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TRANSFORMATION

2 Corinthians 3:7 - 18

The apostle is contrasting the christian position with that of being under law. The law was given in connection with glory; we read that the children of Israel could not look at the face of Moses, because his face shone, "for the glory of his countenance;" but this glory is done away, because of "the glory that excelleth". Now there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory. This is brought in to correct the Corinthians, who were trusting in their own wisdom. Presenting Christ is the only true way of restoration, whatever the character of the departure may be. The great point here is that the flesh is displaced in the form in which it had worked in the Corinthians, they were boasting in their own wisdom. God's way of correcting is not merely to point out the error; that is man's way: the way of His grace is to set forth the right way, and then you see where you are wrong. If you learn how you yourself are displaced, you will never forget it - the true correction is that self is disallowed, and in abeyance. If you try to correct yourself, you are still there. There is no place for flesh in the glory of God. In verse 18 we read, "But we all ... beholding ... the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord;" but you will never really understand this until you try it, and so prove the truth of it. To illustrate what I mean, if a man suffers from headache, and is told that electricity would cure it, he cannot know the good of it unless he tries it. Beholding the glory of the Lord, you have come to a spot where flesh cannot be, for self is in abeyance. As the queen of Sheba was in the presence of Solomon,

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there was "no more spirit in her", 2 Chronicles 9. Have you ever been there? Would you like to taste the blessedness of it? The flesh must be in abeyance when you are beholding the Lord's glory, but you must behold it. You might hear about it continually, and you might admire it, and yet never know it for yourself. A person shut up in his own room may know more of it than one who has heard of it again and again. Scripture tells you what you are to get, the Spirit of God gives it to you. You never get anything without seeking it. The queen of Sheba went a long journey to see Solomon, and the effect of her coming was that she could say, "One half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me". Looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face - we behold Him without a veil, as we see Him in the holiest; the antitype of the ark of the covenant greets us, and the result is, we are transformed into the same image "as by the Spirit of the Lord".

The two disciples going to Emmaus heard the Lord's exposition of the word, and their hearts burned within them, but they were not changed in their course till they knew Him, and then they rose up and went to Jerusalem. His interests were paramount to them, they were now so under His control that they went the same road that He went. If we were in the holiest, the presence of the Lord, how clear our judgment would be as to everything for Him; there you see things as they relate to His interests, and then you get guidance. The great thing is to behold the glory of the Lord. The nearer the prodigal got to the father, the better off he was; all fear was gone when he was in his house. You will be so entranced with the things there that, like the queen of Sheba, there will be no more spirit in you, you yourself will be in abeyance.

An old divine was helped by a dream; he thought he came to the palace of a king, and was graciously received at the entrance, but the more he advanced,

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the more cordially he was received, and when he reached the presence of the sovereign, he was received with acclamation. The apostle was so set for it, it had such a hold on him, that he was "always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:10) lest he should lose it, for he had tasted the blessedness of it. The nearer you are to the Lord, the more assured you will be of your acceptance. Every blessing is centred there, and comes from Him, but you must taste of it in order to know it.

Christians in general do not know the Solomon aspect of Christ. The Corinthians had not known Christ as Wisdom of God; they were boasting in their own wisdom. The queen of Sheba came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

We often try to get rid of self, but this is only effected by displacement. Beholding the Lord's glory, we are transformed. If you had tasted the effect of it, you would long to enjoy it more; it would not then be the fear of losing things here, you would be filled with your gain. Solomon and all his glory entranced the queen of Sheba. I can imagine how, when she returned to her own country, she would want to have everything up to Solomon!

Do you know what it is to go in and behold the Lord's glory without a veil? What it is to sit before Him and contemplate Him, His glories, His beauties, His excellencies?

See Psalm 73. The psalmist's judgment was changed when he went into the sanctuary, but here it is a far greater thing, the man himself is changed, he is transformed. It is one thing to have returned like the prodigal from the far country, but quite another thing to have gone into the father's house. Christ is in glory: many a one looks to Christ on the cross, others as to their souls know that He is risen, but He is in glory. When the prodigal was in the father's

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house, he thought no more of the far country; he as in a new scene altogether in untold blessing.

How blessed to know that now, instead of God's claiming from you according to the law, righteousness is ministered to you from the glorified Man in heaven, and it is to this spot the Spirit of God would lead you. He comes from heaven to conduct you to the things there.

It is a great thing to get a sense of the blessedness of "beholding ... the glory of the Lord". Oh, the blessedness of having boldness to enter into the place where He is! The line is open for each one of us. Stephen was the first who travelled that line; it is opened by the Spirit of God.

The way I know I am walking "in the Spirit" is that Christ is before me, and the effect of having Christ only before me is marvellous; all is simple then. "Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her, "Proverbs 4:8.

The mariner says he does not fear the storm if he can only see the sun; he does not look for a star, but the sun. We may well be thankful for such a scripture as this, but let us each see to it that we try it.

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CHRIST CRUCIFIED AND CHRIST GLORIFIED

Matthew 12:38 - 42

Any reader can see in this scripture that there are two aspects of our Lord perfectly distinct the one from the other: the Jonah aspect, and the Solomon aspect. The Lord Jesus Christ is greater than either. Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly - that sets forth the death of Christ; while Solomon sets forth His glory - He was the "greater than Solomon". We have to learn Christ in both these aspects. If you have not learnt Him in the first, you cannot learn Him in the second. I press that you must learn the first completely before you can reach the second. Christ once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. The judgment of God on man must be first removed in judgment. Many are in comparative darkness, because they do not see that the man under judgment has been terminated judicially in the cross for the believer. God never revives that man. That which was under judgment has been removed in judgment. The resurrection of Christ is not merely a receipt that your sins are atoned for, but that a Man after a new order has come up out of death, no more according to the flesh, so that for the believer, not only is the mortgage on the house paid off (speaking figuratively), but every stone of the house has come down, and a new one is built on the same spot, but with none of the old material. "We have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens", 2 Corinthians 5:1. Many are trying to beautify the old. It is in Christ's resurrection that the clearance was effected, "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification", Romans 4:25. We are no

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longer of Adam but of Christ. You are transferred from Adam to Christ; Romans 5.

The prodigal was surprised at his father's reception of him; he could say, 'My father is on the best of terms with me!' If the shepherd had not gone out, the father could not have come out. God was the first relieved of the distance which sin had caused. Christ bore the judgment and glorified God in the most distant spot. "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him" (John 13:31). The man under judgment has gone, for every believer, from the eye of God in judgment, and hence that man could not righteously be revived. The apostle says of himself, "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). The youngest believer should be able to say, The man under judgment has gone from the eye of God. In the early verses of Romans 5 we read how God is toward us. In chapter 8 it is how we are in Christ before Him. In Romans 6:6 we read, "Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with him". Do you believe it? Do you believe that the body of sin has been destroyed? It is by the Spirit of God that you are free from the law of sin and death. You will not progress until you are free in the liberty of the Spirit.

There are three classes of christians. The first do not know how to be dead to sin. The second class do know, but they do not walk in it. The third are always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus. "If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (Romans 8:13). Are you occupied with the Spirit instead of with the flesh? I am dwelling much on this, because there is no progress until you are free. The Spirit of God first sets you free from yourself before God. The Corinthians and Galatians both had the Spirit, but neither were in the liberty of the Spirit, and therefore they could not enjoy the Lord.

First, then, you are clear of the old man altogether by the death of Christ. He has risen out from among

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the dead. Now where is He? Would you like to see Him who saved you? Where is He? In John 1 the two disciples heard John speak, and following Jesus, they asked, "Where dwellest thou?" Jesus said, "Come and see".

I cannot tell you what an effect it had on me when I learned that there was a power in me greater than the flesh.

The queen of Sheba travelled through the desert to see Solomon, and she communed with him of all that was in her heart. When the apostle would restore the Corinthians he writes "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). As soon as you are clear through the work of Christ of all that lay upon you, you look up as Stephen did. When the Spirit is ruling, your eye is on Christ, and then an entirely new class of interests will claim you. The queen of Sheba is not occupied with the great buildings at Jerusalem, but with Solomon's things. She was made acquainted with the interior of his house. Then "there was no more spirit in her". You are transformed by beholding the Lord's glory. Make Him in His glory paramount, and He will influence you for Himself. When you are beholding the glory of the Lord, there is no place for the flesh. It is not merely by reading and praying, it is by beholding the Lord's glory.

I do not know how we could get on without our Solomon. Whatever the difficulty, whatever the question, He is the resource. To know Christ as your Head, where there is no human voice, is much more than to know the Saviour in glory; but you must know Him first as the Saviour in glory. You cannot know the effect of beholding Him until you try it. One effect you read of in 2 Corinthians 4:10 is, "always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the

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life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body".

There is a moment in the soul's history when you can say, God is so absolutely for me that I must be absolutely for Him. You have to do with Christ in glory who has removed the judgment on man.

Isaiah was repelled by the glory. He said, "Woe is me ... mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5). Then came the live coal. There is no live coal now. The nearer you are to Him the better off you are. I often think when I see a man in darkness, I wish I could push that man into the glory. I feel nothing but the Spirit of God - (language fails) - can show you that the nearer you come the better off you are.

In conclusion, the apostle says, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

Jonathan rejoiced that Goliath was gone. May each one of you rejoice that the man under judgment has gone, and that Christ - the glorified Man, the "greater than Solomon" - is the only source of your life and your every blessing, for His name's sake.

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THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IN US (Four readings)

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GOD TOWARD US, AND WE BEFORE HIM IN CHRIST

Romans 5:1 - 11; 8: 1 - 13

J.B.S. The subject before us is the work of the Spirit in us. Everything is done for us but no one is really beyond the measure of the Spirit's work in him, and that is where many lack. I have read those two scriptures because, in the words of another, the first gives us how God is toward you as revealed in Christ, and the second how you are before God in Christ.

The first eleven verses of Romans 5 give us the state of one who is justified: "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us". You cannot get higher than those eleven verses. In chapter 8 where we come to our side it winds up by returning to the fifth: nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

Until you have learnt these two things you really can make no advance though you may know a great deal of Scripture and be greatly interested in it, too. Let us take them in their order. The first, a most beautiful and interesting thing, is the terms on which God can be with a believer through the death and resurrection of Christ. That is the subject of these eleven verses, and if you do not enjoy them it is because you do not really believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. The gospel that is generally accepted is that Christ's blood was shed as a sacrifice, and this is true enough as far as it goes. It is preservation from judgment, but you do not see how you are brought to God. It is merely that God passes you by, and further than that you do not get in the common doctrine of christendom. You are sheltered, but you are not in peace: every disturbing element between you and

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God has not been removed, and there is no possibility of a person getting on till he has learnt that. You must learn the truth in divine order: if one turns to the epistle to the Ephesians before he has learnt the truth of the epistle to the Romans he cannot take it in.

A.G. Has a man got Romans who can say, "If God be for us?"

J.B.S. That is chapter 8. He has not got it till he has the love of God shed abroad in his heart. That is chapter 5: how God is towards him. There is a very good illustration of it in the prodigal: he found that the father could not be on better terms with him.

J.G. At what stage in the prodigal's history was it that he found the father could not be on better terms with him?

J.B.S. The first impression he got of how the father was towards him was the kiss of affection. That answers to Romans 5:11. But then he says, "I am no longer worthy". He had not on the best robe yet: he was not in chapter 8. I think the way the gospel is continually presented and apprehended, is to find some substitute for you, to bear your sins, for the relief of your own conscience, instead of seeing how the One you have offended is towards you.

W.K. That is how He feels towards you?

J.B.S. Exactly. The prodigal says, "I have sinned against heaven and before thee; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants". He counts on the father's goodness but at the same time he expects to be degraded, to be made a hired servant.

T.M.G. The blood of propitiation in Romans 3 enables God to act according to His own heart?

J.B.S. Yes, and it gives relief to your conscience, too. Suppose you find a child in punishment and you ask, Why? 'Because I have offended against my father.' Very well, the point is, Have you had the

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matter settled with your father? You do not ask the child, Are you much troubled about the state you are in, are you greatly distressed because of your punishment? No, the question is, Is it settled with your father?

W.K. The point is that the offended one, the father, is the one to be considered?

J.B.S. Exactly, and that is not sufficiently remembered.

W.K. I think what you convey to us is that it is our side we are generally occupied with, and the sense of relief through the work of the Lord Jesus?

J.B.S. Exactly. A great many are occupied with Romans 8 before they have got Romans 5. They are trying to be fit for God before they have got the sense of how He feels towards them. Supposing a child has broken a clock and is put under punishment till it is mended. Well, the father says, 'I see you cannot mend it, but I will mend it myself.' Now if the father mends it, it shows two things: not only his love to the offending child, but that the mischief he did has been repaired to his entire satisfaction. And if the child had any sense he would say to his father, 'You are not only very good, but as you have yourself repaired the damage you never can find fault with the way it has been done.' God has "laid help upon one that is mighty" (Psalm 89:19). It is a very different thing whether you are occupied with your feelings because you are a sinner or with the feelings of the One whom you have offended. If the former then even your sense of sin is not right, because the point is that it is God you have offended.

W.A.W. But the other is necessary?

J.B.S. I quite admit it is necessary and I say it is the way you begin. But then you have not found out really what has been done if you stop there and do not touch the question, how does the One who has been offended feel?

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W.A.W. Do you find fault with the teachers or with the people?

J.B.S. I am not finding fault with anyone: I am only trying to show the common defect of dwelling too much upon our sense of our state and of Christ's work, and forgetting how God feels about it. That is only what we might call the gospel of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there was no resurrection, no victim ever raised. And they were never clear of their sins, they came upon them again. If there is resurrection then I am apart from man, and there is no justification except in connection with resurrection: "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification".

W.K. You said that if there is resurrection I am apart from the man: that is the man who sinned?

J.B.S. Yes.

W.K. And it is that which gives the perfect sense of true relief?

J.B.S. Yes. I see that God has been fully relieved and first relieved. The man that offended Him has been removed and He has another Man in the place of him. Now I am not looking at the man who sinned, but at the Man risen up from among the dead. I believe in God who raised Him from the dead. Therefore the word is, "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved", Romans 10:9. In my acquaintance I do not know anything souls are so feeble in as simply to believe that they have to do with a risen Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are quite clear as to having to do with a dying Saviour, the Saviour who died, but to know that I have to do with a Man risen out of all the ruin of man carries one outside of all that he is.

-.H. Do you make that difference between the forgiveness of sins and justification?

J.B.S. I do. I often tell an anecdote that happened

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in my experience in a company of officers who met to talk about the Lord's coming. One of them said, I used to go down on my knees to pray to Christ on the cross, but one day a lady said to me, He is not there, and it had a great effect upon me.

Ques. Most believers are simply forgiven sinners?

J.B.S. Yes, and they want to be forgiven again. But when you get to resurrection there is no more offering for sins, there is no more conscience of sins. Oh, but I know I do sin, says someone? Yes, but that is consciousness. If you have conscience of sins then they must be upon you. But they are not upon me, I am clear, and I have to do with another Man altogether, not only with the sacrifice but with One risen from the dead, "marked out Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead", Romans 1:4. I may not be able to convey it but I have the sense that the moment I look at the Lord risen from the dead I am on new ground.

W.K. In the resurrection it is not only the offence that is gone but the offender too?

J.B.S. Yes, and the offence is removed entirely to the satisfaction of God Himself. Therefore you find in Matthew 27 that the very moment Christ died God rent the veil. God says, I have found a man, I have found the answer to the holiest of all: there is no more any veil.

W.K. Do you mean by that, that one can be in God's immediate presence?

J.B.S. Yes, and God had in a Man that which was in the holiest which shut out man.

T.M.G. God has got man in His presence suitable to Himself according to His own mind?

J.B.S. Yes, and that is what the prodigal found afterwards. When he was kissed he might have said to the father 'Well, it is an immense comfort to me that you are so happy about it:' but then he looks at himself and says, I am not fit to be in there. Then

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said the father, I will make you fit. So we ought to be thankful for the first at any rate (how God feels towards us) and then go on to the second (how we are before God in Christ).

W.K. Do you think it is possible for a person to rest comfortably in the first without having the second?

J.B.S. No, I do not think it is, but it is very important for one to have hold of the first because then he finds he cannot be happy without the second. For myself I know that for years everything was gone from before God and I was perfectly happy in looking up to God but I was not happy about myself. And why? Because I found no improvement; I had not taken the ground that I had parted with the man; I was trying to improve him.

W.K. You were trying to make yourself suitable. I think most people have tried it.

T.M.G. Instead of seeing that God had got rid of you and had got a Man in His presence according to His own mind?

J.B.S. I was quite sure He had but what I wanted really to know was that the Spirit made that true to me which was true to God.

J.G. That is the first you have said as to that yet.

J.B.S. Yes, but it is very important. In the synopsis originally it was made absolute - something done for you - but in the next edition it is corrected and made experimental. Many call it the reckoning of faith, but no, it is a fact. You are saved by the death of Christ from the man that brought all the trouble upon you.

T.M.G. Do you mean that the Spirit of God has made it good to your soul as a practical, experimental thing?

J.B.S. Yes, and therefore the apostle says, "I am crucified with Christ", Galatians 2:20. It is not enough to say our old man is crucified with Christ, but I am crucified

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with Him. What does the apostle say to the Romans in chapter 6? Ye "have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were instructed". That is, you have accepted that you are dead men. That is the meaning of that expression.

T.M.G. Had Paul himself the experience of that?

J.B.S. Yes, and you cannot have that experience without the work of the Spirit of God.

W.K. You say it is not merely the reckoning of faith as commonly thought but a positive work wrought in you by the Holy Spirit?

J.B.S. Yes, if you take the end of Romans 5 - the two men - you will see it. And no one has deliverance unless he changes his man. The end of Romans 5 is to me an immense help. The question is, are you in Adam or in Christ? I am out of Adam and in Christ: but how? By Christ's death. And that is the force of Romans 6:11: "So also ye, reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in (not 'through') Christ Jesus". You are gone in that Man, you are freed from Adam by the death of Christ, but you have touched life in Christ for the first time. I am associated with Christ as the Person in whom is the life.

W.K. That is not sufficiently clear. Every believer - everyone with any intelligence - accepts the fact that there are the two men and that you are connected with the one or the other, but the point of difficulty is how do you change your man?

J.B.S. I am saved by death from Adam and I have found life in Christ. That is Romans 6, which is only a treatise on the subject, but the effect is practical and when you come to chapter 8 it is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death". But then the argument is commenced in chapter 5, that one man has brought all the trouble upon you ("by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death"), and the other brings life. "Death reigned by the one, much rather

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shall those who receive the abundance of grace, and of the free gift of righteousness, reign in life by the one Jesus Christ".

W.K. But you say it is not simply accepting this presentation of the truth as a matter of faith.

J.B.S. No, it is a work of God's Spirit.

J.G. Of course it must be accepted in faith.

J.B.S. The statement is accepted but it is a real work of God's Spirit.

W.K. You say that is a positive state in which one is put?

J.B.S. Yes, and though you may not always be walking in it you can never be behind it.

T.M.G. It is true that every believer is crucified with Christ, but every believer cannot say so experimentally?

J.B.S. It is quite true to say of all believers that our old man is crucified with Christ, but it is not everyone who can say, I am crucified with Christ. Most people are trying to improve themselves.

T.M.G. How is the experimental thing to be arrived at?

J.B.S. If you take it in the divine order, the first thing the prodigal found was that everything was gone on the father's part. "We are making our boast in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom now we have received the reconciliation". I see first that everything that was offensive is gone from the eye of God and He will never revive it.

W.K. What do you mean by everything?

J.B.S. Everything unsuited to Him: not only my sins but the man who did the sins.

W.K. All connected with the sinful state?

J.B.S. Reconciliation could not be effected till God Himself removed everything that caused disturbance. God Himself has removed it and I am not the judge but He is the judge of what is removed. It is very important to see that it is not my conscience but God

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Himself who is the judge of what has been removed.

W.K. Of what requires to be removed, what has been removed and how it has been done - He has done it Himself.

J.B.S. The next step is that the prodigal finds, I am not fit for you or for your presence. The father answers, 'I will make you fit. Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him.' In christendom they make the best robe righteousness. But it really is what we have in Romans 8 - what the believer is in Christ before God.

T.M.G. Then the best robe must really be Christ?

W.K. And it is Christ risen?

J.B.S. Yes, of course. Therefore it is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death". I think it is very plain, but it is in the Spirit you have it. I said to a young man who was being drawn away by the 'Holiness by Faith' doctrine, 'Do you believe the old man is gone in the eye of God?' 'Yes, I do.'. 'And if you were walking in the Spirit would you not see him gone, too?' He was put in a corner. If he had said, No, he would have put the Spirit of God in contradiction to God. To see what God sees is faith.

Our brother has asked the question, How do you get it? By walking in the Spirit. Everybody who knows anything realises how little we are positively in it. We can test ourselves by asking what is the upper-most thing in our minds, often. Therefore in Romans 8 it is, "If, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body (not, mortify the body, which is the monastic principle) ye shall live". I have another Person now to serve and not my own pleasure. "In that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God", Galatians 2:20. Even going about your business day by day you have a different Man to please: you consult Christ. You consider not whether you like this thing or not but whether Christ would like it. How

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often this would pull one up in the course of the day!

W.K. If you try it you will find it out very soon.

J.B.S. No one is right who does not. I believe the fact is you so enjoy the love of Christ that you prefer Christ to Adam and that is Romans 8. Until you have learnt that you will never grow or make progress. Why? Because you are not at home with the Lord. See the end of Romans 8: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" What is it you have found? That I prefer Christ to the most excellent man that ever I saw or to the most beautiful traits that ever I saw in a man. It is Christ as an object. And that is practically what we get if we walk in the Spirit. Christ is preferred before everything. I think you will get what I say confirmed by the Corinthians and the Galatians. The Corinthians had received the Holy Spirit, the Galatians had, too, but neither of them were walking in the Spirit: they were, not dead to sin. And that is where people practically stop short - they are not dead to sin.

J.G. Practically?

J.B.S. Yes.

J.G. They have the theory but are not walking in the power of it?

J.B.S. Either they do not know it, or they are not living up to it.

W.K. Do you suppose it possible for a person to have accepted that doctrine by faith and not be in it?

J.B.S. There are three classes: first, those who do not know it: second, those who know it but do not carry it out: third, those who know it and do carry it out. The Corinthians thought they had very good wisdom of their own and though they had Christ, yet they would keep and use their own wisdom, and the apostle in the long run brings them in the second epistle to Christ glorified. He presents them with the Lord's glory which is properly the holiest of all and there you will be so transformed that you will be

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like Him. The practical effect of thus being in the presence of Christ is that you would not like anything that would disturb or interrupt it and therefore you have in the next chapter, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body", 2 Corinthians 4: 10. As enjoying the presence of the Lord I am glad not to allow the slightest thing that would cause any disturbance between myself and Him. It is not simply by setting forth the doctrine, but by setting forth the gain of the presence of the Lord, that the Corinthians are brought into it.

Then as to the Galatians, they were trying to be righteous, to keep the law, and they had to learn that Isaac - the one born after the Spirit - was to get his place; and that Ishmael - the one born after the flesh - was to be cast out. It is a great thing when Christ gets His rightful place in your heart. He has got the right to everything there. Ishmael has no place. He represents the polished, well brought up, well educated, religious man. And therefore this is a more painful experience than Romans 7.

W.K. More painful than Romans 7?

J.B.S. Much more. In Romans 7 I find that I am incompetent to keep the law, but here I find that all that is amiable and polished and educated and cultivated in me does not like Christ.

W.K. It is not the discovery of my own feebleness but of the true character of the first man?

J.B.S. Yes, and therefore you can understand what the apostle says: "What things were -gain to me these I counted, on account of Christ, loss", Philippians 3:7. What a relief! Ishmael is turned out. You may say, He will come back. But no, you have got the truth and the truth makes you free. You may be tried ten times a day or a hundred times a day with what is not Christ, but you refuse it. On the other hand the Spirit of God is the power for life.

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W.K. When something comes up, you say, 'That is not Christ?'

J.B.S. Yes. My own conscience is not the standard, Christ is the standard. We have all got a certain standard in our own consciences, but we have a new standard and that is Christ.

A.G. Would you say conscience is the standard in Romans 7?

J.B.S. Well, you might. But here I am no longer doing something to satisfy my conscience but I am trying to do what would please Christ.

W.A.W. But it is really what we do that troubles us.

J.B.S. But why are you troubled? That is the point. Is it because you are not nice enough for your own sense of what you should be, or because you have lost your reputation with other people?

W.A.W. But if I am really troubled because what I have done is not like Christ?

J.B.S. Then you will get plenty of comfort. I used to long, when I failed, to have the thing over again that I might go through it without failure. I was disappointed with myself.

Rem. I thought if you failed in a thing you did not get the opportunity again.

J.B.S. If I fail in a place now I avoid it: "Pass not by it". What I say is that if I had been walking in the Spirit I would not have gone that way. It is not merely at the moment of failure that you are wrong, you grieved the Spirit before. You might be reading your Bible at the moment, but you grieved the Spirit earlier and the Spirit would not help you when the occasion came. If you wish to find out where a man is, ask him to do something. As sure as life if he is not walking in the Spirit he will blunder. I should be afraid to do a thing if I was not with the Lord. Saul wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

W.A.W. Do you mean preaching the gospel, for instance?

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J.B.S. I mean everything. Everything you do is for Him. The body is the Lord's. We have not gone into heavenly things at all yet; we are speaking of what is down here on earth. Everything is done either in the flesh or in the Spirit. "I myself with the mind serve God's law; but with the flesh sin's law", Romans 7:25. But then you are not in the flesh; if you were you would serve the law of sin. You may talk for ever and pray for ever, but you will never have deliverance until you change your man, until you say, "Not I, but Christ".

W.K. You said that asking a person to do something would discover where he is. That is, I suppose, because every action requires power and the power is the Spirit of God?

J.B.S. Yes, and if you grieve the Spirit He will make you find it out, perhaps by public failure. You ought to have found it out before you went into public. I think we do not read our own histories sufficiently. I find that I go into one house perhaps and I am quite happy there, but I am too well pleased with myself, and the next house I go into I am quite flat. What has happened? I have grieved the Spirit.

W.K. If that is the case the Spirit of God will let you down?

J.B.S. Exactly so.

W.A.W. What would you advise then to be done?

J.B.S. Walk in the Spirit.

W.A.W. How do you get back?

J.B.S. Well, the first step is the acknowledgment of failure.

W.A.W. Suppose you find yourself as you have said, quite flat; would you just leave then and go home?

J.B.S. I cease. That, alas, is a very common transaction.

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W.K. That supposes another thing: that you are so walking in the Spirit ordinarily as to discover when you are not.

J.B.S. I am, of course, supposing that. I think it is a wonderful thing that the Lord allows us to teach one another what each learns for himself, that it is not angels He sends to teach us. I used to say that the flesh is stronger than grace; I dare not say that now; I say the Spirit is stronger than the flesh. I do not think this is sufficiently understood, that we have got a new power. Romans 7 is looked at as normal christian experience, but there is no power there; there is the new nature but not the new power. I think a great many people suppose they have received the Spirit of God when they have not. I do not believe you have received the Spirit of God until you believe in the glorified Christ; therefore it is connected with justification; then after believing you are sealed. Now I can refer back to myself and I can see the moment when power came, power for Christ, power to be for God.

W.K. Do you suppose it possible for a believer to have the Spirit and yet be devoid of power?

J.B.S. Yes, I do. He may have the Spirit and not be in the power of the Spirit.

W.K. Do you mean by habitually grieving the Spirit?

J.B.S. Well, a believer may drop out of the line. The Corinthians were full of their own wisdom and had dropped out of the line of the Spirit. So had the Galatians; they were trying to correct the flesh by the law.

W.K. Such a person is not in divine power?

J.B.S. No. Therefore the apostle says of the Galatians: "My children, of whom I again travail in birth until Christ shall have been formed in you", Galatians 4:19.

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W.A.W. The proof that I am walking in the Spirit is that Christ is my object?

J.B.S. Yes. I often illustrate it by a sailor in rough weather. He says, 'I do not mind the weather much so long as I can see the sun.' If you can see Christ then you are safe. But then you must remember that He is outside of everything of man; and that is a wonderful step.

Ques. Do you say I must have Christ in resurrection before I can have the Spirit?

J.B.S. Yes.

Rem. I was thinking of the scene in Acts 10 where the Spirit was given immediately on the reception of the truth of the forgiveness of sins.

J.B.S. But read the passage and you will find that the testimony was to Christ risen: "This man God raised up the third day and gave him to be openly seen", Acts 10:40. It is your first link with Christ.

W.A.W. But it is all in connection with the risen One?

J.B.S. Quite so. "The Spirit was not yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified", John 7:39. And so in Ephesians: "In whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise", Ephesians 1:13. And if you refer back to Acts 19 you find that these Ephesians were converted by the preaching of Apollos, but, knowing only the baptism of John, they had not so much as heard of the Holy Spirit being given; but when they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus and Paul had laid his hands on them they received the Holy Spirit. That is what, is referred to in Ephesians 1: 13 "in whom" - the Person, not the work.

W.A.W. In reading the first eleven verses of Romans 5 did you want us to understand that a person could have that and yet not be sealed with the Spirit?

J.B.S. No.

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W.A.W. Then why did you bring in chapter 8?

J.B.S. Chapter 8 is your side as chapter 5 is God's side towards you. The prodigal found first that it was all right on his father's side, but then he found that he was not all right with the father and the best robe was the answer to that.

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NEARNESS TO CHRIST WHERE HE IS

Hebrews 4:11 - 16; 10: 19 - 22

J.B.S. We are tracing the work of the Spirit in us, and last evening we got so far as to find that we are not only in the favour of God and able to joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have received the reconciliation but that we are freed from sin. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death", Romans 8:2. We are not in flesh but in Spirit - that is the great change - so that not only am I in the favour of God and joying in God, but if I am walking in the Spirit I am free from sin - not sins but sin. Therefore "if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body" - not mortify the body which is monkery - "ye shall live". We are in the Spirit but we have to walk in the Spirit.

Having taken this ground that we are in the Spirit, the Spirit is our link with Christ (for "if any one has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of him", Romans 8:9) we now come to another step. We have tasted the love of Christ; the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us; but now we have a further thing, not only the love of Christ but company with Him, not company with Him here on earth, the day for that is over, but where He now is. And if you do not get freed from sin you cannot have company with Him, that is the order of the Spirit. It is a beautiful order in itself, because if you know His love, which is the first step, you would like to have company with Him and to be freed from everything that would hinder that. You find in the gospels that those who loved the Lord followed Him; nothing satisfies love but company. But then remember it is not here.

J. G. What do you mean by freed from sin?

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J.B.S. I am freed from sin through the Spirit: I am free from the man that produced the sin. The Spirit enables you to do the commonest thing not as you would do it naturally but as Christ would do it. Therefore the apostle says, "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me", Galatians 2:20. It is a great thing to know that if I am in the Spirit I am master of the flesh. If the flesh rules me I am not in the Spirit, that is clear. And the test that I am walking in the Spirit is that Christ is paramount. Therefore the whole bearing of a man is indicative of the Spirit's work in him. I do not ask a man to change his appearance or bearing, but as walking in the Spirit his whole bearing would be changed. If you want to grow, to make progress it must be by the work of the Spirit in you. Knowledge of Scripture alone will not do it. Knowledge of Scripture is not necessarily knowledge of the Lord. Many know a great deal of Scripture who know very little of the Lord Himself. It is a remarkable statement of the Lord's concerning the Spirit: "He shall ... bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you", John 14:26. It is not only the things He said brought to mind, but they knew the Person who said them.

Now in the book of Hebrews we have a very important thing. We have learnt already in Romans that you prefer Christ to Adam. You have to do with Him who is risen from among the dead, you have learnt what His love is, you can say He loved me and gave Himself for me; and now you get another thing. You are going through the wilderness, a trying place, you find what He can be to you, you not only learn that He comes down to the lowest point where you are, to conduct you to the highest point where He is, but your heart is drawn away to Him where He is. It is not the place that is before you, but your heart is drawn away from this place by One who is not in it.

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W.K. The statement I think is clear enough; what we want is the effect.

J.B.S. We must see the thing first. The first step is light, then exercise of soul, then follows prayer and then the work of the Spirit.

W.K. First light, that is the revelation; then exercise, that is, I am nothing?

J.B.S. Yes. The difference between what I call an intellectual discourse and a spiritual discourse is this: by an intellectual discourse you are exhilarated. You say, 'What a beautiful lecture', when very likely you have not really got a bit of it. When it is spiritual the effect is you are subdued and want to be alone. Then there is exercise and according to the exercise you make progress. You never get what you do not value. Everyone in this room has got what he values. You may not think so but it is always true, according to the principle, "He that seeketh findeth", Matthew 7:8.

The point we reach here in Hebrews is that we value Christ for His company. He is not here but in heaven, and He is a great Priest over the house of God, and a great Priest for us.

Ques. What is the difference between a priest and a Saviour?

J.B.S. A priest has nothing to do with saving us. You must know the Saviour first: if you do not know the Saviour you will never know the Priest. He is the Saviour but He is not saving you now; it is a Priest I want now. And the Priest has nothing to do with sin, but to maintain you with God. In christendom they have brought the Priest down to earth; the Priest is between the congregation and God.

W.K. That is not the idea of the Priest?

J.B.S. That is the idea of a priest on earth but not of a Priest in heaven, because in heaven we are in company with Him. Thus in Leviticus 16 Aaron went into the holiest and offered a bullock for himself

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and for his house. Christ has gone into heaven itself and we go in with Him.

But first you must learn that you are freed from sin. You have learnt to prefer Christ before everyone and everything; you have learnt His love to you; and now comes the question, Where is He? This is the point in the Hebrews. The actual purpose of the book was to correct the tendency of the Jewish believers to settle on the earth, and the apostle shows how much you are dependent on the company of Christ where He is. The effect of that company is to draw your heart away from this place where He is not, to the place where He is. There is not a word about going to heaven, but you are so attracted by the company of Christ and the benefit you derive from His company that your heart is drawn away from this place to Christ where He is, and that is the race.

W.K. The race then is to get there?

J.B.S. Yes, but you are not out of the wilderness in Hebrews. You are running but you are not out of it.

W.A.W. I do not quite understand what you said about light and exercise. What is the light?

J.B.S. The light of the Word shows you what is yours. You say, 'I see it,' but you have not got it yet. Then follows exercise in order that you may get it.

W.K. The light sets forth what is obtainable?

J.B.S. Yes.

W.A.W. Then the exercise is a second thing, a desire and longing for it.

J.B.S. Quite so.

W.A.W. And the prayer is that I am found alone seeking it?

J.B.S. Yes.

W.K. The exercise is the discovery that you have not got it?

J.B.S. Yes.

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A.G. Would Peter be an instance of the light falling upon one?

J.B.S. The light that fell upon Peter was that he was in the presence of the Lord and it terrified him. What reassured him was that Christ cared for him. I must know this first, that Christ cares for me. Then I find He is not here, He is gone to heaven, and I am to be in company with Him there - but how? This is the great point in Hebrews; not only as in Romans that I know Him, I have learnt His love, and prefer Him to Adam, but that I have His company. We are His companions, His brethren. His company is so necessary to me, and the effect of it is so great, that I am attached to Himself personally where He is. It is not that I am driven to Him by what is disagreeable in this place, but my heart is so drawn to Him who is not here that I run to Him where He is.

T.M.G. Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

J.B.S. Exactly.

T.M.G. Of course, we must know that we are fitted to be His companions?

J.B.S. Quite so. You must know Romans first; that comes out even in Hebrews.

W.A.W. Do you think we must learn first what Peter learnt in the light?

J.B.S. Yes. He realised that he was in the presence of God and the effect was that instead of being delighted with the great draught of fishes which he had, he was in fear and distress, and then he obtained relief by learning that the Lord cared for him. If you have not learnt that, you have not touched Christ's love. Many a one knows His service who does not know His love and if you do not know His love you cannot go on to know Him as Priest.

W.A.W. You said it was not finding things disagreeable here; that it is not troubles that drive us away from the earth?

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J.B.S. I never yet saw a person driven out by troubles; he will only try to make things smoother. It is the knowledge of the love of Christ and attraction to Him where He is that draws the heart away from this earth. If a husband goes to Australia his wife says, 'I will go, too,' and if she cannot go her heart is there. The book of Hebrews does not tell the saints they must not be earthly, but they find so much in the company of the One who is not here that their hearts are drawn away from this place. Like a man going to his business; if he is intent on it he may see the most attractive thing on his way but he is not detained by it as his thoughts are on another thing. The most attractive thing here does not touch the saint who knows what it is to have a greater attraction elsewhere. It is the attraction of the Person, not the place.

A great many people want to go on to the Priest before they have done with the question of sins, but you cannot. The book of Hebrews opens with this: "Who ... when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down". You must come altogether upon new ground and in Hebrews 2:11 you see what it is: "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren". Now you see you are altogether of a new stock. It is not merely as in Romans that I prefer Christ to Adam, but I am of His stock - not that He is of mine. There is where all the late blundering about eternal life has been. Eternal life does not come to the man here but you have to go to another Man to get it. You have death in Adam and life in Christ, and you have to leave the one man to get to the Other.

W.A.W. Of course a person has to desire it. Do you not think that if a person is going on right these things will drop in in their turn?

J.B.S. I do. I believe that a man who has learnt Romans 8 will get on to Hebrews, but a man who has

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never learnt Romans will never be in Hebrews. A man must be able to spell before he can read, but he does not cease to be able to spell when he can read.

W.A.W. It is God's great desire that we should go on to that.

J.B.S. Not only so but I am sure the Spirit of God is working in every one of us to that end, but we resist Him more or less. It is all ours, He wants to give us possession of what is ours.

W.K. That is why you can speak of the light presenting things to us because all is accomplished for us?

J.B.S. Yes, the Spirit only effects that in me which is already true for me. There is progress, but what we are going on with is done. If you are not dead to sin you cannot go on. That is where the Corinthians and the Galatians both stuck fast.

W.K. You mean by a person not being dead to sin that he has not got that truth formed in his soul?

J.B.S. No, not even that, he is not walking in it. There must be the bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus.

W.K. So that a person might have a certain presentation of the truth made to him, might have accepted it and been conformed to it but through carelessness he might not be walking in it, and thus there would be no progress?

J.B.S. Quite so. The Corinthians and the Galatians had known the truth but they were not walking in it, and hence the apostle says, "I ... could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ", 1 Corinthians 3:1.

Now let us go on with Hebrews. In the second chapter we get a very important point: that we are of His nature or stock. I believe there is a great lack in souls in not understanding that not only am I clear of Adam and have come to Christ but I am of His order: we are His brethren. You could not talk of sin in connection with Christ's brethren; he that is born of

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God does not sin. You will never understand the assembly till you understand this, that we are of Christ's stock. To take the figure: the only one thing that Abraham's steward was sworn to was the lineage of the bride for Isaac, that she should be of the right stock. Believe me, it is the great hindrance to souls not to see this; they are converted but they do not realise the fact that we are of the same stock and lineage as Christ, and therefore they are not fit to be brought on to union.

T.M.G. If we were not in chapter 2, verse 11, we could not be His companions?

J.B.S. No, and it is a very important thing. You could not be a companion to Him unless you were suited to Him. Therefore the word is used in the third chapter, companions, or partakers, of Christ.

W.A.W. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one" - is that companionship?

J.B.S. It is the basis of companionship. We are made partakers of Christ. We are His brethren. The charge given to Abraham's servant is the type of it.

T.M.G. There would not be suitability for union without this companionship or oneness?

W.K. When it is said, "All of one", that is not union?

J.B.S. No, that means of one nature, stock, or lineage. It is very hard to put into a noun as the English requires, because if you express one thought you exclude another. One stock is the nearest to it that I can think of.

W.A.W. Does Romans necessarily precede this?

J.B.S. Certainly. How could you be of His stock if you were not clear of the old thing?

A.G. Would you not say that the book of Hebrews is inclusive of itself of what is necessary to be learnt in order to reach this point?

J.B.S. You will not learn Hebrews until you have learnt Romans. It has often been said that Romans is

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escape and Hebrews is approach. Romans answers to Exodus - no new remark - and Hebrews to Leviticus.

Now the practical effect is that all along the wilderness journey instead of looking for something in the wilderness you are so attracted to Christ that you are running away from the wilderness to get to where He is. In Hebrews you do not get to where He is, as in Ephesians, you are still running on to Him. In Hebrews you are always in the wilderness and there-fore always in the race.

W.A.W. That word 'attraction' is of immense importance?

J.B.S. Yes, but you must not lose the thought of the Person. He attracts you.

W. K. It is in Romans that you learn Him?

J.B.S. Yes, I learn that He is to be preferred to Adam, and I know His love and that nothing can separate me from it. That is where the attraction begins. It is in the company of a person that I enjoy his love. You begin like Peter, but what you find practically is that you are here in the world where naturally you would like to settle down - we are all more or less touched with this - and you feel the difficulty of surmounting everything here and going on to heaven where He is. Therefore what we have here next is our infirmities. Infirmities are not sins, but weaknesses. There are two things in the fourth chapter: the word of God which finds you out, which discovers whether you are really set on following the call of God or not; then the infirmities that oppress me - sickness, or difficult circumstances, or bereavement, which is the worst of all. I find out that I am indeed in the wilderness, while He is in heaven. But He answers, 'I have been where you are, though I am not there now.' Observe the language: "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession". Mark the ground you are upon. Here

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I am under pressure of circumstances, ill-health, or bereavement and I know the love of Him who has gone on high. He says to me, I know the pressure, I have been down there and I can enter into it all. He comes to me not merely to relieve me of the pressure but to give me His company that I may be above the pressure by being drawn to Himself.

Ques. Do you mean that the pressure is taken away?

J.B.S. No, I mean that He makes me know that He sympathises with me.

T.M.G. He enables me to go through the pressure well instead of removing it?

J.B.S. He gives you to know His company; He lifts you to Himself. The effect of His sympathy is to draw you to Himself. Most people in passing through suffering will tell you, the Lord has been very good to me, He has given me relief; but that is not sympathy.

W.K. Take a person in bad circumstances as an illustration.

J.B.S. Well, take a person in bereavement. The Lord comes to that person, as He did to Mary of Bethany, and He Himself fills up the blank. It is not merely to give you relief but to have you in company with Himself.

W.K. Is it that He takes the place of the one that has been taken away?

J.B.S. He fills up the void, so that you are lifted above the pressure of the bereavement. You can go to a throne of grace. You can go on with God instead of being overwhelmed by the trial, and simply because you are in His company.

W.K. That is what gives you His sustainment?

J.B.S. Yes, and if you lost His company you would lose the sustainment.

W.K. It is not that you get something from Him; His company itself is the thing?

J.B.S. Yes, while you are in His company you are

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borne above the pressure of the trial. As Paul could say, "The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me", 2 Timothy 4:17. It is not merely that you get the help of God, but you are sustained. Very often you get the sustainment before the relief comes. Were I to preach for ever I could not explain it to a person who did not try it.

W.A.W. Do you mean that the sustainment is His company?

J.B.S. It is in His company I have it. Supposing you had a very great pressure upon you, and He gave you His hand and said, 'Come with Me,' you would be so drawn to Himself that you would forget your trouble and be above all the disturbance and pressure of it. You will never understand it till you try it.

W.A.W. I am sure we all desire it.

J.B.S. Well, you must begin with desire but desire alone will not do.

J.F.H. I am not sure that all do desire it; I think what most people desire is relief.

J.B.S. The sluggard desireth and hath nothing.

W.A.W. "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after", Psalm 27:4.

J.B.S. Ah, now you have made a great addition.

W.A.W. Do you think the sustainment is conferred at the moment?

J.B.S. If you are in the Lord's company you will find such wonderful sustainment that you can go to God about the pressure that is on you.

W.K. But is it not the Spirit that brings you into that?

J.B.S. That is what I started with. If you are not on the ground of the Spirit you cannot touch Hebrews.

W.K. And is not the sustainment actually ministered to you by the Spirit?

J.B.S. No question of it. You could not have any link with Him without the Spirit. Now we have learnt we are of His own stock, we are His brethren and we know His company. But here I am encompassed

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with all the variety of infirmities - of health, of circumstances, of bereavement. The Lord says, I have been down there, I know all about it, and I can come down to you as your great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God. We forget often whom we have to do with. Most people speak of the High Priest as Jesus merely, thinking of Him as He was on earth; He is risen and ascended and at the right hand of God, but then He is the very One who was down here who is feeling for me. He is out of all the circumstances of trial Himself but He wants to sustain me in them in order to endear Himself to me.

W.A.W. No one can sympathise but Himself; no saint can sympathise with another.

J.B.S. That is going too far. If a brother comes to sympathise with you he may really do so but he cannot go beyond your level; but the Lord is so infinitely above it all that He can come down to you in the lowest point to bear you up to the very highest point, as we have it in chapter 10, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest".

T.M.G. But He is the One who has been down here, and is it not true that you can have sympathy only from One who has been in the same trial and is out of it?

J. B. S. Quite so.

J.McF. Is it only for special occasions that we need the Priest?

J.B.S. You require Him always for God. But supposing that you are so weighed down with the pressure that you are not able to lift yourself up, He comes to you and bears you company and lifts you up to bear Him company, and thus you will be so sustained above the pressure that you can turn to God.

J.McF. We always need Him in that way?

J. B. S. Yes, if you always have infirmities.

J.McF. But have we not always infirmities?

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J.B.S. Well, sometimes not much. I think there are some days that I have not much.

W.K. It is not necessary that you should have infirmities every day?

J.B.S. No, but then if I have, I have learnt the resource. It is not like a man in sickness who turns to a physician not knowing whether he can meet his case or not. I know the Lord can meet the circumstances and my heart is drawn to Him because He not only comes down to me in the lowest but also conducts me to the highest point, that I might be in His company. Companions is the great point all through. If I have got love in Romans I have company in Hebrews. And where? In the holiest. The antitype of the holiest is Christ Himself. It is very important to know that I have come to Him in glory. In the holiest was the golden box with the cherubim resting upon it and the moment Christ died the veil was rent. He was the answer to that. And now where have you come from and where have you come to? I have come from the greatest pressure down here lifted up by company with Himself to the brightest spot up there, the holiest of all, where the glory rests. To a Jew the apostle would say, 'The holiest of all,' and to a gentile, 'Beholding the glory of the Lord.'

W.K. Why the difference?

J.B.S. Because a gentile knew nothing about the holiest.

A.G. Then all that God set forth in the holiest is now found in Christ?

J.B.S. Yes, and what you have got now is beholding the Lord's glory and the effect upon you is such as nothing else would produce - no amount of reading Scripture even - you are transformed to the same image.

W.K. That is by being in the holiest.

J.B.S. Yes, and that shows again that the whole bearing of the person becomes indicative of the measure of the Spirit's work in him.

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W.K. Yes, for of course it is the Spirit that leads you there.

J.B.S. Yes, and you are changed. The word is really metamorphosed. It only occurs four times in the New Testament, and in Romans 12 it is translated 'transformed.' To me it is a most beautiful thing that if I were beholding the Lord's glory I should be completely transformed. I have heard it said, we may have such a wonderful unfolding of Scripture so as to be transformed, but that is not it. Look at Psalm 73. There is a man completely transformed, but how? By going into the sanctuary. By beholding the Lord's glory perhaps in your own room you would be transformed, but then it would be in reference to yourself; but if I behold the Lord's glory in the assembly the effect will be in reference to the assembly. When I go into the assembly I go into His house; when He comes to me it is to my house and in reference to my needs. The practical effect is that the Lord becomes so endeared to you that you are looking off unto Jesus and running the race. Now you go to your business every day and perhaps on the way you find something to attract you. But you refuse it. I have got a power which is able to carry me on and therefore I run with endurance.

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A PLACE FOR CHRIST HERE

Matthew 16:13 - 18; 1 Peter 2: 1 - 5

J.B.S. We must bear in mind how far we have gone. We have seen in Romans that we are justified and, more than that, we have learnt to prefer Christ to Adam. Consequently in Hebrews we have seen how we have the Lord's company from the lowest point with us to the highest point with Himself in the presence of God, the holiest of all. Anyone who has learnt those two steps is prepared to go on. He knows that he is not only clear of all that was against him in the sight of God but he is freed from sin and, not only that, but he has learnt to prefer Christ to Adam. Then, further, he has company with Christ and in His company he learns what resources are in Him. We are borne by Him above everything here so that we can enjoy Him in the presence of God. Thus He is for us a great Priest over the house of God, and practically the effect is the same as beholding the glory of the Lord; 2 Corinthians. 3:18.

Now you find that your heart is drawn away from this earth by a Person who is not here and whose company is the solace and desire of your heart. The next thing you have to learn is that there is a spot on the earth where you can find Him. In Hebrews it does not say you have gone to heaven but that you are in company with the One who is in heaven and you have found out how indispensable He is to you because of the benefits you derive from His company. To one who has reached that point it would be a great thing to know that there is a spot on earth where you can be in company with the Lord of glory, not only in your house or circle, but in His house and His circle.

W.A.W. Do you think that we must find Him up there before we discover that there is a spot on earth where He is?

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J.B.S. Well, I think if you do not know what His company is you can hardly appreciate what it is to find Him in the assembly. In Hebrews you have presented the congregation of God, not actually the assembly. He is a great Priest for us collectively over the house of God, and He is also a great Priest for us individually to lift us above our infirmities so that we can accompany Him into the presence of God.

W.K. What difference do you make between the congregation and the assembly?

J.B.S. It is those who form the assembly who are the congregation.

W.K. But then you make a distinction between them?

J. B.S. I meant that in Hebrews the saints are not viewed as gathered as the assembly of God. It does say once, "In the midst of the church (or congregation) will I sing praise unto thee", and in chapter 10 we are warned not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

J.G. Do you mean that the truth is more individual in Hebrews?

J.B.S. Well, they are looked at as taking the place of Israel - the people of God.

W.K. Do you say they were not in union?

J.B.S. Well, they were not formed into it.

Ques. Would you say that they were not beyond the congregation on earth?

J.B.S. They are christians and therefore beyond the congregation. But I dwell on the simple fact for the soul that first in Romans you are freed from sin and thus fitted to have company with Christ; then in Hebrews you have His company and He not only supports you with His company down here but He bears you up above your infirmities as the great Priest who has passed through the heavens. You know what He is to you individually, and collectively He is for us a great Priest over the house of God. You are

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brought to God's presence but Hebrews does not go beyond that; there is nothing about coming to the Father yet. I think it is when one has reached this point that he is ready for the further truth that there is a place here on earth where the Lord is to be found. Take the case of the youngest believer. He will say, 'I desire to break bread.' Why? Because the Lord has asked me to do so in remembrance of Him. And where is He? I ask. Oh, He is risen. You know He is risen and you are going to remember Him in His death. It would be a terrible thing to remember His death if you did not know that He is risen. The way christendom gets out of it is by making the Lord's supper merely a setting forth of the blessing received from Christ's death. They say, 'Take and eat this bread in remembrance that Christ died for thee.' There is not a word of that in Scripture. They make it merely the personal benefit to you, not a remembrance of the Lord Himself in death. Unless you know He is risen you cannot really remember His death, and christendom gets out of the difficulty by putting a human interpretation upon the Lord's words which gives them a personal application to the believer. Nothing is more common. How often hymns are given out at the Lord's supper as if my benefit was the chief thing in it. Sometimes I have to say, 'I do not go to meet my Saviour.' He is my Saviour, but I go to meet the Son of God. If you are not saved, if that is not settled, you have no business there.

We have the pattern of it in John 20. The Lord says, 'Peace to you.' There is not a disturbing element left, I have removed everything that-was between God and you. And then more, He breathed on them as if to say, I put you in the same character of life that I am in Myself. That is the pattern, not the institution, of the assembly.

I say to a person who has got the two first steps-brought to God without a cloud, knowing Christ's

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love and preferring Him to Adam, and finding out the resources that there are in His company at the right hand of God - I say to such a person, however young in the faith, would you not like to meet that One in the spot where He is on earth? Certainly he would. I do not think it is a question of what his information is, but I believe that when he looks for the Lord in that place he must and he will look for Him as risen from the dead. For once you accept Him as risen from the dead you will find more and more every day what an inconceivable step it is to take, to go into His presence.

W.A.W. An inconceivable step to find Him on earth?

J.B.S. An inconceivable step to find where He is on earth.

W.A.W. It is a great thing to see everything settled first.

J.B.S. Yes, otherwise you will make it, as they do in christendom, a means of grace. If a man is going to die they give him the sacrament. The Lord's supper is simply the remembrance of the Lord in death. If you are at the Lord's supper you are identified with the responsibility of the table; but we are identified with Christ's death all along the road.

W.K. You do not mean the benefits of His death?

J.B.S. I mean the effect of His death. If you are a partaker you have communion with Him, and that is the next step. We have rather confused things by speaking of going to the Lord's table. It is to the Supper we go, but it is to the table that responsibility attaches. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of the Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of the Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16). I am not identified with my own death but with Christ's death.

W.K. You speak of that as responsibility?

J.B.S. And is it not? But I will tell you another

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thing: the more really you remember Him the more heartily you are glad that you are identified with His death here. "Where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried", Ruth 1:17. I am out of my own death and identified with His. The Corinthians forgot this and they were trying to reign as kings. I am sure that if we had a deeper sense of the fact that Christ died here instead of looking for something from this place, we should be refusing everything that would tend to make us forget that He died here or that would in any way make up to us for His death here. Supposing you saw 'He died here' written on every wall and every tree you came to, what would you think of it?

W.K. It certainly is not the happy side.

J.B.S. But it is the true side. His death here has severed you from the place where He died and attached you to Him where He is.

W.K. It connects with what you said on the first evening about being separated from the man.

J.B.S. The first great thing every one of us has to learn is affection. If we all had affection everything else would come easy enough.

T.M.G. If we were all like Mary of Bethany.

W.A.W. By taking the cup you say, I identify myself with Him in His death. Do you mean that I own there that I am severed from everything here, that everything is gone as far as this earth is concerned?

J.B.S. It is His death I have before me, not my own. I am out of my own death, not to enjoy myself here, but to be identified with Christ's death. I am a partaker of the altar.

J.W. You say you would hesitate to ask a person to partake of the Supper?

J.B.S. Because of its responsibility.

J.W. But would it be right to put the responsibility before him?

J.B.S. I would try to put the Lord before him. The question is, Does he know Christ risen? If he

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does not know Christ risen how can he remember Him in death?

J.W. A person might be justified and not up to partaking of the table?

J.B.S. Why not?

T.M.G. Your point is that the person wants to get to the Lord where He is?

J.B.S. Yes. It is not only that he knows the Lord as everything to him outside of this world, but that there is a spot on this earth where He can be found.

T.M.G. Affection is really the great thing.

J.B.S. But then you must have affection in connection with the fact that He has removed everything. Therefore I put the case of a young believer as an example and I ask him does he know Christ risen, because if he does not he is not justified and he has no business at the Supper, but if he is justified he can then remember Christ's death. If it is Christ risen and in glory that he knows it is not simply his Saviour, though He is his Saviour, of course. He is declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. Therefore in Hebrews all through it is the Son of God.

J.F.H. I think there is a difficulty in people's minds about being justified. They take it for granted in regard to others when justified themselves.

J.B.S. A person is not justified until he knows Christ risen from the dead.

J.F.H. But sometimes we take it for granted.

J.B.S. Yes, sometimes we ask a man, Are your sins forgiven? But that is not the same thing. The question is, has everything been removed, and how does God whom I offended feel about me? Yes, everything is perfectly removed and God is perfectly relieved in regard to me. See how Paul preached the gospel. He said to the jailer in the agonies of conversion, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved", Acts 16:31. The question at once arises, Where is He?

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He was in death and judgment, but He is out of it all. When I preach the gospel from the story of David and Goliath I only go so far as David having Goliath's head in his hand. The work is done, not doing.

W.K. When you speak of a person being justified you do not mean that they understand justification?

J.B.S. No, but that they are clear with God. It is very important to observe that the Person of Christ risen was the first thing presented by the apostle to the newly born soul. He did explain all to him afterwards, but that is the first thing he presented to him for faith.

W.K. The point is to be in it; explaining it is quite another matter.

J.B.S. Quite so.

W.A.W. That would give another character to the assembly.

J.B.S. Yes, surely it would. But let us take the steps we have gone over. First you are justified and in connection with that you prefer Christ to Adam; next you have the company of the One whom you prefer and you find the resources that are in Him at the right hand of God - that He can bear us above the greatest infirmities down here and can carry us into the glory of God up there. Now comes the question, how can you find Him here on earth? If you read Matthew 14 you find how the Lord is refused here on earth and takes a new place. In the beginning of the chapter John the baptist is beheaded (verse 10); the Lord was virtually rejected and He goes into the wilderness as rejected and there He feeds the multitude. Then we find Him taking a new place altogether: He is no longer in the ship, He is on the water - walking on the water (verses 24 - 31). You may say He was in the ship. Yes, but He is there no longer.

T.M.G. What do you call the ship?

J.B. S. He was in our circumstances down here.

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W.K. Your point is that He has left our circumstances, and that if we would be with Him we must leave our circumstances and enter into His?

J.B.S. Yes. Peter has affection for the Lord and therefore he will join Him where He is. So I do not put the step before the young believer but I would put the Lord before him. Would you like to meet the Lord? Yes, I would go anywhere to meet the Lord. I do not tell him where to go but I know that if he joined the Lord in the place where He is it would make a great change to him. What was said to me when I was young was, 'Have you faith for it?' I did not know whether I had faith for it or not but I knew that was the place for me. Affection leads the believer to take the step without knowing what is involved in it, though he knows enough to deter him as a man from it.

W.A.W. But still the purpose and the affection surmounts everything?

J.B.S. Yes, that is the thing all through. In Romans you have His love, in Hebrews you have His company and you learn what wonderful resources are in His company. You have found what He is as passed through the heavens. Would you like to go to heaven? Would you like to find Him on the earth? It is easy to explain earth and heaven, but it is not easy to explain an out-of-the-world condition. Walking on the water illustrates it. I would not ask a believer, Are you walking on the water, but, Are you going to Him, a risen Saviour? If you go to Him as the risen One you are outside of everything that is of man. In Matthew 14, of course, we have only a pattern. In Peter you have first grace in action "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious". But that is not all: "To whom coming, as unto a living stone" - where? "Disallowed indeed of men". You have to go outside of man to get to Him.

W.A.W. Because the living stone is there.

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J.B.S. You are coming to that.

W.K. And the step must be taken.

J.B.S. Yes, but I do not put that before the young believer; what I put before him is, Do you know Him risen and are you set for joining a risen Christ? It must appear to the youngest believer that to do that I must take altogether new ground, but still I do not mind it to get to Him. I have already learnt to know Him, I have tasted His love; I know something of what He is to me and that I have to do with Him in glory and how He can maintain me in the presence of God.

W.A.W. Well, if that is not desired in some measure I would have very little confidence in the person.

J.B.S. Yes, but I do not say merely desired, but you are set for it. And you must come to the place before you find out what it is.

Ques. Was that why you read Matthew 16?

J.B.S. I read it to show how you become a stone. As the author of the Synopsis has said, Peter was called a stone the very moment he was called by the Lord but he was not confirmed till Matthew 16. You must be built in before you are built up. No doubt Peter was morally learning what his place was in Christ, when he came to a place where there was nothing to support him but Christ. John 6 occurred at the same time as Matthew 14: the one is God's side the other is man's. John 6 is that I have to go through death to get life. I must feed upon Christ as dead. Therefore in the end of the chapter Peter says, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God". I think it is interesting to see how Peter reached this: it was by going outside of all that is of man. He had travelled through what was death to himself (to us Christ's death) in order to reach Him. If we live in that sphere it would be - it must be - the life of Christ.

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A.G. What is the difference between that and what people have in their thoughts now, that it is their own death?

J.B.S. Well, it is not true. You will very soon find out where they make the mistake if you speak to a man who holds the doctrine of holiness by faith. He says, If I am dead with Christ one minute, I can be dead two. The first part of the statement is right, the second is wrong - he leaves out "with Christ".

A.G. If you say baptism is the setting forth of the death and resurrection of Christ, does not that bring in ourselves?

J.B.S. Well, nineteen out of every twenty people make baptism a profession of their faith. When you come to Scripture you find there is no other way you can appear before God but by baptism - you must pass through death.

A.G. I was thinking it was so little apprehended that it is Christ's death.

J.B.S. It is Christ's death, but death as God's judgment upon man. What came out at the flood was, "The end of all flesh" - not sins - "is come before me". Everyone admits that the sins must be put away but besides that the thing that committed the sins must go. There is atonement for sins, but there is no atonement for sin. Christ has appeared in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. What people have thought to improve or get atonement for must go. If there is atonement for it you want to keep it, but I do not want to keep it. God has condemned sin in the flesh. It is ended in the death of Christ. He has died out of that condition. He gave up the life to which sin could be attached.

W.K. And being judicially ended it could not be revived.

J.B.S. Never by God. If you revive it you will only bring in judgment, you will be scourged.

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A.G. Is not that often a continual struggle - reviving the flesh?

J.B.S. If you say there is a continual conflict between flesh and spirit, I agree with you.

T.M.G. Would you explain what you mean by saying that if you revive it again you will be scourged?

J.B.S. One who does so is delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. I see it often, that a man indulges himself in what he calls a harmless thing and that very thing which he indulges comes down upon him. He has cut a rod to beat himself. I do not mean that a person is to be an ascetic. But the body is the Lord's and you have no right to treat it badly, because it is His, and neither have you any right to indulge it, because it is His. It is entirely under a new government.

W.K. You must then get direction from the One to whom it belongs?

J.B.S. Exactly, and there is where the exercise comes in.

W.A.W. It is not hard to keep the body under when you are in the proper place.

J.B.S. If you walk in the Spirit it is not. It is not, as under the law, a question of doing what you do not like, it is a question of affection and the more thoroughly you are attached to Christ in heart the more readily you can say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world", Galatians 6:14. I part with the old thing and I am very glad to be rid of it for I am sick of it.

W.K. The difficulty is in walking in the Spirit.

J.B. S. Quite so, but you see again it is heart work. If you are walking in the Spirit you will keep Christ prominently before you. If you have lost it you have allowed yourself to come before you. Nothing tries me more, for instance, the whole day long than to avoid trying to say something pleasant or amusing.

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That is a trial. Why? Because it is of no profit. You say, What harm is in it? I say there is no profit in it.

But let us go on with the subject. I do not think that I come into the house of God for my own blessing. I hope I will be understood, because I know very well I am touching upon ground that is not generally familiar. I do not say that I do not get blessing there, but that is not what I am looking for. People say, I can have the Lord's company at home in my own room. True, but not in the same way as in the assembly. "We all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit". I believe you could have that in your own room; but there is this difference, that if the Lord is with you in your own room it is about your circumstances, but if you are in His company in the assembly it is with reference to His circumstances. If I want to know what the Lord's mind is and what His pleasure is for me as His servant I must come into the assembly. If I want to know how I ought to order my own affairs, getting a house, for example, I have the Lord in my own house. And I believe if I were really looking to Him I would go to the right place. I have said to a person looking for a house, if you go into the presence of the Lord He will soon direct you to the right place, He would influence you to the right course. But then in the assembly it is another thing altogether, it is not with my own affairs I am occupied there but with His. It is like the queen of Sheba: she gets into Solomon's own private home circle and there she is lost.

W.K. It was the things connected with him that entranced her.

J.B.S. Exactly. In the assembly you are brought into correspondence with the Lord's pleasure and therefore you come out to serve Him rightly.

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W.K. And all this is effected by the work of the Spirit?

J.B.S. Yes, you have come into the ground of the Spirit in Romans and you must keep to it. Not only your sins are gone but you yourself are gone.

W.K. We have not merely the objective side - Christ up there - but we require the subjective side, the Spirit in us?

J.B.S. Yes, all is effected by the Spirit. I say that once you are conducted by the Spirit into the presence of Christ you will never lose it. I do not say you will never lose the joy of it. You may do that through failure but when you are restored you will come back to it. It is what the apostle looks for: "Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ", Ephesians 4:13. Some people try to get out of that by saying it is in the future, but it happens to be present. You may say we are very far from it. Well, I admit that.

W.A.W. That dims the brightest thing on earth.

J.B.S. If I want to get the Lord's mind about His interests I cannot until I go into the assembly. If you want His mind about your own circumstances or your own individual path you can find Him in your own house, but it is in the assembly you learn what fits you for His service.

W.A.W. I do not see how you get His interests in the assembly.

J.B.S. Well, that is where all His interests are found. I believe there is a great lack of understanding that the place from which to go forth on the work of Christ is from the assembly. I heard a brother once say, 'There are a great many preaching here but very few praying.' The Lord shows in John 15:12 - "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you" - that you must begin at home, in the inner circle.

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Ques Is Hebrews 2 accomplished in the assembly?

J.B.S. That is the first note struck. He leads the praises to God where God is. He bears our names upon His breast.

W.A.W. But it is privately in the closet I learn how to act for Him individually?

J.B.S. It is not merely learning it but you are fitted for it. It is like Elijah getting two breakfasts before he started on the journey to Horeb; 1 Kings 19. He was prepared.

A.G. You were saying the assembly is like the parliament?

J.B.S. Yes, if one may say so, the Lord is the Speaker. It is He who rules everything.

A.G. You must get His eye?

J.B.S. Ah, now you come to what I find rather difficult. I believe a great deal is said and done in the assembly that is not by the Lord's direction. Things are often done by influence. We are no better than other people; we have all the elements within us that they have. The principle among some is that you wait till you are moved. And so a person often says, 'I had so-and-so on my heart.' But having a thing on your heart is not authority for acting. A sister might have it on her heart as well as you.

W.A.W. Well, if you think of all that we are the wonder is we get on so well!

J.B.S. Ah, that is not the way to look at it. The way to look at it is how far behind we are.

The next subject will be the Head. Now we are supposing that we have got as far as the assembly in Acts 2, and that we are there in the power of the Holy Spirit, but I think there is a great difference between being led by the Spirit of God and being directed by the Head. I do not believe 1 could explain it but still I believe there is a great difference.

W.A.W. But it is not direct revelation you get in the assembly?

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J.B.S. I do not say it is, but when we come to the Head I will tell you all I know about it, which is very little. You get direction. I do not say having a thing on your heart is direction; it might be of the Spirit and yet it might be only for yourself. Really it is so solemn and so great that I can say very little about it. But I believe that nine-tenths of our meetings do not go beyond Acts 2. We defer to the Holy Spirit and we look for the Holy Spirit to profit and He really does profit, but so far as I know the teaching does not go beyond the gospel as a rule.

W.K. I think that is very easily accepted.

J.B.S. I do not see much going beyond the gospel when a brother gets up and speaks about the wonderful enjoyment the prodigal had in the father's house. Everyone would say what a beautiful discourse; still he did not get beyond the gospel. I am only showing how low down we are, and I think it is a great thing for us to get the idea that instead of being the light of the world at the present moment we have only begun to light a farthing candle. So far behind are we as to what the church of God is.

T.M.G. When you speak of the gospel do you mean that it is something connected with ourselves?

J.B.S. Yes, I know what people like. In the periodicals people are always looking for something about what Christ is to them.

Ques. But does not the Spirit of God take of the things of Jesus and show them unto us?

J.B.S. Where do you get that? The things of Christ in John 16:14 are really the Father's things as the next verse shows: "All things that the Father hath are mine". But that is not direction.

Rem. It will take you where you will get direction.

J.B.S. Well, that I will not deny. Direction is from the Head and in connection with the body because it is what suits the body. There is nothing more difficult to explain.

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T.M.G. I think if I am not mistaken I have heard you say - using that word in Revelation 3 - that there is a difference between His supping with us and our supping with Him?

J.B.S. I do not say that passage means that, but it explains the two sides. If a person asks me how it is that brethren with all their light are not in a different state, I turn to Haggai. There I see that the people were stopped building the house of God and they built none for sixteen years. They were very busy about their own blessings, but they were not prospering.

Ques. Do you mean worldliness?

J.B.S. No, but they were occupied with their own blessings. I see it everywhere. No one can tell it like one who is suffering from it. People gladly hear of what concerns their blessings, but to turn to Christ's side and to be occupied with what He is interested in - that they do not seem to enjoy.

W.K. Does not that prove the want of the satisfaction of John 4?

J.B.S. Well, I find in Haggai that they sowed much and brought in little; they looked for much and it came to little.

W.K. The energy of the Spirit was wanting.

J.B.S. Really nothing can satisfy the true heart but to know that I am united to Him, and if I am not united to Him I can never really understand what are His interests.

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CHRIST KNOWN AS HEAD

Colossians 2:1 - 11

J.B.S. We have come as far as the assembly where the Spirit leads according to Acts 2. Tonight we go on another step.

The Colossians were a nice company. The apostle could speak of their faith and love, and he prays for them on account of the hope which was laid up for them in heaven (chapter 1: 4, 5); yet they did not know the mystery. It is very important to understand how far you may go without knowing the mystery. The great point in the mystery brought out in this epistle is that Christ is the Head. It is not that they had never heard of the mystery but they did not have it in power. Therefore the second chapter opens with, "I would have you know what combat I have for you". A combat supposes a great opposition. Even the apostle was in prison.

Remember the Colossians were in what we would call a nice state. The apostle could rejoice in beholding their order and the steadfastness of their faith in Christ (chapter 2: 5). But they did not know the mystery and it was important for them to know it because it was the great and only preservative from the snare to which they were exposed at the time, and with which christendom has been caught. That snare is that by man's mind and religiousness you could .help on the service of Christ by what is called tradition - the rudiments of the world - and philosophy, or, in theological language, ritualism and rationalism. One is making man's body and the other making man's mind contribute to Christ's service. That was the impending danger at this time and I need not say that it is what has overrun christendom. No one would be appointed a minister of the gospel in christendom if he

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had not these two qualifications - that he was a religious man and that he was a learned man.

The snare was different from that at Corinth or among the Galatians, because the idea was to make man's mind contribute as it were to Christ and to His service. The Corinthians were full of their own mind but it was all for themselves, not for Christ's service, and the Galatians were full of law but it was to correct themselves, not to contribute to the service of Christ. But everyone knows what is rampant now in christendom, ritualism on the one hand and rationalism on the other. The one has to do with religiousness and the other with man's mind. Now nothing can save you from ritualism or rationalism but the knowledge of the Head. Many may think they are safe from this influence but it is uncommonly subtle, and a person may very easily be taken with the idea that by certain religious attitudes, or gestures, or some bodily effort, he can help on the work of Christ; on the contrary, he will hinder it.

W.K. When you speak of rationalism and ritualism you do not intend to convey to us any definite systems with those titles?

J.B.S. That is the shape these things have assumed in christendom which are called in Colossians tradition and the elements of the world. And that is the reason why we need this epistle. We might have gone from Romans to Ephesians but we are all so leavened with this snare that we have to learn Colossians before we can apprehend Ephesians.

A.G. Would you say that the national churches have gone into ritualism and the Dissenters into rationalism?

J.B.S. It is more or less so, but everyone is affected by it. I said to a very intelligent brother lately, Do you not see the Colossian snare break out among us sometimes? Yes. One thinks by a sanctimonious manner or by saying something in a very eloquent

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way to help the service of Christ. He loses power by it.

W.K. That may be found anywhere.

J.B.S. Yes; it is in the air and we are all liable to it. The only thing that will preserve you from it is the truth of the Head.

W.K. You mean the enjoyed sense that you have the Head?

J.B.S. No doubt the Colossians knew there was a Head, but the thing is to have it in power, to understand it.

A.G. Would you say that anyone acting in natural piety or in the energy of the mind loses energy in the service of God?

J.B.S. He loses power.

J.F.H. I would hardly say he loses power, for a person might not have got that length.

J.B.S. What I meant was a person who knew what it was to be led by the Spirit of God in a measure but trying to improve on it by saying things in an eloquent way. He loses power. You will find that an eloquent discourse exhilarates you, but a spiritual discourse subdues you. You are charmed with an eloquent discourse and can talk about it to others; but the effect of a spiritual discourse is that it subdues you and you would like to be alone.

W.K. It brings the sense of God to you.

J.B.S. Exactly. That is what we have in Psalm 73. The first impression when a soul is before God is the greatness of His presence.

W.K. And that is why you are subdued?

J.B.S. Yes.

A.G. "No flesh should glory in his presence".

J.B.S. Nothing can be more subtle than this snare. A person might say, 'Could I not use my mind, could I not use my religiousness, or could I not put on a sanctimonious manner?' You will lose power if you do. Do you want me to have an indifferent manner? I want you to have the manner which the Spirit of God

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would give you. People say, It is only manner, but remember manner is indicative of what is your power. The ritualistic effort is to make the outward appearance a help to Christ's service. The true thing is to have a body of light but you remember when the Lord spoke of this: "As he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him", as much as to say, 'That is exactly my doctrine.' No, says the Lord, 'You cleanse the outside of the cup and platter,' I begin within.

W.K. Then it is still the question of which power, human or divine?

J.B.S. Yes, quite so. But then you see what a difference there is. We have got as far as the assembly formed by the Spirit; what we have to learn now is that Christ is the Head. It is easy to say I see it in Scripture, but you have no power in speaking of what you merely see in Scripture, your power is in speaking of what you know. It is not only that I am in the presence of the Lord of glory and I am looking to Him to speak, as I might say, in faith, but that I am directed by Him. I have lost my own mind, my own head, and have another. It is not like the head of a family, or the head of a firm, but it is as if every christian in this room had lost his head and all had got the same Head. In my acquaintance there is nothing so little known as this, except union; and certainly if you do not know the Head you will not know union.

W.A.W. Do you not think that what we had last night would preserve us from this snare?

J.B.S. No. They did not learn the Head in Acts 2 nor is it made known all through the book of Acts. They were gathered together by the Spirit of God to be led and acted on by the Spirit of God without any appointed ministry but the knowledge of the Head was not revealed. As far as I see, while there are many companies, thank God, gathered to the

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Lord Jesus Christ and really waiting for the leading of the Spirit of God, where is there a company that is directed by the Head? I think it would be a wonderful thing if you were directed by the Head. If I go to the Catholic he will tell me the pope is the head; if I go to the national church the sovereign of the country is head; but I come to real devoted christians who are separated from all that, and while they will tell you that Christ is the Head yet they look upon Him as the head of a family or of a firm. They would not have the pope or the sovereign or a man at all, but then what does the head mean? It really means this: here is a company of five hundred christians and they have all lost their heads and have now all got one Head.

T.M.G. Is it one director?

J. B.S. One Head, one Source. You will find after-wards that the qualities come out: "bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering", etc. Where do you get them? It is from the Head. First we have to know what the Head is, and next how we receive from the Head. He is Head, and we may know it and yet not be holding the Head. That is individual. We have all to learn it and to hold the Head individually. The first thing is to learn what it is, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

W.A.W. When you spoke a little while ago of being exhilarated by a discourse, did you mean that we were carried entirely out of ourselves?

J.B.S. No, I meant you were full of enjoyment.

W.A.W. Well, I have often enjoyed you!

J.B.S. Well, I would a great deal rather you had been subdued. I do not think a man is very much impressed when he is very buoyant, do you?

W.K. Your thought of exhilaration was not really spiritual joy?

J.B.S. No, you are mentally elated.

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W.K. What is expressed in the Old Testament by drinking wine?

J.B.S. Yes, exactly.

A.G. How has the church got into such a state as at present?

J.B.S. Because they do not know what it is to have a Head. You see here in Colossians how it was lost. A person could not understand union without the Head nor could he keep the unity of the Spirit without the knowledge of the Head. Now what we have to learn is how the Lord recovers a person. The first recovery of the truth sixty years ago was by a clergyman in a very isolated place waking up one morning and saying, 'I have a Head in heaven.' That was the beginning. The recovery began with the Head, not the body. I am sure I have pondered it over and over and I cannot conceive anything greater than to get an idea of the Head. You may say it was a wonderful thing we had before us last evening, that we can be in the presence of the Lord of glory and that instead of being repulsed by His glory we are not only at home there but we are transformed into the same image. Now comes another thing: do you know that you are to get direction from that One, that He is your Head, and not only your own Head but the Head of the assembly? I know there is a great difficulty in explaining it. I think I could explain to myself what is the difference between a person waiting on the Spirit to speak in the assembly and one getting direction from the Head, but I do not know whether I could explain it to anyone else. I used to pray to the Lord to give me a subject for the assembly, then I saw that was not the thing. As Head the Lord directs you to a thing, not your own mind. A person often says, I had such a thing on my heart. That may be very true and the Spirit may help you about that, but it may be only for yourself. The Head gives direction at the moment.

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W.A.W. Direction about what the Spirit has already made yours?

J.B.S. You may know very little of it and you ought to have no preconception of it beforehand.

W.A.W. But it is yours.

J.B.S. Of course you cannot go beyond what you know.

T.M.G. You may get more in giving it?

J.B.S. No doubt you often do. Sometimes I feel I know very little about this. Say what you do know, is the answer I get. It does not depend on how much you know or how you can express it, but on what is the Lord's pleasure for His people at the moment.

W.K. You are speaking now of getting the dictation of the Head.

J.B.S. Yes.

W.A.W. Rationalism you say is only prevented by knowing the Head. Why do you confine that to the assembly?

J.B.S. I do not, but I say, If I am not right in the assembly I am not right myself.

W.A.K. Then a person might have what we had before us last night and yet turn to rationalism?

J.B.S. Exactly so, and that is where the truth of the Head comes in. I cannot conceive anything greater than that I get direction from Christ Himself for the moment.

W.K. You said, I think, that any preconceived idea of what you would minister would destroy the dictation?

J.B.S. It would.

T.M.G. A servant of the Lord might go to a place and know nothing about the state or need of the people and yet if subject to the Head he would minister just what the Head would give for the time.

J.B.S. Quite so.

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W.A.W. Yes, but is it not important to see that it is his own; he does not get it by revelation at the moment? It is not something foreign to him.

J.B.S. No, but it is not merely something laid on your heart. I go back to my own experience. I had something on my heart. I thought, This is a good thing; I had faith about it and I looked to the Spirit to help me, and no doubt He did; but I do not call that dictation.

T.M.G. I understood you to say that you might know very little about what the Lord would have you say, but is it not true that in speaking of it you get more?

J.B.S. I have said it over and over again and I have had it confirmed by others that you get an expanse of truth in the assembly that you do not get anywhere else.

J.F.H. You spoke of looking to the Spirit to help you; I think brethren generally look to the Lord.

W.K. With all respect I very much doubt if that is the case. While nominally it is the Lord you look to it really is the Spirit you are expecting to act.

J.B.S. I think generally there is something on your heart and you are looking for an action of the Spirit. That leads to Quakerism; a sister might have a thing on her heart as well as a brother.

W.K. I suppose it is not merely the speaker that is to get an enlarged idea of the truth presented at the moment, but all?

J.B.S. Exactly. I believe all would get wonderful enlightenment, and they would say that it is from the Lord.

T.M.G. Is it not true that a person might be in the enjoyment of something for himself and that that might be the very thing the Head would give at the time?

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J.B.S. It might be so, but I think generally it is not so. Very often it is something you did not think of at all.

W. K. The enjoyment of it for oneself is no guarantee that it is the thing for the assembly?

J.B.S. No, nor even what others would think was good. G.V.W. used to say that he knew the state of a meeting by what he was given to say.

Ques. Would you say that no one should have things on his heart?

J.B.S. Oh, no, but that is no authority for giving those things out. I think when we come to see the truth of the Head we shall understand it better. There are two things in this chapter (Colossians 2) which you must learn before you can understand the Head. The first is in verse 10: "Ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority". That is something to ponder. I think it is a very good thing to do, as a countryman once told me; I get a scripture, and I walk about the room thinking of it, and I get something from it though I hardly know what it is. How many of us have sat down for half an hour to think of that: I am complete in Him? You cannot add to what is complete. You need not bring in mind or body. The body is the Lord's and He can use it as He pleases. The mind belongs to Him; you belong to Him. The first thing then is that you are complete in Him. If you accept that thoroughly you will be ready for the second thing which is in the next verse: "In whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ". Observe it is not the sins of the flesh. Some pious monk in a very early age put in those words in the margin because he did not understand the verse. A man looking for religiousness to commend himself to Christ could understand putting off sins, but putting

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off the body of the flesh made his religion worth nothing.

W.A.W. If we learn the tenth verse is it the power for the eleventh?

J.B.S. Yes, if you have learnt the tenth you are prepared for the eleventh. You are first complete in Him and then the old thing is put away. The way I illustrate it is by an emigrant who had some friends with him of whom he was not very sure, and as soon as he landed he said, I think we had better burn the ship - so that they could not go back. It is not merely the old man crucified with Christ, it is put away, put off. I do not want anything of the flesh to help Christ for I am complete in Him already.

W.K. It would be impossible of course to touch the eleventh verse if we had not the tenth?

J.B.S. Quite so, and if you really accept the tenth you will find how easy the other is.

W.K. Because if you are complete in Christ then, of course, you can do without the old thing. It is, in a sense, no pain to get rid of it because you want to get rid of it.

J.B.S. The flesh is the thing that makes the trouble and the thing that has to be set aside. You find the same principle in Romans: "That the body of sin might be destroyed" (chapter 6:6); and, "Who shall deliver me out of this body of death?" (chapter 7:24). It is the body of sin.

W.K. It is not merely sins in detail?

J.B.S. No, it is the principle.

W.K. It is one's natural life in point of fact?

J.B.S. Exactly, and it is there where the judgment rests. It is not merely that there must be an atonement for your sins, but sin is to be condemned, that order of being must go. That is the practical difficulty with souls: that that order of being must go.

W.K. As being utterly contrary to God?

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J.B.S. Yes. God said long ago, "The end of all flesh is come before me" (Genesis 6:13).

W.K. And the point in this chapter is that the flesh in a religious form is no better than in a gross form?

J.B.S. Quite so. Here it was being brought in to contribute to the service of Christ.

W.K. That which was hateful to God.

J.B.S. Quite so. Therefore lower down in the chapter we "have died with Christ from the elements of the world". In Romans 6 we are only dead to sin; here we are dead to the world.

W.K. To its "elements;" the least thing in it?

J.B.S. It is ABC, so to speak.

W.K. Many a one would refuse the world as a system who does not refuse the elementary principles of it. Many a one would refuse the world looked at in its glaring forms, who might have in his own heart the principles on which the world is built up.

J.B.S. Quite so. If he had the least bit at all he would not be free of it. A person might be dead to sin but yet might not be holding the Head. If you are dead with Christ from the elements of the world you are over Jordan.

W.A.W. Is this the result or have we to do this?

J.B.S. The Spirit of God brings you into this: you are over Jordan; you have died with Christ from the elements of the world.

W.A.W. I could do nothing to get that?

J.B.S. Well, we have had that ground long ago.

W.A.W. Of course, it is not such an effort after all.

J.B.S. I am not saying a word about effort, but it is a great trial.

W.K. It is a very great trial, because it is parting company with yourself, and that is the greatest trial any man could have.

J.B.S. Still, you have to take the step. I am outside this world; as another has said, In an out-of-the-

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world condition of things. I daresay many in this room would say, I do not know where you are going because you say you are not going to heaven and yet you are outside of everything here. That is Jordan. I can understand a person saying to me, That ground is outside one's senses. Yes it is.

T.M.G. A dead man living on earth.

J.B.S. Revisiting it.

W.K. In a scene to which he does not belong and a system of things which is altogether contrary to him.

J.B.S. Yes, I find it easy enough to explain heaven and earth but very difficult to explain an out-of-the-world condition of things; that a man can be in the world and yet outside of it. I remember at a large reading J.N.D. asking, Where do you put Colossians? There are three things I think I said: Entering, possessing, dwelling. I would call it entering. No, he said, That will not do. I saw afterwards that it was preparing.

W.K. As Joshua stood on the bank - it is resurrection.

J.B.S. You will find it very important if you want to understand the Head. You can never understand the Head until you have reached the spot where there is no human voice.

Ques. I would like to ask one question about the direction of the Head and the leading of the Spirit. I understood always that if a person was led by the Spirit he would be sure to be directed by the Head?

J.B.S. I say the Spirit could not lead to direction if you had no Head to direct. Where do you put Colossians?

T.M.G. And yet they had the Spirit?

J.B.S. Yes, and the apostle could speak of their love in the Spirit.

J.M. I was thinking of Romans where the Spirit of God leads us into the things of God, revealing them to us.

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J.B.S. That is for yourself.

W.A.W. What was it you said about the human voice?

J.B.S. You reach a spot where there is no human voice. "Wherein there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman; but Christ is everything, and in all" (Colossians 3:11). Let anyone in this room tell me, if he reached by the Spirit of God a spot where he was free of every human voice, where he had to do with Christ and Christ was everything - if he touched it but for a moment - could he ever forget it?

W.A.W. Does the Spirit of God lead to this when we reach the point where you brought us last night?

J.B. S. I do not say you have this but you are ready for it. Many are where we were last evening who are not where we are this evening. It is not only that I am in His presence but He is the one who dictates to me.

W.K. You mean that what we had last night was that we reached where He is?

J.B.S. Yes, and that is really where the Colossians were.

W.K And now this step we are on tonight is to reach a place where we hear no voice but His?

J.B.S. Yes, where there is not Greek and Jew.

W.K. Neither the polished man nor the rough man, no man at all?

J.B.S. "Christ is everything". Thank God there are hundreds of christians who can say Christ is Chief; but I have another question: Is He everything? Do not many think that they would like some-thing else along with Him?

W.K. You mean that everything else is excluded?

J.B.S. Yes, but there is no lack, for Christ is everything. Therefore you get, "Put on ... bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness", etc. I might be

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naturally a severe, harsh character, but now I come out in a new way.

W.A.W. Wants are unknown there?

J.B.S. There is no want. But then you get to the point of being in His own circle and having before you what His interest is. The more I look at it the more profound I see it to be and how little one really touches it.

Ques. Would you say that the Spirit is the channel through whom the direction comes?

J.B.S. Oh, certainly: there is no other.

Remember in Colossians it is not crucifixion with Christ. Crucifixion is the judicial termination of the thing, but here it is putting it off or putting it away, which has to do with circumcision, or Gilgal.

T.M.G. It is the carrying out practically of what has been done on the cross?

J.B.S. Exactly. And that is what you get in the early verses of chapter 3 which so many use for practice. It is not so much practice as practical, I do not know a better illustration than Elisha; when he got Elijah's power he took his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He said, 'I have done with that mantle.' Why? Because I have got another.

W. K. Is the rending the circumcision?

J.B.S. Yes, but it is not that you yourself effect it you accept what has been effected for you. It is not like Marah, putting away the thing as it arises; but Gilgal, rolling away the whole thing. "Have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth; for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God". Now you have to do with Christ's life as it is in Himself, not as in Romans 6 for your relief. Therefore here we have, "Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness", etc.; and not only so, but, "Now, put off, ye also, all these things, wrath, anger, malice, blasphemy, vile language out of

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your mouth" - wherever the will is you put off that - "... and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him".

T.M.G. We did not catch what you said as to the difference between Romans and Colossians.

J.B.S. In Romans you get Christ's life for your relief. I am delivered from the man where the death is and with the Man where the life is. But in Colossians I come to another thing: "Your life is hid with the Christ in God. When the Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with him in glory". You are now, if I may so speak, at home with Him.

T.M.G. In Romans it is rather the negative side, in Colossians the positive?

J.B.S. Well, I would not say exactly the negative but it is touching it for yourself. It is the first sense of being clear of the old man.

A.G. You made a difference between practice and practical?

J.B.S. The practice here is putting on "bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering", etc. The idea is that of a man going to work: he first takes off his coat. The first thing you do is to go to Gilgal, that is chapter 2: 11, 12, which connects with chapter 3: 1. You are over Jordan: "If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above". That shows you are not there if you are seeking them, that is plain.

W.K. In Colossians you say it is the life presented more in the character of association with Christ?

J.B.S. I do not know exactly how to express it. You are at home with Him. You put off these things and put on the new man; you come out in the character of the new man. Practically speaking we are all

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:Wesleyans more or less; we are always trying to improve the old man. No, I have done with it, I have the new man.

Ques. Why do you say we are all Wesleyans rather than Calvinists?

J.B.S. A Wesleyan is one who is trying to improve the man.

J.F.H. I always think there is a great mixture of flesh and Spirit in Wesleyanism.

J.B.S. The truth is they use the Spirit to improve the flesh they try to put the new wine into the old

bottles. I was saying something of a brother lately and he asked me how I knew it. Well, I said, I know myself and so I know what you are at. We need not put this away from ourselves, we are all affected by it. We need not say a word against anybody. We are to help one another and we have nothing but what we have received.

W.K. Well, you said the way we got to the Head is by these two verses. First that we are complete in Him, and then being in the sense of that we can afford to get rid of the hindrance, the body of the flesh which is to go altogether; chapter 2: 10, 11.

J.B.S. Yes, and that is what comes out in chapter 3. It is not something to be done when the thing arises (Marah) but the whole thing is gone (Gilgal). "Christ then, having suffered for us in the flesh, do ye also arm yourselves with the same mind; for he that has suffered in the flesh has done with sin", 1 Peter: 4:1. I am to come out now in quite a new way.

W.K. Then we have life in association with Christ risen, and then we go on to put on the character of Christ?

J.B. S. Yes, we put on His affections: we belong to the christian circle.

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W.K. You do not confine that to the gathered company merely?

J.B.S. No. It is what comes out constantly. "Let the peace of Christ preside in your hearts, to which also ye have been called in one body" - that is the first time you have the gathered company here.

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THE OPPRESSOR AND THE SAVIOUR

1 Samuel 17:57; 18: 1 - 4; John 10: 11

There are evidently two parts in the gospel - one is the misery you are brought from, and the other is the position you are brought to. If you do not know the position you are brought to, you are not sure that you are brought from your lost estate. Many are truly converted, but they are thinking only of getting out of the debtor's prison. You might be set free and yet be poor and sorrowful though owing nothing. That is not the gospel. The gospel is, not only that you are cleared of all that is against you, but that you are brought into the most unspeakable blessing in the very place of your misery, not merely when you come to heaven. Many christians are looking for earthly blessings. They have touched the first part of the gospel, but not the other part; they have not, through faith, had access into the favour of God that the believer in Christ is as Christ is; this is his position - his Saviour is his portion. The One who saved you from misery is now your life and portion in the place of your former misery. I say all this by way of preface.

Now let. us look at these Scriptures. All Israel were under an oppressor. Suppose you go into the town and say to a man, Are you clear of the oppressor? What oppressor? Death. "By man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead". You want to be clear of the man where the oppressor is, and you want to be as the One who has removed the oppressor on the earth - on the very spot, on the battlefields where the oppressor had been. Some say, I cannot be sure till I get to heaven. Others can say, I am sure my sins are gone. But have you

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found unspeakable resources in Christ here before you go to heaven? Oh, you say, If that were true, I should be the happiest man on the earth. "Joy unspeakable and full of glory;" it is not earthly joy. Now here Israel were in this terrible position. David's father sent him to see how his brethren fared. The type is beautiful. What a sight presented itself to our blessed Lord! David was sent by his father. Our blessed Lord was sent by His Father. God so loved the world, that He sent His Son. And what did He find? Every man oppressed by death. In the type David addresses himself to the fight, overcomes the Philistine - the oppressor - and cuts off his head with his own sword. He is then seen with the head of Goliath in his hand. He has done the work. I do not present Christ to you doing the work; I say the work is done. It is thus that Jonathan sees David - the head of Goliath in David's hand. "Himself" hath done it.

Mark how Paul addresses the poor pagan Philippian jailer, who was in great distress of soul: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31). Where is He? He is risen. It is as the Lord He was presented to this poor sin-stricken soul. The work is done. The oppressor is dead. Now is there anyone in this room who does not know that the oppressor is gone? Would it not be a wonderful moment for you if you could say, The oppressor is gone? Christ entered into death that "he might destroy him that had the power of death", Hebrews 2:14. The oppressor is gone. I fear there are a great many christians who are not as happy as Jonathan was. Jonathan could say, The oppressor is gone. He (Christ) "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light", 2 Timothy 1:10. Christ has overcome death, as David had the head of Goliath in His hand. Saul represents the religious man, and as the religious man he asked him, "Whose son art thou?" He was grateful. I do not like gratitude

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merely; gratitude means, I would do as much for you. Look at Jonathan, he loved David as his own soul. Now you see where he is, the oppressor is gone. Jonathan makes acquaintance with the true king of Israel; he did not know him fully, but he loved him as his own soul, and not only that, but they made a covenant together - there was an understanding between them. That is what I call the confirmation or seal of conversion. It is a wonderful moment when there is a covenant between me and my Saviour, a conscious bond with Him, which is the sealing with the Holy Spirit. I see a man who has assurance of forgiveness, he is singing of the virtues of the work of Christ - that is his hymn. I watch him when he advances, I find he has changed his hymn, he is praising the Saviour. That man has made a good step, has he not? But I want to press on you that Jonathan made a covenant with David - he loved David. Love likes to make little of oneself in order to make much of its object. The woman in Luke 7 brought the fragrant ointment, which would have added importance to herself, and anointed the Lord with it. Here is the king's son, the heir-apparent to the throne, as we say, and see how he confesses his love. "And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle", 1 Samuel 18:4. Jonathan treats David as the one entitled to be king; all this was done in the very spot where the oppressor had prevailed. Jonathan has found a friend. David is the delight of his heart, in the very spot where he had been oppressed by Goliath - a wonderful exchange.

I turn now to John 10:11. We find the Lord here stating, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep". It is not merely caring for them, He gives His life for them. Now consider the work of the Son of God. He became a man, He

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saw the oppressed condition of man, and before He came He says, "A body hast thou prepared me". Blessed be His name! How wonderful to know that the Son of God can look down upon the trouble and misery here and say, "I come to do thy will". Hence the Lord says in John 4:32, 34, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of ... My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work". We can marvel to see this Shepherd, the Son of God, sent by His Father to see how His brethren fared, His heart moved to come down and assail this terrible giant. He is the antitype of David. God's Son became a Man, born of a woman, that He might "redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:5). He would sever us from that man on whom the judgment of God lay. Not only are sins to be atoned for, but death - the judgment - is on every one. If you never had committed a sin, if you were a babe, death - the judgment of God - is on you as a child of Adam. The Son becomes a man. He goes down unto death - the judgment of God. You see God in judgment in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, having borne the judgment on man, and having glorified God in dying, He has risen from the dead, He is "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). "In that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God" (Romans 6:10). "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9).

Many believe on Christ as the sacrifice for their sins, but they are not consciously justified. They may have assurance that they will not be lost, but they do not enjoy acceptance with God. I ask you, Do you believe in Christ risen from among the dead? "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). It is with Him risen that you have to do.

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He "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). It is a great moment when you see Him risen from the dead. I remember a company of military men where I was once asked to speak on the Lord's coming. One officer said, I used to go down on my knees to pray to the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. One day a lady said to me, But He is not there. This had a great effect upon me. Often the gospel preached does not go farther than Christ on the cross. You are not justified until you believe in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. It is the rising which ensures justification - not merely the dying. The dying was for the offences; the resurrection is the receipt, and immensely more. Christ is become the firstfruits of them that slept. A Man who has glorified God when bearing the judgment of death has been raised from among the dead. I know when you believe this you will be greatly blessed; for we read, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". He "was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

Now I come to verse 14, as to the nature of the intimacy which subsists between the believer and the Saviour. I believe it is unknown until you have made acquaintance with Christ risen from the dead. It is Christ risen who is the delight of the heart. Hence the apostle says, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). Let me turn to a passage which will explain this intimacy. In John 9:35 - 37 it reads, "Jesus heard that they had cast him out" - the man who was blind - "and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto

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him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee".

Now mark - I have tried first to show you that all the oppression has been cleared away; now I am presenting the source of full enjoyment - your position while on the earth. It is Christ Himself, and in the very place where the man once blind was. He has not only received sight, the darkness cleared away, but the light was so effectual that he is cast out of the synagogue, outside everything humanly religious. Such is the effect of light. First his neighbours bring him to the Pharisees - the religious men. The Pharisees said, He is not of God because he has broken the sabbath day. Then the parents say, "He is of age; ask him". They feared the Jews. It is not transgression here as in chapter 8; in chapter 9, the light has come and has exposed the darkness in which the religious man was. Now the man who was blind is in the solitude of light. Would that many knew that experience, they would never forget it! You are outside of all that man reveres, in the solitude of light, but you will not long be lonely. Jesus heard that they had cast him out. Blessed be His name! He comes to him, and says, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" He gave him the light. The One who has perfected your salvation becomes the source of all joy to you in the very place where He has cleared away all the darkness; you now can count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord. How blessed the solitude of light would be to you if you knew the wonderful resources which are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some complain of being lonely! I am sorry for you, because you ought not to be lonely. Never less alone than when alone. Note the Lord's answer to this man. "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". The last time they met he did not see Him, for he was blind. Now the Lord says, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh

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with thee". Surely there is no one with any heart for Christ who would not have enjoyed that interview. Nothing in this world could equal it, and that is the intimacy which is referred to in chapter 10: 14, 15. These two verses ought not to be divided. "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father". The simple meaning of the passage (I daresay some of you may not have looked at it carefully) is that the same kind of intimacy subsists between the believer and Christ as between the Father and the Son. That is the meaning of the passage. It is far beyond Jonathan and David when they made a covenant; now we are brought into the most unparalleled intimacy with the One who has saved us. The good Shepherd not only gives His life for the sheep, but He is our life and the resource of our hearts. I hope there is no one in this room, even though he may not understand it, who will not admit that God's salvation is wonderful. You are not only freed from the oppressor, from the one upon whom the judgment of God lay, but the One who has accomplished your salvation is now and evermore in the deepest intimacy with you. I need not add more but I ask each of you, Do you believe it?

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THE GOSPEL OF GOD

Luke 14

The gospel comes down from heaven. Many are limited in their apprehension of the gospel by taking a gospel from the Old Testament. Properly speaking the gospel is not there. You do not get the true idea of it, or anything equal to it, in the types. It is not a question of how much of the gospel is received, but whether the whole scope of it is presented.

I constantly find that many have not the true idea of the gospel. The first thing to be seen is that the gospel comes from God. Is man's need the measure of God's grace? No. True the grace covers his need. It would not be the gospel if it did not cover man's need; but it is far more than that. If you come to look at what the gospel really is, it is entrancing. In the gospel I touch the source, the very spring of God's heart. The rest comes after: "The mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge" (Colossians 2:2,3); but the fountain where all began is the gospel. It is the Beautiful gate of the temple.

The glory that had been driven away through sin in Ezekiel's time returns in Luke 2:10,11. It returns to make this wonderful announcement: "I bring you good tidings of great joy ... for unto you is born this day ... a Saviour. which is Christ the Lord".

Israel, more guilty than in Ezekiel's -day, "crucified the Lord of glory". and now "the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ" shines down to you - a sinner on earth. It is the light from the finish, from the top, from the glory of Christ to me, where I am, in all my distance, in "the highways and hedges". The evangelist is sent to open eyes, and when the eyes are open the light comes in and invites me to the very top where the light comes from. It is wonderful!

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Where did the invitation to the feast (Luke 14) come from? From the house to the highways and hedges, to "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.... Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled". What a wonderful thing for each to be brought to the feast in God's house. From the lowest to the highest!

You have not the full comfort of the gospel if you do not know that God Himself delights to have you in His house. The Son knew the joy His Father would have in the "many sons" He brings to glory. God will satisfy Himself about us. He has removed in the cross of Christ all that was contrary to Himself, and He will conform us to the image of His Son. He has His ideal and will bring us up to it. The gospel is not merely the benefit of the sinner, but the Father has joy, and the Lord Jesus Christ shares in the delight of having us in company with Himself, and, as we enter into it, we enter somewhat into that wonderful word, "They began to be merry". The gospel is not only that I should like to go into the Father's house, but, what is immensely more, the Father would like to have me there, and I am brought there in perfect suitability to Himself. When I am delivered from the burden of my sins, the action of the Holy Spirit is to shed the love of God abroad in my heart. No one understands love till he has tasted it. There is nothing we are so ignorant of practically as the love of God. God delights in having us with Himself.

In the Lord's private life on earth, from infancy to thirty years, He was the delight of God; then He went into public life, and it culminated in the mount of transfiguration, where the glory not merely saluted Him, as at His birth, but invited Him. As Peter says, We were "eye-witnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16).

In private life and in public life He is the perfect One, and now from this point, invited by the glory,

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He comes down to die. The judgment of God - death - lay on us, and He, the one "corn of wheat", dies; but He is raised from the dead "by the glory of the Father". God's holiness is met, and in righteousness He is raised from the dead; and now "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound". Therefore He says, "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them".

But first I have to learn that I have life in the Person who effected the justification; therefore it is called the "justification of life". This is far more than mere acquittal. Righteousness is established; God is free, and His love can express itself. Therefore when in the parable the prodigal turned towards the father, the father ran. Love travels faster than necessity. Necessity brought the prodigal to the father. Love delights to satisfy itself about me. It is not only that you can go in, but a much greater thing - God, in all His majesty and His glory, can come out. All is equipoised. The glory cleared Isaiah (chapter 6), but it could not invite him in; that was reserved for "the glory that excelleth". Not only have I the entrée (holiness is the entrée), but I am shaped to the grandeur of the scene, shaped to the glory of God. Not admitted like a stranger, but metamorphosed to the same image; not to equality but similarity; metamorphosed into moral correspondence; not merely a wonderful change, but I have new tastes and new interests, I have come to the greater than Solomon.

Glory is the expression of God's satisfaction, consistently with all His attributes. "The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". Beholding His glory, you have the sense in your soul that that blessed One is in divine satisfaction according to all God's attributes.

The Lord grant that our hearts may understand what a delight it is to the Father to have us in His own presence, suited to Himself, characteristic of Him who brought us there.

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THE RUIN AND THE REMEDY

2 Timothy 3

I suppose that every thoughtful christian would admit that we are in these difficult days. Paul prophesied that this state of things would come. There is a great step from 2 Timothy 2:18, "Who concerning the truth have erred", to chapter 3: 8, where we read they "resist the truth". In chapter 2 it is the great house; we have to purge ourselves from the vessels to dishonour. Luther, as far as he did so, was a vessel to honour. There are two steps enjoined: one, to purge yourself from the vessels to dishonour; the other, to "follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart". This course was necessary before the difficult days; now we are in the difficult days.

There are two things I desire to bring before you: first, the state of christendom, and secondly, the remedy. A good physician has two qualities - first he knows why your health is impaired, and secondly, he knows the remedy; but a great deal of our feebleness arises from not knowing the state of things around us, and hence the attempt to effect a cure is ineffectual and labour in vain.

In Romans 1 you get heathendom unmasked; and here in the first ten verses of this chapter we have christendom, but covered, "Having a form (or cloak) of godliness, but denying the power thereof". For example, we may find a man attending divine service, so-called, and yet going on in all the wickedness of his heart. In Romans 1 it is all uncloaked, it is horrible. The great effort of the day is to elevate man. The pope exalts himself in all that is of God. The man of sin will oppose and exalt himself "above all that is called God". "For of this sort are they which creep into

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houses, and lead captive silly women" - really effeminate, sentimental characters - "... ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth". You may think that I am exaggerating the state of things, but no, we do not sufficiently apprehend how grievously every divine idea is imitated. There are now men who resist the truth "as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses;" they tried to neutralise the divine work by imitating it. I do not think we have any idea of all the mischief which is done by imitation. Look all around; see churches built avowedly in honour of Christ when He Himself is rejected; and how many are deceived by the imitation! But I have a sadder tale to tell - no matter however true or however beautiful the divine work is, it is imitated. A christian gifted of God is imitated. The enemy does not care to imitate what is of no value; just as diamonds are imitated with glass, so it is the best thing which Satan imitates, but the attempt is to neutralise the divine work. The imitators assume to effect by natural ability the same as the christian effects by divine power. What was it that checked Jannes and Jambres? It was life. That is where John's ministry comes in now. When to the church of Ephesus it is said, "Thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:5), the reward to the overcomer is to eat of the tree of life. "But they shall proceed no further; for their folly shall be manifest unto all".

You see I trust what I have sought to show you as to the state of christendom - how everything divine is imitated by man, and what an unceasing effort there is to retain the first man. Well now, what is the remedy? We find it in verse 10: "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life", etc. Paul's teaching includes the gospel and the assembly. It is of all importance that we should know Paul's gospel, otherwise we cannot apprehend the assembly. The first time the mystery was divulged was to Saul of Tarsus. The Lord says to him, "Why persecutest thou me?"

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This is the first intimation of it. It is a great thing to accept that God cannot support anything on this earth that is not Christ. He could not support any other. God has but one Object before Him - Christ. In Paul's gospel the measure of our acceptance is, "As he is, so are we in this world", 1 John 4:17. There is nothing God will not do for one who is a bit of Christ, for those who are His body on the earth during His rejection. Think of it! God's Son was cast out and rejected, and His body is here where He was rejected. No servant is up to his work unless he has God's object before him. Everyone's power is according to the measure in which he has God's object before him; for when he has, God supports him. What do we find in Scripture? If you read from Abraham down to the coming of Christ (I propose to you a most interesting study), what do you find? That the man who has God's object before him at the time is markedly supported by God. The remnant of every dispensation is characterised by the essential grace of the original. Look at Jacob, he is the remnant of the Abraham dispensation. That self-seeking man at the close of his life looks for nothing for himself; he blesses the sons of Joseph, worshipping God leaning on his staff. Look at the remnant in Isaiah 6:13: "In it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves". Nothing for man to see, but the substance is there.

Samuel, the last of the judges, when Israel was oppressed by the Philistines, prays; and God in a remarkable way supports him, so that he erects Ebenezer. Daniel on the eve of being condemned to a dreadful death opens his window three times a day and prays towards Jerusalem, which was then a heap of ruins, but still it was God's object on the earth, and his heart is set upon God's object.

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In the New Testament (Luke 2) we get Anna the prophetess, a beautiful example of a heart set on God's object. She was at least eighty-four years old, and departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day, and though all the learned doctors could not see the Lord in the child Jesus, "she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem".

May God grant that each of us may apprehend not only the ruin - the present state of christendom, but may we also so know God's remedy, that we may not only be preserved from the influences but be able divinely to counteract it.

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RECONCILIATION AND ACCEPTANCE

2 Corinthians 5:14 - 21

It is deeply solemn and instructive to find an assembly like the Corinthians, which came behind in no gift, carried away by the natural mind, and that there was consequently such a break-up in divine things that they had got astray in every circle - private life, public life, etc., and this though they had received the Holy Spirit. In chapter 3 the apostle shows the difference between the righteousness of the law, which was a demand, and the ministration of righteousness from the glory. Isaiah said, when he saw the Lord of hosts, "I am undone". Now, the nearer you come to the glory the better off you are. There is no one converted now but by the light from the glorified Man in heaven which has reached him. The first touch from God is the light. See the thief on the cross, the Philippian jailor, Saul of Tarsus. All the grace proceeds from Him, so the nearer you get to Him the better off you are.

I want to bring before you the subject of reconciliation. There are two sides of grace - one is how God has relieved His own heart, the other is how the believer gets the benefit of it. Many christians are occupied with Romans 8 before they have learnt chapter 5. Chapter 5 is God's side and chapter 8 is our side. The first great thing to see is the weight that is upon us. I believe that the nature of the distance between God and man is but little known. What is it? The judgment of God - death - lies upon man. "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). The creature must go in death. God said to Adam, "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" The word to Satan was that the seed of the woman should bruise his head, and that he should bruise his heel. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers

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of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death" (Hebrews 2:14). The man who is under death must go in judgment. First, you must realise the pressure; man under the judgment of death must go, intellect and all. The flood was a type of it; God says, "The end of all flesh is come before me" (Genesis 6:13). Noah prepared an ark; he was one year and ten days in the ark - a figure of every day of your life, every variety of circumstance the whole year. For that time there was nothing of flesh to be seen, it was either under the waters of the flood or covered in the ark. After one year and ten days in the ark Noah comes out and offers an offering of sweet savour and is now in a new condition.

When man was fully tested and tried, God had a Man in reserve - He laid help on One that is mighty. No one ever knew what sin is in God's sight but the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has removed it. He had the full sense of what it was to be under the judgment of God. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin". After perfectly glorifying God in His life here, the glory claimed Him: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased". But then He dies for the man who was under judgment; that man must go in death; he is made an end of, not atoned for. If you atone for anything you keep it. Christ in His death atoned for sins, not for sin. "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh", etc. If God sent Christ ("a body hast thou prepared me"), He comes to remove all that was not according to God.

I come now to reconciliation. Souls are more occupied with their own feelings about God than with God's feelings about them. The prodigal wants to know what the father thinks about him. He says, "I have sinned against heaven, and before thee;" and when he comes he finds his father on the very best

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terms with him. Love travels faster than necessity. He "ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses". When the prodigal came to himself he thinks about himself, and proposes to say, "Make me as one of thy hired servants;" but when he comes to his father he gets the very best reception, and he dare not make any proposal. The elder brother cannot understand it. He says, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, and neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment; and you have shown me no such consideration. Here is a scapegrace, and you have killed for him the fatted cal£ How is the incongruity solved?

The Shepherd had gone out and brought him back. God can now receive the returning prodigal on the ground of the glorified Man. John says, if you knew the love of God, you would find that as Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, so are you here in this world. The moment Christ died, having borne the judgment, the veil was rent from the top to the bottom. The One who has died is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and confers life. The first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving Spirit. Now it is no longer Adam but Christ. The real practical defect in souls is, they do not prefer Christ to Adam; it is not that they do not love Him, but they hold on to the man who God has judged and ended. God never reverts to that man. God never imputes sin to the believer. He has judged sin; there could be no more offering for sin; but if you revert to the man that has been judged and do not judge yourself, you will be judged of the Lord.

Verses 14, 15: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again". Many believers hold resurrection, who do not hold it

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in its magnitude. He was "put to death in flesh, but made alive in the Spirit". You have passed out of death into life. Why? Because Christ has risen out of it. There is no justification unless He has risen from the dead. We should no longer live unto ourselves; we are out of it all. Then comes, "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh".

Do you know the terms of your acceptance? Christ has removed every shade of the distance. You never can improve your acceptance, and you can never lose it. You are accepted in the Beloved. If there were any moral disparity between you and Him, you could not be united to Him. "Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one" (Hebrews 2:11). But that is not in the flesh. "Henceforth know we no man after the flesh", etc. "So if any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new". God has only one Man before Him now for the believer. See John 17:17, "Sanctify them through thy truth". That is a new kind of being altogether. Your body is the Lord's, and Christ is your model for everything. God has completely removed everything from His own eye, so that He can express Himself to the unspeakable satisfaction and delight of His heart; He is bringing many sons to glory. Romans 5:1 - 11 are the terms God is on with you. Romans 8 is how you are before God. Is God happy about you? Yes. Old things are passed away, all become new. Every bit of the man who was under judgment has gone in judgment. If you do not know the terms on which God can receive you, it is vain for you to seek to be in correspondence with Him. "All things are of God". You are to be in moral keeping with this.

Verse 20. It makes a very great difference in preaching the gospel if it is pressed that the judgment of death is resting on man. In what is called popular preaching, it is expected that by working on the

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feelings by music, etc., one will accept Christ. Believe me that every effort in a natural way will come to nought. If God is with you in your preaching your audience will be subdued by it, not exhilarated. If I were preaching to a sinner I should seek to get at his conscience, but it is the light he wants. Light finds out the silver piece; the light shows what is suited to God - turned "from darkness to light".

The Lord grant that each of you may know, not assurance only, but your full acceptance with God, for His name's sake.

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ASSURANCE AND ACCEPTANCE

Exodus 12; 14; Luke 15

The grace of God as brought to us in the gospel may be divided into two parts - first, what we are brought out from, and secondly, what we are brought into. Many converted souls know something about what they are brought out from, but very few have the least idea of what God has brought them to, and no soul is entirely off the old ground until he knows what it is to be on the new. Moses' commission was to bring the people out of Egypt and into the land. As soon as a soul knows he is on the new ground he is out of the old. The gospel is that God has brought you out of the land of darkness and shadow of death into the land of light and glory.

The defect in many souls is that they do not know the nature of the distance between God and the sinner. Only one Man ever knew that, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one, even a pagan, knows that there is a distance between the Creator and the creature, but how few, comparatively speaking, understand the nature of the distance. Cain did not know it; he, like a bad physician, tried to cure the disease not knowing what it was, not understanding the nature of it; and there are a great many people who do likewise.

The gospel from God's side shows us how God has removed the distance. Abel had faith in God and knew that nothing could remove the distance but a Victim not personally chargeable with the sins for which he suffered, and he offered of the firstlings of the flock and the fat thereof, but there was no resurrection in that type. The victim dies, and the sins are gone. Here nine-tenths of those who preach the gospel stop. The gospel usually preached is forgiveness of

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sins, but not resurrection. There is no resurrection in the sacrifices of the Old Testament. No victim that was offered was ever raised again. And if resurrection is not preached there can be no real sense in the soul of the distance being removed. Only death could remove the distance; the victim must be one not chargeable with the offence at the time of death, that is, there must be personal excellence in the victim, but it is in apprehending, the resurrection that the soul gets the sense that that which caused the distance is removed. The thought of some is that the sinner can do good works so as to please God, and that Christ's righteousness comes in as a set-off for his unrighteousness. But there is no victim there. You must come to own that you cannot remove the distance yourself, and when you take that ground you find that God has removed the distance, and from His own side, too: "Mine own arm brought salvation" (Isaiah 63:5).

To illustrate this: suppose a child broke a clock and was told to go to his room until he mended it. Could he mend it? How long would he try to do so? Why, the more he tried the more he would injure it. Then his father comes in and says, I will mend it myself. Now this brings out two things. First, the love of the father, which does not like the distance to continue; secondly, that as the father has mended it himself, he must be satisfied as to the way in which it is done. Thus the grace of God has come in, and God has removed the distance; from His own side He has done it.

Every sinner is under the righteous judgment of God, because he has the nature of a sinner. You see it in a baby: the nature shows itself. When God addressed Adam, what did He say? Not, What hast thou done? but, "Where art thou?" Adam hid himself because of what he was; he said, "1 was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself". God said to the woman, "What is this that thou hast

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done?" She had believed the lie of the devil when he told her, "Ye shall not surely die". To man's eye they did not die, but in God's sight from that moment man was morally dead. How slow all our hearts are to accept the place of death!

We will now read Luke 15:24, "This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found". You see it was not only that he was lost, but he was dead, too. "The wages of sin is death". The man that is lost and dead must go from before God's sight. Let me ask, Are you going to keep that man; are you going to dress him up and make him important? Never!

Christ gave up His life that He might blot out that man from before the eye of God. That man is morally dead, and in the cross of Christ he has come to an end judicially before God. When the children of Israel walked through the Red Sea they were out of the place of judgment. The first part was done; they were brought out, but not yet in. A person who is not out knows that Christ has died for him, but he is occupied with the difficulties of the way though he knows that as to the past all is settled for him. But when he is out he is occupied with God, he is able to take up the song in Exodus 15, which is all about God, and it could not be otherwise: "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed".

To return to Luke 15, we have there a parable in three parts, and each part is about the joy of the finder. The shepherd goes out to seek his sheep up and down the mountain until he finds it, and when he hath found it, he bears it in triumph on his shoulders and carries it to the house (not home) rejoicing. The point is not so much the safety of the sheep, but his own joy in finding it; he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost".

Then you get the woman sweeping the house, and

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seeking diligently for the lost piece of silver. This is the Spirit of God in the evangelist seeking for every-thing that belongs to Christ in the world. She too rejoices, and we read, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy" (not of the angels, but) "in the presence of the angels".

Now we come to the third. A father has two sons. One of them gathers up all that belongs to him, and goes into a far country, and you know the result. We find this continually in the history of man: his soul starves, and he tries to satisfy himself with husks. Every man who is saved has been converted against his will. In chapter 14 you find God sending out His servant to compel them to come in that His house may be filled. Suppose a sovereign saying, I throw open my gates to the needy, and not only so, but he sends out his soldiers to compel them to come in. You would say, That is very fine; but the gospel surpasses all this because the spring of all is love: What makes a man turn to God? The fact that death stares him in the face. No man ever got saved till he knew he was lost.

The thief found this out - he turned to the Lord, and went to paradise; his body did not go there, the old thing was left on the cross. Of course we get redemption of the body through the work of Christ, but that had not come out yet. When Adam sinned he felt the difference in himself, and hid himself amongst the trees of the garden; he knew what taking the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil involved. Death came in. What then? God says, You must put the blood on, "and when I see the blood, I will pass over you" (Exodus 12:13). It is a great thing to get hold of the fact as to how God looks at the blood; not how you look at it, but how God looks at it. It is a wonderful thing when a soul learns that God has His eye on the blood of Christ. That gives you shelter, but you are still in the doomed

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place. You are safe, you can say, I know I shall not be lost, but you are not happy. You are still in the place of death; what occupies you is the power of evil. You are not out of Egypt.

Now in chapter 14 you will find that the children of Israel had to walk through the Red Sea before they enjoyed assurance. I do not say acceptance, but the assurance of salvation. You must get assurance before you get acceptance. A man might preach the word of God for years, and study what is called divinity, and yet he may never have learned acceptance. He may have assurance without having acceptance. You will not find acceptance in any book of divinity. You say, Where then can I find it? Where God finds it, in Christ. There is a great difference between assurance and acceptance. God says to Moses, Open the way through the Red Sea, let the waters become a wall on the one side, and on the other! It was a wonderful way, but they walked right through, and they could look back upon it as a journey they had taken. I do not believe that anyone can understand what acceptance is unless he possesses it. God Himself has made the way through; I must travel that road. I had death on me; therefore Christ died for me.

The fear of death is a right feeling. Look at Hezekiah, how he feared it - he was afraid to lose his body. We all shrink from death. What is to be done? The Lord comes. One born of a woman removes the sin; He bruises the serpent's head. Through death He destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" and delivered them who "through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage", Hebrews. 2:14, 15. The Lord died; what follows? He "has annulled death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility (not immortality) by the glad tidings", 2 Timothy. 1:10.

Do not think you can slip easily into these things. I never knew a bright light shining for God yet without

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there being previously what I would call a severe conversion. God always begins with the bass note, and He never asks you to sing till you learn that note. Then you get higher. The real practical difficulty with souls is to find out that they have not only got shelter and enjoy a measure of relief, but that God has some-thing infinitely more for them.

The ten lepers (Luke 17) were all cured - converted, if you will - but only one of them got to the Curer. The other nine were satisfied with the blessing, and they never reached the Blesser. Immediately the prodigal turns his eyes towards the father's house, the father sees him. Now what I want to know is, not how I feel, but how the Father feels. When the prodigal said, "I will arise and go to my father", he was not far away, he had only to turn the corner. The prodigal felt it a great way off, it was the far country to him but the father quickly removes the distance. He "ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses". Now this is a pattern of the grace of God.

'Returning sons He kisses,
And with His robe invests;
His perfect love dismisses
All terror from our breasts'. (Hymn 184)

We have to learn what is in the heart of God for us. In Matthew 27:50, 51 we read that the veil was rent the very moment Christ died; God rent it. God's heart was relieved, so to speak, and could come out to man in all the riches of His grace. If you have not got hold of that, you can never be really happy. You must see that God can now be just, and the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus. What did the prodigal learn when the father ran, and fell on his neck, and covered him with kisses? That his father was on the very best terms with him. And I can tell you here tonight that everything which stood against us has been so removed from God's side, that the Father can

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come out and embrace His son in all his rags. In Matthew 27 God rends the veil and comes out; in Luke 23 the thief goes in. People speak of the thief as if he had something like a death-bed repentance, but it was not that at all; he went straight from the cross into paradise "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise".

What I desire to press is that God's heart is set upon blessing us, and how the Father can receive the sheep on the ground of what the One who brought it back has done. And Christ's work on the cross has so removed everything from the eye of God that caused the distance that He can receive the prodigals fall upon his neck, and cover him with kisses. That is really what is stated in the original. The translators have given it "kissed him". The elder brother knew nothing of grace, neither as to salvation nor restoration. I never saw a man yet who was truly restored after a fall who did not get a step higher. No one ever understood fully the heart of God but the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore He meets the poor woman at the well, gives her the living water, and says, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John 4:34). Not her work, but His.

God grant that we may all take a deeper interest in the gospel; that we may know more of His grace which is bringing many sons to glory, and that each one here may see the nature of acceptance. You may say that you do not enjoy it; that is another thing. Well, if you do not enjoy it you are entitled to it, and you cannot deny that there are many who do.

God has removed everything to His own satisfaction, and you learn in the first eleven verses of Romans 5 the terms He is on with you. It is a great delight to the heart of a sinner saved by grace to know that he is received on the ground of another Man who perfectly glorified God. We are accepted in Him, the Beloved. God has changed His Man. and you are never happy

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till you believe that and are able to say, I have, too. In Romans 5, from verse 12, it is no longer Adam but Christ. If you do not see that God has changed His Man you will never change your man.

The gospel is that God has sent His own Son, and He came and bore the judgment in such a way that man in the flesh is terminated. One man has gone out and another Man has come in.

May God give each heart here to understand the greatness of His grace for His name's sake.

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GOD'S FESTIVAL

Genesis 8:20 - 22; Luke 14: 15 - 23

After Noah and his family had been in the ark Noah found himself on new ground in favour and power. Those two words are an immense help in enabling us to ascertain what is the character of the new ground God has brought us on to, favour and power. You may say Noah failed on this new ground. True, he did; we cannot count upon self for anything, especially when set for Christ here. Noah got drunk and miserably failed. A man who cannot rule himself will never be able to rule anyone else. Noah failed, he lost the place of favour in which God set him, and he failed in power.

In Luke 14 the Lord speaks of the real way of having a feast, when one present, no doubt a pious Jew, exclaimed, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God". It was a great supper, a figure which sets forth the present large enjoyment of the believer, and where the food of the believer is-it is neither from earth, neither is it on earth. There is a festival prepared by God Himself for the believer which is neither on nor from the earth. Judgment is removed and we are in favour and power. 'All things are ready: Come!' What characterises the grace of God is favour and power. What the chapter sets forth is that God has made a great provision, a great feast, and He invites you to it - the Jews had it here, but you cannot enjoy it where they did, and if you look for anything here you will not get it. You may build a house and buy a piece of land, but it is in the wrong place. How could you expect the favour of God in a place where the Lord was crucified? What is the meaning of showing forth the Lord's death till He come?

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I cannot accept any favour in the place where Jesus was crucified. If it had been last Friday that the Lord was crucified it could not be forgotten, but the fact remains that the invitation went out to the Jews first: "Come; for all things are now ready". They refused it, then it is sent to the poor of the flock, and the gentiles who never got a place here - and the servant is sent forth and told to compel them to come in. Now you must not make that the gospel, it is the finish of the gospel if you like, because the invitation is to come into the house. Luke 14 is our side, chapter 15 is God's side. You have the joy of the finder there. The business of the Servant (the Spirit of God here) is to bring them into the house. And the work of the Servant is not done till He has got them in. The question is, What is this supper and how is it to be enjoyed? You must start with this - it is not from earth or on earth. "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit", Romans 14:17. In simple language this is what is called the great Supper. The Holy Spirit is the feast, and He conducts the guests to it.

I might say a great deal about that, while I quite admit that the invitation is to go forth over all the earth. In John 4 we have a guest found in the woman of Samaria. The Lord meets her there in the most desperate circumstances in which anyone could be found as to character and position, and He tells her, "Whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever", (verse 14) - it is the strongest figure that can be used; it means, shall never thirst again either here or hereafter. Your soul is conducted by the Spirit of God into the region of satisfied desire. The philosopher will say that is an absolute impossibility. The Spirit of God comes and takes up a poor, outcast woman in the most degraded circumstances as to character and condition and brings her into the enjoyment of a life entirely outside of everything here.

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"Shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life". Then in John 7 we have the feast of tabernacles and man found in the most blessed position in which he could be found upon earth; he had seven days of it, too, but on the eighth day, when they had come to the end of the seventh, the Lord stands up and cries, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink", John 7:37. In the first case (the woman in John 4) the Lord begins at the bottom and lifts her up to the top. In John 7 He begins at the top and fills you so full that you cannot contain all you get from above. The idea is, that if a man is full he becomes a giver, not a receiver. And where do you get it? From above.

John 4 and 7 refer to the individual believer - what he gets - and not to service at all. If you want to know about service you must go to Luke 14. If You ask me to explain what the great supper is, well, the Holy Spirit is the One who conducts you to it, and no matter what your surroundings on earth are, the believer has something far beyond anything that can be found below. Romans 5:1 - 11 describes the terms on which God can be with me, and Romans 8 the terms on which I can be with Him; then you go back to Romans 5. You joy in God - you are reconciled - and being justified by faith we have peace with God, and are now in the favour of God and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. That is what the prodigal could say when he was brought in, Now I am in favour, and then we go on to find ourselves in acceptance with Him too, and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which He hath given us. The prodigal had the sense of reconciliation first, and then of enjoyment. Many know the terms on which God can be with them (Romans 5) who have not been conducted to the other side (Romans 8), where they learn the terms on which they can be with God; that brings in enjoyment. The first thing you learn is that

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God could not be on better terms with me than He is. Well, you say, I know that, and can always feel happy when I look up, but immediately I look at myself I am miserable. Then you are not at the feast. You are not making merry. You are not really in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I will try and make myself simple. You may have a very clear idea of the gospel as to what God is to you, and you begin to try and improve self; a man will do anything and suffer anything in his efforts to improve self, so as not to put self out. He wants a corner for self somewhere, but until you give Christ His place self will not go out. It was what I call the coronation day in Abraham's house when Isaac got his true place there, and, that he might have that, Ishmael must go out. It is a wonderful day in the history of a soul when Christ gets His true place. Now Romans 8 comes in, and what feasting there is! The prodigal, if he looks at himself, says, I am not fit for my father's house. But the father calls to the servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him", Luke 15:22; and what is the best robe? - Christ.

In Romans 5 you get the secret as to how God can do this. He has changed His man. It is not Adam before Him now, but Christ, and He does not expect anything from Adam. The end of Romans 5 links on with chapter 8. In chapter 6, though committed to death, you do not accept it; then chapter 7 proves what Israel found in the wilderness. that they could not keep the law, and I know what the anguish of such a state is. When I found the flesh too strong for me, I said I must try by faith to master it. I do not say that now, because I have learned that the Holy Spirit alone can master the flesh. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live", (Romans 8:13).

The moment the best robe is on - that is, that you know yourself as "in Christ" - what follows? "Bring

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hither the fatted calf, and kill it and let us eat, and be merry", (Luke 15:23) - a figure of the great enjoyment you have in the presence of God. It is not so much here that you know it, but now you enjoy it, and that verse is fulfilled: "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit", Romans 14: 17. You are free of self. There is a class of religionists who say the prodigal kept on his old clothes under the best robe that he might look at them occasionally in order to keep him humble. No teaching or reading will displace self. A Person only can do it. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me", (Galatians 2:20).

Again I say, it was the most festal day in Abraham's house when Isaac got his true place there - when the three hundred and eighteen servants all bowed before and acknowledged him. Then Ishmael must go. You ask, Who is that? Ishmael is descriptive of the most accomplished in nature; he had been brought up, too, in Abraham's house, but he mocked Isaac so now the natural man will never accept Christ. A great many see that God has changed His man, but they do not come to Romans 6, they are not prepared to part with self. We have all travelled the road, we know it. All are counted as dead by God, now "reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus", (Romans 6:11). Here the most unaccountable mistake takes place. People think that "baptised unto Christ Jesus" means the mere formal act of baptism, and that their acceptance of baptism is an act of obedience, an expression of their being dead and risen with Christ; but we do not become dead by the reckoning of faith, neither do we obtain holiness by faith; these are not scriptural statements. "He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love", (Ephesians 1:4).

We cannot be too simple about it, nor can we deviate

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from it - that God never sees me in the flesh. He knows I am in it, but He does not see me there. If there is anyone here today not clear about it let me say that there is no more offering for sin, and how can you improve anything that is gone from the eye of God? The Corinthians and Galatians had got the Spirit of God but were not walking in it, and many now have the Spirit of God but are not walking in it. I could not say that any man has the Spirit of God so long as he tries to improve the flesh. God says, I have removed everything from My eye in order to be on the very best terms with you, and I want you to be in moral correspondence with that. The Holy Spirit is the witness to me that I am as clean as God can make me.

I would say to the young believers especially, that I believe it to be most mischievous to look at baptism as in Romans 6 as a mere ordinance. Let me tell you that it is a real experimental thing. In the first edition of the Synopsis it is not made experimental, but in the second it is. How is it accomplished? You find that in Romans 8:13. "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live". Holiness by faith does not go beyond the ten commandments. To put it simply, these things are not in correspondence with the mind of God. You might know the gospel and yet not be walking in the Spirit of God, and He always occupies you with Christ, not with your usefulness. "Walk in the Spirit", (Galatians 5:16), and He will not let the other man in. If Christ is not living in you, then you are not at God's side of things. When you are there, you will find yourself in the unclouded enjoyment with God of Christ and heavenly things. The natural man says, What an impossibility, because you cannot know anything about it until you are in it. Let me ask, Do you want it, are you ready for it? God never gives anything till the soul is ready to receive it. When you are ready you will long for it.

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You may say, Where do I start? You never start till you reach Romans 8. Again I repeat, If you only know the work of Christ you are prepared to make sacrifices, but if you know Him as your life then you are ready to suffer for Him. The Lord give us to know not only our acceptance in Christ, but also how the Holy Spirit can give us to enjoy that acceptance.

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WHERE ABIDEST THOU?

Exodus 25: 1 - 17; John 1:35 - 40

We get a very touching lesson in Mary of Magdala, for she had very little intelligence, but more heart for the Lord than anyone on earth at that time. The whole thought with her was, where the Lord was. She had a devoted heart, which is really the introduction to the assembly. As soon as you know the value of the work He has wrought out for you, the first question you ask is, Has He any place here? You see it imitated in christendom where religious buildings serve more as a diversion from the right spot than otherwise. Better to be in a country where there are neither churches nor chapels, and have your heart awake to the fact, Christ is my Saviour, and now I want to know if He has any place here. You see it first in the song of Exodus 15: "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation", (verse 2). Here God is before you, and if you know He has saved you and that you have been brought by Him into the cloudless joy of His presence, have you no feeling as to His having a place here? I trust that there are many hearts in this room that will respond to the question. Can I find a place where the Lord is? You get it illustrated in the Old Testament. As soon as the people are out of Egypt, three things are before them: first, they are clear of that place, then, "I will prepare him an habitation", and, thirdly, "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established", (Exodus 15:17). You find that God has brought you to His own place - do not forget that bit.

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No doubt the Lord knows where every one present is historically. I learn a great deal from the palsied man as recorded in Matthew 9. You say, The Lord cured him. He did cure him, but that was not the first thing, He forgave him his sins first, and He cured him afterwards. You do not know what you want, but God does, and when you get it you say, That was the very thing I needed.

We find in Mary of Magdala the leading trait of the assembly. Where is He? And in the two disciples following Jesus who ask, "Where dwellest thou?" The devoted heart says, Nothing will satisfy me but Himself. Why? Because He is everything to me. The moment Mary of Magdala saw and knew where He was, she left Him to do His bidding. She was content, for love delights to do the will of its object. Many here can say, I know Christ died for me; but do you know Him risen? It is a grand day when you first become acquainted with a risen Christ by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit has come down, and I learn that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. I know too I have a living link which connects my soul with that blessed Person who was here, but is not here now. It was consolation to Mary of Magdala's heart to know that He was risen. All is, so to speak, in pattern in the gospels, it is not fulfilled there. What I want to convey to you is that it is a wonderful moment when the soul knows that the Lord is risen. It gives unbounded joy to the heart, and like Jonathan I strip myself to give to David. I make much of the Lord, and when I know Him as my life (Romans 8), I can suffer for Him, because it is not only what He has done for me, but what He is to me. I take it as indicating stages: first, you know His work; secondly, you have found Himself and know He is risen; then you ask, Has He a place here? And you find Him in the

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assembly. In the history of souls they must learn Him in priesthood before they know Him in the assembly. It is a most touching thing, and I see it set forth in Mary of Magdala. I know that He is risen and He is everything to me. I find pressure and grief and other things too that try me greatly down here, but what do I do? I turn to Him. For what? For sympathy. His sympathy has never been opened out to you and you have never known the effect in your heart of those two words, "Jesus wept", unless you have the sense in your soul that Christ in glory has an interest in you. He it is that bears me above all the pressure of circumstances and other things down here. He is near me and how does this affect me? It severs me from earth. Never till you have tasted the sympathy of Christ will your heart be drawn out of earth and that by a Person who is not on earth. Do you think Mary of Bethany ever forgot that walk when Jesus wept? Never! To have His sympathy you must come near to Him.

The highest thing God could say to an Old Testament saint was, "I will be with thee". Now the risen Lord says to you and me, You are to be with Me where I am. If you do not understand that, you can never know what His sympathy is. You may be devoted, but you have never tasted His sympathy. When I taste His sympathy in the history of my soul, I find myself personally outside this scene, and while in His company He endears Himself to my heart, and conducts me into the brightest spot - the holiest of all. I believe many are ready to go to the Lord, but I cannot see how any christian can understand the interests of Christ, unless he knows Him in the assembly. Every evangelist ought to come from the assembly. There were no missionaries in the Old Testament, the evangelist comes from the assembly. Nothing ought to delight our hearts more than to know that though the Lord has been refused and cast

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out, still He has got a place here. I trust every heart here is like Mary of Magdala - set on finding Him, and like the two disciples, who asked Him, "Where dwellest thou?" It was an unusual question to ask a Man - a stranger too - where He dwelt.

What I desire to press upon you is that you must have to do with Christ risen, and that you cannot have to do with Him as Priest until you have had to do with Him as Saviour. He is outside of everything here.

In Matthew 14 when John Baptist was beheaded, the Lord accepts the crisis; it foretold His own rejection. What does He do? He educates His disciples for the new thing. He walked on the water above it all. Peter joins Him there outside everything here; in association with Himself and above all the power of evil. When He led captivity captive, He gave gifts unto men and these gifts from a risen Christ rise above all the power of evil. No power of evil can quench a gift bestowed by Christ in glory. The Lord walks on the sea; Peter sees Him and says, "If it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water", (verse 28). It is a question of affection. Can I join Him? To man it is superhuman, but affection carries the day. Peter says, "Bid me come unto thee". The Lord says, "Come." Let me ask each of you, Have you sufficient affection to want to join the Lord where He is? You see it in pattern in Elisha and Elijah. When Elisha asks for the double portion Elijah says, "If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee", (2 Kings 2:10). Elisha never took his eyes off Elijah and what did he get? If the Lord said to you, What shall I do for you, what would you ask? Perhaps for your children to be converted? What does Elisha ask? - a double portion of Elijah's spirit, and he gets it. A double portion is a complete portion. The Lord was taken up into heaven; Acts 1. What Elisha asked for from Elijah, God gives us, "He shall give you another Comforter", (John 14:16).

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Peter was not satisfied with seeing the Lord walking on the sea, but joined Him there. I would like to ask every young believer here, Have you affection for the Lord? He is the Stone, "disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious". "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious", 1 Peter 2:3, 4. You have taken the first step and now you go on to the second step, "To whom coming", etc. To reach that point you must travel outside all that is of man. Perhaps you say, I am not prepared for the consequences; then let me say that I never saw a man who calculated about taking a right step, that ever took it. The true heart says, "Bid me come unto thee". What we have in John 6 occurs evidently at the same time as that in Matthew 14.

In Exodus 25 the great point is that all the people are interested in God's place. I go to a place and the numbers may be small, but I find all thinking about the assembly; everyone is interested and concerned about it. I go to another place and I find it quite different; it seems there as if what was everybody's business is no one's business. Why? Because they were never in their soul's history in assembly, for the effect of being in assembly is that you are taken up with Christ's interests, you have got a new class of interests. In Exodus 25 all are contributors to God's house, all are interested in it. There was the golden box and the mercy-seat above upon the ark, and there it was that Moses got the mind of God. We have to do with Christ now both as Moses and Aaron. We listen to Him as Moses and we accompany Him into the holy place as Aaron, and let me say that you will never understand the holiness of that place until you are brought there. Do not refuse to accept what I say, but do as the Bereans did - search the Scriptures and see if these things are so. You will never know what holiness is till you are where holiness is. The spot that no Jew on earth ever reached, the believer

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reaches now. "Whom God has set forth a mercy-seat", (Romans 3:25). You must know what the blood does for you before you have boldness to enter into the holiest of all, and when there, beholding the Lord's glory, you become changed into His image. No amount of reading will do this, you must go in and know a Person there, and when there the first effect is you get an impression. There is an impression made upon you which makes you shrink from everything that would interrupt your enjoyment of Him, and therefore what comes out in you practically is found in Romans 6 - you die to sin. "Always bearing about in the body the dying" (not death) "of the Lord Jesus", 2 Corinthians 4: 10. When you reach that spot, beholding Christ in glory, you are so entranced with the blessedness of it you are lost and you say, Now I should like to have everything that interferes with my enjoyment of Christ where He is - removed. You only arrive at this through death. You may not like the way to it, but God knows when you are set for it and therefore He rolls in death upon you, that is, He disciplines you. You arrive at it by a peculiar road. If I may so say, in order to help your progress, God removes the stone that is before the wheel. Once you are set for it, you feel everything that hinders and God removes the hindrance for you.

Rebekah's nurse dies when Jacob gets to Bethel. Many a man is saved and perhaps goes on nicely and quietly for years. Then he builds a house, and his eyes, like Lot's, rest upon the long grass and he sees nothing beyond. While he is there he is of no use to anyone else; he has easy times of it while others are enduring hardship and serving the Lord. Well, all we can say to him is, We do not envy you.

Let me repeat, that it is an immense thing to get the impression in His presence of what the house of God is. There I learn that He has got a place on earth while I know and enjoy Him in the place where He is.

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UNION AND ITS EFFECTS

Ephesians 1:15

We need to know what the church is to Christ, and you cannot know that until you understand union. You may look at it from God's side and see that in His purpose you are united to Christ, but I desire to look a little at our side. You may see where this epistle puts the believer, and yet fail in the practice which God would produce in us by the knowledge of its teaching. The apostle prayed (chapter 1:18) "that ye may know what is the hope of his calling". Paul would not have prayed that they might know, if the Ephesians had known these things. And you may know the epistle well, and yet you may not have grasped the reality of what the church is to Christ. How can you have suitability to the position if you do not understand this? The church is the fulness of Christ. The holy city, new Jerusalem, gives us a thought of the magnitude and magnificence of the church. The first man as set here for God failed, not so the second Man. He did so much for God while down here that the world itself is too small to contain the record. Is it all to be lost? Never. All is to come out in the church as the fulness of Christ.

I desire to say a few words on that which is seldom spoken or written about - the great object of God as to the church. Do not say it is too high for me. It is very simple and came out at Saul's conversion. Paul's gospel and the church came out together. If you do not know Paul's gospel you do not know the mystery. Christ in heaven is Head to His body the church. To reach Christ as Head you must get completely outside the present order of things and come to a spot where Christ is all and in all. Are you looking for it? It is outside of man. You know union by the

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Holy Spirit; it is not the subject of Colossians, there it is more life; the prayer in Ephesians 1 is that you may know union. The Lord has brought me so close that I am part of Himself; the Lord leaves His mark on each of those who know Him thus. God is set on accomplishing all His counsels as to Christ, and here the church comes in. It was God that brought Eve to Adam. Are our hearts set on what God's heart is set upon?

John does not speak of union, but he describes the holy city. It is descriptive of Christ. You must have divine power in order to be descriptive of the heavenly man upon earth. The thought of a true wife is how she can make much of her husband, and you are to be descriptive of Christ as united to Him. His interests are yours. I am not now speaking of service, but what I seek to impress upon you is the wonderful nature of our union with Christ. Some of us know what we passed through before having peace, now I want you to go on to union. I do not think any soul ever got peace until he wanted it, and no one realises union until they are set for it. The one thing that Abraham's steward was sworn to was that Isaac's wife must be of Abraham's kindred, and you cannot realise union till you know that you are of the same order as Christ - there must be moral conformity. You cannot conduct every christian into conscious union because there must be moral fitness, you must know that you are "accepted in the beloved", that you are of the same stock, "all of one". Abraham's steward asked God to give him a sign that he might know the right person, that she might be so gracious when he asked her for a drink, that she would not only give it to him, but offer to draw water for his camels also. This showed the grace she had, and you must be in grace before you can know union. "Grow in grace". We are made partakers of the divine nature.

When the steward makes known to Rebekah her

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destiny, he unfolds counsel, she is to be the wife of Isaac. Then all kinds of difficulties arise. First, she has to break with her family, but she shows decision. She says, "I will go". Then there is the wilderness, but she shows continuance. She went all the way till she reached the spot where Isaac was. She came to him. No one can take the whole journey who has not by the Spirit realised union.

In the first type I have referred to, God brought Eve to Adam. This will be fulfilled at the coronation day in Revelation 19. The marriage of the Lamb takes place when Babylon, the rival, has been set aside. God calls out the church apart from man's city - Babylon, and He will show her to the world as God's city - new Jerusalem. What do you expect to find in man's city? The march of intellect, refinement, science and art. Babylon sits as a queen, but her end is in Revelation 18. There is no such joy as we find in chapter 19 when Babylon is judged, and the marriage of the Lamb is come and His wife hath made herself ready; that is, she has passed the judgment-seat, and comes forth arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; "the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints". Abraham and other Old Testament saints will be there as guests. They are children of the bridechamber, but they are not united to Christ as the church is. The Spirit of God now brings us into the things which are set forth in the heavenly Jerusalem. We sometimes sing:-

'And see! the Spirit's power
Has ope'd the Heavenly door.' (Hymn 74)

If you know that you belong to the blessed Lord up there in heaven, and have never been there in Spirit, you cannot be a happy man, nor can you be a heavenly man down here. The Spirit of God conducts us to heaven. The same power that wrought in Christ works towards us. It is not merely that God has a purpose as to us, but He has quickened us together

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with Christ, and has raised us up together, and made us sit down together in the heavenly places in Christ. What is the prominent thought here? The "heavenly places". The place is the prominent idea.

The first thing that you learn when you know union is that you have a new interest. Christ is your interest, as Isaac was Rebekah's interest. You know Christ first as your Saviour, then as your Priest, and in the assembly you learn what suits Him. His interests become paramount with you, and you come to understand what will further those interests. In Colossians I am outside the world, and Christ is my life, so that I get the sensibilities which suit Him. I put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering. I am no longer under law. You may make a law of anything, even of the Bible, in order to correct the old man, but if you are by the Spirit in heaven, you will come out here as a new and heavenly man. You have a Head in heaven and that takes you outside of everything here. All will be completed by and by, but now the apostle prays that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Rebekah was a changed person when she learned her destiny, then all her thoughts and acts connected themselves with Isaac; so with us, when we are conscious of union with Christ we are taken up with the concerns of Christ; and we get in chapter 3 the great and present endowments that belong to union. First, Christ dwells in your heart by faith. Second, you are able to survey the greatness of your property; you may not be able to take it all in, but you do know something of the love of Christ which passeth knowledge. Then in the last verse you have the result, "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end". It goes on through the millennium to the eternal state. It is a great thing to get clearly before one's soul that I am here for Christ.

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Now we come to testimony. There are two circles of testimony, the gospel and the mystery; and there are three spheres where your activity can display itself - the church, your family, and then you confront the power of Satan in the world. You begin with the church - keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If all the members are not acting in unison with the Head there is a moral paralysis manifested in the body. When Christ ascended up He gave gifts unto men, that every member might grow up "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ", (Ephesians 4:13). The church is the first circle. People generally begin with evangelising, but the evangelist goes out from the church; he cannot bring his converts to the assembly unless he goes out from it. He goes from the heart of the assembly to "sweep the house, and seek diligently", and to find all that belongs to Christ. He searches for the treasure and the pearl, but he has also to sit down and select from the fish he has caught.

The second sphere is the family circle. In the law there was no word as to the family circle, and not even in Romans do you find direction as to it, but in Colossians and Ephesians you do find it. Every ordinance of God is to be taken up in a new way; a man is to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it; fathers are not to provoke their children, and so forth. Then when the purpose of the heart is to be here for Christ, we find ourselves confronted by all the power of Satan, for Satan hates the one who is set for Christ, and you cannot resist him unless you put on the whole armour of God. You put on the armour against Satan, and you pray to God; then you can be bold as a lion. When Satan comes and finds Christ in you he flees. He tries hard to get you off heavenly ground; he first throws you a bait, and if you take it, that will do for him. If you refuse to take the bait then he will try and crush you. You never

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see a saint prospering on the earth who is not in danger. Satan may crush you, but you will be like the leaves of certain plants, the more they are crushed, the more fragrance they give forth. Far better to be crushed than to be allured. When a man makes headway in the world he is in great danger. You know when Peter was invited into the high priest's house what it led to; he might have been cold outside, but he was far safer there than he was inside. It was a sad invitation for Peter. I conclude with the desire that each may know the blessedness of conscious union with Christ, and that the Lord may impress upon each heart what suits those who are united to Christ.

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BRIEF NOTES OF READINGS AT MANCHESTER

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THE HOLY SPIRIT

Romans 5:1 - 11

Our subject is, "the Holy Spirit". Christians do not make enough of the fact that the Holy Spirit is given. In verse 5 we read that "the Holy Spirit ... has been given to us": but the first question is, Have we received Him? In Acts 19 Paul came to Ephesus, and found there a company of believers (about twelve men - the number has, perhaps, a significance), who had not heard that the Holy Spirit was come. Now we know that He has come, consequent on the exaltation of Christ as Man to the right hand of God. Christ is rejected by the world; if He were not, He would be reigning; but God has said to Him, "Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool", (Psalm 110:1). When He comes again He comes to reign, and will subdue all His foes. (See 1 Corinthians 15:23 - 28.)

To return: the point before us is that the Holy Spirit is given. These Ephesian believers were only as far on in the state of their souls as the ministry they had heard; the preaching of Apollos that Jesus was the Christ, that He had come into the world, and was presented to the Jewish nation. They had, therefore, like those in Matthew 3, been baptised unto John's baptism, which pointed forward to the One who was about to come; to the One who, as John said, "cometh after me". But when Paul pointed out to them that "John verily baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus", (Acts 19:4) they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus (His resurrection name), and, having been thus committed to His death, and Paul, having laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. Acts 10:40 - 44 makes it clear that it is when the testimony

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to Christ risen is believed that the Holy Spirit is received. He came on those who "heard the word" (a gentile company), as He had already on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) come on the Jewish company.

The end of Romans 4 establishes the fact that not only was Christ delivered for our offences, but that He was raised again for our justification; and we, believing what God has done, are justified by faith, and have "peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand [acceptance] and we boast in hope of the glory of God;" and, "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us", (Romans 5:1, 2). Then in verse 11, "we are making our boast in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom now we have received the reconciliation". (Properly speaking, the word 'atonement' does not appear in the New Testament.)

Christ having borne the judgment due to man on the cross, the judgment is now removed from every believer; and, on the ground of the work which was there accomplished (by the One who was Himself ever a sweet savour to God, and in whom, therefore, God always found His pleasure) God is free to receive the one who believes into the greatest favour, as is opened out to us in the case of the prodigal when he came to his father. You are received on the ground of the glorified Man, not on the ground of the moral man; the latter was the ground that the elder brother claimed. God has got a Man to His own satisfaction before Him, at the other side of death and judgment, and He works downward from that Man to us. Christ in glory is the Mercy-seat: the place where God begins with us, and where we really begin with God. We receive the Holy Spirit when we believe on Christ risen. The first evidence of this is "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts". God has laid help upon

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One that is mighty; when there was no man, and none to help, He has done everything for us Himself.

In Luke 15 we have three things set forth in one parable. (1) The Shepherd's work. Christ went out to the most distant spot to find the sheep that He might bring it into His own place - "to the house". (This we see perfectly fulfilled in the case of the thief on the cross.) (2) The Spirit's work - searching with a light (the word of God) in the darkest spot, on purpose to find the lost piece of silver; and (3) the Father's grace in receiving from the most degraded condition the one who repented and returned to Him.

Our acceptance with God on the ground of the work which has been done for us is perfect, and therefore unimprovable. It never alters: never varies. And it is very important for us not to mix the acceptance itself with our enjoyment of it. The acceptance is "in Christ", and therefore unchangeable; the enjoyment is "by the Spirit", and therefore (because of the working of the flesh) often hindered.

In Romans 5 we have the truth presented on God's side: the terms He is on with us. Now there is another important point for us to consider, namely, how we are before Him. This we get in chapter 8. The prodigal could have no doubt as to his father's feelings towards him, when he covered him with kisses. His trouble was his own unfitness for the place - his unsuitability. He says, "I am no longer worthy to be called thy son". It is at this point that serious and protracted troubles arise in souls. The knowledge of grace and forgiveness is an assured reality; and then, too often, the effort is to make the flesh subject to the law of God, which (we read) it "neither indeed can be", Romans 8:7. The prodigal had the grace of forgiveness when his father embraced him; but he had to be made fit to enjoy this grace, and this also is effected for him. The best robe is put on him; he is no longer in his rags. In Christ there is no condemnation;

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everything of man is renounced. "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation", 2 Corinthians 5:17.

It is of all importance for us to learn that there is a change of man. Christ is now before God and not Adam. In order to be in liberty we must change from Adam to Christ. Romans 5:12 - 21 instructs us as to this. By Adam's one act of sin death entered into the world; and, he being the head of the human family, all his posterity are involved in the consequences of his disobedience. "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". Death is God's pronounced judgment on man (Adam), and the man under judgment must go in judgment. Christ was obedient unto death. Christ's act of righteousness gave God His right place, and those who believe in Him are connected with Him instead of being connected with Adam. This truth is set forth from verse 12 to 21; ending with, "That, even as sin has reigned in the power of death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Death is the consequence of being in Adam; eternal life of being in Christ. This is the superabounding of grace. This makes clear the necessity for the believer to put off the old man for Christ. How blessed to know that you are not connected in God's sight with the man under judgment, but with the Man who bore the judgment, and who has been raised from the dead by the glory of the Father! What a blessed utterance for you in Romans 8:2: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". You have changed from Adam to Christ. As before God we are clear by faith through Christ (this is Romans 4 and 5), but as to yourself it is not by faith that you are clear, but by the Spirit of God. This is exceedingly important. No one is in liberty who is trying to improve the old man. He cannot be improved; you must be apart from him

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altogether. In the end of Romans 7 you get experimentally clear of him, and in the beginning of chapter 8 you are set free "in Christ". In Romans 5 we have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given unto us; but in Romans 8:2 it is not love but life. By the Spirit we are free of sin and death; we are in Him.

In Romans 5 you have the terms on which God is with you. Now in Romans 8 it is that you are free from the law of sin and death; God has another Man before Him, and you in Christ are free from the old man; you have come over to God's side; and that is different from His coming to my side. In grace He came to my side, but with the view of bringing me over to his side. (See Luke 10 and 15). In the parable of the good Samaritan He comes to my side; in that of the prodigal He brings me to His side.

It is very interesting and instructive to compare John 3 to Romans 10:14 with this, as showing the work done in you - not that done for you. John 3 - man is gone, the Son of man is lifted up; in chapter 4 the Spirit is given, and you will never thirst; chapter 5 - the body is delivered from judgment; chapter 6 - by appropriating Christ's death you enter into life; chapter 7 - man's brightest day on earth cannot come up to Christ's gift - the Holy Spirit - rivers of living water flowing out; chapter 8 - light; chapter 9 - sight, and steps in light up to the knowledge of the Son of God, when you worship; and chapter 10: 14 - 15 - the intimacy that exists between the Shepherd and the sheep. A wonderful unfolding!

Well, we have considered two points in connection with our subject (the Holy Spirit); love and life; you are now in liberty; 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" - liberty to behold the Lord's glory. What a wonderful favour the gift of the Spirit is! The love of God shed abroad in the heart first: then life in Christ known and

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enjoyed; ability by the Spirit to behold the Lord's glory - all God's satisfaction according to all His attributes expressed in Him; not as when He was here, the humbled and yet ever perfect and blessed Son of God, in grace; but where and as He is now: the Man whom God has in His own presence to the complete satisfaction of His heart. And the result of our thus beholding is that we are changed into the same image - not into equality, but similarity; we do not imitate, we appropriate the moral excellences which shine in Him, and while here we become the expression of Himself in the very place where He is refused. Stephen is the first bright example of this. The believer knows the love of God by the Spirit; he reaches life in Christ for enjoyment by the Spirit; and, beholding the Lord's glory by the Spirit, he becomes here descriptive of the risen and exalted heavenly Man, not of the fallen, dying, and earthly man - Adam.

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EDUCATION FOR THE ASSEMBLY

Matthew 14; Hebrews 10

You can never find the church unless you see that Christ is rejected here. If He were not rejected He would be reigning; He is not reigning, but He is at God's right hand, and this is proof of His rejection. God says to Him, "Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool", Acts 2:34, 35. Everything in christendom is got up to deceive you, as they are deceived. Men wish to make out that Christ is well received here; and so, if I walk down the street, I see numerous so-called places of worship, erected professedly in honour of Him. But Christ is rejected: He is disallowed of men. One interesting thing in connection with this is that His power is just as great after His rejection as it was before it. In this chapter (14) we see Herod, the Edomite, ruling in what was really Christ's territory; and he puts John the baptist violently to death by beheading him. The Lord, when He heard of John's death, did not need anyone to say to Him, You are going to be rejected, too. He goes away Himself into a desert place. If the King's herald is murdered, what may the King Himself expect?

It has often been said that in these chapters the Lord is educating His disciples for the assembly - the new structure that He was about to set up on earth. In this chapter He feeds the multitude with the five loaves and two fishes, using His disciples as the administrators of His bountiful grace. Then He sends the disciples across the sea, while He goes on high to pray - His present place and service in intercession. Wind (Satan's power) and waves (man's power, as acted on by Satan) are contrary; and their own efforts are unavailing against the opposing elements - true picture of the relative position of Christ and His

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people all through the long dark night of His rejection. But He also comes to them. They are in the boat (a figure of the Jewish system really); but Peter, seeing the Lord as One supreme above all power (wind and waves), and having the affection for the Lord that would lead him out to face every difficulty, says - "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And ... he walked on the water, to go to Jesus". Peter had the affection; we have the power. If you have the affection you will soon find out you have got the power. The Spirit is the power. We were seeing in the last reading that what characterises the christian is having the Spirit. A very good illustration may be found in the case of a nest of young fledglings. The mother bird hovers over the nest just sufficiently near to make the young ones wish to reach her. They begin to flutter, and find that they have not only the affection for the parent bird, but they have wings - the power - to rise to her. Depend on it, if you have the affection you will find you have the power. Christ is in an out-of-the-world condition, and the point is for us to reach Him there by the Spirit.

This chapter sets before us the value of knowing His priesthood - His present service for His own which are in the world. The One who has saved you, now Himself becomes endeared and indispensable to you. We have His sympathy, intercession, succour, salvation (see Hebrews 2:18; 4: 15; 7: 25; also Romans 8:34). Why were those disciples not swamped? How are saints upheld and comforted under the most pressing and crushing things such as are man's common lot in this scene? Christ lives to make intercession for them! See how the truth of His priestly service comes out in connection with Peter in the moment of his need and infirmity (it is quite plain it was no question of sin). He had left every earthly and human thing on purpose to join the Lord, and though he failed, and

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though everything failed, yet he got near enough to the Lord to be reached by His hand. He realised the truth of 'I cannot do without Thee.' This is the character of the Lord's priesthood as opened out in the earlier part of Hebrews; it is the truth of what He is as Priest to us - in our pathway outside, so to say. In chapter 10 we come to the other side, what He is as Priest to God - inside. We enter the holiest of all not only as a cleansed but as a consecrated company - like Aaron and his sons. The holiest is where Christ is. When gathered together to the Lord's name we have His presence in the midst; He is the antitype of the holiest, and if His presence is not true to us we are not so well off as Israel was. They had the cloud of glory; we have the Lord of glory. Holiness is the condition in which we draw nigh. The sacrifice is the basis of our approach; but the priesthood is that which sustains us in approaching. Holiness becomes God's house for ever. Therefore in going to the assembly there is always fresh exercise; for, while having the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and the body washed with pure water there must also be the true heart and full assurance of faith; Hebrews 10. One who has a blemish cannot draw near; and it is very easy for us to contract a blemish; one might enjoy the meeting and yet not be in the holiest. Any of Aaron's sons who had anything betokening imperfection were not permitted to draw near to offer the bread of God. They might eat it; that is, they would get their portion through grace; but they could not go within the veil. In the holiest we not only enjoy His grace, but we behold His glory. We are in the assembly on heavenly ground, in an out-of-the-world condition (a pattern of which we have in John 20). What a wonderful favour! It is important to remember that what the Lord was teaching His disciples in Matthew was the assembly as the structure-the house of God on earth - not the body of Christ. The latter was not revealed until Acts 9.

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David says, "To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary", Psalm 63:2. He was not, like a mystic, looking for something he never had seen and never could see; it was what he had known that he wished to see again. When you see His power and glory you are absorbed and abstracted; men and things have no place then, and you must be apart from them to worship (see Abraham; Genesis 22:5).

Many know Christ in grace who do not know Him in power; many know His love who do not know His wisdom. What is knowing the wisdom? You see, like the queen of Sheba, all the wonderful ordering of things, eclipsing, even in the smallest details, anything you have ever known. It is not only that you have heard "a true report", but you have come to the very spot and the very Person; the result is, there is no more spirit left in you. Many know His work who do not know Himself. When you get a sight of His wisdom, and taste a little of the excellency of the knowledge of Him, things here look very trifling. I do not think the queen of Sheba would ever have been satisfied with her own order of things again after seeing Solomon's. She would say, That wisdom of Solomon has eclipsed everything here for me. Her servants might not think so, but she would; and if we only realised what it is to see His power and glory in the sanctuary, we would bear a different stamp here in this scene. It would affect us on Monday as well as on Lord's day.

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THE PURPOSE OF THE ASSEMBLY

1 Corinthians 12; 1 Kings 6:5 - 30

We were looking last evening at the way in which the Lord educates us for the assembly. The first question before us tonight is, What is the purpose of the assembly? I ask anyone present to answer that question. Well, we see in 1 Kings 6 that the stones that were cut out of the quarry (we might say by the evangelist), were then shaped and brought to Jerusalem to be put each one in its place in the temple - God's house. The stones were built in noiselessly, and then built up. You can scarcely refrain from connecting this with 1 Peter 2. You must be a stone first; that is the first thing. Peter himself was always a stone (from John 1:42), but he was not confirmed as one until Matthew 16. We see in 1 Peter 2:4 that it is those who are already converted that come to Christ as the "living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God". There are many true christians who have never yet come to Christ as the living stone. But to return: the stones when put in their places in the temple were covered with cedar, and then all was covered with gold, so that there was nothing but gold seen; that which was fit for God. There was no stone seen. The first point then is, that in the assembly - the house of God - everything is suitable to and for God. God, and not man, is before you in the house of God. Then the next question is, How do we come in? Well, we come into His presence with a song; and then the first act in the assembly is to remember the Lord in His death. We revert to what He was here. The One whom we remember had the lowest place for man here, but He has the highest place with God.

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If you are not fit for the Lord's day morning meeting you are not fit for any other during the week. We begin with His death: that is our starting-point. Just as in Psalm 22 - twenty-one verses tell us what the Lord went through on the cross; then, in resurrection, He declares the Father's name: "in the midst" He leads the praises.

When we have remembered the Lord (we are with Him in all the virtue of His death) what next takes place in the assembly? You now listen to Him. He declares the Father. The assembly is where the mind of God is made known at the moment. You pass from the brazen altar, where the work was accomplished for you, and you go in as the consecrated company in all the fragrance of Christ. You are now in the holiest of all. You have now come to the "oracle", and you hear what the oracle says. How could you have the Lord declaring the Father to you from His own side and not be refreshed? You may not understand everything, but you are comforted, cheered, encouraged. And then, what is the result? "Praise unto God" - you then worship. The one who takes part is the organ of the assembly for the moment, and how important that this should be borne in mind; so that the Lord's direction, and the power of the Spirit should be a present reality to the one so speaking. If not, he simply individualises himself, and acts as if he were at a believer's meeting instead of in the assembly of the living God. You might be enjoying every bit of Romans 8 up to the very door of the meeting room, and then have to drop it (many carry it in and spoil the meeting). Why? Because Romans 8 is individual. It is quite true that those who are there are individuals, but they are not there as individuals, but in the truth of the "one body" of which Christ is Head. Many estimable christians do not hold the Head. This was the Colossian snare. They were in danger of being taken with rationalism and ritualism,

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that is, that man's mind and body could contribute to Christ's service. But the apostle tells them that in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and that "ye are complete in him", Colossians 2:10, so that they needed no addition; and that if you are holding the Head there is "neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all (or, Christ everything) and in all", Colossians 3:11. The evil at Corinth was laxity; at Galatia, legalism. For the latter he travailed in birth until Christ was formed in them - and that could never be by law, but by the Spirit. There is no such thing as transforming Ishmael into Isaac; the flesh cannot be improved. At Corinth it was man's wisdom; at Galatia, man's religion; at Colosse it is a combination of the two; and the truth to counteract this is brought in: (1) "Ye are complete in him", and (2) He is "everything, and in all". You see now that when you have to do with the Head, all distinctions of man are set aside, because the man to whom the distinctions apply is himself gone. National, learned, religious, social - all these distinctions, which are so tenaciously held by men as such, are set aside, because you are in that circle where Christ (not man) is everything; and He is in all.

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THE REALISATION OF UNION

Ephesians 1; Genesis 24

Our subject still is, "the Holy Spirit", and we now come to the point of how we arrive at the conscious knowledge of the truth of union with Christ, and the effects of this favour. Every believer is united to Christ as having the Spirit, but everyone is not in the realisation of union. These Ephesian believers had gone on to a good degree; and now, in this chapter, the apostle prays for them to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, for the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, that they might know these three things: (1) the hope of God's calling; (2) the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints; (3) the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward, etc. If we turn to the type in Genesis 24 it will help us to see how the knowledge of these things is arrived at. There are seven points in Rebekah's case that illustrate for us the road we must travel to reach the true Isaac - Christ. Isaac is a type of the heavenly Man - Christ. He was not to leave the land of Canaan - figure of heavenly places. But Abraham's servant is sworn to bring a bride of his own kindred from the distant land - Mesopotamia - for his master's son; and one who would be in every way suitable to him and for him. There must be no incongruity between them. That is the first point. In type it is the Father's thought to have a bride for His Son, and the Holy Spirit is the Servant to lead and conduct the bride to Christ. All this corresponds beautifully with Ephesians 1. The second point (verses 13 - 19, etc.) is that not only is Rebekah the right person, but her grace commanded her; she not only gives the servant a drink as requested, but proffers drink for the camels also. She goes in grace beyond

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the mere terms of the request. That is excess. The third point is decision. When her relatives are consulted they go as far as they can in order to retain her - ten days (man's measure). She is called; she says, "I will go". Often the greatest hindrances to a person are found in the circle of family influences. Nothing brings out opposition in such a way as when you give up your family connections, and cast in your lot with the people of God. The fourth point is continuance. She has a desert to cross, and only the company of the servant on the road to cheer her with thoughts of Isaac, and to compensate her for the loss of friends, relatives, and country. She has to pass through the wilderness (compare Psalm 45). The fifth point we may call preparation. She has got a sight of Isaac; she alights off the camel and covers herself with a veil; her individual interests are merged in his. The sixth is that she takes the place of Sarah (Israel) on earth (the tent); the seventh - she is a comfort to Isaac (Christ) during the period when He has lost Israel on earth.

Now read the prayer in Ephesians 3. Here we see the favour (it is not state), that is the portion of those who have consciously reached union. As Rebekah, when united to Isaac, would have an entirely new circle and character of interests, so now Christ Himself, His glory, His love, are the things that fill the heart. Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith in this chapter is not the same idea as Christ formed in you in Galatians. That is state; this is favour. Isaac, so to speak, might have been formed in Rebekah's heart when the servant came to her - as Christ is formed in the believer by the Spirit, but it was not until she came to Isaac that she knew the wonderful character of the favour that was hers as the bride of Isaac.

You now (in chapter 3) not only have God's purposes - the mystery of His will (as in chapter 1) made known to you, but you can survey all the vast domain of Christ's

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glory, even now. You have in you surpassing power; you comprehend surpassing glory; you know surpassing love; and are filled unto all the fulness of God. It is the power that works in us that accomplishes this, as in chapter 1 it is the power that works towards us; and now (as these things are true in you) you can come forth divinely in every circle; until eventually power works from you in maintaining your ground against the complete power of Satan (in type, the seven nations of Canaan). In this conflict you must be invulnerable in order to be invincible; Ephesians 6:10 - 18.

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WHAT CHARACTERISES THE REMNANT

Revelation 3:7 - 13

The point in the verses before us is to see what the remnant is, and what characterises the remnant. The scriptural idea of a remnant is quite different from the human idea. In man's mind the remnant means an old, worn-out part, or simply what is left of the original, but in Scripture we see that the remnant is always characterised by the very brightest traits of the original. The remnant is really the tithe or tenth, and is the Conqueror's portion. (See Genesis 14; Isaiah 6, etc.). God is the Conqueror through Christ. The remnant is peculiarly Christ's, and all that is of Him characterises it.

Look at Simeon and Anna. They present to us two prominent features found in the remnant. They were not all the remnant of that day, but, being two, they present a competent testimony as to the character of the whole remnant as seen of God. The woman sets forth the truth of a condition, and the man the energy of the condition - the man the strength, the woman the affection, of the remnant. How brightly those two shine out in the dark day; and it was a dark day indeed, on man's side, in which their lot was cast. Simeon took Christ in his arms and blessed God (beautiful picture of the worshipper inside with God); Anna spake of Christ to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem (beautiful picture of the worker outside with man). This shows us what occupied them - Christ, before God and before men. We must know what it is to go in to God before we can come forth from God to be here for God.

Now what is the first mark of the remnant? What characterises them here in Revelation 3:8? They have "a little power"; that is a trait of the original;

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only at the beginning it was great power. Three things are said commendatory of them: (1) they have a little power; (2) they have kept His word; (3) they have not denied His name. All this might not appear to be much in man's estimation, but, at such a time, it is everything in His estimation. The power of the Holy Spirit surmounts every difficulty; that is what we now have to learn. Under the Jewish order difficulties were removed for the people of God. Now they remain, and power is manifested in overcoming - surmounting the special obstacle that lies in our path.

"He ... set him on his own beast", Luke 10:34.

What is a Philadelphian? One who does not fail in the day of adversity; he has a little power. It is a solemn thing, though. There are five or six companies now claiming to have the Lord's presence: there can be only one right. If I were to come as a stranger to Manchester and ask to be guided to the company where God is, where would I find myself? Where is the company that is known and characterised by God dwelling among them of a truth? It is not what we say but what we are that carries weight. We have in these verses what the Lord is, what He has, what He does, and the great point for us is that we should be in correspondence to Him. He is the Holy and true One; holiness and truth should mark us. He has the keys of the King; we should seek His kingdom. He opens the door and none can shut it; we are to use the privileges that are ours. There will be imitation, opposition, difficulty; we are to overcome, and hold fast.

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BEHOLDING THE LORD'S GLORY

1 Kings 10:1 - 9

There are two types of Christ in the Old Testament - Jonah and Solomon. Every christian knows Christ in the Jonah character - death, but everyone does not know Him as Solomon - as the One in glory. This is where the Corinthians were lacking. Every christian knows something of the Lord as relief, but every christian does not know Him as the resource of his heart. I first love the Lord because of the service He has rendered me - He died for me and I get relief; He has come to my side of things; but resource is only known as I know Himself, and am made superior to my circumstances by getting to His side of things. I love Him then because I know He cares for me, He loves me, I must know His heart before I can find my resources in Him.

We get an illustration of where a great many christians are, in the case of Joseph's brethren; Genesis 50. For seventeen years they had been the recipients of Joseph's bounty; every day they had been receiving from him, and yet they did not know him. When their father was dead they said, "Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him" (verse 15); and so they sent a messenger to Joseph, and when Joseph heard it, he "wept when they spake unto him" (verse 17), as if he would say, And is that all you know of me after all these years? They had got relief from Joseph, but they did not know his heart.

You will say, perhaps, that this is not the subject of the scripture I read. Well, I know, but what I want is to show you the road to it. Turn now to Luke 5. There I see Peter giving of his time and his means to the Lord; he lent his boat to the Lord. So many

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now are very active in doing and in giving; many are most devoted. The next thing I find is, he is obedient to the Lord; he launches out into the deep and lets down the net at the word of the Lord. This is the first mark of a truly godly man, submission to the word of God, submission to Christ. Peter's conduct was exemplary, and the next thing we find is that there was such a great multitude of fishes that the net brake, and they had to beckon to their partners to come and help them. Here Peter had the two things proper to a godly Jew, and which a Jew most valued - conduct and favour; and we should expect he would be elated, but what do we find? When he "saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord". Ah, the secret was he was now near Him; he had never really got near Him till now, and in His presence he was so discovered to himself that he felt he was not fit to be there. Mind, he does not say, I am a sinner, he had done nothing wrong, but, "I am a sinful man, O Lord;" he has the sense when near Him that he is not fit company for Him.

Have you ever seen Him thus? Have you ever so got into His presence that yourself and all that is here is nothing to you? Ah, company is better than property. There is nothing like His company when you get to know Him, having found out His love and His care for you, and His ministry to you from His own resources. In Psalm 23:2 we read, "He leadeth me beside the still waters". In natural things no one ever leads an animal beside the water, he leads him to the water to drink; but the idea here is that I am so satisfied, I have such resources that I can survey all that is around me and be superior to it all; I want nothing here. In Psalm 22 we have Christ in death; in Psalm 24, Christ in glory; and Psalm 23 comes in between.

The Corinthians were not enjoying this; they did not know Christ in glory, their minds were the hindrance

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They were so taken up with their own wisdom that they could not know Christ as wisdom. They did not know Him as Solomon; there is nothing so hinders in the things of God as allowing our minds to work. I find my mind constantly coming in; we have no idea how it interferes with us, and we ought to be constantly watchful against allowing it to have place.

Well, how were the Corinthians to get right? By getting into the presence of the Lord, beholding Him in glory, being transformed into the same image. When I am in His presence, alone with Him, everything else is gone. Then it is that we know resource; it is not now looking for relief from Him as at first, but when I get to His side of things I am taken up with Himself. I am free of myself so that He may make impressions on me. Do you say, I want to be so transformed? Well, then, if you do, you will be. Get into His presence and you will be transformed. But, you say, I have never known Him thus. Then you have never wanted to know Him thus. If you aspire after it you will get it. We always get the thing we value.

I cannot explain to you what this transformation is. No one could make you understand what it is; you must get it for yourself in His presence. If you would know Himself you must be in His company. Service can be known at a distance; love can only be known in nearness to the one that loves.

Turn now to our chapter for a moment. What the queen of Sheba finds out is Solomon's wisdom. Christ is the wisdom of God; He is made unto us wisdom. "Wisdom is better than rubies", etc. Proverbs 8:11. The queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem to Solomon. She had heard a true report of his acts and his wisdom; but she said, I must go and see for myself; long though the journey be, I will take it, I will go. She came to where Solomon was; we must go to our Solomon; we must go if we would know wisdom. She came and communed with

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him, and Solomon answered all her questions. She saw the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, etc. I am not going into all the details (there are seven things that she saw), or to give the interpretation of them; but you will notice that all that so engrossed her was what concerned himself - what was private to him. Those were the things which impressed her. What I want to call attention to is the result! The effect upon her was that there "was no more spirit in her"! Herself was gone! She says to Solomon, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom ... and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants", etc.; and then she breaks out into praise of the Lord his God.

So with us; it is not effort, but in His presence we are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. There is nothing like it. If you desire it, go to the Lord and tell Him, Lord, I would be entranced in Thy presence, there to learn Thy mind.

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UNION WITH CHRIST

Joshua 3

Last evening we were hearing about what the church is to Christ, which is, so to speak, God's side - His purpose and sovereignty. I desire to speak a little as to the other side of that truth, and to put it in such a simple way before your souls that everyone, even the youngest here, may understand it, because it is one thing to know what the church is to Christ on God's side, and quite another thing as to whether we have found our place in it. I remember myself when I could have talked to you about Ephesians, but knew nothing of the road experimentally. I could see that the truth in it was great and beautiful, but it had not reached my conscience. God would have each of us know that we are united to Christ, not only in His counsel, but in fact. We are united to Him by the Spirit.

Now you never can touch the ground that Christ is on till you are over Jordan. Israel could not get to Canaan but through the wilderness and over Jordan; there was no other road. You have heard that you must change from Adam to Christ; now let me tell you that you must do another thing, and that is, you must change your place. "Young men" (see 1 John 2:14, 15) are dead to sin; they have "overcome the wicked one", but they are not dead to the world, and therefore the exhortation to them is, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world". They are not over Jordan; they have got as far as Romans, "dead to sin", but not to Colossians, which is dead to the world. In Romans you are dead to sin; in Colossians you are dead to the world. It is a wonderful day in the history of your soul when you reach the

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place where Christ is; there is no knowledge of your union with Him until then. You see it in Rebekah; Genesis 24. She has to go to the spot where Isaac is before she is united to him. What I desire to dwell upon is what must be produced in your soul, before you can know anything about the transforming effect which His presence has upon you, and what it produces, which is "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus", 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11. That is, I do not allow a single thing in me for which Christ died. It is not effort on my part, but I do not like it; it interferes with me; I am in another order of things altogether. Now God helps you. "For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake". It is not that God is hard, or wants to take anything from you, neither is it with you a question of things going. No, the things have lost their attractiveness to you.

I can speak for myself, and I only do so to help others; at one time I almost regretted being able to take so little interest in things here, improvements and such things, but I am glad of it now. What we have to learn is that these things are as weights upon us. No doubt many here will understand what I mean, but there may be others who have never apprehended the journey they have to take in order to reach what was presented to us last night. No one can be a confidential servant of Christ who is not in the secrets of his Master, and you cannot understand His mind unless you are in conscious union with Him. You may be a servant without this, but not a confidential servant. A confidential servant is taken up with Christ's interests, like a devoted wife, who not only loses her individuality, but her husband's interests are paramount with her. They are her one consideration. Now Christ dwells "in your hearts by faith"; you understand what suits Christ.

There are great things learned in Jordan. There you get the end of the wilderness. In the Red Sea

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we have one aspect of the death of Christ, in Jordan another. In the first you get out of the place of judgment by death into the wilderness. And let me ask, What do you expect in the wilderness? That you are going to have a grand time of it? Not at all; the children of Israel only went three days' journey in it when they found out what it was. There was no water, and when at last they found some it was "Marah" (bitterness). You will be disappointed if you expect to find anything in it but "Marah". People talk of their trials, and then of their mercies, but you have got something far beyond mercies: you have got the Father's things. Do you ask, What are they? You must go to the place where they are to find them; but you cannot connect the Father with temporal mercies. When I speak of Him as Father it is as being His child, and that carries me to where He is; but if I speak of temporal mercies I think of Him as God, as Creator, that is in connection with things down here. If you expect anything in the wilderness you are looking in the wrong place for it, and the reason you are disappointed is because you are not looking for your blessings in the right place. After three days' journey in it Israel found no water, and when water was found it was bitter. God tells Moses to take a tree and put that into the water. What is that? Christ died here. The water becomes sweet. I am free! I am out of it. You can never leave the world until you learn Numbers 21, the brazen serpent. We see this brought out in John 3. John gives you the subjective. Paul gives you the work of grace for your justification, reconciliation, and such-like foundation truths; and when you come to Romans 7:24 you find out that you are irremediably bad, and cry out, "Who shall deliver me?" Then in Romans 8 you are in the Spirit, and now you can leave the world; you are free. What had they in the wilderness? The manna and the smitten rock.

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'Art thou weaned from Egypt's pleasures?
God in secret thee shall keep,
There unfold His hidden treasures,
There His love's exhaustless deep.
In the desert God will teach thee
What the God that thou hast found -
Patient, gracious, powerful, holy;
All His grace shall there abound'. (Hymn 76)

Now the world is but the place of death to you nothing in it suits you. The true character of things here is realised when you feed on and are sustained by the manna - what Christ is. At the end of the journey they tired of it, loathed it, and spoke slightingly of it: "Our soul loatheth this light bread", Numbers 21: 5. After the brazen serpent they had no other food, and they fought on it; they slew Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, the king of Bashan. You will never taste heaven till you go through the wilderness. You may read about it and talk about it, but you do not really taste it. If you try to make things bright for yourself here, how can they be bright for you there? Impossible! It cannot be. But you say, Does not God give us mercies here? Yes, He does. "He giveth his beloved sleep", Psalm 127:2. What I want to press upon you is that the wilderness is but a passage, a bridge that must be crossed before you can enter Canaan, and then you have a new experience of the wilderness. This is Philippians, the experience true of the heavenly man. I must cross it, and I do not expect anything on the way but what characterises the wilderness. The children of Israel ought to have crossed the wilderness in a few days, but it took them forty years. Why? What was the object? What is God's object with you now, as you tread the wilderness path? Is it that you may know yourself? No, but that He "might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live", Deuteronomy 8:3. God will have us obedient and dependent. It is easy to be dependent when things

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are bright, but how is it with you when you have to meet difficulties? Christ was the dependent Man down here. Satan came and tempted Him, but only to find Him the perfectly obedient and dependent Man. In Romans you are dead to sin, but not dead to the world; you must cross Jordan for that, but when you cross, then you find yourself upon new ground altogether. You are dead to the world, and what is the consequence? You will have a sense in your soul such as you never had before of what Christ is to you where He is, in His own place.

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MY SHEEP ... FOLLOW ME

John 10:1 - 11, 27, 28

I have sought on previous occasions to set forth the different ways in which souls are hindered from embracing a full gospel.

First, by remaining satisfied with knowing relief only, like the nine lepers (Luke 17), instead of coming to Himself, as one of them did, who, when he was relieved, turned back, and fell down at Jesus' feet, giving Him thanks, and with a loud voice glorified God.

Secondly, from not having learnt the terrible nature of the distance between God and themselves. This must be learnt, and a deep, solemn moment it is when the soul is brought to see that the only way out of death is by appropriating the death of Christ. Many are like the large company at Pi-hahiroth; they are clear of judgment but have not, walked through the Red Sea. Then, thirdly though they know Christ as having died, yet they do not know Christ risen. The simple answer to faith in Christ risen is that you receive the Spirit.

The next step is to follow the Lord: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". Many are truly converted who do not follow Him, for if they followed Him, they would come to Himself outside of everything here.

The Lord had come into the Jewish fold, but instead of remaining there He leads His sheep out of it. The fold sets forth the religious ordinances in the world (what we sometimes call 'system'). This detains many, and what they have to learn is to follow the Lord. When we believe His grace we follow Him, and he that follows Him does not walk in darkness, but has the light of life.

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In chapter 9 we get a man who has received light, and he keeps up to it; he insists on what he knows, and therefore he advances. He has not to do with what would be called wicked people, but with the best of society, and each in turn question and refuse him. First his neighbours, then the Pharisees (the religious man); then his parents, who were afraid to own him; then the nation, the Jews; and in the long run he is cast out; but he goes on following up the light he has received, and as he does so he is advancing towards Christ. When cast out, he was in the solitude of light; but he was not long there, for Jesus found him, and said to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" (John 9:35). "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him" (verse 38).

Now he has come to the Person outside of all that is revered and respected among men, outside of everything.

Chapter 10 explains the position which this man has. Christendom assumes that room is made in the Jewish fold for christians; no, "he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out". The man who had been blind and who had received sight is led out, and here in chapter 10 we get his true position, and the position of everyone who follows Christ. Many truly converted souls have not come out. Why? Because they have not followed the Lord. If they followed Him nothing would satisfy them but to find Him. What a moment of exquisite delight when Jesus found him! I ask every converted soul here, would you like to reach Him? If you would, you must follow Him, outside all of man, outside all religious impediments. We get it illustrated in the two disciples, who left John and followed Jesus; John 1:37.

Have you followed Him outside of everything and come to Himself? He says, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture". There was no pasture in

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the Jewish fold. The oriental fold was for protection - just four walls built in a square.

I would press on you the blessedness of following Himself. See the touching language He uses: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". Levi (Mark 2) is an example of this. He left the receipt of custom; he broke away from that which held and hindered him, in order to follow Christ.

Will you follow the One to whom you owe so much, or are you stopping short, content with having found merely relief? A faithful dog even will allow nothing to hinder him from following his master. How little our hearts are set on following Him! When you do follow Him, what a moment it is when you come to Himself! - the good Shepherd, who knows His sheep, and is known of them, as the Father knows Him, and He knows the Father (see verses 14, 15).

Let me draw your heart for a moment to think of what He - the good Shepherd - has done. He has come from God, and has gone down under the judgment, and has borne it for you. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends", John 15:13. I ask you, Have you come to Himself? Have you come to the risen One? If you have, you have received the Holy Spirit, and a bond is established between Him and you, and then as a result of this, there is the most wonderful intimacy that can be imagined between you and Him; as He says, "I ... know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father".

May the Lord show your hearts what a real thing it is to have a personal acquaintance with Himself. It is not merely as with Jonathan and David, who made a covenant together, but He knows me and I know Him. This is the wonderful blessing that the heart finds in having a personal intimacy with a glorified Saviour.

Let me press on you, do not be satisfied with having received light, but follow up the light, and it will

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bring you to Himself, and an intimacy will thus be established between you and Him. Do you know Himself, and are you in the same kind of intimacy with Him, as that which subsists between the Father and the Son?

If you have not come to this, you have not come to the fulness of grace. If you come to Himself, you receive the Holy Spirit, as He says, "the water that I shall give him", and this is the power to lead you into a personal enjoyment of Himself, that nothing can surpass. You then know, not only that He has done a work for you, but you know His heart, and His "love is better than wine", so that you can say, "Draw me, we will run after thee", Song of Solomon 1:2, 4. It is only the heart that knows Him that is satisfied. The crown of the gospel is to be acquainted with the Son of God. How souls are hindered and baffled by the power of the enemy from entering into the fulness of grace! Mark, the light that reached you first, came from the glory; but how few who have received the light have come to Him. If you are not brought to Him, you know nothing of what He speaks of in John 13:8 "part with me". The Lord when going away to the Father, washes His disciples' feet, as much as to say, I shall take care that no shade of reserve shall come in between you and me.

We are brought out of all that would have been attractive to us naturally, and are brought into the sphere where He Himself is, and the crown of all my blessing is, that He is acquainted with me and I am acquainted with Him.

May the Lord lead our hearts not only to see the perfection of His grace, but to pray more, that we may not only have light, but that we may know the Person from whom the light comes.

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THE SCOPE OF THE GOSPEL

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THE GREATNESS OF GOD'S JUDGMENT AND THE GREATNESS OF HIS SALVATION

Genesis 8:20 - 22; 9: 1 - 7; Romans 4:24, 25: 5: 1 - 5

You cannot ponder on the history of the flood, as recorded in the above scriptures, without two things coming plainly before you: one, the terrible nature of the judgment on man; and the other, the greatness of God's salvation; not merely safety, but His salvation, and the greatness of it. Noah and his house were saved, as we read: "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him ... went forth out of the ark" (verses 18, 19). All were safe. But was that all? No! Noah was not content that he and all his were safe, and that he might resume his ordinary avocations without fear; he wanted to know his present relation with God, so we read: "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour ... And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered", Genesis 8:20 - 9: 2.

Many are satisfied with being safe, who do not know the greatness of God's salvation; they do not know how God feels about them. Now we get two marks of God's salvation in type in the case of Noah. He was set up here in God's favour, and in power; he was brought to the greatness of God's salvation. If your heart is true you seek to know God's thought of you, and for this you must know Christ, not only as having died for you, but as risen. This we get set

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forth in the burnt-offering, which figuratively is Christ glorified. The One who went down into death glorified God there, and was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. In the sin-offering the carcase was burnt outside the camp, but in the burnt-offering all went up to God. God's salvation is not only that Christ died, but that He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him", John 13:31, 32. In the case of Noah we see on the one hand the inexorable nature of the judgment from which he and his house were saved, and on the other that Noah desires to know his present relation with God. It is most important for you to know, not merely that you are safe, but how the blessed God, whom you offended by your sin, feels towards you. In Noah's burnt-offering God smells a sweet savour, and the result of it is that he is assured of God's favour, and as we read in chapter 9 he is set up in divine favour, and power was to be in his hand. It is a figure, but it is typical of the wonderful grace of God to man.

Now in Romans 4 we get righteousness imputed, "If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification". If the Man who went into death is raised from the dead, it proves that death is overcome. We can have no justification, no sense of it, until we see that Man risen out of death. If you have not apprehended Christ as the sin-offering, you do not know shelter from judgment. You may say, I believe that Christ died. Well, that is right so far; but I ask you, Do you believe that He is risen? The Man who died is the One who has gone up to the right hand of God. God has now a Man to His pleasure, and it is on the ground of believing in Him that God can be "just, and the

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justifier of him which believeth in Jesus". He was "delivered for our offences", that is the sin-offering; but He was "raised again for our justification", that is the burnt-offering. He went down to the death due to the sinner, and if you believe on Him thus, you are safe; but you are not justified until you believe in Him risen. When you are justified, then you are in favour and in power. Until then you do not know the terms on which you stand with God; you have to learn the terms on which God can be with you. You were a sinner under God's inexorable judgment, but Jesus Christ His Son went down into death and bore the judgment, and cleared away all in the cross, and perfectly glorified God. He is the true burnt-offering; He is the Man to God's pleasure; He is the One gone up to God. The first thing is to believe that Christ died, having borne the judgment; but you have also to believe in Him risen, for you cannot know the terms on which God can be with you until you see a Man raised from the dead, gone up to God. If you merely see Christ crucified, you do not know your acceptance with God, though you may have assurance that you are safe; but He accepts you in righteousness if you believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Now mark! Being justified you are in the favour of God and in power, for you have received the Spirit. You see the One who bore the judgment raised, gone up to God, "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead", Romans 1:4. The more His death affects you, the more you desire to see Him alive from the dead. The more your heart rests on the One who died for you, the more you want to know Him raised from the dead. If you believe that He is raised from the dead you receive the Holy Spirit.

Now in Romans 5 we get, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God". The gospel is God's work; "Himself hath done it". Take the prodigal as an

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example; when he was covered with kisses by his father he knew the gospel, he knew the terms on which his father received him. Like many, he did not enjoy acceptance fully, but he knew how his father felt towards him; he could not deny that he was in the favour of his father. The great lack in souls with regard to the gospel is that they do not know how they stand with God, and yet this is of chief importance. CHRIST IS RISEN! When I know that, I know that I am in favour with God, for I am accepted in the Beloved. What did Noah gain when he offered the burnt-offering? He was set up in favour and in power. "Being justified by faith", having believed in Christ risen, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"; there is no disturbing element. "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand". Mark! it is, "By whom".

The desolating flood covered the whole earth. Noah and all in the ark were saved, and then they were set on new ground in the favour of God and in power. This prefigures what the gospel confers on you. You are saved from the judgment, and you are set up here in God's favour and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and He sheds abroad the love of God in your heart. It is important to connect the Holy Spirit with the gospel, because He is the witness or proof to us that we have believed in Christ. "In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise", Ephesians 1:13. In Romans 5 we get the Holy Spirit not so much in relation to us as on God's part - to shed abroad His love in our hearts. This is His first action when He comes to dwell in us. You will see first, that His own Son has borne the inexorable judgment of God on the cross, and next, that not only is all cleared away, but by the Holy Spirit God makes known to you His heart about you; the one great impression made on you is that God loves you! How is it made known to you? Is it by reading, by studying,

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by listening to discourses? No "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us". The greatest power tells of the greatest grace. I cannot convey to you the greatness of it, but God conveys to your heart by the Holy Spirit how He feels about you. In the gospel you learn that not only has the judgment been removed for you, but that the One who removed it so glorified God in removing it that He has risen out of death, and on this Man your eye rests. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved", Romans 10:9. Many believe that Christ died, but do you rest on Him by faith as gone up to God? "This man God raised up ... that every one that believes on him will receive through his name remission of sins. While Peter was yet speaking these words the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were hearing the word", Acts 10:40 - 44. They received the Holy Spirit; therefore the Holy Spirit is called the seal.

I want you to apprehend the mind of God in the type that we have read. That Noah should be saved from the terrible deluge was not all the mind of God about him, but also that, on the ground of the burnt-offering, he might begin a new history, set up here in favour and in power. Now the antitype is that God's Son bore the judgment and has been raised from the dead. He is glorified, and when you believe in Him risen, you receive the Spirit. "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive", John 7:39. And again, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life", John 4:14. The Lord said that to the woman of Samaria. Many do not see - and much is lost by not seeing - that when you believe that the One who bore the judgment has

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gone up to the right hand of God, you receive the Spirit. Many earnest souls are occupied with their own feelings about their safety. Well, it is right to feel the weight of God's judgment, and the state you naturally are in; but when you are sure that the blood shelters you from judgment, I ask you, Now how do you stand with God? The One who bore the judgment, the Man who went down under it, He has been raised, and as you see Him risen, you get the Spirit of God; and now you enter on a new history here in the favour and power of God, the Spirit dwelling in you. It is perfectly marvellous the blessing in which a believer is placed. The more I look at grace, the more wondrous it is to me; on the one hand, the sweeping judgment prefigured by the deluge, on the other, the magnificence of the grace. The man in the flesh is gone in the cross. Do you believe this? Yes. Then you are safe. But this is not the measure of God's grace. The measure of His grace is His love. He has not only displayed His love in giving His Son, but He is always considering for your benefit, even to the very hairs of your head. How differently you would walk about the world if you were in the sense of this! You would not seek for the favour of man, you would be restful in the favour of God, and you would walk here in new power - the love of God shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. I cannot convey to you the blessedness of the love of God being made known to you.

My intention is, if the Lord will, to bring out in detail the scope of the gospel in the effects of grace. It is the same Holy Spirit who tells me of the love of God who is the power to enable me to enjoy His grace. I ask each of you, How do you stand with God? Can you say, I can see by faith the Man who died now risen at the right hand of God, and now I know that I am in the favour of God, and I have received the Spirit of God - I am in favour and in power? Once

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you get a glimmer as to God's feeling about you-that He has unbounded love towards you, love which is always active for your benefit - you are lost in wonder, love, and praise.

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CHRIST'S WORK AND CHRIST'S HEART

1 Kings 17: 9 - 24; Luke 17: 11 - 19

I desire, if the Lord permit me, to trace the different ways by which souls are hindered from enjoying the gospel. They have a part of it, that is, they have the beginning, but not the finish.

The Lord refers in Luke 4 to the widow of Sarepta. The prophet goes to her house and is there a whole year. "She, and he, and her house, did eat many days (you will find in the margin of the Bible that it is 'a whole year'). And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail" for three hundred and sixty five days. Thus was she relieved of the famine; that is where many are now as to the state of their souls. They have relief, they believe in Jesus; but they have not reached the finish of the gospel, they have not come to God's salvation. Relief merely is not salvation. It is a good beginning, and the necessary beginning, but it is not the finish; it is not salvation. The prophet was in the widow's house a whole year, that is a significant time, because it took in every variety of season. There was relief, the apprehension of death was staved off. But after this comes the test; her son dies. Death has come in, and now where is she? All her relief has gone. She says to the prophet, "Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?" After spending a whole year in comfort, relieved in a remarkable way, she is now in the greatest distress, and this is the history of many converts. They believe in Jesus, and they get relief; but I ask, have you come to God? Have you found that Jesus is out of death?

The prophet took the child up and laid him upon his own bed, and "stretched himself upon the child three times", thus connecting himself with death

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(figuratively setting forth the death of our blessed Lord), and he brought the child back alive and delivered him to his mother and said, "See, thy son liveth". There is life out of death. Of course it is a figure; the Lord refers to it in Luke 4:25, and says, "Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias", yet there was only one to whom Elias was sent; signifying that He Himself was rejected by Israel, and yet He could find a widow who would be glad to receive Him. In type the widow was the gentile, and that includes us. One can understand this widow's great delight when she saw that her son lived. "Now" (she says) "by this, I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth".

I turn now to Luke 17:11 - 19. There you see the sinner and the Saviour together, a glorious sight for everyone. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth", Isaiah 45:22. What a touching moment it was to these ten lepers! They were outcast, and nobody could approach them, and they say, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed". They were relieved. I believe there are many souls there; perhaps I am addressing some in this room who have looked to Jesus, and have got relief, but who have not come to Himself. All the ten were relieved, they were cleansed, but "one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks". Sooner or later, if you ever know Him, you must do this, you must come to Him. The other nine go on, and they go through Leviticus 14, and that is where the mass of believers are in the present day. They believe in Jesus, they have found relief, but they have not found approach to God; they are occupied with religion instead of with Him. They have not really come to God - to the One whom they

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have offended. They have not peace with God. There is relief, but no sense of reconciliation. This is set forth in Israel coming out of Egypt. They were sheltered from the Judge by the blood, but they are afraid of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. There was a very large company at Pi-hahiroth delivered from judgment, but they were all afraid, though they were sheltered from the Judge. It is often said, you will not be lost. But is that all? If that is all you are not brought to God. Your enemies are not overcome. Look at what the Lord has effected! Mark you what it is! He has abolished death and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel. I do not go into it because my object now is not simply to set forth the gospel, but my desire is to show where souls are hindered in the enjoyment of the gospel, or in the reception of a full gospel; the hindrance is, that though they have looked to the Saviour and found relief, they have never yet learned how they stand with God.

Well, one of the ten who were cleansed turns back, and with a loud voice glorifies God. What does that exemplify to you? This - that you have to get acquainted with the One who has effected the cure for you. It is a very sad thing to find that souls can accept the cure, without caring to get acquainted with the One who has effected the cure, and therefore they do not enjoy acceptance with God. The remarkable fact in connection with it is that, when you are brought to God, it is God you are occupied with. Just as it was with Israel when they were over the Red Sea, and were really clear of all their enemies. What were they occupied with then? Not with their enemies, but with God. It is very interesting to notice that the one who has learned deliverance from all that is against him is no longer occupied with what is against him, but he is occupied with God who is for him. It is the song in Exodus 15, "The Lord ... hath triumphed

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gloriously". A little while before they were afraid of the Egyptians. Terrible pressure was upon them. You cannot say they were unsaved. They were under the shelter of the blood, but they were not clear of the power of the enemy.

Now what is so touching in this cleansed leper is that he turns back, and with a loud voice glorifies God, and falls down on his face at the feet of Jesus. He traces the cure to the Curer. I put a very simple question to everyone in this room. You all profess to believe that Christ died for your sins. Did you ever go to Him? Did you ever make His acquaintance? Did you ever get into the sense of the reality of having to do with One risen out of death? You could not come to Him anywhere else now. That is the great point, and if you do make acquaintance with Him now, it is with a living Christ that you make acquaintance. I can understand someone here saying, Well, if I were acquainted with a living Christ I should be fully happy. And so you would; you would not have a shade of fear of any kind. He was not raised from the dead when the leper came back to Him, but the one that was cured traced the cure up to God. He saw God by faith. He glorified God. Therefore the Lord said to him, "Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole".

It reminds us of another scene in chapter 5 of this same gospel. Peter was giving his time and his means, as we should say, for the Lord's service. The Lord desired him to let down the nets, and he got a great multitude of fishes, so that the ships began to sink; but Peter, instead of being delighted at this great favour (great mercy we should call it), "fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord", verse 8. What made him do that? I pray you to enter into it. Did you ever do that? Peter had received the Lord as the Messiah, but now the miracle made him sensible of this - I have to do with God.

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Now this One is declared to be the Son of God with power by resurrection of the dead, and He gives the Holy Spirit. John says, "I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God", John 1:34.

The widow says to the prophet, Now I know that you are a man of God. When? When death is overcome. Whom do you know now? CHRIST RISEN; and it is not only that, but believing in Christ risen, you receive the Holy Spirit.

What a wonderful moment that is! I do not weaken the value of relief; on the contrary, I want to establish it. But it is not enough to have a beginning, you do not understand the work of God till you come to the finish of it. Take any case you like as illustration. For example, Jonathan. He had relief when he saw Goliath's head in David's hand, but he did not know David yet. He had never seen him before, but he is not satisfied without making his acquaintance. What I want is that you should come to Him. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink", John 7:37. What a blessed moment it is when the sinner can say, I am not only relieved of the burden and pressure that lay upon me, I am not only under the shelter of the death of Christ, but I am acquainted with the One who is out of death, and I know what His feeling is toward me.

What advantage had the cleansed leper who turned back to the Lord over the other nine who went on? The latter had to go through legal ordinances, and one thing and another, to get approach to God, and never did get it truly, only in figure. And that is where the mass of christians are, going through religious services and one thing and another, trying to commend them-selves to God. They may be truly converted, but they are not established in grace. They have a bit of the gospel, but not the gospel of God.

When Jonathan was acquainted with David, he not only loved him as he loved his own soul for what he

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had done, but they made a covenant. They understood one another. Let me say to every heart in this room, Have you and Christ an understanding? Have you, speaking figuratively, a covenant with Him? What do you understand by the covenant? Jonathan and David understood one another. There was a bond between them, and Jonathan delighted to make much of David. For us the covenant, the bond, is that He gives us the Holy Spirit. Look at the woman in Luke 7; she doubtless believed in the Saviour, but she was not satisfied without getting to Him, and she goes to the Pharisee's house where He was. I want you to get to Him, and not to be satisfied with having merely relief. Many a one says, I believe that Christ died and put away my sins, and I am relieved. If I am addressing such a one, I would say, Have you made acquaintance with the One who shed His blood for you? Do you know Him now risen from the dead? If you do, He gives you the Spirit of God, so that there is a bond between you and Him. You are established in grace.

I have already referred to Peter, when he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord". What reassured him? "Fear not", says the Lord. Did you ever hear Him say to you, Fear not? What is the effect? Peter leaves all, and follows Him. It is not simply that I see His greatness, or that I believe He is the Saviour, but I know that He has a heart for me; that is what Jonathan found with David, and that is what Peter learns here. He learns Christ's heart and fear is gone. It is a never-to-be-forgotten moment when you learn what His heart is. There is where the lack is. You get an instance of what I am speaking of in Joseph's brethren in Genesis 50. They had been living on Joseph's services for seventeen years, and when their father died they said, "Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him". They did not know his heart. That is like

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many believers, they do not know Christ's heart. Therefore I press upon you to get acquainted with His heart, not with His work only, but get acquainted with Himself. I am not asking you, do you know His work? But I ask you, do you know His heart? Joseph's brethren did not know Joseph's heart. The widow of Sarepta says to the prophet when death comes in, Have you come to call my sin to remembrance? When are you clear of death? When you see life out of death. And when do you see it? When you see Christ risen. If you have to do with Christ now, it must be Christ risen. That is what I am pressing on you. Why? Because then you know Him out of death, and if you know Him out of death, your heart is established by a bond with Himself, and that bond is the Holy Spirit. It is not only that you are relieved, but you are in happy relations with Himself, and you know what His heart is for you, and that you can never lose. We see Peter failing afterwards, but even when he failed, he never doubted the heart of Christ. We read in John 21 that when he heard it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat on him, and cast himself into the sea to reach Him; he was not afraid of Him.

I need not add more, beloved friends, but see how the Lord Himself looks at it. He laments, and says, "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger". Is there but one who returns - one who has found his way to God, and has not only got relief, but has come to the One who relieved him? The blessed Lord was delivered, "the just for the unjust". What for? "That he might bring us to God," 1 Peter 3:18. And let me say in conclusion, how can you have real rest until you know what God feels about you? You cannot; and therefore, as I said before, the first action of the Holy Spirit in your soul is to tell you of the love of God. That is the first effect of this new bond. this new covenant. The one

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great impression that the Father made upon the prodigal son was - I love you; and that is the first impression that the Holy Spirit makes in the soul, when He comes to indwell. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us", Romans 5:5. I ask you all, Do you know the heart of Him who did the work? You can never know love till you are near the One who loves you. You can know His service at a distance, but you can never know His heart till you are near it. Joseph wept when his brethren spake unto him, as much as to say, Is that all you know about me after all these years? The nearer you come to Christ the more you find out what is in His heart. "Perfect love casteth out fear", 1 John 4:18.

The Lord grant that every soul in this room may not be satisfied with saying, I believe in Him, but may be able to say, I have come to Himself, and I know what His heart towards me is; for His name's sake.

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OUT OF DEATH INTO LIFE

Jonah 2; Acts 9: 1 - 18

We often find that many who have really turned to the Lord, who believe in Jesus, are not happy. They are not in the enjoyment of salvation, and it is important to see what is the cause of this. The reason of it is, that though they are truly converted, as we say, yet they have never yet learned what is between the sinner and God. That is where the great lack in souls is.

Here is Jonah; he was a prophet, and yet he has to learn in a very painful way the nature of the distance between God and himself - a sinner. It was will; he would not do what the Lord had told him to do. God had told him to go to Nineveh, but he preferred his own will to God's will. He did not do anything very wrong in a human way, in a moral point of view, but he did not obey the instructions which the Lord gave him. And what was at the bottom of that? His own will. Will is the real cause of the restlessness, and of the absence of full joy in souls. They do not really see that their whole nature is contrary to God, and had to be removed in the cross. Jonah has to be cast out of the ship into the sea to learn what his will would bring him to. I suppose everyone here knows the story. Read chapter 2 and see what he went through in learning that solemn lesson. Figuratively he passed through death, for death is the only way to get clear of will. He entered into the reality of death, and thus we get him in the whale's belly, alive without a will. If you want a striking illustration of a man alive without a will you get it in Jonah in the whale's belly. He was alive, but wholly at the will and control of another. That is the only true place of happiness for a believer, to be without a will of his own. Jonah was moved at the will of another (the will of the whale). His own

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will had brought him into the depths. He says, "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains". He entered thus by faith into the reality of death; and his case illustrates what we have to reach. I do not believe any soul has the sense of real clearance in the sight of God who has not travelled through this experience, which is really appropriating the death of Christ. You may say, I thought if I believed I should be saved, and so you would. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth", Isaiah 45:22. But for real rest of heart you have to learn what the greatness of God's salvation is, and the better you learn it the greater is your enjoyment in it. When Jonah had passed through death in figure, what he comes to is, "Salvation is of the Lord".

Let us go into the subject simply. In the garden of Eden, what did Eve do? Her own will. She acted contrary to what God had directed her; there was nothing immoral in her act in itself, she wanted to advance herself, but it was her own will and not the will of God. She did her own will and beguiled her husband to do the same. Many lament their sins and rightly, so far; but it is not your sins I am speaking of now, but your will, which is a far deeper thing. It is the root of sin, and what I want to press on you is that you have a will in you which is contrary to God, and what you have to learn is that you are to be without a will. Jonah might have said, I have broken no commandment of the law; but he would not take the work that the Lord appointed for him, and that was will. And thus he is cast into the sea, and has to go through three days and three nights there, to learn that what is due to that will is death. Death alone could clear him of it. Jonah's case is figurative, I need not say, but it was typical of our blessed Lord in death, as He says in the gospel (Matthew 12:40), "As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights

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in the heart of the earth". He went through it for us He bore the judgment that was upon us, the judgment of death. I read the history of Jonah to you because it illustrates what I desire to present to you, and that is, that you must by faith go through Christ's death. In order to be clear of it, you must go through it by appropriating Christ's death. You will see this more plainly if we turn to the New Testament. Saul of Tarsus was a man who could say of himself what I suppose no other man could say. It was a wonderful thing to be able to say, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day", Acts 23:1, and "touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless", Philippians 3:6. I have heard a man who was apparently interested in divine things say of Saul, Then he did not need a Saviour. He had not broken a commandment, but he had a will. It is a remarkable fact in the history of souls, that you find that those who have led the most amiable lives, and in whom no bad conduct can be traced, when they come to understand and accept the gospel, have a deeper sense of sin and a deeper sense of grace than the man who has led a reckless life. The latter is occupied with deliverance from his sins, while what marks the man who knows what it is to be delivered from his own will is that he is occupied not so much with the deliverance as with the Deliverer. A man who has lived what you would call a reckless life, when he knows that he is delivered from his sins, dwells on the great deliverance that he has had; but I say that an amiable person, who like the young man in Mark 10 has not done anything openly wrong, when he comes to discover that he has a will opposed to God's will, has a deeper sense of the grace that has delivered him from himself, from all that he might rest in as a man, than the one who has lived a sinful life. You may doubt this, but you will find it to be true. And why? Because the former has been delivered not merely from his sins but from himself -

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from what he might glory in as a man. The young man in the gospels was like Saul; touching the law he was blameless, and it is said of our Lord that He "loved him". But what did the Lord's words to him expose? That he had a will; for when He said to him, "Take up the cross, and follow me", he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions; he went away because he had a will. The discovery of this is the thing that really breaks a man's heart. He finds, "The good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do", Romans 7:19. In short, he finds that he has a will. The Lord wants you to go to the right hand, and you want to go to the left. That is what breaks the heart of a really godly soul. That is what he wants to get clear of, and that is what properly results in death to sin. As I have said already, I cannot give you a better illustration of a man dead to sin than Jonah in the whale. He is alive but he is completely under the control of another. And whose control am I under? The One who saved me out of death; the One who saved me out of what was due to my will. That is the One who has control of me now.

Now I turn to Saul of Tarsus. Here is this man who never broke a commandment, and yet what God was most set for, Saul was most set against. He was very commendable as a Jew; he was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee, and he was highly esteemed among men; but the light comes from God, and where is he now? He falls to the earth. This man, held in such esteem among men, and who had such confidence as to himself, such a good conscience that he could say, "I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day", when light comes out of heaven from God, is struck to the ground. That is conversion. But what a distressing moment that was to him when he found that he could not stand in the presence of God; he could not meet the light of God. The light shone into his soul out of the glory, and he heard the voice

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of Jesus (think of the grace of that!) saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" "Who art thou, Lord?" he says. "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest". Then he cries out, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

Now, mind you, there are the two things. The work of God has begun with Saul. The light has shone into his soul, the light from the glory out of heaven shines down to him here. But not only that; he has heard the voice of Jesus, and he says, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" And the Lord said, "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do". And what follows? He is blinded, and is "three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink". What was he doing? I believe in those three days he was appropriating the death of Christ, entering into the reality of it. Some of us may take three years to learn this, some thirty years, others never learn it till their death-bed, but learn it we must. What I want to show you is how the full effect of the gospel and the enjoyment of salvation is hindered in souls, and that to learn this is more than being converted. Jonah was converted before he was in the whale's belly, and there was a work of grace in Saul of Tarsus when he was struck to the earth; but he is not in salvation yet, he is not clear of death yet; and he has to learn it, and so must we. You get the same thing illustrated in the children of Israel when they walked through the Red Sea (Exodus 14) which was typically the death of Christ; they did not make the way through the sea, but they walked in it. That is what I want you to do. I want you to appropriate the death of Christ. It is the only way to get clear of your will. When Israel crossed the Jordan there was no water at all. But there was water at the Red Sea. They went through upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. This is to teach you that through the

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death of Christ you are clear of all that is contrary to God. It is there that Israel is saved not only from Egypt but from the Egyptians, and they can sing, "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea", Exodus 15:1. All their enemies "sank as lead in the mighty waters". The way is made for you through the sea, but you must walk in it. Why do people not walk through it, why do they not appropriate the death of Christ? Because they have not a sense of the judgment that rests on them, they have not really accepted the sentence of death. They have believed, and have really turned to God, and no doubt they are resting upon the work of Christ; but, as I was pressing last week, they are satisfied with the relief of knowing that their sins are forgiven, and they stop short there; they have not come to God. Their happiness consists in relief, and they do not go on to the joy of acceptance with God.

I do not want to put a burden upon any of you; on the contrary, my one great desire is to show you that the only way out of judgment is Christ's death; but you must appropriate the reality of it. It is a solemn moment when you enter into the great reality that all has gone in Christ's death. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you", John 6:53. The nature and cause of the distance between God and the sinner is sin - will; the only way out of it is death. "The wages of sin is death", Romans 6:23. It must go in judgment. If you bore the judgment you would be lost, but Christ has borne it. Christ's death has opened a way out of my death. May your souls enter into the great reality of that fact. Then, though like Jonah you will say, "I went down to the bottoms of the mountains: the earth with her bars was about me", you will find that the way out of it is the death of Christ, that Christ Himself has opened the way out of it, and therefore that as

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you appropriate that way you are out of it, and if you are out of it, you are clear before God of the thing that caused the distance between you and Him, which is sin - will. When practically you come to the end of yourself, and say, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24) you find the Deliverer, and can say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord", (verse 25). You see it was Christ Himself who opened the way for you out of it. No doubt Saul of Tarsus learned that in those three days. He had been truly acting up to the law, and now he found out that with all his good conduct he was terribly opposed to God, but that in the death of Christ he was clear of that man - clear of Saul altogether.

Souls are hindered in a very insidious way. Salvation is said to be that we accept that Christ died for us and cleared us from sin in the sight of God, and that is all. But it is not all. You have to learn that what caused the distance between God and you is gone in the death of Christ. This is what Saul learnt; he found that the whole thing which had caused the distance between him and God was gone for God, and therefore it was gone for him. Therefore he could say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ", Galatians 6:14. We have seen it in figure in Jonah, when after being in the whale he is upon the dry land; he is out of death; but in Saul we see it more fully. After those three days of darkness he receives his sight, and is filled with the Holy Spirit; he begins a new history. What was the turning-point? "Behold, he prayeth". "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found", Psalm 32:6. Saul, who had thought himself so incomparably good, had found that he had a will that was against God, so that he calls himself afterwards the chief of sinners; but he had got clear of it. How? By the death of Christ. It was a solemn

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moment for him, but one which I believe we have all to learn in order to enter into the greatness of God's salvation. I do not think it possible for a person to understand truly what God's salvation is unless he has learned this. As an old writer (John Bunyan) has said, 'God always begins on the bass note.' Be assured that where there is a deep work in any soul, that soul has apprehended the greatness of the distance, and the character of the distance between himself and God; and what he wants is to see that distance removed; and when he finds that it is removed, it dawns on his soul like the bright shining of the sun after rain. The Sun of righteousness arises on his soul with healing in His wings, and he can say, like Jonah, "Salvation is of the Lord"; and, as with Saul of Tarsus, he receives the Holy Spirit. Ananias comes and lays his hand upon Saul and says, "The Lord has sent me, Jesus that appeared to thee in the way in which thou camest, that thou mightest see, and be filled with the Holy Spirit". Can anyone take in for a moment the greatness of that?

It was after Israel had walked through the Red Sea that they sang the song, "The Lord ... hath triumphed gloriously". It is God they are occupied with now; and so it will be with you when you are on the other side of death. What is the other side? The other side is CHRIST RISEN. It is not only that by Christ's death I have got free of all that is contrary to God, but I am in His life on the other side of death, "Out of death into life". Even if you could say, I have not broken the law, "all these things have I kept from my youth up", still the question is whether you have got a will that would have its own way instead of God's way. That is the question that comes out practically in the experience of the soul that discovers that "when I would do good, evil is present with me", and the consequence is that there is the agonising cry, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from

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the body of this death?" And the answer to it is, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord". This is what Saul of Tarsus learned - he who thought himself so incomparably good - that in the death of Christ he was clear of it all, clear of that man altogether. And now he comes out, not as an improved man, but a man in the Spirit of God. You may say to me, How do you prove that the man is changed? I say that he comes out in a different way altogether, not as an amiable character, but as one characterised by the Spirit of God. He had learnt that all of Saul is gone in the cross, but he had found Another - the blessed Lord - and he had a link with Him, and that link is the Spirit of God. There is no link with Christ but the Spirit. The real proof that you have had to do with Christ risen is that you have received the Holy Spirit. If you ask me, how do you get it? I say, If you come to Him you will get it; your eye turns to Him, you come to Him, and He answers the faith that comes to Him by giving you the "living water" - the Spirit of God, as He says, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life", John 4:14. You have the fulness of God's salvation set forth in its perfection in the case of Saul of Tarsus. He is a pattern man, his conversion is told three times in the Acts; it is not only that he is cleared, but he is in a new power. Those are the two things that I want to press on you. We have seen it in type in Jonah. He is not only out of death, the waters of death, but he is on dry land, on new ground; and now the Lord says to him, Do as I bid thee. Again we have a type of it in Israel when they had walked through the Red Sea, and when on the other side of it they sing of God's salvation. But in Saul we get still more beautifully the way of grace set forth. That man who in the sight of men was unblameable, and to his own conscience

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science unblameable, when he comes into the presence of God finds he has no standing, and falls to the earth confounded because he cannot stand in the presence of God. He finds that the man he thought so much of is a man that has a will of his own, and that practically he is the chief of sinners, that there is no way of escape for him but in the death of Christ; and he appropriates the death of Christ, and he is absorbed with the greatness of the fact that he has to travel through that death, out of the death that was due to himself. He is not only clear, but on new ground, and receives from Christ the Spirit as the bond with Himself. What a wonderful difference there was in Saul! We read a little further on that he went into the synagogue and preached that "Jesus ... is the Son of God", Acts 9:20. He has been turned round, as it were; he has learned that the old Saul has gone in the cross; and does he regret it? No, he can say, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world", Galatians 6:14. It is not only that his sins are gone, but he himself is a gone man, gone in the death of Christ. He has gone to his own funeral in that sense, and is glad to be free of himself. And now what has he found? He has found Another. And what is his link with Him? It is the Holy Spirit. There is no other bond with Christ than the Spirit. It is not a link of the flesh. That was the link I had with my old self. The link I have with the blessed Lord is the Spirit. What a moment of incomparable blessing it was to Saul! What joy of salvation he had when he could say, I am not only clear of that man that has offended against God, but I am in the power of the blessed One who has accomplished all the deliverance. I am not only saved, but I have the Holy Spirit in me. Is that the case with every one of you who believe in Christ? If your eye rests on Christ risen, you are clear. You are on new ground, and you receive from Him the Spirit as the

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bond with Himself. See what the grace of the blessed God is! He has sent His own Son to remove the distance between the sinner and Himself, and not only to remove it, but to set him in the grace and power of the very One who has effected his salvation.

The Lord grant that each heart here may not shrink from the waters of the Red Sea, but may walk through it - that is to say, may not shrink from appropriating the death of Christ. If this has been gone through you will find, when you come to your own death-bed, when you come to pass out of this world, that there is no water in Jordan - no judgment there. You have tasted it in the death of Christ. He went down into death and bore the judgment. You appropriate His death, and you are clear of it. You are on new ground at the other side of death - you see Him risen and you receive from Him the Holy Spirit. The morning of everlasting joy has dawned on your soul. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning", Psalm 30:5.

The Lord grant that each heart here may understand the magnificence of God's salvation, and see that you are not only clear in the death of Christ of the man that has offended against Him, but that you are in the grace and power and blessedness of that Man who has accomplished it, so that you have a new history, and a new course upon the earth. May it be so, for His name's sake.

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THE NEW POWER

2 Kings 2:9 - 11; Mark 2:1 - 12

I am endeavouring in these addresses to set forth the scope of the gospel. I have sought to show you the difference between merely knowing relief from your sins, and knowing Himself; and what I come to this evening is the power which the one who believes in the gospel receives, a power the effects of which are seen by men. It is the power of God; and it is a great thing to see what the power of God can effect in a man, and that where the greatest weakness is, there the power is most manifest.

I read about Elisha as an illustration, just to show you how he got what he desired. When Elijah was going away he said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee". Elisha asks that in the absence of Elijah a double portion of Elijah's spirit might be upon him. A double portion means a complete portion. His desire was to have a complete portion of Elijah's spirit. He did not ask for any earthly favour, but that he might have that which would enable him to go through this earth in the spirit and power of Elijah. This is in keeping with what our blessed Lord tells His disciples when He was leaving them. He says, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever", John 14:16. He Himself was their Comforter while He was with them. Now He was going away, and He tells them that they should have another Comforter, equal to Himself - that was the Holy Spirit.

Now what I see is that there are many who truly believe the gospel, who do not expect this mighty power of God, and who have not got it, because their eye is not resting on Christ risen - on the One who is on the right hand of power and from whom this power, the Holy Spirit, came, consequent on His exaltation.

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You may say, How do I get this power? What, I ask, was the condition on which Elisha got his request? That is an important question, for that is really the condition on which we get it. The condition was - "If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee". Elisha had his eye on Elijah, and he got his request. What does that set forth? It sets forth what the condition is with us. If we see Christ "taken" - risen, we get His power, and that power is the Holy Spirit. Does the eye of your soul follow Him "taken"? (The word 'taken' is used four or five times in the first part of the Acts.) How Elisha must have watched Elijah! He looks for the power that Elijah had here on earth, and when he sees Elijah "taken" he gets it. That prefigures the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power here to maintain the believer in the place where Christ is not.

Now I turn to Mark 2. In the opening of Mark's gospel we find that the Lord meets every kind of pressure that is upon man, and removes it. In chapters 1 and 2 we get the four great pressures that rest upon man met and removed by Him. He casts out the unclean spirit and cleanses the leper in chapter 1, and in chapter 2 He raises up the palsied man. Palsy sets forth perfect inability. And what does the Lord enable him to do? When He says to him, "Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk ... immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion", Mark 2:11, 12. This man who was utterly powerless came out in power. This sets forth in figure the mark of having received grace. But let us look at it in detail. Here is this palsied man, he has no power to do anything. He cannot come, and he cannot get in, and they are crowding the door. There are difficulties all around him, and obstructions of every kind, and in himself perfect inability. This is the experience of everyone

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one who seeks blessing. This man, instead of finding any help in himself or in anything around him, found that everything was against him. At last the difficulties are overcome, and he comes. The roof of the house is uncovered, and they bring the palsied man to the place where the Lord was, and let down the couch upon which he lay. What an exhibition of perfect weakness! "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee" (verse 5). He met the man in his actual need; all the difficulties were removed, and what he needed most, that He gave first. The scribes, the religious men, said, Who is this? "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" How little they knew what they were speaking about! The blessed Lord in order to be able to forgive sins had to bear the judgment of sin, the sentence of death that lay upon man. In order to remove it from man He had to take it on Himself. If I were to say to you, Whatever is the weight that is upon you, I will take that weight, I will saddle myself with that weight - what would you say? But the weight the blessed Lord took upon Himself for us was the judgment of God - DEATH. Supposing a man to be immensely in debt, and a friend steps forward and goes to the bank and clears the debt, and comes with the receipt in his hand. That has been used as a figure to show how Christ went into death - the judgment of God - paid the debt and rose from the dead, and that was the receipt. But His resurrection is far more than a receipt. To call it a receipt is a measure of truth, but only a measure, it is not the full truth. The resurrection of the blessed Lord is not merely a receipt of a debt paid, but He has in His death removed the man on whom the judgment lay, and now He is the one Man before God in place of the man who has been removed. And now it is not Adam the believer has to do with, but Christ. "As in

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Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive", 1 Corinthians 15:22. Therefore the believer has not only to know that his sins are gone, the debt paid, but he has got a new Person - Christ; he lives in Him. One man is for ever set aside in judgment, and the Man that has set him aside is in the glory of God. Salvation is by looking to Him. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth", Isaiah 45:22. Not only is my debt paid, but I am accepted in that Man, accepted in the Beloved.

I want to press on your hearts what the One who can forgive sins must have gone through in order that the sins might be forgiven in righteousness. He could not have forgiven sins without having borne the judgment of sin; and in bearing it, He not only put away the sins, but He removed the man that did the sins. There were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" The Lord does not contend with them, but says, "That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise. and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house". The thing that carried you, you carry now. That is what takes place in one who has got the power of God. This man raised out of his palsied condition exemplifies this. Mark the words, "That ye may know". I believe the great lack with us is that we do not manifest what the power of the gospel is. If in our lives we were exponents of the power of the gospel, it would arrest all our relations and acquaintances.

But I want now to say a little on what the power is. You see. as I have already said, it is not only that Christ died and bore the judgment, but He is risen; and if He has died and risen, there is an end before God of the man who was under the judgment of God. But you must have a link with Him as risen. What is

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that link? How are you connected with Christ? By the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is your bond with Christ risen. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his", Romans 8:9. I believe there are a great many who believe that Christ died, and are really converted, but who have not laid hold of Him as risen from the dead, and they have not got the answer to faith in Him risen.

The answer that the Lord gives to you if you see Him risen, is the living water. "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life", John 4:14. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive)", John 7:37 - 39. Now what is the effect in a man who gets this living water? It is this: he turns right round and takes a new course altogether. I could furnish examples of it even in my own experience. I have seen a man, in a moment, without taking an hour to think of it, turn right round and take a new course, making no question of difficulties, or of anything, but taking an entirely new course. And why? Because he had laid hold of Christ risen. What enabled him to do it? He has got the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the power that can put you beyond the influence of all your natural proclivities, whatever they may be; whether it be the club, or politics, or music, you will go diametrically contrary to your former tastes. The taste which once commanded you, you will command, as this poor palsied man was enabled to carry the bed on which he lay. That is what the gospel and the power of Christ can do for you. It can put you entirely beyond your natural inclinations; no matter what they are, you now go the other way. You have got to God, and you turn

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from the thing that would keep you from God. That is the point, and that is what I have said, that where the weakness is most manifest, the power is most demonstrated. In principle it is the same with Elisha. What did he do? What was the first thing that he did when he got the power? When I have asked that question some have replied that he went over Jordan. But no, that was not the first thing, he did something else before that; he took up his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. It was not merely that he took them off, but he rent them in two pieces; that is, he rendered them useless. Why did he do that? It was as much as to say, I have done with that. What enabled him to do it? He had received a new power. So, too, with the palsied man; he arose, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all, so that all the people "glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion". What an effect it had upon them! And it could not be otherwise with you, beloved friends, if you got that wondrous power, that wondrous gift - the gift of the Holy Spirit. I do not think we estimate the greatness of it sufficiently. Sometimes we see a person who we do not doubt is safe from judgment, and yet we do not see him so distinctly turned to God that he is turned from that which would naturally detain him. Why is it so? Because he has not got hold of Christ risen, and therefore he is not in the power of the Holy Spirit. The great mark of one who is in the power of the Holy Spirit is that he is occupied with God and not with himself.

I get another illustration of this in the early chapters of the Acts of the apostles. There was a man laid at the Beautiful gate of the temple; and Peter and John saw him, and Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none; but" - what? - "such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones

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received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God", Acts 3:6 - 9. How beautifully that sets forth the grace of God! Where the man was weakest, there he became strongest; his feet and ankle bones received strength so that he walked, and leapt, and praised God.

Again in John 5:5 - 9 in the case of the impotent man; he had had an infirmity thirty-eight years and was in those five porches and could not get into the water. He was thoroughly incapable, but when the Lord says to him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk ... immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked". There, too, is demonstrated that where the weakness is most manifest, there the power is most manifest.

This chapter (John 5) goes on to the resurrection of the body, and therefore we get the wonderful truth that you pass out of death into life. The resurrection of the body is the completion of it. But here on earth we come out in a new power, as the case of this man sets forth. It is interesting to mark what the greatness of the grace is; it is not only that you are clear of all that is against you, but you come out in the power of God, and you are now of Christ because you have the Spirit of Christ. You have no link with Christ but the Spirit. The best feeling that ever was will not help you. If Christ had not set aside the old man in judgment how could you be relieved of that man? But He has. The old man has gone in judgment; and the wonderful thing now is that the One who ended him is risen from the dead. Do you believe that? Well, now you want something from the risen One, as Elisha wanted something from Elijah, and you get it. David and Jonathan made a covenant together. What is the covenant with the blessed Lord now? It is the wonderful and blessed bond that I receive from Himself. I receive the Spirit of God. And what is the

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effect on me? To my own surprise I turn a new way. It is not that I calculate, I do not want calculations, I do not want good resolutions. No, it is what I never dreamt of, I am turned right round by the new power that I have received, and now I am occupied with God. See an illustration of it in the case of Israel. When they were clear of their enemies, what marked them? (Exodus 15). They were singing! Of themselves? No, it was God they had before them. I am quite sure that any of you who have known it must feel what a wonderful moment it was when you were clear from every question about yourself, and to your unspeakable delight God became the interest and joy of your heart.

On a former occasion I pressed that the very first action of the Holy Spirit in the soul is to assure you of God's love to you, and then you are not thinking about yourself or your own state, but of Him; though no doubt you will be greatly exercised as to how you are answering to the love. Now you know you have a bond with Christ, you are linked with Him, and a new interest altogether is awakened in you; it is with Him you are occupied. He is now before you, and you know that He loves you.

I cannot go any farther than that tonight. I do not dwell upon what flows from it; I may on another occasion, if the Lord permit, dwell on that, which is - following the Lord. But tonight I only want to show you that you come out here in an entirely new way, and that you take a new course. Your tastes are all changed. I would to God there were more of the distinct manifestation of what the blessedness of grace is. Further on in Mark 2 we find that the Lord meets a man named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and He says to him, "Follow me. And he arose and followed him", (verse 14). The remarkable thing is that this man leaves all that he lived in, his natural interests. He was a man who had bartered his religion and

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country in order to make money, and now he leaves it all. You will find this principle beautifully brought out all through Scripture, if you study it. I could not enumerate the cases to you now. Look at the woman in John 4; she left her waterpot and went off. Why? Because she has got something new and wonderful, or at any rate she has heard of it. She came to get water at an hour of the day when she could not find a man, and she is so arrested by what the Lord communicates to her that she now goes and tells the men, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did". She is occupied with the greatness of the One who had spoken to her. Light had entered her soul through His word. "The entrance of thy words giveth light", Psalm 119:130, and what a remarkable change it wrought in her! She has parted with her own natural interests, and she is now occupied with something greater, with the One who had told her of the living water. It is not only that you are saved from your misery and wretchedness, but you are set up on this earth in divine power. In divine power? Yes. You are still here in natural circumstances, but I say divine power has set you up in a new way. Then it is not a question with you of doing this thing or that thing for yourself, but you live for Him who died for you and rose again. You may be weak in natural things, but your weakness will be no hindrance. As the apostle said, "When I am weak, then am I strong", ... "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness", 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.

I desire to lay this upon your hearts, and may the Lord grant that each of your hearts may be affected by it, and that you may see what a wonderful thing conversion according to God is. Paul says to the Thessalonians, "Ye turned to God from idols". Is that all? No, but "to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven", 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10. What a remarkable change that was! It was a change right round. It was not simply that they were saved from judgment.

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If that is all you are thinking of, you lose sight of the wonderful nature of the grace that has met you. The nature of that grace is that it enables you to come out a man altogether after a new stamp, not what men would call a better man, but a man for God; you were for yourself in one form or another, but now you are for God, and God is glorified in you as in the case of the palsied man.

I need not add more, but I ask you to look to the Lord, every one of you, that you may be really more in the power of the gospel of Christ. We have to face, in the present day, the way the gospel is limited to forgiveness of sins through the sacrifice of Christ. There are numbers who really believe in Christ's work on the cross who have never yet had their eye fixed upon Him risen from the dead, and so have never known that they have received the Holy Spirit from that blessed One who is outside of all here. I believe that the very first day that you apprehend Christ risen and get the Holy Spirit in power you take a new turn, a way you have never contemplated or thought of.

The more I ponder it the more it delights my heart to see what a wonderful place the grace of God can set us in on this earth; not only clear of all that was against us in the sight of God, not only to know that we are accepted in the Beloved, but we are set up in divine power here, so as to be able to act for God in the circumstances we are in, and to come out in a new power, the power of the Holy Spirit, in the sight of men.

May there be more of those who not only believe in Christ's death but who, having received the Holy Spirit, livingly set forth what a wonderful place the grace of God can put us in on this earth, setting us up in divine power to act for God, and happy in ourselves in whatever circumstances He has placed us.

The Lord grant that each of our hearts may be stirred to understand the greatness of His grace to us for His name's sake. Amen.

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FOLLOW ME

John 9; 10

I have been endeavouring in these preachings to set forth the different ways in which souls are hindered from embracing a full gospel. I will just recapitulate the different points. First, souls are hindered by remaining satisfied with knowing relief only; and we saw that relief can be known without coming to Himself. I illustrated this by the case of the ten lepers in Luke 17. All were relieved, but only one came to Himself; only one, when he was relieved, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at Jesus' feet, giving Him thanks. And again in the case of the widow of Sarepta, we saw that she not only had relief from the famine, but her son was raised from the dead. There was life out of death, and that is really what the soul is brought to when it apprehends Christ risen.

My second subject was that persons may have received the grace of God without having yet learned the terrible nature of the distance between God and themselves, and that they have to learn it like Jonah when he was "three days and three nights in the whale's belly", or like Saul of Tarsus, when, after being struck to the earth by the light from heaven, he was "three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink", learning that there was a way out of death through Christ's death - a deeply solemn moment. That is where a great many are really hindered, because they have never gone the road. As has been said, there was a large company at Pi-hahiroth, safe from the judgment of God, but not delivered from the enemy. And why? Because they had not passed through the waters of death. They had not yet walked through the Red Sea. What is walking through the Red Sea for

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us? It is really appropriating the death of Christ. The death of Christ is my way out of the death that is upon me. He died for me, and I appropriate His death.

My third subject was that many know Christ as having died who do not know Him as risen, and that the simple answer to faith in Christ risen is that you receive the Holy Spirit; you get the power from the glorified Saviour, and the first expression of the power is demonstrated in your weakest point. This we saw illustrated by the palsied man in Mark 2. He carried that whereon he lay, he carried his bed. And so it will be with you; whatever it was that governed you in nature, if you have received the Holy Spirit it does not govern you now. In the power of Christ you are under another government. This we saw typified, too, in Acts 3, when the man who had been lame was seen walking and leaping and praising God, and Peter says, "And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all".

This evening I take up what is also deeply important, and what in one sense is more interesting, and that is - that the next step is following the Lord. As the Lord Himself says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". Now there are a great many who are truly converted who are not following Him. To follow Him is to come to Himself outside everything here, as I will show you presently. But first I want to show you what is the mark of following Him. "When he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice". The Lord in this chapter is describing how He Himself had come into the Jewish fold, and all connected with law, and all that the law required, and to Him the porter opened. He met every requirement of God, and He came in, and after having

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entered into the fold, instead of staying in the fold He went out of it, "and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out". A great many are detained here, detained by the religious things that are going on around, not by what you would call bad things, but religious things, instead of following Him out of it all; just as the nine lepers in Luke 17, when they were cleansed, went to the religious ordinances instead of coming to the Lord. One came back to Him, and what marked him was that when he found that he was healed, he felt he must go to the One who had healed him; and that is the beginning of following Him. The others did not go morally wrong, but they went to religious ordinances, religious observances, and that is often considered a very great and a very good thing to do. But when you have a true apprehension of what His grace really is, you go to Himself, you follow Him, and the Lord says, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life", John 8:12.

Now in chapter 9, in the case of the man who had been blind from his birth and whose eyes were opened, we have an example of one who has received light and who keeps up to the light. It is not merely that he has been a subject of grace, but he knows he has got light, and he insists upon what he knows; he keeps to it. It is an immense gain when any soul keeps to what he knows. I have no doubt that the man who walks up to what he knows will get more. "He that hath, to him shall be given", Mark 4:25. It is exemplified in this man. He not only gets his eyes opened, but he insists on the One who has opened them, and therefore he advances until he gets to Christ. He meets with opposition on all sides; no one will acknowledge him. It is not what are called wicked people that he has to do with, but with the best, with the elite of society, so to speak, and each in turn they question and refuse him. First his neighbours are interested about him. Your neighbour

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is the one nearest to you. They want to know how he got his sight. They bring him to the Pharisees - the religious men. The Pharisees were looked upon as the most reputable company in those days. They condemn him; they condemn the work because it was done on the sabbath day. It was really the Lord they were condemning. Christ has come in grace, and what you find is that it is the religious man who is most opposed to Him, because the light of Christ makes all his religion of no value. That is what you get all through John's gospel; the religious man will not have Christ. It is not the pagan or the heathen but the religious man. It is the Jewish element all through; and it is what we have to contend with now - man's systems and religion.

Next the man's parents are called, and they are afraid to own him. They say, "He is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself". Then the Jews - the whole nation are against him, and in the long run he is cast out; they will not have him. At the end of their contention with him he says, "If this man were not of God, he could do nothing". See how he is advancing towards Christ! He is following up the light that he has received. Though as yet dimly, he is following the One who gave him the light. His heart is set upon it; hence as soon as he was cast out he was in the solitude of light. I believe, beloved friends, I speak advisedly, that no soul is in the full sense of the blessedness of the place in which Christ sets him until he is in the solitude of light. By the light which he has received from Christ he is outside everything, outside the most approved and the most reputable among men, he is outside of it all. You may say it is a very solitary place. No doubt it is; but he is not long in solitude. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Now he has come to the Person; he is outside of everything of man, and

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he is brought into the reality of the presence of a Person, and that Person the Son of God! It is a wonderful moment! Anyone who has ever gone the road in any measure knows what a wonderful moment it is to be brought into the presence of the Son of God.

I have gone over this man's history to show you what comes out in chapter 10, because chapter 10 literally explains to us the position which the one who has received light, and who has been brought into the presence of Christ, has. The great confusion in the minds of many christians in christendom is that they think there is a place in the fold, or the Jewish order of things, for the christian; as if there was room made in the fold for the christian. Nothing can be more contrary to the statement of Scripture and to christianity. The Lord came into the fold, no doubt, and if the fold was to be maintained, that was the time to keep the sheep there. But He expressly states in the opening of the chapter that He leads them out. "He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out". Now this man who had been blind is out. You may say, he is cast out; yes, he is cast out; that was man's side of it; but it was really the Lord putting forth His own sheep, and he finds the Lord outside of it. He has come to the Lord, and the Lord has come to him. This chapter explains the true position of every one now who follows Christ. He went into the fold, and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out. I do not think that all His sheep have come out. I think a great many are clinging to some form or other of the Jewish order of things, religious systems and the like. Do you ask, But are they not converted? Yes, perhaps truly converted, but they have not followed the Lord. If you are set on following Him, nothing will satisfy your heart but to find Him. Look at a true heart in the woman of

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Luke 7. She believed He was the Saviour, she had heard that He raised the dead, and she has no doubt He was the Saviour; but did she rest there? No, she goes to find Him, and brings her alabaster box to anoint Him. Have you found Him? That is what I want to know. Have you found Him? What a moment of exquisite delight it must have been to the man that had been blind when Jesus found him, when he saw the One who had given him sight. He said, "Who is he, Lord? ... And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". Jesus had said to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" He does not say, on the Son of man. He reveals the greatness of Himself, and now there is intimacy, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". And so we find in chapter 10:14, 15 - "I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father".

Now I would ask every converted soul in this room, Would you like to get to the Person who has cured you? If you would, you must follow Him outside of everything of man. You must follow Him outside of all the varied impediments that come in your way, religious impediments, all the systems of man. He is outside of it all, and if you want to reach Him you must go to Him where He is. You will find it in a certain sense illustrated in the first chapter of John's gospel, where the two disciples left John the baptist and followed Jesus. The Lord turns and asks them, "What seek ye?" and they say to Him, "Master, where dwellest thou?" (verse 38). They want to reach Him, to be with Him; and nothing can satisfy the heart that truly understands what His grace is but to follow Him. When Peter and his companions in Luke 5 saw the wonderful miracle that had been effected by the Lord, and had heard His word, "Fear not", they

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brought their ships to land, and forsook all and followed Him. Why? Because they knew what His heart was. Have you followed Him, have you come to Himself? I do not ask you if you have found Him for your own relief, and know that you are clear of your sins, but if you are following Him outside of everything here, for it is only thus that you can follow Him now. Do you want Himself? If you do you must leave the fold and everything of man. He says, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved". It is not that he shall be safe. In the fold they were safe, in a sense, but "he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture". There is no such thing as pasture in the Jewish fold. The oriental fold was like a pound, four walls built in a square for protection. It was not for pasture but for protection.

I would press upon you the blessedness of following Himself. See the touching language that He uses - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". The mark of knowing Him is that they follow Him. Levi, in Mark 2, is an example of this. He was sitting at the receipt of custom, and the Lord says to him, "Follow me. And he arose and followed him". He left the world and followed the Lord. It is not only that he left the receipt of custom, but he broke away from all that held him. The power came in first to disengage him from that which hindered him, and not only that, but it enabled him to follow the Lord. It was like what I have already alluded to in the case of the disciples. What a testimony it was to all around when they brought their ships to land with all the miraculous take of fishes, left all, and followed Him.

Well, beloved friends, I can only ask you, whom or what are you following? It is a marvel to myself when I think of it. When I think of my own heart I can feel for yours; and as I have often said to myself, can it be that you would not follow the One to whom

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you owe so much? Are you stopping short, content with having found relief in His work? If you knew what a wonderful blessing you have in Him, that everything is in Him, you would be glad to follow Him. One is humbled by seeing how little the heart is set upon Him. If I might use an illustration in natural things, nothing will hinder a faithful dog from following his master wherever he goes. If you try and hinder him, no, you cannot. He will not be hindered. That is a very feeble illustration, but I use it to show you how little the heart is set on Christ, how little it has been touched by Him, how little you have learned what His love is, or you would not be deterred by anything from following Him outside of everything here. He can say, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". And when you do follow Him, what a moment you find it to be! What a place you have come to! You have come to Himself; you have come to Him, not only as the One who as the good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep, but as the One with whom you are brought into the blessed intimacy which He sets forth here in verses 14 and 15, "I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father".

Let me draw your hearts a little to enter into what He has done. He has come from God, and He has gone under all the judgment that lay upon you; and He says of Himself, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends", John 15:13. And now that you have tasted His grace (I address those who have), what next? You know that He is your Saviour, but have you found Himself? Have you come to Himself? It is only as the risen One that you can come to Him now, and when you do come to Him as risen you receive the Holy Spirit; a bond is established. a living bond between you and Christ. Then you go on to know Him, to follow Him; and that most wonderful intimacy (verses 14, 15) is established.

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"Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". I want you to see what a real thing it is to make His acquaintance. That is the sum of all I have said - that you should make personal acquaintance with Christ for yourself. On a former occasion I traced how Jonathan and David made a covenant together, but here is a greater thing. He knows me and I know Him. This is the wonderful blessing, the complete satisfaction that the heart finds in having personal intimacy with a glorified Saviour. My heart has been delighted with Him; I know Him and He knows me. There is a personal intimacy established between Him and me. And I do not believe that can ever be lost. As I said to you on a former occasion, Peter never could lose the sense of Christ's love, after He had said unto him, "Fear not". However wayward he was, or however failing he was, he never could have a doubt about the love - he knew it. I believe it is a moment never to be forgotten in the history of the soul, when it has reached this point - He knows me and I know Him; and no soul is established in grace, or knows what it is to be with Christ outside of everything here until it has reached this. That is where the man whose eyes had been opened was brought to, when the Lord found him, and said to him, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". Many are satisfied with having the light, but they do not follow it up. If you follow up the light it carries you outside of everything that is not of Christ, and brings you to Christ Himself; and then you know that there is an intimacy formed between Him and you. There is hardly time to go into it now, and it is hard to explain what the greatness of it is, but once it is known it cannot be lost. This man who had received sight could say, Not only have I got light but I know the Person who gave it to me. It is not only that I know His grace but I know Himself. Do you know Himself? Many a believer is like this man when he

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said, "A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes ... and I received sight". But do you know that you have both seen Him and it is He that talketh with you? Do you know that there is an intimacy established between Him and you of the same character (I do not say the same measure) as between the Father and the Son? If you do not, though you may have been long converted, you have not come to the fulness of grace, or to your true place.

If you study John's gospel carefully you will find that the work of Christ for the sinner does not end until chapter 10. This chapter is what I call the finish - the climax of it. From this chapter on we get quite a new subject. When you come to chapter 13 it is all about being here for Him. But in chapters 3 to 10 it is how He was here for you. In chapter 4 You come to Him and you receive the Holy Spirit. He says, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst". For this you must come to Him. How could you get it if you do not come? Whom could you get it from except from Him? But here in chapter 10 it is still more. It is what no one could explain. It is a personal intimacy that nothing can surpass - He knows me and I know Him. There is an intimacy between us. It is not only that I know that He has done a work for me, but I know His heart. I am acquainted with Himself and I know that His love is better than wine and I can say, "Draw me, we will run after thee", Song of Songs 1:4. It is the heart that knows what He is that is really satisfied. It cannot be satisfied otherwise. You know what He is to you; it is not only you are clear of all that stood in the way, but you have come to Himself. I need not add more, because the nature of the enjoyment of the one who knows Him personally is more to be pondered on than explained. I ask you to ponder on that scripture. "I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father". There

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ought to be no division between verses 14 and 15; it was not understood by the translators. What you continually find is that a part of the truth can be accepted, but that which is the crown of the truth is not reached. What is the crown of the gospel? The crown of the gospel is that I am acquainted with the Person who has done all the work. There is the most blessed intimacy established - He knows me and I know Him. That is the crown of it, and is not that a wonderful thing?

Now, beloved friends, I trust you see how souls are baffled and hindered by the subtlety of the enemy from entering into the fulness of His grace, the fulness of the gospel as God Himself presents it to us. God sets it forth to us at the finish. Where does the light come from? It comes from Christ in glory. If a soul has really got to Him, see how he is rejoicing! He is not in trouble or anxiety about himself, not occupied about himself at all, he is here for the Lord. If you have not come to Him thus you could not enter into John 13:8. You cannot know the meaning of the Lord's words, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me", for that could not be said of anyone who has not intimacy. There would be no meaning in it if you were not intimate with Him already. I am going to another place, He says, and there must be no shade of distance between you and me. Those to whom He spoke were already acquainted with Him, and in the greatest intimacy around Him, but He was going to another place, to the Father's presence, and He says. I will take care that there shall not be a shade of reserve - a shade of distance-between you and Me.

But that is beyond our present subject; I only allude to it to show you the wonderful crown of the blessing which you are brought to in chapter 10, outside of everything that naturally would have been attractive to man, or revered by man; you are morally outside of it all, outside law and all man's systems, and

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you are brought into a new order of things. You are not only saved, but you go in and out and find pasture. You are with the One who has come to give life and to give it abundantly, and you. are now in an entirely new condition; and not only that but you are with Himself. And what is the climax, the crown? He is acquainted with you and you are acquainted with Him.

May the Lord lead our hearts, not only to see the perfection of His grace, but to pray that there may be more of His own delivered from being satisfied with having light (because every believer has had his eyes opened), and that they may follow on to know the Person from whom the light has come, for His name's sake.

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DELIVERANCE FROM SIN

Genesis 4:3, 4; 5: 21 - 23; Romans 5:5; 8: 2

Abel is the first man who found acceptance with God, and Enoch - the one who did not see death - is the first in full deliverance. We read that "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him", Hebrews 11:5. These two present to us the two great sides of grace for every believer. The first is acceptance with God, and the second is deliverance that you may enjoy the acceptance; you have liberty, you are free of all that is against you. These two sides of grace are very distinctly illustrated in the case of the prodigal son, and in the history of us all. The prodigal knew that his father had accepted him when he covered him with kisses, but he had to be made fit before he could enjoy the acceptance. He knew the Abel part, but until he was made fit he did not know the Enoch part; and so it is with a great many now. They know the gospel, but they do not enjoy the gospel. The one is God's side, the other is our side. John's writings are occupied with how we can enjoy the gospel. It is not God's side that he sets forth so much as our side. Every believer knows something of the grace which comes from God, and that must be the first thing; it is God's side; but it is our side that I want to bring before you tonight - how we are brought into the enjoyment of the grace.

I just turn to Hebrews 11:4, 5 for a moment to show you the comments of the Spirit of God as to Abel and Enoch in the New Testament. "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because

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God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God". What made the difference between Cain's offering and Abel's was that Abel's offering showed that he had a sense, a right idea, of the nature of the distance between God and the sinner. By faith he offered; he saw that nothing could meet God's claim but a victim not chargeable with the offence, bearing the judgment of the offence, and at the time of bearing it, revealing a personal excellency. Cain knew that God and man were not on terms, but he thought that by bringing the fruits of the earth he might repair the breach and restore happy relations between God and man. No doubt he got an idea from his mother that he was to be the restorer of the breach, for when Eve bare Cain she said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord", but his offering was not accepted. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect". We are not told in what manner Abel's offering was accepted, but in some distinct, visible way, perhaps by fire, God testified of his gifts; it was known that his offering was accepted, and that Cain's was not accepted. Abel had a sense of the nature of the distance between God and man, and therefore he offered a lamb. It is not said that he was told to do it; by faith he did it. He "brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof". He saw that a victim not chargeable with his offence must bear the judgment of his offence, which was death; and the fat - the excellency of it - could only be got through death, and God accepted it. In other parts of Scripture we find that God testified His acceptance by fire. When Manoah offered a burnt-offering before the birth of Samson, we read "the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar ... And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God". But she says, No; "If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he

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would not have received a burnt-offering ... at our hands, neither would he have ... told us such things as these", Judges 13:20 - 23. It showed the simplicity of her faith, to be assured that God's having accepted an offering from them was a sure sign of His favour.

The first thing for us to learn is that there is acceptance with God. This is very often not learned, and people are trying to get happy about themselves. You will never get happy about yourselves while you are occupied with your own happiness (I am speaking now of those who are converted), until you begin at the right end; and that is not being occupied with your own feelings, but in learning how God feels about you. The real question for you is, How can I be accepted? Well, the first thing is, has God accepted Christ, and has He borne witness to it? In Abel's case there was no mistake. God's acceptance of his offering was what irritated Cain. It was palpable that Abel's offering was accepted, and that Cain's was not. In order to know your acceptance you must learn not only that Christ died, but that He is risen. Do you believe in His acceptance? Every one in this room would say that he believes in the death of Christ, but do you believe in His acceptance as a Man at the right hand of God? All who read the gospels believe that Christ was here, and that He died; but who believes, as the scripture says, "that Jesus is the Christ"? Who believes that He was the Sent of God, and that He is now accepted in the glory of God? God sent Him into the world to bear the judgment of man's distance from God; and where is He now? He is at the right hand of God. You want acceptance, but you can have no sense of your acceptance until you see that God has raised Him from the dead; that the Man who died for you is the Man that has gone up, and who is now in the glory of God. It was a wonderful day to me when I first saw that. Why? Because the moment I did a witness was given to me.

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And what is that witness? THE HOLY SPIRIT. Fire is not the witness now, but the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is the divine answer to faith in Christ risen, and the moment you believe in Christ risen you receive the Holy Spirit. If you only believe in Christ dying you are sheltered, but you have not the witness. "It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth", 1 John 5:6. The Spirit is the witness of His resurrection. You begin with the death of Christ. The water and the blood are two witnesses of His death, but the Spirit is the witness of His resurrection. Oh, what a day it is to the soul when it knows that witness! What a day it was to Saul of Tarsus when he not only had his eyes opened, but when he received a new power! In reading of it you may say it is beautiful, but how wondrous to know that it is true, and to know that it is your own actual portion. God's Son was the Just who died for the unjust. He went down under the judgment that rested on man, and the excellency and perfectness of that blessed One was so proved in death, that it went up to God. He perfectly glorified God in death, and not only that, but He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and now He, a Man, is out of the judgment. Do you believe it? Is your eye resting on the One who is out of death and judgment? If so, you know that His acceptance is your acceptance, and the answer to your faith in Him risen is that you receive the Holy Spirit. You are accepted in righteousness if you believe in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Why? Because He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. The Man who bore the judgment that is upon you, is the Man who is now out of it. Do you believe that? You may say, I believe in the Man that went into it. That is, of course, the first thing. If you do not know that, you do not know anything; but do you believe in the Man who is out of it? Is the eye of your soul resting

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upon Him, the risen Man? That is acceptance, and the proof is that the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit which is given to you. In Romans 4:25 I find that He was "delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification;" and then in chapter 5, "being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand". Do you believe in Christ's death? You do. I thank God for it, but if that is all you are not established in grace yet; you have not the gospel yet, you have no acceptance. I have often related an interesting anecdote of a young man in anxiety of soul, who was speaking of going down on his knees to pray to the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, and a christian lady said to him, 'He is not there now.' It had a great effect upon him, because it is in the resurrection of Christ that you get acceptance. Therefore the apostle says, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins", 1 Corinthians 15:17. He gave Himself, the just for the unjust. He was "put to death in the flesh, but" mind you "quickened by the Spirit". It is the living One whom you have to do with now. Do you see Him as the living One? Do you believe in Him alive? I do not ask if you believe in the doctrine of resurrection - every professor of christianity believes that - but if you know Him as the living One. It is a grievous fact that a great many who believe in the gospel have only a partial gospel, and therefore they do not enjoy the gospel. The prodigal son might have said to his father, It is wonderful that you can receive me as you do, and be so happy about me; but I do not enjoy it, because I am not fit for you. Well, the father says, I will make you fit. Now, I believe a great many are hindered from enjoying the gospel because they are so conscious of their own unfitness, their failure and sin; they have not liberty.

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I turn now to Enoch. Now we come to our side. Enoch is the seventh from Adam, but before the seventh generation is allowed to pass away, God brings out the wonderful testimony that He will bring a man out of death - that a man should be brought to Him, and so brought to Him, that that man shall be above the penalty that is upon man, which is death. "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death". As far as I can count the genealogies, all the fathers except Adam were witnesses to this. All down to Noah were witnesses of the man who was taken out of the scene of death. Now in Romans 8:2 we read, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". That is liberty. That is what Enoch in figure sets forth, and that is in principle what the prodigal son received when the father made him fit for his own presence. He was already reconciled; he could not be on better terms with his father, and the one great impression that the father had made upon him was that he loved him. He knew the love, but he did not feel free to enjoy the love, because he did not feel fit, he was not free from himself. "I am no longer worthy", he says, "to be called thy son". This lesson is more difficult to learn than the first. In John's gospel you get this side - our side of the gospel; and therefore it begins with the brazen serpent. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, John 3:14. There is not a word there about the blood, or about the Red Sea, which sets forth what the gospel is on God's side - what He has done. The brazen serpent was a long way on in the history of Israel as a redeemed people. The beginning of the gospel was set forth by the passover, the getting out of Egypt, and crossing the Red Sea; then they were brought to God. That is acceptance. All their enemies sunk like lead in the mighty waters. But they had yet to learn that they were unmendably

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bad, and this is what is learned in the brazen serpent and therefore John begins with it. God has done the work, He has done it Himself - that is the gospel; but John 3 and 4 are to bring your hearts into the enjoyment of the gospel. It is not setting forth justification or reconciliation, but that you may be able to enjoy the reconciliation that God has effected. Hence you find the Lord saying to the woman of Samaria, before He said a word about her sins, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14. God is a giving God, and what He gives is so all-satisfying that it makes you independent of everything here. How thoroughly happy that would make a person! The point 1 want to press on you is that if you are not in liberty you do not enjoy your acceptance. Every believer is not in liberty. I think that every believer in this room must know that he knew that the work was done, and that he believed the work was done, before he was in the enjoyment of it. It was not that he did not believe that he was saved, but he was not in liberty. What brought the prodigal son into a sense of fitness for his father's house, into liberty, was that the old clothes were taken away and he was invested anew. "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry", Luke 15:22, 23. He was put in an entirely new condition. It may be long before a soul comes to this, but what he has to learn is what we get in Numbers 21, that is, that he is unmendably bad. Mind you, this is not in itself the gospel. The gospel is acceptance, that God has put away everything in the death of Christ, and that He can accept you in the Beloved, and that the Holy Spirit is given you to testify of the perfection of the work. But still you may know all this, and yet not be perfectly happy, because

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you have the consciousness that there is still hanging about you a terrible load from which you have to be freed, and you cry as in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am I who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Are you delivered? That is the question I put to you now. Are you delivered from the body of this death? I am not speaking of the gospel now, but I am speaking of what is of the deepest importance in connection with the gospel, and where I believe souls are so hindered from enjoying the gospel, because the road is blocked; and my great object in these addresses is to set forth what really hinders them. They know the gospel; they can enunciate it, and they have an assurance that they are saved, but they do not enjoy it. Why do they not enjoy it? Simply because they are not free of all that would impede their entrance into the blessing into which through grace they are brought. In Romans 6 you are committed to Christ's death, and in chapter 7 you are made sensible that sin is in you, and you come to the point - "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing", Romans 7:18. What did Israel arrive at after thirty-nine years in the wilderness? That they were irrevocably bad. And what then? God sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people. This sets forth how you are made sensible of the sin that is in you. It is often a long day before people come to "I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing", because they are trying to extract some good out of the flesh. If a man has a bad temper, he often spends many a day trying to improve it, and in doing so, however good his intention, he is only trying to improve the flesh. How can I improve the flesh if it is utterly bad and gone in the cross of Christ? Now in Romans 8 you have deliverance from it. The law of the Spirit of life has made you free of it. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. I have sometimes said, in speaking of

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the prodigal son, how many have brushed up the old clothes, but he parted with them. Some might think that it would keep him humble to keep them on, and to look at them. No, he was glad to be divested of them, and to be invested with new ones. That is what liberty is; I am free of the old. It is not only that I am accepted, but I am free in the One who is risen out of death, and I have received the living water. In John 4 the point is to bring the poor woman into a condition to enjoy the grace of God. It is from not seeing this that so many find a difficulty in preaching the gospel from this chapter. Light came into her soul, but she could not understand the greatness of the gift which the Lord had spoken to her of. He says to her, "Go, call thy husband". She is made sensible now that she is a sinner. She leaves her waterpot and is so deeply affected that she goes and tells the men of Samaria to come and see the Man who had searched her heart. She does not say a word about the gift, but "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did". The light had exposed her own condition, and in order to deliver her from it, the Lord shows her the new condition in which He could set her up here, in the very place of her degradation.

Romans 5 gives us God's side - the gospel side. The God whom I have offended is now satisfied, and I am in His favour. His love is shed abroad in my heart. Not only is the offence gone, not only am I saved from the Judge, but I am in favour. Now what was it that hindered us all so long from being in the enjoyment of this? The hindrance was that your eye did not rest simply on Christ as having removed the whole thing. We get the type of this in the brazen serpent lifted up. The Israelites were bitten by the serpents, but when they looked up at the brazen serpent lifted up, they lived. The brazen serpent had never bitten anyone; Christ who knew no sin was made sin; when our eye rests on Him lifted up, we

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are in His life. It was the serpent that beguiled Eve. You are sent back to the beginning to understand the origin of all your misery, and now where does your eye rest? My eye rests upon the Man who is lifted up, the One who bore the judgment of it, but who is now out of it - "that whosoever believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal". "There is ... no condemnation ... the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". "He shall never see death", is "passed out of death into life". Death is ours. "O death, where is thy sting?" Death is abolished. He has annulled death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel. You are either in Adam or in Christ. In Adam you are lost. The Adam man has gone in judgment in the eye of God, and the One who bore that judgment is risen out of it; before God I am accepted in the Man who is out of it, and I have received the Holy Spirit. The gospel is that there is love where there was wrath, and where death was there is life; that instead of being under the wrath of God, I am in His favour, and He loves me. That is the gospel. Do you say, I do not enjoy the gospel? Well, the Holy Spirit who tells me of the love is also the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which makes me free from the law of sin and death. When you come to that you will enjoy the gospel, you will be free from that wherein you were held. I have gone through it all, beloved friends, and I am pressing it upon you because I know what it is myself. I know the distress, and, thank God, I know the relief. The relief does not come by any improvement of the flesh, but by looking at the One who has ended it all. The very One who ended it all in death is the One who is risen, and in the glory of God. That wretched man who distresses you is brought to an end. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes you free of him. When you come to this - and God grant that you

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may - you are free. There is no bar to your enjoyment; you are the prodigal fully dressed; and the moment you are so, you are in; for we read, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him ... and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry". He is brought into the house. And now you can know something of the blessedness of what Enoch entered into, out of death into life.

May you not only see the perfectness of the acceptance in which every believer stands before God, but the perfectness of your deliverance from that man that was ended on the cross; so that your heart may be enriched and blessed by the Holy Spirit in the enjoyment of the full grace of God in the gospel.

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"WHERE DWELLEST THOU?"

Leviticus 23:4 - 17; John 1:29 - 39

It is very interesting to find in the Jewish economy that the first great feasts of the year were typical of the gospel. The three feasts that I speak of are, first, the passover, with which was connected the feast of unleavened bread; secondly, the wave-sheaf; and thirdly, the wave-loaves, or Pentecost. In christendom these are called Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Whit Sunday. The passover typifies the death of Christ; the wave-sheaf the resurrection of Christ; and the antitype of Pentecost we get in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came down, and believers were baptised into one body. The one hundred and twenty disciples (see Acts 1; 15; 2: 1) were the antitype of the two loaves.

The passover set forth the fact that the blood had sheltered the Israelites from the judgment of Egypt. They commemorated this after they came into the land, and then they looked on to the harvest; but they could not eat any part of the harvest, no green ears nor parched corn, until the self-same day that the wave-sheaf was offered. The wave-sheaf is Christ risen from the dead. It is in keeping with what we get in John 12:24, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" - many grains. The two wave-loaves were made of the new corn. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, the Holy Spirit came down, and the company of the one hundred and twenty were baptised with the Holy Spirit; Acts 2.

A pious Jew rejoiced in the feasts; he looked at the great feast of the passover as commemorating his being saved out of Egypt; he looked for the harvest day, and he waited for the offering up of the wave-sheaf

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before he could eat of the corn of the land, and then at Pentecost the two wave-loaves were presented to God on that new ground; but he did not understand the blessedness that it typified. In christianity we get the substance of it all. The types are interesting, because they are shadows of the substance.

Now I turn to the New Testament; John 1. John, the forerunner of Christ, announces - "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Now keep in mind how a pious Jew would take that. He would say, We had to bring a lamb to shelter us from the judgment in Egypt, but now you tell me quite a new thing, you tell me that God has a Lamb, and that this Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. One can understand how the pious Jew who came to John the baptist would be arrested by his announcement - "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". And who was the Lamb of God? He "who knew no sin". He has been made sin for us, "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him", 2 Corinthians 5:21, and He will eventually take away the sin of the world; there will be an end of it. If you belong to Him you have to do with the Person who removes everything that is contrary to God. The first great point of the gospel is that God has removed the distance between Himself and man from His own side. Anyone who has the least sense of what it is to be under the judgment of God will see what a wonderful thing it is that the gospel begins with God. There is where He has shown His love; He Himself removed the distance; He has laid help upon One that is mighty, and by Him He has removed the distance that lay between Himself and man. You could not remove it. The flesh is what is obnoxious to God, and the flesh must be removed. Man could not do that, but God has done it Himself. He has laid help upon One that is mighty. His own arm has brought salvation. Nothing can be such a cheer to the heart as to

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think that God has done it Himself. Take an illustration. If a child is in punishment for breaking a clock, and is condemned to stay in confinement until the clock is mended, if he cannot mend it himself, there is no hope for him. But the father announces that he will mend the clock himself. The punishment must continue till the clock is mended, and the father cannot forego his righteousness by withdrawing the sentence, but his heart finds a way to remove the distance between the child and himself; he mends the clock himself If the child has any sense of his position towards his father, he must see two things: one thing he sees is, that such is the heart of the father, that he does not like the distance between them to continue and the other, that as the father has mended the clock himself, he never can find fault with the way it is done. That is but a feeble illustration, but it gives the idea. The gospel is that God has told out His heart in removing the distance between man and Himself from His own side, and He did it in spite of the cost. In order to remove it He spared not His own Son, who says, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God", Hebrews 10:9. Christ comes into this world to set forth what the heart of God is, and at the same time to assure man that what he could not do himself has been done to God's entire satisfaction and glory. The removal of the distance is beautifully set forth in Matthew 27:51, where we find that the moment Christ died the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The distance is removed. No more clouds and thick darkness. God who had dwelt in thick darkness, now came out in light to man. The distance is gone from God's side; I do not say from your side, but from God's side. Supposing now I am addressing the darkest soul that ever was, who does not see one glimmer of hope or one ray of light, I do not ask you what you see, but I ask if you believe it possible that God's love is such that He could remove

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the distance from His own side, and that He has done so, and that in a Man and by a Man - His own Son! That is the greatness of grace! "By man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead", 1 Corinthians 15:21. God, who had dwelt in clouds and thick darkness, has come out in light and grace to man. What would a pious Jew think when he saw the veil rent? Would he not have said, God would not have rent the veil unless He had a purpose in it? What is His purpose? The truth is, beloved friends, He has found a Man to His pleasure who is the antitype of all in the holiest. What is the result? Instead of being shut out from God, and in the distance, as man was, God has come out to him in grace, and now the believer has boldness to enter into His presence.

The first thing that Moses was desired to make in connection with the tabernacle where God was to dwell, was what Israel never reached - that is, the mercy-seat (see Exodus 25); and it is the first thing presented to man in the grace of the gospel. "Whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood", Romans 3:25. It was, as I have said, the first thing made, but how many of Israel got to it? Not one. Israel will get to it when the Man that removed the distance and all that was against God comes again, but we have boldness to enter the holiest now. How? By some great process? No; but by the blood of Jesus we pass into the brightest spot. So that the very thing (the mercy-seat) that was first in God's mind in the type, and never reached by a Jew, is reached by every soul believing in Christ as the propitiation, or mercy-seat, set forth by God. "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus", Romans 3:24. What a comfort! What an idea it gives you of the grace of God in the gospel!

Now John the baptist goes on to say something more. "And John bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode

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upon him. And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God" (verses 32 - 34). Here is another thing. He is not only the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, but He is the Son of God who baptises with the Holy Spirit. In christendom there is nothing, perhaps, so little known about as the Holy Spirit. Why? Because they have not their eye upon the wave-sheaf, on Christ risen. He is declared to be the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead. You may say, My eye is upon the sacrifice, upon the blood of the Lamb. That is quite right for a beginning. It is a good beginning, but it is not the finish. He was a sacrifice on the cross - blessed be His name! - but He is not there now. He is risen. You need to know Him not only as the One who went down into death, but as the One who is alive in glory. That is what God wants you to know, and therefore the gospel of God is called the gospel of the glory, because the light comes from the glory of Christ. The new corn could not be eaten of until the wave-sheaf was waved, but after seven sabbaths were counted, and on the morrow after the seventh sabbath, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down. The wave-sheaf is Christ risen. The answer to faith in Christ risen is the gift of the Spirit. How do I know I believe in Christ risen? The very faith that brings me to Him brings back the answer to me - the "living water". The living water is the answer to the faith. If you tell me you do not know whether you have received the Spirit of God, I will tell you why - though I do not doubt you are converted, but you are occupied with Christ's death as the sacrifice, and perhaps even that more as a pious Jew would look at it, instead of seeing that He came from God, and bore the judgment of God, and so

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glorified God in His death, that He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. So we read, "Righteousness ... for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead", Romans 4:22 - 24. The apostle said to the Philippian jailor, a poor pagan, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ". He does not say, Believe that Jesus Christ died, but, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved", Acts 16:31. He presents to him what would give him real deliverance of soul, even faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Man that died is a risen Man - the Lord Jesus Christ - and when you believe on Him, when your eye rests on Him raised from the dead, consequent on His having removed all that was against you from the eye of God, then you receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given as confirmation of your faith. This we see clearly in the case of Cornelius and his house; Acts 10. Peter tells them of the Man whom the world had cast out, and whom God had raised from the dead. They believed, and that moment the Holy Spirit "fell on all them which heard the word".

I want you to get simple about it, beloved friends Christ, as the Lamb of God, has borne the judgment, and He has removed the flesh in judgment from the eye of God; and now what link have you with Christ? It is not a link of the flesh. Your link with Christ is the Spirit of God. So the very first action of the Lord after He rose from the dead was to breathe upon the disciples, as the last Adam, and say, "Receive the Holy Spirit", John 20:22. The fact of the Holy Spirit having come is the proof that He is risen. When He was exalted to God's right hand He sent forth the Holy Spirit. There is a twofold lack in souls: one is, that they really do not rest in faith on Christ risen; and the other, which is a consequence of this, that they do not enjoy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Many think that they have the Holy Spirit merely as an influence;

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they have the idea of having been converted by the Spirit of God, but they do not believe that the Holy Spirit has taken up His abode in them. He has taken up His abode in you who believe, as really as your own heart is in you. Even more so, because your heart may stop beating, but you can never lose the Holy Spirit. He will never leave you; you are sealed unto the day of redemption, and, by virtue of His presence in you, your mortal body will yet be quickened. He will "quicken your mortal bodies ... on account of his Spirit which dwells in you", Romans 8:11.

John 4 sets forth the wonderful new style in which a believer may come out here. When the Lord speaks to the woman of Samaria it is her own side He speaks of. He says, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst". He shows her what her own immediate benefit would be. It is not like Romans 5, which is God's side - how God is toward you. In John 4 we get our side - the wonderful new condition, the new style (if I may use the expression) in which you, a believer in Christ, come out here, in the very place in which you were in the most deplorable condition. I want to magnify the Holy Spirit to you, and to show you how superior the antitype is to the type. Think of a pious Jew watching for the harvest day, waiting until the wave-sheaf was offered up that he might eat of the corn, and then looking onward to the day of Pentecost, and the presentation to God of the two wave-loaves made of the same corn as the wave-sheaf, which is properly the church. But I do not go into that; I want to lead your hearts into the wondrousness of the gospel of God. The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. All is gone from God's side to God's infinite satisfaction. The nearer I am to Him, the more assured I am of it; and the nearer I am to Him, the better I know that the gospel is not a demand upon man, but a ministration of righteousness to man.

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The power of the Spirit is divine power, and that power you get when you see the wave-sheaf waved - when you see the One not only delivered for your offences, but raised again for your justification. I believe that a man walking in the power of the Spirit of God would be superior to everything here; he would walk according to God, and contrary to everything here. Therefore Scripture says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh", Galatians 5:16. You have no friend but the Spirit of God. There is nothing in man for Christ but the Spirit of God. I am delivered from the bondage of sin and corruption by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ; He has removed it all from the eye of God, and I believe that He not only did it, but He so glorified God that He was raised from the dead. My eye, thank God, through faith, is resting upon Him glorified, and as my eye rests upon Him glorified, the answer to it is that He gives me His Spirit. Therefore the Spirit is called the 'seal.' It is the confirmation of your faith. There was one baptism of the Holy Spirit, and this took place on the day of Pentecost, as the Lord said to them: "John indeed baptised with water, but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit after now not many days", Acts 1:5. And from that day to this each one who believes in Christ risen comes into it.

Now we have another thing in verses 35 - 37. "The next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus". Mark the affection which springs up in the one who really has faith. Is there anyone in this room who would not follow Him if they really believed that He is "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world", and "who baptises with the Holy Spirit?" You see the effect of the testimony of this in John's disciples. Of John the baptist the Lord said, "Among them that are born of

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women there hath not risen a greater", Matthew 11:11, but when the two disciples received John's testimony of Jesus, they left him and followed Jesus! Were they not perfectly right? They were pious before, but now they take new ground. They might be sorry to leave John, but they do leave him, to follow Jesus. Mark now how the Lord meets them! "Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?" His question draws out what really is in their hearts! He says, "What seek ye?" They say, "Master, where dwellest thou?" Have you ever asked Him that question? Do you think that if you really knew that He had taken away all your sin, that you are free before God, because He has put it all away to God's infinite satisfaction, that He has removed the distance because He did not like the distance to continue, that the removal of it was perfectly done because He did it Himself, and that it is He who baptises with the Holy Spirit; if your soul were in the sense of all this, would you not desire to know where He dwells? You have the Holy Spirit first as power, and then there is one thing more, the true heart wants to know where He dwells. The Lord's answer is, "Come and see". I believe that in the history of every soul a day comes when this question arises, Where is He? And the Lord likes the question, "Where dwellest thou?" It is not a question of what good He did me, though the better I know that, the more I want to be acquainted with the Person who did the good; but I want to be in company with the Person who did so much for me. The great lack in souls is not being in company with Him, and you never can know what His heart is if you are not near Him. I am drawn to the One who has effectuated everything for me, and I want to know where He dwells. Very well, the Lord says, "Come and see". Would you refuse such an invitation? Would not your heart rejoice to respond to it? These disciples "came and saw where he dwelt, and abode

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with him that day". Then they knew what it was to be in company with Him. You might visit a person many times without knowing him, but when you abide with him you know him. "They ... abode with him that day". Think of who He was, how great He was, how every movement, everything about Him, must have had an effect upon them. What a great charm His company must have been to them! Afterwards He could say to them, "When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing?" and they could say, "Nothing", Luke 22:35. It was not that He supplied them with riches, or anything of this world, but there was about Him that which was a constant source of consolation, a complete substance to their hearts. They found in His company "manifold more". He had told them that if they parted company with this world's goods they should have "manifold more". What is the "manifold more?" Some think it is manifold more of the same sort of things. Not a bit of it. It is Himself. Peter might have said, I am not one bit richer than when I gave up all and followed Thee. He did not say it; he could not say it, because he knew well what he had gained in those three years in the Lord's company. At the end, when He had to leave them (John 13) they are like unfledged birds out of a nest. He was going away from them; they were losing His shelter and support, and He says, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name", John 17:12. No one could have an idea of what His presence was to them. We all know what it is in some little measure. No combination of circumstances could make up to you for the loss of the company of a person you love. There is a universality about a person that no combination of circumstances can supply; and how much more is it so with His company!

The Lord grant that every heart here may see what a wonderful salvation it is. All that is contrary to God cleared away, and all that is according to God brought

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in by the Holy Spirit; and not only that, not only knowing what that blessed One has effected for you, but finding the resting place for your heart to be where He Himself is.

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DEATH AND GLORY

Matthew 12:40 - 42

Greater than Jonas and greater than Solomon. "Behold a greater than Solomon is here". We have here two types of the Lord Jesus Christ - Jonah and Solomon, and they set forth the greatness of His grace. Jonah represents His sufferings, Solomon represents His glory.

There are two parts in grace, one is what we are brought from, and the other what we are brought to. Those who know only the former are occupied with themselves and what they have escaped from. If you know what you are brought to you are occupied with the greatness of what you are brought to, and with the One who has brought you there. A man brought from a prison to a palace would speak of the palace and not of the prison. He would be full of the wondrousness of the place he was brought to, and what he had left behind would be done with. Souls are never restful in grace till they know what they are brought to.

The four leprous men in 2 Kings 7 say, We die here, there is nothing left for us but mercy, the mercy of our enemies. Try mercy. If there is one here who has not tasted mercy, try it. These poor leprous men tried mercy and they made a fortune, and then they became evangelists of it. They were not only relieved of the famine, but they acquired a fortune. When God came down to deliver Israel, it was not only to bring them out of Egypt; He says, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people ... I know their sorrows; and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with

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milk and honey", Exodus 3:7, 8. We find the same principle in the case of the thief on the cross. He was brought from the very lowest degradation into the very highest position, in company with the Son of God. I give these examples and illustrations to show you that if you are only occupied with what you are brought from you have not found the finish of the gospel, you are not in the truth of God's purpose, in the reality of what He has brought you to. This is the great lack in souls, and hence they do not know the greatness of God's salvation.

Now in the two types which we get in the passage which I have read the first, Jonah, is type of the One who went into death; the second, Solomon, sets forth the One in glory - he is a type of the glory of Christ. The sufferings of that blessed One typified by Jonah were on our account. Jonah suffered on his own account; he had a will of his own, he would not go the way that God wanted him to go, and he had to learn that death was due to his will. He had to learn that the man who has a will of his own must die. Christ bore the judgment due to your will, and the judgment was death; and not only so, but in His death He ended the man who was under judgment. You will never know what Christ has accomplished for you till you know this, "that our old man is crucified with him", Romans 6:6. Death is on you; I ask you, How do you get out of it? How? Is it by saying, Christ died for me and I keep what He died for? No. True, He died for you, but it was not that you might keep what He died for, but to make an end of it - to make an end of you, so that you who live should not live to yourself but to Him who died for you and rose again. Do you want to keep what Christ died for? If you do, you will never get to the finish of the gospel. You have not only to learn that the blood shelters you, but you have to walk through the way which God has made through death (in type the Red

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Sea), and you will never otherwise know what it is to be free. The man who offended against God and who is offensive to God, is removed in the cross, and I cannot appear before God in that man. No, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world", Galatians 6:14. Do I regret that that man is gone? No, I am glad that he is gone. Nothing can relieve you but death. God's own Son died for you, and you have not only to believe that He died, but you have to appropriate His death in order to get out of your own death. Until you appropriate Christ's death you are not in the blessing that His death has secured for you. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you", John 6:53.

Now this is the first part of grace. Through the death of Christ - the Jonah aspect - I am clear of my own side, and I receive the Holy Spirit. Now we come to the other side. Read 2 Corinthians 3:7 - 9. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory". Now here we are looking, not at Christ's death but at Christ's glory. In this chapter we get the contrast between Sinai - the law - and the gospel. The law was a demand for righteousness made on man from God, which man could not meet. Now, because of Him who glorified God where we dishonoured Him, there is the ministration of righteousness which exceeds in glory. It is hard to show what this is, it is so wonderful. A demand of righteousness had come from the glory; now there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory; and this is what

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Satan is set against, so we get, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them", 2 Corinthians 4:4. Now this light is the beginning of enlightenment in every soul in which there is a work of God. The light shines down from the Person - from Christ in glory; God begins from that. The enemy tries to baffle it; he blinds their minds lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. When the Greeks come up to worship Him (John 12:23), the Lord says anticipatively, "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified". He was not here as Solomon, He was here as Jonah. There had been a demand on man for righteousness, and that blessed One went into death and bore the judgment of it; but as risen, He is the Saviour in glory, and now there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory. In Isaiah 6:1 - 5, when the prophet saw the King, the Lord of hosts in glory, he could not endure the sight; he said, "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips". Have you ever said that? Have you ever discovered your moral condition in the presence of Christ? What happened to Isaiah? A live coal is laid upon his mouth, and he hears, "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged", (verse 7). That was very blessed, but it is not our gospel. He received grace; his sin was forgiven, but no righteousness was ministered to him from the glory; he had not a Saviour there; he is not at home there. The live coal was evidence that the judgment had not been borne, though there was grace before Christ came. There is no live coal now in glory, but there is a Saviour in glory. God sent His Son and set aside the man on whom the judgment lay, and now there is a Man in glory to the pleasure and delight of God, and from that Man there is a ministration of righteousness.

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The grace comes from the glory, not from the cross. The cross is the basis of it all, but the light shines down from the finish, and the nearer you get to the glory the more you know your welcome; the more assured you are that it is your place according to God; and the effect on you is that Christ personally absorbs your heart. This is the gospel of the glory. I am not only clear of all that was against me, but I have appropriated His death, and as I follow Him to where He is, I am transformed into the same image. No sovereign in the world could make you like himself; he may admit you to his presence, but he could not transform you.

Now I come to the steps by which you learn this. Many do not go beyond the fact that He died on the cross. Mary Magdalene and the other disciples in John 20 were in great trouble because they could not find Him. They knew He had died, but He had risen, and they could not find Him. Have you found Him risen? Are you looking for Him as the Living One? Have you asked, Where is He? The answer that Christ gives to anyone who believes in Him risen is the "living water". There is a receiving as well as a giving. It is a great thing to see Him risen out of death; when you see Him thus you are not only sheltered but justified. He was raised for our justification. Do you believe in Him risen? I do not ask if you believe the fact of His resurrection, but is the eye of your heart on Him risen? Then you receive the Spirit, and the moment you receive the Spirit you have got the link with Him; and if you do not grieve the Spirit He will lead you into nearness to Christ, to acquaintance with Him as the glorified One; and the nearer you are to Him as the glorified One the more at home you are. Where do you get most natural light? Near the sun. Where most warmth? Near the sun. All light and warmth to your soul come from nearness to Christ, and not only that, but the most

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wonderful thing is that as you behold His glory you are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. May you ponder it, and take it to heart that He is not only the greater than Jonah but the greater than Solomon. Do you ask me what is the journey you must take to reach Him as Solomon? Just the journey the queen of Sheba took. She had heard the report of the acts and the wisdom of Solomon, but she was not satisfied without coming to him herself. When she came she said, "The half was not told me", and "there was no more spirit in her". She was so absorbed with the glory and blessedness which she saw in him and his surroundings. When you reach Christ in glory nothing about yourself occupies you, but Christ engrosses you. The glory is the expression of God's satisfaction resting on the Lord Jesus Christ. All God's attributes - love, righteousness, truth, holiness - were declared in the Man Christ Jesus; and now the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is the perfect delight and satisfaction of God according to all His attributes resting on Him, and as you behold Him you are transformed into moral correspondence to Him.

You must keep the two types together, Jonah and Solomon. Christ by going into death brought to an end judicially the man that was offensive to God. This is the crucial point for all of us. All that was between us and God is gone, removed in the death of Christ, and now "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God". "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more", 2 Corinthians 5:16 - 18. Now I have to do with Him in glory. I can understand a man saying it is magnificent, for so it is but do you really know what it is to be brought from the lowest point of degradation into association with Christ in glory?

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The great delay in the progress of souls is that they do not know and accept what the gospel really is, that all which is contrary to God - the flesh - that which the live coal refused and repelled, has been removed in the cross. Man after the flesh was brought to a judicial termination there. Christ not only bore the judgment due to us, but He so glorified God where we had dishonoured Him that God is now indebted to Man for glory. He is raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, and the nearer you come to the glory the more assured you are that the righteousness of God greets you in the light of the glory. You are not only justified, but you are in the justification of life - in the righteousness of God, where there never was a soil. That is the finish of the gospel. The gospel is, "as he is, so are we in this world", 1 John 4:17, and the fruition of it is that you behold the Lord's glory. He is without a veil, and you are "transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit", 2 Corinthians 3: 18. Not only are you at rest with Christ in the glory, but you come out here in a way suitable to Him.

May each heart here be awakened to see what His grace in its fulness is, and to know Him not only as the greater than Jonah, but as the greater than Solomon. You are not in the fulness of the gospel until you have come to the finish.

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THE FULNESS OF GOD'S GRACE

Exodus 15:1, 2; John 7:37 - 39; Acts 7:55

It is a great thing to apprehend the scope of God's gospel, and the wonderful change that it effects in the believer. We get types of it in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it comes out in its fulness.

There are three great works of grace. I have read these scriptures to take them in order. First, by the work of Christ you are delivered from the judgment which is due to you, and which rested on you. Secondly, you receive the Holy Spirit from the very Person who delivered you. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit leads you to the place where Christ is. The magnificence of it should arrest your heart.

When the destroying angel went through the land of Egypt, it was a night of death; but Israel was saved from the judgment by the blood of the lamb being sprinkled on the lintel and on the two side posts of the door. And let me say to each of you that the judgment of death is on every child of Adam, and if it has not been taken off you, it is on you still. God says to Israel, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you", Exodus 12:13. Under the shelter of the blood they were safe from judgment, but they were not saved, because they were not out of the place of judgment. But in Exodus 15, after they had crossed the Red Sea, we find them singing a song. The Red Sea is a type of the death and resurrection of Christ. He entered into death "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil", Hebrews 2:14. God made a way for Israel through the sea. They did not make the way themselves; God made the way, and the light of God showed them the way. But they had to walk through it, with waters on the right hand and on

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the left. They saw what was impending, they had the sense of the terribleness of it, and that if they did not pass that way there was no other way that they could be saved from their enemies. They saw what might happen to them, but it did not happen, for God had made a way for them through it. So Christ has made a way for us through death and out of death, but we have to accept the sentence of death, we have to appropriate the death of Another. There is no other way out of death but through the death of Christ. In John 5:24 we read, "He that hears my word, and believes him that has sent me, has life eternal, and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life". It should be translated "out of death" not "from" death. Our translators put from death, because out of death is an admission that all are in it. Every man is under the sentence of death. It is not only that "in Adam all die", but all are sinners, and "the soul that sinneth, it shall die". "The wages of sin is death". The way is made for you out of judgment, but you must appropriate the way. The light of God shows you the way. The first work of grace is that you not only see the One who died, and who opened the way out of judgment, but that you appropriate His death as the way that God has made for you out of it; for death is on you, and if you are not out of it, you are still under it. I do not want to alarm you; I prefer to attract you with the marvellous blessedness of the gospel. As Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth", Romans 1:16. God has come to us in grace; man has ruined himself; he has offended against God, and he cannot retrieve himself. The Son of God bore the judgment due to man, and the man under judgment has gone judicially in the cross. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him", Romans 6:6. Do you know it?

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Now I want you to see what a wonderful moment it is when you can say, "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea". This follows on your knowing the resurrection of Christ. Israel were sheltered by the blood in Egypt, but they were afraid of the Egyptians; they had not peace. You cannot have peace until you know that the foe is crushed. Then comes the song. You know that the Lord has triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea. He has "annulled death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings", 2 Timothy 1:10. "That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage", Hebrews 2:14, 15. There was the fulfilment of the sentence on the serpent in the garden of Eden; Genesis 3:15. You are clear of death when you see a Man risen out of death, as we see in Romans 4:24 to 5: 1, "If we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". No one has peace who does not see Christ in resurrection. Peace is the end of war. The foe is crushed. Then you can sing, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him". There is no fear now. What a wonderful day that is to you when you come to that, after the darkness and distress of the night! I know it is a terrible way; you find that there is no way out of judgment but through the Red Sea. When you come to Jordan there is not a drop of water; it is your death with Christ, but in the Red Sea there is water on the right hand and on the left. You see all the terror of it. It is not your

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death with Christ but Christ's death for you. If you shrink from Jordan it is because you have never been through the Red Sea, and it is so with many believers; they have never travelled through the Red Sea till their death-beds. You must go through death; you must appropriate Christ's death. There is no singing there; it is a solemn moment - darkness and distress. But the morning dawns and you are out of it all; you are out of judgment. You find that the Lord has triumphed gloriously. You have peace with God. You are clear of all that was against you. You receive the Holy Spirit, and the first impression He makes upon your soul is not about your own state, but about God, that God loves you. The love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit. If you want an illustration, take the parable of the prodigal. The great impression made on the son when the father covered him with kisses was, I love you. There was reconciliation because the shepherd had gone out. If there had not been reconciliation the father could not righteously have received him. It is a marvellous fact that the first action of the Holy Spirit in a poor ruined sinner who believes is to give him the sense that God loves him - to shed abroad the love of God in his heart.

Now I turn to John 7:37 - 39, to show you what the person has who has seen Christ risen. He has peace, and he has received the Holy Spirit; not only to shed abroad the love of God in his heart, but as rivers of living water to flow out from him. "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive". Now it is not merely that He has come to us, but we have come to Him. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink".

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Who but the blessed God could have thought of such a thing as the gift of the Holy Spirit? What can equal it? In John 1 the Lamb of God takes away all that is contrary to God. Is that all? No. He baptises you with the Holy Spirit, and thus brings you into all that is according to God. It is inconceivable to the human mind. The very immensity of it proves it to be divine. You who were in the bondage of Egypt are not only delivered, but you have entered on a new day, the Spirit's day. The Lord's words are fulfilled, that the Spirit which was to be given when He was glorified is in you, not only as a well of water, but as rivers of living water flowing out of you. You are not only perfectly happy, fully satisfied yourself, but you can make others happy. To be filled with the Spirit, the Spirit of the living God, is your portion. The more I think of it, the more amazed I am at its greatness, and the more surprised at my dullness about it; but I do thank God for it, because I fully believe it.

Before I turn to the third work of grace, which is Acts 7:55, let us go over the first two which I have already dwelt on. First, you are cleared; all that was against you has gone from the eye of God, the judgment has been borne by Another, all your enemies are gone. You have appropriated the death of Christ, and you are in favour. Secondly, you have received the Spirit of God who is the seal in your heart of the accomplished work of Christ; and not only so, but you are set up in a new style. In the place where you were in the house of bondage, the iron furnace, you have the most blessed portion, a blessing not from the earth, but on the earth - the greatest gift that God could give you, and that is His Spirit, so that you are independent of everything here; you have in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Why do I ever wish for anything here? Because I am not turning to account this great gift. We are diverted, alas, by earthly things. Natural blessings tend to divert us,

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as those in Luke 14 were diverted from the great supper, not by bad things but by natural things; for the natural will never help the spiritual, and to say the best of it, it is all transitory. Love likes to give what will be permanent. What God gives you will last for ever.

But now I turn to Acts 7:55. Where will the Holy Spirit set you? Look at Stephen. A new line is opened to heaven and this is the inauguration of it. "Being full of the Holy Spirit, having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God". A place is made known to the believer by the Spirit of God. There is now a direct line to Jesus in glory. Have you gone that line? Every believing soul that has reached Him from Stephen's day to this has gone that line. Have you? Do you say, I hope to when I die? But I want you to go it now. I want your heart to be so drawn to the Lord in glory that, beholding Him, you may be transformed, and be like the queen of Sheba, who, when she beheld Solomon in his glory, said, "It was a true report that I heard in mine own land ... Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me", 1 Kings 10:6, 7. You need not wait to see it till you die. Stephen saw it before he died. You cannot see Him anywhere now but in glory. If He comes into the assembly of His own, He comes in glory, not to be seen by the human eye, but by the Spirit of God.

This completes the gospel. Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, looks for Christ in heaven, and looking up stedfastly into heaven he sees the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Seeing the Lord there made him at home there; and so will it you. The nearer you are to Him in glory the happier you will be. Instead of being repelled, you are transformed into His likeness. This is not effected by reading the

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Bible, but by being in His own presence; though you will then understand the Bible all the better.

The announcement of the gospel is, "I bring you good tidings of great joy", Luke 2:10. You are not only clear of judgment, but you receive the Holy Spirit, and that not only for yourself, but to flow out from you in rivers of living water. You are not only happy for yourself, but you can make others happy. And then, instead of looking for something down here, the Spirit conducts you up to heaven where Christ is, and you find the home of your heart there.

If you read Ezekiel 1 you will see that when the glory was departing from Israel, the prophet saw in the brightest spot the figure of a Man. The wickedness of Israel was driving away the glory, but there is a Man in the glory. The glory never came to Israel again until Luke 2. Then the glory of the Lord shines round about the shepherds and the angel says, "I bring you good tidings of great joy". The Man has come. Would you not like to see Him now? You can, by the Spirit of God, see the Man in the glory now. Before a stone was thrown at Stephen he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.

The Lord grant that our hearts may be so attracted to Him, that instead of following our own foolish ways, we may be drawn nearer to Him - led up to Him by the Spirit. May He grant that those who do not know the first work of grace may be on the way to it; and that those who do, and have found peace, may enjoy the Spirit - the second work; and then be ready for the third, which is to find their place with Christ, for His name's sake.

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GRACE HERE AND A HOME THERE

Luke 10:29 - 35; 15: 11 - 24

The first scripture that I have read sets forth the misery of the sinner, his state here as a sinner, and how he suffers - he fell among thieves who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. This is man's state as a sinner. The grace of God which bringeth salvation is described in the Samaritan, who, as he journeyed, came where the suffering man was. Christ came to the place where the sinner is. He was beside the thief on the cross. The light from God shone into the sinner's heart and he could see in Jesus One who had done nothing amiss, and One who could deliver him from all his misery. The sinner is not only relieved; not only are his wounds bound up, and oil and wine poured in, but the One who relieved him set him on His own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The very power which brought Christ into the place of our misery carries the one who is the subject of His grace out of it, and he is brought to a place of safety, and there cared for. This is the grace of Christ to the sinner respecting his own state; he is relieved, he is carried by a new power, and he is cared for through all his pilgrimage. "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee", Hebrews 13:5. He is to be taken care of as a traveller at an inn, until the Lord returns. There is nothing for him on earth till then.

Now in chapter 15 we are taught that where sin abounded grace did much more abound. Many confine the gospel to the sinner's side, to the relief of his misery. The cause of all man's misery is that he has offended against God. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin", Romans 5:12. The younger son in

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this parable is man in his natural state. The greater his abilities, the more abandoned he has become. At length grace works. All his resources have failed, he is compelled, he is reduced to the lowest point, death stares him in the face. No one is converted easily; no one is converted who has not been made conscious that he cannot stand before God. The prodigal comes to himself and he counts on his father's goodness, for he has not a word to say for himself. He comes, "But while he was yet a long way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck, and covered him with kisses". Love travels faster than necessity. The father reaches him before he could reach the father. All the offence has been so fully removed that the heart of the father can fully express itself.

We must bear in mind that if the Shepherd had not gone out to seek the lost sheep the Father never could have come out in righteousness to meet the returning sinner, and if the light had not shone into the prodigal's heart, he never could have come to his father. All has been so fully removed by Christ, who followed the lost sheep to the dark mountains to which it had wandered, that the love of God in all its mighty volume can flow out righteously to the returning prodigal; and not only has all been removed from the eye of God which had offended Him, but He fits the returning one for Himself. He enables him to enjoy His own presence. Not only is His love shed abroad in your heart, so that you know the heart of God as it is toward you, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will make you free from the law of sin and death. You are in Christ, and now you begin to be merry.

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FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND THE GOSPEL OF GLORY

Leviticus 16:6 - 12, 27; Hebrews 13:10 - 13

It is evident from this scripture that there are two companies, both saved by the blood of Christ; one company for the earth, and the other company for heaven - inside the veil. Two goats were taken for the congregation and a bullock for Aaron's house. Christ's work for the one company is represented by the two goats. The blood of one goat was carried into the holiest, and sprinkled on the mercy-seat, while the live goat, as representing the effectual sacrifice of the first goat, bore away the sins of the congregation into the land of forgetfulness - "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more". This is always and for ever the beginning of divine grace for us all, but while this is the measure vouchsafed to God's earthly people, there is more given to those who are Christ's own in the day of His rejection. They are represented by Aaron's house. Every believer now is of Christ's house - "whose house are we". Christ's work, of course, embraced what is set forth in the two goats; it was all one work, and the greater includes the lesser. But Christ's house is represented by the bullock, which Aaron offered for himself and for his house.

Now while the work of Christ represented by the two goats sets the believer on the earth in the full forgiveness of sins, in peace with God, the work of Christ represented by the bullock gives every one of His own a new place - a place with Himself in the holiest of all.

This is the day of His rejection, and blessing for man on the earth has not yet come, though in christendom, as a rule, there is no apprehension of grace beyond the two goats, or full forgiveness of your sins. They

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overlook the fact that Christ has been rejected here; hence that all His own must be blessed with Him where He is, exalted to God's right hand, a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. It is because His rejection is not seen that the gospel is limited to the two goats; but when His exaltation consequent on His rejection is seen, then the gospel of His glory is the rest and delight of the believer's heart. The gospel of glory is that He has not only cleared us of everything that was against us, but that we have boldness, through His blood, to share with Him in His own blessedness in the presence of God - we share in the blessedness of what Christ is to God. Every one who has seen His glory inside the veil will be so transformed in taste into moral correspondence to Him, that he could not be found here in any place but going forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach. Even good feeling (as we say) would make him shrink from any other place here.

In the type everything was effected before the carcase was burned. We must begin with God and then we can truly bear Christ's reproach here. We can have no sense of the blessedness of Christ but as we are in the holiest. When we are defective in the lower circle it is because we are not fully in the highest. We have no power in the lower but as we are furnished in the highest. No one rises higher than his altar. that is, he cannot be for Christ here where all is adverse to Him, if he does not know Him where all the glory of God rests on Him. This is the gospel of the glory. When you know Him thus, you will be inside the veil with Him, and outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

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FOR HIM OR WITH HIM

Isaiah 38:1 - 5; Luke 2:25 - 38; Acts 7:55

It is interesting to see that while Hezekiah had faith in God - "The just shall live by faith" - he is distressed at the thought of dying. He had been in active service here, and as he has no prospect before him at the other side of death, he wept sore at the thought of leaving this earth. The first tabernacle was still standing, and hence the way into the holiest was not yet made manifest. Christ had not risen - the first fruits of them that slept.

Many have faith in God, and through His mercy are eternally saved, who prefer the earth to heaven because they do not see that to die is gain. Paul could say that he was in a strait between two, "having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you", Philippians 1:23, 24. If not with Him, his purpose was to be here for Him.

Now in Luke 2 we learn the blessed effect on Simeon when he saw Jesus. He is a pattern to us. "Then took he him up in his arms". Do you embrace Him in faith? He blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ... for mine eyes have seen thy salvation". He is in faith on the other side of death; he sees Christ in resurrection glory. "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel". The prospect and joy of the devoted heart is to be with Christ. The Lord said to the thief, "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise", Luke 23:43. His own desire is to have His own with Him - "that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him", 1 Thessalonians 5:10.

Now, as Simeon is a pattern of the heart resting on Christ in faith, so Anna the prophetess is a pattern of

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those who are here for the Lord waiting until they are with Him. She "departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem".

Finally in Stephen (Acts 7) we get the fulness, the completion of the gospel. He had believed in Christ risen and had received the Holy Spirit. And now "being full of the Holy Spirit", before a stone was thrown at him, "having fixed his eyes on heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus". The new scene is opened to him, he saw his bright home with Christ, and now he is able to bear unswervingly all the violence of the enemy, and to enter death as a stepping stone to cloudless light with Christ for ever. He is, by the power of the Spirit, so superior to his suffering, that he can kneel down and cry with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;" he had overcome evil with good. "And when he had said this, he fell asleep".

The one burden of our hearts should be either for Him or with Him. If not with Him, then for Him; and if not for Him, then with Him - "to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better".

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SIX READINGS AT NEWCASTLE

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THE GLAD TIDINGS OF THE GLORY

1 Timothy 1:11

J.B.S. This verse may perhaps be enough to read, though it is connected with the latter part of verse 10: "If any other thing is opposed to sound teaching, according to the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God".

The glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God, not the law, is the test of everything.

No doubt many have not understood the glad tidings of the glory, not seeing that in Scripture we first get the glad tidings in connection with the kingdom; afterwards we get it as connected with resurrection (though a great many do not go even that far); but what characterises Paul's ministry is that it is distinctly the glad tidings of the glory of Christ.

I am assured that it is of immense importance that souls should be in the apprehension of what this is, or they cannot understand the mystery. No doubt there are thousands who are converted who do not know it, and therefore cannot enjoy the truth of the mystery.

I think the prodigal son is a very good illustration of such. He could not doubt for a moment but that his father loved him when he kissed him; but what about his fitness for his father?

We can look up and see a Man in glory, who has borne all the judgment due to us, and has perfectly glorified God; and now all the glory of God rests on that Man, and the nearer I am to Him the better off I am. The great point to be insisted on in the preaching of the glad tidings is the Person.

The apostle says, in writing his first epistle to the Corinthians: "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified", 1 Corinthians 2:2.

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He had not been to Corinth between the writing of his first and second epistles, and it is in the second that he brings before them the subject of Christ in glory. If we come to close quarters, I am sure we shall have to admit how much more we know about the work of Christ than we do about His Person. He, as we well know, is now in glory, and you cannot know Him anywhere else but where He is.

R.F.K. Is there any difference between the glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God, and the glad tidings of the glory of Christ?

J.B.S. I do not think so; Christ has brought in the glory; it now shines in His face. I was the man who dishonoured God. He is the Man who has glorified God.

If you do not know the glad tidings of the resurrection, you cannot know the glad tidings of the glory.

There are very many who do not know the glad tidings beyond what is set forth typically in Exodus 12, namely, sheltered from judgment; that is, Romans 3; comparatively few, perhaps, get as far as the end of Romans 4.

F.C. How is one to become acquainted with the Person in glory?

J.B.S. That is a very good question. You seek Him. I can understand a young believer saying, I know He died for me; but where is He now? He is in the glory. Can I see and know Him there? You can; and the nearer you draw to Him, the more you will be attracted; it will be with you just the reverse to what it was with the prophet in Isaiah 6he was repelled by the glory; but there is no "live coal" now for us as in his case, there is no fire on the altar, but a MAN in glory.

Affection for Him is the point where we are all defective. "First love" is what will make me willing to part with everything that would hinder my enjoyment of His company. It may be a very small thing

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that is the hindrance, perhaps the reading of the newspaper; but whatever it is, I part with it.

In my soul I not only want to know the terms on which God can be with me; I may be quite happy as to that; but how am I with Him? Am I in the liberty of the Spirit, enjoying His presence? What I believe characterises many christians is, they know the gospel, but they do not enjoy it. I do not think the prodigal entered into real enjoyment until he had the best robe on. If I were in the real joy of the gospel, I should be like the queen of Sheba in the presence of Solomon: there was "no more spirit in her".

E.C. Is not that the difference between the objective and the subjective side of the truth?

J.B.S. Quite so. I believe in a general way we have all got the objective, and nothing has done more harm than people having this apart from the subjective. You are clear as to God's side, but the point is, what about your side? People assume that all is cleared by the reckoning of faith on both sides, but that is not true. It is in the line of the false idea of holiness by faith. The subjective side is not by faith, but by the Spirit: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death", Romans 8:2. The same Spirit that assures me of God's love to me tells me I am out of death. No one can enjoy God's love until he is in life.

I know from my own experience how the thing works. There was a time when, though I knew well that I was cleared of everything as to my sins, and if I looked at God I was happy so far; but if I looked at myself I was miserable.

Show me a man who is not in some way trying to improve himself; but that will not do. What you have to do is what Elisha did, that is, to rend the old clothes - to leave them altogether.

Ques. When was the subjective side with the prodigal?

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J.B.S. When he got the best robe on.

D.L.H. Would you say the best robe on is our standing?

J.B.S. No; he is in standing when the father kisses him; the best robe is not standing and state combined, it is state only.

Taking Israel typically at Exodus 15, they are a redeemed people in the favour of Jehovah; and have crossed the Red Sea - type of the death and resurrection of Christ; but it is not until the end of thirty-nine years that it comes out they are so unmendably bad, that there is no remedy for their case but the bringing in of the brazen serpent. At that point an entirely new day dawns on them.

What has puzzled a good many is that John, in chapter 3, begins not with Exodus 12 but with Numbers 21he begins exactly at the point where the difficulty of souls is. You cannot have "the glad tidings of the glory" without deliverance, you must be in a new condition; nor can you have deliverance but in the life of Christ. You are first made acquainted by the Spirit with the blessed fact that God loves you; then that same Spirit shows you that you have life in Christ, and it is in the power of that life that you are freed from the law of sin and death.

J.J. What is the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness?

J.B.S. According to John 3 it is the man is gone. The old man, where all the mischief is, has passed from the eye of God. The brazen serpent never bit anyone, and Christ who did no sin was made sin, "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life", John 3:16.

The point insisted on in John 3 is the subjective side; when it comes to "the glad tidings of the glory" you cannot enjoy the objective unless you are in the reality of the subjective. One is properly standing, the other state.

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The mass of souls are not in deliverance; that is they do not know that they are in Christ; and that is why the world is not a wilderness to them; the true secret of it lies there. When you are consciously in His life, you find that there is nothing here to suit you. Afflictions, sorrows, or aught else, never made the world a wilderness to anyone. You may have trials and sorrows, and find something to sustain you in them; but the soul going on in the life of Christ must find itself in a wilderness here.

D.L.H. Then you could not say every christian is in the wilderness?

J.B.S. No; how many are trying to make the place as pleasant as possible!

T.H.R. Those who belong to the world are visited with afflictions, difficulties, and so on, as christians are; but it is the privilege of the christian to be sustained in them, being in the life of Christ; but for that you must have come to Him as a Person.

J.B.S. A great many have a true idea of the grace of God; but one seldom hears much about the purpose of God. If I knew His heart, I should not rest without being set upon apprehending His purpose; it is a great thing to know He has a purpose about me, which He will not fail to make good to me.

F.E.R. As to the points of life, and deliverance, it seems to me that the two things work concurrently; it is only as you are formed in the life, that you can enter into deliverance; you must be formed in the life of Christ, and as this is wrought in you by the Spirit, you realise deliverance; it is impossible to realise it in the flesh.

J.B.S. Nine-tenths of people have the objective side, and then try to improve themselves; they have not learnt that "in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing".

F.E.R. The real secret of it all, I am assured, is not seeing the purpose of God about them. Grace in

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its first application refers to me in my responsibility, and how that responsibility has been met; but that is not God's purpose about me, which is that I should be united to Christ, He being the first-born among many brethren; Romans 8. You must be on the platform of God's purpose to enter into this.

F.H.B. We see as to Israel that the first thing was God's purpose, then how it was all brought about.

J.B.S. I regard all the trouble that has come in amongst us as indicative of the fact that we do not know what God's purpose is; "the mystery" is God's purpose; there are those who are now speaking of Christ as a union of God and man; if that were true of Him, then it must also be true of the church - -that it is union of God and man. If you do not understand who Christ is, you cannot understand what the church is; "God has been manifested in flesh". "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us". Of course He was God when here (John 1:1); but as seen in the gospels He was a Man, but He manifested forth His glory; and the moment any apprehended His glory, that moment blessing came to them. Look for instance at the case of Peter in Luke 5:8. He says, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord".

The mystery is the great purpose of God; and the apostle's earnest prayer is that they might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation for the understanding of it. Apart from that we could have no conception of it; the purpose of God will most surely reach on to its full consummation, though all these centuries are taken up in effecting it; and it will finally come out as the new Jerusalem, in which there will be the full display of Christ.

For us now, I do not think anything can surpass the last verse of 2 Corinthians 3"Beholding ... the glory of the Lord", we "are changed ... from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord". Someone

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has said that that is gained by reading the Scriptures, but it is not so. In the Scriptures I get light; but the Person brings me to love.

F.E.R. When the Spirit conducts you to the Person, then it is that love comes in.

D.L.H. You must have the Spirit of God, to enter into the love of God.

F.E.R. And it is the Spirit that leads you to the One from whom you have received the testimony; and He makes you conscious that it is from the Person that it came to your soul. I am satisfied that it is a point of vital importance distinctly to connect the Person with the gospel, because all centres round Him; He has brought in life for man, and in that life He is going to place Himself in connection with the universe for eternal blessing. What has struck me in the epistle to the Corinthians is the personal way in which the Lord is brought in; many do not have in mind that the gospel comes to them from the Lord; they are disposed to view it as coming to them from the vessel, the one who may happen to preach it; and this idea is not only true as to the gospel but all truth. In reading the Acts, I have felt impressed with the fact of how the apostles evidently felt that they carried the Lord's testimony, not their own. Paul says to the jailor, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"; that is, that he should believe on the One from whom the testimony came. If this were better understood, people would be more really conducted to the One from whom they received the testimony.

Ques. What is beholding the Lord's glory?

J.B.S. I do not think anyone can know that until he tries it. It is not, as I have said, reading the Bible, but sitting before the Lord. The two disciples on the way to Emmaus, heard the most wonderful exposition of Scripture, but it did not alter them on their course a bit; but when He came and revealed Himself to them, their whole course was changed. No doubt that

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wonderful discourse came out very brightly after they had the Person.

Mary Magdalene had the love, and therefore she got the light; and she is the first to whom He shows Himself. This should be a comfort to every one of us.

G.G. Is the object of the glad tidings of the glory to lead you to behold the glory?

J.B.S. It is to bring you to the Person. If you know Him risen, you say, I should like to see Him where He is; you are intent on that; then you will do so.

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THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST

Hebrews 6:16 - 20

J.B.S. The first thing of immense importance to get clear about as to priesthood is that it comes in connection with the rejection of Christ. Psalm 110 shows that. It is a solemn, but sorrowful, fact that there is no true idea of priesthood in christendom.

As the rejection of Christ is practically ignored on every hand, His priesthood must of necessity be ignored also. Ignore His rejection, and you ignore His exaltation.

I think we know very little of the Melchisedec priesthood. Many touch the beginning of the subject of priesthood, which is alluded to in chapter 4 of the epistle, but we should not rest without going on to the consummation, which is not reached until we come to chapter 10. If what comes out in chapter 4 is not learned, you will not learn what is in chapter 10.

The first thing to understand is the greatness of the Priest; then the sphere of His service. He has entered in, and our association is with Him there; this is beautifully set forth in the hymn:-

'In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone.' (Hymn 12)

W.W. Is the Melchisedec priesthood confined to Christ in glory now?

J.B.S. The Melchisedec Priest is for us now; Christ is Priest after that order, though He exercises His priesthood after the pattern of Aaron. There are two classes of believers now: those who only see the work of Christ as far as the two goats, and those who see His work as the bullock which Aaron offered for himself and his house. (See Leviticus 16). To which class do you belong?

W.W. I should say, to the latter.

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J.B.S. Aaron offered for himself and his house - they were a priestly company; and, in his going in, all were there representatively; he went in in the savour of the sweet incense, which came up before the Lord. Our position as priests is thus set forth during the time of Christ's rejection here; we share in His place of rejection and also in His exaltation in heaven.

The company represented in the two goats is no doubt Israel in the future, and the blessing that will accrue to them is connected with the earth. Many christians do not go beyond what is seen in the two goats; they have the forgiveness of their sins, but remain in earthly associations, not seeing that their present privilege is to enter the holiest.

What is seen in the Church of England in their services is the idea of the two companies in an external way; that is, you get the clergy in their surplices inside the rails, and the congregation outside.

In Hebrews 10 you are entitled to go in, but the title has to be taken up; and a great point in the book of Hebrews is that we are attracted by a Person who is not in this place; but He is so indispensable to me, that I am drawn away from the place where He is not, to Himself where He is. I am not only freed from my sins, but with that I am called to the privilege of sharing the company of the One who has gone in to God.

But you must know Him as Saviour before you can have Him as Priest. You must be in all the benefit of His finished work on the cross, before you can be in His company in the holiest.

D.L.H. When you say we must be done with Him as Saviour, that, of course, relates to our sins, and all that we are in ourselves; all that was completed by Him, before He took up the service of priesthood?

J.B.S. Yes. Faith sees everything cleared from the eye of God once and for ever. But I sin, you say. Well then, the advocacy comes in, and if you do not

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judge your sin, whatever you fail to judge will be the very thing you will suffer from sooner or later; be sure of this, the unjudged thing will be your scourge.

No one could worship God until he gets to Him; in Hebrews you have a right to enter into the presence of God.

H.C.A. In reference to the two goats and the bullock we were speaking of in connection with Aaron and his sons, if we were in the benefit of what is set forth in the two goats only, we should simply have a title to a good conscience as to our sins in this world.

J.B.S. In Leviticus 8, where we have the order of the burnt-offering and the consecration-offering, what comes out is that all the sacrifices necessary for approach are offered first, and then Aaron and his sons have their hands filled - they are consecrated, and the consecrated company go in, in all the fragrance of the High Priest. It is our privilege to be consciously in the holiest in the acceptability of Christ Himself. We are actually put on a level with Him in the place of His exaltation. We have a title, and we are told to "draw near".

W.W. Do I understand that you would not have us taken up so much with the relief side in connection with the priesthood of Christ?

J.B.S. Yes, but you must begin with t he relief side.

D.L.H. Does not the relief come from above?

J.B.S. Certainly. The best illustration I know is in the case of Peter; when he is going to the Lord on the water he is on the way to join Him in another place, at the other side of death. As he goes, he begins to sink, and cries out, "Lord, save me". The Lord in answer does not quiet the waters, but draws him to His own side. So with us, He does not remove the sorrow, but He draws us to His own side.

It is perfectly inconceivable to think that we are brought on a level with the High Priest. I am drawn away to a Person who consoles me by taking me up

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into His own company. I wrote to a christian who was in sorrow, and I said to him, Sorrow never loosens us from this world. The sorrow is here, but He draws us to Himself where there is no sorrow. Every man can tell where he is historically from Hebrews 11. Some get as far as Noah; very few perhaps beyond Abraham.

Many persons think the object of priesthood is to make things easier for us here; but that is not the object of it at all.

Ques. Is the feet-washing in John 13 connected with the priesthood of Christ?

J.B.S. I think feet-washing is rather a different idea. The point in it is, I think, to remove all shade of distance between Him and me; it includes the thought of Priest in a sense.

D.L.H. I should like to ask whether the Lord in Psalm 22:22 is seen in the character of High Priest?

J.B.S. I should say it is more apostolic: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren".

As to feet-washing, you must have known what intimacy with Him is to know what restoration is. Many a person has his conscience right without his heart being right. Peter was not right as to his heart, until John 21. There may be a good conscience without the sense of distance being felt, because nearness has not been known. Where intimacy has been enjoyed, any interruption of it must be distressing.

I think Jacob gives us an illustration of it. When he is told to go up to Bethel to dwell there (Genesis 35:2), he says to his household and all with him: "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments". He had not been there for twenty years, but he remembered the character of the place. He had said, "How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven", Genesis 28:17.

One distinct-mark of a person who has been with

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the Lord, is that the Lord and His interests are paramount with him.

Priesthood is to bring you to His level in the presence of God - to the same position as Himself; you are there in His acceptance. The only passage, that I know of, that adequately describes it is in John's epistle: "As he is, so are we in this world", 1 John 4:17.

J.J. Is not the climax of the doctrine of priesthood reached in Hebrews 10?

J.B.S. No doubt it is. Many a christian's idea of priesthood is that Christ is now in heaven completing His work for us. No such idea could be gathered even from the types. In Leviticus 8, Aaron and his sons (type of us as a priestly company) are seen in the holy place, eating of the offerings. Christ, as the Melchisedec Priest, has not come out yet to bless Israel.

T.H.R. The Melchisedec character sets forth more the glory of the Person.

E.C. Are not the functions of Christ now as Priest Aaronic?

J.B.S. He goes beyond Aaron, because there is no type of going into "the holiest". The great truth to be learned by the soul is that I am before God, not only in all the perfectness of Christ's death and resurrection, but I share in all the fragrance and blessedness of Himself.

According to Peter's epistle I have first tasted that the Lord is gracious; the next step is that I have come to Him as the living Stone; then I have boldness to enter the holiest, I know Him as a great Priest over the house of God - a new order of things - I share; as

the hymn says-

'... Shares
All it possesses with its loved co-heirs.' (Hymn 249)

F.E.R. As far as I understand the subject of Christ's priesthood, it seems to me you do not come properly to the Priest until chapter 7:26. In verse 25 it says, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to

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the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them". Then follows, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens". We learn thus in the Priest the greatness of the calling.

I think priesthood is not simply to lead us into the enjoyment of our salvation, but into the apprehension of God's purpose about us.

In the common idea priesthood is the provision to carry us through the wilderness. With such a thought I could not understand the statement, "Such an high priest became us". It appears to me that changes the ground. Up to that verse all is on our side; but it is the means to an end: He comes to you on your side that He may conduct you to His side, and that is according to God's purpose - He is going to lead you into God's purpose about you, and the Priest is suitable - "holy, harmless, undefiled", etc.

D.L.H. Are we not supported on our side by being led to His side?

T.H.R. The question is, if the High Priest comes to our side, are we prepared to be drawn to His side? We like what is generally viewed as His sympathy with us in our circumstances of trial, sorrow, and so on; but we must not forget that if it is a heavenly priesthood, it must be connected with heavenly things.

J.J. May we not ask, Do we want to go there? If not, why is it we do not?

F.E.R. I think our answer is, because we do not want to leave here.

J.B.S. I would go further; I believe it is because we lack affection for the Lord. At the death of Lazarus, I do not think Martha tasted the sympathy of Jesus. Mary did, and He was so endeared to her that she no doubt felt His death far more than she did that of her brother. His sympathy so attached her to Himself, that she gladly expends the most costly thing

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she has upon Him. In sympathy I learn the depth of interest He takes in me - He wept with Mary!

Practically in principle many christians are like Job. Under the three great afflictions of man (he lost his property, his relations, and his health), he was sustained; and that is the most that is often looked for now. Sympathy is that He so feels for me that He draws me to Himself, that I may know Him and be with Him.

B. Someone has said that priesthood is to sustain us in circumstances now, and bring us to glory by and by.

J.B.S. But you want Him now; when the pressure is really great, He so endears Himself to you that, in His company, you are beyond your circumstances.

R.F.K. In which part of Hebrews do we find Christ as Priest leading us into the counsel and purpose of God?

F.E.R. "For such an high priest became us", etc.; that is, those who have come by Him to God. In chapter 6:20 it is said that He as "forerunner is for us entered".

In chapter 7:25 He is able to save to the uttermost, etc., and another thing is, He is suitable - "holy, harmless", etc., according to the calling. In chapter 8:1, 2, "We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle", etc. The whole ground is changed. Clearly this is not our side, but very distinctly God's side. Then in chapter 10 we enter "the holiest".

I see it in the type in Aaron. He was a high priest in things pertaining to God; the proper work of Aaron and his sons was the charge of the sanctuary. Moses inaugurated the system, and Aaron and his sons had charge of the sanctuary. As Priest, Christ is said to succour, sympathise, and save; but in this you have not got to the sanctuary. I think that is where the

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weak point is; many christians look for these three things because it is on their side; but when you come to the sanctuary it is a question of God's side.

It is good to have His succour, and no doubt the purport of it is to attach you to Himself. Affection appropriates the Priest; I have such confidence of heart in Him that I know He delights to conduct me to where He is.

E.C. Is not the exercise of the priesthood, as we pass through the wilderness in connection with our circumstances, incidental - the great purpose of it being to lead into the sanctuary, which is the paramount thing connected with it?

F.E.R. I do not think it is going too far to say that Christ is charged with the service of the sanctuary; He is the Minister of the holy places: He inaugurates the system as Apostle, and then He fulfils what Moses typically did not; that is, He takes up the priesthood also.

T.H.R. Another thing, the tabernacle was anointed first, showing that the sanctuary was the great thought. There the priest was to minister.

J.B.S. The tabernacle was set up in the wilderness, where also the law was given (by the law is the knowledge of sin); so that two things came out, namely, the knowledge of sin, and approach to God.

It is a great thing to get into your true position then, knowing that, it is wonderful how you will under-stand things.

D.L.H. Do we know where Aaron and his sons stood, when they had their hands filled?

J.B.S. Between the altar and the door of the tabernacle.

T.H.R. In the type Israel was much more in question.

F.E.R. There is no type of entering the holiest.

J.B.S. There is no doubt it is the great effort of

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many to bring Christ down to what He was on earth, instead of our going to Him where He now is.

He has no spot on earth but in the assembly, and there I come to learn of Him where He is, in His own house.

B. Does it not say, "If he were on earth, he should not be a priest?" Hebrews 8:4.

J.B.S. Quite so.

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OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ASSEMBLY IN A DAY OF RUIN - PHILADELPHIA

Revelation 3:7 - 13

J.B.S. The first thing is to realise that it is a day of ruin. The last four churches are not looked at in the aspect of the candlestick, but all four run together to the end.

W.W. We should not, I conclude, look for repair, recovery, or rebuilding?

J.B.S. Not recovery certainly, though that has been the great attempt.

The candlestick implies that you are known as the light-bearer.

Ques. Was it lost at Ephesus?

J.B.S. Ephesus had already departed from its character as a light-bearer, but the candlestick was lost at Thyatira. The church has ceased to be a witness. A candlestick is a bearer of light; the church was to be this characteristically, but the candlestick is gone. I do not mean that all the light is gone. If you assume to be the light in the place, you assume to be the candlestick.

F.E.R. I venture to think that is a rock on which many have stumbled. A common idea abroad has been that those called brethren are a body of saints separated from system and holding a certain number of truths peculiar to them, instead of being marked by absence of pretension, a people in whom the power and reality of the truth might be seen.

J.B.S. A candlestick was that by which all who came in might see the light.

One great thought, long ago at Plymouth, was to be a testimony - that was the first great blunder.

Ques. Was the candlestick gone in Paul's day?

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J.B.S. No, it was not. If Ephesus, which was the brightest, lost its place, what about the rest?

Ques. What is meant by, "Thou hast left thy first love?"

J.B.S. First love gives up everything that interferes with company. The Lord never forgets your brightest day, although you may; and you are sure sooner or later to go back to it - even though it may be on your deathbed. We ought to get back to first love, though we do not get back the candlestick.

F.E.R. We may come back to first love, as indicated in the cry in Revelation 22:17: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come".

J.B.S. You could not be in this attitude of "the bride" without first love; but we get back to it in the character of the remnant. What we find is that the darkest day closes with the brightest light. Historically we are in Laodicea. What are we to do? Our only resource is Christ Himself; having Him before us we get light, and that is what is seen at the end. People are looking for light, but if you had the Person, you would have the light. He is "the morning star" to Thyatira, but to the bride He is "the bright and morning star". There could not be this bridal affection apart from a true knowledge of union. I must say I do not know many who really enjoy union with Christ.

Ques. How can you tell when a person knows union?

J.B.S. The one who has been led by the Spirit into this wonderful truth must be absorbed with the interests of Christ.

We ought to take it greatly to heart that it is so very little known; I often hear people praying for the conversion of souls; but I wish there were more prayer that we might know the purpose of God as to union with Christ.

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A.M.P. Would you not say that we all accept the truth of union?

J.B.S. Yes! Yes! But I want you so to know it that you may be entirely engrossed with Him; it is not that you lose your individuality, but His interests become yours.

No one knows Christ as Head, until he is in the sphere of life in which Christ is; for that you must have crossed the Jordan. If you do not know Him as Head, you cannot know what union is.

John speaks of communion, and you could not be in communion without union.

W.W. Will you say a word again as to those seven steps you mentioned?

J.B.S. The first step is, you know peace with God; second, deliverance, that is, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made you free; you did not gain that by faith, but by the Spirit's work in you; third, you have come to Christ as the living Stone, and are on altogether new ground, and a component part of that structure which will ultimately come out of heaven as the new Jerusalem, having the glory of God; fourth, you know Him as the great Priest over the house of God, and you are in present association with Him in that bright scene; fifth, you have learned that He is your Head in heaven, and that you are in His life; sixth, you are united to Him, where He is; seventh, then you come to this scene to be for Him, during the little moment of His absence.

Ques. Is not every believer a "living stone?"

J.B.S. Yes, all are stones but all are not built in. Some say every one converted is on the rock, but it is not so. You first taste the Lord is gracious; then coming to the living Stone, you are builded on the rock.

Ques. When are the living stones built in?

J.B.S. When they come to Him - the living Stone. I do not believe anyone ever came without knowing it.

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The Scriptures give you nothing, though they show you what you get; but it is by the Spirit alone that anything is made yours.

In the state of things given in connection with the last four churches, what is so encouraging is that there is One who can enable you to surmount everything. And the church is called to take a path like His own path here; that is, whilst in everything He was for God, He did not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed: Philadelphia answers to that - it has "a little strength". That is commendatory, because if we had not a little power we could not act upon it; but He Himself is the Resource, and it is Himself as the holy, the true One, and who has the key of David. We should not be looking for the candlestick, but for the One who presents Himself again in this connection in chapter 22:16 as "the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star".

E.C. What is our distinct responsibility?

J.B.S. To cleave to Christ.

F.E.R. There can be only one aspect of the assembly in which responsibility can come in, and that is as God's house. You could not bring it in in connection with the body.

The first point of responsibility is to hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies; and that is to have in our souls a sense of the ruin. No doubt the more light you get, the better able you are to answer to your responsibility. It is well to see that it is not the assembly that is called to answer to its responsibility, but the individuals who form it.

Ques. What do you say are the responsibilities?

F.E.R. First, to hear what the Spirit says; and the second is, to cleave to the Lord.

What I see in the second epistle to Timothy, where the apostle contemplates the ruin, is that one is cast on the Lord; that is what characterises the epistle.

J.B.S. And in casting him on the Lord the apostle

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reminds him of what he had been taught: "Thou hast fully known my doctrine". No one can under-stand what the ruin is, unless he knows what Paul's doctrine is.

F.E.R. The church is here as God's house, and will be judged as that.

F.H.B. I think what F.E.R. says clears up a point; that is, it is not the responsibility of the assembly, but that of the individuals forming it, in a day of ruin.

Ques. What is involved in the word, "And hast not denied my name?"

J.B.S. It has been denied all round. His name is that in which He is declared, and that has been denied and man exalted.

F.E.R. It is very apparent that all has been falsified. He has been rejected from this place, and God has exalted Him on high; but man is seeking to exalt his own name here.

As to Israel, responsibility extended to every one of the nation in the day of ruin; but very few recognised the state of things, and sought the Lord. The more light you have, the more capable you are of carrying out your responsibility.

J.B.S. Responsibility is, you hear what the Spirit says, and unless you have the Lord before you, you will never be able to meet the state of things. He has the key of David, and He sets before them an opened door, which no one can shut. He is the Holy, He is the True; there is no 'and' between.

If you want to come up to your responsibility, the first thing is, you must be holy. Separation is the first great mark, and as you are holy you are true. You are true, because you come to everything that is according to God. He is true; everything is true as seen in relation to Him. I think you get the principle of it in the armour named in Ephesians 6:14, "Girt about with truth". In a scene of confusion and disorder

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I am separated to Him; in that I come to what is true.

F.E.R. The great thing in regard to what is said of the Lord is that it is morally characteristic. He introduces Himself in that way, and you have to answer to it. The idea of His name is that in which He is declared; not denying His name stands in contrast to the implied denial of it. We know how His name all around is falsified. All christendom is built up as though He were accepted here, but our true place in the assembly is that we are in the fellowship of His death.

J.B.S. At the Supper I have two things before me - death and glory; death where man is, glory where God is. Hence you announce His death until He come.

F.E.R. I think two things are very much confounded, namely, the Lord's supper and the Lord's table.

He says, "This is my body which is given for you", Luke 22:19; that brings out His affection in giving Himself. The Lord's supper is remembrance, therefore I can understand that expression.

The Lord's table is fellowship and responsibility. Up to chapter 11 (1 Corinthians) you have not come to any collective remembrance, and you come through chapter 10 to chapter 11, where you find the assembly come together.

Ques. Is not the unity of the Spirit connected with responsibility?

F.E.R. There is a practical unity brought in down here by the Spirit, which can only be carried out by the Spirit; if the flesh comes in it must spoil all.

J.B.S. No one will ever know what the unity of the Spirit is, until he knows the Head.

E.C. What is the difference between the union spoken of in the epistles and that in John 17?

J.B.S. In John 17 it is not union that is spoken of,

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but unity. The Father and the Son are in perfect unity. We ought to be in the unity of the Spirit, but that is not union.

The Corinthians did not. as far as I see, know the truth of the mystery, the only reference in the epistles to it being in the statement, "So also is the Christ", 1 Corinthians 12:12. I think they understood that they were the body, as we get it in Romans.

F.E.R. I should like to refer again to the point of Christ's having "the key of David". I think it is a truth of very great moment to recognise that the Lord has the power of administration here.

J.B.S. I believe the last type of the church in the Old Testament is Abigail. She sought the rejected king, and she eventually reigns with him.

F.H.B. She left Nabal, to own the true king, and she shared his glory.

J.B.S. I am assured if we were really separated to the Lord, as the holy, the true One, He would prove to us that He had given us an "opened door;" not an 'open door,' but one that has been opened.

T.H.R. It is what He leaves to you; but there must be the recognition of Him as "the holy, the true".

F.E.R. J.N.D. pointed out that in the last three churches the Lord introduces Himself under titles either characteristic or millennial.

In the present day men open a door for themselves - it is all organisation, carrying everything by banding together.

There is no idea of getting to the Lord and finding His opened door; there is not the idea that He holds the power of administration to the last.

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THE GIFTS: WHEN GIVEN, HOW KNOWN; INSIDE THE ASSEMBLY OR OUTSIDE

Ephesians 4:8 - 13

J.B.S. To begin with, we must distinguish between gift and conversion. I do not think it follows that a gift is given at conversion.

Ques. Would Paul be an exception?

J.B.S. He did not get all his gift then. He was a minister of the church as well as an evangelist. I conclude he got the latter first. The Lord says, "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee", Acts 26:16.

F.H.B. What is a gift?

J.B.S. Something given to you at a definite time for a definite purpose.

W.W. Have we in Scripture permanent and temporary gifts?

J.B.S. I do not think so; though the Spirit of God might move a man, and never afterwards move him again.

E.D. Would you say a word about the distinction between natural ability and gift?

J.B.S. Natural ability has nothing to do with gift. A gift is some distinct impression which is given of Christ.

If you ask for an illustration, the burning bush is given to Moses, and the man with the drawn sword to Joshua. A gifted man can always go back to the impression with which he started.

D.L.H. A person may receive a gift at conversion, but not enter upon the exercise of it?

J.B.S. Quite so, there is sometimes in a man that which answers to what they call a bearing in a coal mine.

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There is so much of the world in him that his gift does not come out.

Timothy was to stir up the gift of God which was in him. Evidently he received his gift in the assembly, by the laying on of hands. You must be walking in the power of the Spirit to be in the power of your gift. The apostle Paul was highly accomplished, no doubt; but what we find is, that there was given to him a thorn for the flesh - probably impediment in speech. Notwithstanding this, his gift came out in greater power.

There have been times when I have tried to be eloquent, and I did not increase in power. Often the word you think least of is most used. If you speak mentally, you will exhilarate your hearers; if you speak spiritually, you will subdue them. A man who has been reached by the ministry of the word likes to be off by himself. He is like a wounded stag - he gets to the corner of the field. I believe the effort to imitate another man's gift never prospers.

E.C. Imitation is the ruin of the church of God.

J.B.S. I think a striking example in Scripture as to when gift is given is in John 20; it is there we get all the characteristics of the assembly, though it is not actually set up. One is, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you".

The fact of a man having converts through his ministry, is not of itself a proof that he has a gift. If it were so, then many a woman would have gift, for many have been blessed in conversions.

F.H.B. I thought an evangelist was a man who was to carry the gospel and preach it.

J.B.S. Paul was an evangelist to the jailor; the man is converted, he then presents to him the good tidings.

I believe an evangelist is one who comes from the Lord with good tidings. What characterises him is that he is the bearer of good tidings.

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Ques. Was the jailor converted?

J.B.S. Conversion is simply the soul turned to God; the first point of it is misery; and the evangelist comes in to relieve the misery, though it is true a wicked man hearing the gospel might be affected by it.

F.H.B. Strictly speaking, you would say an evangelist is a bearer of glad tidings.

J.B.S. That is what characterises him.

Ques. Do we not find Paul, though an evangelist, reasoning of righteousness and judgment to come?

F.E.R. The evangelist, whilst characterised as a bearer of good tidings, to minister to the needy, would not pass over the state of man as it presents itself. Paul's spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city of Athens given to idolatry. If you went among the heathen. you could not perhaps begin with the gospel; you might have first to seek to convince them there was a God. Paul preached as glad tidings repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is the door opened of God in grace. He has given repentance, it is of the glad tidings; there would be no repentance if God had not opened the door. It is as much the grace of God in giving repentance as in giving forgiveness of sins - the word of the glad tidings is connected with repentance.

W.W. What is meant by "He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men"?

J.B.S. J.N.D. used to say gift was above all the power of evil down here, the devil or anything else. This passage holds good to this day; the Lord can give gifts now.

A.H. A person might teach without being apt to teach, that is, really possessed of the gift of a teacher.

J.B.S. Everything is Christ's, and He gives these gifts according to His pleasure; there is more gift in the church than people imagine. Many confine fruit to conversions. I do not. The greatest fruit unto God is souls growing up unto Christ. I believe the

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great good of ministry is to the end that you may be established; Romans 1:11. In 1 Corinthians 12 we have no mention of evangelists, because the subject is the assembly, and therefore it is the gifts inside.

Ques. Are the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 viewed more as the gifts of the Spirit, and the gifts in Ephesians 4 looked at more as the gifts of Christ?

F.E.R. I have thought that gifts were only given from the Christ once, that is, when He ascended up on high, He "gave gifts unto men". In 1 Corinthians 12 we see the gifts placed under the distribution of the Spirit, only the men are marked out of the Lord; it is a great point to see the power in which the gifts were given. Gifts are special favours - they are looked at as marks of His victory. It is when Christ has ascended up "far above all heavens" that He gave, and therefore what is bestowed must (in that sense) be superior to everything that is against it.

D.L.H. If a man has a gift, may we not say he has it from the Head?

F.E.R. It must come from the Head; but all that is given comes under the distribution of the Spirit. I think when the Spirit was given, everything was given to the church. It was then endowed - the gifts are Christ's endowment.

When the church has lost all sense of the presence of the Spirit, you do not get in the same way the benefit of the gifts.

Ques. What about the gifts mentioned in Romans 12?

J.B.S. There we come on to what is more general. My impression is that everyone has something from the Lord to do for Him. There is no scripture perhaps so little understood as that verse in 2 Corinthians 5, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again". You belong to the Person who died for you.

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W.W. I have often been humbled to think how we look to God for the smallest things instead of the greatest - we are prone to limit God.

T.H.R. It is an immense thing for us, in looking at the gifts, to see that they are to subserve Christ's interests and purpose. All of them are for the accomplishment of that; and the telling out of what God is.

J.B.S. If a man has a certain gift, he cannot change it. We sometimes see those who have had the gift of an evangelist, and after a time have settled down in a place, and tried to teach, but their mistake was soon patent. A teacher is one who is able to present what he knows, and has learned of God. No one can teach others beyond what he has learned himself, however much he may attempt it. Some perhaps say to me, You skipped such-and-such a verse without making any comment upon it. I answer, Yes, I did so purposely, because I am not in it.

Ques. What is a pastor?

J.B.S. A pastor is one whose care for the sheep is seen especially in his being able to enter into their state - he understands it. With his gift, the Lord gives him divine insight, and he knows, like a good physician, what you need and what will do you good.

Ques. If you felt the need of pastors would you pray for them?

J.B.S. Certainly I would.

F.E.R. We must keep in mind that gift is not local, there is no such idea in Scripture as a person with a certain gift, confining it to a certain local assembly; a gift is not simply a channel or pipe, but the man is characterised by his gift.

J.B.S. It has been often said where a company is prospering there is more gift in that place.

Rem. Has it not been the other way, sometimes, that where there has been little or no gift, the company has gone on well?

J.B.S. Wherever there is gift there must be subjection

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to the Lord in the exercise of it. If it assumes the form of ministerialism, it will lead to radicalism.

W.H. Is it open to a man to get the gift of an evangelist?

J.B.S. I think so. I have heard of a good many young men who go out preaching, but they are not known as praying in the assembly; that is what I should call a very bad beginning, because you never begin right, unless you begin with God. I think myself as to gift that a great lack is, one is not sensible of having received it at a definite moment.

Ques. How is the evangelist known?

F.E.R. I think you may recognise the evangelist. Scripture presents Philip and Stephen as two distinct servants of the Lord. There is a great contrast between the two. Philip was the evangelist, though Stephen was equally full of the Spirit, but you do not see him as the evangelist; Philip is the bearer of the glad tidings to the eunuch.

T.H.R. My idea of an evangelist is that he is a man who is in touch with souls. There are those brought into contact with him who cannot help feeling, That man cares for my soul.

F.E.R. In Isaiah 52:7 you get the idea of the evangelist presented, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace". And the next chapter opens with, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

T.H.R. What you bring from Christ must be glad tidings. One great thing to see is that God has a Man in His presence who is to His eternal satisfaction, and God is working from that Man.

F.E.R. The gift connects itself very intimately with the recipient. Of course the truth is the truth, but undoubtedly it connects itself with the person who presents it. I do not think you could make the

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evangelist out of Stephen; I think the work of evangelists is much needed among ourselves.

T.H.R. I think Paul's word to Timothy in chapter 4 of the second epistle is very striking. It pictures a day when everything was going to ruin; but he gets this word, "Do the work of an evangelist". He has this special thing to go on with despite the state of things.

F.E.R. I think we have to guard against a mere formal preaching of the gospel every Sunday evening at our rooms.

Rem. But we have a notice board up to that effect at nearly every room.

F.E.R. Yes, it is so; but I question the rightness of it, for you may be thus making the assembly responsible for the preaching, which is wrong, because gospel preaching is an individual responsibility. I should not object so much to the notice board, if the preacher put his name to it; because my idea is to get the preaching on its proper responsibility. I am sure it is much better where there is an interest awakened in the hearts of the saints in the gospel preaching, and there is real prayer about it, than to be trusting in a notice board.

E.C. It is too often the case that there is an attempt to sustain a gospel preaching where there is no gift whatever for it.

G. I know a place where there is a little meeting and no gift, where the saints give themselves to prayer for the gospel; and if the Lord is pleased to send a servant at any time, they then seek to get the people in to hear.

That is no doubt the happier thing.

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THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL

Ephesians 1:15 - 23

J.B.S. I think it will be seen from this scripture that you must be in a suited state to understand "the mystery"; we must not suppose that every christian we meet can understand it, they are not ready for it.

A great many believe in union who are not in the truth of union; the doctrine may be generally accepted, but it is another thing to have conscious knowledge of it.

If you take the type, Abraham's servant was sworn to see that Isaac's bride was of his kindred; that is where the practical difficulty with souls comes in, they do not know of what kindred they are. As brethren of Christ we cannot speak of our sins. The teaching of Hebrews is that we are His brethren. You must apprehend that you are of the same stock and lineage as Christ before you can know union.

D.L.H. When you say, as brethren of Christ, we do not speak of our sins, I suppose you mean in that relationship. Viewed as a man in responsibility one might commit sin and speak of it.

W.H. Would you say that verse 15 is state?

J.B.S. I should. It is the hearing of their state that led to the apostle's prayer.

F.E.R. We learn everything individually, but that leads on to the way in which we become manifest collectively. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil", 1 John 3:10. That is not an individual, but a collective thought.

J.B.S. We are not collective in the flesh, but collective in the Spirit. We do not get to the company until we are fit for the company.

How did Abraham's steward find Rebekah? It is a great thing to see how Scripture puts things.

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Rem. By the grace that was seen in her.

J.B.S. Quite so; and it is by the grace displayed in a person that we may know whether such a one is ready for the knowledge of union; as it says here, "faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints". He is walking in the power of his true lineage, and the question for every heart is - do you know it? Have you been conducted from Syria to the presence of Isaac? The Spirit of God is waiting to lead every soul to that spot; there must be some thing hindering, or you would be brought into conscious union with Christ in heaven.

Geo.C. But when it says, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ" - is not that true of all christians?

J.B.S. No one could have that apart from union.

F.E.R. We must bear in mind that without faith, which apprehends God's purpose, we have no title to anything; but it is a great mistake to confound the purpose of God with what is made good in yourself.

J.B.S. You cannot have conscious union until you have been conducted, like Rebekah, across the wilderness to Isaac; there must be the passing from knowledge to conscious knowledge. Rebekah had decision; she said, "I will go".

F.E.R. I venture to think that what leads to it is the knowledge of God, and that I do not get that by faith but by the Spirit. The Scriptures tell me what I have, but they do not give it me. It is by the Spirit that I get light; I doubt whether you get much desire except by the Spirit.

J.B.S. God declares His mind in His word, but the Spirit alone makes it good to you. What we have here makes it very plain; Paul prays: "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know", etc.

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If you speak about being enlightened, you have to get the spirit of wisdom and revelation before you can be enlightened, that is, that you may really understand this great mystery.

R.F.K. What does the spirit of wisdom mean?

J.B.S. I must have a true idea of what God is about. If you do not know what Christ is, you do not know what you are; and apart from the knowledge of Christ you certainly cannot know what the church is. Having the spirit of wisdom I see what is His great thought. John says, "There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written", John 21:25. Yet it is in God's purpose that not one single thing that He did should be lost, but should come out in one member or another of His body, according to John 17, and will come out in the new Jerusalem.

T.H.R. "The spirit of wisdom", etc., must come from God; all that is spoken of here is divine, and therefore must come in the way of revelation. It is what He is going to do for His own glory.

Ques. Why does it say God, and not Christ?

J.B.S. It is the greatness of God Himself in all His fulness.

F.E.R. The prayer makes it plain - it is the hope of His calling; the word repeated in the verse is "his" - His calling, His inheritance, His power. All that comes out is completely on the divine side, and all is ready to satisfy the love of God.

Ques. What is the hindrance to getting into it?

F.E.R. We are not men enough for it. There is a great difference between having things in the letter and in the Spirit, and thus having them made good in you.

W.H. Is it that we are to advance?

J.B.S. You cannot advance in union, you are to

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know it. We must take the road in order to know what is done for us, and must be with Him where He is to realise union, though all was done for me before I discovered it was done.

D.L.H. I should like to ask about "raised us up together".

J.B.S. There are seven things come out in chapter 2. First, raised up, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ (verse 6); then, a new creation (verse 10), one new man (verse 15), one body (verse 16), access by one Spirit to the Father (verse 18), and growing to a holy temple (verse 21); which brings you down to what is here "Builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit" (verse 22).

F.E.R. It is perfectly clear that in our being quickened together with Christ there is a positive operation of God's power in us. The apostle states, "You hath he quickened"; there is the plain statement, you who were in a certain previous state are now quickened together with Christ; that could not be ours apart from conscious association with Christ. This is the first step, and without it you could not be raised up and made to sit in the heavenly places in Christ. It is only in virtue of deriving from Christ, as Eve from Adam, that you can be united to Him. But in all the individuality is maintained; the same who are viewed as dead in trespasses and sins are sitting in Christ in heavenly places.

I see that one thing in it is, it is not a question of time; in the epistle all is stated from the divine side, it presents what God has effected apart from the question of moment.

F.H.B. I feel that it helps to the understanding of it if we leave out the point of time, as our brother says.

F.E.R. All is first effected in Christ, and then by the Spirit in us.

J.J. If it is quickened together with Christ, how

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could you be brought into it unless you have the life of Christ?

J.B.S. People say, In Christ, in heavenly places, but they have not got it; it is "in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus", Ephesians 2:6.

The great thing is to get it now. If you do, you will come out in a new way; answering to chapter 3. Christ will be dwelling in your heart by faith, that is really the Christ, all that concerns Him.

R.F.K. As to being "quickened ... together with Christ", and so on, was that not effected in me at conversion?

J.B.S. It was true of you, but it is only by the Spirit that it is effected in you.

F.E.R. A good deal, I have no doubt, hangs upon the word "know", in the apostle's prayer; it means effectually: I cannot understand its being said of anyone that he is quickened together with Christ, if he is not; you have to be brought into the consciousness that you are in association with Christ.

T.H.R. The whole secret of the difficulty of being in this truth in power is that we are not willing to go to the place where Christ is.

J.B.S. Where is the person who has crossed the Jordan, and who has reached the sphere where Christ is Head? You are there in the sphere of His life, and you come on to the understanding that you are united to Him; and when that is learned in the soul, the one paramount thought of your heart is the interests of Christ; you are joined to Him.

T.H.R. When Rebecca went from Syria, there was nothing but Isaac for her. Are we going to heaven now where He is? There is nothing but Christ there for you?

J.B.S. The mystery of the gospel is that we are united to Christ; and that gospel is not to bring you to heaven when you die, but to bring you to the Person who effected the work.

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F.E.R. You only enter into the "heavenly places" in proportion as you enter into the love that would have you there; and that love will never be content until you are there. The apostle speaks in chapter 2 of the "great love wherewith he loved us" (verse 4), that is His love is such that it will not be satisfied apart from having us where He is.

A.M. It is a difficulty with many christians if all is secured by Christ, why all is not theirs.

F.E.R. People do not leave room in their minds for the truth as to the formative work of the Spirit. To enter into what is ours there must be that; all is dependent on the affections in which you are formed by the Spirit; it is not faith that carries the believer into heavenly places, but love, answering to God's love. It is His pleasure to have you in His own place; and it is your acceptance of that which leads you into it. Accept that, that it is the pleasure of God's love to have you there, and I do not think you will let anything stop you.

J.B.S. It is the christian's true terminus, but you cannot get there until you have crossed the Jordan.

F.E.R. We get an illustration in the children of Israel; it was not the pleasure of Jehovah to put them into the wilderness, but to bring them into the mountain of His holiness. Love will have company, and will not be content with anything short of company. I think it is the most wonderful thing that you can conceive of that it is the pleasure of God to have us in "heavenly places", the most inconceivable joy possible, that it is God's pleasure to have a heavenly company with Christ; nothing inferior to that will do for God now.

J.B.S. When I think that we are dwelling on God's great purpose for every one of us, and that He would have us know it, it ought to be heart-breaking to think how very few there are who do know it; we are slow to give God credit for His purpose.

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F.E.R. No one can touch union until knowing that they are with Christ in life; and that is deliverance. You share with Him in His exaltation, and that according to the purpose of God's love.

J.B.S. Many know a good deal about the Scriptures, but do not know the Lord; do not know Him personally; that is what has an effect upon a person. We have no revelation but the Scripture, and no other power but the Spirit of God.

Ques. Was not Rebekah marked by decision?

J.B.S. Yes; and she not only had decision, but she had continuance, and that is where many come short.

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THE MANNER OF LIFE TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED

Exodus 15:22 - 27

J.B.S. This is a deeply interesting subject, but it is also a deeply solemn one. We have the same circumstances in the world after conversion as before, therefore how is the world a wilderness? As we sing:

'This world is a wilderness wide'.

I must confess I approach the subject with timidity, because one is so little in the reality of it. We have got out of Egypt through death and resurrection into a new position, and there is nothing but walking in the power of death and resurrection that can maintain us rightly in that new position.

Ques. Do we find Marah here?

J.B.S. The waters of Marah were brackish, they tasted of the Red Sea, Israel could not drink of them; but the tree sweetened them. That is what brings in the manna and the smitten rock. There is no support for you in the wilderness but Christ. They could not drink of the waters of Marah because they were bitter. You must accept death here. If Christ has died for that gratification, could you yield to it? Would you seek it?

F.H.B. Must it not follow that if one is in the enjoyment of the life of Christ, the world is to that one "a dry and thirsty land, where no water is"?

J.B.S. No doubt; but what we have to remember is that there are the same opportunities after conversion as before to enjoy the world. I have not found many who have realised the world to be a scene of death.

In Peter we get, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise

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with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin", (1 Peter 4:1); that is, from doing it. This does not go so far as Romans 6:11, where it is "dead to sin". If you had come from a very happy half-hour with the Lord in your own room, into a garden laid out with every natural beauty, you would be distracted. Even your own family circle does not help you.

F.E.R. Do you not think that the little sense we have of Christ's being rejected here has to do with it?

J.B.S. Quite so. If Christ died for you, and is still the rejected One, surely you would shrink from the scene of His rejection?

Ques. What is an idolater?

J.B.S. An idolater is one who enjoys himself in this world in the absence of Christ. If He gave Himself for me to deliver me from this place, how can I enjoy myself in it?

D.L.H. If I apprehend that all my blessings come from the cross of Christ, then the bitter waters are made sweet by the cross.

J.B.S. We want to be like Ruth, able to say, "Where thou diest, will I die", Ruth 1:17. Properly, I am in this scene to be identified with His death which delivered me from it. Paul alone speaks of the table, which is the fellowship of His death.

F.E.R. There is a great deal in what you were saying, that is, that the alternative to the wilderness is idolatry.

J.B.S. It is clear you appropriated His death to get out of Egypt, and now instead of being identified with that death, you are enjoying yourself.

F.E.R. In that sense I should say you may perish in the wilderness; you never enter here into the purpose of God for you.

F.H.B. When it says of the Corinthians, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep", 1 Corinthians 11:30 - I suppose that would answer, in a way,

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to what is said of Israel - their "carcases fell in the wilderness"?

F.E.R. Evidently at Corinth they had not entered into the purpose of God about them. They had reigned as kings without the apostle.

E.C. If I live through the death of Christ, I must live in another life to the old.

F.E.R. Have you any thought as to the manner of life?

J.B.S. The manner of life is entire dependence on God, and that is the manna. My Lord was here and He was sustained here by God. He had everything at His command, and yet was as dependent on God as though He had nothing. He did not find a solitary thing in the wilderness to sustain Him. The whole point for me as a believer is - I want to be sustained as He was. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God", Luke 4:4.

I have sometimes used as an illustration the case of a sister, who was telling me she had been in a storm at sea. I asked her, What were you thinking of at the time? She answered I was thinking of the Lord in the storm. Then I said, you were not like Him. You must be with Him where He is to be like Him where He was. It is not that you can imitate Christ. But if you are living in His life - the life in which He lived - you are in the path and in the life in which He was upon this earth. The scripture that makes it plain is Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me".

D.L.H. I understand that "the faith of the Son of God" is faith in Him where He is now.

J.B.S. Quite so; you must know Him where He is, to be like Him where He was.

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E.C. Association produces assimilation.

D.L.H. What is the difference as to life, as you are now speaking of it, and that which is connected with the brazen serpent?

J.B.S. Many souls know they are cleared of everything by appropriating Christ at the Red Sea, but they do not in that get rid of themselves; in Israel's case it is only at the end of thirty-nine years they come to the point that they are unmendably bad; for that there is no remedy but the brazen serpent. We can never take our true start as to the manner of life until we come to Numbers 21.

D.L.H. I want to get at the distinction between the life at the beginning of the wilderness and the end of the wilderness. At the beginning they had the manna and the water from the smitten rock.

F.E.R. I do not think you get the Spirit, as the Spirit of life, until you come to Numbers 21; they had the manna and the water from the rock (typical of the Spirit) at the outset for refreshment; they were God's provision for the wilderness. But in Numbers 21 you get the flesh condemned in its principle, and the well of life springing up, and it is then you enter upon proper wilderness experience. In a sense a christian is on both grounds. I think we need to guard against the idea of imitating Christ. It is true we are called to walk as He walked. You cannot do that except by the grace that is in Him, and that comes down from heaven. Hence all through you want the manna, and God is just as good at the beginning of the wilderness as at the end. It was at the beginning before law was given that He showed His grace.

J.B.S. In the New Testament our start in the wilderness is Romans 12. There are three great phases of the manner of life. (1) In Romans 8 you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; (2) in Hebrews 12 you are leaving this place for where Christ is. The

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idea of running the race is that you are leaving this place to reach a Person who is not here. (3) In Ephesians 4 you are called to come out in your family and walk as a new man. You are the exponents of the tastes and ways of the heavenly Man.

F.E.R. I think I can understand a man, first converted and brought to the Lord, being really in the wilderness with the desire to do the will of God, as in Romans 12; but he does not yet know what the Jordan means.

J.B.S. In Romans 6 you are not over the Jordan; you are dead to sin, but not dead to the world; that is Colossians.

Ques. Is it not difficult to be dead to the world, and have to do with business every day?

J.B.S. I believe that as a rule a man, if he is in business, has a pressure on him, and he finds it good for him, it serves as ballast to a ship. I have often said, If you give up business, and do not keep your nose to the grindstone, you will be sure to go wrong.

F.E.R. The thing to be recognised is that a christian is not here for his business, nor for his family, but for the will of God, though in God's ordering he may have a family and a business.

F.H.B. 1 think it is a pernicious idea to assume that a christian cannot be in business and yet have the interests of Christ at heart; I may be engaged in the pursuits of this life, but it does not follow that they are the object of my heart.

J.B.S. To be in the experience of Philippians you must have come from heaven. If you are not in Romans you are not in Hebrews; and you cannot reach Ephesians apart from Colossians. What sort of experience should I have if I came from heaven? It is not practice that we have in Philippians; practice is what you do, experience is what you know. But we must, as I have said, all begin as to manner of life with Romans 12.

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What the christian requires is to come from heaven to the wilderness; that is Philippians. You will never have a true understanding of anything until you are in it. The sense I have is that if I were so cleared of everything here, and through death with Him so consciously entering into His life in another sphere, living in the power and reality of it, I should be unspeakably happy. Jordan is a privilege to the christian; and for a person who is over it, the Red Sea and Jordan coalesce.

A.M. What is the difference between the Red Sea and Jordan?

J.B.S. At the Red Sea, I appropriate Christ's death to clear me before God of judgment and of everything; all is gone in the sight of God. At Jordan I realise Christ's death as setting me free of everything that is not of God - clearing me of the world.

F.E.R. It is important to keep in mind that at the Red Sea it is a question of judgment. At Jordan it is a question of deliverance from the world. It is a totally different thing to appropriate His death to be free of judgment; and to appropriate it to be free from the world.

T.H.R. We have an interesting picture in connection with Israel in the wilderness. They first get the will of God given to them - though it was in the way of law; then in Exodus 24 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel go up into the mount; and they see the God of Israel in connection with His glory, and they did eat and drink (representing communion). They touch heavenly ground, and then come down and have to make the tabernacle; and their interests are now bound up with God's interests; it is then not merely going through the wilderness; it is not my interests that I have at heart; but I have come down here, and His interests are now my delight and concern.

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F.E.R. Moses was the man of God in the wilderness, and it is in what is seen in him that we find instruction as to the mind of God.

F.E.R. Referring to the question of gifts which we had before us last night, will you say what is the nature of a gift?

J.B.S. A gift is some distinct impression that the Lord has given of Himself. I gather the idea from the Lord's words to Paul, "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee" (Acts 26:16).

T.H.R. And in it you carry out some grace that is in Christ.

F.E.R. Amongst us, those who minister are judged by it. A man is judged by what he can present of Christ.

J.B.S. I used to like to hear J.N.D. going over the same scriptures again and again; but there was always something fresh brought out of it. One should not shrink from presenting the same scripture repeatedly. I find myself constantly referring to the prodigal son, but I as constantly get something fresh out of it. It is not a mere acquaintance with Scripture that we should look for; I do not know any man who is less to be relied on than one who has a great knowledge of the letter of Scripture without the knowledge of the Lord. It is not the man who is a great reader of Scripture, or is, as we say, well up in it, but it is the man who knows the Lord that can present it so as to affect his hearers.

We see in the case of the Lord with the two disciples going to Emmaus, that it was not the exposition of the Scriptures that altered their course. It was only when He revealed Himself to them that that came about. It is Christ's pleasure to present Himself to you in

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some distinct way, and to this end He uses gifts. The pastor presents Him in one way and the evangelist in another.

F.E.R. No doubt the particular way in which Christ presents Himself to you is that which will characterise your ministry.

Ques. What do we learn in the children of Israel coming to the twelve wells of water and the seventy palm trees?

J.B.S. It is ministry; God giving refreshment in the wilderness; showing His care for you.

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EIGHT READINGS AT EDINBURGH

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ACCEPTANCE AND DELIVERANCE

Luke 15:2 - 14

J.B.S. Our subject this evening is our acceptance with God, how we are received, and our enjoyment of it. You find many who know their reception and yet do not enjoy it. Could the prodigal doubt his reception when his father covered him with kisses? It was so great that he did not make the proposition he had intended: "Make me as one of thy hired servants". You are justified when you believe that God has raised Christ from the dead. In the eye of God the man under judgment has gone in judgment in the cross, and you are not in Adam but in Christ risen from the dead. But you are not in liberty until you are delivered from the body of this death. It is when, like the prodigal, you are oppressed with your unfitness for God that you cry out from the inner man, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24), and then by the Spirit you know that you are in Christ, and there is no condemnation there. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2).

John's gospel begins with the brazen serpent, not with Exodus 12, because, though God's grace is accepted, there is not generally in believers a freedom from the old man in the life of Christ. They see that the old man is removed from God's eye in the cross, but they are not practically set free from the old man in themselves, unless they know they are in Another - in Christ Jesus.

"They began to be merry" is heavenly enjoyment; you are on divine ground. If the Shepherd had not gone out, the Father could not have come out, and the prodigal could not have gone in. The Father's heart can now come out in all its mighty volume, as we see in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. We get the doctrine of it in Romans. The first impression the

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Holy Spirit makes on your soul is that God loves you. Romans 5 is acceptance, and the Holy Spirit given. The one impression made on the prodigal by the father's reception of him was - I love you. No one is in the happiness of acceptance till he knows liberty. John's writings set forth our resources. Israel had to learn that they were unmendably bad. They were redeemed out of Egypt, but they had not learned themselves, and they really never accepted the wilderness until after Numbers 21. The Holy Spirit, who tells me that God loves me, is the same who tells me that I have life in Christ; Romans 8:2. I remember before I knew deliverance I have said, when I looked up to God, I was unspeakably happy; but when I looked at myself I was like the prodigal, conscious of my unfitness; I was not enjoying the great supper. When I had learned "that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18), then I cried, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" I wanted to be freed from my old self. This the brazen serpent typically sets forth; your eye rests on Christ made sin and you are free. You might, like Israel, take thirty-nine years in learning the wretchedness of yourself.

Ques. There are four types in the Old Testament - the blood, the Red Sea, the brazen serpent, and Jordan. What are the four points?

J.B.S. The blood is shelter from judgment. The gospel in christendom does not go beyond the blood on the lintel, and though the believer is thereby sheltered from judgment, yet he is harassed by Pharaoh and the Egyptian (Satan and the flesh).

In the Red Sea you appropriate the death of Christ for you; you see the water on either side of you, but God has made a way through it for you by the death of Christ, of which the water is the type. When you come to Christ risen you have peace with God, you enjoy your escape, but you are not in liberty yet - not

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consciously severed from the old man, knowing that you are in Christ. This you get in type in the brazen serpent. In Jordan you are dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world.

Would you be glad to be severed from the old man - to be morally apart from that man in another Man - Christ risen? You will not seek this until you are sick of your self. Then the Spirit will invest you with "the best robe", set you in Christ, and in His life you are free. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". It is very blessed that we can be free of the old man - the body of sin.

Ques. Do we get all in the story of the prodigal?

J.B.S. We get the line of it. The prodigal is in liberty when they began to be merry. Peter calls it "joy unspeakable".

Rem. I wish for it.

J.B.S. Then you will surely get it. He satisfieth "the desire of every living thing" (Psalm 145:16).

Rem. In Luke 15 we see the work for us and in us.

J.B.S. The Shepherd brought the lost sheep to the house. The woman with the lighted candle represents the evangelist's work. The prodigal came to himself when the light had entered him; then he arose, and his father ran to meet him, and covered him with kisses. Finally, the best robe is put on him, and they begin to be merry. The heart of God can now fully express itself to a thief or to a Saul of Tarsus.

Ques. Do you say that peace is not enjoyed till we know that the old man is crucified?

J.B.S. You could not enjoy God's presence, that is, the great supper, nor can you make merry until you are in liberty. You require not only to be clear of the old man in the eye of God but for yourself. You are not free from the old man until you know you are in Christ. At the end of Romans 8 you are established in the love of God which was made known

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to you in chapter 5. You cannot enjoy the great supper until you are out of Romans 7. You must know in your soul "that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing".

There are two parts in the natural man, one his mind, the other his body. The snare of the Corinthians was with the mind, and the apostle shows that the way to be diverted from their own wisdom would be by beholding Christ in glory, while the Galatians would renounce the religion of the flesh which they were seeking to build up, by giving Christ - the greater than Isaac - His true place in their hearts. Then Ishmael would not be tolerated.

Ques. How can I always be living in the Spirit?

J.B.S. I give you an illustration. A sailor said he did not mind any weather so long as he could see the sun. You must keep your eye on Christ. You will find that when you visit anyone with the Lord before you you get on well.

I asked a young man occupied with holiness by faith, Do you believe that the old man has gone in the eye of God in the cross? He said, Yes. Then I added, If you were walking in the Spirit of God, would you not see that man gone from your own eye. too? He was obliged to say, Yes, or he would have made the Spirit of God not to be one mind with God. Many a soul is not properly started by the gospel that is preached. It is of all importance that a soul should be directed to the One whom he has offended. Supposing I go to a house where I am intimate, and see a child in the corner in disgrace. I do not ask the child how he feels; I speak to the parent to see whether I can bring good tidings to the child. The father tells me that he has broken the clock, but that as he cannot mend it he will mend it himself. I have now good tidings for the child; not only does the father effect reconciliation, but it must be to his own satisfaction, because he has done it himself.

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Ques. Do you distinguish between what the soul accepts in faith, and what the Spirit makes good in you?

J.B.S. Yes; for instance, to say you get holiness by faith is not true. By faith you are assured that God sees you in Christ, but you do not know that you are in Christ but by the Spirit. The objective side of truth which has been brought out so fully has done harm to souls when the Spirit's work in you, which is the subjective side, has been overlooked. The late trouble was connected with the objective side; they would not have the subjective. All is yours before you enjoy it, but you only enjoy it when you possess it. The legacy is yours, but to enjoy it you must get possession of it. The man who is only on the objective side loses sight of the Spirit; the man who is only on the subjective side loses sight of Christ, and that all is in Him for you. It is for you before it is in you. You do not get to heaven by attainment but by union with Christ.

Ques. Can you get higher than joying in God?

J.B.S. It is joy because of reconciliation in Roman 5. Reconciliation is that everything has been removed. The newly-born soul's joy is that he is out of the ruin; the prodigal's joy is in the father's house. The "great supper" is the celebration of grace, which no one enjoys until he knows deliverance or liberty.

Ques. What is the path to liberty?

J.B.S. The only way to liberty is to leave Adam for Christ -- to change your man; then it is "not I, but Christ liveth in me". There are two sides; one, that you are cleared in the eye of God in the cross; the other that you know you are in Christ. Then you are free: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". The flesh is set aside as you walk in the Spirit. You must accept the fact that you have died with Christ. To this you are committed in baptism. The mark of a man walking in the Spirit is that his body is a living sacrifice.

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LIBERTY

2 Corinthians 3: 7 - 18; Galatians 4: 28 - 31; 5: 1

J.B.S. Our subject this evening is how we are established in liberty. Those to whom both these epistles are written - the Corinthians and Galatians - had fallen from liberty, and now we see how the apostle establishes it. The defection is different in the Corinthians and in the Galatians. The natural mind led away the Corinthians, religiousness the Galatians. These two come out in a different way in the Colossians. Christendom is characterised by ritualism and rationalism. In Corinth we see in a church really enlightened, but led away by the natural mind, how the apostle seeks to establish them in liberty. There can be no progress till you are established in liberty. You may admire truth, but you cannot progress. The Spirit always leads you on in His own line. He never drops a stitch, as it were; He never deviates from His own order. The divine work is in the one line. The apostle had not been in Corinth between writing the two epistles. In the first epistle he tells them that he was determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Ques. What is the gospel of the glory?

J.B.S. The gospel of the glory is that your Saviour is in glory. You are drawn away by it to Christ where He is, out of the ruin here. The gospel in christendom does not go beyond the Passover. Many are not beyond pardon. Resurrection is another step. When I see Christ risen I am justified, I have peace with God. You cannot have peace till you know Christ risen. Paul calls the gospel of the glory "My gospel". The gospel of the glory brings you to the Person. In Romans you are learning the gospel. If you study Romans, you will see that the apostle is bringing you

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to the Person, and that is deliverance. The first thing I know is that Christ did a work for me; the effect of that is that I give to Him, as Jonathan gave to David. Secondly, I know that He is my life. The effect of that is that I suffer with Him. If you know Him in the assembly, His interests occupy you. The gospel of the glory is that there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory. There was a demand for righteousness from mount Sinai, now there is a ministration of righteousness from the glory. The glory of God is the expression of all His attributes. This could not be shown to Moses, but all shines out in Christ.

Ques. What is the effect of beholding the Lord's glory?

J.B.S. Transformation. In Psalm 73:22 the godly man finds he is unfit for God's presence; he says, "I was as a beast before thee;" but now, seeing Christ in glory, I am brought into moral correspondence with Him. You cannot enjoy the gospel of the glory unless you are in liberty. The Corinthians were led away by their natural minds, they gloried in their own wisdom.

The nearer you are to Christ in glory the better off you are. Isaiah felt unfit for the glory. He says, "Woe is me! for ... I am a man of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5), etc. He was not in liberty. There is no live coal in the glory now. Why? Because there is a Man there, who has accomplished all for the glory of God. The live coal sets forth that God does not abate His holiness, but He always has grace. I have not found an illustration of the difference between law and grace. I have heard of a landlord forgiving his tenants, but becoming a giver to them instead of demanding from them I never heard of. Dr. Doddridge's dream sets it forth in measure. He dreamed that he came to the gate of a palace, and that he was so well received that he went in; then he went on from room to room, and

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was better received as he went on, till he came to the presence of the Sovereign, where he was received with acclamation. He should have learnt from Scripture the truth that his dream sets forth, but God brings the light to a soul in different ways. The way in which the Corinthians are established is beautiful; it is like the queen of Sheba when she came to Solomon and saw his glory, she was so entranced that there was no spirit left in her. So it is in beholding the Lord's glory, self is displaced. A man who is led by his own wisdom has never yet been in company with Christ in glory. If he were he would be transformed into the same image. This word (transformed) is only used four times in the New Testament.

Ques. Is there any difference between the liberty in Galatians and in Corinthians?

J.B.S. In Corinthians is set forth that man's mind has to be surpassed by that which is infinitely beyond, and the effect is "always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:10). The liberty of Galatians is Christ formed in you; the true Isaac in His place, Ishmael cast out.

Ques. Do you see distinction between the natural mind and religiousness?

J.B.S. In the latter you observe days and months and years. You are under the law. The Galatians had begun in the Spirit, and were seeking to be made perfect in the flesh. That is religiousness. The Corinthians were full of their own wisdom; that is the natural mind.

Ques. Would you explain the effect of beholding the Lord's glory?

J.B.S. You are in His company, and are made like Him - transformed.

Merely reading the Bible will not make you like Him. The two disciples going to Emmaus had a wonderful exposition of Scripture; it did not alter their course one bit. But when the Lord made Himself

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known to them all is changed. They leave their own course and take His. I may behold Him in my own room, and if I do, I drop my own things by being brought into company with Him. But when I behold Him in the assembly, His things absorb me. Even with those two disciples we see how when they behold Him their own things are secondary; they go back to the hive, and with good honey, too. I am lost in delight of heart in beholding Him. And besides this, I have guidance - I get scripture to corroborate it - fresh light.

Ques. Does a person ever lose liberty?

J.B.S. You do not really lose it, but it may be clouded, you may lose the enjoyment of it. If a father in Christ falls, he is restored to the height from which he fell.

The Corinthians were greatly endowed, but they were full of their own wisdom, they were not ready for the "hidden wisdom". Your own wisdom is superseded by being with the greater than Solomon in the sphere of His glory, and you are brought into moral correspondence with Him. Stephen is an illustration. When he beheld Jesus in the glory of God he was in moral correspondence with Him here.

The Galatians were trying to be perfect in the flesh; they were not in liberty. How is it established in them? The apostle tells them that Abraham when Isaac was weaned made a feast, all in the house doing honour to Isaac; all except one, a youth of fourteen, and he mocked. That was Ishmael. Sarah says he must be cast out. The first great thing in getting rid of the religious man is that Christ must have an acknowledged right to everything that I have, from the nursery to the office. No man has liberty till he has parted with one man - Adam, and is in another - Christ; till he comes to "not I, but Christ liveth in me". Then he is able to say, "I am crucified with Christ". If I were absolutely under the control of

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Christ, I should do everything in a beautiful way, because a divine way. He does not help us with what is not of the Father. Nothing is more difficult than to say experimentally, I have done with the old man - he is eclipsed. Man tries to improve himself, he does not like to be eclipsed. The doctrine in christendom is - get Isaac to improve Ishmael; but no! you must turn Ishmael out. I studied the beautiful traits in man till I found that not a single trait in him would acknowledge Christ. Ishmael, Abraham's son, brought up in Abraham's house, was found after fourteen years persecuting the heir of promise. It is a more painful experience than that of Romans 7, to find that the best quality in my nature does not like Christ. It is a terrible discovery. Amiability, honey will not do; no! you cannot improve the flesh, it will be flesh still. As J.G.B. said, You may sublimate the flesh as much as you like, it will never yield spirit.

There are two things: the first is that you acknowledge Christ - the true Isaac - in His place. The second is that you do not tolerate Ishmael. It is a wonderfully blessed moment when a soul can say, I do acknowledge Him. Now comes no toleration for Ishmael. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free". You may say, If I put Ishmael out of the door he will come in at the window. No; the Spirit resists the flesh, and He is within you, that you may not do the things that you would. I have a power in me that would not let the flesh in, that will keep the door like a policeman. I have said that flesh is stronger than grace. I would not say so now. Many are like teetotallers practising self-control; but that will not do - "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14). There is not a word about sins in that passage, it is pure liberty - a new creation.

Now you can say, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in

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me". And now comes the practical course - "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God", etc. It is transcendent!

Ques. What marks a person in liberty?

J.B.S. He rejoices in Christ Jesus and has no confidence in the flesh; he shrinks from the flesh. Everything must come divinely. The more effective a man is, the more correctly will he quote Scripture.

Ques. Will you explain again the difference between objective and subjective truth?

J.B.S. Objective is - everything is done for me, all is pure grace. Subjective is - the Spirit's work in me; you must not separate them. The Spirit effects in me what Christ has done for me. The Spirit makes it all good to me. He sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. No one will be happy till he is as clear of the old man in his own eye as he is clear of him in God's eye. In the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, I am free from the law of sin and death. If you have gone the road you will know what it is.

Ques. Do you think that Romans, Corinthians and Galatians are different aspects of liberty?

J.B.S. Liberty is taught in Romans, but the Corinthians and Galatians had departed from it. Romans is simple truth. Romans and Ephesians are generic (parent) epistles. One gives the gospel, the other the church.

Rem. In Luke 15 we have the germ of both: "For this my son was dead" - Ephesians; "was lost" - Romans.

J.B.S. Yes. Tomorrow the subject will be the assembly, Matthew 14, 1 Peter 2. Next the priesthood. Next the wilderness.

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THE ASSEMBLY

Matthew 14:10 - 31; 1 Peter 2:2 - 10

J.B.S. Our subject this evening is the assembly. The first point is, what is its object and purpose? Secondly, how you are in it. Thirdly, the privileges and responsibilities of it. Fourthly, the moral effect of being in the assembly.

The first thing to see is Christ's rejection. In Matthew 14 John the baptist has been beheaded, and the Lord is going to prepare the disciples for His own rejection, and to give them instruction as to the new ground. It was a moment of profound interest, what is called in political language a crisis. From chapter 14 to chapter 16 He is educating His disciples for the new structure.

Ques. Why do you connect it with the beheading of John?

J.B.S. John was the forerunner of Christ. It is like a courier going before a king. If they kill the courier, it shows they are ready to kill the king. The Lord plainly accepts it as indicative of His own rejection; and what does He do? He goes into the wilderness. Do you understand that? Do you accept His rejection? That is the first step towards the assembly. There are many pious men in system who cannot find the assembly. Why? Because they do not start aright. They do not start with His rejection. The object and purpose of the assembly is to supply a place for Christ on earth where He has been rejected. How little is known of it!

The Lord goes away to the desert where the poor of the flock can find Him, and feeds them there. Then He sends His disciples on the sea, that they may realise the state of things on earth. He Himself goes to the mountain. They are in the midst of the sea; the

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winds and the waves - the power of Satan and the world against them. And He goes to them. BUT HE TAKES NOW A NEW POSITION. He is not now, as in chapter 8, quelling the storm; but He is above it in a new position - supreme now, not only superior; He was always superior; now He is supreme, outside of it all. I ask each one of you, Do you believe that the Lord is in a new position?

Rem. I think I can say I do.

J.B.S. You admit He has changed His position; He is walking on the water, supreme above all here - outside of it - He is declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead. If you could meet the Lord now, I ask, could you find Him on earth?

Rem. The only way we could know Him now is as the glorified One.

J.B.S. The Lord is rejected, disallowed of men. He is declared to be the Son of God with power. He is outside the whole thing. Has He any place on earth? Yes; He has His assembly; He comes into the assembly; He has no other spot here. He is there as Son of God. You come to meet Him there, not as your Saviour, but as the Son of God. He is Son over God's house. If we meet Him in the assembly it is as Son of God. In these chapters 14 - 16, He is preparing His disciples for the new structure, which they would belong to in the place where He was refused. In the gospel narrative all is pattern. In the Old Testament you get types, not patterns.

Our second point is, How do you get in? The assembly is formed of living stones. How do I get to be a living stone? Matthew 14 describes the step - coming to the living Stone. We come to Him first. Peter illustrates the step. He leaves the ship, and gets to Him across the water. If you go to Him now you must cross the water. How do you do that?

Ques. Water represents death, does it not?

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J.B.S. Yes; the water represents death. If you appropriate His death you are in His life. That is the step. I believe a great many brethren have never taken that step: they have not got to the Lord personally as the living Stone - the new material. John 6 and Matthew 14 happened at the same time. One is His side, the other our side.

Rem. Peter had been dealt with by the Lord previously.

J.B.S. Yes; there must be conversion. The current idea is that when you are converted you come to the living Stone. Nothing of the kind. You come to Him in His new position, and then you are come to the new structure, to form a constituent part of the assembly where He dwells. I do not think a person can come to Him as the living Stone if he has not deliverance. It is a great thing to get deliverance. We were speaking of that subject on a former occasion. Tonight it is the Person we have before us - He is our life, and we are in the place where He is.

It was affection in Peter that made him leave the ship to join the Lord. If a young believer has affection he will never be satisfied until he gets to Him.

Rem. It is the heart that is drawn.

J.B.S. Quite so. I often give an illustration of it in the way young birds are taught by the parent birds to leave the nest and fly. They flutter over the nest, and the young ones in their desire to join them, discover that they have wings - the power for it. The power for us is the Spirit of God. We have the power; what we want is the affection to join the Lord. When you do join Him, you find He is your life - He is everything.

Ques. Is the step easier now than in Peter's time?

J.B.S. Not a bit. Coming to the living Stone is the act of the Spirit of God, and then it is you are built in. In John 9:35 the man who had been blind has come to the Son of God. "Dost thou believe on the

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Son of God? ... Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? ... Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". He has come to the living Stone; he is in the solitude of light, outside of man.

Ques. Do you mean that joining Christ means giving up?

J.B.S. No; I am not thinking of giving up. I am thinking of one thing - the Lord Himself. I want to join Him, and to do so I must step outside of myself and of man. It is only in His life that you can cross the water.

Peter began to sink. There is where priesthood comes in. The Lord stretched out His hand to him. He did not smooth the water, as in chapter 8; but He draws Him to His own side. Relief is what most christians are looking for.

Rem. To join the Lord is really to know Him in His new position.

J.B.S. Exactly. It is the same order that comes out in Hebrews, "He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one" (Hebrews 2:11).

Rem. I do not see the difference between a person being converted and being a stone.

J.B.S. Every converted person is a stone, but he is not confirmed yet - not in his place. In 1 Kings we see that the stones for the temple were in the quarry, but they had to be brought from the quarry to Jerusalem, to be a component part of the building where God would dwell, and covered with cedar and gold for God's presence. All saints are stones out of the quarry, but all are not built in. You are a stone but you are not a living stone till you come to the living Stone. It is actual contact with Christ Himself.

Ques. You would say that a person might be converted many years before he got to that?

J.B.S. I say it is so with thousands in christendom; and I come closer; I think that many among brethren

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have not taken that step though they have peace. It must be by the Spirit of God that you take the step. The Lord is on the other side of death and you cannot be on the ground that He is on except through death. If you are in liberty you practically realise John 6.

Now we come to the third point: the privileges and responsibilities of the assembly. The first thing that characterises us is that we remember the Lord's death. It is a weak meeting when the breaking of bread is postponed. There is the altar and the door of the tabernacle; I have death and glory before me; I with the consecrated company join Him; I am in the holiest of all. There is no type of it in Scripture because it is so transcendently great. The high priest went in alone in the Old Testament. He has companions now.

Ques. What do you go for?

J.B.S. I go to remember Him, and to listen to Him. Wherever Christ is, is the holiest of all. He is the greater than Moses and the greater than Aaron. Moses received communications. We listen to Him. He would give the suited word, and even if no word is spoken, a wonderful effect is produced. "Beholding ... the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18) is the holiest of all for the gentile. When He comes to me in my room, it is to my circumstances; when I join Him in the assembly, I go to His. Verbal ministry, if in the Spirit, always indicates freshness from the Lord. The Father is made known. There are two things in John 14 - "I will not leave you comfortless", and, I will let you know who I am - "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father", etc.

Ques. You expect communications in the assembly as nowhere else?

J.B.S. I do. Psalm 84 is a time of ruin a valley of Baca. I get into God's house; I come forth, as a royal priest, to show forth the praises of Him, etc. This is our fourth point, the moral effect of being

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there; the royal priesthood explains it - what you are outside.

Ques. You couple responsibility and privilege in the assembly?

J.B.S. Yes. A man who says not a word may be a. hindrance if he is in a bad state. How often the giving out of a hymn may lead the meeting astray! It is a great responsibility to take part, but blessed. A true minister of the word never speaks beyond what he knows. There is no ring in it unless he is in it himself. If you have to do with the Head you will get light on the spot, and though you may give it out feebly, it will be telling. If you are with the Lord you are thinking of Him, and of His people, and you get direction from the Head, and the light He gives you being from Him, brings a blessing with it. All do not know the Head, but if they seek the welfare of His people, He gives a word to help them. You may get an impression from the Lord that brings the word in a fresh way to you.

Rem. Explain the difference between 'believers' meetings' and the assembly.

J.B.S. In 'believers' meetings' believers come together to rejoice in the Saviour and salvation, but in the assembly you go to meet Him as Son over God's house. In the former you go for yourself. In the latter you go for Him. You form part of a building where He dwells. It is entirely new ground. You find yourself in a new position.

Ques. In speaking of our being brought into the assembly, would you say it is individual?

J.B.S. We learn it individually; we learn everything individually. If you talk of sins in His presence He is not supreme to you.

Rem. When we speak of sins in the assembly we speak of ourselves.

J.B.S. Quite so. You have gone to your own house instead of to His. If you were to go to court

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you would not tell the Queen that you had a dirty face yesterday, you would go to her suited to her presence. All the sons of Aaron had the right to go in, but if they had a blemish they could not go in, though they could eat the bread. You must be in the perfection of Christ. There are no sins connected with the christian; there is no more conscience of sins. There may be consciousness of it. If I sin, I cut a rod to beat myself. I do not deny that we sin; we do; but the brethren of Christ as such do not sin.

Rem. If we apprehended the new order, we should not be occupied with the old.

J.B.S. Surely we should not. The consecrated company enjoy Himself. It is not that you go in in the acceptability of His work only, but in the acceptability of Himself. I do not think we realise, on the Lord's day morning, when we come together, what it is to be a building for Himself. The longer I live the more I see how little I have apprehended the nature of the new structure. How different our coming together would be if we apprehended it more! It was very soon spoiled, bad material brought in and ruin. But the Lord is not lost; the living Stone is not lost; and we come to Him. We never understand the Lord until we come to Him. We may understand Him as Saviour, but we do not understand what the living Stone is until we come to Him. The mass of christians do not get beyond conversion; and among ourselves how many are not beyond having peace with God? If you have not that, you have nothing. But is there nothing beyond? Faith tells me what God has effected for me, but it is only by the Spirit I enjoy it, and if not walking in the Spirit 1 do not enjoy it.

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THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST

Hebrews 4:11 - 16; 6: 19, 20; 10: 19; Leviticus 8:22 - 33

J.B.S. Our subject tonight is the priesthood of Christ. The first thing is, He is distinct from Aaron; that we have in Hebrews 6"the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec".

Little is known about priesthood practically, because people are so little established in the work of the Saviour, and unless you have, in that sense, done with the Saviour, you cannot touch the priest. I know many take exception to this statement, but I say, If you have sin before you, you have not the Lord as priest before you. As priest He has nothing to do with sin. When you come to the priesthood you come to an entirely new footing. The idea of priesthood in christendom is what you get in Leviticus, but that is not the idea of it in Hebrews. The idea in Hebrews is that Christ is rejected here and exalted to God's right hand, a priest after the order of Melchisedec. If you accept the one - His rejection, you get the other - His exaltation and priesthood. Christendom ignores the first, and never knows the second. They have no idea of the priest of God, and therefore they put the priest between the congregation and God. You get the true thought in the hymn:

'In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone'. (Hymn 12)

Is that clear to you? It is a great thing to get the right idea to start with. The priest's service on our side has to do with infirmities, not with sin. When you talk of sin you are not with the priest. In Hebrews 1:3 we get, "when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down".

Rem. Christ is not a priest on earth.

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J.B.S. He could not be a priest on earth, He is a priest on high. So the idea of a clergyman being priest is all a mistake.

Ques. You think priesthood has to do with infirmity?

J.B.S. There are two parts in priesthood. One is to carry us through difficulties to Himself; the other to bring us according to Himself into the presence of God. The first part terminates at the end of chapter 7; He is able to bear you above every pressure; the second is, that He maintains you in His own blessedness in the presence of God. Many christians know the first part, but few know the second. Chapter 4 is my side, chapter 10 His side. I used to wonder why chapter 4 comes before chapter 10. I found the reason is that I want my side met before I can get to God's side.

Ques. What is your side?

J.B.S. Infirmities. I want His sympathy. The first part of His priestly ministry is to relieve your spirit of every pressure, even as He is now out from every pressure under which He went in grace for us; the second part is to maintain you before God. Sins are all purged before you touch the priesthood: "He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one" (Hebrews 2:11) - of one nature with Christ. It is no question of sin on either side; on my side it is infirmity, not sin; on His, He leads me into the holiest, and there can be no sin there. If a man speaks of sin he is not in the holiest. If you brought sin there, it would not be the holiest.

Ques. You would not deny that we recollect what He has done for us?

J.B.S. Not before you come, but when you are in the holiest you are beholding the glory of the Lord. If you do not see this, you lose the idea of worship. "We both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18).

Ques. But there is something of sins in Hebrews?

J.B.S. Yes, but it is over. We read, "This man,

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after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down". (Hebrews 10:12). Again, "No more offering for sin". You may say you do sin, but there is no more offering for sin. The moral idea of the holiest is the blessedness of Christ in the presence of God, not your own salvation. The more I ponder it, the more incomprehensibly great I see it to be. We all have a meagre idea of worship.

Ques. Is it in being drawn to Christ in the way you speak of, that we learn what His priesthood is?

J.B.S. Yes, you are drawn to Him in your infirmity. There are three classes of infirmities: (1) the pressure of circumstances; (2) bad health; (3) bereavement. Job went through all three. He lost his possessions, his health, and his family; but though he had sustainment he had not sympathy. The mass of christians are there; they bear up in a way under their trials, but they have not learnt the Lord's sympathy.

Ques. How is it learnt?

J.B.S. Like Peter in Matthew 14. When he is set on reaching the Lord he finds out his infirmity. He cries, "Lord, save me". He had wanted to get to the Lord, but now he wants to get out of trouble. Affection was leading him to the Lord, but his own infirmity stopped him. The Lord, instead of quelling the storm, stretched out His hand and drew him to Himself.

Ques. Was it failure when Peter began to sink?

J.B.S. Failure of faith - weakness. Happy the man who does not give way under pressure. You cannot get sympathy till you get to Him.

Ques. What is sympathy.

J.B.S. You see it in John 11. Martha got His instruction and correction, He talked to her; but Mary got His sympathy, He walked with her. When I get His sympathy I am drawn away to Himself where there is no trouble. I am solaced with Himself, I am in His company, I am perfectly relieved. The common idea of sympathy is comfort; but relief, even sustainment,

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is not sympathy. Nothing so affects my heart as that the One who loved me and gave Himself for me is indispensable to me in every sorrow and pressure here.

The effect of what is brought out in Hebrews is that the Lord is so indispensable to me, that my heart is weaned from this place. I then run on to a Person who has endeared Himself to my heart; that is the race of chapter 12. I never knew a man leave the world in heart till he got to know the Person who gave him relief in sorrow. Affliction does not wean one from the earth. We all have sorrow, what we have to learn in the sorrow is His sympathy; Mary learned it in walking with the Lord, and she so learnt it, that to lose Him in death would be a greater loss to her than that of Lazarus, and she says, I will put the costliest thing I have in His death. The Lord says, as it were. I not only love a sinner, but I will make a sinner love Me. Mary buried her greatness with the Lord, and this was called waste! I have seen very few do that. When you are drawn to His side, it is not merely that He solaces you, but He so bears you up that you are like Paul and Silas in prison, but above the pressure.

We get in chapter 4:11, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest". That is, running on to heaven. Now we have two things to help us on the road - the word and the priesthood. The word is to show us the way we should go. Do you understand that?

Rem. I think so.

J.B.S. You might mistake your way, for there are many wrong roads, and only one right one - the road to heaven. You find the Lord has gone that road, and you are sure to get His hand on that road - His sympathy. If you are not on the right road, you will not get His sympathy. Martha is not on the right road, and though He loved her and corrected her, she does not get His sympathy. Correction is to show you that you are not on the heavenly road. When you are on the heavenly road you get His sympathy. Paul and

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Silas got sympathy, and they sang praises to God in the prison; they were above their circumstances. You go to a meeting pressed down with your trouble, but if you get into His company you are borne above it, so that instead of being a hindrance to the assembly, as you would be if overwhelmed with your sorrow, you are above it, and He leads you into the holiest - His own presence.

Lying here in the night, there is nothing around me to comfort; I look up, there is no improvement in my circumstances, but I get sympathy from a Person who is not here, and I am drawn out of the pressure to Him.

Ques. What about the trouble, does it go?

J.B.S. The trouble does not go, but in the presence of the One who is not here I am drawn out of it - solaced; not helped or cured, but solaced in His company. If you lose the company, you lose the solace. Paul and Silas' backs were sore after the stripes, but they had the sympathy of the Lord and were above it.

Ques. How does mercy come in at the end of chapter 4?

J.B.S. Mercy takes you out of your difficulty. "Ye ... have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy". Many a one is looking for mercy in his trial who is not looking to be borne above it. Paul and Silas got solace when their feet were fast in the stocks, but afterwards mercy came in, they were delivered.

Rem. We shall ever want mercy.

J.B.S. Quite so, because we are in a place of need. He is the Father of mercies.

Rem. I believe we might so enjoy the Lord in the trouble or difficulty that we might thank Him for it.

J.B.S. I believe so. I said to one who had lost his wife, If you look to this place your sorrow is here, but if you are drawn to Him, the solace is where He is,

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and you will get so solaced in His presence that you will be above your sorrow, in perfect tranquillity. People talk of sympathy, but they do not know much about it.

But that is not all. That is your side of the story. Chapter 10 gives you His side. He is on the other side of the water, as we had last night. There I learn what it is to be brought into the blessedness of what He is in the presence of God. Do you think you understand the priesthood on your side and on His side

Rem. His side is Himself, I suppose.

J.B.S. Yes, Himself in His own place and surroundings. Take an illustration. Supposing I am in great trouble and I have a friend; I know he will help me, and I go to his house. He meets me at the hall door, and says, I know all about it, but come in here to my company and let us have a happy time. The Lord meets you in your trouble, but where does He draw you to? To the holiest of all - to Himself. The holiest of all is morally heaven, where He is. He fulfils it all. The moment He died the veil was rent. We have boldness for entrance into the holiest, but it must be through death: He is the true sanctuary. In Hebrews 9 He enters heaven for us, but when He comes into our midst He brings heaven to us. No one could be in Christ's company but in the holiest of all; He is crowned with glory and honour, the Son of God.

Ques. Is it only when we are gathered together that we know that?

J.B.S. You may have it in a sense at any time if you look to Him; but it is different to know Him thus in your own house and in His house. In your house your affairs are before you, in the assembly His affairs are before you. Which would you rather have?

Rem. His affairs are superior to ours.

J.B.S. You might say, I should like both, and that is a good answer. But there is a difference. It is a

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great thing to be able to say, "The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me" (2 Timothy 4:17); but when I go to Him in the assembly it is like the queen of Sheba in Solomon's house. Many who go to the assembly know nothing of the Lord's presence, It is because we are so far behind the reality of these things that we so little understand them. We have a great high Priest, first to relieve us from pressure, that is our side, then to lead us into the happy circle inside. What is that? The holiest of all, where there is not a stain or soil - nothing to say to sin. We have boldness to enter through the blood of Jesus. You see Aaron's sons were consecrated with Aaron. In the type they go with him into the tabernacle; we have a great Priest over the house of God, and we go in with Him. Do you understand?

Rem. Yes, we go in to the presence of God.

J.B.S. In the tabernacle there was first the altar then the door. In christendom they never get beyond the altar; that is the death of Christ. He finished the work; all was accomplished there in perfection. But it is not only in the perfection of the work that I go in, but in the fragrance of Christ Himself. I am there in all the fragrance of Christ.

Turn to Leviticus 8; you get the sin-offering and the burnt-offering, that is, the death of Christ for sin, and as a sweet savour to God for acceptance; and then the ram of consecration. Christendom, as I have said, only gets as far as the death, and leaves out the consecration ram. Consecration is more than your acceptance; it is now that you actually enter into the tabernacle in all the fragrance of Christ. God has consecrated you; you come in; what are you feeding on? On the perfection of the Person who has made you accepted. He is the Minister of the sanctuary. In Him you come into the holiest of all. Nothing can be more inconceivably great. Why, if christians really knew where they are there would be no understanding them by man,

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they would be so independent of everything here. He has gone in and we have gone in with Him.

In Him we stand, a heav'nly band.

Ques. What is the difference between sanctification and consecration?

J.B.S. In sanctification you are drawn from the bad to the good. In consecration you are filled with the good. In Leviticus 8:27 their hands are filled with the consecrations - really Christ.

Ques. Will you tell us something about the laver?

J.B.S. It is connected with the priesthood. We get the feet-washing in John 13. To understand that you must know intimacy. If there be not intimacy there can be no sense of reserve. Hundreds have good consciences and no sense of tangible sin, who know nothing of the intimacy which would be conscious of a shade of reserve. It has been said of Peter that in John 20 he had a good conscience, but not till chapter 21 was his heart right. You must have known intimacy in order to know the least shade of distance. Many think John 13 is advocacy, but it is more. Advocacy is for known sin. The feet-washing is to remove all that hinders us from enjoying the Lord. The cause of distance may be negligence. The bride in Song of Songs 5 felt there was distance, though there was no known sin. The Lord says, I am going to a place where you cannot be with Me with the slightest soil; I must wash your feet; there must not be a spot on you, if you would join Me. He does it. He washes our feet because He does not want there to be a shade of distance.

In Hebrews 10:19 you get another step, you are not only of the consecrated company, but you pass into the holiest. The moment Christ died the veil was rent, I have boldness to enter. The blessedness of Christ occupies me. No passage of Scripture explains being in the holiest so well as 1 John 4:17,

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"As he is, so are we". We are brought on a moral level with Him; we share with Him. He says, as it were, You believe on Me in the scene of My rejection; you share with Me, not by and by only, but this minute in My exaltation.

Ques. What is the thought in "through the veil?"

J.B.S. He opened the door through death; you can go in no other way than through the appropriation of His death. It is a new and living way that He has consecrated. You must go to the other side of the water. He died that you might be brought in. If nothing but His death could open the door, it is not possible that I can go in, in any other way; I cannot go in in the flesh; I must go in the Spirit.

On the day of atonement (Leviticus 16) two goats and a bullock were offered. The goats were for the people, prefiguring the earthly company, and the bullock for Aaron and his house, "whose house are we". The gospel of the two goats is the limit of the gospel that is preached in christendom; the gospel of the bullock is the gospel of the glory. That takes you inside. In the gospel of the two goats, all your sins are gone here, in the place where they were committed; it ends with forgiveness of sins. The gospel of the bullock brings you to the Person, where the Person is. We get the benefit of both, for both were accomplished in one stroke in the death of Christ. The holiest of all to the gentile is 2 Corinthians 3:18, "We all, with open face beholding ... the glory of the Lord". All the high priest was to the Jew is infinitely surpassed now in Him, "whose house are we".

Ques. What is the effect of knowing Christ in the holiest of all?

J.B.S. I have found a home outside this world, and nothing makes the world so bare to me.

Ques. In Hebrews 8 the Lord is high Priest and a Minister of the sanctuary?

J.B.S. That is His place and when you know Him

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He is that to you. The moment the Lord comes into the meeting the atmosphere of heaven is there.

Ques. Will you say something on the verse, "Let us go forth to him without the camp?"

J.B.S. You must be inside before you can go outside. I know Him in the brightest place, but I ask what sort of a path had He here? If you are drawn to Him there, you would not seek a place here; it would not be consistent. The last chapter of Hebrews tells what people should know of you. You could not be outside the camp unless you were inside the veil.

Ques. What is, "We have an altar?"

J.B.S. That is inside - the holiest. That is the practical result of having come to chapter 10.

Ques. I suppose the blood gave them a title to the altar?

J.B.S. The moment He died He opened the door. It was His death, not even His resurrection that opened the door. We could not go in but through death. What a wonderful moment for a person when he sees that he is brought into a scene where everything is perfectly holy, and that he is there, not only in the perfection of the work, but in all the blessedness of Him who did the work. What different meetings we should have if we entered into that! People talk of going to worship. You cannot worship till you get to Him. We must get to Him first.

Rem. He has set us for it.

J.B.S. No question but that He desires it. The real way of blessing for souls is to try these things for themselves, to get to know them experimentally. It is the time that you spend with the Lord that is everything to you.

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THE WILDERNESS

Exodus 15:22 - 27

J.B.S. Our subject is the wilderness. Israel were redeemed out of Egypt, and you see from Exodus 15:13 - 17 that the purpose of God was to bring them into Canaan. But the wilderness lay between. There was no way of getting into Canaan except through the wilderness, and typically this is true for us. There is no other way of touching heaven but by accepting death here, and that is accepting the wilderness. The interval between Egypt and Canaan is the test for every one of us. Happy the man who is in that interval according to God. I know nothing that is so little known as the true character of the wilderness, and its consequent experience. The one who truly understands the wilderness as God's appointment is a happy man. He looks for nothing but death here. That is really accepting the wilderness. You get out of Egypt by the death of Christ, and you have to learn that there is nothing for you in this scene but the death of Christ. The test to us is to accept the wilderness as a scene of death with no resource for us but God.

Israel took thirty-nine years to learn it, and we may take as many, though you might be only an hour in it. The thief and Stephen were a very short time in it. I thank God for what He has shown me as to the real character of the wilderness. I have often shrunk from singing:

This world is a wilderness wide,

We have nothing to seek nor to choose;

We've no thought in the waste to abide,

We have nought to regret nor to lose.

But the more I see what God expects me to be in the space between Egypt and Canaan, the more solemn it is - blessed indeed, but solemn. All the troubles of

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my life, all the shakings and tumults, have occurred in that interval. Why? That I might learn complete dependence upon God.

Rem. Israel was in the three places - Egypt, the wilderness and Canaan.

J.B.S. Yes; J.N.D. has said that the wilderness was not part of God's purpose but it was part of His ways. The wilderness is, as it were, a bridge between two ports. If the people of God would accept it instead of Egypt, and in the light of Canaan, it would be a blessed place, or rather experience (for it is an experience rather than a place) for them. You have life in Christ outside this world, and there is nothing here to minister to that life. Exodus 15:16, 17 is the wilderness proper - what it is to God. The manna, the smitten rock, the intercession, the victory over Amalek, set forth in fulness God's grace for you in the wilderness. But the first thing you find on entering the wilderness is Marah; that is death; you have to drink death. The waters of Marah were of the waters of the Red Sea. The death of Christ, which has delivered me from Egypt, is to be practically maintained if I am to be truly in the wilderness. If you have not learnt what it is to be clear of Egypt you cannot possibly have wilderness experience; you must start clear. Romans 6 and 7 give in a short compass what makes the wilderness for us. If I accept death I save myself many a sorrow, and I am sustained here by God. There is nothing here for me, but what comes from God.

Rem. We get mercies here.

J.B.S. But natural mercies do not belong to the wilderness. though we do get them here. In the wilderness I only get what God is the source of. We have to learn ourselves. Israel spent forty years in learning themselves, and they did not get free - did not really accept the wilderness till Numbers 21.

Ques. What do you mean?

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J.B.S. They were either going back in heart to Egypt or murmuring. The wilderness yields nothing to the flesh, and if you go back in heart you go back to Egypt. They had to learn themselves; hence the wilderness was to humble them and to prove them, to know what was in their heart, and to make them know "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live" (Deuteronomy 8:3). When the Lord was led into the wilderness, this is the first scripture He quotes in answer to the devil. He was the dependent Man. Though He had power and means to relieve Himself He would have nothing but God, and was in the wilderness perfectly dependent on Him. If you study His life you will find that He never did anything for Himself, He never altered a single circumstance in His own favour. "Foxes have holes ... but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). But He had joys which nothing could touch, and He could say, "That they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13). All His springs were in God. That was the way the Lord lived here as a Man, and that is manna.

How distressed Israel were when they got to Marah, and that is like ourselves. We are little prepared to find no green spot here; we are glad to be out of the place of judgment through the death and resurrection of Christ. That is the Red Sea. But we are little prepared to keep in touch with His death all the way through, and it is only in His death that we can be practically free from the man under judgment. To accept this is to accept the wilderness. The young man in 1 John 2:15 has overcome the wicked one - Pharaoh; but still it is said to him, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him". You know you are clear of the judgment of death because you have appropriated Christ's death for your salvation. Do you continue to appropriate it?

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or are you gratifying yourself in the place where He died? In 1 Peter 4:1 we read, "Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin". That does not go as far as "dead to sin" in Romans 6. In 2 Corinthians 4:10 we have "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body". If you are truly in the wilderness you do not allow a word or a thing of that for which Christ suffered. That was Paul's experience.

Tell me, if you are living the life of a Man who is not here, what is the first impression you get?

Rem. That Christ is not here.

J.B.S. Exactly. You have the impression on your soul that He is not here, and that is the wilderness; for if He is not here there is nothing for you here, nothing here for the life you enjoy. If you are in your room enjoying the Lord outside of everything here, and come down to the most beautiful family circle, it will not help you.

Rem. That is where the disappointment comes.

J.B.S. You have to bring grace into the circumstance. It does not bring grace to you. Do you follow me?

Rem. I think I follow you so far as that there is no resource for us here.

J.B.S. The most favourable natural circumstances do not minister to you. It is a dry and barren land. I believe you get the truest picture of wilderness experience in Psalm 23. Where do you come from? From where there is nothing to minister to you; but you are with Him, and where does He lead you? He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. You have the sense of His resources, and not only that, but of His favour in the presence of your enemies.

Ques. Do you say, Mr. Stoney, that there is nothing here to minister to the new man?

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J.B.S. If you know anything, tell me what it is. Show me anything here that could minister to the new man.

Rem. I was thinking that all ministry to the new man must come from the new place.

J.B.S. Quite so, but that place is not here.

Rem. The Holy Spirit must minister it.

J.B.S. Yes, but where from? He brings it down to you.

Rem. The Lord in glory is the true spring.

J.B.S. Quite so. Well, the first sense you have after having got deliverance is that Christ is not here, and that there is nothing for the new man here. You have a life beyond this place in a scene of unclouded joy; but there is nothing for you here. That is the wilderness. It is a terrible snare for christians to be looking for good things here since Christ is not here. Nothing is more hindering than to have expectations in this scene. If I am really living in the life of Christ, enjoying His tastes and interests, I have a joy outside this scene, and I find that nothing here helps me, and I do not desire anything here; I want to be supported as He was supported here, and that is manna. You will never get manna until you are living in His life. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). That is your true life in which you live to God. Then, "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me". That is the new path for the wilderness. I do everything in dependence on Him, not in any ability of my own, but in complete dependence on God, and the greater the obstacles which I have to encounter, the greater the opportunity for me to prove the power of the Spirit of God in enabling me to overcome.

Ques "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me. even he shall live by me" (John 6:57). Is that manna?

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J.B.S. No; it is a contrast to it. It is for living, not for the wilderness. I do not know anything so little known as manna.

Ques. What do you say manna is?

J.B.S. Manna is the way Christ lived on earth, a life of entire dependence, sustained by God. The world was a wilderness to Him, and He went through everything in divine beauty. The actual grace in which Christ walked here is the manna for us, and according as you are truly in the wilderness you get it.

Ques. Would you say it is the life of Jesus on earth?

J.B.S. It is His manner of life here, but you must be in His life outside of all here to get it. You must be with Him where He is, in order to be like Him where He was. Israel would not accept manna. They loathed it. (If you learn yourself truly, you will find out everybody else, and so can help them.) In the thirty-ninth year of their wilderness history they spake against God and against Moses, and their soul loathed the light food. The fiery serpents were sent. The real cause of the trouble (the devil, who, can touch unjudged flesh for its destruction) comes out, and a brazen serpent, which had never bitten anyone, is lifted up. This answers to John 3. The Son of man must be lifted up. He who knew no sin was made sin. Sin is condemned in the flesh, removed from God's eye; and outside all the evil the relief comes. I am alive in Him; I am severed from the man under judgment in His death; I have tasted death in Another. The brazen serpent proved that there was no cure for the flesh but death. When I see Christ made sin, and that I am crucified with Christ, the day of everlasting blessing has dawned for me, I see that I am out of it all in Christ our Lord - out of death into life.

In Numbers 21:17 you get "Spring up, O well". You have the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of life; you have come experimentally into His life in the power

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of the Spirit, as in Romans 8:2: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". The end of Romans 5 and chapter 8 go together; chapters 6 and 7 come between as parenthetic. Now you are properly set up in the wilderness. The brazen serpent and the springing well are really what we get in John 3 and 4. Israel makes a new start there. They are not in Canaan yet, not over Jordan, and they have battle till they get over. There is conflict on the other side, but of another character. For us it is that we are in the race of Hebrews 12. It is a battle all the way, your life is in your hand, and your only food manna.

Then there is a new force against you, and that is Balaam. Balaam represents the tactics of the enemy to get the people into social intercourse, and he did them more mischief than any other form of satanic opposition. So it is in this day. The Balaam snare is the masterpiece of satanic wickedness for the people of God. Every one of us has been more or less affected by the snare of Balaam. Nothing has corrupted us so much as company. It is the society that christians keep that does the mischief, and mark my words! every one is coloured b the lowest company that he keeps.

Ques. Do you mean in business?

J.B.S. When a man is in business he is not thinking of company, but if he relaxes and ungirds and gets into social intimacy that is not of Christ, he is corrupted. Our company is the christian company. See how Balaam corrupted the Corinthians by inviting them out. The more attractive a man's company is the greater the danger. The snare may be in reading. Ink will soil you as well as mud: you generally find a man's reading to be according to the company he keeps.

The Thessalonians had to encounter Amalek. That was open opposition, but the Balaam snare is subtle; he invites you, is gracious to you.

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Ques. What do you do when they invite?

J.B.S. Refuse, unless I can go in the grace of Christ as a servant and not to enjoy myself. We get a lesson in a horse in a mill. He goes through the work of the mill all day, but is glad to get to the stable. You have to work, but the home of your heart is outside it all. You will never know this world to be a wilderness unless you have a home outside of it.

Ques. What is the difference between Marah and the brazen serpent?

J.B.S. Marah is suffering in the flesh because I will not gratify the flesh. And why not? Because Christ died for it. That sweetens it. "Arm yourselves ... with the same mind". You refuse the flesh as it arises. In the brazen serpent I see Christ made sin for me, the old man gone, all gone in the cross; we do not come to this in a day.

Ques. How do you get out of the wilderness?

J.B.S. Through Jordan, and that is privilege. It is our privilege to be dead with Christ outside this scene. Jordan is realising in myself what the Red Sea makes me before God. I have through the death of Christ found a way, not only out of Egypt, but into Canaan. Romans is dead to the man - to sin. Colossians is dead to the world. There is often a long step between the two. I am not dead in myself, but I am dead with Christ. I am severed from my link with Adam and with the world by His death; but if I am dead with Christ I am alive in Him.

Rem. Israel was seen to go into the Red Sea, and was not seen to come out. They are not seen to go into Jordan, but are seen to come out.

J.B.S. Old commentators say that they went through the Red Sea in single file, but through Jordan abreast. When they come to Jordan there is no water in it. In the Red Sea the waters were a wall to them on the right hand and on the left. Stephen found that there was no water in Jordan. This is a poor place to

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one who has the joys of heaven in his heart, but I have died with Christ from the rudiments of the world.

You will never know Christ as Head until you are over Jordan.

Ques. You say the wilderness is the place of testing?

J.B.S. Yes, it is the test to us all, because it is where we practically learn death. I am through divine grace out of judgment; but more than that, I have a new place outside of all here. I have to go from one place to another. What sort of person am I in the interval between Egypt and Canaan? What a lamentable history Israel's was, and at the same time what a wonderful record of the grace of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". That was the principle of the Lord's life as Man here. He learned obedience (not to obey, but obedience) by the things that He suffered. Philippians is the experience of a heavenly man. You must go to the top to be in that. You cannot have wilderness experience if you do not know your place and home in heaven. In Ephesians the believer is viewed as already in heavenly places united to Christ, and he comes back to all here in a new way.

Ques. What is the hidden manna?

J.B.S. What God saw in Christ here. In Revelation 2 we find, when the church had suffered from the snare of Balaam (evil association), that the overcomer gets the hidden manna - the way that blessed One walked here to the delight of God. The church is the complement of all that Christ was here. It has taken nineteen hundred years to bring out the complement, you a bit, and I a bit; millions of bits. People do not see that the church is the complement of the Man in whom God was manifested - that it all comes from Him.

I hope all your hearts are set on understanding the

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wilderness, and being truly in it for God. If they are, you will never forget this evening. We ought to know what the Lord is teaching us; He satisfieth the desire of every living thing. What a happy time we should have if we accepted the wilderness at the beginning - looking for nothing here but death, and in complete dependence on God. But we have to learn it; we all shrink from accepting the wilderness. We never enjoy Christ in heaven unless we accept death here. Paul and John found things getting rougher as they went on. Instead of the end of their days being spent in a quiet, shady retreat, one was an exile, and the other a prisoner. But they were very happy.

Ques. Did they eat manna in the land?

J.B.S. They ate it till they ate the old corn after the passover (see Joshua 5:11).

The interval between Egypt and Canaan tests us all.

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CHRIST THE HEAD OF THE BODY

Colossians 2; 3: 17

J.B.S. Our subject this evening is Christ the Head of His body the church. We find from this epistle that a company may be very nice up to a point without knowing Him as such, but until one knows it, one cannot be in the secret of Christ. The Colossians were an interesting company, much like the Ephesians. The apostle says of them, "Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints;" and to the Ephesians (chapter 1: 15), "Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints". The Colossians had learned what it was to be in the assembly, but they did not know "the Head". Hundreds accept the doctrine of the Head who have never entered into it.

Ques. What is the mark of one holding the Head?

J.B.S. A man who holds the Head would come out here in all the sensibilities of Christ. Suppose there were a company who had all lost their heads and got a new head - one head for all - what would be the effect? You cannot understand union unless you know the Head. The body derives from the Head, and the Head gives direction. Many own that Christ is the Head of the church, and has a right to rule, but it is another thing to be really under His dictation.

Ques. Is not the Lord presented as Head in more ways than one?

J.B.S. He is Head of every man (1 Corinthians 11:3), and Head of all principality and power, etc.; but here He is spiritual Head. The Colossians were not in the power of it, they did not know the mystery.

Let us trace the way of learning it, and then its application. It is only as getting to His side that we know Him as Head.

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In chapter 1 the apostle is putting the Colossians on the true ground. They must not be moved away from the hope of the gospel, which is heaven. Then comes out, "Christ in you, the hope of glory". The part of the mystery brought out here is the Head, and specially in connection with gentiles, they derived from Christ - Christ was in them as life.

We do not get beyond life in Colossians. In Romans 6 I touch life as relief out of death; I get it as relief. In Colossians I have it for enjoyment. I learn what life with Him is; I have life with Christ in the sphere of life, and if I do not know this I shall never understand the Head. In Romans it comes out in connection with deliverance. If you have not deliverance you cannot advance though you may know all the Bible.

Ques. When did the truth of the mystery come out?

J.B.S. Through Paul; Ephesians 3 shows the revelation of the mystery made known to him, and the administration of it committed to him (see also Colossians 1:25).

Ques. What is the mystery?

J.B.S. That the church is Christ's body. The aspect of the mystery that we get in Colossians is "the Head".

In chapter 2 we come to the gain, what we gain by it. "For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God". If there was great conflict there must have been great opposition. The opposition was to hinder them from getting this great gain. The gain was that they derived from the Head. The apostle's anxiety was that they should fully know the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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The wonderful thing is that we should share all these things, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If we were holding the Head we should answer to what would be right for Christ's circle of interest. Wisdom is wise in all things, not only in great things. The vulture's eye hath not seen wisdom's path. It is a great thing to get hold of the immensity of the grace; even if we are not up to it, it is a great thing to see what we are called to. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are there; nothing outside. The impending danger for the Colossians was that the two evils that had affected the Corinthians and Galatians - man's wisdom and law - man's mind and religiousness, should be used as a combination to add to Christ. These things had to be counteracted in another form to that in which they had been counteracted with regard to the Corinthians and Galatians. Here what delivers is "the Head". I do not want learning or religiousness if I have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in the Head. The fishermen were not very learned people. These snares are patent in christendom all around us, and among ourselves, too. Sanctimoniousness is part of it. Reverence is right, but not sanctimoniousness. What delivers is to see the Head, and how completely everything begins anew, from the top, so that nothing human can help. Paul, the most accomplished man, is more effective when he has stammering lips. We have not to work on the feeling, but to get direction from the Head.

Turn to verse 10 to continue the history. "Ye are complete in him". Therefore we cannot add to or improve it. It is a great thing to get hold of the fact that I do not need to go outside of Him. We are filled up in Him, the same word as "fulness" in verse 9. Then verse 11, "In whom also ye have been circumcised with circumcision not done by hand, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ". There is no more sweeping

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passage than this. It is not the 'sins of the flesh', but the "body of the flesh".

Ques. What is putting off the body of the flesh?

J.B.S. To be completely outside the first man. The whole thing is swept away. It is circumcision, not crucifixion. Circumcision is stronger than crucifixion. It is Gilgal, every trace of the old thing gone. If we understood Jordan better we should understand Gilgal better. It is a positive relief that I am clear from all here through the death of Christ. Chapter 3: 3 hooks on to chapter 2. You could not be dead with Him and not be risen with Him; what is true of us in Christ has to be experimentally true of us; all is effected in Christ, but if you are sincere you want it carried out practically in yourself. Seeing it is important, but it has to be adopted, not only admired. We have one point in verse 10 - complete in Christ, and the other in verse 11 - the old thing done away. If you have not come to verse 10 you will not take in verse 11. All that is necessary for God I have in Christ. By degrees we are waking up to the wondrous things we have in Christ. I see the immensity of what I am called to, and how little I am practically in it.

Verse 19 is the great practical line: "And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God". Then comes verse 20: "Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world". Now we are taking the place of being over Jordan. Colossians is over Jordan but not in heaven. It is dead to things here - the rudiments of the world, more than to man the wilderness is accepted, and Jordan is accepted. In the death of Christ I am outside the world - outside everything. No one will taste heaven as a reality unless he accepts death - accepts the wilderness. You will never understand the Head until you are over

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Jordan, until you are morally outside this world. You do not get into the sphere of life till then. It is not only the wilderness, but being morally apart from everything here in the sphere of Christ's life, though not gone to heaven. Colossians holds an intermediate place; Romans is dead to sin, Ephesians seated in heavenly places; Colossians is dead to the rudiments of the world, and in the sphere of Christ's life. In the sphere of His life we "seek the things which are above" (chapter 3: 1), we are not in heaven yet, otherwise we should not be told to look up; but having died to the world we have got into a new sphere of things, and it is here that we practically learn circumcision. Therefore we get "mortify therefore" (verse 5). You have to carry out circumcision practically. It is not to mortify now and again as an evil arises, but once for all - the whole thing has to go in one lump, will and all. You are already circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, and by the Spirit it is to be made good in you. It is not practice. Many read this chapter for practice, but it is not practice though it is practical. All has to go like Elisha's garment. When he got the power to take up another he rent his own garment, rendered it useless, and took up Elijah's. It is not merely to put off habits but what is indigenous in the nature. By the Spirit it is done in you. It is your appropriation of what has been effected for you. First we get - mortify all works of will; then - put off and put on. There is nothing so unknown as the new man.

Ques. What is it?

J.B.S. If you knew Christ better you would know the new man. There is nothing of the old in it,

Here you are over Jordan in position, you have died and risen and are looking to appear with Him in glory, and you have put off the old man. You come into a new circle of things where there is no human voice, where there is "not Greek and Jew ... but Christ is everything, and in all" - no kind of man at all, learned

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or religious, Christ is everything. You are outside the influence of everything here. You have come to a spot outside everything of man, where there is no man but One, and that One the Lord Jesus Christ; like the disciples on the mount of transfiguration, when they "saw no man, save Jesus only". What deep enjoyment we should have if we knew more of that!

Ques. Would you say that the Head supplies all that should take place in the assembly?

J.B.S. I should - hymns and everything; we should have wonderful times if everything were supplied by the Head. I get instruction from Him how to act in His circle, not in my own circle. The Head supplies what suits Himself to His own company. I try now to come to the assembly like a blank sheet of paper. I used to come otherwise. What He gives is always effectual. It makes one very small, and one may give it out stammeringly, but it makes one very glad, and it comes with His authority. He would give it to you in the meeting or confirm it to you there. If you followed it out you would be timid on the one hand and not abashed on the other, for He would be before you.

Ques. If I gave out a hymn that I had on my heart, would that do?

J.B.S. That is not the way to do it. It would be bad if it were not on your heart, but that is not a reason for giving it out. It should be dictation from the Head. Nothing damages the assembly so much as our coming to it thinking of ourselves instead of Him.

Ques. What is the difference between the leading of the Spirit and being under the direction of the Head?

J.B.S. In the former case you are not led beyond your knowledge, but in the direction of the Head you get knowledge instantaneously. The Head is dictation; He gives you a new thought which you never have had before, and it is helpful to the saints. The control of the Head is in relation to the body. It is

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not individual. He directs only in His own circle - the christian circle. He directs life.

In verses 12 - 17 you get what we derive from the Head. His affection, His sensibilities, His word, and then His peace. A rough, uncouth man comes out in a new way, with "bowels of mercies", etc., and with a suited word, too, and that because he has got another Head. I see the wisdom and goodness of God that when He revived the truth to us it was that of the Head. The first thought of it was given to a clergyman, that there is one Head, and that if there is one Head there must be one body.

The magnitude of it is set before us in this epistle. I am afraid to say what I see. You must be morally outside this scene, liberated, in a new sphere, to know Him as Head. No one will understand me unless he has gone a bit of the road.

"Meditate upon these things". I do not believe a man gets anything without exercise. The chief interest with God is that which is known least about.

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UNION WITH CHRIST

Ephesians 1:14 - 23

J.B.S. Our subject this evening is conscious union with Christ. In the counsel of God we are united to Christ, but the apostle prays that they may know it. The word "know" is conscious knowledge. The counsels of God are all secured to you, but the point is that you may have present knowledge of union, and that which results from it. If you are not in the state for it you cannot enter into it. There is the state belonging to the condition; you must be in the practical state for union with Christ, or you can never enter into the reality of it. It is by the Spirit of God that I know that I am united to Christ. Everything is accomplished in Christ, but it is only known to me as the Spirit makes it known. If you do not know Romans you will never know Ephesians, though you may read it morning, noon, and night. We ought to be exercised as to what He is teaching us.

Genesis 24 gives us the illustration of union. Abraham's steward was sworn to bring one of the stock of Abraham for a bride for Isaac. The great point was, she was to be of the same kindred. That is the first thing. If anyone asked me what is the great delay in souls knowing union, I should say, They do not enter into the fact that they are of the same stock as Christ. We get it in Hebrews 2:11, "all of one". If you put a noun to that you spoil it; you lose the idea. We do not get union in Hebrews, we get companionship and "all of one". Saints do not realise they are of the same stock as Christ. He did not come to improve our stock but to bring us into His, so that He is not ashamed to call us brethren. This is a most important point in view of union, for nothing that is not of Christ could be united to Him. It used to be said

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that He is our elder Brother; that is not said, but through the cross we are His brethren, and therefore there can be union without disparity. You cannot improve kindred, you can improve acquaintance by consort, but you cannot have consort without suitability. The idea of union has been lost sight of and degraded. It has been used, as in one of our hymns, as a confirmation of salvation. It has nothing to do with it. There can be no knowledge of union unless I am at home with Him. The Holy Spirit conducts you to the spot where He is, but I must first know that I am of Him, "all of one". "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). After He rose from the dead, He said, "Go to my brethren." He could never have said that before.

Ques. What about "Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother?" Matthew 12: 50.

J.B.S. That indicates the character, but no one could be of the same order until He rose again from the dead. Nothing goes into heaven but what came out of heaven. If you are not of Christ you will not go to heaven. He was the Man "out of heaven" - a man of an entirely new order. The church is of His order and is united to Him. We know so little of it. I often wish I knew more of the tastes and interests of the new man. It is only as we know Christ that we find them out. The first thing in learning is to discover one's ignorance, then to look for light.

Well, the first thing in Genesis 24 is that the steward is sworn to bring one of the same kindred; then he asks the Lord that the damsel who would show him grace should be the person. Rebekah comes. He puts the question to her; she has grace; she draws water for him and for the camels also. He found her out by her grace. The person ready to be conducted into union is the person who has grace, condition.

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Ques. What is condition?

J.B.S. I am of His stock - the old man put off - the new man put on. The most beautiful natural sentiment cannot be united to Christ. There was nothing in Eve that did not come from Adam. Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). The apostle says, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:32). When I think of the greatness of it, I wonder I am not more set upon it; more captivated by it. God's destination for us is the highest in His kingdom as to position. As to relationship with Him we are sons. I do not know many who have conscious knowledge of union. Many accept it as a doctrine, but that is not being in it.

Ques. What is the mark of a person who knows it?

J.B.S. We get it in the second prayer in Ephesians. What you have there is the consequence of union. If you find a person truly united to another, what is the chief thing in his heart? The person to whom he is united. That is Christ. He is dwelling in my heart and I am in His heart. This prayer is not the state of an individual, it is the state of the bride. It is divine state answering to divine standing. Romans is individual state, but here, Ephesians 3, it is the state consequent on union with Christ. The Christ dwells in your heart. As with a good wife - all the interests of her husband absorb her. The first point in the prayer is, He fills my heart; the second, I am in the whole range of His glory; the third, I know His love. No one really knows His love as stated here unless he knows union. The effect of union is - you get the heart of the bride. If you ask what is the enjoyment, I answer, First get it, and then you will understand it. Christ dwelling in your heart absorbs all your affections. It is very emphatic, "the Christ", all that concerns Him, I have all His interests at heart. The wise woman (Proverbs. 31) is thinking of all that concerns her lord.

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Christ is not a visitor in your heart, He is living there. You are in spirit in heaven, and you are occupied with His interests here - His personal concerns. It is not a question of what you are doing, but what is occupying your heart.

You will not answer to the prayer of chapter 3 unless you know the prayer of chapter 1.

Ques. What is the point of the prayer in chapter 1?

J.B.S. You are not only enlightened but you have "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him". Until you are in the knowledge of God you will never understand the mystery; you can have no conception of it. These Ephesians were ready for it. When we begin to know a little of it we long for every one to know it. I often wish at prayer meetings that there was more exercise of heart as to how little we know union. It would transfer us from the individual circle to His circle. A wife must leave her own interests for her husband's.

There is first the call, then the history. Our calling is to be united to Christ. Historically we have to go where He is. Rebekah had the call first, the history follows; she is conducted from the far country to Isaac's country. We must leave this place for His place before we can know union. The Spirit conducts us there. When Rebekah is to go to Isaac the first thing she has to do is to break with her family. If you cannot break with your family you will not learn union with Christ.

Rem. Explain.

J.B.S. Her family wanted to detain her in Mesopotamia. She had to refuse, and to leave them there. They say, "Abide with us a few days, at the least ten". But she says, "I will go". That is decision. I am set for it. The true heart starts. Happy for her that she did not delay. If she had stayed ten days, she would have stayed many a day longer. I have seen people fall back by what is commendable in nature. Natural

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ties are commendable and therefore the more hindering. First love sacrifices everything for company. We read of the disciples in Luke 5:11, "When they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him". They had just received a great mercy in the multitude of fishes, but they say, as it were, We think more of this poor man than of all else, we will forsake all and follow Him. I have never seen anyone do that without getting manifold more. The more you are separated from the world the more you get of divine things; you get more acquaintance with God's things. The company of Christ is better than anything that anyone could give up. He likes our company. Nothing will ever draw the heart to Him till we know His love. A person to be loved by, and to love, is beyond anything. That leads on to union. If I know His love and love Him, I want to be with Him where He is.

Ques. You do not want to teach us that natural claims are to be disregarded?

J.B.S. No; in Luke 14 one of those who refused the great supper says, "I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come;" he should have said, I will come and I will bring her, too! A natural claim is like the bed of a river; that is where it ought to run.

The first mark of a man in the Spirit is that his body is a living sacrifice.

Ques. Is 1 Corinthians 6: 17, "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit", union?

J.B.S. That is connected with responsibility. Union is not responsibility, it is privilege - His grace.

The first part of the prayer is the calling - that you may know it. You cannot know union till you are brought to His place. It is there that the Spirit is ready to conduct you. If you have not come there, you have not answered to the affection of Christ, or to the Father's purpose. The prodigal had not answered to the father's heart until he was at the feast enjoying the fatted calf.

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Ques What is the hope of His calling?

J.B.S. The wonderful position to which we are brought, showing the manner of the grace.

Ques. What is "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints?"

J.B.S. He inherited Canaan through Israel. It is not the saints that are the inheritance; many think it is the saints themselves but it is through them.

What I press is union now with the Person in heaven. If you are in the present consciousness of union you will come out in heavenly power; you will be known by what your heart is bound up with.

Read the closing verses of Genesis 24 (52 to end). There are a great many steps. Rebekah had first to break with her family, and then to go through the wilderness. I see some who have broken with their family, but who cannot take the journey. Rebekah had not only decision but she had continuance. I never saw a man delay to do anything, that he did not miss it. Then when she got sight of Isaac she took a veil and covered herself; she got sight of her head and she veiled her own head. Then she goes with him, and he brought her into his mother's tent, and he loved her, and Isaac was comforted. If we really knew union with Christ we should be a comfort to Him on earth where He has lost Israel, of which the death of Sarah is the type. That shows that the type belongs to the present moment. The celebration of the marriage is the public avowal of what is true now by the Spirit.

Ques. What are the seven types of the church?

J.B.S. (1) Eve. (2) Rebekah - you have left everything for him. (3) Leah. (4) Asenath, Joseph's wife; he gets her to comfort him in exile. (5) Zipporah. (6) Ruth. (7) What you and I ought to be now - Abigail; we repudiate all the acts of the old husband and minister to the wants of the rejected King. Moses got Zipporah in exile, he could not save his nation

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then, but he saved the women from the shepherds. If your heart is set on saving, you will save someone.

Ques. Why do you leave Rachel out?

J.B.S. Rachel is Israel, surpassed by Leah. Rachel brought in the idols.

In Ephesians 3:17 - 20 you get a wonderful thing - your endowment. Four things: Himself, He dwells in your heart; His property, you have a new world and new interests; His love, which passeth knowledge; and His power. Himself, His interests, His property, His love and His power. "According to the power that worketh in us." In His power you come out for Him on the earth. You come out in two great circles: His circle - the church, and your own circle. You love your wife as Christ loved the church. Wives are subject as the church is to Christ; and in chapter 6 you are superior to all the forces of the enemy - the fulfilment of John 12:31. If we knew more it, what a condition of unspeakable joy and prosperity would be ours! with only one divine object before us - to be here for Himself. Oh! if we felt it more - how little we answer to His purpose! God's purpose for every one of us, His great destination for us which is beyond conception, is that we should know that we are united to Christ in heaven. May each one of us know what it is to have this divine joy in the midst of the darkest circumstances.

Ques. Will you enumerate the subjects of these readings?

J.B.S. (1) Acceptance and Deliverance. (2) Liberty. (3) The assembly. (4) The priesthood. (5) The wilderness. (6) Christ the Head. (7) Union with Christ.

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LIGHT

John 9

J.B.S. The subject in chapters 8 and 9 is light. Light comes to the greatest sinner. In chapter 8 the Pharisees went out one by one; the condemned woman stayed. The law finds you out, and it condemns you. Light exposes you down to the roots, but makes known to you forgiveness. The Lord exposed to the woman of Samaria what she was. The Lord does not take you up without knowing all about you. The law condemns. Light exposes, but brings salvation.

Light, as we see here (chapter 9), puts you outside everything that is reputable and respectable among men. You are prepared for a wonderful but solitary path. In the solitude of darkness the blind man saw nobody; in the solitude of light nobody would have him. Christians are not prepared for the peculiar solitude from all that is of man, in which one is placed on this earth in order to understand God.

His eyes are opened! What really brings him into light is washing in the pool of Siloam, which means, Sent. This man's history is really the history of a soul. The first thing a soul gets positively is light, and that comes through receiving Christ as the Sent One of the Father. Everyone believes that Christ was a man on earth, but they do not believe in Him as the Sent One. The disciples ask, "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" In Exodus 15:26 every bodily affliction is looked at as the consequence of sin. Therefore their question. The Lord replies that it was not on that account he was blind, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Ques. What does His spitting on the ground signify?

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J.B.S. The clay set forth Christ in humanity. God manifest in the flesh was here. This christians do not really see. Faith was in the washing. I connect it with "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1). God sent Him. He was the Sent One. It is not merely accepting the truth of incarnation, but seeing Him as the Sent from God.

The man's troubles began with his neighbours - where he was best known. I do not believe any young convert knows what is before him in the path for God. You get no sympathy from the world, no one feels for you. The Lord said, "If any man ... hate not ... his own life ... he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). He wanted to give them a sense of the reality of the path. He is a happy man who accepts the path, however great the conflict in it.

The neighbours pass him over to the religious people - to the Pharisees, who at once condemn Christ. They say, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath", as if anything could more honour the day than to give a great blessing. Religious people do not help you, they tell you to do. What you have to do is to receive. All is done for you, and you have now to get the good of it by the Spirit. He is now handed over to his parents. They make a spectacle of him; they will not confess that Jesus is the Christ, so much are they afraid of the religious element. He is now outside the three great circles of society. No christian can understand the new ground unless he travels this road. The devil tries to get you on to a by-road, and to make you think it is the right one. You get opposition on all sides till you are outside everything of man. The man who is standing in the favour of man is not advancing toward God. It is God we have to do with, not man.

Now the Jewish nation is against him. As he goes on, he is getting deeper and deeper in the assurance that he has to do with God. He says, "If this man

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were not of God, he could do nothing". Then the nation cast him out; he is nationally outlawed. I do not believe anyone will find Christ's place unless he goes this road. There is only one road to the assembly. In casting him out they fulfil the passage in chapter 10:4, "He putteth forth his own sheep". Happy the christian who is completely free of the leaven of the fold. Here it is the Jewish position, but the effort of christendom now is to make a fold. Chapter 10 sets forth where this man is brought to. But in chapter 9: 35 he is outside of everything with the Son of God. He is in a spot, free from everything of man - in the solitude of light. Look at the grace of the Lord! What does He say? "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" It loses all the force if you say Son of man. I compare it with Peter saying, "Thou art ... the Son of the living God".

Rem. He does not know Him?

J.B.S. He knew the work that had been wrought on him; he was bold in the faith, he knew "Jesus".). He had not seen Him at the first. Now the Lord says to him, "Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee". Intimacy has begun. Now are fulfilled verses 14, 15, of chapter 10: "I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father". The two in this part of John's gospel, to whom the Lord revealed Himself, were the woman of Samaria and this man. Both were outcasts. "He worshipped him"! he could not help it. The word 'worship' is taken from a dog fawning on his master; he is so charmed with his presence.

In chapter 10 He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. "The porter openeth" is God's order, and the Lord entered the fold. according to it. You will never understand chapter 10 unless you understand chapter 9. No one was saved in the fold; they were safe in a way; a fold was enclosed with

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walls like a country pound. The best oriental idea of it is merely security from wolves.

Ques. What takes the place of the fold now?

J.B.S. His hand. "I give unto them eternal life; ... neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". No one can scatter them from Me.

Ques. What was his warrant for being outside?

J.B.S. They would not have him. Christ is outside and when he is cast out Christ finds him. I am not speaking of conversion. You are not in a position to know Him outside of everything unless you are on true christian ground. I have to come to Himself. He gives His life for the sheep: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly". Life outside of all the ruin. Then there is most peculiar intimacy between Him and the sheep.

Ques. What is meant by "shall go in and out" (verse 9)?

J.B.S. Liberty; no walls, nothing to prevent liberty and pasture. People do not understand what a terrible thing it is to break with the world. The woman who risked her life to save David is the woman who "despised him in her heart" when he danced before the Lord.

Ques. What is the lesson in that?

J.B.S. Where there is most natural affection there may be most aversion to you as a christian. Galatians 4 has been a deeper trial to me than Romans 7. The most cultivated idea that I have does not like Christ; that .is Ishmael. I do not know anything at all that has so brought me down. It was dreadful when I discovered that. The moment you bring in the human element, Christ is virtually displaced. In praying or preaching, if you bring man in you lose ground. I know it, because I have gone through the sorrowful experience of it.

In the solitude of light he was thrown out of a place to worship in, and he found a Person to worship.

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There is a universality about a Person that no combination of circumstances can equal. No circumstances could make up for a Person. Do you understand that? It is lovely. The Lord meets Mary Magdalene in the garden. He does not tell her He will restore the old garden, but that she should have Himself in a new way. The more a man advances in grace, the less he will look for things here.

It has been said, 'The expulsive power of a new affection'. I say, 'The expulsive power of a new Person'. If a man could say he was the chosen friend of the sovereign, he would not want the company of others.

It was in a lonely place years ago that I read the last two verses of John 17, and I said, To think that I am the object of that love!

Chapters 11 and 12 have to do with Israel. Chapter 13 is entirely new ground - His side. Our side is, He had to die; His side, glory. In chapters 13 and 14 they were shut in with Him. It is the way John puts the assembly; it is not individual. Only three verses in chapter 14 refer to the individual as such. Chapters 15 and 16 are outside. In chapter 17 He first sets us as Himself in the presence of the Father, and then sets us as Himself in the presence of the world. The new Jerusalem will answer to it by and by, but it is present -now. My heart is not satisfied to postpone it till by and by. I want something now. When the bride in Canticles felt her loss (chapter 5) what comforted her was recounting the features of the one she did not see.

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THREE READINGS AT CARLISLE

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PEACE AND DELIVERANCE

John 3:14, 15; 4: 14

J.B.S. The first point to see, and what is so striking and a puzzle to many, is that John begins the announcement of the gospel with Numbers 21. Why did he not begin with Exodus 12 or 14, with the work that brought them out of Egypt as a redeemed people? Why does John begin here?

He begins here because it meets the state of souls. Many have known something of the grace of God; they have faith in what has been done for them, they believe in the work that has been wrought, but they have not the enjoyment of it; I do not say they have no joy, but they do not walk in the abiding enjoyment of it; they do not know what we get in chapter 4, "A well of water springing up into everlasting life ... never thirst" - they have not come to that in the experience of their souls. What John brings in is our side. It is not so much God's side. Do you see what I mean?

Rem. Yes, you mean that John brings in our enjoyment.

J.B.S. Yes; it is like the prodigal son, he was all right with his father, when his father was on his neck; there was peace, but there was not happiness yet, for he did not feel fit for his father. He said, "I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight". Have you not found persons who have peace with God, who yet have not happiness because they get very distressed about their own sinfulness.

Ques. Would not peace and happiness go together?

J.B.S. They ought, but they often do not. I think hundreds of persons have peace, who have not happiness; they know it is all right between themselves and God but they are not at the Supper yet. Why?

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Because they have not on the best robe. The best robe is Christ. It was the father's answer to the prodigal's utterance of unworthiness.

I propose in these readings to take up the history of the work of the Spirit of God in the soul. The first thing is peace, there is nothing between God and the soul; that is peace. I see that everything that stood between me and God has been removed by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; the One who was there bore the judgment due to me and glorified God. That is figured in Exodus 14, the Red Sea. We appropriate the death of Christ, enter into the truth of His death and resurrection, that is a great point. But look at Israel. They were thirty-nine years in the wilderness and they were never rightly set for Canaan until after they looked at the brazen serpent; Numbers 21. Now John begins (chapter 3) with the brazen serpent, because he begins with our side, how we get into the enjoyment of the work. It is important to see the difference between peace and enjoyment. It is a great thing to get peace by the work of Christ, but it is a great thing to get the enjoyment of it. That is what the prodigal son wanted; he knew there was nothing between his father and himself when his father kissed him; but what troubled him was, he was not fit for his father's house.

Now we come to our subject for tonight. What is deliverance? Perhaps no point in a christian's history is of deeper importance than deliverance, for nine-tenths of believers, as far as my judgment goes, are occupied with truths which are beyond deliverance, and who yet do not know deliverance. But they cannot progress one inch until they have deliverance. You must travel the road marked out in Scripture to get it. Do you understand what deliverance is?

Answer. I think so.

J.B.S. Well, what is it?

Ques. Is it justification?

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J.B.S. No, that is peace. Many a one knows peace, who does not know deliverance; that is exactly the blunder; I know it myself, I have gone that road. When I saw Christ had borne my judgment, and all was gone from the holy eye of God for ever, I said it was beautiful, it was profound blessing; but when I looked at myself I was not a bit happy. The fact is, at that time I was trying to improve the flesh. For deliverance you must have more than justification, you must see that the old man is gone from your eye, as clearly as you see that it is gone from God's eye. It must be by the Spirit that you learn that; it is only by the Spirit that you can see it gone. Peace is, I see myself gone from the eye of God through Christ's work. What comes next? Romans 7 and Numbers 21 you find you are unmendably bad; you become sick of yourself; then you cry, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" Romans 7:24, 25. Then it is gone, not from God's eye only, but from your own eye; and that through the Spirit of God in you.

Romans 8 is the prodigal clothed, he has the best robe on. There is no condemnation you are in Christ. It is by the Spirit you know it, you could not know it by the flesh.

Rem. The practical enjoyment of it will follow.

J.B.S. Read Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". Now you have deliverance. Do you understand it now? Come now, explain it.

Rem. It is the knowledge of the full and finished work of Christ.

J.B.S. No; that is peace, that is not deliverance.

Ques. All is gone from God's eye through Christ?

J.B.S. Yes, that is peace.

Rem. For it to be gone from my eye, I must be with Christ where He is.

J.B.S. It is not a question of yourself. You are

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sick of it, you want to be delivered from it. In Christ you are delivered. You have changed your man. Do you understand? Would you like to change your man?

Answer. I would.

J.B.S. There is no use in talking of deliverance till you have changed the old man for Christ. I have done with Adam, and I have Christ. No one has deliverance, let him say what he please, until he has changed his man. It is easy to see that many people know peace with God who have not deliverance. The reason why there is so little progress in souls is they have not deliverance. They go to meetings, but they are not really in the truth of the assembly. But that is further on; I am trying to get the first step tonight.

Ques. Could a person be in the enjoyment of being in Christ and not have deliverance?

J.B.S. He could not know he was in Christ but by the Spirit. You see when the prodigal had his new robe on - that was Christ - he could sit down at the feast; then they began to be merry. If ever you were there you would remember it.

Rem. I do not quite see what you mean; I might be in Christ before God.

J.B.S. Ah! that is peace again. You are back to peace. For deliverance you must change your man. I know that the old man is gone from the eye of God, and that His eye rests on Christ. I am received, I am accepted in the Beloved. Then I come to another point, that there is no other man in my eye but Christ. How is that? the flesh could not see this, it must be by the Spirit. If you believe that God raised Christ from the dead, you have received the Holy Spirit. In Romans 5 the first impression the Spirit of God makes on the soul is that God, who was against your sins, is now for you; it is like the prodigal brought to his father. You see that God is for you. Quite right, but you have not got deliverance yet. What is the next point? The same Holy Spirit assures me I have

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Christ for my life. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". I am on new ground. Not only can God take new ground with me, but I am on new ground.

Rem. Everything is gone from the eye of God on the cross.

J.B.S. Yes; that is peace.

Rem. And for deliverance from that which is gone from the eye of God, it must be gone from my eye.

J.B.S. Exactly; and it is only by the Spirit it is gone from your eye. What makes the delay is, it is not until you are sick of yourself that you seek it.

Well, then the first thing presented in John 3 comes to your side. You see the One who was made sin lifted up; He is treated as if He did all the mischief. The brazen serpent never bit anyone. Christ was made sin, as we read in Romans 8:3 "God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, ... condemned sin in the flesh".

Ques. I suppose then we should know God was for us?

J.B.S. Yes, but that is peace, not deliverance. What has done much mischief among brethren is this, that because by faith you are clear of everything before God through the cross, therefore by faith you are clear of everything in yourself. What scripture do you get for it? "Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin" (Romans 6:11). But you cannot carry it out but by the Spirit; the flesh could not put the flesh to death; there is not a bit of deliverance but by the Spirit. "If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live;" "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free" (Romans 8:13, 2) - Can you say that?

Rem. I can through God's grace, see what He has effected for me.

J.B.S. You have got back to peace again. Deliverance is that I do not touch the old thing. I am on

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new ground, I have changed my man. You will find it out practically when you come to deal with souls. I have gone through it myself. I want to live in practical deliverance.

Rem. It is possible to have the truth doctrinally without having it experimentally.

J.B.S. That is where in one sense the mischief has come in. By faith I get what God has done for me, that is right and simple; but I do not enjoy what God has done for me but by the Spirit. By the Spirit you know you are in Christ, accepted in the Beloved. That is God's side of the story - and He never reverses it. But you and the Spirit must run together. You must walk in the Spirit, but you will find it no small thing.

Rem. It is easy enough done if the eye is fixed on Christ.

J.B.S. It is easy enough, if you keep to it. The sailor says, I do not mind the weather if I can see the sun. You may get your eye on Christ, and yet get away in a minute. I sometimes say to people, Are you ever disappointed with yourself? Are you?

Answer. Sick of myself.

J.B.S. I am glad when people come to that point; God is never disappointed with you.

Rem. I believe that, too.

J.B.S. There is another side of the flesh, but I have hardly time to touch on that tonight. The danger is in having to do with natural things; unless walking in the Spirit you are caught by them. I am going to ask you a simple question. What is the first trait of a man walking in the Spirit? Come now!

Answer. There is no room for the flesh to act.

J.B.S. But what would mark it?

Answer. Christ would be formed in him.

J.B.S. That is true, but it is the other side of the story I am asking for - the first trait of a man walking in the Spirit. You get it in Romans 12, his body is a living sacrifice, it is the Lord's; he has got a new

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Master for the body. I am to do what He wishes. I may like to go out tomorrow if it is fine, but that is not the question. Does the Lord like me to go out? It is not what I should like to do. You have no right to do anything, but what the Lord would have you do. I do not go into that now, it is too large a subject.

I hope you are all clear of the difference between peace and deliverance.

The man who has got the Spirit of God has in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Now there is not a need, he never thirsts, it is in him, you need not go outside for anything, you need not go to the queen, nor to anyone. You have in you more than you can measure. Look at it - "never thirst"! never have a sense of need! never have the sense of an unsatisfied desire! You are brought into a region of satisfaction.

Rem. John 4 and Romans 8 in that way go together.

J.B.S. It is John's way of putting it, but I do not think we have time tonight to go into it. I will give you a question now. What is the first sense in a soul who has deliverance? John 3 comes in there - "should not perish, but have eternal life". You have the sense of eternal life. You get it by the Spirit. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes me free, and I am brought on to entirely new ground. You may say, I am not up to it, but I say, You must go the road; if you do not go this road you cannot get it. Well, I cannot convey it to you, but the Lord can. It has greatly impressed me, and more since I came here, how many brethren have peace who have not deliverance.

Ques. Would that be because we do not give a place to the Spirit that He may occupy us with Christ?

J.B.S. You must experimentally have superseded Adam and brought Christ in. When I used the expression in E----, changed your man, they said it was a new statement. I said I knew no better word to

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express it. When you have reached Christ you are very glad to get rid of the old man. The apostle says in Galatians 2: 20, "I am crucified with Christ", the old thing is gone - "nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me". What is the first sense a man has who is living this life, who thus knows Christ is in him? What is the first sense he has as to this world? Suppose you go into the world, what feeling have you?

Answer. That I do not belong to it.

J.B.S. In one sense you are right, you have a life that does not belong to this place - that makes it a wilderness. The first sense a person gets is this, and it is an important thing to get hold of, that Christ is not here; you are living a life that is not here.

You will never get into the truth of the assembly until you come to that conclusion. I have the life of One who is not here; He is not on the earth. The whole deception - I cannot use a milder term - the deception of christendom is that Christ is here. Churches and chapels are erected in His honour; but He is not here. The man who has deliverance knows that. I have the life of One who is not here, and therefore the next question is, Where can He be found? Now you are on the road to the assembly. He cannot be found on the earth, He is found in the assembly. That brings us to a new subject, but before we come to that we have to learn that Christ is not here, and that I have the life of One who is not here, and therefore the world becomes a wilderness. That is what Israel would not accept; they murmured because they had nothing but manna. There is nothing to minister to me here. If I had thousands a year and was living the life of Christ, instead of settling down seeking to make myself comfortable here, I should find there is nothing for me here.

The life I have is the most perfectly beautiful thing. Does everyone understand this? I should like to be able to convey it to you. It would make an immense

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change in you; I know it has made a great change in me. I would not cultivate a flower now, I do not belong to the place, it is a wilderness. Israel took thirty-eight years to learn the wilderness. Why is it a wilderness? Read Hymn 139:

'This world is a wilderness wide,
I have nothing to seek nor to choose,
I've no thought in the waste to abide,
I have nought to regret nor to lose'.

Are you up to that?

Answer. I should like to be.

J.B.S. You must look up, you must begin at the bright side. It is not being a monk or a nun. I do not think affliction ever drew a man out of the world. But if he is attracted outside of it, he takes a new place in it. Perhaps I have said enough for tonight. Does everyone understand it? We are all ignorant. God does not send angels to teach us, He sometimes sends a blunderer like oneself.

Rem. I suppose if we knew all the blessings we have received, and if we understood them in some sense, it would bring us into the company of, and occupy us with, the Blesser.

J.B.S. You cannot be occupied with the Blesser until you are in His life; the life of the flesh could not enjoy Christ. If I have His life I enjoy Him, but then I find that I can only enjoy Him by the Spirit.

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THE CONSECRATED COMPANY

Leviticus 8

J.B.S. In Hebrews we see that the church is Christ's house; we read, Aaron offered for himself and his house. Aaron and his sons represent the church. Christ is a priest, but after a new order. He is a priest after the order of Melchisedec. In Leviticus 16 two goats were offered for the congregation, and a bullock for Aaron's house. Now which would you like to have? Do you understand my question?

Answer. Yes, I should say the bullock.

J.B.S. Yes, the bullock. If you go to the parish church you see an outward representation of Leviticus 16. The congregation, so to speak, have the two goats, and inside the communion rails are the so-called priestly company; they profess to have the bullock. Now which company do you belong to - outside the rails or inside?

Answer. Inside the rails.

J.B.S. The inside part is fulfilled; the outside is not fulfilled yet. It is a poor imitation of the true thing that is thus represented in the church of England. The congregation is the earthly company; that is Israel, and their time has not come yet. Christendom does not get beyond that; they do not get beyond the forgiveness of sins. You get that set forth in the two goats. The bullock was for the priest and his house and we go inside with Him.

We have in this chapter the consecrated company; that is the great thing. Aaron and his sons are a type of the church.

Ques. Do we not come in at all in the scapegoat?

J.B. S. Yes, it is all one work; we get the good of it all; but we get more than the scapegoat, more than forgiveness of sins. A man who is talking of his sins

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is on earth, he is not in heaven. In Revelation the heavenly company are where sins are gone.

Rem. In Revelation 5 sin is referred to.

J.B.S. There the heavenly company speak of those on the earth. There is a great difference between the two; we have both; but all I want is that you should get hold of the difference. I find people measure Scripture by their experience; you must first get Scripture and then your experience.

Ques. Then you would say the scapegoat does not go beyond the forgiveness of sins?

J.B.S. It tells you that all your sins are gone into a land not inhabited, but it does not bring you into a new place. The church of England imitates it as if all contained in Leviticus 16 was complete. Outside is the congregation, inside the rails are the surpliced priests. Would you rather be with the congregation or inside the rails?

Answer. I should rather be inside the rails.

J.B.S. That is where we belong to. What christendom has done is to put us outside, as if we were the earthly company.

Rem. As believers we get both.

J.B.S. Surely, for it is one work.

Ques. "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 8:12); do we get the good of that?

J.B.S. We get the good of that in Hebrews 10: "There is no more offering for sin". We cannot offer for sin now. You may say you do sin; yes, but you cannot offer for it now, can you?

Answer. No.

J.B.S. What do you do with sin now?

Answer. We have to confess it now.

J.B.S. Exactly, you have to confess it, and if you do not confess it, you suffer.

Now we come to the consecration. You see there are the bullock and the rams. There are two aspects of the offering, one at the altar, the other at the door.

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First (verse 14, etc.), there was the bullock for the sin-offering upon the altar, and the carcase burnt without the camp; and, secondly, there was the ram for a burnt-offering, which was wholly burnt on the altar. It all went up to God; of those two offerings no one partook. Then there was the second ram, the ram of consecration (verses 22, 23), of which Aaron and his sons partook. I wonder if you take that in. There is a verse in Corinthians that throws light on it; better turn to it, 1 Corinthians 10:18, "Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?" In the sacrifices you eat of, you are partakers of the altar, but you are not a partaker of the sin-offering nor of the burnt-offering. That was a work entirely for God; you could not have fellowship in that. That is the idea in christendom about the Lord's supper; the very way they express it shows their idea of it. 'Take and eat this bread in remembrance that Christ died for thee.' There is no such idea in Scripture in connection with the Supper; the Supper is remembrance of Him in death; they make it the sacrifice on the altar.

Aaron and his sons partook of the second ram that, was offered. Where did they eat it? At the door of the tabernacle. Do you understand that?

Answer. I think so.

J.B.S. If you are only at the altar you are dwelling only on the work done for you. That is where they are in christendom; they never get beyond the work done for them; that is the altar. We have the altar but we do not finish with the altar, we go in with the consecrated company. What is that? Not only is there a work done for us, but we enter the door, we enter the holiest. In the figure you see the difference between the altar and the door. What is the difference, can you tell me? Have you ever come to the door?

Ques. Is the door approach?

J.B.S. Of course it is. Christ is the Minister of

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the true sanctuary. If you look at the figure it is very simple. In the altar we remember where He was and the work He has done; that is the burnt-offering and the sin-offering; that is salvation; nothing but His death could give this. But the door is not merely the work He has done. I come in in the common fragrance with Himself. Aaron and his sons' hands were filled; the youngest son as much as the eldest, and in that common fragrance, a sweet-smelling savour to God, they went to the door. How do you go to the door? Well, I put it to you, Do you go to the door in all the enjoyment of the assurance of the perfection of the work done for you? or do you go in the perfection of Him who did the work? Do you see the question?

Answer. Yes. We come in the perfection of Him who did the work.

Ques. Were all the offerings offered before the consecration?

J.B.S. Yes, all before the consecration. It is in consecration you go to the door and there you feed. What do you feed on? Do you feed on your own goodness? Do you feed on your salvation? Come now, that is a very simple question.

Answer. We should feed on Christ.

J.B.S. You cannot feed on anything else.

Rem. He is the Bread of life.

J.B.S. Yes, quite so, but He is the ram of consecration. People think they can consecrate themselves. What consecrates me is having my hands filled, not with my fragrance but with the fragrance of Christ; that is what I understand by going to the door. I remember Him at the altar in His death, but it is not only that He has borne my judgment but I come in in all the fragrance of Himself into His presence. I think therefore the breaking of bread ought to be early in the meeting.

Rem. We come together to break bread.

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J.B.S. I believe hundreds go to break bread, who are not in the holiest.

I think we now understand consecration, at least I hope we do. It is not simply the benefit to yourself.

Ques. Do we pass from the altar to the door when we go into the Lord's presence?

J.B.S. Yes. If you get to the door you walk in. If you partake of the altar, what do you partake of?

Ques. I partake of the second ram?

J.B.S. Very good; then I say, You are identified with Him, you are identified with His death. That took place on earth. I believe the great effect on a person who is truly at the Lord's supper, is this - I cannot look for anything where my Lord has died. He died here. But, thank God, I know Him in another place. I know Him in glory. He is the Minister of the true sanctuary now.

Ques. Do you make any difference between the door and the holiest?

J.B.S. I know nothing in the Old Testament that really sets forth our place in the holiest. Aaron's sons had no title to be in the holiest of all. Christ was not a priest after the order of Aaron. He is after the order of Melchisedec. He was rejected here, now He is exalted a great Priest at the right hand of God. What is that to me? Well, He says, All I have you share in, you are co-heirs with Me. It is the most marvellous thing possible. It is not only that He has done a work for me but I share with Him. I could not be in the presence of God but in all the blessedness and beauty of Christ.

Ques. Why is it a ram?

J.B.S. I think it is in connection with the burnt-offering; that went up to God in all its perfection before Him. In that perfection you go in.

Ques. I notice here that Moses had his part. What do you think of that?

J.B.S. I think Moses represents the divine side;

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we do not share in that. The way I look upon that is, the heart of Christ before God for us; that is the breast. I do not think that it is making intercession for us when we do not go straight, as people say. It is that we may have grace supplied to us to share in the wonderful nature of the blessing we have got.

Rem. You said last night that in Leviticus the priest finished up the sacrifices.

J.B.S. If you turn to Leviticus 1 you will see that if a man brought a bird for his offering the priest had more to do for him than if his offering were a bullock or a sheep or a goat.

Now we go into the holiest of all. We share in the unspeakable blessedness of it; the more you ponder it the more wonderful it is to your heart; we share in the blessedness of what Christ is to God. I am here in the place of His rejection but I share with Him there in the greatness of His exaltation.

Rem. He is called a "great high priest".

J.B.S. That is looking at Him on high; on earth there were other priests; there is only one Priest now.

Rem. That is the Son of God.

J.B.S. I remember a man who denied the priesthood, putting a string of questions to me. One question was, What did the priest do when he came out? He wanted me to say, He blessed the people (for he did not understand the priesthood in the least, that is why my reply vexed him so). I said, I know what He does when He comes out, what I want to know is what He does when He goes in. He has gone in. Do you see?

Rem. He will come out for His people.

J.B.S. Oh, He will come out for the congregation; but He is gone in for those inside the rails. We get, as I have said before, a picture in the church of England of what is true morally in christendom; for many christians know that they have the benefit of the two goats, who do not know the blessings set forth

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in the bullock. If you have the bullock you have both, for the greater includes the less; it is all one work. There is a vast difference between the congregation and the priestly company.

If you ask me, What do you go to the meeting for? I reply, I go to the meeting first and foremost because I form part of the building - God's house, and I go there to remember the Lord. First, I remember Him; next, I listen to His voice. Many go and get only as far as the altar. They do not go on to the door. If you remember Him rightly you must be the consecrated company and go in.

Rem. The worship should begin after the breaking of bread.

J.B.S. I do not object to beginning with worship, for we come into His presence with a song. The sight of Him makes me worship. The moment I get to the door my heart is bowed. I am in His company seeing Him and listening to His voice.

In the figure it was from the mercy-seat God spoke. From the holiest God propounded His mind. You get it in type. Israel knew what the holiest was; the gentile had nothing that represented it. But look at 2 Corinthians 3:18 "beholding ... the glory of the Lord", you are transformed "into the same image". There you get what the holiest is for the gentile. If you read the Bible from cover to cover you will not get anything greater than that. Some have said that reading the Bible is beholding the Lord's glory; they do not understand anything about it. Beholding the Lord's glory, you are transformed; our translators did not understand it, and they put, "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed". How do you behold Him? In the holiest. At the altar you remember Him, at the door you behold Him. Do you understand?

Answer. Yes. Is the result seen when you come out?

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J.B.S. The result is seen by others. One result is that your judgment about things is changed, you could not tell how. True, you understand the Bible better, but that is not it. Look at the two disciples going to Emmaus; they had the most wonderful exposition of Scripture that ever was heard, but it did not move them one hair's breadth. People say, What a wonderful lecture! what a beautiful exposition of Scripture! But it does not alter them one bit. What does alter them? THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD.

What was the effect on the two disciples of being in the presence of the Lord? They saw Him, they knew Him, and now they go the very road He is gone Himself They go to Jerusalem; they are occupied with His interests; they follow Him; they are transformed.

1 consider that the most wonderful verse in Scripture: "But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit". People ask for guidance for one thing or another. I say, If they would spend ten minutes in the Lord's presence beholding His glory, they would be so outside themselves that they would be transformed; they would get His mind. Of course, His mind would be according to Scripture; but it is not by reading Scripture, but by being in His presence that you get it.

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THE COMPANY INSIDE

John 14

J.B.S. The first thing to bear in mind is that John 14 is collective. It was spoken at the supper table. I have been in the habit, and I believe many others have, too, of looking at this chapter as individual, but you see it is connected with the company. Only three verses in the chapter are individual - verses 21, 22, 23. All the rest is collective.

It is an immense comfort when you see what the Lord is in the assembly. Even if I cannot go to the meeting, I can learn what He is there. We have here the company which afterwards became the assembly, and we see the position He has there, and what provision He has made for us in this world where He is not. You understand that. do you not?

Answer. Yes, I understand that.

J.B.S. It is a great thing to see what the Lord says, "Let not your heart be troubled". That is not in reference to some misfortune that has befallen yourself. He does not allude to some private trial.

Rem. One has been apt to look at it in connection with one's individual circumstances.

J.B.S. Exactly, so used I. But you see He says it in connection with what comes out in chapter 13. Supper being ended, or rather supper going on, He rises from supper. It is all inside. I think a great many people have been instructed in chapter 15, which is outside, who have never been inside. Do not you want to be inside?

You have the inside in chapters 13 and 14. This is the beginning of the company; it is very small, but that is the way it began. The Lord is showing to the little company, now reduced to eleven, what He would

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be to them, before a word is said about going outside. Do you see what I mean?

Answer. I think I do. Do you mean by being inside, being in the Lord's company?

J.B.S. I mean the Lord's company in the assembly; that is the place where He is found on earth. In John 15 you are out in the field. Tell me now, when a soldier is enlisted, what do they do with him first? Do they send him to the battlefield?

Answer. Not at first. I suppose they put him through training.

J.B.S. They bring him to the barracks. If a man seeks to be in chapter 15 and has never been in chapter 14, I say he is a raw recruit.

I get immense comfort even though I cannot now go to the assembly, in knowing that the Lord is in the assembly. I may not know what is going on there, but I know what He is. It is an immense comfort to know there is a resource for His own in the time of His rejection, even though everyone does not appropriate it.

Here He rises from supper, which was a figure of His death; and He brings the truth of it to bear upon them in a new way. He girds Himself with a towel, pours water into a basin, and washes their feet. He is rejected, and now if we are to be with Him we must go to Him where He is. There is a new principle. Now He is the living Stone and you must leave everything here to join Him. You must go into the holiest. You cannot join Him anywhere else. But if you are to join Him in that scene of unclouded light then you must have what we get here - the feet-washing - you must be fitted for it.

Ques. This chapter is not individual?

J.B.S. No, it is not. Now if you want to know Him, to know His provision, if you want to know what a resource He is for His own, where do you go? Do you go to church? Do you go to Rome?

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Answer. You go to Scripture.

J.B.S. No, you go to the assembly. Do you see? He is in the assembly. It is a great thing to get hold of, that He is in the assembly and nowhere else on earth; that is His place now that He is rejected here. I do not mean that He will not manifest Himself to you individually. That is what we find in verse 21, "I will love him, and will manifest myself to him". That is individual. Now what is feet-washing?

Answer. The Lord's care for His own, that they may enjoy His company.

J.B.S. Yes, quite right, that they may enjoy His company. I believe a great many who have a good conscience have never had their feet washed.

Ques. Is it the word applied?

J.B.S. It is, but still the first great point of the feet-washing is this - you must be fit to be with Him. In John 10:14, 15 the Lord says, "I ... know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father". Peter had a good conscience in John 20, but he had not his feet washed until John 21; that is, his heart was not right. Many a man goes on with a good conscience, knowing Christ as his Saviour, but has never come to Him as the Son of God, he has never made acquaintance with Him. I could not tell you what it is, but what He desires is that you should have this acquaintance. He washes their feet, He wants to remove every stain, or what would come in to hinder this intimacy.

Ques. If I do not know this intimacy I do not know the washing of the feet?

J.B.S. I believe you are right. The Lord was going to take a new place, you see. I believe that is connected with the holiest of all. It is the same idea. He was going to take a new position, and if His disciples are to join Him there, He must fit them for it. He is in the light, you could not come into the

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light without this. It is not the advocacy, that has to do with sin. It is not sin here, it is more like what we get with the bride in Song of Songs 5. He is gone away. She was not a transgressor, what she did was only to fall asleep, but there is a shade of distance, there is reserve.

Rem. The more you know His company, the more sensitive you are of any distance.

J.B.S. Exactly. Well, that is the first thing. You must study the chapter; we cannot in one reading get through it all. I should like you to get the line of it. First He washes their feet. Then He announces that in that little company of twelve there was one who would betray Him. He presents to them the difficulties of the situation. In that small number, only twelve, you get a sample of the difficulties that belong to this day. First, there was the treachery of Judas; secondly, there was the denial of Peter. The most prominent man among them would deny Him with cursing and swearing. And Judas, I do not think he wished to do the Lord harm, but he wanted to make money by his knowledge of Him. Many are ready to do that, barter their knowledge for money. There was the love of money in Judas; he is exposed, and he goes out, as someone has said, 'The door that closed on him gone out, shut in the One who is the Source of all'. Man in Judas had gone to the lowest point of evil. Man in the Person of Jesus was raised to the highest point of exaltation. "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him", This is all inside, it has nothing to do with the world. Judas, the man whom you might have expected most from, is gone out to barter Him for money. Peter is ready to deny Him. In this state of things it is that chapter 14 opens: "Let not your heart be troubled". Now what is their resource?

Ques. Is He not everything to them in this place?

J.B.S. I want verse 1; you have gone to verse 6. What have we first? I want the order.

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Answer. He says, "Believe also in me".

J.B.S. That is the secret. If you do not have the first, you will not get the second, but you find many believe in God who do not believe in Christ. I do not say they do not believe in His work. Do you understand that?

Answer. I can understand it if you mean that they have not the Person before them.

J.B.S. No, it is not that; but they do not see that the One who was rejected and cast out is the One they must count upon; that all power is given to Him in heaven and on earth. He who has the key of David. Do you count on Him?

You see there are two lines, two chains, as it were, running down the chapter; one is faith, the other is love. Faith goes down to verse 14. Faith is that I live here in the light of what He is. Love is that what love would like love gets, and that is company. Do you see the two lines?

Answer. Yes, I think I do.

J.B.S. You get the first in Ephesians 1:15, "After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus". Having faith in Him you walk about in the consciousness of the resource you have in Him. He is able to bear you up all through the difficulties here. He is not here, but you have faith in Him. "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." That is the first thing; if you have not got that, you have not got your right place in the assembly. The second thing is, "I go to prepare a place for you". And what is the third? "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". If you come by Me, you get the new way - it is still all faith. "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him".

Then in verse 12 we get another thing: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also and greater works

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than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father". Those who believe on Him shall do greater works. Stephen is an example. In a certain sense the greatest work the Lord did on earth was to raise a dead man to life. In Stephen you have a man raised above himself, and above all the power of the enemy, and going to glory. How could he be that but by the power of Christ? That shows the resource. Do you see now what we get in this chapter?

Answer. Yes, I think so. Is it not that He was going away, but they were left with resource?

J.B.S. Yes, exactly, that is it. If you want to find a resource - come to Me. If you are short of supply, turn in here; here is your bank. It is what He is to the company, and it is an immense comfort to know when I go into the assembly that I shall find Him, and I have learnt what He is in the assembly. He winds up with, "If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it".

Ques. Is that collective?

J.B.S. It is all collective.

Rem. We have often taken that verse for the individual.

J.B.S. Yes, we have; but it is all collective.

Ques. Does it not apply to me in my individual path?

J.B.S. No; it applies to the assembly, it applies to the Lord's interests. It applies to such an one as Stephen, if you like, he was for the Lord on earth, and for His interests.

Ques. In speaking of the resource in Him, is it simply for the assembly or for the whole path?

J.B.S. Oh, whenever the occasion arises. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do".

Ques. Chapter 15:7 says, "If ye abide in me ... ye shall ask what ye will". That is individual, is it not?

J.B.S. But that is the field. If you have not been inside, you cannot go outside. In the church of

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England the clergyman goes to college to study divinity, and then he is ordained. The order in Scripture is, you must be ordained first. You must have chapter 14 before you have chapter 15. Think of a man working away before he is ordained. It is thus with many. They do not know Him as their resource. You may speak of a man you do not know; but how can you find resource in him if you do not know him?

Now we come to love. Love gets what it likes. What would you like? He is gone away. Tell me any one thing you would like to pray to the Lord for?

Answer. Love values His company.

J.B.S. Yes; and love gets what it values. That is always the case. It is an invariable principle of Scripture. Love gets what it likes. If you value a thing you get it.

You want His company, but if He is gone away how will you get it? What will you do?

Answer. There is another Comforter.

J.B.S. What is that for?

Answer. He says in verse 15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments".

J.B.S. But what is He going to give you?

Answer. In verse 16 He says, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter".

J.B.S. Why did they want a Comforter?

Answer. Because He would be absent.

J.B.S. That is it. They wanted someone because He was going away; they wanted comfort in His absence. Elijah said to Elisha when he was going to leave him, What shall I do for you? Elisha asked that he might have a double portion of his spirit. The Lord does not ask what He should do for them; He says, If you love me, I know what you would like. What would you like?

Answer. That I should be kept in the company of the One I belong to. We want the Person.

J.B.S. Tell me from Scripture what you want.

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Answer. Verse 18 says, "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you".

J.B.S. That is right. He will come to you. In verses 16 and 17 He says they should have "another Comforter ... whom the world cannot receive". Why can it not receive Him?

Answer. "Because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you".

J.B.S. Go on to the next verse.

Answer. "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you".

J.B.S. That is it. I will come to you Myself. That is in the assembly. I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you; that is inside.

Then verse 20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you". At that day ye shall know the greatness of it; the greatness comes out in the church. Next you come to verse 21; verses 21 - 23 are individual. Then (verse 26) you have the Holy Spirit: "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you". That is on earth.

Finally, He closes up with "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you ... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid". He is the resource. Read it for yourselves. If you would sit down with it before you for half an hour, taking every verse, I am sure you would see the resource for us in the dark day. It is not that the day is bright, but we have a bright resource for the dark day.

Do you understand the line of it? I do not expect you to take it all in, but you see the line, do you not?

Answer. Yes, I think I see it. We have a resource in the day of His absence.

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J.B.S. You have it today in Carlisle. It was a very small at first. It began with eleven. One had gone out to betray him. One was ready to deny him. It was not what they were, but what He is. Do you say, I get no help from brethren? That is not where you are to look for it. Your resource is not in brethren - HE IS YOUR RESOURCE - He is everything to the new company. If you are really counting on Him you will know what it is not to let your heart be troubled.

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CHRISTIANITY

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NEW CREATION

2 Corinthians 5:14 - 18

The subject I desire to take up is christianity; it is one which we ought all to know well, but perhaps there is no subject we are so partially acquainted with; christianity is simply as Christ is.

I begin this evening with
"NEW CREATION".

Everything is new; all is derived from Christ. In this scripture we see it begins with reconciliation. If you do not know the beginning, you cannot know the finish. First, then, as to reconciliation itself, I find the great practical difficulty to souls is one simple question, and I wish saints were more exercised about it. It is, what is the nature of the distance between God and the sinner? Now I am addressing many who have been long on the road, and who have learnt a great deal; still I put to you all this simple question, and though many answers partly true might be given to it, there is really but one answer. Evidently Cain knew that there was a distance between God and him, but he did not know the nature of it. And in my acquaintance even with the most advanced christians, I find that here they are defective, they do not know the nature of the distance. Now if the distance is not all gone, there is no reconciliation according to God. The word 'atonement' does not occur in the New Testament; the word translated 'atonement' in Romans 5 is reconciliation, and reconciliation is the removing of all between God and the sinner. The great question is, what is the distance? You may say, your sins. Yes; but that does not measure it. I go to the root, the root of many a sorrowful hour to me and to every one of us; it is the flesh. It astounds one

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to hear it, but it is true. "The flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63); "they that are in flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). God said, "The end of all flesh is come before me" (Genesis 6:13), and He sent the flood. This has been accomplished in the cross. The apostle writes, "The love of the Christ constrains us, having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them, and has been raised". Mark what follows. "Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh;" we are still walking in flesh, but we do not war after the flesh. Many mistakes have been made about new creation, but the real defect is that saints have not apprehended the distance which is to be removed in order to effect reconciliation. The man after the flesh must be removed. As the first man must be removed, and there is another Man to supplant him, it is plain enough; and that is precisely the truth taught here. The apostle writes, "Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more". He went down into death, and He is raised from the dead; and it is on the ground of the risen Man that we are justified, "if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:24). "He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again". Practically you find that while every christian believes that Christ died, a great many do not know Him risen. If you had a real sense that He went into death for you, the one great desire before your heart would be to see Him out of it. For He is out of it. "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). And therefore, "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away". Some understand that to mean that when you are converted the old things are improved. Not a bit of it; "the old things have passed away;

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behold all things have become new". You may say, That is very sweeping. So it is; but mark what is introduced; it is wonderful - all things are of God. As we proceed we shall see more of this; but the beginning is reconciliation, which has been consummated by the resurrection of Christ.

I go on now to the proof that you believe in Christ risen, and that is that you have received the Holy Spirit. The only bond with Christ is the Spirit of God. "If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him" (Romans 8:9); it is not "none of his" but "not of him". Hence, "He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17); that is your responsibility. You belong to the Lord. "In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed" (Ephesians 1:13). The Spirit is the link. The living water is Christ's answer to your faith in Him. He said, "Whosoever drinks of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst for ever, but the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life" (John 4:14). The great thing to see is that the flesh is gone, and the only link with Christ is the Spirit of God. There can be no other link. I am still dwelling on the reconciliation and the fulness of the gospel. We read in Romans 5:5 that "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us". The very first action of the Holy Spirit in your heart is to assure you that God loves you. Many a one is hindered by being occupied with his own feelings. The unmistakable mark of your having the Holy Spirit is that God is before you. We get an illustration of it in the prodigal son; the great impression that the father makes on him is, I love you. So when you have received the Holy Spirit, the first impression you get of God is that God loves you; that is the unmistakable mark. The gospel is that God has cleared everything away from His own side, and has received you upon the ground of Another - the

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Man of His pleasure. He has accepted you in Christ; you must be either in Adam or in Christ; "in the Adam all die" (1 Corinthians 15:22).

You are in Christ before God, "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6), you are graced in the Beloved. God can receive with open arms the prodigal, or a Saul of Tarsus, or the thief on the cross, or the Philippian jailor, or yourself. But what does He do? Not only has He cleared away all that was between Him and you, but the very first action of His divine power in your soul is to tell you His feelings about you. The one great impression the father made upon the prodigal son was, I love you; that is the gospel. Now I trust every one in this room at any rate sees where the gospel sets us; everything has been cleared away to God's satisfaction in the cross; the man after the flesh has gone from His eye, and another Man is before Him to His entire satisfaction, and we are in Him, and we receive the Holy Spirit from that Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now I turn to our own side; I come now to

"IN CHRIST".

If when you know reconciliation you are apart from man after the flesh, and the Holy Spirit has been given to you, you are altogether on new ground; you must know new creation if you know reconciliation. Next you know that you are "in Christ". I will not dwell on it long, though many spend years before they know that they are in Christ. I ask, Why? I knew for years that all was gone from God's eye in the cross to His infinite satisfaction, and yet it was not gone from me. Why? Because I was occupied with the flesh, trying to improve it; that was the hindrance; I see it now very plainly. Everyone can see when his eyes are opened. I see now that the same Holy Spirit who assures me that God loves me, is the One who as "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from

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the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:2). We are in the Spirit, and not in the flesh, and being led by the Spirit we are the sons of God. + It is a wonderful deliverance to be in the Spirit and not in the flesh. "The flesh profits nothing" (John 6:63) is the first lesson we learn, and I believe everyone will admit that it is the last that we learn fully. "If we live by the Spirit, let us walk also by the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). We all fail, either as the Corinthians or as the Galatians failed; we go back to the flesh. Who is your Friend? The Spirit of God; and if you walk in the Spirit, "ye shall no way fulfil flesh's lust" (Galatians 5:16). If you have-a hasty temper, if you walk in the Spirit you will be kept from it; you do not improve your temper, but there is a power within you far greater than the flesh, that you cannot do the things that you would. Your body is the Lord's; you are under new government. Now you can say, "I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20. If you know that you are in Christ - not only that you are accepted in the Beloved - it is a wonderful day to you; you are in liberty, you are free from the flesh. I admit that you may swerve from it, like the Corinthians and the Galatians; but how were they restored? They came back to Christ. To the Corinthians the apostle writes that by beholding the Lord's glory we are all transformed into the same image. To the Galatians it was that Isaac should get his place; that is, that Christ should be formed in them; that it should be, "No longer live, I, but Christ lives in me".

"HIS BRETHREN".

Now I turn to Hebrews 2:11 - "Both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren". We

+Though being sons is the fulness of grace, we could not be sons but in being 'of God,' that is, new creation; yet many christians assume to know God as Father who do not see new creation.

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have come not only to reconciliation, and that we have the Holy Spirit but we are in Christ; and now you must own that you are on entirely new ground. Next, and it is very important, we are His companions, His brethren. We are associated with Him who has been refused by this world, and is no longer here. I press this much, because here many christians have failed; they have assumed to be God's people according to the grace which will be given to His earthly people. For instance, they appropriate such passages as those in Ezekiel 36:25, 26. Many devout christians talk today of a clean heart. I do not look for a clean heart, but that the Spirit of God should keep my heart for Christ. God will hereafter have a people on the earth who will have the law written in their hearts; but that is not said of those who are the present companions of Christ. The root or origin of all the perversion in christendom is that Christ's rejection on the earth has not been accepted. I have been in it myself; and I plainly see that all the religious systems abroad assume to honour Christ here, and ignore the fact that He has been rejected. If Christ has been rejected here, He is a great Priest in heaven, and those who are His are of His order. In the type the goat, as well as the bullock was burnt without the camp; man has been removed from the eye of God in the cross, and God can bring in any order He likes. Hence I insist that christians are not of the earthly order, but of the order of Christ - His brethren inside the veil:

'In Him we stand, a heav'nly band,
Where He Himself is gone'. (Hymn 12)

As we read, "Both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren". "Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24); the "much fruit" is His brethren, we are of His order. And therefore in the epistle to the Hebrews we find that we are the consecrated

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company; we answer to the sons of Aaron; Aaron offered the bullock for himself and for his house. Aaron and his sons are a type of the church. If you apprehend your relationship to Christ you are of His order, companions of Him who has been rejected here, but has gone within the veil. "Where Jesus is entered as forerunner for us, become for ever a high priest" (Hebrews 6:20); and we are His brethren. When everything has failed in Israel, "the children which God has given" Him come out now for signs and wonders; and being rejected by man, He has sat down at the right hand of God. God cannot now sanction nor support anyone upon this earth but Christ. Why? Because as He was rejected here by man, God could not honour the man who rejected His Son. If you are not of Christ, do not expect God's support. But you are of Him, you belong to Him who is not here, you are His companions. Therefore we read, "whose house are we"; we are inside the veil, in the holiest of all. I hope I have made it clear to you that we are His brethren.

Now I come to another step -

"PART WITH ME".

In John 13:8 the Lord said, "Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me". We must be His brethren in order to have part with Him. We are "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling". You must first accept the truth, and then look to the Lord to lead you into it. You are brethren of Him who is not here; you are associated with Him, and you have to know this in order to be with Him. You learn in Hebrews that when you are with Him, you are borne above the pressure of circumstances here. The "great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God" (Hebrews 4:14), sympathises with you. He does not alter things here, but He draws you to Himself, just as He did Peter when he was sinking; He stretched

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out His hand to him; He did not smooth the waters, but He drew him to His own side. And thus it is that His sympathy is known. He draws you from the place where the sorrow is; the sorrow is here, and remains here, but He draws you to Himself where there is none. This is not all, for He is the way into the circle, the wonderful bright circle where He is the "great priest over the house of God" in the holiest of all. This is the assembly, and there you are with Him. You could not be with Him risen from the dead but at the other side of death. To break bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Christ's death is not coming to Him, the living Stone. In order to come you must come to Him where He is, and He is at the other side of death. Then you not only know Him as the One who said, "On this rock I will build my assembly" (Matthew 16:18), but you know Him as He is in the assembly according to His words, "I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises" (Hebrews 2:12). I recapitulate a little, for I want you to follow as far as I have gone. First, reconciliation, "Old things have passed away; behold all things have become new"; you are a new creation, you have received the Holy Spirit, you are not in the flesh, you are "in Christ"; and not only are you the brethren of Christ, but you are with Him. Now with Christ you are learning, in association with Himself, to be in moral correspondence to Him. Then the heart becomes acquainted with the greatness of being brought to God; and I trust you will see that it is as you are acquainted with Him, beholding His glory, that you are "transformed according to the same image". It could not be effected otherwise; you have left the old order of things and are learning now that all is of God. The apostle can say after thirty years, "that I may know him". I feel that when anyone is going on, he is set on knowing Christ; you learn Him as you are with Him. And this is the special blessing in the

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assembly, but that will come before us another evening, if the Lord permit. The central blessing in the assembly is that you are in His presence, and you acquire in His presence what you could not acquire anywhere else; beholding the Lord's glory in His own circle, you necessarily acquire suitability to Him.

I trust, beloved friends, that you are looking to the Lord that you may understand this - that you are an entirely new order of being, a new creation. "Old things have passed away". I have dwelt long on this because many christians are trying to be according to God's people on the earth, the law written in their hearts. I say, No, His own are now associated with Him inside the veil. He has been rejected by the world, and no one can be owned of God on this earth who is not of Christ; and if you are of Christ you join Him in the place where He is.

UNION WITH THE HEAD.

You have seen that you are in Christ, sons of God, and that you are with Him, His brethren; now I come to Christ the Head and your union with Him, that you are of Him, which plainly is new creation, as Eve came from Adam; she was called Ishshah because she was taken out of Ish. This is the great mystery. Nothing that you can have, not your best quality as a man, can be joined to Christ, all must come from Him. I shall refer to the Head first, and then to union. Everyone derives from his head; your head directs your life and all your ways. Now Christ is the Head of the body. If Christ is your Head He directs and orders all for Himself. It is a marvellous grace that we should be conformed to the image of God's Son. I think it is very sad that the highest thought which God has about us, and that which His heart is set on, is that which is least known by christians; for I know no truth that is so little realised as union with Christ. If I look at the type I find that God brought Eve to

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Adam, and it is similarly true now that each one of us is being conducted by the Spirit to Christ where He is. But then you must learn the Head first, that you derive from Him; and when you know union, which is the climax, you know that nothing can be united to Him but that which is of Him. If you are united to Him you partake of His mind and of His power. It must surely be most attractive to your heart, that when you know union with Christ you will be in consonance with His mind, and He will give you of His own power to do His pleasure. "The heart of her husband confideth in her" (Proverbs 31:11), would be enjoyed by you. The great impression I desire to lay on your heart is that you are of Him - a new creation; and the higher you go the more it is established. Nothing can be more wonderful than the position into which you are brought; all is of Him - His tastes, His interests, everything becomes yours. The unmistakable mark of a man who knows union is that he has a new set of interests, Christ's interests. He may and should be attentive to his daily business, but Christ's interests are paramount with him. One may be doing little as to active service, but the first thought and purpose of the heart will be Christ's interests. But I only refer now to union with Christ in order to establish that we are a new creation.

I will recall briefly the line I have gone over, in order that each one here may have it freshly before his mind, and thus be able to ponder it before the Lord.

The first point is reconciliation. God has removed from His own eye in the cross all that was contrary to Him; man in the flesh is gone, and He has before Him the Man of His pleasure, and according to that Man He accepts you. If you believe that He who died has been raised from the dead, you are accepted in righteousness, and the testimony to you is that the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in your heart the love of

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God. Therefore we also joy in God through "our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom now we have received the reconciliation". That is the gospel. That is a wonderful position, the new position. Man in the flesh has gone from God's eye, and He has received you on the ground of the Man who has done all His pleasure.

Consequent on this the Holy Spirit has been given to you, and He assures your heart of the love of God. Now the same Holy Spirit who has done this makes you "free from the law of sin and of death" in the life of Christ: "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free" (Romans 8:2). It is not only that you know the heart of God towards you, as the prodigal knew that his father loved him when he kissed him; but you know that you are in Christ, you are led by the Spirit, you are the sons of God, you not only know your acceptance, but you can fully enjoy it, because you are in the Spirit.

Next, you know you are the brethren of Christ, and you are associated with Him; you are brought from your own circumstances of trial individually into company with Him, into that bright scene where He is in the holiest of all, a great Priest over the house of God. You know the fulness of your approach to God, and there you learn the deepest wonders of divine grace, and that you have access to the Father. Hence the assembly is the place of blessing, because there Christ's presence is known, and there His mind is communicated, and as you know Him there you come forth as the royal priesthood to describe Him here.

One word more. The more you learn that Christ is your Head, and also that you are united to Him, the more effective you will be in the assembly; and the more the greatness of the place opens out to you, and the blessedness of His presence, the more will you be for Him here upon the earth, because you understand Him better.

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In conclusion let me say, If you really seek help which will cheer you every day, look for Christ first in every circle; whatever be the circle look for Christ first. If a child goes into a room it looks for its mother. In every circle or circumstance or interest may your first thought be, Where is Christ? The Lord grant that each of our hearts may practically learn it. We do not learn it all at once, but we may "grow up to him in all things". May you see the effect it would have on you if Christ were your one object. You begin with the gospel, you are in Christ; and you end with union, you are of Christ.

The Lord grant that each of our hearts may understand the blessedness of the position to which we are called, a new creation in Christ Jesus, for His name's sake.

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THE SPIRITUAL HOUSE

1 Peter 2:3 - 9

Our subject this evening is the spiritual house. I desire first to describe it as it is in the mind of God, as Christ builds it; and then I shall turn and look at God's house in its present disorder. If you do not see the spiritual house as it is in the mind of God, you cannot be conscious of the present disorder. I have read this scripture because no failure is referred to; it is Christ's building.

I will divide the subject into parts in order to make it clear.

The first is

THE FORMATION.

It is a new building. Bear in mind that christianity is altogether new. In christendom the thought in building a church is that it should resemble the Jewish temple. The formation of the spiritual house is that every believer, everyone who has "tasted that the Lord is good", comes to the living Stone: "to whom coming, a living stone". The step is to come to Him. He is risen from the dead, and there is no way of coming to Him but by the Spirit of God. You come to Him risen. If you want it illustrated, you get a pattern of it in Matthew 14, where Peter walks on the water to go to Jesus. That is as true now morally as it was then literally. In order to reach Him you must go to the other side of death. It is very easy to come into a room to a meeting, but that is not coming to the Lord, that is not coming to the living Stone; you have to come to Him, and you could not come to Him but by the Spirit of God. You ask, What precedes it in the history of a soul? It is that you hear His voice and follow Him. You may say, How can I get to Him? You begin by following Him, and thus you

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leave everything that is not of Him. In following Him you break from all religious systems. He had entered the fold, and now "He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out" (John 10:3), and He adds, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (verse 27). Peter literally left the ship to follow Him. You see the Lord at the other side of death, and you cannot cross over but by the Spirit of God. You may say. I am following Him. If you are, you follow Him outside all that is of man, of religious man. Practically you will be like the man who was blind in John 9:35 - 38, he is eventually outside of everything religious, in the solitude of light, a wonderful place! outside of everything recognised among men as religious according to the law of God; then the Lord meets him, and says to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Now he has come to the living Stone; he said, "I believe, Lord: and he did him homage". This is the step in coming to the living Stone.

One remark more before I pass from this section. In coming to the Lord, in following Him, you will be conscious of your infirmities, not of your sins; they are purged, as we read in Hebrews 1:3, "having made by himself the purification of sins", etc. I would explain it as one who has travelled the road; you will be conscious of your infirmity, like Peter when he began to sink. He felt his inability to encounter the winds and the waves; and "he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And ... Jesus stretched out his hand and caught hold of him". He did not alter things here, but He brought him to His own side. Now that illustrates His priestly service; He knows your pressure, and He brings you out of the pressure to Himself where there is none. Thus you learn Christ's sympathy, One who has passed through the heavens, a great Priest, the Son of God. He not only draws you unto His own side, but eventually He conducts you into the company which surrounds Him; you are not merely relieved of

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your pressure, but you have boldness to enter the holiest, where He is a great Priest over the house of God.

I trust you now understand the formation of the house. When you are in, and have found your place, you learn next the nature of the place. No one has conscious knowledge of anything into which he has not been brought experimentally. The exposition of Scripture does not give it to you; it sets it before you, and as your heart is exercised you are brought into it by the Spirit, and it becomes a part of yourself; it is then the engrafted word.

The next section is

THE LORD'S PLACE IN THE ASSEMBLY.

His place there will give an idea of its divine magnificence. You will bear in mind that I am speaking of the assembly as it is His building. The foundation is Jesus Christ; He is the living Stone, He is the Builder, and also He is Lord - there all things are by Him; and He is Son over God's house. I am pointing out His place in the spiritual house; He is also a great Priest over the house of God, He maintains His own in all the blessedness of His own nearness in the presence of God, in the holiest of all. It is great grace to apprehend His place in the assembly. He is also greater than Moses, and He communicates the mind of God, God's present thoughts and interests; and as all His grace is vouchsafed to the assembly, He is there known as Head of the body. As you derive from Him you are more effective in the house. When you know union with Him you are in consonance with His mind, and receive of His power to carry out His pleasure here. Hence in 1 Corinthians 12, where the body is spoken of, every member contributes to the welfare and effectiveness of all in the assembly. I trust that you apprehend these two sections.

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The next I turn to is

THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD,

and their sacrifices in the house of God. The first service of the holy priesthood when we come together is to remember the Lord's death. It should be at the beginning of the meeting; if the company were really with the Lord it would be so. The spiritual house is on the earth. The holy priesthood first calls to mind that Christ died here. This gives a true character to everything here, and enhances the fact that we are now around Him as the consecrated company, entering with boldness the holiest of all; that is not heaven, but glory and honour are in His presence. This is your beginning; but not the finish. If you come together only to break bread in remembrance of Christ's death, you overlook that He is in the midst, Son over God's house, and that you are there "a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). The Lord's supper is not referred to in Hebrews. A pious Jew would know that until all the sacrifices necessary for approach to God were offered there could not be consecration. Anyone who looks at Leviticus 8 will see that there was no consecration until after all the sacrifices necessary to place the believer in full approach to God were offered. In the type, the consecration came last. As the holy priesthood we remember Christ's death; we surround Him before God as the consecrated company, and offer up spiritual sacrifices; the heart is made conscious of the blessedness of Christ's place in the presence of God, as is set forth by the burnt-offering, the meat-offering, and the peace-offering. But I believe the first spiritual sacrifice is the presentation of the two wave loaves, the first-fruits - the day of Pentecost has fully come. The antitype of the wave loaves was the hundred and twenty in Acts 2, the church presented unto God; and hence in Leviticus 23:20 we read, "They shall be

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holy to Jehovah, for the priest". What I am trying to describe is how the holy priesthood offer up "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ". You come spiritually to what we get literally in Deuteronomy 26. When Israel were in possession of the land they brought a basket of the first-fruits of the land and offered it to the Lord, they professed that they had come into the wealthy place. Anyone who has tasted of the blessedness of being around Him, the first ripe fruit, in the presence of God with a cup running over, will worship the Father. This will give you some idea of the blessed service of the holy priesthood.

I come now to another section -

THE LORD'S MINISTRY IN THE ASSEMBLY AND THE EFFECT OF IT.

I have spoken of His place in it. I believe you get the great end of His ministry in Hebrews 2:12, a quotation from Psalm 22:22 "I will declare thy name unto my brethren". You come to the assembly, not only to have the deep joy of being in the presence of God in all the excellency of Christ as the burnt-offering, the meat-offering, and the peace-offering, but as being a part of the two wave loaves, the presentation to God by the Holy Spirit. And now He declares the Father to you, so that you come not only to remember Christ in His death, you come to learn of the Father from Him; you remember Him as He was, you know Him as He is. The Lord distinctly sets forth this ministry in John 14:20 "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you". As you dwell on this your heart will be interested in the blessedness to which you are called; and if you lose a night's rest by dwelling on the greatness of it, joy will come in the morning. Be assured that we have not entered into the greatness of God's purpose for us. It is lamentable to look around and see how little the church is known as God's present object.

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When Christ's ministry declaring the Father is known, then you know that through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father. But that is not all, great as it is; there is the effect of beholding His glory, of being with Him in the holiest, an effect which you could not acquire anywhere else. You are with Him in the holiest of all, He is there in glory, and, as we see in 2 Corinthians 3:18, beholding the glory of the Lord we are transformed into the same image.

'Yet sure, if in Thy presence
My soul still constant were,
Mine eye would, more familiar,
Its brighter glories bear;

And thus thy deep perfections
Much better should I know,
And with adoring fervour
In this Thy nature grow'. (Hymn 51)

It would be better known if you were more with Him. It is the effect of His presence I insist on, and you could not acquire this effect but in His presence. It is by beholding His glory that you are formed according to His own mind. One might say, Could not I know His presence in my own room? Yes, but then the effect would be in relation to yourself, it would not be as to His own circle of things as He is in the assembly. In this way many have failed, for example, Jacob at Shalem. God had blessed him and called him Israel, then he made an altar and called it El-elohe-Israel, making himself the central object; but when God told him, "Go up to Bethel", see how he was changed! You cannot know God but as you are with Him. The knowledge of the Scriptures is not the knowledge of God; the Scriptures tell you of Him, but you know Himself by being with Him, and the better you know Him the better you will understand Scripture; as we read, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full know-ledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17).

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I turn to Philippians 4:6; there you are told to make known your requests unto God; you are not promised that your requests will be answered, but mark! you obtain the peace of God for which you did not pray. How did you get it? By being with God - the blessed effect of His presence; your circumstances may remain unchanged, but you yourself are wonderfully changed, you cannot know Him but as you are with Him. Jacob, when he was told to go to Bethel, said to his household, "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments" (Genesis 35:2). It was twenty years since Jacob was there, but he recalled the holiness of the place. Everyone is enlightened according to the measure in which he knows God; no one can rise in any circle beyond his altar, his knowledge of God. If you are defective in any circle, you are defective in the first, you must begin at the top. You begin in the assembly, in His own house.

Then "We all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image". We are brought into concert with Him, like the two disciples going to Emmaus; when they saw the Lord they were so transformed that they adopted His course. They went to Jerusalem because they were so impressed with Himself and that which concerned Him. It is the characteristic mark of being with the Lord in the assembly, that you come out impressed with the Lord's interest.

There is one section more. You come out now

A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD,

like Melchisedec, in blessing, to show forth the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. How could you show them forth if you had not been in His marvellous light, in that blessed nearness to which you are called? You cannot go beyond what you know, but as you know it you come out here as light in the world.

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THE HOUSE IN DISORDER.

I have looked at the house in order, I must now look very briefly at the house in disorder. I turn to 2 Timothy 2:20 - "a great house". The assembly had become a great house. Bad building began early, according to 1 Corinthians 3, the "wood, hay, stubble". Professors were found very early in the assembly. You find that at Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 5) they had not a true sense of the holiness which "becometh thy house, O Jehovah, for ever;" they were tolerating leaven, and the apostle had to say to them, "Purge out the old leaven". This unholy mixture had so increased in Paul's own day that in 2 Timothy 2 he writes of "a great house", where there were vessels to dishonour which should not have been tolerated in God's house, but as they were tolerated, there must be full separation from them. "If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, ... he shall be a vessel to honour". The house embraces christendom, but are you looking for a spot for the Lord? We are all answerable for the state of christendom. If you share the credit of your family you must also share in the reproach on it. The only course is to purge yourselves from the vessels to dishonour, and "pursue ... with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart".

In 2 Timothy 3 there is in the last days a worse state of things. In-chapter 2 they err from the truth, in chapter 3 they resist the truth. Paul did not live in the last days, but we are in the last days.

Now I turn to Revelation 1. I suppose there is no one here who has not read it; I ask you to ponder it. Think of the Lord as I have been describing Him in His place and ministry in the assembly, and then see Him in His changed character here, walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks in a judicial character, so that John fell at His feet as dead. No one connected with the corruption in christendom could

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come near the Lord. Every true heart in the religious systems, the nearer he gets to the Lord the more unhappy he is, because he encounters His eyes, which are like a flame of fire. Then what must he do? He must separate from the corruption; and hence I press on you Revelation 3:7. Though the state of the church now is much worse than in Paul's day, yet I have wonderful tidings for you; would that I could convey them fully even to my own heart! There are four phases of the church which run down to the end: Thyatira, which is Romanism; Sardis, which is Protestantism; and, worst of all, Laodicea. Then there is also Philadelphia which the Lord approves. You have to encounter these; but the Lord Himself is your resource, "the holy, the true; he that has the key of David". The nearer you are to Him the more you will overcome. Is there one in this room who is not cheered with the thought that in association with Christ you can emerge from all the failure and disorder here? Christ Himself is your rallying point; keep close to Him. It is an immense cheer to me, and I hope it is to you, that He will enable you to stand in the very worst state of things, if, in association with Christ, you realise union with Him - Paul's teaching. The great defect in christians in general is that they are not separate from evil. He is the holy, the true, and if you are not separate, though you may desire to be true, you are not, because you are not holy. The more separate you are, the nearer you come to Christ; hence He said, "I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth" (John 17:19). I remember saying to a beloved man of God once, Well, then sanctification is immeasurable. Yes, he said, it is immeasurable.

In conclusion, I will give you a type in Scripture for your example. Abigail counteracted, and was thus separated from, the folly of Nabal; she sought the favour of the rejected king, and she came eventually to reign with him. She is an example to you. If you

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are separate from every one who refuses and dishonours Him, and seek His favour as the rejected King, when He comes forth, as in the close of the Revelation, as the bright and morning Star, you, as the bride in company with the Spirit, greet Him. Can anything be more cheering to your heart than that? Though in the opening of the book you find the church in the most deplorable condition, yet at the close of the book "the Spirit and the bride say, Come". You can rise to the brightest moment outside of all the confusion, because Christ Himself is your one object.

The Lord grant that each heart may be able to take in these various parts that I have sought to bring before you, so that you may really get instruction from the Lord with regard to each of them yourselves; and then I am quite sure of this - you will have a better and a fuller apprehension of them. The Lord never swerves from His place in the assembly. He is always the same; He is the Builder, and He is the Lord, and He is the Priest, and He is greater than Moses and greater than Aaron, and He is the Head of the body; He never swerves from His place, though we have swerved from ours; and therefore, even if you are only two or three in number, you can have His presence.

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OUR SERVICE AND TESTIMONY

John 14:1 - 27

The subject before us this evening is our service and testimony. It is not an easy subject to explain nor to apprehend, but I am sure if our hearts are set on it we shall understand it. I turn to John because, as it has been truly said, John sets forth what remains - God's grace to us, not so much our responsibility as the resources for our responsibility. I shall try to present to you first the instruction in chapters 13 and 14, and then in chapters 15 and 16. Chapters 13 and 14 form one section, for you will find at the end of chapter 14 the Lord says, "Rise up, let us go hence;" they leave the supper table. I have read chapter 14 because there is instruction in it of immense moment for the servant of Christ, both preparation and provision for service. It is a great principle throughout Scripture that you are prepared before you are called to serve: "Who ever carries on war at his own charges"? (1 Corinthians 9:7). The manna was given before the sun was up. Elijah gets one breakfast, and then he is awakened to get another because he is to be prepared for a long journey; the preparation must be in keeping with the demand. This is most important for the servant to bear in mind; he is prepared by the Lord, though he does not know what is before him; the Lord prepares him for what is coming. Not a stone was thrown at Stephen until he had seen the Lord in glory, and thus he was prepared. The way you are drawn to the Lord, and the bright time you have with Him, indicate to you that there is to be some demand on you. The Lord is preparing you for it. Many have failed because they have entered on service unprepared by Him. It is not merely reading and the study of the word; but have you been with the Lord? He knows what is

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before you. I am speaking of service in general. You get this principle in Psalm 23:2 - 4 - "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures". Anyone with general knowledge knows that a cow does not lie down to eat; it lies down when it is full. Then "He leadeth me beside the still waters"; it is not to drink; if you wanted a horse to drink you would lead him to the water, not beside it. You learn from this that you are to come from the resources of God - a great preparation. Then you can say, "He restoreth (or reviveth) my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art, with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me".

I have digressed a little. But before I dwell on John 14, I must say a word on chapter 13. The Lord and the twelve were at the supper table, figuratively His death; and He rises from the table, and sets forth that though He would be no longer here, He would wash their feet; that when He had gone away to the Father, yet He would take care (and this surely is a wonderful joy to your heart) that there shall be nothing to disturb the intimacy which subsists between you and Him. I press that He will take care; for though you can contribute one to another, it is He who effects it. He says, "Unless I wash thee, thou hast not part with me" (John 13:8). This is a wonderful start. We have been mistaken in applying these chapters to our individual path instead of to our service for Him. If you are not for the Lord here you will not understand these chapters. If you study the gospel of John up to nearly the end of chapter 10, you will find it is the unfolding of His grace to us, and culminates in His saying, "I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father" (John 10:14, 15); there is the same kind of intimacy between Him and

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us as between Him and the Father. In chapter 13 He is going away, leaving His own here for His service; and surely, I trust, every one in this room would like to be here for Him. You must realise the fact that He has gone away, and that you are here for Him. He has gone to the Father; but He has been here with His own, and He will take care that there shall be no shade of reserve or distance between Him and them. To effect this He washes their feet; thus the chapter opens. It would take up too much time to go into detail, but I would seek to interest the youngest here in this wonderful scripture.

Next, the internal evil among them is disclosed. There were only twelve of them, and yet evil was working. It is most important to realise the internal state of things. You have here the elements of all the corruption in christendom. And it is most helpful to see that the Lord discloses the evil, and that John is near enough to Him to receive light as to what was working in their midst. That iniquity is that Judas would barter his knowledge of Christ for earthly gain. It is the most unprincipled act, and a disgrace to humanity. Christ's "own familiar friend" for earthly gain would deliver Him up. We learn this inside, and the Lord discloses it to the one who is spiritually near Him. John is so near to Christ that He can confide it to him. Judas had done nothing as yet, but the evil that was working is disclosed to John. I regard Judas as the sample of the apostate church, every christian quality abandoned and surrendered for gain - Babylon. In verse 31 there is an announcement of immense interest to us. When Judas - man in his lowest moral state - had gone out, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God also shall glorify him in himself". Man now rises to the highest, He glorifies God, our almighty resource in the midst of all our internal evil. The Lord then tells His disciples that

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He is going away, and that they cannot follow Him now; and this brings to light another element of disturbance, even that Peter, the most active and the .foremost among them, will deny Him. Judas betrays Him for gain; Peter denies Him from fear. Such was the state of things, and the Lord Himself going away. This is the church's history; but it is marvellous grace that He is with us and knows the full nature of the opposition. Hence chapter 14 opens with, "Let not your heart be troubled". He will secure your heart for Himself. And in verse 27 He repeats the words, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it fear". All between these two verses is the provision, in order that your heart should not be troubled by the state of things.

In chapter 15 we are here for Him, and you will not be here for Him if you have not the preparation of chapter 14. The great lack is that you have not been with Him as in chapter 14, and if you have not, you will not be for Him as in chapter 15. You may possibly be very active, Martha like. But much of the activity will not be accounted of, because it is not doing according to the Lord's pleasure; doing as He wishes you to do is service.

There are two great activities of grace in this chapter: the first is faith, and the second is love. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me"; faith in Christ is the first thing. Have you faith in Christ as you have in God? not only as risen but as sitting at God's right hand? In Ephesians 1:15 we read, "After I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus", and in Colossians 1:4, "Your faith in Christ Jesus"; but it is faith in Him who was here. It is of deep importance that you believe in Him who was here, but who has gone away. The great attempt of christendom is to ignore His rejection; churches and chapels erected and bearing His name, as if He were not rejected. Consequent on His rejection He was exalted to God's

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right hand. If His rejection be ignored, indirectly His exaltation is ignored. The scripture (Psalm 110) which calls Him away - "Sit at my right hand" - is the same scripture which tells you that He is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; He has gone to the Father. And the more truly you accept His rejection, the more your heart will be drawn to Him in His exaltation. Hence He says, "Ye believe on God, believe also on me"; that is the first great activity of grace in you. Then follows, "I go to prepare you a place". Did you ever see a man who was truly serving the Lord seeking a place here? Christ has prepared a place for him in the Father's house; He says, "I go to prepare you a place". You do not look for a place where He is rejected, but you rejoice that you have a place where He is, and He comforts you by saying, "I am coming again and shall receive you to myself, that where I am ye also may be". This is the foundation for service.

Now let us look at the links of the chain of faith. First, "Ye believe on God, believe also on me". Next, "I go to prepare you a place". Next, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, unless by me ... He that has seen me has seen the Father". Next, "He shall do greater than these, because I go to the Father". And finally, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, this will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son". The climax of faith is, "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it".

Now look at the links in the chain of love: "If ye love me, keep my commandments". Love delights in obedience. "And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter" - and He will remain with you, and be in you when Christ had gone away. But He adds, "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you" (verse 18). This you know in the assembly. All here is addressed to the company; the

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individual is addressed in verses 21 - 23. It is of much importance that we should bear this in mind. Many have applied this scripture, intended for the company, to themselves individually. For instance, when the great commission was given to the apostles to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, it was committed to the company. And be assured of this, the gospel is not known beyond the measure in which the church is known at any given time. Blessed promise! "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you ... The world sees me no longer; but ye see me; because I live ye also shall live". Thus your side is fully provided for. Now for His side - "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you". You rise to the height of your new position.

In verse 23 the individual is addressed - "If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him". It is the explanation of verse 21, which is individual; He will have an abode by the Spirit in your hearts. In verse 26 you get the power for the provision - "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and will bring to your remembrance all the things which I have said to you". How blessed that the Holy Spirit should bring all things to their remembrance "which I have said to you" - all we have in the gospels. It is deeply interesting to apprehend in any measure Christ's service during the three-and-a-half years, as He opened out the heart of God to man: "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him". You are here to reproduce Him now. You are learning Him inside, that you may be fitted to set forth the heart of God to man. You cannot preach the gospel or render any true service but as you know how Christ declared the heart of God to man.

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The brighter the assembly, the more fully their portion in Christ is known, the more effective all service will be, beginning with the gospel; because the more you come from Christ, the centre, the more you draw souls to Him. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of Christ, not only brings to remembrance Christ's work here, but He includes His resurrection, because the Holy Spirit was not given until after Christ had risen from the dead.

Now the chain of love ends with this most touching grace: "I leave peace with you; I give my peace to you". And then He repeats, "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it fear". He adds, "Rise up, let us go hence".

I turn now to chapter 15; there you have entered on service. There are three degrees in a servant: first the disciple, next the friend, and then the witness. Christ is the true vine. Israel had failed; but though He is going away from the earth, His own, the branches, will gain by it. Every mercy hitherto shown is surpassed by Christ. Be it the pool of Bethesda, or the fold, or the feast of tabernacles, all are surpassed; and so here the vine is surpassed, you could not have a vine in heaven. The vine could not abide in the branch, though the branch could abide in the vine. Christ is the true vine, and we are the branches; this, in figure, sets forth that we should be a reproduction of Himself on the earth. Is it not a cheer to your heart that you may be a reproduction of Him in this place where He is not? You cannot be a reproduction of Him unless you come from Him. A man when he is enlisted for the army is not taken directly to the battlefield, he is taken to the barracks. The recruit may be strong, but he does not know his work until he has learned to be a soldier in the barracks, and this before he is taken to the field. So it is here. In chapter 14 you are learning Christ for service. It is a wonderful time; your heart is furnished with the chain of faith and love, you know

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Himself in the midst of His own, so that now His word to you is, "Abide in me". No doubt in abiding in Him you would soon know Him as the Head, for if you abide in Him you bring forth fruit. You may say, What is the fruit? You will contribute to souls - not merely in their conversion, but in ministering of His grace - fruit which shall remain. Hence He adds, "In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and ye shall become disciples of mine". A disciple is a learner. The evangelist should be a disciple. Anyone learning of Christ, even a child at home, may so express the grace of God that there will be a marked effect. It was not the proclamation of the gospel which arrested the elder brother in Luke 15; it was the music and the dancing. And you constantly find that a soul is arrested by seeing another's happiness. If I were addressing a young man full of expectations in this world. I should say to him, Would you like to be in a state where there never could be a sense of deficiency, always in satisfied desire? Immensely, I think he would say. Well, you get this in John 4:14, you "shall never thirst". I am afraid souls are often hindered because they are not convinced that we possess this great blessing.

Next, "If ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love". What is His commandment? In chapter 14 we read, "If ye love me, keep my commandments". Now this is the test of all true service. "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, that one should lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if ye practise whatever I command you". Christ is addressing the eleven, and He enjoins that they should be as devoted to each other as He was to them. They were to be the expression of the most devoted love instead of being attractive to the world, the world would hate

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them, because they were so devoted to one another. As the Lord said, "I have chosen you out of the world, on account of this the world hates you". They are like an island in the midst of a ruthless sea. Now you are come to Christ's great interest here, and the more fully you are in concert with His interest, the better will be your service in every particular. The net (Matthew 13) is not mentioned until the treasure and the pearl have been spoken of, because you cannot understand how to select from the net until you know something of the Lord's interest in His own. Paul, speaking of himself, says, "I have planted" that implies more than conversion. The word is, "Compel to come in, that my house may be filled" (Luke 14:23). Some think that this means coming to Christ, but it is a mistake. It is coming to the house, to the heavenly festivity, the great supper. Now you can understand the Lord's words, "Ye are my friends if ye practise whatever I command you". Be assured that the more fully you are devoted to Christ's own here, the greater the enmity of the world; your own relations will say, You think more of these people, who are in no way connected with you, than you do of your nearest relatives. You ought to be able to say, That is perfectly true. And why? Because they are Christ's own. Your heart is specially devoted to all who belong to Him here in His absence. Note the Lord's words now: "I call you no longer bondmen, but I have called you friends, for all things which I have heard of my Father I have made known to you". He delights to communicate His mind to His friends. As you are His friend, as your heart is set on His interests, you receive from Him. He communicates fully to His friends. Many are very active apparently who know comparatively nothing of His mind; they are not His friends. His friends are set on the prosperity of His people; as the apostle says, "I have no greater joy than these things that I

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hear of my children walking in the truth" (3 John 4). But now when this little company is exposed to the terrible enmity of the world ready to crush them, you read in verse 26 of another ministry of the Holy Spirit, and it is of the deepest importance that you should know it. Christ says, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes forth from with the Father, he shall bear witness concerning me". Here they were totally unable to resist the hostility of the world; it is to the church, the little island, Christ sends this great power, a fresh ministry of the Holy Spirit. He not only reveals to you Christ's work on the earth, as in chapter 14, but He has come down from Christ in heaven, the exalted Man. This is your resource for the darkest day. You are in this power when you are consciously united to Christ in heaven. This is God's purpose for each of us, though few are in conscious knowledge of it. The power of the Holy Spirit always remains; He comes down from heaven, sent by Christ Himself; He came down to the hundred and twenty in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost; but this ministry is declared here to enable you to surmount the hostility of the world. In spite of all the opposition, "He shall bear witness concerning me"; the Holy Spirit will be the Witness of Christ exalted to the right hand of God. Practically, as in Ephesians, everyone united to Christ, the exalted Man, is descriptive of Him here, not only in the church, but in his own circle.

Now turn to chapter 16, and here we read: "And having come, he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe on me; of righteousness, because I go away to my Father, and ye behold me no longer; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth:

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for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you. All things that the Father has are mine; on account of this I have said that he receives of mine and shall announce it to you". May each of us be filled with wonder, love, and praise at the great testimony to which we are called. But it is only by the Holy Spirit you can confront the power of the world. When Paul was at Philippi he would not accept the co-operation of the woman with the spirit of divination, though at the time apparently he was in need of support; but Paul said to the spirit, "I enjoin thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her" (Acts 16:18). All the power of the world came down upon him, not only the mob, but the magistrates and the lictors; and illegally he is thrust into prison. But there is another power, the power of God, and we often seem to forget it. Paul's mission for the moment seems to be frustrated. But "At midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing". Their confidence in God is unshaken. "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison shook, ... The jailor being awakened out of his sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison opened, having drawn a sword was going to kill himself, ... But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. And ... he ... trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas. And leading them out said, Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved?" (Acts 16:25 - 30). The jailor answers to the man of Macedonia in the vision, for up to this it does not appear that a man had come. Paul, like a good husbandman, had to labour much before he was partaker of the desired fruit. You get here how the servant of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, can surmount all the forces of the world in testimony of Him.

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In John 16 we read that when He is come He will demonstrate to the world "of sin, because they do not believe on me; of righteousness, because I go away to my Father, ... of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged". When you are in the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from Christ in heaven, you know that the world is sin, and that you must stand apart from it. You cannot be identified with it, nor accept any acknowledged position in it. All righteousness according to God has left the world, but though the prince of the world is here, in the power of the Holy Spirit you will be assured that he is judged. Moreover, "He shall glorify me". Now you enter on the full portion and enjoyment of the heavenly man; Christ shall be glorified to you, and you will know that though you have lost the world, heavenly things are given to you. "He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you. All things that the Father has are mine". "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). You are brought into present acquaintance with Christ's things.

I need not add more. I feel how imperfectly I have presented to you this great subject; but the more you dwell on it the more your heart will be drawn out in thankfulness to the Lord that you should be called to witness of Him on the earth.

The Lord grant that each heart may understand that He is the same to us in this day, in all our failure and difficulty, as He was to the eleven in that day, for His name's sake.

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OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN

Philippians 3:20

I have read this verse to bring before you our subject this evening, that our citizenship is in heaven; the word 'conversation' does not express the meaning of the original, which is the position which the place of your birth confers. The subject is immensely important when we consider that we must be of Christ to be there. First we begin with the great supper, as we read in Luke 14:15, which is the portion of the youngest believer. When a pious Jew said, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God", the Lord then announced that there was a great supper - evidently the celebration of grace. You not only know that you are accepted of God, but you enjoy your acceptance. Many are assured of God's love in the gospel, but they do not enjoy it; the prodigal son did not enjoy his father's reception at first. The great supper is the fatted calf. This is the beginning, and if you do not know it you cannot advance. The beginning is most important; you not only know your acceptance, but you enjoy it. Many believe in Christ risen, and have received the Spirit of God, and yet are not enjoying their acceptance. In order to enjoy your acceptance, not only have you received the Holy Spirit who sheds abroad in your heart the love of God, but the same Holy Spirit who has assured your heart of the love of God, as the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes you free from the law of sin and death. You are on entirely new ground now, and you can only enjoy it in the Spirit, altogether apart from the flesh; hence it is heavenly festivity. The feast comes from heaven; though you have not yet gone there, you have home comforts before you get home; heavenly joys on the earth.

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Now, if you do not know this - the beginning - and maintain it, you will not prosper. You must enjoy your acceptance; and it is only in the Spirit that you can enjoy it. "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17); it is all of God. Nay, more, the tendency of any earthly favour is to divert you from this enjoyment. This is a very solemn word to us all; I have found that anything here, however good, which attracts you, diverts you from your heavenly portion. Hence you read of those who were called to the supper (Luke 14:18), that the first said, "I have bought land, and I must go out and see it". There was no sin in buying a piece of ground. If you know the heart of man, you will know that a piece of ground is very attractive to man. "The earth hath he given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16). Another said, "I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them", and another said, "I have married a wife, and on this account I cannot come". All naturally good things, but they are earthly things, and by them they were diverted from the heavenly. Every christian who knows his own history knows that he has been diverted from the heavenly festivity by earthly advantage. You cannot now call earthly advantages blessings, because Christ is not here; and you cannot have true enjoyment yourself where Christ is not. It is plain that anything which diverts you from the great supper is a snare. The man who marries a wife ought to be able to say, I am coming, and through grace my wife is also coming. I desire that your hearts may be exercised as to the snare of earthly advantages. Hence this chapter closes with the solemn words, "Every one of you who forsakes not all that is his own cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). It is not only, except a man hate his own life also he cannot be my disciple, but he must forsake all his own resources in order to enjoy his new portion - the great supper.

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Now this, the supper, is your beginning - "we are making our boast in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:11).

Next I turn to Christ as the Priest. You must know Christ as your Saviour before you could know Him as Priest. First you know that you are brought to God; next, that the Priest maintains you in the blessedness of Himself in the presence of God. As you read in John 14:20, "In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you". You are "within the veil, where Jesus is entered as forerunner for us become for ever a high priest according to the order of Melchisedec" (Hebrews 6:20). The moment you accept the fact that Christ is the great Priest over the house of God your heart will say, Where is He? It is a great moment in the history of the soul when the heart is really drawn to Christ where He is. When you know Him as Priest, you know that He maintains you in His own brightness in the holiest of all - "a great priest over the house of God". But besides this, which is the climax, you are going through a world of sorrow and difficulty, and you feel your infirmity, and if you are following Him, the word assures you, for it says, "Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God" (Hebrews 4:14). He is "able to sympathise with our infirmities", was "tempted in all things in like manner, sin apart" (verse 15), and He draws you to Himself. He does not alter things here. Many look for Him as "a very present help in trouble", but His sympathy is much more. When Peter was beginning to sink, the Lord stretched out His hand and caught him, and drew him to His own side. He did not smooth the waters, they were as rough as ever; but Christ brought him to His own side, a divine calm out of all here. If you taste of this wonderful relief, you will be severed from the place where Christ is not, and be attached to Himself in the place where He is. No one is really detached from

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the earth who has not been attracted to Christ personally in heaven where He is. "If then indeed he were upon earth, he would not even be a priest" (Hebrews 8:4). In christendom they place the priest between the congregation and God. They ignore the terrible fact that Christ has been rejected by the world. As His rejection by the world is before you, so is His exaltation by God before you. Ignore His rejection and you ignore His exaltation, and His priesthood cannot be known. In His company He endears Himself to you, and thus, relieved from your individual pressure, you find yourself in the consecrated company around Him. We see in Leviticus 8 that every offering necessary for approach to God was offered up before the consecration took place; then the consecrated company, Aaron and his sons, went into the holy places; we have "boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19). You are so attracted to Himself that, like Ruth to Naomi, you say, "Whither thou goest I will go". No place can fully please you where the Lord is not. Thus you are drawn from this place to where He is.

Next I turn to the effect of being drawn to Him, as we read in Hebrews 12:1 "Let us also therefore, ... laying aside every weight, and sin which so easily entangles us, run with endurance the race that lies before us". You are running on to Himself. Until Israel were established in grace in Numbers 21, they were not set on entering the land. When you have found your place with Him in the holiest, you are in the race here. You are "looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith: who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured the cross, having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). It is a journey of faith; you are in the wilderness, conscious of the absence of Christ, but surmounting everything between you and Him. He has gone all

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the road; by faith supplied by Himself you travel to Him; your heart says, "Whither thou goest I will go".

The next section I turn to is that the servant's place is in the Father's house. When I say a servant I do not mean a special class. "To each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ" (Ephesians 4:7). All are called to serve. A member which may appear of little use may be of great importance. In this vast infirmary the one who can serve most is the greatest. The Lord said, "If any one serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall be my servant" (John 12:26). Could you wish for anything better? In John 14:2 the Lord is leaving His own here to serve Him, and He says to them, "I go to prepare you a place". Do you think a true-hearted servant of Christ would expect to find a place where his Lord was rejected? The Lord counts on the heart of His servant. Hence His words, "They are not of the world, as I am not of the world ... As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world" (John 17:16 - 18). You will see, I trust, that the heart true to Christ cannot seek a place here, that His servant is not looking for a place where his Lord was rejected, but that he is here for Him; and his present reward is, "Where I am, there also shall be my servant". Nothing can be plainer, even to natural feelings, than that you could not accept a place where a beloved one was refused.

I have already spoken of the great supper, and of knowing Christ as Priest. I now come to the solemn but blessed fact that you cannot be fully in Christ's confidence, you are not in consonance with Him, until you are in conscious union with Him in heaven, and then you are in heavenly power. You are never in His full confidence until then.

But the point I am dwelling upon now is that your citizenship is in heaven. We have seen that it specially characterises the servant; you cannot be in heavenly

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power unless you realise union with Christ in heaven, and if you are not in heavenly power you cannot be a witness of Him, according to John 15 and 16. If your heart were true to Him, and if you knew Him as in the epistle to the Hebrews, you would be so drawn to Him where He is that it would be the greatest joy to you to be united to Him; it is not only that in the purpose of God He has set each of us in the body as it has pleased Him, but each has to be led into conscious knowledge of it by the Spirit of God. Alas! the greatest truth is the one least known. May souls take it to heart that the greatest favour which God confers is the one least known by His children. I press upon you that you cannot be a servant in heavenly power, nor can you be in consonance with Christ's mind unless you are in conscious union with Him. The effect of union with Him is that your individual interests are merged in Him; the Christ dwells in your heart by faith, and by His power you carry out His pleasure.

One word more as to the servant: until you are in heavenly power you cannot be superior to the power of Satan; as we read in Ephesians 6:10, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the might of his strength ... and, having accomplished all things, to stand". "The ruler of this world is judged". The heavenly man can stand for the Lord against all the power of the enemy. If you are in heavenly power you are superior to all the power and machination of Satan.

I need not add more on the servant and how essential it is that he should be in heavenly power, but I must dwell a little on the course which is incumbent on every christian if he would progress. We all in a measure, I suppose, accept the truth that Christ is the Head of the church, but how do we learn it? In Colossians 2:20 we read, "If ye have died with Christ from the elements of the world". In Romans, which I have referred to already in connection with enjoying the great supper, you are dead to sin as you walk in

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the Spirit. You must learn this before you know Christ as Head. When speaking of the race, I showed you that we are running on to Him. But if you would know Him as the Head you must leave this scene altogether, you must cross Jordan. I do not mean that you are to die. The old divines made Jordan a death-bed; Jordan is simply liberation. In Christ's death you accept complete separation from everything here. I judge that many true-hearted souls who have not experimentally learned the Red Sea - that is, who have never appropriated the death of Christ and known that they are free of the judgment on man in Christ risen - go through this experience on their death-bed. But that is not Jordan. There is no water in Jordan; the nearer you come to Jordan the more you will find, like Stephen, that there is no judgment there. But except you are dead with Christ from the elements of the world, you will never know Him as Head. Hence the apostle tells the Colossians, "And not moved away from the hope of the glad tidings" (Colossians 1:23) The hope of the glad tidings is heaven. He reminds them that they belong to heaven. In Colossians you are not looked at as in heaven, but as preparing to go there. Hence chapter 3:1 says, "If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above" - you would not be seeking them if you were there - "where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God: have your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth". I desire to lead your hearts to be alive to the snare of cultivating earthly things, even a beautiful flower. If your hearts are set on Christ who is not here, you seek to know Him where He is. In order to come to Him you must pass out of this scene, "for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God". You are outside of things here, you have put off the old man and have put on the new; then you come to the Head where "Christ is everything, and in all". Surely a moment

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of deep delight to your heart, when you can say, He is everything.

Anyone who has had the slightest taste of knowing the Head will say, It is inconceivably great that I should know Christ as my Head, and that I should be directed by Him in His own circle on the earth.

I have already shown that the servant must know union with Christ in order to be in full concert with His mind; but I also insist that it is God's gracious portion for every believer. Every christian should, like Rebekah, be conducted to Christ Himself in heaven, and know that wonderful moment when-

'... The Spirit's power
Has ope'd the heav'nly door,
Has brought me to that favoured hour.' (Hymn 74)

- to Him where He is. Then you are in heavenly power; you cannot be so but by union with Christ. It is not attainment. All His members have gone up with Him, but each one must have conscious knowledge of the power "which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead" (Ephesians 1:20). It is a wonderful moment when your heart realises in any measure the blessedness of being united to Christ, to the One who is the joy and delight of your heart. You know that you are brought to Christ where He is; you cannot have conscious knowledge of union until you are brought to Him, like Rebekah to Isaac. Now when you know union with Christ you are a heavenly citizen, and you come out from Him in heavenly power. You belong to Him there, His place is your place; you have heavenly tastes, which you cannot have but as you are with Him.

Now I hope you will connect the beginning with the end. You begin with the great supper, and you end with being consciously united to Christ. The beginning is the festive joy of acceptance with God, in such a sense of the heart of God, that "we are making our boast in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ". Next

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you know Christ the High Priest outside of this scene and all the pressure here; He not only draws you to Himself to solace you individually, but also to lead you into the holiest where He is in unclouded light:

'Our hearts let in its rays,
And heav'nly light makes all things bright,
Seen in that blissful gaze.
' (Hymn 12)

I trust that each of you may be able to say very decidedly, I see that heaven is my place, that we are citizens of heaven, we belong to that place; and may you be conscious, too, how easily you can be ensnared by things here, and that often a natural mercy draws the heart away from its true place, and entails sorrow and decline.

I need not add more. May each of us understand better His words: "No one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven" (John 3:13). If you are of Christ you are heavenly.

Your calling is that you are of Christ, and His place is your place, and the more you practically carry it out the more you will enjoy it. As servant you have a place where He is. The One who has drawn away your heart is in heaven, so that you are not thinking of this place, but of Him where He is. May the Lord lead each of you to understand it. I know the difficulties in the way, how the smallest natural interest or taste will, if allowed, divert one from it. Be assured nothing will ever sever you from this place but the attractiveness of Him who has left it. Neither resolutions nor afflictions will effect it, but the attractiveness of Him who is not here. You have found outside of all the pressure and trial in this place such full solace in His company, that you "exult with joy unspeakable and filled with the glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

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THE OPPOSITION

Ephesians 6:10 - 19

Our subject this evening is the opposition which we encounter. Before the coming of Christ the effort of Satan was to divert man from God in the worshipping of idols. But when Christ came the opposition was against Him, as you read in Revelation 12. The effort of Satan through Herod was to destroy Him; with this intent from two years old and under every child was slain. "Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not" (Matthew 2:18). The opposition now is against a Man, "the man Christ Jesus". God, of course, could always control Satan; but man was under Satan until Christ came. It is important to bear this in mind, hence in the opening of the gospel by Mark, you find that Christ's first work was to cast the unclean spirit out of a man, and then Satan exclaims, "I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God" (Mark 1:24). It is inconceivably great that a Man has come who can dislodge the power of, Satan, so that you find further on in Mark 5:10: "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country" - that the devil owned His power, that there was a Man who could dispossess him. Finally, Christ enters into death, as we read in another place, "Since therefore the children partake of blood and flesh, he also, in like manner, took part in the same, that through death he might annul" - not death only, but - "him who has the might of death, that is, the devil; and might set free all those who through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14, 15). And as you find it testified by the scripture, "The ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing" (John 14:30). Nay more, as I hope to show you presently, you get in John 16:11 "The ruler of this

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world is judged". It is an immense fact that however great the evil, the moral chaos in this world, the ruler of it is judged. But then in order that you may know this, you must be in the power of Christ; hence I have read to you what will be the summing up of the subject, that is, how you are "able to withstand in the evil day, and, having accomplished all things, to stand" - to confront the whole force of Satan's antagonism, not merely defending, but to stand for the Lord here.

But I want first to interest you in the great fact that Satan has been overcome by Christ; a Man here on this earth has overcome him, and that Man has gone to the right hand of God. Therefore it says that He has "annulled death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings" (2 Timothy 1:10). The believer can now say as to death, "Thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). Now I have to try and present to you what is the character of Satan's opposition, and I turn for that to Matthew 13. In that chapter there are seven parables, only six similitudes; the first is that the seed of the kingdom is sown; it is all good seed, and some takes root, and some does not through the power of Satan; Satan carries it away. That is the good seed. But then come the tares; and what are the tares? An imitation of the real thing, profession; professors are found in the church. When you look round, it is what I may call a standing miracle that the word of God in the hands of man has brought about this great system called christendom, that the Roman earth has become what you call 'christian.' And through what instrumentality? You might expect there was some reality in it, for it was all effected by the word of God, but through the human mind, and the result you get in those three similitudes: the tares, that is, profession without reality; the mustard tree, a huge system that grew up; and the leaven, "until it had been all leavened". There is not to my knowledge a single

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doctrine in christendom that is pure and without mixture according to the word of God. I am looking at the character of the opposition, because you may say we know the truth better, but remember, "evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33); we are all brought up more or less connected with system, and you have to learn the character of things all around; it is all profession, not paganism, but nominal christianity; it is the leaven. And that led to the fact that vessels to dishonour were found in the house of God very early. As we see in the epistle to the Corinthians, leaven was tolerated, that is how the opposition worked; there was no right sense of what was due in the house of God. And when vessels to dishonour were tolerated in the house the faithful had to purge themselves from them. separation became necessary; you have to purge yourself from the vessels to dishonour, and "pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22. That is the general character of things around. But there was a worse state than that, for while we get in 2 Timothy 2 that they erred from the truth, we get a deeper thing in chapter 3, that in the last days they resist the truth, and we are there. And if you ask what characterises it, it is a "form of piety but denying the power of it" (2 Timothy 3:5). I say to anyone who has been brought up as we all have been more or less, what is around you? Great religious profession, churches, ministers; it is all materialised, man does it all. Can anything surpass the masterpiece of Satan, his artifice to divert the soul from the right thing? There is a church for you, and a minister for you, it is all made to your hand, and it is all materialism. You have to rise out of it, and the only way to rise out of it is to get to the top; nothing else will save you. I want the youngest in this room to be alive to the character of the opposition that is abroad. A man may say he has nothing to do with it, but we are all affected by it, and we are all responsible;

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and happy is the man that is clear of it. You will find there are traces of it here and there continually.

I turn now from what is outside to what is inside, to the direct opposition of Satan to any child of God. I believe the first great lack in the believer is that the dispensation according to God is not known. If you do not understand the calling or dispensation, though you are saved, you do not know what you are saved for. The mass of christians in christendom at this present moment never get beyond the Lord's prayer, that is, Jesus on the earth. What is the dispensation? The Holy Spirit is here. You hear continually christians praying for the Holy Spirit, a sure sign that they do not know anything about it, and are exposing themselves to all the delusions of Satan, like the Irvingites. I remember when young being very much taken up with praying for the Holy Spirit, and a beloved man of God saying to me. He is in the vessels. That altered everything to me. But I am referring to the direct character of the opposition; the first thing a man knows is that the blood of Christ saves his soul, but he gets no further as a rule; he never gets out of Egypt, and therefore he is occupied with worldly things, he does not know what he is saved for. There is no link whatever to Christ risen but the Holy Spirit, there could not possibly be. The flesh could not be the link; Christ has overcome, He has borne the judgment upon man, He has terminated that order of being in the sight of God in judgment, and now He is risen from the dead and glorified; and the testimony, or if you like, the response which He makes to you, believing in Him risen, is the "living water". There is no other link with Christ risen but the Holy Spirit. But I am speaking of the direct opposition of Satan, and now I say the first effort of it is to keep you in Egypt.

Then I come to those who are out of Egypt. How many are looking back to Egypt, longing for something

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in it, caught by the earthly thing. You will find this - it is a very simple rule to me - the one thing that Satan is against is the Man Christ Jesus. I have already quoted Revelation 12, where his whole point was to prevent Him being born into this world. When the "man child", which includes the church, is caught up, Satan will be cast down. I believe that is the only allusion to the rapture in the Revelation; we are all to go up together, because the man child in fulness is not caught up till we are caught up, and then Satan is cast down to the earth, there is no place for him in heaven. I am only showing you what Satan's opposition is; he cannot frustrate the work of God, but he tries to counteract it in every way he can. Hence, though you may have got out of Egypt and have learnt by grace that you are out, you may be drawn back into it. And even if you are not, you come to what I may call the next form of opposition, and that is, Balaam association. There is hardly a man I know of that has not suffered from his company. No matter how good the company a man keeps, he is coloured by the lowest, and Satan has gained his point. You see how Israel were drawn away, and what destruction came upon them because of it. And we are drawn away by it, as I have already quoted the scripture, "Evil communications corrupt good manners". Therefore in Corinthians we are warned that if a man saw another eat sitting in an idol's temple it defiled his weak conscience. Happy is the man that is not influenced by other people! This is what I call the direct opposition.

Now I turn to another form of it, and that is, what we suffer from inside. I think the first great snare that christians suffer from is making the law the rule of life; there is something so specious about presenting God's law. And when we think of who is opposing, we need not wonder at it. Satan was against God's law before Christ came, but now you will be unmolested

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by Satan in keeping it, because the law acknowledges the first man; it is keeping that which men can understand. You find Saul of Tarsus keeping the law, and he was opposed to Christ. It is a remarkable fact that those who look for perfectionism, those who consider themselves very much enlightened and speak of holiness by faith, their standard is the law; it is not generally known. They say, I have not committed a sin for so long; and if you ask, How do you know? they say, I have never broken a commandment; they have made the law their standard. The standard is Christ. You see the Spirit is left out, and this is the Spirit's day, the dispensation of the Spirit of God. The Spirit is the witness, and if you have not got the Spirit, where are you? It is a very great snare, and many are taken with it.

Now I come to two more forms which affect us in different ways. It all shows how subtle the enemy is. One speaks of the work that is done for you, what is called objective, but ignores the work in you. Of course it is all done for you; but you must not leave out the Spirit, by whom it is all done in you. You must have both. I do not like the words, but you must have not only the objective but the subjective. I do not want to say anything unkind; but to say it is all done for me, without having the subjective, terminates, I believe, in Laodicea; there is no really vital work there. I have no doubt that there is no machination of the devil that has worked more insidiously amongst us. While it was most blessed and necessary to bring out that it was all done for us - the completeness of grace - there is another side, the work of the Spirit; there is not only the work done for me, but the work done in me. On the other hand, we have to contend with the Arminian snare which makes it all our attainment. The evil of that is that it leaves Christ out; the attainment school want to make it all originate with themselves. The subtlety of Satan is

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wonderful to me. I see a most devoted man, perhaps, who is set upon attainment, and I listen to his prayers, and he prays as if God was to make him an original. No, you get nothing but through Christ; "by whom are all things" - "Christ is everything, and in all"; and I am sure there is not a heart in this room that is true to Him that is not glad to get all from Him. I am showing you the different characters of opposition that are working around, because when you come to find out what the aim of it is, you are safe: "In vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings" (Proverbs 1:17).

There is only one more form of opposition that I will refer to, but it is a very large one, and I commend it very much to your notice. The tendency of us all, in fact of almost every one I meet with is to limit the truth; that is Satan's object, to prevent you from getting the finish. It is important to be exercised about all these things. If a person is asked about any truth, he may know part of it, but he does not know the crown of the grace, the finish of it. If I speak to a man about the gospel, I find that he knows Christ died and perhaps Christ risen, but he does not know Christ glorified; it does not occur to him, and I have even known it resisted. Yet surely the heart that knows it at all knows that nothing less will do. The light comes from the glorified Christ - "If also our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those that are lost; in whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, so that the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine forth for them" (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4); it comes down from the top. I quite admit it is some time before one gets to it, but I am looking at where God begins; God begins from the finish. And you will find that many will take a part of a truth, take a part of Christ's life, for instance, and not take the finish of it; and so it is with regard to all truth, the object of Satan is

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limitation. As I have already said, I do not know a doctrine that is held correctly in christendom. For instance, take the Lord's supper: 'Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee;' that is not scriptural, it is Christ's death you are to remember. Or take baptism: 'An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace;' where is that in Scripture? Or take it among ourselves, resurrection is called a receipt. Well, it is a receipt, but it is a great deal more, and to call it a receipt is to limit it down to the human mind. There are only two channels by which Satan can work: one is, he can work upon your mind; and the other is, he can work upon your body religiously. You get one in the Corinthians and the other in the Galatians; and you get them combined in the Colossians as to serving Christ. And what is the reason? Simply because you have left out the Spirit of God; He would refuse the flesh in every form.

I must turn now to the scripture I read, because it is a positive relief to the heart to know that we can be completely superior to all the machinations of the enemy. What a cheer to every true heart! But then let me tell you that though it is true for every believer, yet you must be able to appropriate the truth, and you cannot appropriate the truth but as you know union with Christ in heaven. For instance, look at verse 10; I do not want to discourage you, but I want you to rise to the height of your blessing. If I were addressing a number of worldly people and could tell them of a great position they could arrive at if they had purpose of heart, how readily they would listen. And I add, this position is the fruition of your being united to Christ. I have been interested in seeing that each part of our subject culminates in union with Christ; and it is the climax. Now in verse 10, you are to "be strong in the Lord, and in the might of his strength". Well, you must know it; you could not be strong otherwise. The same words are used in chapter 1: 19,

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where the power is towards you. In chapter 3 it is in you, and here it is from you. How could it be from you if it were not in you? But how do you get it? Only by union; I believe here the objective school will mislead by saying it is yours by grace, though you have not got it; while on the other hand, the subjective school try to attain to it, not owning that it is theirs in Christ. I am by the Spirit to have conscious knowledge of the power that wrought in Christ. It is in you, as you get in chapter 3, and then it is from you; and the grand result of being in this position is, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the might of his strength. Put on the panoply of God, that ye may be able to stand against the artifices of the devil". It is the armour of God, and you find that the armour is in parts, and that the different parts represent protection against the special activities of the foe. But when you are in the panoply of God, you are so protected that you are invulnerable; you stand. I can understand a person saying, You are portraying a thing that is beyond possibility. No; I am stating a fact, and a most interesting fact. The Lord grant that many in this room may understand the reality of this fact. "Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies. For this reason take to you the panoply of God" - it is only the heavenly man that can take it - "that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having accomplished all things, to stand". It is not like the armed men going round Jericho, they were fighting for possession; we are not fighting for possession, we have it, and we are armed to keep it; he that is united to Christ has got possession, but he has to "withstand in the evil day". "Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth". That is the first great thing not a part of the truth, not a mutilated truth, but the truth as it

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comes from God; you must bring in the finish as well as the beginning. Christ Himself is the truth; that you start with, and if you do not start with that you could not have any of the rest. See how it meets both the objective school and the subjective! How could you be girt with it if you had it not? It must be yours for you to be girt with it; but you must be girt with it. Your loins girt about with truth because it is outside of all that is false. He is the truth. It is an immense thing to get hold of, that our Lord Jesus Christ down here was the truth. And it is said of the Spirit, He is the witness because He is the truth; 1 John 5. 6. Girt about with truth - that is the first thing, and it could not be otherwise. A person who knows he is united to Christ, and enters into the reality of such a position, will know that the things which belong to the Lord must characterise him, and that all his activity must be in that connection. Then, "having put on the breastplate of righteousness" - nothing can daunt you; it is not only that I am true to a measure but I am true to the truth; it is not a question of what you have been, but what you are; it is "the breastplate of righteousness"; it is not the righteousness of God, because the armour is not for God but for Satan. If Satan can point to a defect or a departure in you, you cannot stand; and very often you find that men that are not bold are not righteous, because the righteous are as bold as a lion. It is an immense comfort to me to see Moses come down from the mount and face alone six hundred thousand men. I see Paul, the master builder, reduced to a unit, and he is not afraid; all the saints even deserted him, but the Lord stood with him and delivered him, he says, "out of the lion's mouth", and he "shall deliver me from every wicked work, and shall preserve me for his heavenly kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:17). Many do not stand because they have not on the breastplate of righteousness; you must not only have it, but have it on. And so

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with the prodigal, it is not only, Give him the clothes, but, Put them on him; you get both the gift of grace and the work of grace in him. "And shod your feet with the preparation of the glad tidings of peace". A person that is walking with God is in the dignity of one that knows what it is to be at peace with God, and therefore he is not ruffled, he does not lose himself, because he knows in whom he has believed. And that is not all - "having taken the shield of faith with which ye will be able to quench all the inflamed darts of the wicked one". No one goes on with the Lord without finding how Satan will oppose him. Very often saints have what you call an easy time of it because they are not going on with the Lord. I have often compared it to a horse turned out to grass; he may think he has got very fine times because he is left entirely to his ease, but it is because he is of no use, that is the simple reason: "Ephraim is joined to idols: leave him alone" (Hosea 4:17). I believe, if you are going on, Satan knows and watches, and will do all he can against you. And therefore Peter has to write to the Jewish christians, "Take not as strange the fire of persecution which has taken place amongst you for your trial, as if a strange thing was happening to you" (1 Peter 4:12). And James 1:3 says, "The proving of your faith works endurance". No one can have faith without being tested some day. Therefore it is "The proving of your faith works endurance", it proves the reality of it. David could say, "I smote both the lion and the bear"; after the death of Goliath I daresay he did not speak of slaying the lion and the bear, but of slaying Goliath; he had proved it in another way. That is how Satan will try to upset your faith, "the inflamed darts of the wicked one". If you look at the actual course you have to run here, it is a course of faith, you are to overcome the difficulties here by faith. It is faith in God; it is not anything you can do by some means or other, but it is the shield of faith. "Have

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also the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word". The helmet of salvation - you are assured of your safety, and you lift up your head and go on with confidence, knowing what is before you. And then you can come out and draw the sword, and can set forth what the word of God is. Now I say you are on vantage ground. What a wonderful thing for a man! Little do we know what it is, but even to get a glimpse of it is a cheer to our hearts, that we should be on such vantage ground in the midst of the accumulation of opposition all around. I can understand one saying to me, You fill me with alarm; it seems the very air is crowded with opposition. It is - Satan is the prince of the power of the air; but I am insisting that the believer is united to the One who has overcome all, and that he is in concert with His mind and sharing His power. I confront the whole force of the enemy to maintain the position in which by grace I am set. Therefore you come out, "Praying at all seasons, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" - you are associated with the Lord in His interests - "and watching unto this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints; and for me in order that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the glad tidings". It was the apostle's greatest interest, and surely it should be ours.

I need not add more. I can only ask the Lord that He will use what I have been trying to present to you as He knows how to do it, and apply it to each of you; and that each one of you may be so interested that it may lead to a growing desire in your heart to realise union with Him, that you might come out here upon this earth in this wonderful position as standing, and "having accomplished all things, to stand", for His name's sake.

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OUR MANNER OF LIFE

Romans 12:1 - 8

Our subject this evening is our manner of life here and the more I ponder it (and I am sure it will be the testimony of every one who ponders it), the more interesting it is. It is so sublime, as if it were beyond us, yet it becomes clearer to us as we are set for it.

I divide the subject into three parts. The first part is in Romans 12, a justified man on earth, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit; if you have not the first part, you will not have the other two, which I will come to afterwards. The first trait of this is that your body is the Lord's; you are under a new control altogether. It is not quite as simple as one may imagine, but the more you look into it the more it grows upon you. You are under a very much better rule than you were; your will was your master, and if you know yourself at all, you know that at one time you would be very lenient with yourself, and at other times too exacting. But there is evenness in the Lord's control; He knows what you are equal to, and He never looks for more; "He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man" (Psalm 147:10). The great principle you start with is that your body is the Lord's - "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". I have read a little more, for the next thing is the church, His body. The first claim is that your body is the Lord's; the next claim is the church, which is His body. "For, as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office; thus we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other". But I do not dwell on it; you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit: that is the start.

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Our subject is our manner of life here: the first trait is that your body is the Lord's; the next, the church - His interests are yours; and then, your relations with christians. Finally, in the end of this chapter, you suffer from evil. I must connect the two chapters, 12 and 13. Chapter 13 is outside - the powers that be, you are subject to the powers that be, but you are not a citizen here. Then you come to your general duty to your neighbour; you are to "owe no one anything, unless to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law". You leave everything as it stands, and do not interfere with anything. "Love works no ill to its neighbour; love therefore is the whole law". I do not go into it, but love is a wonderful thing when it rules you. When our Lord wanted to show what was the contrast between Himself and the law, He gave us the parable of the man that fell among thieves; the Samaritan went a good deal beyond the law; the priest passed by on the other side, but the Samaritan not only cured him, but carried him, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him, and then when he went away he said, "Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt expend more, I will render to thee on my coming back" (Luke 10:35). It showed he was willing to put himself under a bond for him, just as a father might do for a child; I am quite willing, he says, to put myself under a bond. One word more before I have done with this part, and that is in chapter 13:11 - 14, "This also, knowing the time, that it is already time that we should be aroused out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, and the day is near; let us cast away therefore the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. As in the day, let us walk becomingly" - it is not the rapture here; the day always indicates our responsibility - "not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and lasciviousness, not in strife and emulation. But put on

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the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take forethought for the flesh to fulfil its lusts". This is the first part: you are dead to sin, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, and you come out in this new way upon the earth.

Now I turn to the second, which we shall find in Hebrews 12: 1, 2 "Let us also therefore, having so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight, and sin which so easily entangles us, run with endurance the race that lies before us, looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith: who, in view of the joy lying before him, endured the cross, having despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God". Well, anyone who considers for a moment can see the difference between the two parts: one is, that you are dead to sin, that you part company from the man here; but now you leave this place and run on to where Christ is; that is the race. The apostle warns the Hebrews, who had turned back, that that was the failure of their forefathers; they were discouraged and showed an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. And now he presses upon them the path of obedience. He shows how indispensable Christ is to them. In personal trials He only can comfort you. And He comforts you by drawing you to Himself. You know little about sorrow if you think it diminishes. As to joy, every new joy puts out the old ones; while in sorrow, every fresh sorrow revives all the old ones. You speak to a mother who has lost another of her children, and she will revert to the one she lost before; the new sorrow revives the old one. What is the only resource? The resource is the One who makes Himself more to us than anyone else; He draws us to Himself. And not only do we find solace for ourselves, but He introduces us into the circle where He Himself is "a great priest over the house of God", and there you find that you are brought into a sense of the blessedness of Christ's place in the presence of

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God. It is not affliction which drives you from the earth, it is attraction to Himself that draws you out of it. The more afflicted a man has been the more hardened he is, if he has not had sympathy. But now you say, I have been afflicted in this world, but I have found such solace in the company of the Lord that I am drawn out of the place where the sorrow is, and I am drawn to the One who consoles me, and I am more set upon Him where He is than upon the place where the sorrow is. The result is that you run with patience the race set before you.

Now I turn to chapter 11; I trust you will find great profit in the study of it. There we start to leave this place; it is a journey of faith. I desire to bring before you three or four great stages in the journey of faith. I will take them in order, and that, I think, will explain it better. Where does the journey end? In the land where Christ is gone. We are looking out for Him; it is not that we are looking for a place, but we are looking for a Person where He is. Why? Because of what He is to you; He has drawn you out of this place; the attraction of One who is not in this place has drawn you out of it; you are running on to Him. And now I point out the stages; what I mean by 'stage' is when you get to a definite point. The first is Enoch, who was translated that he should not see death; he "was not found, because God had translated him". Then I go on to Noah; Noah is clear of the judgment upon man in the place where the judgment was, and he is in the favour of God upon the earth. Many a one who knows justification does not know that he is in the favour of God. That is number two. Number three is not so easy; that is Abraham; he looked for no place here, but "he waited for the city which has foundations, of which God is the artificer and constructor". Are you looking for that city? What was he here? A stranger and a pilgrim; it is not easy to be a stranger; but if you

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are not a stranger, you will not come to the next. It is important to see the character of the race, because you are leaving this place. Now it is not that you part company with man, that you are not in the flesh, but you are running a race. There can be no greater evidence that you have left man than that you have left his place, because the earth is given to man and suits him. Abraham was in the land, but had no place in it; "he waited for the city which has foundations" (Hebrews 11:10). "All these died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar off and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. For they who say such things shew clearly that they seek their country" (Hebrews 11:13, 14). Are you seeking your country? Are you a stranger and a pilgrim here? But that is not all. The next is Moses - the power of the enemy is broken; that is the great point. That is what you get practically in Christ's death, the power of the enemy is broken; and therefore, you get in the history of faith (which ends properly at verse 30), "By faith the walls of Jericho fell, having been encircled for seven days"; that is possession. Verse 30 shows that you are in possession. Verse 31 shows where the gentiles come in: "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with the unbelieving, having received the spies in peace". I want you to understand where the race ends. You are not looking for a particular place, but for a Person, and therefore the sum of it is, "Let us ... run with endurance the race that lies before us, looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith" (Hebrews 12:1, 2).

One word, before we leave this chapter, as to the discipline to which we are subjected. As you gain on one side you lose on the other. If you are not advancing in the race, there is something detaining, you. "We who live are always delivered unto death". As an illustration, look at Stephen; he is conducted to the top - Jesus and the glory of God; not a stone was

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thrown at him until after this, and the last blow separated him from everything here, and made him partaker of God's holiness. As far as I understand the discipline in Hebrews 12, it is to help those who are suffering for their faithfulness. If you would like to know the things that Paul and John knew, you must be in the path they were in.

Oh, that we might be led more into practical separation from everything here! As our blessed Lord said, "I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth" (John 17:19). He is apart from everything. You are not subjected to discipline until you are ready for it; it is the stone before the wheel which is removed; there is no use in taking away the stone before the wheel comes up to it; when you feel the hindrance, God removes it. It is loss to you, it is death in a natural sense; but you find that your loss is gain.

I trust you will study these two parts of our manner of life and get great profit from it: one is, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, and you are to come out in a new way, as in Romans 12; the other is, you are drawn away to Christ in another place: it is a race. You will find that Israel were not in the race to Canaan until after Numbers 21; they were wandering in the wilderness; but when they were set for Canaan, then the race began.

Now I turn to Ephesians 4:17 - 25: "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye should no longer walk as ... the nations walk in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in understanding, estranged from the life of God by reason of the ignorance which is in them, by reason of the hardness of their hearts, who having cast off all feeling, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greedy unsatisfied lust. But ye have not thus learnt the Christ, if ye have heard him and been instructed in him according as the truth is in Jesus; namely your having put off according to the former conversation

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the old man which corrupts itself according to the deceitful lusts; and being renewed in the spirit of your mind; and your having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness. Wherefore, having put off falsehood, speak truth every one with his neighbour, because we are members one of another". Now we have come to what is really difficult to apprehend, but yet the more you do apprehend it the more sublime it is - you come from heaven.

Let us see now what is the manner of life of a man who comes from heaven. You are sitting in heavenly places in Christ, and you are to come out in everything new; not merely in the church, but in your own house. You begin with union with Christ; this truth is essential. Some may say, We are not up to it. But all culminates (as we have seen in the previous addresses) in union with Christ; and that is the great thought of God for us. If you are not up to it, that is no reason why you should not be interested about it; it is right to feel how far short of it one is. I find that at no time do I learn so much as when I am sensible of how ignorant I am. The one who realises union with Christ will come out in power; he faces this world in a new way. It is not here a contrast with the old, as in Colossians, but it is coming out in the new, which "according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness"; you come out in the truth, the truth really of your position. When you look at it for a moment you see what an immense thing it is to understand that you come out a new man. Now you get some idea of what the truth is in Jesus; He came out from the brightness of eternal glory, the express image of God, to set forth divine beauty in every detail of human life down here. You may say, I cannot conceive it. No, nor can I. But it is so in everything; it is not merely obedience, but the way everything was done, the manner of it; not merely fulfilling the law,

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but the divine grace in which it was done. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight" (Matthew 17:5). Would you like to tread the path He trod here upon earth? He had no inclination for what suits man's will. I can conceive a beautiful flower from the tropics brought into this climate, maintaining its beauty and fragrance in spite of all the contrariety. You get the idea of it in Psalm 92:13 "Those that are planted in the house of Jehovah shall flourish in the courts of our God". You may say, Well, I am not up to it; but what I want you to say is, I would like to be up to it; I should like the path that my blessed Lord walked in here upon earth to be my path. Just let me touch on one or two things which will make it clear to you. Ephesians 4:28 will give a sample. "Let the stealer steal no more, but rather let him toil, working what is honest with his hands, that he may have to distribute to him that has need". See the transformation! What a wonderful change that a man, instead of stealing, was to be a giver - that he should work in order to give to another! What a new style he comes out in! We read, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God" (Ephesians 4:30) - as we have already seen, you are in the Spirit - "with which ye have been sealed for the day of redemption". If you are in this, the third part, you will keep up to the other two. You could not say, I am come from heaven, if you were in the flesh; nor could you say, I am come from heaven, if you were not running from everything here. You are set in heavenly places, to come out here a new man.

One or two things more I must dwell upon that you may understand the greatness of this position. It is an interesting fact that the two things which are to characterise you are love and light. I have been very much interested in looking at John's gospel to see that it is not only love, but it is light; we read, "He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). I refer to Ephesians 5:1, 25 - "Be

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ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love", and "Ye were once darkness, but now light in the Lord; walk as children of light, (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth)". I want to bring those two before you, that you may see that love serves, but the light discloses the character of everything. As we see in John 9, everything is exposed; all that seemed so fair and had great pretension and great reputation - his neighbours, the Pharisees, his parents, the nation - all are exposed in their true character, and the man who had received light is cast out, he is in the solitude of light. You come in the grace of Christ to be "imitators of God, as beloved children". But not only that, you "do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness", but "the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth". You then come into the christian circle - "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs". That is the way you have to commune one with another; it is not foolish talking and jesting and the like, but spiritual songs; I do not think this means the meeting, but the characteristics of one in love and light.

Now you come into the family circle, it is familiar to you all. "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord, for a husband is head of the wife, as also the Christ is head of the assembly. He is Saviour of the body. But even as the assembly is subjected to the Christ, so also wives to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your own wives, even as the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it". I need not read more. But note that in everything you come out in a new way, even down to the master and servant. I trust that the Lord is interesting you as to the manner of life of a christian. Being united to Christ you are above the power of evil and this place.

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The climax, as it has been in each of these lectures, is union with Christ. Now, as united to Him, you come from heaven, and nothing is plainer than that you are to walk as Christ walked. It is not that there is no opposition, quite the contrary; but you are above the power of evil. It has been remarked that in Ephesians you are warned against the lowest order of things, because if you fall there you fall to the bottom. We know too well that when a christian falls, the higher he has been the greater the fall. May the Lord interest you, and I have confidence that He will interest you, in this subject, and make you understand the manner of life to which you are called on the earth. Hence you come out here as a new man, beautiful in grace; you belong to Him in heaven; you have tasted the blessedness of being brought there -

'...The Spirit's power
Has ope'd the heav'nly door,
Has brought me to that favoured hour'. (Hymn 74)

You come out practically, in the light of Himself, to reflect Him here, as the moon reflects the sun. You know we should always have a full moon if there were no earth between the moon and the sun. And so you come out here as the reflection of Himself.

I do not think I need add more. It is an immense subject; but I have this comfort that every true heart in this room will see that not only are you united to Him, but you come out here in His light, to be for Him in this place of darkness and contrariety; and being for Him, whatever be the demand on you, you have the consciousness of a present portion with Himself, and are delighted to be found in any measure in correspondence with Himself.

The Lord lead your hearts to be really for Him, that you may be so drawn to Him that no other path can please you but the path in which He was found Himself, and that you may be able to say, as the apostle said, "For me to live is Christ", for His name's sake.

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SERVICE

John 14:26; 15: 26

I desire to speak to you on service. The first thing, and one of all importance to see in regard to the two passages I have read, is that from chapter 13 of John's gospel a new subject opens, one which is not in reference to our state. Chapters 3 to 10 relate to what we were, and the grace that we required for ourselves. Here it is the Lord's side and what fits us for being His disciples. As disciples we enter on a new line of things; we are here for Christ. If you are not settled in what you get in the previous chapters, you are not free from yourself to be here for Christ. There has been great confusion in people's minds from not distinguishing these two divisions of the gospel. Our needs are all met first, and then comes another thing, the Lord opens out that we are to be here for Him, and how. The great hindrance to saints being here for Christ is that they do not see their own interests so perfectly secured that they can be free for His interests. In Philippians 2:21 the apostle says, "All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's".

The first mark of decline with Israel in the land was "no rain"; so now, what marks declension in saints is no freshness. It is not that the truth that they had is lost, but there is no adding (see 2 Peter 1:5), no growth, and consequently no fresh light from the Lord. If you are going on with the Lord, the scriptures you know best yield most to you. I have delighted to hear a man of God take up the same scripture over and over again, and always with increased freshness.

Now, if the Lord has gone away what do you think would be His desire for His own? Is it not that they should maintain for Him here? For that purpose He has sent the Holy Spirit. A great many true christians

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really do not know what the Holy Spirit is here for. We have it set forth in these chapters. He is here to witness for Christ, and to enable Christ's disciples to maintain and set forth Christ upon the earth. And this is not a question of duty merely, though of course it is due to Him, but His desire is that it should be from affection. "If ye love me", He repeats again and again, and He gives the Holy Spirit as the power to carry out their affection for Him. You must know the Holy Spirit, as in chapters 4 and 7, before you can know Him as in chapters 14, 15 and 16. You do not lose the blessedness of chapters 4 and 7, but you apprehend Him in a new way. He is here to witness for Christ; and what is to characterise us is to stand for Christ's interests here during His absence.

In these chapters the Lord is preparing His disciples to go out into the world for Him. Chapters 13 and 14 are at the supper table inside; chapters 15 and 16 are outside; chapter 17 is heaven. Now I want to show you what you gain by being here for Christ, and what you lose if you are not for Him. Turn to chapter 14: 26, 27, and see what the preparation is. The preparation for a servant is important. In Psalm 23:5 we read, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies". How many tables have you found in the wilderness? A table is the sense of a favour from the Lord in your service in the midst of your enemies, in the midst of opposition and difficulties - a distinct communication from Himself in heaven to where you are here as a servant. "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you" (1 Peter 4:14).

Now the first part of the preparation for the disciples was that the Holy Spirit was to revive to their hearts what Christ was on earth. He shall "bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you". This is their preparation for being here for Him. Have you read the gospels with the thought

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before you of seeing how Christ was borne above all the circumstances of this world? You cannot be a servant if you do not know this. How can you be a free agent for Him here if you have not learnt how to be borne superior to the things here as He was? It is a great thing to know how the Lord was in this place, how He went through it. Then He says, "My peace I give unto you". I give you the serene tranquillity with which I moved through all the contrariety here. This is given to us to know as servants and as disciples. It is the preparation for our service. A soldier being enlisted is one thing, but it is quite another thing to be trained to be a soldier. So the Lord is here preparing His own for service to Him. You cannot enter on it without the preparation. A water fowl can oil his feathers before he goes into the water, a land fowl cannot.

If you are to go into the contrariety here, you must have power to be borne above it, and He gives the power. How can you serve the Lord if you are bewildered and perplexed? People only lose time in beginning to serve without being near the Lord. If a man goes to a prayer meeting troubled in his own spirit, he cannot be a mouthpiece of the assembly until he gets out of his trouble; he must be free from himself. It is a great gain to serve, but I do not want you to desire to serve simply for the gain of it, but from affection to Him. Peter left all and followed Him; that was from affection; but see the gain he got, the quality of the gain! He got the Lord's company for three and a half years every day! Was he not well compensated?

Chapter 14 has nothing to do with a man going to die, as is often thought. It is not to prepare you for going to heaven out of this world, but for serving the Lord in it. How little we understand the greatness of being here for the Lord! Is your heart drawn out in occupation with His interests? Ask yourself that

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question in your own room. I think it is a great thing for a person to have a room of their own to retire to, to sit before the Lord. Now what is to be the first thing in your service? "Love one another". How would that work? If you see a defect in a brother you are responsible to remove it. Nothing but the grace of God will enable us to get on with our brethren according to Him; nothing but divine love. A disciple ought to be known as one who would lay down his life for his brethren. That is the first circle of service. He begins with the assembly; he may serve the world also, but the world is not the sphere of his service; his interests are with the saints. "Love one another, as I have loved you". "Endure all things for the elect's sake" (2 Timothy 2:10). It is not pointing out defects, or looking for them, but removing them. Do not talk of them, but remove them. There is a great difference between pointing out a defect in order to remove it, and drawing attention to it. The feeling is so different. Love would see no spot, no mediocrity. "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee" (Song of Songs 4:7). Love desires perfection for its object. That is the perfection of the Lord's love, and it is with that feeling that we are to serve one another.

Now another thing is before us in chapter 15:26. The Holy Spirit came to bring out what He is in glory. In chapter 14 it is what He was on earth. Now it is what He is in glory. John does not speak of union as Paul does, but in this chapter you get the effect of it, for in the power of the Holy Spirit you come out from the Lord, borne above all the contrariety here in the peace of Christ. Who that loves Christ would not like to be a servant? I give a few examples of what real service is. Abraham going out by night to rescue Lot, putting his life in his hand, as it were. If you would truly serve the Lord, you will lose all your greatness here. But what then? "Him will my Father honour". See how Abraham was honoured, Melchisedec meets

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him; and if Abraham so acted, how much more may we, who know Him who is worthy of everything.

Look at Moses, see how his heart was set on the Lord's glory. What a contrast between him and Aaron; one helping the people to make a calf, and the other with God on the mount, and like the righteous, "bold as a lion". And did not God honour him? Did he not stand on the mount of transfiguration with Christ?

Elijah is another example, How he stood for God in the ruin of Israel! All the prophets of Baal were killed. Then he got discouraged and fled to Horeb, but God showed him how abundant His resources are. And how He honoured him! He took him to heaven, and afterwards he too was on the mount of transfiguration with Christ. What was it made them such servants? God's interests were theirs. Again, Daniel in captivity about to be cast into a den of lions, and yet his heart set on God's interests; he opened his window and prayed towards Jerusalem, which at the time was only a heap of ruins. When the remnant had returned from Babylon, God says, "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?" (Haggai 1:4) Their cieled houses were not worldliness, but they were occupied with their own interests instead of with God's, and therefore God blew upon it. I sometimes say to myself, If I did not believe that God's interests were here, that Christ's treasure is here, I would rather be a vegetable! I remark that a man who has God's chief interest at heart has wonderful light as to God's mind. I rejoice in seeing a man who has nothing to detain him on this earth. I get the sense - what a view that man has of what God is. Again, I ask you, Is there no gain in being a servant? People may regard it as a hardship to go outside the camp, but try it, and see what gain you will have. In chapter 16:14 we find, "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you".

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That is not Christ, but Christ's things, the Father's things. Is that no gain? I have come to see what the true character of this world is. I have lost the world, I have lost the organisation here, but I have got the Father's things. A man who is leaning on the Spirit of God is more and more apart from the world, and he it is who will see the Father's things. I ask you to weigh whether you are here for the Lord; I do not ask you if you are a good subject, or a good husband, or a good father, but are you here for the Lord? If you are, you will fulfil all your duties here better; you will be a better man in every other sphere. You will gain, too, by having greater courage for the Lord, and in helping others; for in the assembly, if one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it. It is a great and wondrous thing to know that not only He was here for me, but He empowers me to be here for Him.

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THE NEW PLACE ON EARTH

John 10:16

I desire with the Lord's help to bring before you the creation of God. There is a prior subject to this, the gospel, but now I only premise this - that the gospel not only relieves us from our misery, but gives us the joys of another place; not the joys of this place, but the joys of another place. Man, turned out of the garden of Eden, became an exile, but by the gospel he is not only like Abel, forgiven, and then having to die, but he is given another place; like Enoch, who was "translated that he should not see death". Our portion is never to see death, for death is annulled. This is the gospel. Through the gospel of God we are like the prodigal son, not only reconciled to the Father, with nothing against us, but we are brought in to share the Father's joys in His own house. We are not only relieved from misery here, but we joy with the Father. We have within us, as we see in John 4, the well of water springing up to eternal life. There is nothing from you, though it is in you, but all is from above.

Now, what is your place upon earth? You have been relieved from misery, and you have the joys of the Father's house. Yes, that is your home, and hence a new question comes before you - What is the place you are to hold upon the earth? Well, you are one of the flock of Christ. This is a word used by both Peter and Paul, and it is the subject which I bring before you this evening. "And I have other sheep which are not of this fold: those also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one flock, one shepherd". You will see at once in connection with the question, What is our place upon earth? that all is entirely new; nothing is derived from the earth or

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from man, no help, no support, no countenance, but the Lord is the Shepherd of the sheep.

Chapter 9 introduces us to this subject; it should be read before chapter 10. In chapter 9 we have light, and we see that the light comes from Christ, not from man. There is no question of moral wickedness in chapter 9 as in chapter 8, it is the case of a man blind from his birth, who gets his sight. It is wholly the work of God, and no one will sympathise with the one who gets the light because of the source whence it came. Even his parents are afraid, "for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue". The Jews were the religious people. First, the man encounters his neighbours, and these pass him on to the Pharisees, who say, "This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day". Then his parents cast him off, and eventually the Jews put him out of the synagogue.

Now I want you to understand what the position of this man really is. He is one who has learned the grace of Christ, the light has come to him, and the result of it is he finds himself outside everything of man, and that, not merely of the outwardly wicked man, but of the religious man - outside everything of respectability, and of everything set up of God on the earth. And why? Because he owned the One who came from God. Thus he found himself in solitude, but it is the solitude of light. I am bold to say that no one ever understands in his soul who the Lord Jesus is until he has been in this solitude, until he is morally outside of man. When this man who had received the light is in this solitude - outside of man, the Lord finds him, and says to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" Now, mark what comes out! The man says, "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee".

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When he was with the Lord before, he had not seen Him, for he was blind. But now he sees Him. "And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him". That is now the position or place of that man on earth - outside of everything here with Christ. It is the new place where you get nothing from man or from earth, you have only Christ. Chapter 10:3 is now true of this man: "The sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out". He is one of Christ's sheep whom He has led out. The great point to notice here is that he gained nothing from the fold; the man had been in the Jewish fold, that which God had set up, but now the Son of God has come into the fold, not to stay in it, but to lead the sheep out. Instead of remaining in it where He was entitled to everything, He goes out of it, and leads out His sheep. "And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him".

Here, there is one who has not only received light, but who gets a new and singular place on the earth - a place outside of three things which always go together, that is, religion, flesh, and earth. And what now is his actual position? Turn to verse 9, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture". That is his position! In perfect liberty, he goes in and out, and finds pasture. In the fold there was no pasture, it was only preservation, no pasture. But here is a new thing; everything now is from Christ Himself. He says further, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly". He was come to bring them into life, and into the knowledge and enjoyment of it, as in chapter 20:22. In verse 11 He says, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep". Until the shepherd died for the sheep, there could not be entrance into life. Death is upon you, hence you could not enjoy life, nor could any that went before on the

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contrary, they were all their lifetime subject to bondage through fear of death. Why? Because the judgment must first be borne in order that man might be free of death. Hence in chapter 6:53 He says, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you". You must appropriate His death to enter into life. I say this to show you the new character of the position you get on earth. Christ cleared everything out of the way, and now you derive from Him, you have life in Him.

Then we come to intimacy. In verse 14 He says, "I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, and am known of those that are mine, as the Father knows me and I know the Father". The same kind of intimacy exists between the Shepherd and the sheep as between the Father and the Son. Nothing can be more blessed and profound than this. The Lord has not only done a great work to deliver you, but He brings you into this wonderful intimacy with Himself. This shows the great change that has taken place in the position of the sheep. There is nothing perhaps on which there is so much ignorance among believers, as the difference between an Old Testament saint and a christian. The Old Testament saint, though an heir, was in the position of a child under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. The difference is immense. An Old Testament saint was happy in God's favour on earth, yet with death always before him. We can say, death is annulled. We are "passed out of death into life". Life and incorruptibility have been brought to light. Eternal life in all its greatness and fulness is before us. Death is gone - Satan can no longer stand towards us in his Pharaoh character. He may still act as Amalek and be a tormentor, but we have the promise, "The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Romans 16:20). But death is annulled; we need to be clear on this

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point in order to be in the enjoyment of life. We have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He entered into death, "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:14, 15). When the Lord rose from the dead He breathed on His disciples, and they were then in an entirely new position, out of death, in life, and deriving everything from Him.

The intimacy with Him is not only when we get to heaven, but while we are here on earth. And what is its character? The same as between the Father and the Son. Do you say, I cannot understand it? Doubtless you do not. How can any human mind understand it? But you are not asked to understand it, but to believe it. It is God's pleasure that it should be so, and it is a great thing to see where God has set us.

Another thing comes out now, not only the new place we have in relation to Him, but what He makes us here upon the earth. The sheep is altered to an immense degree so that you could hardly recognise it, it is so marvellously changed by the favour of God, and it is not from anything derived from man or from earth; the proportions, abilities and favours conferred are acquired from Him; and more, He maintains us here apart from everything belonging to man. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand". We are in His care, under His hand.

Oh! but people say, We have to do our business. Yes, but that is not the subject here. I turn you to Hebrews for that. There we read, "Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). But here it is the position which we occupy on earth with Christ and it is a great thing to understand that. What is the great

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aim in christendom? To be acknowledged and patronised by the powers of the world; to use the world's power. Rome claims it, and she will get it abundantly by and by. But Christ's sheep are to desire nothing from man or from the earth. I am, as to what God's grace has made me, brought to a wonderful stature, a stature really suitable for Himself. I am brought into the same character of intimacy, and nothing can surpass that. No saint before ever stood, nor will any saint after the church ever stand, in the same character of intimacy as that which we have with Christ; it is that which subsists between the Father and the Son.

The object of the epistle to the Hebrews is to lift you out of your circumstances, to bear you above them, not to leave you in them. The Lord says, as it were, I want you to go along with me. It is companionship in Hebrews. "We are ... partakers (or companions) of Christ". It is no use talking of Ephesians if Hebrews is not known. Ephesians is our place with Him in heaven. What I want to show you now is what we have here upon earth. We are companions of Christ. The apostle uses a great deal of scripture to prove that the High Priest is in heaven, to show that if He helps you, it is to raise you to His own height; that is the object reached in the beginning of chapter 8"We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens". We have what will help us right up there; the help comes from the highest point. Not only are our sins gone, but we have a High Priest for our infirmities, and He is Minister of the holy places, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. We are thus brought into this wondrous position, into company with the great Shepherd of the flock. And where does that consummate? Turn to Hebrews 10:19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest". We are in company with Him in

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the holiest. I am not going to dwell on that now, but let me just say, you require a fitness for the Lord's presence in the holiest, as much as you require it for heaven itself, and you could not enjoy His presence in the holiest without fitness for it. You might enjoy the effect of His presence, but how could you be with Him n the holiest with a spot on your conscience? We are not in heaven yet, though we are running the race thither, but we have this great enjoyment of His company while we are here on earth, and we are looking to be with Him where he is.

May the Lord grant that we may be exercised as to the new place in which He has set us here on earth. If we look to Him, we are sure to get light and instruction as to what it is.