Acts 16:1 - 34

The point I want to call attention to is the way in which the apostle Paul carried on his service, a subject which should not only be of great interest to all who would labour, but to all Christians, whether labourers or otherwise, for it indicates the divine manner of approaching man with the gospel. God takes great pains to allay every prejudice in men; and when it becomes a matter of introducing the gospel to a new continent, this manner on the part of God is brought into evidence.

The incidents recorded in this chapter, as many know, mark the introduction of the gospel into the Western world; it was Paul's first visit to Europe. It recalls to one's mind the attitude of God as foreshadowed in the temple; the cherubim there were looking out toward the house instead of looking down toward the mercy seat as in the tabernacle, as if to take account of the need which was outside, and to meet it in grace. In that outlook God embraced men, for He has a very long look-out. When the prodigal was moving towards his father in Luke 15, his father saw him a long way off, and so here one may picture God looking out towards Europe. He saw the end from the beginning, and that the introduction of the gospel there was to be of far-reaching consequences to the human race. He had His own chosen vessel, too, in Paul for this work, not one sent from Jerusalem, but as one might say, sent from heaven; he was a heavenly missionary. We have to bear in mind that Paul in his evangelical ministry worked from the full height of his commission, as he tells us in his epistle to the Ephesians, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us". (Ephesians 2:4).

As the chapter teaches, Paul is guided to Philippi. He was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach in Asia, and when he assayed to go to Bithynia the Spirit of Jesus suffered him not, and he was subject. A beautiful model for all who serve! Presently, as a subject vessel, he has a vision. There was need in Macedonia, there was need in Europe, a need perfectly known to God, but now already becoming known to a few in Philippi, for there was a spot there where prayer was wont to be made. I wonder if there is any one here who has a spiritual need, who is conscious of his absolute weakness in having to say to God, feeling his powerlessness, and who has the power of evil pressing upon his spirit, and it may be death before him. Is there any one here like that? If so, God takes account of it The man from Macedonia appears in the vision and says, "Come over and help us". It was a call, and the servant was subject, entirely subject, thus affording room for God to show what He had in His mind, and how He would reach the regions beyond. The divine horizon was far beyond even Paul's. Later on he spoke of going to Spain, of going to the utmost limits; he had that in his heart, but God had it in His heart before Paul. God had looked out and saw Europe. One cannot but dwell on that.

Now, God is not carrying on government simply for the sake of having government on earth, but on account of those who shall be heirs of salvation. It is said of angels, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) We may reckon on that, and we should be concerned, as Paul was, with what is going on in the souls of men and women; and when I say women, I say it, because they are very prominent in this chapter. In two of them a work of God had already begun before Paul preached to them. In the third, a dreadful work of the devil proceeded;

sad, solemn fact! It may be that in this company, small as it is, there are those in whom an initial work of God has taken effect, but whose hearts as yet have not come into the good and blessing of the gospel; but, on the other hand, there may be one in whom the devil has begun to work, who has been employed by the devil in some way or other. The damsel with the spirit of divination said, "These men are the servants of the most high God". It sounded very nice; apparently she is a helper of Paul, but in reality she is an agent of the devil, and opposing the introduction of the light of grace. It may be there is one here who has come under the power of the devil; if so, now is your opportunity. The mind of God for you is exactly the same as it is for those in whom God has begun to work. The mind of God for this wretched woman was the same as for the others, for God has not two minds. Of the Saviour God it is said, "who will have all men to be saved". (1 Timothy 2:4) His mind for her was grace, and so the demon was cast out of her.

But to refer for a moment to the first woman mentioned in this chapter, Timothy's mother; she is an honoured woman, she is said to be a "believing woman", for that is how it should read; a Jewess, but not simply one who had believed. To make a profession of faith on a certain day and then to go as usual does not constitute a believing woman. A "believing" woman is one who is marked by faith every day. Well, Timothy's mother was said to be such, she believed not only for herself, but for Timothy. Her mother, too, that is, Timothy's grandmother, we see also was a believing woman. The apostle in writing to Timothy said, "The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice". (2 Timothy 1:5) But I only speak of that to show how important it is for wives and mothers to be believing women; women

who bring in faith, who bring God into things, both in regard to their husbands and their children. As to Timothy's father, all that is said of him is that he "was a Greek". He possibly had a political status, but nothing spiritual is indicated in regard of him, and therefore this is a word for unbelieving husbands. Is there any husband here of whom all that could be said is, that he is an Englishman?

Timothy himself had a good report. We read, "which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium". Young man, young brother, what about you? What about the report that can be made about you in your district? That is a word for young brothers! You all understand that I am endeavouring to make a present application of the facts that are presented to us in this scripture, for, if we profess to believe the gospel, God looks for a life in accord with it. Timothy was such as to be worthy to be taken up by the great apostle as a companion and fellow-labourer; it is said, "him would Paul have to go forth with him". What a trophy of grace! One would appeal to those who have Christian parents as to the importance of following what has come to you through them, lest you should become a profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of meat, a mess of pottage, sold his birthright. One would speak to the young people who know the Lord, for God is taking the old ones home, and you will be called soon, if the Lord tarry, to occupy the ground and to stand for Him. One would desire that your report should be a good one from the Lord's people in the district where you are.

The next woman that we get is Lydia. What one notices in connection with her is that the apostle's desire is first of all to associate himself with that which is of God in that place. He did not take a hall in Philippi and start to preach. He found the place where prayer was wont to be made; he found

that dependence was already there, and he came into touch with it; he and those with him "sat down and spake unto the women"; and now Lydia comes into evidence. This woman was not of Philippi but of the city of Thyatira. She was a seller of purple, she had a trade; of her it is recorded that the Lord opened her heart, "that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul". Notice that! She attended to them, and they were taken into her heart and pondered over.

What about your heart? Simeon in the temple, when he took up Jesus in his arms, said that the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed in connection with that Child. The coming of Christ involved the testing of every heart. How about your heart? Your heart has to be taken account of by itself. The word of God has to be received there, but I would call your attention to what the Lord says in Matthew 13, that while the word may be received, unless it is understood, the devil comes and catches away that which was sown in the heart. The apostle said "the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in heart". (Romans 10:8) Now that is remarkable, because it shows that the word may be received, and yet if it not understood, Satan takes it away. One has seen many instances of that kind, where the enemy takes away the word, so that the man remains what he ever was, he is unaffected. I ask again, How about your heart? Has the word been received into your heart, and has it been understood? The word of God brings in what God is, and what Christ is, and so works effectually in those who believe. It is effectual only in those who believe. Lydia believed; she received the word into her heart, and then she opened her house to Paul.

Now I want to come to the jailor, because, after all he is the character of the chapter; he is the man of Macedonia, and I shall show you, if I can, the

beautiful manner in which God reached this man's heart, and what it involved for the servants of the Lord. One is greatly humbled when one thinks of Paul and Silas, and the great disparity between oneself and such men. Here are two men simply in the hands of God. It is God's work and they are prepared for the path of suffering. "For thy sake we are killed all the day long". (Romans 8:36) And one trembles, and I say it truthfully, when one thinks of what Paul and Silas were, and compares oneself with such. Here are two men ready to be offered up for the gospel. The jailor was charged to keep them safely, and so in the ordering of God they are thrust by him into the inner prison, and their feet were made fast in the stocks. God would reach that man's heart, and God would reach your heart through the gospel. At midnight Paul and Silas sang praises to God. God had His portion in them. What a savour ascended to God that night from that dark dungeon in Philippi. Such is Christianity! They prayed and sang praises to God. God was showing Himself through His servants, through qualified vessels equal to the message. He was showing Himself to the jailor, and not only to the jailor, but to all in the prison; "and the prisoners heard them". (Acts 16:25). God was approaching this jailor and the prisoners.

These servants began by prayer, and proceeded to praise. What energy there was! Their hymns are not preserved, but they sang a hymn of praise, and the prisoners heard; they were compelled to listen. How beautiful! What a moment it was! What a privilege! Think of that jailor being converted that night! Then God acted in power to further His work. "And suddenly there was a great earthquake". (verse 26) God acted, doubtless, by angelic means in that way, and now the jailor is moved. His first thought was to commit suicide, what great folly; that was his first impulse. Think of the heart of man! Suicide

does not take a man out of the presence of God; it takes him into it! The jailor drew out his sword and would have killed himself. Then he heard the voice of Paul, which was full of grace. "He cried with a loud voice" (verse 28); not only were the accents divine, as one might say, but the words themselves, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here", were beautiful. God would preserve man; indeed He preserves the beast. "O Lord, thou preservest man and beast". (Psalm 36:6)

Is there any one here who is pursuing a course of sin? To such an one I would say, The gospel is to do you good. Note how this poor man was changed. He sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. He was evidently affected by the words of grace which fell from Paul's lips as from the Lord's mouth, for "they wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth". (Luke 4:22) And so the jailor calls for a light; he felt the need for it, for his soul was dark; and so is yours if you are groping in the dark and have not come into the light of grace. He rushed in to Paul and Silas, for the light was really there, and he says "Sirs". (Acts 16:30). He no doubt would have used the roughest terms before, but now his mind is changed about them. He would not have said that when he thrust them into prison, but he was changed. He had to do, no doubt, with the roughest of men, who did not deserve terms of respect, but now his mind is changed; it is the effect of conversion. His mind is changed about God, about Christ, and about the servants of Christ; he had despised them. The jailor now uses terms of respect, and they deserved it, for they are indeed God's noblemen. Young people are disposed sometimes to speak with disrespect of the servants of God. He says, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (verse 30) May God grant that someone here may ask that question, if not

already done! Paul gives a simple answer, nothing could be more simple, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house". (verse 31) The jailor had a household, and the message not only embraces him, but those he loved. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house".

That is the message, and the man is reached, he believed, and as we see in the sequel, he was instructed in the word of the Lord. Paul and Silas "spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house". (verse 32) He is to know not only that the Lord has rights over his soul, but that He has a mind about him. The word of the Lord brings to you the mind of the Lord. It is an immense thing to know that the Lord has a mind in regard to me and to all His own; it is most important, therefore, to know the word of the Lord. This is a case where the word of the Lord was received and understood. In verse 32 we find that the children and wife were also instructed by the apostle, I am speaking now of his methods, for it was to all that were in his house that the word of the Lord was spoken; they were all to be instructed in the mind of the Lord.

Now I want to dwell upon what the effect upon this man was. It says, "he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptised, he and all his, straightway". He did not wait; mark, it was done "straightway". I would urge you, whatever the light brings into your soul, to act upon it immediately. He took them the same hour of the night, for the servants had stripes upon their backs. I would never put off baptism, either for myself or my household. It brings them in immediately. Joshua says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord", (Joshua 24:15) and that is what this man says in effect. He washed their stripes, and gave them meat; but he was baptised, he and all

his, straightway. Such is an outline of the manner of the introduction of the gospel into the Western world. I may note another effect of the testimony of grace being received. The man rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. God brings into our souls the element of rejoicing. It is said of the jailor, "When he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced". There was joy in that house. I think it is very beautiful. It is not only that the jailor "believed in God" and "rejoiced", but he did so with all his house; it is 'householdly'; the word is an adverb, and it is intended to show that the joy was not only for the jailor himself but for all his house; what a marvellous result of the gospel! The man was genuinely affected.

May God grant to any of those who may have heard the gospel, to believe it, and may the joy that brings into our hearts be more known by us who believe, and may it be shared by all in the house. The households of the people of God should be scenes of joy.

May God bless His word!

PAUL AND HIS COMPANY

2 Timothy 3:10,11; Acts 26:12 - 18

My thought on this occasion is to say a word about Paul, to seek to make clear, if I can, the circumstances under which he was introduced and their spiritual significance, and then to show a little the main features of his doctrine and manner of life or conduct, and the accompanying features that are mentioned in the passage I read from 2 Timothy. I have chosen that passage because of its bearing on the last days. Timothy being the chosen servant to take up, and continue, and hand on to the saints that which Paul had ministered.

In speaking of Timothy I would call attention to what I think should be observed in regard of him, namely, that in the first letter he is said to have received gift through prophecy and the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, whereas in the second letter his gift is connected entirely with the putting on of Paul's hands, as if to impress upon him that, whilst he had to do with the assembly in order, as an apostolic delegate, and consequently the elderhood or presbytery had necessarily place and influence, now the time had come when Paul's impress must be emphasised. It is well that the elderhood, or presbytery should be observed, but conditions arise in which Paul, as the chosen and faithful vessel of Christ, must take precedence, and so Timothy is to re-kindle the gift of God which was in him by the laying on of Paul's hands. Then another feature in this second letter is that Timothy was to have an outline of sound words. I mention these, dear brethren, as things to be observed now by us, if we are to be here intelligently and rightly for Christ, He was to have "an outline of sound words, which words", says the apostle, "thou hast heard of me".

This involves Paul's doctrine. Paul's teaching was to be held in outline in the ministry of Timothy "in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus". And then, thirdly, he is to pass on to faithful men the things which he had learned of Paul in the presence of many witnesses that they might "teach others also". Thus, in this letter, Timothy (or the man of God for the last days) is to be stamped by Paul's teaching and example. I bring these points forward at the beginning so that we might have in mind how matters stand at this hour, that is, in our day.

Paul and his ministry afford a great test for us in these days. The apostle says in chapter 3, "thou hast fully known [or, 'hast followed up'] my doctrine, manner of life, purpose". I mention this because of the importance of following things up from the outset, that we might have clearly in view what the mind of the Lord is. You will recall how Luke writing with method to Theophilus, "having been accurately acquainted from the origin with all things" began "from the very first"; (Luke 1:2,3) hence the great importance of going back to the beginning; that is, of being in exercise, as Timothy undoubtedly was, in order that we should follow things up and miss nothing. And I may remark another feature in passing, namely, that you have in this letter Paul and his company as it appeared at the end, not as it appeared at the beginning. You will recall the word in Acts 13:13, how that after Paul, having started out from Antioch with Barnabas, had caused blindness to come upon Elymas, the opposer of the truth, mention is made of "Paul and his company". The Spirit of God emphasises the place of this remarkable servant and those who were regarded as his company. That was the beginning, whereas this second letter to Timothy presents to us the company at the end, after having passed through the conflicts, the storms, and all the

efforts of the enemy to shatter it, and although discredited, marred and depleted, it remained true, for Paul was still the triumphant witness, and Luke was with him, with others mentioned honourably, and especially Mark. The case of Mark shows that, whilst the enemy had wrought for disintegration, the Lord had wrought in the way of recovery. The restorative grace of Christ is that which we may reckon upon, dear brethren, so that a man who "separated from them" as it is said of Mark in Acts 13:13, "from Paul and his company", is now sent for, as one who is profitable to Paul for ministry. Wonderful triumph of the restorative grace of Christ! -- a grace, as I remarked, which we may rely upon, and indeed which we should always be in sympathy with, for the Spirit of Christ in us always aims at recovery, never at destruction; so that, although a brother may depart from the company, as Mark did, in the end he is serviceable for ministry.

Now I go on to the circumstances under which Paul was introduced, and what one may call attention to, and what is very well known doubtless to most of us, is the assertion at that juncture of the authority of the Lord. He comes in peculiarly as the Lord at that epoch, for it is a most memorable period in the history of the assembly; the enemy having stirred up a terrific persecution against the saints, Saul entered into the houses one after another, as we are told, and in his zeal dragged off men and women, delivering them up to prison, and now by permission of the priests at Jerusalem he sets out with his credentials to Damascus to carry out his mission of persecution and destruction of the people of the Lord. At that moment the Lord manifests Himself in His authority on behalf of the assembly. He had been made "Lord and Christ", and He is now interfering to assert His authority as such in the way of protection. I commend that simple

thought to you, dear brethren, it is a thought most important to us. The wing of Christ's protection is extended over the assembly, the object of His love; and so the Lord meets this man on the way, having allowed him first to traverse the road from Jerusalem to Damascus.

At this point I would call attention to another feature in the Lord's position; that is, that He had not only come from God, but He had gone to God. I mention that here so that you may see the setting of Paul's introduction. The disciples believed that He had come out from God (John 16:30); that was a good deal to believe, but it was not enough; we must believe that He is gone to God, and I am not now speaking of His exaltation or His ascension, but of what was due to Him morally as having been here as a Man on earth for God's glory. Think of a Man going in to God in the dignity of His Person! I commend that thought to your consideration as the other side to the Lord's position. It may seem very simple, but it is of all moment for us to apprehend that He has gone to God; the truth of His Person is involved in it, but it refers to what He did as a Man here on earth. He went to God, as having glorified God as a Man here on earth. So He says to Paul, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest". (Acts 9:5) He was the Man who had been known on earth, in whom God was glorified, and who could say, "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do"; (John 17:4) it is that Jesus, that Man, the One whom Stephen had seen in the glory, who had gone in to God. And further, dear brethren, I want to say here that the whole mediatorial system which was to come out and be developed in Paul's doctrine hangs on this great fact, that He has gone to God, a Man has gone in to God.

Now, not to dwell in detail as to Paul's introduction, I want to say at this point that whilst the Lord

Jesus revealed Himself in this remarkable fashion in bringing down this mighty agent of the devil, God also was at work at the same time; so the apostle tells us, in writing to the Galatians, that God revealed his Son in him. I shall say a word about that on account of the connection here. "But when God", he says, "who set me apart even from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations". (Galatians 1:15,16) I plead for a moment for that feature, the Father's work, which is parallel with the work of the Son, and brings in the element of sovereignty, a most important element for us. Whilst the Lord acts from heaven, and speaks to Saul by name, and announces Himself to him as "Jesus", the Man, God revealed His Son in him. He revealed His Son in him; that is God's sovereign act, and I want to speak of that, because one feels the immense importance of the sovereign acts of God. Now in acting thus, God acts in relation to the work of Christ; Christ appeared from heaven to Saul, and God revealed His Son in him.

Referring now for a moment to Matthew 16, we find the Father had beforehand revealed the Son to Peter. Peter confessed "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", and the Lord said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly". (Matthew 16:16 - 18) Now "the Christ" was a feature in the revelation to Peter, although the major part of the revelation is the great fact that He is "the Son of the living God"; so that the structure to be reared up would be marked by an understanding of the fact that all things are accomplished, not by human agency nor by combination, but by the Christ. The Christ is the One by whom God effects everything, an

immense thing for us to understand, delivering us, as being in the structure of which this is the foundation, from all dependence on human agencies and methods; we apprehend that the Christ not only tells us all things, but He accomplishes all things for God; He is the Anointed. But then there is also in this revelation to Peter that which is living, and I commend to you at the present time the importance of this feature. The structure is to be replete with life, for it is composed of living stones built "on this rock", which is living; "the Son of the living God". Now we are said to have come to the city of the living God. This comes about, as I apprehend, through the testimony of the twelve; it is involved in the confession by Peter, but we have an additional thought in Hebrews 12, namely, that we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, "the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem", and this latter, I believe, is Paul's feature.

I might remark here that the Father; that is, God, acting sovereignly is, as I said, an immense thing for us, because it is a question of what He does at any particular moment. We read in the Old Testament that He lays "for foundation in Zion, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation", (Isaiah 28:16) but where is He laying His foundation now? It is for us to know, dear brethren, where He lays it, or rather, where He has laid it. It is quite clear that it is not now in Zion literally; it is laid in the souls of His people. According to His sovereign election He lays it, and so, in bringing in this fresh thought; that is, the Son of God, the Person revealed in Paul, we have suggested the dignity and liberty that belong to sonship. In the letter to the Galatians the apostle develops sonship from that point of view, not as a foundation exactly, but as that which occasions liberty in the souls of God's people, so that whilst the testimony is living,

it is also in liberty. It is dignified as being the heavenly Jerusalem; that is Paul's feature. "Jesus is the Son of God", he says; that is the first preaching by Paul, according to the scriptural record.

Now I come to his commission, in order to get some little light on how matters stood as he began his ministry, and I selected Acts 26, because it is one of his own accounts of the occurrence. Chapter 9 is the account given by the Spirit, whereas the two other records are Paul's own accounts. On this occasion he is before king Agrippa, and it is quite evident that the apostle is moved in his soul in speaking of it. I mention that, not to occupy you much with it, but one does think of the importance of being moved in our souls. As the truth develops in us we become habituated to soul movement, and, as I might say, soul emotion. Let us not be without spiritual emotions Godward! Let us not be without true holy emotions as we dwell on the magnitude of the truth! The apostle here seems to be moved; he says, "At midday, on the way, I saw, O king, a light above the brightness of the sun shining from heaven round about me". His heart was affected as he goes on to speak of the light and what it was. Things seemed to have become enhanced in his soul. May God grant that the truth may thus affect us, for, as you will notice, he speaks here of the light in stronger terms than it is spoken of in the earlier record.

Now, passing on to the Lord's commission, He says, "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister". To Ananias He had said that He would show Saul how much he must suffer for Him, but He does not say that to Saul himself, but "To make thee a minister [that is, an 'official servant'] and a witness". In chapter 9:6 he is told to "arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do". I want to dwell for a

moment on that, so that we might have before us the exact position. He is appointed a minister and he magnified his office; it was not that the office magnified him. If any one has any little bit to do for the Lord now, the thing is to magnify it, to magnify the service, so that it be not regarded as a common thing. We are apt to look at the things of God as common, as ordinary; they are not ordinary.

Now, Paul is a minister, and what I want to point out is that his ministry consisted of two parts; in fact there are two ministries, and they are definitely distinct, and this is indicated here, I believe, in what the Lord says, "both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee", including, I apprehend, the truth of the gospel and the great truth of the mystery. I would remark here that the ministry of the gospel (Colossians 1:13) had reference to the bringing in of what God is in Christ to men; so he says, which "was preached to every creature which is under heaven"; a statement which shows that the whole creation was in view in the gospel testimony. Then he goes on to speak of the mystery, I am referring to Colossians 1:24 - 27, and to say that he was a minister of it. The line he took in that service was not bringing God to men, but bringing men to God; hence he speaks of the mystery as "Christ in you [Gentiles], the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus". What a marvellous conception Paul had of the bearing of his ministry; it was "to present every man perfect in Christ". It is not that I would seek to occupy you merely with the facts relating to Paul, but that we might see what it is to be in "his company", so to speak, to be thoroughly acquainted with his doctrine and the manner of his service, for

I apprehend that our position in these last days depends on cleaving to what is presented to us in him; so he says, "To present every man perfect in Christ". (Colossians 1:28)

Now I would commend that to all who seek to serve, for the service is to go on. God has brought about changes in the world to a degree undreamt of by us perhaps, and yet the Scriptures indicate it. He has done it, and it is not in relation to a testimony to come, for He is acting in relation to the testimony that is now. That is what God is doing. Let us not be carried too far. God is acting for us at the present time, and He has moved and brought things to pass; He has weakened the world, in order that His people might come out of Babylon and be brought together as in Christ; that is the ministry of the assembly, but the ministry of the gospel stands also. I am persuaded that God would address Himself to every man today as at the beginning. These two ministries remain in the blessed light they afford us, and it is for every one who ministers to know how ministry was carried on at the beginning. On the one hand there is to be the communication of light, the shedding forth of light, in order that the elect might be brought in, might be saved; and on the other hand, the saints, the assembly, have to be awakened and separated, so as to be in the good of "perfect in Christ Jesus".

And now, dear brethren, let us think for a moment of perfection. Let us not drop to the level of the flesh or of mere mentality in looking at the things of God. The apostle had nothing less than perfection in his mind, and do you think the Lord has anything lower than that in His mind today? What I would say is that Christianity is full measure. Take the way John presents the truth of the Holy Spirit; he says, "God gives not the Spirit by measure", chapter 3:34. Think of that marvellous statement as

marking the present time! Then in chapter 4 the Lord says to the woman, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water". (verse 10). And then He says, "But the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life". (verse 14) Is not that full measure? There are no limitations there, dear brethren. Think of the possibilities there are in the Spirit. Then in chapter 7 the effect publicly towards men is commensurate with this, that is, "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". (verse 38) Think of that, think of the fulness of the measure of Christianity! Let us not lower the standard; let us have it before us. It is God's way of presenting the truth. He does not say 'ought to flow' but "shall flow". It is the full measure of Christianity, and that is what God is working up to, nothing less than that, and it is for us to have that in view, as the apostle had it in his service, "to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus". (Colossians 1:28).

I would now just appeal to all as regards the company, the Pauline company, as I may call it, or in the language of Scripture, "Paul and his company". Is there anyone here who has separated from him and his company? Many, alas! have done it, and I would repeat that the great point for us to see is that there should be recovery. The Spirit of Christ is on that line, and so we get, "he that converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins". (James 5:20) A great service that! And this leads me to remark for a moment on the principle of limitation. God in His judicial ways deals on that principle; sometimes in mercy and at other times in direct judgment. The lake of fire is a limiting principle, but it is limitation under wrath; hence there is no escape

from it, no outlet. But there are limitations in which there is an outlet, that is to say, limitations of mercy. What God did at Babel was a limitation, but it was a limitation of mercy in which there was an avenue left open for God to approach the nations, which He did in Christ, and an avenue open for men to return to God through Christ. Thank God! So God may limit any of us, but His present limitations are the limitations of mercy in order that we may find the way back; for if I am not in Paul's company, so to speak, or in the company of the Lord Jesus, in the happy fellowship of God's people, it is a mercy for me to be limited, so we have in the New Testament the principle of binding and loosing. Thank God for loosing, but the binding is equally valuable, for the binding is a mercy if it lead to self-judgment and recovery.

I am not speaking of what is official, but of a principle that should govern us in the house of God. Those who follow the ways of God will know that He continually acts on this principle, and the saints should be in accord with Him in it. We may be slow to exercise the loosing principle, as Peter was. The Lord gave him the keys of the kingdom, saying, "whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven", (Matthew 18:18) but he was very slow to use them; but the Lord leads him to it. The sheet was let down in order to impress Peter with the importance of loosing, because the loosing would involve a wonderful thing, the going up to heaven and coming down from heaven. It opened up an immense area spiritually. If I am bound, I am limited in the enjoyment of the truth, but if I am loosed, I am introduced into the full scope of Christianity, and what is that? It is that which is eternal in character, for Christianity has no limit. It is like the feast of Pentecost, without any time limitation.

Thank God! It is the dispensation of the Spirit in that sense, and He links us up with that which is eternal. What a blessed thing to be loosed, but how solemn to be bound, even though it be by the mercy and judicial discipline of God.

May the Lord bless the word.

THE ONE MAN AND THE COMPANY

Isaiah 3:1 - 3; 4:1; Zechariah 8:23

God allows things to happen in the circumstances of His people and of man generally to turn men to Himself. All the happenings in the world are intended to turn men to God. Isaiah 3 refers to this. God had in discipline removed the whole stay of bread and the whole stay of water, and the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, so that all might see that they were not to rely on men. That which we should naturally lean on is taken away; food and great men are removed; this clears the ground for chapter 4. In the sense of their need, those in want and reproach lay hold of one man: one man instead of many men. There is a sense of reproach; they say, "Let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach". Is there anyone here who, not knowing the Lord Jesus, is in need of Him?

The woman spoken of in John 4 was in this state. She was under reproach; she had to come out to the well at a time when others did not come, but she met the one Man. She found One who could supply her with everything she needed spiritually; and not only that, but He could tell her what was in her heart. He says to her, "Thou hast had five husbands"; but in spite of this fact she had to draw water for herself. There was evidently no man to provide for her, nor could any take away her reproach. Being alone, and in reproach, she finds the Lord, and she speaks of Him as One who told her all things that ever she did; she has found the one Man.

This one Man is the only hope, not only for each of us, but for the whole world. The world is looking out today for a leader; conditions that have arisen have brought into evidence that governments are

unable to control the world, and when the man who is spoken of as the antichrist appears, he will be received. The only hope now for man is to accept Christ, who is presented in the gospel as the One who has effectuated the righteousness of God, and who gives the Holy Spirit. Moreover, God has appointed a day in which He will judge the world by this Man; but He is now presented to individuals. He is presented not only to be our Lord, that is to subdue us and to protect us, but to be our Head. The Head gives us wisdom. In this world, where Satan's power is, man needs protection, and he gets protection in the Lord. You lift up your head in the knowledge that Christ is in heaven and exercises all power on earth. But then you not only need forgiveness and the Spirit, which you get from the Lord, but you need a Head. Christ is my Head, He enlightens me and shows me the way out of the world. I am known here by His name. They say, "We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name".

How one's position is altered before men! Instead of being known according to what one has been, one is known by Christ's name. The woman of Sychar would henceforth spiritually be known as, related to Christ, as having Christ as Head. He not only tells me all things that ever I did, but He tells me all things that ever I should do henceforth. Henceforth, as a believer in Christ, I am to be called by His name and to be guided by Him. As unconverted men or women in this world we were spiritually under reproach; that is, as seen by heaven, and we need to have our reproach taken away. We must accept the fact that each individual has sinned "I have sinned". On the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached, they said, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" He replied, "Repent, and be baptised each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the

remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". (Acts 2:38) In that way one's reproach is taken away spiritually. Henceforth the believer lifts up his head with the helmet of salvation on it, as knowing the Lord, and His name is called upon him. He is told in Romans to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we come to Zechariah, it is not seven women that are spoken of, but ten men. The thought of women is weakness, and the need of support. A man is, in a way, self-supporting. The allusion is to a believer who has come to recognise that he has the Spirit. Zechariah would refer to the believer as needing society or company, fellowship. Hence he takes hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. A Jew is described in Romans 2:28,29. As Christians we seek such men. I would ask the young people here as to what society they seek. The Jew here is one whose praise is of God, and who is circumcised in heart. Naturally speaking, young people like the society of those that are highly esteemed among men, whereas truly exercised young or old person seeks the society of those who are in favour with God. The ten men come out of all languages of the nations, we read. We see here prophetically that when God works among the nations in the future, in regard of Jerusalem, they come out of all the nations. National distinction shall disappear in that day; that is to say, there will be a recognition of Christ and the people of God.

Now this has its answer today in the house of God. The house of God is not a national, but a universal idea. It is what is called catholic; it is composed of those who have the Holy Spirit, whose praise is of God and not of men. I would again ask in regard of the young people: have those present any exercise as to finding the house of God? One thing that marks the house of God is that God dwells there. Here they say, "We will go with

you: for we have heard that God is with you". God is dwelling in the house by the Spirit. Now it will be noticed that these ten men lay hold of the skirt. Sometimes young believers like to be noticed and cared for. They should of course be taken care of by the elder ones; but do they take hold of the skirts of the elder Christians? That means that I act. I am not seeking for others to act for me I am acting for myself. There is no likelihood that this Jew referred to would resent his skirt being laid hold of. When the Lord was here, the woman with the issue of blood touched His garment. He did not resent being touched; He knew, however, that He was touched. He knew that virtue had gone out of Him, but He did not resent it. On the contrary, He said, "Daughter be of good comfort". The virtue that went out of Him healed her, and she was called a daughter. How blessed it is to know that the Lord accords to us a relationship of this kind! He said to her, "Thy faith hath made thee whole" (Luke 8:48). It was faith that led her to touch the hem of His garment. The Jew referred to here would have a character like Christ. So he does not resent his skirt being laid hold of; yea, rather, a true Jew or a true Christian loves to have others draw near to him in this way. It is wisdom for the young to keep near the Lord's people. They find love and care there.

Isaiah 4 shows how a sinner's reproach is taken away and he has a Head in Christ, to whom indeed in Romans 7 he is said to be married. In 2 Corinthians 11:2 it is said that we are espoused to one Man, to be presented a chaste virgin to Christ. Therefore the believer is henceforth in relation with one and that Man is Christ in heaven. He is also in relation with the people of God down here. We read in Acts that the Lord added daily such as should be saved. Here, however, the believers seek out those who know the name of the Lord and know where

the Lord is. Ruth said to Naomi, "Thy people shall be my people", (Ruth 1:16) and they say here, "God is with you". That is the normal result of the gospel being received into the soul; we want to be where God is, and God is with those that are true Jews, who are circumcised in heart, and whose praise is of God. Paul said, "We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God ... ... and have no confidence in the flesh". (Philippians 3:3) We learn from that verse who the true Jews, the circumcision, are.

May God bless the word to us.

SYMPATHY WITH THE MIND OF GOD AS TO HIS TESTIMONY

Summary of Reading

Jonah 1 and 2

This book helps us to see that God was not limited to Israel in Old Testament times, and we see here the way God educates His servants in order that they may be sympathetic with His mind at any moment. God turns Jonah's self-will to account, and disciplines him, so that in result he goes to Nineveh as having passed through this peculiar experience. The book shows that he fell short in his sympathies with God, yet ultimately he went to Nineveh as a man who had been through death in figure.

The apostle had to tell the Jews that salvation was sent to the Gentiles and they would hear; (Acts 28:28). It comes to us through the true Jonah, the One who is in entire sympathy with God, who came preaching the glad tidings of peace to those who are near and to those who are far off. In such an One the gospel testimony has been presented to us.

The book gives us the foreshadowing of the gospel coming to the Gentiles through Christ. It is only a shadow, of course. Christ was the perfect Preacher. There are three great preachers in the Old Testament, Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, and Jonah. Nebuchadnezzar preached to all his realm after his wonderful experience under the discipline of God. See Daniel 4:1. "Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you". Then he proceeds to outline what had happened to him and in the last verse says, "those that walk in pride he [God] is able to abase". It is a wonderful message to send to all the inhabitants of the world by one who had been through things with God. A preacher is one who

has gone through things with God. This is necessary if God is to be presented rightly. How much the great apostle of the Gentiles suffered in order that the compassions of God in relation to all men might be developed in his soul! The word says, "I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake", (Acts 9:16).

When we extend the thought to Christ, what a sense we get of what He has gone through, as, after all, He is the anointed Preacher, and the principle that comes out in Solomon is that the preacher is king. It is not that the king is preacher, but the preacher is king. Solomon is the outstanding preacher of the Old Testament, he is called such. One who is king has access to all, has right of way. The book of Acts shows how the king has acquired right of way. Satan aimed at the twelve, and in connection with the persecution by Saul, the enemy made a great attempt to blot out the testimony. But the Lord came in as King, meeting Saul and breaking him down as he went out of Jerusalem accredited by the high priest with authority to imprison all whom he found "of this way", as it says in Acts 9:2. The Lord came in in authority and subdued Saul, so that instead of his being any longer an opposer, he is employed by the King to preach. We can reckon on the Lord in heaven making a way for the preaching. This is seen here in principle in the way God uses the elements, such as the raging of the sea; all is to the end that the preacher may go to Nineveh.

So one is able to lift up one's head in the sense that the Lord is making way for us. "No one shall set on thee to hurt thee", He said to the apostle in Acts 18:10. God saw to that; He guarded His servant. In Acts 16 we read that Paul and Silas attempted to go to Bithynia, but "the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not". They must go this way, to Macedonia. "Assuredly gathering", they say

"that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them"; so that everything works for the accomplishment of the Lord's will.

It is remarkable that Jonah complains. We read of another who went down to Joppa, Simon Peter, and who had to be called away in view of preaching to the Gentiles; and we see the same principle that comes out here in the course God took to bring him into sympathy with His own outlook. It is noticeable that while God uses the Jewish apostles there is not the same sympathy seen in them with the work of God as in Paul. Things were in Jonah's favour, too. It is remarkable the sympathy the boatmen had with him. They tried to row to the shore, but God's power was greater than their oars. He would see to it that His servant should go back. It is wonderful that it should pleased God to take up such as Jonah. He could have sent one of the angels, and the message would have been carried at once, but it must be by Jonah.

We were noticing last night in Nehemiah 9 how the priests and Levites speak to Jehovah, and address Him as "Thou art he", or "the Same". He had called Himself "I am" in committing Himself to them. He told Moses to tell Israel that He was "I am", the existing One, and in Nehemiah they respond, saying, "Thou art he". They had proved He was what He said He was. It is a God whom you have learned and proved that you present to others. Jonah had a great opportunity, because he had proved God in this wonderful way. He had been kept alive in the fish, and brought to land, and thus learned that "Salvation is of the Lord", (Psalm 3:8). So it was for him now to present this. He would preach what was in his heart. So the power of God operates in you experimentally, before you can use it in service. Paul refers to himself as a vessel of mercy, the chief of sinners. And we are said to be

vessels of mercy. We present what is in our hearts. Paul said to the elders of Ephesus, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God", (Acts 20:27). He kept back nothing. Obviously Jonah kept back a good deal, but God would not be thwarted. "And should not I spare Nineveh", He says, "that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons". Jonah should have thought of them, "and also much cattle". Jonah should have thought of the cattle. God had given him an opportunity of being sympathetic with all.

I suppose in coming to the point of paying his vow Jonah recognised he belonged to Jehovah, and would now yield himself to Jehovah; he would not allow his will to carry him away. It is like Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable [or intelligent] service". "Intelligent" would refer to what you have gone through. Christians do not make vows in detail, but you get the spirit of a vow in Christianity. The paying of a vow is very important. It is a question of whose I am. Am I wholly for God?

Jonah accepts the obvious judgment of God on him. The men would have rowed him to shore, but the waves were against him, and Jehovah knew that. God comes in when Jonah accepts this. No one is any good until he reaches this point; the judgment of God is accepted. What we see here is the righteous judgment of God on a man pursuing his own will; he must be cast into the sea; but when judgment is accepted, God comes in for him. When in a stormy sea it is well to come to it that God has a point to be reached, and the moment that is arrived at God comes in. The storm will arise and the waves beat until the judgment of God is accepted, and then it comes to light how God has

been working to preserve the man. But primarily his will has to be broken. "Now the Lord had prepared a great fish", the word says, "to swallow up Jonah". What stupidity of infidels to say that the throat of the fish could not hold Jonah! If God prepared the fish, he would take care of the size of its throat.

God is in supreme control. He would bring up this wonderful product from the depths of the sea. Did the sea ever send out such a product before? Never! Think of the sea giving up such a person, a man who could speak as he did, a living man who could praise God. "My prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple", Jonah says, and adds, "I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed". The temple is before him. The Psalms, and this is one, give the great result for God, they are the outgoings of the heart of a man who knew God. Jonah thinks of the temple and of sacrifice to God. So in Acts 16 the prison is turned into a temple; the fish's belly is turned into that here. Priestly exercises went on there. Jonah thought of God, and prayed to Him, and came to it that "Salvation is of Jehovah". All this went on, and then it says, "The Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land".

One is reminded of Christ, Jonah's great Antitype, where He speaks of God inhabiting the praises of Israel; (Psalm 22:3). From the depths of death He considered for God in His holy temple. What marks a priest, however dark the situation for him circumstantially, is consideration for God; and God's answer to that is that He must bring that kind of man out of death, for He needs him here in the testimony; hence when we think of Christ, all the affections that clustered around Him as Man were

operative in raising Him. He was raised by the Father's glory. He speaks only to God, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" but He goes on, "Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel". That was God's place There is no complaint, but priestly concern for God Then, after all is accomplished, He can say, "Father into thy hands I commend my spirit". (Luke 23:46) Earlier He had said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". (verse 34) A priestly spirit is manifest all through His sufferings. The whole system of praise was present to His heart at that moment. In resurrection He brings in the assembly, not only that He inhabits the praises of Israel, but the assembly is introduced. We should not be satisfied with being preachers merely.

Let us be priests first. As to our order we are already priests, but am I a priest by intelligence? The Lord left a company of priests in the temple before He sent them forth as preachers. A stormy scene helps us; it is not against us; it is part of our education. There seemed no hope for Jonah, but God prepared a fish. Swallowing up is a very humiliating process. The ark of gopher wood which Noah made suggests dignity. Noah is in charge, and he goes in, then the others follow, but here the experience is most humiliating. Of Christ Himself it was said, "he was crucified through weakness", (2 Corinthians 13:4). He was three days and three nights "in the heart of the earth", (Matthew 12:40). What a solemn side this presents. The fish swallowed up Jonah. How admirably fitted this creature was to bring about the experience necessary for Jonah! "Out of the belly of hell cried I", he says. It refers to the grave, I suppose. Then he goes on to describe his experiences. "Thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas ... ... all thy billows and thy waves passed over me", verse. 3. The waves of the ¶

Mediterranean were God's waves, showing how creation is utilised by God for His discipline.

With a priestly spirit there is discrimination as to each feature of suffering. It is seen here in Jonah, and when we think of the Lord, everything was felt by Him intensely and perfectly.

The second message tells Jonah again to go to Nineveh. It would seem as if God said, 'Now Jonah, I have not changed my mind', and the use of the word preaching in chapter 3:2 would suggest something. God assumes now that Jonah is fitted so that there can be preaching. We are not told what it was to be; we only know what he said. With Christ everything was told out.

HOW WE ARE EDUCATED TO HAVE SYMPATHY WITH GOD IN THE GOSPEL

Luke 13:35; 14:1 - 23; 15:22 - 32

I want to say a word about the house of God as it is presented to us in the gospel of Luke. Luke has his own way of presenting the truth, as specially fitted of the Lord, and he invariably presents it as in relation to the gospel; that is, he presents the subject in relation to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ as the anointed One, according to chapter 4, for the presentation of the gospel. He writes, as he tells us, "with method", which is an important feature in ministry. He says, "it has seemed good to me ... . to write to thee with method, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things in which thou hast been instructed". (Luke 1:3,4) He brings in households and opens up to us the conditions that existed in these households.

John, on the other hand, treats more of the family; he is concerned with the derivation of the saints; that is, they are God's children; not so much their public history, what they had been, but their origin, and how they were being educated by the Lord for their place in the Father's house, which He had gone to prepare. So John says the son abides in the house for ever; he has an eternal thought in mind, whereas Luke is concerned with what is provisional as connected with and supporting the gospel testimony during the period known or spoken of by the Lord and also by the prophet as "the acceptable year of the Lord". Luke, therefore, as I said, deals with households or houses, in which the various heads were responsible, having in view that they should have a part in God's house; in other words, whether it be a parent or child, the thing in view with each

of us in household culture and nurture is that we should have part in the house of God as it is set up here provisionally in relation to the gospel.

So in Luke 4 we read, that the Lord enters into Simon's house, a man who was afterwards to have a very great place in the house of God, and the Lord finds Simon's wife's mother sick of a fever. He, standing over her, rebukes the fever. He did not rebuke her, because He was dealing in grace; He rebuked the fever; He would relieve her. The fever left her, and then He took her by the hand and raised her up, with the result that she served them, not only Him, but them. Now this is an item of importance, and as one might say, the first item of education in view of what the evangelist has in his mind. We have to learn to be free of the fever, whatever that may be in each case. It is a common malady spiritually, and we have to be free of it in order to serve; in fact we cannot serve if we are not free, for we have to be served. Thank God there are those who are free of it to serve those who are not, but His thought is that the house should be free of feverish, irritable, complaining persons.

Then in chapter 5 a man who is a paralytic is brought to the Lord; he needed to be served; he was not exactly irritable, but burdensome. He was brought to the Lord by sympathetic persons who cared for him. Luke does not tell us the number of men, it simply says, "men brought in"; but Mark says, that there were four. It says he was carried on his "little couch", for that is how it should read. It is a suggestive thought, there was a certain advantage in this man's case in regard to those who had to do with him, the couch was "little"; and the Lord in answering the thoughts and reasonings of His enemies says to the paralytic, "Arise, take up thy little couch and go into thy house". The Lord did not rebuke the palsy, neither did He stand over

the man, nor did He take his hand; for here it is a question of His authority, the authority of His word, the word of Christ.

As I remarked, the advantage of the little couch is obvious; he was evidently a little man, his circumstances were little, and of course, that has a spiritual meaning. It is dangerous to be big; even as unconverted, a great man is at a great disadvantage, and certainly a man should not be bigger or greater after conversion than before. It is not the Lord's intention that His people should spread out like trees in the world; His thought is rather that His people should be reduced in an external way; certainly if they are being educated to have part in the house of God, it is of all moment that they should accept that littleness is the divine thought; not littleness, surely, in a spiritual way; that is another matter, but littleness in regard of human circumstances; there is a great advantage in it. Og, king of Bashan, was a big man and had a very large bed (Deuteronomy 3:11); but this man in Luke must have been a little man, for he had a little bed, suggestive of the fact that he was a man of little circumstances and no doubt for that reason, he came in for more sympathy in his soul's needs; for he is a type of condition of soul.

Then, later in the chapter Levi, who is no doubt the counterpart of the man with the little couch, invited the Lord into his house. He was evidently a man of riches, a man of means; but being the counterpart of the man with the little couch, he was not big in his own apprehension. He did not regard his means as adding to him in any wise; they never add to us; on the contrary, the tendency is for them to detract from a person spiritually unless he holds them in regard of Christ, as a steward and a good steward. Unless he holds them in that light, the tendency would be to detract from him spiritually. So Levi makes a great entertainment for Christ in

his house, and the kind of people that the Lord would desire to have, from Luke's point of view, were in the house, "a great crowd of tax gatherers and others". I am referring to that in a moral way, so that we might see how Luke would lead us on in our education, in order that we might have part in the house of God. We shall all have part in the Father's house; God will have us there; the Lord has gone to prepare a place there; but I am speaking for the moment of the house in its provisional aspect in relation to the gospel.

I am somewhat afraid, dear brethren, that we are forgetting the gospel. I believe it is the divine thought that an evangelistic spirit should be found with the people of God at the end. I say that advisedly. I believe God will bring that about, not only an assembly state in regard of Christ, but an evangelical sympathy in sentiment and feeling. Luke speaks of the year, "the acceptable year"; mark it is not only what was preached in the year, but that the year itself was preached. He says, "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord", as if it were glad tidings that there should be a long period of grace called "the acceptable year". That should be kept in mind; we are near the end of it, but it still remains, and the point is that there should be that spirit of evangelisation until all the elect shall be saved. I believe God will bring that about, and Luke has it in view.

So Levi makes a great entertainment for Christ and then he had the kind of guests in his house that the Lord would appreciate; not his rich neighbours or relatives, those who could repay him, but he gets together the kind of people that the Lord desired; there was a company of publicans and sinners there. This drew out a certain opposition and criticism, for we read, "But their scribes and Pharisees murmured", but Jesus said, "I came not to call the righteous

but sinners to repentance". Levi anticipated, or understood, the point of view, that it was the acceptable year, and the feast was in accord with it. He entertained Christ in that relation; it was not exactly a family affair, that is more John's side. Levi entertained the Lord in a manner in keeping with the acceptable year which had begun.

I have mentioned these three incidents of houses that we might have them before us as indicative of the educational line which Luke has before him in his gospel, to prepare householders for the house of God. Matthew speaks of the householder; he says that a scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, who brings out of his treasure things new and things old; that is Matthew's point of view You can understand how Matthew would bring in the old things, the testimony of Moses and the prophets; the householder must have them in his treasury; the old things are there, not in the sense of cast-off things that are threadbare, but as antiques, things of value. There are such things in Scripture, and we must be on our guard not to discard the things of the Old Testament. They are kept in the treasury of every scribe instructed into the kingdom of heaven, and he brings them forth as he has opportunity; he delights in the antiques as one might say, but he brings in the new first; the things in the New Testament are brought in and developed, but he does not forget the old: he calls attention to the old things, how they all point to Christ. There are old things and new things, and they both go together, they belong to the treasures of the scribe who is instructed into the kingdom of heaven. That indicates Matthew's point of view. He is concerned about Christ as the Heir of David, and necessarily, all things that come down, as one might say reverently; the things are handed down that belong to the family and should be treasured

in the household, from Matthew's standpoint. But Luke is concerned about the sympathy, the evangelical sympathy, of the people of God.

Now there is another feature in chapter 10 as to Mary and the house of Martha, in Bethany. It says that Martha received the Lord into her house; the Spirit of God says that; she had the house and she had extended hospitality, genuine hospitality. Now we may be hospitable and yet not teachable. We have to acquire the habit of being taught of the Lord in our houses. Hospitality is spoken of in Scripture and valued in Scripture, but teachability is more important than hospitality. The Lord will teach us, and so it says, "Mary having sat down at the feet of Jesus, was listening to his word". That is how it should read. What a character she was! He was speaking, and whatever He said she listened to it; that is the true disciple; she was truly teachable, simply listening to whatever Christ had to say. Do you know anything about listening to Him? He is very varied in what He says. Whatever He said, Mary listened to it, but Martha did not. Martha owned the house; she extended hospitality and received Him into the house, and not only so, she served, she did the work; but one thing was needful and that was teachability. If we are not teachable, subject to Christ, receiving His word, all else will fail; so the Lord puts that right, so far as His word went; He said, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but there is need of one and Mary has chosen the good part". He had the house of God in view, and the one thing that He spoke about was essential in the house of God, that is, to listen. Martha might be hospitable and active in her house, but in the house of God where would she be? She was not listening, she was occupied with the cares and things of her house.

The position in the house of God is, that the

Spirit speaks there, and Christ speaks in the house. If we have not learned to listen, it is quite evident that we have missed the gain of what is going on; and hence the great advantage and gain of acquiring the habit in our houses of listening to the Lord and being taught of Him, of becoming teachable. Well, Luke presents all these things, as I have said, in view of the house of God.

Now I come to chapter 13. The Lord says to the Jews, "Your house is left unto you". The word desolate in the authorised version should not be in the passage. We are now dealing with what had taken place in the house of God. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" And then He adds, "Behold, your house is left unto you". Now, dear brethren, how do we stand in relation to our local company? Is it your company, or is it God's company? Is it God's house? If it is yours, if you regard it in that light in any way, if you rule there, and your influence there, your example there, has in view that it is yours in any sense, then you are in danger of it being left to you. I suppose we might say Christendom sets before us a solemn example of it; what once had the name and the reality of being God's house is left unto them. They have arrogated it to themselves. Now God says, It is yours. God is not there, and it is all out of order if God is not there. "Behold! your house is left unto you, and I say unto you that ye shall not see me until it come that ye say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord". The Lord says a very solemn thing, that they are not to see Him until they shall say, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord". They will have to come back to divine authority,

divine order, for apart from these things they will not see Him.

Then the Lord proceeds to show how we are to be in the house of God. He begins by finding, in the house He was invited to, a man who had the dropsy, whatever that may be spiritually. It was some disease, and shows, that that which might have been helpful to the man, has, through some abnormal formation, rendered him inflated in the house. This man who might have been helpful to himself and to others is rendered an invalid in the house; but the Lord heals the dropsical man, and that is grace. We can reckon on the healing of the Lord; and I do not know of anything that is more encouraging, in having to do with the house of God, than this; where one is exposed to disease and will is not at work we can reckon on divine healing, the healing of the Lord. How could we go on without this? Where should we be? But the Lord comes in and touches this brother and that brother, and this sister and that sister; apart from this we could not walk together, but we can reckon on the Lord putting us right and keeping us right.

Then He goes on to note how certain ones chose the chief rooms. He says, so to speak, I have healed that man, but here is the certain road to disease. Should we not be wise and take the road that will save us from it? The Lord marked those who chose the first places, those who sought a place in the house of God, and, in His own way, while exposing the working of the flesh, He shows the wisdom of taking the lowest place. He says, You are placing your host at a great disadvantage. Why should I place my brethren in the position of humbling me? If they do not, the Lord will; it may take days, or months, or years, but he will do it; for He is over the house of God and nothing escapes His notice. Then He says, You will have honour in the presence

of the guests if you are only humble enough for it. The Lord has more pleasure in honouring a brother than in humbling him. "He lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes"; (1 Samuel 2:8) that is His way. If we have to do with the house of God, we must be humble and take the lowest room. The house belongs to Christ and all the rooms in it are His. He must have His way, and He gives each of us our position according to His wisdom. He has His own prerogatives, and He gives each servant according to His sovereign will.

Then He says, If you invite, do not invite your rich neighbours. That is, you are not to do things for recompense in the house of God. The world in the very principle of it never does anything except in view of recompense -- a return; this is what marks the flesh. What the Lord enunciates here is that you are not to have that in mind at all; what you are to have before you is to reflect what God is, and what He has in mind, that is to say, the gates of Zion; "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob". (Psalm 87:2) He is interested in every one of us. He loves the gates of Zion; that is really the assembly. It is the sovereignty of God. He administers according to His sovereign love and bounty; and so He loveth the cheerful giver, for such a one is in accord with the gates of Zion. So in making an entertainment you are not to have recompense in mind; you want to satisfy the love of your heart; you do not discriminate against the poor in favour of the rich, as the Corinthians were doing, but you invite those who cannot repay you, you act in love and grace. To such the Lord says, "Thou shalt be blessed and it shall be recompensed thee in the resurrection of the just". You will have it then.

Then one of them that sat at meat with Him said, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom

of God". The man had taken note of what the Lord said, and he says in effect, I would like to eat bread in the kingdom of God, where things are regulated according to God. One has seen queues of people (especially on the Continent) waiting for bread and other necessaries to be doled out to them, but that is not like the kingdom of God; the kingdom of God is different from that. God says, "I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread". (Psalm 132:15) How the heart looks on to the time when this very earth shall be marked by that instead of the scanty provision! Not that one would say anything against the effort to secure just distribution, one is thankful for it; but I am only contrasting it with the kingdom of God. I suppose we as Christians can testify to what it would be to eat bread in the kingdom of God, the order of things which God administers, for as in it one feels that one is nourished by God Himself, "Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning". (James 1:17) He feeds us bountifully; it is all according to divine order. So the Lord, when feeding the multitude, made them sit down, and then He blessed the bread, then broke it, and they were all abundantly satisfied, and there were twelve baskets over. I only speak of the kingdom of God as it is put here.

Then in Luke 14 the Lord opened up the parable of the Supper, which is so well known to many of us here. He says, "A certain man made a great supper and bade many". He uses the suggestion of a listener to bring out something that was greater than the kingdom; that is, God's celebration in His house of the death and resurrection of Christ. He shows, in the parable, God's delight in the work of redemption, in the accomplishment of righteousness. He would have all to have part in it. He first sends an invitation, and those invited refuse to come. Then He urges

some from the streets and lanes of the city to come in, and compels others. One would dwell on the means that God uses to compel souls to come into the house; He says, "Compel them to come in". That is how God looks at things; He never raises a doubt; He never raises a question of the possibility of their refusing. Those who were bidden refused, but with the other two classes the thought of refusing is never hinted at. God has His own way in bringing souls in.

I suppose everyone here can testify to the compelling grace of God in taking us out of the wretchedness in which we were and placing us in His house; not that we are in the house in that wretchedness. Other scriptures teach us how we are there; indeed, chapter 15 shows us how we are to be there; we are to be there in the best robe. The best robe is not presented as fitting us for heaven; it is a question of our place here, for the elder brother hears the music and the dancing. The house must be filled, and it will be filled with those whom God compels into it. Remember, all the education that went before is in view of the house, all these people who have been compelled to come in are not there without education, God sees to that. The point of view is grace; how the house will be filled, and how, as filled, it expresses the grace of God during this acceptable time.

Now just a word about the robe. When you come to the returning prodigal you get the word "Bring forth the best robe". It does not say from where the robe is brought forth; and although the best robe and the shoes and the ring were put on the prodigal, we are not told that he was brought into the house. In chapter 14 they were compelled to come in, but in chapter 15, the Lord does not say that the prodigal was brought in, the reason being that he himself was part of the house. In his not

being brought in, I apprehend the point that the Spirit has in mind is that as clothed in the best robe and shod and ringed we form part of the house; it is the dignity of it in chapter 15. The people who are there show us what the house is. Then following upon that we have the music and the dancing and merriment; and the elder brother comes up and hears the music and dancing.

The place that music and dancing have in relation to Christianity and the grace of God is very striking. In Psalm 87 we read: "As well the singers as the dancers say, all my springs are in thee", that is, in Zion. They do not draw anything at all from the world, they owe nothing to the flesh; they draw everything from that blessed city called Zion. "All my springs are in thee". I think in that way we have the constitution of the house. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, and all that is involved in that presence, we learn the meaning of merriment. What incomparable holy emotions are felt in the house of God! Thus we are led on and up to it according to the lines indicated in Luke, and we learn to value those holy emotions, which have touched the spiritual chords of our hearts. The Holy Spirit produces the music and the dancing in the presence of God, whose delight is in those He has brought there, for they are there all according to Christ.

I do not add more; that is the line I had before me, and I hope it is plain to each of us that God would have us in His house in full sympathy with Himself in regard to the gospel testimony.

GOD STANDING ON THE ALTAR

Amos 9:1 - 6

What is specially in my mind is the position in which the Lord is seen in this chapter; He is "standing upon the altar". One could speak of many positions in which the Lord is seen, using the term Lord for the moment as referring to Christ. He is seen at the right hand of God; He is seen walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks in Revelation; and Isaiah says, "In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple", (Isaiah 6:1). But here He is standing upon the altar. The Lord Jesus was upon the altar in another attitude; it touches the believer to connect Him with the altar. There are several altars spoken of in Scripture; one of the most interesting being in Genesis 22, where Christ is seen figuratively bound to it. The ram caught in the thicket by its horns, being offered up, is the complete thought typically of Christ's sacrificial death.

There was nothing feigned about Jesus; however you view Him, everything is real, especially Gethsemane and the cross. Our sins were there, but He went forward; He bare our sins, we are told, in His own body, (1 Peter 2:24). He has done many things through others, and He is doing things through others, and He will do things through others, but He did that Himself; He bare our sins in His own body on the tree. And not only so, but He was made sin; (2 Corinthians 5:21). Let us take that in. Not only did He become identified with us in His death, but He was made sin for us. How thoroughly, therefore, sin has been dealt with, and it is "that we might become God's righteousness in him"; not only accounted righteous, but we become the thing itself.

But here He is standing on the altar. That is to

say, God is standing on the altar. That is His attitude, and although the setting related to God's earthly people, and will have application and has had application, it has application now. It depicts in a striking manner, to my mind, the present attitude of God in Christendom, for it has to be remembered that the gospel service today is almost entirely within the area of Christendom; within the sphere in which men and women profess nominal relationship with God. The name Christian is nothing if it is not that, and it is what this scripture implies that in spite of the conditions that have come about in the area of Christian profession, God is still standing on the altar. That is the position. It will not last long; the standing attitude intimates that it is not for a great duration. The sitting attitude is for duration, but this is a standing attitude and one whence God speaks in the most solemn manner to persons who are in outward relationship with Him, but void of any inward relationship, and therefore occasioning His most stern resentment. Yet the altar is there, the means of being in positive vital relationship with God are there. There can be none without the altar. And so I am here tonight as well as thousands of others elsewhere, standing up in this service to convey to you that God is still speaking in relation with the altar; but He may cease at any time, and without warning; indeed, He is full of ire in regard of the attitude and conduct of those who are nominally in relationship with Him. It is wonderful to those of us who know God, to see how patient He is, how He continues patiently in the gospel, in His gracious attitude towards men in the presence of such indifference, such worldliness, such disregard for His rights as are manifest generally.

Lately one has been dwelling on the history of Ahab. He represents Christendom. He is one of the worst men spoken of in Scripture, and his wife

the worst woman, yet God undertakes to help him and to save him. And so it is that in spite of the unparalleled wickedness of mankind as seen in Christendom, where despite has been done to the Spirit of grace, where the blood of the covenant has been trampled under foot, where Christ's rights have been denied on every hand and are being denied, where His Person has been blasphemed, I am here tonight to announce the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, that God is still saving, and that He is without partiality, for He would save even an Ahab. If so, why not you, however bad you may be? Before there is any mention of Jezebel, Ahab is said to be one of the wickedest of men, and to add to this he married her. It was in his days that Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho (1 Kings 16:34); that is to say, the world as opposed to God, once overthrown, is set up again. Yet the man in whose reign that was done is an object of mercy with God! The Syrians attack him and God sends a prophet to him to tell him that he is going to help him. So I am here to tell you that God is ready to save you.

Possibly in the city of Rome the gospel is being announced; the gospel is announced in all the great cities of Christendom, where wickedness is at its height; all this is in keeping with God's grace to Ahab. The Syrians are outside his gates in multitudes. Today the power of the enemy is here; Satan in power is against men. But God says to Ahab, I will deliver you from them. Ahab says, By whom? And God says, "By the servants of the princes of the provinces", and Ahab himself was to lead. That is God! And so there are two hundred and thirty-two servants of the princes of the provinces and seven thousand of Israel -- a little handful in the presence of the multitude of the Syrians, yet God helped Ahab and delivered him.

Again the Syrians come up, and they say, God is

a god of the mountains, but He is not a god of the valleys; (1 Kings 20:28). Is he not a God of the valleys? Has He not descended into death? Yes, He has, He that ascended is the same as He that descended and overthrew the power of the enemy in its own stronghold. That is what God has done in Christ, and that is the God we announce to you. He is here tonight to deliver your soul. He is not only a God that operates above; He operates below, He has a right of way everywhere.

And so the Syrians come man for man, and horse for horse, an immense army to attack Ahab. It may be some of you can put yourselves into Ahab's position; you have no merits whatever. None of us has any, and it is when you renounce all merit that you are ready for God's salvation. So the Syrians come with all their forces thinking that God is the God of the mountains only, but He is the God of the valleys as well. The Syrians did not know this. The gospel is to illuminate us. It is the light we need; Satan darkens. Ahab musters his army "like two little flocks of goats" (1 Kings 20:27), and there they are, as we may say, in perfect weakness in the presence of the enemies' hosts. But God gives deliverance; one hundred thousand of the Syrians are slain in one day. You see the power of God active at the present time in spite of the wickedness all around in the sphere of Christian profession, and that power is here tonight; He is making known His ire, His resentment of men's ways, but He is standing on the altar as it were, and announcing the gospel, and at the same time making plain that there is no possibility of escaping His judgment if you refuse it. You may go up to heaven or down to hell, He says, but He will find you.

He further says, "Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in

the bottom of the sea, there will I command the serpent, and it shall bite them; and though they go into captivity before their enemies, there will I command the sword, and it shall slay them", (Amos 9:3,4). You see it is with God we have to do, but He is standing on the altar; He is not on the great white throne yet, but He is announcing what is imminent, His judgment from which no unbeliever can escape. Persons may exalt themselves to heaven, or descend to the depths of this world where the eye of their neighbour may never reach them; to the dens of this world whose guests are in the depths of hell. (Proverbs 9:18) Some may seek out those places and think no eye sees, but God knows. You cannot escape the eye of God, and not only this, but He will follow you there. You may go to the pleasures of the world, that is to say, Carmel, which means a park, or to the depths of the sea, which, I suppose, is humanity in the sense of the democratic element where it is hard to find people, where there is no distinction, but God knows. In all the myriads of the dead, every one is known to God. He has books. He speaks in language that is intelligible to us and when He refers to His books, He implies that there is enough space to include an account against every name. Then in the depths of the sea there is a serpent. You may think there is something in mutual relations, the current drift of mankind, but there is a serpent in them. The beast comes out of that condition. But even here God controls in it; the serpent serves His will; the judgment will find you.

The opportunity is now given you to draw near to the light of the altar. "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures", (1 Corinthians 15:3,4) and through Him, "is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by him all

that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:38,39). That is the gospel, and that gospel is going forth, but the time of grace is about to terminate. Where shall we be then? His judgment will still find us. It is a solemn scripture and I would urge every one here not to take any risks in regard to this matter. Take account of God's present attitude on the altar while you may, and have matters between your soul and Him settled. The great white throne means no hope, but the altar means hope. The harvest is not yet past, nor the summer ended, so that you may be saved. Will you not? God is waiting on you; He is waiting on you tonight as a Saviour.

He speaks about the land. He touches it and it melteth, and all that dwell in it mourn; and it rises up like the Nile. One has seen such things. It rises up like the Nile; it may be in prosperity, may be in some vaunting of its leaders, but God is doing it. Current happenings should be observed by us. God is not the God of heaven only; He is the God of the earth. He is operating in the governments of the world, and generally, He is over-ruling in all current movements. Thus there are risings up like the Nile and sinkings like the river of Egypt. Men are carried high, for instance in material prosperity. Values run up and run up, but then they go down, like the river of Egypt. They go down, down, down, and that is exactly what has recently happened. Do you think it is accidental? Not at all; God is seeking to get men's souls. He will shake the world to get at you. He may take away your wife, your children, your business, because He wants you. That is what God does. Are you not afraid of Him? Have you no thought of God from whom your breath comes? We all live by Him, as Scripture says. He would warn you through His word here tonight. But although He warns you

as to judgment, He says, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else", (Isaiah 45:22). He shakes things up and down so that men might think, that they might become serious and say, What are we to do? I believe the leaders of this world are trembling. 'Another great war', one says, 'will end civilisation'. Maybe it will end civilisation, as we call it, but in the present troubles God is seeking to get souls. As I said, He is saying, "Look unto me, and be ye saved ... for I am God, and there is none else". How impressive that is: "There is none else". When you come to the Jordan, that is to say, when you come to die, where is there any other help? Why not take advantage of the present, whilst you are well, and settle matters? God is waiting on you.

Then our chapter says, "It is he that buildeth his upper chambers in the heavens". Surely He has some purpose in that; He does not act in vain. Some of us are to be there, in those dwellings in the heavens. God builds His stories, or spheres in the heavens beyond the raging of the flood here. Do you think He is building in vain? I do not. I know that He is considering for me, and for every believer. The Lord Jesus spoke about going to prepare a place for us. There is "the gospel of the glory"; there is a gospel that contemplates heaven for believers. The apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians about their being raised up and seated in the heavenlies in Christ, and in connection with this says, "By grace ye are saved". (Ephesians 2:5) What is salvation? Complete salvation implies that we are taken out of this world altogether; it is, so to speak, the salvation of place. Did you ever think of that? God has a place for the believer. Is that of interest to you? We would love to have you come along with us. We are going there; here we have no continuing city. We seek

one to come, also a heavenly country, and so it is said that God has prepared for us a city; (Hebrews 11:16).

And then He has a vault on the earth. The word troop's in the authorised version is very vague; the better translation says that God "hath founded his vault upon the earth". That is to say, He not only has rights up there; He also has rights down here. The millennial day, I believe, will show the perfect relation between the heavens and the earth, and God will have a people on the earth in full relation with heaven. He will have a place for His earthly people, and there will be perfect relation between the spheres above and those below. But the gospel today is in relation to a place above, and so there is, as I said, the gospel of place. I believe this gospel is largely for Christians. Sometimes we assume that the gospel is only for unbelievers, but it is an entire mistake. The great gospel epistle, Romans, was written to Christians, and the epistle to the Ephesians, which speaks about the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of Christ, was written to Christians, and, as I said, it is that epistle that speaks about believers being seated in heaven.

And so I would suggest to the brothers and sisters here, the importance of the gospel of place. Some are justified, thank God; your sins are forgiven through the death of Christ, but you are not delivered from this world; your hopes are in connection with this world. What you need to understand is that God has a place for you infinitely better than this world. He would stir you up that you may not remain in this place; your hopes and desires are in relation to the wrong place. God never intended to justify you so that you should have your hopes in this world The Lord Jesus spoke about "that world, and the resurrection", in which He says, they "neither marry nor are given in marriage, for neither can they die any more, for they are equal to the angels, and

are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection", (Luke 20:35,36). Is that not inspiring? I think it is. I think the gospel of a place in heaven is wonderful. God has a place for us up there: "Because of his great love wherewith he loved us, ... has quickened us with Christ and has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus", (Ephesians 2:4 - 6). And then He says, "For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift". That is the thing.

Then there is another thing here; He "calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out of the face of the earth; Jehovah is his name". The sea is a symbol of many things, but one special thing said about it is, that it is God's and He made it; (Psalm 95:5). I never go on the sea without that in my mind. He has "paths" in the great waters of the sea. But then there are the waters themselves, and our scripture says, He "that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth". He has resource; the sea is a symbol of this. He has used it for judgment, but He also uses it for the benefit of the earth. What would we do without the waters of the sea? Some of you here may not think of these things, but human existence as it is now on earth depends upon the sea. It is thus typical of His resources in grace. There is the system of grace, it involves the Spirit. The Lord Jesus was "full of grace", (John 1:14). But now it has become a system in connection with the Spirit and in it there are wonderful divine resources. He has means of equalising so that there is fruitfulness; therefore He calls for the waters of the sea and brings them on the arid earth.

It may be some thirsty soul here tonight feels the need of God refreshing him in this way. Literally the water comes by the way of clouds. God said of

old, when we have clouds first mentioned. Whenever I put a cloud in the sky, I will put a bow in it (Genesis 9); that is to say, it is for good. In Elijah's time there was a famine for three and a half years. God brings a famine into the soul, but it is limited. With Elijah there is the idea of prayer, he prayed and there was a famine; he prayed again and God sent rain from heaven and the earth bore its fruit; (James 5:17,18). Where did that rain come from? From the sea, what God has here already. In the same sense, help comes into the soul now from what is here in the Holy Spirit. One desires that we should have our souls bathed in the abundant grace that there is in the divine system. So, although Elijah prayed, he had to get his face between his knees in the profoundest exercise at the top of Carmel. He sends his servant out once, twice, three times and so on, but the seventh time he looks out on the Mediterranean and says, "Behold, there is a cloud, small as a man's hand", (1 Kings 18:44). That water is to be lifted up from the Mediterranean: it is coming up first in the size of a man's hand, but it falls on Palestine in volume. The land of promise, is thus to yield its fruits.

That is what God does, and so Elijah says, "Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of the rain stop thee not". And the heavens were covered with clouds and the rain came down. That is God! He is not only a God of judgment; He is a God of grace. The grace of God, we are told, carries salvation with it, and so it is He that calls the waters from the sea and pours it out upon the earth. And then it adds, "Jehovah is his name". Will you not draw near and trust in that name? It is a strong tower. All these things enter into it, especially the last; the wonderful grace of God waiting to greet you and to meet you in all your need. "The Lord is his name".

FORMATION OF THE FAMILY OF GOD

John 11:5; 13:1, 33 - 35

There are many peculiarities about this gospel that might he spoken of with profit but I want now to confine myself mainly to that feature of it that suggests the formation of the family of God. That we, as believers in Christ have part in the divine family, is one of the most precious facts involved in our position here. I am not speaking of the place we shall have in the future, for then we shall be one family among other families, as we read in Ephesians. Speaking of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle says "of whom every family in the heavens and on the earth is named". (3: 15) Thus we learn that there shall be many families and that we shall have our place as a family amongst others. I do not intend to speak of that, but of the place that we have now whilst here on earth, as John says, Jesus, "having loved his own who were in the world ... loved them to the end". This gospel takes account of the saints as here in the world as to our outward position, and it shows how we have this place with God as a family, and that the Lord Jesus is, so to say, Head. He is our Head.

Now I read the passage in chapter 11, in order to show how He, when here, could love a family, not exactly that which was His own, or of which He was Head, but that He could love and did love a family, for although Martha's, Mary's and Lazarus' parents had evidently passed away, the family affections remained; not parental affections or filial affections, but the affections that belong properly to brothers and sisters. The circle at Bethany was evidently a parentless one: a family without parents. No greater calamity can befall a family than that it

should be deprived of the parents, and so this family at Bethany afforded an opportunity to Christ to show His affection, and how He could make up for the loss that existed. Luke records, that in the house at Emmaus the Lord took the place of Head; in the margin of our better translation you have the expression 'House father'. He took that place. He could very readily have disclosed Himself to the two as they journeyed on the way, He could have told them, but He did not: He had other thoughts: He caused their heart to burn on the way, but He waited till the meal was set in order that He should have the opportunity of disclosing Himself in this peculiar function; that is, the function of Head. Now I believe that at the present time that is where Christians are most defective. We are most defective, I believe in the apprehension of Christ as Head, and so He would seize every opportunity to bring Himself before us in that light, for a headless family is obviously not the divine thought. The divine thought is that families should have heads, all working up to the great divine idea that Christ should be Head, and that is the lesson to be read in every household. Adam is said to be "the figure of him that was to come", (Romans 5:14) and Adam was head but he made a very poor showing, I need not say, in the exercise of his function, and Eve fell in the non-recognition of it. Had she observed the place that God had given to her husband in regard to herself, she would never have listened to the tempter, she would have replied to Satan 'Adam is my head, I am to get my instructions from him', but instead of this she listened to the tempter, and so, beloved brethren, Christians generally are exposed to the tempter because of the non-recognition and non-understanding of the headship of Christ.

Now you will recall how Genesis 3 and 4 are both marked by the disaster that flowed from Eve's

disregard of the divine function placed in Adam; she figures in chapter 4, she names the children, and it is one disaster after another: a man, the progeny departing farther and farther away from God, until at the end Seth has a child born to him, and he called his name Enosh; that is, he comes to recognise that the offspring is of a poor failing, dying creature: he accepts the judgment and so it says, "men began to call on the name of the Lord". There is recovery there: recovery brings back to the thought of headship and so in the next chapter Adam and Eve are formally taken account of; God called their name Adam. God graciously takes into account recovery, and recovery to His original thought. He had never forgotten the principle of headship and He called their name Adam and so in the line of Seth, from the one who is recovered to headship, we have the line of life, and dear brethren, John is the life-line. In Genesis 5 the life-line is seen; in it all die except one, and the exception, beloved brethren, establishes the line of life. One man in that chapter is pleasing to God, and mark you, the pleasure came in when he began to have a family; he begat a son; he became a parent, and from that moment he walked with God for 300 years. Depend upon it, walking with God, as he was a head of his family, he brought the influence of God into his household, and it was said of him, "he was not, for God took him"; God took him! It says in Hebrews "for before his translation he had the testimony that he had pleased God", (Hebrews 11:5) he walked with God. It does not simply say that God walked with him, not but that God did help him in regard to his affairs, but Enoch walked with God. That is the point for the present time. It fits in with John.

I think that chapter 5 places before us the opposite of what the apostle intends to present to us in that

regard; that is, the pool of Bethesda. The pool is a stagnant water which is the opposite to what John would present to us. You have meetings, that are only moved as an angel comes, so to say, and such a meeting as that is not in life. John would bring about life. "These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name". (John 20:31) A meeting of Christians in the light and good of John's ministry is not like the pool of Bethesda. The principle of the pool of Bethesda was that an angel came down at a period and it required some power to get the benefit, the poor man was moved, but he had no power, no energy, hence the pool of Bethesda is not the principle of John. The principle of John is rather running water, living water. He brings in living water in chapter 4, it becomes in the believer a fountain; that is, it moves of itself, it is the Holy Spirit. Do not wait for external influences; there are such and of the best kind, but the principle of John is what is internal: he presents to us the truth of the Holy Spirit as a self-acting power in the heart. Let us learn to wait, in the exercises of our soul, for the movement of the Holy Spirit; and I ask you, Are you ever conscious of the movements of the Holy Spirit? John says, "it shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life". (John 4:14) Do we realise that the Holy Spirit is verily in us. If we do not, let us wait before God about it. As the apostle says, prove your own selves, see if Christ is in you. It is well to do that; that one should prove in one's own soul the reality and the presence of this self-acting power, the fountain of water, the power of living water springing up into eternal life, and then, as you have it in chapter 7, there are rivers flowing out for the benefit of others. These are suggestions as to what John presents to us; as I was remarking John speaks of

movement. The spring is the Holy Spirit. You are to move, that is the fundamental principle of Christianity, viewed as a living order of things down here, and I again repeat that everyone of us should find out, in his own soul, whether he has this self-acting power, and if you have not realised it, I would seek to urge you to turn to God about it. It should be acting in you, that is the divine thought.

I have thought of Caleb's daughter, she asks her father to give her springs of water, and he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs, and I would especially commend to you the nether springs, the Spirit of God in the Christian acting of Himself in your affections so that they might spring up, and move towards God. In chapter 4 they spring up, in chapter 7, they flow out. The Holy Spirit gathers the affections of the believer and fixes them on Christ in heaven, but then, as I was remarking you have to move. I have to move. You find in this gospel, as the Lord comes into touch with souls, and as they come into touch with Him, each one is moved. Now to give you a well-known passage in chapter 1, John stood. It was on the morrow, he had been working, but the Lord comes to him, and he says, "He it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit". Now John stands, as if to say 'the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit is on the scene, my work is done' and now he stands and looks at Jesus as He walked. What movement! What a walk that was! Enoch walked with God, but here is the walk of the Lamb. Think of the intelligence, of the affection, of the purpose and devotedness, think of all that entered into those holy steps of Christ, the Lamb of God. John saw that: the two that stood by apparently did not see it, but they heard him, they heard what John had to say. How important it is to listen. And they followed Jesus. They heard

John speak, and they followed Jesus; there was movement after Christ. The Lord says, as if to test what you have in your heart, in your movements, "Whom seek ye". They say, "Rabbi (Teacher), where abidest thou", and He answers, "Come and see". The principle is movement throughout, it is not a fixed state of things that John is presenting. The saints whilst down here are to be in the movement or energy of life, so He says, "Come and see", and they came and saw where He dwelt and dwelt with Him that day, and they began to move. Andrew finds Peter his brother, Philip finds Nathaniel, and in each case there is movement. Nathaniel is dubious about the Lord, and asks, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth" and Philip replies, "Come and see". You have to move, the principle is movement. And now the Lord seeing Nathaniel coming to Him says, "Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile", and Nathaniel says to Him, "Whence knowest thou me"? and the Lord answered, "before Philip called thee, when under the fig tree, I saw thee". He replies, "Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel". What results if we are prepared for our opportunities, and the opportunities are here in our midst.

I have been thinking today of the word the Lord uses, "say not lo here or lo there, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you". (Luke 17:21) It is a mistake to be looking for something special: the thing is to use what is available and what is available is the kingdom of God, and it is in you if you have the Holy Spirit. So the Lord says to Nathaniel, "Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou. Thou shalt see greater things than these, henceforth ye shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man". What encouragement there is! There is no end to what He presents. Henceforth: the Lord holds

out before us a vista of glory! Thou shalt see greater things than these, and so right on. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and says to Him, "Thou art come a Teacher from God". (John 3:2)_ He recognises Jesus come from God and so too the woman, as I have remarked, as the Lord spoke to her, she left her waterpot and went away into the city and the reason why she left her waterpot is remarkable instruction. We might say she might conveniently fill it and take it back with her. There is a spiritual significance: she acts in accord with the light the Lord had presented to her. She went back to the city and says to the men "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done, is not this the Christ". (John 4:29) Again there is movement: she moved and urged them to move and they moved. It says they came to the Lord and they said, "Now we believe ourselves". Throughout you have this principle of movement, not the energy of the flesh, but the movement that is the result of the work of God by the Holy Spirit in the souls of His people.

Now coming to the family, the Lord shows in chapter 2, that He can have sympathy in what we might call a family affair, a marriage. He has His disciples there. It says He was invited and His disciples. He can be there and He is there in connection with His own family. Evidently the Lord had a place in this circle, so His disciples were invited and the result was that He became pre-eminent in the scene and His disciples believed on Him. He had in view the formation of His own disciples and the result, as I said, was He manifested forth His glory and His disciples believed on Him. So they became as one may say the Lord's portion. I do not stretch the scripture when I say that He calls them children, and to my mind this is a precious thought. We belong to the household of Christ. We are His household, but He shows in regard to other households

how He can love them, and is it not an encouraging thought for those of us who have households, who are heads of households, that He can love them? He can love a family, He has a peculiar delight in a family that is rightly ordered. Where the parents are in the affections of His own relation to the assembly and where the children are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He delights in a family like that. He never takes it as His family, it is always yours, and so in the circle at Bethany, He loves the household. You may ask, Why do you say so? Because it says He loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. It does not say He loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus: He loved Martha, she was the owner of the house. I see in that the Lord graciously recognising her as the parents were not there. Now the Lord loved her, and her sister, and Lazarus; Mark says He loved her sister. He can love a household. But then it is all to lead us over to the side of His household, that we might have part in that, and so in chapter 11, Caiaphas being high priest that year prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation and then John the evangelist adds, and not for that nation only: he had in mind the family of God, he had in mind that the children of God should be gathered into one.

I want to call particular attention to the place that part of the truth holds in chapter 11. The evangelist adds immediately "and not for that nation only, but that he should also gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad". Let us beware of national feelings; "not for that nation only". The principle of Christianity is that the children of God everywhere should be gathered. The house of God is a universal thought, not a national or international, it is universal, it embraces all the children of God and the Lord did

not only die for that nation, but that He might gather together into one; it is a remarkable expression, "the children of God scattered abroad". In chapter 13, the Lord, as I apprehend it, is acting as the Head of His family, having loved his own. Beautiful thought! Could anything in a way express His care more than that for "His own". You have an expression in Acts 20:28, very similar in regard to God's affection for Christ; "the blood of his own", without saying who "His own" is. Jesus loved His own. Think of being amongst those whom He so regards! And then it adds, having loved His own who were in the world, for He takes account of us in that position, He loved them to the end. I am convinced that the Lord at the present time which is the end, as one may say, is bringing about family affections and I believe the Supper with all that is contingent upon it is the centre of those affections. It is not mentioned here in this chapter, but it was instituted at the same time, the same night of which this chapter reads. This chapter gives us more of what was going on in the Lord's heart than any of the other evangelists, and above all this expression that He loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. Then He expresses that love in the service that follows. I do not dwell on that. I am concerned only to show how He brings about family affections. He serves them, and then He says, "if I therefore the Lord and Teacher have washed your feet ye also ought to wash one another's feet". You are to be without a head as regards your outward position in this world, but in spite of that you are to have the principle of mutuality amongst you: you are to wash one another's feet. It is not Peter should wash John's feet, or John, Peter's, they were to wash one another's feet. It would be mutual. Do you understand there are mutual obligations in the

household circle, and that no one is immune from them. These obligations rest on every member of the household, "one another's feet". He addresses them by His parental expression of children, and it is an expression on the part of the Lord that is taken little notice of. But it is only one who is in the position of a parent literally, or in a moral sense, who can employ such an expression, and so He says here in chapter 13:33, "Children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me ... ... I say to you also now". This intimates clearly that He was to be elsewhere and they were to be left by themselves.

I am not ignoring what is said in chapter 14, that He would come to them, but this passage intimates plainly that they should be in circumstances and He should not be with them, "as I said to the Jews, Where I go ye cannot come, I say to you also now". Now what? "A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another as I have loved you". That is how it reads. His commandment takes the place of Himself. Do you understand? How the commandment tests us! We are here, and He is there, but the commandment is here, and it is a new one. In other words, it is one that has special reference to the family circle. It is a commandment that implies mutual obligations; that is the best expression I know for the passage, it is not only mutuality, it is mutual obligations and I would press obligations. There is no Christian immune from obligations, and let us be on our guard against assuming to be a body of believers, to be a family apart from all the children of God, it is false and not according to the mind of God. One would say to any believer, whatever his position, 'You have obligations, the same obligations as I have. The new commandment is for you as it is for me, and His commandment is, that we love one another

as Christ has loved us'. That is the essence of family affections, feelings or sentiments. We learn from our Head to love. That ye love one another as I have loved you. And, how did He love them? You say the Supper tells us. He loved them in adverse circumstances: that is how He loved them. He never had any other kind of circumstances, as one might say, but adverse ones. At the institution of the Supper, He had to say, the hand of him that betrayeth Me is with Me at the table, and that did not alter it. What circumstances! Hence He says, "as I have loved you". Dear brethren, it was love in adverse circumstances, it must be, for there are no other as regards our outward position. We cannot allow for any other, they are the very things that bring out the love of Christ in us. A brother is born for adversity. Christ came into the world for those in adversity, and He has taught us how to love in adversity, and the thing is to learn from our Head: we love one another as He loved us. And then He adds, "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves", that you are of the stock of God's children. How testing it is as to what we have! As I remarked elsewhere, the Lord says, "Have ye here any meat?" (John 21:5) I would change the expression and say, Have you here any love, brethren? It is a question of what we have in our locality, amongst ourselves. Have you got it? All the love of God in Christ and the love of God is in Christ, but it is to be in our hearts, it is shed abroad there by the Holy Spirit, and God looks that it should work out in us. What He proposes objectively is worked out in the way of fruit. It is so in material things, and it is certainly so in spiritual things. They are presented objectively in Christ, but have you it among yourselves, and is it the kind of love that God has expressed to us, the love in adversity. The Lord would have us to show

it in loving one another. The testimony is that we are His disciples in that we have this love. We are in that way a family giving a very real testimony to our Head who has taught us how to love, love in adversity.

May the Lord bless the word, and may the thought of a family be impressed upon us, that we are the family of God, and that the Lord is Head.

Pages 68 - 116 - "Spiritual Movement", Belfast, November, 1919 (Volume 45).

SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT

1 Samuel 16:1 - 13

J.T. I had in my mind particularly the words in the 11th verse: "Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither". I suggested the whole passage because I believe the Lord may help us to see the bearing of the anointing; only I desire that there should be exercise about those words in connection with our coming together on the first day of the week; we are not to sit down, so to speak, until He comes.

Perhaps a feature of the general declension is seen in professed Christians sitting down in an outward order of things which does not admit of spiritual movement. People come and go without any thought of spiritual movement; whereas, the thought in coming together week after week is that there should be an exercise in waiting on the Lord, so that he is apprehended as with us. I think that is what marks those who know the Lord in the assembly, and those who do not; the former are marked by spiritual movement; the latter are not. There is a ready-made system of things in which people sit down and that is the end of it. Whereas the position of the assembly here in the absence of the Lord implies that there is to be movement. It is a significant fact that the Lord Himself coming in among the disciples after He arose, is not seen as sitting, but standing.

Ques. What do you mean when you say that we are not to sit down until He comes?

J.T. That there would be an exercise, a waiting, an expectancy.

W.K. I was wondering if you meant that there

would be the power of recognition when He does come in.

J.T. Exactly so. The passage here shows that David was recognised when he came in. The prophet had the right thought in this respect; they were not to sit down until he had come in.

Ques. Would you say this company was sanctified?

J.T. They were outwardly sanctified, but in spite of that, there was the recognition of natural features, even by the prophet, for he took account of the firstborn first, as if the anointing was to be on the line of nature.

Ques. You spoke of the Lord being presented in the Gospel as not sitting down. What do you mean by that?

J.T. It suggests that there was something beyond, into which He would lead them. Viewed from the divine side, as in Hebrews 10:12, He is set down, but it does not follow that we have come to that in our souls.

W.H. We are led in there by Him; and this involves exercise and waiting on the Lord.

J.T. The Lord leads us in. After Samuel had anointed David, he went to Ramah; that is, his work was done. The firstborn may be a man goodly to look at; you have to find out that you are judging according to nature.

Rem. When we sit down our expectancy is met.

J.T. Yes, when things are in the Lord's hands. The point is, to bring Him in, to let Him in. His thought would be to lead us. There were no seats in the tabernacle. The principle is that we rest in the complete fulfilment of the mind of God. Ephesians 2 presents this side of the truth.

Ques. Would you suggest what form the exercise would take previous to the Lord's coming in?

J.T. Well, I think we are very apt to be governed by natural principles and feelings. Even Samuel

the prophet was governed by natural principles, whereas the Lord had said to him as to Saul, "I have rejected him". That should have been a reminder to Samuel when Eliab came before him, for Saul was head and shoulders above his brethren, and if the Lord rejected him, He was not going to accept a man because of his outward appearance.

S.L. I take it that we ought to be free for anyone who may be used to bring out what is of God.

J.T. "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart". That is the principle that should govern us in regard to what may come before us in relation to the things of God. Then Jesse called Abinadab, one I suppose more in keeping with the divine thought, but Samuel says, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this". The various sects in Christendom are all on the principle of nature, but this one word applies to every one of them, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this". And so it works out in the assembly; if you come in from your own affairs the tendency is to be governed by natural principles, and the word holds good; "Neither hath the Lord chosen this".

W.K. I was thinking while you were speaking that it was Eliab's personal greatness that was presented, but that would not do. The Lord had refused it. Nature, no matter how much toned down, will not do.

J.T. The Lord is not going to accept what He has not chosen. He always reserves what He Himself chooses. It is not what I can present, it is what He chooses.

Ques. Do you mean for a centre of gathering?

J.T. He chose Zion, the centre round which His people can gather. All so-called churches are built

on the principles of nature, or what is acceptable to man's eye; what they have chosen, not what God has chosen.

Rem. Eliab would have been a remarkable man, no doubt.

J.T. Apparently the prophet was looking at his natural appearance; he was not thinking of God's choice. Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. The point is the exercise that took place; they had come to a deadlock; the secret was that they were not on right lines. Samuel did not try to cover it over, he halted. Jesse's resources are at an end, for he thought only of those seven, and the word was, "the Lord hath not chosen these".

J.M. They did not take David into account.

J.T. He was left out in Jesse's reckoning.

Rem. It is a serious thing in the different religious systems.

J.T. Yes; ordinary religious procedure is on natural principles, there is no thought of waiting on the Lord, or looking for Him to come, and so after the congregation has dispersed there is not the sense that the Lord had not been there.

Ques. Does not the Lord intend the memorials of His death to affect our hearts in regard to His coming in, so that we might be free from human conditions in every way?

J.T. One who truly loves the Lord is exercised on the line of divine choice, what God has chosen. There can be nothing according to God except what is on that line.

Ques. Would it not give the meetings a living character instead of what is merely systematic?

J.T. It keeps us from sitting down, so to speak, too soon. You are not going to allow your spiritual senses to settle down until the One whom God chose comes in. A spiritually exercised brother would be governed by Him. You might have nice hymns

and an outwardly correct service, and yet not a thought about what God chooses, and what is pleasurable to Him. The principle of the assembly is spiritual movement. The gospel of John is very interesting in this respect. I think the pool of Bethesda, being stagnant, and only moved when an angel comes, is the opposite of what this gospel would produce. The principle throughout is spiritual movement. The disciples inquire, "Where dwellest thou?" He says, "Come and see", (John l: 38,39). The woman in the fourth chapter says, "Come see a man". It is all on that line.

S.L. If we were exercised and expecting the Lord there would be a response to it, and we should have a wonderful time.

J.T. I think there is something very suggestive in Samuel's declaration that they should not sit down until David came. In keeping with this, we are to "tarry one for another" (1 Corinthians 11:33); thus one is always exercised. The principle in Hebrews is that there "remaineth a rest" "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest". (Hebrews 4:9,11) In Hebrews Christ is said to have sat down on the right hand of God; in Ephesians the saints are said to have been made to "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus". (Ephesians 2:6)

Ques. Do we anoint Him, so to speak, when He comes in?

J.T. We recognise Him, and accord Him His place as Head.

Rem.. He is pre-eminent. We know Him by His "beautiful countenance".

J.T. You can understand that Eliab would feel reproached, and then the others in succession, as Samuel said, "The Lord hath not chosen these". Jesse was in confusion, and then Samuel says, "Are here all thy children?" And Jesse said, "There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold he

keepeth the sheep". And Samuel said unto Jesse, "Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he come hither". It was a scene of humiliating exercise, all of which might have been avoided.

Rem. They should not have left David out.

J.T. No. God hath said He had provided a king among Jesse's sons, and they all should have been present. Perhaps Samuel should have enquired if all were there at the beginning.

J.M. We might assume the Lord's presence without the necessary exercise; that would bring about the result we see here. The fact of our coming together does not warrant that the Lord is going to be with us, but He answers to right exercises.

W.K. If the Lord has presented to us His thought that we should come together to remember Him, I think we ought to count upon His presence.

J.T. We are entitled to reckon that He will come to us. We reckon on the Lord's fulfilment of His promise, but that involves that there should be an exercise suitable to that promise.

Rem. We ought to have it as a fundamental thing in our minds, and unless there is some positive hindrance on our part, the Lord will be there.

J.T. The thing is to avoid a ready-made state of things in which there is a certain religious procedure, and no waiting on the Lord in order that He might manifest Himself to us, and be with us. The pool of Bethesda was stagnant until the angel came. John's gospel is intended to prevent such a state of things among the saints.

Rem. The coming together in itself will not furnish material to go on, apart from the recognition of the Lord.

J.T. We have to bear in mind that the assembly is on the ground of divine choice. Christ, and all that is of Him, are to be our choice too, and all else is to be refused. If we come together on these lines,

we shall not admit anything but what is of divine choice. In 1 Corinthians 12:12, we learn that the assembly is included in the anointing. "All the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is the Christ". The assembly is therefore on the ground of God's sovereign choice. How happy to be on this ground!

Rem. The recognition of the Lord's presence is very precious.

J.T. I think we reach it on these lines.

Rem. The exercise ought all to be on these lines; we have to get rid of natural principles altogether.

Ques. Would it be right to say that if those who take the lead are led of the Lord, they will help the whole meeting?

J.T. I think that is how God works. As to assembly privilege, all depends upon the Lord coming in and being recognised.

Rem. It is important to see that our coming together is in order that we might come into the good of the Lord's presence.

Ques. Would it not be well to have that settled before coming together?

J.T. Be in readiness, always remembering that God rejects what is after nature.

Rem. The firstborn was rejected. Many of us would look at the firstborn; that in nature which excels.

J.T. But that is what God rejects. You do not recognise what He rejects. There is that which He has chosen and you accept it. Colossians helps greatly as to this feature of the truth. Nothing is to be accepted but what is "after Christ"; "Christ is all and in all". It may be that the giving out of a hymn will lead to the Lord having His full place in the hearts and affections of the saints. When David comes in, the Lord says, "Arise, anoint him; for

this is he". It is also recorded that "he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to". The suggestion being that there was the energy of life.

Ques. How do we distinguish between looking on the countenance of the firstborn, and the One whom God has chosen?

J.T. Saul was a typical man after the flesh; the Lord says, as it were, 'I will let you have the man of your choice, and I will help him in every way'. The result was known to Samuel, and yet he looks upon the countenance of the firstborn. The lesson here is to refuse the natural product, however developed it may be. Education and refinement are often deceptive in this respect. Whatever my natural abilities may be, I come to see that "the Lord hath not chosen these". Thus I record progress in my soul's history.

J.McF. I have thought of Eliab as setting forth the principle in a State Church. They take up the ground that God is a universal Father, whereas God's thought is that we are taken up in the Beloved. The whole point is that those taken up in the Beloved come together with Him as the centre.

J.T. We are chosen in Him "before the foundation of the world", and we are "accepted in the Beloved". (Ephesians 1:4,6) The principle of God's choice is somewhat different from the question of acceptance. Choice is a question of God's sovereignty; acceptance involves intrinsic value. He will not change His mind; we cannot say why He chose us, but the point is, that He did it, and He will not be diverted from it. How precious that He has chosen me!

Rem. You must discern between what is natural and what is spiritual in yourself.

J.T. It is a thing that goes on in the Christian's soul constantly. I have to be in line with what God chooses.

Rem. No matter how many years one has been on the way, that principle abides.

J.T. When David comes in he is ruddy, that is, instead of a deadness, as in the Jewish system, Christ is known as living; and not only that, David had a beautiful countenance. The Lord showed Himself living amongst them after He arose from the dead.

Ques. What is the signification of "goodly to look to" (1 Samuel 16:12).

J.T. I suppose it would refer to the beauty of Christ, which draws out our affections. The Psalmist spake of beholding the beauty of the Lord. To the Jews He was "without form and comeliness" (Isaiah 53), but this is what He is to those whose eyes have been opened to know Him.

Rem. "My beloved is white and ruddy". "He is altogether lovely", (Song of Solomon 5). Even the remnant in the end recognises this.

Ques. What is your thought as to being anointed in the midst of his brethren?

J.T. It was as a testimony. The Lord Jesus was anointed as a testimony to His Person. The defect lay in the fact that Samuel was judging according to nature, but God would have him anointed in their midst according to sovereign choice. What a lesson for Jesse's house! The Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. There is nothing recorded as to what happened after. Samuel goes to Ramah. When you come typically to Christ anointed the curtain drops. He is on the scene now as the Anointed. As the Lord has His place among us, we may leave things in His hand; but then we must be in accord with Him, so that He may lead us.

THE HOUSE OF GOD, THE PLACE OF SPIRITUAL ENJOYMENT

Luke 15:22 - 32; Ephesians 2:19 - 22

J.T. The house of God has a very special place in Scripture, in a great measure connected with human responsibility. I thought it might be helpful to look at it as the place of fellowship and enjoyment, where you find that which satisfies. It is well to remember that in the employment of such expressions as, merriment, music, dancing, Scripture conveys spiritual thoughts. We must become accustomed to understand things in a spiritual way. The subject before us would be, in a measure, confined to those who are spiritual, and yet within the reach of all. In the first epistle to Timothy the principles of the house are set forth, and it is presented on the privilege side in Ephesians. The apostle says, "Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God". (Ephesians 2:19) This Scripture sets forth what we are as viewed from the divine side. The chapter in Luke speaks of the house as the place in which you discern divine emotions; the Father was moved at the return of the prodigal. One would be very far from encouraging anything like natural emotions in divine things; but emotion was seen in the Lord when here, and also in the apostles; and so, spiritual emotions should mark the saints as they are in the presence of God and Christ. And as having to do with divine things, we are to be living; God is a living God, and we should be in accord with Him.

S.L. According to Ephesians 2, the saints were to be at home with God.

J.T. We are not strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; so that one is there in liberty, not as a slave; we have the liberty of the house.

Rem. The world is going in for its music and dancing, in a material way; if we have not spiritual enjoyment we are worse off than the world.

J.T. That is where young Christians are at a loss; they do not see the recompense there is for them in the household of God. The prodigal's elder brother heard the music and the dancing, but he would not go in. The Lord had spoken about those to whom He had piped; they had not danced; they were not able to appreciate the music of His ministry. You will remember how Barzillai the Gileadite, when king David proposed to him to go up to Jerusalem, said, "I am this day fourscore years old; and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women" (2 Samuel 19:35). That to my mind is a very humiliating confession; old age had brought in a state in which there was no ability to appreciate what was of God. It was not that he was against it, he had to admit that he could not enjoy the things of David at Jerusalem. He was a great man in his own house, and in his own family circle; he could even entertain David, but when it came to David's food and maintenance, singing and dancing, he was not able to enjoy that.

Ques. Do you think there is a possibility that he finished brightly?

J.T. In spiritual things there should be no decline; old age should not cause you to decline spiritually. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing", (Psalm 92:13,14). That shows where we are to be in our affections, where our living associations are to be; thus we are said to be fat and flourishing to the end.

Rem. We should always be in the sense of belonging to that circle.

J.T. The thing is to cultivate living associations there.

Rem. The tendency might be to settle down in our own line of things.

J.T. Make what is of God your chief interest, instead of your family and business.

J.McF. Their house would be left unto them desolate; that would be to those who did not respond to the music and dancing.

J.T. In Luke 13 the house is left desolate; in chapter 14 the house is full; in chapter 15 it is the merry house.

Ques. Would you say that the best robe, the ring and the shoes, were to prepare the prodigal for the house?

J.T. Yes. He is one of the household; he is one of those spoken of in Ephesians 2.

J.M. The house is where you are planted; you are of the household; your affections are there.

J.T. I suppose that is where God plants now. The Lord said, "Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up", (Matthew 15:13). It does not say where the planting is there, but who plants. Ephesians speaks of being "rooted and grounded in love". (Ephesians 3:17) Roots draw up the sap which nourishes the tree. Grounded is that one is firmly set, so as to preclude rooting up; and the result is that one bears fruit in old age, and flourishes in the courts.

J.McG. Would you connect it with what we enjoy when we are together?

J.T. The truth of it works out in our relation one to another under all circumstances. You have the expression "the household of faith" in Galatians 6:10.

J.M. It has a universal bearing here, and that works out in our relation one with another.

J.T. One would call attention particularly to appreciation; whether we appreciate what is in the house or otherwise. To those to whom the Lord piped, He says, "ye have not danced". He intimates their inability to respond. It was a question of the state in man; so with the elder brother of the prodigal, it was not that he could not hear the music and dancing, but he would not go in; his will was active.

Rem. The prodigal had come to an end of himself.

J.T. Yes, what one sees is the affection in the paternal heart towards the prodigal. It says in Acts 10:44, "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word". It is energetic action of love laying hold of its object. That is the delight that God has in those that are secured for the house through the gospel. Luke 15 corresponds with this. The prodigal's father "saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him". Then, having ordered the different things to be put on his son, he says, "Let us eat and be merry". Thus we are to have part in the joy of the house.

J.M. It is His delight in the result of the gospel that moves our hearts.

J.T. I think so. If we were more there intelligently, we should be more conscious of the delight that God has in us. In Luke it is His holy emotions on account of what the gospel produces. One is impressed with the great lack of intelligent emotion in the saints, with regard to what God is doing. If you keep your eye on what God is doing, your heart will be moved.

Rem. The question is, what line are we on?

J.T. It is the Spirit's day. That is, the Spirit is here in answer to Christ in heaven, and if our senses were more exercised we should discern what He is doing. "It was meet that we should make

merry", the Father says; so that God orders holy merriment in relation to what He is doing. The elder son did not go in, his will was active. We have to be on our guard with regard to our wills. Esau was in the field; that is, he made that his sphere instead of the house. The house is the Christian sphere. The house is God's people, but the field is a very attractive place to the flesh.

J.McF. There were influences there. I suppose chapter 16 shows the end of the elder brother.

J.T. It is very solemn. "He fared sumptuously every day, but in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments". There was entire want of sympathy with God. He refused the house of God, and remained in the field, and so he came to his end.

Rem. The elder brother's state is a more deplorable one than Barzillai's.

J.T. It is worse certainly, because his will was in it; like many young men and women who take their own way in self-will. There are certain restrictions in the house, the field affords scope for the flesh.

Rem. The principle of lawlessness is active in the field.

Ques. What is to be learned from the servants?

J.T. There are servants in the household; one of them spoke to the elder brother, but they were evidently in sympathy with all that went on.

Rem. The servant's message to the elder brother ought to have touched him. "Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf". He appealed to his affections, saying, thy brother and thy father.

J.T. No young man ever had a greater opportunity of recovery than this. His father entreats him to come in, and listens to his complaint, and then explains, "Child, thou art ever with me". God accredited the Jew, in grace, with all that belonged to Him, in order to induce him to come in.

S.L. What is the thought in "the fatted calf"?

J.T. That was Christ, but viewed as the very best; everything was to make the scene entirely delightful.

Ques. What would answer to the servant?

J.T. The first of Acts shows how the servant is active. The saints are first viewed as a company, they are thus the house of God, but then certain ones are taken up. The situation that has arisen is explained to the elder brother.

Ques. Would Peter answer to the servant?

J.T. Yes, and the ministry of Paul would answer, perhaps, to the Father coming out and entreating him. In Acts we see how Paul was taken up with the Jews; although he had written a letter to Rome, when in Rome he sends for the Jews, first; it is the grace of God keeping the door open that they might return. After the death of Stephen the Jews had an extended offer to the grace of God. He extended the period to the Jews, in order that the scattered among the Gentiles might have an opportunity of coming into the house. When Paul came to Rome they reasoned with him a whole day; and then he quoted Isaiah 6, and they leave Paul, he having said to them, "the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they will receive it". (Acts 28:28) So they are no longer addressed as a separate people.

Rem. That is the attitude the elder son takes up; he reasons with the father.

J.T. He is entirely wanting in sympathy with the father.

Rem. Ephesians is an enlargement of Luke 15, the Jew and the Gentile being brought together.

J.T. It specially emphasises the place the Gentiles have.

Rem. The household was there before the Gentiles were brought in.

J.T. It speaks of the house from a high standpoint, and then of the security of it: it is built on "the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone". There is what the house is in the way of privilege and security, and then what it develops into; it "groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord".

Ques. What is the thought in the chief corner-stone?

J.T. I think ornamentation and binding. The chief corner binds the whole building.

J.M. Christ would bind the affections of the saints.

Rem. "The beauty of the Lord" (Psalm 90:17) is upon us.

S.McC. The corner-stone often had an inscription.

J.T. It is what is seen. The Lord is "the head of the corner", (Matthew 21:42).

Rem. The stone that was set at nought by the builders is now conspicuous.

J.T. I was thinking particularly of spiritual emotions. I understand to some extent the forms and ceremonies used in the so-called high church; they take the place of spiritual emotion, but there is nothing for God in them. They are dead things, but God is praised by the living, as Hezekiah says in Isaiah 33:19. Our consciences are to be purged from dead works to serve the living God; (Hebrews 9:14). God is living, and He looks for the evidence of life in us towards Himself.

J.McF. Of Sardis the Lord says, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead", (Revelation 3:1).

S.L. When we come together to the morning meeting, there is often an absence of real emotion.

J.T. Often there is very little for God. He is looking for movement of soul, in answer to what He presents to us.

Rem. You get spiritual emotions in Acts 20; "When he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and

prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him".

J.T. Paul speaks of Timothy's tears; (2 Timothy 1:4). He speaks also of being beside himself to God; (2 Corinthians 5:13).

Rem. I think what you call attention to is very important, and something that we should be greatly exercised about. I suppose the Song of Solomon is full of that.

J.T. Yes, both on the bride's side, and on the Lord's side. You want the senses moved intelligently and spiritually, in the presence of what God presents to us.

J.M. That is where spiritual discernment would come in.

Rem. The result would be enjoyment of what is in the house.

J.T. The apostle says, "Be not drunk with wine ... ... but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord", (Ephesians 5:18,19). There is thus a divinely appointed outlet for the joy the Holy Spirit produces in our hearts. Note, that the melody is to be made in the heart to the Lord. In the assembly Christ sings Himself. Indeed, all the singing there is regulated by Him. David made much of singing, providing for it in the house. He is a type of Christ in this respect. David is said to be "the sweet psalmist of Israel", (2 Samuel 23:1).

Rem. You would not confine this music and dancing to the meetings?

J.T. I think Ephesians 5 shows that it is to mark the Lord's people generally; but when you come to the assembly, in its true character, the Lord regulates the praise. The spirit of music and dancing should be always with us.

Rem. God is working to this end today.

POWER BELONGETH UNTO GOD

Exodus 3:13 - 15; Psalm 135:13; Luke 4:14 - 22

I desire to speak on the anointing of Christ, with the thought of showing forth that all that God is necessarily enters into that anointing. I think it is necessary to dwell for a little on the anointing, in view of the general denial of the principle set out in it, namely, that "power belongeth unto God", (Psalm 62:11). The power descends instead of ascending. It does not belong to the people, as is generally and persistently alleged; it belongs to God, and He has vested it in One who, having been proved, has shown Himself worthy of such a trust; the welfare of all mankind is bound up in it. Indeed, the whole realm of the worlds which God has framed is entrusted into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, having been proved, is qualified, and has now been formally invested with that trust. There are many witnesses to the effectiveness of His administration, which was announced by the prophets; it will continue until the time when He will deliver up the kingdom to Him who is God and Father.

Now one would appeal to oneself, as to every believer in this company, for witness to it. What have you and I found in that One under whose wings we have come to trust? Yea, rather, who has taken us under His wings. Each one can witness, and all may swell the praise that belongs to Him who "sits upon the throne". (Revelation 4:9) It is necessary to be reminded that power is from on high, and that now it is committed to one who has proved Himself worthy. As the prophet puts it, "Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him", (Isaiah 42:1). And then the prophet goes on to say in the fourth verse, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth". What a

testimony! God asserting His prerogative, that power belongeth unto Him, has entrusted it to a proved One. The more you study the history, the more your mind turns to the perfection that is in Christ. A David, or a Josiah, or a Nehemiah may fail, but this Man shall not fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth. The more spiritual you are, the more you will turn to that perfection which the evangelists present to us in the New Testament; the soul looks out for it. Simeon and Anna were expectant of it, and when the Babe came into the temple, Simeon, who had gone there by the Spirit, took the Babe into his arms. He had been expecting this, it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ; and so he takes the Babe, and says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation", (Luke 2:29,30). His heart could rest now, and he could depart, for the Lord's Christ was there.

I trust one speaks with a measure of sensitiveness as to what is involved, and I would commend to you the importance of being moved by divine perfection in Christ; it is sufficient to move every spiritual heart. So Simeon held the Babe, in a spiritual way, in his heart; Anna, too, coming in, is in harmony, for she "spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem", (Luke 2:38). There was the spirit of expectancy for this divine perfection in a Man. When I speak of divine perfection, I speak of what He was personally, for it is ever to be remembered that He is not a creation, He brought all into manhood. Nevertheless, He was a Man, and moved about in this world as a boy, a young man, a full-grown man in divine perfection. His was humanity as real as any other, but divinely perfect, for "He knew no sin". "He shall grow up before him as

a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground", Isaiah 53. He grew up before Jehovah, He was for Jehovah's pleasure. And so when He reached thirty years of age, full levitical manhood, He comes up out of the waters of baptism and the heavens are opened to Him. What a moment in the history of time! and as one might say, in the history of heaven, when the heavens open to a Man and a voice speaks to Him saying, "Thou art my beloved Son; in whom I am well pleased". How much does it matter if the Pharisees were not pleased! It is a question of heaven's approval; He is not to be the ideal of the populace, He is not to be a popular hero, He is to begin His public service as divinely approved. Paul thought it a small matter to be judged by man; to seek a place amongst men is wrong, for "that which is highly esteemed amongst men is abomination to God". (Luke 16:15) The Lord began with unqualified divine approval, and in the approval there was the divine commission in the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was there in a bodily form, and He abode upon Him. Such is the fact we read relative to the anointing of Christ.

I desire to say a word about the Name, for all that God is was there. There was the Father's voice, there was the bodily form in which the Spirit came, and there was the Son upon earth. God was there, God in unity, for God is one. I desire to show briefly from the Old Testament how the Name expressively speaks of what God is, as necessarily bound up with the anointing, and so I go back to Moses in the wilderness, for one must be in such circumstances in order to receive such light. He was in the backside of the desert, and God arrests him by a vision, and he turns aside to see what it is. God was in the bush, and Moses took note that while the bush burned it was not consumed. It was God's communication to Moses that He identified Himself

with a suffering people, and Moses was to be with God's suffering people. Paul says, "Ye have reigned as kings without us; and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you;" (1 Corinthians 4:8) but the reigning time is deferred; it is now the suffering time. The apostle says, "We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things", (1 Corinthians 4:8,13). What words to describe the apostles of the Lord of glory! These words should search us in our day. God intimates to Moses that He would be in the midst of a suffering people. The bush is not consumed, the discipline of God is there, but the bush is not consumed. Discipline all the way through, but then it is discipline from God who is with us He dwells in us. He chastens us for our profit, that we might live, and be "partakers of his holiness", (Hebrews 12:9,10).

God reminds Moses that this is to be the history of His people. Moses asks, What am I going to say? How am I going to commend myself? God says unto Moses, "I AM THAT I AM". "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you". I wish to dwell for a moment on that; "I AM" -- the self-existing One, yesterday and today and for ever, the Same. Then He says, "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is my Name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations". And so Moses is sent with that precious light in his soul. Then Jehovah says, "Go, and gather the elders of Israel together"; the responsible ones are to have the communication of Jehovah delivered to them. The Lord suggests the position in Exodus, and, I may say, the truth is there presented from the divine side. When you come to the Psalm which I read, you have the truth presented, not from the divine side, but from the side of experience. I think one

may say that the book of Psalms is the least understood of the books of the Old Testament. I understand the book of Psalms very little, but I take it to be the result, through God's grace, in man's heart of the testimony that He presented. You may be sure that, if God is presenting light to you, He is looking for results from that presentation. If fruit is not forthcoming, beware! Outward forms will not do, God looks at the heart. He is looking for results in the heart, and the books of Psalms is the result of the divine testimony in the hearts of God's people. And so you have the language of faith in verse 13. "Thy Name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations". That is not God's side. The book of Exodus is the divine side, the Psalm is the result.

Now let me ask you, What have you found out? The writer of this Psalm had found out in his soul that God was what He was. Have I found that out? The Psalmist is not appealing to Scripture, he is speaking of the experience of his soul, he knows God now. Do I know God in that way? He has disclosed Himself to us in Christ, not only as Jehovah, in His everlasting faithfulness, but as the Father, in His everlasting love. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God", (1 John 3:1). And so the Psalmist here, according to the light that is presented to him is able to look up, and say to Jehovah, "Thy Name, O Lord, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations". Where was the memorial? In the hearts of those who loved God. Let us not be content with the Scripture testimony, the memorial is to be in the hearts of God's people.

In Nehemiah 9 the priests, Ezra and the leaders are assembled together in prayer to God, and they begin their recital of the history of God's ways with themselves, saying, "Thou art the same, thou alone,

Jehovah",(Nehemiah. 9:6). It is not "I Am" now, it is "Thou art". What an outgoing as they review the history of a broken down kingdom! As they review all the failure of the people, their hearts turn to Jehovah, and they say, "Thou art the same". The failure had only proved to them that He was what He was. They go back to the beginning of creation, and say, "Thou art the same". There is no change with Him. What have you found in God for yourself? Do not tell me what the Scriptures say, the point is, experience; how much have you learned in your soul's experience about God? Let us face this question, Where am I in my soul in regard to God? The Levites, in Ezra's time, confessed where they were with Jehovah and that Jehovah was what He was; He was what He announced Himself to be. After the long years of humiliating history, they return to Jerusalem, and confess that they have found Him infinitely true and faithful. "Thy Name, O Lord, endureth for ever, and thy memorial, O Lord, unto all generations". Now this memorial necessarily enters into the anointing. It was now a question of that holy Name and memorial being taken up and cherished in a way that had never been seen hitherto; it was in the heart of Christ, who cherished it and would witness to it as no one else could. One can well understand Simeon saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word"; for all that was of God would now be preserved and testified to.

In the fourth of Luke it is recorded that, after the Spirit had come upon Him, "he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness". The blessed Spirit of God had come upon Him, and His presence is now signalised in that the Lord is led by Him. The Holy Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. The Lord would recoil from this, but the will of God required it, and He is led of the Spirit

into the wilderness. We should avoid evil unless the Holy Spirit leads us to deal with it, and this is rare. It is only in very exceptional cases that the Lord takes up a man and leads him to have to do with evil, and with Satan. After the temptation He returned, it was His own act, to take up the service for which He was anointed. He is acting now in the power of the Spirit; He is intimating that He is to carry on His service in spiritual energy, and so He stands up in the synagogue; and the Spirit adds, "where he had been brought up"; where His infancy and boyhood days were spent. He begins there. "He went into the synagogue ... and there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias". He turns to the passage in chapter 61, and He reads it as the text for the day: "The Spirit of Jehovah is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord". The Spirit of Jehovah involves all that Jehovah is, and all that the Father is, for it was the Father's voice that spake to Him, and of Him; so much so, that He said elsewhere, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father".

I desire to show that the anointing is based on the fact that the Spirit of Jehovah was there; the first representing what God is, the second representing God's prerogative. God's will enforces what He is, and how blessed that is! God uses His prerogative to enforce blessing in the human heart, hence the Spirit of Jehovah was there, involving all that Jehovah was in blessing and everlasting faithfulness. But, as I said, it was now not only Jehovah, but the Father; which name speaks of unmixed grace for men. The Spirit of the Father through the anointed Man

brings grace and good to every man. "He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor". Think of Him beginning His service as the Anointed in preaching the gospel to the poor! John asked from the prison, "Art thou he that should come?" The Lord says, "Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see; the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them". These were the results of the anointing. If you have the Christ, you have everything. The woman in John 4 says: "When the Christ comes he will tell us everything". She was beyond John the baptist there! God sent His blessed Son to preach the gospel to the poor, and so the Lord announced it was the first great feature of His service in Luke 4:18. How little is it true today! One would love to see a move on the part of God's people to preach the gospel to the poor. I refer to those who are poor spiritually.

The Lord goes on to mention in detail His services in connection with the anointing, and these go on to the end of this dispensation. He will rule the world presently, but throughout this dispensation He is carrying on the blessed service indicated here. There is a beautiful touch in Acts 10:38. As anointed He "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him". He was not limited, He went about, and that is the principle of ministry. The passage goes on to say, "to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord". That is what He is employed in, and that is the service He continues until the end of "the acceptable year of the Lord". He is not ruling, but He is doing these things as the Anointed of God, and He will do them. It is a question whether

we are prepared to let Him serve as indicated here, and whether, according to the measure He has apportioned to us, we are with Him in the service. To this end the saints are also anointed, see 2 Corinthians 1:21; 1 Corinthians 12:11. I suppose we are sometimes bruised in spirit, so much so that we are unable to say a word among our brethren or to move spiritually; the Lord is anointed to heal and deliver us. And, further, "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord". There is a definite period in which God is receiving men and women, in grace on the principle of faith, and that period cannot be shortened. We are still in that year, and one would not wish it to be shortened; one would rather suffer than have it cut short.

I do not wish to proceed further, one can but call attention to the peculiar effect of all this on the hearers. He closes the book and He sits down, and it is recorded that "the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him". He is the attractive centre as anointed, and sitting down He speaks, saying, "This day is the Scripture fulfilled in your ears".

How many things are fulfilled in our ears that are not fulfilled in our hearts! You will find that it was not fulfilled in their hearts. How easy it is to have our ears pleased, but it is the heart that is the soil for the Word, not the ear. If it is only in the ear, Satan will take it out of the ear; indeed he takes it out of some hearts too, if it is not understood there; (Matthew 13:19). If the work is to be effective, it has to be heard and received into the heart and understood there; I mention this particularly. And then the passage says, "They wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth". So that He is attractive as the Person anointed, and attractive in His speech. May the Lord bless His word!

SPIRITUAL RICHES

2 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 14:26

In reading these Scriptures I want to bring before you the thought that God seeks in us a certain spiritual prosperity, so that we may always have something with which to minister to others. God looks for practical answers in His people to the great wealth with which He has enriched us in Christ. In Ephesians the gospel is said to be the gospel of "the unsearchable riches of Christ"; (Ephesians 3:8) and obviously it is not simply to make known these riches, but that those who believe should have part in them. The passage in 2 Corinthians shows how it is possible for us to have part in them. The Lord, having been rich, became poor on our account; it refers to His incarnation and death, "that we through his poverty might become rich". The fact that He became poor is one of the most touching that can be spoken of. That He came into poor material circumstances is a fact; it is also evident, when the question of tribute was raised, that He did not possess money.

There is another sense in which He was poor. It is said in the Psalms, "this poor man cried" (Psalm 34:6) -- one having no outward means of help. He came into these circumstances in grace. What can touch the heart more than that? Think of the Lord of glory becoming poor! Poor, not only in material things, but in the sense that there was no outward means of help or support. Jehovah heard Him, of course, but that is another matter, outwardly He was poor. So we have, "Blessed is he that understandeth the poor", (Psalm 41:1). On the cross, I suppose, it was seen in its full measure, when He cried, and there was no help at all. He was without support. He was alone. We cannot measure that,

we can only refer to it with feeling, one trusts, and in a worshipful spirit. He was pleased to be found thus in order that we should be rich, "that we through his poverty might be rich". How touching that is! The Spirit of God brings in these thoughts of poverty and riches, because He is going to speak of giving, in a material way, for the help of the Lord's people. God employs these words and one is touched by them; and, as I say, they are most blessed!

What one would remark on is that we should be rich spiritually; God loves to see the wealth that He has enriched us with in Christ worked out in our souls, so that we move about here in a certain spiritual dignity and magnanimity. God looks for these things; He hates the smallness and niggardliness which belong to the flesh. As regards Paul, he was "as poor, yet making many rich". There was a largeness of soul in him, and so he says, "ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections", (2 Corinthians 6:10,12). The principles of the world had got amongst the Corinthians, and so they had become narrowed in their affections. Even the philanthropist, so called, of the world is small, he has in view his own greatness; whereas, in Christianity, it is what God is, it is the greatness of God expressed through His people; and so the apostle looked for spiritual expansion amongst the Corinthians.

Through these letters, he labours to bring that about, and in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, he deals with this subject of giving, and brings in these words, involving what is so touching in regard to our Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of chapter 8 he speaks about those who carried the bounty of the saints; he says, "whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you: or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers

of the churches, and the glory of Christ". What a touch as to the merit of what is in view! although the thing is material in itself, it expresses what Christ is; "the glory of Christ". In that simple service there was the shining out of what Christ is now in all His wealth, "the glory of Christ".

To go back to the riches with which we are enriched, I would remark on the working out of it in the assembly, and so in chapter 14 of the first epistle, where he speaks of the order of the assembly he brings in these remarks. "How is it then, brethren? when ye come together every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation"? I call attention to the word hath in the verse; we are supposed to have something, when we come together, according to the riches, or the prosperity, of our souls. And so the question is raised in my soul, What have I as among the people of God? One hopes it would be raised in each one of our souls.

In the Old Testament we have abundant foreshadowings of what is in the mind of God; in the history of creation we see how He arranged things, that although He could create out of nothing, yet His thought was that the earth should bring forth fruit, so that man and beast should have food. "The cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10) were indirectly the product of the earth; and vegetables too, of all kinds. The idea, on the part of God, was that the earth should bring forth, and that man should be sustained by what the earth yielded. The manna was an exception; manna suggests that there was no fruit on the earth, for the wilderness was a sterile place, and in it there was nothing for man or beast, but the manna came down from heaven. The thought of God is that something should be developed in the way of fruit; He gave His sunshine and rain to water the earth. In Hebrews 6 it is said that

"the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God". God has delight in the fruit coming up, and He adds His blessing. The writer is speaking to the saints, as those who have received ministry from Christ, from heaven, and fruit was expected.

God looks for results. When you come to Exodus you have the same principle: God could easily have provided means to meet their requirements for the tabernacle but it must come through the affections of the people; and it is very cheering to see how the people responded; there was an excess. The tabernacle was made according to the pattern, but the material came in the way of a heave-offering from His people. And so today God's thought is to work through the spiritual gifts of His people. They did not all bring the same thing for the tabernacle; but in result the material was all brought and there was abundance.

And so in Leviticus, where you have God dwelling amongst His people, he speaks of offerings. There were burnt offerings, meat offerings, peace offerings, and in each case the people were supposed to have something, a handful of meal if nothing more. There was a variety of gifts, so that the rich and the poor could each contribute. Mutuality is a great thought in Scripture; that is, that each one has part, either in contributing to what we are brought into or receiving of it. God blesses each of us, the rain comes upon us all, and hence God looks for fruit, even from the very poorest spiritually, so that no one is shut out. "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ", (Ephesians 4:7).

And then in Numbers 7 we have a most remarkable evidence of spiritual giving; that is, in the princes. The princes each gave the same, and it was bountiful giving. Princes are men who are spiritually great;

they are spiritually well off. We were remarking on the apostle Paul, how in writing to Philemon he uses his means for the benefit of another; so these princes gave freely of the wealth they had, and in result it expressed the practical unity that existed in Israel. There was no rivalry between them; their gifts expressed their practical unity. They all had the same love for Christ and for His people, we may say. They provided wagons for the Levites who had heavy burdens to bear; they gave with a measure of intelligence as to what was needed. In the book of Numbers, as I said, these princes express the practical unity that should be seen among the people of God, in the way of spiritual giving. Then we may refer to the giving of David. In first Chronicles we read of the wealth with which he lavishly, one might say, and with intelligent affection, provided for the house of God; and on the part of the people also there was abundant giving for the house that was to be built. Read 1 Chronicles 28 and 29.

In the New Testament you find the importance of giving constantly, and in 1 Corinthians 14:26, you see a certain variety of spiritual contributions which could be made as opportunity offered. The chapter affords instruction as to how they should be made. There is a variety in the unity that marks the things of God. I am speaking now of the wealth that God looks for amongst His people, and the question is, What have we? Has one a doctrine? It is something that one has in one's soul by the Spirit. A psalm is an experience that one has with God, so that one gives it out for the benefit of others; one expresses the experience of one's soul with God. Doctrine is the intelligent apprehension of the mind of God; that is important among the people of God. And so on, one has a tongue, a revelation. We do not look for these now, but I speak of the

principle and the general need of having something, so that one may contribute to the edification and comfort of the saints, as opportunity offers.

God would have the riches with which He has blessed us developed amongst us, as we are together in fellowship with one another. May it be so in the power of the Spirit!

THE GATES OF ZION

Psalm 87

In turning to this scripture, it is my desire to set out, in so far as I am enabled to do so, that system of things in connection with which the gospel stands, and is presented to men. In using the word gospel, as seeking to preach it, the heart is touched, for it is that which prominently marks the present time.

The Lord, standing up in the synagogue at Nazareth, having spoken of the things that He had been anointed to do, in the preaching of the gospel, ends by saying, "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord", (Luke 4 18,19). In the acceptable year, the mind is directed to time. The period of grace, on the part of God, extends for a whole year spiritually. A year is a long period in contrast to an hour, or a day, or a week, or a month. It is the longest period of time that is regulated by the sun, and it is my privilege to say to you tonight that, although the acceptable year is running out, we are still in it -- it yet remains. I may say at this point, that all the happenings in this world under the government of God, have this year of acceptance in view, as though God would accentuate it. By allowing woes to come into human circumstances, He intends to impress men with their need spiritually, and as they discover their need, they find that they are still within this glorious year, called "the acceptable year of the Lord". Thus I would remind you that, although it is fast running out, it has not yet run out, it still remains, and as your soul turns to God now, you find that He is prepared to accept you, having devised (as He alone could) a means for your returning to him. When you do return, you will find Him ready to accept you. That is what marks the acceptable year of the Lord. Much history has taken place

from man's point of view, but from God's point of view it has continued to be an acceptable year.

I desire, first of all, to speak about His foundation. "His foundation is in the holy mountains". We are not told in the passage what the foundation is, the point is, where it is, and the soul is at once assured as to this; it is "in the holy mountains"; in other words, "the foundation of God is sure". Do you understand it? When Luke wrote to Theophilus, his apology for writing was that Theophilus might be sure about the things in which he had been instructed. We can thank God for every bit of instruction that comes to us in regard to Him. If as little ones, we are brought up under Christian influence, and if we are instructed by our parents in the things regarding Christ, we may, I repeat, thank God for every bit of such influence, and such instruction. God would have parents bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Children ask questions, and Scripture provides for their questions. In the books of Moses you find that parents are furnished in view of the questions of their children, so that they should know how to answer them. Luke discovers spiritually what Theophilus needed; he needed to be sure about the things that he had already received, and in which he had been instructed. Now are you sure in regard to those things? Have you a settled sense of security in regard to God? Are you sure in regard to judgment to come?

Luke and John are the only evangelists who explained why they wrote. John says, "these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God". One hears of young souls being converted to God lately. Thank God for every one such. As converted they believe something. It may be in the forgiveness of sins. Thank God

for that! I have often said when talking to souls, that even a handful of meal (referring to the type) is sufficient to give a soul a status with God. The handful of meal typifies the smallness of faith that one may have in the Person of Christ, but it is a real faith. A real faith in Christ's Person suffices for God, but then God has not done with such believers. John says, "These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name", (John 20:31). He wants you to have, not only forgiveness, but life.

We have been speaking of David being ruddy when he came into the midst of his brethren. He was not ill-fed, there was in his countenance the evidence of life. Look out for that! A believer in Christ has life. You do not need the life that this poor world affords you, if you have life in Christ. It is said of the wicked woman in the book of Proverbs that "her house inclineth unto death", (Proverbs 2:18). Hence the great necessity for young believers to know something about life. The gospel not only announces forgiveness; it also announces life and so John says "that ye might have life in his name". My natural life down here is held in regard to the will of God, but then I hold spiritual life in the Name of the Lord Jesus. I am not to be deprived of it; and it is further said, it is in Christ. I commend this to young Christians. I want to see a ruddy countenance (the evidence of spiritual life), and that you have a constitution for God. I have often thought of that in connection with Jairus' daughter. The Lord raises her up, and delivers her to her parents, commanding that something should be given her to eat. As converted, as forgiven, as having the Spirit, you need to eat; you have life, and that life must be sustained.

I turn to God's foundation: "His foundation is

in the holy mountains". The foundation, as I remarked, stands, it is sure. Are you sure, I ask again, in regard to God? Are you sure that the foundation on which you are resting for eternity is immovable? It cannot be shaken, not only is it laid in the mountains, but in the "holy mountains". The Lord Jesus, hanging on the cross, said to God, "Thou art holy". He recognised that the holiness of God necessitated His being there. He was there that you should never come into judgment. His being nailed there involved a foundation which should be immovable, for it involved the righteousness of God being fully met. The Lord Jesus Christ as bearing the judgment, looks up to God and says, "Thou art holy". The holiness of God against sin required that Jesus should hang on the cross. He died there, He laid down His life, and all your sins and mine were attached to Him by God. He was made sin, and He died a sacrifice for sin. He laid the foundation of God, as it were, in the holy mountains. The foundation is laid in that which is immovable.

The Psalmist further says, "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob". Now the gates are very suggestive here, and they remind one of what is presented in the book of Acts on the day of Pentecost. God, as it were, opened the gates of Zion. I am speaking of them, not as that through which you go into privilege, but as that in which blessing is administered. The Lord Jesus says, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water", (John 4:10). Jesus was administering divine bounty, and so, on the day of Pentecost, Peter stands up, as one might say, in the gates of Zion, and announces the gospel. He says, "having received of the Father the promise

of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear", (Acts 2:33).

What a moment it was! "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob". There is administered that which is wholly according to His own heart -- the gift of the Holy Spirit through the finished work of Christ. How God loves to pour blessings into your soul! Zion refers to God's sovereign mercy, for blessing is poured into our souls on that principle. How it humbles one! Are you humbled as you receive the mercy of God? I love Mary's word, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word", (Luke 1:38). And so with every one of us, as we rightly receive what is administered through the gates of Zion. It humbles us, and that is God's desire; we are not inflated, for we do not deserve it. "According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour", (Titus 3:5,6). The more the gospel is understood, the more the soul is humbled in the presence of God and of Christ. One would desire to be in accord with the gates of Zion when announcing the gospel. It makes nothing of me, and everything of God and of Christ. Everything on the principle of sovereign mercy humbles one, and the more humbled one is, the more blessing one receives. God is a giving God; He loves to give, and He loves "a cheerful giver". Let us, who are Christians, remember that! Do I understand that I am linked up with the city of God, the city whose gates are marked by blessing, on the principle of sovereign mercy? How humbling and yet how blessed! The Lord loves those gates, He loves to see the administration of bounty, as it is received on the part of men down here. What a desire on the part of God, that in this acceptable year of the Lord there should be these gates of

Zion, through which He administers His sovereign bounty!

The Spirit of God now turns to speak of other cities and countries, Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia. He speaks about birth-places, for in Scripture it is not only the day, but the place of one's birth. The Scriptures attach importance to both time and place. For the moment I only speak of place. Where have you been born as a Christian? Under what influence? Many true Christians are deformed and they are devoid of spiritual dignity. They are deformed because of the circumstances of their birth, they are wanting in dignity because of ignorance of their parentage and the place of their birth. The Spirit says, "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there", (Psalm 78:4). Do you talk about being an Englishman, or a German, or an American? Is there anyone here who has such a thought in his mind? There were heroes in Rahab, Philistia, Tyre. In Scripture the king of Tyre is likened to Satan himself; he must have been a very notable man in his day.

And so, as one scans the history of the nations, certain men stand out prominently in connection with each, and the nations make much of them. You will find in every country memorials of the heroes of that country. But, "of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her; and the highest himself shall establish her". Paul was born there, and Peter was born in her. I have seen in a museum the memorials of the great men of the world, including Peter and Paul, and the Lord Himself. His Name put up alongside that of wicked man! But He is not accredited to this wicked world. The sixth verse of our Psalm refers, I believe, to Christ; He is accredited to this great system in which God

delights, and in which He administers His bounty. "This man was born there". May I not rejoice in spirit, as I think of the blessed fact, that I am connected with that in which He is the living Head?. When the full result of redemption is seen, it shall be said of Him, "That he hath done this", (Psalm 22:31). Do you understand that as a believer you are born there? "The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people". Think of that for a moment. God is going to make a census!

There is a book called the "Who is Who" book. You will find it on the Atlantic steamers. It is a book in which the names and particulars of people of note are written. God has got His "Who is Who" book, God writes up the people. Think of my name being put down by the blessed God! Think of your name being written, young Christian! You may be counted as nothing and despised because you believe in Christ. Your fellow workers may look upon you with scorn. Just think how your name is to be written up! "The Lord", it says, "shall count". Shall He omit one? He will not omit one; even the hairs of your head are numbered. What a glorious system the Christian belongs to! The Lord stands related to you, and "He upholds all things by the word of his power". He "was born there". I say this so that you might be encouraged in starting out on your Christian path. "As well the singers as the dancers shall say, All my springs are in thee". There is enjoyment in Zion, for there are the "singers" and the "dancers". You will remember how the elder brother in Luke 15 heard the music and dancing. God has everything in this blessed system for the satisfaction of the saints. The singers and dancers say, "All my springs are in thee". They do not draw from the world's source, they find all their springs in Zion. The springs originate in Him who established Zion.

I would commend these things to you for your encouragement, that you may see, that as you begin you are to proceed, and to be instructed in the gates of Zion. "Every good gift, and every perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation nor shadow of turning", (James 1:17). He is "the same yesterday, and today and for ever", (Hebrews 13:8). And so we receive of His heavenly bounty "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over". (Luke 6:38) It is all within the reach of the believer, and you belong to a system which is associated with the glorious Name of Christ. The soul is detained in His presence. In Hebrews 12, it is said that "ye have come ... to Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant", the One who will make it good in our souls.

May the Lord bless His word, for His Name's sake!

GOD'S ACTIVITY IN THIS DISPENSATION

Luke 15:20 - 24; Philemon 8 - 19

Perhaps nothing is more difficult than to retain always in one's mind the character of the day in which we live: that it is a day in which God has a free hand through accomplished redemption, and is active in love, for the blessing of man. His heart is in it, and He is loth to abandon this day. With this in view I call attention to the passage read in Luke 15, it being one that pre-eminently presents this thought to us. And in that connection I would speak of the results God seeks; indeed, not only what He seeks, but what He finds, for God is not labouring in vain. In regard to the creation of the earth, it is said that He created it not in vain, or empty, but in order that it should be full of intelligent, responsive people. So, wisdom being with Him at the beginning, as we are told in Proverbs 8:31, rejoices "in the habitable part of his earth", and its delights were "with the sons of men". God's activities have results in view that are obtainable. His activities are not in vain, nor shall they cease until every one of the elect obtains "the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory". What an excess! the elect are to obtain "the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory". (2 Timothy 2:10) What a thought God had! and these activities still go on whilst the Holy Spirit remains on this earth, so that one is reminded of the words, "This is the day which the Lord hath made we will rejoice and be glad in it", (Psalm 118:24).

I want to show the results that He seeks, and the results that He obtains. In the first two parables in this chapter we find the results definitely stated. The sheep is found; but then you do not put the best robe on a sheep; the figure does not fit, nor does it fit as to the piece of silver; but when we come to

the son, whom we call the prodigal, it is put on him. In the prodigal you have inward movements which are not seen in the sheep, and, of course, not in the piece of silver. The movement there was that the woman should sweep the house; and so in regard to the sheep, the movement was altogether with the shepherd; but when you come to the prodigal son, you find, not only movement on the part of the father, but movement in the prodigal himself: "he arose and came to his father". The sheep, as a figure, would come into the first of Genesis; it belongs to the animal sphere, which, although it has affection, has no conscience, the lower creatures are said to be "living souls", though they have no conscience; but when you come to man, he has a spirit which God has given him, and also a conscience.

Every man, woman, and child has derived something directly from God; you do not get your spirit from your parents, you get your spirit from God, and the spirit that God has given you is the link between you and Him. You have also a conscience, which the sheep has not. I am not speaking now of what the sheep may represent otherwise, I am just drawing attention to the difference when you come to the prodigal. The parable of the sheep does not touch the truth of man's responsibility to God. The prodigal is a being who has a link with God, even although his associations are with wicked men; even though he wasted his substance, yet he had that link in his spirit that he had from God. "The spirit shall return unto God who gave it", (Ecclesiastes 12:7). And so the movement begins with him, according to the parable.

If there is one here who has wandered from the sphere of light, and who may be in associations, other than such as are commendable, God has a link with you in the spirit He has given to you, and in the conscience He has given to you. The

spirit was given from God in Genesis 2, the conscience in Genesis 3, and these two things remain with every man, woman, and child, and we may thank God for them.

In view of that the gospel is announced, and so there is a possible movement: it says of the prodigal, "when he came to himself". I apprehend that he came to a sense that he was a responsible man before God; his spirit had been received from God and one's spirit, in this respect, is oneself; and when you come back to that, serious and happy results follow. "When he came to himself"; what a moment in the history of that young man's soul! and then he assays to move: he says, "I will arise". The sheep could not say that, nor could the piece of silver; the young man said it. He talked with himself, and really that is how blessing begins in the soul. When one begins to reckon with oneself, in the presence of God, as responsible to Him, there is hope; there is the evidence that a work of grace has been begun in the heart. No matter how you may hide yourself in associations, and dull your senses in sinful practices, you cannot definitely forget your responsibility to God; so that when grace works, the first effect is that there is a sense of this responsibility, as was the case with this young man, who says, "I will arise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee".

Let us not be afraid of the word resolution. "I will arise and go". That is the resolve of responsibility; you determine to go. He knew in some measure what his father was; he had not forgotten him; he knew what was in his house; he had some light. It is doubtful if there is anyone in the whole realm of Christendom who has not some light. "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart", (Romans 10:8). And he arose and came

to his father; this brings out the divine side, the father's activities, "When he was a great way off"; there is a very great distance yet, spiritually, between one returning thus and God; but it is soon removed, for the father ran, and fell on the prodigal's neck and kissed him. But the removal of the distance is from the divine side; as to the prodigal's state, much had yet to be done to make him fit for the house. What follows answers to this, but there was nothing imputed to him; the father kissed him before he made his confession. The confession of verse 21, was right, it was due to the father, but the kisses preceded it.

Is there anyone here who has been away from God? Perhaps you have turned your back on the light, and on the privileges involved in Christianity, and find yourself in associations of evil, where there is dearth, where there is no spiritual food. I would appeal to you in regard to movement, for movement is essential on your side; it is a moral necessity; I would encourage you to resolve in your heart to move out of the way of the world, and come to God.

Now I want to speak to you about God's movements: "When he was a great way off". When the Spirit uses the word great, He means it. There was as yet a great moral distance between that young man and God. So God would shorten the distance. God is ready to do it now. The "great way" is looked at from His side; God, as He looks into your heart, knows just how far you are away; but He would remove that distance. I have often thought of the position of the cherubim in the tabernacle and temple. In the tabernacle they looked down on the mercy seat; there they saw the blood. In the temple they looked toward the house, or, as we may say, straight out. God has found satisfaction in the death of Christ, every claim of His throne has been met, and so in the temple, the cherubims look straight

out. The whole human race has come into the view of God; Simeon spoke of "a light for revelation of the Gentiles", (Luke 2:32). The veil is taken off and God looks out, without any discrimination, on the whole human race, and wherever one moves toward Him, He would run, as it were, to meet that one. Is that not blessed to your soul? It is to me; it is wonderful to me that that is the blessed attitude of God now. We were speaking about divine emotion, and we have it here. We have become so familiar with Luke 15 that it hardly moves us; this wonderful presentation of God should move our hearts. He leaves the government of the nations with angels, but He does not leave it with the angels to attend to a returning soul. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth". It is God's own joy. Here God is moved; it says, "The Father had compassion"; and, having compassion, He runs to meet the returning son; and then His love is expressed in the kiss. These are the kinds of divine movements that characterise our dispensation. Every Christian can give some account of the manner of his reception as he returned to God.

Now, God would have this returning, repentant one suitably attired. We should know how we are to be clothed, as received and forgiven; how we are to be attired; how we are to be in the house. "Bring forth the best robe"; one is to be there in the best robe; let us not shrink back from the best; it is the divine thought for us. God is going to surround Himself, through the gospel, with men who are clothed spiritually in the very best. How do we appear before God? You may have a correct religion, attend the meetings, and yet be far short of this. We are to be before God as Christ is, for it is said, that "as he is, so are we in this world". (1 John 4:17) Only thus could we be of the "household of God". We are to be there attired in the very best. The grace

thus shown is overpowering, when rightly understood, but it exists for us to appropriate and enjoy. We were speaking today about this; when Cornelius expected Peter he invited his relatives and his near friends; they were all invited to the house, and Peter comes and preaches; and it says, "While Peter yet spake these words the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word", (Acts 10:44).. It was God embracing the returning Gentiles; He would have them to know His love; He would have them to know He delighted in their company; that was His welcome. He did not leave it to Peter to welcome them. He said, as it were, "I will let them in myself". This is what God has done. Peter simply commanded baptism; but the Gentiles were already received, they were now fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God.

I would put it to the young people here, some of you have been converted only a short time; you have turned to God, and yet there is possibly a sense of distance between your soul and Him. I want you to know that God would have you with the best robe on, a ring on your finger, and shoes on your feet; and He would have you to enjoy the merriment: He says, "Let us be merry". Every Christian is included in the house. God would graciously include every one of us. He would have us rejoice with Him in the great results of the death of Christ. It says, "they began to be merry". Have you begun to be merry? You must have something for your soul to feed on; you may rejoice in the light now, but if you do not come into the blessing that is in the house of God, your light will grow dim. The world will offer you its pleasures, but God would have you begin to be merry spiritually now, and then the world will have no attractions for you. Your salvation, in a practical way, depends on this. If you do not find satisfaction for your soul in the things

of God, in His house, the world will influence you, and you will become a victim to it. The Father says, "Let us eat and be merry". God would have us all to participate in the joys of His house.

The apostle Paul was entirely in accord with the spirit of the house. An aged man and a prisoner of Jesus Christ, he writes to his dearly beloved and fellow-labourer, Philemon, on behalf of a young convert, Onesimus, and now a brother beloved. He might have boldness to enjoin, but for love's sake he would beseech Philemon for the dear brother he was now sending to him. How much do we do, dear friends, for love's sake? He does not say, "the love of God", but just "for love's sake"; that great thing that has come to light in the death of Christ. "Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us", (1 John 3:16). Paul was entirely unselfish; he was in keeping with God, and so he writes a letter "for love's sake". Onesimus had fled from his master, but he came into Paul's arms, into the arms of love, for Paul was in accord with God. I think that is a point young Christians should understand. The house of God down here is in accord with God; love is there; and the apostle Paul represented that, and now he writes to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, whom he had begotten through the gospel, in his bonds. He states that Onesimus had been unprofitable, but now he was profitable both to Philemon and the apostle. In a word, Onesimus is sent back as "a brother beloved". This shows what a change the work of God had brought about in Onesimus. Am I a brother beloved? Are you? If not, then neither of us is rightly formed by the gospel. Paul says, "That thou shouldest receive him for ever; not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved ... ... If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that

on mine account". The evidence of love in all this is most touching, but it is, in measure, what each young believer may count on in the house of God now.

But what a result, in the apostle, of the revelation of God! God has met, in Christ, the liabilities of the sinner; Paul, in his measure, undertakes the liabilities of "a brother beloved". I cannot undertake the sinner's debt, only the blood of Christ can meet his liabilities; but I can help a brother; I can undertake, in a measure, his liabilities. Such is Christianity; it is the reflection of God in Christ. Thus, in our measure, we may help the young. One great thing at the moment is to retain the young. Satan is after them, and God is seeking them; He turns their hearts towards Himself, but now there is that which they need down here in the way of service, and the apostle Paul sets before us an example. One is to undertake the liabilities of others; God enables us to do it; so the apostle says, "If ... he oweth thee ought, put that on mine account". Paul had a good sized balance with believers! Have I a good balance with the brethren? It should be an exercise if I have not. Paul can write a cheque, as it were, to Philemon. He says, "I, Paul, have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it; albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides". He had a balance, as we may say, and he could use it for Onesimus; but he undertakes to repay, and in this way the brother beloved would be relieved of liabilities and also would be free in his relations with his master.

Evidently the apostle had a doubt as to whether Philemon would celebrate, as the father of the prodigal did, the occasion of the return of the one who had left him as a slave, but was now, through God's grace, a "brother beloved". So he gently suggests that Philemon might be in accord with

Luke 15. Let us then who are spiritual, and have spiritual means, employ them for the help of our brethren, so that they may be as "brethren beloved". And to the young I would say: have it before you to be that. As believers it is your privilege to say, 'I am now a brother, I am of the Father's household, the Father's love is mine, and I have the love of the brethren'; for, as the apostle says, it is "for love's sake"; each one is to act in the house "for love's sake". If I have not love, I am nothing. Obviously we must possess love; as "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts" (Romans 5:5) it works out in love towards God and towards the brethren.

My word is to impress you with the thought that we can be, as the product of the gospel, "brethren beloved". May God bless His word!

Pages 117 - 190 - "Revelation -- General and Special and the Holy Spirit in relation thereto", Hampstead. June, 1919 (Volume 46).

REVELATION -- GENERAL AND SPECIAL

John 1:18; 17:26; 20:19 - 23

In what I have to say, I desire to point out the distinction that has to be made in the things of God between that which is general and that which is special. The declaration of God spoken of in John 1 is general, whereas that referred to in chapter 17, and amplified in chapter 20, is special. My impression is that Christians generally are content with the former, and, indeed, it is in a very limited way, that even that is understood. Now what is general is very wonderful in itself, for the revelation of God extends to all in this present dispensation, and will extend to millennial times in the future. It is not said to be made to any class in particular, it is for all. John tells us, "the only begotten Son ... he hath declared him", without saying to whom; but when you come to chapter 17 the Lord is speaking to the Father, and the chapter, which stands by itself, discloses to us the breathings of His heart, not as regards the world, but as to those given to Him out of the world. He is thinking specially of them, and He ends by saying, "I have declared unto them thy name". It is not simply "declared", as in chapter 1, but "declared unto them": and then in chapter 20 He enlarges upon this, when the hour of it arrives; that is to say, the enlargement or development of it is in spiritual surroundings in the upper room in Jerusalem. The difference in this way lies between what is in the upper room in Jerusalem and what is public.

The thought of the revelation in John 1 is typified by the sun in the heavens, and one would love to

know more of it. It is impartial, for it shines on every man. No one in the good of the revelation of God could be a partisan; he would be in accord with God and therefore impartial. In this sense locality is nothing to him; he is not concerned about his own locality more than others; of course, local responsibility has its place in another connection. I say this, because of the great disposition of our hearts to be local. If you consider the development of church history and the Romish system, the latter claims to be catholic, whereas the very conception of it is local. Rome is a locality dominating a much wider area; that is the idea, but no locality on earth is great enough to dominate the house of God. The Son of God in heaven is over it; this is the thought presented in Scripture. Christ is Son over God's house. Romanism is local in the conception of it, and is thus not in keeping with the revelation of God.

In John 1 we have that word, "The true light was that which, coming into the world, is light to every man". John the baptist was not that light; he was a burning and a shining light, but his ministry, although it witnessed to Christ, was local as having reference to Israel. He was greater than all who went before him, but his light had reference to that nation. Hence he was not the true light. "The true light was that which, coming into the world, is light to every man". That light was not partial, it was not local or circumscribed, but general. It takes account of every man, and shines for all; so the Spirit of God goes on to say, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him". It does not say to whom; it is the plain statement of the all-transcendent, wonderful fact that the God, who had never been seen at any time, is now declared. The sun shines not only on every country, but on

every man; and the knowledge of God in a man renders him a light, and no one is really such who is merely local in his feelings and aspirations.

Now it is in this connection that the house of God stands, and it must be that in which God shines out universally. It is not only a place in which He lives, but it is also a place in which God shines. It is said of the heavenly city that it "lieth four-square", (Revelation 21:16) that is, it is universal. It has the glory of God; it comes down "having the glory of God", (verse 1) and that must not be restricted. So the house is in the light of the revelation of God. It is not formally treated of in local epistles, it is a general idea; it is not centred in any locality, it is centred in heaven. It is spoken of as the "gate of heaven", (Genesis 28). In "the gate" we have set forth all that is in heaven. The first mention of the house is in connection with a ladder set up between earth and heaven, giving the thought of communication with heaven. Jacob, when he awakes, says, "How dreadful is this place". (verse 17) His statement indicates the state he was in, but he also says, "this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". Heaven would have a means of communication with earth, and on earth man is the chief object. Therefore in 1 Timothy, prayers in the house have all men in view, kings and all that are in authority, "for God is one". As revealed, God has not one thought for this nation, and another for that. "There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time", (1 Timothy 2:5). That is what should mark the house, and I speak thus that in our souls we may be catholic, that we may emerge from being merely local; that while maintaining local responsibility we may have love to all the saints, and have all men in view for blessing. Paul speaks of the Colossians and Ephesians as having love "to all the

saints"; so in Timothy the prayers enjoined indicated that those who prayed were sympathetic with God as dwelling in His house. Therefore we are neither to be local nor national, but catholic. I use the word catholic advisedly, as it expresses the idea that is in my mind; every part of the house is dominated by Christ, and each part is of interest to Him, He supports in His sympathy every one in it. He is the great Priest over the house of God in order that He may maintain our souls in accord with God; it is a great thing that we should be enlarged in our affections.

Now in John 17 the Lord is speaking, not of the world, nor of all men, but of His own. This is intensely interesting, involving, as it does, what is special, and it is not connected with any particular locality. It is general in the sense that it belongs to all that class of persons that the Lord has in His mind; that is, the apostles, and including "them also which shall believe on me through their word".

In Matthew 16 He had raised the question with Peter and the disciples as to who He was; a question that tested their hearts. The Lord's questions are generally intended as tests; He knows what answers will be given, but He propounds questions as tests by which our state and measure are disclosed. The test is as to where I am, and my speech indicates where I am. "Whom say ye that I am?" the Lord inquired. It was a question that no one but Peter could answer, and the explanation of his ability to answer it is, that the Father revealed it to him. There never had been such an one as he on earth before, a man who could be designated Peter. He was able to answer this momentous question, "Whom say ye that I am?" He said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". It was a perfect answer, and the Lord immediately responds, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and

blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven". It was a revelation; it was not a general revelation, but a private one, and we have to understand this, we have to understand what it is to receive light in our souls as to Christ from the Father. The revelation constituted Peter a stone, material for the building. His answer was unequivocal. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". It is as if he said, 'I see a man through whom God can effect all His will, and in whom His power is set forth'. Have you seen Christ in this way? John the baptist said, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3) but Peter virtually said, 'He is before me'.

The woman in John 4 said, "When he is come he will tell us all things", and the Lord said in reply, "I that speak unto thee am he". The Father did not tell her that. You may say it was a revelation; but no, it was the statement of a fact: it was light by the Lord's word as to the Person before her, but not a revelation from the Father; she was not constituted a stone by that. Peter's case was unique. When John the baptist saw Jesus coming unto him, be said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world". In that blessed Man coming to him he saw in prophetic vision the One who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was fulfilling all righteousness, and John sees in Him the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. That was the light, I repeat, in which Christ appeared to John when He walked towards him, as "he sees Jesus coming to him".

Then the next day John "stood". The Christ had come, the One through whom God would accomplish all His will had come, and John stands. He says, as it were, 'my work is done, the Son of God has come, He will do everything now'. The woman in John 4 said, "he will tell us all things", but John

implies by standing that He will do all things. Then in chapter 3 John is listening to Christ; he was standing and hearing Him, but all this did not constitute John a stone, and this only emphasises the unique nature of the revelation to Peter. The revelation to him indicated a new beginning in which the Father took the initiative; He laid the foundation of a new structure. "The Christ" implies that God has in a Man one through whom He can effectuate all His thoughts; "the Son of the living God" is the vessel and expression of His power. The gates of hell cannot prevail against a building reared up on this foundation. "The Son of the living God" suggests the power of life.

There is nothing that abounds in Scripture more than this great theme of life; what exercise of soul must an Old Testament saint have gone through as he saw king after king and priest after priest die, sacrifice after sacrifice slain; one continuous course of death, death, death! The time of life had not arrived, but now Peter can speak of the "Son of the living God". What a moment was this for Peter! This was a private revelation which he received, and it constituted him a stone. Peter's confession represented the revelation he had received, and the Lord names it "this rock" on which He would build. His assembly. The Lord recognises that the revelation had been effective, and He takes account of Peter accordingly. Redemption had to be accomplished and the Holy Spirit had to be given before the truth spoken of here could become fully effective. The rock must be taken account of by itself. The Lord says, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee". It is not now as in John 1, "the only-begotten Son ... he hath declared him", it is, "revealed it unto thee". There is first the revelation, and then Peter, as the one to whom it was made, is constituted a stone. I only mention this in order

to distinguish between what is general and what is private or special. Matthew 16 was not general, it was not made to the eleven, but to Peter alone, and through him became light for all. Nothing could be more interesting, and the importance of it is what I would lay stress on, so that our souls might be on this rock, "the Son of the living God". "Hades' gates", the whole system of satanic power, cannot prevail against it; it is invulnerable.

I pass on now to John 20. I would desire to show how the declaration of chapter 17 has a spiritual connection. "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it", the Lord says; it is a lovely thought and the Spirit in chapter 20 connects it with what is peculiarly spiritual. John's record has in view the establishment of a spiritual state of things among the people of God, that which is perhaps most lacking among us. Matthew in his gospel gives us political accompaniments of the resurrection; we have an angel with his countenance as lightning, which carries the thought of God acting on behalf of His people against the world. In Mark we get a young man on the resurrection morning, suggesting the energy in which the testimony is rendered and promulgated in this world. Luke gives us two men in shining garments, a heavenly and priestly suggestion; God had reached His thought of "good pleasure in men". But John has no man in his record, he speaks of two angels, "one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain".

It is noticeable that there is no reproof recorded in John 20; and while John speaks of Peter and of himself going to "their own home", he mentions a good deal that denotes a certain spiritual element with them, and then goes on to enlarge on Mary, placing her first in reaching the tomb while it was yet dark, and drawing attention to her running to

the others. She was in line with the "hind of the morning" (see heading of Psalm 22), and was in a position to receive a manifestation of Christ. Her affection led her into it. It may be said that she had not very much intelligence, but instinctively she was led into position. Shall we be in position when the Lord comes at the rapture, or shall our hearts be in the world? To be in position is to be apart from the world. May we be found watching! Mary is set before us as John's great character, so to speak, and there she is at the sepulchre before it is day; she is not seen with the others, she is alone, as John is occupied with spiritual elements, and she sets these forth. In verse 2 she runs, as already said, to the two disciples, and then they come to the tomb, and they go in first; she was a sister, and brothers lead. They see the linen clothes lying and the handkerchief folded up by itself, all suggestive of the dignity of the occupant, but when Mary looks in, she sees more than they do. She wept, it says, and looked into the sepulchre, and saw the two angels in white sitting. The two disciples did not see the two angels, for they did not wait.

There are grades of spirituality, and Mary was more spiritual than the two disciples; she had more affection. The angels address her. They say, "Woman, why weepest thou?" But now, note what it says in verse 14, "she turned backward". She heard what they had to say, but turned away from them; she placed the angels, one might say, in their own position, something else was before her, they were not what she sought. She is not affrighted as in Mark, she is spiritual and acts with intelligence. She "turned herself back"; it is a spiritual scene, and then she saw Jesus standing; she knew not that it was Jesus, but she saw Him standing; the fact is stated. Mary's act in turning herself backward, as I understand it, was an act of spiritual instinct,

and how important, if we are to have special light, that we should have spiritual instincts! The angels here, as I said, did not terrify Mary, they did not disconcert her; she turns from them, and then she sees Jesus. What a moment for her!

I just touch on this in connection with the setting of the private declaration of which the Lord speaks. He makes Himself known to Mary, and then says to her, "Touch me not", and immediately furnishes the reason, "for I have not yet ascended to my Father". In the garden He places a barrier between Himself and her, and goes on to say, "But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God". Thus we find Mary constituted, through her spirituality, a messenger in the spiritual area: it is not a question of assembly order, or what comes under the public eye, it is the spiritual area, and so the Lord says, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God".

I would couple with this for a moment the scene in Acts 1, where Luke, having told Theophilus of the Lord's charge to the apostles, adds, "to whom also he presented himself living, after he had suffered, with many proofs; being seen by them during forty days". We know how the Lord came in and stood in the midst of the disciples, the doors being shut. He came in amongst them, and the doors did not open. He did it in order to suggest the spiritual. Thus He came in and went out among them for forty days, appearing to individuals and to the company, and what for? To impress them with the great fact that a living and spiritual order of things had been established, and they were to have part in it. The Father and the Son and the brethren of Christ indicate what had come to pass, the great and blessed relationship opened up and established.

How wonderful! I would say again, this is all private and special. "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it", and to what end? "That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them", in other words, they were to be constituted vessels for the Father's love. Think of that; that the love wherewith the Father loved Christ should be in us, and Christ in us!

Well, this is what I had before me, and I have no hesitation in saying that it is a very great exercise with me that saints should become accustomed to what is special, and the special thing about the assembly is that it is brought into relationship with Christ in heaven as being itself heavenly; all this is obviously spiritual. Matthew, Mark, and Luke deal with what is more public in recording the facts of the resurrection of Christ, but John is occupied with what is private and spiritual. It is a family state of things that is contemplated, and the Lord comes in, the doors being shut, and does so in this way, in order to impress His people with the fact that things are to be spiritual. Man in his natural effort and ability is outside of all this; it requires what is spiritual; so the apostle says, "we have received ... the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God". He also says, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard ... the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit". (1 Corinthians 2:9,10,12) He has given to us His Spirit that we might know these things, hence it is through being under the control of the Spirit that we can participate in a spiritual order of things.

THE LIVING WATER

John 4:1 - 15

J.T. We might consider the way the Holy Spirit is presented in the gospel of John, and I suggested this scripture, to begin with, as indicating how the need of the individual is met, so that he might be qualified for testimony in chapter 7; then, in the section from chapters 14 to 16 inclusive, we have the Spirit presented mainly in the character of Comforter, in relation to the company. And in chapter 20 He is not presented formally as the Person, it is the Spirit characteristically that is prominent. Christ as the last Adam breathed into His disciples and said, "Receive Holy Spirit"; the reference is to the lungs, so to speak.

In chapter 1 the Spirit is introduced by John in a general way, saying, "he it is" (referring to the Lord) "who baptises with the Holy Spirit". Baptism with the Holy Spirit conveys the idea that we are merged or covered in Him; it is a remarkable expression. "For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body", (1 Corinthians 12:13). So that, as baptised, one is, so to speak, merged in what the Holy Spirit forms here, and in that sense out of sight by the Spirit. This is of very great significance when considered in the light of what Christ does in taking up each of us and affecting us in this way, in baptising with the Holy Spirit.

M.W.B. Suggesting that He is the One who pervades everything through the Spirit, and is thus marked off as the Son of God.

J.T. He has power in that way to effect everything, so that all is merged in the Spirit. Baptism with water means that one is put out of sight. The idea of being baptised with the Holy Spirit is put over against John's baptism. In his case it was

baptism with water, in contrast to what Christ would do, in baptising with the Spirit; the latter is an immense thing for us. The former is negative, having reference to the judgment of sin, the latter is positive. In Corinthians the application of the baptism of the Spirit involves the truth of the body. "For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body ... and have been all made to drink into one Spirit"; the double statement in the verse refers to the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's supper, but making the thought spiritual. John 1 brings Christ in, as the One who baptises with the Holy Spirit, so that finally the whole scene will be so characterised.

A.M.H. And will stand in relation to Christ as the One who does baptise.

J.T. Yes. The baptised stand in relation to Him.

A.M.H. Water is dissociation, while baptism with the Spirit links all with Christ.

J.T. In the application of this passage to Christians, the baptising with the Holy Spirit, the body is brought in; the principle in the millennium will be the Spirit pervading all; all will then, in some way, come under the Spirit, and will, therefore, be in accord with Christ. It is an immense thing, bringing in as it does the glory of Christ, and fitting in with John 1, which deals with that. John minimises what he is doing himself. He affords us a model, a key to the gospel in this way; he was one who had great opportunity of exalting himself; none had greater; and yet he refused to take advantage of it. 'No', he said, in effect, 'I am going to make much of Christ; that is my mission'. The test he is subjected to brings that out; in his own estimate, he is just a voice. As to anything I am doing, he would say, it is not to be considered; it is what Christ is doing that is of moment. He is speaking of the insignificance of his work in comparison

with what Christ was doing. Of course his baptism was of great importance in its own place.

M.W.B. He says, "I must decrease".

J.T. Yes; it is the consummation of humility; his setting sun goes down with joy, so to speak, in the light of Christ. "He must increase"; so John disappears, not in any disconsolate way, but in joy. He is a remarkable model for us in these last days, and shines, too, in intelligence, as evidenced by his words when he sees Jesus coming to him, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world".

Rem. He had the Holy Spirit from his birth.

J.T. John the evangelist does not tell us anything about John the baptist's failure, showing, I think, that he has some special object in view in introducing him as he does.

H.N. He represents the beginning of what is spiritual.

J.T. Yes. He is introduced abruptly as a man sent from God and the Spirit immediately states, "He was not that light", as if to say, Do not be mistaken, he has come as a witness; but he is not that light, the true light has yet to come. John was partial in his outlook, but the Lord was bringing in what was universal.

J.H.W. John receives direct communication as to the Spirit; he says, "but he that sent me to baptise with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost".

H.N. With reference to baptising with the Holy Spirit, how would you connect, or contrast, it with the anointing of the tabernacle? Are they kindred thoughts?

J.T. The anointing is for dignity, and brings in what God is. Jesus was anointed; it does not say

that He was baptised with the Holy Spirit, but He was anointed. It gives dignity and qualification for service. Being baptised with the Spirit carries the thought of being merged, so that one's individuality is lost; it is what is effected through the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is dominant in the body.

P.L. You get this thought all through the gospel of John. You see it in Mary, Joseph, and Nicodemus. They are not heard of after a certain point. The history in detail of persons is not taken up.

J.T. So with Lazarus after chapter 12.

P.L. Is that the thought of merging? You have brethren at the end; their names are not given.

F.F. In chapter 10 we get "one flock" and "one shepherd".

J.T. Yes; the man in chapter 9 receives sight, but he is merged in the flock in chapter 10. Mary Magdalene would be merged in the brethren in chapter 20.

A.M.H. Does it touch reconciliation on Paul's line?

J.T. Yes, in Ephesians. I am pleasing to God as in relation to the body of Christ; "That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross", (Ephesians 2:16). Christ is the One on whom the Spirit descends and abides; all the pleasure and satisfaction of God are seen there. One gets a sense of the intense delight of God in this Man. First He is seen walking to John, suggesting His death; then the Spirit records that He is walking, without saying where to, "As he walked". According to Ephesians, we are reconciled as merged in the body.

P.L. Is the thought in one case His pathway into death, and the other His Person?

J.T. The former refers to His death; His coming to John suggested that; He was fulfilling all righteousness. Then it says, "And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of

God". It is an expression of admiration. What must the walk of that blessed Man have been to God! The two disciples apparently did not notice the beauty of that walk till their attention was called to it, showing perhaps the value of ministry. There are many things we do not see till our attention is called to them.

J.H.J. Christ is presented in regard to what He will effect for God, before reference is made to what is effected in us.

J.T. Yes. This is a wonderful chapter, seven or more different titles being employed to designate the Person of Christ. Baptism with the Holy Spirit is an immense thing in its bearing.

Rem. You inferred that the thought was carried on to the world to come. Will you say in what way?

J.T. You get it referred to in Joel, as quoted in Acts 2, when the Spirit came and sat upon each of them. That is the public side of it, and Joel's prophecy received a partial fulfilment on that occasion. In Acts 10 it is said that while Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word, and in recounting the incident, Peter says, "Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit". The same word fell is used in Acts 10:44 as in Luke 15, where it says the Father fell on the prodigal's neck; the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word. It involves energetic action, not simply the ordinary thought of the word. The Holy Spirit, so to speak, takes charge of that company. While Peter is speaking the Spirit falls on his hearers, and in the next chapter Peter says, "And I remembered the word of the Lord ... ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit".

M.W.B. Peter recognised this action of the Spirit as being similar to what took place on the day of

Pentecost. "Even as upon us also at the beginning", he says.

H.N. Have you any thought as to why the baptism of the Spirit is linked up with the reception of the Gentiles?.

J.T. I think it shows the great interest the Lord had in the Gentiles. It is illustrated, as we were saying, in Luke 15; God being so delighted with the returning Gentiles, He expressed His delight in this way. While Peter was preaching, God was, we may say, looking into the hearts of the audience, and He recognised what was there. The Holy Spirit would be given in reference to what was within, and now they would be characterised by this. So that 1 Corinthians 12 would have reference to it: "by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body"; hence the body is the vehicle for the moment by which this truth is exemplified.

H.N. 1 Corinthians would prepare for the anointing.

J.T. Yes. It is "the Christ".

Ques. Would baptism of the Spirit be the moral preparation for dignity?

J.T. It is presented there, "so also is the Christ"; and it brings in the thought of representation here. Dignity is placed on the vessel; it is the anointed vessel; (1 Corinthians 12:12).

A.M.H. Is it Luke's line rather than John's? "The Spirit of Jehovah is upon me". (Luke 4:18)

J.T. John speaks of it too, but Luke gives the anointed Vessel; (Luke 4).

A.M.H. What is the thought of the anointing in John?

J.T. Independency of man in the sufficiency of the Holy Spirit. "Ye need not that any man teach you"; it saves you from antichrists. Luke gives the anointed Vessel for service here; "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with

power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him". God stands by what He anoints. In Christ there was no disparity between the Vessel and the anointing. A vessel in whom there is discrepancy occasions sorrow, but the "oil" must be recognised.

M.W.B. God's vital system is always marked by what is comely.

J.T. Yes; the moral precedes the official. The Lord was anointed at the age of thirty; He was qualified according to what He was as Man. He came up from the water praying, and as He prayed, the Holy Spirit came upon Him. Then it is said that He "was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil". The Spirit took the initiative, which we can understand, and it was right that this should take place as regards the Lord, in having to do with Satan. If I have to do with evil, or if you have, it should be because the Holy Spirit leads us to it, otherwise we shall be damaged.

H.N. The Lord was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness according to the gospel of Mark. (Mark 1:12)

J.T. Yes; the energy of the Spirit alone should lead one to take up evil. If I read a bad book or go to the playhouse, etc., it will do me harm, but if the Holy Spirit calls me to deal with evil, that is another matter; very few, however, are called to this.

Ques. Does Mark give you the controlling power of the Holy Spirit?

J.T. The Holy Spirit takes the initiative. Becoming Man, the Lord was subject, and so was driven into the wilderness; but after the temptation had ended He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; it is His Own action now. And then He stands up in the synagogue, turning formally to the text in the prophet Esaias and reading it, as if to

say, 'This is the text for the moment'. Luke seems to delight to expatiate on the grace of the anointed Vessel, and to record that the people "wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth".

M.W.B. Contrasting that with John 1, we find His personal greatness attaching to what He did there.

J.T. It is His own personal dignity in John; it is what He does. He baptises with the Holy Spirit. He gives living water. As the other gospel presents Him, He is subject to the Spirit, and a pattern for us, but John gives us specially the personal glory of Christ.

J.H.J. Chapter 4 treats of the Spirit given to us.

J.T. All is set out there as what the Lord can effect. When we come to need in a man's soul, which chapter 4 presents, and the Holy Spirit in that connection, the woman being a representative case, you find the Spirit presented on the side of gift; in chapter 7 it is a question of reception. "This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive". Here in chapter 4 it is, "If thou knewest the gift of God".

M.W.B. What is the difference?

J.T. Chapter 4 is from the divine side; chapter 7 from the side of reception by the believer.

A.M.H. Is there a measure of state assumed in chapter 7?

J.T. The fourth chapter simply gives the divine gift, and is connected with the Giver, whereas chapter 7 emphasises the receiver.

A.M.H. "Living bread" precedes this, suggestive of the building up of a constitution.

J.T. The point in chapter 7 was not that He could give living water, but that any one who believed could receive it. It gives a sense of the greatness of the believer, and indirectly of the greatness of Christ as it is a question of the one who believes on Him.

M.W.B. There is a kind of royalty attached to the believer.

Ques. What produces the state that has been referred to?

J.T. First, there has been new birth (chapter 3); then living water (chapter 4); the power of the Son of God (chapter 5); and finally the Son of man as bread from heaven (chapter 6). There is thus brought about in the believer a state corresponding with chapter 7.

Rem. There is a moral order no doubt in the way these things are presented.

J.T. The greatness of the believer is drawn attention to, not indeed to occupy us with that, but to emphasise the greatness of Christ. 'Whatever you may think of Me', the Lord said in effect, 'even from a believer in Me flow out rivers of living water'.

P.L. Would the thought of "flow" refer to fertility, while the believing would have reference to Christ glorified?

J.T. I think that is right. The thought does not go beyond what is here; what is arid here is made more fertile with this influence. The Spirit is here in the way of general refreshment. The thought of rivers is a great one; it carries you back to Genesis 2, and suggests influence and refreshment.

P.L. It is a primary and eternal thought.

J.T. Yes; but the point is one believer in Christ has rivers of living water, "This spake he of the Spirit", it says. It is the effect of the Holy Spirit coming from Jesus glorified, from heaven.

J.H.W. Christ, according to Isaiah 32, is reproduced here. "As rivers of water in a dry place".

J.T. If we saw that, we should think the believer a person of some importance, and if we get a number of such persons we have what is greater still.

H.N. Believers' meetings of that character would be all right!

Ques. The thirst in chapter 7 would be of a different character from that in chapter 4?

J.T. Yes. "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink". (John 7:37) It is thirst as to greater things I apprehend, and thus different from chapter 4. It supposes an intelligent state in believers.

H.N. Chapter 4 would be the result of the administration of chapter 3.

J.T. Yes; it shows the greatness of the administration. The Father loves the Son and gives everything into His hands, and this is the result, He gives living water.

M.W.B. Is the issue of chapter 4, the springing up, greater than that of chapter 7?

J.T. It may be greater for the believer, but morally rivers are greater, greater for man. Chapter 7 includes chapter 4.

M.W.B. I wondered if chapter 4 were priestly, setting forth the holy priesthood, and chapter 7 royal.

J.T. Yes; perhaps it would bring that in, and what you see in the two chapters is the unlimited character of what is of the Spirit. "God giveth not the Spirit by measure", chapter 3 tells us. Then in the next chapter it springs up into everlasting life, so that it touches what is eternal. We should consider the greatness of the believer as indicating the greatness of Christ, and when we think of the aggregate of believers in the heavenly city, we have some sense of the place it will fill in the universe of God.

A.M.H. Does the thirst in chapter 4 arise from lack of good, and in chapter 7 from having tasted good? You want more on that line, so that morally it is an advance.

J.T. Yes. You get the thought in Scripture of hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

M.W.B. Why is the term "living water" used and not "the Spirit"?

J.T. A thirsty soul appreciates water; nothing appeals to such an one more than water.

P.L. Would the fountain of living water meet conditions in the believer, and the "rivers" meet conditions outside?

J.T. Yes; hence the latter thought is greater. The lower affections are in view there; these are to be actuated; "out of his belly shall flow rivers", and we read of "bowels of compassions" (Colossians 3:12). It is the taking account of man here in his need and showing mercy.

A.M.H. For that there must be stature.

F.F. Living water is connected both with God and with Christ in chapter 4, and with Jesus glorified in chapter 7.

J.T. Yes. Jesus suggests what He is as Man, the Head of man, and this is how He meets the boundlessness of men's need, through men like themselves.

W.C. This is the antitype of the feast of tabernacles when every need was met, and the widow and fatherless provided for.

J.T. Yes; it takes the place of that.

Ques. Does the position the Lord takes in chapter 7 have any bearing on our subject? They sought to kill Him. In chapter 4 we find Him coming to the woman and meeting need; in chapter 7 He is rejected, and the Jews' feast of tabernacles is made prominent.

J.T. Yes, that is right; so in the next section that we shall consider, He gives the Holy Spirit as Comforter to be with His people, but here it is compassion more.

Rem. The feast of tabernacles should have been a time of joy, but they sought to kill Him.

J.T. It all serves to bring in the grace of the Spirit being given consequent on Jesus being glorified,

and it works out in those who receive Him, and thus the Christian is a benefit in the world, It is not a question of what we are to one another, but of rivers of water flowing out for the benefit of all.

Rem. It is greater than all that preceded it in God's ways.

J.T. Or anything that succeeds. It is the greatness of Christianity.

J.H.W. We are reminded of the spirit of David, anointed in the midst of his brethren. All got the gain of this.

J.T. Yes, even Nabal. That illustrates how chapter 7 stands. The believer affords God a vessel in which He can express His compassions to all men, and we are to be here in that light, not local, or national, but on the line of meeting need universally. It is what makes a man morally great.

Rem. "All the rivers run into the sea". (Ecclesiastes 1:7)

J.T. We look to see the rivers, that is the idea. It is not here that they run into the sea, but the influence they exert on the plain, the fructifying effect on their way to the sea. The idea of a river is fructifying power. The primary suggestion is plural. "A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads" (Genesis 2:10) or "main streams". God influenced every part of the earth and refreshed every part. Rivers would suggest volume. The bearing of the rivers in Genesis was universal.

A.M.H. "There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God", (Psalm 46:4).

J.H.J. The flow of the rivers in John 7 would be more in view of the scene here than in view of the saints.

J.T. The bearing is general; we want to keep that in view. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely". (Revelation 22:17) The saints are always supposed to be evangelical.

CHRIST AS HAVING COME FROM GOD AND GONE TO GOD

John 13:18 - 20; 20:17,18

J.T. I suggested reading those two verses in John 20 because one would wish that perhaps at the end we might see the distinction between going to God, going to the Father, and ascending to the Father. It may be worth pointing out that in the gospel of John much is made of the Lord's relation with God before incarnation, and also as having become flesh. It is said, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God", (John 1:1,2) and "The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him". (verse 18) His relation with God, with the Father, is emphasised.

Ques. Would you say a little as to what that relation was?

J.T. I should not like to define it beyond what is stated. The only-begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father refers to Him as having become flesh, but I would not like to go beyond that. All that is stated of Him before is that He was "with God", without defining or naming the relation.

Ques. Would it be right to say that the names under which the Lord is spoken of in Scripture as Man refer to Him as having become flesh? There is no name by which we can speak of Him as previous to that, but certain things are predicated of Him.

J.T. That is right so far as I understand it. We can speak of the Word, but then that refers to what He was here. It is used to speak of Him as in the past, in eternity, "In the beginning was the Word". The Spirit of God seems to veil what special relation there was, and it is therefore wiser to leave it there. The Lord speaks in chapter 17 of the "glory which

I had with thee" (referring to the Father) "before the world was", without saying what that was, but what is emphasised is the fact that He was "with God", and I think that has a moral significance as bearing on revelation, so that He comes out from God as having been with Him.

M.W.B. That is why you emphasise it as seen in the gospel of John?

J.T. I thought the Lord's position as having been with God should be called attention to, as to the force of it.

D.L.H. Then you are giving what one might call a moral force to the idea of coming from God and going to God?

J.T. I think that is justifiable, and as faith apprehended Him. Nicodemus says, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God" (John 3:2), and the disciples in chapter 16, as put to the test of their faith, say, "We believe that thou camest forth from God". They believed that, but these verses in chapter 13 show that His coming out from God is not all, for He also goes to God. The setting of these verses is very significant in view of what He does afterwards in washing their feet. It is a wonderful service that He rendered. The last passover, being about to take place, all this came into view. There is finality in what is stated as regards His service in testimony here. "He was come from God, and he went to God"; He had been in the world, and He was going to depart out of it to the Father; He had completed His testimony, and He goes to God. It is not here how He goes; we know that it was through death, but the point is that He goes to God.

Ques. What is the significance of going to God in this chapter and going to the Father in chapter 16?

J.T. You have going to the Father here, too; that is the first statement. "Jesus, knowing that

his hour had come that he should depart out of this world to the Father". I think the two statements are to be distinguished; that is, His going to the Father out of the world, and then His coming out from God and going to God. The world is set over against the Father; coming out from the Father (John 16:28) must carry with it more the thought of grace than coming out from God, and going to the Father involved in a way more for Him, because demonstration is brought to the world of righteousness, on account of His going to the Father. That a Man should go to the Father as having been here is very wonderful; it was a matter of righteousness.

M.W.B. What would you say is the primary thought connected with coming out from God? Is it revelation?

J.T. Yes; it is revelation, it is the "true light". "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the light", but he was not the true light, and his testimony was partial in its bearing. "The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man"; it is impartial; and it greatly aids in regard of the revelation to see that God acts towards all, it is universal. The true light sheds its light on every man; instead of being limited to Judaism, it was universal, so that coming out from God is to make God known to all. It is not that every one has something revealed specially to him, but the revelation is there. So it says, "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him"; His position in relation to the Father marks it, and is spoken of in connection with the declaration of God.

Ques. Would you say that He could not have received that which was given unto Him unless He came out from God and went back to God?

J.T. All things are said to be given into His hands here. We read, "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands", so that all administration is in His hands.

Ques. Would you say the character of the Father and the heart of God are set out in this chapter?

J.T. I think what the Father is is involved. I mean, that the Father is the One to whom He has gone, involving righteousness, and then, too, He came out from God and went to God; that is, on the one hand, God is revealed, and on the other, a Man is with God, according to all that God is, so that going to God corresponds to coming from God, and His administration is based on it; the mediatorial system, and all that is ever to be seen publicly in this world, are based on it. What there may be specially for the assembly is not so much in view here: the whole mediatorial system and what flows from it is based on His going to God.

Ques. Do you mean that if revelation is toward all, His having gone to God necessitated that He should be the point of attraction for all?

J.T. It involves that, it is stated in the previous chapter, that as lifted up from the earth, all men should come to Him, He should draw all men to Him. What is stated here is that He knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands and that He was come from God and went to God, He riseth from supper.

D.L.H. There is a question arising here, and that is, that the Lord seems to make this statement about coming forth from the Father and so on, the preface to His acting particularly in regard to the circle, not exactly to men at large, but this particular circle that had been given to Him out of the world. Would you say something in regard to that point?

J.T. I think that their position here must correspond to the great truth of His position, as having

come from God and going to God, and they must be taught how to act. In all the dignity of what He knew, He laid aside His garments to wash their feet, having in view what they should be here, and that they should have part with Him; it had in view what they should be in this world, out of which He had gone publicly; they were to be marked by love among themselves, that all men might know that they were His disciples. To wash one another's feet, to take up this position that He indicates, requires losing one's dignity. He had laid aside His garments to perform it. "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet". It is in all the dignity of what He knew that He laid aside His garments. I think that in rendering this service to one another in love they would be marked off as His disciples.

D.L.H. Was it in view, not only of their own association with Him in the new sphere which He was opening for them, but in view likewise of their position in relation to the world and their bearing in regard to it?

J.T. Yes, I think that is an important feature of this passage, that they should be marked off as His disciples.

D.L.H. But then "part with him" refers to the heavenly part, if we may so say, I suppose?

J.T. It may, if you introduce chapter 20 into it, but I think what we are now speaking of does not go beyond what we are here in this world, as being in a scene of defilement. It does not view us wholly in spiritual relations as chapter 20 does.

M.W.B. Would you say it is in view of it all?

J.T. We have to read chapter 20 via chapter 13, but I would connect chapter 13 with the Lord's supper, which brings in another line of things; it is parallel with the Lord's supper, which is a public matter.

D.L.H. Then the force in that case of "part with me" would be, as I understand, association with Christ in this present scene, identification with Him in rejection and suffering?

J.T. Yes, exactly. We are regarded as here where defilement is, but our spiritual relations with Christ, as chapter 20 suggests, do not contemplate us as in the scene of defilement, but rather as having part in what is heavenly.

J.J. How do you understand the necessity for the washing of the feet, if part with Me is down here?

J.T. It is important to have our feet washed. It is a distinct feature of God's testimony that He would have a people on this earth; He will also have a people in heaven. The two positions apply to us, we have part in both. This chapter has relation to us as here where Christ has been, and where defilement is, and it provides for the defilement so that we might be here according to Him.

M.W.B. Would it be right to say that chapter 13 commences a series of chapters, which regard the saints as taking Christ's place here, not so much spiritual blessing, but what is here?

J.T. Yes; that is the point. It is more the question of revelation here, and what flows from it, and then Christ going to the Father, not ascending, but going to Him and going to God, and that there is a people here according to Him, known as His disciples.

M.W.B. You lay emphasis on that verse. "By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if ye have love one to another".

J.T. I think chapter 13 is an immense thing for God, that He should have a people here according to what He is as revealed in Christ, and according to what Christ is as having gone to Him. We are connected now with the mediatorial system, which

Israel will come into, only, of course, we should grace it and magnify it in view of the greatness of our calling; but we are in that position provisionally. The Lord's supper and what we get in this chapter run together and have in view that we should be here according to what God is as revealed in Christ, and also according to what Christ is. The chapter shows what He is morally, One who in dignity can take the lowest place and serve others, so that God is rightly presented here in a Man, and that is an example or pattern for those left here in His absence.

Ques. Do we express love to one another in the action of stooping down to wash one another's feet?

J.T. Yes. In this way He teaches us how to serve one another by love. It is only a great man that can be small. The Lord shows here, not simply the fact that He was going to God, but knowing that He was going to the Father out of the world, that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came from God and was going to God, in the dignity of all that He lays aside His garments, so that it is a truly great person that can be really small in service. Our position is to be, that we are out of the world as to our soul's apprehension, in the fact that He has gone out of it, and the Supper involves that. Baptism takes us out of the world positionally, and the Supper sustains our souls as we apprehend it, so that we are out of the world morally, yet in it publicly in testimony. We have part with Christ as having left the world, but it does not say where He is to be when you have part with Him here, it is simply that you have part with Him, but it is stated that He is going out of the world to the Father.

E.R. The idea of washing really is that you get abstracted from the scene in which you are, so as to have part with Him.

J.T. Yes, but it contemplates that you are in

that scene, whereas Ephesians contemplates your being raised up together and sitting down together in heavenly places, which is a spiritual matter and runs parallel with John 20, our special privilege. This chapter 13 has in view a people provisionally for God, and we are to be kept from defilement, so as to be in accord with Christ and according to His pattern. Although John 20 does not view us in heaven like Ephesians 2, yet, being the brethren of the ascending One, our place is there.

Ques. Do you connect "part with me" with the thought of sharing in divine affections?

J.T. It is an important feature to have part with Christ, and I do not limit it in any way. What I would emphasise is the fact that we are found in a defiling scene and passing through it; that is one side of our position; the other is that we have part in heavenly things. John 20 contemplates this latter; there we are viewed spiritually not as in this world, but as in Canaan; that is another matter which belongs also to us, but that there should be a people here in Israel's position is a matter of great importance with God and this is chapter 13.

W.G. Is it not the case that we must be in the enjoyment of divine affections to express them? "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves".

J.T. I think God teaches us to love one another. The Lord sets the example here of how love is to be expressed, and it is in service in humility. "By love serve one another".

Ques. In John 20 you get resurrection. What would you get in this chapter?

J.T. Resurrection is not in view in this chapter, it is the wilderness position, it is the saints viewed in a defiling scene, and provision made for them in view of their being here after Christ. John 20 is ascension.

Ques. Would you say that Peter made a mistake in associating defilement with washing?

J.T. I think defilement is suggested in washing. What the Lord did Peter did not understand, but he would understand afterwards.

J.C. You were speaking of His leaving the world and the Father giving all things into His hands. Is that the foundation of His service here?

J.T. I think in this sense that it suggests the great dignity that was there. He knew these things. We can easily understand that He knew them, but the Spirit emphasises that He knew them, and then in all that dignity He laid aside His garments, as if to suggest that in that moral dignity we are to serve.

J.C. In that way the object of the Lord's service here is to maintain His own in correspondence to what is true in Himself.

J.T. To maintain us here, I think, not exactly to fit us for heavenly places, though we cannot separate them, but to maintain us here in a public way.

H.H.S. Is the point that for us as found in a scene of defilement love is in danger?.

J.T. Yes. The great end is to have love among ourselves, and love is promoted by the continuation of this service.

D.L.H. Is your idea that the administration of all things being put into His hands by the Father, the Lord begins by administrating in regard to His own, so as to secure what is suitable to Himself during His absence?

J.T. I think so. It suggests to us the manner in which administration is to be carried on here. I suppose, the apostle Paul is the greatest example of it in the lowly, unselfish way in which he carried on his service.

D.L.H. And that was to mark the disciples, and in that way to be a testimony to Christ during His absence. In that respect the assembly, or the

saints when they are together for the Supper, present a very remarkable thought, that they are the only portion of the world of bliss that is as yet brought into relation with God. Is not that true?

J.T. Quite.

D.L.H. And that has to be maintained, hence the feet-washing; the moral thought has to be maintained.

J.T. If we studied Paul's ministry, or his manner of life rather, we should discover in a man of like passions to ourselves how the thing comes to pass, how it takes form. His letters to the Corinthians are marked by humility. A man, who was the means under God of enlightening them, becomes displaced in a measure amongst them, but he humbly waits on the brethren in grace, bringing in the water in the most skilful way, and in doing it, calls attention to the absence of love, and emphasises the great necessity for it. He brings in, in the abstract, in chapter 13 of the first letter, love in all its characteristics, as much as to say, 'It is not amongst you in this way'. He patiently works with them in order to bring about the result that the Lord had in view, that there might be love among themselves.

Rem. In love there is power.

D.L.H. Then in that love the saints are to have part now, and I suppose where love is in exercise you find the spirit of Judas goes out.

P.L. Here you have His hands in activity. It is His administration, activity in an administrative way. Then in John 20 He shows them His hands; His hands are not active there. Is that rather in view of a scene of rest?

J.T. The hands and the side of Christ correspond with the stones taken out of Jordan and placed at Gilgal. You are in another position there, where defilement is not contemplated. It is a question of relationship with the Father, hence the Lord says,

"My Father, and your Father; my God, and your God". The position is changed, it is different, we are there in heavenly circumstances, and, of course, that is our great privilege; but here the Lord is thinking of God and all that would be the result of His having come out from God and having gone to God; that there should be a people here according to Him. This service is introduced by Him, so that there should be the maintenance of it, for the service is to be carried on among themselves.

D.L.H. Is your idea that Paul, in writing his rebuke to the Corinthians, in his lowly service that you have spoken of, and his ministering divine truth in regard to love, was really using the water and the towel?

J.T. I think 1 Corinthians may be regarded as the water, and the second letter as the towel. The first brings about cleansing, and the second brings in comfort and restfulness, for it brings in the ministries that set up the saints with God in perfect restfulness. Paul is able in that second epistle to say, "Confirm your love toward him". (2 Corinthians 2:8)

Ques. Does the apostle in 1 Corinthians lay aside his garments, or anything corresponding to it?

J.T. I think so. He might have gone to them with a rod and authority, but instead of doing that, he writes a letter and sends Timothy. He did not desire to go with a rod, so he sent a letter, and he sends it by Timothy. He calls attention to Timothy as his beloved child and faithful in the Lord, who would bring them into remembrance of his ways which be in Christ. He was like him, his own child, and they would discover in Timothy what Paul was like.

Rem. The house of Chloe had been exercised about the condition of things at Corinth and had written to Paul.

J.T. Christianity as representative of God here

is to be marked by outward littleness, by contentment in obscurity, and by a readiness to be or do anything that would tend to promote the interests of the Lord and His people. I think that our position here, as provisionally representing God in this world, should be marked by these features. I think it is a very significant fact that, when Barnabas went down and brought Saul to Antioch, and they continued there one year ministering among the saints, it is said that at that time that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch, as if to imply that the presence of Paul and his service had yielded that. I do not say that it is formally stated, but that is the setting of it; the universal position of the saints as related to Christ is first mentioned at Antioch, they were no longer to be regarded as a sect of the Jews, but followers of Christ.

Rem. It is at Antioch that Paul is first brought forward; Saul is afterwards called Paul.

J.T. As if to suggest what he was in manner and spirit, a man of no consequence in his own eyes, as he says, "less than the least of all saints". (Ephesians 3:8)

D.L.H. In 2 Corinthians 10 the apostle says, "I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ, who, as to appearance, when present am mean among you, but absent am bold towards you". It suggests very much that kind of going down and ministering in meekness and lowliness.

J.T. That is a very good scripture as covering what we are saying, and there is no value in putting these things out unless one is exercised about them. Christianity is that publicly. It is a question of being anything and doing anything that will promote the Lord's interests; no matter what others think, that is what we aim at.

Rem. It should be a matter of serious concern with us that there is so little power for the recovery

of those who have slipped off the line. Would not this help us?

J.T. I am sure it would. I think the apostle helps us in his letters to the Corinthians. They are recovering letters.

E.R. In Corinth there was a very serious evil.

J.T. Yes. I am not ignoring that, but I am only speaking in a general way.

E.R. In regard to the Corinthians it was a question of discipline, not mere defilement.

J.T. I am only treating of Paul's manner and spirit, and the skill with which he dealt with the evil and the results accomplished. In regard to the Corinthians things were very serious, but towards them on this line he says, "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so". (2 Corinthians 12:15) That is the attitude he assumed.

Rem. It is very encouraging to see what may be brought about.

J.T. The great object should be to recover all. It was said to Paul, "God hath given thee all them that sail with thee", (Acts 27:24). Love in us would embrace all the saints.

Ques. We get preservation here rather more than recovery, do we not?

J.T. This service preserves the company.

D.L.H. I have often been struck with the fact that in John 13 the thought is not that the disciples had done anything particular one way or the other, but there was the defilement inevitable in passing through such a scene, and the ministry that the Lord Jesus undertook in such lowly grace was just the right kind of service to cleanse from the defilement in passing through such a scene; and, if that is so, it should reach over to what we were speaking of just now in regard to departure and recovery. The same kind of spirit should characterise all.

J.T. I am sure that is the way to look at it;

one would like to get the exact teaching there is in this chapter, and I think it is well to get the general bearing of the service of love, which was to continue in the company.

E.R. True happiness is to be found in this service, "happy are ye if ye do them".

D.L.H. Is it not the case that a ministry in divine love of this character has a wonderfully preserving effect upon saints, for it separates them. If Christ is ministered, the soul is morally separated at once from this scene. It produces that kind of moral effect, as the soul receives this gracious ministry. Then such an one would be a help to others on exactly the same lines.

Ques. Do you suggest that the thought of the Lord here is not only to keep His own individually right in relation to Himself but that there should be a certain capacity in that circle in line with that service, that His own should be preserved and maintained?

J.T. That is it exactly. The service is to be continued by them. In 1 Timothy the widow, if she is to be put on the list, is to have this mark; "If she have washed the saints' feet". (1 Timothy 4:10)

Ques. What do you link with our doing this service? The Lord coming from God and going to God? Is it that we are to be in keeping with that?

J.T. Yes; the service is that we should be kept in the light of these great facts, and be maintained in an out-of-the-world state of things. It is an immense triumph that people should be carried thus through in presence of the evil, and kept out of it, not taken out of the world, but kept from the evil in it.

D.L.H. And anything that ministers and fosters divine affections will do that. Is not that the case?

J.T. Yes, indeed. "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest

keep them from the evil". (John 17:15) That is the position in John.

Ques. Will you give us a word or two now as to your thought in connection with John 20?

J.T. I think John in chapter 20 emphasises the spiritual side. He makes very little reference to any defectiveness or want of faith in the disciples. It is alluded to in Peter and John and in Thomas, but he makes little of it, and rather emphasises what was of God; he enlarges on Mary, and he mentions that John believed, though he went away again to his own home. In coming into their midst there is no reference to any defects, and in fact, according to this record, things are quite normal, and as the Lord would have wished it. He says, "Peace unto you". They "were glad" when they saw Him, and then He said again, "Peace unto you", as if He would confirm that state in them. As He comes through closed doors it is a spiritual thing that is before us, and I think it is all in view of the great position that they were about to come into by the message sent to them through Mary, because it says definitely, that she came and told the disciples the things which the Lord had spoken unto her.

Ques. Does that prove that she was in the good of the revelation?

J.T. I should say so in measure, but the record does not make much of that beyond that she carried the message. She is merged in the company, and they seem to be in the good of it.

M.W.B. In regard to chapters 13 to 20, in what position does chapter 14 come in, "I will come to you", and the manifestations, and "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you"?

J.T. I think it was all to confirm them on the positive side. Chapter 13 is more negative; chapter 14 is more positive, bringing in the Comforter, and

the Lord Himself. In chapter 14 the Spirit is spoken of as the Comforter; another divine Person with them, an immense thing for us as in this world. When you come to chapter 20 and compare it with Ephesians 2, the divine thought is reached, "he has raised us up together" (mark together) "and made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus". We value that, if we love one another. It is God's thought that we should be there together. But that is another thing altogether to what we get in chapter 13 and has to be understood spiritually; the latter is that we should be here together before the world as disciples of Christ.

Rem. There is no mention of the Comforter or the Spirit in the first part of Ephesians 2.

J.T. No; it is what God has done Himself because of "his great love wherewith he loved us", and what is peculiarly touching is that we are raised up together.

Ques. Is that the difference between the ascension and the going back to the Father?

J.T. I think so.

P.L. The thought of His brethren is connected with the ascension.

J.T. Yes, and then it is a question of coming out in a heavenly spirit, "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you". There you come to a complete representation of Christ. It is not the Comforter here, but the Spirit of the heavenly Man breathed into them, and they sent out by Him as the Father had sent Him.

Ques. Do you make room in chapters 13 to 17 for the thought of heaven, or is it entirely down here?

J.T. I think these chapters have the position of the saints on earth in view; what we are down here, so that after instructing them He prays for them, and He prays definitely not that they should

be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil; but chapter 20 has in view our part in heavenly places. I do not know of any greater triumph than that people should be enabled to go through this world and yet not be of it; it is true sanctification. (John 17:17 - 19).

E.R. You are looked upon as in an out-of-the-world heavenly condition.

J.T. But in saying we are in an out-of-the-world state, I was not thinking of Canaan; that state strictly would be Canaan, but the Lord's supper contemplates us though in the world, as out of it morally.

Ques. Would you say a word as to the Lord when He had washed their feet? He took again His garments and sat down.

J.T. I think He returned to a position of dignity, setting Himself before their hearts, in the way He had acted, so that they might have Him before them as an example. He says, "Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord". He would impress them with His dignity.

Rem. What He taught them could not be preserved among them in any other spirit than that which He had shown.

J.T. It could not be carried on in any other spirit.

D.L.H. The greatest person in Christianity is the one who goes lowest down.

THE COMFORTER

John 14:15 - 17; 15:26,27; 16:7 - 14

J.T. What came before us in chapters 1 to 7 was the truth in connection with the Spirit, as it applies to the individual believer; the individual is in view in that section of the gospel. We dwelt on chapter 1 and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as suggesting the way in which the believer is merged in that which the Spirit forms, as is seen in the epistles. "For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body". (1 Corinthians 12:13) The general position of chapter 1 is brought in to establish the greatness of Christ; He baptises with the Holy Spirit; while in Acts it is, "ye shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit". (Acts 11:16) The fact of baptism is emphasised in the latter scripture, whereas in the former, it is the Person who does it; and the bearing of it is towards the whole universe. For the moment, however, the baptising takes form in regard to us in the body, so that we lose our individuality, and are merged in the body, the vessel in which Christ is to be expressed. Then, in chapter 4 we have the Spirit on the divine side as gift, meeting the need of souls; the woman being a representative case, sets forth one who having failed to find satisfaction in the world, finds it in Christ. We read in chapter 3 that the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands, and in chapter 4 what that involves is set forth. The administration committed to the Son involves the gift of the Spirit as meeting thirst in a human soul, and the setting up of that soul here in independency of everything else. Living water is given, a fountain within, so that one has resources in oneself, and satisfaction is known; and thus the affections are led outside of the channels of sin into holy channels, complete deliverance being in view, with no limit as to result; "springing up

into everlasting life". Then in chapter 7 the Spirit is presented from the side of the believer's reception. What the believer in Christ receives is spoken of, and the effect on the receiver in public testimony, refreshment working out through his compassions. The lower affections are in view, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"; the thought referred to in this way being the expression of kindness, bowels of compassion and consideration for all men; so that the Holy Spirit in the Christian answers to what God is to all men in the way of consideration. Briefly, that is what we had before us last night.

A.M.H. You remarked, that reception supposes a certain amount of stature to take advantage of what Christ has given.

J.T. Yes. Chapters 5 and 6 in that way tend to build up the constitution. In the former Christ is seen in His power as Son of God, the extensiveness of that power, not merely for the saints, but for all, being set forth. There is no evidence that the man at the pool was wrought on morally, but he got the great benefit of Christ's power. Even the wicked dead are brought out of their graves as hearing His voice. It is a great item of faith in the soul of the believer as having to do with adverse power now, that Christ's power is supreme. Then in chapter 6 food is provided to sustain the soul in life, and chapter 7, as has been said, supposes a certain receptive state which enables one to come and drink. The general teaching of the Old Testament in regard to water finds its fulfilment in this way in the believer; a great matter in face of the pretensions of the Jews.

W.C. What is the thought of the Spirit quickening in chapter 6:63?

J.T. "It is the Spirit which quickens". Chapter 6 exposes flesh. The flesh profits nothing, but the Spirit quickens; it says in 2 Corinthians 3, "the

letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life". Hence we are dependent upon the Spirit for quickening. It is set over against the flesh.

W.C. Would it lead to the state referred to in chapter 7?

J.T. Yes. It is an important point that the flesh profits nothing; we may as well be done with it.

A.M.H. It is the taking of it up as the result of a measure of experience; it is not only a matter of light.

J.T. What we get in chapter 6 is intensely spiritual; "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life", as if to shut out all that pertains to the sacerdotal system. It is shocking to contemplate what has been built up in a material way upon what this chapter suggests. So we see in result that a believer as being in the good of what precedes chapter 7 would be spiritual, and his affections, as acted on by Christ, would go out in compassion toward all men.

A.M.H. What is the thought of feeding on Christ? One would like to get some more definite understanding of chapter 6.

J.T. This food tends to build up a constitution that would enable one to think nothing of oneself as regards position in this world. It is a going-down principle. The bread "comes down". The Lord Jesus coming down and dying, in order that the world might live, opens up a wide range of thought as to what I shall become if I eat that food. It is a question of going down and dying here; that kind of constitution is brought about, and one lives spiritually as a result.

A.M.H. The thought of feeding on Christ is very precious, but when we try to define it, we are made to feel we do not know much about it. How are we led on to the next section?

J.T. Much is taught in the intervening chapters which we can hardly touch, as we are dealing with the Spirit. We may say, however, that in chapters 8 to 10 the believer is led out of the world and set in the "one flock". When we come to the next section, which commences with chapter 13, what is suggested is that the saints are not seen in their individual capacity, but as related to one another, so that chapter brings in the principle of mutuality, the thought of serving one another, and Christ is brought before us as the great example of service. "Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; he riseth from supper", etc. Emphasis is laid on the fact that He knew these things, not simply that they were predicated of Him; the thought being the sense He had of the dignity of His position. In the consciousness of it He laid aside His garments. He is not to serve the saints in official dignity, all that is laid aside, and in that way He affords us an example, the effect of His service being that a company was brought about marked off as disciples of Christ down here, in mutual relations serving each other.

M.W.B. It is striking that the chapter should commence in a similar way to what we read in chapter 3, namely, that the Father had given all things into His hands. It seems to be a fresh beginning.

J.T. The great point in the chapter is that it provides an example for us as to how we are to serve. He is a great person who can cheerfully and happily become small in order to serve all. Laying aside His garments suggests that the Lord would divest Himself of everything that would give Him an official place.

M.W.B. Conscious greatness enables one to take a small place. The Lord was pre-eminently first in

this wonderful stoop. Nothing as a servant could ever equal what you are as a saint.

J.T. If things worked from the other end, we should make ourselves great because of our service. This is what marks official Christendom.

W.C. What is the application of the thought of coming from God and going to God? Is it personal to the Lord?

J.T. All service emanates from that. It is a great thing to bring in the divine element, "Knowing ... ... that he was come from God and went to God". This section does not deal with spiritual privilege; it is not "our God" and "our Father"; throughout these chapters it is "the Father". We are not brought on to the ground of association with Christ in heavenly relationship until we come to chapter 20. It does not say we are His brethren here.

H.N. Could you open out the line of these chapters as to our position in contrast with chapter 20?

J.T. Our position in this section flows from the revelation of God, and what Christ is as going to God, and is thus the outcome of what God is in Christ towards us, and what man is in Christ towards God. Going to God involves the latter. It is not a matter of family relationships, but of a people known to be His disciples and the furnishing of them for that position.

H.N. Would it involve priesthood?

J.T. Yes.

P.L. Would reconciliation be the thought as applied to us?

J.T. Yes; it involves that we are reconciled.

M.W.B. You emphasise that the saints are presented as occupying the position Christ previously had, therefore the Spirit is given as Comforter.

J.T. Yes; the disciples have learned from Christ. He sets the example before them in chapter 13, so

they are to be of His order, like Him in their relations one toward another down here.

M.W.B. Is there any instruction in the fact that the Spirit is not spoken of as Comforter in connection with the individual? It seems to be a collective idea.

J.T. One can see the working of that. Personally He is with the company. As regards individuals He is with us state-wise; that is, as meeting our state, overthrowing the flesh, and producing what is agreeable to God, but He is with the company personally. The book of Acts shows how the Holy Spirit as a divine Person acted in a sovereign way in the ordering of things. He said to Philip, "Go near, and join thyself to this chariot". (Acts 8:29) In Antioch He directed that Barnabas and Saul should be separated for the work to which He had called them. He is there operating as a divine Person, as I have said. In chapter 14 He is introduced in the way of comfort and support in view of the position we are to occupy here "that he may abide with you for ever". It is more the thought of His companionship in this chapter, not what He effects publicly. The word Comforter signifies that He takes hold of and manages the affairs of the saints; an immense thing as a resource in the absence of Christ. The chapter does not go beyond sympathy and support privately, but chapter 15 widens out to testimony publicly, while the Spirit in chapter 16 brings about the conviction of the world; brings it about demonstratively so that it cannot be denied. Any one can see that it is an immense thing in testimony and conflict, that the enemy should be publicly exposed to be in the wrong. How much has been written during the last five years to show that Germany was in the wrong! It makes no difference, one might say, to the cannon balls, but it makes a great moral difference. So chapter 16 establishes the fact that the world's attitude is wrong.

J.H.J. You mean it is established among the saints.

J.T. Yes. The presence of the Holy Spirit here demonstrates the fact that the world is wrong. He convicts the world "of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment". The demonstration is against Satan, and in favour of the saints. It is not implied that the conscience of the world is convicted, but that a demonstration of its guilt is there, so that it cannot be denied.

A.M.H. The world is weakened in its spring. A man can maintain a fighting attitude as long as he thinks he is right. Chapter 14 implies, that up till then the Lord had seen them through, now the Spirit is to take that place.

J.T. The word another would bear that out; later, both in chapters 15 and 16, it is simply the Comforter, showing that the Lord would make provision for the loss sustained by His departure.

Rem. This other Comforter would not leave them.

J.T. No; leaders come and go, but this other Comforter would abide. It is not simply that He was to be on earth, the point is that He will "abide with you for ever". It is the thought of companionship, and the companionship of One who would take account of their affairs, and look after them divinely. If we only took that in, what a great thing it would be for us! You get the word in Haggai, "My Spirit remaineth among you". (Haggai 2:5)

H.N. How would you link this with "I am coming to you"?

J.T. It is an accentuation of companionship, and is special. I suppose verse 18, which you quote, applies to what marked the beginning of things among the saints. The Lord came to them; it was His attitude. A week might intervene, but John 20 shows that that was the attitude He took up. One

has remarked that the history of the assembly is made up of weeks, but private individual history is marked by days. The saints would understand that the Lord would act as He did at the beginning in coming to them on the first day of each week.

H.N. Would we be justified in linking it with the Supper? It is not the thought of heavenly association.

J.T. That is later. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ... ... and I will manifest myself to him". This alludes to the failure of the assembly, and the proof of love now is in keeping the commandments of Christ. A manifestation is granted to the one who does that; the whole thought being to support us in our position here. These are wonderful provisions for us, but the Lord is not dealing here exactly with heavenly privileges.

M.W.B. Unless we are rightly sustained here, we have no capacity for entering into our true spiritual position.

J.T. All depends on spiritual power.

M.W.B. We are set together as those who are to take the place of Christ during His absence. It is essentially assembly ground, though the word is not used. Why is the promise of the Comforter based on "If ye love me"?

J.T. That describes the qualification of the vessel. The Holy Spirit would not come unless there was a state of soul suitable to receive Him. The state must be in correspondence. So the Lord says, "If ye love me". It would raise the question with the disciples, Do I love Christ? If I am to get the benefit of the Comforter it is on that line.

A.M.H. Another Comforter would hardly be valued unless the Lord had His right place. If they valued the Lord as with them, they would value the Comforter as sent by Him.

J.T. Saints in general get the benefit of these provisions made for the sustenance of the assembly. The whole assembly in some sense gains, but many do not take up the special privilege accorded to us, This chapter gives us the provision made for the position, and every one to some extent gets the benefit.

F.F. The revelation of God is maintained and continued by the Spirit, "he shall bring all things to your remembrance". It would seem as if the hearts of the disciples were secured in chapter 14.

J.T. Light would soon disappear if not sustained by the Spirit.

F.F. The heart is secured and held in peace by the light of the provision made.

J.T. The Lord would revive the thought of what is universal among us, so that our exercises might take form accordingly. These provisions made for the company in the absence of the Lord involve universal benefits. One is exercised in regard to all saints, and in regard to all men. We are apt to be too local. The sense of local responsibility has been revived among us, but it may be worked out to the detriment of the universal principle. The saints are all precious to Christ, and what is outlined in these chapters shows that all are to be benefited in some way.

P.L. Is that why the thought of locality is absent in this section of John's gospel?

J.T. Well, probably it is. Chapter 14 emphasises that the Comforter would be with the saints, and that the Lord Himself would come; in chapter 15 the position is changed. He said, "Let us go hence". He takes a public position now. The Spirit would testify of Christ, and the apostles would also bear witness, and fruit-bearing is in view. Chapter 16 is the battle-ground, and conflict is contemplated.

M.W.B. Seclusion marks chapter 14.

J.T. What we are contending against is exposed in chapter 16. "Earnestly contend for the faith", (Jude 3) the word says. The great point is to make sure that what you contend against is exposed. If things are exposed, they have no moral weight with those whose consciences are exercised before God.

W.T. In what way do you mean?

J.T. The word demonstration conveys the thought. In an exhibition, for example, you get all kinds of demonstration as to what things are. It is not that the world is convicted in itself, but the thing is exposed for those who have eyes to see.

Rem. As at Pentecost.

J.T. The issue was between Christ and the Jews, between Christ and the world, and God decided the issue, and the decision was that the Holy Spirit came out from Christ to the disciples. This could not be denied. Thus we see that God had decided against the Jews.

Rem. It comes out even at the cross in the testimony of the thief, "This man hath done nothing amiss". (Luke 23:41)

J.T. Yes; but this is more positive.

H.N. The Lord's thought is that His people will be formed so that they are clear of the world as thus exposed.

Rem. The Spirit convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.

J.T. The Jews were guilty in regard of sin, because they did not believe on Christ, and guilty in regard of righteousness, as the One they rejected was accepted with the Father. He goes to God in the right of His own Person as Man. His being with the Father is a proof of His righteousness, and the Holy Spirit witnesses to that, and also to judgment.

A.M.H. These are three great indictments which

the world has to answer for. One could take up this ground with any one.

J.T. That is right, the exposure is there.

W.T. We should be more effective if we were more spiritual, if the Spirit had more His way with us.

A.M.H. If there were more travail the "Man" would be brought into the world.

J.T. Quite so. At Pentecost the power of the Spirit was so evident, that it could not be gainsaid. "We do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God". (Acts 2:11) It may be regarded as a judicial or court scene; Peter's address was, so to speak, a summing up, and it brought conviction.

M.W.B. Take a case of discipline, when a man seems insensible and is not prepared to admit the evil, would conviction be carried home to his conscience if this state existed among all?

J.T. No doubt it would. "Them that sin rebuke before all". (1 Timothy 5:20) The force of that is not that you administer a formal rebuke, but that every one present knows that the person is guilty; the foundation of his position is thus sapped. The Holy Spirit is with us to help us in all these things, and he remains with us.

F.F. Chapter 14 would give the thought of peace; "my peace"; chapter 15 "my joy"; and chapter 16 power.

M.W.B. All these chapters presuppose a state of love among us, which would secure the recognition of the Spirit as Comforter.

J.T. So we value one another, and come together to get the good of the Comforter.

Rem. What is the thought of the "Spirit of truth"?

J.T. Truth is a sort of key word in John. His writings are marked by the idea of being true, "his testimony is true". (John 21:24) The truth carries the thought of complete measure. The "Spirit of truth" is spoken

of in chapter 14, then in chapter 16 it says, "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth". That is another thing.

J.H.J. He is mentioned as the Spirit of truth in chapter 15:26, also. In connection with the witness, is it to establish our hearts in the position of Christ in glory?

J.T. I think so. "And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning", showing the abundance of testimony there would be. The Spirit's testimony would involve Paul's ministry.

H.N. Does Paul's ministry come out in a peculiar way in chapter 16 to unfold to the saints all that lies in the Spirit? Would chapter 14 set forth John's ministry specially; chapter 15 Peter's; and chapter 16 Paul's?

J.T. I should think so. "Ye too" would carry Peter's feature, for, in a sense, he represented the twelve. Compare Galatians 2:7,8. Then it says in chapter 16, "he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come". This would involve Paul's ministry.

A.M.H. Does it carry the thought of finding a way through the maze of this world, in relation to the testimony? We need constant application of light in order that we may find a way in the midst of confusing elements.

J.T. What has concerned one often in considering ministry is, Is the Spirit of truth behind it? There may be true things in what is ministered, but the point is, is the Spirit of truth there?

A.M.H. Will it lead anywhere?

J.T. In the Spirit of truth there is adjustment. Saints get clear, fogs disappear, and questions vanish.

M.W.B. There is a moral necessity that the Spirit's demonstration to the world should precede

the guiding into all truth. If not clear as to the world we cannot be free to be led into the Father's things.

J.T. Yes; we want to be in the sense of the moral victory brought about by the exposure. Guiding into all truth involves what is new; that which would be introduced by Paul's ministry.

P.L. The demonstration is incidental although most important; the objective lies beyond.

Ques. In chapters 14 and 15 there are conditions attached to the coming of the Comforter, but here in chapter 16 it is simply privilege; "he will guide you into all truth". How would you regard it?

W.C. Would it be development in the truth.

J.T. At the end of chapter 16 the Lord turns to their exercises and sorrows, as they are about to enter into that new phase of things; He brings in the Father as having affection for them, and says also, "At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God". Things seem to clear for them as He announces that He is going to the Father, and they respond, "Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb". He deals here with the prospect of immediate sorrow, but the general thought is that we can ask the Father, and can surely say, as having loved the Lord Jesus, that the Father loves us.

M.W.B. There is no condition here. Chapters 15 and 16 bring in a conditional state. Here provisions are bestowed freely and gratuitously.

J.T. The Lord is dealing with their sorrows. He shows them peculiar compassion and consideration in view of their being left here in a scene of suffering and conflict.

THE SPIRIT IN RELATION TO OUR HEAVENLY POSITION AND RELATIONSHIPS

John 20:19 - 23

J.T. I suppose all will know that our subject is the Holy Spirit as presented in the gospel of John. It may be noted at the outset that the term used in chapter 20 is simply "Holy Spirit". The Authorised version gives the article, but it should be omitted, as it is the character of what we receive, more than the Person, that is presented in this chapter, in order that we may be impressed with what is spiritual.

W.G.B. Like the early verses of Romans 8.

J.T. I suppose so, only what precedes the operation here is that "he breathed on them"; that has to be taken into account. Christ viewed as having ascended, imparts to His brethren His own breath. It is what may be called the highest order of life, for life in Scripture is graded. Certainly, in the material creation it is so. Compare Genesis 1 and 2.

A.M.H. It is what is enjoyed together: "Receive Holy Spirit".

J.T. Yes; it is what the new race, so to speak, enjoys.

T. The same as in Genesis 2.

J.T. Yes; the reference is to that: only here it is a Man breathing into the disciples, and doing so as last Adam. I mentioned the thought as to "Holy Spirit" being characteristic as a help; but in order to understand the bearing of the chapter aright, we must view it as a whole, as the facts narrated in regard to resurrection suggest that the Spirit is occupied with what is of God in the disciples, and not with their unbelief. In the other gospels their unbelief is emphasised, but not here.

M.W.B. This chapter gives the purest heavenly blessing that saints have power to enter upon in association with Christ, the setting being thus in contrast to chapter 14 where it is a question of the support and sustenance of the Comforter down here.

J.T. The position in that section of the gospel from chapters 13 to 16 flows from the revelation of God, what God is as revealed, and what Man is as seen in Christ. It is His Father in these chapters, or the Father, not our Father; whereas here it is His Father and our Father, His God and our God.

M.W.B. The setting of those chapters, generally speaking, corresponds with the idea of God known in our responsible relationships.

J.T. Yes; a people here knowing God, and having learned what man is as suited to God: "and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent". Chapters 13 to 16 give us what furnishes us for the position down here, it is our equipment; but in chapter 20 our special spiritual privilege is more in view, so that things are presented more formally; "as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you"; the ground is somewhat formal. In apprehending Him as the One who has been sent of the Father, and receiving the Spirit of that Man, we are to represent Him, so it involves what is heavenly.

P.L. What is the distinction between going to God and ascension?

J.T. That is worthy of special attention. In the earlier chapters, while the Lord speaks of going to God, He never uses the word ascend. It may seem trivial to mention this, but it is not so; "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God", is of special importance in view of what we have before us, as it involves our greatest blessing and privilege. In these earlier chapters what we have is God revealed in relation to Christ; as already said, it is not as our Father, but as the

Father, or Christ's Father, that He is spoken of. Revelation is general, not specially for us. We come into the effect of it in believing the gospel, and it is in keeping with this, that the Lord sets forth what believers should be to one another in service. Besides, the bearing of revelation goes on to the future; the Father will be known, and God will be known in the millennium; but now we have this peculiar place in relation to Christ, that we are His brethren.

H.N. Would the highest thought in connection with revelation be "that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent"?

J.T. Yes; revelation is a question of what God is as seen in Christ, and what man is as seen in Christ. The passage you quote, John 17:3, does not go so far as this chapter 20.

H.N. The climax would be eternal life, but when we come to ascension, family relationships would be developed and this would correspond with Ephesians.

J.T. Family relationships and privileges come in here in John 20. Ephesians says, "who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ". (Ephesians 1:3) There it is not so much what the blessings are as where they are. It is wonderful!

Rem. Ascension is the platform in Ephesians.

J.T. "Hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"; (Ephesians 2:6) that word together refers to one another; one is not to occupy that place alone, but with the brethren. This chapter is intended to emphasise what is heavenly and spiritual, so it is "Receive Holy Spirit"; that kind of Spirit. We get excess here, and the chapter shows how we are formed to occupy this new and great position. According to the accounts by Mark and Luke the disciples were marked by the most extraordinary state of unbelief as to the Lord's

resurrection, not only in regard of the Scriptures and His own words, but in regard also of the testimony of persons with whom they were well acquainted, and whom they would not have doubted ordinarily, such as Mary Magdalene and the other women; "their words", we read, "seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not". (Luke 24:11) This suggests what flesh is, even in the presence of the most unprecedented advantages. When we think of all they had seen in Christ, and the power of resurrection demonstrated in His works, which works they were witnesses of, it seems extraordinary to find them thus unbelieving on the resurrection morning. The Lord had a great work to accomplish in them, in order to establish their souls in a state of faith, to lead them to apprehend life out of death, and to bring them into spirituality. But the Lord accomplished it, and we find these same men, after the Lord's sojourn with them for forty days, not only believing, but spiritual and intelligent. The Lord "showed himself alive" to them. That would be in order to impress them with what was living outside of death. And that was not all, for what we have here is an advance on that; following up His message to them He showed Himself to them in spiritual conditions, coming and standing in their midst, having entered through the closed doors; and now what comes to light is that they are spiritual, as viewed in this connection; there is no evidence of their being disconcerted in any way, whereas in Luke they were. There, we are told, they were terrified and affrighted. My exercise is, that we might see how this gospel leads up to heavenly-mindedness and spirituality, and the Holy Spirit is presented here in that relation to bring this about. The breath of the heavenly Man was to be imparted to them; the thought is the principle of their life, of their existence.

Ques. What is the difference between this and Acts 2?

J.T. In the latter it says the Spirit "sat upon each of them". (verse 3) It is for public testimony. The disciples were all together, and there came a sound like as of a rushing mighty wind, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. The point there is public witness. Joel spoke of it prophetically. So Peter says, "he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear". (verse 33) He does not say, which we enjoy, but "which ye now see and hear". But this in John 20 is not to see and hear, though it would result in that, of course; it is a private and intimate transaction, involving the vital principle of their being.

H.N. Acts would give more the official position.

J.T. Yes; here it is what Christ is inherently, what He does Himself as the One who ascends.

H.N. As last Adam infusing the breath of life, and thus constituting the disciples heavenly men.

J.T. Yes; made heavenly in their spirits, in the principle of their being, so that there should be no disparity between them and their position. They are made equal to the position announced in the message.

H.N. Is "I will come to you" in view of what you have been saying as to coming into the midst?

J.T. In this chapter the reference is entirely spiritual. In verse 19 the text, I believe, should read "where the disciples were". It does not rightly say, assembled, for it is not the outward public position. This serves to confirm the thought that it is an entirely spiritual matter, not the assembly as seen in 1 Corinthians.

M.W.B. There seems to be a twofold thought, then, in regard to the assembly. We are gathered together, in divine order, men being distinguished from women and the company taken account of as actually on earth in the wilderness. In that place

the Lord comes to us, but in order to conduct us to a spiritual region outside.

J.T. Yes. The latter is seen here. These people are great in the Lord's account, and He comes to where they are. His presence is apprehended in a spiritual way. They are not here viewed as orphans. In chapter 14 He promises to come in view of their position here in His absence?

M.W.B. Will you explain the distinction between the Lord's coming to us on earth where He died, and the way He comes in here as apprehended by the spiritual man.

J.T. He does not speak of the effect of His coming in chapter 14. His coming to them there is an additional provision for the position they were to occupy. In chapter 20 they are His brethren and their greatness is in view. It is the need side in chapter 14.

H.N. Would we be justified in linking chapter 14 with the Lord's supper?

J.T. Yes; here He says first, "Peace be unto you", then they rejoice, and then Jesus says again, "Peace be unto you", as if to confirm and establish them in the first effect of His presence. So we find they have gained something by the apprehension of Christ.

P.L. His presence in support, according to chapter 14, is promised, but here it is the sovereign movement of His love.

J.T. In grace the Lord subjected Himself while here to certain limitations that governed creation, but in resurrection He is no longer bound by these; and this chapter is intended to impress us with the region outside of the laws of nature, a spiritual region, so the doors being shut, He enters. The Spirit presents that side here to show the effect of His ministry.

Rem. Would chapter 14 suggest the position of the saints at the Supper, and chapter 20 the spiritual outcome, what is beyond the Supper, but which properly it leads on to?

J.T. Yes; the Supper is a testimony to the fact that the Lord is not here; it is a remembrance of Him.

M.W.B. These three chapters, 14, 15, 16, are necessarily introductory to chapter 20. We could not omit these intermediate chapters.

J.T. Rightly apprehended they lead to this, but we must see that this is wholly spiritual. We get, too, in the main what is of God in the disciples, so that there is correspondence in them to this movement of Christ, and thus they are equal to the visitation.

Rem. Mary is one in the good of chapter 14.

J.T. She behaves well as a sister. She waits till the two disciples look into the sepulchre, and then she looks in; and in doing so she gets the benefit and sees the two angels, sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. The Person who had lain there was divine, and reverential respect is to be shown to the spot where He lay. Mary says, "they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him". Having said this, she turns backward, thus turning away from the angels. There seems to be spiritual instinct in this action: the angels were not the ones to lead in spiritual thoughts. In turning, she sees the Lord. It was He who could instruct her in what was spiritual; this He proceeds to do, telling her first not to touch Him, then He entrusts her with the wonderful message, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God". And Mary, without any questioning, goes and tells them, and there is no evidence that they disbelieve her.

P.L. She says, "Rabboni", my Teacher. Is He to instruct her now in relation to the spiritual?

J.T. Yes; that is how it stands.

P.L. Instinctively she seems to anticipate the greatness of the company to which she belongs in the new position; she realises that the dispensation of angels was eclipsed for her.

A.M.H. We want to go on to what is spiritual rather than to manifestations of angelic power.

H.N. "God is a Spirit".

J.T. That is a great feature, giving character to this gospel.

Rem. The two disciples turned to follow Jesus in chapter 1. Mary turns here.

J.T. It is a great thing to turn at the right moment.

P.L. With Mary it is a question of leaving earth in principle and anticipatively. We do not require angelic care in heaven.

J.T. John in Revelation 1 turned to see the voice. He had been occupied with what was heavenly, but what he was to take account of had reference to earth; whereas Mary turns the other way to the heavenly.

M.W.B. Comparing this with chapter 16, where we have "for the Father himself loveth you", there seems a further development of thought as to the Father. Here it is "my Father and your Father".

J.T. We want to distinguish between "the Father", the thought in revelation as expressed in "one God, the Father", and our Father. Paul generally, indeed almost habitually, speaks of our Father: his thought is to bring man in to God in the relationship of son; so he says, "God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father". (Galatians 4:6)

H.N. "Access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18); would that be revelation?

J.T. Yes.

H.W. Does the thought of family relationship lie behind our having access? Is it built upon it?

J.T. "That he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross" (Ephesians 2:16) is properly connected with revelation. Access has reference to our position down here. The second section of Ephesians 2 treats of what had been brought to pass upon earth through the testimony of God.

H.N. What scriptures would you use to build up the thought of family relationship?

J.T. John 20, Romans 8:14,15, and Galatians 4:6. In Romans the Spirit enables us to cry "Abba, Father"; in Galatians He cries "Abba, Father" in our hearts. See also the opening verses of Paul's epistles. "Grace be unto you, and peace from God our Father". All these, and other scriptures, enable us to take this ground of relationship with God.

H.N. Would "the Father" be the universal thought, and "our Father" more what is private, what is for the family?

J.T. The declaration of God is general; the declaration of the Father's name is special. In John 1:18 it says, "The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him", without saying to whom; but in chapter 17 He says "I have declared unto them thy name"; that is special. When made to some person or persons the revelation is effective; when it is general, it may not be effective in all.

In verse 21 it says, "Jesus said therefore again to them, Peace be to you: as the Father sent me forth, I also send you". The "therefore" seems to connect with the rejoicing of the previous verse; it alludes to the joy; so the Lord says again "Peace", in this way sealing and confirming it. Then He comes on to their commission. "As the Father sent me

forth, I also send you", and this is followed by the breathing into them, thus indicating His concern that there should be confirmed peace and a right spirit in them as representing Him. This is important with us. The palsied man who was sent to his house would have a sense that he was sent there by Christ, and in consequence he would have a sense of his responsibility to represent Christ there, and the Lord would have us marked by a right spirit as representing Him down here.

THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD

1 John 5:4,5

There is one word used in this scripture which expresses what I want to speak about this evening, and that is the word victory. I would like to show how God affords victory to His people, and how they come into it. John speaks much of it; he speaks of overcoming and of victory. Paul also speaks of it; in writing to the Corinthians, having enlarged on the subject of resurrection, he finishes by saying, "Thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ". God gives it to us; that is, to Christians and in writing to the Romans also, he says, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly", (Romans 16:20) an assurance that victory would be theirs, although for the moment they might be suffering. He tells them "God ... ... shall bruise Satan under your feet", and it is well that saints should have that in mind, especially those who are in any way storm-tossed by the enemy's power. The Lord Jesus Christ is spoken of prophetically in Genesis 3 as bruising Satan's head; Satan would bruise His heel, but He would bruise Satan's head; that was foretold of Christ and it has come to pass. I want to dwell on this, and I mention it here in connection with Paul's allusion to Satan being bruised under the feet of the people of God. "Under your feet"; it is a most ignominious kind of subjugation, reminding one of the conquest of Canaan, when Joshua said to the captains of the men of war, "Put your feet upon the necks of these kings". (Joshua 10:24)

When the people came out of Egypt they celebrated their deliverance, and I would remark here that it is very important to celebrate what God achieves for us. I do not know if we are much accustomed

to celebration; the world goes in for it, and we should be ready to celebrate divine intervention for us; so, as I was saying, when the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they celebrated their deliverance not indeed that it is exactly attributed to them "Then sang Moses", it is said, "and the children of Israel" (Exodus 15:1). The element of faith which had begun when they started to march across the Red Sea was seen with them (Hebrews 11:29), and having crossed they celebrated their deliverance. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea ... ... The Lord is a man of war", (verses 1 - 3) and so on. They are carried on in their song of celebration to Canaan, "Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance"; (verse 17) they see nothing but victory right on to the end; that is, they are in faith for the moment, and it is only in faith that we recognise the victory and celebrate it. This, however, is the only celebration we get recorded, save that of Numbers 21, where they sing unto the well. The next act of faith coming before us, as referred to in Hebrews 11, is that of Rahab. She comes into view as hiding the spies which Joshua sent to Jericho, and speaks of what Jehovah did at the Red Sea. She had heard about it by the hearing of faith, we may say; she had heard of what Jehovah did at the Red Sea, and of what the people did to Sihon and Og. She was in the light of victory belonging to these people, in the light typically of what God did in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and in the light of the Spirit acting in the people of God.

Now to refer again to the conquest of Canaan; when Joshua directed that the feet of the captains of Israel should be placed on the necks of the kings of the Canaanites (Joshua 10:24), I have no doubt

that this is what the apostle alludes to when he says, "God ... ... shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly". I mention it, as I said, because of any who may be storm-tossed owing to the enemy's power. Satan, we are told, goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. It becomes a question of who his victim may be, he knows those whom he can devour, he has learned this by experience. He came to the Lord, and found that he could not touch Him. "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me",(John 14:30) the Lord said. Satan could not touch Him in this way, so here, "he that is begotten of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him". Satan knows that, but he is looking for some one whom he can devour, and the exercise is, Am I that one? Am I exposed? The apostle goes on to say, "whom resist, stedfast in the faith". I wish to speak of faith, and to emphasise it, because without faith it is impossible to please God; it is impossible to get the victory without faith; it is impossible to resist the enemy without faith; indeed, without faith it is defeat at every step of the way. The dispensation in which we are is a dispensation of faith (1 Timothy 1:4); hence the great importance of having faith in our souls.

Now, coming to this passage in the epistle of John, we have, first of all, "whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world". We have been dwelling in our seasons together on the manner in which the Lord Jesus brought about a state of faith in the disciples. This could not have been accomplished apart from the work of God in them; the Father had wrought in them all except Judas. There had been the work of God in them as the Lord intimated in John 3; new birth, which was of God, had become a fact in them, that element was there. But there was another element in them, the deceptiveness of which as yet they did not know, it was the

flesh. The work of God was there, and what He does remains; that in itself is a victory over the world, but then there is the flesh to be reckoned with. Peter was truly a subject of the work of God, and yet he had not discerned what flesh was; so, while what was born of God triumphed in him in result, he was moved to do most disgraceful things in the presence of the enemy. And why? Because he had never judged the flesh. "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world", but what is born of flesh is flesh, even in a Peter, even in a Paul! It is flesh, and unless discerned, judged, and disallowed in the power of the Spirit, it will one day bring about, as it did in Peter a shameful defeat in the presence of the enemy. So the Lord on the resurrection morning had to encounter in Peter and in the others a state of unwarrantable unbelief, unwarrantable in view of all that they had witnessed in His ministry, and yet alongside of that, thank God! there was that work in them which was indestructible, that which ultimately triumphed and enabled them to become vessels of that system which is called "God's dispensation, which is in faith".

This leads to the next statement: "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith". I would, on the one hand, lay stress on that which is born of God, "whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world"; it has to be taken account of in the abstract, alas! with most of us, but nevertheless it is there. I look at the saints, and myself amongst them; I am entitled to look at them in the light of the wonderful fact that they are born of God, "begotten of him". I am entitled to look at them in the light of this truth, that what is begotten of God is, as I might say, unovercomable in this world. In this light the saints are bound to triumph. That is one side, but on the other hand there is in the disciples the sad spectacle of men who had the most wonderful

opportunities and yet, who, through not discerning flesh in its nature as inherently opposed to God, and not subject to the law of God, became unbelievers in connection with that wonderful and glorious truth, the resurrection of Christ, and this notwithstanding the fact that it was borne witness to by persons whom they had no reason to doubt. Let us beware of flesh, lest we be found unbelieving in regard to that which is most precious, and which too would minister to our deepest enjoyment!

"This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith". I want to dwell on this. We accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we recognise the Holy Spirit, and are brought into that which is in itself a victory. It is called a victory, "our faith", and hence what the Lord proposed on the morning of resurrection was the bringing about in those disciples that had seen His wonderful works a state of faith. This the Lord accomplished; and not only did He bring about in them a state of faith, but He brought about in them a state of spirituality. We get an instance of this in Acts 1, where Peter, standing up in the midst of the hundred and twenty brethren, describes the fall of Judas, and then goes on to say in effect, the Holy Spirit enjoins that another should be appointed to take his place, and one of the qualifications for the position, the chief qualification, is that the successor must be an assembly man; "of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us ... ... must one be ordained". This was a spiritual statement, and thus we see that the disciples came not only to believe in resurrection, but to see what was befitting to the new order of things that was established. Peter as spiritual says, as it were, The man who is to be our companion in apostleship must be an assembly man. I wonder if we are all assembly men in that sense! Note, it says, "companied

with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us".

Then in the next chapter, they were all together in one place; together as we might say in assembly: not in the temple now, as is stated in Luke 24:53, but simply "in one place". Previously this "place" was the "upper room", and undoubtedly this would be the same: the upper room suggests a spiritual idea. A large conspicuous place under man's eye would not be spiritually suitable. The principle of Christianity is to be out of sight, simply nothing in men's eyes as a "little flock". So those who saw the Lord taken up to heaven returned to the upper room, where were staying both Peter, and James, and John, and all the apostles with them; they were in spiritual surroundings, we may say, in an out-of-the-world state of things. That is spirituality. It is not heaven yet, but a place in which they were withdrawn from the world; there they were together in the recognition of the authority of Christ as set forth in the apostles, and in the enjoyment of mutual bonds of affection.

It was in those days before they had received the Spirit that Peter rose up to speak, and spoke "as oracles of God". He was spiritual. I adduce it now to testify to the wonderful service rendered by the Lord to the apostles and others during the forty days of His resurrection, when He undertook to bring about in them a state of faith and spirituality. To such a company the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2. There was developed through the apostles a wonderful system of truth. They took, in this way, the place of Moses. Of those who believed it was said that "they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers". Those who had faith forsook that which stood for the system of Moses (we read that the scribes sat in Moses' seat) for the authority vested in those twelve men who were taught of Christ.

The Holy Spirit brought in a system of truth which they developed, and it was in faith; it was that which in the Scripture before us is called our faith; "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith".

What a wonderful triumph has been brought about! That which Christ taught, and the apostles spoke of, became living in souls, so that those who believed were subdued, and "continued in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers". There was a living system of faith set up in the souls of the apostles, and their teaching appealed to the people, as we see when Peter stood up with the eleven. In Acts 1 we are told he stood up in the midst of the brethren, but in chapter 2 he stood up with "the eleven", indicating the official position he occupied on this latter occasion. He stands up and addresses the people, and his preaching is such that it brings conviction to the consciences of his hearers; they were "pricked in their heart", we are told; the word appealed to their hearts as well as to their consciences. Such was the testimony at the beginning! Peter as I said presented the word in such wise as to bring conviction to the hearts of those whom he addressed, and their inquiry was, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" There was no question as to the authority of the truth presented. I would commend to you, the power that was in the testimony presented by Peter, and in it for this reason, that it was in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. The convicted ones inquired, What shall we do? And Peter, it may be remarked, was not slow to say what they should do.

We should always have in view the element of responsibility attaching to those who hear. We are sometimes disposed to say, All has been done for you; but Peter did not say all had been done. As regards the atonement, it is all done, thank God!

but Peter told them what to do, and they were to act as he prescribed; "Repent, and be baptised each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". As receiving the Spirit they would be brought into victory; so the passage goes on to say, "they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers". They were connected with that living system of things set up in faith, which was in itself a victory over the world.

None of the efforts of the enemy has succeeded in the least degree in overthrowing this: it remains. It is not a question of the Thirty-nine Articles, nor even of the Scriptures, though the Scriptures give us the doctrine; but it is "our faith"; for that is how the truth is held in our dispensation. Moses lays things down in writing, but in Christianity things are preserved in the souls of God's people. "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith". (Romans 10:8) Christianity is not exactly laid down in writings; the latter come in to confirm and preserve in accurate terms and in divine authority what already existed. The victory was there already, and it remains for you and for me to be in it, and I would repeat that this can only be on the principle of faith. It is all very well to come into fellowship, but where are you as regards faith? That is what counts, and nothing else. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

I would refer now to the gospel of John to show in a brief way how this great fact comes out. You will recall how Peter had a revelation made to him in regard of Christ. The Father revealed to Peter "the Christ, the Son of the living God", but I do not dwell on that, for that is something by itself, which speaks of the Father's sovereign right in laying

the foundation of the assembly, followed by Christ building on it. What I want to refer to is in John's gospel, to show how this truth of which we have been speaking came to light, and how a soul comes into it. In chapter 9 the Lord propounds this question to the man who had been blind, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" It is a great question, and I connect it with the statement at the end of chapter 20; "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name". This is spoken of as the result of the signs recorded in this gospel; it is not a question of the revelation of the Father. The signs are intended to establish our souls in faith, so that believing on Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, we have life in His name. If we have life down here in the name of the Son there can be no question as to its security. Now, to go back to show how the truth of the Lord's sonship comes to light. The man in John 9 is brought face to face with the Son of God, and the question is put to him, "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" He replies, "Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?" and the Lord announces Himself as none other than He, whereupon the man rejoins, "Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him". Wonderful goal for him to reach! The Lord, in taking up that man from the beggar's seat, blind as he was, had in view that in his heart there should be this wonderful light of the knowledge of the Son of God. Is that light in all our hearts? "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life", (1 John 5:20). The Lord had that in His mind when He took this

man as He passed and opened his eyes, that He might conduct him to this point; and that man had victory over the world. The world had cast him out, it had the victory to that extent; but now he can look back and in the light of the knowledge of the Son of God can say, 'I am victorious, the world has no claim, moral or otherwise, on me now'; with the knowledge of the Son of God in his soul the man was independent of the world and superior to it. This was victory.

So too, a Christian can look back on the world as having overcome it. It is not only that it has been overcome by Christ, but it is overcome by the Christian who is in the light of the Son of God. From passage to passage in the gospel of John the Holy Spirit opens up to us what the Son can do. He is "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead"; it is not His own resurrection that is alluded to, but that of others. So the Lord says to Martha at the grave of Lazarus, "If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God", and this glory was seen in the bringing of a man by name uttered by the lips of the Son, out of his sepulchre. The glory of God shone there, and all was manifested in the presence of the disciples. Then in chapter 12 the Lord is troubled as He contemplates death and the awfulness of it. He says, "Now is my soul troubled". The Greeks had come up and desired to see Jesus and now all the blessed results of His death come before Him: "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified". With what definiteness, with what intelligence He speaks! I believe the Lord would bring home to our souls the sense of victory which these chapters impress upon us.

John wept in Revelation 5 because no one was found worthy to open the book, and one of the elders said to him, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the

tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof". He brings in the light of victory to the weeping prophet, and the Lord would do that for us, dear brethren, for we cannot really suffer with Christ except as in the light of the victory He gives. God could prevent the suffering; it is in His power to alter things, but it is a question of His will, and if we are to know suffering with Christ, we can only take it up as victors, as those who know victory with Christ. So the Lord says, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me". There is nothing to hinder Christ from gathering His people, unless, it may be, the working of the flesh in us; that hinders; the flesh linking us with the world hinders, but as regards any power exercised against Christ, nothing can stop Him. The victory is complete. "This he said, signifying what death he should die". He would go into death, but even in that which might be regarded as an expression of weakness publicly, for He was "crucified through weakness", even in being lifted up on the cross He is victorious, for it becomes the means, as He says, of drawing all unto Him.

In chapter 14 the wicked one comes and the Lord says, he "hath nothing in me". There was nothing in Christ that the enemy could touch: in virtue of what He was, He was absolutely immune from satanic influence; so the enemy has to go, and it says here, leading us on to that very thing, "he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not". I would urge upon you the importance of connecting yourself, in your soul's apprehension, with that which is of God in you. Flesh is incorrigible; do not trust it; but do trust what God has effected, for that is unassailable

by the wicked one, and the Holy Spirit would maintain you as under the influence of the Son of God, immune from the influences of Satan. Believing on Him, you have the victory, as it says, "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

I would commend to you again, before closing, the thought of victory. There will be victory at the end literally, but Christianity is victory at the beginning, and that is what lends all the power to it. Victory is accorded to us at the beginning, so that we might go out into the world only for the will of God. If we go into it for anything else we are sure to be damaged. The Lord said in John 17, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil". Actually, we are in the world, but we are to be out of it in sanctification. May we go through it victoriously! I have had in my mind the constant occurrence in John of the thought of overcoming. It is intimated that there would be overcomers, and what remains for us, is to see that we are overcomers in these days.

Pages 191 - 249-"Spiritual Increase", Devon, 1920 (Volume 47).

INCREASE FOR GOD

1 Peter 2:4,5; Ephesians 5:18 - 20

What has been exercising me in view of this meeting is that there might be something to induce spirituality. We are, alas! and I speak for myself, in large measure materialists; it requires only that we should analyse our daily experiences to prove that; whereas we are called to what is spiritual. God being a Spirit has a spiritual order of things in His mind, and He seeks to bring us into accord with that spiritual order of things; indeed, we are essential to it. The material was at best only intended as an index to the spiritual, and so my exercise was that there might be something to induce spirituality if there is none, and where there is spirituality, an increase of it. You will remember how it was said of the Corinthians that, although they had the Spirit, the apostle could not write unto them as spiritual. He was, therefore, limited in what he had to present, and there can be no doubt, dear brethren, that the limitation in what comes to us is due to the limitation that is in us. As the apostle said to the Corinthians, "Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your affections". (2 Corinthians 6:12). The straitening was not due to him. So that the limitedness of what comes, and we ought to own it, is in no sense attributable to God, or to Christ, or to the Holy Spirit; it is due to the straitness of our minds and affections in that we are governed by natural and material things.

To illustrate this I would refer you to a passage in Luke 19:11 in which we read of the Lord as having entered into the house of Zacchaeus, and having spoken of Zacchaeus as a "son of Abraham", giving him in that way a spiritual status, and having said that "the Son of man has come to seek and to save

that which is lost", that "as they were listening to these things, he added and spake a parable". The Lord was ready to go on if they were, and He spoke a long parable; He added to what He had already said, blessed and full as it was, because they were listening. Hence the importance of keeping the ear and the heart circumcised, for if there is readiness to hear there is always a readiness with the Lord to speak.

So the apostle says, "Our month is opened to you, Corinthians, our heart is expanded". His mouth had been in a measure shut to them because of their state, but now he says, it is opened. His letter had brought about an enlarged capacity in them so that his mouth was opened and his heart expanded; but he was not yet content as to them, and he adds, "For an answering recompense (I speak as to children), let your heart also expand itself", (2 Corinthians 6:11 - 13). That is a line the Holy Spirit would take, I believe, at the present time, so that there should be increase. I look for increase; not perhaps outward increase, but inward and spiritual increase. It is a time of the Spirit's activities, and the fragments that are over are seven large baskets full; the Holy Spirit shows in that way the abundance that there is. Let us not despise the day of small things, but let us not be content with the small things, because there are greater things. The Lord said to Nathanael, "thou shalt see greater things", (John 1:50) and that may always be said from our side.

And so in regard to sacrifice; a word that is very simple and intelligible in the ordinary sense, but I want to speak of it in a spiritual sense. Peter speaks here about "spiritual sacrifices", and these are offered by "a holy priesthood". I am aiming at that which, by the Lord's help, may become a means of leading us on to a point yet unreached by us on this line. In speaking of sacrifices one's mind naturally

turns to Leviticus, for that book furnishes us with the law governing sacrifices. It is well to have the law, for if we do not have the law we shall not be kept right. Leviticus opens with the fact that God was dwelling in the tabernacle, and it was a suitable dwelling. A wonderful scene is presented to us at the end of Exodus; the tabernacle set up in every way according to the commandment and the pattern, and anointed with oil, and the cloud over it, and the presence of the Lord in it. Wonderful scene! And the book of Leviticus opens with God there, and now He says, "If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord". (Leviticus 1:2). It is what the man does; God affording full scope, as dwelling there, for the affections of His people to move toward Him. It is as if He said, Now who has any love? Let him show it; I am here to be approached, and I have an ordained priesthood available in the court. The result would be normally that this and that one would come up out of the camp with his bullock, or his sheep, or his goat, or his fine flour, and Jehovah would look out, so to speak, and see the man coming up, and would have pleasure in him. But it was voluntary; it was to be of his own voluntary will. Although when he came God asserted His right as to what kind of offering it was to be. There must be nothing there that would in any way misrepresent Christ. God has always Christ before Him, and He would say virtually by His requirements, that there must be nothing in what you bring that would be in any way incongruous or misrepresentative of Christ. The offering must be without spot or blemish, but in a general way it was to be voluntary. In other words, God left it with love, reserving the proviso that there must be nothing in the offering that would misrepresent Christ. That is God's only reserve when it is a voluntary offering; it must be according to Christ.

Now having referred to Leviticus I would also take the liberty of referring to Numbers, because Numbers also speaks of sacrifices. When we come to Numbers He does not leave it with the people; He says, "My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season", (Numbers 28:2). God has His claims now. You will remember that this comes in after the gift of the Holy Spirit typically. The Holy Spirit is typified in the springing well of chapter 21. The people drank at that well in the light of the uplifted serpent, the judgment of sin in the flesh. Henceforth they were typically no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. They were spiritual, at least from God's side. I wonder if every one here knows that the positive statement of Scripture is that "ye are not in the flesh, but in Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you", (Romans 8:9). That is a statement you should let sink down into your soul; it is, "if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you". Think of what you are, and what I am, and what all the saints are who have the Holy Spirit! One loves to look at the saints as in the Spirit, and one is entitled to do it, for God says it, and He refused to allow Balaam to look at them in any other wise. Woe be to the man who does look at them, or speak of them, in any other way! God will not allow it. He opens Balaam's eyes so that from the top of the rocks he sees them in the vision of the Almighty. Think of the Almighty! He that can call things which be not as though they were!

If God has given you the Spirit, He has power to bring you, spirit, soul, and body, into conformity to that. That is what God can do, for He is the Almighty. As seeing the vision of the Almighty, Balaam is compelled, for God put a word in his mouth, to bless the people. What he said with his

mouth was in keeping with the sight of his eyes, and all was of God. What he saw was the order and beauty and fruitfulness of the people as typically having the Holy Spirit. We all need to see that wonderful sight; then we should never speak ill of the brethren nor leave them. Typically they had the Holy Spirit; that is the secret of it. Sin in the flesh has been condemned in the death of Christ; God has done that; and now we have a people in the Spirit who can be viewed in all the beauty and order and fruitfulness that the Holy Spirit puts upon them. There is power, too, for "the shout of a king is among them ... ... He hath as it were the strength of an unicorn". (Numbers 23:21,22) But it is all God's work; "According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought"! (verse 23) What is He doing now? It will be the sum total of His blessed work when He shall have put us into heaven in every way according to Christ, answering to Christ, as the apostle says, "made the righteousness of God in him". (2 Corinthians 6:21)

Then we have the numbering of the people by God in order that, as having the Spirit, they should have the land of promise. That is the second numbering; God now takes account of them as fit to enter the land. They are typically spiritual, and as spiritual they are to inherit the land of promise. And then in chapter 27 the fact comes out that there was an appreciation of the inheritance which God had proposed to give them in the daughters of Zelophehad, representing the subjective appreciation on their part of what God in His love had given to them. All that precedes chapter 28, and then God says, I have given you an inheritance, and I have fitted you for it, and I see that you value it; now what about My offering, and the bread of My sacrifices? He says, I claim that, and He does not claim from us what we cannot supply. He knows what we have,

and He lays claim accordingly. God will never put you into bondage by His claim. They are now a wealthy people, and it is as if God said, I have given you an inheritance, but you are my inheritance. God has given us an inheritance in Christ, but we are His. Think of that, dear brethren, that we are the inheritance of God! "The Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance". (Deuteronomy 32:9) What a fact that is for my soul! He seeks a portion in His people, and so in Ephesians the apostle prays that we might know "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints". What a change it makes in one's apprehension of things when one awakes to the fact that one belongs to those who are the inheritance of God. What can be an inheritance for God who is love, save those in whom there is love? No material things could be an inheritance for Him; it must be something that answers to what He is. God is said to be a Spirit, and He is said to be love; therefore the inheritance must be spiritual, and it must be in love; hence it must be in those who have love.

He says, "My offering, and my bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savour unto me, shall ye observe to offer unto me in their due season". (Numbers 28:2) It is not now when you please, or at your voluntary will; it is "in their due season", for God has His own blessed needs, as one might say, the necessities of love. Think of that! God seeks the satisfaction of His own heart in our offerings, and in the bread of His sacrifices, and so they are to be "in their due season". There was to be a lamb every morning and a lamb every evening. In addition to that there were to be two lambs on the sabbath day; in addition, mark, for God does not cancel anything that you have been giving by additional requirements. If there is a yield from Romans, or from the state that Romans produces, that is not cancelled by the yield

from Colossians; Colossians is something additional. If I am led on in the apprehension of Christ as in Colossians, that does not diminish what I yield according to Romans. If I present my body a living sacrifice to God, that is never to be recalled; but Colossians implies more than that. In Romans the body is given as a living sacrifice; that is, as indwelt by the Spirit it is actuated by love. It is an intelligent service. But when we come to Colossians there is an advance in the truth, Christ is presented in another way, and that presentation is intended to produce a result in me, and that result is to be added to the previous one.

So we find in Numbers 28 beside the continual burnt offering and all its accompaniments, not one of which must be omitted, there is also what is additional. There is an accumulative process going on in the soul of the Christian until he is conformed in every way to Christ. For in regard to sacrifice Christ must be the standard as in all else; God has nothing lower than that before Him. So we get the standard in Christ, and one would feed on it. With Christ everything was entirely the outcome of His devoted love to His Father; everything was for the Father. "Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; but thou hast prepared me a body. Thou tookest no pleasure in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices for sin. Then I said, Lo, I come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do, O God, thy will", (Hebrews 10:5 - 7). He says, "thou hast prepared me a body"; in that body it was His delight to do the will of God, and that carried Him on to the cross, and through all that the cross meant to Him. But what underlay the cross, and all else, was the unswerving devotedness of the holy love of Christ to God, and God has nothing less than that before Him. He aims at bringing about correspondence with Christ in the saints. Let us not put it aside

from us; it is His thought for us; He has nothing less before Him than that. So we have in Peter and in the epistle to the Hebrews the thought of sacrifice. Peter says, "A holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices"; that is the divine thought.

Now to turn for a moment to the Psalms again, we have in David's psalm of contrition, (Psalm 51), a reference to material sacrifices. He says, "for thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it". He had the means of doing so; but faith says, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise". He brings in these thoughts in contrast to material or legal sacrifices. I refer to it because it is well to understand how God takes account of sacrifice. That is, it is unseemly, and not acceptable to God, to assume to be sacrificing spiritually if one is not right in one's soul. God says, No, that will not do; that is not what I regard as sacrifice from you; you do not belong practically to a holy priesthood. If there has been sin or crookedness, if you are out of communion, what I look for in you is a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart. That is what God looks for under such circumstances, and He calls it a sacrifice. I think that is what is needed where there has been disregard of divine order, assembly order. When saints are found in that which is iniquitous, in human organisations, you do not talk about spiritual sacrifices there. What God looks for is a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart in regard of that, or anything akin to that.

But then David goes on to say, "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem", (Psalm 51:18). Now we come in principle to the assembly. I am not saying this is the assembly, it is only the thing in principle; David knew nothing about the assembly. In fact we have authority for saying that he, and the prophets, did not know

properly of what they spoke; it was revealed to them "that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things", (1 Peter 1:12). But the Holy Spirit knew as He employed their hearts and lips, and it is for us to understand what the Holy Spirit meant. There is something that answers to Zion today, and we have to understand what God is doing for Zion. Zion is the centre for God, and if God does good to that, and builds the walls, and we have a return to assembly principles, then we can talk about spiritual sacrifices. So he says, "then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar"; but do not talk about that if there is need for brokenness of spirit and contrition of heart. When these take place in us, then we come to see that God has a centre of interest here with which His sovereignty and His love are connected. He does good to that, and builds up the walls, and then we have the conditions under which a holy priesthood can offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Now that is what Peter has in his mind, and he sees it in the saints; but the saints viewed as newborn babes who have first of all laid aside "all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings". He views them as growing up to salvation, having tasted that the Lord is good, and then he says, "To whom coming, a living stone, cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious, yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ", (1 Peter 2:4,5). That is in Zion, as we may say; indeed the passage goes on to speak about Zion, "Behold, I lay in Zion a corner stone". The house is there, the conditions are there; "a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices". Do we understand these things, dear brethren? What we are called to in the house of God, viewed as a spiritual

house, is to offer to God His offerings and the bread for His sacrifices in their due season.

I read in Ephesians because it, of all other sections of Scripture, develops the state which answers to that of which I have been speaking, response to God, and God's inheritance in the saints. So it says, "Be not drunk with wine", That is a negative exhortation, for what excites the flesh must be abstained from. The positive thing is, "but be filled with the Spirit". God looks for completeness. Then it goes on, "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ", (Ephesians 5:18 - 20). That is what I understand to be the offerings of God. It is to be always; in the chapter referred to in Numbers we have daily, weekly, and monthly offerings, and then after that the set offerings, the Passover, Pentecost, and Firstfruits, and the day of atonement; all these come in as occasions of fruit for God. The chapter is worth studying; there is food in it, especially as indicative of what God is seeking in His inheritance.

In Ephesians we are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit; then there will be no room for the flesh, and there will be a constant yield for God. As God looks into your heart, what does He see in it? Is it full of the Spirit? If so, you will not be speaking to yourself about the things of the day. They may have to be referred to in the way of righteousness, but your heart is not in them. You will be speaking to yourself "in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord". That is what God looks for, and what He sees in spiritual persons. And it goes on, "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ". It is to be a

continual thing; it is to mark us at all times. That is practical Christianity, and that is what God looks for. It is a spiritual people here on earth, presently to be in heaven, but as here on earth the inheritance of God.

May God bless the word to each of us!

FAITH AS LEADING TO SPIRITUAL INCREASE

2 Thessalonians 3:4; John 2:11

I desire to speak about faith. I was endeavouring to show last evening at Teignmouth how God, being a Spirit as the Lord tells us, looks for spiritual results. I would now add that these results necessarily depend on faith, the dispensation being a dispensation of faith. So the ministry of John, calculated as it is to induce spirituality in the saints, emphasises the need of faith; and he specifies what that faith which he aims at would involve. For if one has faith one should know and be able to give account of what it is to him, what it involves for him.

We are apt to be extremely vague in regard of faith, but John specified what he expected to be the result of what he wrote. Having written his twenty chapters, the last one being an appendix, he adds, "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name", (John 20:30,31). Hence such an one as profits fully by John's book would be able to give an account of his faith, not merely the articles of it. The necessity for writing out a creed only indicated and confessed that faith had waned. Faith is not what is written as the articles of a creed; it is what is held as a matter of light in the souls of God's people. So John says triumphantly in his epistle, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith"; that is, a system of truth in regard of God and of Christ held in the souls of God's people as a matter of light was the victory. The necessity for writing a creed only admitted that faith, for those who needed such a creed, had ceased to exist.

The gospel of John comes in to re-establish what has ceased to exist in the public body. What we are faced with all about us in the public body of nominal believers in Christ is that which appeals to the natural eye, the natural mind, the natural imagination; faith has ceased to exist.

I read these verses from Thessalonians because the apostle could speak there of the beloved Thessalonian believers as not only having faith, but increasing in it; the time of decrease had not yet come. At this point I would raise the question with each one here as to whether he is on the increase or on the decrease? Many of you will remember that Matthew, who treats of the kingdom of the heavens, and the assembly in relation to the kingdom of the heavens, speaks about decrease in fruitfulness of the seed from a hundred to sixty, and from sixty to thirty, whereas Mark reverses the order, and speaks of increase from thirty to sixty, and from sixty to a hundred. That is, Mark 4 presents increase, and Matthew 13 presents decrease. Now which is it, beloved brethren, with us? Of the Thessalonians it is said that their faith grew exceedingly, and their love one toward another abounded.

In Numbers 29 we have an account of the feast of tabernacles, according to the light in which that feast is presented in that book. It is also presented in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, but it is presented in a peculiar way in Numbers, where the number of bullocks with which the feast was to begin was thirteen, as if the Spirit of God would call attention to the full result of the testimony in His people, a large result for God. But I would ask you to notice that the number decreased day by day until it reached seven; a very humbling consideration, and yet is it not what one finds with many of the people of God? A bright beginning, a full result for God, and then, alas! decline after decline until that number is reached below which, if we go, we have to be regarded as on

the line of apostasy! For if we go below seven we have lost spirituality altogether; we have lost what is divine, and have fallen to what speaks of man and his power, the number six. Let us be on our guard as to that. If you get down to the number six you are in dreadful company, for that number multiplied is the number of the beast. Thank God the number seven saves us from that; and if there is one here tonight who is on the verge as it were of giving up the seven and descending to the six, I would both warn and encourage you. I would warn you as to the descending line on which you are; and, on the other hand, I would encourage you to make the most of what you have in your soul, however little it may appear.

The Lord says, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed"; He encourages the disciples by that; much more can be accomplished by that than the Antichrist can accomplish, although he may control the navies and armies of the world. For by that faith which is as a grain of mustard seed the Lord says, "Ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove", (Matthew 17:20). I would encourage you, therefore, to use the little faith that you have. But John is not content with that, nor is any one who seeks to serve Christ; he wants increase. The Lord looks for increase, and the Thessalonians are commended in that it could be said of them that their faith increased exceedingly, and their love one toward another abounded. I would dwell on those words, exceeding increase and abounding love! Do we not see something like the thirteen bullocks in these beloved Thessalonians? They had the apostle for three sabbath days, and this was the result! Faith increasing exceedingly, and love toward one another abounding! What a result that was for God! How well the apostle understood what he meant in writing

to them as "the assembly of Thessalonians in God the Father"! There was a portion for God in that company. The gospel of John is intended to produce such increase as that.

In speaking of faith, I would remark, just for a moment, on the correspondence between those who have it and the tabernacle in the wilderness, as to their external position in this world; and the correspondence of such with the building of Solomon as to their apprehension of what is before God. These two things run together in the history of the Christian. The first letter to the Corinthians presents to us what corresponds to the tabernacle in the wilderness. There is nothing outwardly imposing in that position; inwardly all is infinitely precious, but externally it is weakness, it is despicableness. The apostle went to Corinth and he found there Aquila and Priscilla, and he allied himself with them because they were of the same craft, they were tent-makers. Now what are we to look for to earn the respect and approval of the world if the vessel of the light from God is just a common tent-maker, and if he identifies himself with those of his craft? He made no effort to avoid the humility of such a path; on the contrary he identified himself with the two that he found there who were of his craft; they were craftsmen, not professional men, as we speak, but ordinary tradesmen.

Now what are we to expect from the world if the vessel of the light by which we are to be governed, is nothing more than that? The apostle, whatever education he had, determined not to let it be known there, in order "that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God". (1 Corinthians 2:5) It was a question of "your faith", and he would not bring in anything that would recognise the flesh, or that the flesh could recognise. Then again he says,

"Consider your calling, brethren"; whom has God called in your city? God had chosen the foolish things, the weak things, the ignoble things and the despised. But what were those things? The Lord had said to Paul, "no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city", (Acts 18:10). They were the people of the Lord, they belonged to Him, and they were in the mind of the Lord, the material for the tabernacle; that which should stand the pressure of the enemy, and hold things for God notwithstanding it. And the apostle further says, "God hath set forth us the apostles last ... ... for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men". And he also says, "We are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day", (1 Corinthians 4:9,13). Think of that for a moment! How it dissipates all pretence to be anything in this world! And all that was in order that the faith of the Corinthians should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The power of God should be there in spite of the fact that they were the most despicable lot, as one might say, that could be culled out of the city. Not, indeed, but that there were some noble; he says "not many noble", for God always reserves the right to be sovereign, and the nobility are men and women as much as the common people; nevertheless these are the facts.

When we come to the second letter the apostle says, "I know a man in Christ ... ... such a one caught up to the third heaven", (2 Corinthians 12:2). What a change from tent-making. He is a man in Christ there; he belongs to the system that God has in His mind, that God has set up in Christ. He is, so to speak, a "cedar"; a man in Christ is fit for the building in the land, and that is not outwardly despicable; it is "exceeding magnifical". The first letter to the Corinthians induces the acceptance of littleness in

this world outwardly; the second induces faith as to the greatness of things before God, and that you are essential to that greatness, you are a part of it. Think of "a man in Christ"! The apostle knew such a one as that; and he says, "of such a one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities". As regards what he was doing here he would be in keeping with the position of the tabernacle; but as regards what he was before God he would glory in it, for it was "a man in Christ". He had said earlier, "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new: and all things are of God", (2 Corinthians 5:17,18). That is what faith lets us into.

As regards his outward position, Paul says, "I will not glory, but in mine infirmities". But then in the acceptance of these infirmities, the power of Christ rests on him. The shittim wood, so to speak, would be there, the power of endurance. If you look at the list he gives in 2 Corinthians 11, of the things which he endured, you will see what power of endurance there was in that vessel. He ends with this, "in a basket I was let down by the wall"; think of the humiliation involved for the flesh! And so he says, "I escaped his hands". That is the principle of the tabernacle; you escape from the power of the enemy. But how? In extreme littleness and despicableness. He remained, so to speak, intact for the service of God, but he was let down in a basket. These are truths which the flesh has no relish for. I know that in myself and in learning it in myself I know it is true in you. The Holy Spirit would bring these things to bear upon us, for that is what Christianity involves. It is an order of things of outward littleness, but inwardly the saints are connected with a vast and blessed system of things in Christ which will remain when all that is about us

shall have passed away, for the works of God remain while the works of men disappear for ever.

So, as I said, John writes his gospel in order that the saints should have faith, and faith that involves that they apprehend the Christ and the Son of God; and that there should be a definite result from that faith, namely, that they should have life in His name. And so we read, "This beginning of signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him". His disciples had already believed in some sense; the passage does not tell us to what extent they believed on Him through this miracle. The extent of their faith is not specified; but I dwell upon this as the initial sign, so that you may from this one trace out the others. This is the initial one, and it is marked by the result intimated by the apostle, namely, that the disciples believed on Him. Now I wonder if we have believed on Christ in such a way as to get something definite by it, or have we believed on Him in a general way?

The scene presented in John 2 is well known to most of us; it is a marriage scene, and what marked it was that there was a deficiency. Many of us here can bear witness to that which is testified in the passage, that there is a deficiency. But what I would call attention to is that at the outset, in connection with this primary sign, the Lord repudiated natural claims. Now I urge upon you that natural claims war against faith. Unless we take up and hold natural relations in faith, they war against the faith we have. If light comes into my soul, God intends that light to govern me in every relationship in which I am set; no relationship must be allowed to militate against faith. If you allow your family relationships to militate against the faith you have, you are in a serious plight. The faith you have is to govern you in your family relationships, and in your business

relationships as well. Faith dominates nature, otherwise nature will quench faith.

At this marriage, we are told, that the mother of Jesus said, "They have no wine". But did He not know? Is nature able to add to what is spiritual, to what is of faith? No; the Lord says, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" He was not on the ground of nature. He says, "mine hour is not yet come". The resumption of His relationships with Israel must be deferred, for "he came unto his own, and his own received him not". (John 1:11) So His mother submits; and she "saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it". Thank God for that submission of nature! Nature became subordinated to Christ; that is the divine order. She takes her true place, and she suggests to the servants that His word is to rule. Have you come to that? If you are to be in the good of John's gospel that is where you must begin; He must rule.

Now we are told in John 2 that "there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim". They acted on His word. Whilst His relation with Israel is deferred, the blessings of Israel, and much more beside that one would love to trace, the blessings of the millennium, are already available to those that are subject to Christ. What they will have, we have now; but how? By the disallowance of nature and submission to the word of Christ. The word of Christ is to take effect in my soul, for that answers to the waterpot of stone, and it is to be filled up to the brim; that is, Christianity is a time of fulness. In the Lord becoming man all fulness dwelt in Him; He was "full of grace and truth"; and Christianity is to be marked by that. The waterpot is to be filled up to the brim, and as it is filled it

becomes wine. You get millennial joys already in the acceptance of the word of Christ.

This was the beginning of signs, and it sets forth the bringing in of millennial joys before the time, on the ground of the disallowance of nature, and the recognition of the authority of the word of Christ. It was a manifestation of the glory of Christ. "He manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him". The signs were done "in the presence of his disciples". Why did He do them in their presence? Why not in the presence of the world? Ah! He wanted to have disciples who had faith. There are very few real believers; there are believers and believers. John seeks to bring about a state of faith which is expressed in this, that the one who has it, apprehends the Lord Jesus as the Christ and as the Son of God; and, in apprehending Him as such, he has life, but he has it in Christ's name. I have life in my soul in His name; it is not held independently, it is held in His name, but it is held in the faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

I would urge on you, and on myself, the importance of seeing the place the gospel of John has in view of bringing about increase in the last days. It meets the tendency to decrease; so that I believe in the end we shall have the seven full baskets of fragments; that is, the full result of the ministry of the Spirit in those who have faith in the Lord as the Christ, the Son of God.

May God bless the word!

THE SPIRIT'S OPERATIONS IN VIEW OF THE WILL OF GOD AND THE INHERITANCE

Romans 8:13 - 17; Numbers 33:50 - 54

I am exercised, dear brethren, to speak about the Holy Spirit, especially in the operations by which He leads us into the enjoyment of our inheritance. He is the earnest of our inheritance. The subject of the Holy Spirit is necessarily a very extensive one, covering every part of the truth; indeed, there is a remarkable statement in John's first epistle, where the Spirit is said to be "the truth". (1 John 5:6) So that He is to be regarded in relation to every part of the truth. It is quite clear that one could not deal with all that in a short address, but I desire to speak of His operations in connection with the believer's state, leading up to having part in the inheritance. It is well for us to bear in mind that Christianity stands publicly in relation to the Spirit, as well as to the Father and the Son; so that one may be quite free to speak of the Holy Spirit in this definite way. Indeed, the chapter in Romans from which I have read is occupied with this great subject of the Spirit of God, according to what He is to the believer.

I would add to these preliminary remarks a word about 1 and 2 Corinthians, and the general bearing of these epistles on this subject. The first epistle, among many other things, may be viewed as setting forth the limitations which the will of God concerning the saints necessitates. God has seen fit to impose certain limitations on His people, viewed as His assembly. The epistle is marked by directions and commandments; and the test of one's spirituality is the recognition that the things which the apostle wrote are the commandments of the Lord. That is to say, the Holy Spirit in the saints here works out entire conformity to divine limitations. The Holy

Spirit can never be in any movement amongst believers which transgresses the Lord's commandment. The Lord said, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me". (John 14:21)

The Holy Spirit in the believer operates on the line of producing complete conformity with all these ordinances, directions, and commandments. It is indeed the glory of the saints that they conform to these commandments. It is said in Psalm 19 that "The heavens declare the glory of God"; but in the incarnation; that is, the Son becoming Man here, we have the glory brought down to earth. In that psalm the sun in the heavens is likened to a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race; he makes a circuit of the heavens. Then in verse 7 we get the law of the Lord; this was taken up by Christ as having become Man. He took it up, delighted in it, magnified it, made it honourable; so that the carrying out of the will of God, which marked the heavens, has now been seen on earth. The glory shone in every step of Christ, as He moved on in the path of God's will, but that will involved certain limitations here. The Lord in grace came into them, accepted them, and moved within them, and in so doing He glorified God. There was entire correspondence between the great and blessed truth that He was the Son of man in heaven, and the fact that He was here in the most humble circumstances. In John 4 He is seen sitting "as he was" on the well. He was weary, and the will of God involved that. He says in that chapter that it was His meat to do the will of the One who sent Him, and to finish His work, and throughout His whole course the Lord moved in submission to the will of God, and delighted to do it. There is food in it for us; it is indeed the manna, the mighty's meat: "Man did eat angels' food". (Psalm 78:25). What is that food? It is Christ here in every circumstance of

life, moving in relation to the will of God, which involved certain limitations, which He accepted. He came down from heaven; indeed, He was "the Son of man who is in heaven", and He could return there, but He came to do the will of God.

Now in 1 Corinthians we see what corresponds with this in regard to the assembly. There are certain limitations made obligatory by the will of God, and the spiritual man observes them, they are not irksome to him; they remain in all their authority as the commandments of the Lord, and as a lover of Christ he has them and keeps them. The Lord manifests Himself to such a one as that, and the Father loves him. The whole point, as to our position here, is that we are for God's will, whether individually or viewed in relation to the assembly. The Holy Spirit would ever maintain us in accord with that, and in us He also links us with that which is outside the bounds of time; the second letter to the Corinthians presents the accompaniments of this. In it, you have such expressions as, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal", (2 Corinthians 4:18). One has often remarked, and it is worth repeating, that the feast of Pentecost in Deuteronomy is not bounded by time like other feasts, because it refers to the coming in of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit recognises all the bounds which are set about us in the time conditions by the Lord's commandments, and the spiritual man recognises and keeps them all, but the Holy Spirit is also the link with what is outside time; He is the link with eternity; and so the apostle says, "If our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens ... ... He that has wrought us for this very thing is God, who also has given to us the

earnest of the Spirit",(2 Corinthians 5:1 - 5). We have the thing already in the way of earnest, and in the power of the Spirit we may enter into eternal blessedness.

Now I want to connect these verses in Romans 8 for a moment with that. In 2 Corinthians Paul develops the accompaniments of this outlet from time limitations into eternal blessedness. Chapter 5 states that "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold all things have become new: and all things are of the God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ". That is wonderful to think of; if any man be in Christ he is not only a new creature, but he is in a new creation, and in that new creation all things are of God. So in the power of the Spirit one may pass out of time limitations into eternal blessedness. Hence the apostle says further on, "I know a man in Christ". He had the experience fourteen years before of being caught up to the third heaven, to paradise, to the place of eternal blessedness. Think of being caught up to that! He was let down the wall in a basket at Damascus, and in the next statement he can speak of being caught up to the third heaven. It was a man in Christ; he was not bound by bodily conditions, for he was quite unconscious whether in the body or out of it. But he knew something of the place; it was paradise, a place of supreme blessedness. That is the prospect for the Christian, and the Holy Spirit is in him in order that he may know something of it whilst he still has part in time limitations.

The verses in Romans that I have read treat of life. John does not in the main take us off the earth it is a question of God coming here, and having His children here, who, as in the faith of the Son of God, have the victory, and are clear of death. So we do not get John employing the word sons, with one

exception in the Revelation; whereas Paul is occupied with the thought of sons, because he would bring us to God; he would lead our souls to God in suitable dignity. So he first speaks here of life; he says, "if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live", and then he goes on, "ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption [or sonship], whereby we cry, Abba, Father". You have received that Spirit, he says, and by that Spirit we cry, "Abba, Father"; it is not simply the employment of words; we cry, "Abba, Father" by the Spirit. Paul must bring himself in when it comes to enjoyment; he says, "we cry". You will recall that in Galatians the cry is the Spirit's; the Spirit of the Son coming into the believer turns to the Father and cries, "Abba, Father". (Galatians 4:6) Then you will observe in this chapter, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God". Romans gives us the operations of the Spirit in the believer, and brings in the thought of the Spirit leading, and that those who are led are sons of God.

Now I want to connect that with Numbers, and to touch on a point or two in that book. Most of you will recall that the Holy Spirit is viewed as having been received by believers typically in chapter 21, and it is in the light of that chapter that all that follows should be read. Hence when Balaam sees the people, he does not see them in relation to God's tabernacle; he says nothing about God's tabernacle; he sees the people in their tents; it was a question of what they had severally. It is the saints viewed as having the Spirit; their tents are worth looking at now. "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel". (Numbers 24:5) He saw them as having the Holy Spirit typically, and abiding in their tents according to their tribes. May God help us to lay hold of this! It is a question of families. The family

feature is what the Spirit would emphasise. In the early part of the book the tents of the tribes stood in relation to the tabernacle of witness. That had its place in the early part of the book, but there is nothing said about that here; they are seen dwelling in their tents according to their tribes. It is the saints viewed as having the Holy Spirit; not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Balaam sees them without a discrepancy; how beautiful! "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob". Sometimes we speak of Jacob as a poor, crooked, failing man, but he is not so seen here. I understand Jacob to speak of man here as he is set up through redemption and the gift of the Spirit; whereas Israel is the man of purpose.

You remember how the Lord speaks in Luke 18 of two that went up into the temple to pray, and says that the one returned to his house justified; that is, he took righteousness back into his house. His house would be marked now not by crookedness and corruption, but by righteousness. Israel would speak of a man wholly in the Spirit, a man whose name is changed; one who was bringing in all that was of God into his tabernacle, and governed in it by what God is; an imitator of God, walking in love, as Christ also hath loved us. That is what you would look for there. Then he goes on to say, "As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters", (Numbers 24:6). What a view, dear friends! let us not put it away in the distance. The Spirit of God would bring this picture before us. The saints are viewed now as having the Holy Spirit; the tabernacle is not in view, because it is not now a question of being occupied with what is objective in heaven, or the great system that has been inaugurated on the ground of redemption. It is another side, which is connected with the Spirit.

When we come to Numbers 33 the spiritual geography is very pronounced; it is, "in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho". I wonder whether we know this territory, dear brethren? Aaron has died, and Moses can go no further; the lot is just over Jordan, the rich inheritance of God. And the word is, "Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye have passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan". What is now in view is their being led by the Spirit in regard to the inheritance. I am not referring to the leading of the Spirit in connection with the passage of the river; all that Christ is to us in love comes into that, and the surrender on our part of all that is natural. His love led Him there, He went down beneath those waters and drove back death, so that it disappeared altogether. There is nothing to dread or to conquer there. The passing over Jordan is typical of what we have in Colossians; it is entering into this, "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead", (Colossians 2:12). But all that is simple light, and I am occupied for the moment not with the light, but with the Holy Spirit in the believer in relation to that light. Then, further, when they had passed over they should "destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places", but I am not now occupied with that. I want to go on to the inheritance, and to show you that it is to be divided mutually. I want to show you how the Holy Spirit in the saints forms us in relation to one another, so that we think of each other in love.

Do we understand, dear brethren, the principle of mutuality? I think the Lord began with the Supper. I think He has set before us in that institution the mode in which the saints should be together in family relations. He had no thought of large congregations;

although the Israelites had to go up to Jerusalem to keep the passover, because Jehovah's name was there, yet they kept it family-wise. It was not one huge congregation keeping it; it was a family affair, if one might so say. The Lord kept the passover with His disciples, and it was after the passover that He instituted the Supper, and in the institution He intimated His thought that the saints, during His absence, should retain these family relations, and that in these relations there should be mutuality. He never thought for a moment that there should be saints eating the Supper together unknown to each other. They were to be known to each other; every one in the company should know all the others. How could it be otherwise, if the relation is to be that of the family? A large congregation does not admit of that; there are many we do not know; they come and go, and we do not know them. The Lord's intent was that there should be circles of brethren, of disciples, small enough for each to be known by all, and that each should partake of one loaf and one cup. For it is the cup. He says firstly, as to the passover cup, in Luke 22, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves"; it was to be mutual. There is no evidence that He handed it first to Peter or the loved disciple, but He says, "Take this, and divide it among yourselves". He says again, "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves". That is mutuality. I am speaking for a moment of the position of the saints viewed in relation to the Lord's supper. The principle is mutuality. It is the very essence of the assembly's position here. We are to have love amongst ourselves.

In Numbers 33:54 he says, "And ye shall take for yourselves the land as an inheritance by lot according to your families". You see it was themselves; they were to do it. It is not here Jehovah

giving the inheritance, or Moses, but they were to take it for themselves on the principle of mutuality. "To the many ye shall increase their inheritance, and to the few thou shalt diminish their inheritance where the lot falleth to him, there shall be each man's inheritance; according to the tribes of your fathers shall ye take for yourselves the inheritance". Dear brethren, what a rich inheritance is ours! The Spirit does not enlarge on the inheritance in Romans, but He brings in the thought that we are heirs, "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ". But the passage in Numbers runs on to Ephesians because it speaks of the inheritance not yet possessed, but about to be possessed, and when possessed it is to be shared on the principle of mutuality; that is, I love the brethren, and all that I have I want them to share. The lot brings God in, but the passage has in view the love that the saints have one for another. The presence of the Holy Spirit brings about these mutual conditions.

Then I would remark, that it is to be "according to the tribes of your fathers"; that is, anything that we have in the nature of a spiritual inheritance is not simply for the few near to us, it is for "the tribes". The division of what we have must have all the saints in view. We must not be narrower in our affections than the whole assembly. The good things that we have in the Spirit are the common inheritance of all the saints, and so the Ephesians are said to have love for all the saints. The division of the inheritance is to be according to their families, according to the size of the families, and according to the tribes. The word tribes suggests much to faith. God never had anything less before Him than the twelve tribes, nor did ever any man of faith have anything less before him. Nor will any man today who has the Spirit and walks in the Spirit, think of anything less than all the saints of God. They all

belong to the assembly, and what we have in the Spirit we share with them, according to the size of the families, as it says.

The Holy Spirit would produce this in us. It is important that we should have love one to another, and that unalloyed by any selfish considerations, and as walking in the Spirit, and loving in the Spirit, we should embrace all the saints. Whatever we have in the way of spiritual gain and blessedness is to be shared with them all. Divine love in us leads to enlargement, so that we embrace them all in our affections. May the Lord bless His word.

WHAT THE ASSEMBLY IS TO CHRIST, AND WHAT IT IS TO GOD

2 Corinthians 11:2,3; Genesis 49:1,2; Deuteronomy 33:1 - 5; Psalm 122:3,4

I want to say a word about the assembly, in regard to what it is to Christ and what it is to God. The subject is necessarily large, but I shall confine myself to certain features which I trust may be of present service to the saints, and what I would remark at first is the object the apostle had in his service in Corinth. John the baptist heard the voice of the Bridegroom, but he did not undertake to bring in the bride for Christ. That was not his service. It remained for the Lord to make His own selection as to who should bring in the bride by his ministry. So Paul comes in especially for this service. And in going to Corinth he had this in his heart; in ministering to the Corinthians he had before him to espouse them to one Man, that he might present them as a chaste virgin to Christ. He had other thoughts, but evidently this thought was nearest to the Lord's heart, that their affections should be undivided, and that they should be a chaste virgin to Christ.

The Lord had said to Paul at the outset of the work in Corinth, "I have much people in this city", (Acts 18:10). He had, like the master of a multitude in Song of Solomon 8:11, much people there, and would form those people into an assembly; for the master of a multitude in the Song of Songs is the former of assemblies in Ecclesiastes. The Lord would have the much people that He had in Corinth formed into an assembly, and this the apostle had before him in his service; and that assembly was especially singled out as God's assembly. But then at the same time these saints were taken up and regarded and served by Paul as specially belonging to Christ. The great

point is that we should not be of double heart, that the heart should be undivided; one Man is to control it, and the heart being His, one is kept in regard of Christ in a virgin state.

The apostle expresses his anxiety as regards the Corinthians, and well indeed he might; he says, "I fear lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craft, so your thoughts should be corrupted from simplicity as to the Christ". He was jealous, and the Lord is jealous; you will recall that in 1 Corinthians 10 it is said, "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?" (verse 22) These questions refer to our relations in our several pathways of responsibility in this world. The Lord's supper is a challenge to our hearts as to where they are; in other words, the Lord would say to us in it, This is what I have done for you, now what are you for Me? Can I trust you in My absence? It is His absence that is the test.

The book of Proverbs refers to the marriage relation, as the book of Ecclesiastes refers to the assembly. The preacher in Ecclesiastes is a former of assemblies, but the speaker in Proverbs is a man of love. He is nurtured in his father's and his mother's affections, and he says, "Who can find a woman of worth?" (Proverbs 31:10) In Ecclesiastes he intimates that such a woman had not been found. Proverbs raises the question as to who can find her, and I think that when Paul went to Corinth he had in mind to find her, and that he certainly found her at Ephesus; a woman of worth, whose price is far above rubies, one of whom it could be said that "the heart of her husband doth safely trust [or confide] in her". (verse 11) The question is, Can we be trusted? I often say, Can I be trusted when I am not in sight of the brethren? Am I true to the fellowship? I am to be true, and not to compromise them in any way by my associations or conduct.

But then there is more than that in the fellowship. The love of God is in it. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" (1 Corinthians 10:16) What is that blood? It is the life of Christ which He has given up for us. God has given it up. Can I trifle with that? "My dearly beloved", he says, "flee from idolatry" (verse 14) -- FLEE from it. Anything that disputes the rights of God in my heart is idolatry. The love of Christ in the Supper is a test to us. "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" He took that body in order to carry out the will of God, and that body has been devoted to us, for He died in that body. The love of Christ is in the fellowship; and then finally the love of the brethren is in it. "For we being many are one bread, and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread". (verse 17) Now where are we in our affections? He says further, "Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and the table of demons". And then he adds: "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?" (verses 21,22)

These are solemn questions. One would love to be able to put them to every professed believer on earth, for they refer to every such one. Jealousy is the rage of a man. We should see that there is nothing to provoke Him to jealousy; that we might be as those that are espoused to one Man: that the heart should he undivided; that there should be freedom from corruption, and that we should be a chaste virgin for Christ. That is, I believe, what the Lord is set for now; that at the end of the days the assembly might appear in its virgin state. Let us seek to be among the wise ones, by the recognition of the Spirit, and the avoidance of all that which would provoke the Lord to jealousy. Let there be nothing that would in any way dispute His rights in our hearts.

Now in turning to the Old Testament, I want to

show that we have in the parental interest of Jacob a foreshadowing of the Lord's parental interest in the disciples. The gospels afford much evidence of His parental interest in and care for them. Indeed, the institution of the Supper was in connection with a household position. The Lord was in the position of a householder; He was the Head. And so I call attention to Jacob for a moment; he says, "Gather yourselves together". Our position here is a very humble one as regards this world: we are disciples of a rejected Christ, and it is as such we come together. At the institution of the Lord's supper, the Lord was, as it were, the Head of the house, but He was going to die. Do we take that to heart? Murder was outside, the air was rife with it, and within the traitor's hand was on the table. Think of the dreadfulness of these circumstances, but yet there was parental interest in the heart of Christ for His disciples, and that remains.

Jacob called his sons, and said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father". You will notice that he speaks of gathering twice: first, "that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days". The Lord has left nothing untold. The history of the assembly involves much that is painful in the extreme, but it has all been told. Do we know what He has told us? He that has an ear, let him hear. But the second verse says, "Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father". The word gather in that verse is really assemble. It suggests our position in the assembly, and in the assembly we are to hear, we are to hearken. The preacher says, "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools". (Ecclesiastes 5:1)

The first verse of Genesis 49 is what Jacob would say to them as to what would befall them in the last days. In love the Lord has told everything beforehand, and it is a most humiliating record on the one hand, but on the other hand it is fraught with every encouragement, because the history recounts what He is to the assembly. Were it not for that, she could never come out at the end as she does. For the end is that "the Spirit and the bride say Come". That is, there is full affection and intelligence in the assembly at the end, in spite of the terrible things the Lord had to speak of. But then there is also "Assemble yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father". I would urge on you the importance of listening to what the Lord is saying. "Hearken unto the voice of Israel your father" is suggestive of the parental interest that marks the Lord's care for the assembly. Let us pay attention to that. He that has an ear, let him hear what the Lord says, and what the Spirit says. Here it is what Jacob their father says, but it is the voice of Christ typically, and the sons are to hear. Let us have exercised ears. Many are unable to distinguish sounds. You remember how that when Moses and Joshua came down from the mount and merriment was going on in the camp, Joshua said, "There is a noise of war in the camp". (Exodus 32:17) He had an unexercised and an inexperienced ear. But Moses said, "The noise of them that sing do I hear"; (verse 18) he discerned the idolatrous voice in the camp. I refer to that because of the great importance of having exercised ears, so that we might discern the Lord's voice, and what He says.

When we come to Deuteronomy we have the other side; that is, to the period following upon the gift of the Holy Spirit typically to the people. And so it is said that, "Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob". I invite

your attention to the reference to the law in that passage; it is a spiritual reference. The law is holy, just, and good, and it is regarded as the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. Psalm 119 is the appreciation by the godly man of the commandments of the Lord. "And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together". They were now typically in assembly order, and viewed in that light Christ is King in Jeshurun, that is, He is enthroned in the affections of the saints. As Mary says, "They have taken away my Lord"; (John 20:13) that is, affection's Lord. Not the Lord, but my Lord. And so Thomas says, "My Lord and my God". Do we regard the Lord in that light?

In Psalm 122 you have the saints together typically in assembly order in relation to God. These psalms are called "Songs of degrees"; they refer to certain spiritual movements in the people of God. You observe it says, "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together"; and then it says, "the tribes go up". Now I take this to be spiritual movement. In Deuteronomy 33:5 the Lord has His place in our affections as gathered together. I wonder whether we know anything about that? And then, further, do we know what it is, as gathered together, to move upwards, to move Godward in assembly order? I do not think for a moment the Lord ever gives up the thought of the assembly; nor does God. So when I come together with the brethren, I would have the thought of the assembly before me as the Lord has it before Him, and I would be there, so to say, in the order of the tribes. The words "unto the testimony of Israel" may be read "Israel's custom". What is the assembly custom? Well, the Lord inaugurated a custom: "When they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives"; (Matthew 26:30) they went in a certain spiritual order.

Luke says, "he went according to his custom to the mount of Olives", (Luke 22:39). It was an ascent. It was a movement the Father understood. There are customs the Lord has enjoined to govern us, and which should not be disregarded. They are spiritual customs which are not our own. As we are spiritually educated we understand them, and we go up "to give thanks unto the name of the Lord". (Psalm 122:4) That is what God looks for. I believe that today there is a revival of things as they were, in measure, and I refer especially to what is due to the Father. It is a custom that the Holy Spirit has revived and would revive, and I hope will be maintained, that Christ and the Father may have their portion in the saints in these last days. May the Lord bless His word.

FELLOWSHIP AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 10:15 - 22; 11:23,24

J.T. The Lord seems to have called special attention to the Supper in recent years, and it would seem that He has in view that the varied features of the assembly should be revived, so that in result the Spirit and the bride may say, "Come". My thought in suggesting these scriptures is that we might see that in the first the Spirit emphasises communion, or fellowship; and in the second the love that is suggested in the Lord's supper. The love of Christ. The emphasis is on the fact that it is in the blood of Christ. The new covenant is in it; but it is, as the Lord says, "in my blood".

Ques. Why the communion first?

J.T. To regulate the saints in their walk and conduct, and to save us from idolatry. If idolatry is admitted there is no hope of the Lord's supper being truly reached.

Ques. Is the Supper the result of the communion of chapter 10?

J.T. Well, it can only be enjoyed as the communion is kept. The subject is introduced by this "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry".

Ques. When he says, "I speak as to wise men", would it be as those who have answered to that exhortation, who have fled from idolatry?

J.T. He addresses them as being wise or intelligent persons. The Lord's supper is not for a congregation merely; it is for an assembly, which suggests that it is composed of intelligent persons. With that in view wisdom would come in. The Supper is for the assembly.

J.R.K. Would you say that the term communion involves obligation?

J.T. It does; obligation to God, to Christ, and to the brethren.

Ques. What is idolatry? How does it affect us?

J.T. Anything that disputes the rights of God in the soul, and God as revealed in the death of Christ. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" It is what God is in that blood, and anything that disputes that in your heart would be idolatry.

C.A.C. We see in Psalm 16 a blessed Man who was entirely apart from idolatry, and His delight was in the saints. Does chapter 10 look at the saints as being on that line?

J.T. Yes, I think so.

J.H.L. What verses are you referring to in Psalm 16?

C.A.C. "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips". (verse 4) He was entirely apart from idolatry, and He said to the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent, "in them is all my delight". (verse 3)

J.T. That greatly helps this passage. I was remarking the difference between a congregation and an assembly. "I speak as to intelligent persons". That suggests the assembly, or, I should say, those that compose it.

Ques. Does it involve that they are intelligently identified with the name of the Lord?

J.T. I think so, and that what is presented is taken up in a consistent way, a consistency based on intelligence as to what is presented in the elements. "Judge ye what I say" is an appeal to the intelligence of the saints; the next chapter is rather an appeal to our affections.

P.L. Would you say that, regulated by the authority of divine love, we can give ourselves to the desires of that love? Chapter 10 brings in more

our regulation, and chapter 11 our availability for the desires of that love?

J.T. In chapter 11 the heart is appealed to by the exact words and voice of the Lord Himself.

C.A.C. Is that why you connected the Lord's supper with bridal affections? Is chapter 10 rather moral suitability?

J.T. I think so. In chapter 11 there is the presentation of what the Lord did, and His death appeals to the affections in a peculiar way; the answer to it is, I think, seen in the address to Philadelphia. The Lord promises to the overcomer there, "him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God ... ... and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God ... ... which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and my new name". (Revelation 3:12) It seems as if the Lord assumes that an overcomer in that period would value the things which were His, especially His God. The gospels are a testimony of what His God was to Him. You were remarking the beautiful reference in Psalm 16 to God and to the saints; we see there the refusal of idolatry. The Lord assumes that the overcomer would value that. I think that as the gospels are studied, or rather, as we feed on them, we acquire an appreciation of what God was to Christ here. It is His God, the temple of His God, the name of the city of His God, and finally His own new name.

Ques. What is the new name?

J.T. The emphasis is on the word new; we have to learn what is new in the name by what we get in the gospels and the epistles.

Ques. Would you say that overcoming according to the verses you quote involves separation from the world and idolatry? Is it answering to the obligation imposed on us in connection with the Supper?

J.T. I think Philadelphia runs parallel with the revival of the Supper.

J.R.K. So that in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup we commit ourselves to a course in which the name of the Lord is preserved in our minds.

J.T. Yes; the love of Christ is presented to us in the Supper, and then what Christ is as Man in entire devotedness to the will of God is presented in the loaf, and the unity of the saints is added to that.

J.R.K. And to answer to these obligations to God and to Christ and to the brethren is equivalent to overcoming.

C.A.C. The overcomer would take character from Christ, who is the Holy and the True.

J.T. I think the connection with Psalm 16 is very good indeed, because as you consider the path of Christ as presented in the gospels, you see His unswerving devotedness to God. He was holy and He was true; He was not only true to God, but He was true to the saints. He held them and carried them through. He said to His enemies, "If therefore ye seek me, let these go their way". (John 18:8) I think that this threefold obligation is of all importance for us if we are to overcome, and it is not exactly here a question of commandments, but of consistency. There is an obligation to God, to Christ, and to the saints. And then an additional thought comes in, namely, that if untrue we have the Lord to contend with. If we provoke Him to jealousy we have to contend with Him; we are at issue with Him.

Ques. Would not being true to your baptism preserve you from idolatry?

J.T. The question of consistency is more emphasised in connection with the Lord's supper than with baptism, although consistency is in connection with each. It is in relation to the Supper that he says, "I speak as to intelligent persons: do ye judge what I say". And what does he say? "The

cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" You have part in that; now what about your outward relations? Are you trifling with idolatry? If I understand rightly, in taking the Supper we come under obligation in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup. We have to be true to that. In John's epistle we are said to be "in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ". (1 John 5:20) He was the true One.

C.A.C. lf we cherish the thought of the One who was here for the will of God, it morally necessitates that we should be here for that will.

J.T. Jesus Christ is the true One who unswervingly carried out the will of God, and the loaf speaks of that; and hence the obligation is ever with one to be true to that. The gospels afford much food for the soul; one has to feed on Christ as the One who carried out the will of God.

Ques. Would it involve consistency with His death?

J.T. Yes; it is really consistency with Christ, including His death, because it is a question of what He was here. These things would serve to bring out the features of Christ in a formative way in the saints, so that there might be conformity to Christ. The book of Proverbs brings in the woman of worth, one who can be confided in when the husband is away. The question comes to me, Can I be trusted in the absence of the Lord, or we might say, in the absence of the brethren? "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her". (Proverbs 31:11) When we come to 1 Corinthians 11 we have what is collective. Chapter 10 is the bearing of the Supper on the individual, as to whether I am true; and one can understand how the Lord watches the saints to see the development of this element of holiness and truthfulness. In chapter 10 I am obligated in regard of all the others as to my movements; it is a question of my

considering for them so as not to compromise them by my actions or relations. But when we come to chapter 11 it is the collective side; we sit down together, and in doing so one always desires to hold oneself in relation to the whole assembly.

C.A.C. You mean that your heart cherishes the thought of the whole company.

J.T. That is what I was thinking; the Lord has nothing less before Him than that.

Ques. Does that word, "This is my body, which is for you", embrace the whole assembly?

J.T. That includes every one of the saints, and you want to include them all too. I have been greatly interested of late in the thought of the tribes. I think there is a danger of discrediting the Old Testament, but it is written for us. The way the tribes are spoken of helps us in regard of what is in the mind of the Lord about the assembly. "This is my body, which is given for you", necessarily includes all the saints, and so as we sit down together we are in assembly relations; we think of the tribes. Moses "was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together", (Deuteronomy 33:5). They are seen there typically, so to say, in assembly order, and in that order Christ is enthroned in their affections. And that is what the Lord's supper is intended to effect.

In sitting down to the Supper we are in assembly relations; it is an assembly function, and we are to hold ourselves in that relation; and in holding ourselves in that relation we are holding ourselves for Christ; we are for Christ as He has been for us. I was speaking yesterday of Jacob's appeal in Genesis 49:1,2: "And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father". In verse 2

the word is changed; it is really "assemble yourselves". It may seem a small difference, but the word is changed. We come together, that is our act, but as together we are in the light of the assembly, and in the assembly we are to hear what the Lord says, and the Supper has a voice.

J.R.K. Would you say that if we are duly affected by the Lord's love we cannot leave the saints out of our affections?

J.T. You cannot; you want all the tribes. "The tribes of Israel were gathered together". Now the point is to hear what the Lord has to say. So the scripture read in 1 Corinthians 11 begins with the saints in assembly. It is not a congregation where some human leader speaks, but the assembly in which Christ speaks. He appeals to us, and every one is addressed as an intelligent person. It is in assembly that the Lord would open His thought, and heart to us.

J.H.L. How far can that be taken up today, considering the condition of the assembly in ruin?

J.T. Well, if you hold yourself in the light of the whole assembly the Lord speaks to you; you get communications and manifestations as at the beginning. Present conditions of course necessarily modify this in a certain way, but the assembly remains here, the object of Christ's affections; and the Supper being revived, the Lord would have us, as partaking of it, to hold ourselves in assembly relations, and to clothe ourselves with assembly thoughts.

C.A.C. You have really found the assembly according to what it is in the heart of Christ; you have found it there.

J.T. I was going to say in regard to the high priest's breastplate, and the names according to the tribes being in it, that if we get near to the Lord we find that the whole assembly is in His heart. The Lord says, "At that day ye shall know that I am in

my Father, and ye in me, and I in you", (John 14:20). The Lord has great pleasure in Christians, however few, holding themselves for Christ in relation to the assembly. While no company, however large, can say that they are it, saints can hold themselves in that relation. You save yourself from any pretension to be it by holding yourself to be in that relation.

Rem. It must be a great joy to the Lord that the saints should hold themselves thus.

J.T. I know it is a great joy to His heart, because it brings the features of the assembly before Him. He addresses Philadelphia as if He were speaking to the assembly: "I have loved thee ... ... I will keep thee". (Revelation 3:9,10) He had nothing less than the whole assembly in His mind in speaking thus. John 14 emphasises the individual, but that individual would think of the assembly.

J.R.K. Would you not say that there would be enlargement of heart in that?

J.T. I think the Lord will bring about enlargement of affection, that we may have all the saints in our hearts.

C.A.C. And love to all the saints is really the basis for Colossian and Ephesian truth. Where there was love to all the saints there was a condition to which the truth could be opened out.

J.T. I think if we hold to that, if we cling to the brethren, the Lord will grant them to us; if we cling to them, they will not turn away from us.

J.R.K. It is interesting that the name is Philadelphia, which means brotherly love.

J.T. I believe there is a meaning in that.

C.A.C. You mentioned earlier in the meeting the emphasis which the Lord put on the words, "My God", "the city of my God", etc. Had you in mind that the Supper has in view the setting of the saints in those blessed relations with God that are so precious to the heart of Christ?

J.T. I think that is very beautiful. "My God and your God". (John 20:17)

C.A.C. Is the cup really leading on to that?

J.T. I think the Lord brings in what God is to us.

C.A.C. That is what I meant.

J.T. Yes; the life was in the blood. God from the outset claimed the blood. It had in view the life of Jesus, for that was the only life worth claiming. God claimed it, but He gave it up for us; it was poured out for us. Hence we see the love of God. I greatly value the reference to Psalm 16, what God was to Him, it was His God.

J.H.L. Are you thinking of the expression, "I have set Jehovah always before me"? (Psalm 16:8)

J.T. Yes, and there are one or two other beautiful expressions. "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore". (verses 5 - 11) That was what God was to Him, His God. It is in the temple of that God that the overcomer is to be made a pillar.

C.A.C. It is really the joy of the Lord to set His saints in the blessedness of knowing His God.

J.T. Yes; He can say that the saints that are in the earth, and the excellent, are all His delight. He views them as set in relation to His God. And should not that find an answer in us as regards the

saints? And the Supper is the centre of all this: all these things centre there.

C.A.C. I do not think there is anything more precious, or that more affects my heart, than to see how all Christianity centres in the Lord's supper.

J.T. With regard to the tribes in Deuteronomy 33 Christ is seen typically as supreme in their affections. Then in Psalm 122 the tribes are seen going up to Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel [or, Israel's custom], to give thanks unto the name of the Lord". It was Israel's custom that the tribes should go up. The Lord is the originator of every Christian custom, and it is well to note these customs. The Supper is a custom, but there is something else goes along with the Supper; that is, the going up of the tribes. That is, I think, suggestive of what follows the Supper. The Lord inaugurated a custom when they sang a hymn, and then went to the mount of Olives. That would be a custom which the spiritual would ever afterwards remember and take note of.

P.L. In Psalm 15 we have the thought of ascending, have we not? Would you say Psalm 16 shows the features of those who could ascend, and now in Psalm 122 we find them ascending together?

J.T. Yes. In John 8 the Lord went to the mount of Olives alone when the others went to their own homes. That is why I think it is linked with heaven; it is where He found His retreat. But afterwards "He went according to his custom to the mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed him", (Luke 22:39). In Psalm 122 there is much intelligence, much recognition of what is in Jerusalem. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren

and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good". I think that is something like the language of a Philadelphian overcomer. The tribes of Jehovah would represent the assembly in its own order before God: a company that ascends, and gives thanks to His name.

Rem. I suppose the character of what follows the Supper should help the saints to go up.

J.T. I think one who gives the lead in a spiritual way greatly helps. It does not say who suggested the hymn, but I have no doubt the Lord did.

Rem. So the Supper puts us together in view of going up.

J.T. I think so. As assembled together we have the custom of going up.

C.A.C. You would not begin the meeting by addressing the Father?

J.T. No. It is important to have intelligence in what one does; one should act according to the light that governs the position.

C.A.C.. I have observed that if a meeting has started by addressing the Father it descends instead of going up.

J.T. There should be a gradual ascent. At the beginning we assemble ourselves, but as together there is something additional; we are set in such relation to one another as to be assembled from the divine side. We are together in assembly then. In coming together we hold ourselves in that relation, yet there is an influence that sets us in the assembly from the divine side, and there Christ is supreme; He is King in Jeshurun. A hymn to the Lord is very becoming then; we recognise Him as Lord coming amongst us in view of our being in the good of His headship.

J.R.K. When in the good of that, would He lead on to the Father?

J.T. As King in Jeshurun He is supreme in our affections, but soon becomes Head with us. Then it is a question of letting Him have His way, and the movement upward would be through Him to the Father.

Ques. Would the title "Lord Jesus" convey the same thought as King in Jeshurun?

J.T. It would. It is an affectionate reference to His place of authority. No one can say Lord Jesus except by the Spirit. "The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed" is an affectionate reference to Him.

GLORY IN THE ASSEMBLY

2 Corinthians 8:23; Ephesians 3:21; Judges 1:12 - 15

I want to say a word about glory; glory is a very great and blessed subject, so great indeed that one could not undertake to deal with it in an address in any comprehensive way. I only wish to touch on it as seen in the assembly; that is, as it is seen in ourselves. It is always well, in speaking of the assembly, not to be too abstract. In some connections we have to be abstract, but we should also have the concrete thought of the assembly ever in view; especially when in some sense it is available in that way. So that, in speaking of glory as connected with the assembly, I speak of it as connected with ourselves. Indeed, in the passage in 2 Corinthians the glory of Christ is connected with two or three brothers who were engaged in carrying the bounty of the assemblies to meet need where it existed amongst God's people. We can, therefore, readily connect the thought with the saints.

Now one desires for a moment to refer to glory according to its source. God is said to be the God of it, the God of glory. "The God of glory", (Acts 7:2) we are told, appeared unto Abraham; and in Isaiah 51:2 we read that God said, "I called him alone, and blessed him", showing how God can take up one as a vessel of glory, but He had much more than that one in His mind. I like to think of God saying to Abraham, Now look at the stars, can you number them? Your seed shall be like the stars for multitude. And "one star", Paul says, "differeth from another star in glory". (1 Corinthians 15:41) Think of the variety in that respect! We read of astronomers finding the stars, this one and that one, and giving them names, but God knows all the stars by name; He knows them all so that one is led to contemplate a vast variety of glories as one thinks of them. He that turns many

to righteousness has such a glory as is seen in the stars. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever", (Daniel 12:3). The stars have their varied glories, one star differing from another star in glory; and the aggregate is seen by David in connection with the whole firmament. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork", (Psalm 19:1). You can see, therefore, what a subject the glory of God is, how diversified, and yet how it is seen, as one might say, relatively in one star.

The God of glory appeared to Abraham; He called him alone and blessed him. God can connect His glory with one or with myriads, and hence with the assembly, with which God specially connects His glory. In saying that, I am not overlooking that it had a peculiar place in connection with His earthly people. The apostle Paul, in speaking of his love for Israel, says "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises", (Romans 9:4). These things were not partially connected with Israel; they were connected with Israel in completeness, for the article precedes each of them. But although the glory pertained to Israel, alas! Israel was not a vessel suited to it.

The book of Ezekiel becomes a very instructive study for the believer in this respect. It is the book of the son of man, and he has visions of God, and these visions are mainly connected with the glory. He sees the glory, but he sees it ascending from the city, lingering over it before it left, and we have pictured to us the image of jealousy. The city had become idolatrous. The glory had been there, it had come in as in the tabernacle, it had come into Solomon's temple and filled it; but now the hearts of the people were turned away from Jehovah, and

the prophet is taken in the visions of God to Jerusalem, and there he sees all this dreadful wickedness. And though the glory lingered over the city, it had to leave it. But the glory pertained to Israel, and Ezekiel pursues the subject until he sees it returning from the way of the east, and entering again into the city and into the house in Jerusalem. God has not given up His thoughts in regard of His earthly people, for the glory pertains to them and on the ground of redemption, will yet return to them. But Ezekiel has to see it ascending from the city. The prophet John sees it coming down not to a city but in one; indeed, the city as it descends is said to have it; a very beautiful reference to the abidingness of the glory, to the permanency and fixedness of it in the assembly.

Well now, having said so much as to its relation with Israel, I want to show how it is connected with the assembly which is the glory of Christ, and in speaking of the assembly, as I said at the beginning, we are speaking of ourselves. Now glory is first of all a question of subjection to Christ. The woman is said to be the glory of the man, and on that account she is to have a mark of subjection. Dear brethren, may I ask where we are in regard of subjection to Christ? The assembly is subjected to Christ; God has placed her in that position. The man was not "created for the woman; but the woman for the man", (1 Corinthians 11:9). The assembly was made for Christ. Do I know that in my soul; that I am set here in subjection to Christ in relation to all the saints? The assembly is subjected to Christ; that is her place, and to move away from that place is to be lawless, for that is the place in which God has set her. That is the first principle of the assembly's position. How is she to be held there? The Lord nourishes and cherishes her; that is His side, for she is to be held there through her affections. Hence,

the Lord's supper is the full expression of the love of Christ for the assembly: "This is my body, which is for you"; it is His devoted love for the assembly. He has given Himself for her, and in the Supper He sets before us in a continuous way a testimony to that unchanging love. It is what He is to her. He would hold her in the relation in which God has set her, for God gave her to Him. God has given us to Christ.

The first great type of the assembly is very wonderful. God Himself discerned the necessity for Eve; Adam did not ask for her. God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him", (Genesis 2:18). Then He brought her to the man and Adam named her. God set her in relation to Adam, but how could Adam hold her in that relation? The next chapter only too sorrowfully details how she lent her ear to the tempter; exactly what the apostle feared in regard of the Corinthians, in regard of the whole assembly. He says, "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ", (2 Corinthians 11:3). Eve lent her ear to the tempter, and left her place. As in her place she was Adam's glory, but she left it, and the result was that Adam's glory was gone. What a dreadful result, dear brethren, especially as it applies to the assembly! The assembly moving away from the place given her by God in relation to Christ has resulted in the Lord for the moment losing His glory in her. Christendom presents a terrible picture; we do well to ponder it; that which had been set in relation to Christ, subject to Him, has moved away. Is it because there is anything wanting in the Lord? Ah, He remains, as the word says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever", (Hebrews 13:8). The Lord's supper remains as that which witnesses to His unchanging love. Now,

dear brethren, are we subject to Christ? It is in subjection to Christ that His glory shines in us for in subjection to Christ we come into all the benefits of His ministry, the service of His love, so that we are nourished and cherished.

The assemblies of which the apostle speaks in this second letter to the Corinthians were in accord with Christ; that is why I read the passage. Certain needs existed elsewhere, and the saints were moved by the love of Christ to render help. They sent money by the hands of certain brothers, and the apostle said, If any inquire about these brothers they are "messengers of assemblies, Christ's glory"; that shows that the principle of giving which is the outcome of love can be taken account of as the glory of Christ. The assembly, as set here in His absence, was intended to reflect what He was; and so the apostle said to the Ephesian elders, "Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive", (Acts 20:35). Giving is the reflection of Christ; that is to say, the exercise of love towards one another is the reflection and the glory of Christ.

Now, I want to show at this point how, that in the picture we have in Othniel and Achsah, the intelligence of the assembly at the beginning is foreshadowed. I apprehend that Achsah is a type of the assembly in her Ephesian aspect. She comes in in the body of the book of Joshua, as many of you will remember, and the book of Joshua corresponds with the epistle to the Ephesians. It is the book which describes the people entering into and taking possession of their inheritance; and in no case is the interest greater than when Caleb takes possession of his allotment. The history of Caleb is intensely interesting as representing the intelligent faith that marked the assembly at the beginning. So he takes Hebron, dislodging the giants, and then he says, "He that

smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife"; and Othniel, his nephew, undertakes to take the city, and he succeeds.

There can be no doubt that Othniel represents the prowess of Christ in the way in which he overcame the world of books, for Kirjath-sepher (city of the book) represents that. Books have had a great deal to do with the downfall of the assembly; they have a great deal to do today with the corruption of the people of God. There are good books, for Daniel understood by them, and had divine knowledge by them. And the New Testament contains books, and John said he supposed that if all that Christ did were written down "even the world itself could not contain the books which should be written". (John 21:25) There is plenty of material for books of a good kind, and we may thank God for every one of them, those that nourish and instruct the saints. But Othniel took a city which speaks of books of a bad kind, and I have no doubt that there is a strong connection between that incident and the triumph of the gospel in the city of Ephesus. It was there that books were brought by their owners, not confiscated, but brought by their owners, and burnt. Evidently the truth had laid hold of their minds and eclipsed, for them at least, the contents of the books. The books were brought and burnt; they were not sent to second-hand stores; they were not fit to be sold or read by any one. If a Christian cannot read a book profitably, then no one can read it profitably; let it be burnt.

Othniel undoubtedly foreshadowed the great triumph of God by His apostle in the city of Ephesus, and in that city the assembly came out in its heavenly character. The assembly in Ephesus represented that which was according to the desires of the Lord. He unfolded all His mind to the Ephesian saints; as the apostle said, "I have not shunned to declare

unto you all the counsel of God", (Acts 20:27). In other words, he disclosed to her all the divine thoughts. What a heritage! But the question then was as to continuance, and when I say continuance, I mean not only in intelligence, but in freshness; and to this I want your particular attention. Achsah, we are told, moved her husband to ask of her father a field, but she alights from the ass herself and says to her father, "Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water". That is what the assembly needed, dear brethren, springs! for the point is to continue in freshness, in youthfulness, to continue in the energy of life.