1 Corinthians 2:6 - 13; Proverbs 8:20, 21; Colossians 1:21 - 29; Colossians 2:1 - 5

I would think most of us here, dear brethren, have learned by experience that spiritual conflict is a very severe thing. We have had experience of warfare among the nations, but in spiritual conflict we are directly up against the universal lords of this darkness, and the spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies, against which mere mortal man has no power to withstand. The only way anyone can stand is by being strong in the Lord and in the might of His strength. But it is very encouraging to know that the Lord Jesus Himself has met these powers, He bound the strong man in the wilderness, and met him in the fulness of his power in the garden of Gethsemane when He said, "this is your hour and the power of darkness". How severe was the conflict! His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling on the ground; and then He went on to the great battle of the Cross. He fought the fight alone. He faced the powers of darkness in Gethsemane, and overcame them there; there was no turning Him aside from the path of God's will. He went on steadfastly, enduring all the agony of mind and body which man, energised by Satan, could inflict upon Him; and, finally, that which was by far the most awful suffering of all -- awful beyond creature comprehension -- in being forsaken by God as bearing our sins and as made sin for us, Who knew not sin, that we might become God's righteousness in Him.

"O what a load was Thine to bear,
Alone in that dark hour,
Sin's weight in all its terror there,
God's wrath and Satan's power". (Hymn 227)

The battle was won and the foe completely defeated. Jesus has annulled -- brought to nothing -- him that had the power of death; and not only so, but he has annulled death and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings. What a tremendous battle that was, and what a victory! Jesus has taken away from the strong man the weapon in which he trusted. The devil is the accuser of the brethren, accusing them before our God day and night. His power has been taken away by the Lord Jesus and now we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, which is the answer to every accusation, and by the word of our testimony -- Revelation 12:11.

Compared with this struggle ours is a minor one. Scripture speaks of it as our struggle. Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness. Satan has two powerful weapons which he uses, and if you know what the enemy's weapons are it is a great help in warfare. In the last war much was said about a secret weapon: there were great fears about it; but our enemy's weapons are not secret. We are not ignorant of his thoughts, Paul says. It is a great advantage to know the enemy's thoughts. He has two great weapons; one is legality, putting men back again under law so that they fall from grace, and the other is licence. He would nullify the true light of God which is shining in Him Who is the true God and the eternal life, and Who is the image of the invisible God. The lords

of this darkness would obscure that light, darkening our minds so that the light might not shine for us, and that we might be entrapped either by legality, on the one side, and thus lose the liberating power of the gospel, or by the weapon of looseness and licence on the other, and thus lose the truth of the church. We are in the presence of a full scale attack in both ways.

Severe spiritual warfare has gone on throughout the Christian era. Satan attacked at the beginning with both weapons -- there was the Galatian error and the Corinthian error; the error of legality, and the error of ignoring the Lord's commandment, as though grace made us lawless. Grace does not make a man lawless. It is through the reign of grace that the law of God is established in the believer's heart and ways now; and will prevail to the ages of ages. Lawlessness means misery, chaos; we await a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. Not one feature of lawlessness will ever intrude into that new heavens and new earth. Our great Leader loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, and if we are true to Him, in our measure, we shall do the same. We shall love righteousness. "I delight in the law of God after the inward man" -- "I myself with the mind serve the law of God", Romans 7:22, 25; there is no other thought. That is the language which grace would lead every true Christian to say; even an undelivered man says, I delight in the law of God; he is right inwardly. Then he learns that by the Spirit, as subject to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, he has power to carry out the law of God he delights in and which he has resolved in his own mind to serve. Everything else is subsidiary to that. God's rights paramount in the soul, loving the Lord thy God with

all thy heart, and all thy soul, and all thy strength, and all thy mind. If you give your all to God in that four-fold way, do not think that any other relationship will suffer. If God has His place and regulates your life every relationship which He has established, spiritual and natural will be carried out.

But, as I say, the enemy would obscure the true light of God which is shining in Christ, Who is the Image of the invisible God, in order that we might become enslaved either to legality on the one hand, or open principles on the other, to the detriment of our souls and with a view to robbing God. There is one thing in common between those who fall a victim to these attacks -- and let us be vigilant lest any of us here should become casualties. Those who become a victim to one or the other have one thing in common, and that is that the Scriptures have little or no weight with them. I can speak of this from experience in having to do with souls. To those on the legalist line, obeying the commandments of men, Scripture is superseded; it is a question of the voice of a man which they call 'the voice of the Spirit'. On the other side, those who want an open path are also not prepared to discuss Scripture, not prepared to stand on Scripture. They justify such a path by saying that it is in accord with the opinion of many godly men. From the standpoint of a soldier, you are bound to become a casualty on either line. If you are not standing on Scripture you will never stand against the universal lords of this darkness, because you are building on sand. The Lord Jesus said, "He that comes to me" -- which means now coming to the glorified Saviour, in the presence of God, and we should be continually coming to Him -- "Every one

that comes to me, and hears my words and does them. I will shew you to whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock". What we need to see is that we are building on the rock, on Christ and His words.

Now, as we know, it has always been Satan's effort to separate the truth of the Gospel from the Church, two things which are inseparable in the mind of God. In fact there are Scriptures where Paul refers to his ministry as one whole, although in others he distinguishes those two parts of it. He was minister of the Gospel and he was a minister of the Assembly, and he wrote "Now to him that is able to establish you, according to my glad tidings and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery". That is, the great matter that was in the mind of God before the ages of time was the mystery, and the Gospel is subservient to the mystery. God has sent out the Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ which would remove every other man from our vision and our affections, according to the revelation of the mystery with a view to the secrets of His heart relative to the assembly being carried through. The great Divine plan is one whole. And he goes on to say in that passage, "according to the revelation of the mystery as to which silence has been kept in the times of the ages, but which has now been made manifest, and by prophetic scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, made known for obedience of faith to all the nations", Romans 16:25 - 27.

If we are to overcome the foe at the present time, the first thing is to see that the Gospel and the

assembly are complementary, that one is according to the other. Those we have left, alas, have given up the truth of the gospel in practice. They have turned to another gospel, which is not another, and if you give up the truth of the Gospel, you have got nothing. If you give up the truth of the Gospel you have lost the Gospel and you have lost the assembly. All that is left is a pretence of the assembly, a great false pretension. But on the other hand, in cleaving to the truth of the Church we must not give up the Gospel, we must hold to the Gospel in its purity and entirety. Nevertheless, if we limit ourselves to the Gospel our loss will be incalculable in losing the truth of the assembly. While on the legal line you will lose the truth of the Gospel and the assembly, on the open line you may retain part of the Gospel, but you have lost the truth of the assembly.

I feel we should understand, dear brethren, what the real issues of the moment are amongst those who, as we say, have come 'out'. The enemy is bringing out his next form of attack, which we call the Open principle. Now I am not speaking against any brethren, for we long after all our brethren in the bowels of Christ Jesus, whatever line they may be on. But I feel we ought to understand what the Open principle involves. We have been speaking this afternoon of what is corporate. The ministry of the assembly involves what is corporate, and what is corporate begins with the truth of the one body, and the Open principle militates against the truth of the one body, and thus strikes at the very foundation of the ministry of the assembly. Compromise with sectarianism, which is incompatible with the truth of the one body, is one aspect of the Open principle. If we hold, and are

governed by, the truth of the one body we cannot allow any compromise with sectarianism, whether Rome, or Protestant sects. The other aspect of the Open principle is the independence of local companies, each local company being regarded as an independent unit, having its own rules and standards. That also is incompatible with the truth of the one body. There is only one body, and there is therefore only one house of God, because the Body of Christ is the House of God. There is one body and one house, and through God's grace as having the Spirit, we are made members of that one body -- Scripture does not teach that we are members of a local assembly, but that God has made us members of the universal body; for by one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body; and, as having the Spirit, we belong to the one spiritual house. That being so, then every local gathering governed by the truth of the body and the house will move according to the same principles, because there is only one body, one house of God, and thus only one set of principles. I am not saying there will not be variety in the expression of life as seen in local companies; I am not pleading for mere uniformity, because in God's world there is great variety in unity. I am not saying that the work of God, as seen in the Thessalonians was, in its detail, exactly like the work of God in the Corinthians. Paul has regard for the circumstances in which they were placed, in the ordering of God. "O Corinthians", he said, and "O Philippians". He felt for them in the circumstances in which they were set as God's husbandry. No doubt there would be a variety of spiritual fruit according to the tests and exercises that had to be faced in each locality. But the law of the

house is the same everywhere, as are also the principles governing the body. The body is the foundation of all corporate truth; the foundation of the ministry of the assembly. And Satan attacks the foundation in order that the whole structure might fall to the ground so far as our apprehension and enjoyment go. And what is more important than that, he attacks the foundation in order to rob God of His present portion from His people. The Gospel is what I might speak of as the 'down line'; it is God coming out in blessing to man, blessing flowing freely even to the gift of sonship and the best robe -- that is all included in the Gospel. From that standpoint there is nothing greater than the Gospel. We are taken into favour in the Beloved. But for there to be an adequate response to Christ and to God the assembly is essential; the ministry of the assembly constitutes the upward or response line. The response of thousands of individuals, merely as individuals, though blessed with the highest blessing, would not bring an adequate response to the heart of Christ, nor adequate worship and glory to God which can only be secured in the collective setting of the saints together in the light of the assembly. Therefore to be heartless as to the ministry of the assembly means a certain heartlessness as to God Himself and as to Christ.

Yet, whether we fail or not, God is going on to finality in this matter. He is forming this vessel. The body is the Bride, the Lamb's wife; therein will Christ as Man get a full portion. That same vessel is the house of God, God's eternal tabernacle where He will forever dwell in love's complacency; and it is God's city; the New Jerusalem, the great Metro-

polis. "Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the hill of his holiness. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King", Psalm 48:1, 2 -- where praise to God in His glorious greatness never fails; for God is revealed, both in His nature and His majesty, in the Person of the Son.

"Thy glory, bright, Thy majesty Divine,
Resplendent in the face of Jesus shine". (Hymn 255)

His city is a necessity to Him in His majesty, just as His tabernacle, where there are intimate family relations, is a necessity to Him in His love. Both the tabernacle and the city are essential. And the foundation of the whole structure is the one body. "We being many are one body in Christ and each one members one of the other". Now, are we going to turn heartlessly away from this great truth of the assembly, in the light of the fact that nothing less than this will bring adequate response to Christ, our eternal Lover, and adequate worship and glory to God? It is on this line that we are privileged to consider for Christ's necessities and God's necessities. The Gospel meets man's necessities. God has met man's necessity in order to build those who are secured by the Gospel into this wonderful structure; to put them together as the body of Christ, and to build them together as a spiritual house for Himself. "In whom" -- i.e. Jesus Christ -- Scripture says, "ye also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit", Ephesians 2:22.

Now, all these things will go through to completion in spite of man's failure; but the great concern is about the present time. Let us not excuse our-

selves by saying that in a broken day there cannot be anything collective or corporate. Before Paul left the scene it was a broken day, "Luke alone is with me", he said. Yet the command was: "pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart", 2 Timothy 2:22. That is as much a command as withdrawing from iniquity. We are to find such and move with them; and the Spirit is here to help, so that God's thoughts should not fall to the ground, even at this time of distress. But, though in great obscurity and smallness of numbers, though of no account in the history books and records of men, yet there should be some expression at the present time of the features of the one body, of the Bride of Christ, and of the house of God and tabernacle of God.

The Lord's commandment -- 1 Corinthians -- involves that we should be governed by the truth of the one body -- 1 Corinthians 12; and the crux of the present situation is this: are we going to allow the open principles which militate against the truth of the one body by compromise with sectarianism on the one hand, and by the doctrine and practice of the independency of local assemblies on the other? If so, we shall lose, as to practical enjoyment, the truth of the one body, the bride, the wife, the house, the tabernacle, the city -- for we are already fellow-citizens of the saints -- Ephesians 2:19. We may have them in our minds as a picture on the wall, but they will be lost in power in our souls, as sure as possible. But that is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that Satan ever has as his objective to rob God; and, if these things are lost in our souls, Christ is robbed and God is robbed. It is of no use

anyone saying, 'if you go in for these things you will neglect the Gospel'. If the Gospel has been neglected it is because we have not had the church in any true and vital way. If we have the church vitally, the Gospel will be in power, because, according to Ezekiel 47:12, the living water flowed out of the sanctuary. It did not come from a place where divine principles were disregarded, but it flowed out of the sanctuary, and that is why it was life-giving wherever it went.

In Revelation, John saw the river of water of life going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, which was in the City. And according to John 7, rivers of living water today flow out of the inward parts of those who livingly believe on Jesus glorified in the presence of God. One test as to whether we are in the gain of the Church is whether the gospel testimony is flowing out freely from us seven days a week. There may be special occasions for preaching; I am not saying anything against that. But if we are in the gain of the truth of God we shall not be able to hold the rivers in. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". You cannot hold a river in; if you look at the countryside you will see that. Even for a small river men have to make a bridge, they cannot hold it back. We should each be one of those from whom living waters are always outpouring; so that we might be able to say, "whosoever will let him take the water of life freely", as those who are channels of supply ourselves, bringing it to men where they are. Revelation 22:17 shews that those who are recovered to bridal affection for Christ, will be channels of living water to men.

It is a great thing, as I say, to have some notion of

what the conflict is at the moment. Maybe some can discern more easily the Galatian attack which we have all had to face -- may many more discern and overthrow it in their own souls! But it may be some have more difficulty in discerning the other form of attack -- the disregard of divine principles. The very idea of getting free from human bondage and the commandments of men tends to make us go to the other extreme and to reject the commandments of God which cannot be with impunity disregarded, for they stand for ever; they are the necessities of the divine nature which cannot be gainsaid, the necessities of love.

It is clear that the Corinthians were not ready for the great things which have engaged us. Paul says, "We speak wisdom among the perfect"; and it is evident they were not among the perfect, for he says in chapter 3, "And I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ". Here was a large meeting which came behind in no gift, but they had not even got the Lord's Supper. The only time the words "Lord's Supper" are used in Scripture is to tell us that the Corinthians were not eating the Lord's Supper. Well, you say, they were breaking bread. Yes, they were breaking bread; so are we. It is for you, and for me, soberly to consider whether in our localities, we have really got the Lord's Supper. "When ye come therefore together into one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper", 1 Corinthians 11:20. People talk about a right to the Supper; the point is the Corinthians had forfeited their right, and did not know it. They went on with the outward form, but the Lord was not there. It is not the Lord's Supper unless the Lord is there. And

another thing is that they had no thought of the one body. They had lost the thought that they were one body in Christ, and so they were each taking his own supper. Now that happens whenever persons are on sectarian ground. I have yet to find any sectarian ground in Christendom that is on any other basis than each one taking his own supper. If you go to the altar rails in the Establishment, the priest will say to you, 'the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee'; and again, 'the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee'. Thus, even in doctrine, it is an individual sacrament. A person partaking of it need not be concerned about the person next to him. He may be an unbeliever, a mere professor. The godly soul is taught that the Supper is entirely an individual matter between his soul and the Lord; and most sectarian bodies hold similar views. True the Lord will not fail a heart that loves Him and is true to the light he has; but the idea of supper is something quite different. In human affairs it is the most intimate and restful of meals, when the responsibilities of the day are over. In regard to the Lord's Supper it is the time when you are most free, when you are not thinking of responsibilities exactly. You have faced these, both as to your relations with the Lord and with the brethren, in proving yourself -- 1 Corinthians 11:28. What is in the Lord's mind, I feel sure, is that there should not be a cloud between our souls and Him and not a cloud between one another. So that we are practically together with one heart and one soul. That is supper-time, that is real supper; and where these things are right the Lord says, "I am coming to you" -- a promise preceded by "If ye love me keep my commandments", John

14: 15, 18. He may come in mercy to any conditions, but to come in the way He would love to come at His Supper, involves these conditions -- cloudless communion with Himself and cloudless relations with each other. And if we each prove ourselves and so eat, it means that we are each set to maintain such conditions in our locality. It does not mean that I have no concern about the person next to me, on the ground that if he eats unworthily, the Lord will deal with him. That is true, but that is not proving myself. I prove myself with a view to unclouded relations with the Lord and with my brethren with whom I eat the Supper in the light of 1 Corinthians 10:18. We seek to provide true supper conditions so that He comes according to His own thoughts as to His Supper.

Everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tent of meeting -- Exodus 33:7. It was there where they were going to meet the Lord. That is the chief thing in view in coming to the Supper; I am going to meet the Lord, but in supper conditions. And there He spoke to Moses face to face; that is the idea of supper conditions -- to know the Lord face to face. "The world sees me no longer", He said, "but ye see me". After saying, "I am coming to you", He says, "ye see me". It means face to face communion with the Lord in His surroundings, where we are seeking by the Spirit, as loving Him and keeping His commandments, to provide conditions for Him, so far as lies in us -- "e'en now though feeble here". The more we enter the Holiest, to know the conditions above, the better we shall know how to keep His commandments and His word, and thus to provide conditions for Him down here.

But, you see, the Corinthians were losing the Lord's presence at the breaking of bread, and we can easily lose it. We cannot claim it from one week to another -- no company can claim the Lord's Supper. From week to week we have to be exercised about suitable conditions. Yet, through the Lord's great mercy, we have had wonderful experiences of the Lord's presence at the breaking of bread in the last year or two, and my concern is not to lose that, whatever it costs. Why should I allow anything that will forfeit that highest and most blessed experience that I can have, of meeting the Lord face to face at His Supper with my brethren, and to be conscious in unity of heart -- though few of the many that are His -- of responding to Him in some little way in bridal character? And as knowing the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, to be filled to all the fulness of God -- though feeble our measure -- and thus to be able, by the Spirit, as embracing all saints in our affections, to render united response in worship to God.

Is not this worth going in for? Are we going to let Satan rob us of this? We are not ignorant of his thoughts. If we know what he is thinking and what he is aiming at, let us stand together and hold to the truth of the assembly of which Paul became minister. Let us be clear what the truth of the assembly is. It is the one body, the body of Christ, which is His bride, the Lamb's wife, God's house, God's tabernacle, God's city; all these things constitute the ministry of the assembly. If we let the enemy get in, all those things will become virtually meaningless to us, leaving us on individual lines, the excuse being that we want to go on with the Gospel. What a poor excuse that is! The more we are in these other things,

the more we will be a living testimony in the Gospel; that is if we have those things in our souls livingly and not merely in pretension. If we have got these things in pretence, they are worthless, but if we get them livingly, without pretending to anything, then we need not fear about the Gospel; there will be living continual testimony. Habits may be good in themselves, but unless they are held aright they are dangerous. We must not think that the Gospel is for one hour in the week. It is seven days a week. At all times the living water should be flowing.

Let us not be like the Corinthians; let us be amongst the perfect in the sense in which the apostle is speaking. Not perfect in the flesh, that is the Galatian error, that is abhorrent, that is the Pharisee; a spurious separation in the flesh which makes much of the separate man and nothing of his God. True separation to God makes nothing of the separated ones but everything of God. So it is not perfect in the flesh; nor is it perfect as to attainment, for Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained [the prize], or am already perfected", Philippians 3:12. Paul never took the ground of being perfect in attainment, and yet he speaks about the perfect, "As many therefore as are perfect, Let us be thus minded", Philippians 3:16. I think it means perfect as to objective, and if we have not got the right objective we shall fail in the race and fail in the conflict. What keeps a person steady is that he has got the divine objective before him. It is the man who knows best what he is fighting for who will stand most firmly. We had an illustration of that in national affairs in the last war. The one raised up as wartime leader in this country knew what the issues were and what he was fighting for.

We should know what is at stake, and what we are standing for. Let us stand in the Spirit of Jesus. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Let us stand in the Spirit of Jesus, but let us not give way; "having done all things to stand", as knowing what is at stake, and knowing what the objective is, namely, "glory to God in the assembly" in measure even now. Let us not give up the objective at the present time. On the contrary, let us go forward; let us be among those whom Paul calls the perfect -- perfect as to our objective and our goal. Why should not the youngest here be among them? Such persons will get wisdom, they will be let into the secret, or mystery, of God.

What I am speaking about, the ministry of the assembly, was the great divine secret hidden in God from ages and from generations. God has disclosed the secret of His heart in these matters to which I refer that relate to Christ and the assembly, and if we are right in our objective we shall come into the gain of God's wisdom in a mystery. We shall be able to talk to one another about it, for we shall find attentive ears for this line of truth. It is a sad thing when ears are closed to the most precious secrets that God has told to man. He has made known what His objective is; to have His eternal tabernacle, His eternal city. And that city is said to be prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband -- for Christ. Let us make His objective ours at the present time, and then we shall be numbered among those whom Paul calls the perfect -- "We speak wisdom among the perfect ... God's wisdom in a mystery, that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory". In that passage he was referring

to it in regard to their blessing and their glory. That is our side of it. "The things that God has prepared for those that love him". But the other side is, that they are the great things of God. Thus in the second epistle, when their spiritual stature had increased, he says, "In him is the yea and in him the Amen for glory to God by us", 2 Corinthians 1:20. These wonderful things are for us, prepared for our glory; but though our glory is involved in it, it is for glory to God by us; that is, the end in view is glory to God.

Well, let us keep this great end before us. I have not had time to speak of the Scripture in Proverbs but it was just to remind us that wisdom walks in the paths of righteousness, and, if you desire to follow it up, the paths of righteousness are specially set out in Romans. "And in the midst of the paths of judgment"; these are specially set out in 1 Corinthians. Most chapters bring in the idea of judgment or discernment, the last being in chapter 14, "Let the prophets speak two or three and let the others judge". Wisdom would lead us in the paths of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment so that we make straight paths for our feet. Then it says, "that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance"; that involves the ministry of the assembly; that is in view in Colossians; "the full knowledge of the mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge", Colossians 2:2 - 3. There you have got your substance. "And I will fill their treasuries". This line of filled treasuries finds its climax in Ephesians 3"filled even to all the fulness of God".

Beloved brethren, let us go on in wisdom's way. Wisdom has not only dealt with the problems of the

old creation, but has planned the new. Wisdom would lead us in paths of righteousness and in the midst of the paths of judgment that we might enter into the new order of things and thus inherit substance and have our treasuries filled.

May it be so for His Name's sake!

Chelmsford -- October 13, 1962, G. R. Cowell, Address, Haddad Green Books, Jesus In Control, 8: 45 - 63