a large company, so the wonder-working power is still going on.

It is a great transition inwardly today, not outwardly. Take a child brought up in a christian household. When converted he would find he had not known more of God than if he had been brought up in Africa. For a man who reads his Bible and is religious there is not the same change outwardly, but there is inwardly; God has come into his soul as a reality, and God's word has spoken in his heart -- it is a spiritual revolution!

Rem. I suppose Paul's word was with power when Felix trembled, and yet Felix was not converted.

C.A.C. Yes, the servant was marked by power. There are two things, the testimony of the servants and of the Holy Spirit. The Lord said of the Spirit in John 15, "He shall bear witness concerning me", and again "Ye too bear witness". Then in Acts 15:28 we read, "It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us". So you may have the power of God with a servant and there is also the Holy Spirit.

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Preaching is very much a word of faith. A brother who prays in secret for conversions, generally gets them. Of course there is the gift of an evangelist, and one would expect such to be specially used, but any servant who carries on his service with God will see fruit, though perhaps it may come out years after. Sometimes I have been discouraged at seeing so little result, and when I have, the Lord has nearly always given me to hear of some blessing. We want to see fruit without labour, but Paul was prepared to suffer, to travail in birth, to surmount all difficulties so that they might be blessed. We would like to see people converted without it costing us anything. It comes home to us all in a small way; we are not all levites but the same principles apply. When we are prepared to suffer for the good of others we get on to the right line. Paul suffered even the peril of life, and the converts were prepared to suffer, they received the word "in much tribulation" (verse 6). Paul did not try to hide the difficulties of the position from them; he told his converts that "through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom", and they took it up on that line. While there is nothing to do to be saved, there is much to suffer.

Rem. It was "with joy of the Holy Spirit".

C.A.C. They were introduced into an entirely new region of the Spirit; they could rejoice in affliction because it did not touch that region. We have to retire into the region of the Spirit. There may be affliction but there is the joy of the Holy Spirit. These saints were severely tested, and they appreciated the character of that other region in the Holy Spirit.

There was public testimony. God brings His grace and the knowledge of Himself into human hearts in order to have a light for Himself in this world, and we are to serve God in relation to His things. If we serve God, we serve in relation to an unseen system of things, a region of the

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Spirit that the world knows nothing about; and in that region we learn all that God has set His heart on, and where His glory is manifested. There is a whole system of things connected with the revelation of God in grace, and we are brought into that system to serve God, so that every detail of God's thoughts has an interest to the exercised saint.

Ques. "The word of the Lord sounded out", did that refer to their preaching?

C.A.C. I think their faith was talked about. They did preach, no doubt, but this is a public report that went out. Paul did not need to tell people what God had done; it spoke for itself. One has seen often that when people are converted in a remarkable way it attracts public attention. One has seen God lay hold of the most wicked man in the town and he is converted, and the whole countryside has talked about it.

Ques. "Your faith which is towards God" -- is that faith the reception of the gospel?

C.A.C. No, it is the right moral effect of receiving it; the effect of the gospel was faith.

They were waiting for His Son, surrounded by the bitter hostility of the world and conscious that nothing would be right in this world till God's Son comes back. That is the portion of the saints today; the world hates them as far as it takes account of them. The present state of the world is advantageous to us; it is better than for everything to be comfortable; we are so apt to be earth-dwellers.

Waiting is an active state in the region of the Spirit:

'The Spirit brings Thy glory nigh
To those who for Thee wait'. (Hymn 81)

"until ... the morning star arise in your hearts", 2 Peter 1:19. The coming One is the hope before the soul. None of us have anything to look forward to in this world.

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"Entering in" is an open door. We get access to people's souls and that is the great thing. We may get access outwardly and have a great crowd; that is not necessarily an open door. God can use all kinds of things providentially to open the door, and give access to people's souls.

CHAPTER 2

C.A.C. This is practically the power of life. We have been reading lately the epistles to Timothy and Titus and have seen there a good deal of what the servant of the Lord should be, but we see it here livingly. When we read teaching and exhortations of Scripture we are all apt to say in our hearts -- 'It is very blessed, but nobody ever came up to it' -- and we let ourselves off in that way. Here we see christianity in real life, realised in men of like passions to ourselves. We see a continuance of Christ in His servant; the same life, the same grace and the same power that were seen so blessedly in the Lord are seen remaining on earth in His beloved servant.

Ques. That is the triumph of God, is it not?

C.A.C. Yes. We must have material like Saul of Tarsus to see the triumph of God.

Rem. There is a touching reference to what had taken place before Paul went to Thessalonica (verse 2).

C.A.C. Yes. There is nothing so bold as love. Boldness is the first thing he speaks of, and it was the first thing the saints prayed for at the first recorded prayer meeting of the church (Acts 4:29). Boldness is a great mark of the power of life. It is not the self-assertion of the flesh, but "we were bold in our God".

Rem. They saw the boldness of Peter and John.

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C.A.C. If God is before the soul there is nothing to hinder boldness; so the soul goes on courageously in the path of His will. Moses was told to exhort Joshua to be very courageous, to have no fear of the enemy. How bold troops would be if they, were assured that defeat was impossible! The way they make troops bold is by persuading them that they are invincible. Well, in the work of the Lord defeat is impossible; His is the winning side. Paul desires prayer that he might open his mouth boldly; it is the boldness that is the fruit of dependence because it comes from a sense of absolute weakness, having no sufficiency but in God. The apostle had a good deal of opposition in Thessalonica; in every bit of service there are difficulties to surmount, and if we are not bold in God we think there is a lion in the way. There are sure to be obstacles in the way of every little service.

Then we see that faithfulness to God marked the apostle; in all his service he was not thinking of how he might be approved of men, but it was God who had approved him to have the glad tidings entrusted to him. It was "God, who proves our hearts". That was so like the Lord who was the faithful Witness, and who considered only for God. It is an immense thing to be entrusted with anything that is of God, and then the great thought is -- How can we carry it out so as to please God? It is God that proves the heart; we are always under His scrutiny. It is not what we do or say but the spirit we are of; Paul said, "Whom I serve in my spirit" (Romans 1:9); that is, his spirit was in perfect accord with his service. It is possible to teach and to speak to people, and yet one's spirit is not in accord with it. You might speak to a person because you feel it is the proper thing to do.

Ques. Would the spirit being in accord be the same as doing it voluntarily as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:17?

C.A.C. Paul had the responsibility to announce the glad

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tidings whether his heart went with it or not; he emphasises that side, that God had laid him under an obligation to do so. His whole heart went with it, but whether or not it did he had the responsibility entrusted to him.

It is so beautiful to see the true servant; they were a model assembly and he was a model servant. We see his boldness; then he has God only before him as the One to be pleased, and he was absolutely unselfish; there is no seeking glory from men, no flattering discourse, and even what he might have done rightly and properly he would not do. It would have been right if he had made himself a charge, and yet he was absolutely unselfish; his was unselfish labour for the good of others. It is just a continuation of Christ, and nothing else will do for God. This is really life; it necessitates a practical emptying of self. We all begin full of self, but here is a man in whom self has no place. Are we set to be here in the Spirit of Christ? Christianity is a very simple thing, just the Spirit of Christ active in the saints; we see it here in Paul. One can see more and more the importance of Paul's pressing on saints to love one another. John brings it out too, not doctrine but life, and that is the activity of love. We "have been gentle in the midst of you, as a nurse would cherish her own children" -- Paul had been amongst them in all the tenderness of a mother; he had begotten them first, and then he nursed them (verse 7). There had been a nursing time, but now they had got out of babyhood, and he exhorted them as a father; they had grown rapidly; they were big enough to be exhorted by a father, as well as being nursed by a mother. It is the same grace as was seen in the Lord when He would have gathered His people under the warmth and protection of His wing; that was like this word "cherish"; the apostle in his love cherished these young converts. There is such beautiful freshness about this first epistle of Paul's; it throbs and palpitates with life, and with all the activity

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of divine love; we see the activity of early love here. The condition brought about in the converts was morally connected with what they had seen in the apostle. We cannot expect the same results if we have not the same causes. There was a wonderful presentation of divine love in the preaching and in the preacher. He says, "Thus, yearning over you, we had found our delight in having imparted to you ... our own lives also". Paul was ready to die for them; it was just what the Lord had done. How blessedly we should get on together if we were all animated by that spirit! Nothing can stop this love if it is there, no outside influence; so nothing can stop one from desiring the good of another, however bad they are or however they may have treated one.

Then there was not only this yearning of love, but such a beautiful life of blameless purity had been exhibited among them. The Lord brings it before us so that we might see the vitality of christianity worked out in a man. The Thessalonians had begun to follow Paul and all this is to encourage them to go on; it is the most powerful way of appealing to any sensitive heart. Everything was worthy of God in the apostle. How wonderful to be able to say of a man that his walk and ways and speech are worthy of God! This could be said of Paul; he exhorts these Thessalonians and through them exhorts us to walk worthy of God. It is because he is so entirely free of himself that he can speak of himself like this; otherwise it would be self-importance. The epistle to the Philippians is full of "I" and "me". They occur about ninety times; no one could write like that unless he were entirely free of himself. In Romans 7 there are the "I" and "me" of self-occupation, but in Philippians it is the "I" and "me" of a man in Christ. It is because Paul is a man in Christ and is conscious of it that he can say "I" and "me" freely without thinking of himself at all. How blessed to identify ourselves with the man

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in Christ! We all know the man in the flesh and more often identify ourselves with him.

Paul worked day and night not to be a burden to the Thessalonians. It was very different to preaching for a salary; he was no fine gentleman; he was a working man in every sense, full of spiritual labour and manual labour. Paul could have stood on his rights and expected them to minister to him, as he insists on it for others.

Rem. The wonder is that they allowed it.

C.A.C. Yes; he says, 'None shall stop me' (2 Corinthians 11:10). At Corinth, where they were wealthy, he refused their bounty. We see his unselfishness; there was no motive lurking behind. He only desired their good.

Making tents is a fine occupation; they are useful all the year round! The tent is connected with the pilgrimage; the patriarchs were tent-dwellers. It is a great thing to pass along in that spirit. Priscilla and Aquila were in accord with the apostle, ready to lay down their lives (Romans 16:4); it is the Spirit of Christ coming out in people like ourselves.

The way we walk expresses what God does. God's kingdom is full of the effulgence of God, and to walk worthy of Him is to walk as expressive of God. We should challenge ourselves and say, 'Is this like God? Is it God's way of doing things? Does God act like this?' It pulls us up, does it not? All this is the moral effect of the revelation of God in grace. If God comes near to reveal Himself it is that fruits of like character might be brought forth. If God speaks to me in grace it produces the fruit of grace in me. Then we see that all this, instead of giving people a good place in the world, only exposes them to persecution. The shining out of what God is in a world that opposes Him is sure to bring out enmity. They opposed Paul; they opposed the Thessalonians, and we must be prepared for that. Sometimes there is a subtle feeling in us that if we act worthily of God

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it will be approved by the world, and especially the Christian world, but it is not so. God is able to turn the hearts of men; He does not always alter persecution, but He checks it. In Smyrna there was a limit, "Ye shall have tribulation ten days", Revelation 2:10. If saints are exposed to a special trial it is measured; not all the powers of hell could have made the tribulation eleven days! God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tried beyond what you are able. He is the "God of measure" (2 Corinthians 10:13) and persecution is measured. I have known saints persecuted to the last extremity and then it is stopped. It is that you may be able to bear it, not to escape. It is all measured.

The apostle says, "We told you beforehand" (chapter 3: 4); he told them they were to have this special tribulation. As to the difficulty of the last days, we hardly know what will come next, but there is a throne in heaven, a very stable one; there are tottering thrones on earth. The power that has protected us here may totter to the fall, but there is a throne in heaven that will never totter, and the persecution and all are weighed in the sanctuary. If the Lord lets us go through a time of unprecedented sorrow and trial it is to draw us together in love, so that affections may be in activity.

The last section of the chapter is so beautiful. Paul could not bear separation from the Thessalonians. He had tried twice to get to them but Satan had come in and hindered him; he could not bear the separation. He looks to being in closest nearness to them by and by. He looks forward to embracing his beloved converts on the glory side. The apostle does not entertain any misgivings as to recognising them, does he? We think of the blessedness and joy of being with the Lord, but Paul says nothing about it here. He says, "What is our ... crown?" Most would say, Christ Himself! But here he says, 'It is you who are our glory and joy'. It shews what they were to him at that

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moment. Paul's glory and joy when he entered the presence of the Lord would be to present these beloved children.

Ques. Is it like what the Lord said, "Behold, I and the children which God has given me"?

C.A.C. It is exactly like the Lord. What is the Lord's joy? To present to the Father those whom He has loved, and served, and carried to glory! So here Paul is not thinking of his own blessedness, but entirely taken up with the blessedness of these people. Even in glory he is not thinking of his own blessing but he has got these Thessalonians and is presenting them to the Lord. They are all his glory and joy. How his unselfishness comes out even in glory!

CHAPTER 3

C.A.C. We have noticed before that what we get in this epistle is not the unfolding of doctrine, but rather the flow of divine affections; the epistle appeals to us in that way.

Rem. In every chapter we get the coming of the Lord spoken of.

C.A.C. This was the first epistle the apostle wrote, and he tells us the truth of the rapture as a matter of revelation. It is striking that the coming of the Lord is presented as the natural result of the course the saints are pursuing, as a moral continuation of it. What belongs to the present is the flow of divine affections, and when we get into the presence of the Lord it will be the same.

What wonderful joy the apostle had in the saints; he thinks of what they would be to him at the coming of the Lord. We dwell on our individual blessedness, that we

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shall see the Lord and be like Him, but a great part of the blessing will be to see the saints.

'Nor what is next Thy heart
Can we forget;
Thy saints, O Lord, with Thee
In glory met'. (Hymn 160)

The last two verses of chapter 2 are so beautiful; they suggest to me first love.

Rem. The Lord said, "Behold, I and the children which God has given me", Hebrews 2:13.

C.A.C. Yes, it is the Lord's peculiar joy to have His saints. He will gather them all up in courts above and present them to His Father; that is His joy and it will be the joy of the saints. Paul was so imbued with the love of Christ that his joy too was to have the saints, particularly his own converts, there. It is a great thing to think about the saints and care about them with an eye on the future, even if we do not see a great deal now. Paul was thinking of what the saints would be in the day of glory. We need to keep that in view, not only in service, but in all our thoughts of the saints. If we have before us what the saints will be in the day of Christ we shall seek to promote it, and we shall be jealous and careful over one another. See the jealousy and care of the apostle. "Being no longer able to refrain" -- he could not bear the suspense any longer; all sorts of fears came into his mind. He was a true father and he could not bear any longer not to know about them.

Ques. Did you say that christianity was seen in power in the apostle?

C.A.C. It impresses me more and more that the Lord has put christianity before us in a living way in the life and service of Paul; it is seen in a man "of like passions with you". The Lord has taken pains to shew us that Paul, as a man, was marked by the same frailties as other people. This magnifies the grace that could work so effectively in

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him to produce these affections and to sustain them. Paul never departed from first love, he maintained it to the finish. Neither Paul nor John nor Peter ever left first love.

Rem. It is like the Lord, "Having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end".

C.A.C. Yes, the Lord entered on a path of service of love and went through with it absolutely. He serves all His saints so marvellously. He never says like Moses, "I am not able to bear all this people".

The apostles were not a reflection merely of this love, but were filled with the same love as was in the heart of the Lord; it never failed, and they went right through, jealously caring for the good of the saints. Then there is Timothy too; he was a like-minded man and he comes in as an encouragement. We might think there was especial power with an apostle, and so there was, but then we have Timothy, who cared "with genuine feeling" for their state (Philippians 2:20). He is likeminded, so Paul calls him his own brother and fellow workman.

Rem. Timothy was to confirm them.

C.A.C. Certain afflictions had come on Paul and on the Thessalonians. Paul had told them beforehand of it and in this time of special affliction there is special confirmation in the visit of Timothy. We ought to look for special confirmation just now when all saints are under pressure; some are under great pressure, and in a time of special affliction we should look for special confirmation. I think it comes to make the things of faith more real. When things are easy we live in the outward and visible, but when affliction comes the inward and spiritual come into view. It is a question here of faith, "to ... encourage you concerning your faith", and then in verse 5, "I ... sent to know your faith". In verse 6 Timothy "brought to us the glad tidings of your faith"; then Paul speaks in verse 10

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about coming to them to "perfect what is lacking in your faith".

Ques. Is faith the same as confidence?

C.A.C. It is rather the whole world of unseen things, presented to them in connection with the coming kingdom, all that which was coming in with the advent of the Son of God from heaven. Paul was jealous lest all this should get dim. There was something lacking in their faith; they were disappointed when some died, or were martyred. They thought these people would miss the kingdom, so there was something lacking in their faith and Paul supplied it in this epistle. He was comforted because they stood firm in the Lord (verse 8), that is, in everything connected with the Lord, and what He would bring in. It is like the thief on the cross; he had lost sight of present things in time; he was occupied with the thought of the Man on the cross coming in His kingdom. He could see the crown on His forehead, though others saw Him as a malefactor -- He "was reckoned with the lawless". The thief saw the glory of the kingdom encircling the Lord's brow, and he says to Him, 'Think of me'.

Rem. These afflictions came on Paul in the right path, but the tempter would tempt the Thessalonians through Paul's persecution. Supposing a servant came here and many were converted, and then town after town where he went, no one listened, and he got stoned, it would be a test.

C.A.C. The Lord seems to allow these special tests. I heard recently of a missionary in China who was used to a number of conversions, and one day he was struck dead by lightning. That was a test; some of the converts went back, and others went on. The Lord allowed this dreadful test, that the man who brought them the message of life should be struck down by God! In the same way with the saints; there are often things you cannot account for, and the

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tendency is that faith fails. It is a real test -- "lest perhaps the tempter had tempted you". How freely Paul speaks of his exercises, does he not?

Rem. Instead of their faith failing, Timothy comes back bringing glad tidings of how they desired to see Paul.

C.A.C. It is beautiful; first love had not declined in them any more than it had in Paul. I like to think of the church in its first love. We must not lose sight of the fact that the church did stand once in first love, though the Lord had after to say, "Thou hast left thy first love".

Ques. Is there no recovery? Could the return ever be the same?

C.A.C. Certainly. The Lord says, "Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works", Revelation 2:5. It is a call to go back from what they are to what they had left. First love means first in quality, not in time. Some of us might never have reached first love. It is a peculiar character of love that marked the saints at Ephesus at a certain time. First love is that we should love one another as Christ loved us. "Love one another, as I have loved you", John 15:12.

Ques. Would it be true of quite young converts?

C.A.C. We see it in these Thessalonians here. Things are so feeble with us that perhaps we never know what it is to come to it. If we are not settled in faith we cannot go on to love. The two things go together. We see in Scripture that the believer is also a lover.

Rem. Any thought of the Lord Jesus would bring a response from us.

C.A.C. Then you get a sense that He loves His saints, for if He loves me He loves all, and you think of the saints as the subjects of His love. If Christ loves the saints, and I am affected by His love, I must love them too. Paul says, "We have been comforted in you". He takes such delight in the saints that he does not know how to thank God

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enough! He has such joy in them he does not know where to begin, or how to leave off. He says, 'How shall we do it?' "What thanksgiving can we render"? That is the true bond. A man said lately to a brother, 'Are you on the square?' That is freemasonry, which is the great imitation of christianity. It is a great fellowship and a true freemason will do anything to help another. The brother replied, 'No, but I am in the circle'. God puts you in the circle.

We need a deepening sense of the blessedness of the christian circle. When we get that we want to see as much of the saints as possible. Paul yearned after the saints and they after him; they could not bear separation. I do not suppose they stayed away from the meetings!

Rem. Love goes out to all. It is divine order to go out from the circle.

C.A.C. It is like the living waters, flowing out from the temple in the world to come. Ezekiel tells us how the waters flow from the sanctuary into the world. There is a circle where divine affections flow; we see it in the mutual yearning for one another between Paul and the Thessalonians; this is the circle from which blessing flows. And we cannot enjoy it alone; Thomas missed a good deal by not being at the meeting! It is rubbish for people to say they can be as happy at home as with the saints; it skews they are out of touch with the Lord; the Lord is attracted when His saints are together. It is a great thing to see the saints in that light; nothing gives the Lord such pleasure now as seeing the saints together. He is the One who gathers; He died that He might "gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad". "He that gathers not with me scatters". Every activity of the Lord to us is of the nature of gathering and never to leave us as units. Love is the way of holiness. Paul speaks of their exceeding and abounding "in love toward one another ... in order to the confirming of your hearts

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unblamable in holiness ... at the coming of our Lord Jesus". The abounding of love is the way to it, so holiness is a moral continuation; it is not that the coming of the Lord brings in new elements. Christians like to think of being in glory as the fruit of redemption and divine grace and love, as though there was no moral preparation on their part, but God's idea is to have a people morally suited for translation, so that it is in accord with all God's principles to take them. Translation was the appropriate termination of such a course as Enoch's; he was converted at the age of sixty-five, and walked with God for three hundred years. What could God do with such a man? He could not let him go into death; He took him. Enoch was in communion with God's heavenly thoughts, as Noah was with His earthly thoughts. Both Enoch and Noah walked with God. So here, if there is a people exceeding and abounding in love toward one another, it is not a very wonderful thing if they go into heaven without dying, and come out of heaven with the Lord. The christian circle is a little bit of heaven let down into the world. You cannot find anything like it in the world; people are kind and benevolent and do many things for each other, but there is nothing like divine love. How much we need to pray, "The Lord make [you] to exceed and abound in love toward one another" (verse 12). It is the Lord alone who can do it; He can originate and maintain this divine flow of affection. There is something exquisitely sensitive in divine love, and that is why it promotes holiness. Legality feels a spot because it is a reproach on me, but love feels it because it is a reproach on those Christ loves, and on Christ. Nothing is so sanctifying as love, so you get a wonderful standard of holiness if love is in activity; it is the divine nature, God's nature is holy love.

Rem. Christ could go in and out amongst men without defilement.

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C.A.C. Yes. Love is repellent of all evil, nothing is so repellent of evil as that intense yearning for the good of another. I have lately been struck very much as to deliverance, that practically we only get it on the line of positive good. The principle of lust is something for self, but the principle of love is the good of another. If we are in the activity of love, every kind of unholy movement is put in the place of death. It is lovely to think of saints as unblamable in holiness. 'When in holiness bright we sit down'. Every saint is to sit down in the presence of the Lord with not a stain, nothing unsuited to the holy glory of that kingdom which is about to shine forth. That is the moral result of the working of these affections in the circle.

I do not think holiness is connected with the conscience; it cannot be separated from the heart. There seems to be suggested here that there is a result for God in their exceeding and abounding in love; it is in order to their being "unblamable in holiness before our God and Father". It is the Lord who effects the result; it is the Lord effecting the pleasure of God, and the way He does it is by making His saints exceed and abound in love, and that leads to their being unblamable in holiness. Thus they are set before God in that character, so that the apostle can say in another place, "God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God".

We are carried to a very high point here. We get the affection of Paul for the saints; he delights in them, and Christ delights in them, and the climax is that through the exercise of love on the part of Paul, and on the part of the Lord, they are brought into perfect suitability to God and the Father. They are brought step by step until they reach the satisfaction of God and the Father in the saints. We cannot get higher than that!

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CHAPTER 4 (FIRST READING) VERSES 1 - 12

C.A.C. We know that the saints will be translated as the fruit of redemption and of God's blessed purposes of love, but there is a moral suitability for translation also, and that comes out in this epistle. It is as saints walk in holiness and love that they are suitable for translation.

Rem. Looking at the chapter, the thought came before me as to Enoch. He was suitable.

C.A.C. Yes, he walked with God, and pleased Him and was translated. There is a thought sometimes in people's minds as if the rapture would make a very great change in the saints, but it seems to me that the character of the saints morally should be the same before the rapture as after. Saints may go on with selfishness or many things not according to holiness, but that is quite unbecoming in people who are looking to be caught up to be for ever with the Lord.

Rem. According to Jude some will be saved as by fire.

C.A.C. I thought we had to pull them out of the fire, so that they might be ready for the rapture! I think it is important that the moral side should be kept in view.

Rem. In Matthew 25 "they all grew heavy and slept".

C.A.C. Still all that went in were suitable, not only through the work of Christ for them and the purpose of God in relation to them, but they were morally suitable, their lamps trimmed and burning -- none went in with lamps untrimmed. Scripture is careful not to suggest the thought of people, if converted, being unsuitable to the Lord's coming. Scripture always introduces the thought of suitability.

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Ques. Yet do these admonitions shew that the things are prevalent?

C.A.C. There is a danger, of course, but these exhortations are to free us, not to leave us in the fire. If we take heed to the exhortations and to the Lord's words, we shall be delivered from all that is unsuitable and be ready to pass into the Lord's presence. If there is anything about me that I should like changed if the Lord came at 9 p.m. then I had better change it at once.

Rem. Doubtless many would not like to be found in picture palaces.

C.A.C. If saints are there, it is pretty near the fire, and we must pull them out. We want to deliver the saints. Paul, as it were, folds up the Thessalonians in his arms; he is jealous over them that there should be nothing unsuitable in them. We have first to take heed to ourselves and then be exercised about the saints, that there should be nothing unsuitable in them.

Ques. The beginning of the chapter is self-control?

C.A.C. It is a question of love coming into activity and leading to holiness. As we walk in love we become more sensitive to things. Nothing is so sensitive as love; it is the divine nature.

It is nice to notice that there are some words in verse 1 not found in the Authorised Version after "as ye have received ... how ye ought to walk and to please God"; it should then read "even as ye also do walk". It is not only that they ought to walk and please God, but they do. Paul does not regard them as not doing it.

It is positively God's will that we should walk in holiness and piety; God wills it. Paul supposes the saints would find their joy in moving along the line of God's will, and he says, This is God's will. If we are living on the principle of pleasing God it puts everything right. We do not come up to the full measure of God's will at once, for Paul tells them

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to "abound still more". There is always room for us to expand along that line.

Ques. How is sanctification or holiness spoken of in this chapter?

C.A.C. As practical separation from all that which marked the gentile world. The gentile world was marked by everything that was contrary to God, and God has called His people into holy separation from all that, and has given them His Holy Spirit. It is emphasised here that God's Spirit is a Holy Spirit, and if we want to walk to please God we have to remember that. If we are not on the line of holiness we are certainly out of touch with the Holy Spirit. We are called in holiness; it characterises the very call of God, and so the brethren are spoken of as holy brethren. The name saint means a holy one, and we are saints by calling; the very character of God's people is that they are holy ones. The term saint is so familiar among us that we use it and sometimes forget what it means. It is so wonderful to speak of a people in this world as saints, holy ones; we should not let the term lose its meaning by familiarity. Many christians shrink from using it, because they have a sense that it involves a good deal; we ought not to have any less sense of that, because we see Scripture uses it and that it implies what saints are.

Ques. Why is the Lord's name brought in in verse 6: "The Lord is the avenger"?

C.A.C. The Lord preserves what is due in connection with every moral wrong. If any wrong is committed by a saint against another the Lord takes very serious account of it. We are apt to think things will pass, but the Lord maintains what is due, and if there is any violation of moral propriety among saints, the Lord will avenge it. A man might think that if the brethren do not get to know it does not matter, but the Lord is the avenger; it is a solemn thing

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to think of. All these things need to be remembered; they are all written.

Rem. There is the principle of obedience (verse 2) as well as love.

C.A.C. There are moral obligations on one side, and the activity of love on the other. Scripture never weakens the side of moral obligation, and Scripture maintains the activity of love. We are taught to love, and if I love my brother I shall not wrong him, but Scripture does not leave it there; it insists on the moral obligation as well. We need both sides.

Ques. Where does failure come in, with lack of obedience or with lack of love?

C.A.C. It is extremely difficult to say. Departure is such a general thing, and everything seems to be affected in it. I believe only the Lord can lead us to the true root of it. No amount of self-examination can bring a man to the root of his failure; it is only the Lord who can put His finger on the spot and say, 'That is the point of departure'. Sometimes it is quite different from what we suppose but the Lord knows exactly where we left the main line. We get a deeper insight then into what the flesh is than we ever had before, though we might have been converted for years, and have thought we had judged ourselves. The Lord touched something in Ephesus (Revelation 2) that perhaps they were never conscious of, and other people would have said, 'What a lovely assembly at Ephesus!'

When it comes to brotherly love (verse 9) the apostle says, "Ye yourselves are taught of God". They had really come under new covenant teaching. Paul says, "Ye do this towards all the brethren in the whole of Macedonia", and then he tells them to "abound still more"!

Rem. These young converts were in the freshness of love.

C.A.C. If young converts started so well, what should

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old christians be like? They should be a perfect reservoir of divine affections; they should provoke one another to love. These saints had really turned to God; they had got into contact with Him. The trouble is sometimes that people do not seem to get into contact with God, and only think of some nice word a brother has given! But new covenant teaching is contrasted with that; it is the effect in the soul of being near to God. We might come to readings and lectures for a life-time and not get a scrap of new covenant teaching, but the moment we get near to God we are taught of Him; it is the effect of God's own presence and nearness on the soul. "They shall not teach each his fellow-citizen ... because all shall know me in themselves" (Hebrews 8:11) -- that is, each one has his own individual secret between himself and God that no other intermeddles with; and it is for the "little one", so each of us can say, That takes me in. You so know God in grace, and are so near to the God you know in grace, that you have your own special secret; it is not what you are told. It is wonderful to think of the saints as a company in that blessedness.

The first thing is that we hear a report about God, that is the preaching. The preacher tells us what a wonderful God there is to turn to; he presents God in such a light that we begin to see what a lot we have missed in being at a distance, and we say, "I will rise up and go to my father". Then you must get near to God and get His teaching. When the prodigal gets home, can you imagine what the first five minutes are like? That is divine love, when you feel His arms round you, and His kiss, and the beating of His heart -- and then you are taught to love. I think we are too content with the preaching and the report. We find in John's epistles that we have a teaching unction; the Spirit teaches us; there is an inward working, the activity of God in the soul; so we are not only kept in the right way by

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external things, but there is an inward movement in the soul -- "they shall know me" -- and the result is they love one another. We get life in the epistle to the Thessalonians; I do not know any Scripture that gives it to us more simply. A people walking in holiness and love are nearly out of the world and are ready for the rapture.

We love saints because we see in them what is of God. "Every one that loves him that has begotten loves also him that is begotten of him" 1 John 5:1. It is good to look out for the family likeness in saints.

Ques. Why is it brotherly love here?

C.A.C. I suppose it is thinking of love in its practical manifestation in a company of people who are down here as brethren.

CHAPTER 4 (SECOND READING) VERSES 13 - 18

Rem. The previous three verses come down to every detail of life.

C.A.C. Yes, the walk of saints is not only to be pleasing to God, but of such a character as to approve itself to man. They are to be marked by quietly attending to their own matters, working with their own hands, so that there may be no reproach.

Ques. Would you say the saints were troubled, and that called forth this special word about the rapture?

C.A.C. Yes, it would seem they were concerned about those who had fallen asleep. We should be badly off if we had not these few verses, as it is the only Scripture that gives the rapture.

Ques. Is it implied in John 14?

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C.A.C. Yes, but you could not learn the rapture from that. There are hundreds of scriptures which refer to the coming of the Lord, but this is the only scripture that shews in a distinct way that the rapture precedes the manifestation. The rapture is necessary because God is going to bring with Him those who sleep. The point is, How can God bring them? So the rapture is brought in to shew. When Christ comes the saints come with Him. Well, how can that be? Because the saints are going to be caught up first. When we understand this scripture, we can see how others like John 14 fit in with it, but we could not learn the rapture from John 14.

The rapture is brought in as comfort for the saints. We have been seeing what an immense place the activity of love had amongst these brethren; loving one another was the way of holiness and so on. Paul had charged them to love one another, and said they did it. It was their love for one another that made them so sorrowful when some of their number slept. Paul had said a great deal about the coming of the Lord; the Thessalonians were marked by waiting for the Son from heaven, but they did not understand this particular truth about the catching up of the saints. We must remember that the preaching of the kingdom had an effect on people in those days that it has not now. A long period of time having elapsed takes the edge off the expectation, but these Thessalonians really expected the kingdom in their lifetime. Paul had preached that Christ was the Messiah, the rightful Heir, who would take up His rights, and they looked for Him to come speedily; they never thought of the kingdom being postponed. But they thought that these saints who had been put to sleep through Jesus had missed the kingdom, and this epistle was written to correct that. We can see now how saints have lost the immediateness of the Lord's coming.

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Rem. It was prominent in preaching and teaching forty years ago.

C.A.C. The hope ought not to have diminished in the interval. We are forty years nearer to its fulfilment. There was a long period of time when the truth of the coming dropped out, but when once it was restored then the important thing was that the saints should be ready, and what the Spirit has been doing ever since by ministry and teaching has been the preparation of the bride. Speaking generally, the truth of the Lord's coming has spread and been received by all intelligent christians in all denominations.

Ques. Was there more manifest interest in the truth twenty years ago?

C.A.C. All the ministry and the way the truth has been brought before saints has been in view of the coming, to prepare the bride. All that God has been doing since the Reformation (which was no doubt the midnight cry) has been to awake the saints so that they might trim their lamps and be ready. I think there has been a great awakening movement on God's part. It began with the Reformation and has continued to this day, and all along the Spirit has been restoring and reviving certain truths that had dropped out. Christianity as a system of heavenly privilege had been quite lost sight of till God began to revive the truth. He began with justification by faith at the Reformation, and the whole time since then, 400 years, has been a time of revival. The Lord had in view His own return, and the truth has been coming out in power.

Rem. We are clear enough in doctrine!

C.A.C. Well, that is a mercy! If people are not clear they get their hearts set on other things; for instance, many have laboured for the improvement of this world. If you do not know the line on which to go, you waste your time. All the unfoldings of prophetic truth in the early part of

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the last century were to disentangle saints; they were entangled in things not of God. And what is God's object? That our hearts might be free undistractedly to go after Christ.

Rem. There used to be a great deal of preaching about the Lord's coming.

C.A.C. I think it was largely an event that was preached; it caused fear, and no doubt the Lord used it, but it is a Person and not an event that should be before us. The question is how much the Person is established in our hearts. All ministry is to build up Christ in our affections so that we might be ready for the rapture, and for the appearing too. It is possible to hold the truth of the Lord's coming and to be as dead as a door-nail. We want movements of life and we see that in these Thessalonians. My impression is that the great preparation for the Lord's coming is that we should love one another. I think that is what pleases the Lord.

Ques. Are we beyond the mid-night cry?

C.A.C. I think it is going out still with increasing power. Every ministry of Christ is "Behold the bridegroom". The word 'cometh' is not in Matthew 25:6; it is simply, "Behold the bridegroom". It is calling attention to a Person, and every ministry that calls attention to Christ is the midnight cry. If the presentation of Christ does not prepare souls for His coming, nothing will.

Ques. Why does Paul go back to, "If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen"?

C.A.C. It is the foundation of everything. Jesus has died and risen again. He has broken the power of death, so He has divine title over those who have fallen asleep. No power of evil can hold saints in death, because Jesus has died and risen. He has been in death and carried away its gates and bars, as Samson did.

What a beautiful expression, "asleep through Jesus".

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Probably they were killed, they were put to death directly on account of Jesus. There is something very beautiful about the death of a saint. It says, in Romans 14:8, that if we live we live unto the Lord, and if we die we die unto the Lord. It is wonderful to live to the Lord, and when we die to die to the Lord.

It was a wonderful triumph that an Old Testament saint could die in faith, a greater triumph than for us. If we die we die to the Lord; what the saint has before him is the Lord, and the Lord is absolutely supreme even in the domain of death. We enter into a sphere which is under the lordship of Christ: He is Lord of the dead and of the living. When we go into death we do not go into a region of darkness at all; we are going into a domain where Jesus is supreme; the saint dies in the consciousness of this. It is characteristic of saints that they die in the sense that Jesus is supreme in the region that they are entering into. That is why they can fall asleep, they can go into it so peacefully and quietly. It is remarkable that the Lord Himself fills that scene.

There are only three scriptures that speak of the departure of christians; for the thief on the cross it was "with me", that is, with Jesus; Paul has "the desire for departure and being with Christ", and then again he speaks of being "absent from the body and present with the Lord". The Saviour could take a poor sinner to be with Himself. Christ is the anointed Man who will bring all God's thoughts to pass. The Lord is the One who has dominion over death. So we have the three titles of the Lord. Death has no fear for the believer; everything in the domain of death is filled up with a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It should be the great desire of saints to know more of Him in this threefold character as Lord -- Jesus -- Christ. Sometimes in our history we have been very happy in having a thought of Jesus the Saviour, of the Lord supreme in grace, or of

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Christ the anointed One in whom all God's thoughts are established. The least little bit of knowledge of Him is enough to fill the heart to overflowing, but why should not we know Him more? It cheers me when I enjoy a thought of the Lord to remember that this is what I shall have the undistracted joy of, with no disturbing element. We perhaps have the joy for five minutes here and then some distraction comes, but think of being in a sphere where there is no distraction! The saints there are waiting with Him. His titles of Lord, Jesus, Christ, carry the thought of His kingdom, and the saints there who are waiting have this absolute blessedness of the undistracted enjoyment of the Lord. The Lord Himself is going to introduce them into the full fruition.

There have been those who have loved the Lord, who have said they would rather go through death because the Lord did. Paul desired (Philippians 3) to reach the resurrection, as the Lord did, through death; he wanted to die for the One who had died for him, "being conformed to his death". Peter desired the same thing, and the Lord allowed it after a long life of service. It means very real affection that would lead one to follow Him even through death. Peter said, "I will lay down my life for thee", and he meant it, and the Lord granted his desire. There is never a spiritual desire that the Lord does not fulfil. The Lord will never disappoint you of anything you desire spiritually. I have seen the Lord fulfil the desires of people when they had wonderful desires that seemed beyond possibility of realization. Peter had not measured what it meant to lay down his life; he had to learn that a servant girl could frighten him, but he came to it afterwards when he said that "the putting off of my tabernacle is speedily to take place".

It is the Lord Himself. The thought of power is prominent. He will come forth in power; it is the first wave of

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the power of His kingdom, "which he has even to subdue all things to himself", that could give saints bodies like Himself. The saints that have fallen asleep will feel the first touch of His power, for the dead in Christ rise first. It is very sweet that it is the Lord Himself that comes. God will have an answer to every question when He displays His saints in the same glory with Christ. What an answer! The saints now often suffer through their bodies in different ways, and there are many things difficult to understand, but, when all is seen in the light of His accomplished will in the saints, what a triumph it will be!

It will be wonderful to meet the Lord in the air, to meet Him in the air, not in heaven! He is supreme in every sphere. "The Lord ... shall descend from heaven"; He comes down into the air.

Ques. Do you mean that Satan will be dispossessed as prince of the power of the air? The Lord came to dispossess him.

C.A.C. Yes, when the Lord comes Satan goes. The Lord's coming forth will mean the entire dispossession of Satan. The saints' coming in glory will mean that Satan will go under their feet. Man is getting to the end of his tether, getting to the full height of his ambition. What a great thing it is to see that the Lord will have the place of supremacy in everything! He is supreme now in heaven, and has been for more than 1900 years; He will be supreme in the air and have His saints to meet Him there and then He will be supreme on the earth. It is wonderful to think we are bound up with that Person!

Ques. Is that like putting on the Lord Jesus Christ?

C.A.C. Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ is putting Him on as character in contrast with the flesh. We are to come out wearing the Lord Jesus Christ, robed in the full glory of that Person, so when people look at a saint now they ought to see the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in contrast with all

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that the flesh lusts after. We shall put Him on gloriously by and by but we are to put Him on morally now. People who have done that would be ready for His coming, would they not?

CHAPTER 5

C.A.C. The first verse of this chapter is connected with verse 14 of the previous chapter; from verse 15 to the end of that chapter is a parenthesis. The Thessalonians were quite clear as to the fact that Jesus was coming back to introduce the day of the Lord, and this parenthesis comes in to explain how verse 14 can be fulfilled. "God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus". When the Lord comes all the saints will come with Him because they will have been previously caught up to meet Him in the air.

Ques. They will be brought back to share the glory of the kingdom in the day of the Lord?

C.A.C. We find the oldest prophecy as to it in Jude: "The Lord has come amidst his holy myriads". The most ancient of the prophets spoke of this, "ten thousands of his saints" (Jude 14, Authorised Version); they are all coming with the Lord, and it will be to execute judgment first. The world being full of what is contrary to God, judgment must take place before the kingdom is set up.

Certain things will take place between the rapture and the appearing; the judgment seat of Christ, "that each may receive the things done in the body"; it is a question of reward; and then the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Rem. Saints are made ready; everything is put right before the Lord's manifestation in glory.

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C.A.C. They make themselves ready; everything is cleared up, what a mercy! Everything will be adjusted.

Ques. Would you say that the world will know anything about the rapture? They will be conscious of the day of the Lord.

C.A.C. The day brings sudden destruction. The rapture is not a public event, but the world will take note of it because a good many people will have disappeared.

Rem. It will not be the first time a good many have come out of their graves.

C.A.C. Yes, there was a kind of little sample of it when the Lord arose. "If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again"; everything hangs on that; if He died and rose, there is nothing to hinder the rising of the saints. So in Matthew 27 we are told that many bodies of the saints arose and went into the holy city. What an effect it must have had on those who saw them! We do not hear it talked about, and yet it is one of the most remarkable things that ever happened. It was not only that Jesus died and rose, but a number of dead people well-known in Jerusalem came out of the graves, and went about the holy city, and numbers of people saw them. The veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, the rocks were rent and the graves were opened; every barrier between the glory of God and the dust of death was swept away, so that saints could come out of their graves and go to glory. I cannot think that those people died a second time; they went into the glory of God, and that was a witness to the vastness of the power of redemption. The grave was robbed of its power, and heaven filled. All saints are going there in glorified bodies, perhaps tonight!

It is a comfort, amidst all the upheaval in the world, to think of the kingdom coming. Men may talk of peace and safety; there never was so much talk of it as now; they say we are never to have war any more and that arrangements

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are to be made so that the nations may live in peace. It is all a perfect delusion; God's judgments are about to fall on the world that has rejected His Son. His kingdom, all the light of it, has come already into the hearts of the saints, just as it did into the heart of the thief on the cross. He saw a Man dying by his side; no one ever looked so little like a king, but all the light of the kingdom entered into the heart of the thief.

The day of the Lord will come when least expected. It would be terrible if He came to the saints like a thief! He speaks to Sardis of it. It would be a dreadful thing for it to be a surprise. Perhaps God may allow things to transpire that will make saints thankful to think of His coming; He may make His people familiar with woe. We ought to want to see the Lord because we love Him, but there is another side --

'O Jesus, precious Saviour,
O when wilt Thou return?
Our hearts, with woe familiar,
To Thee our Master turn'. (Hymn 200)

The more familiar we are with woe, the more our hearts are turned to look for all that is bright and blessed with Jesus. All through the history of this world faith has been marked by the anticipation of God having His day.

Rem. What a line of demarcation there is between the sons of light and those who are of darkness! It makes one think of the children of Israel in the land of Goshen; when the Egyptians were in thick darkness, they had light in all their dwellings.

C.A.C. Yes, the connection is very interesting, for gross darkness covers the world now. The blessed light of grace is shining for all, but men close their eyes to it. All the principles that will mark the day of the Lord have begun to work in the souls of the saints; they "are sons of light and sons of day". They have taken character from that coming

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day, and that makes them a suffering people at present. If people act on the principles of the kingdom, they are bound to suffer, to go to the wall. It is a remarkable title, "sons of light and sons of day". The principle that rules in the world is self. Everything revolves round that centre; it is how one can get things and keep things. The world is built up on self-gratification. It may take refined forms, but self dominates every one in the world. The moment the will of God takes the place of self, we begin to be moved by a different motive -- the good of others.

Ques. What is the "armour of light", Romans 13:12?

C.A.C. The light becomes a protection; there is something about a godly man that has a wonderfully protective power. Take a workshop where there are a lot of ungodly men and one christian; that christian affects them so that they do not like to talk as they would do when he is not there. If a man is walking in the fear of God, wicked men do not dare to tempt him as they would each other; he has on the armour of light, a sort of invisible protection. All the power of the kingdom is for the saints; we do not need to be afraid. As a matter of fact the saints are often asleep, they are not awake to their true dignity.

Ques. Do you take up these pieces of armour practically?

C.A.C. We take them up through exercise; we are only safe then. It does not do to say, 'I am all right, I am a believer'. There must be the actual wearing of the breastplate of faith and love. We are protected by being in the positive good of faith and love, faith holding the soul in abiding relation with God, and love maintaining an active interest in the saints. We are not safe unless we have on the breastplate. Then there must be sobriety; Paul dwells much on that. "We being of the day, let us be sober"; that is, not carried away by influences around us in the world, but considering how things stand in relation to God, maintaining

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the right attitude of soul in relation to Him. Faith keeps God ever in the view of the soul, and love puts us right with our brethren. The enemy cannot do much with his fiery darts if we have on the breastplate. Then we have the hope of salvation; the saints are going to be set free from everything that is the fruit of the power of evil. "Obtaining salvation" is contrasted with wrath; the children of God never come under any infliction of wrath. God disciplines His people, but it is in love, never in wrath.

Rem. There is a good deal about wrath in these epistles.

C.A.C. It is not well to overlook the fact that there is wrath to come; people forget that. The world is ripening for the execution of judgment; it is like what was said, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full", Genesis 15:16. The company of saints, the bride, is not yet complete, and all the wicked principles of the world are developing to a point when they will be ripe for judgment. Men have no thought of coming wrath or that God might have a day of reckoning; they shut it out of their thoughts, and deceive themselves, and believe that everything is going to work out right in their hands. Satan tries to ensnare even christians and get them occupied with schemes of world-improvement. It is losing sight of the real world situation, but men will have to realise it. In Revelation 6 men call on the mountains and rocks to hide them from "the great day of his wrath" -- the wrath of the Lamb. The day had not really come, but things were so dreadful that they thought it had come. Someone said to me lately that they believed the great tribulation had come; that is because things are so dreadful in some parts of the world that people cannot believe it could be worse. But all that God permits at the present time is in view of men's blessing; all the terrible things endured are allowed so that men may turn to God, and many in their extreme distress have turned to Him and found Him. God is rebuking

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the pride of nations and weakening their strength, but it is all in view of blessing, so that men may repent and turn to God. When the day of wrath comes there will be no thought of blessing, but God dealing in wrath with what is offensive to Himself.

Rem. Men will not want to turn to God then. It is said, they "blasphemed the God of the heaven".

C.A.C. Yes, it is very terrible. If man's heart is not softened by the gospel, it will not be by judgment. The gospel is God's most powerful and tender appeal to man; God is using His most mighty instrument for the blessing of man; there is nothing so great as the gospel, it is the power of God.

Rem. It is necessary to distinguish between the character of sleep in verses 6 and 10; the one is a careless state of soul, and the other "fallen asleep through Jesus".

C.A.C. We see in verse 11 that we are to go on encouraging and building up one another; it is a great thing to pursue that course. Whatever happens in the world we have to go on with our own business of encouraging and building up one another. It is very interesting to see that the time these epistles were written was a time of great movement in the world, and yet neither in these epistles nor in any of those written by Paul, Peter or John, is there any allusion made, or even a hint given, about any of the political events that were happening in the world at that time. The church goes on with its own activities amidst a fallen world. Whatever the state of things around we are to keep on at our own work of encouraging and building up.

Rem. Luke alludes to the census to shew how God orders events for His own purposes. How extraordinary that one man could order the whole world to be taxed!

C.A.C. Yes, most surprising but most comforting in relation to events in the world. This census was in order to

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bring about one thing. It was written in the prophets that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem. Caesar did not know anything about it nor did his underlings, and yet the whole world was moved to bring it about. We only see the outside in the happenings of the political world, and yet there is a kernel. J.N.D. said, 'God is behind the scenes yet He moves the scenes He is behind'.

Rem. We do not know what God has in view with all the world under arms.

C.A.C. God is working by altering all the conditions of men's lives; there was no such upheaval ever before. We do not know what God is doing. He takes extraordinary means. One heard lately of a few christians reading Scripture together and the officer in command came in and desired to hear the word of God. That is only one instance of God attracting men by His word.

Rem. Habits of social life used to put an impenetrable barrier round every class, but that has all disappeared now and God can spread the gospel by it.

C.A.C. God made immense use of the victories of Rome. There were many christians among the legions, and they came to England. Christianity was brought here in the first place by Roman soldiers.

We are looking for a Person, and ought to be exercised as to the reality of it. We used to see in the saints' homes when I was a boy, cards with the words, 'Perhaps today'. We do not want that on our walls, but it would be well to have it in our hearts; it would have a wonderful effect on us.

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AN ADDRESS AT BATH 20 NOVEMBER 1902
THINGS WHICH PROMOTE SPIRITUAL GROWTH

1 Thessalonians 1:1 - 10

I think there is something very interesting in the two epistles to the Thessalonians in the fact of their being addressed to young believers. Indeed, as far as we can judge, they had only been converted some few weeks when the apostle wrote this to them, and having just come out of heathendom, they needed to be addressed in the simplest form, and thus we need not feel that these epistles are over our heads. Though only "babes in Christ", yet it is evident what great joy these believers gave to the heart of the apostle (1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20), even though there might be much lacking in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:10). And how was this? Well, look at verse 7, "So that ye became models to all that believe in Macedonia and in Achaia". That is, they were models, setting forth in themselves the effect of the grace of God in their hearts and lives. They might be very small in the eyes of men but they were very pleasing to the apostle and to the Lord. I desire to press this most earnestly, that these dear saints though small and feeble yet were true to what they had. It is no manner of use for us to be trying to acquire more light unless we are walking in that which we have. These dear saints were so walking in the power of the truth they had received that they are the only church addressed as "In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ".

The very style of the address should show us how far they had got on. It means that their souls were established in the knowledge of God the Father in the grace known in

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His beloved Son. It is the gospel which, if received in power, brings this knowledge of God in supreme grace. Beloved friends, have we got so far? Do we know God as the God of all grace, the One who is not demanding from us, but ready to supply us through His beloved Son so that we might stand firm in grace? What a bulwark this would be to our souls and so attractive, too, to our hearts! If it were so to these poor heathen, what should it not be to us? It turned them to God from idols. It is an immense thing to see God in this way. If I look at myself, I am only a poor sinner, blind, at enmity, dead, but God says, 'I will take away all that hinders and bring in all that is in my heart, so that you may know Me as the God of all grace'. It is a wonderful thing that the Holy Spirit can address them as "in God the Father" so that, like the prodigal, they knew the heart of God and could bear witness, as they did, to His grace.

There is another thing -- "and in the Lord Jesus Christ". Paul was accused at Thessalonica of turning the world upside down and preaching another King. Jesus might be derided by men, but Paul knew Him as the King of glory. It is a wonderful thing to know what is behind the scenes. Men are altogether taken up with and greatly agitated about things here, but before God kingdoms and nations and all things down here are absolutely as nothing. God is behind the scenes and all for Him is contained in that blessed Man at His right hand. If you have received any blessing at all you have received it through that Man. God has set Him as administrator of all the grace and blessing He has for men, and that Man is announced as the One in whom not only are we blessed, but who is to give effect to all God's pleasure with regard to this world. Then indeed He will turn the world upside down. The effect on the Thessalonians of seeing behind the scenes was that they were able to turn their backs on the world, its politics and

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its religion and to wait for God's Son from heaven. They were able to stand in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity is the knowledge of God in grace and of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Man through whom all God's purposes will come in and be made good.

Then there is another thing, the moment you come to this there are certain effects produced -- you have spiritual faculties. A child is born with all its faculties but they need developing by exercise, and so it is with the child of God. It was so with the Thessalonians; they had all their faculties developed by exercise and this epistle was written to put them in the right way to exercise their spiritual faculties. And now what are these spiritual faculties? Verse 3 tells us, "Remembering unceasingly your work of faith, and labour of love, and enduring constancy of hope, of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father". Faith, love and hope are our spiritual faculties and the Thessalonians did not seek to exercise their natural senses in these things. It would be no good, for we receive spiritual faculties for spiritual things. The whole of the epistle shows how these faculties are to be exercised, so that they may grow and develop; if not we shall become spiritually dwarfed and not be for the pleasure of God. No matter how fond the parents of a new-born babe may be of their child, they expect it to grow and develop mentally and physically, and thus it is with the one who is born of God; God looks for the spiritual faculties to come into play and thus we grow and develop and are to His pleasure.

This epistle may be divided into three parts, namely:

  1. The work of faith, to chapter 3 verse 10
  2. The labour of love, to chapter 4 verse 10
  3. The constancy of hope, to chapter 5 verse 2

I desire to speak a little on each of these points and trust all will be interested because, if believers, we all have them in some degree. First, as to the work of faith, we find this

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brought before us very distinctly in chapter 2, verses 11 and 12: "As ye know how, as a father his own children, we used to exhort each one of you, and comfort and testify, that ye should walk worthy of God, who calls you to his own kingdom and glory". Faith is the light of the knowledge of God in my soul. The effect is that everything takes a new character, it becomes the desire of the saint to walk worthy of God. Hebrews 11 gives us a wonderful account of the work of faith, "For in the power of this the elders have obtained testimony" (verse 2). Beloved friends, would you not like that? Well, these men did, each according to his measure, and with us today it should be our great exercise of faith to be in correspondence with that which we have received.

How does this work? Let us look at Genesis 17, verse 1 -- "Jehovah appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God: walk before my face, and be perfect". This is the perfection of the pilgrim walk. If we have tasted grace we are in a position to walk before God and we see this come out in Abraham in chapter 24, verse 40, where he could say, "Jehovah, before whom I have walked". That is the work of faith. What a contrast we find in Jacob as he neared his end, after his life of plotting and scheming, seeking in unbelief to bring about God's promises by his own efforts! He could not speak thus of himself, though he could say, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God that shepherded me all my life long to this day", Genesis 48:15. Think of this for it is quite possible for us to miss this blessed path as he did. He was obliged to say, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life", Genesis 47:9. Why was this? It need not have been for at the outset God had revealed Himself to him in such a way that he might have walked before Him as did his fathers. The work of faith is that which keeps us in the presence of God and lets God come into

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everything connected with our path down here. Instead of this, how often we find that we walk before men or even before our brethren and that we prefer anything rather than to walk before God.

Now we come to another side of the work of faith (see Genesis 5:22 - 24). "Enoch walked with God", and again, "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him". This is not the pilgrim life as Abraham's, but rather the life of privilege. The work of faith is to cultivate a life of divine privilege. Nothing could be more remarkable than that Enoch walked with God under the circumstances in which he lived. If we look at the line of Cain, the man of the world, we find the seventh from him was Lemech, in whose time the world began to be very attractive. The arts, amusements, manufactures and so on occupied man's mind, but God says, as it were, 'I will have a man superior to all that system of things, in whom I can find the work of faith'. So we find that (though death had come in by sin) only one man had as yet died, not an adequate witness to man's condition. But Enoch lived in a sphere that death could not touch. It is a most wonderful thing to find a man who so walked with God that he had faith to be translated (Hebrews 11:5). He was the first man who tasted eternal life down here, and was superior to the world system around and to death as the judgment of God.

God does the same with us; He renders us superior to the world by putting us in the light, and we are so brought into the secret things of God that we enter into and enjoy things which death cannot touch. But for this I must first be right as to the pilgrim life; then comes the life of privilege. I am brought out of the scene of death into the scene of eternal life in His Son. How wonderful to find Enoch so in the enjoyment of these things that his translation was morally appropriate. He leaves the world and goes on walking with God. The apostle in writing to the

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Thessalonians beseeches them to walk so as to please God and to be superior to the world, so as to be in moral preparedness for being "caught up" like Enoch, as we get it in 1 Thessalonians 4. Let us remember that the pilgrim life is before God, so that we may walk with God in the life of privilege until the Lord descends and we are translated and set down for ever in the presence of divine love. May we be exercised that we should be working out these things in faith.

Secondly we come to the "labour of love". The work of faith puts us right in relation to God and the labour of love puts us right in regard of our brethren, for it leads in the direction of holiness and thus tends to unity. There is a moral order in christianity which we should be very careful to observe. As we have seen, the work of faith comes before the labour of love. The latter, as we see in chapter 3, verse 13, is "in order to the confirming of your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father", and mark, holiness is essential to unity. If I do not see this, I have not understood the great place that the unity of the saints has in the mind of God the Father and the Son. In John 17 we hear the voice of divine love and the burden of the chapter is that the saints may be kept from evil and sanctified through the truth in view of unity, "that they may be all one". The labour of love is to be on this line; we should be labouring in order to promote holiness with a view to unity. The want of holiness is the reason why there is so little unity. We cannot be too sensitive as to this -- just as a bit of grit in the eye hinders the normal action of the whole organ until it is removed, so we should be so walking in holiness and self-judgment that all should be set aside in us that hinders the flow of divine love. Why are not all christians walking in unity here in Bath? For want of holiness. We should be so in the energy of divine love that everything should go that is not of Christ or of God. If

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all were willing as to this there would very soon be the christian company walking in unity. It must be so, for nothing else would be left but a perfectly lovely company, the body of Christ.

Well, God puts us on that line and we should be labouring for it, as they were doing to all in Macedonia (chapter 4: 10), but was that enough? No! -- they were "to abound still more". Paul was insatiable as to this. May God enable us to set aside all that hinders. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians says, "I ... exhort you" (chapter 4: 1). This chapter sets forth the labour of love, and it is not an altogether easy thing; you must give your mind to it "with all" (not some) "lowliness and meekness". There must be no self-assertion, and thus far it is a question of yourself. Then comes the outward thing, "bearing with one another in love; using diligence" (that is labouring) "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2, 3) and that with every saint in this world, no less a circle. If others do not, you must. We find the blessed Lord is labouring to this end (Ephesians 5:25), first in the love that gave Himself for the church, then working for the sanctification of it, and then comes the result, unity, one united company, no discord.

Beloved friends, are we working in this direction to promote the love of Christ in the company? If so, you will not tolerate anything that hinders in yourself and you will not tolerate it in others; you will seek to wash their feet. How? By a ministry of Christ, by being an expression of Christ. I would rather exhibit a little bit of Christ than say a lot about Him. If our labour of love is to be effective we must be more and more in the company of Christ so as to come out in His spirit and character and thus help the whole church. What! you say, can I do this? Yes; through the ministry and expression of Christ, and this is the labour of love.

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Now we come to the third point, namely, the "constancy of hope". If we are right with God through the work of faith and with our brethren through the labour of love we are morally prepared and free to look up in the "constancy of hope", because we know what God has treasured up in Christ, the joy and blessing He has up there, ready to burst forth and illuminate the entire universe. We find often a great difference between many of the saints nowadays and these Thessalonian saints. The christian is now more often occupied with the thought 'I am going there' than with the thought of the glory that is coming from there. The constancy of hope would correct all this and keep one looking up in expectancy of all that is coming out and thus separate from the world, the whole system of things down here, which is all about to be done away.

All here is night and darkness; people may talk of the progress of science and the march of civilisation, but in the sight of God what is it all worth, and what is the effect of it morally on people down here? Are children more obedient to their parents? Is the love of God entering the heart? No! Look at what christendom is doing? With all the outward profession of christianity, men are unceasingly occupied in creating huge armies and navies, such as the world has never seen before, with the object of robbing, destroying and ruining one another. And is this done in the dark? By no means. People tell you that these are necessary things, that the world could not go on without them. Does this not show that it is the night according to God? But oh! the day is going to dawn. The Prince of peace is about to reign and bring the glory of God into this world. Are we rejoicing in the hope of it? We do not want to have anything whatever to do with the world, either its politics, pleasures or religion. Oh, what a wonderful place we are put in if by the work of faith we are walking before God and with God,

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and by the labour of love seeking to walk in unity with our brethren and in the good of the constancy of hope, which would ever keep before us the One who is coming and all that is going to break forth in blessing through Him.

All this the Holy Spirit by the apostle puts before these young converts. It is these things, beloved friends, which lift us up from carnality and worldliness into God's own thoughts and eternal realities.

May we all be helped in that direction.

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AN OUTLINE OF THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS

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READINGS AT TEIGNMOUTH

CHAPTER 1

C.A.C. Paul seems to have pleasure in linking others with himself in writing the epistles.

Rem. He does it in every epistle except Romans, Galatians and Ephesians.

C.A.C. He says "With all the brethren" in Galatians. It was a peculiar joy to the apostle not only to be a vessel of so much truth, but to know there were those who were being carried along by the Spirit in it, so that he could identify them with himself in his writings. Silvanus and Timotheus were in the truth.

It is a great thing to see that the testimony is not simply the truth, I mean the truth in an abstract way. In a sense all the truth is within the covers of the Bible, but that is not the testimony. The testimony is when the truth takes a living place in men's souls so that they become characterised by it. Sometimes we get the truth before us in an abstract way; one might shut oneself up in one's room and be occupied with Scripture, but we must have the saints too, for in them the truth is taking concrete shape. It was a great joy to the apostle to write to the Thessalonians; he does not say to the assembly of saints or believers, but to the assembly of Thessalonians; it brings before one an actual company of men and women.

Rem. Paul leaves out the hope here. It is faith and love that increase.

C.A.C. Endurance does not seem to have ceased. Paul boasts in that; they were holding on in spite of pressure.

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Rem. It was a great test to suffer such persecution and to think the day of Christ was present.

C.A.C. It is like people saying now that we are in the great tribulation; that was said to me lately. A thought like that would tend to take the saints away from the proper ground of their confidence. They were suffering very much and the enemy would have had them to think they were suffering a visitation of wrath from God. Paul had told them that they would be delivered from the wrath to come, and that "God has not set us for wrath", 1 Thessalonians 5:9. It is important for us to maintain that all God's ways at this present time are in grace.

Rem. A forged epistle must have been a great test (chapter 2: 2).

C.A.C. Yes, no doubt people said, 'This is Paul's letter'; we can hardly realise what it must have been. They thought the day of the Lord had come and yet they were suffering, so Paul tells them they will not have trouble when it comes, but those who are troubling them will have it. There is not a hint that anything will have to intervene before the rapture, but when Paul speaks of the day of the Lord he tells them certain things will have to take place. It still remains true that the day of the Lord will not be present until the apostasy comes and the man of sin is revealed, so we know, and all the saints have known through the ages, that the day of the Lord cannot come until then, but nothing is said to take place before the rapture. I suppose the only thing that had to take place before the rapture was the death of Peter. The Lord had told Peter "by what death he should glorify God", but as soon as Peter died there was nothing left to be fulfilled.

The Lord says, "I ... will keep thee out of the hour of trial", not, 'I will carry you through'. The man of sin may be on earth now, but he is not revealed yet. John in his epistle says, "There have come many antichrists". The

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mystery of iniquity was working then and it has been working ever since.

Rem. The Lord Jesus has to be revealed too.

C.A.C. It is wonderful that the object of His coming should be to be glorified in His saints. All that the Lord is is to be gloriously displayed in them; they are taken up for that purpose, that all the Lord is might shine forth in them. It will be a time of unveiling then; God will unveil what He has been doing, the way He has been working by His Spirit. It is like the beautiful work of a sculptor that has been carried on for years, hidden from sight, and at last there comes a day of unveiling, and all that the sculptor has been doing is unveiled. So God has been working in His saints, beautifying them with salvation, and He is going to exhibit His work to the universe.

Rem. We can see Christ in the saints even now.

C.A.C. Yes, and it gives one joy. The apostle says, "Your faith increases exceedingly, and the love of each one of you all towards one another abounds". That was Christ in the saints; the increase of faith and the abounding of love is Christ increasing in the saints by the blessed work of God. The fact of Christ coming out in the saints is what brings down persecution. The reason there is so little persecution is that there is so little of Christ in us.

God will not display anything that did not exist before He displayed it. The beautiful work of the sculptor was all there before the curtain was pulled aside; the day of revelation is like the unveiling. The work of God will all be there -- faith, love, and all the blessed qualities of Christ, which are being wrought in the saints now. The world hates the saints, persecutes them, but we can admire Christ in them even now. There is a direct connection between the present and the future.

Ques. The Thessalonians had never known about God,

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being heathen. Is that the reason there is so much said about God in these epistles?

C.A.C. God was revealed to them in grace, and they were happy in the knowledge of what they never knew before. What a change from idolatry! I was brought up in a christian home with the most favourable impressions of God, and yet what a breaking in of light there was when I first knew God, but it would have been far greater if I had been in the habit of worshipping demons behind an idol. What an immense thing then to be converted!

Ques. Do we not all have idols?

C.A.C. It was actual demons that the Thessalonians worshipped. An idol is the outward and visible sign of the presence of a demon. Scripture says so (1 Corinthians 10). It is quite true that the principle of idolatry might come in with the saints in a subtle, inward way, something in the heart that displaces God, but that is not worshipping a demon. I often have to judge myself for it, some little thing allowed in the heart and it displaces God.

Rem. A covetous man is an idolater. The Lord speaks much of covetousness.

C.A.C. It is the contrast to christianity. The christian is endowed with such wealth; he could not be richer! And then he is set down here with unbounded wealth to dispense it; he is full to overflowing and has only to dispense good. If he rakes things up to himself, he gives the lie to all that God is working for.

Ques. How will the Lord be admired?

C.A.C. When the Lord comes there will be a shining forth of Christ in the saints, as in John 17:10, "I am glorified in them".

In verse 10 we get the thought of wonder in the future. The Lord said prophetically that His saints were "men of portent", objects of wonder (Zechariah 3:8), and they are to be for "signs and wonders" (Isaiah 8:18). They will be

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objects of wonder to the universe. All intelligences will have to learn wonderful things in the saints. Heavenly intelligences are learning now the all-various wisdom of God; the ways of God are being worked out in principle. Even the psalmist said, "I have been as a wonder unto many". If we look on and see the work of God in a human soul we can only wonder; nothing is so interesting as a study. It is wonderful to us to see here a little and there a little now, but, when it is all finished, it will indeed be a work of wonder to us. There will be nothing brought out at that day that has not been wrought in us. He is working it in us today, He will bring it out tomorrow. If we want to come out well tomorrow, we must see to it today.

Rem. The saints will be clothed with the Lord's righteousness.

C.A.C. They will be clothed with their own righteousness; it says, "for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints", Revelation 19:8.

Ques. Does it not say, "My comeliness, which I had put upon thee", Ezekiel 16:14, Authorised Version?

C.A.C. Yes, Israel will be clothed with His comeliness, which He will put upon them. It is His comeliness, but He brings it out by His Spirit, and what He has wrought will be their beauty.

There is a sort of inveterate idea in the minds of believers that when we go up we shall be a different kind of people. There should not be any change morally; there will be a wonderful change corporeally and we shall not have the flesh, but morally the saints should be now what they will be then. There is not one kind of holiness down here, and another kind in heaven. The saint walking in holiness and love down here is qualified to sit down 'in holiness bright' with the Lord. The gospel side is important for it confers everything, but there is the moral side of j grace connected with the presence of the Spirit, and the

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divine nature in the saints. It will be an immense relief to drop the flesh! The longer we live, the worse the flesh becomes to deal with; it becomes more subtle; it puts on all sorts of disguises.

Rem. The change will be in the body.

C.A.C. Yes, we had a brother here recently who said, the Lord is changing our spirits now, and will change our bodies presently.

CHAPTER 2 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. There is a difference between the coming of the Lord Jesus and our gathering together to Him.

Ques. Does it take up the thought of our being caught up to meet Him? They were passing through a terrible time and thought the day of the Lord was present. In each chapter of both epistles the coming of the Lord is brought out in a different way. Would it not have a great moral effect if we were in the good of it?

C.A.C. If we were waiting for Him, that would take the place of looking for events. These Thessalonians thought they were suffering the terrors of the great tribulation. Characteristics of the apostasy have appeared in measure, but the apostasy has never taken place.

Rem. The apostasy must refer to those who have known the truth. The word was first used for a deserter; you cannot desert what you have never been.

Ques. In Daniel there are frequent references to the man of sin; would you say the apostle had what we read here by revelation?

C.A.C. Certainly; in Daniel it is more in relation to the Jews. The apostasy would leave room for the man of sin. If

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the Father and the Son are denied, who can be put in Their place? Man becomes the candidate for the position.

Rem. The man of sin exalts himself on high, "sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God". The world is asking for a strong man, and it will have one. The spirit of antichrist had begun to work in John's day; people denied the Father and the Son.

C.A.C. It is an essential feature of antichrist that the Father and the Son must be denied; we are surrounded by tremendous forces that are working to deny the Father and the Son; there is a great talk about God, but you cannot know God without the Father and the Son.

One can hardly conceive of the man of sin being revealed while the Holy Spirit is here in the church, but things are developing in that direction. It is wonderful to consider that there is a divine Person down here, and that He is witnessing to what is in heaven; as long as that witness is maintained we cannot have the man of sin. The revelation of the man of sin means that he is put forward in a place of prominence; he is set up on high. What marks the present time is that God is glorifying Christ by the Spirit in a company of saints, and as long as that goes on the man of sin cannot possibly be brought forward.

Ques. Does the "gainsaying of Core" correspond with the apostasy; would it be the open apostasy denying God?

C.A.C. Yes, I should think so. There are steps leading to it; the way of Cain, and the error of Balaam.

Rem. Cain approached without blood.

C.A.C. He came in a natural way without Christ. People talk of the natural religion of the human heart; we see it there in its fundamental quality in Cain. The error of Balaam is worse; it is a man having the knowledge of God and using it for his own benefit. Judas had a wonderful knowledge of the Lord; he knew where to find Him in the

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dark, but he used the knowledge for his own advantage. Korah is a kind of open defiance. That brought the judgment at once, and that is what things will come to; man will say, 'I am God'. Man will have reached the goal proposed for his attainment at the beginning, "Ye will be as God". These three forms of evil are so beautifully answered in the Son: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life", John 14:6. Instead of the way of Cain, He is the way to the Father. Instead of the error of Balaam He is the truth about the Father. Instead of perishing "in the gainsaying of Core", He is the life. If we continue in the truth we shall be preserved from the apostasy by the knowledge of the Father and the Son.

There was no revelation of God until one of the Persons of the Godhead became a Man; He was here in manhood and then we get the revelation. In the beginning of the gospel you first get the thought of the Father and the Son. It is the Father known in relation to a blessed Man on earth, the beloved Son, and we see Him answering to every thought of the Father's heart. We can only say, 'What a Father! What a Son!' That is the kernel of christianity; we need to be nourished in these great positive realities so as to be preserved from the tendency to apostatise. I thought as we read the chapter -- What a thrill of horror must have gone through these believers at Thessalonica, when they heard this letter read, to know that people would fall away from all the blessed things that had filled their hearts with joy, and caused them to "serve a living and true God, and to await his Son from the heavens"! These words of the Lord ought to make us tremble. You remember how the Lord told the disciples about Judas, and they all said- "Is it I?" They never said anything more to the point; none of them had any self-confidence then. There ought to be a great fear in our hearts, not a fear that takes away spiritual joy, but a fear

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that preserves us from self-confidence, for only the Lord can help us.

These things have an effect on us spiritually, if we do not look at them simply as interesting facts. How could one read such a chapter without being deeply exercised lest one should be involved in the apostasy? It ought to make us tremble.

Rem. The falling away comes first.

C.A.C. Yes, the man of sin could not be revealed otherwise.

Rem. The presence of the Holy Spirit hinders what would otherwise come.

C.A.C. It is a great thing to remember that God is here. There is a great tract of divine territory on earth now; there is a vast company, millions of people constituted by divine grace the dwelling-place of God, and as long as God holds this vast territory for Himself there is no room for the man of sin. If we hold fast to the knowledge of the Father and the Son nothing can shake us.

People are interested in the return of the Jews, and in the possibility of their building a temple, but it occasions great sorrow to a saint to think the Jews are going back obstinately opposing Christ, going back to build a temple for antichrist; it sends a feeling of horror through the christian's heart. We can take account of it as an intensely solemn thing, for it shews that we are getting into the rapids, and that the whole stream of human history is about to dash over the precipice of destruction. One cannot understand christians taking a pleasurable interest in it; it is appalling to contemplate, for it shews we are getting near the throes, the unspeakable agony of the last days. People seem to overlook all that it involves. They think of the Jew going back to be reigned over by Christ, but that is not connected with his going back in the present day; he will go back as an apostate and will perish as an apostate;

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he will build his city and temple for the glory of the devil. It will be far worse than the mosque of Omar. I have read accounts of pillars and gates for the temple all made and ready to be set up, as if it were for the worship of the true God, but it says -- "the man of sin ... who opposes and exalts himself on high against all called God ... he himself sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God". That is what the temple will be built for. We need to be detached from occupation with all these passing events. Some one once sent me some beautiful photographs of Jerusalem, thinking I would like them. I said, 'It is painful to me to look on the city where the Lord was crucified'. Christians fall into the snare of being occupied with events, and do not look at things morally, at their true character. It is astonishing how ready christians are to be occupied with a scene that has rejected Christ. Our future is filled up with Christ, and we are going to be gathered to Him, so we refuse to be diverted to anything else. Our interest is to pray earnestly that God will send out His grace and work to secure a remnant. We do not pray that He will bring back His people to Palestine, but that He will bring them to Christ.

Ques. "Lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh" -- does that apply to us?

C.A.C. No, it applies to the remnant. We ought to encourage our hearts to cherish the Lord's work, and to let His word be enough.

'No sign to be looked for; the Star's in the sky'.

I am afraid the star is often in the sky! Scripture speaks of it in the heart. If the Day-star has arisen in my heart, I do not need to see the Jews going back to their land; I know the One who loves me is coming for me because He loves me, and I want Him because I love Him. In principle it is wrong to get occupied with events; it will be right for the remnant, for all the things they will see will make them lift

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up their heads. We do not see anything; we are linked up with a glorified Man by the Spirit, and He has told us He will come quickly; His own word is more precious, powerful and weighty than any event we can think of. He says, "I come quickly", and the bride says, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus"; 'Thy word is enough'. The heart is filled with hope because a Person is before us; it is by "our gathering together to him", not the events. If the hope is really in our hearts, we are just expecting that Person because He said He is coming.

Ques. Are we to have the prophetic word until the day dawn?

C.A.C. The prophetic word is a candle in a dark place; that is outside you. Which is better, to have that or to have your heart lighted up by the Morning Star within? I remember speaking to an old man breaking stones by the roadside, and asking him if he knew the Lord; his whole face shone as he answered, 'I can say He is my soul's bright morning Star'.

Rem. "Every one that has this hope in him purifies himself", 1 John 3:3.

C.A.C. Yes, there is nothing so sanctifying as having Christ before one as the Object and Hope. People have meetings to deepen spiritual life -- the only thing that will deepen the spiritual life is a ministry of Christ, and holiness is promoted by a ministry of Christ. It is the setting aside of the Father and the Son that makes room for antichrist.

Then how blessed it is that the moment the Lord Jesus appears, antichrist is annulled, he cannot exist a moment (verse 8). "Whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and shall annul by the appearing of his coming". The moment the light of His appearing shines out, it withers up the man of sin -- this great man,

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who said he was God, withers up like a moth in the flame of a candle.

Rem. We get the trinity of evil.

C.A.C. There are the dragon, the first beast, which is the political head of the Roman empire, and the second beast, which is the religious head, antichrist. The two last are actual men, possibly they are alive on earth now. The man of sin is characteristically "the lawless one". This is a solemn warning. We are only preserved from lawlessness by walking in obedience. We were all lawless to begin with, and the character of the natural man is headed up in the superman; the spirit and the power of lawlessness all head up in him. We ought to shrink from the smallest tendency in that direction. It is encouraging to see that the Spirit can restrain the working of lawlessness in saints now, just as He is restraining the public manifestation of the lawless one. If we all give the Spirit His place He will restrain us from lawlessness.

CHAPTER 2 (SECOND READING) VERSES 7 - 17

C.A.C. The two mysteries are going on side by side, God's mystery and Satan's mystery. There is the church, the wonderful product of divine working where Christ is expressed, all the blessed qualities of the obedient One coming out in His body; and then just the perfect contrast, the mystery of lawlessness. Christ is being continued in the saints in this world in spite of the devil; "hades' gates shall not prevail against it".

There are two things restraining the development of the mystery of lawlessness: the Spirit in the saints, and divine

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government in the world. As long as divine government is maintained we could not have the lawless one. As long as the saints are here, indwelt by the Spirit, God will see to it that such conditions are maintained that they can remain in it. After the church has gone the powers, instead of being divinely supported, will be satanic. As long as the powers that be are ordained of God there is the outward restraint of government, and the lawless one is held in check. Then there is the restraint of the saints being here, for as long as Christ is here in His body, the man of sin cannot be revealed.

It is the most wonderful fact as to the condition of the world that the Holy Spirit is here; He is the Spirit of the obedient Man. Think of a company on earth, moved and controlled by the Spirit of the obedient Man! Such a company so holds the ground that the devil cannot bring his man in. Outwardly God makes no show but He is effectually holding the ground against Satan by preserving His saints here as His habitation in the Spirit.

Rem. There will be a time when it can be said, "This is your hour and the power of darkness", Luke 22:53.

C.A.C. That is an illustration of what we are speaking of. The Lord went on with His blessed works of grace and power and they could not touch Him; His hour was not yet come, but there came a moment when He had to say, "This is your hour". Now evil is restrained, but there will come a time when Satan will bring his man forward and everyone will applaud.

Rem. God will send them strong delusion that they may believe the lie, that is, that the man of sin calls himself God. You could not have a greater lie.

C.A.C. It is as the Lord Jesus gets His right place with us that we are delivered from this hateful principle of lawlessness. The lawless one will be annulled when Christ comes; His very presence will wither up the man of sin,

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and it is just as Christ comes into our hearts that the whole principle of lawlessness withers up. There is no other prescription for deliverance except to have Christ in our hearts.

It has been pointed out that the same words are used of the working of Satan as are used in Acts 2 of the working of God in Christ. "Power and wonders and signs".

Rem. Only falsehood is added in this chapter.

C.A.C. You would connect that with what is said of the second beast in Revelation 13"It had two horns like to a lamb, and spake as a dragon". If you look at him there is a certain resemblance to Christ, but when you hear what he has to say it is a dragon's voice. It is a striking correspondence to Christ that when antichrist comes on the scene he is marked by power and signs and wonders. The dragon has seven heads; that is Satan characterised by having diabolical wisdom in perfection as far as it can go. The dragon is that aspect of Satan in which he is always seeking to devour the man-child. You see it in Herod directly the man-child is born, and you see it in Revelation 12; he stands by to swallow up the man-child. The man-child is Christ, ready to rule the nations with a rod of iron.

Rem. It is beautiful to see that when the lawless one is gone, there is a vast company found who are blameless.

C.A.C. Yes. I do not know any book more comforting than Revelation; it has often been noticed that in times of martyrdom saints have turned to it for comfort. The comfort is to see how everything is under God's hand, and everything is measured. Smyrna had ten days persecution, and not all the power of the devil could make it eleven. Everything has its limit. You find that judgments come on a fourth part of the earth or on a third part, and there are a fixed number of days and months. God holds it all in His hand and as soon as the limit is reached the history of that thing is finished. F.E.R. used to say, 'God will have the

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last word'. God will finish with Christ. We all believe that He is the Alpha, but He is the Omega too. How simply God puts it! Christ is the Alpha and the Omega; God begins with Christ and He will finish with Christ too.

Rem. The difficulty with those that perish seems that they did not receive the love of the truth (verse 10). People may give a mental assent to it without loving the Lord Jesus.

C.A.C. Yes, the truth did not become precious to them. It is everything to have the affections set on Christ. You see the working of truth in the affections; it does not work in the head but in the heart, and if people do not have the working of truth they will have the working of error. "God sends to them a working of error", that is the right reading in verse 11. Because they do not allow the working of truth, God sends to them a working of error.

Ques. Is that at present?

C.A.C. The present time is the acceptable time of salvation. In principle if people turn away from the truth they become the playthings of the devil, but you cannot say that God is sending now a working of error. The coming of the lawless one is the working of error. At the present time God is presenting Christ, and all who receive Him get blessing. The working of truth is going on now; God is seeking to work the truth into the affections of poor sinners: He "desires that all men should be saved". Satan is sending a working of error now, but God is sending a working of truth. Every time the gospel is preached God is working to put Christ in the hearts of men. If they refuse it, then the working of error will come. We must warn men that if they do not receive God's Man today, they will receive Satan's man tomorrow.

We sometimes urge young people to confess Christ; what I look for is that their hearts should be drawn to Christ. It is far more than what they say, to have their

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hearts drawn to Christ. You must get something in before it comes out.

It is rather striking that sanctification comes before belief of the truth. It is looked at here from the divine side; God is working by the Spirit in order that the truth may be believed. Sanctification by the Spirit is that certain souls are marked off for blessing, just like a woodman going through a forest marking the trees to be felled. So God is working by His Spirit, setting people apart from the world for blessing, and there would not be any belief of the truth if there was not this working of the Spirit first. You see a thousand people listening to the gospel and only two believe. How is it? Are these two more open to be divinely persuaded? Not a bit! God had worked, and had them ready to believe the truth. The nine hundred and ninety-eight said, "Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways!" Job 21:14.

Ques. What is "the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 14)?

C.A.C. It is the great blessedness of the glory that God is calling His saints to. One could not imagine a wonderful glory that was not that of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the finish that is in view; what sort of glory is it? The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, a risen, glorified Man in heaven. You have to take in all the glory of that blessed Person in heaven in order to understand what God has called you to. There are different spheres of glory but nothing so supreme and excellent as the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are not sufficiently impressed by the astonishment of heaven. I think it has been filled with astonishment for almost two thousand years. All heaven has seen that glorious Man come up in all the power of resurrection, and take His seat on the throne of God. There is nothing like it in all eternity, and it is His glory we are called to!

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'Trembling we had hoped for mercy --
Some lone place within the door'.

What a difference, the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! Just think of a Man on the throne of God!

Rem. God has been misrepresented in this world.

C.A.C. Yes, the atmosphere has been deeply affected by it. If Satan cannot give the lie to all God is, he will make God as small as possible. He is always working to diminish the thoughts we have of God, but if we look at that blessed glorified Man, what a thought it gives one of God! The glory of God and the glory of man go together in Christ. The glory of God is the light and blessedness in which we shall live eternally in a rapture of joy, and the glory of Christ is the holy acceptance in which we shall enjoy it.

Ques. What is "called ... to the ... glory"?

C.A.C. It is not what you are going to be, but what you are attracted by. He has set the glory before us, called us by it. It is like a mighty magnet by which God is drawing souls out of this world. The apostle may well say, "So then, brethren, stand firm". We have something to stand for.

These last two verses come in very like the end of 1 Corinthians 15. That gives one the resurrection glory; that is the finish, and then the apostle says, "So then, my beloved brethren, be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord". In this chapter after the apostle has brought out the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ on the divine side, then he says, "So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the instructions ... But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts, and establish you in every good work and word". This is a fine contrast to the way the devil was depressing them. He is always carrying on a campaign of depression among the saints; if he can get us

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to hang our heads he is satisfied. He was seeking to bring these Thessalonians under a cloud of depression; he was using the severity of the times to depress their hearts, but this is a wonderful tonic! "Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts". Nothing can interfere with that; there is to be no giving in, no depression! The apostle has to speak of bad and evil men in the next chapter, and also of brothers walking disorderly, which was worse, yet he was to have everlasting consolation through it all.

CHAPTER 3

C.A.C. It is good for us to keep in view the resources of the last two verses of the previous chapter. It is the abiding sense of divine love and grace that we need more than anything else.

Rem. The resource was that God is Father and Jesus Lord.

C.A.C. Yes. We are loved and we are under grace, and that cannot change because it is bound up with what divine Persons (our God and Father and our Lord Jesus Christ) are in Themselves. Our hearts get encouraged when we realise this, and we are "established in every good work and word" -- that is, encouragement within and stability in service.

Rem. How Paul valued their prayers! "Brethren, pray for us".

Ques. Is Paul anxious to give fuller utterance to what was entrusted to him (verse 1)?

C.A.C. The apostle always had a very blessed sense of the commission that he had, and he always had a sense of

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weakness in himself. He was never self-confident; all his grace and gifts and powers never made him self-confident; he was always anxious to have the prayers of the saints. If these "bad and evil men" (verse 2) succeeded in stopping him it would hinder the word of the Lord.

Rem. We are apt to have confidence in ourselves, to think more of ourselves than others think of us.

C.A.C. Yes. How subtle the flesh is! If a man feels he is doing what the Lord would have him do, and that he is doing it in a right way, that often makes him self-confident. It was not so with Paul. There was no self-confidence in him, though he was serving the Lord and doing it as the Lord would have him do. As to the Thessalonians, he is not thinking of his work but of the faithfulness of the Lord.

Ques. Is Paul referring to his own preaching or to the work of the Lord?

C.A.C. To his own work, preaching, as he says, "Pray for us". Does it not speak in Proverbs of a word being on wheels? (See Proverbs 25:11 and marginal note Authorised Version) Sometimes the wheels go like Pharaoh's chariots; they dragged! A thing on wheels moves easily, and when the Lord is with His word no effort is required, it "runs". The devil is always seeking that the Lord's chariot-wheels should drag, so we get the activity of these bad men, and Satan's efforts to put the Lord's servants out of condition, not only to oppose them.

Rem. Paul presents the Lord as sufficient to keep them from evil.

C.A.C. And it may be read, the 'evil one'; it is very blessed that the Lord can keep His saints from the evil one; it is what He taught His disciples to pray.

Rem. We are powerless in ourselves to think of the love of God -- the Lord directs us (verse 5).

C.A.C. There is a difference between what we have in

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this verse and what we find in Romans 5:5, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts". It is so much before the mind of God that we should know His love that He has given His own Spirit to pour it out into our hearts, and then He has given us One who can lead our hearts into a region that is filled with it. There is a region that is full of the love of God, and the Lord can lead us that way. Romans 5 is what is put into us, and this verse is what we are put into. The proper portion of the assembly would be implied here: if we are directed into the love of God it is that love that is enjoyed by His saints, not exactly an individual thing. It goes on, "into the patience of the Christ". If it refers to the assembly, Christ has patience and we are called into that endurance. The waiting time tests that, just as the Thessalonians had been tested. The Lord had not come as soon as they expected, and the enemy was taking advantage of this delay to discourage them, so there was a need that patience should mark them. A certain time had elapsed between these two epistles, and the saints found themselves in trouble. Then someone brought a letter, as from Paul, a dastardly thing to do, but Satan would do anything. He was trying to harass them by these troublers, brothers walking disorderly, and by this pretended letter from Paul that they were suffering under the judgment of the Lord, so that instead of having everlasting consolation and their hearts encouraged, they were getting a bit shaky. No doubt this element of some among them walking disorderly would test the patience of the saints; these people were bringing the old notions of the world into the assembly. There is no notion more deeply rooted in men than that if a man is to be holy he must do no work; you find it all over the world among idolaters, that specially holy men do no work. That kind of thing has come into the church, that men must withdraw from business and family responsibility and go into a monastery

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to lead the religious life. What God calls that is "Walking disorderly". We have always to watch against these things; the germs of all the evil found in Christendom are in my heart.

Rem. Paul might have claimed the privilege of being ministered to, but he worked night and day.

C.A.C. If a man is serving the Lord, he is not living an idle life. J. B. S. used to say that if a man gave up his secular work to serve the Lord and did not work as hard as he had done in his secular employment, he would certainly come to grief. An old divine said, 'An idle man is a playground for the devil'.

We get the principle of withdrawing from every brother walking disorderly in verse 6 and in verse 14, "Mark that man, and do not keep company with him"; that would be a line of conduct taken with regard to one still in fellowship. If the brethren withdraw from a brother walking disorderly, I could not still enjoy the principle of fellowship with him, but there is not to be any bitterness of feeling (verse 15). It is very important in the case of anything wrong that you do not count him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother.

Ques. Suppose he will not take the admonition?

C.A.C. Faith would say he will.

Ques. Then what if he leaves the saints?

C.A.C. I think we should not leave him if he does. Have we patience to go on? I think we too soon give our brother up; we very soon regard him as an enemy; there is the sort of feeling that we do not want to have anything more to do with him. It is a test; if he has failed are we going to fail too? If we had more love we should get the victory over a brother and win him. The Lord has great power; we need to remember that. You may say that a brother will not do this and that, but if the Lord has him in hand, you cannot tell what He will make him do, things that he naturally

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would never do. We must count on the Lord. Love is always seeking the good of the object loved: if we love one another we shall seek their good, and if a brother is on a wrong line we want to help him. But we cannot go on with him as if there were nothing wrong. J.N.D. translates the word "withdraw" as 'shrink from him'.

Ques. If you meet him in the street, what then?

C.A.C. You have to carry yourself in such a way that he feels you are not happy about the course he is pursuing. You have to shew love and you must not treat him as an enemy, but your manner has to be such that he knows you feel his course to be wrong.

The "Lord of peace" is a striking title. The Lord is always working for peace; this title has to do with His administration among the saints. "Peace continually in every way" -- this is really peace in a practical way in the assembly. We cannot help observing how diligent the enemy is to bring in elements of strife and confusion among the saints. There is a constant activity of the enemy to bring in roots of bitterness; in contrast to that the Lord is the Lord of peace, and the apostle desires that He may give peace always. The Lord can shut out every element of discord. "The Lord be with you all". That is what we covet more and more, that the Lord may be with us. It does not matter about the support of men, but, as a little company walking here, we need the Lord with us, or the enemy will get some advantage. Only the Lord Himself can preserve us.

Ques. What does working quietly mean?

C.A.C. There were some people not minding their own business but other people's. If a man is not minding his own business, he is sure to be meddling in others'. Quietness and contentment are a great testimony now.

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AN OUTLINE OF THE EPISTLE TO TITUS

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READINGS AT TEIGNMOUTH

CHAPTER 1 (FIRST READING)

C.A.C. It is striking that the apostle of Jesus Christ is spoken of as according to the faith of God's elect. The faith of God's elect was looked at as a subsisting verity and the mission of Paul was in accord with it.

Ques. What does he mean by God's elect?

C.A.C. There are those in this world who have a certain character by God's calling, and a faith peculiar to themselves. They are people able to recognise what is of God. It is hinted in another passage that you cannot deceive God's elect (Matthew 24:24).

Ques. Is the faith of God's elect the system of teaching believed and received by the elect?

C.A.C. Yes, and the apostle was conscious that there was that which would answer to his ministry; he was apostle according to the faith of God's elect. There was a company who would answer to what he presented; he presented Jesus Christ and there were those who would appreciate it.

Ques. Is the faith of God's elect a kind of standard?

C.A.C. Yes, there are two things, faith and piety. All the apostle said was in perfect keeping with divine faith and piety.

Ques. Does not faith involve a sovereign work of God?

C.A.C. Yes, so it is spoken of here as the faith of God's elect. They are not spoken of as believers, but God's elect have a certain faith and all Paul presented was in perfect keeping with it. When the Lord presented Himself there

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was that in Him which was in keeping with a certain company in Israel; He was in perfect keeping with all that was in their hearts; they were His sheep.

Rem. Our great idea of election is security, but the point is that God has a definite purpose in electing certain individuals.

C.A.C. So you find in many of those who came across the Lord's path for blessing there was a definite thought of Christ; they were looking out for that which could only be found in the Christ of God. That shewed they had the faith of God's elect, so the Lord could say what their faith had done; their faith had saved them. The work of God in souls becomes a test of truth too; it is amazing in connection with ministry to see there are hearts in this world prepared to receive, to value and answer to it.

Ques. Is the apostle presenting his credentials here?

C.A.C. He is shewing the character of his ministry, and he brings in these two things, the faith of God's elect and piety. His ministry was in perfect keeping with both. Piety is the maintenance of what is due to God.

Ques. The result of ministry is tested by piety; does it lead to that?

C.A.C. That is important. G.V.W. used to say, Do not tell me your sermons but shew me your pupils.

The ministry of Jesus Christ is according to faith; the elect are marked by that. You cannot put anything or anybody in place of Jesus Christ; He stands out pre-eminent in the faith of God's elect; no substitute can be foisted on God's elect. Then it is on the practical side that piety is to be maintained; all that is due to God in the daily life of men and women is to be maintained. The truth is according to piety. Every part of the truth is in keeping with a life that maintains all that is due to God. As the saints are maintaining piety there is power in giving forth the word. It is lack of piety that makes lack of power in the giving forth of the proclamation.

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Ques. Is the word the whole counsel of God or the gospel?

C.A.C. It is the gospel, because Paul says it is manifested in the proclamation with which he was entrusted. It is the gospel that is proclaimed. While eternal life is still in this passage a matter of hope, something else has been manifested -- the word. The word coming out is the present character of blessing.

Ques. Is the thought of promise what was in Christ's mind to bring in, not a promise made to any one as promises were made to Abraham?

C.A.C. No, it was "before the ages of time". You have the record of what transpired before the ages of time and in that way it becomes a promise. In Proverbs 8 you are carried back in a distinct way before the ages of time and there you find that men are in view for blessing, and you find that life is in view too. It shews the thought of good that was in the mind of God for men before men existed. Wisdom could say, "I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him ... and my delights were with the sons of men", Proverbs 8:30, 31. Before the ages began to run their course God had in His mind eternal life. God had in view all that would come in of sin and death, and God had engaged Himself before the evil came in to meet it and bring in infinite good. If you think of what the history of this world has been, what a comfort it is to be in hope of what is in God's mind -- eternal life. He is going to bring it in.

Rem. It all lies entirely outside the course of this world.

C.A.C. Yes, God is going to break in upon the course of this world, He is going to change the course of things. What a change! To set aside death and Satan's power.

Rem. Death swallowed up in victory would refer to that.

C.A.C. Yes, it gives one a wonderful thought of God

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that can be received and enjoyed now. Think of what God will actually bring in; He will publicly set aside everything that has been the result of Satan's power. He makes Himself known in grace as the source of good for men. While this is all after a spiritual order now, it is in keeping with what will come in in the future. Eternal life is the measure of the good, if you can speak of measure where all is measureless. It is not the heavenly side of things, but it is the good that will be brought in for men on earth in the world to come, the good that the Old Testament Scriptures speak of in such detail.

These are very distinctive things -- the faith of God's elect, piety, the hope of eternal life, and the gospel. They refer to a time when all is in confusion, and outwardly there is the reign of sin and death. They come in as great spiritual realities, and you can see they necessitate a moral order in the midst of confusion and degradation. The epistle is taken up with the establishment of this moral order according to God while as yet outward conditions are unchanged. We see a people redeemed from all lawlessness, living "soberly, and justly, and piously in the present course of things" (chapter 2: 12). In view of this the assemblies were all to be ordered, elders were to be established, and everything put in order.

Ques. It is interesting how the thought of a Saviour is brought in. Is the thought of salvation the first step towards the realisation of eternal life?

C.A.C. Yes, it is deliverance from the present course of this world.

Rem. Paul wants to establish them on that step. We cannot have much appreciation of another course of things if we are still connected with the present one, so the thought of God as a Saviour is brought in in order that we might be delivered.

C.A.C. I suppose the hope of eternal life would have a

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most delivering effect; if the coming in of eternal life were in view, it would put us out of touch with the present order of things.

Ques. Is the "blessed hope" the appearing? (Chapter 2: 13).

C.A.C. Yes, eternal life will come in publicly when that glory appears.

Rem. We used to connect the blessed hope with the rapture.

C.A.C. I think saints have been hindered by having so much in view the thought of going to heaven. What Scripture is so full of is what God is going to bring into this world. He is going to have a people in heaven according to His counsel of blessedness, but He will not allow the history of this world to close without an answer in blessing to every evil that the enemy brought in. God will bring in a triumphant answer so that He will be vindicated and glorified by what He does on earth. It is highly important to keep this before us. The elect belong in spirit to that order of things; they are looking for an entirely new world to come in. It is very important that christians should be in advance of the times. People sometimes think of us as behind the times, but a christian is really in advance of the times. We are "awaiting the ... appearing of the glory of our great God"; if His glory appears it brings in every good. The coming out of His glory has an, important place in Scripture; only one scripture speaks specifically of the rapture, but a number of scriptures speak of the coming out. Then in the mean time God is vindicating Himself by the character of things that appear among His saints: that is the exercise for us. It is all very well for us to speak of God vindicating Himself in the future, but He is doing it now. His present vindication is the character of things that is maintained here.

Ques. Do you mean, by our living soberly, righteously,

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and piously? We either adorn the doctrine or bring dishonour on it; the character of God is at stake.

C.A.C. As to the gospel we have the privilege of speaking a good word for God, but the man who does it must have practical credentials. If he is not maintaining practically what is for God there is no power. Paul desired the Thessalonians to be established in "every good word and work".

CHAPTER 1 (SECOND READING) VERSES 5 - 16

C.A.C. This epistle is on much the same line as 1 Timothy.

Ques. In the sense of maintenance of order in the house of God?

C.A.C. Yes, when we come to 2 Timothy we do not find just the same things, do we? There is no mention of elders or overseers in the second epistle. It is surely not that the service was to cease, but what is official is not spoken of. It is a question there of "a man of God", of "a bondman of the Lord", and of "faithful men". But order is very important and all truth remains for our instruction, though one cannot point out official elders and overseers now. I feel that we ought to be more exercised that the grace of the office should remain with us.

Rem. "By love serve one another", Galatians 5:13.

C.A.C. Yes, that is what I mean. We have not much idea what a bishop is, but like everything else if we want to know what an overseer is, we must learn it in the One who is the great Shepherd of the sheep, the true Overseer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Still it is a great thing to take an interest

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in the saints, "If any one aspires to exercise oversight, he desires a good work", 1 Timothy 3:1. These epistles are on the lines of good works and the chief good work one could take up is the care of the saints. There is no good work so good as to minister to saints. To minister to the Lord was the best work of all. The Lord said of the woman who anointed Him, "She has wrought a good work toward me", but the Lord is not here, so the only chance we have now is with the saints.

Ques. If one is called to serve the saints must one be prepared to be misunderstood?

C.A.C. Well, that might be found in the course of service. Paul could say, "Through evil report and good report: as deceivers, and true". There must be a moral character. If one takes the place of caring for others, one must have cared for oneself first. "Give heed to thyself", 1 Timothy 4:16. What a word! That had to be true of an overseer; he must first take heed to himself and then to his house, and having discharged his obligations in these two spheres, he could then take care of the house of God.

Rem. The appointment of the elders seemed apostolic. Titus was delegated by the apostle.

C.A.C. Yes, it was apostolic and also the action of the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Acts 20, "The Holy Spirit has set you as overseers". It seems to me that side of the office remains. The official side does not remain, but what the Holy Spirit does remains. If the Holy Spirit has made a man an overseer, he will be a good overseer.

Ques. Is it on the official side that Titus gets authority and wisdom?

C.A.C. Authority and wisdom went together at first, the official side and the spiritual; then I apprehend they soon got separated. Paul warns the elders on that same occasion in Acts 20, "From among your own selves shall rise up men speaking perverted things". That was the

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separation of official from spiritual, but at the beginning what Paul did in appointing elders and what the Holy Spirit did were the same. It shews that the official side might go on and the spiritual side be lost. That was what very soon happened. The profit for us would be in being exercised that the spiritual side should be maintained.

Ques. Should certain men with qualifications be responsible for the care of the assembly?

C.A.C. It is in the interest of all of us that it should be maintained. It should be a common exercise among the saints that this character of divine care should be maintained; it is seen in the elders, in the bishops or overseers -- the same persons clearly. It is a matter of general exercise, and I am ready to take my share of responsibility, for it is a great weakness at the present day that there is not more care of this character.

Ques. Does it really form the basis of christianity?

C.A.C. Yes, I think practically it does. We ought all to care for one another, but there are those whom the Holy Spirit makes overseers. That word gives us a better idea than bishop. Overseer gives one the idea of a man who looks on and sees how the saints are getting on.

Rem. They are to shepherd the church of God.

C.A.C. How wonderful that this character of care is not to disappear from the earth! It is Christ in evidence among the saints. How precious! If I see a man ever so feebly caring for the saints, that is Christ; that is the Spirit of Christ, a continuation of the service of Christ among the saints.

Ques. It has great reward. Would it tend to keep one humble?

C.A.C. An old brother once said, 'If you want joy, preach the gospel. If you can bear sorrow, care for the saints'. If a man takes up a real care for the saints, he is committing himself to a path of exercise and sorrow.

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Rem. It is not mere authority, but we want those who have moral power to carry the consciences of saints.

C.A.C. That reminds me of a case. Someone spoke to a sister and admonished her faithfully; she told a friend, who said, 'I think he ought to mind his own business'. The sister replied, 'I felt he was minding his own business'. She felt the moral power; it carried her conscience. Such a thing would evidence if a man was with God. He is with God as to his personal state first and then as to his household. If a man is with God as to himself and his household, it will be felt by others. It is a remarkable thing that the overseer is spoken of as God's steward; he is really acting on behalf of God. It is a grave responsibility; it is not a place of vain-glory as it has become in the hands of men.

Ques. Are we told to be subject to such?

C.A.C. It is a privilege to be subject to one who cares for your soul. It is a beautiful character that is depicted here; it speaks of the overseer as "clinging to the faithful word" -- a beautiful expression -- that is how he is "able ... to encourage with sound teaching". It is only what we have got hold of for ourselves that helps others. That is what "clinging to the faithful word" suggests to me.

Ques. Would guides be the same thought -- those "who have spoken to you the word of God"?

C.A.C. Yes, the leaders, those who shew the saints how they ought to walk; they not only tell them how to walk but they are leaders. If any man is to be a leader he requires to have more spiritual energy than the rest; he must be ahead in his spiritual exercises and energy. If a brother has got to the front and fancies he is a leader, he may presume upon it, and perhaps he has not the spiritual energy to keep ahead. If a man presumes without the spiritual energy he will sooner or later come to grief. It is like the Israelites going up to the hill presumptuously (Numbers 14); they had not the support of God. Nothing but the powerful support

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of God will sustain a man in the forefront of God's testimony.

Ques. What do you understand by the faithful word?

C.A.C. I think it is the word of christianity. It is the word that expresses the mind of God and the truth, the present grace. The true overseer clings to it; he has got hold of it for himself so he can encourage, and he can refute the gainsayers. He is clinging to the faithful word, he has grown on to it as the ivy grows on to the oak. That illustrates it. Scripture speaks of the engrafted word, but that gives the idea of the word becoming part of yourself.

Rem. The enemy in human warfare seeks to pick off the leaders; he does not care so much for the rank and file.

C.A.C. Yes, that is the exercise; we have need to pray much that this character of service should be raised up and maintained among the saints. Even the apostle felt his need of the prayers of the saints.

Rem. There is a double service, to encourage and to convince the gainsayers.

C.A.C. Yes, there must be a presentation of the truth so that such people as are spoken of in verses 10 and following are to be shown up.

Ques. It was not promising material to work on, was it?

C.A.C. How wonderful that the grace of God and the service of Christ should come out in contrast with such material! We sometimes complain of bad material, but hardly anything could be worse than a Cretan. There is a way to deal with everything; there are certain things in view here that have to be rebuked severely. They necessitate severe measures.

Rem. Those contemplated in verses 10 and 11 are different. The first assume to teach.

C.A.C. They are adversaries teaching things which ought not to be taught. The grace of God comes into a world marked by every kind of corruption and falsehood,

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it comes in to make men sound and pure. These men were so corrupt in mind, going off on wrong lines altogether, yet we see the working of grace was to the end that they might be sound in the faith. Then in verse 15 the pure are spoken of. God's grace comes in to such a scene of corruption and uncleanness and works so that men may be sound, and pure, and devoted to good works.

Ques. Does grace give a beautiful setting to what is said here of the Cretans?

C.A.C. It gives a wonderful thought of christianity that it produces such a change morally. The first miracle in Acts is a man made every whit whole; that gives us the idea that God is working in grace that man may be sound. Peter says, "His name has made this man strong whom ye behold and know; and the faith which is by him has given him this complete soundness in the presence of you all", Acts 3:16. You see the grace of God; it is not that you hear of it. Barnabas saw the grace of God; he did not see it in the Bible but in the converts. Here you see a people who are "always liars, evil wild beasts, lazy gluttons", that is very plain speaking, that was their natural character, yet they are to be marked by soundness, purity, good works -- that is the grace of God. This becomes a testimony for God; it shews a moral character of things suited to God which takes actual form in the saints. If it did not, the world would never know anything of the grace of God. What a contrast! On the one side, the defiled and unbelieving, those who profess to know God and in works deny Him; that is man according to nature, even if he takes up the profession of godliness. On the other side, the saints characteristically are pure and clean; a new principle is working in them. The great purifying principle is the fear of God.

Ques. "They profess to know God, but in works deny him". Do a man's works shew where he is?

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C.A.C. There is a very sharp contrast here to what we were looking at a few weeks back in 2 Timothy 3. There it was the value of Scripture -- "that the man of God may be complete, fully fitted to every good work"; here people are "found worthless as to every good work".

Ques. There was still authority then for putting away evil doers; it is different from our day, when we have to separate from them. How would that affect the overseer's work or sphere of service? Take a place where the saints are divided in separate companies, would the overseer care for the souls of all christians?

C.A.C. I should suppose the overseer's desire would not be limited in any way but his practical access might be.

Ques. Does the principle of putting away remain?

C.A.C. The principles of the assembly remain, but we cannot take up the position of being the assembly today. The principle of service would be that it had all saints in view. A true overseer would be interested in every saint of God; he could not help it if the Holy Spirit had made him an overseer.

Ques. The overseer's work is likened to shepherding; is it more active for the weak and wandering than for those going right?

C.A.C. That is where exercise and sorrow come in if one has to do with unruly sheep. It is beautiful that Peter says, "Ye were going astray as sheep"; it is in that connection that he speaks of an overseer. How it brings out the care of the Shepherd! He cares for straying sheep; He goes after that which was lost till He find it. The principle of care must be over the whole flock of God; therefore you could not have an overseer in a sect. People make elders in one little chapel. If we get sectarian we get practically straitened in our affections and service.

Ques. Is there not a danger of our failing in our responsibility

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to the whole church of God, as if we had no responsibility to other christians?

C.A.C. I think there is very great danger of that; the very principle of separation tends to that.

Rem. One gets into difficulties practically.

C.A.C. Well, one gets into exercise. It is a great thing to watch for the souls of the saints; we are shut off from a great many, but then the Lord can give us access to them. If one comes in contact with saints it is a great exercise to have a morsel of food for them even if it is only three or four words. I am afraid the saints generally, when they meet, do not minister food to one another.

CHAPTER 2

Rem. Titus had been enjoined to set these things in order.

C.A.C. Yes, this epistle has to do with the order that is becoming in those who know the Saviour God. The point in Titus seems to be the moral effect of the knowledge of the Saviour God. There is a certain teaching, and that teaching is to be adorned; even slaves are to adorn it. The saints are to be zealous for good works, not to establish their own character or to preserve it, but to preserve the character of the Saviour God. We are not to be like men of this world who do good works to get a character for themselves. People may ridicule the teaching, and they do. All the wise men of the world ridicule the teaching of a Saviour God, but they ought not to be able to get away from the fact that there is a people walking in this world according to principles which are entirely different to these of everyone else, and that the principles are such as cannot be called in question. I find, in speaking to infidels,

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that it is a good thing to ask them whether they have ever come in contact with a genuine christian. I never met a man but would admit that he had known at least one. I met a man lately who said -- 'Yes, I have met two in my time'. That silences a man. If the moral order which is the result of the revelation of God as a Saviour God has been maintained it would have been a complete answer to every infidel thought.

Ques. Is that the reason Titus is enjoined to exhort and rebuke?

C.A.C. Yes, it is very important. I feel the exercise of reading this epistle is most wholesome. It is christianity evidenced in the fruits it produces. If this moral character is not maintained it brings reproach on God. The world is glad to get hold of failure and say, 'Here is one of your christians'. We have all heard that said. It brings reproach on Christ's name. It is a very solemn consideration that we are carrying the name of Christ through a world that has rejected Him. We should ask ourselves when anything is presented to us -- 'Does it suit that name?' What a testimony the conduct of saints walking according to this epistle must have been in Crete! We have seen their natural character in chapter 1 and now in chapter 2 all this beautiful moral order is to be found characterising them. Such things must have been the talk of the whole island! In verse 1 there are things that become sound teaching, and in verse 3 the elder women are to be "in deportment as becoming those who have to say to sacred things".

Ques. What are the things?

C.A.C. All that the apostle speaks of as the moral character of saints, sobriety, gravity, discretion, love and patience; these are things that should be seen in the saints; they are the character and qualities of Christ worked out morally in the saints; they are things that have to be spoken about and exhorted. The work of God does not go

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on automatically in saints, but these things have to be taught and brought before them, so that they may be exercised and pray, and then the teaching becomes practically effective in them. People talk of the work of God in saints as if it was something arbitrary apart from exercise and prayer, but it is really a moral work connected with the exercises of responsible persons. Lower down the apostle speaks of our being redeemed "from all lawlessness". Lawlessness is the opposite to obedience. All this must be taken up in the spirit of obedience to give it any value. It is in taking Christ's yoke upon us, having come to Him and learnt from Him, that we can take up any of this. We cannot do it by natural effort, but by getting near to Christ and having the support of His grace. Grace subdues; the knowledge of the Saviour God subdues.

Ques. Is it rather striking that this work should be entrusted to the hands of young men like Timothy and Titus?

C.A.C. I suppose they were comparatively young, but the Lord takes up suitable vessels, does He not? We find in Job that Elihu was a young man, and yet the Spirit of God spoke by him. It ought to have been the elders that had the wisdom -- "Let days speak, and multitude of years teach wisdom", Job 32:7. Elihu gives them their place and lets them say all that they had to say first. It is always right to respect God's order in nature. Timothy was not to rebuke an elder, but to entreat him as a father. Still, elders are not always wise. Timothy and Titus had a special place as direct representatives of the apostle.

Ques. With official power was there always that which was comely?

C.A.C. Yes. "In all things affording thyself as a pattern", and "Let no one despise thee". There was to be moral weight with him; he was so to carry himself that people could not despise him.

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Ques. For a walk like this one needs much discretion?

C.A.C. Discretion has a great place here -- men are to be discreet, and young women are to be discreet. The book of Proverbs was written to give young men discretion as you find in chapter 1. Discretion is ability to discern what is suitable to God in the circumstances in which one finds himself. It is viewed here as the result of exercise, the fruit of exhortation.

All these things are good works, are they not? For instance, young women are exhorted to be diligent in home work; that is a good work. People who have dirty and untidy houses would cause the word of God to be evil spoken of.

Rem. The elder women are to instruct the younger; this is not given so large a place in christian work as it should be. The responsibility of instructing in many details would fall on the elder women.

C.A.C. Yes, it should be carried out and more space given to it.

Rem. These things are the outcome of subjection to the word.

C.A.C. Yes, and there is the teaching of grace; the grace of God is in itself a teaching power. Exhortation gives one the moral setting of things. A man under the teaching of grace could not live riotously; he would not leave God out, but there are details that we need to be specially instructed in.

The grace of God carries with it salvation. It comes as a salvation-bringing grace, it does not come demanding, but bringing deliverance from all the lusts and powers that hold man in bondage. That side of the gospel is most important. It has been too much pressed in preaching the gospel that the salvation of God makes people all right for the future, and for heaven, but the point is that grace brings salvation. There is positive power come in in the

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grace of God which sets a man right. The one who has come under the teaching of grace has denied everything that does not give God His place, and all that the world lusts after. The christian has said, 'No' to all these things; it is put as if he had definitely done with it all, "Having denied impiety and worldly lusts". The saint is on the ground of having done with that sort of thing, so that he is living "soberly, and justly, and piously". That is a bit like fulfilling responsibility, is it not?

Rem. A remarkable title is given here to God, "Our great God".

C.A.C. The glory of our great God is the glory of grace, that is what makes the blessed hope. God will shine forth in universal good and blessing for man, and the happiness of knowing Him is set forth in His saints. "Blessed the people that is in such a case! Blessed the people whose God is Jehovah!", Psalm 144:15. That could be said in the Old Testament. The idea is that there is nothing unsuitable in the saints to the shining forth of the glory of the great God, they have come under the teaching and discipline of grace; it has corrected everything that was wrong, so that they are just waiting for the blessed hope.

It is wonderful that our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ should be put thus together; it is like what Stephen saw, "The glory of God, and Jesus" -- a wonderful and blessed sight. I think the glory of God comes out in His people; they become witnesses of how great God is that He can bring about such wonderful things in men; He must be great to be such a Saviour God. Think of His taking up such material as is described in chapter 1 and turning it out in the style of chapter 2! He must be a great God to do this. What an immense thing it is to know God in grace!

Ques. What is adorning in verse 10?

C.A.C. It is very sweet to see that a bondman, if faithful in the service of his master, would be adorning the teaching

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of our Saviour God. The bondman might think, 'What a humdrum life I have to lead! No chance of serving God'! What a cheer for him to feel that in carrying out his duties faithfully he is adorning the teaching! One would think the teaching is so beautiful that it could not be adorned, but the way the saints carry themselves is to be the adornment of it.

A very practical side of the death of the Lord Jesus is that He gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness. That is one aspect of redemption. People connect redemption with divine purpose, as if they were redeemed to go to heaven, but it is clearly connected here with the responsible course of saints, "that he might redeem us from all lawlessness", so that if saints are walking lawlessly they are falsifying the precious redemption of the Saviour. That is a serious consideration, is it not?

Rem. Lawlessness is a far-reaching expression.

C.A.C. No one has any business to touch anything except in obedience. J.N.D. said, 'Obedience is the only expression, save praise, of life to God'. Obedience and praise are the two ways that life is expressed. There is a danger of lawlessness, of doing things on the principle of one's own will even when they are right things. We think if a thing is right it is right to do it, yet one might do it on the principle of one's own will; that is all wrong. Everything is to be done on the principle of obedience.

CHAPTER 3

C.A.C. I think that verse 1 comes in here as connected with verse 14 of the previous chapter, redeemed from all lawlessness.

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Ques. Do you mean that the result of that redemption would be that christians would bow to secular power?

C.A.C. Yes, to be insubject to the rule and authority that exists would be one feature of lawlessness. It is very natural to us to be lawless; we like to take our own course and we do not like restraint. It is so wonderful that the Lord should have for His own portion a people redeemed from all lawlessness, not from some lawlessness but from all. This is an important aspect of redemption, and it would help us to think of things from that side. If we considered the Lord's portion in us, that would engage the affections and elevate the soul, even as to the most commonplace things in life, such as subjection to the powers that be. The point is the Lord is to have His portion in us -- He "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people". That is His portion; it is good to think of it. We are taken up a good deal with our portion and our blessings, but we should consider His portion. If I allow a bit of lawlessness I deny the Lord to that extent the pleasure of His love, and that is a serious thing.

Ques. Would you say the abundance of grace would keep us from this lawless spirit?

C.A.C. Yes, the motive power is grace. How wonderful that the Lord should act towards us in grace as He has done!

Ques. The powers that be might impose on us unjustly and yet are we to be subject?

C.A.C. The principle of all government is that it is in favour of what is right. It is "for vengeance on evildoers, and praise to them who do well" -- so if you do well you will get praise. It is a serious matter if you come under the rebuke of the authorities; it brings you under reproach in the presence of the world. Even if a christian suffers unjustly, it should be an exercise as to why it is permitted.

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Ques. Is there a difference between suffering as an evildoer and suffering for evildoing?

C.A.C. Yes. Peter says, 'Mind, if you suffer, that it is for well-doing'. Christ has once suffered for sins, and that is enough of that kind of suffering.

The peculiar treasure of the Lord is a people zealous for good works. If we are under the influence of the Lord we shall always be impelled on that line; every influence from the Lord would be in the direction of good works -- that is the thought here. The Lord has come in to set us free from all movements of the heart and will which had their spring in self. All evil has its spring in self, and the Lord came to deliver us from all that and to be the spring of entirely new movements of heart and purpose. The question for us to face is, How far is the Lord the source of all in us? This is an every day epistle. "Let ours also learn to apply themselves to good works for necessary wants". It is a good work to supply daily wants and for a man to work for his living. It is wonderful for a man to go to his daily work and feel that the Lord is the spring of it -- that is christianity. If we are near the Lord, He will always be suggesting good works to us because He always did them Himself. We fall into mischief because we are not occupied with good. If we are not near the Lord we get aimless and lusts and pleasures come in; that is the opposite of good works. We begin to follow our own desires and seek our own pleasures. Every impulse of good must come from the Lord Himself. If we are not near the Lord we have not the power or desire for what is good.

It would seem that verses 1 and 2 have to do with our relations to men generally: "be ready to do every good work" has a general bearing.

Ques. What is the difference between rulers, and authorities, and rule in verse 1?

C.A.C. The king is a ruler, but a policeman is an

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authority. Any servant of the king may be put in the position of authority without being a ruler. People are not always subject to rule; they ought to be. For instance, if a notice is put up that passengers must cross by the bridge at a railway station, I like to do it and not to go over the level crossing though it is much easier to do so! We are not to be legal, but the principle of subjection should get hold of us so that we respect rule. Then there are people who are entitled to rule in their own sphere who are not kings or authorities. In every good house there is rule, and if you go into it you are subject to rule. To do as I like is what the world calls liberty, but it is not really so. The christian is anxious to be true to his position. The One who has redeemed me has purified me to Himself. To be subject is to be pleasing to Him, it is what is becoming to that name. We are carrying the most precious name through this world, and we have to consider what is suitable to it, not what suits us. We are "not to be contentious, to be mild, shewing all meekness towards all men". It is much better to be in subjection. I have found that as a rule authorities support what is good. I have experienced this in preaching. A policeman may come along and say, 'You are obstructing the road'. If you answer, 'All right, we will close the meeting at once', he will probably turn round and say, 'Well, I do not mean that exactly, but do not go on too long!' It is a great thing to be meek and not to insist on one's rights. It is the character of Jesus. Probably the earliest impression we got of Him was 'Gentle Jesus, meek and mild' -- that is what He is, and if He has a people, they must have His character. It is true greatness. Who is so great as Jesus? It is because we are small that we are uppish and act in so contrary a way to meekness.

We are apt to expect from others a good deal more than there is in ourselves, so the apostle says (verse 3) -- remember you were once just as misguided, "serving various lusts

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and pleasures"; so you are not to speak evil of any one. Supposing you know some one is a bad man, you are not to speak evil of him; you are to be meek towards him, for he is just what you were once yourself.

All good is attributed to God; if there is any good in saints, God is its blessed source. The Lord did not find any good here, He brought everything with Him, and the saints are to be here on that principle, not looking for good in men but bringing it to them. Saints reflecting the goodness of God -- what a blessed conception!

Rem. The Lord went about doing good; He could not do anything else, for God was with Him.

C.A.C. Yes, the Lord was always ready, and we have here, "ready to do every good work".

God has come out to clear us from all the reproach that attached to us in our former state. "He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit". The washing of regeneration brings us into an entirely new state of things morally; baptism is the figure of it. Then He not only did that but He puts a purified spring in us, that is the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Luther said a christian was a new man in a new world. That is right -- the new man is the result of the renewing of the Holy Spirit and the new world is the result of regeneration. We belong to a new system of things, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit is the power to live in that system where we do not serve lusts and pleasures but are on the line of doing God's will. What a beautiful expression -- "poured out on us richly"! God does not give His Spirit by measure, He does not limit the gift in any way, He has poured it out richly. And it is "through Jesus Christ our Saviour". He has become our Saviour in order that we might have the Holy Spirit poured out on us. That was the end in view in His salvation.

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Ques. Is there a difference between being justified by grace and by faith?

C.A.C. Yes, one is God's side and the other our side. Romans 3 is God's side; He is so favourable to us that He justifies; He will take away every stain and reproach connected with our former state. Then we are justified by faith; that brings in exercise on our part. You can proclaim God as a gracious Justifier, who justifies freely by His grace. You proclaim the grace of a justifying God worldwide, but faith comes in to give personal appropriation of it. Those who have been justified by His grace are going to inherit; here it is the thought of being "heirs according to the hope of eternal life". God is going to bring His people into possession of everlasting good. All that God will bring in of good, His kindness and love toward man, will appear publicly by and by; the world to come will be filled with it. What a scene the world will be when filled with the beneficence of God, God pouring out all His wealth of good on man, and He is going to bring His saints into it. A man's heir inherits his property and wealth. God wants heirs, and He is going to bring His heirs into possession of all His wealth. Is it not wonderful that God is not satisfied to be alone in all His blessedness? You would think such a blessed Being would be satisfied with His own blessedness, but God will enjoy His blessedness in seeing His people enjoy it. God's pleasure has been in man. It is His peculiar joy and the delight of His grace to bring man into all the good that is in Himself. God will have the pleasure of His love in seeing man enjoy His goodness, and the display of it will come out in so far as we walk on the line of good works; that would be shewing out the character of God. If people are practically free from lusts and self-seeking, and are dispensing good to others, there is a sort of outward witness to justification. Grace has come in so that God's people may be without reproach, and so it

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becomes very important to maintain good works. The apostle says, "I desire that thou insist strenuously on these things" -- it is not just 'say' it but 'insist on it', and then he adds, "Take care to pay diligent attention to good works". It is emphasized again. We need stirring up about these things. The Lord likes to see diligent zealousness, not slothfulness, as we get in Romans 12. When we get a sense of grace we gladly own the obligation; it comes in the way of privilege and freedom, not bondage. We are really under an obligation to do good to all men; that is normal christianity, nothing extraordinary. It is love to our neighbour, fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law.

What a wonderful thing for a man of the world to have a christian living next door, ready to do him good! He should be able to say of the Christian -- 'He has never done me the slightest injury, and is always ready to give a helping hand; I have such a good neighbour'! That is the sort of impression we ought to make on people; we can all ask ourselves how far we have been on that tack. To be on this practical line and not disputing about words, is testimony to God's goodness.

The devil has wrecked christianity by causing disputes about words that are unprofitable and vain. Then an "heretical man" comes in to make a party for himself and to take the saints off this line. You must tell him twice, and if he does not alter, you have done with him; he is a worthless character.

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AN OUTLINE OF THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON

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READING 1

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.

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Rem. I was struck with Paul saying, "Once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee and to me". Onesimus was now serviceable to the testimony.

C.A.C. He was valuable to Paul; the great vessel of the testimony had found value in Onesimus that he would have fain retained but he would not keep him; he would not write and say that he was serviceable to him and so he would keep him! There was a delicacy of spiritual refinement about it all. This is the way in which the brethren are to move together in mutual respect and regard. If you do not respect the brethren you do not love them. There was great respect on the part of Paul to Philemon and touches of delicate affection in the way he appeals to him. Philemon's house was a place where the assembly was housed; the assembly was in his house. In principle that should be so with us all. The principles that belong to the assembly should be found in our households.

Then what a brother is in the flesh is still retained; we all have a value in the flesh as well as in the Lord. Onesimus had a value in the flesh, whatever it was he did, possibly caring for the horses; he did it in the flesh, and that had its value. He was helpful to Paul as a prisoner. Paul was glad to have those about him who could help in various ways. We should recognise what is of Christ in one another and give full place to it. Paul refers to that in verse 6, "in such sort that thy participation in the faith should become operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in us towards Christ Jesus". That is how faith becomes operative. The bowels of the saints were refreshed (verse 7); Paul looked for that in verse 20. It is wonderful to be among the saints in such wise that we refresh them inwardly. We might not have thought it necessary in the case of Philemon to go out of the way to serve out so many motives, but loves goes beyond what is necessary. Paul could have said, 'I am sending back

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Onesimus, receive him in the Lord', and that would have served, but Paul goes beyond that, he knows that Philemon will do more than he says; it is an epistle of excess. We find in Scripture the great simplicity with which the spiritual qualifications of the brethren are spoken of; there is no kind of reserve. Paul does not say anything much about Onesimus except that he had begotten him in his bonds and that he was now serviceable, which I understand is a play on his name.

Rem. Our assembly exercises must be carried out in the spirit of a brother.

C.A.C. Yes. Onesimus was to go back to Colosse to be an asset. The spirit of a brother would enter into every menial duty he had to perform as a bondman; it would acquire thus a beauty it never had before.

I think the great point is to see how the love of the writer invests Onesimus with great value. What he was to Paul is stressed, the place he had won in Paul's affections, so that to receive him was to receive Paul.

Ques. Has the last verse a bearing on that -- "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit"?

C.A.C. That is a very beautiful touch. It is in our spirits that we get away from the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be inwardly with our thoughts and feeling and spirits; this would bring a peaceful condition of soul. It would bring quietness and calmness and we should be unperturbed by influences around.

Ques. Is it the thought of possessing it for ever?

C.A.C. I think so, because it is the divine nature and that is eternal. This thought of partnership comes in, "Receive him as me". Onesimus stands on the same line as the apostle; Paul would clothe him with that in sending him back. It is very much what the Lord has done in His grace. The Lord has done this for every poor sinner that

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He has begotten; He undertakes his liabilities. The gospel is often preached from this epistle; it is the very essence of the gospel. Onesimus' liabilities to Philemon were not cancelled by his conversion, and Paul does not tell Philemon that he ought to cancel them, but he says, 'Put it down to my account'. It is very beautiful. There is nothing we so easily get moved away from as this which is the spirit of the dispensation. On the other hand there is this activity of love which is so refreshing, a going beyond all that is righteously due. When you see a brother or sister doing something in grace that goes beyond what is strictly necessary it is very refreshing. It is the excess that refreshes the bowels of Paul. He says, 'I want to get something out of you, Philemon; I want you to show an excess of love so that you may refresh my bowels'. It is wonderful if we can do that, if we can refresh the brethren by the way we handle everyday matters. It has in view that those assembly conditions that were found in the house of Philemon were to be enhanced by the return of Onesimus. What an impression of Paul they would get! The saints at Colosse had never seen Paul, but here is a man, warm from the embrace of Paul, come as Paul's representative. Onesimus stands in the same category as Timothy who was sent to Corinth to put them in mind of Paul's ways in Christ. He was Paul's child and in a short time he had acquired the traits of his spiritual father and he is sent to Colosse to put them in mind of Paul. How they would gather round him! He would bring Paul personally into their very midst almost! 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.

Ques. What about verse 19, "that I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me"?

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C.A.C. Philemon was another child of Paul. Paul takes every precaution that there is not a loop-hole for Philemon to get out! That is the thoughtfulness and delicacy of love. This is the only principle on which brethren can walk together -- the principle of love and confidence. The root of confidence is that the Lord is carrying on the same work in the brethren that He is doing with you. You know what the Lord is doing in you in spite of the obstacles that you raise, and the Lord is doing the same in the brethren. That gives you confidence. Paul could say even to the Galatians, "I have confidence as to you in the Lord" Galatians 5:10.

Ques. What produces this confidence?

C.A.C. The work of God in our souls enables us to be confident of His work in the brethren. Paul did not move on the line of requirement but of entreaty; that is how things are secured among the brethren, on the line of entreaty. "I ... entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ", and "do ye judge what I say". He writes in a deferential way. I think that this epistle is very helpful in indicating the way that things should be done. It is not enough to do right things, but to obtain the full value of it things must be done in the right way. Love is the motive. I can see in looking back over my history that I have done right things without having done them in the right way; there is not much satisfaction in that. This particular circumstance in Paul's history is a sample of what Paul was going on with every day. Paul did not do one thing one day and something else the next. This is a sample of how Paul carried himself amongst the brethren.

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READING 2

Philemon 1 - 25

C.A.C. As we have remarked before in reading Colossians, christianity is a matter of persons in which the work of God has taken form. We have not only the written word, but we have living persons in whom what is in the Bible has taken shape; and persons are only really of value to us in the divine sense as that is so. This epistle is a personal matter; there is no doctrine in it and no teaching, so that it has to do with vital christianity. It illustrates in a beautiful way how christianity is made good, not in books but in persons. Paul and Timotheus and Philemon, and his wife and son are all good examples. It is a system of living affections; so it liberates the greatest affections, without the slightest trace of anything like communism.

Rem. The epistle is full of love and mutual understanding.

C.A.C. It is striking that love and faith are seen not only as active towards the Lord Jesus, but towards the saints. I suppose there could not really be faith in the Lord Jesus without love to those who are His. The first mark of a really sound conversion is that the person finds pleasure in being with the saints.

Rem. Onesimus starts with Paul and then finds his right place with the saints. His right place was to be with his master, so he returns to be placed in his right setting; christianity does not take us out of that.

C.A.C. His local setting was Colosse, so Paul writes, "Who is one of you" Colossians 4:9. His social setting was that he was a slave, and christianity did not take him out of his social setting, but it brings something in which is delightful and beautiful because it is wrought of God. So he goes back, not as a slave, but as a brother beloved, and a

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representative of Paul. He says, "Receive him as me". He calls him, "the faithful and beloved brother" (Colossians 4:9), and we may be quite sure that every word Paul said about him was true.

Verse 6 is a remarkable one: "In such sort that thy participation in the faith should become operative in the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in us towards Christ Jesus". That is, our participation in the faith becomes operative in the recognition of all that is good in others -- that is how it works.

Rem. It might take us some time to fit in with the saints. We are to fit in with what is available.

C.A.C. And we appreciate what is there. It is the recognition of the good in us towards Christ Jesus; that is, we look at the saints in relation to Christ Jesus. If I know a man more in the good of what is in Christ Jesus than I am, I should like to get near that man, I can get something from him. Faith fixes upon all that moves in the saints towards Christ Jesus, and there is no uniting in love apart from that. And you count upon it, just as Paul recognised what was in Philemon and counted upon it, and as Philemon would recognise and count upon what was in Paul in the same way. And it was all to work on that principle, the mutually counting on what was in each other. It would keep us sober; we should not think of people as greater than they are. I do not think Paul formed a wrong estimate of any one he came across. It is wonderful the dignity that christianity puts on a man like Onesimus -- he was only a slave before. Paul does not say, 'Forgive him'; he says, "Put this to my account".

Rem. The meaning of Onesimus is 'Profitable'. He did not match his name; but christianity adjusts us, we come up to the standard.

C.A.C. And this is a matter in which we all are; we are all in it, each one bringing a certain value among the

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brethren. What we are in relation to Christ Jesus is the value we bring; and faith would bring us into the acknowledgment of it, and that would bring us into unity in a very practical sense. The ground on which Paul puts it all is beautiful. He does not put it on the ground of what is fitting; he puts it on personal ground as the claim he himself had as an aged prisoner suffering for Christ, his affections bound up with this runaway slave. He enlarges on what this runaway slave was to him; He would put it upon them and that would have an effect on the affections of Philemon and his household.

It is delightful to see the elevating and dignifying quality of christianity. A slave was a man of the lowest grade of society. Christianity does not set slavery aside; men have done so because of their notion of the dignity of man; indeed men have proved themselves unworthy of such authority. Christianity does not set it aside, but it makes of a slave a "beloved brother". It is delightful to see there could be such a product in such a short time, for Onesimus could only have been converted a little while, and we see what he has taken on, so that the apostle is, speaking naturally, passionately fond of him. And that is encouraging. If a man in the lowest grade of society, and probably a dishonest man, can be transformed into such a beautiful and attractive object, it is most encouraging to me. However small and feeble I may be, I can come in to beautify the circle of the saints. I am not to come into it to be tolerated; for we do find such persons sometimes. No brother should be there on the ground of toleration, but he should be there on the ground of admiration because the work of God has wrought in him such delightful features towards Jesus Christ that are beautiful to contemplate. We all want to take on this. Every christian should be prepared that everything about him should be known by everybody; his doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith,

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circumstances, and so on. 'Tychicus will tell you all about me', Paul says, 'and it should do you good'. It should be that the more people know me the more they admire me. And the apostle was a critical man, he never called flesh spirit; but he found delight in this poor slave as a brother beloved, and he said, "Receive him, that is, my bowels", which means, I take it, that the depths of Paul's feelings had been formed in Onesimus, he partook of the depths of the feelings of the one who had evangelised him.

Rem. Faith and love are put together: "Hearing of thy love and the faith which thou hast".

C.A.C. You could not have love without faith, or faith without love; they are twin sisters.

Ques. Do you think the apostle had any doubt about Philemon's response to his appeal?

C.A.C. I do not think so. He is doing it in such a delicate way, not pressing it on him as a duty, but appealing to him on the score of his age, reminding him of his suffering -- he is a prisoner; it is most telling. When this letter was read there was a good deal of feeling in the household of Philemon. There is nothing more delightful in Scripture than this little epistle as showing the activity of divine love in Paul and Philemon and his household, and this young brother brought out in his attractiveness. The Lord is attracted by what is lovely; He is presented as a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. He knew what was beautiful when he saw it, and Paul knew what was beautiful when he saw it, too.

Rem. It shows we should be careful in our relationships with one another, and the household is brought into this adjustment, and all is harmonised like a mosaic; it is so delicately done. How this would tend to strengthen the bonds of love among us. If a great outstanding brother like Paul could take such trouble, as he does in this letter, we should be careful how we approach one another.

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C.A.C. It is a model for us, I am sure. Even people in the world regard this letter as one of the finest letters ever written. It is couched in such delicate terms and so full of feeling, and is most effective.

Rem. Each has his peculiar place to fill.

C.A.C. And it will never clash with any other person's place. There is no such thing as two persons or servants clashing in christianity. If you fill your place and I mine, we shall get on very well. It is very lovely that Paul says something that he does not say! "That I say not to thee that thou owest even thine own self also to me"; that would intimate that Philemon was a convert of Paul's. Do you not think it would be good if we thought of the saints as begotten by man? Onesimus was not only begotten by God, but by Paul. That is, there was the stamp of Paul on these two men -- the master and the slave. Do you not think it is an important matter that we should bear such a character that the impress of it should be carried by anyone we come in contact with?

Ques. Why does Paul say, "If ... thou holdest me to be a partner"?

C.A.C. Philemon would be pleased to be called a partner of Paul. Well, Paul says, "Receive him as me", that is, now you take him as a partner. That was one of the features he was to share, it is the word for fellowship; he comes in as a partner of the firm. I have sometimes asked those desiring fellowship how much capital they proposed to bring into the firm. It is one of the first questions asked in the case of proposed partnership. Now everyone who asks for fellowship should think of that, and not only what they will gain. If we go into partnership we contribute something and we draw a dividend accordingly. Onesimus still remains on the social side a slave, though on the spiritual side he was put on a common platform with his master, though I do not suppose he ever presumed on it.

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"Once unserviceable to thee, but now serviceable to thee", that is, he is going to be a better slave than ever he was. There is the side of what he was in the flesh, the slave belongs to that, and also the spiritual side, what he was in the Lord. He is to be valued on both sides. And Paul finishes up beautifully, "Knowing that thou wilt do even more than I say". He had every confidence that Philemon would exceed all that he put in the letter.

Ques. What is the difference between 'in the Lord' and 'in Christ' in concluding a letter?

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?

It is remarkable how many names there are of individual saints in the Bible; I once counted them. It is as if God delighted to put in the Scriptures numbers of names of the saints, and there are many sisters' names as well as brothers'. It shows the importance of persons. The devil makes saints of people after they are dead; he very much objects to saints alive! Philemon was praying for a very unlikely thing to happen -- that Paul might be let out of prison; and I am satisfied that Paul was let out of prison. It did not often happen that if the jaws of the Roman lion once closed on a man he was ever liberated. Though

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Scripture does not record it, I believe he was liberated (tradition says so), which shows we can pray for things that are very unlikely. This would encourage us to pray for a cessation of present distressing happenings. The Father is in control of things in the world and He only allows the power of evil and destruction to go so far; He does not allow it to go beyond a certain point. And He never forgets the saints are here, and so they are wonderfully preserved, and there is such tender thought with it; the Lord says to the saints, "Pray that your flight may not be in winter time", Matthew 24:20. He enters into such things. The prophetic period of one thousand two hundred and sixty days will never run its full course. If God can cut short His own prophetic periods, He can cut short anything!