Pages 1 - 92. Readings in Luke, New York, 1910 (reprinted from Volumes 3, 4 and 5 "Mutual Comfort".)

READINGS IN LUKE

CHAPTER 1

This gospel gives the manner of the appearance of God's grace in the world. We have to note the kind of persons we meet in the opening chapter. We do not get here, as in Matthew, the opposition of man. Matthew and Luke present the birth of the Lord and the circumstances of His infancy, and a comparison of the two accounts will serve to emphasise the point of view given in Luke. In Matthew the birth of Christ elicits what is in the heart of man; Herod seeks to destroy the young Child. This is a dark picture. In Luke we get the bright side. Certain persons are brought forward who are already the subjects of divine grace; a prepared scene for the introduction of Christ. Zacharias is engaged in a most exalted service, offering incense to God. He and Elizabeth, his wife, walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. The priesthood and the temple are owned.

The opening chapters of this gospel may be connected with the end of Malachi. The remnant that feared the Lord, spoken of by that prophet, reappear here.

The truth is, that God had arranged a set of conditions which should enhance the entrance of His grace, in the birth of Christ, into this world. What we see here is not only the Lord's birth as a fact by itself, but God was intervening for the deliverance and blessing of man, and He would do this in a manner calculated to gain man's confidence. He comes in in connection with certain ones in whom beautiful traits of His grace appeared. Humanity

is seen, not in its bad features, but as the subject of God's grace; and humanity is, as it were, accredited with what His grace has wrought. These bright traits are not to be found in man naturally, of course: in John's gospel we learn that he is utterly reprobate, and so has to be born again. If there is to be anything for God, it must be divinely produced, and this applies to those we are introduced to here in Luke. But here the power that produces what pleases God in man is not the point, but that these divinely formed traits were actually found here in men.

If you are to gain a man's confidence in approaching him in grace, you have to give him to understand that you fully recognise all that is commendable. This is an unvarying principle with God, and we see it in the epistles.

Ques. Would you say that in the law God approached man from the other side?

Ans. Then it was a question of discovering to man what he was by nature; "by law is the knowledge of sin". Sin by the commandment became exceeding sinful. But here God is approaching man in grace, and so commendable things in him are prominent.

In Matthew a different set of circumstances appears in connection with the Lord's appearance in manhood. Gentiles are in search of Him, and speak of Him to Herod. The king of the Jews was born, and this brought out a murderous spirit in Herod. The spirit of Athaliah 2 Kings 11 was present. She sought to destroy the seed royal. Matthew presents this side of things, and there can be no doubt that in Mark we may trace the spirit of Jezebel in opposition to Christ. She sought to destroy the prophets of the Lord. The Pharisees and Herodians took counsel how they might destroy Christ, Mark 3:6. Mark gives us the Prophet, but Luke presents the

Man in whom God has intervened; hence in the genealogy given the human line is what appears, not the royal line, as in Matthew. It is traced back to God. God's work in man, or, rather, the fruits of it, is seen in connection with this line; and when the Lord should come into manhood there was a little circle of this line marked by the blessed fruits of grace in connection with whom He appeared. All was morally necessary, and so divinely prepared. In this respect the Lord came into a congenial atmosphere. Becoming man, the Lord was on man's side toward God. But there were liabilities on man, and Christ takes up all and removes them in His death. But coming into manhood. He was connected with all that God had produced in man previously; and then, being a divine Person, Christ is great enough to be a Mediator between God and man. In all the circumstances of His birth there was nothing calculated to antagonise man's heart; on the contrary, everything to establish confidence was there. God approached man in a Babe; wondrous grace and condescension! Elihu said to Job, "I also am formed out of the clay. Behold my terror shall not make thee afraid".

Ques. Why is John the baptist given such a large place?

Ans. The Spirit makes prominent the character of John's parents and the circumstances of his birth. We have to seek to get at the significance of this. The same is true of Mary; the Spirit would show the character of her through whom the Son of God came into the world. The Spirit of God guards the Person of Christ in every way; "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God", chapter 1: 35. In the cherubim in the tabernacle we have the indication, that from the moment of the Lord's birth the Father was taking care of Him. The cherubim of glory shadowed the

mercy-seat. Under the mercy-seat was the testimony, and the wings of the cherubim were stretched over all. "The cherubim of glory" have reference to the Father's affections; before any priestly hands were stretched forth to care for the ark the Father's infinite interest and vigilance were evident. The angel's word to Mary, quoted above, was a guard to the Lord's Person. The cherubim's wings point to divine power in protection. When Herod would slay the young Child, the Father protected Him.

While the truth of the Lord's Person shines in Luke, and is guarded, yet, as in the type in Exodus 25, what is immediately before the mind of the Spirit is that there should be a meeting place between God and man; "there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat". The meeting place is in Christ.

CHAPTER 2

The prophetic utterance of Zacharias in chapter 1, coupled with that of Simeon in the temple, convey to us very largely the mind of God in regard to the birth of Christ. Zacharias speaks of the deliverance that had come in for Israel; Simeon goes out to the Gentiles. What they said, however, was not exactly in the nature of a new revelation; the prophets had abundantly testified to the things they spoke of Zacharias says, "Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, because he has visited and wrought redemption for his people, and raised up a horn of deliverance for us in the house of David his servant; as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began; deliverance from our enemies and out of the hand of all who hate us; to fulfil mercy with our fathers and remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to give us, that, saved from the hand of our enemies, we should serve him without fear in

piety and righteousness before him all our days", Luke 1:68 - 75. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zacharias was in the full light of the mind of God as indicated in the prophets. Simeon says, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel", chapter 2: 30. This is a wider view -- wider even in regard to Israel. Zacharias speaks of the breaking of the enemy's power, whereas Simeon views Christ as the glory of Israel.

Luke's object is not to show the dark side of things in the world at the time of the Lord's birth. Caesar Augustus had decreed that all the world should be taxed; a census should be made. The motives that may have been behind this are not in question. Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, and we may say that the whole habitable world was moved to this end. Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem in humble simplicity, taking their place with the rest of mankind in recognising the established order of things. The conditions in which His parents were found were in every way accepted, there was no miraculous evading of them.

But there was no room in the world's inn for Christ. We have to note the difference between the inn here and that spoken of in chapter 10. The inn spoken of in this chapter is in man's world; that in chapter 10 belongs to God's world. The Samaritan, we may say, had influence in the latter; he had sufficient confidence in the innkeeper to commit to his care the poor man he had befriended.

As we have been saying, the whole habitable earth was moved in connection with the birth of Christ. Augustus, doubtless, had personal motives in issuing his decree, but in heaven there was a sympathetic movement. It was a movement marked by intelligence and affection. He who is God had

become Man; this was the most wonderful event that had ever taken place. God was seen of angels. What is remarkable about angels is, that they are always so in touch with God in what He is doing. At the creation "all the sons of God shouted for joy", Job 38:7. Here we have "a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men".

We must distinguish between the angel who spoke to the shepherds and the multitude of the heavenly host; the former acted the part of an evangelist, for he was a bearer of glad tidings; the latter are moved in sympathetic and intelligent interest in what was transpiring. You feel that the angel who carried the glad tidings was wonderfully supported. There is in this affecting scene an analogy to the relation of the assembly to an evangelist. The evangelist is supported by the ardent sympathy of the saints. Here the angels are engaged in the most exalted service they ever rendered to God; they were praising Him in connection with a greater event even than the laying of the foundation of the earth. When the foundations of the earth were laid they showed their interest and sympathy in the divine counsels, and they followed along step by step as God's ways and testimony were unfolded, and here there is a burst of rapturous praise that the Lord had taken the form of a Babe in this world. It must have been marvellous to them to see a divine movement like this. The scene affords great light as to angelic nature: they are entirely unselfish. If there ever was a moment to call forth jealousy from the angels it was this, for their Creator had become Man, instead of taking a place as one of themselves; but instead of this we find rapturous delight in what was transpiring. Later, some of their number watch the Lord's grave.

Becoming Man, Christ took a place relatively lower than angels for the suffering of death, but He is crowned with glory and honour. Whatever the place, of inferiority in which the Lord was found here it did not affect His Person; being a divine Person, He ever remains unchanged. Taking man's place, He was entirely for God's will, and God made Him a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. But He proved Himself worthy of exaltation, and now man in His Person is rightfully in the place of greatest glory and honour. In the future angels shall be seen ascending and descending on the Son of man.

The service of the angels here is in every way exalted, and it is marked by intelligence. They appreciated what was involved in what had occurred at Bethlehem. God's glory should now be secured in man. Angels had not been charged with God's testimony on earth, but men had been; and in this they had utterly broken down, all had failed. The angels had witnessed this; but now they saw One in manhood who would answer to every thought of God.

As to the shepherds, there was moral correspondence in them to what was going on around them. Their occupation is suggestive of this. They were qualified both by position and heart to receive such a visitation and message. "Let us make our way then now as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us". They came and saw, and then they became evangelists: "They made known about the country the thing which had been said to them about this Child". Finally, they were engaged in praising God, verse 20. They came under the influence of the heavenly multitude in every way.

Chapter 2: 25 - 52

Simeon represents a priestly state in the temple. He was there to receive, as it were, the true Ark of the testimony. "It was divinely communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death before he should see the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple", verse 26. The scene was divinely arranged, for God would have a true priest to receive the Ark. Simeon received the Babe into his arms. Every divine thought was embodied in that Infant. The true Ark was there in the temple in the arms of one who valued Him, and who had light as to what was involved in His presence.

In Exodus the cherubim come before the priest. They represent the Father's care for Christ, and this appears in the gospels even before His birth; the priest, or priestly state, corresponds with this on man's side. In Exodus 25 we see the cherubim, and in chapter 28 the priest is introduced. In a sense, Simeon has the wave offering of Leviticus 8 in his hands. The priestly state is produced in us by the Spirit. In all that Simeon does here he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Simeon sees in Christ God's salvation, "a light for revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel". It was a more extended view than that of Zacharias. Then he says to Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel". The fall must come in our history before the rising again. The Lord should be a sign spoken against, and a sword should go through Mary's soul. The accomplishment of God's thoughts of grace did not lie in connection with a path of outward glory and worldly favour, but of reproach, and death at the end. This would reveal the thoughts of many hearts.

Anna represents the enduring character of what

God produces in His people. She was of a great age but "departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day", verse 37. In Simeon we see the intelligent side of the remnant, in Anna we see affection and enduring interest in that which was of God on earth. Seeing the Babe in the temple, she gives praise to the Lord, and speaks of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Her foot is dipped in oil, engaged in active service at the age of eighty-four; she was a true daughter of Asher. As her days, so was her strength, Deuteronomy 33:24, 25.

We have now to consider the boyhood and manhood of our Lord. What the Spirit emphasises here in verses 40 - 52 is the genuineness of His humanity. First, we have, "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him". Then in verse 52, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man". Becoming incarnate, true humanity is seen in the Lord in every stage of it from infancy to mature manhood. Every phase was real and perfectly set forth. There was nothing, we may say, which was not normal. Whether infancy, boyhood or manhood, each was genuine. It is the vessel of grace that is before us in Luke, and He touched man at every point or stage of man's existence. Only the Spirit of God could present in such simplicity what is fraught with such infinite depths of meaning and results. It is the outward, every -- day history of the Lord that is presented, and all is infinitely perfect, but set forth in such ordinary circumstances that the most lowly and uncultured could easily understand and appreciate. In this way God would make Him, in whom He was approaching men in grace, interesting and attractive to all.

The age of twelve may point to the period when responsibility begins; at this age the Lord is engaged

in His Father's business. But having asserted His divine sonship and mission, He at once resumes His place in subjection to His parents. "He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them", verse 51. It is boyhood in perfection. Even in this there is that which is calculated to attract men, for who among parents but would appreciate such becoming obedience in a child? The Spirit is here showing the character of the vessel of God's grace before He appeared publicly. Whatever the relation He was in, whether as a Child to His parents, or a Man among men, He was in every way attractive; He was "in favour with God and man". Here it is no question of His testimony, but of what the Man was, as in the ordinary circumstances of human life in this world. During these thirty years of private life the evenness and perfection of His character, as set forth in the meat offering, came under the eye of God. How the gospel is adorned by Him by whom it has been preached to men!.

The providential circumstances in which the Lord's parents were found were fully accepted; although His wonderful "understanding and answers" would secure Him a place among the doctors at Jerusalem, He returned with Joseph and Mary to Nazareth, and was in subjection to them. Nazareth was obscure and despised, but this mattered nothing to Him to whom God's will was everything. In Nazareth "he was brought up"; the quiet grace and gentleness, and every lovely feature that came out in Christ, were displayed in outwardly mean surroundings in an obscure spot. And all foreshadowed the marvellous testimony of grace that was to follow. The divine way of reaching the hearts of men with the gospel is thus seen; suspicion as to God's nature, which ever lurks in our natural hearts, is overthrown when we apprehend that God

has approached us in such a Person as this.

It is God's thought that the gospel should be adorned by those who preach it. Of the Lord it was said, "they wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth". He said to Simon and Andrew, "I will make you to become fishers of men". To fish for men we must beware that we do not scare them away, but rather lure or attract them. We have to learn everything from Christ. In this gospel we see divine compassion laying itself out to reach men and gain their confidence so as to save them, carefully avoiding everything that might tend to prejudice or repel those whom it would befriend.

CHAPTER 3

At the end of chapter 2 it is said that "Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men". Here it is not the divine side that is presented, as in John's gospel; it is the Man Christ Jesus; He through whom the gospel of the grace of God has reached us. Before He is anointed for service the Spirit enlarges upon His personal character. As growing up into manhood He was in every way attractive to God and to men. The graces that shone in Him were inherent; there was no formative work needed. The vessel was perfect in every way before He was anointed by the Spirit. We are formed after we get the Spirit. The Lord, as Preacher, was in every way commensurate with the gospel which He preached to men. Now we cannot but be struck with the great disparity there is between the gospel and those who preach it.

Chapter 4 speaks of the gracious words which were coming out of His mouth. And, having read and sat down, the eyes of those in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. He adorned the gospel; it

was not simply the meaning of the words, but the gracious way they were spoken. In our case a good deal of chiselling is needed in order that we should be fitted for God's service, but in Christ nothing of this was necessary. Here perfection is seen in Christ from infancy to manhood.

That so few were attracted by the ministry of such a Person leads to another consideration, but in Christ everything was divinely calculated to interest men, and to draw them to Him. And it has to be remembered that numbers were affected by the Lord's ministry that are not formally taken account of in Scripture. In truth the time for the full effect of the gospel had not come. Redemption had to take place. The Lord was straitened until His baptism was accomplished. Besides, the conditions under which Christ preached were different in other respects from those under which the gospel was presented after His death and the coming of the Spirit. Before His death God was still treating with man in the flesh, and the Lord's ministry was intended to be the great test for that order of man. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin", John 15:22. But whatever the effect, the Lord's preaching produced, it contained the essence of all that the apostles presented after the coming of the Holy Spirit. John says here Luke 3:8, that "God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham". There was an indication that God would act sovereignly, for He was not dependent on Abraham's seed after the flesh, but still, a testimony was being rendered to the people owned as connected with the existing order of things. In Acts 2 we see the great gathering power there was connected with the testimony of the apostles. There is nothing like this now.

Ques. Why is it?

Ans. The vessel in which the testimony was placed is so marred by what is of man that there is not the same power. Our day is analogous to the day in which the Lord ministered, in the sense that we are in the end of a dispensation when the great mass is marked by unbelief, and thus we are hampered. There is no light, of course, except what is in the assembly, but still, the responsible body is no longer owned as having the candlestick. It ceased in Thyatira.

John says, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight". There was a great opportunity for the people. The Lord was coming into the existing order of things, and they were to prepare for Him. It was "the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Ituraea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas". The Spirit sets the order that existed in the world before us. Now this wonderful Person was about to appear in the midst of this world, and there was a great opportunity for men; they were to prepare His way and make His paths straight.

Rem. John addresses different members of the community; the crowds, tax-gatherers and soldiers, telling them what to do, and exhorting many other things, he announced his glad tidings, verse 18. Such was John's testimony. It was a fitting introduction of Christ.

The great thing in John's glad tidings was that they were properly introductory of Christ. He announced that the Lord was coming in, not to die as yet, but in the way of testimony to the existing world; that He would come into that order of things, and every one had an opportunity to set himself right in regard to Him. Such, in measure,

is grace. But still this is not the gospel that is announced now. Our gospel assumes that the world is judged, and that the man after the flesh is utterly corrupt; the rejection of Christ has proved all this. So that God has begun anew, announcing every blessing in a risen Man, glorified in heaven. It is no question of preparing for Him on earth, but of being conformed to His image, as justified through His death, and having a place in heaven. Such is the excess of God's grace to man.

Following upon John's introduction, the Lord appears; and how affecting the attitude He assumes! The people were being baptised, and He appears in their midst and is baptised too. He does not demand; He goes down into the water like others. There is nothing to deter people, but, on the contrary, in lowly grace, every movement is calculated to attract and establish confidence in the human heart.

Jesus "being baptised, and praying, the heaven was opened". How truly He took man's place! He had nothing to repent of, nothing to confess, but He was praying. And now heaven open, the Holy Spirit descends upon Him, and the Father's voice is heard. He is owned as Son. The Father's voice is directly addressed to Christ: "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased", verse 22. This refers to the Lord as Man under God's eye during His thirty years of private life. He is singled out as a Man among men, the One in whom God had found His pleasure. John had introduced Him by His testimony on earth, but the Father introduces Him from heaven. This latter, however, is seen more in Matthew, where the Father says, "This is my beloved Son". He was publicly owned of the Father, and what is affecting is that He was thus greeted as coming up out of the water where He had humbly identified Himself with other men. The apprehension of Christ as come so near to us and greeted by the

Father should, it seems to me, dispel every atom of fear and suspicion from our hearts.

Immediately after the Father's salutation from heaven you get the Lord's genealogy traced. The genealogy here shows His complete identification with the race; it is traced back to Adam, who is said to be "of God". Every member of humanity should be completely disarmed of any suspicion of fears be may have entertained as to God as in the light of the wonderful way He has approached men. The vessel of His grace is seen here as in every way one of themselves, sin apart. He is in the humblest of circumstances, both temporarily and morally; as to the latter, He is seen identified with those who were humbly owning that things were not right before God either with themselves or in the world around them. This was righteousness, and Jesus loved righteousness. In this position the Father expresses His delight in Him, owning Him as His Son.

The Spirit here is careful to note that the Lord did not spring from Joseph, saying, "Jesus ... . being, as was supposed, son of Joseph"; but still the line of Joseph is given, and it is traced back to God. The Man whom God owns as Son is seen as completely identified with the race viewed as originating in God. He is the Son of man. The Father's voice is connected with the Lord's baptism, and the genealogy follows. The Father's salutation guards the truth of the Person who takes such a lowly position. It is He "who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens", Hebrews 7:26. The cherubim of glory are ever near where the Lord's connection with man in the flesh is treated of in Scripture. "Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever", is an example of this, Romans 9:5. The point in Luke is not simply that Christ took flesh

and blood; the gospel presents Him as completely identified with humanity, sin apart, and touching it at every point so as to establish confidence in every human heart. He, born as an infant, is circumcised, grows up as a boy, and is in favour with God and men; and then in manhood submitting to baptism as others were doing, is, as One of whom these things are true, owned of God as His Son. How infinitely favoured are men, that such an One may be claimed, as it were, as one of themselves! What hopes the light of it should inspire in every heart into which it enters! What hopes and joys it has inspired in myriads of hearts since that day!

Another testimony here to the truth of the Lord's Person is the form in which the Spirit came to Him -- "in a bodily shape like a dove". The dove had found at last a permanent resting place for the sole of her foot. See Genesis 8:8 - 12. At Pentecost the Spirit came in the character of cloven tongues as of fire; pointing to what He should have to accomplish in those to whom He came; but in Jesus all is perfect; the Holy Spirit could rest in undisturbed peace in that blessed Man! .

CHAPTER 4: 1 - 13

The previous chapters show what the Lord was before the descent upon Him of the Spirit; a Man out of heaven. Personally the Lord was "out of heaven", a divine Person; perfection was there, so that the Spirit had nothing to form in Him. We need to be formed, and this takes place after we get the Holy Spirit. The earlier chapters show that perfection was in Christ before the anointing; but He takes up the service of God in the power of the Spirit. He is in man's place, and He carries out the divine will in the same power that is given to believers. John presents the divine side, but in Luke the Man

is before us; the Lord is not acting simply as a divine Person, but as Man in the power of the Holy. Spirit. "Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness". He is in the position of obedience, and He does not act in virtue of what He is in His own Person; He is governed by the Spirit, so the path that He marks out in this gospel is open to believers. It is the path of a man taking the ground of obedience, led by the Spirit. At the end of the gospel the disciples are told to tarry in Jerusalem "until ye be endued with power from on high". There was to be the continuation of the heavenly character in them, for they should have the same power that He had.

The temptations serve to bring out more fully the character of the Man that had now appeared, and was here under God's eye. Satan had resort to "every temptation", but all were unavailing to allure the Lord from the path of obedience. Believers are tempted now after the same manner. Adam was tempted and he succumbed. Satan counts on finding in man the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, but none of these were present in Christ. The forty days in the wilderness no doubt alluded to the forty years of Israel's journeying there. There was a complete time of testing in each case, but how different the results! And it has to be noted that while Israel was with God in the wilderness, Christ was there to be tempted of Satan, and He was with the wild beasts, Mark 1:13.

The Lord fasted during the forty days, and the devil takes advantage of this to attack Him. "If thou be Son of God, command this stone that it may be made bread". To do this would take the Lord out of man's divinely appointed place, and moreover it would show that He was not living on divinely appointed food. The adversary's attack is

met in divine perfection, but in man as simply maintaining man's place as governed entirely by God's word. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God". What man's true food is, is thus clearly indicated, and it affords a most important consideration. Elsewhere the Lord says, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work". This was an entirely new kind of meat for man! Satan's suggestion is met by a quotation from Deuteronomy which is connected with the manna.

In the wilderness the people were suffered to hunger, and God fed them with manna -- "which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live", Deuteronomy 8:3. The manna was an extraordinary food; it was wholly foreign to nature. In truth it was food from heaven; something altogether new for terrestrial beings. It will be found that God provides food for us calculated to build up our constitutions to meet the exigencies of the circumstances in which we may be, To be in the wilderness for God we need to live on what is heavenly. It was wonderful that God should open "the doors of heaven" and rain down manna. He gave them "the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food", Psalm 78:24. It was a food that heavenly beings only knew about. The Lord taught the disciples to pray. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". It is the kind of food that is known there.

The Lord introduced an appetite for it on earth. Israel did not relish it, but it is the food of Christians, and it prepares us for heaven. If you feed on the food of angels you become like them. They are marked by obedience; they do the will of God. No matter what they are told to do, they do it;

so the Lord says, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". The gospels present the food of angels, especially this gospel. In the second chapter they are seen in raptures of delight over the birth of Christ, the One in whom the will of God should be carried out in the highest way.

The manna has reference to the carrying out of God's will in a contrary scene, hence the gospels present it to us: there we see Christ maintaining God's will where all was opposed. The bread of life in John 6 presents another thought, and the old corn of the land of Canaan still another. Each refers to Christ. In the type the whole camp was dependent on the manna that came down from heaven; now Christians are fed by it. We are in this world for God's will, and we are sustained, not by anything the world can offer, but by heavenly food. We feed on Christ, finding Him in every circumstance in which we may be found as in obedience to God's word.

In meeting the enemy the Lord quotes from the book of Deuteronomy. Although a wilderness book, Deuteronomy had in view the preparation of the people for the land of Canaan. It recalls the law which had been given to them for the wilderness, but the law presented in the spirit of it, rather than the letter; the first commandment here is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might". Deuteronomy was spoken on the plains of Moab; that is, it comes in after the brazen serpent and the springing well; hence the instruction is of a different character from what was given before. In this book the people are typically in that relationship with God which involves that the flesh is condemned and set aside in the death of Christ, and the Spirit possessed by the believer.

In Numbers we see how the wilderness experience had done its work: it had brought to light what the

flesh really is. The people spake against God and against Moses. This was a terrible exposure of what the flesh is, and the wilderness journey brought it out. "The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart", Deuteronomy 8. It was a painful lesson for them, but we all have to learn it. God walks with us so that we may have moral power to refuse the flesh as the wilderness conditions bring it into evidence. In the death of Christ God has dealt with the flesh, setting it aside judicially; as we accept this and recognise the Holy Spirit there is no more murmuring; for murmuring comes from the flesh. We are now prepared for the instruction afforded in Deuteronomy, which has Canaan in view.

Here the Lord refuses everything that is not according to God's will. Satan's suggestions would divert from this. The epistle to the Romans contemplates the Christian being governed by this principle. In chapter 12 he is to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God". In quoting from Deuteronomy 8, the Lord says nothing about the necessity for the wilderness journey. It was not really needed in His case; but if He was tested and suffered to hunger, this only brought perfection to light. As in the wilderness, He is on Deuteronomy ground, which it took Israel forty years to reach. The Lord was led of the Spirit in it; Israel did not come to recognise the Spirit till they were coming out of it. Christ came out of it as He went into it, in the power of the Spirit.

It is wonderful to see how human perfection shines in Christ in every temptation. He is tested in regard to food, as Adam was; and He is tested in regard to government, as Noah was; and, lastly, in regard to the house of God, as Israel was; but, in all these, infinite perfection is seen in Man. It is complete

triumph. And Satan, completing every temptation, departs from Him for a season. The strong man is bound, and now the Stronger than he goes about to spoil his goods.

CHAPTER 4: 14 - 32

After the temptation in the wilderness the Lord returns to Galilee, where He begins His ministry. He had been led of the Spirit in the wilderness and now He returns to Galilee in the same power. Whether as meeting the enemy or entering the sphere of His public service, all is in the power of the Holy Spirit.

He begins His ministry in Nazareth where He was brought up. There is no doubt a principle in this; for a servant is tested nowhere more than among his own acquaintances and relatives: they are the least likely to appreciate his gift. The Lord began there, and divine power and grace so marked Him that interest was immediately enlisted.

Galilee was in close proximity to the Gentiles. It is more prominent in Matthew, where it is a sort of door into the Gentile world. It is there called "Galilee of the Gentiles", and from thence the fame of Christ spread throughout Syria. It was morally fitting that the Lord should begin His service of grace in such a despised place as Nazareth. It was a moral judgment on Jerusalem, the proud centre of the nation, that the Lord did not begin there. It indicates God's way of acting, that the introduction of the greatest thing ever brought in should appear in the most obscure place in man's world.

There was fitness in the Lord referring to Isaiah at the outset of His service. The key-note of Isaiah is the salvation of Jehovah, and this accords with Luke's gospel. The Lord turned to it as the basis

of His position; "he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor", Luke 4:18. He to whom the prophet referred was there: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me ... . This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears". The passage had been read hundreds of times before, but now with the great emphasis of the One to whom it applied.

What the Spirit enlarges upon here is the character of the vessel, as attractive in His movements and in His address. It was a Man anointed by the Spirit of Jehovah. We have not only the announcement of grace, but the vessel was wholly characterised by it. His manner here was most remarkable: the way He closed the book, and gave it to the minister and sat down. Before He began to speak all eyes were upon Him; He had gained them, and thus they were ready to listen to Him. When He began to speak all wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth. We have thus the model vessel set before us.

The opposition begins when He speaks of God going out, even in Old Testament times, to the Gentiles; otherwise the Lord might have been accepted by His townsmen, for the moment at least. In the Lord's ministry there was not only grace, but truth as well. His remarks here involve that God was sovereign, that the Gentiles were men as well as the Jews; this was the truth, and hence the opposition. The people of Nazareth would say to Him, "whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country". His own country made a claim on Him, that He should signalise it. They would claim the Lord for their own greatness, but His mission had humanity in view, and there were intimations of this in God's dealings of old. The special place Israel had in God's ways is

not in view in Luke as in Matthew; in the latter the place the Syrophenician had to take is characteristic. In order to get her blessing she had to take her place as a dog of the Gentiles. The Lord maintained there Israel's relative, place in God's ways on earth. But in Luke men as such, whether Jew or Gentile, are in view; "good pleasure in men". The poor, the broken-hearted, the captives, the blind, the bruised, were to be relieved.

In preaching to Cornelius and his company, Peter alluded to this, saying that Christ was "Lord of all", Acts 10:36.

That the Lord should refer to blessing going out to the Gentiles so early in His ministry is suggestive as to what we may expect in Luke's narrative. We can understand how such touches as this by the "beloved physician" who accompanied Paul would support the apostle's preaching. Matthew's gospel would be a support to Peter's testimony, for he shows the faithfulness of God in regard to the promises made to the fathers; but Luke delights to bring forward the true Physician, who was present in divine grace to relieve a diseased humanity.

But although grace was in such abundance as to affect all in the synagogue, truth was also there forming an admirable blend. As we have been saying, the allusions to the widow of Sarepta and Naaman involve the truth. This was what tested the people in the synagogue; the result was that they led Him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built that they might cast Him down headlong. Had the Lord confined Himself to the performance of miracles, no doubt He would have been acceptable to His countrymen, for a man who could do such mighty works would be a great acquisition to any locality; but the Lord was not here to enhance man's world; hence He brings in the truth, and this stirs up a murderous opposition.

Israel would have limited God to themselves, but God disallows any such effort: wherever it is asserted He makes known His sovereign right to bless whom He pleases. He had given Israel special privileges, and this was in perfect accord with His sovereignty, but the error lay in their thinking that divine things were confined to them. In the days of Elias God was not only free to bless Gentiles, but He passed by many widows in Israel and sent His servant to a Sidonian. The truth makes nothing of man, however he may have been honoured in the past, and this is what incites opposition.

The passage the Lord reads from Isaiah may be said to be the great text for this dispensation. The preaching of judgment does not mark a "well-accepted time" and a "day of salvation", 2 Corinthians 6. It is true that judgment is in view as a sort of background, but it is not, as in Jonah's day, the subject of preaching. The Lord closed the book when He came to the thought of vengeance, and we had better leave it closed. The judgment that should be especially emphasised is self-judgment. What we see here is the intervention of grace in the power of God's Spirit, and the vessel in whom it was active was in every way commensurate with it, He was characterised by it and so attractive to men.

CHAPTER 4: 33 - 14; 5: 1 - 16.

Toward the end of chapter 4 we have two notable cases of human suffering: the man who had the spirit of an unclean devil and Simon's wife's mother, who was sick with a great fever. They represent certain spiritual maladies which necessitate the power of the kingdom. The Lord was going about doing good; He was undoing the works of the devil. It is noticeable that Satan's power was apparent in the synagogue. This was a terrible testimony to

where man was religiously. But the Lord came "healing all who were oppressed with the devil, for God was with him".

The case of fever was in the house -- not in the synagogue. It seems to point to the effect of sin in man in the sphere of his natural relationships. It is a state which is marked by excitement and irritability. Both maladies characterise man in the flesh, the first having reference to the sphere in which God should dominate, the second pointing to man in his natural relations.

Feverishness often shows itself in Christians. You see many people excited and irritable; in this state they are very trying, for they make every one about them uncomfortable. It is often epidemic! Martha in Luke 10:40, seems to have been affected by it. She complains against the Lord. There were signs of it very early in the assembly, in the murmuring in Acts 6. The Lord stood over this woman, Simon's wife's mother, and rebuked the fever and it left her. He deals directly with the evil; He rebuked the demon, and here He rebukes the fever. It is because men are affected by the evil that the Lord deals with it here; later on He will relegate it to its own place. To the demon's question, "Art thou come to destroy us?" Jesus answers, "Hold thy peace, and come out of him". Further, it says that He "rebuked the fever; and it left her". Being healed, the woman took her normal place; she served them.

"Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them", verse 40. That is most touching. At the close of the day the Lord is untiring in His service of grace, and there was power there for universal healing and deliverance. Such is the kingdom of God as presented in this gospel. The Lord is seen here as specially connected with it;

He says, "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I sent". Such is Luke's point of view. Chapter 4 is the Lord's position here among men; He was there in connection with the kingdom, and the character of His ministry in this respect is indicated.

In chapter 5 we have outlined the effect of the light of grace that was shining in Christ on the soul of the believer. The Lord takes a position in Simon's ship. He would get close to Simon. The Lord would cause the light to shine into Simon's heart; his conscience had to be reached. It is a fishing scene. In the Lord's mind men were the fish, and the lake represented the sphere in which the fish were. The Lord had been in Simon's house and had healed his mother-in-law, but as yet he had not been reached and convicted of his true state. In Matthew 13 the bearing of Christ's position in the ship is wider; here His immediate object is Simon. The chapter sets forth how the believer is led on under the ministry and teaching of grace. First, he is convicted of his sinfulness, then he is cleansed, then he is relieved of the governmental effects of sin, getting power, and, finally, he follows the Lord and makes an entertainment for Him in his house.

What is immediately in view in the opening of the chapter is the conviction of Simon; the ships and nets allude to Judaism. There was abundance of fish, but the net brake and the ships were sinking. The old order of things was utterly unavailing as meeting the requirements of the ministry of grace; hence the necessity for the new bottles. In John 21 we have another fishing scene, and the fish are all brought to land; and, as if to point out the contrast, we are told that, "though there were so many, the net was not rent". John 21 depicts what is connected with Christ in resurrection, and hence all is perfect; there is no mishap. The fish are brought to land.

But although the instruments in Luke 5 were imperfect, the circumstances served as an opportunity for the light of grace to shine. A divine Person was there as Man; it was none other than He who had command of the resources of the deep. God Himself was present, active in goodness, and the light of this shone into Simon's soul. Simon fell at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord". This was the expression of inward conviction; not as we often say, "Lord". The Lord used Simon's everyday circumstances as a means of reaching him. Simon was caught, as it were. The Lord was the true Fisherman. He says to Simon, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men". How evident Luke's point of view is here!

Conviction and repentance are brought about by the goodness of God. What happened in the presence of Simon here was a testimony to this. The earth is the Lord's and its fulness, and the fishes of the sea are here given in abundance; this was divine goodness, and it produced the desired effect in Simon. Although Simon felt his sinfulness, and asked the Lord to depart, he did not depart: he fell down at Jesus' knees. The light that exposed him was the light of divine goodness, and so it attracted him. It is ever thus with the sinner into whose heart shines the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

When a man is convicted and realises his sinfulness, he feels utterly unfit for the society of those that are holy as God's people. He is a leper, whose place is outside the camp. Hence the man full of leprosy is but Simon continued; only he is introduced to set forth another side of the truth, namely, cleansing. The man besought Jesus, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will:

be thou clean". Leviticus 14 develops, in type, the means and order of the cleansing of the leper; here the truth is briefly presented as fitting into the moral course of instruction which the chapter affords. As cleansed, the believer is qualified for the society of God's people on earth. As a leper he had to dwell alone; but now he can take his place among the saints. The only thing that should cause our isolation from the saints is sin; but as a fountain of cleansing is opened up for us, we should avail ourselves of it and not remain lepers. The Lord sent the cleansed man to the priest as a testimony. Of old the priest was in charge of the sanctuary. In Christianity, thank God, priests are not wanting who can discern that the leper is cleansed, and they rejoice in the work of grace.

CHAPTER 5: 16 - 39

What follows cleansing in the history of the believer's progress is power. As we have been seeing, the former is set forth in the leper, the latter appears in the man who had the palsy. The Lord was there in healing power and His wonderful service was available to all. "He withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed". As the great Physician He was the dependent Man. "The power of the Lord" was present to heal all kinds of men, Pharisees, doctors, etc. Grace discriminates against none.

Faith takes advantage of the great opportunity offered. This appears in those who brought the palsied man before Jesus. The Lord valued faith and it secured the blessing: "when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee". The man was suffering from the effect of sin: the Lord was administering forgiveness; but He would show that He had authority to do so by giving the forgiven man power to carry his bed and go into

his house. On the man's side this power was a public testimony that he was forgiven, he was manifestly released from the penalty of sin.

The man who had the palsy was sent to his house. The cleansed leper was sent to the priest. He was now fit for the camp, although there might be no camp fit for him; but as cleansed he was a testimony that God had visited man in cleansing and healing power. The point to see in the case of the leper is, that as cleansed he was qualified for the society of God's people. But the palsied man was sent to his house. As cleansed, we are suitable for the assembly, but we have to be right in our houses. Sin had entailed certain consequences, forgiveness involves release from these. How different was the man as going back to his house from what he was when he came out of it! He went to his house in power. The believer is tested in his house. Power is evidenced in nothing more than in patience. We require patience in our houses. There is protection in the assembly for the believer, and we might have thought the Lord would send a man like this there; but he is sent to his house: "Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God". The man had power, and so was fitted to be for God in his house. We shall see the proof of this in Levi, who is the subject in the next part of the instruction.

The believer's house obtains a notable place in connection with the spread of the gospel in the Acts, especially at Philippi; Acts 16. Lydia and her house were baptised, and she welcomed the Lord's servants to her house. The Lord opened her heart, and when her heart was opened her house was opened. To the jailor the word was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and

thy house". What is noticeable about him is, that he believed all the gospel that was preached to him. I fear Paul's testimony to the jailor is only believed in part now; but the jailor believed it in total. An accurate reading of Acts 16:34 would show that the faith of the man embraces his house or household. And he brought Paul and Silas into his house and set meat before them there.

In Levi we have this side of the truth exemplified. He made a "great entertainment" for Christ in his house. Levi is the man who was healed of the palsy, only viewed in another light: he had been sent to his house in power and now Christ is honoured there. And there is a company present such as the Lord would desire; "a great company of publicans and of others". Thus we gather that he understood what the Lord was about. The scribes and Pharisees murmur, but the occasion was according to God; it was in entire agreement with His present attitude. The Lord says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance". He was fishing for men, and the fishes were there in Levi's house. There is peculiar liberty in the house of a spiritual man. Christ is considered in everything and the guests are such as He would wish. Our discriminations as to those we invite to our houses often indicate where we are spiritually.

As we proceed in the chapter we advance in the truth. The thought of the bridegroom in verse 34 suggests something beyond what has been before us. The disciples were "sons of the bridechamber"; this points to that which belongs to Christ, for the bridechamber would be, so to speak, in His house. The bride is not in view, but those who had a special place in connection with the bridechamber were there. The Bridegroom was everything to them, and they must have full liberty in His presence. Having to do with the Bridegroom is a new experience,

and, as applied to believers now, leads on to the truth of the assembly. "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice", John 3:29.

Now the old order of things has to be discarded; the new garment will not agree with the old. We get light as we are prepared for it. Christianity involves new and heavenly principles, and these are not to be tacked on to a system established in connection with man in the flesh on earth. "The new agreeth not with the old". . And the old bottles would not contain the new wine. There would be new and heavenly joy which would be altogether too great for man in the flesh. A man has to be born anew, and he is to be governed by a wholly new set of principles. Further, a taste for the new wine had to be cultivated. The instruction here prepares the believer for the new order of things.

CHAPTER 6

The end of chapter 5 shows that the old order of things and the new, which latter Christ was introducing, could not go on together. The allusion to David here is significant, as showing the culmination of the preceding course of events; the inauguration of a totally new system of things in which the Son of man should be supreme. Although the dispensational side is not so prominent as in the corresponding passage in Matthew, the new order of things, as the sphere of Christ's authority, is clearly indicated, Viewed from the side of the believer's progress, which commences in the beginning of chapter 5, the change of system is in its place in chapter 6.

From the moment of David's definite rejection Saul's kingdom had come to an end morally. Things

that had been regarded as sacred were common if the true king was refused. So here, the sabbath was the sign of the covenant with Israel: the disciples pluck ears of corn on that day, and the Lord justifies them; hence the covenant is broken. Although all Israel did not acknowledge David, the kingdom under him began, in principle, from the period of his rejection. The same is seen here in Christ. David went to the cave of Adullam, and there became a centre; and he became a captain over those who came out to him. Here the Lord chooses twelve from among His disciples and names them apostles. There is a wholly new system set up and dominated by Christ. It is of all moment that Christians should fully apprehend this; and that, as calling Christ Lord, we should do the things which He says, verse 46.

The man whose hand was withered represents the condition of Israel: they had no power to work for God. The right hand is the member of power. The Lord was now working. The Father had been working, and now, as Man, Christ was working. Others should be brought into work, hence the apostles are named. Their ordination properly follows the restoration of the man's withered hand. The administration of the kingdom involves work. David had mighty men; here the Lord has mighty men. To be effective in the kingdom we must have our withered hands restored. In the types the blood was put on the right hand and on that the oil. Power for the kingdom lies in the Spirit. Paul was a characteristic man of power in the kingdom.

The treatment of the sabbath in this chapter is of special importance. It was, as we said, the sign of the first covenant with Israel. The Lord performs a good work on that day, calling special attention to it. The truth is, that the old covenant was utterly ineffective, and so God found fault with it. ".Finding

fault, he says to them, Behold, days come, saith the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant as regards the house of Israel, and as regards the house of Juda", Hebrews 8:8. But the covenant was not abandoned simply because of its faultiness, but also on account of Israel's unfaithfulness; "because they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not regard them, saith the Lord", Hebrews 8:9. This latter is what is evident in Luke 6. The Lord had spoken of the old and new in chapter 5; in Hebrews 8 the first covenant is said to have been rendered old by the introduction of the new; it was "old and aged", and hence disappearing.

What is contemplated here is the establishment of the kingdom in the midst of the Jews; the Gentiles come in later. It is the mediatorial kingdom, for the Lord is seen administering it as the dependent Man. Before choosing the apostles "he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God;" verse 12. Having named the apostles He descends "with them, and stood in the plain", verse 17. Thus the Lord stands forth as the new centre for men; and in Him divine power was active for universal relief and blessing. Here we have not isolated cases of healing simply but "power went out from him and healed all".

Then follow the principles which should govern the new order of things. "Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God", verse 20. We learn from, this the character of those in the kingdom; the poor. The kingdom is established in God's goodness, and those in it should be exercised so as to be in accord with its character. They were to be like God. "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil", verse 35.

The creation had been a testimony to God, but now He is to shine through His people. The physical creation witnessed to His eternal power and Godhead, Romans 1:20; but His nature, is seen in His sons. Peter opened his mouth and beginning to speak of Christ, he proceeded on the lines followed in this gospel: "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", Acts 10. Since then multitudes of mouths have been opened to tell the same blessed news. We are to be sons of the Highest. Luke always has elevation for man in view.

After the kingdom is introduced we have the principles outlined by which it is to be governed, and its characteristics; what God is, as revealed in grace, shines out in those who are in it. "He is good to the unthankful and wicked. Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father also is merciful", verse 35. Christ was there on the part of God, going about doing good, and now the saints are to be here on the same line.

In verse 39 the Lord speaks a parable which contemplates leadership; and then He shows that the disciple is not above his teacher. The chapter really covers the history of the kingdom; they would be leaders. If the blind led the blind both should fall into the ditch. But Christ is the great model for us in everything. Paul followed the great Master closely.

To help another to judge self we must be clear ourselves. One given to fault finding is almost sure to be hypocritical; he is allowing something in himself as bad, or worse, than what he objects to in others. A man with a beam in his eye cannot see at all, and yet he will undertake to perform an operation on his brother's eye! It is imperative

that an oculist should have good eyesight. Finally, the Lord refers to building. We are all builders, but the question is: on what foundation are we building? The strength of the structure will be tested some day. The point is obedience: what survives the test is only that which is the result of obedience. He that "comes to me and hears my words and does them". Coming to Him, we value His words, and regard it to be wisdom to execute them. Thus our houses survive every storm. But how solemn for those who hear the Lord's words and do them not! Everything here turns on the Lord's authority and the value of His words.

In the next chapter a Gentile owns His authority. Psalm 119 comes in properly at the end of the Psalms, as showing how the godly man is entirely controlled by God's commandments and His word. The length and character of the psalm show how fully the writer appreciated his subject.

CHAPTER 7

The instruction in this gospel follows in measure the course of the testimony in the Acts. This chapter bears an analogy to Acts 10, where the Gentile is formally admitted into the sphere of blessing. Up to this chapter in Luke the testimony to Israel is more in view. Peter in chapter 5 is a typical case of blessing among them. In chapter 7 the Gentile comes into view. God's sovereign activity was not restricted; here was a Gentile who had faith, and greater faith than was found even in Israel.

The centurion recognises the Lord in authority. He was accustomed to authority which was clothed with pomp and outward glory; to see this, faith was not necessary, but here was a poor Man as to external appearance, and yet this Roman officer

sees in Him one vested with authority; this was faith.

But although the Lord responds to the need of a Gentile, Israel's special place of favour is still in view. Especially is this so in the centurion's own mind. He loved the nation and had built a synagogue. Moreover, he sent "elders of the Jews" to the Lord, thus admitting that they had a nearer place than himself. All this the Lord accepts: "Jesus went with them".

In chapter 4 the Lord indicated that God would act on sovereign lines. He had done so in Old Testament times; and here the faith of the centurion was the result of God's sovereign work. The same is true of Cornelius, another centurion, Acts 10. In Acts 9 Paul preaches the Son of God. The truth of the Lord's sonship underlies the new heavenly system of things; and it involves what is universal. The introduction of the Gentile in chapter 10 has this in view. Christ is over God's house as Son; the house of God has necessarily a universal bearing. Christ is also Builder of the house. The One who builds it is greater than the house. The house is composed of Jews and Gentiles; but their previous characteristics had disappeared; the enmity was annulled. There was new wine, and hence new bottles were needed; and new bottles involve new principles. Chapter 6 gives us new principles. The order of things that God was introducing required a wholly new order of man. Men of this order should be drawn from the Gentiles as well as from the Jews.

What had marked the centurion was that, although a Gentile, he loved the nation of Israel. Doubtless he recognised their connection with God. Now that Christ appeared he perceives in a remarkable way the authority vested in Him. "Say by a word", he says, "and my servant shall be healed". As of old Ruth became attached to Naomi, the centurion

had become attached to Israel. Through her connection with Naomi Ruth came into touch with Boaz, so here the centurion, as attached to Israel, meets with the Lord. And in what a lowly mind he addresses Him! "I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof. Wherefore neither did I count myself worthy to come to thee". How gratifying this must have been to the Lord! Not even in Israel had He found such faith. Such an attitude is sure to secure the desired result. The Lord had authority and the centurion's servant was healed.

The next incident recorded is not to show the working of faith in man, but the compassion of Christ for humanity. The widow illustrates the state of the race. The dead man was her only son. She was a fit subject for compassion, hence the Lord was moved. He thought of her. He says, "Weep not". Here it is not the Lord's special interest in His saints, as affected by death that is in view, as in John 11, but His compassion for all. The dead man is not called by name; He says, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise". Then He delivered him to his mother. The Lord's authority extended over disease and death. Truly God has visited His people!

John the baptist is next introduced in the narrative. What is said as to him shows that the old order of things was about to be superseded by the new, and that the latter was the greater. A little one in the kingdom of God was greater than John. John was a great servant, and the Lord bears touching testimony to this; but the greatness and dignity of the new thing that He was establishing is fully maintained. John stood connected with the old system, but the kingdom of God was there, and the least in it was greater than he. Till John, God had recognised man as born of woman, but a place in the kingdom necessitates another birth. The least

in the kingdom is born again. On this ground only could he be there.

God had raised up a wonderful testimony in the midst of Israel; first in John and then in the Son of man; but it was unavailing. There was no appreciation of it, and so the moral judgment of the nation had come. Still, wisdom had been justified of her children.

The woman in Simon's house is one of these. The faith of the centurion was extraordinary, but hers went much further; it enabled her to reach the Lord although the surroundings were adverse. And what she did showed that she had affection for Him; "she loved much", the Lord says. There was a sharp contrast between her and Simon. According to his own estimate, the Pharisee had little to be forgiven. His treatment of Christ showed that he was utterly ungrateful for the forgiveness which God was making known in Christ. This forgiveness was for Simon as much as for the woman, but of the two the latter only appreciated it. She was forgiven much and hence she loved much. Those at Simon's table are utterly senseless as to the grace that was expressed before them: "Who is this who forgives also sins?" The Lord thinks of the woman, and says, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace".

CHAPTER 8

The woman spoken of at the end of chapter 7 is a type. She loved much as forgiven much. This chapter opens with others such as she. The two chapters are in this way connected. Pursuing the gospel, you feel there is gradual development. It is not simply an account of the Lord's doings; the Spirit of God traces the normal effect of the testimony on the soul of man. The wonderful testimony of chapter 7 has affected souls so that they are drawn

to Christ, and they are sympathetic with Him. They had been the subjects of His grace, and now they are with Him and ministering to Him of their substance. In chapter 4 He was alone in His testimony, but here the twelve are with Him, and a company of women. He was proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and surrounding Him were the fruits of His ministry. They were the evidence of what the grace of God could do for man, turning him from lawlessness to righteousness and delivering him from satanic power.

The chapter indicates the conditions under which the gospel was primarily announced. The apostles represent the official side, and then there was the spontaneous effect of grace. The subjective side shone in sympathy with the testimony. Both these things may be seen in the Acts. The apostles had been appointed, but the women represent the saints as having affection for Christ. The latter continues, while the official side will cease.

In Matthew and Mark the parable of the sower alludes more to the Lord's rejection by Israel; their state was shown to be such, that no fruit could be had there. Here the ministry of grace is more prominent. God works sovereignly in view of this, and without His work there could be no good ground. In Luke the good ground produces the full result -- a hundred-fold.

The seed is the "word of God", and it falls on four different kinds of soil. The first three set forth the natural heart of man as tested by the gospel. It is not man's opposition to the gospel, but his reception of it, as far as this is possible, and the result. There is nothing for God. This is a most important parable. As the Lord says in Mark 4:13, "Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?" To understand it involves that we have learnt the utter inability of the natural man to truly receive

the gospel or be genuinely affected by it; and on the other hand our entire dependence on God, so that He might work in souls to the end that they might receive it in an honest and good heart and bring forth fruit with patience. The preacher can effect nothing in the soul; all he can do is to present the testimony. God produces the good ground.

Comparing the fruit of the good ground in Matthew, Mark and Luke, it will be seen that in Matthew there is decrease, one a hundred, one sixty, one thirty; in Mark there is increase, one thirty, one sixty, one a hundred; while in Luke the full result only is stated, a hundred. Matthew is dispensational, and we know that historically there has been decline in fruitfulness. Mark contemplates recovery, as in his own case, and there is increase at the end. Luke gives the full result of grace only.

"Bring forth fruit with patience". Patience is a wonderful element in the Christian. It is a true evidence of power. There never was a time since Pentecost when it was more needed than it is now. The word of God received is to control you. You are tested in every way, but you stand true to what you have received. This proves an honest and good heart.

The word of God is the expression of Himself, and the fruit borne will necessarily be according to this; hence the Christian is formed after God. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever", 1 Peter 1:23.

The reference to light in verse 16 is in moral order. As the word of God is kept and fruit borne with patience, there is a candle of testimony burning. The Lord has lighted it and set it on a lamp-stand. And it is for the purpose that those who enter in should see. Everything should be manifested. God commanded light at the beginning, and He has

kept it burning ever since. The Spirit of God sustains the light here. God ever maintained a light for David in Jerusalem. The light is in the Christian circle, and each should see to it that it is not obstructed. Light is really the character of God in the Christian. God appreciates fruit brought forth with patience. Patience has marked His dealings with man for six thousand years. Fruit is for God, and light is for men.

Light (verse 16) is consequent on the word sown. The saints are to shine as lights in the world. The danger is that the strenuous pressure of business on the one hand, and the ease and comfort which nature seeks on the other, would obscure the light. As formed by the word of God we are luminous. The saints were to take the place of Christ here, and this is a serious matter for us all. It is a question of the character of Christ continued in the body, but each Christian is to be a light. It would be a shame if in your individual surroundings there were no sense of what God is as expressed in Christ. We are to be "imitators of God as dear children". God's nature is to shine in His children.

Another important truth following is that as hearing the word of God and doing it we are recognised as related to Christ, verse 21. The word of God now determines everything; relationship after the flesh is ignored. In truth Israel, as on the ground of the flesh, is disowned.

This leads to a movement to "the other side". The lake had to be crossed, and this gave the enemy an opportunity of attack. The storm of wind represents the hostile power of Satan. In the storm the Lord was asleep, and this became a test to the faith of the disciples. But what a disclosure as to His Person followed!

The country of the Gadarenes present a terrible state of things. The true condition of Israel is

depicted, and then all are carried away and lost in the sea of the Gentiles. But the man who had been possessed is saved, and he wants to be with Jesus. As wishing to be with Christ, we are qualified for testimony on earth. The Lord sends the man to his own house. That is where we are least likely to be accredited, but, nevertheless, our testimony should begin there.

The man who had been possessed with demons, the woman with the issue of blood, and Jairus' daughter, all refer to the remnant of Israel, and the activity of God's grace on their behalf. This results in their being raised up, as we see in the daughter of Jairus.

CHAPTER 9: 1 - 17

The ministry of the twelve now begins. The Lord does not go with them. He gives them power and authority and sends them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. The idea of apostleship is that the person sent had been with the one who sent him. Having been with Christ, the apostles became acquainted with Him and understood His mind. Thus they could rightly represent Him. Moses is, typically, the apostle. He had been with the Lord on the mount, and there he learnt God's mind; hence he established the divine system in Israel.

The apostles had a great deal to learn in companionship with the Lord, as seen in chapter 8. They would learn that the "flesh profits nothing", and then it was most important that they should become acquainted with the Lord's way of doing things. The instruction in chapter 8 affords all this. That chapter indicates the conditions under which they were to serve. It is of the greatest importance in service that the servant should understand the conditions under which he is to carry out his ministry.

The presence of Christ in Israel brought into evidence a wonderful set of conditions. There was the presence of God in Christ acting in grace, and this must overleap the limits of Israel; and there was the nation of Israel with its ancient privileges, but it was now proved reprobate by the rejection of the Lord's testimony. To serve intelligently, the apostles should see the adjustment of all these things; the Lord's work and teaching, seen in chapter 8 furnishes this. The terrible state into which the Jews had fallen is depicted therein, verse 26 - 39, and hence the apostles could expect nothing but constant opposition; but the Lord had demonstrated the superiority of His power, and with this power they are endued as sent out. What every servant needs is power. "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power". In the presence of the imposing religious systems of today, which are really hostile, how can we expect our testimony to be accredited apart from God's power?

It is well to remember that conditions are constantly changing. Christendom is not now what it was fifty years ago. The apostles were evidently successful in their mission. They return to the Lord, relating to Him what they had done, verse 10. They are taken aside by the Lord, which indicates His gracious care for them. But here they are confronted by the multitude, and this becomes a tremendous test for them. It is one thing to exercise power in preaching and the like, but quite another to care for people and feed them. As yet the Spirit of the Shepherd was lacking in the apostles. Their thought was to send the multitude away.

If you rely on gift, that is all very well, but if you have a crowd of five thousand people on your hands, what are you going to do? In a sense it is easy to stand up and preach, but after the preaching is over you have the crowd. Effective preaching

must be in power, but feeding and shepherding people is another thing. This involves the sense of moral obligation. The saints are on Christ's heart, and the faithful servant gives a portion of meat to His household, Matthew 24:45, 46.

The Lord would not send hungry people away; He tells the disciples to give them to eat. The apostles were to be trained how to act when He was away; but the great thing is to learn to accept obligation to care for others. People are starved for want of care in those who really have food. In Christ there was care for all. If you have a heart at all you do not want to send needy people away. If they come, what are you going to do? You must be exercised before God and accept the obligation. Christ had received the crowds and the disciples would send them away hungry! -- this was very poor. It may be thought that preaching belongs to one and feeding to another. Paul did both; he preached and cared for the saints in every other way as well. See Acts 20. The twelve in Acts 6, unburdened themselves of the care of the saints as to temporal things, appointing deacons for this; but Paul accepted every obligation. The point is to accept the obligation to feed, and if you do, the Lord will come in and there will be food.

If you meet a stray sheep in your daily life you direct him to the meeting -- where the Spirit is recognised there will be something for the sheep. This kind of service is obscure and will not bring you into such prominence as the exercise of gift in preaching will, but the Lord takes note of it. When Saul came into evidence he was searching for his father's lost asses; but David is first noted as caring for his father's sheep; they were not lost. These facts afford an insight into the respective characters of the men. David took care of the sheep and saved them from the lion and the bear; and when called to other

service he left the sheep in the hand of a keeper. In obscurity David displayed the spirit of a shepherd, and so was called to shepherd God's people. The Lord delights in the saints accepting moral obligation. Such an obligation is one that love would accept; legally we may avoid it.

As to food, we may have very little, but if we pass it through the Lord's hands it becomes an abundance. There is more left over than there was at the outset. After all were sufficed there was enough for full administrative goodness -- twelve baskets.

This was a wholly new kind of service for the disciples. They were to feed the multitude. The little they thought they had was taken up by the Lord and increased, we may say, infinitely, and then they are to be the administrators of it. This was great grace on the Lord's part, and it afforded a wonderful experience for the apostles. We may-note, also, the order which marked the occasion. The people were made to sit down in companies. They were one whole, all feeding on the same food, administered by the same Person, but marked off by fifties; each, we may say, representing a little circle of fellowship. This is the divine way. It does not appear that the Lord intended huge congregations. Of course, one is always thankful to see large numbers of saints together, but, as a rule, we thrive better in smaller companies. The Lord spoke of the "little flock". We should be humbled that so few are affected by the testimony, but thankful for the little circles of fellowship which God affords us.

CHAPTER 9: 18 - 36

The account which Luke gives of Peter's confession of Christ is characteristic of his gospel,."The Christ of God". In Matthew it is, "The Son of the living God;" in Mark, "The Christ". Luke makes the intervention of God prominent. The Lord "went

about doing good ... for God was with him", Acts 10:38.

What follows shows that a path of suffering is to be the portion of those to whom Christ is thus made known. The Son of man was to suffer and be killed, hence the Lord says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me", verse 23. The path of reproach and loss in this world is but one side of the believer's position; the other side is indicated in the scene on the holy mount. This is privilege and glory. The truth of Christ's Person being known in our souls, we accept His circumstances as to this world, and we are conformed to them. The Lord says, "If any man will come after me". Known to us. He draws, and in the kindness of His heart He shows what the path involves, but on the other hand, there is the glory on the mount to which we are called.

Matthew and Mark speak of six days, whereas Luke says, "about an eight days after these sayings". The "first" day is evidently the beginning of a period, or course of dealings, which ends in the seventh day; the eighth indicates a change, or new point of departure. In the eighth day there is a connection with the previous seven, for numerically there is a continuation, but there is a change in God's dealings; the first day is an entirely new beginning. "Eight" here would, no doubt, allude to Israel. Circumcision was on the eighth day of the child's life.

What is prominent in this wonderful view of the kingdom of God is the kind of man that is the centre of its glory. Although Son of God, Jesus was praying; He is dependent. In this gospel He was praying when the Holy Spirit came upon Him, and here "as he prayed the fashion of his countenance was altered". Such is the Man who gives character to the kingdom.

Moses and Elias represent the great testimonies of the Old Testament, and the law and the prophets. They were great servants, but they represent the speakers of Old Testament times. Henceforth all speaking would be by the Son. God emphasises the greatness of the Son by bringing these great men into view and then withdrawing them. Other thoughts are, of course, involved in their presence, for the Spirit of God includes many ideas in one incident. No doubt Moses and Elias represent all the redeemed in Old Testament times.

It is remarkable that they spoke of His decease. They had spoken of it in testimony on earth. The law and the prophets witnessed to the death of Christ. Moses of old had a wonderful view of Christ; the forty days on mount Sinai were really occupied in hearing about Christ, for the instructions concerning the tabernacle had reference to Him. On the mount of transfiguration they are speaking of His death.

Ques. How did Elias learn about Christ?

Ans. The prophets testify to God's patience, and this was fully expressed in Christ. God rose up early and sent prophets. Elias had great evidence of God's patience with Israel. His own presence in the midst of the people was a testimony to it. Then see how God spake to him at Horeb; he, had abandoned the nation, but God had not; Elijah was to return and anoint a prophet in his stead, and also a king for Syria, and a king for Israel. God would continue in patient but faithful service to His people. Elijah himself was used of God to the people afterwards, and then he was greatly honoured in his translation to heaven.

Both Moses and Elijah were great men as maintaining God's rights where others, who were responsible, set them aside. Those who stand by the rights of God are sure to be honoured by Him. It is suitable that they should speak of the Lord's death

on the mount. They could not be in the glory, except on the ground of it. Christ only could, be there on the ground of personal title; all others are in the glory on the ground of His death. It was suitable, therefore, that Moses and Elias should speak of "his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem".

The cloud that overshadowed them was an allusion, I think, to the tabernacle in the wilderness. The cloud was there before the tabernacle; it was guidance for the people out of Egypt; but when the tabernacle was set up it rested on it. The cloud appeared in answer to Peter's proposal to make three tabernacles. Peter spoke of making three, while God had indicated only one tabernacle. In truth Christ was the tabernacle; every thought and testimony of God was there in Him. No doubt the heavenly and earthly saints, viewed in relation to Christ, and they are seen here, are included in the tabernacle.

The Father was in the cloud, and His voice is now heard: "This is my beloved Son: hear him". At the Lord's baptism also, the Father had thus owned Him. Then the voice said, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased;" here it is, "This is my beloved Son: hear him". He is the Speaker. All speaking is now by the Son.

Peter had a poor appreciation of the glory, but afterwards, the Spirit having come, he had a great sense of it. He speaks of "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", of "his majesty", of the "honour and glory" which He received from the Father, the voice coming from the "excellent glory", 2 Peter 1. All this shows how the Holy Spirit enabled the apostle to rightly estimate this wonderful scene. It is by the Spirit that we see the glory. Stephen, "being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God". It is a

great thing to look steadfastly; this requires the power of the Spirit. Being witnesses of this scene on the holy mount, the three apostles would be greatly strengthened in their testimony afterwards. In the same way Paul would be confirmed by being caught up into paradise and by what he saw there.

CHAPTER 10: 1 - 24

In sending out the seventy others the Lord showed that He would not be limited to the ministry of the twelve apostles in the testimony. In the Acts we see God acted independently of them. Unity, of course, was maintained. It is important to recognise that God is sovereign, and He cannot be limited to any order of things He may introduce in the course of His ways. Seven is a number which denotes God's own work; it is taken from Genesis 1, the time covered in the creation, seven days. Here we have divine sovereignty in testimony, but the number is seventy; ten times seven. Ten, no doubt, represents the responsibility of the servants. They were sent out two and two, which indicates adequate testimony. They were to salute no one on the way; they should have but one object before them.

The Lord thought of the greatness of the harvest, and the workmen were few; the Lord of the harvest was to be supplicated that even more workmen should be sent out. God's sovereignty in goodness must ever be counted upon; He cannot be restricted; He may ordain certain vessels of administration, but you cannot confine Him to them. These seventy workmen were to go to "every city and place, whither he himself would come"; they should heal the sick in each city and say, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you", verse 9. This was their testimony.

The kingdom of God should be well considered;

it is God revealed in grace, acting in power on behalf of man. This was what had come nigh to the cities of Israel. This chapter speaks of a wonderful moment in the Lord's path; it comes in after the mount of transfiguration. The Lord was on His way to Jerusalem to die, and a wonderful spirit marked the moment; it was the spirit of One who was descending from the glory on high to the cross to die for men. It was in such an One the kingdom of God was revealed, and His spirit was to characterise all His ministers. Thus their ministry was a testimony to the kingdom, as His was. The Lord says, "He that heareth you heareth me", verse 16. The apostles saw the kingdom of God on the mount of transfiguration; the vision was calculated to impress them with the blessed character of the kingdom; there was nothing hostile to man in it, but everything in his favour. The power of the kingdom is seen when the Lord descends from the mountain; He "rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father", chapter 9: 42. The same beneficent power was also to mark the ministry of the seventy; they were to heal the sick and say, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you".

So that Israel had a full and complete testimony as to what had come in on their behalf; to hear the seventy meant to hear Him, and whether their testimony was received or not, all were to know this, that the kingdom of God had come nigh. There is no hope if men reject the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of God has reference to His power and its activity in grace on man's behalf. It is moral and cannot be seen or entered into by man as born after the flesh; one has to be born again in order to see and enter into the kingdom of God.

James and John were entirely out of keeping with the spirit of the moment when they asked for

judgment on the Samaritans, chapter 9: 54. The vision on the mountain suggested nothing of this. Elias was there, and he spoke of the Lord's decease, and not of judgment on men. The kingdom accorded with God's character, and everything was, as it were, to be subordinated to it. The Lord was surrendering all to establish it by His death, and all who would serve in connection with it must take this line, and nature must be refused; Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And if one put his hand to the plough and looked back, he was unfit for it, chapter 9: 59 - 62.

God is one, and His mind was that all men should be saved; the Mediator between God and men is one, and He is in accord with God's mind, and He dies to make it effective. Thus we see the wonderful down-stooping of Christ so as to make the will of God effective. Personally He had title to the glory and was saluted there; but His conversation in it was about His decease. Moses and Elias, with whom He spoke, could be there only on the ground of His decease. And He descended to accomplish it so that the kingdom of God should be permanently established. Entering into this, we apprehend "what manner of spirit we are of".

The seventy disciples were overjoyed on account of the success of their ministry, that the demons were subject to them through the Lord's name. The Lord takes occasion to point out their own place and portion; their peculiar blessing did not consist in the exercise of power down here, but that their names were written in heaven. Luke shows the excess of God's grace; that is, that man is to have a place in heaven. No matter how great your gift, or how great the success in the exercise of your gift, your blessing lies outside of that; and it is common to all believers. The blessing that is common to all Christians is greater than the gift of an apostle.

Luke sets forth the excess of grace. I think he brings in the Levites; not as servants merely, but as a privileged class, the assembly of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. Privilege necessarily means something distinctive, something that others have not. The Levites were a tribe in Israel, but there were twelve tribes without them, they were a privileged class apart, and yet there was a complete Israel.

There is a time coming when God shall write up His people, Psalm 87. Their names shall be registered on earth; the point with us is that our names are registered in heaven. We are a heavenly family. The effect of accepting this is that we are, delivered, not only from the world in the bad sense, as we speak, but from earthly-mindedness. The book of Numbers presents the service of the Levites; the book of Joshua speaks of their privileges. They had the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire; then they had the Lord Himself; and they had the priesthood; finally they had cities allotted to them. These things formed then- inheritance.

CHAPTER 10: 25 - 37

The lawyer's question leads to the inquiry as to what the Old Testament teaches as to eternal life; the lawyer's thought of it would, no doubt, be more or less formed according to what is presented there.

It is spoken of first as commanded on mount Zion. "There the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore", Psalm 133. Then we have it in Daniel as that to which some "awake". The former involves the will of God, which is for blessing; the latter speaks of His power in resurrection, by which the blessing is secured to men. The Lord took the lawyer up on the ground of doing, for the law had promised that he who kept it should live; but

in result this was but the flaming sword of the cherubim which kept the way of the tree of life, for no one could keep the law, and hence the curse fell upon all. Entrance into life, therefore, must be on other grounds than that of doing; and the references to eternal life mentioned above, which were long after the law, should have led the lawyer to understand this. Commanding eternal life is very different from commanding men to work for it!

In the New Testament the Lord defines eternal life, saying, "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent", John 17. We have to consider this carefully. It is not simply that divine Persons are to be known; they are to be known relatively; that is, in relation to what exists around us in the world, and what we are by nature.

"The only true God" stands in contrast to idolatry. The knowledge of the true God delivers from all false gods. Idolatry is prevalent in the world, and hence the primary importance of the soul of man being set in the light of the one true Object of worship. God has been fully revealed in Christ. The knowledge of the one true God is a fundamental feature of Christianity. Unity flows from it. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord", Deuteronomy 6:4. That was the principle of the Old Testament. Israel had the true God in contrast to the nations. In Christianity we have the additional thought of Father -- "to us there is one God, the Father;" 1 Corinthians 8:6. Existing conditions around us in Christendom are a denial of this. Unity flows from the knowledge of God, for God is one, but Christendom is divided. The assembly primarily was the great testimony to God; the saints knew the only true God, and this worked out in practical unity.

The essence of Christianity is unity in affection,

and this is the outcome of the knowledge of what God is. It may be true that the doctrine of the one God is held generally, but of what value is this if it be denied in practice? James says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble". You would not charge people with idolatry in the gross sense, but the fact remains that the Lord Jesus has fully revealed the only true God, and the spirit of division now marks Christendom, and other objects than He command, in the main, the hearts of those who form it. The idea of the true God and eternal life go together. In John's epistle Christ is said to be the true God and eternal life; and following upon this we have: "Children, keep yourselves from idols".

Besides knowing the only true God, we are to know Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. This involves that the Son was here as Man in obedience. The knowledge of the true God is one point; then we are to know the Son as here in obedience. Christ was here in man's place to carry out God's will, and we have to learn what this means. The truth is that life was lost by disobedience in man, but it has been secured by obedience in man; in God's Son, the sent One. Christ's position as man here involved the conditions in connection with which life eternal is found. In Him the true God is made known, and man in infinite perfection, in obedience, is seen in all His ways. In Him man, according to what he should be before God, is fully set forth. Eternal life was thus there in Him, and He has opened up the way into it for us through death.

It was due to God morally that life should be introduced on the principle of obedience in man, because it was lost through disobedience. But eternal life is greater than the life Adam forfeited, and greater, too, than that proposed in the law. The Lord did not say,'This do, and thou shalt have eternal

life', but "this do, and thou shalt live", Luke 10:28. Eternal life is found later than the law in Scripture, and it is spoken of as a sphere and order of blessing established here on earth; and, as unfolded in the New Testament, it comes to light that it was God's eternal purpose, as we read, "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;" Titus 1:2. But it has been introduced and established on the ground of obedience in Man. Romans 5 shows what the disobedient man brought in, and the contrast in the obedient Man.

Eternal life clearly involves a sphere of blessing. Both in the Old and New Testaments we have the thought of passing into it. Among the saints now normally there is the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent; thus eternal life is realised there. "Justification of life", Romans 5:18, contemplates life to which sin cannot be imputed or attached. In the assembly now we enjoy anticipatively the millennial blessing; but individually we must eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood for this. But the assembly's blessing and privileges go beyond this, for she is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. This chapter, Luke 10, indicates this. The disciples were to rejoice, not because the devils were subject to them, but because their names were written in heaven.

The parable in Luke 10:25 - 37 is remarkable as showing who man's neighbour was. Literally the Lord was regarded as a Samaritan by the Jews; and in reading through the Acts we see how this was maintained in spite of the wonderful testimony of the gospel; but Christ accepts the term of reproach, but all the same He was man's true neighbour; only He had the heart and the means to relieve the man in need. The priest and the Levite here speak of the utter impotency of the old economy.

It is remarkable that the Samaritan had what the man needed, the oil and wine, and he "set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him". We have to note that the parable does not deal with assembly privileges; it is a question of the compassion and care expended by Christ on men as such; those whom He befriends during the present gospel period. But, as usual with Luke, the parable is laid so as to draw the contrast between the Jewish system and what the gospel proposed.

The "two pence" represent adequate means of support until the Lord returns. An inn is not exactly a home, but it provides sufficient comfort during the interval, and the man is not there on sufferance or charity, but at the Lord's expense. The inn, no doubt, refers to the assembly, but we have to remember that what comfort or blessing we enjoy now in it are provisional. It is not thought to work out the details of a parable minutely; what we would seek to gather is its general bearing. The point here is the great care and forethought shown by the Samaritan in looking after the interests of the man who had fallen among thieves. He not only provides for his present needs, but for all future ones, pending His return; and then, if the innkeeper should have been at extra expense, this He would repay. Such is the picture presented here of the Lord's wonderful interest in man.

CHAPTER 11

One of the most interesting things in this gospel is the formation of the new generation. It is by the word of God. The Lord says that those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed rather than the mother who bore Him. The generation thus formed was to supersede the generation which then held the ground. The character of each generation is outlined in this chapter.

As we saw last time, the end of chapter 10 shows the Lord's position as neighbour; and Mary's characteristic attitude also appears there; she sat at the feet of Jesus and was listening to His word. This presents another service which the Lord was rendering to men; that is, teaching. The Spirit teaches us now, but Christ is always the Teacher; it is through Him that all teaching for men has come. It says of Mary; "having sat down at the feet of Jesus [she] was listening to his word". She had become interested in Him, and was so free from herself and the cares of this world that she could sit down and listen, in contrast to Martha, who was troubled about many things. There was one thing needful, and that was to sit down and listen to Christ. Mary represents the new generation and how it is formed. The needful thing is to be so relieved of care that we can sit down and listen to the Lord; listen to what He is saying. Christ is the only Speaker; He is the One who has been appointed to speak on God's behalf.. All Christianity has come out through Christ. The Lord's ministry contained all the truth in principle. The gospels are like a great reservoir; the water flows out through the epistles. In the epistles generally the truth is ministered to meet the need of souls. With the Lord it was not simply meeting local need, but of unfolding the truth in the full divine height and scope. It does not say exactly that the Lord was speaking to Mary; He was speaking and she was listening. .

In chapter 11 the subject of teaching is continued.

The Lord was praying in a certain place, and one of His disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray". They feel the need of being taught, and the Lord teaches them how to pray. They are put into touch with the Father, and then the dumb spirit is cast out; there is power of speech given. We have

here, thus, the word of God and prayer, and the power of speech; these things mark Christianity. God has spoken to man, and man has access to God. The creatures of God are sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

The form of the prayer here no doubt contemplated the then existing circumstances, but we have to gather the spirit of it; and what is impressive in a special way is the bountifulness of the divine giving; "how much rather shall the Father who is of heaven give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him" verse 13. Thus we are encouraged to pray. Following upon this the dumb demon is cast out, and "the man spake"; there is ability for testimony. And then the terrible wickedness of the Jews comes out. They alleged that the Lord cast out demons by Beelzebub the prince of the demons, whereupon the Lord shows that if Satan is divided against himself his kingdom cannot subsist. The Lord was casting out demons by the finger of God, and so the kingdom of God had come upon them. This was the great testimony on God's part, and they were attributing it to Beelzebub; this was the unpardonable sin, as we learn elsewhere.

He that was not with the Lord was against Him; verse 23. There was no neutral ground; the testimony was now too plain for that. In chapter 9: 50, it was: "he that is not against you is for you", but the Lord had now become more formally a test to the people, so that if one did not come to His side he was against Him. When the truth was revived some years ago there was a good deal of spiritual activity in the different denominations which could be regarded as of God, but now things have altered; the testimony has been established on the one hand, and apostasy is more pronounced on the other; so that if men refuse to identify themselves with the truth their spiritual whereabouts is a matter for grave suspicion.

Verse 28 shows what marks the new generation, and then we have the "wicked generation". In the presence of the Lord's wonderful ministry they were looking for a sign. The power of the kingdom was in exercise in their midst, and they were unable to appreciate it. The testimony was, "know this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh", chapter 10: 11. No doubt that is what is referred to in more, Luke 11:31, 32. In Luke the thing that had come in in Christ on God's behalf is in view. In John it is the Person. In the Queen of Sheba and the men of Nineveh there shall arise a Gentile testimony in the judgment against that wicked generation. The sign of Jonas had reference to the Lord's death. Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites; it was as if one had come out of death to preach to them. The Ninevites had repented at the preaching of Jonas, but the Jews had not repented, although Christ had preached to them, and He was more than Jonas. There had been many signs, but now they should have but the sign of Jonas; the Son of man was going to die. All this refers to the state of the people, which their rejection of the Lord's ministry had exposed. And then more than Solomon was there. All divine wisdom was present in Christ. The kingdom, the "power of God", was there, and "the wisdom of God" was there.

"The lamp of the body is thine eye", verse 34. The eye receives light and illuminates the body. We have to take care of our lamp, or we shall be without light in the body. "When thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light". The eye is a lamp for the body only; it does not emit light, but as the eye is simple the body emits light; it is luminous. "If therefore thy whole body is light, not having any part dark, it shall be all light as when the lamp lights thee with its brightness". When this is so "they who enter in" see the light. At the outset

Israel had received light, but it had become a dark body. The light that was in them had become darkness. Verse 36 would involve Christianity at the beginning; what the disciples were. There was simplicity in the reception of the light that shone in Christ, so that there was a luminous body, and all who came in saw the light.

But the responsible church has long since ceased to be luminous; it is now a dark body viewed from without. Of course there is light here while the Spirit remains, but the candlestick has been removed. We look on now to the introduction of the heavenly city as the great light-giving body. But in the assembly the Lord set a great light here; He contemplated others coming in, and there should be light for them. On the day of Pentecost three thousand came in and saw the light.

CHAPTER 12: 1 - 34

In chapter 11 two generations are indicated: there is the "wicked generation", and the generation formed after Christ; those "who hear the word of God and keep it". Both were to continue, but outward authority should be on the side of the former, and hence the latter should suffer. Chapter 12 contemplates these conditions, and affords guidance for the disciples accordingly. The Lord in terrible severity had exposed the generation that had refused His wonderful testimony; its end had come morally, and the accumulated guilt of centuries would be required of it. The blood of all the prophets from Abel to Zacharias would be required of it. No wickedness committed against God's people can be forgotten; and the Lord here says; "the very hairs of your head are all numbered".

The Lord begins His instruction in chapter 12 by warning His disciples to beware of the leaven of the

Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. One great point in Christianity is transparency; "there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret which shall not be known". In view of the great responsibility devolving on the disciples there was need for this exhortation, for if hypocrisy is at all allowed there is sure to be a breakdown. The disciples were to be entrusted with the testimony. The apostle was exercised that he might be manifest to the consciences of the saints, 2 Corinthians 5:11. It is a great thing to be simple; "when thine eye is simple, thy whole body also is light". It was a very important principle to instil into the disciples; that there should be absence of hypocrisy. The Lord contemplated the danger in which they stood; the fear of men leads to hypocrisy. The Pharisees loved "the praise of men". As to verse 2, if we recognised that nothing is covered which shall not be revealed, a good many things that are said in private would be left unsaid. Wisdom demands secrecy in regard of many things, but still we should never speak anything in the ear in closets that we would not be prepared to stand by if proclaimed upon the house-tops.

We cannot say when things may be proclaimed on the house-tops. In His government God may allow things to remain covered for a long time, but they surely come to light. The presence of Christ on earth laid bare the hidden springs that moved the world, and the presence of the Holy Spirit has the same effect now. The light of God is here, and that which makes manifest is light. There is really no means of hiding evil where the Spirit of God is allowed His place. Tracing things historically, it is remarkable how the hidden working of evil against the truth from time to time has been exposed.

Outward authority would be on the side of evil, and the righteous should suffer, but they were not

to fear those who killed the body; they were to fear Him who after He has killed has power to cast into hell. But the disciples were not to fear any adverse circumstances in this world, for God would care for them; one sparrow was not forgotten before Him, and they were of more value than many sparrows. Their testimony would be before men; these, armed with outward authority, would be against them, but the Holy Spirit would be on their side. A word spoken against the Son of man should be forgiven, but a word spoken against the Spirit should not be forgiven. The testimony of the Holy Spirit was the limit of grace, and opposition to it is unpardonable. The position of the apostles was enhanced by this fact, for they were to be the instruments of His ministry. Opposition to them should be more serious than opposition to the Lord Himself!

In the next paragraph the Lord warns against covetousness. A man wished Him to speak to his brother so that he should divide the inheritance with him. The Lord's reply involves His rejection; to be set for earthly possessions now is covetousness, and this is idolatry. Not apprehending Christ's rejection, many believers go in for the earth, but they have it without Christ, and this is, in principle, idolatry. The bearing of the teaching here is elucidated by comparing Barnabas's course as recorded in the Acts. He sold his possessions and laid the money at the feet of the apostles. He had regard for the testimony and would support it. Barnabas had falsified his calling in having lands, for he was a Levite, and a Levite should not own such property; but a new and heavenly order of things was in view, and he embraced it. Henceforth he was a true Levite, having a heavenly inheritance.

As to the earth literally, it has to be remembered that it is "the Lord's, and the fulness thereof". We thank God for its products, as the means of our

bodily sustenance. In this sense a Christian may own land as he owns a cow or a sheep, but his heart is not in it; his "life" is not in such possessions. The spirit of Christianity in this respect is to "Sell what ye possess and give alms", verse 33. The Lord goes on to inculcate this here; it is the mark of a heavenly people on earth. Luke ever leads on to the heavenly position. "A treasure which does not fail in the heavens". If the treasure is in heaven, the heart will be there also. The great danger is the desire for earthly property while Christ is rejected. The point is that God has been here in Christ, and He has been rejected, and now if you seek possessions here you seek them and have them without God, and this is idolatry. Christ is in glory now. He is rejected here, and we seek the things that are above. It is to be noted that covetousness is more likely to be found among the poor than among the rich. This man in verse 13, wanted the inheritance. But the poor man, because of his poverty, has no "treasure", whereas the rich man has a treasure on earth, and the danger is that his heart may be in it. Paul told the Colossians to set their minds on things above where Christ sitteth, and Luke supports this from the Lord's ministry.

Scripture recognises that a Christian may have means, and it affords special instruction for those who have, saying, "Charge them that are rich in this world ... that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate", 1 Timothy 6. The future is in view; "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come". Here in Luke 12 it is a treasure in the heavens that faileth not. Wealth is of great value if used in a godly way. The New Testament makes a great deal of it as a means of expressing divine love. And even in working with Our hands, it is that we "may have to give to him

that needeth", Ephesians 4:28. Then those who are specially engaged in the service of the testimony are to be cared for, and this is of great interest to the Lord. As working with our hands in "the thing which is good" God will prosper us as our souls prosper; but the danger is, that we then become selfish and attach importance to ourselves on account of the temporal prosperity, instead of simply regarding it as a means of promoting the Lord's interests. In giving to the Lord's servants we provide "wagons" for the Levites; see Numbers 7. But it must be remembered that money given in this way is not credited to us according to its face value, as in a bank! God values what we give according to the total of our means, as well as the motive in giving it. We read of the Lord beholding how people cast money into the treasury. Mark 12:41. The rich cast in much, but He said the poor widow, who cast in two mites, cast in more than all. The Lord reckoned according to what each had left, and the widow had nothing left; she cast in all her living.

CHAPTER 12: 35 - 59

In the course of His instruction the Lord presses upon the disciples the importance of being free from care. Concern as to what they shall "eat" and what they shall "put on" hinders many. The Lord says, "be not in anxiety ... your Father knows that ye have need of these things", verse 30. They are set in the light of the Father's perfect knowledge of their needs and His care for them. They are to seek His kingdom, and all these things should be added to them. But more; it was the Father's good pleasure to give them the kingdom. They were no longer of the fold; they were a "little flock", and the Father would give them the kingdom. What a place they had with the Father and the Son!

The kingdom would be given to them. Israel was losing it in rejecting Him in whose Person the power of it was set forth among them, but it should be in the possession of the little flock, and that by the Father's gift.

The term "little flock" is a touching testimony to the diminutive character of things at the outset as regarded in the Lord's mind. A flock is moveable; it is not stationary like a fold. A fold has a fixed protection; a flock is exposed in a peculiar way, but it has the protection of the Shepherd. Judaism was a fold, but now there is "one flock, one Shepherd",

John 10.

Girded loins and burning lamps admit of no ease or comfort in this world. The figure here indicates that they were to be in constant vigilance; their loins were to be girded and their lamps burning, and they as men who wait for their own Lord. There is a distinct object before them. There is no telling when He may issue forth from the wedding, so that they must be constantly on the alert, in order that when He comes and knocks they may open to Him immediately; this is not the rapture, the Lord is contemplating the position of the disciples while He is away, and the responsibility attaching to that position. The whole point is, that they should be thinking of Him and His return. And ye like "men who wait for their Lord". The coming of the Lord is appreciated by those who love Him. The Lord is before you; this is the secret of understanding the full bearing of His coming. The Lord does not say anything here as to the results of His coming. It was simply a question of the place He was to have in their minds and hearts.

"Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them",

Luke 12:37. That shows what will come in at the end, and the wonderful way in which those who are faithful now shall be treated in that day. Responsibility shall then be over; our service shall be ended. There is a sense in which we enter into rest now, but as "bondmen" we are not to take our ease while our Master requires our service. While in the position of bondmen we are not flattered; even as having done our work we are to regard ourselves as "unprofitable servants", for we have only done our duty! See chapter 17: 10.

The thought of the thief in verse 39 is to emphasise the uncertainty of the time of the Lord's return; and then Peter inquires as to whether the parable was spoken to the disciples or to all, and the Lord's reply indicates the other side of the servant's occupation; that is, care for the household. On the one hand, the servant is thinking of the Lord; he is in readiness to receive Him; on the other, he is occupied in looking after those of His household. The reward for the latter is that the Lord makes the servant "ruler over all that he hath".

But there would be departure in heart from Christ in the servants, and in view of this the Lord utters His warning. The servant who said "My Lord delayeth his coming" had lost interest in Christ. Losing interest in the Lord, he lost interest in His household and became a persecutor. It is a picture of Christendom as it stands, in which the Lord's coming is deferred, and not thought of, and the true servants are beaten. Where the Lord is displaced in the affections of the servant he will make an attack in some way or another on other servants. A man-servant or maid-servant has no conspicuous place in the establishment; normally they are orderly and quiet people. It is not any special servant that is attacked, but men-servants and maid-servants as a class. And then there is self-gratification -- the

wicked servant eats and drinks and is drunken. What a picture of disorder is here given us, and the beginning of it is in losing heart for Christ. The wicked servant receives special retribution in that he is cut in two, and gets his portion with the unbelievers as well.

Following on this we have the principle that responsibility is according to what we may have received from the Lord. He had come to send fire on the earth, and it was already kindled. Since the flood fire is the token of God's judgment. It was there morally in the ministry of Christ, and it is here now by the Spirit, who maintains, among the saints, what answers to God's judgment. The fire works in us in the way of discipline, for we are baptised with the Holy Spirit and with fire, but when it is applied to the world it consumes it root and branch.

Notwithstanding the great activity for good and blessing which marked the Lord's life, He was straitened until His death was accomplished. Then He would be free to carry into effect all the counsels of love. At His birth the angels had announced peace on earth, but now He declares that He had not come to give peace on earth but division. The division, however, should be unequal. While Christ is rejected all effort to bring about peace is anti-christian. There is no peace to the wicked. It is when they say "Peace and safety" that sudden destruction comes upon them, 1 Thessalonians 5:3. At the Lord's birth it was "Peace on earth", but when He was entering Jerusalem to die it was "Peace in heaven"; peace is now in heaven. That peace is now brought to Christians, the "sons of peace", by the Holy Spirit.

CHAPTER 13

The end of chapter 12 indicates that Israel shall not come out of God's judicial dealings with them until they have paid the last farthing. This shall be seen in the last days. The beginning of chapter 13 speaks of immediate judgment; "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish". Wickedness was not exceptional; it was general, and hence judgment of the most terrible and summary character was coming upon all. As Paul says later, "wrath is come upon them to the uttermost", 1 Thessalonians 2:16. But the wonderful thing was that a door of repentance was open to them; the presence of Christ involved that a door of repentance was open for them. The accumulated guilt of ages had come down to them, and they were responsible for this as well as their own sin, but a door of repentance was wide open. John the Baptist had preached the baptism of repentance, and many availed themselves of it and were baptised of him. They "justified God". Repentance means that we justify God and condemn ourselves. The issue was between God and Israel, and the presence of Christ carrying on a ministry of grace in the midst of the people was a wonderful overture on God's part. But they were wholly disregarding this, and now God was acting with a view to judgment. He was "in the way", Luke 12:58, with them, as it were, to the magistrate, but there was still a door of escape through repentance, and it was for them to take advantage of it.

Israel had been the fig tree of God's planting verse 6, and He gave it ample time to bear fruit, but it bore none. "Three years" signify that full time had been allowed, but there was no fruit. The additional year, no doubt, refers to Christ's sympathy for the nation. He prayed for their forgiveness on

the cross, and there was an extension granted, as we learn from the Acts. "Repent ye therefore ... and he shall send Jesus Christ", Acts 3:19, 20. This clearly shows that there was an extension of time granted for repentance. But this was also rejected by the Jews, as witnessed in the murder of Stephen, so that they should "fill up their sins alway", as Paul says. They "killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us". Wrath has now come upon them, but there will be an awakening in the latter days; the "blowing of trumpets", Leviticus 23:24, coming a long period after Pentecost, precedes the day of atonement. The blowing of trumpets refers to the testimony by which Israel shall be awakened, and on the day of atonement they afflict their souls. They will acknowledge their guilt and God's righteous dealings with them; then they shall come into the benefit of the atoning work of Christ.

Luke 13 is transitional, showing the state of the people and the consequences of their guilt, immediate wrath coming on, and their house left desolate. Room is thus made for a house of another order, which is referred to in the two following chapters.

The woman who was "bowed together" for eighteen years represented the nation as having ceased to look heavenward. Satan had done this. Man is made to look up. God had formed him that way. God intended man to look up to Him, and He loves to look into man's countenance. How infinitely this was so when the Son became Man! Inasmuch as the Lord specially attributes the woman's state to Satan, we are enabled to judge of the enemy's inveterate opposition to God. He would rob God of the creature He specially designed for His pleasure. But the Son of God was there to undo the works of the devil, and so He said to the woman, "thou art loosed from thine infirmity", and immediately she

was made straight and glorified God. Eighteen appears in two connections in the chapter, in verses 4 and 11 - 16. The first would be the judgment of God on the mass of the nation, covering the whole period of its guilt; the second is the power of grace acting for the remnant, but referring to the whole period during which they had been under Satan's power. The woman evidently had faith, for she was a daughter of Abraham. Israel shall be made Straight in the future, and they will look up to God and praise Him.

In verses 18 to 21 the Lord outlines the public history of Christianity. A great tree is a conspicuous thing. The grain of mustard seed became a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodged in its branches, The kingdom of God was not intended to become a conspicuous institution. The mustard seed was sown in the man's own garden; it was not, therefore, intended to become public property. Besides this, it would be corrupted. The woman hiding the leaven in the three measures of meal refers to the secret principles of corruption that have been at work, so that the whole is now leavened. Thus, that which was intended for God, as planted in His garden, and which was established here for man's blessing, has become a huge corrupt system.

The question, "Are there few that be saved?" leads to solemn words from the Lord as to personal responsibility, and the futility of outward privilege where, inward reality is wanting. It was a question of one getting saved oneself. The gate was strait; there was no room for the flesh. One has to be small to enter there. Many would seek to enter and would not be able. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets shall be seen in the kingdom, and those who took a place in it outwardly, but were unreal, thrust out. Moreover, there shall come those from

the east, west, north and south and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

Finally, the Lord gives vent to His affection for the beloved city. How often would He have gathered her children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but they "would not"!

CHAPTER 14

Chapter 13 closes with the solemn statement from the Lord that the Jewish temple was forsaken: "Behold, your house is left unto you". Chapters 14 and 15 speak of the house of God in its present character as taking the place of the house at Jerusalem. In chapter 13 we have, "your house is left unto you"; in chapter 14, "that my house may be filled". The contrast is striking. The Lord was guest in the Pharisee's house, but ultimately, we may say, He becomes Host; but this is in God's house.

The instruction which the Lord gives as to humility has reference to the house of God. Marking how those that were invited chose the chief rooms, He said, "When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room ... but when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher", verse 8 - 10 There we get instruction which should govern us as in the house of God. God is supreme in His house; He alone has title to promote there. "Go up higher" morally follows as we take the lowest room.

The actual surroundings in which the Lord was were really uncongenial to Him, but these uncongenial surroundings did not hinder Him in the activity of His grace, nor in His teaching; both went on. In the Pharisee's house we see the principles of the world; there were pretension and self-exaltation, but utter inability to relieve the need of

man. The dropsical man was there, but no power to help him. The expression of the power of God in goodness in Christ and the house of God, as seen in the parable which follows, are in contrast to all this. The grace and teaching seen in the Pharisee's house would be greatly enhanced when transferred to the house of God. The grace which marked the Lord's ministry here, as seen in the gospels, now gives tone and character to the house of God. Christ went about "doing good". His ministry had men in view. The Pharisees would look after their animals on the Sabbath day, but disregarded human suffering; the Lord thought of men, and so healed the dropsical man on the Sabbath.

The initial feature of those who compose the house of God is humility, and this is what the Lord has in mind in the parable in verses 7 to 11. We all come in by invitation, and our wisdom is to take the low place. Humility imparts a wonderful character to the house of God as an institution actually in the presence of men down here; the opposite of what is in the world. Verses 12 to 14 speak of God's side, for He alone could act thus primarily. As the following parable shows, it is He who invites to His feast the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. But the example is set for all now, and the spirit of it should mark all Christians. Thus we have part with the "just", our recompense shall be "in the resurrection of the just".

The instruction as to humility is of the greatest importance. Taking the lowest room, we have promotion with God. To Him the house belongs, and He has title to promote. But we are not to take the servant's place; we are not invited to serve, but to have a place at table. In truth, a place in the house involves sonship. The world is not the sphere in which God exalts now; He has His house down here, and in it He bestows His honours.

The Lord's remarks evidently suggested to one in the company the blessedness of eating bread in the kingdom of God, and this leads to the parable of the "great supper". The allusion is to what God finds now in Christ as having accomplished righteousness. God is infinitely above this world and the sin of man in it, in occupation with the Man who glorified Him in death. This is expressed in the figure of a great supper. It is God celebrating, as it were, and He invites all to the celebration. Nothing can exceed the greatness of the gospel picture presented here. It is not only a supper, but a great supper, and the invitations were many. A truly great occasion is contemplated. Think of God celebrating! It refers to His infinite satisfaction and delight in Christ as having accomplished redemption, and He invites all to participate in this. Those that had been bidden refused to come even to such a feast, each turning to his earthly interests; but God would have His house full, and so there would be not only invitations but compulsion. The gracious work of the Spirit is, doubtless, alluded to here. In Matthew 22 servants are spoken of; here it is servant. In Luke it is divine activity in grace; in Matthew human responsibility is more in view.

The scene depicted in this chapter embraces the present broad economy of grace. It is not simply Christ as He was here in flesh, but as He is now in heaven, having accomplished righteousness, and the Spirit active to bring souls into participation in what God finds in Christ. Chapter 13 speaks of the Lord casting out devils "today and to-morrow", and the third day being "perfected"; alluding to His death and resurrection. The teaching of chapter 14 assumes that His death has taken place; hence "all things" are said to be "ready". There was the power of the kingdom exercised in the Lord's ministry, but the celebration here contemplates Him

in resurrection. Everything is ready, and God would have His house full in the enjoyment of the feast. The highways and hedges are to furnish guests; thus we Gentiles have come in. And the feast affords supreme happiness. If you were to go from this room to heaven tonight you would go into the happiest place! This happiness has been brought down here by the Spirit.

One would like to have the thought of God celebrating rightly in one's soul. The celebration in this chapter is greater than that in chapter 15. This chapter speaks of God's delight in Christ; chapter 15 refers to the returning prodigal. God has wonderful delight in the recovery of the Gentiles, but the parable we are dwelling on, and the record in the Acts, would show that He did not go to them until the Jews' rejection of the gospel forced Him to do so. This only emphasises His great love for Israel, and their guilt in rejecting His overtures.

The house of God as referred to in these chapters in Luke has a provisional character, and it stands related to the gospel. In John it is the family abode; we are there as in relationship with divine Persons, and so its eternal character is in view. Luke refers to the house as constituted in this world in the midst of human need and having this need in view.

The instruction in verses 25 to 35 is in moral order; it is a counterpart of the instruction furnished in the parable of the great supper. Multitudes would respond to the gospel invitation, and hence the Lord introduces the test of discipleship. The whole professing body would be vitiated unless this test was answered to. Christendom as it is now is a solemn testimony to this. The presence of the multitude (verse 25) gave rise to the Lord's remarks. If any man came to Him and hated not his father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters and even his own life he could not be Christ's disciple. Terrible

word for the flesh, but how true practically! And then one has to bear one's cross and follow Christ. All this refers to the attitude of soul one takes up. The Christian position involves much more than most of us, especially young believers, are apt to calculate. We have here, further, the thought of building, and then also the thought of fighting. To undertake to build a tower and not be able to finish it brings us into reproach. Then to wage successful warfare we have to reckon whether we possess sufficient force to meet the enemy. Success in building and in conflict depends on our accepting the terms of discipleship. The Lord says: "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple". Salt was there, and it was "good", but if it lost its savour wherewith should it be salted? Christianity is the best thing that God could introduce, but it has lost its virtue in the public body, and so it is worse than useless. Christendom as it stands will be "cast out". The chapter is prophetic; the Lord says, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear".

CHAPTER 15

The great supper having been proclaimed, there comes up the question of moral suitability, what material will be used to fill the house. "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them". What the heart of God is is opened out from this. None of those that were bidden should partake, but those who had no standing in this world the Lord would take up. The great thought running all through is the value of man as such to God and the divine activities to reach man. The whole is the parable of the love of God. He lost man: now He recovers him. The work of Christ connected with the activity of the Holy Spirit leads up to the sphere of relationship in

the love of the Father. Hence there is joy emphasised with each finder. God has regained His seat in man's affections. Man is recovered, and so is opened up the light of reconciliation. The preciousness of man is emphasised by "if he lose one of them". With sovereign choice in the universe, divine wisdom chose man as the subject of purpose. What is wrought is not at random. Redemption is based on ownership. It is "my sheep which was lost".

The younger son is the figure of man as such; the elder son is a figure of the Jew in the place of privilege. "Israel is my son, my firstborn". The thought of man from the outset has been to go out from the presence of the Lord and to form his sphere of enjoyment away from and independent of God. He has received the portion of goods that falleth to him and has gone to the utmost distance of departure. The world is so built up.

The principle which comes in here is of individual recovery. Hence the principle of repentance is emphasised in each instance, yet with a change of illustration in each. First the effect of the work of Christ, then the persistent activities of the Holy Spirit discovering in the light every whit of what belongs to Christ as the gift of the Father, then the younger son as one who has intelligence and capacity to respond to love. Man was derived of God, hence he has heart and intelligence and now conscience Paul quotes to the Athenians, "We are also his offspring".

In recovery the great thought is not place; the house is only mentioned incidentally, it is moral suitability to God. The awakening comes when the power of Satan is broken and there is soul famine. There is a consciousness produced (new birth) of soul famine and of goodness with God. So it is the goodness of God which leads to repentance. There could be no idea of recovery apart from repentance,

which is fundamental, and when wrought, heaven and the unjealous angels are affected with joy. The light in the house is doubtless connected with the saints, the house of God becomes the sphere of the Holy Spirit and they are His instruments. The light is in the house.

The return of the prodigal is the effect of need and consciousness of the plenty in the father's house. As yet moral suitability is not in evidence. The prodigal as such receives the embrace of the father; God commendeth His love towards us when we were yet sinners. The question of suitability follows with the best robe -- Christ.

The relationship of Father is the outflow of God in sovereignty. A man could have a house and fill it with friends, servants, paupers, whom he would. God in sovereignty chooses not angels or servants. He will fill His house with sons, and all take character from Christ. It is not only man, but man in relationship, hence the pleasure of God.

There was bread enough and to spare. There is plenty for Jew and Gentile. The fatted calf brings in the thought of the peace offering. "Let us eat, and be merry". In the peace offering there is the joy of all set out in sweet blessing. All meet on common ground, fruit of the death of Christ. There God meets with the offerer and the offering priest; the high priest with his family, all are found partaking in the common joy.

It is very affecting to see the father goes forth and preaches glad tidings even to the elder son; that is the Jew seen officially in the scribes and Pharisees. He is out in the field -- the world. "All that I have is thine". "Whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law-giving, and the service, and the promises; whose are the fathers; and of whom, as according to flesh, is the Christ, who is over all. God blessed for ever", Romans 9:4,5.

Yet he has the effrontery to say, "thou never gavest me a kid"!

Historically the work of Christ accomplished, the ministry of reconciliation went to "the Jew first", and so continued even to the end of the Acts from Paul in prison at Rome. They drew near to the house as we see early in the Acts, where they heard great things going on, and they became greatly embittered at the evidence of divine grace. The spirit of the elder brother goes out ever in religious persecution, which ever opposes the sovereign mercy of God. Eventually in the day to come the Jew has to come in on the same ground, but not to the same measure of blessing.

The robe, ring, sandals, all speak the complacent pleasure of God. The things are true for every believer, but every believer, alas, is not in the good of them. Even as to sonship itself, "ye are all God's sons by faith in Christ Jesus" Galatians 3:26; but it is too true that many are unconscious of it. The elder brother in chapter 14 makes excuses to keep away from the house; in chapter 15 he is in the field, the world, and in chapter 16, he has become there rich and atheistic, seeing too late Abraham's bosom occupied by the despised and scorned.

The house of God is established down here and is connected with responsibility; the Father's house is connected with relationship and privilege and is now morally entered into.

What we get set out in this chapter is condition, now made possible by divine love; the significant thing being what is brought out. "Bring forth".

We are met in our lost condition by divine Persons and brought into the circle of divine love in moral suitability.

CHAPTER 16

The bearing of these chapters is as adjusting the position of Jew and Gentile in relation to the testimony. The unjust steward indicates that the rejection of the Jews is contemplated. While the parable has a moral bearing now, yet the primary view-point is that the testimony had been committed to the Jews, which involved that God was to have a place with them, but it had come about that man had usurped the place.

The steward expresses the idea that the wise and prudent in Israel take the opportunity of providing for the future, while the mass of the nation act foolishly.

The presence of the Lord brought in the thought of eternal life; the nation would be cast out, but He opens up a place in the eternal order of things and the wise take advantage of it. They were wise for the future. Barnabas is an illustration of one who used what he had here with regard to heavenly things. Money cannot help you in eternity, but can be of value while saints are in the body. There would be no money or exchange but for the incoming of sin, but they are necessary things now while we are in the body in view of the present condition of things.

The end of chapter 13 shows the house left desolate, the Jews are not now privileged as a nation. The gospel is not specially presented to them. The Lord had opened to them the eternal system, and He points out their folly in not embracing such an opportunity. The sons of this world were Jews who had the position of being sons of fight, but were not true to it.

The point enforced is in verse 11: "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" There is a great privilege opened up to those who

have means. God gives gracious opportunity to use them in connection with the testimony; the Lord takes account of what we are doing, and the effect will be seen in the day to come.

Two masters cannot be served, but Israel chose mammon instead of God. The Christian is called to the service of God, mammon cannot be preferred to it. It is significant that the connection between covetousness and idolatry is very intimate, they are really the same. The important thing both for Israel and the assembly is to discern the call to the service of God in its full meaning.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus emphasizes the eternal end of the man who elects mammon instead of God. It is characteristic of Luke to give the view of what is eternal; Matthew and Mark present more the present aspect of the testimony. In the end of chapter 16 the Jew is shown as the despiser of the grace of God, no matter what the dispensation. The rich man is seen as providentially possessing everything here, but only uses it in the present, while the poor man lay at his gate desiring the crumbs; this refers to the place of the Jew and Gentile. The poor man in Abraham's bosom showed that the Gentile had secured a better place than the Jew, for whom there was no better place than earth, but Abraham was no longer on earth, so that a place in heaven is indicated.

Lazarus in a way shows a pressing into the kingdom (verse 16); it was a very unwelcome position to be laid at the rich man's gate. Pressing into the kingdom is a different thought from access to heaven; we are carried into heaven. There was that here which the Lord introduced which has to be forced into in the face of determined opposition; the thought of the kingdom of God is moral, and one has to see the position the Lord occupied here. "The kingdom of God is among you", but nature is

against you and you have to do violence and force the way in. One even has to be born again to see it. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of your Father, the kingdom of the Son, are all different aspects of the same thing, they cover the same period and refer to the same fact from varied standpoints. It is important to note Abraham's bosom is not the kingdom, but a place of privilege; for us it is the Lord's bosom. The parable is a Jewish figure, and the thought of angelic agency is brought in, but we are carried by the Lord, He comes for us; so Stephen says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit".

We cannot define the sufferings that are here depicted, but we can have some idea of what it is to be under wrath with a guilty conscience constantly smiting. It is a very significant that the rich man does not question the justice of his place. As to verse 31, the Jew has rejected the testimony of the One who rose from the dead.

CHAPTER 17

The opening verses still indicate the Jews despising the Gentiles by throwing obstacles in their way. Then the word, "Take heed", comes to the disciples; the Lord, by His word, is adjusting the position consequent on our having taken the place of the Jews on earth. Now the spirit of Christianity was to be the spirit of constant forgiveness. In the light of this the apostles are constrained to say, "Lord, increase our faith". Actually they had to overcome the position of the nation with all its prestige; there had never been anything on earth like it, but before their faith it would disappear into the sea of nations. This is what has actually happened. The grain of mustard seed has reference to light in regard to what God is doing, and this light always has

reference to Christ's position and what is being done at the moment. Stephen and the twelve did not really want the nation displaced. Peter's testimony in Acts 2 and Acts 3 shows his desire that the nation might be retained. In fact, any one who sympathised with God would not want the nation dispersed until God had given them up, which is not until their final rejection of the testimony. This manner of faith really came out in Paul's day, then the nation was definitely set aside.

In verses 7 to 10 we have very valuable instruction for all who serve the Lord; we cannot take credit for what we are ordered to do, the question is whether we even do so much. The Lord is not here telling them what He is actually thinking of their service, but He is thinking. We, however, cannot take account of our own service.

In the incident of the ten lepers the stranger came back and glorified God. The stranger represents the Gentile. The others had no sense of sovereign grace. The point is that the Lord says, "Go, show yourselves unto the priests", and the question is whether they are going to recognise the Jewish system to which He sent them, or the vessel through whom the blessing came. That vessel had really superseded the official system. It is true the Lord yet recognised it and sent them to it, but now it is no longer a question of what is official but of a Person, and God does not get His glory until that Person is recognised. God gets His title in this stranger. It is a very precious thought that God gets His glory in the recognition of the vessel through which the blessing has come. It is the voice of the Gentile in recognition of God in Christ, that is God's present portion.

Then following that the kingdom is introduced in its present aspect "the kingdom of God is in the midst of you". There are days coming when they

will desire to see the days of the Son of man, but the assembly will be gone before then. The whole character and effect of the sudden appearing of the day of the Son of man is unfolded. The eagles of judgment will experience no difficulty in finding their prey.

CHAPTERS 18 AND 19

These chapters refer to the conditions that existed consequent upon God breaking with Israel. Chapter 15 contemplates the entrance of the Gentiles, the elder brother being the Jew, and the subject is pursued in these chapters, verse 7. The reference to prayer has a moral application, and to circumstances possibly such as arose at the time of the death of Peter. The saints were under great pressure, and such a passage will probably be of great help in the future. Nothing is more practical than prayer; you do not abandon your petitions, faith continues, though God may not apparently intervene. The faith of the remnant is tested, even though God seems to linger in answer. He is sure to answer. The question, "when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" is interesting, suggesting the line of faith beginning in Abel, which continues right through the remnant up to the world to come. It may be a very thin line, but we find it.

In the parable of the Pharisee and publican the Pharisee is the Jew and the publican represents the attitude of the Gentile, a man with no religious status. The Lord intervenes to obliterate what is here, and a new order of things comes in. The principles are of practical application for the present moment, which is true of the word of God universally. Historical epistles may be referred to, but they are for the help of the people of God generally.

The bringing of the little children to Jesus suggests

that the disciples needed teaching: they had to be instructed as to the kind of material of which the kingdom will be built. We greatly need instruction as to the spirit of the kingdom and the system with which we are connected. The Lord teaches that His principles were to be brought out in a new generation, and the disciples had to learn it in connection with the little children. They are those who in the absence of will are in the spirit to be taught of God. The little child is unsophisticated and free from what is of the world. God brings in the new generation. The instruction which the world affords cannot help you in this. It is a precious thought that the Lord touches the little children. Every system had an opportunity to form a generation; now the Lord puts His own stamp upon the generation He has to do with.

In Matthew 11 everything outwardly had gone, then the Father hid things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, so that wisdom is justified in a new generation taking the impress of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart. It encourages us to bring our children to the Lord, so that the Lord might put His stamp upon them. Your part is to bring them to Him, and in due time He will touch them. Every wise man brings his children to Christ. If you are not literally a little child, you must become as such. You must have the faith of the gospel, the gospel presents affection, and in growth you maintain the simplicity of the child. Thus the kingdom has to be received differently from the way in which men receive any other system. Children are the good seed of the kingdom. To receive as a little child is to receive it simply, not as a mere religious system. The kingdom of God is power available for you.

Through the question of the ruler the Lord brings out the difficulty besetting those who have riches.

The blind man illustrates one who valued the kingdom; the Lord was there. He saw the Lord and the Lord helped him.

Zacchaeus was searching for righteousness: he was affected by grace in righteousness. His riches did not prevent him from entering the kingdom. The Lord goes voluntarily to the house of Zacchaeus. He knew what He was doing. It was not only that Zacchaeus would get blessing, but his house would get blessing. There is no one from Abraham down in the line of faith who is not a child of Abraham, so Zacchaeus is designated as son of Abraham; he had no religious status, but the Lord puts him in the line of Abraham. It was a sign of earnest desire to be where he could see the Lord, that he could humiliate himself to climb up into the tree. His climbing the tree was really humbling himself morally. He was where the Lord could see him, and so he comes under the Lord's protection. The Lord exercises no authority where there is no moral response to Him. The Lord says, Salvation has come to your house today, meaning that the kingdom was there.

Those waiting expected that the kingdom of God was about to be immediately manifested, but the Lord shows His going away and the ground to be occupied by His ten bondmen. It is a question of responsibility. The Lord's absence puts us to the test to be faithful. The millennium is the end of responsibility, which is then in the hands of the Lord; all previous periods were in the hands of man. The mention of ten bondmen indicates the whole period of responsibility, so that we are included. It is not simply a question of the apostles, but covers the whole Christian period. The point of view in Matthew is the present activity of Christendom. While a great deal is being done the Lord's character is not appreciated; He is referred to as an "austere man", which is not like Christ. If there is to be

service, it must present Christ in some way. It means something to the Lord if one has the Lord before him in service. The idea in the parable is that you are holding something for Him and you are thinking of Him. There may be many with more gift and light than they are using, but they have the Lord before them, and He takes account of that. The Lord has peculiar pleasure in taking account of people who have Him before them, even though they cannot be active. The whole teaching of the parable is trading in the light of the grace of the kingdom.

The ground of judgment was that the man misrepresented the character of the Lord. It is beautiful to see how the Lord keeps His coming before His servants. It is not "trade while I am away", but "trade while I am coming", verse 14, New Translation.

CHAPTER 20

In considering the Lord's utterances we have to take account of the position or surroundings in which He may have spoken. What these two chapters, 20 and 21 record, took place in Jerusalem, chiefly in the temple. He is speaking in the metropolis, and what He says involves the exposure and removal of the whole Jewish system. Every question raised by the Lord's opposers only served to expose and confound them.

First, they raise the question of His authority; then the Lord charges them with the design to kill the true Heir so as to seize the inheritance; and further, He forces them to admit that they were in bondage to a Gentile master.

Here, in chapter 20, it is not a question of teaching the disciples; the Lord was in Jerusalem for the last time, and He was meeting the conditions there judicially. He does not explain His authority in answers to the leaders' question (verse 2); He answers

them. They must decide as to John first; was his baptism of heaven or of men? They feared the people, and so could not deny openly that John's baptism was from heaven; however, they said they could not tell whence it was. And so the Lord says He would not tell them by what authority He was acting.

This was not arbitrary on the Lord's part; it was right that persons so devoid of all moral rectitude should be placed at this disadvantage. What is to be noted here is that in all these encounters with the Jewish leaders the Lord has the last word. His word was final in each case. In endeavouring to answer questions it is of great importance to be exercised so that what is said may be in spiritual power and intelligence; thus that our answers may be final. The Lord says, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist", Luke 21:15. Stephen was a great exemplification of this. All ministry that is of the Holy Spirit carries its own evidence with it: it is convincing where there is not prejudice. And even gainsayers were to be convicted, and have their mouths stopped; Titus 1:10.

The parable of the vineyard came home with terrible force to the chief priests and scribes. They were at issue with God. Him whom they were refusing. God would exalt to the highest place. In falling on this stone one should be broken, but on whomsoever it should fall it should grind him to powder.

The question as to the tribute brought further confusion on the Lord's adversaries. They had to own that they were under a foreign yoke. The Lord says, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's", verse 25. "They marvelled at his answer, and held their peace".

The Sadducees raised the question of the resurrection. That was a great problem. What conditions are to prevail in God's world? The Sadducees denied that there was such a thing as a spiritual world. They erred, not knowing the Scripture, nor the power of God. Christianity is founded on the fact of the resurrection; that Christ is risen. Moreover, God is a Spirit, and the order of things which He has in view to remain before Him must be of a spiritual character. The material world is but an index to the spiritual. The Sadducees would limit us to the index! The Lord explains that "they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead ... are equal to angels; and are children of God, being the children of the resurrection". Though they remain men, they have spiritual bodies; they are in a wholly new condition. In the resurrection from the dead we receive bodies which are equal to our spirits. Stephen committed his spirit to the Lord, but we read that he was carried to his burial. That man was buried and he shall be raised from among the dead; but he shall be raised in a "spiritual body". In what the Lord says here in Luke 20, He is not referring to all the dead, but to those who have part in the "first resurrection" -- those raised from among the dead.

The Lord now becomes aggressive, and raises the question as to His own Person. "How say they that Christ is David's son? ... David ... calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?" What a testimony from their own Scriptures as to the Messiah's Person! But the poor Jewish leaders were in utter darkness, and there is no response. This great truth is introduced here no doubt as needed in the way of testimony in the exposure of what existed at Jerusalem. Everything, of course, depended on the Christ being what the psalm quoted implies; that He was

David's Lord, and hence a divine Person. It is very noticeable how frequently the question as to the Lord's Person is raised among the saints. No doubt it is to keep us constantly in mind of who He is; that He is truly God, and truly Man. The assembly shall understand His announcement -- "I am the root and the offspring of David".

CHAPTER 23

The last four verses of chapter 22 bring in an important point regarding the Lord's declaration, "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God". It comes out in the gospels as well as in Stephen that the charge of blasphemy for which He is condemned to death is that Man should be in the glory of God in the heavens. Psalm 8 sets forth Christ established as man in heaven, opening out a new order of things. Hebrews 1 takes up the Son, as Son of God, and chapter 2 as Son of man. As Son of God He comes in from God's side, and He becomes the Head and leader of a generation constituted according to God. As Son of man He comes in from man's side. It is the answer to Genesis 3 which evidences Satan's-intent to destroy what God has instituted in man, and the Son of man administering everything from the throne of God in the heavens is the answer to that. When it is a question of the Son of God, God is in view; and when it is a question of the Son of man, man is in view. In His eternal being He is viewed apart from time. The generation that is formed for God is a generation of sons, and it is taken up in connection with His name who is Son of God, that is, in incarnation; as man entering in to make a new place in a new condition. He goes in as Son of man. We go into heaven by virtue of

the fact that our forerunner has gone in for vs. Government and judgment are vested in the Son of man.

The purport of these verses is to fix on Israel their guilt; the One of whom every revelation was made is now before them in the full light of His witness; their guilt is to be consummated by putting such an One to death.

In chapter 23 we have brought into view every circle, not merely Israel. The circumstances connected with the cross are detailed as nowhere else. All that had been associated with Christ here was brought under test, as seen in the disciples and Judas. Then comes the hour of the power of Satan; in Luke 4 he left Him for a season, but here he returns. Afterwards the nation represented in the chief priests and the elders and the multitude are brought into view. Next comes that governmental power which God had delivered to Nebuchadnezzar and which had descended, to the Roman empire. Thus that which is divine, human and satanic comes to light in connection with the cross of Christ.

We do not get here the character of the sin-offering as in Matthew. It is the One who is entering into death to accomplish reconciliation. He has before Him everything; He must needs endure to bring it about. What we get in Luke is grace. What is before the Lord here is the great work of reconciliation in view of everything being for the pleasure of God. It is characteristic of Luke that while the darkness is alluded to it is not dwelt on, and the forsaking is not there. The offering of Himself in Luke shows Him who agonises for the birth of a generation for the eternal pleasure of God. But for the death of Christ the whole scene where man is must have been wiped out from before God; everything was held back for the coming of Christ, the true burnt-offering. God still bears in patience, because it is the day. Of

grace established in the Christ, who is the perpetual burnt-offering.

The scripture in Hebrews 5 shows that the Lord was heard on account of His piety, and now He can minister to and succour the race which has been begotten through His death, because He has been right down to the lowest depths Himself to reach them.

The significance of the veil of the temple rent in the midst shows the setting aside of that system. What was established here on earth in the way of separation and division is swept away. God does not constitute new Jews and new Gentiles, but one new man in Christ. Christ the Son of man has gone in so that we can go in by the new and living way, Hebrews 10. In the temple the veil was to exclude; for us the veil is the way in, "the veil; that is to say, his flesh.".

The place of Simon is interesting. "Him they compelled to bear the cross". It is in line with all the rest here; that is, it is another consequence of the death of Christ. There is the thought of compulsion, not what is voluntary. Simon did not seek it, they compel him to bear it. They put the cross on Simon and compelled him to bear it.

Israel is then brought into view in connection with the tree. "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me". "If this is done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" The green tree in Scripture is testimony, which may or may not include fruit. For instance, in Hosea where Ephraim is addressed he is spoken of purely in the place of testimony as a fir tree, which does not bring forth fruit. The fruit comes from Christ. The answer to what they were now doing is seen in the condition of the Jew at the present day. They have no city, no temple, no nation. They are a dry tree. Up to this point the nation as such was in the position of testimony,

the figure is used in the parable of the fig tree. Israel was put in the place of the tree, but was false to it as to every other relationship, therefore Christ had to take it up and become it. He became the tree for testimony and also the fruit bearer. But nationally it is now the dry tree. Israel will turn to the Lord again by and by, and no longer will fruit be looked for directly from them, but from Christ through them. The Gentiles are warned under the simile of a tree in Romans 11.

The place of the skull is the place where it is made manifest that death with all its degradation and shame and all its corrupt power has destroyed that which should have been the glory of man, his mind. The seat of his intellect is his skull, and the proof of his degradation was that the blessed Lord Himself was being put to death. Had the princes of this world known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The centurion gives a testimony of the turning of the Gentile to the light of God.

Pages 93 - 198. "Resurrection Levitical Privilege", Indianapolis, 1911 (Volume 13).

RESURRECTION

Joshua 3

J.T. My thought was to consider the resurrection in a general way, but more especially as the testimony to God's power. This chapter sets forth the power that was inherent in Christ personally. At the Red Sea the authority of God appeared. Moses was told to stretch out his rod over the sea. That involved God's power, as is seen in the way resurrection is viewed in Romans; but it also involved God's authority; Moses' rod represents this. The ark of the covenant, as we know, was not in existence at the passage of the Red Sea. The prominence given to the ark here in Joshua points to the power that was inherent in Christ personally in grappling with death. These are two points which are necessary for our souls to take in if we are to understand resurrection. The presence of death in the world necessarily affected the authority of God; and in the death of Christ, as typified in the Red Sea, what is more especially emphasised is God's power. It is that aspect of His death that is in view in the epistle to the Romans.

R.S.S. Why do you say that death, as it exists in the world, calls in question the authority of God?

J.T. Because it afforded the enemy a means of holding man in bondage, Hebrews 2:15.

R.S.S. But God brought it in.

J.T. Yes, but Satan took advantage of it and used it as a means of holding man in bondage; the Red Sea typifies death in a more extended form, as I might say, than that which is set forth in the Jordan. I think the Jordan is death concentrated and active. A river overflowing its banks suggests a concentrated

power in activity. I think it is used in that way to symbolise death in all its power concentrated, as it appeared at the death of Christ. That is, we have death set forth in the Red Sea in its extended form, as covering the whole history of the race, and in Jordan as concentrated in all its power against Christ. It is in the latter form that we see the power that was inherent in Christ in dealing with it.

R.S.S. The one aspect of the resurrection would be set forth in the Red Sea, and the other in the Jordan?

J.T. Yes. The ark of the covenant was at Jordan, but not at the Red Sea. As to types representing death, I think Jordan is the power of death, the totality of it, concentrated in the hand of Satan, and brought to bear on Christ in Gethsemane; therefore, the power that was inherent in Him comes to light in meeting it.

A.F.M. In 2 Timothy we read, "Christ who has annulled death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings".

J.T. I think that is an allusion to it. There it is what Christ did, whereas in Romans it is what God did.

Ques. What do you make of the fact that as soon as the priests' feet touched the water Jordan receded.

J.T. I think it refers to the inherent holiness of Christ in dealing with death. Death had to recede. As well as active power there was inherent holiness in Christ, which the priestly side represents. I think it is proper to connect the passage of Jordan and entrance into Canaan with the promises of God made to the fathers, because the truth of resurrection is especially connected with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In taking up Abraham God showed that everything should be on the basis of His power. "I am the Almighty God", He said. And in the

New Testament the Spirit reverts to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord alluded to them in meeting the Sadducees. He says: "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God". Then He cited what God said to Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob", and added: "God is not the God of the dead but of the living". The great point in Romans is God's power. He can call things which be not as though they are.

A.F.M. It was in view of the light Abraham gained in regard to Isaac that he buried Sarah, was it not?

J.T. Sarah's is the first mention of a burial in Scripture, and undoubtedly it is in view of the light in which God made Himself known to Abraham; that is, he buried her in the light of resurrection.

R.S.S. And when we get burial mentioned in Scripture we also find resurrection. The first mention of a burial follows upon the great resurrection chapter, Genesis 22. There we have Isaac raised up figuratively.

J.T. Hence the great importance of connecting the entrance into Canaan with the light communicated to Abraham. That is, we have here, in Joshua 3, typically the nation coming up out of Jordan on the principle of life from among the dead.

Ques. What is Canaan?

J.T. Canaan is the sphere of purpose -- the promised land.

I should like to have it made clear how the abolition of death places the believer in the wilderness. We have to take account of the way in which we are placed in the wilderness.

Ques. Why does God present Himself in this chapter as the Lord of the whole earth? In connection with the ark He says: "the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth".

J.T. Because it is a question of God's right to dispose of the earth. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof". Psalm 22 shows the death of Christ, Psalm 23 the wilderness, and Psalm 24 God is taking up His right to the earth. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof". At the Red Sea it is a question of God's right to the people. Satan held sway over them and that questioned God's authority. God had a right to the people. But what comes to light at the Jordan is that God has a right to the whole earth as well. At the Red Sea it is not a question of the inheritance, but of the people, and God's authority over them.

A.F.M. There is a way through the Red Sea into the wilderness and a way from the wilderness through the Jordan into the land. Will you make the two a little more clear?

J.T. At the Red Sea God asserts His authority, because Satan had held His people under his influence by means of death. The Red Sea was the barrier out of Egypt, the barrier that lay in their way. Saints need to be clear as to the fact that, through the death of Christ, God has disposed of the power of the enemy as holding them in bondage.

Ques. What is the wilderness?

J.T. It is what the world has become to those who believe in God who raised Christ from the dead.

A.R.S. Do you learn in the wilderness what you are in yourself?

J.T. That is another chapter of wilderness experience, and that leads to Jordan, but what intervenes between the Red Sea and Jordan is the formation of the tabernacle and all that pertained to it, especially the ark of the covenant; therefore, what we see is that the believer there is learning something of Christ personally. The ark of the covenant is what Christ is personally. So the passage of the Jordan is connected with the epistle to the Colossians.

Ques. After you learn the Red Sea you are prepared to learn what Christ is personally, so that affection may take up what He has gone through; that is, the Jordan. It is a question of affection and privilege, is it not?

J.T. I think so. The ark of the covenant refers to Christ personally, and the fact of its coming into view in the wilderness corresponds typically to subjective growth in the believer.

W.J.N. Do you mean that in the wilderness you get light as to these things?

J.T. Yes.

W.J.H. It is a question of the testimony in the wilderness, is it not?

J.T. The wilderness is presented in several ways in Scripture; among these, and most specifically, it refers to the normal progress of the believer in his soul, and that involves the apprehension of Christ personally.

W.J.N. What is on my mind in regard to testimony is in connection with the ark being carried right through. Has not that some significance?

J.T. Yes; but that would be connected rather with the saints viewed collectively in the wilderness, which is another line of truth. There are different viewed of the wilderness. In the first place, it is what the world has become to those who believe in God who raised up Christ. Then, too, the wilderness is the place where we learn what God is, and what we are in ourselves, and also where we learn Christ personally, the ark of the covenant. All this leads to Jordan, and results as to the believer's experience in a state that corresponds with Canaan; so that, in a certain sense; that is, as to state, such are always over Jordan.

From another point of view, the wilderness may be looked upon as a scene in which the saints, viewed as having entered Canaan, have to pursue a

path that is contrary to them. For faith they are risen and glorified, and so set forth the heavenly traits here in the wilderness. They are a heavenly people in the wilderness. Philippians contemplates such a people.

W.B. The Red Sea is what a soul is brought into individually. He is brought to God. Christ died, "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God".

J.T. Yes, that sets you on your path in the wilderness. You are there with God.

W.B. You get what answers to this in Romans 5. We experience what God is to us in the pathway.

J.T. Yes; but Romans does not contemplate the believer as risen. It is important to distinguish between the teaching of Romans and Colossians and Ephesians in regard to resurrection. Romans does not regard us as risen with Christ. It regards us as believing in God, who raised up Christ for us. We are brought to God, and an experience begins which ends in Canaan.

R.S.S. Does not the beginning of Romans 8, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus", involve the power of resurrection?

J.T. Yes, but it is put abstractly. It is "those in Christ Jesus", not you who are in Christ Jesus. "In Christ" in Scripture always involves new creation. Romans 8 shows what the believer has in the Spirit, although still in the wilderness. It does not contemplate you as having reached God's purpose. It shows how the believer is rendered independent of the flesh because of the Spirit. It is not the Spirit introducing you into Canaan, but the Spirit sustaining you in the wilderness, rendering you independent of the flesh.

A.F.M. In Romans we come to the edge of the Jordan, where Joshua 3 begins. In Colossians we

cross over and reach Gilgal. In Ephesians we are in possession of the land.

J.T. Colossians brings us as far as Gilgal.

W.J.N. Is not Colossians more on the line of light than experience?

J.T. Yes, it is light that corresponds with the subjective state in those to whom the light is given. In Romans and in Ephesians God addresses souls according to their state. The Colossians were not equal to the light given to the Ephesians, hence you do not get the fulness of light in Colossians that you get in Ephesians. In Colossians the Spirit regards the saints as raised on the principle of faith. They see more than the Roman saints could have seen. Romans contemplates the believer as seeing God's power in raising Christ, but it does not contemplate him as seeing God's power in raising the saints. In Colossians the light communicated contemplates that they were equal to seeing that God's power raised them while raising Christ.

What I should like to make clear is how God has disposed of death in its extended authority over man's spirit, so that we are wholly relieved of the pressure of Satan's power. But then you have to come to the other side, namely, that God has a sphere of His own into which He introduces us, and in that sphere everything is on the ground of resurrection, not only the resurrection of Christ, but our resurrection also.

Rem. That sphere is Canaan.

J.T. Yes, so that the saints get on to that ground. I think the entrance into Canaan corresponds with the light communicated to Abraham, that everything in God's world is put on the ground of resurrection.

Ques. How does the power of God act towards us in bringing us to that point?

J.T. Every nation relies on the power that is inherent in it, otherwise it exists only on sufferance.

What we want to see is that the system inaugurated by God relies upon its own inherent power, the power of God demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ.

R.S.S. That power is in Christ?

J.T. Yes, but in Christ as among His people. The ark of the covenant, you may say, goes forward on our side.

A.F.M. Reference has been made to affection as that by which we are now drawn over to the other side. Is there not another view, in which actual dissolution of the body takes place; by actual death we pass the last barrier between the wilderness and the land?

J.T. Yes, quite so; but what is in view here is not that. It is God's people getting their feet practically on the ground of divine purpose. You not only want the light of resurrection, but also the power, and you cannot really enter into Christian privilege without it.

Ques. How do you get that?

J.T. By the Spirit.

A.F.M. We have deliverance from the enemy's power at the Red Sea; then the wilderness, where we learn not only ourselves, but we also learn Christ -- the ark of the covenant; and we are finally brought to the bank of Jordan, which lies between us and God's purpose for us, and in order to enter into God's purpose we must go through Jordan; that is, we must accept death and resurrection with Christ. This brings us over to His sphere; having affection we follow, we want to get our feet on that platform.

Ques. Is there any similarity between that and when Peter walked on the water to join the Lord?

J.T. What comes to light there is that the Lord sustains him. It is a question of sustainment that comes from the Lord. What I have in mind is,

that before you can enter info what I call proper Christian privilege you must know resurrection; not only must you see God's power as active in raising Christ, but also in raising the saints -- that we are raised.

Rem. That is typified in taking the people right through.

J.T. So that you are now in full correspondence with the light communicated to the fathers; the people are now typically on the ground of the land of promise. There we are on ground that is unassailable. We are not there on sufferance. We are on ground that is unassailable on account of the power that was demonstrated in the resurrection of Christ.

W.B. I do not quite understand about the ground being unassailable, because "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against ... spiritual wickedness in high places". Does not that refer to the assembly?

J.T. But before that kind of warfare we have the testimony of Jordan, which signifies all hostile power in the hand of the enemy concentrated against Christ and against His people. That is overthrown. It is not simply that a way is made through it. It is entirely overthrown.

Ques. Is it overthrown by the priests' feet touching the water?

J.T. It is overthrown by Christ going into it.

The point is that every vestige of death is destroyed, the waters were cut off. There was no water to be seen. Now, what power is there greater than that? There is none. The power of death has been broken. Therefore the platform on which we stand is unassailable; There is no power capable of coping with it.

Rem. And the way is now free right in.

J.T. Now you are free. Just as a nation at war, the position of the nation is assailed. If it is victorious it is by inherent power, and the nation stands upon that power, otherwise it is simply living on

sufferance. Our position is unassailable. The power that has been demonstrated to protect the position is infinitely greater than the power against it.

Rem. I see that the power is there; but, as a matter of fact, the people got out of the land afterwards because they did not do what the Lord told them.

J.T. God reaches a point in testimony that shows what He can do. What we may do in responsibility is another matter. The point is what He can do.

Ques. Does it contemplate what He will actually do by-and-by?

J.T. It does. The thousand years, the millennium, in Scripture refer to what God can do. One thousand is ten multiplied by one hundred. Ten represents man's responsibility, in which in every case he broke down. It is always so when it is a question of responsibility. Now, for the thousand years God multiplies ten by one hundred and maintains it intact; everything is maintained intact in the way of testimony. The book of Joshua sets forth the power of God in accomplishing His promises to the fathers. He was the Almighty God, and hence nothing failed, every promise was fulfilled. The whole land of Canaan was given to Abraham's seed.

A.F.M. As to how we are brought into the good of it, is it not a question of light? It says: "Ye are risen with him through faith of the operation of God".

J.T. That is the light of it; but there is an additional thought, namely, that we are quickened with Him. That refers to what is subjective. We are made to correspond to the light which has been presented to us.

Ques. In what way are we quickened with Him?

J.T. By the action of the Spirit. It refers to His formative work in our affections. Apart from

that the light would be ineffective with us; we could not appreciate it.

Rem. As quickened you can take a step forward to follow the light.

J.T. Yes; you are prepared for it, and God gives it to you as you are prepared for it.

R.S.S. Why was it that the people were to remain at a distance of two thousand cubits from the ark?

J.T. To maintain the personal distinctness of the deity of Christ in dealing with death. He had to go into it alone.

A.F.M. Reference is made to the way. "Ye have not passed this way heretofore". It suggests that no one but Christ could lead that way.

J.T. I think so. And it is very important that whilst we are associated with Christ in the operation of God His distinctness as a divine Person is maintained in the soul.

J.N.H. Ordinarily the Levites properly carried the ark. We notice here that the priests do that.

J.T. Because it refers to the intrinsic holiness of Christ. It is well to connect Gethsemane with the passage of Jordan.

W.B. What is the difference between the term here, "The Lord of the whole earth", and the thought of the God of the earth in Revelation?

R.S.S. "The priests that bare the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth". It is Jehovah. Would that be connected with the promises to the fathers?

J.T. Yes. Jehovah as a name represents God's faithfulness, whereas the Lord here is Master or supreme Ruler. Both names are in this chapter of Joshua. In Revelation I think that God asserts His creatorial rights on earth and over men. Men would readily give glory to the God of heaven, but the truth involved in the book of Revelation is that He is God of the earth.

R.S.S. "And Joshua said ... ye shall know that the living God is among you". This refers to God in another way.

J.T. That expresses my thought of the chapter. It shows that the power is inherent; the living God is amongst us.

W.H.C. It was in the mind of God that Israel should have gone immediately from Egypt into the land, without having to go through the wilderness. Is not that the thought in Ephesians?

J.T. But it was God's thought that they should go through death. They could have gone to Canaan by land; but God prevents them from doing that. That was, no doubt, the way the Philistines went up, and hence they were enemies of God's people. I think God permits things to test us, and works out His purposes by that means. It was eleven days journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea; that is, to the entrance of the land. They could have gone up in eleven days, but it took forty years. I think that while God tested them by the testimony of the spies He worked out His purpose through their want of appreciation.

R.S.S. And it brought out that everything of the flesh must go before they really could enter the land. The brazen serpent and the springing well follows.

Rem. It involves the idea of responsibility, too, on their side.

J.T. Yes, it does.

W.B. Is not the history of Israel given as a great lesson as to how one progresses from the bottom to the top? We have to begin at the bottom. We see things from the top, but we have to begin with the Red Sea and go up.

J.T. The important thing is the knowledge of God. One great element in the knowledge of God is to know His power; and I think you will find His power in Romans, Colossians and Ephesians. But

Ephesians gives the greatest exhibition of His power.

R.S.S. Where is the power of God specially referred to in Colossians?

J.T. The operation of God when He raised Christ from the dead, chapter 2: 12.

R.S.S. And in Romans at the end of chapter 4, "Believe on him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead"?

J.T. Yes, He was able to perform what He had promised.

W.H.C. Paul preached that Jesus was the Son of God, and the resurrection was the declaration of it.

W.B. Is there any possibility of a soul getting on according to God apart from the knowledge of resurrection?

J.T. When he does not know resurrection he is exposed to the power of evil. Saints are sure to accommodate themselves to the world if they do not know the power of God as for them, if they are not in the truth of resurrection.

Ques. What is the significance of the water piling up far, by the city Adam?

J.T. To show how completely death was overthrown.

Ques. Why does it say "at the time of the harvest"?

J.T. That was the time when Jordan was at its highest.

A.E.M. I was thinking of all the power of the enemy being concentrated against Christ. They were all driven back, put out of sight, utterly routed and defeated.

J.T. I think it helps to think of the difference between a sea and a river. Whilst a river is not so great a body of water, yet it is more condensed and active than a sea.

R.S.S. It is very helpful to see the difference between the Red Sea and the Jordan. As I understand

it, the Red Sea is more the thought of meeting death in a general way.

J.T. Yes, in the way in which death affected man. But it is another matter to see it as brought to bear, by the devil against Christ. That was what came to light at Gethsemane.

R.S.S. In connection with the question as to why the waters were out off to the city Adam, I think it indicates that the waters entirely disappeared. They were cut off far above the place, and they exhausted themselves in the Dead Sea, so that when the people passed over there was no water to be seen. When they passed through the Red Sea the waters were in sight, as a wall to them on either side. And when the Lord in John 8 was speaking to the Jews He said to them, possibly in view of what we are speaking of now, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death". He does not see the water. God's people crossing over do not see the water.

J.T. The resurrection of Christ did not involve the complete disappearance of death. We know it has continued ever since. As to the wilderness position, it remains; but for faith we see that God has raised Christ; Christ is out of it, and when we cross the Jordan we are out of it too. It is an immense thing for the saints to arrive at the point where they know that the living God is among them. That is what we want to know. When you reach that point you are invulnerable; there is no power that can cope with you. They crossed over against Jericho -- the place where Satan's political power was located.

Ques. How is it that when God promised the land to Abraham the promise extended as far as the Euphrates, and then afterwards as we see here, when the children of Israel entered the land the boundary seems to be the Jordan. Is it through Jordan they pass into the land?

J.T. The confines of Canaan strictly refer to what is properly privilege, divine privilege for us. That is God's thought for us. It is all well to exercise influence over Moab, and Gilead, and all the territory beyond Syria, but our proper living sphere is Canaan. The two and a half tribes missed that. Canaan is the central point. It is well to influence other spheres, as David did. David and Solomon extended their dominions to the Euphrates, and exercised influence over all the territory promised by God, but the proper living sphere for God's people is Canaan; and that for us is the heavenly position. It is well to influence other spheres, but our living associations are in Canaan.

GILGAL

Joshua 5

G.W.H. You were saying that Moses stood for the authority of God. What would you say about Joshua?

J.T. He represents Christ as the spiritual Leader. In the main Moses is Christ leading the people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where authority is always needed, and Joshua is Christ leading them into Canaan. .

W.B. What is the thought of resurrection in this chapter?

J.T. My thought was to show how we are made to correspond with the truth of resurrection. There are certain exercises that follow upon the light of chapter 3, and I think circumcision and the passover are necessary to these exercises. Chapter 4 shows, in the stones in the bed of the river and those on the bank, our identification with the Lord in death, that we have been into death with Him, and also that we have come out of death with Him. Chapter 3 makes prominent the thought of the ark; the Lord in His own power going into death. It is important that He should be distinctly held before our souls in that light. Whilst it is on the experimental side, yet it is the Lord's personal distinctness as grappling with death, as seen in Gethsemane. The Lord was there face to face with the enemy, who brought to bear upon His spirit, death in all its significance.

R.S.S. What is the difference between the twelve stones placed in the bed of the river and the twelve on the bank?

J.T. The stones in the river are the testimony that Christ has been into death and we in Him; those at Gilgal set forth that He has come out of death and the saints with Him. I think both testimonies are in His Person.

A.H.T. Is there any connection between the passover which is celebrated in the land and His death?

J.T. Circumcision and the passover have reference to certain exercises which the believer goes through consequent upon the light of chapter 3, but he is not really yet in the land properly. These chapters are preparatory to privilege. The passover is connected with three positions; the first in Egypt, the second in the wilderness, the third at Gilgal, as in this chapter. It refers to the saints accepting the judgment which the Lord has been subjected to on account of sin in the three positions which we occupy, our deliverance from Egypt, as related to the testimony in the wilderness, and as related to our privilege in Canaan. Circumcision has reference to our disallowance of the flesh as a means or instrument of activity. The flesh is not to be used; it is of no use at all in divine things.

W.J.N. Would you say that is the point of the warning in the epistle to the Colossians, the intrusion of the flesh in divine things?

J.T. Yes, certainly, the putting off of the body of the flesh, which means the totality of it, in the circumcision of Christ; the believer now seeing that it is worse than useless. That was the point in the institution of circumcision. "I am the Almighty God; walk before me and be thou perfect". Then He gave Abraham the covenant, and the covenant meant that Abraham and his seed, as born after the flesh, had to go in death. The promises did not refer at all to him as in the flesh.

Ques. Is the truth of baptism in any way introduced in this chapter?

J.T. I think baptism is the Red Sea. The Red Sea and Jordan are brought together in Colossians. Baptism has reference to what is outside of us, circumcision to whatis inside.

A.R.S. Why is it that circumcision comes after Jordan?

J.T. Because when you see that you are risen with Christ you discover that the flesh and everything that is attached to it, the reproach of Egypt, must go, for the flesh and Egypt are found in the Christian. The light comes to you as you are prepared for it. Circumcision and flesh are introduced here because the people are prepared for it. The flesh is wholly unsuitable to the scene here. "We are the circumcision who worship God by the Spirit and have no confidence in the flesh". That is what this leads to, that the believer has no confidence in the flesh. He is entitled to put it off because God has set it aside in the death of Christ. The flesh was the only power we had before the death of Christ, but now we are entitled to put it off. In Abraham it was all objective because quickening was not there; and circumcision agrees with the truth of the Almighty God. The truth of the Almighty God means, in Christianity, that we have the Spirit, and that involves circumcision. The Spirit in us corresponds with the truth of the Almighty God; and if we have the Spirit we can afford to abandon the flesh.

W.B. You mean in the way of power?

J.T. Yes, we have power for it; there was no circumcision in the wilderness. It is not until you come into Canaan that it becomes evident how incongruous the flesh is. It is wholly unsuitable to the scene, and hence circumcision is brought in.

R.S.S. What are the three aspects of the passover to which you alluded?

J.T. The first is in Egypt. The people are in the presence of satanic power in the world, and what are they to do? They are no better than Pharaoh or the Egyptians, hence the passover lamb roast with fire was needed. God was shut out as a Judge by the blood of the lamb. But the lamb

itself was subjected to the fire, meaning that God's holy judgment was seen there. That referred to the Israelites as much as to the Egyptians; but the Israelites accepted it by eating the roast lamb, so that in Egypt it is connected with their deliverance from Satan's power in the world; they judged themselves by appropriating Christ as the sacrifice roast with fire, subjected to God's holy judgment, as a sacrifice for sin.

R.S.S. What is the aspect of the passover in the wilderness?

J.T. The point there is that we are to be associated with God's testimony, and that must be as by judging sin; so the passover has to be accepted. In Corinthians we read: "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us", so that we "keep the feast ... with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth". Then in this chapter it is to be maintained in connection with privilege. How can we enter into divine privilege unless the judgment of sin is maintained in our souls?

W.B. We need that whatever position we occupy.

J.T. Yes, we are down here, and these types refer to us as down here; they refer mainly to the history of God's people during the absence of Christ; and while that remains we have to maintain the passover.

R.S.S. So that the passover is just as great an obligation for the Christian as it was for the Israelite?

J.T. Clearly. "Christ our passover", says Paul, "is sacrificed for us".

R.S.S. And if we do not keep the feast we shall not be able truly to observe the Lord's supper?

J.T. Just so. It really comes before the supper. There are other elements connected with the passover. There is the feast of unleavened bread, which continued seven days. The passover was killed on the fourteenth day, and the feast, continued for seven

days. There is only one killing of the passover, but there has to be sufficient bread to sustain us during the whole seven days.

W.B. That answers to our whole course here?

J.T. I think so.

W.B. I should like to ask if there is any connection between circumcision and the passover, and why is it that the one should precede the other?

J.T. I think what is more immediately in the mind of the Spirit is the flesh in the Christian, as in Colossians. The flesh intrudes, and hence the Spirit says, we are to make sharp knives, as though the difficulty is very real. And it is a very real difficulty with Christians, because, after all, we like somehow to retain the flesh as if there was something good in it, as we see in the epistle to the Colossians.

W.B. And 2 Corinthians shows how severe the Corinthians were with themselves in what they judged.

J.T. I think they used the "sharp knives". Circumcision meant a clean cut. It was to be a total cutting off. That is the significance of the word sharp. But the passover refers to sin as such; circumcision has to do with the flesh.

W.B. Is that the same as in Colossians: "Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth"?

J.T. Yes, it is the same in principle. What you might call objective truth in regard to circumcision is the circumcision of Christ. It is on that ground you circumcise. I believe that every subjective truth has a corresponding objective truth.

J.N.H. The circumcision of Christ was accomplished in His death; here they were to encamp at Gilgal, and they were to return to Gilgal after going out to fight the Lord's battles and having had success. That is where the flesh would come in.

J.T. That emphasises what we have been saying.

that we are to maintain the disallowance of the flesh.

W.J.N. What we have here would set forth the soul coming to it for the first time; that is, to the putting off of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; but the returning to Gilgal after each battle would answer more to the maintenance of it. It has to be maintained.

J.T. I think so. After a victory the flesh is always ready to assert itself, as if it had had something to do with it.

W.J.N. That is self-confidence.

J.T. Yes, just as we see in the Israelites. They said that a few of them could take Ai, that many need not go up. That was confidence in the flesh. But what the believer sees is the power of God, and God would have him to rely on that power and on no other power. Circumcision corresponds with the revelation of God as the Almighty. What marked the people was that God was among them. There was the shout of a king among them. In a general way what marked them was the presence of a divine Person. So that the psalmist raises the question: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?" Again, "Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord". It was God known in the camp of Israel. When the host approached the sea, it fled. It was not God apart from the people. The sea fled at the presence of the people, because God was in the midst of the people. So this chapter begins with the terror that filled the inhabitants of Canaan, "because of the children of Israel".

W.B. We get the same thing in Acts 5. There was great fear upon every one. The power of God was there. Sin was judged; evil was kept out.

J.T. I think that answers in the New Testament to this. Circumcision was the sign in every male in Israel that the first order of man was discarded. Although they did not understand it, that was the

testimony that God placed in Israel. That man was discarded in the presence of the revelation of God as the Almighty.

R.S.S. That which answers in another way to circumcision is the gift of the Spirit now. They were marked in the Old Testament in their flesh, in their bodies, as God's people. Now God gives the Spirit, and it is that which really set the flesh aside.

J.T. In whom is the flesh set aside but in the man who has the Spirit? You may be baptised, but you can only be in the truth of circumcision by the Spirit. So Paul says: "we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God ... and do not trust in flesh", Philippians 3:3.

Ques. Is it self-judgment,?

J.T. It is self-judgment, and more; the man who is in the truth of circumcision has no confidence in the flesh at all. It includes all the exercises of the flesh, everything that marks Egypt goes with it.

Ques. Circumcised the eighth day. What is the significance of that?

J.T. It was a new departure. It indicated that the first man had seven days to prove what he was. Seven days being the perfect time of testing he had opportunity to prove what he was, and therefore he is set aside. I think it refers also to the Lord's death. The period of the Lord's sojourn here was brought to an end.

R.S.S. In Christianity it corresponds with the first day?

J.T. Yes. So that applying it in a spiritual way it refers to Christianity. We come into the eighth day. We are the really circumcised ones. In Christianity it marks a new departure, a new order of man. The number eight is very interesting. It is the first number after seven. Seven appears in Genesis 2, and indicates God's order of creation. The eighth day recognises that order and is connected

with it, but it is a new departure in it, tantamount to the first day in another order of things. The next number in Scripture is twelve, which shows that in the new order there is administration. The number eight is seen in Noah. He was one of eight; 2 Peter 2:5. There was a new order of things introduced in Noah. The old creation was recognised, but a new order was introduced in it. Then, consequent upon that, in the family of Abraham you have twelve, which signifies that God's system is marked by administration. The next number after twelve, I think, is ten. That is seen in the commandments, putting man under responsibility.

A.F.M. What about seventy? The seventy leaders and the seventy sent forth by the Lord?

J.T. I think it is multiplication of blessing or power, but connected with human responsibility; the seventy palm trees, the seventy elders, and the seventy witnesses of Christ. It is ten times seven. It refers to multiplication of spiritual power as distinct from twelve, which is ordered administration. If we do not take account of the things that are mentioned in Scripture we shall never understand the "age to come". Every divine thought is taken up there. The things there all allude to previous testimonies.

A.R.S. I notice that Stephen, as dying, sees Jesus in heaven. You would connect that with the eighth day?

J.T. Yes; and then you have all the new order of things in Paul's ministry opened up consequent upon that.

W.B. The passover dealt with things negatively. The food and the conquests that follow are positive. You get the old corn of the land and the leader of the Lord's host.

J.T. Yes. But I think we ought not to omit, before going on to that, the effect of the testimony --

the passage of Jordan -- upon the inhabitants of Canaan. The Canaanites in their terror connected it with the people of Israel. It says, "because of the children of Israel". And following on that you get the "sharp knives". God said to them, as it were, 'It is not you as in flesh that causes all this terror; it is not your power; it is my power'. God will not support the flesh. The truth of circumcision is introduced in the presence of God as the Almighty. God Almighty and circumcision go together. I think the wilderness experience discovers the flesh to us. Circumcision here involves that it has been already discovered. The new surroundings involve that the flesh can no longer be tolerated.

Rem. When the children of Israel maintained the truth of circumcision the power of God came out; it was manifested to be the power of God.

J.T. When they returned to Gilgal the power was there.

W.B. The serpent of brass was its condemnation, but does not circumcision here set forth a further part of the truth, as to the subtleties of the flesh?

J.T. What the serpent of brass represented was sin in the flesh -- sinful flesh. But the believer might reason that that does not refer to his mind, his intellect, nor to that flesh which establishes religious ceremonies. That was the state of things at Colosse. They were not troubled with sin in the flesh, but with the mind of the flesh; man's mind working out philosophy and the like. I believe that is what is alluded to here; that that cannot be tolerated in the Christian circle.

W.B. But was not the temple worship all arranged by God to produce religious feelings in man? There were men-singers, women-singers, and ritual.

R.S.S. Here we get God completely setting aside the flesh, but later, in the history of the children of

Israel God institutes a service which seems to recognise it.

J.T. Yes. But that service must be regarded simply as a type. It refers to the service that is now established in Christ in a spiritual way. He is the great choir leader. The epistle to the Hebrews shows that there is a wholly new system established in Christ, but the flesh is not recognised in it at all.

R.S.S. In the service of the Israelites in Solomon's day there was a recognition of man after the flesh.

J.T. Certainly. That is what I have been saying. Circumcision was there as the testimony that man was set aside in God's mind, and yet God was still going on with him historically, because another Man had not yet appeared. The new man had not come in yet.

R.S.S. And God was giving the man after the flesh everything to help him -- music, etc.

J.T. Quite so. So that the period before circumcision, the wilderness, included in type the ministry of Christ; there was the complete testing of man. But Christianity is the eighth day. Christianity introduces circumcision in its true spiritual meaning.

W.B. The majority of Christians today are connected with what we might call temple-worship, the development of that particular religious flesh which can be wrought upon by music, singing and ritual.

J.T. Quite so. Therefore Christendom is apostate in principle. It has gone back; it has receded from the position in which God established Christianity -- a spiritual position. It has gone back to a religion of the flesh.

Ques. Would that answer to the "concision"? Philippians 3:2.

J.T. I think it does. Concision involves a partial sort of thing, not a complete cutting off.

W.B. It is not complete. There are marks, but not a cutting off.

R.S.S. But God did not utterly ignore the flesh until after the death of Christ. Man did not prove his utter inability to please God until the death of Christ.

J.T. So that circumcision in its spiritual significance is in the death of Christ. We do not reach the truth of circumcision until we are in the eighth day.

R.S.S. So that what we get in this chapter, actual circumcision of the flesh, is really a testimony on God's part.

J.T. It was a testimony placed there for us, hundreds of years before the truth of it came out.

R.S.S. All these things happened unto them as types.

A.F.M. Whatever was taken up in the Old Testament has been carried into the New, and in a spiritual way maintained in the assembly, so we may find in the assembly what answers spiritually to the temple, the music, priesthood, and so on. Do you not think so?

J.T. Certainly. What God had before Him was a spiritual order of things. That is now inaugurated. So the Lord says, in resurrection, "In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises". There you have the true Priest, and the true worship of God established.

W.B. In the first two of Israel's kings we get the principle illustrated, Saul represented the flesh, and he was superseded by David, the man after the Spirit.

J.T. Saul was helped by God. If there ever was a man who had God's support it was Saul, yet he proved an utter failure. But David was no afterthought with God. It was not that God had to resort to David, because David is introduced in

the Scriptures before Saul. We have the genealogy of David before ever Saul is heard of. Christ was no afterthought with God in any sense, even as Man, In forming Adam God knew perfectly what would happen. God began with Christ. One of the greatest thoughts in the book of Revelation, as to both God and Christ, is that They are the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. God began with Christ and He ends with Christ. I think that the Alpha and the Omega conveys the thought that God was the first Speaker, and He the last Speaker, because the figure is taken from language, and the first and the last would have reference to Christ. He was personally the first One before God as well as the last. The beginning and the end show that He was in view in all God's operations, and the great comfort of it is that the end must agree with the beginning. If God is the Alpha and the Omega the end must agree with the beginning. So that all the operations that go on between the beginning and the end are simply to reach the end.

A.F.M. God could not entrust anything to man. That is what was proved, and everything lay in the Son becoming Man.

J.T. God knew perfectly that it would be so. Nothing is perfect until the Son appears, and then you have everything in permanency.

R.S.S. Could we have something now about the old corn of the land and the ceasing of the manna?

A.F.M. Would you say that the old corn speaks on the one hand of privilege, and on the other of conflict?

J.T. Yes. The old corn of the land is Christ ascended. It is one thing to see Christ coming down, it is another thing to see Him going up. The old corn of the land is Christ as ascended. I think that Christ come down refers to our path here. The old

corn of the land is more than Christ risen, it is Christ ascended, because it refers to what He is in His own sphere. John 6 is Christ coming down, Christ here on earth, humbled, in flesh, and He is food for the believer. He is food for the world in that light.

W.B. What do you regard the food in John 6 to be? Is it represented by any type in the Old Testament?

J.T. I do not know -of any type because it is universal. It is what Christ was. The food and drink that He would give them would be His flesh and His blood. It refers to Christ as in flesh here and dying, and it takes account of us as we are. The result of eating is eternal life, but the food itself is Christ in death, His flesh and His blood, and it is universal; it is for the world. The Jew was tested by the presentation of Christ in that way. If they did not appropriate a dead Christ they had no life in themselves. Eating and drinking are the strongest expression of appropriation so that in appropriating a dead Christ you accept your own death.

R.S.S. It is affection that appropriates, is it not?

J.T. We see in the disciples how it works: "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life". That is, they were attached to Christ, and hence they would not leave Him, whereas the mass did leave Him. I think that John 6 always contemplates the Lord as dying. Even if He is in resurrection He is the One who died. But the old corn of the land refers to Christ as entirely heavenly, not simply as the One who died. The old corn grew in the land.

W.H.O. Do we not feed on Him in a sphere where we never die? "He that eateth toe, even he shall live by me".

J.T. John 6 is life in a scene of death you do not die because you feed on Christ, though everybody

else dies. When you come to the old corn you are outside the sphere of death.

A.F.M. That answers more to John 20.

J.T. I think it does; Christ going up.

Rem. The manna was food, so is the old corn of the land.

J.T. The manna sustains you in the wilderness, where you carry out God's will, but the old corn of the land sustains you in Canaan. You require that kind of food there, otherwise, your constitution would not be equal to the surroundings.

W.J.N. And the manna refers really to what Christ was as a Man here; not as dying, but as living, carrying out God's will down here.

J.L.J. So you do not get the manna in John 6 at all.

J.T. Only in the way of contrast. "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died". But the old corn of the land is Christ as belonging to heaven personally, because the corn grew in Canaan; it was indigenous to Canaan. "Stored" corn is the word, the corn of the year before, showing the plentifulness in the land.

R.S.S. Old corn of the land would be in John 3"no man hath ascended up to heaven, but ... the Son of man which is in heaven", and John 6"What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?"

J.T. Yes, the Person belongs to heaven. And again in chapter 20, "I have not yet ascended to my Father". He was ascending to His Father.

A.P.M. What about Corinthians: "As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly"?

J.T. That shows the order of man. It is a wonderful thought that we are called to fill a place in heaven. We must be built up for that. In other words, we must feed on the heavenly Man, we must

appropriate the Man who is at home there, who belongs to that scene, otherwise we are not fit for it.

R.S.S. Now we are getting our education for what is coming, for what we shall be in the midst of actually, before long.

J.T. Quite so. How is the city formed? It comes down from God out of heaven. There is nothing incongruous about it. It is at home there. But how? By its acquaintance with Christ. The assembly is made to know Christ so intimately as the heavenly One that she is perfectly at home in the heavenlies.

W.H.C. Eating His flesh and drinking His blood, is that the appropriation of death, and the negative side; and "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me", is that the positive side?

J.T. That is present and continuous. "Unless ye shall have eaten (it is a different tense) ye have no life". We have definitely at a given period to appropriate the death of Christ, and there has to be continuance, so "he also who eats me"; that is continuous -- it is a further thing, for continuous sustenance of life.

W.H.C. Is that in the sphere of life? Is not the manna what we eat in the wilderness, in the sphere where we die, and "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me", that is in a sphere where we do not die?

J.T. But I think that the sphere of death is contemplated -- there you do not die, while others do. But this chapter in Joshua contemplates a sphere of life.

Ques. What bearing on this has the Lord's answer to Mary Magdalene in John 20?

J.T. That appropriation of Him is not to be as He was here in flesh. If she is to touch Him it must be in connection with new associations, and as ascended . "Touch me not; for I have not yet

ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren". She finds Him in that circle.

Ques. Will you say a few words on the Captain of the Lord's host?

J.T. Well, I think the thought there is that now you are prepared for conflict. The old corn of the land is privilege. The book of Joshua is a type, I think, of apostolic labours, and in principle of the whole church-position here upon earth in conflict. These chapters that we have been considering are preparatory for the conflict, so that the saints should be set in the full light and understanding that the power is to be spiritual. It is to be God's power. And what we see in the Leader is that we are under the military direction of Christ. It is a military scene, so to speak. I think it is of importance that saints should get the idea of Christ as Leader. What comes to light here is that Christ is the military Leader. "As Captain of the host of Jehovah am I now come". Joshua was not that really.

Rem. In the incident in this chapter Joshua is not exactly representative of Christ. The Captain of the Lord's host is Christ.

J.T. Yes, Joshua had to take his place as one of the rest; "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot". The Lord here, I think, asserts His title as the military chief of God's host.

J.N.H. It reads, "captain of Jehovah's army" in the New Translation.

J.T. Yes, Joshua said, "Art thou for us?" But that was not the point at all. The Lord does not say I am for you -- but "as captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come". He is, as it were, saying to Joshua, 'It is a question as to whether you are with me, not whether I am with you'. It refers to the whole church-position, viewed as militant. We are still militant.

Rem. We are exhorted to warfare in 2 Timothy.

J.T. Yes, warfare, you might say, is a characteristic feature of 2 Timothy. It is warfare right through to the end, and the comfort is that the Lord remains as Captain of Jehovah's host; hence all will result in complete victory. But, then, the ground is holy.

A.A.T. What is the point there?

J.T. Well, we are to be holy in warfare. In participating in divine warfare all natural and vindictive thoughts are to be abandoned. We are apt to be vindictive in warfare, but holiness excludes all that.

A.F.M. There is a reference in Ephesians to the armour. That would apply to us. There are the various parts of the armour, so that the Christian using them is proof against all the wiles of the devil. But it is an armour of a peculiar kind, and it is involved in the gospel. It speaks of righteousness, truth, faith, and so on.

J.T. Just so. The armour is subjective. In other words, it applies to the state of the Christian.

A.F.M. In the gospel, of course, it presents itself objectively, but it is wrought out subjectively in one's life.

J.T. When we come to the actual conflict in Joshua, the people are made to feel at the outset, in the greatest victory, that the power is of God. They do not strike a blow in the conquest of Jericho at all. It is a question of carrying the ark round the city and blowing with the trumpets.

J.N.H. But at Ai they were defeated; they struck a blow there.

J.T. Yes, they attempted to take that city in their own strength.

Rem. "The weapons of warfare are not carnal".

J.T. I think we ought to have great confidence in the power and beauty of Christ, in the strength of

the testimony of Christ, in the sounding of the rams' horns.

Ques. What does the sounding of the rams' horns refer to?

J.T. The announcement of the testimony. The ram was the offering for consecration. The ram is a mature animal, a lamb is not. A lamb is diminutive, but a ram has come to maturity. It refers to Christ in the perfection of His manhood giving Himself in devotedness to God in sacrifice; and the rams' horns would be, as some one has said, the power and beauty of Christ.

W.B. We get the two beautifully brought out in Genesis 22. "God will provide himself a lamb", and then there was a ram caught in the thicket by the horns.

W.J.N. The ram was the animal used for consecration of the priests, Revelation 8:18.

J.T. Yes; every animal used in sacrifice had a significance; and a ram refers, I think, to maturity in manhood, which is necessary for priesthood.

LEVITICAL PRIVILEGE

Joshua 21:1 - 8

J.T. The book of Joshua, it seems to me, is designed to foreshadow the assembly's position, as well as her heavenly testimony, and I think the way in which the Levites are viewed represents the assembly in that light. There are three things said of the Levites in this book in regard to their inheritance; that the sacrifices of the Lord were their inheritance; that the Lord was their inheritance; and that the priesthood was their inheritance; that they had no inheritance in the land. Then, they are given forty-eight cities and their suburbs in which to dwell.

W.B. Is there any significance in the number forty-eight?

J.T. Yes, I think it is an allusion to administration. I think the cities were to be centres of influence, which is a very important idea. The levitical influence was to be universal in the nation.

Ques. What is the levitical influence?

J.T. The influence of a people that have no inheritance upon earth, but have to do with God. They have approach to God; they have the place of the firstborn with God (for the Levites were taken instead of the firstborn), as representing God's portion in the whole nation. A people thus privileged would necessarily have a most beneficial influence, and in the antitype a heavenly influence, because the antitype is the saints viewed as the "firstborn ones registered in heaven", Hebrews 12, and having no inheritance upon earth.

A.F.M. Do you make any difference between the Levites as a tribe and the priestly family?

J.T. The priestly family was confined to Aaron. Here they are included in the levitical family.

W.B. The priesthood was from the tribe of Levi.

J.T. Yes. In verse 4 it says, "The children of Aaron the priest, which were Levites"; they were included in the Levites. But the idea conveyed in the family of Levi is different from the idea conveyed in the priesthood, because the tribe of Levi was God's portion out of Israel. They were taken instead of the firstborn. It seems to me that that follows properly on the truth of resurrection, because resurrection in itself is not limited to the church, and therefore is not properly church-privilege, and should not be so regarded. It is an immense privilege to have part in resurrection, but resurrection is not limited to us. It is a universal thing. It began with Abraham, and the blessing of Abraham is universal.

A.F.M. Do you refer to the nations, where it says, "that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles"?

J.T. Yes. "In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" will have strict fulfilment in the millennial state of things.

J.N.H. What does the resurrection of the just include?

J.T. It includes all the just, all that have part in the first resurrection. But if you take account of those that have part in the first resurrection, you will find that there are some who are especially privileged. Revelation 20 speaks about the first resurrection, and there are those who reign with Christ. It says: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them".

P.H.F. What is the privilege that is peculiar to the church?

J.T. I think that the church is alluded to there. But he goes on to speak about certain ones who had been already under review in the earlier part of the Revelation, certain ones who had suffered; and he mentions them specifically, else it might be considered

that they were omitted in the first resurrection. The first resurrection includes all the just, but the assembly clearly has the first place, because, as a matter of fact, we are raised before those that suffer during the period indicated in Revelation. But still the thought of resurrection is universal. It applies to all.

G.W.H. Why do the sons of Aaron appear here?

J.T. I think it is a special mention of the priestly family, but still they are included in the Levites. But the thought in the Levites in this book indicates privilege, which is not universal.

A.R.S. That privilege is connected with the Lord's things, the sacrifices.

J.T. Yes, and the Lord Himself, and the priesthood, and then, besides that, they had cities. They lived exclusively in cities. They did not live in the country, and there is a great difference between life in a city and rural life.

A.R.S. Is the city the idea of exclusion?

J.T. There is a certain education, a certain culture involved in the life in a city which is not in rural life. In the antitype it is our position that is in view; that is, our life is in the city.

G.A.T. Which city do you mean, the city of refuge, or the city of blessing? There are: six of refuge and forty-two of blessing.

J.T. I think all the forty-eight were alike, in this sense, that they were residential cities for the Levites.

J.N.H. I have been greatly interested in the thought about the city representing the capital. Do you make a distinction among the cities as to the culture and training required for the capital of the nation and administration of affairs?

J.T. Yes; life in a city is regarded both in the Scriptures and in the world as different from life in the country.

J.N.H. Abraham looked for a city, A city would

in some way minister to the necessities of a man living in the country, would it not?

J.T. That is not what I see here. Abraham looked for a city. That is somewhat different -- a different line of thought. The cities that the Levites actually possessed were not built by them, neither were they built by Israelites.

W.J.N. We are told that Abraham "looked for a city". Is not that rather future, in the sense that it is to come out in manifestation by-and-by, but what is here refers to the present?

J.T. The book of Joshua deals with the present state of things. It deals with Christianity as it has been inaugurated in connection with Christ's resurrection and ascension, so that the cities are not as Jerusalem. The idea is not the way they were built, or the material used in their building. That is not before the Spirit. What is before the Spirit is that there is a class whose life is in the city.

Ques. What advantage attaches to that?

J.T. There is a certain culture and education involved in life in the city, in a building, and those that are viewed as in the cities have no inheritance upon earth. When you seek the antitype you can see at once that it refers to Christians. For the moment those who are specially privileged have no place on earth at all. They are associated with God and His things, and they live in a city. The Levites have the sacrifices and the priesthood, and their dwelling is in the city. But the whole country was to be influenced by them.

Ques. Do all Christians live in the city in the sense you speak of?

J.T. All Christians are typically in the levitical tribe; this tribe refers to Christians. The great advantage of the types, read in the light of the New Testament, is that they emphasise the truths of Christianity.

Ques. Would you say that all Christians are not in the good of this?

J.T. That is another matter; but there is great importance in our getting hold of the divine thought for us, and that is, that we are to have no inheritance upon earth. The effect of that is that you do not seek one on earth. Barnabas is a representative Levite of the New Testament. It says of him: "having land, sold it".

Ques. Do you mean that you would not advise us to have land?

J.T. No. It is a question of what you look upon as your inheritance -- your treasure? There is no more harm intrinsically in buying a piece of land to farm with the object of making a living by it than in buying a suit of clothes. The point is the principle upon which you hold things. If a man owns a farm, that is not to be his inheritance or to give him position here. I used to think that Barnabas sold his property because he did not care for it any more, but that is not the way Scripture presents it. If that had been his thought he would not have sold it; he would have given it away. But he sold his property because he was going to use the price of it for the testimony.

W.H.C. And that he might be more free for the testimony.

J.T. Barnabas is first seen as coming to the apostles with the money. He saw that he could make good use of it, and so he brought it and placed it where it could best be used; not in the bank, but at the feet of the apostles.

B.S.S. I suppose it was hardly according to divine order that Barnabas, as a Levite, should have had any land?

J.T. Clearly not.

R.S.S. And now he was affected by what was presented to him.

J.T. His act shows that the antitype had more

weight with him than the type. The Levite was the type, but the antitype had come in; the true levitical idea had been inaugurated, and that affected him greatly, and he acts in the spirit of it.

W.H.C. Would you say that every Christian by having the Spirit is a Levite?

J.T. I think so. I think every Christian in the divine thought is called to it.

W.H.C. He may not be in the good of it; that is the Spirit's work in him.

J.T. Yes; but do you not think that it is important that we should have the light of it brought to us, because that sets us in exercise. If I see that God has called me to the levitical position it sets me in motion, and I do not want to have an inheritance on the earth, I do not want to have my mind on earthly things. God has called me to heavenly things.

R.S.S. I am not quite clear as to what you said in connection with resurrection and the Levite. The levitical tribe was clearly taken in place of the firstborn. They had that position, but the life of the firstborn was forfeited. I suppose it was that you referred to?

J.T. No. That is Exodus. I was rather thinking of the way in which the Spirit introduces the Levites in Joshua. In being introduced in the book of Joshua they are introduced in connection with the teaching of Joshua, and Joshua does not present atonement, nor redemption. He deals with life. The Spirit of God shows us in Joshua, how Christ has overthrown death through His death and resurrection, and that in resurrection a new order has been introduced. That is the point in resurrection, that a new kind of man has appeared. Now the levitical idea in Joshua is in advance of that. The thought of a new order of man is not confined to the church, because every family will be on that principle. But the tribe of Levi having a special place refer typically to the

church which has a special place -with God. That was the reason why I thought that the subject would indicate something of church-privilege, as being beyond resurrection. Joshua does not show us the Levites carrying the ark. The necessity for that had ceased. He does not speak of the service of the Levites. He speaks only of their inheritance and this is typical of the saints, not in the way in which the Lord uses us in His service, but according to the inheritance which He has given us.

A.R.S. And that is a heavenly inheritance.

J.T. Yes.

A.R.S. And you would connect resurrection with this in that way?

J.T. Quite so.

A.R.S. And our sphere is a heavenly one?

J.T. Yes. And that must be preceded by resurrection, because the people who have a heavenly portion are a risen people. They come into resurrection, but they have more than resurrection.

A.R.S. You have been speaking about the levitical position.

J.T. Yes, we are speaking of their position, not of their service.

W.B. So the Levites in the type represent the church. Who do the twelve tribes represent?

J.T. I think the twelve tribes, viewed as distinct from the Levites, have reference to Israel, as God's earthly people having an earthly portion, whereas the church has a heavenly portion.

W.B. They are all the people of God.

J.T. Yes, but the Levites had a higher portion. They had to do with the things of God only; and the point was that they were to influence all the tribes.

W.B. And does this answer to the thought of every family being named of the Father?

J.T. No doubt. It is indicated here that God,

in the sovereignty of His ways, gives the Levites a special place. They represented the firstborn and were God's portion. Ephraim had the firstborn's place on earth, and Levi represented God's portion out of the people; Levi represents the firstborn in heaven.

J.N.H. What are the suburbs? The Levites did have the use of land reaching out a certain number of feet from their cities.

J.T. Two thousand feet was to be measured from the wall of the city outward. Over that territory they had a special influence. It was theirs, but it was to be used for their cattle.

P.H.F. What is the significance of that strip of land round their cities?

J.T. Well, as to the antitype, there is a difference between what is strictly the assembly and what you may call its immediate precincts. What is strictly the assembly is pervaded by the Spirit. That is, no one is in the assembly who has not the Spirit. But the suburbs are near to the city. They are not the city, and they are not the country. So that there is a zone, you might say, between what is strictly the assembly and what is not. Your children, and all that pertains to you, come under your direct influence, but your children and your property are not in the assembly. They may subserve the assembly, but they are not part of it. I have no doubt that is the idea in the suburbs. Do you not so take account of your family and your property? It is not the world, and yet it is not the assembly, but it may be made to subserve the assembly. The cattle even are taken into account.

W.B. In the case of a believing wife who has an unbelieving husband, it says that the children are holy.

J.T. Yes, and even an unbelieving husband is sanctified by a believing wife.

W.B. What you say would mean that nothing with a Christian would drop down to the level of the world.

J.T. The Christian properly never regards anything on that level. His business is not carried on on that level. His servants and all that pertain to him are in close proximity to what is spiritual.

G.A.T. Then, are the suburbs in the sphere of privilege?

J.T. It is a privilege in a sense, but it is not the city.

G.A.T. Would you make a distinction between privilege and blessing? Are we not brought into privilege by baptism, while blessing is by the Spirit?

J.T. That is helpful. Perhaps such a distinction may be made.

W.H.C. It is a great privilege to be introduced by baptism into a sphere on earth where all the light is, and where the Spirit of God is, and the ministry of the Spirit, and the ordinances, everything by which we can reach the blessing where we can receive the Spirit, by whom we enter into the blessing.

J.N.H. The children, as brought in at the beginning, were brought within the circle of the operations of the Holy Spirit within the range of the influences you have spoken of.

W.H.C. The ordinance of circumcision illustrates that. It was a great privilege for a child of a Jew to be by circumcision introduced into the sphere of blessing.

J.N.H. In Hebrews 6 they are said to be "partakers of the Holy Ghost". They were inside the circle of the Holy Ghost, where He operated, and it speaks of the possibility of some going out of it. Is that the thought you have as to the suburbs?

J.T. In Hebrews 6 they had more. They were made "partakers" of the Spirit; they had "tasted

of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come". It referred to Jewish believers who had been brought into the Christian circle of things and were in danger of apostatising, of giving up Christianity. As our brother was saying, baptism, or being born of Christian parents, places us within the reach of privileges. It gives us an immense advantage. It is a privilege, and the question is whether we take advantage of the opportunities afforded us.

J.N.H. As I understand it, through baptism I bring my child into the sphere of privilege, but he may fall short of the sphere of blessing.

J.T. Yes; he may fall short of the Spirit and what lies in the Spirit.

A.F.M. What is the sphere of the church's administration, and what is it that the church ministers? It must be very good.

J.T. Well, that would raise the whole question involved in the course of the testimony in the Acts; that is, the apostles were accustomed to the tabernacle and the temple, both of which were erected in a rectangular form. They were oblong. Now in the sheet let down from heaven in Acts 10, was an allusion to the place and influence of the assembly, as seen when the truth of it was fully developed. The sheet was four-cornered. It was a square, but in the form of a vessel. I take it that it alluded to the four points of the compass; the whole earth; that the whole earth was now in the mind of God, so the vessel of administration was presented as four-cornered. That was a new education for Peter, but it was an education that was involved in his levitical position when he understood it.

W.H.C. That would answer to the Lord's commission: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature".

J.T. Quite so. But it would be from heaven. The sheet was let down from heaven, following upon

W.J.N. You mean as to Saul?

J.T. Yes. The Lord shone upon Saul and spoke to Saul from heaven. Administration from a heavenly centre had begun, and now God would educate Peter to make room for this. So the four-cornered sheet was let down from heaven, and in it were all manner of beasts. And God said to Peter, "Rise, kill and eat". Peter said, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean". And God's answer was: "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common". God was intimating that administration from heaven involved the benefit of the whole earth; that there was now no section of the earth especially favoured; and I have no doubt that the forty-eight cities of the Levites pointed to that; that the whole nation was to be influenced by the tribe of Levi through their cities.

A.F.M. The twelve tribes, then, would symbolise the whole creation, the world at large?

J.T. I think so.

A.F.M. The world is in the position of reconciliation at the present time. The casting away of the Jew was the reconciling of the world.

R.S.S. It is carried out in the holy city in Revelation 21. It is four-square.

J.T. That is what I was going to say, and it shows what our brother has suggested in his question about the administration, that the administration through the assembly is universal; it is four-square. Then what it administers would be in keeping with its nature. It would administer according to its nature. The assembly is formed after Christ. The administration would be in accord with the gospel as preached by Peter to Cornelius and his company: God had "anointed Jesus of Nazareth ... who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed

of the devil; for God was with him". So that the administration would be the administration of good, "He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him".

Ques. In what way did the Levites administer good in Old Testament times?

J.T. I do not know whether they were up to the truth. What we have to deal with is the antitype, because we know, as a matter of fact, the types prove nothing in themselves. But you can understand that people who were exclusively occupied with the offerings, with the priesthood, and with God Himself, and who lived in cities, would be of a different kind from the ordinary Israelite who lived in the country, and had no direct access to God.

R.M.L. The different services depended upon the Levites doing their part in Israel.

J.T. The allusion to them in Deuteronomy 33, I think, helps: "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again". (verse 8 - 11). I think a people such as that indicates would have a very great and a very good influence over others.

W.J.N. The priesthood is included in that.

J.T. Clearly, the Urim and Thummim were there. And so in Joshua.

W.J.N. Malachi 2 says of Levi: "My covenant

was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity".

A.R.S. Is the practical effect now of the influence of the Levites, that if we, as Christians, are true to our levitical position, the heavenly influence will spread? I was thinking of the vision of the waters in Ezekiel 47, the measurement showed first, water to the ankles, next to the knees, and finally a mighty river, waters to swim in, and finally running out into the desert. Is that the idea?

J.T. Yes, I have no doubt that the position of the heavenly city in the kingdom will be the full answer to the position of the Levites, because its influences are universal, it is four-square.

A.R.S. It seems to me that the great thing would be to see that the Lord's people are in the good of this position, because, if they are, the influence is sure to be felt.

J.T. And you want to make a point of your influence being a heavenly one.

A.R.S. What I have in mind is, for instance, a great many saints have the idea that as soon as a person is converted they should set him to work to get others in. They are pulled in, no matter whether they are up to their heavenly position or not.

J.T. But God will not have anything lower now in the way of testimony than that which came out in Christ, and that was a heavenly testimony.

G.A.T. Does that testimony come out through the church today?

J.T. It should; and hence the importance of recognising the levitical position, because it is designed in the book of Joshua to set forth our

position now. We are to influence all below; the heavenly city will do this in the future.

Ques. Has it reference to both the present and the future?

J.T. Certainly. The thousand years has reference to all testimony that was placed in the hands of man previously; everything that was committed to man's responsibility is taken up and maintained in the heavenly city.

E.H.T. The position of the Levites is a specific one. Before God all Christians are Levites, but all Christians are not exercising their privilege. They have a position in the world to come in administration. Do Christians who take advantage of the privilege now have any greater position in the holy city then than those who do not?

J.T. That is a very good question. I think that the influence that we shall exert in the future will be co-relative with the influence that we exert now, because the formation is going on now.

G.A.T. We get that in connection with the pounds and the talents, do we not?

J.T. Yes, we do.

Rem. It is a great thing at the present moment if there is a heavenly people down here in the good of their citizenship.

J.T. It is a very great thing for God, because the testimony that God intended in Christianity was not fully rendered -until after Acts 9. What corresponded strictly with the heavenly city did not come out until after Paul's conversion; although the city is founded on the testimony of the twelve, yet its completion is the result of the ministry of Paul.

Rem. There will never be a day of privilege like the present one.

J.T. Never another day like this.

Rem. And what the blessed Lord would have us

exercised about is to be in the good of the privilege at the present moment.

J.T. It is very remarkable that in Malachi the last of the prophets, the tribe of Levi should have such an honourable mention. It is very encouraging for our day, because we might think that the position or testimony of the church is no longer recognised.

G.A.T. It is a very common expression that things have gone to pieces.

J.T. Well, I believe God would revive and is reviving the light of the church. Every testimony, every bit of service, depend upon it, should have in view the church's place in God's counsels. That is what should give tone to all activity in service.

W.B. You said that the Levites had three things: the sacrifices, the priesthood, and the Lord Himself. How had they the Lord?

J.T. Jehovah was their inheritance. The Lord said to Abraham, "I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward". That was a wonderful thing to say to a man, that God Himself is to be his reward. In the presence of that, that God was his reward, Abraham thought of an heir. He said, I have no heir. It seems to me to be an immense thing to have God as our portion. "Jehovah is your inheritance", was said to Levi.

W.J.N. Genesis 15:1 was after Abraham had acted on the principle of surrender in the previous chapter.

J.T. Yes. The connection of a city, or cities, in Scripture is of intense interest, because, as far as I see, it is connected in the mind of God with the church exclusively.

A.F.M. This was a matter of grace, was it not? They did not build the cities; they were given to them. What is your thought about that?

J.T. I think the actual cities, what they are, is

not so much in view, but rather the fact that they have cities, in contrast with an inheritance in the country. When we come to consider the cities, the truth comes out that it is not cities, but one city. But forty-eight cities would indicate that their influence was to be universal in the nation. The cities were scattered all over the country.

Ques. Is your thought as to the importance of the city in Scripture that God has only one city for a place of administration, and that is the church?

J.T. Yes. Hebrews says, "Ye have come to ... the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem". When the thought of God is developed there is one city. Then we have the "assembly of the firstborn [who are] registered in heaven". That is the antitype of the tribe of Levi.

G.A.T. What is the connection between the city of Revelation 21, the city that is four-square, and the forty-eight cities of the Levites, as to the present time and the way it will come out in the future?

J.T. There is clearly a numerical connection between the forty-eight cities and the city that is four-square. The city being four-square refers to its universal character. There are three gates on either side of the city, making twelve. In the city there are twelve gates, and on the gates are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and at each gate is an angel. Moreover, each gate is one pearl. Now all these things put together show that the gates are of immense importance. A pearl represents what is most valuable of all the things that are mentioned. The precious stones were in the foundation, but a pearl is that which in itself is used as a figure of the church. It was the "pearl of great price". The idea of a pearl is not that it reflects light. The idea in a precious stone is that it reflects light; but the idea in a pearl is intrinsic preciousness. It is "a whole" -- one pearl. It is not cut, so that it refers to what is

intrinsically valuable in the eye of Christ, not simply what reflects Him. Peter was a precious stone. He was a cut stone. The Lord had formed Peter through discipline, so that he reflected Christ in the foundation, and so as to all the apostles. But I have no doubt Paul would convey something of the pearl. That is, he brings the church in according to what it is for Christ's affections, and the fact that the gates are of pearl shows of what importance they are. All that issues from the city necessarily goes through the gates, and all that enter the city go in through the gates; the names of the twelve tribes are there, and angels are there. In God's ways previously administration was either in angelic hands or in the hands of the twelve tribes of Israel, whereas now it is all taken up and placed in the city. In other words, administration now -- all government, issues from the city.

R.S.S. The gospel of Matthew shows that. It presents the church in that character.

J.T. I think so. I think the gospel of Matthew was to support the testimony of the twelve. If I understand it, the gospel of Mark was to support the ministry of the twelve; their ministry was accredited by the ministry of the Lord; and the gospel of Luke supports the testimony of Paul; and I think that Paul brings in the tribe of Levi. That is, the gospel of Luke shows that the saints, those who believe, have their names registered in heaven; that the saints of the present dispensation have a heavenly position. "Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come", and the heavenly city is the one that is to come. What kind of administration will it be when you think of those gates being pearls! What an influence will issue, what a governmental influence will issue from those gates! That influence will be universal.

W.J.N. You speak of Paul's ministry giving

what answers to the pearl. Does that refer to the formation of the church in divine affection?

J.T. That is what I thought. I think the gates are the result of his ministry.

A.F.M. If the gates set forth the unity and beauty and worth of the church as according to Paul's ministry, what about the interior of the city? That has not been mentioned.

J.T. It has been pointed out that a city is completed in its gates. It is said of Jericho that the builder completed the city in his youngest son. He laid the foundation in his eldest son and set up the gates in his youngest son. That to my mind is evidence that the idea in setting up gates is completion. Paul set up the gates, because the city was completed by his ministry. He did not found the city, but he completed it. I have no doubt that Ephesus was the completion of it.

A.F.M. The crowning ministry.

J.T. Yes. The gates were the public place of judgment in Old Testament times. So the husband of the wise woman was known in the gates.

Ques. Was not that where Lot was found?

J.T. Yes, he sat in the gate of the city. And it was in the gate of the city that Boaz purchased Ruth.

Ques. Would you say that power and authority were represented in the gates?

J.T. I think so.

W.B. Will you say a little more about the foundation?

J.T. You have the name of each stone in the foundation given to us, showing that each apostle was to reflect something distinctive. They were not all alike. There were not two of them alike; they were all different. But, taken together, they would be administratively a complete reflection of Christ, I think.

W.B. What is the thought in the cutting of the stone?

J.T. I suppose that the light should be reflected. I do not know much about precious stones, but I understand that they reflect light.

W.B. It shows the special pains which God has taken with them?

J.T. Yes, the way He has discipled them. Peter is the model as to how the apostles were formed by Christ.

G.A.T. What about the interior-of the city?

J.T. The book of Revelation does not show us what is within.

G.A.T. It says, "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it".

J.T. Yes, but the interior is not opened up to us.

W.B. Except that it is pure gold.

J.T. Yes. That is what it is. But you can understand that Paul placed the church in heaven. He brought to pass the interior. He placed the church in heaven by his ministry; but what the Spirit shows us is not the interior, but what is manifest to all. What the Spirit sets forth is the vessel of administration.

A.F.M. As it appears to the universe.

J.T. Yes, as it appears externally. The inside corresponds with the exterior. So you may understand something of the interior from the exterior; it is an expression of what is within.

G.A.T. There is a street in the city, at any rate, all of gold. Is the interior for the pleasure of God?

J.T. Quite so. It is what the city is God-ward. In a general way, John 20 shows us the interior, whereas the Acts shows us the exterior, what is manward. John 20 shows us the saints within with Christ. In Revelation it is a question of seeing what comes out of heaven administratively.

R.S.S. You mention that there were two other

references to the Levites in the book of Joshua.

J.T. Look at chapter 13: 14: "Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them". And the last verse: "But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them". Then chapter 18: 7: "But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance". That was what I alluded to.

W.B. If these three things were known and enjoyed by us, there would not occur difficulties in matters of judgment that have so often arisen in the church.

J.T. Their food would be the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire, which refers to the sacrifice of Christ as bearing God's judgment. That is a food that in itself would build up a very remarkable constitution, a very good constitution. It would render them qualified to judge and to discern. Then they had the Lord God of Israel as an object for their affections. And as to their office, they had the priesthood. That was their employ. Aaron is included in the tribe of Levi. The Spirit of God includes Aaron here.

Rem. I thought it was only the family of Aaron that had the priesthood.

W.H.C. The Levites had the service of God manward, and Aaron had it Godward.

J.T. I think they are simply viewed here as the priestly tribe, and so in Deuteronomy they had the Urim and Thummim. First of all, they have for their food the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire. That is their portion for food. Then they had Jehovah as the object of their hearts. And their employment was the priesthood; they had access to Jehovah.

W.B. There are many of us here who are connected with gatherings. If we get hold of this it might be very helpful in details in the assembly, because it has to do with the inner life. As you said, the exterior would come out of that. If we were enjoying together these things what would come in the way of discipline and that sort of thing would be put right without much trouble.

J.T. And you can see that the priesthood would play a very great part later on. The death of the high priest determined the period when the man-slayer was released.

A.F.M. The death of the high priest refers to the coming of the Lord?

J.T. Yes; it is the termination of a period. The period of a high priest marked time, and his death marked time.

J.N.H. I think that on previous occasions you made quite a distinction between priestly and levitical service.

J.T. I hope we may come to that, but what we have in view now is the type of the church as having a heavenly portion.

J.N.H. And Levi is included there?

J.T. It is the priestly tribe.

J.N.H. In Deuteronomy 33 the tribes are really in question, are they not? There are the blessings of Israel, and then it describes the various tribes. That would confirm what you say. Moses is the man of God who blesses the tribes.

J.T. Yes, and Levi is marked off as the priestly tribe.

LEVITICAL SERVICE

Philippians 2

J.T. Will you say what you had in your mind in proposing the epistle to the Philippians?

A.F.M. In the first instance, that there might be a practical response to all the light which has been accorded to us in these last days. I thought Philippians gives us an outline of how the light of God takes practical effect in us, because, as I suppose, it is proper Christian experience. I think you remarked that the epistle to the Philippians was the result of the truth of Ephesians; that is, it is the walk of the heavenly man.

J.T. What is observable in chapter 1 is that the Philippians are in sympathy with the glad tidings. They had fellowship in the gospel. The apostle says in verse 3, "I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you ... because of your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now". That is, there is full sympathy with God in that which sets forth His special energy for the moment.

A.F.M. Do you not think that that is the more remarkable because the testimony -- I suppose the gospel includes a very great deal in the thought of God -- was in reproach and the subject of special conflict? In 2 Timothy we have the afflictions of the gospel. "Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord ... but suffer evil along with the glad tidings". There were the afflictions of the gospel. Is not that of note?

J.T. I suppose it is a suitable epistle into which to introduce the idea of levitical service, because it shows the spirit or mind of Christ in the manner in which He carried out His service.

R.S.S. I suppose we can look at Christ as the true Levite?

J.T. Levitical service was certainly set forth in Him.

R.S.S. How would you connect the gospel with levitical service?

J.T. Because the gospel embodied the testimony, and that is especially the burden of the Levite. The Lord in Mark speaks about the saints surrendering for His sake and the gospel's. It is a touch, that is peculiar to Mark, because Mark presents to us the Servant and the exercises of the Servant. The gospel is, therefore, prominent. Another touch in Mark is that the Lord did all things well.

R.S.S. That would all be connected with levitical service.

J.T. I think so.

Ques. Would you say that Epaphroditus was as type of a Levite here?

J.T. I think you have in Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus the spirit that energises the Levites. Of Timothy Paul said that he had genuine feeling as to how saints got on.

A.F.M. Would not the characteristics of a true Levite be, that, as in chapter 1, he would have great affection for the saints, and that his energies would go out in regard to the testimony in a public way?

J.T. Paul rejoiced that the gospel was announced, even if in contention, which is in a way the strongest way of putting his interest in the gospel; that he was not interested only because he announced it, but because it was announced, by whomsoever, or from whatever motive.

J.N.H. Even if it added to his bonds.

J.T. Yes, even if it caused suffering to him, he rejoiced in that Christ was announced. Then in the presence of the supreme joy of being with Christ,

departing to be with Christ, he is content to remain for the furtherance of the joy of the Philippians; he is content to forego the pleasure of being with Christ, for the sake of the saints. All that shows the spirit of a Levite.

G.A.T. Supporting the gospel is not always preaching it. It does not mean that, does it?

J.T. No, I think that the saints, as a heavenly people, viewed as in the book of Joshua, according to what they have as an inheritance and according to their living associations, are sure to be evangelical, because evangelism is the mind of heaven. The word is really taken from angel, as we know.

J.A.R. Would you not say that the great point in preaching the gospel is presenting Christ?

J.T. I think so. You announce One whom you have come to love. But I have no doubt at all that the mind of heaven is evangelical, and the house of God is in touch with heaven.

Rem. There is joy in heaven over sinners repenting.

J.T. Yes; quite so. There is great sympathy with man in heaven. I think that evangelism emanates from heaven. The gospel is announced "by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven".

W.B. I notice a word in 2 Timothy, addressed to him by the apostle Paul: "Do the work of an evangelist". Do you regard that in the same way as evangelism?

J.T. Yes. No doubt Timothy would understand the work of an evangelist well. He had laboured with Paul, and at Ephesus.

The tidings carried by an evangelist refer to what is in God's heart, God's attitude toward man. But there is also work attaching to that, not simply the bearing of the message, but the work attached to it. Acts 20 shows the kind of work carried on by an evangelist. The work may be carried on by one who has not the gift of an evangelist. To-day the

message is already known. I think the work of the evangelist now would be, as in Timothy's case, to make it clear to souls in detail.

R.S.S. What passage in Acts 20 do you refer to?

J.T. Verse 18: "Ye know how I was with you all the time from the first day that I arrived in Asia, serving the Lord with all lowliness, and tears, and temptations, which happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I held back nothing of what is profitable, so as not to announce it to you, and to teach you publicly and in every house, testifying to both Jews and Greeks repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ". And verse 24: "But I make no account of my life as dear to myself, so that I finish my course, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the glad tidings of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more". I think you have in those verses some idea of the work of an evangelist; it was not only public preaching and teaching, but house-to-house work.

R.S.S. That is exceedingly helpful and instructive, because people have thought that the work of an evangelist is simply preaching; but it is the most arduous kind of work.

J.N.H. It continued there for three years, and with tears, night and day.

J.T. As was said, it was most arduous work. That indicates what levitical service is. It is a question of bearing or carrying things.

W.B. Verse 22 is much in line with what you have said. It reads, speaking of Timothy: "Ye know the proof of him, that, as a child a father, he has served with me in the work of the glad tidings". That is the same thing, is it not?

J.T. Yes. "As a child a father". Timothy had

laboured with Paul in this relation. He learned from the apostle what service in the gospel meant.

G.A.T. What you have said is true of a man free to do that. How would you apply that to a brother who has to make his daily living?

R.S.S. Paul made his daily living. Both at Corinth and Ephesus, at different times, he tells us that. In this chapter he also speaks of working with his hands.

J.T. His hands ministered to himself and to those that were with him.

Rem. That was really an expression of very great affection.

J.T. Yes.

R.S.S. I think affection comes out beautifully as the spring of it all in Philippians 1:8, where it says, "God is my witness how I long after you all in the bowels of Christ Jesus". That was really the secret of his devotion.

J.N.H. It reads in chapter 1:6: "Having confidence of this very thing, that he who has begun in you a good work will complete it unto Jesus Christ's day".

J.T. I think it is most interesting to see that the saints, viewed normally, as in the light of Paul's ministry, were very evangelical. They had sympathy in the gospel. As sympathetic with the gospel, I think, we are levitical; we accept the burden of it. If we follow what is involved, what is in the testimony, I think then we begin to surrender. This epistle, if it conveys anything, conveys the thought of surrender.

A.R.S. Does not the third verse show the spirit in which the service is to be carried out: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves"?

J.T. I think so.

A.R.S. Then Christ is brought forward later on in the chapter. He "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant".

Rem. The testimony was with Paul at Rome. He preached the gospel, and was concerned about the saints. Epaphroditus was also concerned about the saints.

J.T. I think the levitical spirit is seen in Epaphroditus, in that he was troubled, not because he had been sick, but because the Philippians heard he had been sick. He was troubled on their account.

W.J.N. What are the "own things" spoken of in verse 4?: "Look not every man on his own things".

J.T. His own qualities.

W.J.N. Is that in connection with service in divine things?

J.T. Yes. He is hot to be engaged with his own abilities more than with others. It would appear that you are not to make much of anything that is especially of advantage to you, but that you rather enlarge upon what others have.

W.J.N. I think it is very important in regard to one's own things. I suppose that each one has his own line of things, and yet each should think of others?

W.B. You get that spirit in the apostle Peter. Speaking of Paul, at the end of his second epistle Peter says: "even as our beloved brother Paul ... hath written unto you". He seems to plat Paul on a higher plane than himself.

J.T. And that is in spite of the fact that Paul had severely rebuked him. It shows the working of the divine nature in the apostles. What this epistle contemplates is the working of the divine nature in the saints, and not exactly the carrying out of our service under the direction of Christ. What is in view is that we do it, as it were, naturally.

But when we come to consider levitical service, each Levite is under the direction of the priest. That is really another side of the truth, which is not in Philippians, because Philippians treats rather of what marks the person because of Christian affection. What is done is the result of Christian affection rather than of official obligation.

W.B. Is that the reason why Epaphroditus is brought in? The things that are said about him are remarkable: "My brother", "fellow workman", "fellow soldier". Paul associates himself with Epaphroditus very closely; and then in the last verse of the chapter it seems that he is held in honour, because he journeyed from the Philippians to Paul with their contribution, seemingly a very small thing.

J.T. And Timothy cared for the saints, not because he had been deputed to do so by the Lord, although that was also true, because he had received a gift, but he cared for them, as we see here, with genuine feeling. That is, his heart was in it.

G.A.T. So then service is not rendered because, it is my duty, but because I delight to do it.

J.T. Yes, just so. But levitical service properly is carried out under the direction of the priest.

A.A.T. And in Christianity that is different from what it was under the Mosaic law.

J.T. Yes. But what I see of importance here is the spirit of the man that is suited for levitical service. He is a man that goes down.

R.S.S. That all comes out in Christ, does it not? Though in the form of God, He made Himself of no reputation, taking upon him the form of a servant -- a very striking expression. Really, I suppose, there is no stronger expression of the Lord's deity than that. No mere creature could take upon himself the form of a servant. We are all in that form already. The angels are, and so

are men. It is connected with responsibility. But He voluntarily took the form of a servant.

J.T. Yes; and that mind was in Him. That was the point: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus". You can see how service will be rendered by us if this mind is present.

Ques. Is the apostle Paul at Ephesus an example of that? He says he served with humbleness and tears.

J.T. It shows that he was energised by the Spirit of Christ.

A.F.M. Is not that the first thought in the second chapter? We have no proper object or example, but as we look at Christ Himself. The apostle in Acts 20, to which you referred, served with all lowliness, and in the opening of this epistle he is a bondman with Timothy; Christ took a bondman's form. He was the lowly One. The apostle and Timothy were thoroughly imbued with the Spirit of Christ. Is not that where we get help in the same direction? It is really a question of affection. As to a bondman, it is for all time. He serves for ever. He cannot throw off the yoke of responsibility to his master.

J.T. So that if you put your hand to the plough and look back you are not fit for the kingdom of God.

G.A.T. This service here is to Jesus Christ?

J.T. Yes; but there is an element of authority or direction in the carrying out of levitical service. It is not simply carried out because we love to do it, though that is true. The thought in Numbers is that the Levites are placed under the direction of the priests, and all levitical work is carried on accordingly. They were to be presented to Aaron the priest.

W.B. Would the assembly at Philippi occupy the place of the priest? Epaphroditus had carried out

their instructions. Would there be any analogy between that and the priest?

J.T. There is, if you regard the priesthood as connected with the sons of Aaron. But as brought to Aaron personally I think they represent the saints as presented to Christ for His disposal in service. But Aaron's sons were associated with him in the direction of the Levites. The service of the Levites, viewing them typically, depends on the spiritual state -- the priestly state, that exists in the assembly. The Spirit said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them". You get there the idea of authority and the saints associated with it.

W.B. If a man receives a gift from Christ he is responsible to fulfil it. It is another thing as to how he does it. He may carry out the work that God gives him in a wrong way, not in a true spirit, and spoil his work in that way.

J.T. Yes. It is everything to have a right spirit; and I believe what we dwelt upon in Joshua shows how the Levites are formed. Typically their inheritance and where they dwell would have the effect of forming them in accord with heaven. But, as here upon earth, individually we are subject to Christ; that is, we are subject to authority. It is a great thing to see the mind that marked the early servants.

G.A.T. What other spirit have you in mind that we might serve in besides the spirit you have mentioned?

J.T. Well, the spirit of vainglory and strife. We see, alas! the spirit of strife and vainglory entering in among the Lord's servants.

G.A.T. It is possible that one might be very active apparently in the Lord's service, but with the object of getting a name for himself, to be well thought of by others.

J.T. Just so. But if I understand the place

accorded, to the Levites in the book of Joshua, it is that we are to drink into the mind of heaven, which is, as I said, evangelical. And the mind of Christ involves going down, for we must remember that the mind of Christ to go down began with Him, as in the form of God. He was in the most exalted position and state, but He chose to descend.

A.F.M. That is the contrast to Adam. Adam's thought was to go up. But the mind of Christ was to come down. The visible sign of it was the bondman's form.

A.A.T. In connection with the motive that would actuate one in preaching the gospel, the need of man, or the joy it brings to God, should the latter be the motive more than the former?

J.T. I think the idea is that you see what is involved in the testimony, and you follow it and surrender on account of that. There is the gospel on the one hand and the saints on the other. You love to have the gospel made known, and you are prepared to surrender for that. On the other hand, you see that the saints are to be cared for, and it was the saints especially that were before Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus.

A.A.T. And you include that in evangelistic work?

J.T. I would include that in the service of the Levite. Paul was on the eve of departure. He was in a strait, but he was true to his levitical instincts. Instead of accepting the open door into bliss, to be with Christ, he chose to remain in the levitical position, to remain down here for the furtherance of the joy of the Philippians.

A.A.T. Then the Levite, while labouring, is not necessarily spending all his time in visiting the saints; he labours in prayer.

J.T. I think prayer forms a very great part of the Levites' burden, although in prayer you are more

a priest. But it belongs to the tribe. The altar of incense was a square. It was one cubit, and what is set forth in that is that there is unity and at the same time universality, that the saints have burdens, and their burdens are of a universal character, The spirit of the house of God is universal in its bearing. The house of God is evangelical, and hence there are prayers. Now, the second epistle to Timothy opens up the attitude of the saints as evangelical. Their exercises are manward, and every kind of man is included. But they have access to the altar of incense, and the altar of incense was also a square; but instead of being five cubits, like the brazen altar, it was one cubit. I take it that in our turning to God in prayer, the altar being one cubit suggests unity, because one is the numeral of unity; it refers, among other things, to unity. And so the apostle says, "For God is one". That is, the Godhead are united. But whilst they are united, it is, as in the connection set forth here in type, of a four-square character; that is, that the unity of the Godhead has reference to all men.

R.S.S. It is very remarkable that it is in 1 Timothy 2 that it is said that we are to pray for all men.

J.T. Yes, "Our Saviour God", "who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For God is one". I take that to be the idea of "four-square". The unity is seen in the one cubit. God is one, and the saints are in the light of that; their prayers and supplications are for all men. There you have the golden altar, and it is based upon what God is. "For God is one". And the unity of the Godhead has reference to the salvation of the whole race of man. Then he says, "And the mediator of God and men one". The attitude of the Mediator also is universal, because He gave Himself a ransom for all. Then Paul is brought

into that: he says, "To which I have been appointed a herald ... a teacher of the nations in faith and truth". So that the saints have every ground on which to pray. Their prayers are in the full light of what God is. I think, as has been suggested, one great feature of the levitical position is, that as in the light of what God is, we have access in prayer. The sheet let down from heaven in Acts 10 gives the same idea. It was four-cornered. The Levites are in accord with heaven, because they really dwell there morally. Heaven is their dwelling-place, and their prayers are in accord with heaven.

R.S.S. It says, "God is one". Is the thought there that the Godhead is of one mind in regard to what you are speaking of? What does it mean when it says that the Mediator between God and men is one. Is that the same thought; that He is of the same mind?

J.T. It involves, I think, that there are not two. The Mediator is one, and His mind is in accord with the mind of God. God will have all men to be saved; that is God's mind; and then the Mediator carries that mind out, because He gives Himself a ransom for all. And then Paul is in it, in that he is appointed herald and teacher. He is in accord with the unity. His desire was that the saints should be fully up to this, so that they should pray; that they should be fully in accord with the golden altar.

A.A.T. I suppose God would encourage us. He would have us as Levites exercised in heart; and when we come together during the week to the prayer meeting we make these exercises known to Him in prayer.

J.T. I think that prayer is an appointed means of support to us, but evidently we are to be united. But the unity is not unity of agreement. It is unity based upon the revelation of God. His mind is manward, so that the prayers of Christians normally

would be according to the type we have been considering, of a "four-square character"; that is, they would be for all men.

R.S.S. I think that is what we lack; we are too straightened and narrowed up in our prayers which are often confined to a very limited sphere, whereas this has a tendency to enlarge that sphere.

Rem. Peter and John, when liberated, went to their own company, where there was prayer.

J.T. Yes; and it is noticeable that the prayer was in accord with what we have been saying. They recognised that God had created everything. They having heard it, lifted up their voices with "one accord" (that is the one cubit, the size of the altar), and said, "Thou art the God who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them". Their minds are universal, they are thinking of God in His relation with His whole creation.

R.S.S. It is very remarkable, because they were in a very difficult place; there was danger among themselves and danger from without.

A.A.T. It is in accord with what the Lord said: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations". In Timothy it is prayer for kings, not for any particular king.

J.T. Just so. It is not specifically for the king or president of your own country. The unity that is seen in Acts 2 is the result of the gospel known in the soul. The normal effect of the gospel is to bring people together in affection. But then there is another thing, there is unity in prayer in support of the testimony, and this we get in chapter 4: 24 - 30, showing that it was the outcome of interest in the testimony.

J.N.H. That would be the four comers of the earth?

J.T. Yes.

Rem. I am sure it would add interest to our prayer meetings to remember that.

W.C. In the story of the good Samaritan, where the priest and the Levite pass by, unable to help the mail that fell among the thieves, is the lack there that of sacrifice? The Levite is impotent; he passed by on the other side.

J.T. There did not seem to be much heart for the needy one. The most they could do was to come and look at him, but that does not help the man. It sets forth contrast; the priest and the Levite stand for the old economy and the impotency of the old economy, and the service of the Samaritan discloses the divine compassion that was in Christ. The Mosaic system never could help man really.

G.A.T. Man could not help himself; he could not answer to it.

J.T. There was no vital power in that system, and there was no power in the man. But the Samaritan had the means of help with him. It is remarkable that he had the oil and the wine. He did not have to go anywhere to get them. He had them. He had the means of relief with him.

R.S.S. Would you say that the good Samaritan was the true Levite?

J.T. I think he was, and also the true priest.

R.S.S. And it is very beautiful what is said of him -- he "came where he was and had compassion on him".

A.F.M. In regard to the prayers in 1 Timothy 2, the house is seen in the attitude of intercession for all men. That would be in view of the glad tidings going forth. It has a universal character. But what about prayers for the saints? In Revelation we read of golden vials full of the prayers of the saints. Do you include the saints in the expression "all men"?

J.T. No, I think Paul in Timothy is referring to those that were outside.

A.F.M. Is your thought in that connection to pray for those in authority that we may lead a quiet life, so that the gospel can go out?

J.T. You pray for all men that they may be saved, because God wills that they may be saved.

A.F.M. In Revelation 5 it speaks of the Lamb taking the book; and the twenty four elders fall before the Lamb with harps and golden vials full of incense, which are said to be "the prayers of the saints".

J.T. It has to be noted that what is said of the living creatures and the elders is that they have bowls, or vials, full of prayers. It does not say that they offer the prayers. The golden altar is not in evidence. Neither have they censers. That is, they are not official. But when you come to Revelation 8 there is an Angel at the golden altar and He has a censer in His hand, and in that censer there is incense, which, it is said, is to "give efficacy" to the prayers of saints ascending to God. I think that there it is the official side: it is Christ Himself. We have not that place. We cannot present the prayers of another. All we can do is to pray for another. Therefore I do not see that the elders, or the living creatures, present the prayers. That would be official. It would give them an intermediate place between God and the saints which only belongs to Christ. But in Revelation 8 the Angel is official. He presents the prayers with the incense, and they are effective.

G.A.T. Those prayers do not belong to the elders; they are those that have been offered up by the saints.

J.T. They are not their prayers; but the prayers of the saints.

Rem. The bowls are where God preserves the prayers of the saints?

J.T. It would look as though He valued them and had them treasured up in His heart.

W.B. It speaks in chapter 5 of "vials full of odours"?

J.T. Yes, but there is no presentation there; they are not presented. The odours refer to what God thinks of our prayers. God attaches value to our prayers. But in order that they should be effective they have to be presented. That is, Christ has to be recognised in connection with them; they have to be in relation to Him; and chapter 8 shows that they become effective as presented by Christ with incense at the golden altar. Christ is there seen as the Priest. He only has title to take that place. The incense He has is to give efficacy to the prayers of the saints, so that there is fragrance going up with the prayers. Then we have the answer in what follows. The answer is judgment. In our case it is not that. The answer in our day is blessing. We pray for men that they may be saved.

W.J.N. Would you say that intelligent prayer at any time is in keeping with the mind of God for the moment?

J.T. Yes. So in Acts 4 they prayed: "Now, Lord, look upon their threatenings, and give to thy bondmen with all boldness to speak thy word, in that thou stretches! out thy hand to heal, and that signs and wonders take place through the name of thy holy servant Jesus". That was intelligent prayer. There was no demand for judgment on their enemies, but that the word should be attested by God in miracles.

W.J.N. In the Revelation there is a change. God really has turned to thoughts of judgment, and the prayers of the saints of that period are intelligent,

as being in keeping with His mind at that time, and the answer is judgment.

J.N.H. Why does the apostle say in 1 Timothy 2"Lilting up pious hands, without wrath or reasoning"?

J.T. Well, the hands refer to the means by which we accomplish things, and in order to approach God we are required to have holy hands. To approach men we are required to have "beautiful feet".

W.H.C. "If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me".

J.T. No, He will not.

W.J.N. Speaking of the feet, do you mean by that the way in which a man carries himself before men?

J.T. Yes. "How beautiful ... are the feet of him that announceth glad tidings". Isaiah 52:7. Then in Romans it is "How beautiful the feet of them that announce glad tidings", Romans 10:15, showing that in Christianity the Lord "gave the word and great was the host of the publishers", Psalm 68:11.

R.S.S. It is noticeable that in Scripture effective prayer is connected with a suitable condition in the person who prays. For instance, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much".

J.T. Yes, indeed, "wrath and reasoning" are unsuited to the holy place and the altar of gold.

R.S.S. You do not pray with any fleshly feeling of anger, and it is in confidence -- "without wrath and reasoning". You do not reason. If you reason, you do not pray in confidence.

J.T. Yes; a reasoning state of mind would not be in accord with unity. Oneness would not be there. It would be that of a "double-minded man", and James says, "Let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord".

G.A.T. Will you say a little more as to the hands and the feet?

J.T. Well, the hands have reference in Scripture to the means by which we accomplish anything, or carry out our responsibilities in labour. The feet refer to how we carry ourselves, how we walk. You get both in Christ. You get how He did things in Mark; in John you get how He walked; in Luke you get how He spoke. Now, the Lord had beautiful feet. He was the Evangelist. And we know that His hands were holy.

J.N.H. It is remarkable that only one of the saints is called an evangelist in Scripture -- Philip.

R.S.S. How would you distinguish the hands with which we labour from the hands that we hold up in prayer? Moses hands were uplifted when Israel was in conflict with the Amalekites.

J.T. I think the hands have reference to what we do.

A.A.T. Power is identified with the right hand.

J.T. Yes; but Paul says, "these hands have ministered unto my necessities"; and the hands represent the person; to lay the hand on the sacrifice identified the offerer with it. And so Paul said, "Lay hands suddenly on no man", because your hands and what you do with them, commit you to that thing.

W.B. In time of battle, when Aaron held up one of Moses' hands and Hur the other, Israel prevailed, but when Moses' hands were lowered the enemy prevailed.

J.T. But I think the hands would be the expression of the power of the person. The power of the person is manifested through the hands. Christ has no need of support. In the power of His Person He sustains us. Moses was unequal to that. Christ's sustainment is a great thing for us; our names are

on His breast and on His shoulders. The shoulders and the hands are thus intimately connected.

G.A.T. Do you connect the power going through the hands in the laying on of the hands in the Acts?

J.T. Yes. The Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands.

W.B. There is an instance in Revelation 11 of the angel standing on the sea and on the earth. He lifted up his right hand to heaven. That is in connection with God taking possession, is it not?

J.T. Yes. God taking possession of the sea and the land. It is a great thing to see Christ in the power of His Person representing us before God. On the shoulders of the high priest there were two stones containing the names of the tribes. On the breastplate there were twelve stones. Each tribe had a precious stone; that is, the saints are individually known to Christ and treasured in His heart;they are also all supported by Him.

A.F.M. We have in the latter part of this chapter something of what we have to do, to work out our own salvation, and then collectively we have to hold forth the word of life.

J.T. I suppose they had, like ourselves, to work out their salvation without the apostle. They would have to work it out without his aid, and they would also hold forth the word of life, which is continuous, without the apostle's presence. They were to be children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom they shone as lights. All these things were to continue in the absence of the apostle.

A.A.T. It has been said that one could not be a good Levite if he were not a good priest. Is that right?

J.T. I think so, because you do not know what to do if you are not a priest. The priest knows what to do. The priesthood refers to spirituality. The

priest has the mind of the Lord and knows what to do.

Ques. Why was it that there were twelve stones on the breast and only two on the shoulders?

J.T. Two onyx stones. "Engrave the two stones with the names ... upon his two shoulders for a memorial". And "thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment ... four rows of stones". Then we get the names of the stones, and it says: "the stones shall be with the names ... according to the twelve tribes". What I see is that the total number of the saints are, as a whole, supported by Christ on His shoulders, but that when it comes to His affections each individual has a precious stone, showing that we are individually known to Christ and He is interested in each of us. He loves each of us personally. He not only loves us collectively, but He loves us individually, and the interests of each of us are looked after by the Lord in the presence of God.

W.B. In the address to Philadelphia we get this promise, "and I will write upon him my new name". Do you connect that with what you have been saying?

J.T. Christ's name written on us refers to what will mark us. But the precious stones on the breastplate refer to the fact that you are to be known up there, that you are to be known as one whom He loves and cares for; and each one of us is represented in that way.

PRIESTLY SERVICE

1 Peter 2:1 - 10

J.T. The allusion, I suppose, in this chapter is to the old economy; the house, the priesthood and the sacrifices. So that Christianity involves that we have the substance of what was foreshadowed in the types.

W.B. These three things seem to be mentioned in the same order in Hebrews: the house in chapter 3, the priest in chapter 5, and the sacrifices in chapters 9 and 10.

J.T. Quite so; that is very good.

Ques. Would you say the holy priesthood sets forth the position Godward?

J.T. Yes; it refers to the priesthood as having to say to God. We have first the spiritual house and then the priesthood.

Ques. What about the royal priesthood?

J.T. That is what we are manward.

Ques. What about the calling in connection with the priesthood?

J.T. It shows that the thought originates with God, and that the priest is chosen by God, is called of God, as was Aaron. I think Aaron typically points to a new order of man, a man taken out from amongst men. "Every high priest taken from amongst men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God", Hebrews 5:1. So in Exodus we have: "Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty", Exodus 28:1, 2. God was calling out one man and

his sons to fulfil a certain function or service, and the clothing or garments for glory and beauty all point to Christ as heavenly in origin and character.

R.S.S. Are we priests by calling in that way?

J.T. Yes, as associated with Christ, hence the great dignity attached to the position: that in connection with God's testimony, all that He would unfold under the eyes of men, and under angelic eyes as well, should be maintained by the priests. That in itself indicates what the person was. What a great person he must be to sustain the weight of God's testimony, and subsequently to bear the whole congregation on his heart and on his shoulders!

R.S.S. I suppose his greatest privilege was that of approach to God?

J.T. Yes -- that he had title to approach God.

R.S.S. Would you say that the prominent thought in priesthood is the right of approaching God?

J.T. Yes. "That he may minister unto me". Then what followed on that, as the book of Leviticus shows, was all that with which he and his sons were charged. We have to make a distinction between the sons of Aaron and the family of Aaron. The sons are mentioned in the call, but they are not mentioned as his children; they are mentioned as his sons. His daughters are not mentioned in the call. The sons of Aaron have reference to the saints viewed as formed by the Spirit, intelligently joining Christ in the service.

W.J.N. In their priestly character?

J.T. Yes. But Aaron's family was taken account of in a special way; and, as we know, in Leviticus 16, he offered for his house.

R.S.S. Is the assembly of the antitype of the family or of the sons?

J.T. It is antitype of both, I think. Aaron's house was a type of the assembly. But the assembly is also viewed as formed by the Spirit and intelligently

entering into God's mind and serving in relation to God. Aaron's sons typified this side.

Ques. Does the call involve intelligence?

J.T. Those called are qualified, so that in the antitype it is the Son who is called to priesthood.

A.R.S. All believers are priests, but should we not be exercised to see that we are up to our calling?

J.T. That is the great gain of having the light of our calling brought before us.

A.R.S. The Levites carried the things pertaining to the tabernacle, but priestly service was evidently very much greater, because the priests approached God and offered the sacrifices.

J.T. We are all called, and it is important that we should take up our calling. It seems as if the levitical service in the wilderness ended when the tabernacle was reared up.. The special work of the Levites was in taking the tabernacle down, carrying it and setting it up; but when it was all in order for divine service the levitical side drops out of view and the priestly service is apparent. Perhaps that is where we are defective: not seeing what has been set up by God for His service, and serving in relation to that. Peter says here: "yourselves also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood". That is, there is everything for divine service. And he adds: "to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ". .

A.R.S. There are two altars, the brazen and the golden, and different sacrifices offered on those altars.

J.T. I think the court was properly the place of offering sacrifices. So far as the tabernacle in the wilderness was concerned, the sacrifices were all brought into the court. It does not appear to me that sacrifices go beyond the court now, whereas the golden altar is in the holy place. There the priest also officiated, but not by sacrifice. It was, the place of incense.

R.S.S. What answers to the court now?

J.T. I think all the sphere in which surrender is made.

R.S.S. The sphere of responsibility?

J.T. Yes, it is connected with that.

A.R.S. Is it not the same as in Romans 12, where you offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service?

J.T. There are many sacrifices alluded to in the New Testament. All of these are priestly, but they are not what you may call the highest function of priests.

G.W.H. Do we get the highest function of priests in this chapter?

J.T. No, I think not. This chapter does not contemplate the holy place, nor the holiest, as far as I understand it; only the priesthood and the house both being spoken of, you can add the rest.

R.S.S. There is the offering of spiritual sacrifices.

J.T. In contrast to the material sacrifices that were offered in the wilderness. The sacrifices that you make are spiritual in their import.

G.W.H. Would Hebrews 13:15 correspond with the golden altar: "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God; that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name". Is that the golden altar?

J.T. I do not know that it is; I do not know that it takes you beyond the court.

G.W.H. Where do you find the function of priest-hood in its highest character?

J.T. In its highest character it is in the holiest.

R.S.S. Would it be, "in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises"?

J.T. Yes, and "both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one", contains the thought.

W.B. When you speak of sacrifice being surrender you refer to the court?

J.T. A sacrifice is a sacrifice; it costs you something.

A.R.S. When Mary poured the ointment on the Lord's feet and the odour filled the house, was not that more the golden altar aspect?

J.T. Yes.

A.F.M. But the golden altar was in the holy place. Is there any such thing as service in the holy place at the present time?

J.T. Not according to Hebrews, because Hebrews is contrast; but we must not lose the value of the type; we must not lose the teaching of the tabernacle in the wilderness, as showing the order of divine service, otherwise we should shut out all that is not in the holiest.

W.B. You refer to the table and the candlestick?

J.T. Yes, certainly these have some reference to us. Levitical service is not in the holiest, nor in the holy place; it is outside. We must not lose the typical teaching of the tabernacle; but at the same time, if there are those who would reinstate it in a literal way, the apostle shows that it is done away with, and that Christ is now in heaven; that our calling is heavenly, that the holy place and the court have disappeared.

G.A.T. Would you say that in place of the tabernacle we have now got a spiritual house?

J.T. The thought of the tabernacle is maintained, because it says in Hebrews that Christ has come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. The tabernacle, as a type, has reference to our position as here in flesh. There was nothing in the way of elegance or stateliness in the external appearance of the tabernacle, whereas such things were in the temple; everything there was calculated to render it imposing; it had an imposing exterior. But the tabernacle was

not an imposing thing at all; its appearance was simply a tent covered with skins, enclosed in a court. But there was that which was intrinsically valuable inside of it, and that had to be guarded. Another thing about it that corresponds to us is that it could be taken down and set up, referring to its transitory state, primarily referring to Christ as in flesh; it was not a permanent condition for Him. And our condition is not permanent. Nevertheless, both in Christ and in us, there is that which is infinitely precious, and that has to be guarded. So the tabernacle position in the wilderness has reference properly to the saints viewed here in flesh, but containing by the Spirit the things of God.

R.S.S. Whereas the temple has a more, permanent character and has to do with the "world to come".

J.T. So that the saints are said to be growing unto a holy temple in the Lord; that is for the world to come. But Corinthians contemplates us as the assembly of God and that the oracles of God are amongst us.

A.F.M. We have reference to the two thoughts in John's gospel. In chapter 1 we have "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory". They saw beyond the exterior "a glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth". In chapter 2 we have a millennial scene in regard to the marriage. And He says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". Is there not a reference to the two thoughts there?

J.T. Yes, I think so. It might be thought that the term temple in Scripture always refers to Solomon's building, but it does not. It does not in the Old Testament. The word appears in 1 Samuel. Samuel and Eli were in the temple. It refers to the place where the light of God is. It is noticeable that during all the days of Joshua and of the Judges God

spoke nothing to them as regards the temple, that is, the building. He said that He had travelled and dwelt in a tent with them during all that time; and not until the days of David, until the establishment of the kingdom, do we get the thought of a permanent structure.

W.J.N. Not until then were the staves drawn out of the ark.

J.T. Quite so. So that in, all the period from Sinai to the reign of Solomon there was a moveable state of things.

G.A.T. Would you say that the precious things of God are among the saints today?

J.T. Well, I think the ark, for instance, is amongst us. That is the great central thought in the tabernacle. The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost involved that the ark was there. The coming of the Spirit was like the glory descending upon the tabernacle and filling it.

R.S.S. Will you define what the oracles are?

J.T. They are the divine speakings. God speaks. He spoke from off the mercy-seat, and He spoke at the brazen altar. Exodus 25:22, and Exodus 29:42.

R.S.S. Is it the Scriptures?

J.T. Not quite; the oracles of God are preserved by the Spirit among the saints.

G.A.T. I was wondering if the affections of the saints are not what have to be guarded.

J.T. Well, they have to be guarded. Christ has His place amongst God's people, and it is a very great matter that, so to speak, the ark is preserved intact.

Rem. Absalom would be an example of one taking away the affections of the saints.

J.T. Yes, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Ques. What was the sanctuary in David's day?

He says that his soul was longing to see God as he had seen Him in the sanctuary.

J.T. The tabernacle was still there. In Eli's day the ark had been carried away by the Philistines. David's first care and thought after he was recognised king by all Israel was to bring the ark back. We know how he failed the first time, but he learned from God through his failure and recognised that the Levites only should carry the ark. He brought it in under curtains. That was the sanctuary to him.

A.R.S. After the ark was taken away in the days of Eli was the tabernacle still there?

J.T. It would appear that it was. The tabernacle was not carried away. The ark was taken. The tabernacle was there up to Solomon's time.

Rem. But the cloud of glory did not return in David's time.

J.T. No, the cloud of glory did not return until the temple was built. God could not sanction by His presence the order of things that had failed. And although the new order of things began with David, the system inaugurated by him was not complete until the temple was built.

R.S.S. So we can see the connection between the kingdom and the temple; it is all a testimony to what will be in the world to come.

J.T. Quite so. The kingdom must be fully established, and then the house must be built before the system is complete and God sanctions the whole system by His glory filling the temple, just as it had been in the tabernacle in an earlier day. What we see is that a new order of things was instituted in David. Moses' system, the tabernacle system, extended to David, and the new order of things was inaugurated under David. The tabernacle system refers to our day; but the permanent system is also established for faith.

R.S.S. And it is the tabernacle that is so important for us, more so than the temple, is it not?

J.T. Yes. The temple system is yet to come properly.

W.J.N. Is that why it is the tabernacle in the epistle to the Hebrews generally?

J.T. Yes, it is spoken of much in the way of contrast.

Ques. Is there any connection between that and the thought in Revelation that God will tabernacle with men?

J.T. That shows that God has not given up His primary thought, which was that He should dwell with men. That is another testimony which the wilderness position affords. God is the Alpha and the Omega, He is the beginning and the end, and the end always agrees with the beginning, so that you have the tabernacle of God eternally with men. That is the end. But in the main the tabernacle refers to the present time, when the testimony of God is in the presence of contrariety.

J.N.H. Is it a greater thought than that of the temple?

J.T. It is of wider bearing. When you think of the tabernacle typifying the Lord Jesus here in flesh it is very touching, and then it is continued in our day.

Ques. The Holy Spirit indwelling the saints at the present time, I suppose, is a greater thing than what will be on the earth in the millennium, is it not?

J.T. The present state is greater in that sense.

A.R.S. Do you lay stress upon the tabernacle for us today, because we are in the wilderness, and then when the millennium comes in, the temple will come?

J.T. Yes; the kingdom first and then the temple. But then, as we said, the kingdom and temple exist now also.

A.F.M. How do you reconcile the thought of the tabernacle with that of the living stones in this chapter?

J.T. Well, we are alluding to the tabernacle so that we should not lose the teaching of it. Peter is not dealing with the tabernacle at all. He is dealing with the house; he shows that the saints are a spiritual house in contrast to the material house at Jerusalem. In Ephesians 2 we are already a habitation for God, but the temple is connected with the future; we are growing to a holy temple.

A.R.S. What is the difference between this spiritual house and the temple? Is it not the same, but looked at in a different aspect?

J.T. Yes; Peter contemplates a building of living stones. In another sense the house, in the principle of it, existed even in the wilderness. It was the place where God dwelt.

A.F.M. Moses was faithful in all God's house as a ministering servant.

J.T. Yes. David spoke of the house frequently, and we know that the temple did not exist in his day.

W.J.N. Is not the thought of the house continuous even from the days of the tabernacle?

J.T. I think it is. But we have to distinguish in regard of what Solomon reared up; what marked it was magnificence and stability, and it refers to the millennial state of things.

W.B. Stephen in his address in Acts 7 says, Solomon built God a house, but that God does not dwell in a house made with hands. Is not the tabernacle in contrast with that?

J.T. No doubt. There was something in the house itself that Solomon built, in a material way. But we have to take, account of it typically. Solomon's temple refers to what Christ will establish in the millennial state, of things, the magnificence, stability and grandeur of the building. Peter alludes to what

the saints are already, a spiritual house. That is, God has a dwelling-place, and in connection with that there is the priestly company, the priestly family, and the sacrifices.

W.J.N. Why does the Spirit bring out this particular line of truth to these saints through Peter?

J.T. I think it was to show that they had in a spiritual way the privileges that the people of old had.

W.J.N. Was there a danger in their case of being discouraged by the breaking down of everything connected with Israel after the flesh?

J.T. Exactly. And so he goes on to say that they were now God's people. God had said "Lo-ammi" to the people; He had given the people up; but now the believers in Christ from among the Jews had the place of God's people. Once they were not a people, but now they are the people of God. It was to encourage them. They had lost nothing in becoming Christians; they had all Israel's privileges.

Ques. Did you not say that the holy place does not appear here?

J.T. No doubt it is in the house, but that is not what the apostle is dwelling upon. I doubt that the Christians to whom Peter wrote were equal to that. What Peter shows in this epistle is that the Jewish Christians came into all that God had in His mind for the nation primarily. He says that He had begotten them again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead. They came into already all that God had in His mind for the nation when He took it out of Egypt. That was an immense thing for these persecuted Christians to know. He speaks of their coming to Christ, the rejected One, and that is important. He is the rejected One, because that marked their position. "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". They are viewed as being themselves that which Israel prided itself in; that is, the house of God. Then they have the priesthood.

Ques. How do we become living stones?

R.S.S. I suppose it is a reference to Matthew 16, where Peter confesses the Lord as the Son of God, and where in answer the Lord says to him: "Thou art Peter".

J.T. That is, he was a stone by his confession.

R.S.S. A living stone is one who knows the Son of God, who has received the revelation of the Son of God, because the Lord says when Peter confesses Him as the Son of God: "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven".

E.J.E. What is to be understood by the sincere milk of the word?

J.T. It is the "pure mental milk". That is, it is that part of the word which feeds your mind. Our minds have to be fed, and our affections have to be fed.

E.J.E. In what part of the Scriptures would you suggest we get the sincere milk of the word?

J.T. I think that if young believers begin to see something for their minds in Scripture it delivers them from the reading upon which the unconverted feed. The Spirit of God is capable of meeting the mental requirements of God's people. We have mental requirements. Our minds require to be fed, and the word of God opens up wonderful things to engage our minds. It is a great thing for believers to be interested in the Scriptures. They open up wonderful things for the mind as well as for the heart.

David spoke of his desire to behold wonderful things out of God's law.

We are apt to think that God has not provided for our minds, but He has, as well as for our affections. We have often alluded to David's desire to behold the beauty of the Lord. The Scriptures present that. They present the beauty of the Lord; that is for your heart. Then David says, "and to inquire in his temple". There, I think you get the mind provided for.

Ques. Is it that by which you grow?

J.T. You grow by the pure mental milk of the word.

A.F.M. Do you think the Scriptures are read amongst us so diligently as they used to be?

J.T. I do not think they are, and especially the Old Testament scriptures which are calculated to instruct you by the Spirit in the things of God, and it is wonderful how much enlightenment can be received from them by the Spirit.

E.J.E. One remarkable word in the epistle of Peter is "diligence".

A.A.T. But is one to be guided in taking these things up with the mind? We know that it is possible to overdo it and to be very intelligent; to be as clear in mind as an iceberg, but as cold.

J.T. You have to bring faith in always. The Lord instructed the two disciples, "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself". I believe that faith would apprehend Christ in them and thus you receive an answer to your faith. It is wonderful how one gets help in the understanding of Scripture if one prays to the Lord.

G.W.H. What about the priests' food? They had a certain kind of food.

J.T. Yes, they had the shewbread. The thought, I think, is Christ as connected with God's testimony.

That is the food of the priests. The Lord is seen in many lights in the Scriptures, and amongst them He is seen as related especially to God's testimony; and in that way He, is food for those who are charged with the testimony, namely, the priests.

G.W.H. It is limited to them, is it not?

J.T. Yes.

G.A.T. Can you give in a few words what testimony means?

J.T. Testimony on God's part is what He sets forth on His own behalf.

Ques. In verse 4 is the Lord presented as a "living stone"?

J.T. Yes, "to whom coming, a living stone", etc.

Rem. And as living stones we take character from Him.

J.T. Yes, "living stones" are akin to the Living Stone; they are in the light of the Son of the living God, and are in that way proved to be living stones.

Ques. In Matthew 16 Christ is presented as the Rock, is He not?

J.T. Yes, He is the rock. "On this rock I will build my assembly". But, He says, "thou art Peter". He does not say, thy name is Peter. That is important to notice. He says, "thou art Peter". It was what he was, not what his name was. What is in the apostle's mind is that they were moving. "To whom coming, a living stone". But then He is disallowed of men. The Living stone speaks of Christ as an immovable Person, One whom nothing can touch; there is stability in Christ. There is that in Christ upon which a structure can be reared.

J.N.H. Is there any element of responsibility in connection with moving toward Christ?

J.T. The thought is that of a structure. You see in Christ stability, and thus the foundation. It would have been a wonderful thing to David if in his day such a thing could have been said, because

the great thought in David's mind was the structure.

A.R.S. The Lord says, "On this rock I will build my assembly, and hades' gates shall not prevail against it". It refers to the apprehension in the soul of who Christ was.

J.T. I am sure of it. It is not that it was his name. I believe it is of all-importance to make that distinction, because in John the Lord gives Peter a name. John's point being to show the Person of Christ as regulating things here, but in Matthew it is not that. Matthew's point was to show what Peter was; "thou art Peter", He says.

A.F.M. Then the Father's work is important. "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven". It must have been a great delight to Christ to get that confession from Peter. He says that the Father revealed it to him.

J.T. The Lord regarded it as a sign that the new structure was to be proceeded with. God had begun in Peter's soul, and the Lord, as it were, alters His course. The disciples were not to tell that He was the Christ, and "from that time forth", He began to speak about going to Jerusalem and being killed and raised up the third day.

A.R.S. Do you think it was the: apprehension of who Christ was in His own Person? That dawned upon the disciples very slowly. It was only by degrees that they apprehended the greatness of His Person. We see it coming out in Peter in connection with the draught of fishes. It was some time before they recognised that He was the Son of God.

J.T. Peter would not have known it at all had not the Father revealed it to him. In Matthew Peter says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"; in Mark, "The Christ"; and in Luke, "The Christ of God".

A.R.S. -Why are there these differences?

J.T. In Mark it is simply a question of the Vessel

of testimony. In Luke it was the Vessel of grace. He is the Christ of God. But in Matthew it is the Son of the living God, so that He is in that way the foundation of things.

Ques. Do you think that Peter was in the good of resurrection until he got the Spirit?

J.T. No, he was not in the good of it until he got the Spirit, but the Lord identified Peter with the building, because of the confession that he made.

A.F.M. Do we find in this passage (1 Peter 2) the character of the administration connected with the Levites?

J.T. No, I do not understand it that way. Here we have the priesthood. The chapter shows, on the one hand, that we have access to God as a holy priesthood; and, on the other, that we have the privilege as a royal priesthood, of showing forth the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Ques. Where do you get the marvellous light?

J.T. It is the revelation of God; the full light of the revelation of God. The Jewish Christians were called out of a world of darkness. Judaism had become that. They had been called into the full light of the revelation of God in Christ, and now they were to show forth the virtues of Him who had called them into that, and in that capacity they would be royal priests.

W.B. Was the apostle Paul looked at as an offering priest, in Romans 15, offering up the nations to God by the Spirit? He takes the place, not simply as one coming from God, but one who presents something to God; that is, he presented the nations to God, in that way, as a sacrifice.

J.T. Quite so.

A.A.T. Speaking of the priesthood, was it God's original thought that all men should have access to

Him? But distance having come in. He took up a nation; the nation broke down; then He took up a tribe; then a family in the tribe. It looks like a select thing, but was not that God's thought for all?

J.T. Priesthood contemplates the mediatorial state of things. It does not contemplate the final state that God has in His mind. Where it is a question of sonship, the privilege of relationship, these properly belong to heaven. They refer to the family circle. But priesthood has to do with, what you might call a mediatorial state. It refers to what is official and contemplates that others are at a greater distance, that some are privileged more than others.

Rem. When God shall tabernacle with men that will not be the case.

J.T. I do not think it will. It refers properly to the mediatorial kingdom. That is, God is acting through a Mediator, and some are at a greater distance than others, and those in the distance come into touch with God through the Mediator, or through the principle of mediation.

Ques. The place of the priest is in the sanctuary, is it not?

J.T. Their proper service is Godward in the sanctuary. We maintain the service of God now while Israel is abandoned and while the world is alienated from God. Christ and His brethren -- Aaron and his sons -- maintain the service. They remained in the tabernacle for the seven days to maintain the charge of Jehovah; so that, as far as I see, the priesthood are always under a charge, they are always under responsibility. It may be very blessed to have to say to God, to have access to God, but the very thought of priesthood is official and has to do with obligation. There is a charge resting upon the priesthood.

A.R.S. In the final state of things will that

character not still remain, especially in the assembly, I mean worshipping priests?

J.T. But I do not think there will be any idea of charge there, nor any distance, nor some at a greater distance than others are. All that will have disappeared. At any rate, Scripture connects the priesthood with the mediatorial state of things.

W.B. Ought we not to turn to the New Testament scriptures to get the detail of the priesthood?

J.T. You cannot learn Christianity from the Old Testament. You cannot get Christianity in the Old Testament. You must have Christianity in order to understand the Old Testament. The Old Testament helps in the detail, but one must have the thing itself to begin with.

W.B. It gives the necessary light to understand what the charge of the priesthood is. Do we get that in the Old Testament?

J.T. I think it helps us greatly as to the detail of the service.

G.A.T. As to the work of the priest, how is it carried out in connection with our daily duties?

J.T. Viewed as a priest, you have to do with God's things by the Spirit. It is altogether a question of what you are spiritually. Viewed as a Levite, you are serving in relation to that which you understand as a priest; viewed as a common person, or as a member of the congregation, you are simply a man here in flesh, carrying out, according to God, your daily responsibility. You are, as it were, a man like others outwardly, carrying out your ordinary duties.

W.J.N. But all the while you are set in relation to God's testimony.

J.T. Always maintaining in your soul your relation to God's things, so that the exercises of the common duties of life add to you as a priest. The exercises that are proper to your daily duties increase

your spirituality, so that, instead of being weaker through the daily exercises, you are stronger; you are a greater priest the next time you take up divine service than you were before; you have grown in strength through the exercises -- the common person ministers to the priest.

G.A.T. So we can thank God for the discipline we get through our business.

J.T. Yes, I think it tends to increase spiritual power, which is the only thing that counts in the assembly. You may be the very best workman and do your work perfectly as a common person, and you may have a good intellect, and all that, but the only thing that tells in priestly service is spiritual power and intelligence.

Ques. Does this chapter tell how to get into the good of priesthood?

J.T. It is what they were as having come to the Living Stone. It involves spiritual power, because they move toward the Living Stone. They see that Christ was rejected and they move toward Him. That requires power in itself.

J.N.H. There is, then, a measure of responsibility in connection with our taking up our priesthood?

J.T. It is a very serious consideration that we are charged in that way with the service of God.

CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF GOD'S SON

Romans 8:29

My thought is to seek to show what God has in His mind in all His operations. It is a great advantage to have the end in view in regard to any given undertaking or operation, and God has been pleased to admit us into His counsels, so that we may understand what He has before Him. My desire is that the result of our meetings here may be that we may have a better appreciation of what God has in His mind. He has an ideal, and His ideal is not His afterthought. An ideal is necessarily a primary thought, so that Adam was not God's ideal. God's ideal is Christ, and His ideal necessarily preceded all His operations. I want you to take that in. God had that in His heart from the outset. He had Christ as the Son in mind, and in taking up each of us He has taken us up as having foreknown us. He did not foreknow us as sons of Adam. He foreknew us in connection with Christ, so that He predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son.

That is what I wish to dwell upon, but one has to inquire whether souls really believe on the Son. If you do not believe on the Son, if the light of the Son of God has not entered your heart, you have no right thought as to what God has taken you up for; hence the importance to Christians of believing on the Son. Now, the gospel of John was written for that end. We are accustomed to use John's gospel to announce the glad tidings to the unsaved, but we must bear in mind that it was written to believers and for believers. The apostle who wrote that gospel selected certain doings and sayings of Christ which were calculated to direct the soul to His Person. He does not call attention to Him as an

official Person, as Luke does. Luke calls attention to Christ in an official light. He was writing to Theophilus, and he sets forth in order, or "with method", the things concerning the Word; the things that had been accredited among Christians. He set them forth in order, and the object was to show that God had intervened in Man, to make known the grace of God to the race. It was the Son of God, whom he presented, of course, but He is viewed in Luke as the Anointed, and this characterises Luke's narrative.

Now, John is not on that line. John is not concerned about the race exactly, although he is intensely evangelical. What he is concerned about is that those who had confessedly believed through the official gospel were drawing back; they were giving up things and this is a condition exactly corresponding with our own; wonderful light has been vouchsafed by God and received widely, but, alas! many are going back. Hence John states the effect of Christ's ministry, as recorded in chapter 6, where He is said to be the "bread of God". He tells us how Jesus spoke and what He said. He tells us that Jesus said, that His words were spirit and life, and he tells us that many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Now note! "Many of his disciples;" those who had professedly believed. There was "a hard saying", and they went back. I refer to that because of present conditions. It is a time, not exactly of gathering. God has gathered wonderfully; the testimony has had a wonderful presentation, thank God, and many have responded to it. But, alas! in many respects it is a time of "going away", turning back and "walking no more" with the truth. The Lord says, "Will ye also go away?" To my mind that is a most touching appeal; and the ready response of Peter is, "to whom [note the word whom not to what] shall we go?"

They had been associated with a system, for Judaism was a system, but Peter does not say, To what shall we go? He says, "to whom shall we go?" A Person had crossed Peter's horizon; he had become acquainted with that Person. That Person had spoken of life; He had spoken of life eternal, and Peter says, "to whom shall we go; thou hast words of life eternal?"

Now, that, to my mind, illustrates the conditions since the official system gave way. What I call the official system is that which was established by the ministry of the apostles. That gave way, but this Person did not give way, and affection clings to the Person; and from that day to this, and until the coming of the Lord, everything hinges on the Person of the Son, and on affection for the Son, so that the word of Christ is still, "Will ye also go away?" What holds you? What held Peter? Christ held Peter. The Son of God held Peter, and hence John cites this instance, among others, to show how the saints of God are held and sustained until the coming of the Lord since the breakdown of the apostolic system.

Well, now, the question is, beloved friends, whether we believe on the Son. You will find that all through in John's gospel the result of the miracles is that somebody believed; and after recording all the signs John says Jesus did many more than these. "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples". Not in the presence of the world, but in the presence of His disciples, the point being the holding of those who professed to believe. He did the signs in the presence of His disciples. The first is in chapter 2, and the result of it was that His disciples believed. So John says: "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". Hence the importance

of John's gospel is that our hearts should be in the light of the Son. It was written specifically that the disciples should be in the light of the Son.

You will observe that the descent of the Spirit on Christ in John's gospel is not to anoint Him. In Matthew and in Luke it is to anoint Him; but in John, where the Spirit descended and abode upon Him, it was simply to designate the Person; not to qualify Him for service, but to call attention to the Person. That Person was qualified inherently. In His own Person He is the Son, and He is supreme, hence John the baptist tells us: "I knew him not: 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. And I saw, and bear record that this is the Son of God". In other words, the coming of the Spirit on the Son, according to John's gospel, is to designate the Person, and that to one who ought to have known Him if He could have been known after the flesh. But the Son cannot be known after the flesh. If any one could have known Christ after the flesh it would have been the Baptist. He was his relative, contemporary with him, of the same age, and yet John did not know the Son. Unquestionably he knew Jesus, the reputed son of Joseph and Mary, but the Son of God he did not know; he became introduced to the Son -- to the Person, by the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him. So in John's gospel the Spirit of God brings forward the Son to meet conditions such as those in which we live.

Well, now, if you are in the light of that Person you are to know that God intends nothing less for you than that you should be conformed to the image of His Son. He has no other thought for you than that you should be conformed to the image of that Person, and, further, that He has foreknown you

to that end. The apostle speaks of all things working together for good to those that love God. That is one point. Every genuine believer loves God. But then he adds, "to them that are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren".

When the Spirit of God uses a word He uses it according to its full meaning; and if He speaks of many brethren there will be many. Remember that the word many in a divine utterance means a great deal. It means a great deal with us, but how much more with God; and Christ is to be the Firstborn among many brethren. The idea of brethren is that there is mutual affection, and Christ is to be the Firstborn among the many just like Himself, and there will be mutual affection.

Now I want to show you, if I can, how God effects this in each of us. But I would again repeat, that it is of prime importance that your soul should be in the light of the Son of God to whose image you are to be conformed. That is to say, that you should believe on the Son. I would appeal to you as to whether you do believe on the Son. If you do not believe on the Son you are always exposed to the influences of this world and the systems of this world. It is the influence of the Son of God that will hold your soul! Since Paul's day the Son has been the great centre of attraction to hold the people of God.

Well, I want to show you how God works out the image of His Son in us collectively to begin with. When I say that He works it out collectively, I mean that He works it out by placing us in relation to one another and placing us under the same conditions, giving us the same food to eat and the same drink and the same Object. Now I shall have to be brief, but I want to enlarge a little on these things. The idea

in Christianity is to get the people of God together. I have alluded before to a word in Proverbs 20:2: "The rich and the poor meet together". The rich and the poor; that is to say, the gospel goes out to every kind of person in the world, for God has only one mind about man. He thinks of everybody, and He sends the gospel to the rich and to the poor alike, and the effect of the reception of the gospel is that they all "meet together". There is a centralising influence in the gospel. Those who receive it are drawn together so that they meet together. Now the passage continues, "and the Lord is the maker of them all". That is. God has us together, and the first element, as it were, that is pressed home is that He is the Creator of us all. If you have anything that distinguishes you, anything that is of any value, it came from God; you did not get it in the world. Anything that you may have acquired in the world does not count in the gathering of God. It may count in the world, in business, and in society, but not in the gathering of God, where "the rich and the poor meet together". Anything that counts there is from God. So Scripture says, "The Lord is the maker of them all". In other words, we have all the same Maker.

Now, that is one element that produces similarity, if it is received. Have you received that light? it may be elementary light, but it is necessary light; that God is the Creator of us all? We all have the same Creator. "The Lord is the maker of them all". The effect of that is to produce similarity, a similarity that comes from God. God is beginning His work to produce sameness, similarity in us all, and He begins by impressing upon us that He is the Maker of us all; that He is our common Creator. I do not limit the idea to merely physical creation. Whatever there is in us that is of any account comes from God. God is the Creator of it. Anything that you have that is of any value came from God.

Now I refer to the epistles to the Corinthians to show how in the assembly the Lord has placed that which has the effect of producing sameness or similarity, and I refer you to the Lord's supper. At Corinth the rich and the poor met together, but the rich maintained their dignity. They had their meal according to their wealth. They ate apart from the poor, and they put the poor to shame. That was not sameness. That did not produce similarity. The rich did not there glory in their humiliation and the poor in their elevation. The rich maintained his place and gave the poor his place. But the apostle says, "this is not to eat the Lord's supper". The Lord's supper is common to all Christians. The Lord in instituting it makes no difference. The bread was common to all and the drink was common to all.

That seems to be a simple thing; but does it not suggest affection? The Lord says, "This is my body, which is for you". Who are the "you"? Christians. All Christians are included in that, as distinct from those outside. And what do we eat in common? We eat the bread. And what is the bread? The bread is the symbol of the body of Christ. Now, what was the body of Christ for? I speak of the body of the Lord reverently. What was it for? It was for the carrying out of the divine will. "Lo, I come to do thy will"; "A body hast thou prepared me". It was for the carrying out of God's will; and in order to carry out that will Christ's body was surrendered in death. That is what is before us in the bread we partake of. Is not that wonderful food? Now, what is the effect of that food? The effect of that food rightly understood is that your will and my will are set aside. Thus there is similarity. It may be negative similarity, but negative similarity is necessary. If we have so many wills, it is well to get rid of them. The bread which we break is the

communion of the Lord's body, and it betokens to our hearts that He has set aside those wills of ours, in His own holy body through death. Be has set them aside. There is no room for them in God's assembly. God's assembly is where God rules, and hence there is no place there for our wills. The food that we partake of involves that, and the drink too. He says, "Drink ye all of it;" the all refers to all true believers. I always feel sorry for the believer who does not partake of the Lord's supper. The Lord included him here. He says, "Drink ye all of it". That is the drink, the common drink of the assembly. We have all the same food and the same drink. Drinking is for satisfaction. The apostle alludes to it later, saying, "we have all been given to drink of one Spirit". So we have the same spirit. The wills are gone, and, with the wills, that naughty spirit that manifested itself in us all, and instead of that we have the Spirit of Christ; "we have all been made to drink of one Spirit". Now, if we have all the same spirit, clearly there must be great similarity. If you get a company of people all pervaded and animated by one spirit there is great similarity.

Well, now, that Spirit gives satisfaction. He gives us character, for in chapter 12 it is a question of the anointing. "So also", says the apostle, "is the Christ". That is, we are all anointed. Our faces shine, for oil makes a man's face to shine. There is satisfaction within in the drinking, and there is distinction, divine distinction, without, for we are really God's anointed. We come into the anointing of Christ. As the apostle says, "So, also, is the Christ".

Now I go on further, into the second epistle, and there we are brought into the presence of an Object in heaven. In chapter 1 the Son is introduced, the Son being invariably the point of recovery. Every

promise of God is yea and Amen in the Son. Whatever failure the first epistle may have disclosed, the second epistle opens with the Son, and every promise of God is secured in the Son. No failure on the part of God's people can touch that. So the heart is reassured. Then in chapter 3 we have the glory. Paul says, "we all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory". What I would point out is, that we have the same Object for our hearts. There is progress; there is development in the presentation of the truth to the Corinthians, and in chapter 3 of the second epistle the saints have the same Object for their affections in heaven. He says, "we all". Who are the "all"? The same that partake of the cup and the bread, the same that drink into the one Spirit. "We all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face"; every one looking up at the glory! Has not that a transforming effect upon each of us? It has a transforming effect upon each one, and the effect it has upon each it has upon all. So, the apostle continues, we "are transformed according to the same image", the same; that is to say, we are all alike, and that like is after Christ. We are transformed to the image of Christ. But we are all transformed; he says "we all", and "we all" embraces believers in the beholding of the glory. So that now we have not only a company with a common Maker, but we have a company with a common likeness, and that likeness is the effect of beholding the glory in the face of Christ. I say -- what a company! and all that is brought to pass by the ministry of the Spirit, so that we have a company formed after Christ in glory; and, as the apostle adds, "from glory to glory".

It is in that way that God leads us on until we see the place the Son has. The Son is God's ideal, as I have said. God never rested until the Son appeared.

You may have noticed that in chapter 1 of John's gospel, the Spirit descended and remained on the Son. That is to say, God had reached His object; He rested there; there was nothing beyond that for God. He had reached His great end, for the Spirit rested upon the Son. But He would surround that Son with many sons, and so the result of the Son's death and the wonderful ministry of the Spirit is to bring in a company and place them in association with Christ in heavenly glory, in every way suitable to Him. I say in every way suitable. You must not think for a moment that God will ever transfer anything from earth to heaven that is not suitable for heaven. That would not be like God. The Spirit's testimony of Enoch is for the assembly, and the testimony was this, that he "pleased God". Now, who pleases God? When do we please God? When we are formed after Christ. The Corinthians did not please God in the first epistle, and the second epistle was to the end that they should please God; hence you have the glory, so that they should be affected by it and changed, and then we get reconciliation introduced. Reconciliation brings in what is for God's pleasure. We are reconciled as transformed. How can we be suitable, or to God's pleasure, except as we are changed? We cannot be to His pleasure without being changed into the image of Christ, for God will have nothing less; He will have nothing lower than that upon which His Spirit rested and abode, and that is the Son; hence we get reconciliation. Reconciliation is to bring in what is for God's pleasure, so that God has complacency in us. Then in chapter 5 we get "in Christ". "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation ... all things are of God". And that is what God translates. God translates that which is of Himself, what pleases Him. We are told that at the beginning God said, "Let us make man in our

image, after our likeness". There we see that God's idea was to have one here upon earth after His image and after His likeness, and hence He created Adam.

Now God is going to put something into heaven, and what will that be? It will be entirely of Himself. And what will it be after? After Christ. So, "if any man be in Christ, there is a new creation". We could not be there otherwise. It must be new creation, and new creation means the total setting aside of everything of the old. "The old things have passed away, and behold all things have become new, and all things are of God". Well, that is what goes up to heaven. What goes up to heaven is what is new-created, what is in every way after God. As I said before, God will not translate anything to heaven that is not suitable to Him, and we are rendered suitable in virtue of being created anew; hence Paul says, "I knew a man in Christ", a man in Christ, and he was "caught up into paradise". That man was suited to go into paradise, a "man in Christ". "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".

Beloved friends, God puts into heaven what has morally come out of heaven, and it goes into heaven in every way suited to Him; and we are to be translated to heaven as a company. Do not think that you are to go up alone. You are not distinguished enough for that. Paul was caught up into paradise to receive revelations. But we shall go up in a company. The apostle in writing to the Thessalonians tells them that the dead in Christ shall rise first, and then that we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them. That is to say, the company is first formed upon earth, and there is not a vestige of the old left. Every particle of the old has disappeared, and that company goes

up and is entirely suited to the place. "We which are alive and remain", he says, "shall be caught up together with them". We are not to go before them, and we are not to go after them. We are to go with them. We are to go together. In other words, God reverts to His original thought of His assembly. It is formed upon earth intact. It is formed in the power of life, the power of resurrection, and then there is the ascent. The ascent follows that. That is privilege. What is peculiarly assembly privilege, always follows and goes beyond resurrection. Resurrection brings the sleeping ones back to earth, and the same power changes us physically; then we are placed together in assembly, as we might say, and all caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.

You could not think of God translating to heaven what would not be suitable to heaven. If He did so, things would be disturbed there. Anything incongruous would disturb what is there. But God puts into heaven not only what is suitable for angelic company, but, wondrous thought! suited for the Son, the One who is in honour there, the One who fills that scene -- the Son. As John says, "we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father". That is the glory of the Son. We behold His glory, His distinctive, personal glory; and John says it is a glory as of an only-begotten with a father. Well, we are said to be the "companions" of that Man, and God is working it out now with each of us. Every bit of ministry, every bit of exercise, every bit of divine culture, is to form us after the pattern of Christ, so that God ultimately secures a company that is in every way formed after that Man; and then that company is translated. And what a company! As the apostle says, "Many brethren". That vast host ascends to join the Lord, and then to come out into public display with Him

as His "brethren", so that He is the Firstborn among them.

May God grant that His ideal may be the ideal that we have before us, and that we may yield ourselves to God as in the light of the Son, so that He may form us after His Son, to be companions of His Son.

Pages 199 - 276. "Wisdom; its Instruction and Final Result". New York, 1911 (Volume 12).

THE LORD'S SUPPER AND MOUNT OLIVET

Mark 14:12 - 26; Hebrews 2:11, 12.

J.T. It might be of help if we were to consider for a moment the surroundings in connection with which the Lord's supper was instituted as we get them in this chapter. It might be helpful as indicating how souls may be guided now as to where the Lord's supper can really be celebrated.

The Lord sent two of His disciples into the city, saying, "a man shall meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him". I think the man with the pitcher of water is very suggestive of spiritual guidance. He was to be followed. "Follow him. And wheresoever he enters, say to the master of the house, The Teacher says. Where is my guest-chamber where I may eat the passover with my disciples?"

R.S.S. What is it suggestive of?

J.T. I would say that it suggests means of refreshment.

Rem. Does the thought suggest the Spirit in any way?

J.T. I think it does. Many souls have perplexity as to where to partake of the Lord's supper, so that I think the setting given here is to afford guidance for us.

F.L. I think we are justified in connecting it with the Spirit. A ministry of the Spirit is a sure guide for souls in these difficult days.

J.T. Yes, and we ought to look for it.

J.B. As to the man with the pitcher of water, it was God's arrangement that he should be there.

J.T. Yes; and it is also God's arrangement now if the spiritual refreshment which I think the man represents exists. Everything that we get in the

way of guidance and help is by divine appointment.

J.P. I think your opening remark is very important, because the moral conditions that obtain in connection with the institution and the first celebration of the Supper remain the same now, and I believe it is of the greatest importance. When Paul rehearses it to the saints he mentions that it was the same night in which the Lord was betrayed, 1 Corinthians 11:23. And here in Mark's account, the Lord alludes to His betrayal by Judas.

J.T. And another thing to be noticed is that the Lord says, "say to the master of the house, The Teacher says, Where is my guest-chamber where I may eat the passover with my disciples? and he will show you a large upper room furnished ready". The "master of the house" recognises the rights of Christ; he recognises what is due to Christ.

R.S.S. I notice Mr. Darby gives it, "Where is my guest-chamber". The Authorised Version says, "Where is the guest-chamber". I suppose the former is correct, and very significant.

J.T. It is very significant if we apply it to the present time. There is a spot where He is recognised and where His rights are recognised. It is not as though He were asking the loan of the chamber. And there is no question on the part of the man in supplying what the Lord demands; "he will show you a large upper room furnished ready". The place was evidently commodious.

F.L. It is large enough for all. We do not want to get narrow in connection with the Lord's supper.

J.T. There is plenty of room there, and all the requisite furniture; no additions were needed.

J.B. And would you say that when any one wants to find the guest-chamber there is always to be found, figuratively speaking, the man with the pitcher of water?

A.F.M. That is to say, a ministry in the power

of the Spirit affords guidance into this blessed place of privilege.

J.T. The activities of the Spirit are, in a way, public, so that they can be taken account of, and one effect is to direct you to the spiritual sphere that belongs to Christ.

F.L. And really, we may almost say, that is the only guidance there is in this day of perplexity and confusion.

J.T. You might have a table spread with the elements, and all the outward forms of the worship of God, but there is no guidance in that. You will find, as a rule, that exercised souls follow the light; they are drawn to that which is enlightening and refreshing.

H.P. The truth held in terms is not a test, but the truth ministered in living power by the Spirit is.

J.T. It is a question of what is refreshing and what cleanses morally. We know they had water in the guest-chamber after supper, and the Lord used it, John 13.

R.S.S. And you can speak of it as living water.

Ques. What would you say as to the man who bears the pitcher of water? Is the thought that he has the water?

J.T. Simply that he is bearing that water for a purpose. He does not turn out of the way; he is going to where the Lord had appointed; the disciples are told to follow him. The pitcher of water is the main point. They are led to a place in which the rights of Christ are recognised. "The Goodman of the house" immediately shows the upper chamber, and the room is already furnished. You have no need to bring furniture with you.

A.F.M. The man who is carrying the pitcher of water would attract to Christ, would he not?

J.T. Undoubtedly. But the order here is that he leads into the house, and the "good man of

the house" into which he goes recognises the rights of Christ. They say to him, "The Teacher says, Where is my guest-chamber, that I may eat the passover with my disciples", and he shows an upper room ready furnished, so that all is ready.

A.R.S. The "Goodman of the house" is in charge, and that would bring in the assembly and the government of it; in the assembly the rights of the Lord Jesus are fully owned.

J.T. Evidently He is well known there and His rights are respected. In the present broken state of things in Christendom there is a great deal of confusion, and souls have difficulty as to where to go, and I think the Lord gives refreshment where His rights are owned.

R.S.S. It is a great thing to be led to where the rights of Christ are owned and maintained. I think you would find a measure of refreshment where Christians are; but there are very few places where the rights of Christ are owned.

J.T. Then you have a very interesting thought in "furnished ready".

J.P. What is your thought about it?

J.T. In ordinary human religious places there is such a thing as furniture. You go into any so-called place of worship, and you will find it furnished with what is considered suitable furniture for such a place, but they are all humanly devised and arranged.

R.S.S. What do you mean?

J.T. The pulpit and the pews and the organ, and all that is regarded as necessary in an ordinary co-called place of worship; but in the assembly of God the furniture is all spiritual.