Genesis 1:1 - 28, 31; Genesis 2:1 - 3; Genesis 8:20 - 22; Genesis 9:6; Mark 2:27, 28.

G.R.C. It is thought that in these meetings we might pursue the subject of the rest of God -- the Sabbath. The 1st and 2nd chapters of Genesis have been read, so that we might get the general idea of what the Sabbath is. This inquiry is of importance, for the children of Israel were carried into captivity through not keeping sabbath; and a great percentage of Christians today are in captivity, the reason being that sabbath has not been kept. I do not think there is any alternative; we either keep sabbath, or we go into captivity. We might be overtaken by a different kind of captivity from others around us, and yet we have to take account of the possibility of being brought into captivity and bondage. I suggested reading the passage relating to Noah because it says according to the footnote that God smelled a sweet odour of rest: the idea of rest comes in there, in spite of sin having come in and judgment having fallen upon the world which then was. It is not called sabbath, nevertheless the idea of rest is brought in, which I think we need to understand in order to have a right present outlook on the earth and the world -- that is, the earth as bringing forth its fruit, and the world as governed by magisterial government. Then the word in Mark provides to some extent a key in our inquiry, namely that, "The sabbath was made on account of man, not man on

account of the sabbath; so that the Son of man is lord of the sabbath". I think we might well have that in mind as we look at Genesis 1 and 2.

Ques. What have you in mind in regard of the importance of keeping sabbath?

G.R.C. The idea of keeping sabbath is introduced in Exodus. The first formal mention of it is in Exodus 16, where it says, "Tomorrow is the rest, the holy Sabbath, of Jehovah" (verse 23). And then, when the commandments were given, they were told to hallow the sabbath day. They were told also (Exodus 31) to keep it as an everlasting covenant, and as a sign between Jehovah and the children of Israel for ever. But I think if we keep in mind the fact that there seems to be no alternative between keeping sabbath and going into captivity, it will help us.

Ques. Is not the seventy years at the end of 2 Chronicles directly related to that? "And them that had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and they became servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia; to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years" 2 Chronicles 36:20, 21.

Ques. Would you say for us what going into captivity involves today?

G.R.C. I think going into captivity includes coming under bondage to feverish human activity, which centres round the glorification of man -- the Babylonish system. All around us there is feverish activity, and men are in bondage to it; and the only way to keep free from that is to learn to keep sabbath with God, which means that we appreciate what God

has done by Himself and for Himself and in which creature hand could have no part. Any activity of ours, which does not flow from an appreciation of God's rest in Christ and His completed work, is dead works; and we can soon come into bondage to dead works.

Ques. Would you get the work of God in the six days before the sabbath is arrived at?

G.R.C. It is wonderful that we have the six days of divine workmanship. God says to His people later, "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work", Exodus 20:9; but first there is set out the six days of God's work, and then His rest. Into this work no creature hand intruded. So far as we know, the angels were created before the six days; they would be included in verse 1, 1 suppose; "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

But although the angels were there when God began working in verse 3, angels appear to have had no hand in the matter -- we are not told that any creature had a hand in the matter; God was working by Himself and for Himself.

Ques. Would it be right to say that keeping sabbath means that the soul comes into the gain of what God has wrought for His own blessed rest?

G.R.C. Just so. We rest with God in what He has done by Himself and for Himself. Man's glory is shut out of the picture. It is God; so that we are before God, the great Author and Finisher of everything which is for His pleasure.

Ques. Would the end be reached in Revelation 4:11?

"Thou art worthy, O our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou halt created all things, and for thy will they were and they have

been created". God's triumph finally secured.

G.R.C. That is a note of worship which we shall render in the coming day, but which we ought to be rendering now, to God as Creator.

Rem. Does the sabbath provide for fulness, each day having its own particular glory, but all those glories brought forward into suited conditions of rest, so that the day shall be full, and fulness characterise it?

G.R.C. So that, as to the sixth day, it says that, "God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good". It becomes superlative, does it not?

Rem. Yes. I was thinking that the glory of the work of each day would shine in its perfection in conditions of sabbath.

G.R.C. It is wonderful to think of that. What was formed on each day is there in completeness at the close; and the whole is cumulative, headed up in men. The sabbath was made on account of man.

Ques. Would it help us objectively to get a view of the perfection and glory of the sabbath, before we think of it in its application?

G.R.C. That is exactly what is in mind; and to see that the sabbath was made on account of man. You could not conceive of God resting on the fifth day. You could not conceive of God resting until man was there.

Rem. So that blessing is connected both with the sabbath and with man. God blessed man and God blessed the sabbath.

G.R.C. And I think we should note that God was preparing, in those six days of operation, a setting for man. The sabbath was made on account of man.

There was no thought of resting until man was there. "Let us make man" -- a very distinctive idea as compared with the other days; the "Let us" coming in -- a matter of Divine counsel. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion"; and then, in verse 27 it says, "And God created Man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them". So that God was working to provide conditions of life for man, and conditions in which the intelligence of man as head would find scope -- a world in which He Himself would be known through the creature who is His image; and thus He would retain His own place as Head, as Supreme.

Ques. Is dominion important as contributing to the thought of rest -- that there should be rule and not lawlessness?

G.R.C. Yes, rule becomes prominent. There is the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, -- that is, there is heavenly rule. And then we have rule in the man and the woman -- "Let them have dominion", rule in the one who was the image of God, and in his counterpart.

Ques. So that the thought of man includes Christ and the assembly?

G.R.C. Just so. And here it says, "God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them".

Ques. Would you say that while Christ is the great end in view, the assembly is essential?

G.R.C. Quite so. In Romans 5:14 Christ is brought before us in the one who was the figure of Him who was to come. It is a wonderful thing to think of Christ thus, because the great Operator in this

chapter was the Son; it was by Him God made the worlds; so that we hear, I suppose, His words in this chapter. And Hebrews tells us not only that by Him God made the worlds, but that He upholds all things by the word of His power. It is a marvellous thing that the One who was active in bringing everything into being, and who, ever since, has been upholding all things by the word of His power, has Himself come into manhood.

Ques. Would you mind saying a few words as to the two words in these verses -- man earthy, and man as a race, in verses 26 and 27?

G.R.C. In each case the word is apparently 'Adam', but the first time without the article, and the second time with it. "Let us make man" is mankind; but the second is really that He created the man. He was the figure of the One to come. It would produce worship in our souls if we kept in mind that the One who is the Author and Upholder of all things has come into manhood as Firstborn of all creation, and the Image of the invisible God. And the assembly, as we know, is His counterpart. That is what God, in the figure, was working up to. God does not rest short of that.

Ques. As well as the thought of rest in connection with the sabbath, in Exodus 31 we have the added feature of refreshment. Are we also to take on that feature?

G.R.C. That is after the instruction as to the tabernacle is given. At the completion of all the instruction as to the tabernacle, typical of the great system of fragrance in which God dwells, it says, as to the sabbath, that God rested and was refreshed.

Ques. Is it to be noted that this great work takes

six days? It is not all done in one day. I was thinking of the process involved, and whether that has a moral significance.

G.R.C. I think it has. Even in our history things are not done all at once.

Ques. Do you think that in the ways of God the glory of each day is yet to be arrived at, so that what is sabbatical should be introduced in its completeness?

G.R.C. Perhaps you would say a word as to your thought about the glory of each day.

Rem. It is beautiful to consider that God gives each day, and the work of each day, a day to itself; for instance, "Let there be light. And there was light".

God gives that a whole day, so to speak. Would it not refer to the glory of all that has appeared in Christ personally, and all that is to be known and to shine in its lustre in conditions of rest?

G.R.C. You would link that with the gospel of John, I suppose. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light appears in darkness".

Ques. Is it not interesting in that gospel that in the first day Christ is alone; God has Christ all to Himself? It is the second and third day when what is operational comes in.

G.R.C. The first thing is that we should appreciate Christ in His own distinctiveness, as the One in whom was life, and the life was the light of men; and we should never do that but for the Spirit of God operating. We should not have eyes to see but for the operations of the Spirit, of whom the Lord says, "The wind blows where it will, and thou hearest its voice, but knowest not whence it comes and where it goes: thus is every one that is born of the Spirit".

John 3:8. Would not that link, in spiritual application, with the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters? The Spirit is operating with deep feeling, with a view to bringing to pass conditions in men's souls whereby there is power to perceive the light.

Ques. In chapter 1 God says, "Let us make man in our image". In chapter 2 Jehovah Elohim says, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate his like". What is the distinction between, "Let us" and "I will make"?

G.R.C. We should note that; even in chapter 1 verses 26 and 27 the plural gives way to the singular: "God created Man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them". Elohim is plural, but the singular pronoun is used; and that is the way God usually speaks. God is one; so that while there are three Persons, God normally speaks in the singular. But when He says, "Let us", it may be that it has reference to Divine counsel over this great matter of the making of man.

The plural of majesty would also enter into it; but I think we may be justified in seeing in it a foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity.

Ques. In what way do you think there was counsel?

G.R.C. I was thinking of the contrast between, "Let us", and that which precedes the operation on earlier days, where it is just, "Let there be", "Let the waters", and so on. This stands by itself: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness".

Ques. In the thought of counsel do you include deliberation?

G.R.C. I would not be prepared to speak of deliberation. God is one, and we cannot penetrate into all that that involves -- one in eternal Being. J.N.D. says that the Persons of the Godhead 'have not the same counsel, but one counsel, mind, purpose, thought; yet They act distinctly in the manifestation of that counsel'. As coming into the world the Lord Jesus said, "Thou hast prepared me a body ... Lo, I come" Hebrews 10:5 - 7. That was personal to Himself; yet He came relative to what was written in the volume of the book, which, one would think, is the book of Divine purpose and counsel. Thus the movements and operations of each Person are distinctive, and can be taken account of.

Ques. Deliberation would require time, would it not? Whereas in Divine counsel you cannot introduce the element of time.

G.R.C. If we speak of deliberation, we are in danger of thinking of Divine Persons deliberating as human beings would do. But we have to see that God is One; and yet the Persons are distinct, and in Their operations are distinct. Why should it be that the One we know as the Son should be the One to come into manhood? I would say that it is the result of divine counsel that He should come. No one could impose it on Him. So He says, "Lo, I come".

Rem. In Ephesians 1 we have the counsel of His own will, and the will of God would enter into the matter of counsel there.

G.R.C. It speaks of, "the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will" Ephesians 1:11. Purpose lies behind counsel; counsel refers to the way things are worked out, as I understand it. Behind everything is purpose. So it says

"being marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will" Ephesians 1:11. There is purpose; and then the way things are worked out. We are engaged with God's works in Genesis; He, "works all things according to the counsel of his own will".

Ques. You mean that counsel remains current; we are in the presence of it -- "Who works"; it is a present matter. But purpose is a fixed past matter; there is nothing to add to it.

G.R.C. Purpose is fixed; but then, in achieving His purpose, God works all things according to the counsel of His own will. And we see the oneness of the Father and the Son in Their movements. While we can distinguish Their separate operations and activities, yet Their movements are one in will and mind and purpose; God is one.

Ques. Do you think John 1 would help us? "And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things received being through him and without him not one thing received being which has received being".

G.R.C. Quite so. "All things received being", there is a kind of feeling expression in that -- they 'began to be' through Him.

Rem. We often sing,

"The Persons of the Godhead,
In wondrous concord, planned".

G.R.C. We must not read into that the idea of persons coming to an agreement. God is one in purpose and counsel, and we must not allow at all the idea of three Persons coming to an agreement to do something.

Rem. J.N.D. says that the difference between purpose

and counsel is that purpose is more the intention of the will, and counsel the wisdom of the mind.

G.R.C. That is very good. "Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?" Romans 11:34. We have to submit to the counsel of God. It involves His ways, and the working out of things; and our wills are apt to rebel. Peter needed adjustment in the working out of things, in bringing the Gentile in; his natural will would have rejected the idea. And that applies in a multitude of ways in our lives. Submission to God involves that we accept His ordering. "Who has been his counsellor?" He does not take counsel with us; He does not ask what we would like, or what we think. He has taken counsel with Himself, and He, "works all things according to the counsel of his own will", and in the detailed working of it out it involves where we are set in our localities. If we are subject, we shall be where we are set according to divine counsel, with a view to bringing to pass His purpose, of which those days in Genesis are but a foreshadowing.

Rem. It is the grandeur of this chapter that the Divine will in its sovereignty is operating without any other will!

Ques. Would you say that man would be the crown, so to speak, of God's operations?

G.R.C. Yes. And so the Sabbath was made on account of man, and the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.

Rem. I would like you to say something more about the Spirit hovering. You referred to the Son in creation, but then there is the Spirit also.

G.R.C. I wondered whether the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters suggested deep

feeling, and may convey, too, some foreshadowing of the operations the Lord refers to in John 3.

Ques. Do you think that, at the moment these operations creatorially were being put into effect, the blessed God envisaged moral correspondence in man with regard to them?

G.R.C. Yes, I do. So that if you take the beginning of John, the light shone in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not. That is, there was no result. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. And there would have been no result, and nobody would have appreciated the light, though it was shining, but for the operations of the Spirit. So that the dividing between the light and the darkness in John's gospel was really through the operations of the Spirit.

Rein. It is beautiful to think of two Divine Persons being in the matter right at the outset, one acting in this creatorial way, and the other having in view the positive results in man.

G.R.C. Quite so. I think we should bear in mind what you have said as to the fulness which marks each day, and how cumulative it is, as all bearing on the final rest of God. It says, "And the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished". God does not cease work until the work is finished. Every day was complete and beautiful in itself, except perhaps the second day which is not said to be good.

But even that was essential. So that every day has its own essential part, and then it says, "The heavens and the earth and all their host were finished. And God had finished on the seventh day his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made". That is the idea of sabbath -- rest from work; the word means that;

and while the noun 'sabbath' is not used, the verb 'rest' in verses 2 and 3 of chapter 2 means 'to keep sabbath' -- that is, to rest from work. But then God does not rest from work until it is finished. He rests in what is complete and very good, and therefore the rest is a complacent rest. God had worked for six days, by Himself and for Himself; and, the work being finished, He rested.

Ques. Do we not often think of rest in relation to the thought of weariness and burden, whereas the thought of completeness is what is distinctively in mind here, is it not?

G.R.C. It is. Who could think of God ceasing from work until He had finished? And so the finishing thing, as we may say, is man. Each day has its own place, and is essential to the whole scheme; but finally, "Let us make man in our image". That is the final thing; that God should be represented by an order of being capable of representing Him. Not that a creature could fully carry this out; but we look on to the One, of whom Adam was but a figure, and who is not a creature. All this had in view that the One who was uttering these words, bringing the worlds into being, and upholding all things by the word of His power, would come into manhood, and thus be the Image of the invisible God.

Ques. Does the rest referred to in chapter 8 -- God smelling a sweet odour -- depend upon the sacrifices, the burnt offerings, which were offered by Noah? He "took of every clean animal, and of all clean fowl, and offered up burnt-offerings on the altar".

G.R.C. Quite so. It seems to me that this section would help us to have a right view of the present creation, now that sin has come in and the antediluvian

world has been judged. God has taken on the creation again on a fresh basis. Right from Noah's day God has gone on with the present heavens and the present earth on the basis of sacrifice, Noah's sacrifices looking on to the sacrifice of Christ. It says, "Jehovah smelled the sweet odour of rest". So now, on the basis of Christ's sacrifice, God has an outlook of rest on the physical creation, even in its present state; and I think He would have us enter into that with Him. As anticipating the sacrifice of Christ, and the true sweet odour which came out there, He brought certain fixed conditions into the present order of things, which Christians need to understand. So that we can be restful, in this sense, even in the present order of things.

Ques. Is that why it says, "And Jehovah said in his heart, I will no more henceforth curse the ground on account of man", because He had Christ in view?

G.R.C. He had Christ in view, and He was going to carry through all His thoughts in regard to man, in spite of what had happened. He has given up no thought of His as regards man. On the ground of Christ's death, anticipatively, He has continued with the present heavens and the present earth, even from Noah's day, and promised certain fixed conditions which we can thoroughly rely upon. That is, we can thoroughly rely upon seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night; and we can thoroughly rely also on government being maintained in the world -- "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed". Thus, after the flood, God set up two established things. One is that there will be no more destruction in the way in which there had been: while the earth remains the seasons

will go through; we can rely on creational mercies. Secondly, we can rely on magisterial government -- the punishment of the evil-door, and the reward of those who do well. So that, if we understand chapters 8 and 9, in spite of the fact that we are in a world of turmoil, it will give us stability and a certain restfulness; because God has committed Himself, in virtue of the sacrifice of Christ, to go on with the present order. And of course it is in keeping with His counsel that He should do so. It is on account of man. God has not given up His thought as to man; and Christ's death has laid a foundation which justifies God in going on with the present order, and in preserving seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, on the one hand, and preserving ordered government on the other. I believe an understanding of this would give us stability and confidence in God; and also would help us in the prayer meetings, in our priestly functions, particularly in regard of government.

Ques. Would you say in that connection that the powers that be are ordained of God?

G.R.C. Yes, and particularly in this setting of magisterial government. Political government is not in mind here. Political government develops later, and God merges the two. The political powers now are responsible under God to maintain this kind of government.

Ques. In regard to this odour of rest, does the scripture in Colossians 1, which reads, "By him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross -- by him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens", enter into the matter?

G.R.C. That is exactly what I have in mind. While

things are not yet publicly reconciled, peace has been made by the blood of His cross. The blood of Christ's cross is seen in the gospel of John, which presents the burnt offering character of His death. Of course we know that the sin offering was involved in it, too; but the reference in Genesis 8 is to burnt offerings. The blood of Christ's cross has secured peace for the Fulness; and in virtue of that, while things are not yet publicly reconciled, God looks upon the world as in provisional reconciliation; so that this is a well-accepted time, and we should have great liberty to pray to God as to creational and governmental matters.

Rum. What we are considering now would give us a greater apprehension of what the blood of Christ and His death have meant, and still do mean, to God.

G.R.C. I think so, because the end of all flesh came fully before God in the death of Christ.

Rem. So we have a beautiful allusion to the heart of God here -- "Jehovah said in his heart". Man's heart is exposed. It was exposed at the cross, was it not? But was not God's heart laid bare there in its great love?

Ques. Is it significant that Noah had no specific instruction to build the altar?

G.R.C. Quite so. And we might take him, too, as a type of Christ. It is anticipative here, of course, but in Christ's death the end of all flesh came before God. It came before Him in the flood, but in the fullest degree it came before Him in the death of Christ. But then, in the place of the corruption of the flesh, which had corrupted its way on the earth, there remains the sweet odour of rest from Christ's

sacrifice. How pleasurable this was to God!

Rem. "An offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour".

G.R.C. The fact that there is this sweet odour would encourage us to pray to God about the seasons, whether actual or spiritual. I believe God would have His priesthood to enjoy much more liberty with Himself in their supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings -- far more than we have ever known yet; and this is a basis for it, we have this covenant. It is not a covenant with a particular nation; it applies to the whole earth; and, Christ having come, we are now in the full intelligence of the position. The world standing in provisional reconciliation, we can pray for great things. We can pray for great things creationally, for anything that is needed testimonially, anything that is needed for the good of men. God is the preserver of all men. The prayers of Timothy would bear on this scripture: "God, who is preserver of all men, specially of those that believe" 1 Timothy 4:10. I believe God counts upon us to approach Him with much liberty and intelligence in our prayers, knowing that this covenant remains; and that in this day, when the world stands in provisional reconciliation, it is a well-accepted time; not simply a well-accepted time for the sinner to draw near to God; we can apply it thus, but that is not the main point. The main point is that it is a well-accepted time for God to hear the priesthood; and to answer every intelligent request, both creationally and in government, as well as in everything which relates to the furtherance of what He is doing as the spiritual counterpart to the six days of Genesis 1. God is still working.

Rem. The literal bow in the cloud would be a constant reminder of this to us, and would stimulate our exercises in faith in relation to what you have been saying. Peter also brings in the idea of God as a faithful Creator, despite the fact that there was persecution and much to disturb the mind.

G.R.C. Very good.

Ques. Would this help us in approaching the authorities? I was thinking of matters of conscience. Although we have to speak to them as part of the constitutional government, we are to keep this magisterial side before us. I was wondering if that would give us a boldness in our approach.

G.R.C. Yes, because they are responsible to God; and He is in the matter, and is using them, whether they know it or not.

SECOND READING

Exodus 16:22 - 31; Exodus 20:8 - 11; Exodus 31:12 - 17; Exodus 35:1 - 3.

G.R.C. Yesterday we considered Genesis 1, and the beginning of chapter 2, in order to understand the idea of sabbath. The word means, 'ceasing from work', rest in that sense. God worked for six days, and on the seventh day He rested, or kept sabbath, and hallowed it. What is stressed in connection with it is that the work was finished; that is to say, God does not rest in what is incomplete; He finished the work. Then we took account of the Lord's words in the Gospel of Mark that "The sabbath was made on account of man, not man on account of the sabbath; so that the Son of man is lord of the sabbath" Mark 2:27 - 28. The Lord Jesus does not set aside the idea of sabbath. What He exposes in the Gospels is the legal and literal interpretation of it, and what the legal mind puts into it; but the idea of sabbath has never been put aside. The fact that it was made on account of man is important. No sabbath is referred to in connection with the first verse of Genesis. We are not told that there was sabbath when angels were created. It was not until God had brought about an environment for man, and placed man in it -- placed man in his position as head; man and woman -- that the work is said to be finished, and sabbath is brought in. Indeed the work of Genesis 1 is all in view of man, and of an environment for man, every day's work being necessary. If we apply these days spiritually, I suppose the first three days would link

with the Gospels -- the life and death and resurrection of Christ. The fourth and fifth days would link with Pentecost -- the sun in the heavens, and the light shining in the assembly here, in the moon and the stars. The testimony was still in a Jerusalem setting. The woman is seen in Revelation 12:1, clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. They were there in Acts 2. Peter bore testimony to the sun in the heavens -- Christ. He bore testimony to the moon -- "He has poured out this which ye behold and hear" Acts 2:33. There were also the twelve stars, the apostolic witness. Great results flowed from the testimony, as represented in the living souls of the fifth day. But it was left to Paul to develop the truth of the sixth day, that is, the truth of Christ and the assembly; the truth of Christ as the image of God, and the man and the woman in the place of dominion. Paul's ministry of the assembly completed the word of God.

Genesis 1 and 2 are of great importance in understanding this subject. There is no thought there of man enjoying sabbath with God; although man was there, God was alone in it. But in Exodus, having secured His sons by way of redemption, He brings us -- speaking typically now -- into it in the liberty of sonship. "Israel is my son, my firstborn" Exodus 4:22, and later, "Hallow unto me every firstborn; ... it is mine" Exodus 13:2. You can understand God's heart requiring that His sons should be intelligently with Him in that in which He rests. The first formal mention of sabbath is in Exodus 16, standing related to the manna. It says, "Tomorrow is the rest, the holy sabbath, of Jehovah" Exodus 16:23. The thought of rest being linked with sabbath is interesting -- "Tomorrow

is the rest". The word sabbath means "rest", rest from work; and in many of these scriptures there is an emphasis on it. It is sometimes called the sabbath of rest, as in chapter 31:15; "On the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah". I do not fully understand the use of the two words, but there is something important in it. They are two cognate words. Sabbath is "shabbath", and "rest" in these passages is "shabbathon", both carrying the idea of rest from work; but one would judge that the word translated "rest" (shabbathon), stresses rest. Rest is greatly stressed when you get both of these words together. J.N.D. habitually translates shabbathon as rest; "Tomorrow is the rest, the holy sabbath, of Jehovah".

We might consider how the sabbath is introduced in Exodus -- God's rest in Christ as typified in the manna and then, how He would have us to enjoy that rest with Him. Then, in chapter 31, after the instruction as to the tabernacle is complete, the Sabbath is brought in again as the everlasting covenant, suggesting God's full rest in the great anointed system, in which Christ is enshrined as risen and glorified.

Ques. How would you apply the six days now? It says, "And it came to pass on the sixth day, that they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one".

G.R.C. In the spiritual application, we have to get away from the idea of literal days. There are the working periods when work has to be done, but I think the great thing to keep before us now is that the sabbath must not be neglected. There was no gathering of the manna on the seventh day. As to

the other days, they gathered the daily need on its day. That is to say, we are thinking of our needs.

But on the seventh day, having gathered the double quantity, the people were free to keep the rest, the holy sabbath of Jehovah; and not to be occupied with their need, but with God's satisfaction and rest in Christ.

Ques. Would the sixth day in chapter 16 remind us of Paul's day to which you referred? They gathered twice as much bread on that day. Would you link it in any way with Paul's great ministry, leading pre-eminently to the enjoyment of sabbath?

G.R.C. That is an interesting suggestion. There is fulness with Paul in every aspect of the truth which he touches. In the Gospels themselves you get the manna in the fullest way, but I am thinking particularly of Paul's word in Timothy -- "Confessedly the mystery of piety is great" 1 Timothy 3:16. The manna was a mystery; the word means that. When they first saw it they said, "What is it?"; and that became its name. Paul speaks of the truth of Christ and the church as great; but when it is a question of the mystery of piety, he says, "And confessedly the mystery of piety is great". It may be that it is the greatest feature of mystery -- "Confessedly the mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh".

The great question mark is always over the manna: "What is it?": "What sort of man is this?" Matthew 8:27. So would we not say that the incarnation itself will always remain a mystery?

Rem. I fully go with that. And here the people are to feed on it. As partaking of it, there would be sustained in them the element of mystery. So that what is said of the manna would, in measure, be true

of the saints -- as typically feeding on Christ?

G.R.C. You mean that in a sense the saints be come mysterious? That is so. The saints become mysterious, because they bring God into their circumstances, and have links with God which unregenerate man cannot penetrate. Every truly pious man, marked by piety in Christ Jesus, is a mystery man. Piety means that we bring God into our circumstances, and that makes us mystery men; but the mystery of piety is that God has been in the circumstances Himself. "God has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to angels ...".

Rem. It says in Psalm 78:25 that, "Man did eat the bread of the mighty".

G.R.C. That is an expression to take note of. The Authorised Version says, "angels food"; and, as here, manifested in flesh, the Lord was seen of angels.

They waited on Him. What a sight for angels! I think we can also apply it otherwise. "Man did eat the bread of the mighty". I would like to eat that food. It was the food of the apostles, the food of Paul, the food of J.N.D. They were among the mighty of this dispensation.

Rem. It says that bread strengthens man's heart.

G.R.C. Quite so, and that would apply to bread generally, as well as in the bread we are now speaking about. But this expression, "the bread of the mighty", if understood, would make us desire to appropriate the manna. Mighty men have gone before us, and what has sustained them in their might is this bread. I doubt whether we have given enough attention to the manna, and the importance of it. Then, as getting the gain of the manna, we can rest before

God in His appreciation of what has come into manifestation in the second Man out of heaven; and, as we see at the close of the chapter, it is treasured up before God for ever. An omer of it is put into a pot, which we are told in the New Testament was a golden pot. There it is; but it is still manna; that is, the mystery remains. It is the hidden manna. Even as entering the holiest we are still in the presence of mystery. The mystery of Godhead will always remain a mystery, as will also the mystery of the fact that there is a living glorious Man in whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells. There will always be mystery attached to Christ's person.

Ques. Would it divert to ask as to the pot of manna, and what bearing it would have upon us in this connection?

G.R.C. In Christianity, the place of rest is the holiest. There is the gathering of the double portion, the wealth of Paul's ministry, so that we are freed from ourselves and what simply meets our need. We have to think of our need day by day; but there should be a time when we are free from looking at things from the standpoint of our need. If we have eaten and truly appropriated the bread of the mighty, we shall have strength in our souls to keep the rest, the holy sabbath of Jehovah, and be with God in the appreciation of what He has found in Christ, which ever remains before Him. The days of Christ's flesh will never be forgotten. They are spoken of in Hebrews, "Who in the days of his flesh" Hebrews 5:7.

They are treasured up before God in the golden pot; and, I believe, in Christianity -- the surest way of keeping the sabbath of God is to enter the holiest.

Rem. Would the feeding on the manna every day

develop a constitution in which the rest of God would be assured? Was His rest not disturbed by the pride of man at the beginning, and would this not bring in the features of Christ as the One who humbled Himself, the heavenly man?

G.R.C. That is very helpful. An appreciation of the manna became a cardinal issue in the wilderness. There can be no rest for God and His people if we do not appreciate the manna. Things came to an issue in Numbers 21, when they said, "our soul loathes this light bread". How out of accord with God they were in His rest in Christ! "Our soul loathes"; think of that -- that the flesh, even of Christians, loathes it! Think of calling it, "light bread" -- this mysterious food, God manifested in flesh. What an awful thing! It became a great issue; and, in God's mercy, as we face it, it brings us to judgment of ourselves; a judgment that, in the flesh, we are utterly unsuited to God, worthy only of complete condemnation, the brazen serpent typifying that. There is no correspondence whatever between the flesh -- our flesh -- and the manna. Our flesh has got to go. So this becomes a cardinal issue. Man's loathing of the manna led to the crucifixion of Christ.

Rem. Is there not mystery in Matthew 11:27 where the Lord said, "No one knows the Son but the Father, nor does anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son may be pleased to reveal him"? Does it not show the inscrutability of the person of the Son?

G.R.C. That scripture was on my mind. Jesus was speaking as a lowly dependent Man here, whom they could see and handle and listen to, but He said, "No one knows the Son but the Father". The fact

that in Jesus, the lowly Man here, God was present -- indeed all the Fulness was pleased to dwell in Him -- will ever remain a mystery. Yet we are assured of it. It is not a mystery in the sense that we have doubt whatever as to it. The believer, in his own experience, is absolutely assured of it; but it is beyond human comprehension or explanation.

Rem. It leads to the worship of the Person of the Son and to the worship of God following upon that.

Ques. Have you not got the sabbath in Christ in that chapter, the Lord turning to the Father in the repose of His own person?

G.R.C. And He says, "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28. It is in coming to Him, without any activity of the critical mind of man, that we receive rest. No doubt that involves, for us, His death and resurrection; He gives us rest -- we rest in Him and His work. But He goes on to say, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me ... and ye shall find rest to your souls" Matthew 11:29. I would say the yoke would be a thing which we can carry only as we feed upon the manna. Those who take His yoke upon them, and learn from Him, are the mighty.

Ques. Would Matthew 12 -- the disciples in the cornfield with the Lord -- suggest, perhaps, those who are brought restfully into the spirit of the sabbath?

G.R.C. They were in the restful liberty of Sabbath, and went through the cornfields and plucked and ate the ears. They were in the liberty of God's rest figuratively. The Lord also says there that, "the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless" Matthew 12:5, because the priests had much to do on the sabbath. That was not servile work.

The priests, for instance, had to put the shewbread hot on the table on the sabbath. If we are not keeping Sabbath, we are not free for our priestly functions in putting the shewbread hot before Jehovah on the sabbath. They had also two morning lambs and two evening lambs to offer on the sabbath.

Rem. On the other hand, there were those who gathered manna on the sabbath, and Jehovah said to Moses, "How long do ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?". Is there not the danger, in that way, of occupying the sabbath with our need?

G.R.C. That is what I think we have to learn. If we are simply on the line of the need of man, including ourselves, we never reach the sabbath of God, and we shall go into captivity. All Christians who limit themselves to the need of man, and never consider for God and what He has in His rest, go into captivity.

Rem. In Deuteronomy 8:16 it says, "who fed thee in the wilderness with manna ... that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end".

G.R.C. It leads us, if we appropriate it fully, into the rest of God.

Rem. In Luke 10 it is Mary who is enjoying the Sabbath and the manna, whereas Martha seems to be occupied with need only.

G.R.C. Yes. Mary was at rest, was she not, at the feet of Jesus? What a sabbath that was for her!

Rem. The Lord's promise to the overcomer in Revelation 2:17 is, "To him ... will I give of the hidden manna".

G.R.C. As far as I understand it, that would refer to the manna put into the golden pot, which was in the ark.

Ques. Would the dew suggest a restful state, so

that the manna can be properly appreciated?

G.R.C. It is the bread from heaven. We could not get it by any labour of our own. It is just a question of gathering it; and the dew may suggest, that, even in the gathering of it, there is restfulness and refreshment.

Ques. Is it not significant the number of times the Lord Jesus operated on the sabbath to set souls free, according to Luke? Would that not indicate that priestly service and the service of God must depend upon conditions of sabbath?

G.R.C. Exactly; and the Lord never broke the sabbath. He was only breaking rules and ideas of men, who were seeking in a legal manner to enforce the letter, and who had no heart for God at all.

What the Lord did, everything He did, on the sabbath day, was entirely legitimate, even according to the law of Moses.

Rem. In verse 16 the word says, "This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded", and there are about four other references to Jehovah's commandment. Is there some importance in that? The manna surely speaks of One who learned obedience in the things that He suffered (see Hebrews 5:8), and do we not need to come under divine command? The thought of lawlessness is completely inconsistent with the manna.

G.R.C. I am glad you have mentioned that -- verse 4, "that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or not". And then, "How long do ye refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?" So that this question of the sabbath became an initial test as to keeping God's law and His commandments. It shows that the sabbath is a primary matter with God. If we do not keep it, we are breaking the law

of God, and it becomes the test of obedience in a general way.

Ques. How would the food of John 6 fit in to what you have in mind?

G.R.C. The food of John 6 is comprehensive. I think it includes the Passover, the manna, and the old corn of the land. Verse 38 of that chapter would refer to the manna, where the Lord says, "I am come down from heaven, not that I should do my will, but the will of him that has sent me". Then He speaks of eating His flesh, and drinking His blood -- referring to His death. Then He says, "he that eats me shall live also on account of me" (verse 57) -- that is the old corn of the land; "If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before". I think it is a comprehensive chapter on food.

Ques. What is the difference between gathering the manna and eating it? They were allowed to eat it on the sabbath.

G.R.C. Eating manna on the sabbath would be appropriating it before God from the standpoint of what Christ is to God. Freed from all activity in the gathering of it, they were now resting before God to enjoy it with Him.

Ques. Is that involved in the thought of hallowing the sabbath?

G.R.C. Yes. "Remember the sabbath day to hallow it" (chapter 20:8) and then at the end of verse 11, "Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it". That is, Jehovah hallowed it; and now we remember it, and hallow it. Let us see to it that we never forget sabbath. We are not referring to a particular day of the week. Everyone here will realise that. We never forget sabbath; we remember the sabbath day, and

hallow it. It is a question of our spirituality.

Ques. Is Paul personally, in his own experience, at the end of need when he says, "I have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself" Philippians 4:11?

G.R.C. Yes, he was free to keep sabbath in all circumstances -- content in himself; and therefore free to rest before God. We often get disturbed and restless when circumstances are trying, but not so Paul. It is interesting that in the corresponding passage to Exodus 20 in Deuteronomy certain things are added. In Deuteronomy 5:14 it says, "that thy bondman and thy handmaid may rest as well as thou". In another passage, Exodus 23:12, "that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid", showing that, for God to rest, there must be conditions of compassion and rest for all His creatures -- for the ox and for the ass, and for the bondman and the handmaid. It brings out what God is -- how blessed He is! It would disturb His rest if even the poorest, and if even the animal creation, were not at rest also. It adds in Deuteronomy 5:15, "remember that thou wart a bondman in the land of Egypt".

It is a day of remembrance in that respect. God has brought us out likewise with a powerful hand, and with a stretched out arm, "therefore Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to observe the sabbath day" Deuteronomy 5:15. We never forget the work of redemption.

Ques. Was Paul enjoying this rest when he was lying fallow in prison, and receiving fresh impressions of Christ and of the assembly as a result of it?

G.R.C. God ordered that Paul should be in prison, so that he should keep sabbath in the sense of the sabbatical year. He was able to lie fallow; and, as a result of that, we get the best from prison. If Paul

had not learned to be content in his circumstances, the prison would have tried him; he would have been restless.

Rem. His greatest epistles came from the prison.

G.R.C. Yes. It is a wonderful tribute to the apostle that the most trying circumstances did not hinder him from keeping sabbath: they helped him.

Ques. Is God expecting us to come to His side of things in chapter 20? because He goes back to, "in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth", and so on. Is that the people entering into God's rest?

G.R.C. That is the great point of sabbath. We are to rest in the sense of what God has done by Himself and for Himself, without any creature help; and that is what we shall come to finally in the new heavens and the new earth -- that God has done everything. He may have used certain instruments, but He worked in them the willing and the doing. It leaves God, in all His greatness, before the soul.

Ques. Does Jehovah reach this climax in His words with Moses on the mount? I thought sabbath was the great culmination. God will carry His Sabbath through in a remarkable way of triumph, and the enemy would ever seek to attack the highest point.

G.R.C. How Satan is set to rob God of His portion, and to rob us of ours in this holy sabbath! It is holy to Jehovah, and is to be holy unto us. "Keep the sabbath, therefore; for it is holy unto you" Exodus 31:14, and, "the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, holy to Jehovah" (verse 15).

Rem. Yesterday you remarked that if we failed to keep the sabbath, we would inevitably come into captivity and bondage. Verse 15 of this chapter seems

to be a more drastic penalty -- the reference being to putting to death.

G.R.C. It is indeed very drastic here. One who will not keep the sabbath, "shall certainly be put to death". It is executive action.

Rem. On the other hand we were speaking a few moments ago about hallowing -- "It is I Jehovah, who do hallow you".

G.R.C. Because God's rest is really in His people. I believe the idea of the sabbath is that we are resting in God in the full outshining of Himself and His purpose, and He is resting in us as the fruit of His work.

Ques. Is the certain outcome of this the praise and worship of God Himself as in rest before Him -- the rest that comes through Christ, and being there with Him?

G.R.C. So I think we need to keep in mind that Satan is set against this. The attack follows. And in the recovery at the end of Nehemiah, there is a chapter full of the way the enemy was attacking the sabbath. From every angle the enemy was trying to destroy sabbath keeping. We have got to watch that, for we are in days of recovery.

Ques. Is it not instructive that this intrusion in Exodus 32, as to idolatry, is followed immediately by a resumption of the teaching as to the sabbath -- chapter 35?

G.R.C. It is most striking.

Ones. Is there a link between the sabbath and the first day of the week?

G.R.C. We have to be careful not to make the sabbath a particular day at the present time. It is a matter of the state of our souls, and the principle of it; and I would say the way we can be certain of

keeping sabbath is to be sure that we habituate the holiest. That would be the idea in Hebrews, "we enter into the rest who have believed" chapter 4:3. We are to be habitually entering the holiest. We are on the way to the final rest, but we enter the presence of God day by day. That would specially colour the first day of the week, of course. We should begin the first day of the week in the holiest, before we gather together; and the atmosphere of that should govern the whole day.

Rem. I was thinking of Moses speaking to Jehovah, and how his face shone; and it is the man with a shining face who begins to speak about the sabbath.

G.R.C. He had been in the holiest; he knew the rest of God as having been inside.

Rem. Seven times we have, "Jehovah spoke to Moses", from chapter 25 till this one: this is the seventh.

G.R.C. I think we need to see the setting of this. The manna is Christ manifested here, and God's rest in Him, the days of His flesh never being forgotten. But in Exodus 31 it is Christ in glory, and the system of which He is the centre. We get here a very full idea of God's rest through what had been communicated to Moses on the mount. It is, "the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man" Hebrews 8:2. It is again what God has done by and for Himself. The true tabernacle is now existing, "Which the Lord has pitched and not man", and Christ is the centre of it. And here we have the light of it as given to Moses; and then this full thought of sabbath, that God rested and was refreshed. It shows that the full sabbath of God is in an anointed system where Christ is enshrined, and where God dwells. He dwells amid

fragrant praise, as the hymn says. The fragrance is brought out in Exodus in the anointing, and the praise under David. It is in this great system that God will finally rest.

Rem. It is all the more interesting and touching, that it is not only in Christ personally, but in relation to the system of which He is the centre, that God finds His refreshment.

G.R.C. Exactly. Every part of the system speaks to God of Christ -- "In that which ever speaks to Him of Thee", as the hymn says. The whole fragrant anointed system takes character from Christ; and Christ Himself is enshrined in it personally, and the glory dwells there. What a system it is; what a system of rest!

Ques. How would you understand the thought of refreshment as applied to God? I can understand how we need it; but in relation to God, it is a wonderful suggestion.

G.R.C. It is indeed. This is not said in Genesis, although, of course, literally it is referring back to Genesis here. But it has in mind heaven and earth as typified in the tabernacle system -- filled with families named of the Father, and Christ enshrined in the whole system. God rested and was refreshed. How could it be otherwise in such a system as that?

Rem. Should we not think of Divine labour -- what Divine Persons have taken on and think of Christ in His sufferings, and labour, and sorrow; and the Spirit in His present labour?

G.R.C. Yes because it really is work. And when anyone is working for something with the pattern before him, what rest and refreshment there is when the work is finished! Think of God working thus! It is

really work, because the operations in scripture always have the background of a scene of moral disorder as in Genesis 1 -- a scene of chaos. So it involves work, in the sense of toil, to bring this about.

Rem. So God can be stimulated in His affections, and in His holy feelings, as seeing the fruits of His own blessed work! Should we not come to that in assembly service? "He will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will exult over thee with singing" Zephaniah 3:17.

G.R.C. And the drink offering suggests that God is refreshed when our emotions are so affected that He is stirred. The drink offering was poured out in the sanctuary -- strong drink. So that when the system is functioning in such a way that the souls of the saints are filled with emotion, God Himself is refreshed.

Ques. Do you think there is a sense of that in Ephesians 3:21, where it says, "to him be glory in the assembly"?

G.R.C. That would be in line with the drink offering poured out -- the souls of the saints prostrated, filled with emotion before God. God is moved, and He is refreshed.

Ques. Why was no fire to be kindled on the sabbath day (chapter 35:3)?

G.R.C. I think chapter 31 presents the truth abstractly, as subsisting in, "the true tabernacle which the Lord has pitched and not man" -- what Moses saw on the mount. We serve in the light of that great conception -- that which is ever before God, complete in His mind. But then we are to work out in our localities what corresponds with what is on the mount. That is in chapter 35. We are to work out what corresponds

with the true tabernacle, and to secure tabernacle conditions locally. That involves work; but we are to do it in the spirit of rest. So that in chapter

35, before giving instruction about all the work which was to be done, Moses speaks of the sabbath of rest to Jehovah. It is in the spirit of rest, as in the gain of chapter 31, knowing what subsists before God relative to a glorified Christ, that we settle down to the work in our localities; not in the spirit of restlessness, but in the spirit of rest.

Rem. The word as to it indicates that it is a sign, "between me and the children of Israel for ever" Exodus 31:17 Is the stamp of restfulness to be upon the people of God?

G.R.C. It affects people to see persons who are serene and restful whatever the conditions are, and who, even in their practical service locally do it in a spirit of rest. Nothing disturbs them because they are with God in His rest in Christ, and in all that is established and centred in Him. That is like the many allusions in 2 Timothy to what is, "in Christ Jesus". It is beyond the reach of breakdown, and the soul is in the sense of that.

Rem. Would that be the point in the mount of transfiguration? I was noticing that in both Matthew and Mark, it is after six days that they go up to the mountain. Is it a question of God's sabbath in Christ there, do you think?

G.R.C. After the six days they went up to the mountain. That would be rather like Moses would it not? They really, as you say, saw God's rest in a glorified Christ, and what centres in Him. They would come down, according to Matthew, in restful ness, to take up assembly administration in the spirit

of a little child -- a lowly dependent spirit.

Ques. There are many references to rest in the book of Judges. It says that in the days of Othniel there was rest, and in the days of Ehud there was rest, and in the days of Deborah there was rest.

G.R.C. That was God giving His people rest. It is not the same word as this rest, "sabbath", but God was giving His people rest. He does that in mercy, but it is in view of our taking up His rest, and being with Him in His rest. As to not kindling a fire in our dwellings, does it not mean that, in connection with the sabbath, we are not warming ourselves, or stimulating ourselves, by anything of nature? We celebrate it in our dwellings, but it is not celebrated with any natural heat. Is that so?

Rem. So that in Isaiah 56, where the sabbath is mentioned in regard of the alien and the eunuch, it combines with keeping the sabbath, "choosing the things that please me". Is that kindling no fire?

G.R.C. We need to beware of social links, or anything on the line of natural heat which would do away with God's rest in the saints.

Rem. I was going to refer to our dealings with one another in our local settings, as to how we handle one another, whether we set things alight, so to speak.

G.R.C. If we are on the line of nature we shall do that.

Rem. Does not verse 21 of chapter 34 bear on this? In ploughing time and in harvest they were to rest.

G.R.C. Very good.

THIRD READING

Leviticus 23:1 - 3, 15 - 21, 26 - 32, 39; Leviticus 25:1 - 10, 23; Leviticus 26:1 - 2, 34 - 35, 43.

G.R.C. I think this Book shows the way the sabbath is to enter into the constitution of the saints, just as it enters into the constitution of the festive year, and of the seven sabbaths of years which lead up to the year of jubilee. It would seem from these passages that it is impossible for us to arrive at the Divine end unless the sabbath, in a spiritual sense, has its place in the very constitution of our beings. The first mention of the sabbath in this Book is in chapter 16, in connection with the day of atonement. It is mentioned twice in chapter 19: "Ye shall reverence every man his mother, and his father, and my sabbaths shall ye keep. I am Jehovah your God" (verse 3); and, "My sabbaths shall ye keep, and my sanctuary shall ye reverence: I am Jehovah" (verse 30). These two passages, in themselves, show how keeping sabbath is to enter into the constitution of our being. They are linked up, in the first case, with the reverence of mother and father, as though it goes along with that; and, in verse 30, with the reverence of the sanctuary. I thought we might dwell in the main on the festive year in chapter 23, and then the sabbatical years leading to the jubilee. While chapter 23 begins with, "These are my set feasts", the sabbath is immediately brought in; it heads the list, and, in a way, it closes the list, because verse 39, where the word sabbath is not mentioned, speaks of the rest at the

beginning and the end of the feast of tabernacles. The word "rest" there is a similar word to "sabbath" -- "shabbathon" -- sometimes linked with it in the expression "sabbath of rest"; but, while both words mean to cease from labour, it would appear that rest is more stressed in "shabbathon". It would seem, therefore, that as God arrives at His end in the feast of tabernacles the idea of labour recedes. It will never be forgotten, but it recedes, throwing into relief the great results -- the rest. In chapter 23 there are some additional thoughts brought in as to the sabbath: Verse 3 speaks of "a sabbath of rest", and "a holy convocation;" that is, it is not only a personal and household matter, but links with the assembly; and yet the household side is stressed more than heretofore. "It is the sabbath to Jehovah in all your dwellings" -- not houses here as in Egypt, but dwellings. As the chapter proceeds, we are reminded of the assembly substantially, according to 1 Corinthians, in the two wave-loaves which were firstfruits. But they are brought out of our dwellings, dwellings where the sabbath is observed. Furthermore, the timing of the bringing out of the wave-loaves is by way of the sabbath -- "ye shall count from the morning after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven sabbaths" (as the note says), "they shall be complete; even unto the morning after the seventh sabbath" (verses 15 and 16). All this seems to me to place a very great stress on sabbath, until fulness in the appreciation of it is arrived at in the seven sabbaths. We are also to arrive at what the assembly is in testimony as first-fruits according to Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians Then that makes way for the seventh month, which is the great climax of everything.

Ques. Are the feasts in order to bring us into accord with the sabbath? Can we not see something in them analogous to the days of Genesis 1, that the sabbath should be a time of fulness? All these feasts would mean a build up in affection, spirituality and intelligence, so that the sabbath should be enriched.

G.R.C. Yes. Verse 39, "on the first day there shall be rest, and on the eighth day there shall be rest" would suggest the time of fulness. All that has gone before in the feasts is gathered up. I wondered, too, whether things work from and to the sabbath, so that we must begin with some appreciation of it, both assemblywise and in our dwellings.

Ques. You mean, as being placed between the two sabbaths, we can allow to bear upon us what is retrospective in glory, and what is prospective in glory?

G.R.C. Very good. Chapter 19:3, "Ye shall reverence every man his mother, and his father, and my sabbaths shall ye keep", would touch home life. I doubt if mother and father have the place they should have, except in homes where sabbath is celebrated. We can apply that also to the motherly and fatherly elements in the assembly.

Ques. Why do you stress, "in all your dwellings"?

G.R.C. I doubt if a house can be called a dwelling unless sabbath is kept. There are houses, alas, which can hardly be called dwellings. The question is, are our houses dwellings?

Ques. Would all this bring in the Holy Spirit? We had God in the first reading; the Lord Jesus in the second. Does this specially bring in the Spirit in connection with the feast of weeks?

G.R.C. Really the divine dwelling was brought

to pass at Pentecost, was it not? There were dwelling conditions for God.

Ques. The note against the word "feasts" refers to "fixed times for drawing near to God". Have you in mind, as to our dwellings, that there are fixed times there for drawing near to God?

G.R.C. The fixed times for drawing near to God would really be the great holy convocations, and yet it says in verse 3 that the sabbath itself was, "a holy convocation". I do not think we shall be ready for assembly convocations if the sabbath to Jehovah is not observed in all our dwellings. I think we should have times of drawing near to God in our homes.

Ques. Would there be certain sabbath conditions brought to pass in the households of Lydia and of the jailer in Acts 16?

G.R.C. I would think they were houses which understood and observed sabbath. In fact no house is truly in salvation which is not observing sabbath.

Rem. This thought of dwellings is stressed in relation to the two wave-loaves. Evidently the dwellings are places where there is something for God which can be brought out as wave-offerings.

G.R.C. Yes. From the standpoint of the assembly as firstfruits here in testimony -- that is the Corinthian setting -- we cannot bring more than we have in our dwellings. We cannot be more, morally and spiritually, as assembled, than we are in our dwellings. It is really ourselves we bring out. We bring the two wave-loaves by coming ourselves.

Ques. Would that be why the mother is mentioned first here? In Exodus it is father and mother; here the maternal thought, and the feeling side of things, are in prominence.

G.R.C. It is very interesting that, when the commandments are given from the divine side, it is, "thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother" Exodus 20:12; but when it is a question of our entering into things constitutionally, it is, "Ye shall reverence every man his mother, and his father" Leviticus 19:3. How considerate God is! He has put things in that order to show that He has placed divine authority in the place where it is least irksome -- in the mother. We first learn the authority of God in our mothers. Reverence of the mother will lead to reverence of the father.

We first learn the authority of God in our mothers, and that enables us to accept the overriding authority which is vested in our fathers. Those conditions, I believe, are found in homes where the next clause is applicable -- "my sabbath shall ye keep".

Rem. Hezekiah had been very faithful in relation to the house of God, yet he had to set his house in order. Perhaps there were not sabbatical conditions there.

G.R.C. We need to look into this matter, do we not?, as to whether our houses are in order, and whether we are keeping sabbath. Now what does it mean to keep sabbath in our homes?

Ques. There must be dwelling conditions suited to God there, do you think? You cannot allow in the household what you would keep out of the assembly, can you?

G.R.C. That is a very important principle. I believe the households in the New Testament which were truly dwellings, were signalised by the fact that the assembly could be in them. We all ought to think about that. Is my house so ordered that, if an emergency arose, the assembly could be in my house

next Lord's Day -- is it spiritually suitable for it?

Ques. Would the thought of the mother be seen in the house of Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11), and the thought of the father in the house of Stephanas, (1 Corinthians 16:15) the firstfruits of Achaia?

G.R.C. Very good.

Ques. As regards Corinth, was it in the house that the apostle would help them as to the keeping of the feasts, beginning with the feast of unleavened bread?

G.R.C. Yes. The keeping of the sabbath in our homes would mean that we always have before us what God has done, and is doing, by Himself and for Himself; and what He is doing all stands related to Christ; the old man has no part in it. Therefore our homes are to be based on that principle.

Ques. And would it work out by the cultivation of family devotion in the things of God?

G.R.C. It would. The morning and evening oblation in our homes is most important. We were speaking of the fixed times of drawing near to God in our homes. It is good to have such times. Sisters may be able to draw near at midday, too, when they are working in the home. Brothers in offices may not be able to do so. Daniel had his three fixed times of praying; but every priestly household would be concerned about the morning and evening oblation; and for us that would be preceded, if it is to be acceptable, by entering into the holiest. We need to enter the holiest, so that, as in spirit in the holiest, we can truly serve at God's altars, and not merely at our altars. We have these; we come to them; they have their places; but God's altars must be first. I believe that entering into the holiest continually keeps us in the sense of sabbath. In the holiest we see God; and

what God has done in Christ, by and for Himself; and what He has before Him -- a system characterised entirely by Christ; and we become concerned not to disturb God's rest in any way. We do not want anything in our homes which is inconsistent with the rest of God.

Rem. Is David concerned that sabbatical conditions shall be maintained in his house, when he says, "Let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, Lord Jehovah, has spoken it; and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever"? 2 Samuel 7:29.

G.R.C. That is a very good prayer; yet, later, he has to say, "Although my house be not so before God" 2 Samuel 23:5. We all have to say that in some degree; and yet God was faithful to David, and He is faithful to us. And we can make a start now on this great matter of observing the sabbath in all our dwellings.

Ques. It is said with regard to the children of Israel that they had light in their dwellings. I was wondering if the operations of God, in the creatorial sphere in Genesis, find their part in a moral way in the houses of the saints in the bringing in of light; and the next thing is that God divided between the light and the darkness. Are those the moral exercises which take place in the homes, so that everything which is contrary is excluded?

G.R.C. Exactly; and I think you might bring all the days of Genesis, in their spiritual application, into the matter. We cherish in our homes everything which came out in those days -- the truth of Christ risen; the truth of Christ ascended (the sun, the moon and the stars); the gospel outlook connected with the

swarming of living souls; but above all we cherish Paul's ministry of Christ and the assembly. That is, we have before us at all times how God is operating for His own pleasure.

Ques. Would it really culminate in the great thought of headship, in the man and the woman in their proper place in the household as well?

G.R.C. That is good. As to the mother and father, you find the same order in the assembly in Thessalonica. There is the maternal and paternal element in the assembly, and Paul brings the mother forward first, "as a nurse would cherish her own children" 1 Thessalonians 2:7; and then he exhorts them, as a father, how they ought to walk and please God. But the mother is first. It is very touching that both in the household setting, and the assembly setting, as divine authority is brought to bear upon us the mother is first. We are brought under authority in the most tender way, and that leads us to reverence of the sanctuary -- "Ye shall observe my sabbaths, and my sanctuary shall ye reverence" Leviticus 26:2. Our dwellings thus become true dwellings, and God's sanctuary will be a true dwelling for Him.

Ques. As to the distinction between houses and dwellings, does it apply in connection with the Lord Himself and the place where He abode, according to John 1? Some enquired where He abode, and He invited them to come and see, and they abode with Him. Would it be right to connect it with keeping sabbath with Him in those circumstances?

G.R.C. It says, "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" John 1:14. He did not dwell in the world, He dwelt among us; and it tells us earlier who they were -- those to whom He had given the right to be

children of God, and who were born of God. I am sure the dwelling of the Word amongst such, at that time, would be in sabbath conditions. If we apply that today, that is where we would find the Lord -- in sabbath conditions amongst such persons.

Ques. Would our houses be places where Paul could come and abide? I was thinking of Lydia in Acts 16, where she says, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide" (verse 15).

G.R.C. Hers was a sample household, and an encouraging one, because it apparently belonged to a sister. So that sisters who have no husbands living, or who have not had a husband, are not debarred from having a dwelling. Two of the most honoured dwellings in the New Testament -- Martha's and Lydia's -- were such. The Lord valued Martha's house, and Paul valued Lydia's. But then, if in our homes we pay attention to the things spoken by Paul, we really arrive at God's thought of sabbath. The sixth day of Genesis particularly links with Paul's ministry; we do not come to completion without that; we cannot arrive at sabbath without Paul's ministry, because we would leave out the sixth day. Therefore you can understand that it is from dwellings where attention is given to Paul that the wave-loaves can be brought out.

Rem. I suppose we could hardly have the sabbath if we do not do our work in the six days, according to verse 3, "Six days shall work be done". The house of Stephanas, which was alluded to, devoted themselves to the saints for service. We would expect to find sabbath in that house, because they were very actively employed in the Lord's work.

G.R.C. So that, while we do not, in the application of it, set aside six days for work and one for sabbath, the two things are there, are they not? "My beloved brethren", Paul said, "be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil ..." 1 Corinthians 15:58 -- the word toil is used -- "is not in vain in the Lord". But no one can work the work of the Lord acceptably if he is not keeping sabbath.

Ques. You would distinguish between the idea of work and servile work?

G.R.C. When it refers to the Sabbath itself it is, "no manner of work". When it is a holy convocation it is, "no servile work". "No manner of work" does not, of course, shut out what the priests had to do. In Leviticus 23, "No manner of work" is stressed in verse 3, and strongly stressed in verses 26 - 32 in connection with the day of atonement. So that the full thought of sabbath is, "no manner of work". That is to say we are resting before God in what He effects apart from any creature hand coming into it.

Ques. Has the whole service of labour and ministry to be undertaken as resulting from being in the holiest, and contemplating? So the toil is not irksome toil, but the fruit of having been in the presence of God.

G.R.C. Quite so. The work of the Lord is not servile work; it is done in liberty, as you suggest, springing from the rest.

Rem. Paul, in Acts 20:20 says he, "held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce it to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house".

G.R.C. It shows that the household side and the assembly side are to go along together. Our houses

are to be in keeping, morally and spiritually, with the assembly.

Ques. The morning and evening oblation which have been referred to, would be reading and prayer in the house?

G.R.C. Yes; but make sure you enter the holiest; and make sure you serve at both altars -- the incense altar and the burnt offering altar! We could have a reading and get some food for ourselves, and pray about our household affairs, and yet not touch the altars of God. If we limit our approach to our house hold altar, we have not really touched the morning and evening oblation, although we may have had a prayer and reading. But if we enter the holiest, and serve at God's altars, it makes all the difference in what ascends to God, and all the difference to us.

Ques. Is the holiest a place in the presence of God Himself which each one of us should know? Would you make that, too, a household matter?

G.R.C. Yes. I would desire, in my individual approach to God, to enter the holiest, and also when I kneel down with my household. Begin there!

Rem. I think that is right.

Ques. Do you mean that as we pray individually, or household-wise, we would have God before us -- His glory and service?

G.R.C. It is our privilege to come into the presence of God, and be consciously before Him; to contemplate God, and Christ in the presence of God; to be in the presence of the Fulness! How wonderful to be in the presence of the Fulness -- "In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" Colossians 2:9. How wonderful to see the effulgence of God's glory shining in Christ! It is like God shining forth between the

cherubim, God in Christ thus filling the vision. And then to look out, with God, from the holiest over the whole sphere of His interests; getting His viewpoint of His habitation on earth, and of all the needs connected with it; and also of the needs connected with the government of the world in relation to it. Thus we are equipped to approach the altars.

Ques. Would you say a word more about the two altars?

G.R.C. We are moving away from our subject, but one would link the incense altar with prayer and supplication for all saints (Ephesians 6), and the burnt offering altar with, "supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgiving" for all men, as in 1 Timothy 2:1. We are looking outward from the court, as Solomon did.

To refer now to chapter 23: 15 and 16, the seven sabbaths which they had to count suggest a fulness of appreciation of Sabbath. And thus we bring out of our dwellings a new oblation. That is, we bring out of our dwellings nothing inconsistent with the new man, which is created after God in righteousness, and holiness, and truth; we bring a new oblation. It is a marvellous thing that the two loaves, which typify the saints, could be waved by the priest before God. They could not be offered on the altar, of course, but they were wave-loaves. There are also great offerings, the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the peace offering. There is an enlarged apprehension of Christ and His death as a result of counting these seven weeks, or seven sabbaths. The two wave-loaves, referring to the saints as formed constitutionally by what has preceded, are waved with the two he-lambs of the peace-offering. Think of the saints thus -- in priestly affections linked with Christ

as the peace-offering, and waved before God. The wave loaves then become food for the priests. The priests feed upon the saints viewed thus.

Ques. Would you enlarge upon the priests feeding on the saints?

G.R.C. "They shall be holy to Jehovah, for the priests". As we come together in conformity with the work of God in us, other things having been judged and set aside, we become food for the priests.

Ques. Could you say why the loaves were baken with leaven?

G.R.C. It involves the recognition of what we are by nature -- "With leaven shall they be baken". As has often been said, the leaven is rendered inactive; it is there, although baken. We acknowledge what we are. Paul said as to sinners, "of whom I am the first" 1 Timothy 1:15. He did not hide the fact. It is in the testimonial position.

Ques. Does the counting run along with that? Would the counting involve interest and exercise so that we are not casual, although we are still in flesh and blood conditions?

G.R.C. I think so. The Spirit came down at Pentecost; there were conditions suited to Him after the 50 days. There were the seven weeks and the fifty days. They had to count both ways. We have to count by days and by weeks. It is a question of our personal and family exercises, and of our assembly exercises. All converge on this great matter of the first-fruits, the two wave-loaves. And what was true at Pentecost, Paul would bring about in each locality by the ministry of 1st Corinthians. We judge ourselves, and thus eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He says, "We being many, are one loaf, one

body" 1 Corinthians 10:17. It is the testimonial position Paul laboured to bring the saints in Corinth into practical correspondence with the new oblation.

Ques. Are you thinking of such expressions in connection with Corinth, as, "the assembly of God" and, "so also is the Christ"?

G.R.C. "So also is the Christ", refers to the anointed vessel here in testimony. It shows the dignity of the position. As viewed thus, the saints could be waved before God.

Ques. Is there something corresponding to this great offering, the seven he-lambs and the bullock and the two rams today?

G.R.C. The seven he-lambs and the two rams and the young bullock represent a wonderful appreciation of Christ as the burnt-offering. Then there is the sin-offering, which would link on with the fact that leaven was there; it is not ignored. Then there are two he-lambs for a sacrifice of peace-offering. That is the fellowship offering. Only twice in scripture is the peace-offering prescribed. Normally, peace-offerings -- usually called sacrifices of peace-offering -- were voluntary, or for thanksgiving, or for a vow. They were the results of love in the hearts of the people.

Ques. Would that be the condition which the apostle is looking for as he closes the second epistle to the Corinthians -- "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion the Holy Spirit, be with you all" 2 Corinthians 13:14?

G.R.C. Quite so. These two he-lambs are, typically, a necessity for the establishment of christian fellowship in its true setting. The communion of the Holy Spirit is one aspect of christian fellowship, and these two he-lambs are essential. What we may add

is left to us -- the voluntary offerings and the offerings for thanksgiving. There is unlimited scope for peace-offerings, but these are the essentials. Now if we are right in this setting -- the Corinthian setting -- it makes way for us to move on to the seventh month, which brings in, typically, the fulness of Paul's ministry. The seventh month is completion. I think the blowing of the trumpets on the first of the month means the full setting out of the truth -- the whole counsel of God. Following this is the day of atonement -- a great sabbath -- "A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you". Paul is the only minister who gives us the full setting of the day of atonement.

Ques. You used the word "constitution". Do you think affliction of soul enters into what is constitutional with us?

G.R.C. I do; and I do not think this is the affliction of soul of a sinner first coming to appreciate the work of Christ. I think it is the depth of feeling brought into our souls as we come to appreciate the vast scope of the effect of the death of Christ, and the depths of suffering He endured. In the seventh month we are not thinking of ourselves. We are thinking of God, and of what Christ has done for God -- the width and scope of it, and the depths He went into for His God.

Ques. Would the 53rd of Isaiah open it up for us?

G.R.C. While that chapter treats more of what He did for us, there are things in it which are deeply affecting, "When thou shaft make his soul an offering for sin" (verse 10), and "he hath poured out his soul unto death" (verse 12). These are touches which you get nowhere else. It shows how Israel will come into the gain of the day of atonement.

Ques. Would it bring us to the 1st of Ephesians -- "in the Beloved: in whom we have redemption through his blood" (verse 6)?

G.R.C. That again is our side of it, though on the highest level.

Ques. You made reference to the fact that Paul gave us the full thought of the day of atonement. Had you some particular scriptures in mind?

G.R.C. He touches the great day of atonement in Romans from the standpoint of the scape-goat "who has been delivered for our offences" Romans 4:25; that is our side of it. He touches it in Colossians from the standpoint of the Fulness, and the reconciliation of all things to the Fulness, "having made peace by the blood of his cross" Colossians l: 20. In 2 Corinthians 5 he shows the relation between atonement and new creation. Hebrews gives another aspect of it. It is a vast subject, and our contemplation of it should lead us to afflict our souls as we appreciate that work in which we could have no part. No creature hand had any part in it -- "no manner of work". It is His work.

Rem. In Leviticus 16:17 it says, "there shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goeth in to make atonement in the sanctuary".

Ques. In Colossians 1 the place the saints have is a part of a great whole, is it not, which has been effected for God Himself? There are "things" and "you". "And you ... . yet now has it reconciled in the body of his flesh through death" (verse 22).

G.R.C. Yes. We come into our special part, but it gives the scope of the whole.

We must now refer to the feast of tabernacles, the great climax of the festive year. Colossians refers to all things reconciled; Ephesians refers to all things

filled, and the feast of tabernacles is the filling. In the feast of tabernacles, His final rest, we anticipate with God, both the world to come -- the seven days -- and the eternal state, the eighth day -- God's final rest in a scene filled by Christ.

Rem. "The hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" Ephesians 1:18. Is that it?

G.R.C. It is; and that brings us on to chapter 25, as to the sabbatical years, because chapter 25 deals with the land. It is a question of the land resting, and the people allowing the land to rest once in seven years, leading up to the year of jubilee. It was a recognition that, while it was the land of their possession, it really belonged to Jehovah. What He says about it is, "the land shall not be sold for ever; for the land is mine" (verse 23). Yet it is called the land of their possession. God has given us a great inheritance among the sanctified, but we are never to forget that it is really His inheritance. It is all His. He is the Owner, and the selfishness of our hearts which would lead us to exploit the spiritual inheritance purely for selfish ends, is checked in this chapter. If we seek to exploit our great spiritual inheritance amongst the saints for selfish ends, and do not allow sabbath in connection with it, so that God gets His portion, we shall go into captivity. We shall lose the land. That is the teaching of chapters 25 and 26, as I understand it.

Rem. Is there a suggestion that, while God has secured His end in Christ, He is still awaiting it? He says in verse 23, "for ye are strangers and sojourners with me". Is the Divine end in view? It seems wonderful that God has begun with a sabbath, and is going to end with a sabbath; and He brings these

glories to bear upon us, so that things should be held in right perspective.

G.R.C. And we shall never have them in right perspective if God has not His true place, His supreme place, in our affections. I believe there is a very practical side to chapters 25 and 26. We have a great inheritance. We have been called to share the inheritance amongst those sanctified by faith in Christ.

As gathered together, we can exploit some of this vast inheritance. But if our enjoyment becomes our object, our only concern in such meetings being what we may get, they will lose all spiritual value. The great objective is God's portion -- that He should rest in His love, and exult over His people with singing.

Ques. What is the thought of redemption in verse 24 of chapter 25, "Ye shall grant a redemption for the land"?

G.R.C. It is what we grant to our brother, so that he does not lose his portion in the land. According to Deuteronomy, every seven years was a year of release. That is not touched on here. But the seven sabbaths of years, referred to in verse 8, lead up to the jubilee, and in the jubilee it says (verse 10) "ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family". That is, it brings about a state of things where no one is in debt or under oppression. Everyone is in full spiritual liberty in his place in the inheritance, every man in his possession and in his family. That is what we should aim at, surely, for only thus is God's pleasure secured. The land is His. Although it is ours, it is His, for He has given it to us. So it is the land of our possession; yet it is His, and His pleasure is to see everyone in that inheritance according to His own

disposition -- every man in his possession and in his family. The keeping of the sabbatical year, seven times over, brings us to this great climax, the year of jubilee, when everyone is in his place, functioning in the inheritance, all filling out their place as members of the body. What a thing to aim at!

Rem. Was that the point in Paul sending Onesimus back to Philemon? Then he says, "that thou mightest possess him fully for ever; not any longer as a bondman, but above a bondman, a beloved brother specially to me" Philemon verse 16.

G.R.C. That is a good illustration of it. Of course the fulness of it awaits the Lord's coming. We rejoice in the thought of the Lord's coming, when every saint will be in his place, in his possession, in his family, in the inheritance. All the brethren who are in captivity at the moment throughout christendom will be in the place God intended for them. But then the point of this chapter is that we should anticipate that now, in the power of the Spirit with those who are available; and it comes on the line of keeping Sabbath, the sabbatical year, the land lying fallow when it ought to lie fallow. We are not exploiting the inheritance for selfish ends at all. We are thinking, even when we are exploiting it, of God -- that the land is His, and the saints are His. They are His inheritance, not simply ours. So that every seventh year there was this lying fallow before God, resting and rejoicing in God, and God resting and rejoicing in His people.

Rem. So that while publicly the land is in desolation, the saints, as having the Spirit, are now enabled to enjoy the land in this way.

G.R.C. What a mercy that is, is it not? But we

must take the warning as to exploiting the inheritance simply for selfish ends.

Rem. The liberty you speak of -- each one enjoying his portion in the inheritance -- would make a basis for the heart to be engaged with the riches of God's inheritance in the saints.

G.R.C. That is it; and I think the seventh year gives us scope to think of that, you know -- the sabbatical year. We have our seasons, when we realise how rich our inheritance is; but, in the sabbatical year, we are thinking how rich God's inheritance is in the saints.

Ques. Would you not say that in a practical way there is much need of this with us, for in our service of praise to God there is often a very great deal in regard to our portion, whereas we should move on to God's portion, should we not?

G.R.C. I think if this comes about, and we have God more before us, and keep the sabbatical years, it will affect the way we speak to each other about things. When asked what kind of a morning meeting we have had, we may say, We had a wonderful time and enjoyed it thoroughly. But why do we not think of God and His enjoyment? Did God have His portion in it? Did Christ have His portion in it? It would affect our conversation, too, as to what, through mercy, we may have amongst us generally. We may say, what wonderful ministry we have, what wonderful times we have! It is all, "We" and "Us"; and we may get lifted up and elated, forgetting that the land is God's. If we do not check that tendency, we shall go into captivity. That is the solemn thing. It is not that we are seeking to warn one another on legal lines. But this very thing is all around us in

christendom. Men have forgotten that it is His inheritance, and that the supreme matter is His portion -- that He should rest in His people as His inheritance, and they rest in Him. They have so considered for themselves, and for men, that they have lost the vital value of the inheritance. They are in captivity to feverish human activity, which avails nothing. Sabbath is unknown. And we have to be on our guard lest we should develop a system of activity which will lead us to captivity, because we fail to keep sabbath, and thus leave God's portion out of account.

Rem. If we are on that line it will lead to poverty.

G.R.C. Indeed, and captivity.

Rem. It says in Ephesians, "what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints" -- the glory of it; the glory is to Him.

G.R.C. Quite so.

FOURTH READING

Leviticus 16:1, 2, 11 - 14, 31; Psalm 22:1 - 3, 12 - 24, 27 - 31; Psalm 92:1 - 5, 12 - 15; Psalm 150:1 - 6.

G.R.C. We might consider this morning God's rest in Christ, and His completed work; and His rest in all that is secured for Him on that basis, spoken of prophetically by the Lord in Spirit, when He says, "Thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel". The ultimate result of God's rest in Christ, and His completed work, is that everything that hath breath will praise Jah. The day of atonement in the old economy was a very great Sabbath. We were noticing in Leviticus 23:26 - 32 the great stress on sabbath in connection with the day of atonement. In verse 28 of that chapter it says "Ye shall do no manner of work on that same day", in verse 30, "Every soul that doeth any manner of work on that same day, the same soul will I destroy from among his people"; and in verse 31 and 32, "No manner of work shall ye do: it is an everlasting statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. A sabbath of rest shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls. On the ninth of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath". The celebration of the finished work of Christ is a very great sabbath, and nothing must be allowed to disturb it. No work but His is before the soul, no manner of work. Nothing can add to it. "I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it", He said in John 17. We have noticed that the

idea of sabbath is ceasing from work when it is finished. God does not cease till things are finished; and so the work of Christ is a finished work, and, as I say, it is a very great sabbath for us to celebrate throughout our generations in all our dwellings. The Psalms bring in the side of feeling, which I hope we shall come to when we touch on Psalm 22. That Psalm brings in depth -- the depth of the feelings and sufferings of Christ, which are calculated to produce depth in us. We can never have height according to God unless we have depth. Psalm 22 brings in breadth and length and depth and height, as applied in the light of Christianity.

It is good to have the holy, adorable Person of Christ before us, and first of all as presented in Leviticus 16. We have to allow for the contrast between this dispensation and the previous one -- the way into the holy of holies is now made manifest. While it says, "Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the sanctuary inside the veil before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark, that he die not", the wonderful result of Christ having gone in by His own blood is that today every believer can go where even the priests of old could not go. And the place to which they could not go was only a figure of the true, though God was there -- the tabernacle was only a figure -- but now we have come to the true tabernacle; and every believer has privilege of entry at all times into the sanctuary, inside the veil before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark.

It is our privilege, because the true Aaron has gone in; and you will note that He has gone in in a cloud of fragrant incense. It says, in verse 2, "I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat". I think that is the

cloud of God's presence. God would appear in the cloud upon the mercy-seat; but He appeared in relation to Aaron going in in a cloud of fragrant incense. Christ has gone in by His own blood, the witness to the work completed for God; but He has gone in in a cloud of fragrant incense, which the very sufferings involved in the atonement brought out in fulness. The very sufferings depicted in Psalm 22 brought out this cloud of fragrant incense, in which the great Sufferer, having completed His work, went in to God. So that the sufferings of the atonement not only put away sin from before God by the sacrifice of Himself, but brought out, in all its excellence, the fragrance of His holy manhood, which fills God's presence for ever. Those excruciating sufferings brought out fully the fragrance of Christ to God; and, as going in by His own blood, and in that cloud of incense, you can understand God, as it were, meeting Him, and appearing in the cloud upon the mercy-seat.

Ques. Would that be involved in what the Lord said -- "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him" John 13:3?

G.R.C. That helps us to grasp the antitype. The Spirit of God has separated things in the type for our instruction; but, when we came to the antitype, the blessed Sufferer, who goes in by His own blood and in the fragrance of His person, is, on the other hand, the one in whom God shines forth. God is glorified in Him. He is Himself the effulgence of God's glory. As we go within the veil, we go in as accepted in the Beloved, accepted in the cloud of fragrant incense; and the very Person, whose excellences have produced that cloud of fragrant incense, is the One in

whom God is shining forth. "Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth" Psalm 80. The ark, the mercy-seat, and the cherubim of glory are all a type of Christ; and the shining forth of God from between the cherubim is in that same blessed Person.

It is only within the veil that we can see Christ thus.

We must be inside to apprehend His glory, and God's glory shining forth in Him.

Ques. In verse 2, Jehovah said, "Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the sanctuary inside the veil before the mercy-seat which is upon the ark, that he die not". Would you say that there must be conditions on our side before we can approach inside the veil?

G.R.C. Very simple conditions -- "Let us approach", it says, "with a true heart, in full assurance of faith" Hebrews 10:22. Those are the two conditions on our side. All we need is a true heart -- a heart which accepts the truth about itself, and about God; and full assurance of faith -- unbounded confidence in Christ, and the work which He has completed.

Ques. Does it depend entirely upon the completed work of Christ that God might have His rest?

G.R.C. God's rest in the universe, in heaven and earth filled according to His pleasure, could never be brought to pass but for the completed work of Christ. That sabbath is now complete; the other is still anticipative. The full results are future, and we anticipate them by the Spirit, and praise God accordingly; but this side of the matter is complete. God's rest is complete in Christ, and His finished work; and our rest should be complete in Him, too.

Ques. In verse 12 it says, "Both his hands full of fragrant incense beaten small". Both His hands were

full. And then does, "beaten small", suggest that the Lord Jesus, in His holy manhood here, could be examined in the most minute and detailed way?

G.R.C. What is in your mind as to both hands being full?

Rem. There was nothing else but the fragrant incense; there was the incense, and the blood.

G.R.C. And never was the beating small so much in evidence as at the cross. Psalm 22 is the cross. As far as I see, it does not depict any other part of the Lord's life, except in one or two retrospective statements. The whole setting is the cross; and we need to contemplate the cross, and how the incense was beaten small there.

Rem. It is as the incense is put upon the fire that it produces the cloud.

G.R.C. That is it. So that what is in mind here is the offering of Himself -- "Who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God" Hebrews 9:14. What brought out the fragrant incense was the fire of the altar; He offered Himself.

Ques. And the word is, "bring it inside the veil". It is not 'take it in'. Is it God thus claiming these things for Himself? "Bring it", it says. God is there. God is claiming the whole matter for Himself.

G.R.C. It is most important to apprehend God's side of the matter. We cannot emphasise too strongly that Psalm 22 depicts the sufferings of the Christ for His God. Do not let us lower this in our minds by thinking of them merely as the sufferings of Christ for us. There is not a word about sin or sins in the Psalm. It is not a question of the sinner and his sins, but of the sufferings of Christ for His God. "My God, my God", He cried. How much He suffered

for His God! And what a work He did for His God, laying the basis for the full rest of God!

Rem. We come in as worshippers in the light of it. "The fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship"

Psalm 22:29 -- those who have fed on these infinitely great things in their souls.

G.R.C. So that the Psalm, as it proceeds, gives the full scope of the results. It develops the praises, beginning in the assembly, and going on to the seed of Israel, and then to all the families of the nations. The Psalm does not include heaven, because that did not belong to Old Testament light; but we read it in the light of Christianity, and think of the great results for God -- in heaven and on earth.

Rem. So Aaron making atonement for himself and his house would have the assembly in mind particularly.

G.R.C. It would, because the assembly is essential to give a lead to the praise of the universe.

Ques. Should the greatness of the blood, and the work of Christ, be in mind in giving thanks for the cup at the Lord's supper?

G.R.C. The cup, in its actual setting, is the witness of our blessing; it is the new covenant in His blood. It refers to the blood as the witness of perfect love which has secured our blessing. But there may be grace and power to express appreciation of the value of the blood to God.

Ques. But there would be liberty, would there not, to refer to the blood in worshipping God? I was thinking of J.N.D.'s great sanctuary hymn, which concludes on that note, "We should be part, through Jesus' blood".

G.R.C. My own impression is that, as you say,

there is scope in the worship of God for presenting the blood to God, as the witness of a work done for Him. I am speaking of the presenting of the blood, because that is how it is put. In Leviticus 1:5, it says, "and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood". A priest is not thinking of what the blood did for him, but of what it has done for God.

Ques. And involving the whole universe?

G.R.C. Quite so.

Rem. The sons of Zadok are to present the fat and the blood in the sanctuary. (Ezekiel 44:15,16).

G.R.C. That is confirmatory.

Ques. Would Hebrews 9:14 have that in mind? "How much rather shall the blood of the Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God, purify your conscience from dead works to worship the living God?".

G.R.C. Yes. The word 'worship' there is priestly service, and thus includes what we are saying. The purging of our conscience from dead works also bears on the matter of sabbath.

Ques. What do we learn from the blood being sprinkled before the mercy-seat seven times?

G.R.C. For one thing, it would assure us of our liberty of approach. There is a fulness in the seven times. We have, "boldness", it says, "for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus". And there it is -- seven times sprinkled, before the mercy-seat, as well as on the mercy-seat. It is on the mercy-seat -- that is for God -- but it is seven times sprinkled, before it.

Ques. Would it be, in that sense, a complete testimony to the worshipper as to the work of Christ?

G.R.C. I would say so. So that if we do not

habituate ourselves to entering with boldness, we discredit Christ and His work. Boldness, in that setting, is not presumption; it is rightly honouring the Person and work of Christ.

Ques. Would you help us in regard to the thought of mercy as leading to the praise of God? When Paul is occupied with mercy, he breaks into a doxology, as in 1 Timothy 1:16,17.

G.R.C. God has acquired rights in mercy through the Person and work of Christ, and therefore speaks from the mercy-seat. The whole divine system is based on sovereign mercy -- the rights God has acquired to act in mercy. Therefore it should be a great theme of praise. But our brother was quoting to, "purify your conscience from dead works", and that bears on sabbath.

Ques. How does it work out?

G.R.C. Our conscience purged from dead works means that we have come into the gain of sabbath; we are resting solidly upon Christ and His completed work. Dead works are religious works of flesh. The only service acceptable to God, is rendered by persons who have ceased from their own works; and we arrive at sabbath, in that sense, as ceasing from our works, as it says in Hebrews 4:10, "He that has entered into his rest, he also has rested from his works, as God did from his own". We cease from all religious works of the flesh, and we rest with God in Christ and His completed work, which involves the recognition that nothing of the flesh will do for God. That enables us to take up the true service of God, which is by the eternal Spirit; because if Christ Himself offered Himself to God by the eternal Spirit, then the whole service must be on that principle.

Ques. Will you say something as to why it says, "... your conscience from dead works?"

G.R.C. Until we appreciate -- and rest in -- Christ and His completed work, we have a bad conscience, and feel impelled to make some effort in the flesh to please God. All around us souls are held in this bondage; and we must beware lest we, who have the light of God's sabbath, get back into bondage. We must ever keep this great sabbath -- in all our dwellings. Christ and His completed work must be cherished, so that we never go back to the works of the flesh.

Rem. So that Psalm 22 is the great basis for that sabbath.

G.R.C. Yes. The last verse (31) is the declaration of it. "He hath done it".

Ques. Would the Lord's words in John's gospel, "It is finished", bear on what you are saying?

G.R.C. They bear exactly on what we are saying.

But now, in considering the Psalm, there is the question of feelings and depth. We need to contemplate the depths into which the Lord Jesus went for His God. If depth is not produced with us, we shall not be ready for the heights. The heading of the Psalm suggests the heights: "To the chief Musician. Upon Aijeleth-Shahar". That is, "the hind of the morning".

What will give us the affections and agility proper to the hind of the morning? It is an appreciation of the depths into which Jesus has gone to secure a dwelling for His God among the praises of His people. If the depths have been entered into in our souls, in so far as the creature can do so, there will be great readiness and agility in accompanying our Beloved in the heights. Nothing would cause us more

grief than not to be ready td move with the Lord in those high praises, which He went into such depths to secure.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the Lord saying, "My God"?

G.R.C. It is viewing Christ in His perfect manhood -- His absolute knowledge of God, and His love for God. The word is 'El': "My El, my El, why hast thou forsaken me?". El is one of the greatest titles of God. 'Jah', 'Jehovah' and 'I AM', which are cognate words, are the personal Name of God in the Old Testament, but 'El' is a name in the sense of a title. Jehovah is the only true El. El is the greatest title of God in the Old Testament, I believe, and refers to Him in His nature and character -- the One who alone stands in His own strength, the Mighty.

It refers not only to His might in a physical sense -- He can do all things in a physical sense, of course -- but to His might in strength of character. When we speak of a strong man, we often mean a man of strong character. God is the One who stands in His own immutable strength of nature and character.

And the Lord Jesus, because He is God, knows God in the Absolute. He thus has a perfect apprehension of what is due to God in His nature and character, His holiness, His righteousness, His majesty and His love. "My God" on the lips of the Lord Jesus means more than it could on any other lips, although we are privileged to use the expression.

Ques. Is there some unique correspondence with that in Christ Himself, as in verse 21, "From the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me"? The question has often been raised as to Christ's God.

There was not only Godhead in Its fulness and

blessedness, but there was glorious perfection and strength in Christ. I mean that there was a Man here competent to use this title, "My God".

G.R.C. And that is what makes the work of atonement so complete and absolute in itself, because the One who was taking up matters for God, was One, who, because of who He is, had an absolute knowledge of all that was due to God, and could enter fully into all that was due to God in respect of the question of sin.

Ques. Do you mean that you are not limiting this thought of, "My God", to the economy exactly?

G.R.C. He knows God in the Absolute. We cannot know Him thus. But then God has shone forth in Him, so that we do know God in His nature and character. The very One who went into death to uphold all that was due to God, is the One in whom, now, God is shining forth. He is the effulgence of God's glory; God's nature and character are in full display, and have come into full display relative to this work.

Ques. Is it not very touching that the Lord should say, "There is no rest for me"?

G.R.C. Very touching indeed. He was going into those depths to secure rest for His God, and rest for us; but, at that time, there was no rest for Him.

Rem. J. N. D. says in the Synopsis, in connection with John 13:31, "When therefore he (i.e. Judas) was gone out, Jesus says, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him", that His glory there refers to what He alone could do, which He must have done alone, and of which He must have the fruit alone with God, because He was God.

G.R.C. That seems a very profound statement. God

is glorified in Him. As the fruit of His works God's glory is now radiant in Him. Every feature of God's character has come into display, and we can be in the very presence of it, and at home in it; and indeed become diffusers of it, as the heavenly city will be a diffuser of the glory of God. But He is the One in whom it shines, as it says in Revelation, "the glory of God has enlightened it" -- that is, the assembly, the city, -- "and the lamp thereof is the Lamb". The effulgence of it is in the Lamb, this great Sufferer.

The glory of El is effulgent in Him, and the city becomes the great diffuser of that light to the universe.

Ques. Would you say that all that was surpassingly excellent in Man came out at the cross, so that the Son of man was glorified?

G.R.C. That is it. But then, in that very place, where all that was most excellent in Man came into display, He glorified God. In the darkest place, in the place of death and distance, He glorified God; and God has glorified Him; and now He is the very lamp of the glory -- "the Lamb is the lamp thereof".

Ques. Would that strength of character suggested in 'El' be seen at the cross, as at no other place? I was wondering whether there would be a link with El in the suggestion as to, "I have laid help upon a mighty one" Psalm 89:19.

G.R.C. Yes. And, of course, we get strength as we apprehend God in this way. It says, "strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory" Colossians 1:11. What makes a man strong in character, and able to face all the exigencies of the testimony, is going into the holiest, and being strengthened with all power, "according to the might of his glory unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy". That is a

verse which refers to the holiest. There are a number of verses in scripture which refer to the holiest, without mentioning the word, and that is one. So that where we get might is in going into the presence of God. We thus derive strength of character from God. You could not move a man if he were strengthened with all power according to the might of God's glory.

Rem. So it says, "Strength and gladness" are "in his place" 1 Chronicles 16:27.

G.R.C. Exactly. And Psalm 68 ends, where it speaks of the sanctuary, "He it is that giveth strength and might unto the people".

Ques. What you are saying bears on the Lord's words as the risen One: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God"

John 20:17, does it not?

G.R.C. Very much so -- "My God and your God". And so it says in this Psalm, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren" -- the name of His God, in all that that means.

Ques. Does the Psalm bring out the fragrant in cense in all its composite elements? It was holy to Jehovah, was it not? It was the fragrant incense which formed the cloud.

G.R.C. Quite so. I trust we are receiving some impression of the depths. We could well afford to read over this Psalm many times, thinking of what Christ suffered for His God, and the depths into which He went. Think of the way He was surrounded! In verse 6 He says He was, "the despised of the people"; that was the outside circle, the reproach of men. Verse 12 was a nearer circle -- "Many bulls have encompassed me" -- the great

religious leaders of the day -- "Many bulls have encompassed me; Bashan's strong ones have beset me round. They gape upon me with their mouth, as a ravening and a roaring lion". Then we get a closer circle still in verse 16: "For dogs have encompassed me", -- that would be the Roman soldiery who were nearest to Him -- "Dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me; they pierced my hands and my feet". That was the external setting; He was surrounded by these three circles of hate. Perfect love was surrounded by three circles of hate; and then perfect love did its work. When they had done their worst, perfect love did its best, as we may say; and He endured the forsaking of God. "Him who knew not sin" God "has made sin for us" 2 Corinthians 5:21. He had offered Himself without spot to God.

Ques. Would there be a special link between the sufferings of Christ in Psalm 22 and the sufferings of Christ in Mark's gospel?

G.R.C. The account in Mark's gospel, specially, brings out the sufferings of the Lord from each of the three circles of hate, because it gives the first three hours upon the cross as well as the second three; and it also stresses the sufferings of atonement.

Mark specially stresses the severity of the sufferings, although I would say we need the death of Christ in all four gospels to cover the ground.

Rem. I was thinking of the expression in 1 Chronicles 15 in connection with the singers. It tells us of certain ones who were to play on harps on the Sheminith (verse 21) to lead the singing. The footnote says that the Sheminith is in the lower octave. I wondered if we needed that depth in our music, to lead the singing.

G.R.C. Very good -- a most interesting allusion. It shows how we do need depth; and therefore we need to appreciate this sabbath we are dwelling upon now, in order to get depth. Think of the depths the Lord went into! How can we afford to be shallow, as we think of that? Without depth we can never rightly touch height. We shall never be truly as the 'hind of the morning' if we have not taken in something of this.

Ques. It is the order in Ephesians 3, is it not? "Breadth and length and depth and height". And then there is the giving glory to God in the assembly in Christ Jesus.

G.R.C. That is right. There is breadth and length.

We take in all saints -- the breadth and length of God's purposes -- and we are glad to do that; we are glad to think of every family in heaven and on earth. But then we must have depth and height, and the depth comes before height. All four dimensions are necessary if God is to have His portion in the assembly.

Rem. The Psalms generally, with the feelings expressed in them, would help us in this matter of depth. They are most affecting and humbling as we ponder over them, are they not?

G.R.C. The Psalms are very valuable in that way.

Ques. Are you now about to speak of verse 22 of Psalm 22?

G.R.C. That verse, and those which follow, bring in the great results which flow, really anticipating the great final sabbath of God as dwelling amid praise. So we get the nearest circle: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee". As we know from the New Testament, that refers to the assembly. Then

we have the seed of Israel in verse 23; and then, in verses 27 and 28, "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee: For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations". This Psalm is limited to earth and the world to come, in its literal setting; but, in the light of Christianity, we bring heaven and earth into it, and every family in heaven and on earth; and we go on to the kingdom in its eternal character -- "the kingdom is Jehovah's".

Ques. I would like to ask as to the footnote to the title of this Psalm, which indicates that it is feminine.

G.R.C. The title means 'the hind of the morning', and the hind is a female animal. The suggestion seems to be that this Psalm would bring about in us a state of affection and agility, so that we would be able to move with our Beloved. He is presented in the Song of Songs as a gazelle or a young hart -- the male. And the spouse, at the end of the Song, is really the hind of the morning. She says the last word, and it is what the Beloved has been waiting for. She says, "Haste, my beloved, and be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountain of spices". That is the hind of the morning speaking.

She is able and ready to move with Him on the mountains of spices, and she urges Him. It is not that He needs urging, but how the Lord loves the assembly to urge Him! When the assembly is filled with His love, how the Lord loves us to take the initiative and say, "Haste, my beloved" -- to say, as it were, Let us move on into the service of God.

Ques. Do you think David touches this in 1 Chronicles 16, when the ark is brought in and set in the midst

of the tent which he had spread for it? It says, "Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to give thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brethren" (verse 7). I was thinking of the richness and fulness of that collection of Psalms.

G.R.C. That is the typical illustration of Christ singing in the midst of the assembly. David delivered the Psalm; it came from him. No doubt he joined in it; but it came from him; and it was a collection, like the many contributions which come into the service of praise.

Ques. So you have three circles of hate, as you were saying, but three circles of love and praise here. Do you get the expression of the latter in Psalm 92? It is the expression of the praise for the sabbath day -- praise from these three circles.

G.R.C. I think so. The three circles, if we introduce the scope of Paul's ministry, involve the full sabbath, the full and final results. Psalm 92:1 says, "It is good to give thanks unto Jehovah, and to sing psalms unto thy name. O most High; To declare thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness in the nights. Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the lute; upon the Higgaion with the harp. For thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad through thy work". That is why this is a song for the sabbath day. We have noticed that sabbath means ceasing from work when it is finished; and the word 'work', in this setting according to the note to Isaiah 45:9, means a finished work done with a purpose. The Psalmist is saying, "Thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad through thy work". Whether we think of the finished work of Christ, or the final sabbath, God makes us glad through His work. And then he goes

into the detail of it: "I will triumph in the works of thy hands".

Rem. You get depth in the next verse.

G.R.C. "Jehovah, how great are thy works! Thy thoughts are very deep". The depths of God are there.

Ques. Do you understand that the finished work includes the thought of making known the Father's name?

G.R.C. It certainly does -- making known the Father's name, and making known the name of God. It includes also the whole work of new creation. The basis of it all is Christ and His completed work. The work of atonement -- or reconciliation, as it is called in the New Testament -- has laid the basis for new creation. It has set God free -- there are no moral hindrances -- for God to work in new creation. It has laid the basis for a new heaven and a new earth, and that is the final thing.

Rem. What I mean is that it would not be limited to the work of expiation.

G.R.C. The new creation work, in its totality, can be read into this: "Thou ... hast made me glad through thy work".

Ques. In Acts 20 Paul speaks of, "the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own". Would that show us that all God has is based upon the value of the precious blood of Christ?

G.R.C. Quite so. Nothing can be more important than to understand that new creation is based upon the great work of Christ. It is not like the original creation, simply an act of power; it is based upon the settlement of moral issues; so that what is involved in the settlement of those issues is worked

substantially into the souls of the saints -- "the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness" Ephesians 4:24.

Ques. Are the saints in mind at the end of this Psalm? "The righteous shall shoot forth like a palm-tree; he shall grow like a cedar on Lebanon".

G.R.C. I wanted to refer to righteousness, because in the new heavens and the new earth righteousness dwells. It links on with the work of Christ morally. At the end of Psalm 22 it says, "A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it". Psalm 22 thus ends with sabbath -- He hath done it. If we think of the atoning work of Christ, which the Psalm depicts, He has done it; no creature hand came into it. And if we think of the great final results in new creation, He has done it. And the whole matter is based on righteousness accomplished. So J.N.D.'s hymn refers to, "God's righteousness with glory bright". That is how the glory of El has shone out. The Psalm shows that He is holy -- "Thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel". "Thou art holy" -- that is His nature; He abhors sin. But the Psalm ends with His righteousness. The Lord Jesus has met what God is in His nature, so that He can rest complacently; but all has been effected on the basis of righteousness, and that is where God's glory shines out. He has effected every design of His love, without compromising righteousness one iota; and that has cost the death of Christ. To base things on righteousness has cost the death of Christ; it has involved the atoning work of Christ.

Rem. So we come to the word, "It is done" Revelation 21:6, and then the One who has done it shines before us in all His glory.

G.R.C. Quite so. That is the great point of Sabbath. What God has done -- His work -- has displayed Himself. God Himself has come into full display in connection with His operations. So that sabbath would involve our resting before God Himself in full display; and nothing could be more blessed. And God rests in us as the work of His hands.

Ques. In that setting I was going to ask as to the verse which has been referred to: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren" Psalm 22:22, and then we get it also in Hebrews 2:12. And in Psalm 92 it says, "Sing psalms unto thy name, O Most High". Is that God before us -- God in the majesty of His being?

G.R.C. It must include that.

Ques. What about Hebrews 2?

G.R.C. That includes it, too.

Ques. There has been a suggestion that the Father is before us in Hebrews 2.

G.R.C. Certainly so. We should make way for full and unrestricted response to God revealed as Father; but also to God as God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Ques. Does that mean that we can use that verse in Hebrews 2. in connection with worshipping the Father, and also in connection with worshipping God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

G.R.C. That is what I understand, though one would ever be ready for adjustment. The Lord says, "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" John 20:17. How can we eliminate one part of that?

Rem. I think that helps us all.

G.R.C. Now I think we should have a word or two on the last Psalm.

Rem. "Praise him in his mighty acts" Psalm 150:2.

G.R.C. That is what I was thinking of. There is the touch of sabbath there. When sabbath is complete and final, we do not forget the mighty acts. We can look back over the six days of work, as we might say, and they become a feature of the praise.

Rem. These mighty acts are not merely remembered, but they are brought forward; they are abiding and eternal.

G.R.C. I was thinking of your remarks of yesterday. How cumulative those days are; and they culminate in the final scene of rest and praise. "Praise God (El) in his sanctuary". J.N.D. says His sanctuary is specially the heavenly Jerusalem; but, intrinsically, His own secret place of holiness and separatedness from all He is praised in, in the light which none can approach unto; where spiritual thought, by the Holy Spirit, alone reaches Him. How wonderful to praise Him, known as dwelling in the assembly, and yet in the recognition that He dwells in unapproachable light.

Ques. Are you thinking of 1 Timothy 6:16?

G.R.C. Yes. In ascribing glory to God in the assembly, we reach out in praise to Him as the One dwelling in unapproachable light.

Ques. Was Paul praising thus when he said, "To whom be honour and eternal might"?

G.R.C. Quite so.

Ques. Would this last Psalm be God entering into His rest finally, and we having our part in it?

G.R.C. I think Psalm 150 is a foreshadowing of

God's final rest amid universal praise, of which we antedate the chorus. We are to antedate it now; but it is universal praise.

Ques, Would you say that it is not always necessary to distinguish Persons in worshipping God?

G.R.C. That is important. We can worship God in the greatness of His Being without distinguishing the Persons.

FIFTH READING

John 17:4,5; John 19:28 - 30, 32 - 35, Ephesians 1:7 - 10; 1 Corinthians 15:24,28; Revelation 21:1 - 7.

G.R.C. The scriptures now before us in the New Testament confirm those we have been occupied with in the Old Testament. We have read the Lord's own words in John's gospel, very affecting words, relating to Himself and His completed work, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it"; and then His precious words on the cross, when He knew that all things were finished, as it says, "Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished", after receiving the vinegar said, "it is finished". A great sabbath had been introduced. God can rest eternally in the Person and the work of Christ, and we can share God's rest in Him. Then, in Ephesians, "the administration of the fulness of times" refers to what is typified in the feast of tabernacles in Leviticus 23. "The fulness of times" is the great harvest time, as it says of the feast of tabernacles, "when ye have gathered in the produce of the land". "The fulness of times" means, I think, the time when God displays the harvest of each dispensation, and heaven and earth are filled according to His pleasure with families secured from each dispensation. It is a view of the world to come as culminating in the eternal state.

Just as the feast of tabernacles had an eighth day, so the "administration of the fulness of times" is the world to come, but as culminating in the eternal state,

and not viewed as though there were any break, because all that is displayed in the world to come, as the fruit of the work of God, is carried over into the eternal state.

The passage in Corinthians gives light as to how that final state is brought in -- "then the end". It is the eternal state -- the eighth, the last, the great day of the feast. And then we have the affecting verse, "then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all".

The passage in Revelation enlarges on the eternal condition. The narrative does not pause to develop the world to come, because the day of God is the great objective. It was the great objective to Peter.

In his second epistle he, similarly, does not pause to develop the world to come; he just speaks of the day of the Lord as introducing the day of God. And so the narrative in Revelation 20 and 21, whilst speaking of those who live and reign with Christ a thousand years, hastens on. We know it returns to a description of the city in its millennial glory, but the narrative itself hastens on to the great end, when the One on the throne says, "It is done". Those words again imply sabbath. The words on the cross, "It is finished", involve a great sabbath, the completed work of Christ; but these words, "It is done", mean that all that God purposed, and which was to be based on Christ and His finished work, is fulfilled.

And so the eternal rest is introduced, God having ceased from His labour because "It is done".

Ques. Does John 17:4 speak more of the Lord's manhood, and what He did in the body prepared; and verse 5 bring in His Deity?

G.R.C. The passage in Hebrews 10, "Thou hast prepared me a body" and "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will", also refer to His Deity, in that He was speaking in pre-incarnate conditions. He was saying, "Lo, I come", not 'I am sent'. It was His own act, an act which no one could have imposed upon Him, although in keeping with eternal purpose. But having come to do God's will, He was here as the sent One, because He had committed Himself to that will. He committed Himself to it in pre-incarnate Deity, where no obedience could have been imposed upon Him. But having said, "Lo I come ... to do, O God, thy will", then having come, there was nothing for Him to do other than the will of God. And we have to note too, that in that passage He is visualising all the offerings by fire. "Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; ... thou tookest no pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin". There are the four offerings called offerings by fire. There is the sacrifice of peace offerings, the oblation, the burnt offering, and the sin offering; and it is a wonderful contemplation that, in pre-incarnate Deity, the Lord took it upon Himself to accept the body prepared, in order that, in the offering of that body, He might be the antitype of all four offerings by fire. I am stressing the fire; and who knew what the fire meant like He did? And that is what is involved in this word, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it". It was a great sacrificial work, involving the fire, in all that the fire meant. Only One who was a Divine Person could fully appreciate what the fire meant.

Ques. Is the work here the same as that referred to in chapter 4, when He says, "My food is that I

should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work"?

G.R.C. Chapter 4 may have more in view the bringing about of a completed product, a finished work in the sense of a worshipper, the woman being a sample.

Rem. The Lord goes on to speak of gathering fruit to life eternal, does He not, as if that were an objective, a completion to the work He had in mind?

G.R.C. So that, while we could not exclude from it the sacrificial work, it seems to have the harvest in view, do you think?

Ques. Would it have to do with the Father seeking worshippers -- what the Father was doing, His work?

G.R.C. Yes. But I think in chapter 17 the Lord has primarily in mind the sacrificial work which was the basis of all else. It could not be excluded from what is said in chapter 4, because there could not be a worshipper, worshipping in spirit and truth, but for this basic work.

Ques. May I enquire as to the difference between this in chapter 17, which I take to be anticipative of His death, and in chapter 19: 30 when He was actually giving up His life? In each case He speaks of a finished work.

G.R.C. The two are closely linked. In one He is speaking to His Father anticipatively; and in the other He is speaking publicly, making a public pronouncement.

Ques. In finishing the work that the Father gave Him to do, did the Lord remove everything which was offensive, and bring in that which was for God's eternal pleasure?

G.R.C. That is what I understand. So typically, in Aaron going in, the blood having met all that was

offensive, he goes in in a cloud of incense.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the oblation being referred to as an offering by fire?

G.R.C. In Leviticus 2:9, it says, "The priest shall take from the oblation a memorial thereof, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour", and in verse 10, "It is most holy of Jehovah's offerings by fire". So that, not only was it tested in the various ways in which it was prepared -- in the cauldron and the pan and so on -- but the memorial of it was burnt on the altar, "an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour".

Ques. In regard to the distinction between chapter 17 and chapter 19, you said chapter 19 was a public pronouncement; but would this be more for the intelligence of those whom the Lord calls "men" -- "the men whom thou gavest me out of the world"?

G.R.C. Quite so. I suppose we should include the whole service the Lord did on the earth, leading up to the great sacrifice. But from the outset His death was in mind: He came for that purpose. I think we have to keep before us the main thing. Other things were involved in His service, and He completed everything that the Father had given Him to do. But His committal, "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will", stood related to sacrifices and offerings and burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin; and without that basic work, nothing else could have stood. And all He did in the way of helping and securing men, had in view the fact that He was going to undertake this primary mission for which He had come.

Ques. The greatness of the hour is in mind here -- "The hour is come". He had referred to it in chapter 12, "Father, save me from this hour. But on account

of this have I come to this hour". Are we to be impressed, as hearing the Lord speaking to the Father, by the magnitude of what is in mind to be accomplished?

G.R.C. That is important; the magnitude of this hour, the sacrificial hour!

Ques. Have you any thought as to why He should speak of it as completed in anticipation? He does not say, "I will complete".

G.R.C. I think it is in the same way as He speaks anticipatively in chapter 13:31; "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him". He is anticipating the cross.

Ques. Does that bring out the greatness of the Person who is speaking? If Divine Persons undertake to do something, it is as good as done, is it not?

G.R.C. Exactly. I think what you say as to the hour has to be kept in mind, lest we weaken this verse. It includes the completing of everything which He came to do; but do not let us lose sight of the immensity of the transaction of that hour, and which was the primary purpose of His coming -- "Lo, I come", standing related, as I have said, to the four offerings by fire. That was the primary purpose of Christ's coming, and on which the carrying out of the purpose of God depended -- "In the roll of the book it is written of me".

Ques. That reference in chapter 12, "Father, save me from this hour", would bring out the immensity of what was involved, would it not?

G.R.C. We need to take our shoes off our feet.

It is holy ground to hear the Lord speaking to the Father thus -- "Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?" And then there is the cry from His

heart -- do not let us read it just dike a sentence in a book -- "Father, save me from this hour". It was a cry from His heart, an anguished cry. He meant what He was saying; He was feeding things deeply. "Father, save me from this hour", He was facing the fire.

And then He says, "But on account of this have I come to this hour". That again gives us the primary cause of His coming, "On account of this have I come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name".

Ques. Does that bring us back to the word, "now", in chapter 13: 31? I was thinking of what is being stressed as to the hour; "Now is the Son of man glorified and God is glorified in him"; He was looking on to the moment when the work would be completed.

G.R.C. So a all these chapters are connected with the hour, as it says in chapter 13, "Jesus, knowing that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father". It is that hour which is in mind.

Ques. Why is the thought of authority brought in in chapter 17, verse 2 -- "As thou hast given him authority over add flesh"?

G.R.C. In view of the fulfilment of the purpose of God, I would say. The Son was given authority over add flesh; and in virtue of the completing of His work, He would have a free hand, so that as to add the Father had given Him He should give them life eternal. The purpose of God was going through.

Rem. The work could only be completed as the Lord Jesus went to the altar of burnt offering.

G.R.C. Quite so; by the eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God.

Ques. Does, "the hour", stand in a certain contrast

with the three hours of darkness in Matthew and Mark? The three hours of darkness on the cross in Matthew and Mark are the sufferings in an extended way, whereas we have here the concentration of Divine purpose in what was about to be accomplished.

G.R.C. The Lord speaks of this hour -- "save me from this hour" -- as covering it all. But then the next verse is remarkable, because it says, "And now glorify me, thou Father, along with thyself, with the dory which I had along with thee before the world was". He is asking for what is properly His -- the glory of Deity. He is asking to be re-instated in the glory of Deity along with the Father, but basing it on the fact that the mission is fulfilled. He had said, "Lo, I come"; now the mission was fulfilled.

Ques. Would verse 4 emphasise His mediatorial glory, and verse 5 the glory which is proper to Him?

G.R.C. Quite so. Verse 5 is very important. Why should the Lord have said that in our hearing? It may be a glory which we cannot behold; but it is said in our hearing so that we might know that Jesus is now glorified along with the Father with the glory which He had along with Him before the world was. For one thing, it helps us, in the understanding of the day of God, to know that Jesus is there.

Rem. So the footnote is, 'Along with, as to presence and place'.

Ques. Does this link with the beginning of the gospel, "The word was with God, and the Word was God"?

G.R.C. Yes. There He was in pre-incarnate Deity; now He is glorified along with the Father, yet as retaining glorified manhood; and the work is finished. Verse 5 is introduced in a remarkable way, so that

we should have no doubt about it. Though He is asking for things, He leaves us in no doubt as to His Deity. It would guard us from thinking that His expression, "that they should know thee, the only true God" excluded Himself. As a man here it was right that He should address the Father as the only true God; but the only true God there involves the exclusion of false gods, not the exclusion of the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Rem. So that you have designedly said, 'Reinstated in the glory of Deity', not 'reinstated in Deity'.

G.R.C. Yes. The Lord Jesus never left Deity; "Subsisting in the form of God" Philippians 2:6. It does not say that He left the form of God.

Rem. So that before opposers in this gospel He says, "Before Abraham was, I am".

G.R.C. That is an illustration of what is meant in Philippians 2, when it says, "Subsisting in the form of God, he did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God". It is referring to the attitude He took up in manhood as seen in John's gospel -- that He did not esteem it an object of rapine to assert that He was God; and His opponents knew that He was making that assertion. They tried to kill Him because He made Himself equal with God; but it was not an object of rapine on His part to do that; He was perfectly entitled to do it.

Ques. Does this link on with your last scripture, Revelation 21:3, "God himself shall be with them, their God"? Does it give fulness to the mediatorship of Christ?

G.R.C. That is just what I thought. It helps us as to God Himself, and the fulness involved in that expression.

Rem. In the epistle, John says, "He is the true God, and eternal life".

G.R.C. Yes, exactly.

Now in chapter 19, there is the reference to the blood and water. While we are intended to get from it full comfort for our souls, yet the Lord having said, "It is finished", and the blood and water being the witness to a finished work, it will help us greatly to see what the blood and water mean for God.

Rem. So that, "It is finished", goes farther than expiation as meeting the need of the sinner.

G.R.C. What is finished at this point is this great sabbath of atonement or reconciliation. He has made peace by the blood of His cross -- made peace for the Fulness of the Godhead. John shows how the Fulness was moving. The Lord says, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me", and the Spirit was abiding on Him. The Fulness was moving towards the cross, and the Fulness has made peace, "by the blood of his cross" Colossians 1:20.

Rem. What the bowing of that head (verse 30) must have meant for God!

G.R.C. Yes, "having bowed his head, he delivered up his spirit", "having made peace by the blood of his cross".

Ques. Why this remarkable word, "Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, says, I thirst"? I wondered if it disclosed something of the inward feelings of this blessed Person, looking, perhaps, for an immediate glorious answer from God.

G.R.C. Would it imply that He knew all that His soul had passed through; and that what He had

passed through meant that the work of reconciliation was finished? Who could know it but Himself and God?

Ques. And is there not a suggestion of all the expectation as to the fruit of that work, in saying, "I thirst"?

Ques. Would the word in Isaiah 53 come in here at all, "He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied"?

G.R.C. All He received at this time was vinegar.

But then He is to receive, is He not, the full answer? "Give me to drink", He says in chapter 4.

Rem. And no one would know the full answer, like He did, in His outlook upon the blessed fruits of His incarnation and the completion of the will of God.

G.R.C. So that we have to keep in mind that, "He shall see of the fruit of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied", involves in its fulness the great eternal sabbath.

Rem. I would think that.

G.R.C. The Lord does see of the fruit of the travail of His soul now, but let us keep the fulness of it in mind.

Ques. So that the great idea of Divine satisfaction is in mind here, is it not?

G.R.C. Yes; and it is remarkable that, in the last scripture we read, the word from the throne is, "I will give to him that thirsts", as though God expects that, as He presents His testimony to men, and the Spirit works in them, thirst in accord with His own will be produced in the soul. It is not just the thirst of a perishing sinner, but a thirst which is in keeping with His own longings.

Rem. Thirsting for the full result!

G.R.C. That is it, thirsting for the new heaven and the new earth, thirsting for the day of God; and God says, "I will give to him ... of the fountain of the water of life freely". The One on the throne virtually says, 'If your thirst is in accord with My thirst, then I will give you present satisfaction in the power of the Spirit. I will give you a present entrance into it'.

Ques. Is that the joy that was set before Him?

G.R.C. How can we limit that to anything short of the day of God, and love divine at rest?

Rem. "Blessed they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled".

G.R.C. Quite so. Surely that is in accord with Divine thirst -- "new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness".

Ques. Is there not a wonderful answer to Christ in the assembly now? "He shall drink of the brook by the way". As He awaits the day of His rights being fully acknowledged, He has a present answer, and is Himself stimulated by it.

G.R.C. That is a great comfort; and that is where the Spirit's service comes in, that Divine Persons should not have to wait for the actual end. We think of ourselves getting a foretaste of eternity, but the Spirit is here that God Himself might have a fore taste of eternity -- that the Father and the Son and the Spirit might each have a foretaste of eternity.

That is the great thing to have before us: we shall then certainly get our foretaste. The Spirit is here to make eternity present to us, so that God might Himself have a foretaste of it.

Ques. What is the force of the blood and the water being a witness of a work completed for God? Have we not thought that the blood is for God and the

water for us? Could you help us on this?

G.R.C. The blood and the water both witness to a work completed for God, a complete work of atonement, or reconciliation. The water is essential for God as well as for us. The water puts out of God's sight for ever the man that is offensive to Him. The flood was water only, but Jesus came by water and by blood. In the flood, the end of all flesh came before God; and that man was submerged and put out of sight, except for those who were saved through water. They were saved through water. But in the cross of Christ, what was typified in the flood has taken place in actuality; and that man has gone from before the eye of God in judgment, never to be revived.

Ques. Why is the water put first in the epistle of John?

G.R.C. Because it is our side there. It is the witness to us in a special way in the epistle. "There are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood". The witness is that God has given us eternal life. But the gospel is setting things out from the Divine side. Jesus says, "It is finished", a public declaration, but surely having in mind things finished for God. He had completed the work which God had given Him to do; and then the blood and the water bear witness to a work finished for God -- a completed work. The work would not be complete without water, as well as blood; the blood meets the claims of God's nature and throne, and the demands of His righteousness, but the water for ever puts out of sight the man that was offensive.

Ques. Does Ephesians 1 show how the blood fits into the scheme of Divine purpose? "In whom we have

redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offences". Is that the solution for God, in regard to how man was found in actuality, that is, the blood enabling God's purpose to stand and go through?

G.R.C. Even there it is on our side -- what we have. But Colossians 1 is, "Having made peace by the blood of his cross"; that is peace for the Fulness; and even our reconciliation in Colossians 1 is for the sake of the Fulness, that He might, "present you holy and unblamable and irreproachable before it" -- before the Fulness. So that Colossians 1 is specifically what is done for the Fulness, and, I believe, links with this passage in John. It is the only gospel which gives, "the blood of his cross".

Rem. In Acts 20 there is the thought of purchasing the assembly with, "the blood of his own", and that is the 'middle voice'. The glory is reflected back on God; purchased for His own glory, really.

G.R.C. Very good.

Ques. Would you please say why the blood and the water come from a dead Christ? Does it accentuate the thought of what is finished?

G.R.C. I think it does. The blood and the water flowed from the side of a dead Christ, a witness to a work completed. We know that burial was also necessary in the vicarious work, but what is said here has in view the completed work. The water links, in a way, with burial. Our baptism is connected with the water. It is the man put out of sight.

Ques. And was it not essential that the life was given, and not taken? "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself". So that the blood was the witness to a work already accomplished.

G.R.C. Quite so. The blood and water coming

from His side is one of the signs of John's gospel.

Ques. Would you say a word as to that wonderful sentence, "He delivered up his spirit". In Luke He says, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit".

Is it here essentially His own act?

G.R.C. I think so, linking on with John 17 -- who the Person is, why He had come, and that His mission was completed. We ought now to pass on. I do not think we need enlarge on Ephesians 1:10; "the administration of the fulness of times" gives a link with the full harvest. God acquires fruit from every dispensation, so the word is in the plural, "the fulness of times". The harvest from every time is, as it were, gathered in and displayed. It links with the feast of tabernacles. In the world to come God will display the harvest of every dispensation. But then, the feast of tabernacles merges, typically, into the eternal state, and I believe that is involved in Ephesians 1, verses 9 and 10.

Ques. Would there be a link with the "age of ages" in chapter 3?

G.R.C. The "age of ages" is eternity, is it not?

It is an age composed of ages. I think we need to see that what is displayed in the millennium, the fruit of all the work of God from the beginning of time, passes into the eternal state. So that you can understand the feast of tabernacles embracing both ideas.

The seven days of the feast link, no doubt, with the millennial day of display; and the eighth, which is called in John's gospel, "the last, the great day of the feast", would represent the eternal day.

Ques. As to the world to come merging into the eternal state, I was thinking of 1 Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter, and the transference from conditions

in the world to come to eternal conditions. Does 1 Corinthians 15 describe the resurrection power by which this transference will be made?

G.R.C. Yes. As to the families blessed on earth in the millennial reign, some change would have to take place, because it says in that chapter that flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God, and there will be those blessed in flesh and blood conditions on earth in the millennial day. Scripture does not enlighten us as to how and when the change will be, but it is evident that every saved company will be transferred into the eternal condition where flesh and blood has no place.

Ques. Would you understand that we will be taken into eternal conditions when the Lord takes us?

Hence the assembly will be in eternal conditions in the millennial day?

G.R.C. Yes. There is no further change in the assembly, so far as one apprehends, from the time the Lord comes, as to which it says, "Thus we shall be always with the Lord" 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The assembly reaches her eternal condition before the millennium; and I think that is another reason why the narrative in Revelation runs right on to the eternal state, and then describes the city as displayed in the millennium, because we of the assembly reach eternal conditions before the millennium.

Ques. Does that not raise an interesting matter as to God bringing eternal things forward into time, anticipating the coming down of the city in testimony at the present time?

G.R.C. It is remarkable that the great objective is the day of God. While in the scene of testimony here, we are looking for Christ's appearing, and are

holding the ground until He come, and longing for the time when He will be vindicated on this earth where He was rejected; yet the outlook of the Christian is to the day of God, as manifested in Peter's writings. You might say, Peter is a kingdom man, he would surely be looking for the millennium; but when he comes to the end of his life, he passes over the millennium and speaks of the day of God, and the day of the Lord as introducing the day of God. He regards the millennium, which is included in the day of the Lord, as just on the way to it; and he says we are, "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God". He says "We wait for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" 2 Peter 3:13.

Ques. Is that what the Spirit of God has in mind in introducing the first five verses of Revelation 21 before the millennial day?

G.R.C. Yes. We are to have that as our objective.

Ques. In John 7, when they were going up to the feast of tabernacles, the Lord said, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready". Does, "My time has not yet come" refer to the millennium?

G.R.C. Yes, "the fulness of times" is the anti-type of the feast of tabernacles, and the millennial side of it will be Christ's time, or Christ's day. The millennium is the day of Christ. Christ, in His greatness, and in His official glories, will have great prominence. But, in the day of God, the official glories of Christ will recede. Everything will give way to the glory and greatness of God Himself. The mediatorial kingdom, in other words, comes to an end.

Ques. Is that 1 Corinthians 15:24? "Then the end, when he gives up the kingdom to him who is God and

Father, when he shall have annulled all rule ..."

G.R.C. I think that.

Ques. Do you carry the thought of the day of the Lord through the millennium?

G.R.C. As I understand it, the day of the Lord begins when the Lord appears and deals with the man of sin; so that it begins with judgment, and includes the reign of peace, the day of Christ, the thousand years reign; and it also includes the period following that, which is again a period of judgment.

Rem. So that it says, "In which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise", and so on. (2 Peter 3:10).

G.R.C. Yes. Peter is not distinguishing between the judgments before the millennium and the judgments after the millennium. He is just looking at the day of the Lord, as a whole, as a preliminary to the day of God. Actually, that period -- the day of the Lord -- includes a thousand years reign of peace under Christ.

Rem. All prepares the way for the day of God -- "then the end" -- the day of the Lord running through.

Rem. Where the term, "day of the Lord", is used, it is usually in a judicial setting. And so it emphasises the period from just prior to the setting up of the millennium to the day of God.

G.R.C. And included in it, as a comprehensive period, is the day of Christ, a day of peace.

Rem. 1 Corinthians 15:25 would confirm that -- "He must reign until he put all enemies under his feet".

G.R.C. That is just it, so that this passage would be an inclusive idea. He establishes His kingdom. He also gives up the kingdom; but not until He has annulled all rule, all authority, and power. (1 Corinthians 15:28).

The Lord will complete the matter.

Ques. I was going to ask a question as to 1 Corinthians 5. It speaks there of the "day of the Lord Jesus". What would that be, and what would it involve?

G.R.C. I would say it is the way a Christian views the day of the Lord. He views it as knowing the Person, and having Him in supreme affection in his heart. And the fact that it says that the spirit of the one who had sinned might be saved in that day shows that the day of the Lord Jesus includes the judicial idea. Even we have to appear before the judgment seat of the Christ, and Paul says, "the Lord, the righteous Judge" will give him a crown of righteousness in that day. But then the judicial activities of the Lord usher in the day of Christ, the reign of peace, when all Christ's official glories as Man, vast as they are, will be in full display; all that He is, as the Christ, the Son of man, the Priest of the Most High God, the Son of David -- all the great offices which He fills will be displayed in resplendent glory. But then the time comes when He gives up the mediatorial kingdom to Him who is God and Father -- the One who gave it to Him; and it says further down, "when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him". That is to say, as I understand it, the Son is no longer prominent as filling those great offices. He remains the great Mediator, the One in whom God is expressed, but the mediatorial kingdom is no longer needed. The great offices have fulfilled their function; and so His robes of office, as it were, are no longer occupying the gaze of the universe. All now gives way to what He is as representing God.

It is the same Person, but what He is as the Image of the invisible God, the effulgence of God's glory and the expression of His substance; so that God is all in all.

Ques. Would you say a word as to "God's kingdom"? (verse 50).

G.R.C. I think that bears on what we are saying, because He gives up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father. It does not mean that the kingdom comes to an end; but He gives up the kingdom which He has received, that is, the mediatorial kingdom, to Him who is God and Father; so that it becomes, in a particular way then, God's kingdom. God is the great King. And it says flesh and blood cannot inherit it, which shows that, in that verse, it is not referring to the millennium, because flesh and blood will be inheriting things in the millennium on the earth. But it is looking on to the eternal kingdom of God, as we see it in Revelation 21:1 - 5. There is the Great King on the throne, but from that kingdom flesh and blood is excluded.

Ques. Would you say a word, please, as to Hebrews 1:8, "Thy throne, O God, is to the age of the age"?

G.R.C. I would say that primarily links with the millennium, because while the official glories of Christ as Man will be prominent in the millennium, all will recognise His deity. I think, really, that that is the millennial throne, but I speak subject to correction.

Ques. Would Revelation 21 help in regard to what you are saying? We have the title "Lamb" emphasised in the millennial day, but in the first seven verses of chapter 21 it is God who is emphasised, is it not?

G.R.C. That is important. In the first seven verses

of Revelation 21, it is God -- not God and the Lamb, but God. But when you come to the millennial view of the city, the throne of God and the Lamb is in it. While God and the Lamb are so linked that, sometimes, only a singular pronoun is used -- without distinguishing which One is being referred to, because it is never forgotten that the Lamb is God -- yet the glories of the Lamb are prominent in the millennial clay. But, in the eternal day, it just says in verse 5, "And he that sat on the throne said". You will notice how these things are put in Revelation. It is just "He". It does not say, "the Lamb", because that would bring out a personal glory of Christ. It just says, "He that sat on the throne". We know Who He is, but nothing personal to Himself is brought forward. He is sitting on the throne, as we may say, as the great Representative of God.

Ques. Do you think the thought of God in representation, must be equal to God in revelation? It brings us, does it not, as near as possible to God sitting on the throne.

G.R.C. It does, because we know that it is Jesus there. But it is just "He". No glory personal to Himself is brought forward, so that there may be nothing to obscure the glory, majesty and greatness of God, as God, expressed in that blessed Person.

Ques. How does the manhood of Jesus bear on all that is now being said?

G.R.C. "He that sat on the throne" is a Man. It says, in the previous chapter, "From whose face the earth and the heaven fled".

Ques. So you are just stressing that it is the official glories of Christ which recede?

G.R.C. Yes, the official glories of Christ, which

we delight in. We shall never forget them. They will ever be cherished by the assembly, but will no longer be in evidence in the same way. The glorious Man is unchanged; but He is the great Representative, or Image, of God; and the majesty of God is expressed in Him, as well as the glory of God, in such a manner that it says, "From whose face the earth and the heaven fled, and place was not found for them". What majesty is implied in that statement!

Ques. Is that borne out somewhat in verse 6 -- the absolute sovereignty of this glorious Person? "He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega". You would be connecting that with what is finished?

G.R.C. Yes; that is the great sabbath.

Ques. Does it include all that is operational now -- not only what is sacrificial, but every kind of operation?

G.R.C. That is what I had in mind. It is not only now what is sacrificial, but all the operations which are based on what is sacrificial, the whole of the new creational operations. The One on the throne says, "It is done". God is speaking; but He is speaking in the Person of Jesus.

Ques. Do you regard the new heavens and the new earth as the last of the new creational operations?

G.R.C. It looks like that. God is already preparing the personnel to fill it.

Rem. It is rather different from the first creation.

He began with the heavens and earth, and then man on the sixth day, as we know, and the woman. But in regard of the new creation, he has all the men who will fill that new heavens and new earth before He brings it in, it would appear

Ques. Would you mind saying what you would include in the expression, "the world to come"?

G.R.C. I had thought of it as the millennial age.

Ques. While we were speaking of these wonderful days, and wonderful unfoldings of what God is doing, I was wondering what you would include in that expression. It is spoken of as the age introduced by the Messiah, is it not? I wondered if you would include more than the millennium?

G.R.C. It is worth thinking about. It is undoubtedly the millennial day which Hebrews has primarily in mind -- "the world to come, of which we speak". But when you think of the feast of tabernacles typifying the millennial age as merging into eternity, it may be we should not be too limited in our thoughts as to the expression, "the world to come".

Ques. How can we hasten the coming of the day of God? I thought that if we were found here now in full accord with the thoughts and mind of God, and with the spiritual formation in us which will come out in that day, we would be hastening it on.

G.R.C. I am sure that is so; and we would get foretastes of it. We would hasten it even in that sense.

Ques. Does verse 7 bear on that? "He that overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be to him God".

G.R.C. Yes. It is a present foretaste of eternity.

Ques. Keeping sabbath would fit into what has been said about hastening the day, would it not?

G.R.C. I think it would. The great end in view, in this series of readings, is that we may all, without fail, observe and keep God's sabbaths.

GOING UNTO FULL GROWTH

Hebrews 3:6 - 8, 12, 13; Hebrews 4:1 - 3 ("believed"), 12 - 14; Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 6:1 ("full growth"); Numbers 14:6 - 10; 2 Chronicles 5:3 - 5; 2 Chronicles 6:41, 42.

I wish to say a word of exhortation, dear brethren, as to going on to full growth, as it says in Hebrews 6"Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ, let us go on to what belongs to full growth". That is a word for everyone here, even the oldest. Who of us could say that we have yet arrived at full stature in the apprehension of God and His purpose? But it applies also to the youngest, to whom I would say, make a resolve before God tonight that you will not stop short. Tell Him about your resolve and seek His help to move on steadily and unhesitatingly with the testimony to full growth, alert as to every movement of the cloud, moving with God in all that He is moving in, so as to arrive with Him in the way He is leading the saints at the present time, into the full apprehension of His rest.

There is no greater privilege for young people than to have this objective before them. There is nothing like it worth living for. Let us not grieve the Holy Spirit nor tempt God by having any less objective in our lives. But let us move on to the full apprehension of God and of His purpose. Let every young person commit himself to this.

If you want an example of it, look at Joshua, the son of Nun. The word 'Nun' means continuance, and Joshua was a man who continued with the testimony from the beginning to the end. He was a man

in whom was the Spirit, and yet he had not the Spirit in the way you have Him. In your day the Spirit is not given by measure. You are more favoured than Joshua, more favoured than Solomon. Would to God that every one here realised how favoured he is! As having the Spirit, you are capacitated in a far greater way than Joshua to follow the testimony through. When Moses pitched the tent outside the camp, it is said he (Joshua) "departed not from within the tent", (Exodus 33:11). Think of a young man like that! The testimony was there, and he would not leave it. And when the first warfare occurred in the wilderness, Moses knew whom to turn to. He said to Joshua, "Choose us men", (Exodus 17:9); yet he was a young man. Do not let the young people think that they have a secondary place in the testimony. Youth according to God, including young men and young women, is always in primary demand in the testimony. It was the youths of the children of Israel in Exodus 24 who, under Moses' direction, though not appointed priests, initiated the service of God, offering; up burnt offerings and sacrifices of peace offerings of bullocks to Jehovah. It is always God's way to bring forward young men and young women whom He approves and to present them in testimony. It is such that He would present to the world, to show what He has got. So we would say to every young man and young; woman here, The Lord has need of you in the testimony; and on your side, if you commit yourself to the testimony, you have a glorious prospect before you; not a wasted life, but a life filled out, every day bringing its own privileges and wealth. Every day counts in this glorious pathway. The apostles taught daily in the temple and Paul taught daily in the school

of Tyrannus. Christianity is a daily matter. Assembly matters are weekly, but matters of the testimony, and matters of movement, are daily. And so the Holy Spirit is speaking; He says, "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts", (Hebrews 3:7). Joshua was a young man who heeded the voice all along the line. He was Moses' attendant, as others in the New Testament are spoken of as "eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word", (Luke 1:2). They were those who kept as close to Jesus as they could. Joshua was as near to Moses as he could be, even on the mount with God; no wonder he went right through. Keep near to spiritual men; above all keep as near as possible to the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit is drawing attention to Him. "Today, if ye will hear his voice" -- that is the voice of the Son over God's house, the voice of God through the Son. God is speaking all the time. I would press upon myself and my brethren the need for what is daily -- we cannot afford to miss a day -- time is too precious. The goal to be reached is too attractive; we do not want to lose a day in moving on to what belongs to full growth.

So, it is a question of today. You may say, 'How does the voice reach us?' Well, it reaches us through ministry from the ascended Head: "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 edifying of the body of Christ; until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man ..." (Ephesians 4:11 - 13). So we need to have our ears open to what God is saying to us in the ministry.

But then, there is what is exceedingly precious, the voice from off the mercy-seat. Moses went in to speak with God, and he heard a voice speaking to him from off the mercy seat, from between the cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony. So, dear young people, frequent the holiest; be often in the presence of God -- be ready for divine communications there. He says, "There will I meet with thee, and will speak with thee ..." (Exodus 25:22). What will God speak to you about there? He will speak to you about Himself, and His thoughts and purposes, all of which centre in Christ; He will give you great enlargement as to the end to which He is leading His people. That is a daily matter: "Today, if ye will hear his voice". As I said, Joshua departed not from within the tent.

But then, there were those who were not prepared to move on. You will notice that I have been speaking of moving on with the testimony because that is what is in mind. Hebrews 3 and 4 have in mind the movements of the tabernacle in the wilderness, the tabernacle of testimony. "Christ, as Son over his house" means the tabernacle. It merged eventually in the house Solomon built, but it is the tabernacle that is initially in mind -- "Whose house are we"; and the tabernacle of witness is on the move. There are periods when it is stationary, but we never know when it is going to move. In Numbers 9, where it speaks of its movements, a number of periods of time are mentioned: If the cloud abode one day or two days, or if it tarried from evening till morning, or if it abode a month, or many days. We never know, therefore, when the next move will be. You may say, 'I think all the truth is out'. But we cannot afford to say that; God unfolds fresh things to us -- "What

the Spirit says to the assemblies" (Revelation 2 and 3) -- which involve a movement of the cloud, and the Levites set to work and the tabernacle is taken up and moved. What a busy time it is! all the Levites occupied in moving the whole system a stage forward in the truth. Then the tabernacle is set up again, and the saints are serving God again as priests according to the fresh unfoldings given. All the Levitical work is done in order that the priests may be able to serve according to the fresh aspect of the truth that God is emphasising. The tabernacle is set up again and the service proceeds enriched by the new move. And you say, 'Well, we must have reached finality now'. We cannot afford to say that. The cloud may move again. It may only stay from evening to morning. Tomorrow it may move again, or it may stay two days, or it may be a longer time, so that we have to be on the alert. It is "Today, if ye will hear his voice"; our eyes open to see the cloud, and our ears open to hear the trumpet bringing the command to move. How alert we need to be spiritually! There are those who, as we know, have not been prepared to move, all through the history of the revival. As one phase of the truth after another has been opened up, there have been those who have said, 'No, we are not prepared to move any further. We believe we know all that there is to know, and we will not move from here'. And they are left behind. The camp moves on. The tabernacle of witness moves on. You may say to me, 'Do not those persons belong to the house of God?' Well, I am not going to say they do not, but Scripture says, "whose house are we, if we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end". That is, the house, the tabernacle,

is moving on, and I am to maintain the boldness and the boast of hope and move on with it -- proving thus that I belong to it. In this dispensation, we form not only the military men encamped around the tabernacle, and the Levites who encircled it, and the priests who were closer still, but we as among all those true believers in Christ who have the Spirit are the tabernacle itself, -- "whose house are we". And how can I prove that I am part of the house if I have allowed it to move on and have stayed behind myself? If I am to be here as a testimony for God, I am to be here in a manner which proves that I am part of it; I am moving on with it, and I would not consider dropping out. How could I, if I understand that word, "whose house are we"? How can I let the house go on and I remain behind -- an integral part of it left behind!

But then there is something worse than that involved. If I allow the tabernacle of witness to move on, and do not move with it, I am turning away from the living God. God is dwelling there. God is going before His people. "When thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness", (Psalm 68:7). God is going through the wilderness, in His house. "I will dwell among them, and walk among them", (2 Corinthians 6:16). God is walking through the wilderness. God is moving on. He is moving on in relation to His house, His dwelling. So we are told: "See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God", (Hebrews 3:12). If I turn away from the latest phase of God-given truth, the voice of God at the moment, it is not simply that I am turning away

from the saints, nor only that I am turning away from the tabernacle of witness. I am turning away from the living God, as it says, "Ye are the living God's temple" -- that is the temple of the tabernacle -- "Ye are the living God's temple; according as God has said, I will dwell among them, and walk among them".

Let us then, dear brethren, watch ourselves and one another, to see that not one of us develops "a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God", a most dreadful thing! We know of some who, with the glorious prospect before them of a life lived in relation to the testimony, as part of the tabernacle of testimony in which the living voice of God is heard every day, have turned aside to the vain things of the world, having developed "a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God". God hates idolatry. "I, Jehovah thy God, am a jealous God". And in Exodus 34:14 He says, "For thou shalt worship no other God; for Jehovah -- Jealous is his name -- is a jealous God". We have to do with such a God as that! It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; it is a fearful thing to set up a rival in your heart to the living God whose name is Jealous. He will have the last word, and beware as to what that last word may be!

I have spoken of young people, but then, alas, we have known of older men and women, long in the testimony, refusing to move any further. Why? "A wicked heart of unbelief" the scripture calls it. It is not just a question of turning away from the saints of God, nor even turning away from the tabernacle of witness, serious as that is, but from the One who dwells in it; turning away from the living God.

In the light of all this, God would bring home forcibly to us, through the inspired writer of this Epistle (Paul), the exhortation, "Wherefore, leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ, let us go on". That is, let us be ready to move with the living God in every movement of the testimony, every movement of the cloud. God is going on to completion, and we are to move with Him to the completion of all that He has in mind to bring out in this time of testimony. Let us go on, dear brethren, to the end.

I would say a word as to food. He speaks of some who were such as had need of milk, and not of solid food. One would desire that every one of us might become capable of assimilating solid food. When we are young we need milk, and, of course, milk is suitable in human affairs at any time of life. We do not despise milk, but we do not want to live on milk only; you cannot do a man's work on milk. For adults, milk alone is invalid diet. God would encourage the youngest believer to move on to solid food. Even in human affairs a babe does not limit itself to milk for very long; it soon begins to take solid food. And I will tell you the difference spiritually between milk and solid food. Milk is Christ in relation to my need. I need Him as my Saviour, my Shepherd, my helper; let me appropriate Him thus. But solid food is Christ apprehended in relation to God, and what He has done for God. The writer desired these Hebrew Christians to appropriate Him thus; he longed to speak to them of the work of Christ from the standpoint of what it had effected for God. We think so much of ourselves; thank God that Christ died for us! Thank God He bore our sins! But, in going on to full growth, it is a question of

apprehending the full scope of the work of Christ; what He has done for God. Again, we often think of what He is to us -- most blessed -- but think of what He is personally to God! Think of Him also as the Centre of the great anointed system in which God will rest for ever! So God would have us to appropriate solid food. I think perhaps the Spirit of God has been giving us some solid food these three days, and I trust the youngest believer here has been able to assimilate it. Solid food, strong meat, brings strength into the soul to continue in the path of testimony.

Now I pass on to the test of the word of God.

It says, "the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword". You might not have thought that. The example I have read is the word of God as it came through Caleb and Joshua.

That is what is referred to in Hebrews 4, "we have had glad tidings presented to us, even as they also".

The actual reference is to tire glad tidings of the land, the glad tidings of the purpose of God, preached to the people by Caleb and Joshua. And what is Caleb's word? In Numbers 13:30 it says, "Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up boldly and possess it". That was the word of God at the moment, coming through a brother, one of whom it says, "my servant Caleb ... hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully". "The word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword", and it exposed the state of the people.

It penetrated to the joints and marrow. There were still Egyptian tastes with them. They had not yet apprehended the greatness of the God Who was in their midst. It exposed their whole state to the very

roots. So positive ministry, as based on the scripture, though containing nothing harsh but only encouragement, yet cuts right down to the depths of our being, because it is the word of God. It tests what is there, whether God is really supreme, whether we really give Him credit for all that He is as God; because, if God is amongst us, we should fear nobody. The other spies spoke of the difficulties; but God is among us. God is marching through the wilderness; God is going before us. There is no excuse for not moving if God is with us. It is just that wicked heart of unbelief that has no taste for the land nor confidence in God. At the end of Romans 8 Paul says, "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature ...". We have to remember that, whatever may be against us, it is only a creature, all the opposition is simply creature opposition. And who is with us? The living God! What is creature opposition compared with the living God?

So let us give heed to the word of God tonight. God is saying to us, "Let us go on to full growth". You say, Oh, you do not know my difficulties. I do not mind what the difficulties are. If you want to go on to full growth, if your heart is set that way, there is nothing that can stop you. Nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Then in chapter 14 of Numbers Joshua joins with Caleb; it says: "They spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying, The land which we passed through to search it out is a very, very good land". Now here are two full-grown men, who had

their senses exercised to discern good and evil, (Hebrews 5:14), men who had partaken of solid meat. These were not men who had fed only on milk. They had some apprehension, typically, of Christ as the Centre of the scene of glory, and therefore their senses were exercised to discern good and evil. It puts the good first. And Joshua and Caleb testified that the land was very, very good. Men who are with God can speak of what is good, and what is very good, and what is very, very good. Such is their discernment. And so the word of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 14 was also the word of God for the moment, but the people rebelled, and when they rebelled it says, "The glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting". The God who was dwelling and walking amongst them manifested His presence. He it was they were sinning against; He it was they were doubting. It was His objective that they were not prepared to make their objective, in spite of the fact that He went "before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night", (Numbers 14:14). What a favoured people! Yet they refused to go forward with such a God!

May the Lord help us not to refuse the word. Hebrews 4 refers to this very incident when it speaks of those who fell through not hearkening to the word.

Let us, then, go forward, beloved brethren. If we go on, we are going on with God, and filling our part in that house of which it says, "whose house are we".

As we go along with the testimony thus, we have access to the holiest every day. So it says, "We enter into the rest who have believed". (Hebrews 4:3). We are going on the full rest of God, but day by day we have access to the holiest, as we move along with the

living God. In the holiest we anticipate that rest, according to the measure of our growth at the moment. It should be characteristic of us thus to enter into rest. We should be continually going into God's presence, getting His viewpoint, and anticipating with Him that full and final rest to which we are moving. What a favour to be moving on thus with the testimony!

One word more as to arriving at completion, or full growth. God does not rest short of completion. If we stopped at the fourth day of Genesis, the Pentecostal testimony, the sun, the moon and the stars, we would not arrive at God's full thought. We have to go on to the sixth day. We carry along the Pentecostal truth with us; we do not leave it behind; but we have to go on to Paul's ministry, Christ and the assembly; Christ as the Image of God, and the assembly as His counterpart, His fulness, before we can apprehend the rest of God. So that going on to full growth involves going on to Paul's ministry -- Paul's ministry as supported by Peter and confirmed by John.

Similarly if we take the sabbatical years, to arrive at completion we have to go through the seven sevens to the year of jubilee, typical of God resting in His love and rejoicing over His people with singing; every one in his place in the inheritance. And if we take the feasts, we have to go on to the seventh month.

It is not a question of stopping short at the feast of weeks, but of moving on to the seventh month -- Paul's ministry, the whole counsel of God, the full scope of the work of reconciliation typified in the day of atonement, and finally the feast of tabernacles.

I read the scripture in 2 Chronicles 5 because it

says, "And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that of the seventh month", (2 Chronicles 5:3). That is the feast of tabernacles. They had arrived at the seventh month, and you get here what you could not get in Leviticus 23, the bringing up of the ark. It happened at the feast of tabernacles, the full rest of God typically. "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it", (Psalm 132:14). What a feast of tabernacles this was! You will notice this is the last movement of the tabernacle of testimony. It says, "And all the elders of Israel came; and the Levites took up the ark, And they brought up the ark, and the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent:"(verses 4, 5). The tabernacle of testimony was merged in the splendour of the house that Solomon built. It was the last move. We see the anti-type in Revelation, "The temple of the tabernacle of witness in the heaven was opened", (Revelation 15:5). We see there the tabernacle of witness as having reached heaven, and later the holy city comes down out of heaven. The one merges into the other.

What a scene of completion! The ark and the whole tabernacle system brought up; the tent of meeting and all the vessels in it incorporated in the glorious structure upon Mount Zion, as to which God says, "This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it". And Solomon's word is, "Jehovah Elohim". He thus refers back to Genesis 1 and 2 to the God who brought in His rest there, a rest that was marred by sin; but the use of the title Jehovah Elohim here implies that, in what is represented typically, God has achieved His end. Solomon says, "Now, arise Jehovah Elohim, into thy resting place, thou and the

ark of thy strength: let thy priests, Jehovah Elohim, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in thy goodness", (2 Chronicles 6:41).

As we move along with the living God and His tabernacle of testimony down here, we shall find that, concurrently with our wilderness experiences, we shall get experiences of the seventh month, the rest of God in glorious conditions. In our histories, wilderness and land history to some extent run on concurrently, and the more we follow the tabernacle of witness, and follow up every fresh unfolding of the truth with God in the scene of testimony, the more we shall grasp the great thoughts of God as to finality.

May the Lord help us. May we, both old and young, leaving the word of the beginning of the Christ, go on to what belongs to full growth. And I would say again, "Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts"

SPIRITUAL GROWTH THREE ESSENTIAL FEATURES

1 John 2:20; Ephesians 4:7; Hebrews 5:11 - 14.

I wish to say a word, dear brethren, on the subject of growth and the three things designed by God to help us in growth. The first passage we read is addressed to the little children in the family of God; the fact that they were little children or babes was no reproach to them, we all have to go through a state of spiritual babyhood. But when he says to the Hebrews that they were babes it was a matter of reproach, because the time had come when they ought to have been teachers; and they so neglected the means of growth which God had put at their disposal that they had need that somebody should teach them the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God. They were dull of hearing -- that was a great reproach -- because the Apostle had much to say. And indeed there is much to say as to Jesus Christ the Son; we do not yet know how much more there is to say. The more we hear about Him in the power of the Holy Spirit the more we feel there is much yet to know of what lies beyond: so it is a great thing that we should not be dull of hearing. We cannot at all say that the Holy Spirit has said everything, that there is no more to come out. What we can say with certainty is that the Holy Spirit has much to say as to Christ and His glory; and what a reproach it would be to us if it is said that it is "hard to be interpreted", as the Apostle has to say: "We have much to say and hard to be interpreted in the speaking of it since ye are

become dull of hearing". So the Lord's own word is "he that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies". Undoubtedly the Spirit has much to say.

And now as to the question of growth: it is evident that although babyhood is a normal stage in growth, God does not intend us to remain in that stage. And in the writing to the little children, John writes in a very encouraging way: he says they had an unction from the Holy One and they knew all things. Now, that is the first great aid God has given us with regard to growth: we must all begin as babes, but even babes in the family of God have received an unction from the Holy One. We all have the anointing from the Holy Spirit; the word unction means anointing, but John is speaking of the inwardness of the anointing. Other writers usually speak of the public side of it; the priests were anointed of old -- it says "your anointing shall be to you an everlasting priesthood". God had anointed His priests so that all they did might be marked by holy fragrance, the holy anointing oil, the perfume after the work of the perfumer; so that they might be worthy of Him as His priests. That is only typical, of course, but the Holy Spirit affords the holy anointing to us so that as we move, act and speak in the power of the Holy Spirit, there is fragrance and a dignity marking the movements, the actions and the words which prove to those who hear and see that they are in the presence of those who represent God; there is the fragrance and the dignity of the anointing.

But what is outward must spring from what is inward, and John has in mind the inwardness of it, because inwardly the Holy Spirit affords to each one

of us holy and priestly sensibilities which are the effect of the anointing. The priest has discernment; we can think of spiritual sensibilities as corresponding with our normal or physical sensibilities. There are five senses, but the Spirit would give us those sensibilities in a spiritual way. It says of God that He smelt a sweet odour of rest; the Spirit would give us the sense of smell; and every Christian who has the Spirit has it, we have received the unction from the Holy One. The babes in the family of God have a true sense of smell; they know whether what they are hearing or seeing is marked by a sweet odour; in their measure they have the sensibilities of God Himself. So there is the smelling, the hearing, the seeing and the tasting and the touching; and however young we may be in the faith we have an unction from the Holy One, and in that sense we know all things. That does not mean that we know all things in the sense of doctrine; we may know next to nothing, but we know all things in the sense of having the capacity to test everything we see and hear, to say whether it is of God. The idea of it is "We have an unction from the Holy One"; we do not need anyone to teach us. And so he says further down: "Yourselves, the unction which ye have received from him abides in you and ye have no need that anyone should teach you". That does not mean that we do not need teachers to teach us the doctrine; what it means is that the youngest in the family of God does not need anyone teach him or her what is true and what is a lie, what is good and what is bad. You get the illustration in a human babe. When a human babe is born you present milk to it; it knows straight-way -- it does not need anyone to teach it that that milk is good; it

is what the child needs at that age and it takes it readily. But if you present something else to the child it rejects it; nobody has taught it to do these things, God has taught it. God has given the babe in a human family the sensibilities -- the babe knows what is good for it and what is not good for it in that sense. And so spiritually we have an unction from the Holy One and we do not need anyone to teach us; and so it goes on to say: "and as the same unction teaches you as to all things". We need teachers to teach us things, but the unction teaches us as to all things; that is it enables us to discern in effect what is of God and what is not of God. The youngest believer, if he relies upon the Holy Spirit, is protected; you may say how are all these young people going to get on -- there are so many misleading doctrines in the world. Well, if the young people rely on the Holy Spirit -- for they have an unction from the Holy One -- and not on their minds, but just rely upon the sensibilities that the Holy Spirit gives them, they will be preserved. The cleverest sermon, if it is not according to the truth and in the power of the Holy Spirit, they will reject it; they will say, well, I could not refute what the speaker was saying as I do not know enough of the scriptures, but I know it was wrong; that is sufficient and that is how a young believer is protected. He does not need anyone to teach him in that sense, he knows what is right and what is wrong.

One would encourage young believers here; do cherish your links with the Holy Spirit; you have received from Him the unction, the capacity to discern what is of God and what is not of God, what is the truth and what is a lie. You have the capacity to discern everything that is presented to you which

purports to be ministry and to judge of it. But then it is not God's mind to leave you there; He wants you yourself to become intelligent, so that later on if you hear something taught that the unction tells you is wrong, because of the very spirit that marks the man, because of the very odour, God expects you as time goes on not only to be able to detect that it is wrong, but to be able to tell the one who speaks where he is wrong. That is, the young men -- you: it says "I write to you young men because ye are strong and the word of God abides in you". If a babe in the family of God relies on the holy unction, he is preserved from all error. I am preserved from all error, and I am taking in the truth always -- I am taking in the pure and mental milk of the word -- and as time goes on I get to know the doctrine and the word of God abides in me, and now if someone comes along with error, not only that I reject it because of the unction, but I know where the man is wrong. I can go up to him and say 'that is where you are wrong; what you are saying is not according to scripture'; that is a great thing, and God expects you to develop like that. It is not a question of gift in that respect, but we should all be guardians of the truth in our localities in that way. I am not proposing to go any further with the passage in John; the idea of growth goes right on to the fathers and we should not put off development in fatherhood too late; it is not only for the old brothers. The Apostles were not old men, but they were 'fathers'; they looked after three thousand converts in the most fatherly way. They were not old men then; they knew Him that is from the beginning.

Now I pass on to Ephesians, because we come there

to another divine provision for our growth, and that is the ministry. And it is remarkable that this passage is prefaced by "to each one of us", lest we should become clerical; there is no such thing as clergy in the Divine thought. So the passage begins with "to each one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ". Everything is measured, as we had in Romans this afternoon: "God has dealt to each a measure of faith"; everything is measured so that the body is perfectly balanced from the Divine standpoint. "To each one of us"; you will find that every time it speaks of each one, the body is in mind; no one is out of it. And so it says in Romans 12"each one members one of another" and in 1 Corinthians 12, "to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for profit". Each one, the Spirit is not going to leave you out; He has some function for you to fill. It is a body idea, "he is given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ"; that involves the power of the anointing -- the anointed Man -- each one of us is given grace. After bringing that as a guarding thought, showing that the body is the great idea, it goes on to speak of the special gifts.

The special gifts are very essential for our development, our growth; that is what the babes in John's Epistle need; they have the unction and they need the gifts now to build them up so that they "may be no longer babes", as it says in this passage in Ephesians 4:14. So we need the ministry; and as having the unction we can tell what is really ministry and what is not; and then not only shall we have milk according to Hebrews, as helped in ministry, but we shall be ready for solid food. The Hebrews were hindering the minister, for he wanted to give them solid food

and they were only ready for milk; but the ministry includes the whole thing. It is wonderful where the gifts come from; it says: "He that descended is he that has also ascended up above all heavens", verse 10. That is where the gifts come from. We can never go there, but the One Who went there has given the gifts from that altitude. "He has ascended up above all the heavens that he might fill all things"; and the way He is filling the assembly at the present moment in one way is through the gifts. He is going to fill all things, but He is already filling the assembly, that the assembly may be filled with fulness -- good food as we may say -- and that it may develop full stature. And so it says, "He has given some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints". That is the whole matter; that completes the picture in its overall view -- for the perfecting of the saints. The perfecting of the saints covers everything; it covers my individual development, my body development, my place in the body and in the assembly; it is the whole thing -- the perfecting of the saints -- "with a view to the work of the ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full grown man". This scripture makes it perfectly clear why the gifts are given in connection with growth -- until we all arrive; things cannot be completed until we all arrive; because the assembly is one whole and if certain ones are defective matters cannot be complete. Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ. I take that to mean that

we arrive at the full stature of sonship and the knowledge of the Son of God, and we arrive at full stature assembly-wise. The assembly is the fulness of Him Who fills all in all, and it seems that corporately we arrive at His stature -- the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ. Arriving at it in a sense that the assembly is truly His confidant, His helpmate, His like.

So you see what a vast work is on hand, the work of the ministry right up to this point; so that it goes on to say that "we may be no longer babes". But what I want to press is that these gifts are for the edifying of the body; we have to keep in mind that they are subservient to the body. Upon the true edifying of the body depends Christ's portion, because we are His body; it is because we are His body that we are fitted to be His bride, His wife. That is because we are His body that we are God's temple, God's habitation, God's shrine. When He was here He spoke of the temple, His own body. The gifts are given for the edifying or building of the body of Christ; so that this has to be kept in mind all the time -- what the gifts are for; are they effecting the end for which they have been given? Are the gifts really building the body of Christ? because it is possible for the gift to be used in such a manner that it has the very opposite effect. It has been quite customary in the history of Christendom for gifted men to gather people round themselves; that people derive all their spiritual strength through the gifts. Souls are fed in some way, but never grow up to Him in all things as the Head, never. They are only growing up to the gifted man, and they can never get beyond him; and therefore in that respect

they always remain babes; they always want spoon-feeding. Whereas the idea of the body is that it is self-supporting; gift is needed to build up the body, but the measure in which the gift is successful lies in the fact that those that are being ministered to through body-formation are self-supporting. They can go on without the gift; naturally nobody likes people to get on without them; they like to feel that other people are dependent on them, but that is not the service of the ministry. The service of the ministry, if it is successful, makes people independent of the minister, because they have grown up to Him in all things Who is the Head. And that is why the Epistle that brings out the headship of Christ with such distinction (Colossians) does not mention gifts at all; it shows what is available for a local company in the Head if they are set together body-wise, if they have learnt to function together body-wise, if they have been edified and built up body-wise. Of course those who are set together body-wise will always be glad of gifts; It has been said, in that connection, that if there is body formation the gift comes in as excess. Everybody is glad of some excess; but we need to keep in mind that the end in view in gifts in ministry is to build up the body of Christ. The portion of Divine Persons depends upon the body; Christ's portion in the assembly, God's portion in it depend on that. Well, I have spoken of the way we need to keep that before us; so that the gift is always used for the end for which it is given. I am speaking of it as a means of growth, and on that line we need to encourage one another all we can with what is coming from the Man Who has ascended up above all the heavens. What comes from Him is irresistible,

it carries its own authority with it. They said to the Lord "By what authority doest thou these things? and Who gave thee this authority?" They looked around to see what other men have given the authority; they think they ought to have some man behind you, to be ordained by other men. But the Lord says the baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? The great point of ministry is just that, is it of heaven or of men?

Ordained ministry is just of men in itself; an ordained man may have a certain amount of gift from God, I am not saying anything against that, but ordination in itself is just the idea of something from man. True ministry is from heaven, and not only from heaven but from "above all the heavens"; according to the Psalm from which it is quoted it is "for the rebellious also". You see it has subduing power, it subdues the mind of men, and we all need our minds subdued by the word of God brought home in power; everything depends upon our minds being regulated by God's word -- the living word of God -- so that all darkening thoughts are dispersed and our minds are in the full light of God and of His mind and will. So that the gifts are even used to subdue the rebellious, and as it says "for the rebellious also for the dwelling there of Jah Elohim". Now that shows, you see, that chapter 4 of Ephesians is essential if you are to have chapter 3. Chapter 3 is a parenthesis; the Apostle shows what the great objective is, the assembly as the great vessel of Divine wisdom functioning and rendering glory to God -- "To Him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus". But if that end is to be reached, you must have the gifts, you must have the body edified so that we are set together in

body formation and we understand our links with Christ as Head, through union with Himself; and therefore there is the dwelling there -- Jah Elohim -- the habitation of God, where the praises of God resound. Therefore chapter 4 is essential, if we are to reach what is set out in chapter 3. To function in chapter 4, we need to be full grown, or well on the way. I am not shutting out normal growth in young people, we all have had our part in it. But there needs to be a measure of growth; and there needs to be some in the company, at any rate, who are to some extent full grown, if these things are to be realised.

It shows the importance of growth, growing up to Him in all things. And it goes on to say "from whom the whole body fitted together and connected by every joint of supply according to the working in its measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self building up in love". We shall never arrive at that finally while we are down here, and so the gifts are always needed; but that is the objective.

The great point about the body is mutuality, mutual love, but there is no socialism in it. One great feature in the body is the sovereignty of God. In a human body every member has a function to fulfil and no other member can do it in the same way. Every member is different, and that is the sovereignty of God; an organism in perfect unity where all the members work together in harmony and yet every member is different; that is like the human body, and that is the body of Christ. Every member is different; it does not bring all down to one common level, not a bit. It is working in its measure of each one part and every part has its measure; the thing is to learn our measure and other people's measure and to fit into

this wonderful organism. It is in the liberty of sonship we can do it; in the liberty of sonship we can happily accept Divine sovereignty in connection with the body, the place given to us in the body. So as I say again, chapter 4 underlies chapter 3. Chapter 4 is the body building itself in love, chapter 3 is that same vessel functioning in relation to God which is the great end in view, called in that chapter the assembly, for that is what it is.

Well, now I pass on to Hebrews, because we come to the third provision for growth and that is exercise. We talk a lot about exercise; if you had a baby and you fed it on the best of food and it never had any exercise, it would never grow properly; its members would never develop as they should do; exercise is essential. We have received the unction; we have the ministry, and now we come to something which does depend upon yourself -- and that is exercise. It says, "Solid food belongs to full grown men who on account of habit have their senses exercised for distinguishing both good and evil". I want to press that word "on account of habit". Exercise is not of much value unless you make a habit of it. I may go out and have some exercise physically, but that is not going to help me much unless I do it every morning. To be of value, exercise must be regular, sustained; it must be a habit, and that is what we need to form -- spiritual habits. "Exercise thyself unto piety"; it has to be a spiritual habit every day to bring God into everything. So that in everything I touch I am before God with my senses exercised to learn both good and evil; everything we touch in our responsible lives affords an opportunity for our senses to come into exercise. 'Is this of God, is it pleasing to God? If not let me

leave it alone'. Let us be simple as to these things; wise as to what is good. Joshua said it is a very, very good land (Numbers 15); that is his senses were so developed that he could tell you what was good and what was very good and what was very, very good. I wonder whether your senses are developed like that! Both Joshua and Caleb were men whose senses were exercised to discern good and evil; they readily discerned the evil that the people were murmuring about. But they were occupied with the good, and Joshua could describe the land as a very, very good land. Some things are good, others are very good and others are very, very good. If you have the choice of the three, you go in for the very, very good. You judge of and approve the things that are more excellent, you go in for the truth of the mystery, you aim for the top.

That is the way to become full grown; you use the unction, you avail yourself of the ministry and take all the food you can, but you make a habit of exercise every day -- the morning and evening oblation, what an exercise! Entering the holiest, what a healthy exercise! Not to do things with a spurt and then leave them, but to make a habit of things -- "who on account of habit have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" -- and, such persons are ready for solid food. Milk is the truth, as presented, to meet my need; solid food is the truth, as presented, to meet God's need. Solid food is what God has done by and for Himself. Milk is good at all times; you can always include it in diet. But the child can never grow up properly on milk alone; thousands around us never grow up properly because they are on milk only. Milk diet is all right for invalids, but this is not an invalid, it is full grown man. We do not want to be

invalids, not fit for a good day's work spiritually; the thing is to be full grown men. You have received the unction, the ministry comes to you; but now it is your side of it. Exercise is a very good habit; some think of exercise as self-occupation; that is a very poor exercise, there is nothing in that. If you attempt to get into self-occupation, ask the Lord to help you to get into the 7th of Romans and to get out of it. Many retain a measure of self-occupation because they never properly have been through that experience. But we must not think that exercise is brooding over ourselves; the thing is to go through with that and then go with these positive exercises, bringing God in. A positive exercise is a priestly service -- the evening oblation and so on; they are the things to go on with. That is how we shall develop, and so I leave the matter with you at that point. You have the unction and you have the ministry, get on with the exercise.

May the Lord help us for His Name's sake!