NOTE - These Volumes of "Ministry by J. Taylor -- New Series" contain reprints of books now unobtainable in their original form, along with articles which have appeared in periodicals from time to time.
Luke 10:17 - 22
I desire to call attention to a thought with which, I think, all will agree, and which has a prominent place in Scripture. It is this, that the privilege of being in the Lord's company is much more blessed and of far greater importance than the most honoured and successful service here. I feel rather pressed to remind saints of this, as I fear there is often a tendency to give too much prominence to outward activity in the Lord's work, where the blessedness of being in His company is little sought or known; and, not only so, but very often with those who do know something of the blessedness, the activity of a servant's path so beclouds and disturbs the soul's communion with Him that quiet moments with Himself, apart from all here, are but seldom, if at all, enjoyed. Now, great damage is caused by this, for not only is the soul impoverished and the affections dulled, but also the Lord is robbed of His portion.
It is not that I would make light of service, for it is most blessed in its place; as we find with the Lord, "I delight to do thy will, O my God". Psalm 40:8. His pleasure was to do the Father's will. Here we get the true idea of service. I am sure the Lord found pleasure in the service itself, as such, but His supreme delight lay in the consciousness that He was doing His Father's will. But the great defect in a good deal of our service is that the Lord's will is not known. I do not now refer to divine guidance in detail, but to the purpose of God. I do not think there can be any true service until this is, in some measure, apprehended. When the Lord said, "Lo, I come to do thy will", (Hebrews 10:9) I believe He had in view the whole range
of what God was going to accomplish in grace, and it is the privilege of every servant to be, in principle, in His position here. But for this we have to see, as I have intimated, that our place and portion with Him is "that good part". Luke 10:42. When I lay hold of this I am in a position to know my Lord's will, and my pleasure will be to carry it out, in my measure.
Now we shall be helped as we arrive at the Lord's side of things and apprehend what His thoughts are. With this in view, reference has been made to this passage in Luke 10, where we have a glimpse of what occupied the Lord's heart at that time, and, indeed, of what occupies it, we may say, at this moment. There are few passages more beautiful. It comes in at the turning point of His blessed life, at a moment when, as far as outward circumstances were concerned, there was plenty to discourage. He was there as the vessel of grace, as chapter 4 so clearly shows, anointed of the Spirit for the setting forth of all that there was in the heart of God towards man. What did He meet with in carrying out His mission of love? Rejection from the outset, and the cross at the end. At Nazareth they thrust Him out, and led Him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong, and at Jerusalem they led Him to Golgotha, where He was crucified. It is most touching to notice that in His private life, as seen in chapter 2, He is in favour with God and man; but when we come to chapter 4, where His public ministry begins, He becomes the object of their bitterest persecutions; and this, too, at Nazareth, where He was brought up. What brought about the change? Simply this, that in chapter 4 He begins definitely to set forth God to man. Thus the natural heart was fully exposed. The reproaches were really directed against His Father, but they fell upon Him. All this is very solemn.
Now these are the circumstances under which we have this beautiful passage in chapter 10. Comparing the parallel passage in Matthew, we see that His complete rejection by the nation was fully manifested. John the Baptist, too -- the one above all others on earth to whom He might have looked for sympathy -- began to doubt. Was the Lord indifferent to all this? Not at all. He felt all most keenly. He could say, "The reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen upon me". Psalm 69:9. But look at the moral grandeur of what comes out here! "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight". Matthew 11:25,26. His pleasure is found in the fact that His own are the subjects of the Father's teaching. How blessed is this! He turns away from the sufferings, rejection, and service here to another scene, which evidently opens up before Him; where the Father was to be all, and where He was to have companions, taught of the Father, with Himself. The nation was rejecting Him, and Jehovah, as a consequence, was about to reject it; He was going to hide His face from the house of Jacob. But Jesus had disciples, children given to Him of the Father, and these were precious to Him. Refused by His beloved, but faithless, nation, His heart and hand would from henceforth be devoted to them. His pleasure was found in ministering to them and in the consciousness that they were the objects of the Father's love and care.
Now this is what we have at this moment. Through death and resurrection the Lord has entered, as Man, into that blessed scene of light and love, the circle of divine affections, from whence He came to make God known; and look! He wants us there. He "died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him", 1 Thessalonians 5:10. This is surely our privilege now. It is the privilege of the believer to retire from his outward path of service here, and enter in spirit that blessed place where Christ is, as associated with Him.
This is the great point for the moment. But are we prepared for it? Are we ready to respond to His blessed desire to have us with Himself? Or are we going to allow other things to rob Him of what His heart is set upon? The latter is just that of which the "seventy" stood in danger. They were truly servants. They had been sent out by the Lord and endued with needed power for their mission. Now they return flushed with victory, saying, "even the devils are subject unto us through thy name", Luke 10:17. This was encouraging as far as it went, but from the Lord's reply we gather that they were making more of their success as servants than of their privilege as associated with Him. He ministers a mild rebuke by telling them to rejoice not that the spirits were subject to them, but rather to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. In principle He simply reminds them of their heavenly portion, and points out that this is greater and of more importance than the most successful service in this world.
May the Lord enable us all to choose the good part, for His name's sake!
THE words written in Isaiah 49:4 are prophetically those of the Lord Himself: "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for naught, arid in vain". This was true in so far as Israel after the flesh was concerned. It is not to be forgotten that Christ came to man as he was, bearing blessed tidings to him from God, and relieving him of all the many ills that followed in the train of sin; as it is said, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people", Matthew 4:23.
This ministry on the part of the Lord was perfect, and calculated, if indeed such were possible, to reach and recover the heart of man for God. But such was not possible It is true indeed that in many instances an outward and passing effect was produced by the words and works of Christ, but it was only where the Father had wrought beforehand that a real and eternal effect resulted from the Lord's testimony. There was no fruit whatever save where the seed fell upon good ground, and the good ground was unquestionably divinely prepared. There may be the most perfect presentation of divine light (whose presentation of truth could be more perfect than the Lord's?) and yet, apart from the work of God in the soul, it must be utterly in vain. John the Baptist had come in the way of righteousness, calling upon the people to repent; the Lord came in perfect grace to fulfil the promises, without a complaint or demand, and by His miracles showing that power was there to set up the kingdom; yet, as far as man himself was concerned, all was without avail. The doleful strains
of the Baptist, and the heavenly music of the Son of man, were alike without any appreciation or response. Men were like "the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely", Psalm 58:4, 5.
Now the effect on our own service of entering into all this will be that what is merely human will be shunned in the setting forth of the testimony of God, and there will be constant dependence upon the Lord that what is presented may be in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, and that it may come in contact with those whose hearts the Lord may open to receive it. Thus, although there may be little in the way of outward show, the effect will not be a transient one, as that which is produced by human eloquence and the like, and the faith of those who are reached will stand not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. It must be remembered that while God commands repentance, He also grants it.
If man would not have Christ, if His "report" was altogether unheeded, and if in this respect His strength was spent for nothing, yet the Lord accomplished a vast deal. I do not now refer to the cross, but to the result of His ministry in connection with the Father's work. It is of the deepest interest to see the Father and Son working conjointly with a view to the carrying into effect of divine counsels. In connection with this the ministry of Christ was of great importance; it was the beginning and groundwork of "the vast universe of bliss", which God had purposed for Himself. I speak of His gathering, and of His forming, after His own blessed pattern, those whom the Father, in eternal love, had given and drawn to Him. In following the Lord in His pathway of service, as it is presented in the gospels, great blessing lies in the soul being led into the secret of what was
before Him in it; and entering into this, we see not only the perfection of the service, but also its unique character.
And now, what was the immediate result of this work of love? This, that upon the Lord's ascension to heaven He left behind upon earth a vessel which was morally suitable for the reception of the Holy Ghost. This was a mighty result. Who but He could have effected it? I take great pleasure in regarding the little band, from whom the Lord was taken up at Bethany, as His own handiwork, and forming as such a vessel suitable for the reception of the Holy Ghost.
We will now turn to look at this company for a moment. Luke, at the end of his first narrative, gives a most touching description of them. At the cross they had been scattered. The Shepherd was smitten and the sheep were scattered; this was a terrible moment for them, but He had said that He would see them again, and their hearts should rejoice, and so it came to pass. Being risen He gathered them together, spoke to them the peace of victory, and filled their hearts with joy, bringing them into the resurrection atmosphere in company with Himself. Then He led them out as far as to Bethany, where He was taken from them. And now look at them! They worship Him, and return to Jerusalem with great joy, and are continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Their hearts were truly gained for God.
The same writer, in his second treatise, Acts 1gives us another and not less beautiful view of them, and here I find two points, to call attention to which is the immediate object of this paper.
First, they were gazing up into heaven, verses 10, 11. Lovely attitude! True, they could not have continued literally in this position, for He was coming
again, as the "two men in white apparel" told them, and there was testimony to be rendered to Him in the meantime; but this band of men looking steadfastly toward heaven is an affecting scene, and full of moral beauty. And what was the secret of it? No doubt they had much to learn as to what was to follow upon what they had just witnessed, but their hearts were charmed, fairly captivated by the blessed One who had been taken up from them. The world was a blank to them, and all their joys and hopes were centred in Him whom heaven was receiving.
The second point to note is that having returned to Jerusalem which was to be the scene of their labour and conflict, they were marked by prayer and supplication, verse 14. If, on the one hand, their hearts were absorbed with the Lord, as going into heaven, on the other they had a sense of being utterly without strength in themselves to maintain His interests in a contrary and hostile world. This led to the expression of their dependence.
These two traits in the disciples are of great importance as showing the effect of the Lord's ministry, and proving them to be morally qualified for receiving the Holy Ghost. The Spirit could not dwell upon earth without the formation of that in which He can reside. When the Son came a body was prepared for Him in which He tabernacled among men. The Spirit in coming did not in the same way become incarnate, but a company was formed as a vessel divinely prepared and morally suitable for His reception and dwelling place.
Now, in all that has been before us, what I see of practical importance is this, that although we cannot have all that saints in early days had in the way of outward manifestation of power, yet we can surely count upon the Lord to produce in its those simple marks which characterised them, namely, occupation
with Himself, and dependence, and where these are found there will be no lack of spiritual power. It is in getting to the simple state where human pretension and strength are entirely disclaimed, that we really get back to the Spirit's power, and prove the reality of His presence down here. May the Lord lead to it!
Luke 2:1 - 7, 13; 1 Corinthians 1:26 - 29;
Revelation 21:10, 11.
It is my desire, in reading these scriptures, to call your attention to the introduction of the testimony of God into this world and also into that which is to come.
There is nothing more interesting and more important than the introduction of the divine testimony. This is what is brought before the attention of men in the gospel of Luke. I say the attention of men, because Luke's platform is a wide one; humanity is in view.
Luke was a companion of the apostle Paul, and the sphere of Paul's labours was humanity; he did not stop short of all men; his conception of God's mind was that it extended to the limits of humanity. There was no part of it that was not to be affected by the divine testimony. Paul's base was heaven, that of the twelve was Jerusalem. Their labours were connected with Jerusalem. Not so Paul's. He began with heaven, and you cannot restrict heaven. What is witnessed from heaven cannot be confined to any limited part of earth.
In Acts we see the heavens opened, and Stephen permitted to look in. He saw a Man there, a Man in heaven. Afterwards we find that the Man whom he saw there had certain dealings with Saul of Tarsus. There shone around him a "light from heaven", (Acts 9:3) not a light from Jerusalem. It was a light above the brightness of the noon-day sun. It affected him profoundly. He began with heaven, and he felt that the influence of heaven was to extend to the uttermost limits of the earth.
Luke writes about Christ in relation to humanity. I do not believe that you will find anywhere in Scripture the thought that heaven and earth are to
be disconnected. Earth is to be influenced by heaven; Psalm 19 is a proof of this. The sun is set in the heavens and every part of earth feels its influence. I think you will find that the effort of men is to disconnect earth and heaven. They say, virtually, 'As far as God is concerned He may abide in heaven, but we want the earth'. In the Revelation what you find is, that men will glorify the God of heaven. They do not say anything about the God of earth. But Christ comes down (Revelation 10) and sets His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the earth; He lays claim to all. God has said "heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool", Isaiah 66:1. Beloved friends, you cannot separate His throne from His footstool. There is no house capable of receiving Him save what He Himself has built, and the earth is part of this house. A brother was speaking to me today about fresh air, and what we really need is fresh air; the higher up we go, the fresher the air.
It is our privilege to maintain that the earth is the Lord's. I have not given up the earth in this sense. The church witnesses to this that the inheritance belongs to Christ. He has said, "Occupy till I come". Luke 19:13.
I want now to speak about the testimony and the circumstances in connection with its introduction, as presented in the beginning of Luke. God takes up the most despised people, and one of the most insignificant families in Judea, in order to bring in His testimony. It was suitable morally that God should begin this way, because of the pretensions of men. Everything that God does has a moral significance, and you get little help from the Scriptures, unless you read them keeping this in view. It will be a great practical help to us in our walk down here, if we ponder the circumstances in which God introduced His testimony into this world.
What a testimony this was, beloved friends! The true Ark of the covenant, the blessed Son of God, lying in a manger. Men cared not for Him. Augustus! what did he care about Christ? Nothing. What was then happening in Bethlehem was utterly unimportant to him, and to the dignities of his empire. But what about heaven? A multitude of the heavenly host appeared. They knew what was going on. The greatest event that had yet occurred in the history of the world had just transpired in the city of David, and every intelligence in heaven understood its blessed significance. They spoke of "glory to God". That blessed Babe had come for the establishment of the divine glory. What had been on the earth before? Nothing but reproach and dishonour, but the glory of God was now to be maintained in the universe. There was also to be "peace on earth", and the angels knew it. The third thing was "good pleasure in men". Heretofore man was a grief to the heart of God, but now that heart would rest with perfect complacency upon His beloved Son as Man on earth. The angels were filled with a sense of the greatness of what was going on, but all that was so wonderful to heaven was introduced under the most insignificant circumstances on earth, but this did not detract from its value. Do we think anything less of the Lord because lie lay in a manger? No, it enhances the moral glory and beauty of the position. It was suitable that He should enter thus because of what was here, for God in this way would make nothing of the great things of this world.
I read the passage in Corinthians to show that the same principle has been maintained in connection with the Spirit's testimony in the church at the present time. What was so perfectly presented here in Christ all went up to heaven, and was appreciated there. It was not valued on earth, but it was in heaven. One is reminded of Psalm 24:7, where we
read, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in". The higher He went the greater the greeting, and He went far beyond all heavens. What was here went up there, but by the Spirit of God all has come back again, and is now in the saints by the Spirit. Are the circumstances altered? Not in the least. The apostle says, "ye see your calling, brethren". He says, so to speak, 'See the kind of people God has taken up'; the foolish, the weak, the ignoble, and despised hath God chosen. It was not a matter of chance, they were chosen, and what for? To bring to nothing the things that are. How are we affected by these things? Are we content to be despised? Do we like to be considered the base things of the earth? The apostle spoke of himself and those associated with him, as the filth and off-scouring of all things. They were viewed as this because of their complete identification with the testimony of God.
The greater you are in this world the less you are in the church, and the less you shall be in the coining kingdom But we can well afford to be accounted small here for we are going to be placed in the most prominent position in God's universe. The Father has committed us into the hand of Christ, and what will He do with the saints? He will bring us to Himself, to the highest pinnacle of God's universe. We do not need to be great or prominent now. We shall have all the prominence we want in the world to come. Paul will have a wonderful place in the kingdom, a place corresponding to that which he had in this world. Are we content to be obscure now? When Christ was here He was obscure so far as position in this world is concerned. He had no place to lay His head. I believe the safest place for every Christian is that of obscurity. The apostle says, "our life is hid". Colossians 3:3. Christ is hid, and so are we.
When He is manifested, so shall we be; when He comes forth from the place of concealment into that of open display we shall be with Him. Then we shall have all the publicity we want; only wait, and we have not long to wait.
Let us now turn to Revelation, and here again we find testimony. The heavenly city is testimony. I do not think there is really any change morally. What comes out in the heavenly city has already come out here in Christ, and is here now in the saints. The scene of display is changed; the man who pretended to be great is no more, the earlier part of the book shows how he has been disposed of. He has found his own place; Revelation 20 shows this, that the devil is bound, the beast and false prophet, the political descendants of Augustus having found their place already in the lake of fire, Revelation 19. The entire scene has been cleansed and purified.
And now, beloved friends, you get glory. God says, as it were, 'I will let you see the display of My glory'. You will have all the glory then that your heart can desire. The heavenly city appears having the glory of God. It comes forth in splendour all divine. No longer the manger, no more the humble and obscure circumstances. No! it is now the glory of God in full display. The Lord by His power has removed all that is unsuited to God, and the glory shines forth. And oh, beloved friends, what a display! I leave it, that each may ponder over it for himself. It is a marvellous scene. All upon earth will appreciate what is presented. The atmosphere of heaven will pervade the earth, and be diffused to its utmost bounds. Then we shall have abundance of fresh air.
Notes of a Reading on Ephesians 6:10 - 20.
Comparatively few Christians have any definite idea of what they are here for -- the thought of most is that it is simply a question of getting to heaven in the end. I fancy Satan has not much to quarrel with in this; I do not think he would object much if they all went now. Why? Because he does not want the claims of Christ asserted here; and by whom are these to be asserted if not by the saints? For this reason he has helped in the past to send many of them to heaven. It suits his purpose equally well to lull them to sleep.
The contention is the earth: We claim it for Christ, and the Devil wants it. He succeeded in getting a footing here, but he will be dislodged. The Lord said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" Luke 10:18; that was the beginning of it; during the millennium he shall have been actually removed from the scene. We really do not go at all; it is he who has to go. It is very clear that the saints remain in heaven only for a brief season. They come out again to inherit with Christ, and they come out to stay. The earth is evidently part of the inheritance. It was made for man, and I do not think it was ever the thought of God to dissociate man from it. The great point, evidently, is to bring earth and heaven into touch, and this is brought to pass in the heavenly city. Once the city comes out, there is nothing in Scripture to prove that it returns. There will be new heavens and a new earth, but the present heavens and the earth form, in this connection, the great theme of Scripture.
From the outset God made it clear that He was Lord of heaven and earth (see Genesis 14:19; Exodus 19:5; Joshua 3:11), and the holiest of
all in the tabernacle was the witness to this; whatever the claims of men might be. The church's position corresponds to this at the present moment: we maintain the claims of Christ in relation to the heavens and the earth. The Lord Himself came here claiming everything for God. He would yield nothing. Our position corresponds fully. God has asserted His rights in Christ arid we maintain them; and this necessarily involves conflict. The first confession the believer makes, Romans 10:9, is an assertion of the rights of Christ; he owns Him as Lord. It is not simply that He is my Lord, but Lord of everything.
To hold the earth actually now would be earthly mindedness and disloyalty to Christ, who was cut off arid had nothing here. The man who understands the inheritance best will be the least earthly minded. We are here simply for Christ and our safety lies in standing out boldly for His claims. There is really no danger at the front, danger lies in the rear, Deuteronomy 25:18. Man is the theatre of operations whether it be on the part of God or Satan. It was through him Satan got in, but God has got a footing here in Man and He does not propose to give it up.
The Lord left things here outwardly pretty much as He found them; but He left a man here without fear -- Peter. Peter was perfectly fearless in proclaiming the claims of Christ before all the world. There is no change outwardly. The valley of the shadow of death remains (Psalm 23), but the man in that valley has no fear. Enemies are there, but a table is prepared for him in their presence. The fact is the scene is not changed at all, the man is changed. Peter is the kind of man we want. He was as bold as a lion. He had been a coward before -- we are all cowards naturally. But the Spirit brings us into the calling, that is, into God's house; that is the greatest thing conceivable; there is music and dancing there. When the Lord went up there was
music and dancing in heaven, so to speak, now it is here by the Spirit. The man who enters into this can stand.
It is an immense thing for the saints to see power in the hand of Christ. David said to Abiathar, "with me thou shalt be in safeguard". 1 Samuel 22:23. He was in rejection, but power and protection for the Lord's people were with him. He prefigured Christ at the present moment. David was a most wonderful character. Deliverance and safety for Israel were with him. The Philistine cause was hopelessly lost from the first moment of his appearance. He extirpated the giants and never lost a battle. If you want to be safe come out boldly for Christ. It often takes a Christian a long time before he sees he has to contend, but in the conflict loyalty to Christ is safety.
Armour is protection -- a different thought to power. You can only give an account of it as you have used it. Paul, no doubt, could give a perfect account of it.
At last you come to a point where you stand. This is not in the wilderness but in the land, "Having done all", Ephesians 6:13 i.e., having gone right through and overcome everything to the finish. The Spirit maintains the witness subjectively that Christ is Lord. What we are in every-day life is the testimony. To stand for Christ involves self-surrender, but this is worth the while, for we are sure to find Christ in it.
Acts 4 furnishes a wonderful illustration as to the power through which the Lord protects His people at the present time in answer to prayer. The position of the man of faith is one of constant exercise and watching.
God generally keeps His people by leaders. The strong is to support the weak. If the Lord gives a man ability and strength, it is not to make him great, but to shelter and feed the saints. I do not know where we should have been for the last half
century, or indeed at any time, had the Lord not raised up leaders to protect His people. And Satan always attacks them. Whatever is presented by the Spirit is always resisted when it is being ministered. In many cases it will be found that the very opposers of a given ministry subsequently adopted what they once resisted; that is, when the occasion of it no longer existed. Stephen's address in Acts 7 is a remarkable evidence of this. Every testimony of God had been resisted by Israel at the time it was rendered. The written record of these testimonies was afterwards accepted and read in their synagogues every sabbath day.
Canticles 3:11; Matthew 21:1 - 11
My thought is, beloved friends, to show that the Lord takes pleasure in having a place in the affections of His people. He has a place in the affections of the Father: He also desires a place in the affections of His people. He would dwell in the hearts of His people, and it is with that in view I have read these two scriptures.
What I desire to point out is that the Lord is crowned by His mother. You may say He is crowned by God the Father, which is true, but I think it is a most interesting thought that He is also crowned by His mother. The daughters of Zion were invited to "behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart". Song of Solomon 3:11.
Now I hope the Lord will enable me to make clear to you what is really in that verse and I hope also that He will enable me to make application of it to ourselves. What I would say is this: the Lord is not satisfied alone with being crowned by God. Now you will understand I am not in any wise detracting from the act of God in crowning Him. You may depend upon it that the affections of the Father were brought into activity in the act of crowning His beloved Son. I think it was an auspicious day in heaven when the Lord Jesus Christ went up into it as man and was crowned. The Holy Ghost bears testimony to it on earth "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ". Acts 2:36. The Lord went "far above all heavens". Ephesians 4:10. Why? That He might fill all things. You may ask me how He fills all things? I think as He ascended upwards that every single intelligence
on the way up caught a glimpse of Him. A Man went up and they saw Him, and I think every single intelligence thereupon was filled. The idea of being filled with Christ I think means that the mind and heart are taken up with Him. I think all in heaven was to be filled; hence He passed into the place beyond all; and every intelligence and sphere were filled with the Lord Jesus Christ as He went up. But He went to the highest point, to the Father; and what was filled there? The Father's heart; and the Father crowned Him with glory and honour. "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ". Acts 2:26.
But the Lord would fill all here below. He had not really filled anything when He left. He did not leave anything filled as far as I can judge. He did indeed take such as Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene, and others, and fill them in a sense, but I think the intention of God is that Christ is to fill all things from the highest point. He went beyond all heavens to fill all things, and I think that when the Holy Ghost came here, the one hundred and twenty believers in Jerusalem were filled. What were they filled with? They were not filled with the glories of the empire: they were not filled with the Jewish system that surrounded them. They had been, I have no doubt. The disciples were poor men, but the fact of a man being poor does not mean that he is not worldly. Far from it. He may be just as worldly as a rich man. The disciples were mostly all poor, but I have not the least doubt in my mind that they were all filled with the world prior to the Lord Jesus Christ taking them up. One of them had been filled with seven demons, which was worse. They were all filled with something -- with the empire, Judaism, or something else, but when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the right hand of God, and the Holy Ghost came down to earth, what then? The
one hundred and twenty were filled with Christ; I do not believe there was a particle of room in their hearts for anything of the world. There was no place in the hearts of those people for anything that the world had to offer, for their hearts were filled with Christ.
Now I think that was God's design, and, so far as I can see, that is His present design as to us also. You may rely upon it He intends to fill your heart and mind. You have both a mind and a heart, and the Lord is capable of filling both, and He intends to fill both. I fear that with the majority of Christians it is not as it was with the one hundred and twenty in Acts 2. I know that in the hearts and minds of most believers the world has a very great place, but the thought of the Lord is to dislodge it, and that by entering in Himself. In the age to come there will not be anything but Christ in heaven and upon earth -- I mean, morally; He fills all things. They will not be half filled, but filled full.
But I want to come to the thought of being crowned by His mother. I think that when His mother crowns Him she will get all the benefit of His power. I want to make that clear, and I want to make application of it to ourselves. Israel is His mother. The figure is used more than once in Scripture. The Lord Jesus Christ came through Israel after the flesh, but at the present time she is not deriving any benefit from Him. She is not getting any benefit from her Son. Why? Because she has not crowned Him. She had the opportunity, but did not embrace it. He did indeed receive a crown from man, but not a crown of affection: affection would not plait a crown of thorns: that was a crown of hatred, a crown of mockery, He was presented to Israel as King, but the leaders said, "We have no king but Caesar". John 19:15. The sequel proved what Caesar would do for them.
We may see in the history of David an illustration of what I have been saying. He was anointed king by Jehovah for a considerable period of time before Israel got any direct benefit from him. Was it because David did not have any ability to help Israel? No. David had all the ability that God gave him, but the children of Israel got no real help from him until they accorded him the place God had given him. The anointing of David was a private affair. Samuel was afraid to go to Bethlehem. If Samuel had attempted to go with a train of attendants, in a public way, on his mission he would have been arrested by Saul; so he went to the house of Jesse in a private way and anointed the king. The anointing by God involved power to help the people, but it did not place David in the position to help them. As yet Saul had the position, and David remains in seclusion. He went off to take care of his father's sheep again after being anointed, and subsequently played for the acting king to keep the evil spirit away from him. He was not engaged with the deliverance of Israel. It was a poor occupation for the anointed king of Jehovah to be keeping guard of the false king. That was not an occupation proper for the anointed of Jehovah. But Israel had not anointed him. David, after he was anointed by God, had to wait many a long day before his people anointed him. You may say David lost. No. Israel lost. David gained, but Israel met with terrible defeat on the mountains of Gilboa. Had David been there it would not have been a defeat. You never heard of a defeat of David. They would not have been defeated on the mountains of Gilboa had his people accorded him the place that God had given him, but they did not, and they were the losers. It applies to the present moment. Israel did not give the Lord Jesus Christ the place accorded Him by the Father. Who were the losers? Look at the Israelites today. Where
are they? Scattered to the four winds of heaven, and they are a by-word everywhere. Is Christ losing? The Lord Jesus Christ has a blessed occupation: He is not indeed engaged in protecting the false king from evil spirits; that is not the occupation of Christ now. He has Rebecca, His bride, and He is occupied with her.
But I dwell on the point that Israel is the loser in not accepting the anointed One. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Anointed of Jehovah by the Holy Ghost. The Lord was not only anointed: there was in His works a public demonstration of the power of the kingdom. He went about doing good, and His works were the divine credentials that He was the King; but -- notwithstanding this, His people rejected him: they would not give Him a crown. And what was the result? They are suffering the consequences of their folly. They would choose a king, and the king they chose destroyed their city and led them captive. They have been led captive into all nations. God says, as it were, Let Me choose a king for you, but they declared that God's King was not their choice. They assumed to know better than God: they rejected God's choice. But they will own their folly, and return to sound judgment: they will own Him as King, saying, "Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord". Matthew 21:9. This will involve severe chastisements on the part of God. Isaiah 3 speaks of it: Israel will be stripped of those upon whom she leaned "The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator". Isaiah 3:2,3. Thus she "being desolate shall sit upon the ground". Isaiah 3:26. Desolate and shelterless, she will gladly accept Christ: "Seven women shall take hold of one man", Isaiah 4:1 and I have no doubt that Christ will
be the Man. When Israel is bereft by the judgment of God of all those to whom she looked for protection and support I think she will be glad of a king and accept Jehovah's choice; and after all Jehovah's choice was the best: God did not at all withdraw His choice. He says, "I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion". Psalm 2:6. God has reserved His King: He will not give up: He will wait, however, until Israel returns to good sense, when she will accord the crown to the Lord Jesus. Then you get the wonderful passage, "Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion arid behold king Solomon" Song of Songs 3:11 -- not king David, but king Solomon, the Prince of Peace. Behold Him in what way? Crowned at the right hand of God? No. Crowned by the affections of His people. That is a different thought entirely. It is a most wonderful sight to see the Lord Jesus Christ accorded the place of King by the affections of His people! That is what the daughters of Zion are called upon to see. It will be a wonderful moment for Christ, and for Israel, when it takes place. They awake to recognise that there is beauty and glory in the Lord. They no longer say, "When we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him". Isaiah 53:2. He is now all to them: He is the One to be crowned by his mother in the day of His espousals.
I have been speaking of what resulted to Israel for her folly in not according the crown to Christ: I want now to say a word as to the consequences of her act of crowning Him. When the Lord Jesus Christ is crowned by His mother He will do all possible for her. There is nothing He will not do for her; nothing that she requires, and I think she will require a great deal. Israel will require to be washed. The Lord will wash her. She will require to be delivered from her enemies. The Lord will deliver her from them. He will do anything for His mother when she crowns Him. His mother will now have
a friend: the Lord will do anything for the happiness and welfare of Israel. She will be set up in glory. He will find her shelterless arid in filth and desolation, and He will take her up and fit her to be His earthly bride: He will clothe her in fine linen, as we learn from Psalm 45"The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework". Psalm 45:13,14. She shall be in every way suitable to the King, and He will put a crown upon her, and Jerusalem will be the queen in gold of Ophir. All this will be consequent really upon the Lord being accorded His rightful place by the nation of Israel.
I was speaking about David in obscurity; about his occupation. It was no occupation at all for the anointed of Jehovah, but he kills the giant, and that is his first great public act. You may say that that gave him a place for the moment: it did, but he had many a long year to wait before he got the place again: he did get it however. We are told in the book of Chronicles that after the death of Saul and the death of his son, all Israel (not only Judah, but all Israel) came to Hebron. Why did they come to Hebron? They came to Hebron to put the crown on David. Now I want you to note what followed. He went at once to Jebus, which is Jerusalem, and dislodged the enemies of Israel. What next? He brings the ark to Zion and establishes it there. What then? The house was built by Solomon, his son. All this, and much more, was consequent upon the anointing of David by the twelve tribes of Israel.
The passage in Matthew 21 indicates what the people will do in the future. It is really a picture of what will take place literally in the future by the whole nation of Israel. Here, however, it was only a testimony, ordained on the part of God to be rendered to Christ directly He entered His capital. He is accorded by the multitude the place that God had
given Him. He is the Son of David: "Hosanna in the highest" Matthew 21:9. That was an appropriate reception for the King. If Israel had accorded it to Him really from their hearts, what would He not have done for them? He would have destroyed the Roman yoke of power and delivered them. He came in testimony to them, but, alas; they neither knew nor valued Him, but there He was, and if it had been possible for them to accord Him the place God had given Him He would have broken the power of Rome and effected their speedy deliverance; but they did not give Him that place.
See what kind of man He was: "meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass". "Behold thy King cometh unto thee". Matthew 21:5. What kind of king? Not like the kings, beloved friends, that we are acquainted with in history, but a meek man: that is the man to whom the crown belongs. The meek "shall inherit the earth". Matthew 5:5. The Lord Jesus Christ is the very expression, the embodiment, of meekness and a meek man is the man to rule. I want a meek man to rule me. Thank God, that Man is in the place of rule. You may depend upon it if you have a meek ruler you have a happy time of it! He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls" Matthew 11:29. The Israelites might have taken His yoke upon them. Would it have been a Roman yoke? No, it would have been an easy yoke. "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light". Matthew 11:30. He would have placed no heavy burden upon them: His burden is light.
Now I have only a word to add in a practical way, in order that you and I might not be satisfied merely with what God has made the Lord. We must do what God has done if we want to get the benefit of Christ. That is the best way I know of putting it. We must crown Him, and accord to the Lord the
place that God has accorded Him. As soon as you do it the Lord will do anything for you -- anything your soul requires. It is a wonderful sight to see a Christian who in his affections has accorded the Lord the place that God has given Him. You may ask me to explain. Well, as soon as you crown the lord you have no right to direct your own path. The idea of a king in Scripture is that he is absolute. A limited monarchy is not known in Scripture; a constitutional government is foreign to Scripture; republicanism is obnoxious to God. We have to do with it. I am not speaking against the government at all, but the idea of a republic is obnoxious to God. God's idea is an absolute monarchy, absolute, and nothing else. And it is the best if you have the right man. Put the meek and lowly Man in the place of absolute authority, with all divine power at His disposal, and you will be well off. It is a great thing to know the Man. I can understand how a man is installed in office to rule, but it is a great thing to know your man before you put him there. I see that the glad tidings in the beginning of Acts involved that the One who had been installed on high had been well known down here; a Man who never did anybody any harm, never destroyed life, never took away a man's goods; a meek Man, who knew how to love and do good. I say it was good tidings that that Man was made both Lord and Christ. I say then, beloved friends, if you have a Man like that in the place of authority it is your wisdom to acknowledge it. And what does it involve? It involves the complete abandonment of your own will: it is lawlessness to choose your own course after acknowledging Christ as Lord: but then it involves absolute good for you, and nothing else. The Lord Jesus Christ is an absolute Monarch, but He is a Man who can do nothing but good, hence as soon as you crown Him you may look for this and nothing else.
Take Saul of Tarsus: the meek Man was on the throne and He sent him tribulations, and these served to keep the apostle, and help him on the road. That blessed One knew well what would help Paul, and He will do the same for you and me, but, beloved friends, we must crown Him. Saul said, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Acts 22:10. He crowned Him at once, and all the way through in the history of Paul you find nothing but good. He says, "The Lord stood with me" 2 Timothy 4:17.
I am not a bit discouraged by the state of things. That is not saying much; it is not saying anything at all for me, but it is saying something for Christ. Paul said, "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work". 2 Timothy 4:18. Why? He crowned Him, as I said before. The Lord intends that His interests should be ours, and if you give Him His place you may depend there is nothing to fear in this connection The church originally crowned Him: the one hundred and twenty acknowledged the Lord and gave Him His place. See how He took care of the church. Saul of Tarsus was persecuting it, arid what did the Lord do with him? He broke him down. Saul was persecuting the church, and the Lord was defending it: He was the great defender of the church. He loved the church, and the church loved Him, and crowned Him, so to speak, and He used all His power for its protection. He did, and He will do it now. What can any power do against the saints? There is nothing to fear. Recognise the Lord, and that means that you disallow yourself. Your will must go, and mine: the Lord must have His way.
I feel that I cannot go much further -- the thought is clear and simple. I should like to invite each one, as the daughters of Zion were invited, to behold this sight -- Christ crowned by the saints. It is a blessed sight. I should like to go up to heaven and see Him
there, crowned by the Father, but I should like to see Him crowned by His people down here. There is an absolute monarchy in America actually, in spite of the republicanism that prevails, and you may rely upon it that God will not have anything else. There is very little recognition at all of the Lord Jesus Christ, but God has brought into this country an absolute monarchy, and it is going to stay. Now I am not detracting from the government of this country: I recognise it as here of God, but the Lord Jesus Christ has set up His kingdom here and that involves an absolute monarchy, and absolute good for its subjects. "Confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord", Romans 10:9. You may say, That is to the unbeliever. It is to all who need salvation; and there are very few who do not, so far as I can judge. The fact is we all need it while down here. Confession means that you acknowledge the Lord, and give Him the place that God has given Him. If you do that you shall be saved: you shall have all the power of Christ behind you, and there is nothing to fear. May the Lord help us. He desires a place in the affections of His people down here.
THE thought I had in coupling these two Scriptures was that in each we find the idea of what is official, that is, of one placed in authority. The Roman centurion called the Lord's attention to the fact that he was himself in the position of authority, the proof of that being that when he said to one to do so and so, he would do it; there was no question about it. The authority vested in him was of such a character that those who were directly under his control would immediately obey. He calls the Lord's attention to this, but in doing so he did not wish to occupy the Lord with the fact that he was a Roman officer; he was not engaged with his own official place, that was a matter of no consequence at all. He might have been emperor for that matter: he could not effect the recovery of his servant. His servant was sick, and whether emperor or mere centurion, he could not alter the condition of his servant's body. His authority was of such a character that he might very easily put a man to death, but he could not recover a man from illness; he could not raise a man from the dead. Not all the authority in the empire combined was sufficient to restore a man to health or to raise a dead man. Hence the centurion had no thought at all of occupying the Lord with his official position: the point was that the Lord was in such a position.
Now, beloved friends, that is what I want to speak about: the Lord is in an official place. The idea of an official is right; it is perfectly right, provided you have the right man. If you put the right man in the position of power, then I think you get something done, something good. I have no doubt this centurion was a kindhearted man; he had built a
synagogue; but with all the means that he had at his disposal and with all the authority vested in him he could not do anything for his servant who was sick. How was the servant to be recovered? He says to the Lord, "I also am a man set under authority", etc. What he really meant to say was that the Lord was in authority: he says, "Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed". He recognised that the Lord was down here officially, delegated, as it were, on the part of God for the good of man. What was the centurion's business? He was there on the part of the emperor. I do not think the emperor directed him to build the synagogue, but his official position was to carry out the decrees of the emperor. That is what he was there for. But he refers to his own position to convey to the Lord that he recognised Him as in authority. This indicates that he had light in his soul; for there was nothing outwardly in Christ that told of His official greatness. Hence the Lord says, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel".
I want to put a question to every one here tonight: Has it ever dawned upon you that the Lord Jesus Christ is installed in office? In this country the idea of installation is very familiar. We all know what it means to be installed. Only recently the President of the United States was installed by the people. A man is put into the supreme office of the nation. Now, has it really dawned upon you that the Lord Jesus Christ has been installed in the supreme official position in the universe of God? He has. It is a past event, but it is an abiding fact, He has been installed by the only power that could install Him: not by the power of the people, but by the power of God. "God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ". Acts 2:36.
Now, as to the result of the installation or the inauguration, all depends on the character of the
person who is placed in office. That is simple enough. Before a man is placed in a responsible position he must be tested. In this country everybody knows publicly the character of the man, so that the people are taking no chances. The American nation took no chance at all from a political point of view when it placed the present man in the position of power. Why? He had been tested. He had had an opportunity to prove his character. But suppose he had never been in office before, he had never been in the president's chair, and the people did not know him. In this case his wife and family, his associates and friends, knew him: they knew that he was a man of character and sterling honesty, etc., but the public did not know. They would have to wait and see. Now, the Lord Jesus had been tested, and that is what I wish to dwell upon. In what way was the Lord Jesus tested? He was down here a humble Man among men, and His constant activity was doing good. Can you find a single instance where the Lord did not help those who were in need where He came in contact with them? You take the passage in Luke 7. See what a marvellous presentation it is of the heart of Christ! The chapter begins with Christ recognised as in an official position, and what does He do? He heals the sick man. The Lord was a Man in authority; He could say to His servant, Do this, and he did it; thus the servant was healed.
Now look at the following picture: the woman at the gate of the city called Nain. What is He going to do now? What could all the power of the empire combined do? Simply nothing. It was powerless in the presence of death; but the Lord Jesus Christ had compassion on the widow, and He raised her son from the dead and delivered him to her. I say that is the Man who ought to be in the place of power -- a Man who can
have compassion on a widow. That Man alone is entitled to the place of power, and He is the Man who gets it. In that way He has been tested. I say, increase that Man's power as quickly as possible. He is the Man to be in power. I could understand any of those characters in Luke 7 -- the centurion, the woman at the gate of the city of Nain and the woman who came into the Pharisee's house -- saying to themselves, What a wonderful thing it would be if that Man were in the place of the emperor.
Now, what did God do? He put Him in the supreme place of the universe; and now His power is universal. Everywhere the power of Christ will triumph until every hostile power is removed from God's universe. I say it is only right and proper; it is what is suitable, that the meek and lowly Man, the One who died for His people, should be exalted and given the highest place in the heavens. There is a passage in Acts 5 which I think would support in a way what I am saying. It says, "They ceased not teaching and announcing the glad tidings that Jesus was the Christ", Acts 5:42. What were the glad tidings? That Jesus was Christ: Jesus, the Man who would do anything to help people. That Man has been made Lord and Christ. That is glad tidings. Suppose a man has a family and he is in need, and his eldest son, who is in the confidence of the father and knows all about the trouble of the family, is taken up by a sovereign and made supreme in the nation; what would the man and his family receive from that son? That son would do all in his power for the family: he has affection for them. What would be glad tidings to that family but that the eldest son is made supreme in the nation and that he has the king's resources at his disposal? I say that is not half a picture of Christ. Look at those poor disciples whom He left down here in the midst of a hostile world. He is
going up to heaven, to the place of power, and will He forget them? No, the very first thing that He does is to "shed forth this", as Peter says (Acts 2:33); and what was that? It was what they needed. They needed the Holy Ghost. You may say, I need the forgiveness of sins. You do, but you need the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ did the very best thing He could have done for the disciples and for man in the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was the only possible means of salvation for the people of God in view of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was absent from this world. While He was down here He kept them; for He says, "Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled". John 17:12. But since He is gone, in what way are they to be kept? The only way is the way which He has devised Himself: the gift of the Holy Ghost. "He hath shed forth this", says Peter, "which ye now see and hear". Acts 2:33. It was present. The Lord in going to the right hand of power had done the very best He could have done.
Maybe you would like a position in this world. The Lord would not give you a position like that; it is not good enough for you. No, He would give you a place in His own world. He would give you a position of dignity. He would set you up in power in His own world. That is what the Lord proposes to do. He established a world entirely of His own order, of His own liking and of His own device; He has established it Himself, and He proposes to give you and me an abiding place in it. That is His thought for you. But He would meet your present need. There was the need of the centurion. I do not know what your need is, and perhaps you do not know what your need is, but the Lord knows. He knew the centurion's need. He knew the need of the woman at the gate of Nain,
and He met it. And the woman in the last part of the chapter who came into Simon's house: what did she need? You say she needed forgiveness. She received forgiveness, but I think she needed more than that: she had affection. She did not come to get forgiveness, I am bold to say. It is a poor thing to come to Christ simply for forgiveness. I am not belittling forgiveness, but it is a poor thing to come to Christ for it alone. This woman would not have come to Christ for forgiveness: the barrier that lay between her and Christ was too great. She could never have surmounted it for that barrier was Simon's house. You must remember it was not an ordinary house. Simon's house was the house of a Pharisee, and it was the last place in the world where a woman such as she would dare to enter to ask forgiveness of Christ. If it had been merely a question of need she would have waited until Christ came out of the house. Everything (the whole atmosphere of the place) was against her. You know, generally, if you want to ask a favour of a man you wait until you find him under the most favourable circumstances, where the conditions are not adverse; hence I think if this woman had wanted forgiveness only she would have waited till He came out.
What, think you, took that woman into that place? Christ took her in. The Magnet was there -- she had affection. The Lord said of her, "she loved much". Luke 7:47. Christ had become a magnet to her heart and she saw no barriers. All the barriers are overthrown by love; it is as strong as death. But this woman had to go out of Simon's house again, and I will tell you why: the house did not belong to Christ. Do you think He would have sent her away? No, I am sure the Lord felt it that He did not have a house of His own. There she was at the Lord's feet weeping, washing His feet with
tears and wiping them with the hairs of her head. That woman was not thinking of forgiveness: what she had before her was Christ. He did forgive her. The Lord says, "her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much". Luke 7:47. If you love Christ you are forgiven. The Lord tells her, "Go in peace". But why, "Go"? Because the house did not belong to Him. It was Simon's house. She came in because He was there. She would never have come in otherwise. He did not ask her to stay.
Friend, if you come to Christ tonight, He will never send you away. He will not say "Go". Why? He has a house now. And what will you find there? There are no barriers. The atmosphere is not adverse now. No, beloved friends, it is the best time in the world to come for forgiveness; but do not come for forgiveness merely, come for Christ. You will find Him in His house. You will never find the Lord's people sending you away: they have love for you. If you want forgiveness, you will find it, but you may stay too. You will not only get a scripture to prove that your sins are forgiven, but you will get the atmosphere, so to speak, of forgiveness among the Lord's people, which is love, and you will not want to go away. Some people get what they call salvation from the Lord, and then they go away, but that is a heartless thing. The idea of salvation away from Christ is an absolute impossibility: there is not salvation in any other. If you go away from Christ you go away from salvation. I did not intend to speak about the woman in Luke 7, but I do like the idea of the Lord having a place to which He can invite His guests and where He can ask them, so to speak, to stay.
I wanted to connect Luke 7 with Acts 4, because in the fourth of Acts you get the idea of an official. Peter had preached his third sermon (so far as the Scripture goes) since the descent of the Holy Ghost:
the first one in the second chapter, the second one in the third chapter, and the third is found in the fourth chapter. I think the prominent thought in every single one of these sermons was, not that people might be blessed (although of course this is in view) but that people had been blessed. That was what he was speaking about it: was the proof of Christ's exaltation. The thing was there: the man at the gate of the temple was Peter's witness, he was with him. I always read a Scripture myself when I try to speak, and it is necessary to support everything you state by Scripture, but the basis of your preaching is not exactly Scripture. I suppose you will all admit that the apostles were the best preachers. Notice how they presented the gospel: Peter quoted Scripture, but the great convincing argument was in the man who had been healed. "Beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it". Acts 4:14. It was undeniable as living and evident support to the testimony he bore. I think from Peter's preaching in these three sermons you will get the true idea of preaching; his point in each case was what was there already, what nobody could deny, and this was the result of Christ being made Lord in heaven.
Among the one hundred and twenty were the wonderful things of God. Beloved friends, it may be you do not know much about the things of God. There they all were at the beginning, every one of them, and every single thought of God is wonderful. When the Holy Ghost came into the one hundred and twenty the wonderful things of God were there: all that is in the heart and mind of God. The saints were talking about these things, and Peter arose and explained the matter. It was a masterpiece, the sermon which the apostle preached. It was an explanation that what was there in Jerusalem on that day was consequent on the installation of Christ
on high. The best Man, the only Man fit for the place had been installed in His office at the right hand of God, and the result was the presence of the Holy Ghost down here in the saints, in the one hundred and twenty. In the second chapter, Peter preached to the men of Judea and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; in the third he speaks to the men of Israel. The nation of Israel is appealed to, and on what ground? The lame man, the impotent man, who had been sitting at the gate of the temple asking alms, was there walking and leaping and praising God. There is the illustrious power of God for good. There is the evidence of it and it cannot be denied. It is wonderful. God takes up every kind of man and speaks to them through Peter, first, to the men of Jerusalem, then to the nation of Israel, then to the elders of Israel. These latter were Sadducees. They were opposed to God. They were infidels; and yet God speaks to them through Peter. But the groundwork of each sermon was the power of God. Note how he speaks to the elders: Christ was the Nazarene. He was of no account in their estimation; they had crucified Him, but God had raised Him from the dead and made Him the head of the corner. The elders of the Jews might say, Peter, how do you know; what is the evidence of it? Well there was a man who had been lame from his mother's womb, walking, leaping and praising God, and they could not say a word, their mouths were closed. There was the evidence of the power of God.
I do not feel that I can say much more. I should like to have spoken a little more about salvation, but I have really anticipated it. "Salvation is in none other". I think you can understand that a Man who would save people down here, who spent all His time (and His pleasure was in it) while down here in doing good, would not change His style nor His occupation when He went into the place of power.
And He did not charge His occupation. Christ has the power of God in His hand arid He is using it for salvation. He is not using it to destroy men's lives. He will use that power to destroy the world-power. He will clothe Himself with salvation and He will come out in power and destroy everything that opposes or exalts itself against God, but He is not doing that now.
If you only knew the Lord, you would say He is the only Man for the office and you would be unlimited in your expectations from Him. He will do the very best for you, and I would encourage every single person in this room tonight, whether you are a Christian or not, from my knowledge of Christ, not only from what I see in the Scriptures, but from my own personal knowledge of Christ, you would do well to commit yourself into His hands. "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". Acts 4:12.
Ezekiel 1:26 - 28; Ezekiel 2:1; Acts 9:19 - 20;
Ephesians 1:3 - 6
What I wish to make clear is that the recovery of man for God is in sonship. God, having lost man in Adam's fall, has recovered him in sonship, and hence in permanency. The recovery is in Christ who is the Son, and the Son abides in the house forever, it will be found that when God undertakes to re-establish anything He does it in permanency; sonship involves this as to man; and so henceforth he will be seen only in this state before God. It is true that after Adam's sin, man, as in the flesh, was taken up and owned of God, as in Noah and Israel, but this was provisional in view of the coming of Christ. One mark of a son is that he has intelligence as to God's mind, and he delights in what God accomplishes. When the earth was founded "the morning stars sang together, and all the Sons of God shouted for joy", Job 38:7.
But I will dwell first on the passages read in Ezekiel, connecting a thought or two in them with Acts 9. There is what the prophet calls, "The appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord;" I desire to dwell on this, and I wish, also, to refer to Ezekiel, viewing him as son of man -- the appellation by which he is addressed as commissioned to bear witness to the people.
God had been pleased to connect His glory with Israel, and this involved that His thought was that the nation should be the means of blessing on the earth; but the book of Ezekiel shows that it had utterly failed in this. In chapter 1 the prophet is seen outside the territory of Israel where, had the people been faithful, the glory would have been; he is in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river
Chebar, and there the heavens were opened, and he saw visions of God. What he saw he speaks of as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord". The glory of God means blessing for men, and therefore the display of it involves that God has a free hand to act according to His nature and counsels. The gospel announces this, and so it is designated as "The glad tidings of the glory of the blessed God", 1 Timothy 1:11.
God has infinite resources, and so He is not limited to any individual or institution although He may take up one or other in His wisdom. Israel had utterly broken down, they had "not wrought any deliverance in the earth", and yet would have assumed that God was limited to them; but we see in Ezekiel 1 a combination of divine agencies outside Israel, and independent of them. These agents suggest the dispensations under which they appeared, but they are marked by intelligence, strength, firmness, and rapidity, and they are perfectly united. The point is, that all this wonderful array of executive power is under God's hand in the presence of Israel's failure. The living creatures and the wheels are under the firmament, but they are under the control of a Man above the firmament. The agents of divine power are seen where human need is, but they are controlled by Christ in heaven. "Above the firmament ... was the likeness of a throne ... and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it". This is not the throne of David, but a universal throne occupied by Christ as Man; it has reference to man as such. It is analogous to the Lord's present position as Lord.
Acts 9 sets this before us. Here we see how the Lord, although in heaven, is controlling things down here with a view to the good and blessing of man. As in Ezekiel's day, Israel had shown themselves utterly unfit and unwilling to be the agents of divine
blessing. Jesus had been in their midst, and although they had crucified Him, He was ready to return to them, did they but repent. Stephen saw Him in heaven standing, and the glory with Him; that glory was reflected in the face of the witness, but it was of no avail; every overture was rejected. Had the Jews repented, Christ would have come back and reinstated them as the centre of God's government on the earth, see Acts 3:19 - 26. But instead of repenting, they stoned Stephen, and now the Lord is seen as operating and controlling agencies outside their territory -- in Damascus. A light from heaven appears to Saul, and Jesus speaks to him. Saul recognises Him in authority; he says, "Lord". That Man is above the firmament, but there are agencies down here which He directs for the blessing of men. Indeed, an almighty power is on earth on our behalf, but the authority is up there. The Holy Ghost acts in relation to the authority vested in Christ. The Lord had a servant in Damascus who would tell Saul what to do; this was Ananias. I refer to him as corresponding to the living creatures in Ezekiel's vision. He was a bit rebellious, but still he does the Lord's bidding; and he is in the spirit of his Master. Saul, on entering Damascus, finds a brother: Ananias says "Brother Saul", etc. Who has placed that Christian, or that company of Christians, near to you? The Lord has done it, and they are there for your good. They love you and care for you. The words of Ananias must have been as balm to Saul. Ananias put his hands on this needy man -- the touch of a brother! But all is from Jesus. Ananias says, "The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me". And now note the object in view in the mission of this servant of Christ: "That thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost". What infinite blessing it meant for
Saul, and through him, for men in general! But such is the character of Christ's administration from the throne at the present time.
Let us now look for a moment at Ezekiel 2:1 - 3, where the prophet is addressed as son of man. This was the title the Lord took when Israel's rejection of Him came fully to light. The disciples should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ, but there were those who should see the Son of man coming in His kingdom, Matthew 16:20, 28. It was as if the Lord had said of the Jews, They have not appreciated Messiah's presence in their midst, and they are about to kill Him; therefore I am taking a place in relation to men as such, as Son of man, so that I may render them the service which that relationship suggests. As Son of David the Gentiles had no claim on Him, but as Son of man He is available to all. A son in a family will do all possible to help the family if they are in need, and those in the family are justified in expecting this. There is nothing to fear from the Son of man, and now that He has died and risen, He is for men in all the value of redemption. The Son of man is a title taken in grace (it is a title involving universal dominion and glory too) and it has the effect of dispelling all fear from our hearts, and of establishing confidence in the Lord there. Ezekiel was sent to the people as son of man, and this was in keeping with the vision he had seen; and every true evangelist is imbued with the spirit and grace which the appellation involves. Therefore, there can be no doubt that Christ is glorified as the Son of man morally by the preaching of the gospel, and by what it has effected for men.
In Acts 9 Saul at once preached Christ as Son of God. This was the result of the impression made upon his heart by the Lord's appearance; it was in accordance with his commission, Galatians 1:16, although
his apostolic ministry began in a regular way at Antioch, Acts 13. But Saul's preaching at Damascus indicated a point of departure in the testimony. Jerusalem was now abandoned as a centre owned of God; a Man in heaven, in all the liberty and dignity of sonship with God, was now known in the heart of a man on earth, and announced by him as glad tidings among the nations. Christ was no longer waiting to return to Israel, as Stephen saw him: He was Himself the Centre of a new system altogether, and this should take character from Himself it should be free "Jerusalem above is free". Galatians 4:26.
It is of the very greatest importance that sonship should be understood. Many believers are like slaves or strangers in the attitude of their souls toward God. God has not pleasure either in a slave or a stranger. The slave has to go out of the house, Galatians 4:30, and the stranger is under tribute, Matthew 17:28. In Matthew's gospel we may trace the order in which the truth of sonship came out. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight" (Matthew 3:17) gives us the clue to it; this indicates that God had reached His thought in Man. Chapters 11: 27, and 16: 17, 18, agree, in a way, with Saul's preaching in Acts 9. Christ being rejected by Israel, everything turns on the Son of God.
But the saints should come into the enjoyment of sonship and Matthew 17 helps greatly as to this. To pay tribute in God's house means that you are a stranger. An unconverted man may well be placed under tribute in the assembly -- there is no liberty there for man in the flesh -- but the believer should understand that it is his place. The believer is a son, and the sons are free. Of course there is no liberty for the flesh, but God would impress upon us that He wishes us to be free and happy before Him. "God sent forth his Son ... that we might receive sonship", Galatians 4:4, 5. If we have slavish fear in
His presence, God would assure us that we are sons and if we are possessed, in any degree, of the spirit of a stranger, and so feel that there is a demand upon us, He would tell us that we are "no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God", Ephesians 2:19.
Galatians treats of sonship in the way of light, so that saints should be preserved from bondage, or if in bondage, delivered from it; Ephesians connects it with God's eternal counsels in regard to us. The Ephesian saints had been formed by the Spirit; they had not only the light and spirit of sonship, but were evidently formed in the intelligence and affection which the relationship implies. Hence they would appreciate what the epistle unfolds. God opens up His counsels to us as we are prepared to appreciate them. As in the realisation of sonship, we are in sympathy with God in all that He purposes to do. Sonship is not limited to the church, but at the same time, it will be known in a distinct way by us. Christians are blessed with "every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, ... having marked us out beforehand for adoption" (sonship) "through Jesus Christ to himself". Ephesians 1:3,5. There are blessings and relationships which the church enjoys in connection with heaven, but which are also shared by others in a modified and earthly way. But the more we enter into our own distinct, heavenly portion, the more are we sympathetic with God in what He accomplishes in the whole realm of His counsels.
May God grant unto His people that intelligence and liberty of affection which are peculiar to sons! Thus shall we answer to His thought in recovering man in Christ.
EVERY true-hearted believer seeks to be guided aright, and it is the present thought of the Lord, as ever, that there should be a needed supply of light for His people. The church has always been cared for in this respect, and never more so than in our own day. The effort of the enemy, however, is to discredit, or otherwise render ineffectual, what has been given; his great aim being to hinder the saints from realising the divine end in view. This of course is nothing new; it has ever been his way. If he cannot extinguish the light entirely he will endeavour to divert from it by the introduction of counter issues, by some line of things, it may be which in its own day served its intended purpose, but is no longer effectual, There are not only numerous illustrations of this in Scripture; they abound all over Christendom. When communion with the mind of God for the moment is lost there will be a gradual, but certain departure; a lower line will be adopted and the measure in which this becomes prominent will be the measure in which what is really of God for the time will be lost to our view.
What strikes one is the prevalence of latitudinarianism. There seems immense scope as to what may be regarded as truth and as to what may be refused, and the principle of agreement to differ seems largely recognised. There may be the most radical divergence of mind on vital subjects and yet fellowship with one another is assumed. That there should be a distinct ministry of the Spirit seems a matter of doubt, and that the saints have the ability to locate such a ministry still more so. But cannot the saints tell what is of God? They are said to have an unction from the Holy One and to know all things. Hence they can discern what is of God and the contrary.
Otherwise we are not, after all, much better off than Pilate we are still asking, "What is truth?"
To the humble Christian it is not a matter of doubt or surprise that the Good Shepherd should constantly meet the needs of His flock; to him the Lord's remark that the sheep should hear His voice is perfectly intelligible. Further, every thoughtful and exercised believer cannot fail to know that the Lord has been speaking very directly to His people. He knows too that what has been presented has become the very essence and spring of his joy and progress. He prizes it for this reason and also because he knows its source: he knows it comes from the Lord, and is conscious that it is essential to his existence as a witness for Christ down here. But he is not shut up to what has already come: he looks for more from the One who has given so much, and who is rich unto all that call upon Him. He is not discouraged although quite alive to the deadly antagonism of Satan, who becomes more and more infuriated as the blessed light of God gradually gains a footing in the hearts of men. But the Christian goes on in peace. He knows the chariots of God are twenty thousand, thousands of thousands and the Lord is among them. The chariots surround the light and the testimony (see 2 Kings 6:17) and his safety lies its being where these are.
It will be found that while God ever meets the current need of His people, yet He does this very largely by leading them into the intelligence of His mind as to what is before Him, and divine guidance will be found in connection with this latter. The tabernacle presents the idea of what was in the mind of God, and from the first moment of its being set up among the Israelites guidance for them stood identified with it. This is a very important point, and it holds good for all times. It indicates the predominating importance of the testimony. Other
things had their place, such as the needs and discipline of the people, and great mention is made of these, but beyond all question the most prominent feature of the wilderness was the tabernacle of witness.
Directly the redemption of the people had been effected God began to unfold the magnificent system He had before Him. For forty days He communed with Moses on the mount, and during all this time the theme was the vast plan, or system of blessing, which His heart cherished, and which would in due time take form and come to pass in Christ. This system was indicated in a structure (the tabernacle),+ a pattern of which was shown to Moses. Inseparably connected with this was the priestly institution. Seven chapters (Exodus 25 - 31) give details of the pattern and four more (Exodus 36 - 39) record the accurate construction, according to this pattern, of the tabernacle. All completed it was reared up by Moses and anointed in every part of it with oil. Then "the cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle", Exodus 40:34. Wonderful scene! Viewed according to what it represented nothing can exceed it in importance. Every part of that wondrous figurative representation of things in the heavens furnishes the most precious instruction, and the heart is lost in wonder as the whole is taken together and the infinite scheme of blessedness which God has purposed for man is apprehended. But this can be the portion only of those who have the Spirit, who alone can instruct us "as to all things"; 1 John 2:27. These figures all refer to Christ, who came by (in connection with) the greater and more perfect tabernacle, i.e., the great moral system, hence they are altogether outside the range of man's mind. They are the "things of God" and are apprehended
+The word is used in the singular, the pattern was shown to Moses on the Mount.
only by those who have the Spirit of God. Here we may notice the extreme carefulness with which human innovation in the least degree was precluded in the divine instructions. Everything was to be made exactly according to the pattern shown. We find too that the greatest care was taken that this injunction should be complied with. Thus the mind of man was utterly refused and shut out, from the very outset, from the sphere of divine things.
The thought is not, however, to dilate on the tabernacle, even if one had the ability to do this, but rather to point out, as already indicated, that guidance for the people stood connected with it. This is very evident, as the verses immediately succeeding those already quoted easily show. "And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys; but if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys", Exodus 40:36 - 38. The pillars of cloud and fire had led the way before, but now that God had advanced in His ways guidance for the people henceforth must be in accord with the further consequent light.
We are justified in regarding all this to have direct reference to the present time. We are not now living in the age of figures; we have come to the great substance and reality. The Lord did not come down from heaven with a pattern: He was in Himself the great Substantiality of all; i.e., in the sense that all would take form and come into being through and in Him. But the order indicated in the shadow is bound to appear in the substance; that is self-evident. Hence the immensely preponderating importance of God's testimony is established and it is also clearly seen that guidance for the saints stands
connected with it. There may be zeal and activity and much outward show, but if the great thought which God has purposed in Christ be disregarded we are sure to miss our way.
The tabernacle was an integral whole and the pillar of cloud rested upon it as such -- it did not rest upon any fraction of it. If we take up one part, so to speak, of the divine system to the minimising of the others we diverge from the mind of the Spirit. The church of course has a wonderful place and too much can scarcely be made of it; still, it is not all. It fills a great and blessed place in the divine system, but it is still, a part of that vast scheme. Its place is in the heavenly places, but not as disconnected from the scene below. There is "the breadth and length and the depth and height" It is all one vast and blessed scene, as we have said, pervaded by the Spirit (the anointing oil) and filled with the glory of God.
May the Lord enable us to maintain the light of it in our souls till that blessed "world to come" bursts upon us, when we shall come out in holy splendour as the very crown of it all! In this way only shall we tread the divine path and show to all that we seek a heavenly country and a city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God.
Revelation 3:7 - 13.
IF saints are to be encouraged the true way is to present Christ to them. Whatever the confusion in the church there is no change in Him, nor can there be. Many physical changes and disorders have taken place in the history of the earth, but these do not affect the sun. Clouds have enveloped the earth, but could we but get to the other side of such clouds we should find the sun shining as ever. It has thus been with Christ; the disloyalty and lawlessness which have marked the history of the church have not altered Him in the least degree; He is "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever". Hebrews 13:8. Not that He may not change in attitude and conduct, for He does, as the addresses to the churches clearly show; but all such changes of conduct and appearance are sure to be the outcome of what He is. The judicial habiliments in which He presents Himself in relation to the seven assemblies indicated a change in them, not in Him.
We can readily understand that this new attitude towards those that assumed to be His down here was far from congenial to Him, it did not savour of "with desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer". Luke 22:15. Ah, no there it was Himself simply, in all that affection and familiarity which ever marked His intercourse with those who shared His affliction and reproach in this world. But here all is changed; it is no longer, "ye have loved me", John 16:27, but "thou hast left thy first love", Revelation 2:4. Hence the external change in the Lord. It is one thing to enjoy the reciprocated affection of a loved object, and quite another to be conscious of having lost it, and in the endeavour to recover the loss to be under the painful necessity of
issuing a threat of punishment, on account of the course entered on leading to certain wickedness. This is what the opening chapters of the Revelation present. But in the midst of the prevailing heartlessness it is most encouraging to find, that wherever the least spark of appreciation of Christ appears, the Lord always responds in terms which bespeak His changeless affection for His own, whatever the garb in which He may be attired.
This is verified in John's case. All this judicial display was a new sight to "the disciple whom Jesus loved". John had been accustomed to Jesus -- the lowliest and most approachable of all men that ever trod the earth. We need not therefore wonder at his fear. But there was really no need for it, for the official dignity in which the Lord appeared had not any reference to him; there was nothing in his circumstances to call it forth; the trouble was not in Patmos, but in Asia Minor. John was in Patmos "for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus". There was nothing in this to condemn, surely not. Hence the Lord is quick to assure and encourage His devoted servant. He says, "Fear not ... I am he that liveth and was dead". It was as much as to say, 'John, you have nothing to fear; I am He who died [John would well understand this] and I am alive for evermore'. He identified Himself to John in terms which involved His love; which involved Himself.
This also appears in the address to the assembly in Philadelphia. The Lord recognises in this assembly appreciation of Himself. That which He is about to judge is apostate Christendom, and He has ability to deal with it. Later on in the book of Revelation this corrupt system is seen riding upon the beast. This He repudiates; He destroys it root and branch. But in Philadelphia the Lord recognises affection for
Himself and interest in His things. We are justified in assuming this from the character of the address; He speaks of Himself and of the things which related to Himself; and we may be certain He would not thus speak were it not that there was in those addressed an appreciation of what He said. We may further assume that the whole church was in His mind when He spoke to this local company at Philadelphia, and it is not conceivable that those who have "ears to hear" would have it otherwise. If the energy of the Spirit has become effectual in us we are sure to include all the saints in our affections, and we would not limit the Lord to anything less.
Following the course of the churches I take it Philadelphia is hidden from public view -- well known to Christ, but practically hidden. The great public body is Thyatira, which continues to the end. Thyatira eventuates in the harlot who rides the beast; she courts publicity. But in Philadelphia (really the saints in the energy of the Spirit) one sees contentment in the knowledge that she is not hidden from Christ. She appreciates Him and He knows it; this was enough for her. Publicity would come in due time; then all would know that He loved her.
It is an immense thing to arrive at the understanding that the Lord is acquainted with and values the very tiniest spark of affection for Himself, wherever found. The fact is, if it is there at all He has placed it there, and He knows all about His own work. Peter recognised the Lord's perfect knowledge of things. He says, "thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee", John 21:17. Others, perhaps, could not tell (Peter's conduct had not indicated it), but the Lord knew all things, therefore He knew.
It is our wisdom to candidly admit the true condition of things, that that which has the responsibility
of being the candlestick has not only left its first love, but is irrevocably committed to wickedness, and hence that it has been definitely given up by the Lord. This is seen in the address to the church at Thyatira. It is true the Lord does not state in His letter to this church that He will spue her out of His mouth, but His declaration that Jezebel would not repent, and His recognition of a remnant are to the exercised ear the announcement that the public body has been given up morally. The maintenance of God's testimony must be looked for elsewhere; an unrepentant Jezebel and the testimony of the meek and rejected Jesus must stand widely apart. This the remnant understand. They do not, however, assume to be the candlestick; to do so would be ignorance and folly. If that which was set up here by the energy of apostolic testimony failed utterly in this, what hope was there for the few scattered saints of the middle ages, hidden, as one might say, in the shrubbery which surrounded the great Roman "tree"? He says, "I will put upon you none other burden, but that which ye have already hold fast till I come". His coming was now the prospect, and they were, so to speak, to hold out till that epoch. His presence here would take the place of the candlestick. Here Luther missed the mark, it seems to me. Instead of accepting the ruin and looking for the Lord to come, and leaning on Him alone in the interim, he turned to ecclesiastical organisation. This made room for the world -- hence Protestantism. But what the reformers missed is found in Philadelphia, and this, thank God, goes on to the end.
From what the Lord says to Philadelphia, and the promises to the overcomer there, we may gather that there was a very great advance on the state of the remnant in Thyatira. "The temple of my God"; "the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God"; and
"my new name", all indicated that on the part of the overcomer in this church there was appreciation of Christ personally, and intelligence in His things. They refer to what will be displayed in the coming age, which had now become the supreme interest of the faithful. May the Lord grant that it may be so with each one of us!
The Spirit of God is intolerant of disorder. He is aware of its existence universally. He not only recognises the dreadful confusion in the church, He is fully cognisant of disorder in the entire moral universe, and abhors it. God abhors it and will not rest till it is replaced by order. This is the line He has ever been on since the introduction of disorder into His creation. He had brought order out of chaos in creating the physical universe, but there was not only a physical universe brought into being; a moral one was also formed. There was the idea of headship and government in man, the lower creation recognising this; and kindred beings (Adam and Eve) enjoying mutual affection, and these also holding a measure of intercourse with the Creator above. All this presents a very blessed system, and one in which divine order was apparent. The physical system presented the most minute order, and this it ever retains; sin has not interfered with it. The heavenly bodies move on still in their regular courses with infinite precision. They abide in their places. But this alas! cannot be said of the moral system; disorder, as already said, marks it everywhere. A lion meets a man in the field and slays him; this is disorder. It is violence no doubt, but it is also disorder. Had the beast been regulated by his appointed law he could not have slain a man. On the other hand, a man worships a reptile; here also is disorder, he has left his appointed place. Or he puts away his wife and so on. In every thread of the fabric disorder and chaos are visible.
In the church at the outset there was a certain recovery of order; at least as far as men were concerned. Christ had become law to the church, and this law governed it. For a time it abode in Christ.
This however is no longer visible in the public body; it has veered from its orbit, so to speak, and become a wandering star, shooting off to destruction. Hence here confusion and lawlessness are found as elsewhere.
Now all this is serious in the extreme, and is so regarded by every divinely taught person. The intelligent Christian is very serious about it. He instinctively looks for order and peace, but in quest of these his eye meets with but disappointment everywhere he turns. Happily for him he can retreat into the secret of God's purpose within the veil, and there his eye, by the Spirit, may rest with unwearied gaze on the Prince of Peace, the Blessed One by whom order and peace will so soon be established universally. This is the Christian's privilege, and his joy and strength, as well as his discernment, will be in proportion to the frequency of his visits there.
Now no person with divine sensibilities can fail to be deeply concerned by the prevailing condition of things; and proportionate to this will be his resentment of the foul influence that has brought all to pass. He feels there can be no rest till God's universe is cleared of every trace of satanic power. Of course the time for this has not yet arrived, but at the same time it is involved in the testimony of the church; and further, I believe the next movement of the tent of testimony will be in that direction, The tent of testimony has now remained, so to speak, a long time stationary; the cloud has not been lifted really for well nigh twenty centuries ("many days", an indefinite period, Numbers 9:22) as far as one can judge. But we can well understand the long delay: the nature of God explains it: "the long suffering of our Lord is salvation". 2 Peter 3:15. Its present position involves that in which God delights -- mercy. Hence we should not be over impatient for a change. It bodes good for man that the tent of the testimony should remain
where it is. This long period is what scripture calls "the well accepted time", "the day of salvation" 2 Corinthians 6:2 -- day of greatest possibilities for humanity; wrath and judgment do not belong to it. I believe God is loath to turn away from it. But God will revert to wrath, and this will mean a very decided movement of the tent of testimony. Indeed there will be movement till the divine purpose to head up all things in Christ is finally reached. Then order and peace will be established everywhere, and God will rest in His love.
It is evident in Scripture that Christ will be the active agent in all this; He will be the great regulating force in that day. His purging the temple (John 2:14 - 17) was an indication of this. He+ begins at the top and expunges disorder and lawlessness from the heavens by casting out thence the Devil and his angels. Then He proceeds to the scenes below. Here the wine press of the fury of God is trodden, and the beast and false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire. Satan himself is also bound. We can thus well understand the force of the scripture, "the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up" John 2:17.
Having thus disposed of the bad the Lord sets to work to put the good into order according to its various parts. Here again He begins at the top; He begins with the church. The church is assigned its place; then the tribes of Israel are raised up and set as the centre of what is terrestrial. The nations also come into view; at His bidding they enter the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. They are the blessed of His Father and walk in the light of the holy city. All here is on the footing of resurrection. This not only refers to the church, it holds good as to Israel and the nations as well. All is established on the principle of "life
+If Michael be not Christ (Revelation 12) he undoubtedly acts under the Lord’s direction.
from among the dead". Israel is dead nationally, and the nations of those that are to be saved are also dead at the present time. It would be futile to attempt to locate either the one or the other. They are in the purpose of God and will be revived in due time by Christ. The fact is that all that is to be displayed on the part of God is entirely hidden at the present time. It is like a perfectly formed statue, but veiled. It will remain so till the fulness of time arrives, when it will be unveiled in rapid order. For this the Christian longs, but in patience still waits. He knows there will be no external change till the tent of testimony moves, and so contents himself with filling out the will of God amid the present sorrowful condition of things.
While the Christian groans with the rest of the creation, feeling the pressure of things; while he shares fully the sentiments expressed in the lines: -
yet order and peace may be preserved and richly enjoyed inwardly. Let us seek to discover how this is effectuated.
It must be evident that if Christ is to be the great regulator of the universe in the coming age, He also must regulate individuals at the present time; that is, if any are to be regulated. Now chaos prevailed everywhere when the Lord came into the world, and the disciples formed part of this as much as others. He did not remove the chaos; He changed nothing externally, but He delivered them from it. As He moved about, one and another came to Him, and each one coming found himself set right. He found the divinely appointed centre; One who was to become law to him. He was no longer to do what was right in his own eyes; henceforth he would
be governed by Christ. This is very simple and evident, and nothing can be more interesting than to note the manner in which it came to pass during the Lord's ministry. While the intelligence of the disciples was meagre, yet it is not difficult to perceive that Christ was supreme and everything to the little band that followed Him. It was the one spot, as it were, where the eye of God could rest amidst the prevailing din of confusion, and strife. It was, however, broken up for a moment by His apprehension and death, but only to be taken up again on the footing of resurrection.
It is wonderful to note how the Lord held the saints (there was of course much weakness and failure on their part), and as a consequence, the order and peace that obtained among them - His ascension to heaven did not change this: the coming of the Holy Spirit established it. Hence in the early chapters of Acts the wonderful spectacle is witnessed of a company of men and women moving with perfect precision in relation to a Man in heaven! This is order. Let the reader inquire as to whether he is in it. The church alas! did not remain long in this blessed position. Hence it ceased to reflect Christ here and its recovery is no longer to be entertained. Recovery for individuals is, however, possible, and thank God, verified in many. It simply means that Christ has gained a footing in your heart and mind. It has dawned on you that He is great and divinely attractive, and hence you have learnt to prefer Him to yourself and all others. You have learnt to love Him, and to move about in this world as His and for Him. You are recovered; you are in order; peace fills your heart and you reflect Him here.
But this has to be maintained. We constantly require regulation; even the most advanced do. The tendency with us all is to become run down and out of order. Hence we need to be regulated
almost continuously -- at least once in the week. There can be no doubt that the Lord's supper was instituted to this very end, The Lord is brought to our minds morally in the simple memorial. The charms of this heavenly grace and simplicity fill our souls (we are glad when we see the Lord) as He is thus before us. All sense of self-importance and harsh feelings toward other believers vanish in the presence of such grace and affection as are brought afresh to our attention. In this way we get a fresh start on the first day of the week, the Lord's day, and are set forward on our journey, having been brought afresh into touch with the Lord and His people by the Spirit.
May the moral greatness of Christ thus presented in the supper affect His people profoundly, and may we in this way be delivered from counter influences, and held and controlled by Him alone till the end!
Substance of a Reading on Exodus 15.
SPEAKING in a general way, I think the kingdom is presented in Scripture in two distinct connections: first, in relation to men, and secondly in relation to the inheritance. The former has reference to Egypt, the latter to Canaan.
God had no thought of rooting the Egyptians out of Egypt; His purpose was rather to deliver His people from them and it. This sets forth the present phase of the kingdom, and is the occasion of the song of Exodus 15. The form the kingdom has assumed at the present time is in the way of power, introduced for the deliverance of men from the enemy, and preserving them in his presence, so to speak, without disturbing his external position at all. Pharaoh and his warriors, it is true, were actually destroyed in the sea, but this alludes to the triumph of Christ in resurrection, and is for faith. Satan still wields his wonted power everywhere. Those who have been enlightened by the gospel, however, know that he has been overthrown and they do not fear him; further, they are conscious of a power down here greater than he, and in virtue of this hold themselves free of his influence. The singers on the banks of the Red Sea not only recognised that the Lord was a man of war, but were, it seems to me, conscious for the moment of the power by which the enemy was overthrown. This is the understanding one has of what marks this moment. Salvation involves not only what the Lord has done, but we stand consciously in the power of the Holy Ghost. The death, the resurrection, and ascension of Christ would not be of practical value to men at the present time were it not for the presence of the Spirit down here.
Not only are men held in the grip of Satan, but the
inheritance is also held and occupied by him. This has not had the attention it deserves, but it is of immense importance in the mind of God. The inheritance must be cleared of the enemy, and this was what God had in view in the anointing of David. The anointing of David not only referred to Canaan but to the entire territory promised to Abraham. In the throne of David God really asserted His right to the world. David was not content with Canaan alone, he pushed his dominion as far as the Euphrates.
Jerusalem was to be the great centre. I think Jerusalem stands for the heavenlies. It was to be the great centre of light arid government. David had intelligence as to this from the outset; directly he slew the giant, he brought his head there. The city had been in the hands of the Jebusites until his day, but when he was acknowledged king over all Israel he repaired thither and took it. There his throne was established, and as a result, the power of evil was subjugated throughout the length and breadth of the inheritance; light and blessing also ensued and prevailed everywhere. All this refers to Christ. He has taken the token of victory into the heavens, and the Jebusites will soon be thrust out. The Lord has not yet taken up the throne of His father David, but when He does all adverse power will quickly be broken up arid dislodged.
It is a point of the very greatest importance that we should stand in the light of these things. It was a sad day for the ten tribes when they severed themselves from the house of David. It will be found that light and support stood connected with David's line and Jerusalem, while there was little else but darkness (except indeed the prophetic word, but this was in no way connected with royalty) associated with Samaria. Those who stand for the throne of David and Jerusalem are sure to find divine support.
READING on Romans 4.
The principle of justification on the principle of faith was established before law was introduced. It was set forth in Abraham. God said nothing to Abraham about law, but He said something to him about justification, and He gave him the seal of it. The idea of justification comes in in view of another world; we want justification for that. God began anew with Abraham on the principle of righteousness, of His rights; he stands forth as the one in whom God sets forth His rights. When Satan had succeeded in capturing man and the earth it was all darkness. There could not be greater darkness than in Genesis 11; there we find the record of the building of Babel. It is to this time Joshua alludes when he says, "Our fathers worshipped idols beyond the flood;" they were all idolators; Abraham himself no doubt was one. Their God came out in His sovereign rights and took up Abraham; and if He had a right to take up Abraham, He had a right to take up any man.
Here it is justification in view of what God has before Him; it is not in connection with the present system. God would make Abraham the father of the faithful, because He sets forth in him the principle of righteousness. Clearance is in Christ risen. The whole doctrine of the chapter is contained in the last two verses. The people of God in all ages have looked for something new, and the gospel is that which brings in the new thing. Justification gives clearance,. It is a standing in connection with God's new system; but people must get the Spirit, and that is another thing. You can scarcely get an illustration of justification in natural things; you are severed completely from the old status in the flesh, and there is a new system.
Ques. What answers to justification in the history of the prodigal?
I should say the prodigal was justified when he had the best robe on. That is Christ. The best robe suited him for the house. It is not only that a man is acquitted -- he is set up anew in connection with the divine system. In justification he is made suitable for God's system. The point of this chapter is the power of God in raising Christ. The last two verses are the key.
Ques. Resurrection is often represented as a receipt: I suppose that is hardly correct?
The receipt, if we may use the expression, must be something received. It would be the Spirit. I would not present the resurrection; I would present Christ risen. That is how you are justified.
At the end of this chapter there is a turning point: Christ is seen as Lord in administration. Chapter 4 shows that the principle of justification came in before law; Abraham was accounted righteous before he was circumcised, and the apostle calls circumcision the seal of righteousness. We believe in Him who raised up Christ from the dead; that is, in God the same One in whom Abraham believed. It involves the setting aside of all that we are in the flesh. In Romans it is not so much Christ, but God in Christ. He has not only raised Christ from the dead, but He will raise us, and sever us from all that is unsuitable to His system. I have confidence in God. He has raised Christ and He will raise me. It is a question of His power. Circumcision is the setting aside of man in the flesh, We are accounted righteous on the ground of faith, but it is because God is powerful. Abraham knew that; he believed that God was able to do what He had promised. It is a question for us of what God can do.
There must be the setting aside of man according to the flesh. God could not use that man for His
system. Men are all dead in God's account, and He could riot build His living system with dead material. Abraham had to learn after God had taken him up, that he must bring in circumcision. God is going to have a new system, and as men in the flesh you and I can have no part in it, nor could Abraham; he must be circumcised; he must learn that the flesh is of no account at all to God; God could not use him thus. God uses us by building us into His system. We are essential thus. The Lord must abide alone unless He dies. There was that vast scene, heaven and earth; what is to fill it? It had been filled before. The tower of Babel, and idolatry, and the Canaanite were there. God will displace them, and that with a living humanity. He breaks through, and raises Christ from the dead! God is powerful! If He is not, all is hopeless, but He says to Abraham, "I am the almighty God". We get the meaning of the living prefigured in Isaac; He was raised from the dead. The promise of blessing is to the seed of Abraham, that is Christ. Christ undertakes to do the thing; through Him God intends to bring in a new system, and hence the blessing. Isaac is Christ risen.
We are justified by believing on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. The question is, what can God do? He will bring in a new system; but there must be living material. What can He do with us as men in the flesh? We are all dying. If He used such material the building would not last. He must have living stones. This new system has begun already: Christ is the beginning of it. He is working away at it patiently, and it will come out perfect at the end. The Lord is a very particular builder; He is very particular as to His material, but if He builds, it must come out perfect at the end. There had been builders before -- for instance, in Babel. In wonderful condescension God presented
Christ to the builders, Acts 4. He said, as it were, here is this Stone, what will you do with it? They cast it aside as worthless. Then God proposes to build. The Lord begins with the material right at hand, with those about Him. He turns to Peter with the question, "Whom say ye that I am?" Peter gives the answer, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", and immediately the Lord says, "Thou art Peter",--a stone (Matthew 16:15, 16, 18). He will put him into the structure. Everyone of us, every living stone, is an evidence of divine power.
God had a completely new system before Him. Thus when the Jews rejected Christ, He set to work to establish a kingdom of His own. He could not use the Roman empire; it was of no use to Him; He would have a kingdom of His own. The first system, and that which still exists, began with Babel. It has continued on and finds its answer in Babylon. The scene of God's system is not to be merely heaven, it will be the heavens and the earth. The idea of heaven is prominent in scripture, but it is not so prominent in the gospel as is commonly assumed. Heaven is mentioned only twice in Romans, the great gospel epistle; and in the first instance it is to tell us that wrath comes from it. God calls things that be not as though they were. That is what God can do. He can account us risen though we are not so actually; He can account us so because He is able to raise us. Abraham knew that God was powerful, that He was able to give him an heir notwithstanding that both he and Sarah were as good as dead. The birth of Isaac was on the principle of resurrection.
Ques. How did Abraham get the idea of a city?
I think he had light as to what God had in His mind, and this involves a city. It involves three things; a kingdom, a city, and a house. The announcement of these three things is the gospel. The kingdom is necessary because there was an
adverse kingdom -- there was opposition. Nimrod had a kingdom, but it was a rebellious one. Nimrod was a rebel, and his kingdom has gone on. The Lord proposed to establish a kingdom which would break to pieces every other kingdom that ever had been. The kingdom comes out in Matthew 13. The Lord would have a kingdom of His own; then He would have a city of His own; chapter 16 is the city, and it has foundations; it is built of living stones. It must have moral elements, elements of continuance -- so when Peter confesses Him to be the Son of the Living God, the Lord says to Him, "Thou art Peter, and on this Rock I will build my church". Matthew 16:18. Then the house is the place where there is a sphere of affection. It is the saints taken up in still another way. All three, the kingdom, the city, and the house are found in the saints. Thus the announcement of the gospel depends more on what is down here than on what is in heaven.
The kingdom has to do with what is adverse. The city is a metropolis; it has to do with government. In Matthew we see that government is in connection with the assembly. The assembly is the only authority that we recognise down here. Every kingdom has a metropolis; every metropolis has a home in it. It is one thing to be in the king's house, where his affections are known. It is another thing to be in the metropolis to pay court to him there. And it is still another thing to be simply a subject of the empire, off in one of the provinces. A man could be merely a subject without much education or polish; a farmer could make a very good subject, though he would not shine in the capital. A young convert may be a good subject, but you do not see much of Christ shown in him; he has not had time to know Him. But we want to see the polish and cultivation of the capital; the capital is the place where we want to be. Peter was like the farmer, a good subject,
but not polished. The Lord says, "Learn from me". Matthew 11:29. Then the Lord walks on the water, and Peter walks on the water to get to Him. Matthew 14 and 15 and part of chapter 16 are a sort of college course; the Lord is preparing us for the capital. It is with that we must have to do. Chapter 16 is the capital, and in chapter 18 we see the bearing of it; it is the recognised source of authority. It is in this world that you are put into your place. It is a great thing to have your place in the capital.
Ques. Is not every one who is a believer in the church?
You must leave room for building. I like to think of the Lord as a Builder. If you are self-willed, or set for advancement in this world, He cannot use you. We get our place now; there will be no building in the millennium.
Ques. But surely every believer has some place in the house?
Normally it is so; at the beginning every believer received the Holy Spirit and was thus constituted part of the house. It is best however to keep to the order of Scripture; if you do, you must leave room for building. If you follow the order of Scripture, then you see that being a stone comes after salvation. The order is, "as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow up to salvation": then comes, "if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" 1 Peter 2:2,3; and after that we have coming to Him, the Living Stone, and our being built up as living stones. That is the order of Scripture. What constitutes a stone is vitality, i.e., the believer is moving toward Christ. Scripture says, that after a man comes to Christ He is built in. He must get the material to build with. The thing to see is that there was terrible opposition to the house; it was the same opposition that confronted Christ. Who could stand it? Only those who could walk on the water. You
must be fitted to face the world power and overcome it. God set up here at the beginning a perfect system; He gave it over to man in responsibility, and in his hands it has become a complete wreck. It is really a question of what you are. A living stone is one who comes to Christ; he really overcomes all the world power. Who would be able to walk on the water? A babe could not; it takes a strong man to do it. It is coming to Christ as the rejected One; coming to Him against all the power of the world, as the One disallowed of men, it involves the giving up of all that you are as a man in the flesh. It takes a strong man, and a man of courage, to walk on the waters. Peter began to sink. It is a wonderful thing to be able to walk and get to Christ. From the divine side every man indwelt of the Spirit is in the house. A living stone is one who surmounts the world power; he is completely identified with Christ in the world that rejected Him. Only one who had overcome the world could occupy such a position.
Ques. Then you would not say that every believer is a stone in the house
The state of things at the present time is very extraordinary. These are certainly difficult days. We should bear in mind that if the Scriptures present Christ as a Builder, they must present Him as building what is perfect. We must go back to the beginning to see what things meant then. Every single stone in Acts 2 was living -- they had all overcome the world.
It is a question here of what you apprehend. You have faith in the God who raised Christ from the dead, who raised Him by His power. Faith is the light you have. The working of God raised Christ from the dead, and He will bring everything into life -- you and me and all. It is a question of the working of God; if He has raised Christ He can raise you and me. Faith is the understanding you have of what
God will effect; it is the evidence of things not seen. I am delighted with the thought of God; I know what He can do; He can raise me, and you, and Israel, and all; and He will do it. Faith is that by which we rest in the knowledge of what God can do.
The gospel involves a new system. It involves the complete setting aside of this system. No intelligent Christian could be satisfied with the system that exists today. The apprehension of God's mind causes a man to walk aside from the world. Circumcision follows justification, man after the flesh and his system have to go. What good is it to talk of being justified if we are satisfied with the world? This world has no place with the enlightened Christian; it is not suitable to him. You recognise that in righteousness God will set it aside. I think we should wake up to the introduction of a new system. That is what the gospel means. It is not difficult to see that the new system involves the introduction of the kingdom, the city and the house. These three things arc necessary if you are to have deliverance here. Everyone of them had an answer in the saints at the beginning. When the Holy Spirit came down there was protection in the saints for men, and there was rule, and a sphere of affection.
The "country" is still another idea, and would take in the sphere to which the testimony of God applied. The bride is still another thought. It brings in the thought of what the church is to Christ personally, and not so much as those who are used of Him. You can take account of the saints as those whom the Lord can use for blessing to humanity, and you can take account of them as loved of Him, and reciprocating His affection. Most of us begin small and we do not expect much. We find much more than we expect. Nathaniel found the Son of God and the King of Israel; he had not looked for much. It would be a great thing if the Lord would
stir us up to go in for these things. That is His present effort.
The house cannot be found at all now; but you can find an answer to it if the saints are close together. God is love, and to find the house you must have love. The great practical value in putting it forth today is, that though you cannot find it, you endeavour to walk in the light of it. You get back to the beginning and walk in the light of what was set up then. If there are a few believers in New York who love the Lord, and walk in the light of the Lord, what a triumph that is for God! A poor lonely Christian coining up from the West Indies or anywhere else can find warmth there.
If you want the Lord to use you let Him put you in your place in the building. That is how He can use you. In any of the cities at the beginning you could find the believers going on in love; you could find a home there. If the Holy Spirit is ungrieved in us, you do find some characteristics of the house. We should be concerned to make it apparent that there is good among us. The characteristics of the house are a question of quality. God is love, and you would expect in His house some manifestation of His nature. Only in that connection can you have gospel work. We should try to get close together; we should be men enough to surrender our own rights and ambitions; we should see that God has a new system. Would that God would arouse us and bring us into line with Himself.
It would be difficult to find anyone now who has not heard of Christ. It is difficult to know how to enlighten those around; we must be cast on the Lord about it. It is best to work away on those around within our reach. The Lord, I believe, has much people in New York, but we are riot equal to it. We are not capable of much, but if a few are going on in love, there is good there, and good is of God.
Pages 73 to 107 "Summary of Addresses and Readings, Woodstock, Ontario, November, 1904".
The point of interest in this chapter is that in it is presented the turning point in the Lord's service in the flesh; and I think what we ought to discover in it is the abandonment of one system of things and the introduction of another. I have no doubt if you take up your own experience you will find what corresponds to this. There has been a gradual abandonment of that to which you stood related as in the flesh, and an introduction into another system of which Christ is the centre.
I should like to make clear the position taken by the Lord as seen in this chapter. Becoming Man He stood related to all that had existed in this world. There was Judaism and also the Roman empire. He recognised both. He came into a system of things with which man in the flesh was occupied. He was not disappointed with what He found, for He knew all about it beforehand, but He came into the system established here, and was thus a test to it. The Lord took up what He found in Israel, and if possible would have used it, but He could not make any use of it. Had He intended to act according to the principles of man in the flesh He could have used it. Judaism could be used on this line, but the Lord did not intend to work on this line, hence Judaism as a system was utterly useless to him; and for the same reason He could make no use of the empire. If He had had it in mind to exalt Himself as a man in the flesh the empire could have been used; it was calculated to be most effectual in that respect, but His thought was otherwise -- it was to relieve men. What, therefore, could He do with all the legions of
the empire? He could make no use of them whatever in the work He had undertaken; all combined, they could not deliver one man from the thraldom of Satan. The empire was a wild beast. This was what the Gentile powers resembled. The Roman empire served to enthral man, and so the Lord could not use it; but then He could not be used in it. He was a meek and lowly Man and Rome was not built up by such. He could not fit in anywhere. He could not take command of an army, or become governor of a province, and I do not think He could even have been a successful merchant. Further, He could not fit in at Jerusalem. He could not fill any place in connection with the system established there. In a word, He could make no use of the world, and the world could make no use of Him. Nothing seemed to have been effected by His mission, and, judging by external appearances, He might as well have returned to that place whence He had come. Even John is in doubt: his message to the Lord implied fear that all was a failure. Such is the outward aspect of affairs in this chapter. As to John, if we have difficulties about him here we must remember that he was not a Christian. You must take into account who John was: he did not live in the age of sonship and the presence of the Holy Ghost; he belonged to the old order of things, which was now disappearing. The difference between his position and that of Paul and Silas at Philippi is very great. John did not have any song to sing in prison: redemption was not yet accomplished.
I want you to see the magnitude of the Lord's position as seen at the end of this chapter. He calls attention to Himself. What I think we all require is to have our hearts directed to the Lord. People are much interested in things here; you can find an account of them in the newspapers; but you will find nothing there of what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing at the present time. Here He calls attention
to Himself in the presence of apparent defeat. He could not use the empire, so the Lord proposes to set up a kingdom of His own; He would have a kingdom greater than Rome. In Matthew 13 we get the kingdom. It is an eternal kingdom; defiling things are removed, but it goes on (see verses 41 - 43).
You have heard about great men. Here is one. As far as the eye can see He is a solitary man without supporters or means, and rejected everywhere, yet He has ability to establish a kingdom, as we have seen, greater than the Roman empire; and not only a kingdom, but also a city; for the assembly in chapter 16 may be said to answer to a city. The Lord's position here is magnificent. Chapter 12 enlarges upon it; His greatness is there set forth.
He says, "Come unto me". He had no place, could fit in nowhere, but He can give you rest. He can also protect you. Everywhere the eye can turn enemies abound. Nobody can lie down in safety in a district infested with robbers; but the Lord insures protection. He has brought in the kingdom for this. And then, as we have seen, He has also a city. He had nothing to do with Chorazin or Capernaum. He could find no post of honour in either, but He will have, as it were, a city of His own. You will find perfect order there. In it also you will find every comfort, for His home is there. What I wish to impress upon you is that the Lord has brought these wonderful things in for your good -- for your deliverance, protection, comfort and satisfaction -- and that His care for you is thus demonstrated; and in His ability to establish them His greatness is seen. And I would ask, What do you know about all this in a practical way? Perhaps you can say, "I have forgiveness of sins", but have you begun to learn from Christ yet? The Lord says, "Learn from me". What kind of a man was He? He was meek and
lowly. If you learn from Him you imbibe His character. Suppose Caesar had invited you to learn from him, suppose you had made him your model, what would be the result? You would have become like a wild beast, trampling man under foot to satisfy greed and ambition. The Lord Jesus Christ is meek and lowly in heart, hence in learning from Him these things mark you. There is no use telling me you have come to Him if you are not meek and lowly in heart. Many of us are theorists -- we have not had to do with Christ personally. The thing to do is to endeavour to seize the position occupied by the Lord down here in the presence of the Father and learn from Him. In this way you become like Him, and find rest in your soul. He is not beyond our reach. It is quite possible to come into contact with Him. He makes people like Himself. To produce a company of people like Himself down here was what the Lord had before Him, "Come unto me". This was written for believers, that they might know how to come into touch with Christ, and become like Him. The meek and lowly man is great.
What comes out after chapter 12 in this gospel is magnificent. He talks about great men, Jonah and Solomon, but a greater was there. What would He do? He would bring in a kingdom; He would also build His assembly, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. He did not find anything, but He was going to produce something: He began to sow. All this refers to His power.
We ought to be completely independent of this world. What need you and I fear? If you take care to consider your history you will find that He has interfered in your behalf. He has set up a kingdom, a city and a house to live in, and all this in the interest of man. The King of England need not
come to Canada to enforce his rights or protect his subjects: he has his forces here; so the Lord Jesus Christ has His forces here.
The world will be filled by what the Lord Jesus Christ can do, and it is wisdom on your part to place yourself entirely in His hands. May the Lord turn your hearts to find your all in Himself.
Reading on Romans 4:23, 25 and Romans 5:1, 11.
I suppose if we look at the kingdom as in Romans it is the kingdom of God. Do you think it is the way in which God is here: He has a footing here?
I suppose it is that on the part of God which insures things. In this epistle it is presented as related to men. What is needed really is establishment in the truth of the kingdom, that is, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. All that comes out in the fifth chapter is consequent on what the last verses of the fourth present. It is a question of what is established in Jesus our Lord as risen from among the dead.
This clothes the resurrection of the Lord with great significance; while the Lord is not actually here yet He has brought to pass all that is of God, and maintains it here through the power of the Holy Ghost. God is here to stay -- a wonderful pledge of what is soon to be displayed.
There is a very important principle in the 1 Samuel 30. The spoil was to be divided among those who remained behind with the stuff as well as those who actually went into the conflict: that is, it did not require that one should enter into the battle in order that he should reap the benefit of victory. David established the decree in Israel. I think it may be applied to the Lord. He entered into the conflict alone, while we partake of the spoil. In resurrection all is recovered. This is the platform from which the gospel is presented. It is immense. The Lord has a free hand, and He distributed, as it were, the spoil of victory. Romans 5 gives an account of the spoil. The Lord could not find anything with which to help man, so He would establish that which should be effective to this end; that is, the kingdom, and its bearing is universal.
In the kingdom you find light; that by which you are guided, and power. It is effective for the deliverance of man from the power of evil, and for his preservation and guidance while still in the presence of evil. In its present form it is adapted for everyday life. We have to do with what is adverse, and in virtue of the existence of the kingdom we are made superior to it. The experience recorded here is of a man moving about in triumphant superiority to every hostile power. The tables are completely turned: what he would have recoiled from before now becomes his boast -- tribulation.
There is no possibility of real progress unless we are clear regarding the kingdom. Outwardly circumstances are not changed. If in the good of the kingdom you must have a sense that you are guarded as identified with divine things, and participating in them. That is really the starting point. John the Baptist announced the coming of what man needed -- the kingdom. The thought has been, getting forgiveness and justification for heaven, but the gospel is the announcement of the kingdom.
The Lord could not use what He found here, hence He would bring in something new; what should be effective. I think the great want all along had been, 'The man that is able'. This, I think, is the idea of a king. In the gospel of Matthew this Man appears. In chapter 11 the Lord calls attention to Himself and in chapter 12 His greatness comes out. One great proof of His greatness is that He can establish a kingdom great enough to deliver men from all adverse power; and not only this, His kingdom will break to pieces and supplant every other kingdom. This involved His going into the lower parts of the earth, and His ascension far above all heavens. He has broken the power of evil in its own domain, and now as on high He distributes the fruit of victory to men. There is nothing else to succeed the kingdom;
it goes on, but all offending things will be taken out of it. The kingdom is not what it was at the beginning; it has become encumbered with lawless and offending elements; hence we do not reap such advantages from it now as the early Christians did. Things have become so paralysed and disjointed that we are greatly hampered in endeavouring to enter into the blessings of the kingdom. Paul could preach the kingdom with the utmost liberty and confidence, because there was a power behind him that could not be denied. The Spirit was not then grieved and hindered by the incubus of lawlessness and corruption that weighs down the kingdom now. It is not an easy matter to make evident to men that the kingdom really exists down here, and this fact should have a humbling effect on all who seek to preach it. The way we get the good of the kingdom now is by coming into contact with those who are walking in the Spirit. You must be near Christians to get the benefit of the kingdom. The Lord will do the best He can for us, and I am sure we shall lack nothing even in a day like the present, if we are cast upon Him, but it must be evident that He is greatly hampered by the existing condition of things. There can be no change in the Lord personally, and in spite of the condition of things He can take care of us, so that no matter how terrifying the enemy may be we need have no fear. We cannot change the general condition of things. The Lord alone can do this. In endeavouring to walk together in the Spirit we enter more or less into the good of the kingdom, and our hope is that the Lord will soon remove the "tares". Our point is to get the good of all we can at the present time. It is a mistake to assume that we can get the benefit of the kingdom as at the beginning.
If our state is not right we shall not be maintained. I think the state at Philadelphia (Revelation 3) indicates
that they had gone on in the truth. I think Romans is the great kingdom epistle in its application to men. You get the moral foundation laid. The time was when we all moved with the corrupted condition, but we moved out of it. Men adopt worldly methods in connection with the preaching of the gospel, and act as if no change had come to pass in the kingdom. A heathen would be justified in saying to Christians, 'We are just as good as you'. The Lord will do the best He can at all times. What we are enjoying here this morning is a sample of what the Lord can do for us. If I find a few saints anywhere walking in the truth, I thank God. They are there for my good, and for the good of others. The Lord has placed them there. But as regards the kingdom publicly it has long since ceased to be the expression of the power of God. When the Babylonians were battering down the walls of Jerusalem what testimony was there to the illustrious power of Jehovah there; the power that delivered them from Egypt, and brought them into Canaan? This illustrates the present condition of that in which the kingdom was established; and yet it is assumed that the gospel can be carried to the heathen as in apostolic days The bearing of the state of things is this: it tends to humble us; but we look for the Lord who will shake the earth and the heavens. But while we are humbled, we are drawn to the Lord. He is not changed, and the Spirit is here.
It is remarkable how little we go on with what the Lord places within our reach -- I mean the saints living near to us. We should value intercourse and nearness to the Lord's people. They are, so to say, the Lord's provision for us. The Lord is available for us: you could not have things brought nearer to you. It is very encouraging to think of what the Lord can do for us in this way. It is involved in the work of the Good Samaritan: the inn to which He took the man
who had fallen. The inn is among the Lord's people. Everything is through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you get peace it is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is through Him.
If we are going on together it must necessarily affect us to see the corrupt state of things. The coming in of the Spirit in the saints established the kingdom, and we should make much of the saints. You find some leave the saints, but it is the height of folly: they are leaving the source of supply, and those who do it never go on in divine things.
You hear the expression "Assembly" here and there, but the Lord never intended to restore any church position. It would be well if the Lord's people could see this. And the Lord never intends that we should go on together if there is no confidence, but the Lord has revived the truth so that we can walk in the light of the assembly and in fellowship with one another. When Mr. Darby was about to pass away a brother said to him, "We shall have the Lord left". To this Mr. Darby replied, "And the saints too". When we find a few saints walking in the truth we find a home; it is the Lord's provision for us. The measure in which we turn to the Lord, is the measure of our relation to the saints.
To acknowledge the Lord is to stand in relation to His universal claim. You think not only of the church, but all things to which Christ stands related. It is an immense thing to have the understanding that the foundation of God stands. It is a question of what the Lord is capable of. If there is failure in the church the Lord can effect all the will of God.
Reading on GALATIANS 3
In chapters 1 and 2 the apostle establishes his complete independence of men and Jerusalem. The Lord had appeared to him outside of Jewish territory, and the revelation made to him was of the Son of God. This involved a new system of things, with another centre than Jerusalem altogether. Jerusalem had a very great prestige particularly as the seat of the twelve apostles, and the tendency was to make it a centre in connection with Christianity. The metropolitan idea set in early: when it is assumed that any given place is a centre God goes out of His way, as it were, to show that He does not so regard it. The revelation to Paul near Damascus, and the movement at Antioch, furnish an illustration of this; and moral principles do not change. This epistle was written 1800 years ago, but there are conditions to which it has direct application today. The Lord did not intend to make Antioch a centre, but He intended to show He could move elsewhere. Antioch was not formed by apostolic means. It was the consequence of the scattering of the saints from Jerusalem. The testimony moved westward. Judea and Asia Minor have long since given up Christianity.
We suffer from metropolitanism. The Lord will not tolerate any pretension to set up any place as a centre.
What do you think the remedy is to metropolitanism?
The true metropolis -- "Jerusalem above". There had been a great work of God at Jerusalem, but there is nothing there now. God is now working in relation to Jerusalem above. I should have been more interested in Antioch than Jerusalem at the time Paul
and Barnabas were sent out. If it is a question of divine principles there can be no toleration of half measures: Paul did not consult men; he got his light from the Lord direct, and his preaching connected souls with that which is above. The influence from Jerusalem tended to lead men into bondage, hence in contending with Peter, the apostle Paul was standing for the liberties of Christians. We may thank God for the bold stand made by Paul at that time.
Paul recognised the apostles and valued them: he went up to Jerusalem to make acquaintance with Peter: he did not go up to learn from Peter. Later he went up by revelation to put before them what he taught. At Antioch he withstood Peter to the face -- there was no compromise. We think a great deal of Paul, but it must be borne in mind that Peter was more prominent than Paul at the beginning.
People who are ecclesiastical always deal in goods from Jerusalem. But the tent of testimony had, so to speak, moved out of Jerusalem. Paul withstood Peter to the face, for he was to be blamed. When contending for the truth, and the liberties of the Lord's people, age and prestige must not play any part. Paul saw what was at issue, and it was most serious. It matters little whether it be Jerusalem or Rome, the principle is the same. It is the assumption of priority in connection with divine things, and the effect of it is to lead souls into bondage. The present condition of Christianity is very largely the fruit of it. Everything which we see around us has originated in Rome, where this baneful principle has had its full development. The antidote to all is Jerusalem above.
The prominent thought in chapter 3 is the blessing of Abraham. I do not think the chapter explains the blessing of Abraham exactly; I think we have to
go elsewhere for this. The point is that it had arrived at the Gentiles in a way entirely independent of law, that is, in Christ, as having already borne the curse of the law. But then the blessing must have taken a tangible form; in the future it will undoubtedly involve eternal life; at the present time it lies in the Spirit, and can be found only among the saints.
The church stands in relation to all that has been in the past, even the thought of a people down here. God intended to have a people on the earth from among the Gentiles, and this has come to pass in the church. The gospel refers much more to what is down here than to what is in heaven. It is true that Christ is the theme, but it is Christ according to what He can do for men, and this involves what has been established down here. You could not have the gospel without the Holy Ghost down here; His presence down here involves the kingdom and the house of God. In virtue of the establishment of these in this world, salvation and the blessing of Abraham are brought close to men. It is remarkable that the first gospel address took the form of an explanation of what was down here, what was actually before the eye of man. I refer to Acts 2. Peter explains the this which had attracted the attention of the multitude. No one can read the early chapters of the Acts and not see that relief and blessing were brought close to men in the presence of the Holy Ghost among the saints; and the great theme of the apostles was that these wonderful things had come to pass through the humble Nazarene, whom the Jews had crucified, but whom God had raised up and exalted to His right hand. The existence of a great power for good down here, acting in the name of Jesus was the great point, and anything less would not have been suitable or effectual. The king might express the very best intentions in regard to Canada, but in case of an invasion his proof of it
would be to send an army. The blessing of Abraham had arrived at the nations; they did not have to go for it,
God's intervention is in the saints -- the Spirit is here in the saints. God proposes to bless the world through the church. It was a wonderful conception that a few fishermen should be taken up, and through this means light and blessing should be diffused wherever man was. Humanity was pretty well represented at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and all heard about the wonderful things of God. If the bright days recorded in the Acts of the apostles have passed away through the failure of the saints, we should all be humbled about it, and we should seek to find out from the Lord how we are to serve under the present terribly altered circumstances. You could not well locate the vital thing now at all, hence it must be with great shamefacedness and humility that the true servant would seek to preach the gospel at the present time. Prior to the coming of the Holy Ghost, God did not have a house here properly. "The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands". Acts 7:48. But on the day of Pentecost the Spirit came to the disciples, and in this way the house was established. When the Lord was here in the flesh He had no house to which to invite men; but He would have a house, and hence He built one. The house He built was great enough to accommodate humanity. There the feast was spread, and the invitation sent out in every direction. God had all men in view for blessing.
Before the Lord left the scene He provided material for the house -- Acts 2. The material was prepared by the Lord: it was of His own kind -- a company of people who had learned from Him. They were meek and lowly. The Spirit is in the saints, and no one can talk about walking in the Spirit who disregards
the saints. In any great man's house you will find every equipment needful for the comfort of guests, and I think this must apply to God's house. We may be sure that there was nothing lacking there for the comfort of man, as it was originally established. I think the prodigal had an idea of this. He said there was bread enough and to spare there. I fancy he had more light than many Christians at the present time. But things have altered dreadfully. It would be difficult to find one room, so to speak, in order. Still, even the second epistle to Timothy supposes that clean vessels would be needed. God has still something to administer, and hence the clean vessels can be used. Living water is still there, thank God! Our concern should be to bring people into touch with warmth and light but we suffer from not knowing what is in the house. All that is of God down here is there, but it is exceedingly difficult to get the good of it. I think the blessing of Abraham lies in God's house; in this way, it has arrived at the nations practically. The Father's house conveys more the thought of privilege. The house of God is limited to the saints at the present time. Christ is Son over it. According to the first epistle to Timothy the house and the assembly are identical.
We are connected with Jerusalem above, which is our mother. The thought in Jerusalem above is freedom; it is, I think, sonship, as seen in Christ, Jerusalem above is, so to say, the true wife; she will never be cast out of the house. I think divorce is wrong morally; as a matter of fact Jerusalem above remains in the house forever. A wife who dwells in the affections of her husband is in perfect liberty in his house; if she has the least fear of ever being divorced, liberty would not exist; but as living in her husband's affections she adorns his house, and he is known through her. In the future the heavenly city will adorn the universe, and God will be known
through it. "I am crucified with Christ". Galatians 2:20. You could hardly connect that man with anything here. The Spirit answers to it, He links you with Jerusalem above. The Spirit is the link between the blessing of Abraham and Christ Jesus, and that touches sonship, and all that heavenly system of things in Christ Jesus. God's ways are very simple. The apostle in going back to Genesis 12 and Genesis 22 shows that all that came in by law could not affect the purpose of God. The promise to Abraham took the form of a covenant, which could not be annulled or added to by after circumstances. He calls attention to the fact that two parties were connected with the giving of the law, but the promise to Abraham was on the part of God alone, and its fulfilment depended entirely on Him -- hence it was sure. It was an unconditional promise on the part of God, and there was no possibility of breakdown in its fulfilment. After the flood Satan succeeded in capturing man, and he had also taken possession of the earth. Man was in idolatry, and the Amorite was in the land of Canaan. It was a dark period, but light breaks in, in God's assertion of His rights. He asserted His right to man in going into Mesopotamia and calling Abram, and He asserted His right to the earth in giving Canaan to Abraham for a possession. If God had a right to Abraham He had a right to all men, and if He had a right to Canaan He had a right to all the earth.
See how the Lord Jesus Christ must feel -- men dragging things down to Judaism -- it misrepresents Him so. He would bring blessing to the Gentiles through Christians set free -- not through bondmen. The apostle's conduct among the Galatians was in the dignity of a son. He did not act like a son of Hagar -- a miserable devotee of Judaism and Jerusalem. The blessing of Abraham arrived at the nations in Christ, but practically through the ministry
of the apostle, who was in all the liberty and dignity of sonship This, I think, was suitable on the part of God. If a king wishes to confer honour, or if some great affair requires an ambassador, he will send his son, or some man of dignity, not a slave.
Would you say what the testimony is?
All that God intends to set forth. I like to be in sympathy with the Lord as to what is in His mind. Everything has failed in man's hand, but God will effect His purpose. I think this is what is meant by "The foundation of God stands". 2 Timothy 2:19. Your only hope is Christ. All else has failed.
After Thyatira the Lord does not say He holds the seven stars; it simply says He has them, Revelation 3. He is not any longer supporting the public thing. Properly speaking church testimony is over; after Thyatira the only hope lies in the coming of the Lord. Our position is very extraordinary, and it requires constant exercise and looking to the Lord, so as to act with intelligence, but I am sure it is not right to assume to be anything public. We meet in garrets and cellars, and make the most of the situation, while waiting for the Lord. We should feel disorders among those with whom we are immediately connected, but the great public scandal is Jezebel: one does not hear much sorrow expressed in regard of her -- but we may be sure the Lord feels it, and He would value our sympathy. We never have a proper sense of the ruin, only as we see what was at the beginning -- a few simple people who loved the Lord.
When Christ went into the temple He said it was a den of thieves -- no place for a godly Jew. It ought to be a place for all nations -- a house of prayer.
One feels how little we sympathise with the Lord. That terrible woman occupying the prominent position, as it were. Who sympathises with Him in that?
Reading on Galatians 4
In connecting Christians from among the Gentiles with Abraham, the apostle places our position on the broad platform of faith, and hence on the righteousness of God. Abraham was father of all believers, and had this place before circumcision and law came in at all. God's subsequent dealings were on narrower ground, that of law; and the object in this is explained in this epistle. The effect of law was to bring in bondage; hence, in order to extricate those who were under it, the Lord came under law. He bore its curse, and now He has a free hand to bring in the blessing of Abraham. It is called the blessing of Abraham, but really it has come in through Abraham's seed that is, it has taken form in Christ risen from the dead. It is an immense thing to apprehend the liberty in which Christ is as risen from among the dead. In love He underwent the consequences of human guilt, whether under the law or otherwise, and now He is the Vessel through which the blessing of Abraham is effectuated; and this has all the families of the earth in view. In a coming day He will usher the nations into the kingdom, and eternal life. Who could do this but the One who had annulled death and brought to light life and incorruptibility?
In taking up Abraham God really meant to assert His rights, but what came out was that the assertion of God's rights meant blessing. "In thee shall all families of the earth he blessed" Genesis 12:3; so that it is to man's infinite advantage to admit the righteousness of God. The great point in the chapter before us is sonship. Sonship in this epistle refers more to time than to state; it depends on the age in which people live. We are entitled to it because of the time in
which we live. The point the apostle makes is that the "period fixed of the Father" Galatians 4:2 has arrived. No matter how godly a man might have been under the law he could not have been a son: he was not out of the nursery: he was under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father. The apostle uses a figure, and one which would be universally understood: in most countries there is a fixed period when people are said to have attained their majority. But in verses 4 and 5 we get the explanation "When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son, come of a woman, come under law, that he might redeem those under law that we might receive sonship". The time of sonship arrived historically when Christ arose from the dead: from that time forward God deals with His people on the ground of sonship, not any longer as minors. But there is not only the title of sonship, but that by which alone it could be supported -- the Spirit of sonship: "because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father". Galatians 4:6. God will never again revert to the nursery. The state of things under the law meant slavery, and God has not pleasure in slaves. He takes pleasure in sons. The Son has set us free, and He abides in the house for ever, hence our place is there also. Christendom has gone back to the nursery; the spirit of the slave marks things there pretty much. This was what the apostle strove to avert, and the only escape from it is Jerusalem above. Jerusalem above is our mother, and she is free: neither she, nor her children have any fear of being cast out of the house. The apostle uses strong language: it was senseless to return to slavery after they had been set free. Think of people wishing to return to the scullery after being allowed the privileges of the drawing room! Sonship means that we have come to full age, and hence are capable of entering into the thoughts and counsels of
the head of the house. We no longer enter by the back door, so to speak: we have all the privileges of the house: we enter by the front door. This is all brought out for the recovery of these saints.
Sonship is not limited to the church; it refers to Israel as well, and is applied even to others. One feels how few are in the liberty of it, and how great the tendency to give it up. You get an illustration of this in the second chapter. Peter was affected: one of the greatest men was returning to bondage. Hagar stood for Mount Sinai in Arabia, a desert country. You always find it in a desert. There is no pasture. And this answers pretty much to what is called Christendom. Christendom eventuates in Babylon, which is seen in a desert, Revelation 17:3. We are really in Christendom, and are ever in danger of being characterised by it. If we depart from the Head we return to bondage.
Paul came under Jerusalem influence when he shaved his head. I know men that are under Jerusalem influence now. The blessing of Abraham and sonship constitute the only security for us. The introduction of Jerusalem above is the only antidote. I think it is always brought in as a means of recovery. Things all around you are in bondage: you have to turn to what is above. I think the understanding of Jerusalem above lies in the apprehension of the liberty in which Christ is as a Son with God. In the Revelation the new Jerusalem is seen "coming down from God out of heaven". Revelation 21:2. It is composed of those who are in all the liberty and dignity of sonship. Think of the influence it must exercise on all below.
Abraham had a perfect right to dismiss Hagar at any time: she was a servant, but, morally, he could not cast off Sarah. She was not a servant: she was a wife, free as enjoying her husband's affections, and thus having all the liberties of his house. Sarah is the free woman, and she represents our mother.
Jerusalem on earth was simply Hagar: it was in the position of a slave, and hence God had a right to set it aside. Christendom having taken up this same position, God will set it aside also, and He will be perfectly righteous in doing so. "The servant abideth not in the house for ever but the son abideth ever". John 8:35.
The point with the apostle was to liberate the Galatians. He says, "be as I am, for I am as ye are". Galatians 4:12. I think Paul was in the enjoyment of sonship, but his title to it was no greater than that of the Galatians. I could go to any believer and say to him that the time of sonship has arrived, but I should like to say, "be as I am".
Derivation. Children conveys parentage and character. Sonship involves position; heirship and sonship go together. Children are also heirs. If you enter into possession of a vast estate at the age of twenty-one it is likely to produce very great happiness. We must not endeavour to arrive at sonship through state; it is really the other way about. In a sense we arrive at the state in which we can serve and please God through sonship. State lies in the Spirit of sonship.
There are seven distinct expressions as to time in verses 1 to 9, so far as I can make out. We have been occupied too much with state: it is always bondage to endeavour to work up to things: I think things always come down. State, according to God, is brought about in us by knowledge; the knowledge of what comes down. This is seen in Romans 8. Liberty for the creation is connected with what comes down; the revelation of the sons of God. The coming down of the heavenly city involves liberty for all below. Sonship rightly understood has a powerful effect on us down here, but properly it is
outside all the conditions of life in flesh. Knowing it we walk in suitable dignity, in different attire; different deportment. It is a great point to come to, and it is God's pleasure to give it to us. We are sons as much as ever we can be from the divine side; and access to God is as real as it can be; "through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father". Ephesians 2:18. It is a secret to ourselves at the present time. We can cry, "Abba, Father". The manifestation of our position with God is still future.
The time has arrived for sonship -- marvellous moment! We have come to everything that is to be displayed in the future. God has already begun in Christ, and there is no other beginning; hence so far as our relationship to God is concerned there can be no change or improvement. Sonship properly belongs to the age to come, and in Romans 8 it is identified with the redemption of the body, but the relationship is as real now as it will be then; indeed, without it there could be no service of God at the present time at all. God is leading many sons to glory. He would hardly lead bondmen to glory. It is most serious to connect sonship with man in the flesh.
I think the point is that God is leading many sons to glory. They are sons before they get to glory. We are not sons as men in the flesh. The Captain of our salvation is made perfect through suffering. It is in resurrection that He is our Captain, and we are of His order. The passage in Hebrews which treats of this proceeds to say that "He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren". Hebrews 2:11. When the Lord arose from the dead the fulness of the time had arrived. Every Christian is a son.
The apostle does not set before the Galatians the
gospel, but the heavenly city and sonship. The design of God was that He should be represented in sons down here. The church was set up in the liberty and blessedness of sonship. I think it is only as sons that we are fitted to represent God in this world. You are constituted a benefactor; that is what we shall be in the future. It is impossible for a legal man to rightly represent God.
READING ON John 20:1 - 23
I THINK we should distinguish between the assembly viewed as in the wilderness, and as related to the land of Canaan. The first epistle to the Corinthians presents the assembly as connected with the wilderness; other epistles view it in the land. Corinthians conveys the thought of order; Colossians and Ephesians, privilege arid blessing; and these latter present the idea of the land of promise. The saints at Corinth were God's assembly: God was to be known there by the order seen among them. It is the public aspect of the assembly. A simple person coming in would recognise that God was there by the divine order displayed (chapter 14).
Stephen speaks of the assembly in the wilderness, Acts 7; this was God's house, over which Moses was a servant, Hebrews 3. The point that Moses makes is that he and the people could only be distinguished from all other people on the face of the earth by Jehovah's presence among them, Exodus 33:16 (New Trans.).
The wilderness is the sphere of responsibility, as we see in 1 Corinthians 10. God had brought the people of Israel to Himself, and then He proposed that they should build a tabernacle that He might dwell among them. In the land we dwell with Him, but in the wilderness He dwells with us and the point in the latter is, I think, the order in which God is known. That is what marks the first part of the book of Numbers. Each Israelite is taken account of; numbered, in order that he might find his place in relation to the tabernacle of witness. Eligibility for military service was the requirement, and every eligible person was numbered. The age mentioned
refers to manhood, and probably what corresponds at the present time is the possession of the Holy Ghost. Normally the possession of the Holy Ghost constitutes manhood. On receiving the Spirit we graduate from occupation with toys, childish things, and go in for what belongs to manhood. Of course I speak of things as seen normally, as in Acts 2, for instance. The state of the Corinthians was abnormal; hence the apostle's admonition, "be not children in your minds, but in malice be babes; but in minds be grown men", 1 Corinthians 14:20. Only as grown men could they take their place, so to say, in relation to the tabernacle. God takes account of every Christian, in order to put him in his place in relation to the testimony down here. This is what the first numbering of the people meant. The second numbering in Numbers meant that each Israelite was taken account of so as to find his place in God's land.
The brazen serpent and the springing well form the turning point. From Numbers 21 onward it is state that is in question. Entrance into Canaan depends on the state formed by the Holy Spirit. It is the elect Israel that is taken account of to inherit; the Israel of responsibility had wholly disappeared: "among these there was not a man numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai", Numbers 26:64.
In Corinth an unbeliever, if he came in, was to find God among the Christians. If there was that which misrepresented God there was the necessity to insist on self-judgment and the restoration of order. Hence the apostle felt under the necessity of writing his first letter. The introduction of the Lord's table, and the Lord's supper, was to the end that they might be regulated -- put in order. The Lord's supper brings us together, and this is in the wilderness. Entrance into Canaan depends entirely on state.
There is no distinction of sex on the other side of death: in the wilderness there is; women were to be silent in the assembly.
God in grace has given us a place in connection with the tabernacle of witness, and you cannot go on with anything inconsistent with it. The ark of the covenant leads you into the land of promise: the ark was more connected with the land, the tabernacle with the wilderness. The public testimony was to be maintained in the house. A company of men and women constituted the house, and they were to be marked by divine order. Everything inconsistent with the order and holiness of God's house was to be repudiated. God was not well pleased with most of them. In 1 Corinthians 10, He came in to correct them.
In our day the second epistle to Timothy comes in; you must pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, etc. If you pursue righteousness you must allow God's rights.
God would not limit Himself to those who were already recovered. He would affect others, but He would do this through those who were in accord with Himself. Hence the servant must be separate from vessels to dishonour. He is then to be used of the Master, to serve to distribute the bounty of the Lord. The great point is to be a vessel through which the water of life may be dealt out. The water of life is a very great thought. In speaking to the woman of Samaria (John 4) the Lord did not have a well out of which to give water to men; for the moment He was dependent on Jacob's well, but He would have, as it were, a well of His own, where men might drink and live for ever.
What do you mean by the term "well"?
The assembly. I like to think of the Lord having a system of His own; a house of His own; and, so to say, a well of His own. All these things were to
be found in the assembly at the beginning. The living water is the Holy Spirit as adaptable to the need of the human heart. It is still here, and will go on to the end. The believer was to be the source of supply. Rivers of living water were to flow out -- rivers. It was no small conception.
John 20 is the assembly in relation to the land it is privilege. The way into privilege is indicated by Mary. She followed the Lord through Jordan. You see a woman whose heart is captivated. It is no question here of public order; it is the subjective state formed by the Spirit, in virtue of which alone Canaan is reached. Here, however, what is seen is more pattern; although Mary's affection was genuine. Mary represents those who value association with Christ. I do not think association is known until it is desired. When you value it (affection for Christ values it), it is an immense thing to find that it is available. The Lord never indicated that the disciples were to go up to Him during His absence. He said He was coming to them. He would not leave them orphans; He would come to them. We should all be exercised to find out what this means. I think when the Lord used the expression "My assembly" He had in His mind a company of people who had affection for Him; who had given up the world, and were hated by it. What a pleasure to Him to come to such company!
The assembly viewed in connection with the land is not a public thing at all. In this chapter the disciples are in a secluded, quiet spot, and He appears in the midst.
The great objective point with us is to be in association with Christ, and this is private: the world was not to see Him. It depends entirely upon love: if you do not love you do not know it. "If any man love me", you must have love to understand it. The Lord does not explain anything to the intellect,
for intelligence in divine things depends on love. We come together to break bread, and if there is heart for it, I think the Lord would support us into Canaan.
I do not know that Canaan is much understood now. It is, I think, the sphere of privilege and blessing which God has purposed for His people. It has undoubtedly a future bearing, and in this respect, it seems to me, it must refer to the entire sphere of blessing which God has purposed for man. In the coming age the wilderness will have disappeared, and Jordan will not exist: death will be swallowed up in victory, and every family will be blessed on the principle of resurrection. All will stand related to Christ on that footing. At the present time it is the privilege of the assembly, and that on the ground that we are risen with Christ. The chapter before us corresponds with this, and I think the apostle had it before him in writing to the Colossians. But taking possession of Canaan by the saints involves the overthrow of the world-system of Satan, which has its centre in the heavenlies. The church is to succeed Satan there (our testimony involves this), and consequently we come into conflict. The Ephesian saints were not actually in the heavenlies, but the apostle's prayer in chapter 3 for them was that they might apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height -- the whole sphere of blessing. Publicly, we may say, the whole sphere is occupied and filled by what is of Satan; in the future it will be occupied and filled by God. The church knew, and witnessed of that -- hence the conflict.
Taking possession is what you apprehend in your soul. There is not so very much of what we call eternal state. The bulk of scripture refers to what is this side of the eternal state. God creates Jerusalem a joy, and you may depend it will be new, Isaiah 65:17, etc. It is inconceivable to suppose a
millennium with the climate and the ground as we have them now: in a certain sense things will be new. The moral heavens will certainly be changed, in that Satan shall have been cast out of them, and the knowledge of God will cover the earth. That will be all new. The passages in Isaiah that speak of new heavens, and new earth, refer to the millennium.
Matthew 16:13 - 20
I FEEL a good deal of reluctance in undertaking to speak on the assembly (for this is largely the subject in the passage I have read), but my thought is not to speak of the assembly exactly: I wish more to speak of Christ as Builder, and this to the end that our souls might be brought into direct contact with Him. It is a great moment in our history when our attention is directed to Christ personally. No one really finds his true place until he reaches this point. The Lord is the supreme Director in God's universe, and if you wish a place there it must be assigned to you by Him. Coming to Him your history as a man in this world is ended; but then you find that there is a place for you in God's world. As a man in the flesh it is likely that you had a place in this world; and if you are a Christian, and have not one now, I think Satan would interest himself to find you one. But the Lord has a place for you, and if He has spoken to you at all it is to the end that you might come to Him, and find your place in His system.
Christ is deserving of the attention of men. He is great. In chapter 11 of this gospel He calls attention to Himself, and in chapter 12 His greatness is dwelt upon. Great men are usually of interest to people, and it is on this ground I would call your attention to Christ. I am greatly impressed with the greatness of Christ as presented in this gospel. John the Baptist was affected by the Lord's greatness when he said, "Behold the Lamb of God" John 1:36. The result was that his disciples left John and followed Jesus. Coming to Him they found the Messiah -- a wonderful find. Later on, Nathaniel found the Son of God -- a still more wonderful discovery. Have you ever found the Son of God?
let me inquire. Do not tell me you believe He is the Son of God. I ask, Have you found Him in your soul's history? The work of the Holy Ghost in us is to the end that we should make this marvellous discovery.
We are not appreciative of the immense privileges within our reach. If Abraham or David could have found the Messiah, or the Son of God, how rejoiced they would have been! And this great favour is available to us at the present time. You may say, 'I have forgiveness of sins'. This, of course, is indispensable, but nothing can be compared with finding the Son of God. It is the turning point in your history, and you will find a cordial reception. I am sure the Lord was delighted when Peter and Nathaniel came to Him. In coming to Him we find He can use us; He can use us in His building.
The passage before us presents Christ as a Builder. There had been builders before Him, and God had tested them. He said, as it were, 'Here is a stone for your building'. Wonderful condescension! 'What are you going to do with this Stone? lf you are builders you are surely judges of building material: can you tell whether or not this Stone is any good?' Did they examine the Stone? They did examine the Stone, and they had no difficulty in deciding as to it. What was their decision? They cast it aside as worthless; and in this way the builders were thoroughly exposed. What a system that must be in which the blessed Son of God could not be used! And what the character of the builders who rejected Him! In like manner are the builders of our own day being exposed. They assume to test Christianity and the Scriptures by science, and the result is as of old. Pure Christianity and the Scriptures do not fit into the present day world-structure; hence they are rejected. But the Stone which the builders rejected is made the Head of the corner.
The rejection of Christ by the builders has created a most serious situation. He is cast aside as worthless, and it is to Him we come. No man in his natural feelings would care to be accounted worthless: the thought is terrible to the flesh. We all like to be accounted something in the esteem of this world, but if we are true to the Lord we are certain to share His fate, and indeed, if we love Him, we should not care to have it otherwise. A true disciple would scorn to be found in a system in which there could be no place found for his Master.
If the Lord was useless to the builders in this world, and if He could not fit into their structure, He would build Himself; He would have a building of His own. This is what appears in the verses I have read. He questions the disciples as to who He was. Whom did men say He was? Some one person, and some another. But whom did the disciples say He was? This was a great question on the part of the Lord. He gave the disciples an opportunity, as it were, to express their verdict. Peter expresses it, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". Matthew 16:16. Wonderful confession! I think it must have been delightful to the Lord's heart. He immediately recognises that the Father was the source of it; but how blessed for Peter to be made in this way acquainted with this wonderful Person. I think the Lord affords this great favour to us all. He would, as it were, ask you for your verdict as to Him. What is your verdict? may I ask. You would not be accounted orthodox if you did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God; every child who reads Scripture would say this; but the question is, 'What have you discovered Him to be in your soul's history? Have you made acquaintance with Him as the Son of God?'
Directly Peter recognises Him in this way the Lord begins to speak of a building. "Upon this
Rock I will build my assembly". Matthew 16:18. There was not only the foundation there, but the material for the building also -- at least there was one stone there. Peter was this stone.
Now I want to impress upon you that Christ has taken up the position of Builder and evidently He must have material: He must have building material, and this material must be approved of by Him. We may be sure the Lord is a perfect Builder, and also a perfect judge of building material. I imagine I can hear someone say, 'I should like to be approved by Him; I should like to fit into His building'. Then I say, if this be so the Lord can use you; but in order to be used you must be prepared. For an ordinary building the stones must be prepared, and so also must the stones be prepared for Christ's building; in the latter case the preparation takes the form of education. It is an edifice in which the character of Christ is to appear throughout; hence to be stones here we must be of His kind. In any ordinary kingdom it is a much more simple matter to be a good subject than it is to play a public part in the metropolis. Any ordinary provincial may be a good subject, but it requires education and polish to shine at court. If we suppose a kingdom ruled by an absolute monarch (such as Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar) I should expect the capital to bear certain marks of the king's character. The whole kingdom would be more or less affected by his character, but more particularly his metropolis. His statesmen and courtiers too would bear his impress, and would seek in every way to be in accord with him. Beloved friends, we are not only in the kingdom; we are to be the metropolis. Is it not a matter of great concern to you? I think if you ponder it you will conclude that education is necessary. God had designed the church to be the great metropolis of the universe, and this should be a matter of the profoundest concern
to every one of us; and it is evident that we must be prepared for it; we must be trained: we must be educated: we must learn from Christ. The church would be assailed by the same hostile power that assailed Christ. Who could stand against it? None but those who had learned from the Lord how to overcome. Peter was one of these. The Lord had educated him by example: the Lord walked on the water; so did Peter. A babe will not walk on the water: it requires energy and courage to do that.
In chapter 11 the Lord calls attention to Himself as the Model, and in chapters 14 and 15 a course of education is outlined, and all this with a view to the new structure. Peter is designated as a stone on the ground of his confession; but in his case a good deal had preceded this, as we have seen. But my object is to interest your hearts in Christ: He needs you in that which He has before Him and if you allow Him His way He will do great things for you; He will fit you for that blessed living structure of His, and give you a place in it. This structure shall supplant all that had preceded it and shall abide forever.
I greatly like the expression "My assembly". I think the Lord contemplated something of His own. The Lord had the city before Him. It is true the word is not found in this chapter, but I have no doubt at all that the Lord had it in His mind. He had no place in Chorazin, in Bethsaida, or Capernaum, but He would have a city of His own; there His rule and order would be maintained and displayed. Dear believer, do you think you are His own in a practical way if you are self-willed? I am sure you are not. If your heart is set on some object in this poor world you are of no practical use to the Lord. In His assembly I think the Lord would have an answer to His affections, but I think He also intended to use it down here. For this it must be entirely under His
control, and this is what He intended. He intended to have a centre of government and also a home -- a sphere of affection. These two things were found in the church at the outset. The Lord had a place on earth into which He could come at any time, and with the most perfect freedom, and where too He would always receive the most affectionate welcome; to this also He could invite others. This was a great triumph. The Lord found a home here in the affections of His people, and poor homeless ones in this world found a welcome there also. But all this depended upon the relation in which the saints stood to Christ, and to each other. Every saint referred to in Acts 2 was a living stone, and they were all built in: they stood in relation to Christ and to each other in love. What a marvellous triumph in a world of hatred -- a company of people standing in relation to the Lord, and to each other in love, and completely superior to all the power of evil. There was a witness to God in His nature: they stood there as the witness and pledge of His intervention for the blessing of humanity.
This, alas, is no longer visible, but we must not thereby be discouraged; we should cleave to the original thought of the Lord and yield ourselves wholly up to Him. Where this is the case He can still do something for men, but if we remain apart from one another, pursuing our several paths of disobedience, we are of no practical use to Him.
That there should be a few Christians walking in relation to Christ, and to each other in love, in any locality, is a great favour conferred upon it. It is really in this way God reaches men in blessing.
Well, it is but feebly I have presented this great subject to you, but I think you will not fail to catch my thought; the Lord is building and evidently must have building material. May we then be exercised about it and yield ourselves to Him for His pleasure.
Pages 108 to 255 "Readings and Addresses at Meetings held in Chicago", December 31, 1904, and January 1 and 2, 1905 (Volume 1).
The reader may be aware that the following "Notes", as they primarily appeared, were the occasion of much difficulty. They had unfortunately been allowed to go into circulation in type-written form without being properly revised and as such they became the subject of comment and adverse criticism.
The explanation of this is twofold
(1) As the object of sending out the Notes, in the first instance, was that those in America who could not be present at the meetings, might get the benefit of what it seemed the Lord gave, and as most of these were acquainted with the speakers, and did not suspect them of bad doctrine (the speakers themselves being utterly unconscious of holding any, or even of having said anything very different to what was currently accepted), it was not anticipated that there would be much objection taken; hence the need of guarding was not apparent. The statements of the different speakers were left pretty much as reported by the stenographer. In this way many expressions were allowed to stand which, although well understood when given out orally, were capable of misconstruction by a reader unacquainted with these who gave utterance to them. This weak point was felt keenly by those responsible when it was discovered that the Notes were becoming a subject of public criticism, and accordingly sorrow has been elsewhere expressed on this account.
It was not understood by many that the point of view taken in the Notes had reference to what is
connected with the Holy Ghost down here, rather than to the heavenly side of the truth. This latter was affirmed, but because it was not made prominent, it was assumed by some that it was denied. But this was not the case (God forbid that it should be!), the heavenly side was affirmed, as said above, but the necessity for pressing it did not exist, whereas the necessity for calling attention to the church, as established at the beginning in the power of the Holy Ghost, as a practical sphere of protection and blessing for man, did exist. Hence the thought of the house of God predominated all through. The spirit of popular revivalism (that in which God is flippantly connected with manifest disorder), which prevailed at that time, led to serious concern as to how little the revealed mind of God was adhered to in the announcement of the glad tidings; and on this account it was thought needful to call attention to the order and conditions which attended the first preaching by the apostles. The in-coming of the Holy Ghost from an ascended Christ, was the advent of a new order of things; it was an order of things in which the light of God was maintained in power, and in it were found practically, as they are to be known at the present time, the things (salvation, life, etc.) which the gospel announced as having come to pass through Christ. Although heavenly, as vitally linked up with Christ in heaven by the Spirit, yet this new and blessed sphere was actually here on earth, and so (although absolutely apart from the world in the sanctification of the Spirit) was available to men. (Compare Acts 2; Psalm 133). It may be remarked that it is not necessary that things should be in heaven in order that they may be in Christ. It is true, as said before, that the church is linked with Him in heaven (her place is there), in all her peculiar privileges and blessings, but at the same time salvation, although in Christ, is said to be in His name
under heaven, Acts 4:12; also as to life: the Spirit is said to be life, Romans 8:10, and He is here.
Although it is confidently hoped the Notes will be found by many both instructive and edifying, yet the chief intent in printing them at the present time is not alone to this end, but rather that saints may have before them substantially that which has been called in question, so as to be in a position to judge for themselves in regard to it, as before the Lord. Hence it is hoped it will be clearly understood that they are in no sense to be regarded as dogmatic; that is, no one is expected to bow to them; they are simply to be read for what they may be worth, and if there be those who differ, and yet cannot prove the existence of fundamental error, it is hoped that they will leave the Notes, and those responsible for them, in the hands of the Lord, who will not fail to make everything manifest in time.
A word may be added as to "living water". What was in the minds of the speakers was that the living water refers to the Spirit as in man (in Christ, and now also in the saints), and so adapted to the thirst of men. In John 4 and John 7 Christ is seen as the Giver of living water, but in both chapters what He gives is also seen as in the believer: in chapter 4 it becomes in the one who drinks a "well of water springing up into everlasting life", (John 4:14) and in chapter 7 (where the Spirit is identified with the living water), it flows as rivers out of the belly of the believer. This is in view of thirst in others. The believer is not the source: Christ is this, but still the living water is said to flow out of the believer. We are bound to connect John 7 with Acts 2 in order to see the historical fulfilment of the Lord's promise; and in doing this we must introduce the collective idea, which the latter chapter supplies -- no believer could in himself contain the Spirit. Peter alluded to the Spirit in his address in Acts 2. He was in the believers as
given by a glorified Christ, and as such was available to thirsty souls in the world. John 7 may be said to refer strictly to those who believed on Christ during the time of His testimony in humiliation down here; as glorified He would give to them the Holy Spirit, which would flow out from them. What is seen in the church, as recorded in the early chapters of Acts, is the only adequate answer to this, although it goes on, in the principle of it, till the end, Revelation 22, and in measure may be exemplified in each believer. But in order to drink, each one must come to Christ, the Source and Giver. The reference to locating the living water may seem new, but it is extraordinary that the thought contained in it should be questioned. The New Testament teaches, as shown above, that the Spirit is the living water, and also that He dwells in the assembly, which is morally a location (comp. John 14:17): wherein then is the error in saying that He should be located? To "locate" simply means that souls should be instructed as to the sphere where the blessed activities of the Holy Ghost are known.
The writer, who is responsible not only for the revision, but also mainly for the teaching of the Notes, is aware of the many imperfections contained in them even as revised, but he would count on the Lord that He may enable those into whose hands they may come, to read them in a charitable spirit, and thus that they may arrive at the meaning intended to be conveyed. He fully believes what the Notes contain to be in accordance with the teaching of Scripture, but he is open to correction, and if it be shown that any part or parts, are unsound, he will withdraw them and own his error. Thus the Notes are committed to the Lord.
1 Timothy 1:1 - 7
J.T. My thought in suggesting this scripture was that we might get some idea of the conditions under which the gospel primarily was announced. Historically the apostolic preaching did not begin until the house was formed.
J.P. I suppose the character of God, the way in which He has been pleased to come out in Christ, was to be set forth in connection with the house?
J.T. That is the thought in the house.
J.P. The house of God is really very wonderful in that way.
J.T. Yes, and I think the assembly at Ephesus formed a good opportunity for the apostle to outline the conduct that was becoming to the saints viewed as the house; the saints there were formed according to God. Timothy was at Ephesus, and I think this gives a clue as to what gave rise to the epistle.
J.P. The state of things at Ephesus was such that God could take account of it and use it to bring out the truth of His house.
J.T. Exactly; the house was there really at Ephesus. Perhaps in the Acts the first great point is Jerusalem; then Antioch, and finally Ephesus. The ministry of the apostle had been so effectual at Ephesus that a company was formed of such a character as to enable the Spirit to regard it as the house of God. In this way I think it may be taken to represent the whole church.
JR The first gospel address really took the form of an explanation of what God had brought to pass through Christ, the Spirit here answering to His exaltation.
J.T. Yes, "the great things of God". God had come to dwell among His people at Jerusalem, and
the effect of this was apparent to the multitude. The saints were fully in accord with their great privilege, Acts 2.
J.P. It is like God to begin at the top; from the highest point. If we are going to look at the gospel all this invests it with a wonderful character.
J.T. If God is going to be represented down here, you would expect He would bring to pass in His assembly at Jerusalem, or Ephesus, or anywhere else, what would adequately set forth His character. The gospel is the revelation of God; the character of God is really what clothes it. Ephesus becomes a very important company, or assembly, in the Acts. The apostle Paul spent three years there, and he did not spend them there for nothing. God intended to form a company in that city that would adequately set forth His church as a whole; He was to be set forth in the church. When decline sets in, Revelation 2, Ephesus also stands for the whole church. You do not get the gospel presented in power in a declining church, but you do where the love of God is active. The apostle could say he had spent his time in announcing the kingdom of God from house to house with tears, and had not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel of God; and all this to the end that they might be perfectly qualified to represent God down here; and I think this epistle was to that end. His thought in sending Timothy to Ephesus was, that whatever was lacking he might supply.
R.S.S. The first intimation of decline was also at Ephesus, Revelation 2.
J.T. God set up the assembly perfectly at Jerusalem and Ephesus. That is to say, you could take account of the assemblies in these cities as God's handiwork, and in that point of view they were perfect; there was nothing lacking; everything was supplied. Now the apostle in leaving the saints at Ephesus committed it into the hands of men; he
committed it to the elders. The result is what we see all around us -- the ruin, but the witness to the gospel at the outset was in that which was divinely and perfectly set up.
Ques. The church at Ephesus stood representatively at the beginning: does not Philadelphia stand representatively at the end?
J.T. Yes, I think so, but the point in Philadelphia is appreciation of Christ. Philadelphia is not the candlestick, but Ephesus was that representatively. I think Ephesus was set up more as God's handiwork, to be the candlestick, and in that sense stands for the whole church.
JP. Philadelphia is the moral recovery of what was true at the beginning, in connection with appreciation of Christ, but not the candlestick.
Ques. Does not Philadelphia really bring out in the end what is suited to the heart of Christ, descriptive of what the church really is?
J.T. Yes, what the church is to Christ. There is nothing public about it, but in Ephesus there was what was public. The whole of Asia heard the word of God through Ephesus: the assembly began with twelve men who received the Holy Ghost through Paul - The preaching was by the apostle, but he was of the assembly.
I think it is a great thing to be able to take account of what God established: there was nothing lacking in it when He established it.
Ques. Is it not our privilege now, notwithstanding all the breakdown, to be in the light of it?
J.T. Yes, I think it is our privilege to be in the light of it, but you can never be it.
J.P. I think what we have set before us is most important, for in the minds of many the thought of the gospel has been entirely dissociated from that which God established in perfection in the beginning.
J.T. Yes, but if you will consider the principal
gospel parables in Luke, you will find the existence of the house is supposed in them.
J.T. There is Luke 14; that is to say, the "great supper", as we call it. You cannot have a great supper without a house in which to spread it. You must have a house with all the equipment necessary for the accommodation of the guests, and I do not think God would be behind in that way, so there it was. All things were ready. The parable begins with all things being ready, and at the end it is "that my house may be filled". Luke 14:23. It is so all through the great gospel parables of Luke. Chapter 7 is an exception, but there it is a question of forgiveness. Even the parable of the good Samaritan in a sense involves the house; that is to say, the "inn". The idea is there at any rate.
R.S.S. I suppose the thought you had in mind, is that the general idea is to connect the gospel with the individual?
J.P. The individual, as having needs and these being met, you mean?
R.S.S. The individual who proclaims it.
J.P. It applies to both sides -- the man that preaches it and those to whom it is preached. I do not think there has been the thought, in the minds of many of us, of the connection of the gospel with the house of God, and especially the house of God as established in divine perfection and beauty at the beginning. Do you not think the thought of the house of God is really what throws light on Ephesians 3?
J.T. Yes, I think so. "Filled to all the fulness of God", which meant that they were to have the knowledge of God in love. They were to be filled to all the fulness of God in order to set forth God adequately -- to represent God down here. You cannot conceive of anything else. God intended to
have representatives down here, and those who were to be such were to be filled with His love.
I think the popular idea of the gospel is pretty much theoretic -- very largely a question of doctrine: I should perhaps say a question of creed. I think we have a purer creed than others; still, with us it is very largely a question of creed, and I do not think a creed can be the gospel. The idea of the gospel is the attitude of God toward man in Christ, and the answer to it is what He had established down here in the power of the Spirit for man's deliverance from the power of evil.
R.S.S. That is, it is vital -- a living thing.
J.T. And as such it is that which is brought within the reach of man, so the first gospel address we have is in regard to what is down here, in answer to Christ having gone to the right hand of God. The repentant Jews would receive the gift of the Spirit, who was already there in the house (Acts 2).
J.P. The Jews did not know what had happened when they heard the disciples speaking under the power of the Spirit of God, and some said they were drunk with new wine. Peter rises to the occasion, and tells them what had really come to pass in Jerusalem that day.
J.T. So it takes the character of an explanation; the effect produced by the presence of the Spirit in the saints led to enquiry on the part of the people. Hence the form of the gospel address. That is, what God established down here was perfectly capable of arresting the attention of men.
J.P. In 1 Corinthians 14 we get the order in God's house: a simple person coming in would recognise by this that God was there.
J.T. The order of Solomon's house greatly affected the Queen of Sheba.
J.P. Scripture says, "When the queen of Sheba
had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built", etc. 1 Kings 10:4.
J.T. I should like to see the saints living according to God. I think we ought to be concerned about the gospel, but the first thing is to be formed according to God, so that we should be a testimony to it.
R.S.S. I believe, in general, if what characterises the saints were analysed, you would find they are very largely formed by that which is not according to God. They go through an immense deal of exercise that is not really of the Spirit. I am sure that we may thank God that He, in the main, has set and maintained us on the right line, on the Spirit's line, and this is most encouraging.
J.T. And the next thing is for us to get together in affection. If we are to be of any help at all to men, it must be as bound together by the Spirit.
R.S.S. And then something vital comes out.
J.T. Preaching and building go together in the scriptures.
J.P. Do you not mean building and preaching?
J.T. Exactly -- I did. The building precedes the preaching. Historically the preaching began after the building was formed by the descent of the Holy Ghost.
J.P. The order in Acts 9:31 is very instructive viz., edification followed by increase, or multiplication.
J.T. I have no doubt the order of Scripture is right. In the case of Noah his preaching depended on his building. Building and preaching went on the same length of time. How did he condemn the world? By building. The building was accompanied by preaching, but if he was to condemn the world it was by the building.
J.P. In Hebrews 11 it says, "By the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith". It was his preparing
an ark. That was the point. "By faith" Noah prepared an ark. The ark, as prepared by Noah, was the condemnation of the world.
Rem. In the case of Nehemiah it was the building of the wall.
J.T. It is wonderful to see how the building of the ark brings out the patience of God. As it is said in Peter, "The longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah". 1 Peter 3:20. It is a very comforting thing in a day like this, and in a country like this, where you see so little result from the testimony. In Noah's case he built, and he preached, and apparently nobody was affected by his preaching, but then the patience of God came out. So it is, I think, if we are in the good of the building, we shall not be discouraged. If in any place you have a company of people bound together in love, it brings a testimony of God to the people of that community. No matter how it may be treated, the testimony of God is preserved; the longsuffering of God is demonstrated by it.
Nobody regarded the preaching in the days of Noah; nevertheless the ark was built, and completed; and I think God gained His point, in that His longsuffering came out.
Ques. The building of the house of God is the condemnation of the world, is it not?
J.T. I think so. It indicates the overthrow of the world-system. That is what the gospel involves. If the gospel does not effect the overthrow of the world for us, it has not proved effectual with us.
The establishment of the house of God indicated the overthrow of the world-system. That is really, too, what the ark meant.
Salvation is not for heaven, but from this world. The salvation of the children of Israel involved the destruction of the Egyptians. Indeed, in the coming day salvation will mean the complete setting aside
of the world-system, and the introduction of a new system.
J.P. He "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world", Galatians 1:4.
J.T. The point now is water; that is, baptism.
Ques. Is it not more Judaism in Galatians? Judaism was something God set up for a time, and people wanted to go on with it.
J.T. The world-system, as the Lord found it here, was in connection with Judaism. What gave it all its power was that it was set up by God. Now that is to be done away with, and something new is to take its place; and that is, I think, the reason why baptism is so prominent in the Acts.
Rem. Please say a little more about the world-system. I believe people have a wrong idea with regard to the world-system. They look at it more in view of the lusts of the flesh.
J.T. Judaism was that which was established by God, and it was in that way it had all its power. I do not say that applies to the present world-system, although God has given the Gentile powers their authority; but the world-system of Scripture, that which the Lord had to deal with, was really set up by God, and it had Jerusalem as its centre. But it had fallen under the power of Satan, and was in direct opposition to God, as the sequel proved.
J.P. So in John's gospel, the Jew morally is the world.
J.T. What we need to see is that the Lord came into things as He found them, came into what was here. He found a system of things established, which He owned and recognised. He did not disown it, but made the most of it, and if He could, would have used it; but He could riot do anything with it. Its true character came out, and as He could not use it, He established a system of His own. People do not see that, and hence do not understand the
gospel. The gospel involves the idea of an entirely new system; it properly means the coming age, but the coming age took form in the church. Every element in the coming age must find an answer in the church. The church took the place, for the moment, of the new system.
J.P. The gospel was, and is, really a divine explanation of what God has brought to pass and established in Christ at His right hand, and in the Holy Ghost down here. Not only the old thing judged and destroyed morally, but the new thing established.
Rem. When Noah came out of the ark, he came into a new scene.
J.T. Yes, and he brought every element of the new world out of the ark. When the Lord came into this scene He would have established His kingdom. But He was not received, so the whole thing was set aside: then the Lord began anew. He says, "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate". Matthew 23:38. Consequent on this He brings in another house; a house of His own. I like to revert to that company of people whom the Lord left down here. Simple fishermen, who had escaped the corruption that is in the world. The world had not formed them at all; they were entirely formed by Christ. There was no connection in any shape or form between the world-system and what God set up. The glad tidings, the announcement of what the Lord had done, were to be in connection with this new system, of which Christ is the Head.
Rem. The rich and mighty men in the world were not needed in God's system at all, and on the other hand those in His system had no place in the world-system.
Rem. In the case of Paul, all he had as in the world-system was nothing to him among the saints.
R.S.S. All Paul had in connection with the world-system he calls "dung".
J.T. It is remarkable that he went to tent-making afterwards. He did not seem to take advantage of his education at all. The thing to get hold of is what suits God; what He intends should represent Him down here. And then another thing comes out: all the elements of the coming age were to be carried through and preserved until the time arrives, just as in the case of Noah. The idea in the ark was not only salvation, but preservation. Eight souls were saved, but we read that Noah was "preserved" in the ark, and everything necessary for the establishment of a new world was also preserved.
J.P. It was a beautiful point our brother brought out when he said that when Noah stepped out of the ark he came into an entirely new scene; everything in it had been brought through in the ark. The first great thing after he got out was that wonderful burnt offering: all the substance for it had been carried through in the ark.
J.T. What would Noah have done otherwise? He could not have established a new world by himself. It requires a great many things to establish a world. Everything for the renewed earth was carried through in the ark. That illustrates what the church is.
Rem. In the house of God everything is preserved for God.
J.T. Every element of the coming age is preserved in the house. Although the ship in which Paul sailed was actually wrecked, Acts 27, nevertheless all on board reached land safely.
Ques. What answers to the ark now?
J.T.. The ark is typical of Christ, but I think also of the church in a way, as I said; the idea is there at any rate. When the Lord was rejected, that was the judgment of the world morally. "Now is the judgment of this world". John 12:31. God never reverted to
the world again. In the meantime, how is God going to preserve His thoughts and purposes? He had given expression to a good many blessed thoughts in Old Testament times. What was going to become of them? The Lord intended all these things to be taken up and preserved in the church until the time of the display of the new order arrives.
Rem. All would not take account of the ark as you have spoken of it.
J.T. Any right minded person would admit the flood was a mercy, the only hope for the world. If you have a house polluted with every kind of disease, a thorough cleansing would be needed, otherwise everyone in it would die. That was the state of the world -- polluted -- and the only remedy was the flood. It was judgment, of course, but a mercy. Everything God does is in mercy; it is the outcome of His love. Any right minded person who reads Genesis 6 would say, What a mercy the flood was, the only means of salvation for Noah and his family from that terrible state of things. They were saved through water.
J.P. What must have been the feelings of Noah and his family when they came out of the ark into a new world! Saved from that old world (so horribly corrupted), by that which to the world was judgment.
J.T. And what an infinite mercy baptism is to a man who has a family. Look at the polluted system of things we have to deal with.
Ques. Why do you say, "to a man who has a family"?
J.T. God takes account of your family. If I professed interest in you, you would not take much account of it if I did not interest myself in your family. God knows man's heart. If a man has a wife, he loves his wife and children, and God not only saves you, but your house. That is the idea
of baptism. Baptism is a mercy it means preservation from the present polluted system.
Ques. Would you say salvation to you and your house is not soul salvation, but salvation from this present evil world?
J.T. Yes. The thought of salvation formerly referred to the state of the world; and every person taught of God wants to get out of the world. It is a polluted, corrupted system, and one cannot thrive in it; you want to get out of it. The Lord wondered there was no man, and so His own arm brought in salvation. He clothed Himself in armour, and brought judgment upon the world-system, Isaiah 69.
J.P. Romans 8 looks on to the deliverance of creation.
J.T. The creation is subject to the power of sin, and groans under it. As to our bodies, we have part in this, notwithstanding that we have the first-fruits of the Spirit, but we are saved in hope: we are looking on to final deliverance with the rest of creation.
While you await the salvation of your body, you get soul-salvation from the world-system in virtue of the presence of the Holy Ghost down here.
R.S.S. Someone asked the question, What is the ark symbolical of? The general thought would be, It typified Christ. I was struck with your remark, that you thought it was also typical of the church.
J.T. I think in a certain sense that Noah is typical of Christ, in that he prepared an ark to the saving of his house. I do not think it can be denied that the church is that in which things are preserved in view of the judgment of the world.
R.S.S. Something like the city of refuge.
J.T. In view of the destruction of Judaism the spared ones from among the Jews found refuge and preservation in the assembly, Acts 2:47.
Rem. Salvation is found in the Christian circle.
J.T. I cannot conceive how anybody can think of salvation being available to men without the church at the present time. By "present time", I mean the time of the Lord's absence from this world. The existence of the church as the vessel of the Holy Ghost here means salvation in a practical sense.
Rem. A few Christians walking together in love are a great thing for the people in that vicinity.
J.T. We want to get the idea of salvation from Scripture. It means deliverance from the world-system. Of course Christ is the subject of the gospel, but Christ according to what He can do. What has He done? The gospel explains what He has done. Peter tells what has been brought to pass through Christ in Acts 2. He tells them that God has made both Lord and Christ that same Jesus whom they had crucified; and He "having therefore been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear". Acts 2:33. And so in chapter 4 Peter tells them that salvation is in none other than Christ.
Every Christian can tell how salvation came to him. Christ has effected it for him, but through what He has established down here.
J.P. Do not omit this portion: "Men and brethren, what shall we do? ... Repent, and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost". Acts 2:37,38. Peter's answer to the Jew's question is gospel.
Rem. It is an important thing to see that He set the gifts in the church.
J.T. I do not see how you can have the gospel without the church. Hence, considering the state of things today, one is greatly humbled in attempting to preach the gospel. Sometimes you hear people
speak about evangelists, pastors, teachers, etc., as if we lived in the days of Ephesus, when things were in order and freshness. I think we should refer to things very humbly and soberly.
Rem. Things are at such a low ebb you cannot find many evangelists and teachers.
J.T. You do not see very many according to God. You might find a good many taking that place, but those who are really formed according to God are not plentiful.
What is popularly called preaching the gospel today is really preaching a creed. I do not say there is not light connected with it, for there is, and people get more or less help. One would not deny it, but the true idea of the gospel was to bring people to God -- into a sphere where they would be safe and at home.
Ques. Do you mean by creed, the different ideas of the different sects?
J.T. I think any man with a fairly good mind and education, who can give a good address, can preach, but the question is: Has he the gospel to present? It is a great thing doubtless to be able to point to the work of Christ on the cross, and to His resurrection; through these a man gets a good conscience, but the world as dominated by Satan is still here, and unless he is brought morally into a sphere where righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are found, he has no present salvation.
Take the parable in Luke 10. If the Samaritan had left the half-dead man by the roadside, after he had poured in the oil and wine, he would have still been exposed to the robbers; but the Samaritan did not leave him there.
Rem. The man would not have been saved from his enemies if he had been left there, but he was brought to the inn. Where is the inn?
J.T. I fancy it must be among the saints. Where could the Lord find anybody to take care of His
people? Could He go to the rulers of the world, or to the magistrates of the city? No, only to those who loved Him.
R.S.S. Then there is the inn-keeper, which represents the Spirit of God. I suppose the two great things for us today are that Christ is glorified, and that the Spirit of God is here?
J.T. Yes, the Spirit here in the saints involves the "inn", I believe.
Ques. What is your thought in regard to the present moment? Does it not take the character of 2 Timothy, where the apostle exhorts Timothy to do the work of an evangelist? To be an evangelist at the present time, would you not really need to be in the light of the house of God?
J.T. Paul does not tell Timothy to be an evangelist, but to do the work of an evangelist. I think if we are to be of any help to men now we must have living water to offer. What is offered at the end of Revelation 22 is living water, and it is to "whosoever will". The water of life is there, and I think the important thing is to locate it for people.
J.P. I think it very remarkable that that should come in at the end, and it is presented in the widest possible way. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely". Revelation 22:17.
J.T. You must locate it for him. I would not pay any attention to a man's gospel if he does not locate what I need. Man is in need, and the person who preaches the gospel should locate what will relieve him. At the same time, although the Holy Ghost is not anywhere else on earth than in the saints, and in certain cases was received through the administration of man, Acts 8:17; Acts 9:17; Acts 19:6, yet it would be wrong to imply that the church is the giver of living water. Christ is the Giver of living water, although what He gives is now here.THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY ON EARTH
THE TESTIMONY OF GOD
THE CONFLICT
CHRIST CROWNED BY THE FATHER AND BY THE SAINTS
CHRIST IN AUTHORITY
SONSHIP
GUIDANCE
PHILADELPHIA
ORDER
"We look for Thine appearing,
Thy Presence here to bless
We greet the day that's nearing,
When all this woe shall cease", (Hymn 200)THE KINGDOM
JUSTIFICATION AND THE DIVINE SYSTEM
CHRIST AS TURNING POINT AND MODEL
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
THE BLESSING OF ABRAHAM
SONSHIP
THE ASSEMBLY IN THE WILDERNESS AND IN CANAAN
CHRIST AS BUILDER
PREFACE
THE HOUSE OF GOD AND THE GOSPEL