Pages 1 - 310, "Spirituality" 1939. (Volume 148).

SPIRITUALITY(1)

Exodus 17:1 - 16

J.T. The subject proposed is, I may say, cumulative, and it is essential to the completion of certain lines of truth that have been before the Lord's people for some years; doctrines and principles all bearing on the service of God. It is thought that spirituality, as the Lord may help us to consider it, will be seen as essential to the application of what has been before us . We are told that which is first is natural, afterwards that which is spiritual. So that the spiritual is the final thought, that is, it enters into the final thought of God, our eternal portion, and we ourselves will be marked by spirituality; as raised, our bodies will be spiritual, or if quickened, as alive and remaining when the Lord comes, they will be spiritual. So that in view of our final portion -- our being with the Lord -- it seems that this subject should be formally looked into.

Then as regards the present time, in the epistles to the Corinthians, which are corrective and instructive as to the service of God, the subject of spirituality is stressed. The apostle says to the Corinthians, for instance, that he could not speak to them as unto spiritual, a very humbling thought; he had to speak to them as unto babes in Christ: that is, they had the full Christian status, but were wanting in spirituality and hence were depriving themselves of the best and most blessed thoughts of God.

One need not say that this latter thought is solemn, because unless spirituality be developed, however much we may take things in mentally, we are not really profiting by them, and perhaps we may be better off without them; but, as having them, it is obvious that we

should have before us this matter of spirituality. Then as to administrative service -- of which there is much need in our care meetings, and assembly meetings for discipline -- spirituality is a leading necessary feature; it shuts out personal feelings in these matters. Paul's word to the Corinthians is that "the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one", 1 Corinthians 2:15. That is, in the administration of divine things the principle of the mystery is always present, everything is not compassed, especially as to those under discipline, they are unable to discern. The spiritual man retains inscrutability in measure; he is discerned of no one, so that the dignity of Christianity is maintained in these administrative matters by spirituality. In Galatians the restoration of erring ones depends on spirituality; "ye who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness", Galatians 6:1. With all this in view it seems to me it would be wise for us to look at the subject from the foundation in the types, and I believe that is properly in Exodus 17.

In 1 Corinthians 2, spirituality stands related to the Spirit of God in a personal way. It is a subject brought in as developed out of faith and the Spirit of God. In John's gospel we have the foundation of it bearing particularly on our own times, that is new birth. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit", (John 3:6). That is what I understand to be the fundamental thought in us; it is constitutional, not exactly what we have received through our minds, but what God effects sovereignly as fundamental in our constitutions. Those who grow up ostensibly in the truth, without bearing in mind this fundamental thought, are usually defective, so that the chapter read, I believe, deals with the matter first as rooted in the sufferings of Christ, which were essential in order that we may have the Spirit; the Spirit being viewed here as received through the sufferings of Christ.

The chapter begins with an allusion to the commandment of Jehovah as governing the teaching in it, and proceeds to tell us of the people contending with Moses because there was no water. The battle of Rephidim, which follows, has in mind the state in us seen in Romans 7, which requires elucidation if this matter of spirituality is to be reached intelligently. The matter of God's sovereign act as fundamental to our chapter contemplates the elucidation of conditions within us; the law being the instrument, divinely provided, to lead us to this analysis, without the understanding of which none of us shall ever reach Christianity in a spiritual sense. In general that is what one had in mind.

F.J.F. Is the Spirit received directly from God by each individual who believes, or as a consequence of the Spirit being here in the body?

J.T. It is the gift of God. It is always the direct gift of God and never automatic, as far as I understand; but the Spirit is given as already here in the assembly.

J.D. Does Ephesians 1:13 help -- "in whom ye also have trusted, having heard the word of the truth, the glad tidings of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise"?

J.T. Yes, the "word of the truth". That is where the difficulty lies in many. Very few believers, brought up under defective teaching, have the Spirit operating in them, as far as I have observed. This is because they do not get the "word of the truth" which is an adjusting thought as to our souls. That is always necessary in view of the reception of the Spirit. The apostle alludes there to Acts 19, in which we are told that there were twelve men at Ephesus who had had imperfect instruction -- what related to the baptism of John; they were persons, such as are very prevalent today, brought up under defective teaching; truth to a point, but not

the whole truth; not such as "the glad tidings of your salvation" (Ephesians 1:13) implies. So that the apostle gives us a lead in that chapter as regards the Spirit, saying, "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye had believed?"(Acts 19:2) The men said they had not heard of Him as come.

A.M.H. Does Exodus 17 indicate how far souls may go without having received the Spirit? There was faith in relation to passing through the Red Sea, Hebrews 11:29; but the smiting of the rock and the coming out of the water, alluding to the Spirit, followed this.

J.T. That helps, because it is a question of the commandment of the Lord. This position is reached by the commandment of the Lord; meaning that it is imperative that we should come to this point in our souls. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:4 that they had all eaten the same spiritual food and drunk the same spiritual drink; they drank of "a spiritual rock which followed them". This is what is alluded to in the spiritual drink; the rock comes into view here; but the position is marked by divine commandment. The gift of the Holy Spirit is from God's side. It is essential to Christianity; to our being in it rightly. Verse 1 says, "at the command of Jehovah ... they encamped in Rephidim". I believe this is to be noted specially, because there is with many the feeling that divine things are optional; this is especially so in young people; whereas it is a divine commandment that we should reach this point.

E.E. It is imperative then for us to move under the control of the Lord, that we might come under the effect of His sufferings and thus be instructed in view of our having the Spirit.

J.T. Yes. God gives the Spirit to those who obey Him, Acts 5:32. Peter says, in Acts 2, in answer to those who were convicted, "Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy

Spirit"(Acts 2:38). The promise was to them, but later he says that God gave the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, as said above.

H.J.M. Is it not very attractive that the original word for commandment is "at the mouth of Jehovah"? It should make an added appeal.

J.T. A practical word from His mouth. That is, there is nearness in it.

H.H. You have referred to Pentecost, when the Spirit was given as the promise of the Father; have we to appreciate that the Spirit is on earth in relation to divine interests?

J.T. Quite so. He is not given now directly from heaven as He was given at Pentecost. He was "sent from heaven", we are told, (1 Peter 1:12), and is here so that the believer comes into what is already here, and he is set in the body by the reception of the Spirit, but still every believer has a transaction with God, and God with him, as the Spirit is received.

F.J.F. Is it that it is given directly from God to the believer?

J.T. That is what I understand.

F.S.W. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10 that God was not pleased with most of those who came out of Egypt. Would that suggest that there are many amongst nominal believers in whom God is not pleased, because they have not the Spirit?

J.T. Exactly. The apostle is dealing with the profession of Christianity in which many would not have the Spirit, which is so today; hence the importance of obedience. This is an imperative matter, so that in order that we should have the Spirit, Christ had to suffer; He had to be smitten. God does not express resentment at the people's murmurings. He deals with Christ in regard of it all, for He would intimate to young believers that Christ would undergo sufferings, so that they should have the Spirit.

F.I. Is spirituality seen in Joshua as the one who was able to overcome Amalek? And then Moses is on top of the hill with the staff of God. Typically, Christ is above.

J.T. That is where the conflict begins. The conflict is from verse 9; Moses says, "go out, fight". The battle must result in victory for Amalek unless we recognise the Spirit; hence the early part of the chapter is basic from the divine side. What appears from verse 9 to the end is what transpires in our souls; so that victory is reached in an experimentally spiritual way. The law comes into this, although it is seen more fully in Numbers 21, but the writer of Romans 7:14 says, "the law is spiritual: but I am fleshly", There is a battle inwardly between what is spiritual, and what is carnal. What is spiritual prevails; the victory therefore is spiritual. It implies the introduction of a spiritual element into one's being, an operative spiritual element and, as augmented by other elements seen here, it prevails. The law is spiritual. Why should there be a law? It came in, in order to work out the great thought of sin, "that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful" -- exceeding sinful, (Romans 7:13). It has been worked out in the history of humanity. The book of Revelation shows how it will appear later on, and God is patiently waiting until it is fully developed before He strikes. It is the history of humanity without God, but it becomes exceeding sinful in the believer. The thing is worked out in the believer on the same principle. That is the thing to get at in our souls -- the judgment of sin, not only sin normally, but the exceeding sinfulness of it. The operation of the law, being spiritual from this point of view, develops this.

F.W. Is it the answer in our souls to the sufferings of Christ?

J.T. Quite so, that we might know what caused them, that each had his part in it.

E.E. Does smiting in scripture always involve death? What would be the character of the Lord's suffering here in being smitten. Is it in connection with the principle of sin in us?

J.T. The context shows that the death of Christ is meant in this type. Smiting is applied to Christ several times, involving His death, Matthew 26:31. We could not have the Spirit except Christ had died. The Lord said on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"(Matthew 27:46) But sufferings alone would not suffice; there must be the termination judicially in death of the man that sinned, and the more I discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin in that man -- that is, in myself - the more ready I am to abandon him, and to see the necessity of his being brought to a termination. The first cry on the cross, I believe, is that the wrath of God was felt in the Lord's heart, and He says, "why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46) The second cry is the termination of the man, for, having uttered it, the Lord actually died. There were two cries.

J.D. Romans 7:25 says, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself with the mind serve God's law; but with the flesh sin's law". Is "Jesus Christ our Lord" here an experimental expression?

J.T. It is an objective thought. The writer is dealing with what is subjective: what is going on in himself up to that point, and finds he is helpless to overcome sin in the flesh. The law has only accentuated it and made it more powerful, and he is correspondingly all the weaker, so that he is helpless and in despair. Hence the objective thought, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:25). That involves the work of Christ, it involves His death and His resurrection. Really it is Christ viewed as "made ... Lord and Christ", with the consequent result of relief for men. So that as a result, one is now to exercise his mind. One of the greatest

things is to see that I have control of my mind; that it has not control of me. "I myself", that is the ego and its consciousness. I am consciously there in deliverance, and I have control of my mind and I start to make resolutions which enter into the moral fibre of the believer. I myself with the mind serve God's law, whatever that may be.

E.S.W. Does the action of Phinehas in Numbers 25 correspond with the smiting of which you have been speaking? When the grave sin of Israel came to view, he rose up from among the assembly, and took a javelin and destroyed those who had been guilty.

J.T. It is the principle of dealing with sin effectively. He smote them both, the two sinners.

W.B.P. Is not the smiting in Isaiah 53:4 from God? God was the smiter, here it is from Moses.

J.T. There is a question of Moses' rod -- Moses represents God in the type -- it is a question of the rod that he used. Verse 5 says, "And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy staff with which thou didst smite the river, take in thy hand, and go". He represents the authority of God. Then verse 6 says, "Behold I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel". That is to say, it is God's authority exercised visibly before the elders. It is a question of the responsibility of the people; the elders being there, Jehovah is there also. The smiting is Moses' part, but it is the rod of God. The rod by which He dealt with the world, represented in Egypt, is now the rod that is used against Christ typically. There is no drinking mentioned here; it does not say the people drank, because it is to show typically the bringing in of the Spirit, who is here through sufferings; but still there is a suggestion that the Spirit is available.

The battle is to bring out the state of our souls, the state inwardly that had to be discerned so as to reach victory.

J.M. Would faith enter into all this?

J.T. We see faith in the end of chapter 14; faith had begun already; they "believed in Jehovah, and in Moses his bondman (Exodus 14:31)". Faith must precede this, but now it is a visible thing done before the eyes of the elders by the hand of Moses who represents the authority of God. What had been used against the world is now used against Christ on account of the state of the people, and in order that they might have the Holy Spirit.

W.J.H. Is your thought that all this comes into "the word of the truth", the acceptance of separation from Egypt and the acceptance of the judgment of sin in the flesh?

J.T. That is exactly what I thought when our brother quoted from Ephesians 1. It is the gospel of our salvation, but it is the word of the truth, involving that what we are is made clear, and, of course, what God is in Christ.

H.J.M. Speaking of the experimental side, and the remark as to the expression, "Jesus Christ our Lord", the moment the soul, looking outside himself, really says that, he is in touch with the spiritual realm.

J.T. That is what I was thinking. The battle, the conflict here implies Romans 7. Historically the law had not yet come, and we have to wait for Numbers 21 to see how it works for the exposure of sin in the flesh, and how perfectly it is dealt with in the death of Christ. Amalek comes up in verse 8, and fights with Israel in Rephidim. It is this particular place, the battlefield being chosen by Jehovah. We are not at any disadvantage in it. It is a selected battlefield, but nevertheless a real conflict and the issue for a while is uncertain. Moses directs Joshua. This is the first time we have

Joshua, and that is why the passage is selected, because it is the introduction of what will culminate in the eternal state of things. That is, the spiritual state first, and then the spiritual body. Here it is a question of divine authority, God taking the initiative through Moses. He says to Joshua, "Choose us men". It is a collective matter in that sense and even Moses himself is in it. All heaven, the whole economy of God, is in this matter, so that we should be ready to realise the presence of the Spirit in the victory. What comes out are elements that are not mentioned before, such as the uplifting of Moses' hands and the support of his hands by Aaron and Hur, also the stone on which he sat. So that as the battle goes on, every exigency of it brings out the remedy -- brings out the provision to meet it. Thus one is encouraged to move on, knowing that however severe the conflict, victory is assured.

J.M. Would that represent intercession?

J.T. It is intercession, but in the economy, as it were, otherwise these weak elements would jeopardise victory. They are occasioned by the state of our souls. If you look at the economy from the divine side there is no weakness, and the Spirit is here also looking after our state. It is a state of great weakness, but yet a provision comes as need arises, that victory may not be snatched from us.

It is a question of intercession, but our weakness in these circumstances is stressed. You are hardly realising what there is provided of God for you in the place occupied above. That is the real difficulty, so that faith is to develop in this process. This is to bring us to see, little by little, the wonderful economy that has been set up, under which provision is made for this weak condition in us. It is an uncertain or undulating process and yet complete victory at the end. It is written for us that we might not lose heart. The experience of most of us is that one day we are bright and happy in our souls

and another day we are down, the next day we are a little brighter; and perhaps at a meeting we get a definite lift and realise marked victory over the flesh. We find definite provision to meet every exigency. It is very touching that they could hold up Moses' hands all day. As they weakened, Amalek prevailed. So long as the hands are supported, Amalek is defeated. It is a question of our state when faith is in exercise.

F.W. Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. It is Joshua .

J.T. That is it. We must let Joshua into our minds. Who is Joshua? The Spirit of God gives us no account of him here, he appears abruptly. Later history explains fully who he is, but already light as to him is breaking in; one has come in marked by military ability.

Rem. Was not Joshua a man of another spirit?

J.T. Yes, that comes out later. We learn as we go on. There is authority in this. Joshua was not to be careless in his choice. Another thing here is "the book", verse 14; it is the beginning of spiritual history. The real difficulty is, that one knows in oneself that there is an unreadiness to get down to the real state of things, and to admit the weakness of soul in which we are. If we admit it we find Joshua acting for us, and Moses and Aaron and Hur acting for us, and everything done for us above. Let us therefore admit the weakness.

J.D. Would Aaron and Hur putting a stone under Moses be equivalent to an apprehension in our souls of the ability that is in Christ?

J.T. Yes. That is relatively a small thought, but it is what is needed for stability. It is not a rock, but a stone; the rock is smitten. According to 1 Corinthians 10:4, "the rock" followed them, not a stone. The stone refers to the smallness of our experience. It is enough for the moment; it met the need.

E.E. What is meant by verse 14? -- "Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of

Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens".

J.T. This experience is to be carried forward; it is that in which Saul failed. I have to remember what enters into my spiritual history; there is to be a blotting out of the remembrance of Amalek. It is not blotted out here. It was reserved to Saul to do that, but he did not do it. It is a question now of whether we are engaged on this line, blotting out the thing; whether in the culmination of the period of grace, and the building of the assembly in the service of God, there is the blotting out of Amalek. "I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens". It was the final test of king Saul, and he seemed to have done very well in his own eyes and in the eyes of others, but the word of God discovered to him that he had not done well; that he had not borne in mind this book of remembrance, and he lost the kingdom. So it is a question for each of us to settle: the memorial in "the book"; see also Deuteronomy 25:17 - 19.

J.M. Is that because it is the commandment of the Lord?

J.T. That is right. Samuel, in conveying to Saul the divine commandment as to Amalek, said, "hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah", 1 Samuel 15:1. That is not only a general instruction, but refers to the details of the matter. We get on to a certain point in our souls and think everything is well, but in truth it is not well. There are the words of Jehovah which Saul failed to keep, in the commission given to him to destroy the Amalekites. He reserved the best . There are good things in men -- family status, education, amiability, and such like; why not reserve a little of these? They will add to us outwardly, but if we do, we disregard the words of Jehovah as Saul did.

P.L. Is this the fundamental book in the divine library referring to the primary education of the saints, but carried forward right through their history?

J.T. That is it. A book involves accuracy and this is one of the most important items in the book of God. The very remembrance of Amalek is to be blotted out. How long we cherish in our minds a little bit of family status and the like! And yet we may be valuable brothers. "The book" is to determine things, and Saul is rejected because he disregarded it.

W.J.H. Would you say David and Mordecai had read this book carefully; David in ordering the destruction of the Amalekite that brought the crown and bracelet to him, and Mordecai in refusing to recognise the Agagite?

J.T. Very excellent allusions. It is a most testing and perhaps exposing experience. Hebrews 4:12 says, "the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do". And then Proverbs 20:27 says, "Man's spirit is the lamp of Jehovah, searching all the inner parts of the belly". The inner conditions of the saints are tested in this way, and we discover motives that we never thought were there. If we let the word of God in, it will expose them to us, so that we might have the victory, and learn this book of spirituality. That is what it is, the beginning of the instruction. When God records things, they are worth recording, as building up spirituality in us.

H.D.T. Does the thought of rehearsing emphasise the need of ministry that covers this ground? We take too much for granted, perhaps.

J.T. I suppose the great prominence given to Romans 7 in the early ministry of the revival last century would suggest this to us. It is very difficult to take into the mind the section of Romans 7 which treats of this matter, and I think God intends it to be so in order to

make us look into it. He causes this truth to be rehearsed in our ears. Joshua would not miss the rehearsals. They would be the making of him, so that he should be an example for us.

Rem. We learn from verse 15 that "Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi". What would that suggest?

J.T. Moses coming in at the end is to bring out that, at this stage, it is still the authority of God that was seen in the smiting of Christ. It was His authority in the smiting of the river of Egypt, but now it is that authority in my soul, so that I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Moses is covering the whole position, but Joshua is coming into view. He has a place here, and he will be kept before us in this rehearsal by Moses. Moses is now in the lead; Joshua is subservient, yet presently we shall see that Moses disappears and Joshua is everything in leadership. The instruction is that young believers, and all of us, are to keep in mind the authority of God in Christ, and to recognise that according to Romans 7, God is dealing, through this authority, with our inward parts. The apostle is putting it before us to look into it and to name our inward emotions, feelings, promptings, etc. -- name them; tabulate them, as it were. What do they mean? The law is spiritual; it is holy, it is just, it is good, but it has caused my death, sin through it becoming more powerful, Romans 7:9 - 13. So that the Lord would have us to go through the thing, not in an optional way, but in a balanced analytical way. As I said, it is a difficult thing to keep in the mind that section of scripture. God intended it to be so, to make men of us as looking into it; by applying our minds to it. So that we reach the victory, attributing it all to God through Christ. Deliverance usually occasions a great and long exercise in the believer, but in result he sees that it is what Christ has effected for him, and therefore he thanks God, Romans 7:25.

G.G.McK. Does Philippians 3:3 show us a man, the beloved apostle Paul, who was thoroughly in accord with what you have been speaking of; one who worshipped by the Spirit of God and had no confidence in the flesh?

J.T. That is the outcome of it. He says, "we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh (Philippians 3:3)".

F.J.F. Would this be a great encouragement to Joshua, who had won this his first victory on a spiritual line? God showed him the end He had in view in blotting out the enemy?

J.T. Yes. It is in the book and to be rehearsed in his ears. It is of course written for us, so that we might have the thing rehearsed. In regard of what has been referred to -- the worship of God -- it is remarkable how the altar comes in here, how the worship of God is secured on this line. It is from Moses -- he was not directed to build it. It is his first one. We may worship because of teaching we receive into our minds, but this process of which we are now speaking is essential to the worship of God. It is remarkable how the woman of Samaria, when the Lord exposes her to herself, introduces the thought of worship; it comes into her heart then. The Lord does not despise it, but converses with her about it, and says things to her that He says to no one else. In that way we are reminded of the importance of humbly accepting the conditions we are in as in the flesh. Paul says, "when we were in the flesh",(Romans 7:5) that is, these fleshy conditions that the believer has to discern and judge unsparingly, so as to be free to worship God. The two things go together; the disclosure of the woman's state, and the living water operating in that relation; it operates in the region of the lower affections. As our state, as in the flesh, is thus disclosed and judged, the Holy Spirit has scope to spring up into everlasting life. So that the man who is

supposed to come into the assembly at Corinth, and comes under the power of the prophetic ministry, does the same thing; he falls down and worships God. God comes into his soul and becomes his Object.

A.M.H. Is it that, as we go through this analysis and find how sinful things are in ourselves, we discover that the stone and the priestly feelings and purity are with us as being the subjects of the work of God; so that I myself with the mind serve God's law?

J.T. There are these possibilities in a believer. They are not in an unbeliever. He never arrives at them, no matter how much he may punish himself in a monastery -- as some do. He never arrives at spiritual results. The instruction is for a real believer, a person who has faith and in whom God has wrought.

H.J.M. The woman of Samaria read the rehearsal in "the book" in the presence of Christ. It is the only place to read the book and learn the lesson.

J.T. Quite so. She came into deliverance. Christ became the Object.

A.M.H. The name of the altar here is "Jehovah my banner".

J.T. Thus you go on now confidently to other conflicts and other victories.

H.D.T. "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth", (Psalm 60:4). Is that applicable now?

J.T. It is indeed. Here it is entirely from Moses -- "Jehovah my banner". Now we can go on again to other conflicts. We get a military start, and great confidence is inspired in the soul. We have reached a landmark under this banner. All conflict henceforth is to be under it.

SPIRITUALITY (2)

Exodus 24:1 - 18; Exodus 33:7 - 11

J.T. For the benefit of those who were not present this morning it may be remarked that our subject is spirituality; it is required, as was pointed out, in view of our eternal place and portion -- for we are to be raised in spiritual bodies, the final condition of believers -- and in view also of administration here. It was pointed out that "the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one", (1 Corinthians 2:15). Thus, although he has part in administrative matters, such as discipline, he is in accord with the mystery, that which is secretive, and maintains the character of the dispensation, for it is marked by the mystery, "in which", as it is said, "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge", (Colossians 2:3). Also in regard to restoration, it was pointed out that in Galatians 6:1, the spiritual are enjoined to restore an erring one. It was said that in John 3 we have the basic thought of spirituality, that is, in a constitutional sense, for "born of the Spirit" is a sovereign act of God, not through our intelligence or minds. God acts sovereignly by the Spirit, so that that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. There is that in us which is termed spirit, not in the sense of a person, but a quality. We read Exodus 17 as introducing Joshua, the subject being spirituality as traced in his personal history, not necessarily in his book, but earlier. He appears in Exodus 17 for the first time, without any introduction; and, in view of subsequent history, it is clear enough that we begin with him in the development of spiritual conditions, through our intelligence and exercises.

We have in that chapter an account of the battle with the Amalekites, pointing to Satan working through the

flesh in us. The battle records weakness, a variable condition until, through provision made, as needed, victory is assured. "Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword", Exodus 17:13, alluding to the word of God and its effect inwardly.

Moses is seen as dominant, representing, in the smiting of the rock, the authority of God. As interceding also he had the rod, for the authority of God was still there in the intercession. He also appointed Joshua to lead the army, and ultimately the victory was secured. Moses built an altar and called it "Jehovah-nissi", meaning. The Lord is my banner. Further victories will be secured under that banner -- spiritual victories.

The thought is to pursue the subject in relation to Joshua in Exodus 24, ascension being in mind. Rephidim is evidently a lower plane, relating to ordinary, initial, spiritual experience, but chapter 24 contemplates ascension, so that our inquiry will be regarding that feature; and then in chapter 33, the house of God, where Joshua is seen as a young man, we are reminded that we are still in the early stages of spiritual development, marked by freshness and vigour; and he remained in the tent.

A.M.H. Would you say what Joshua represents - how we know Christ in a practical way in that relation, and then in the choosing of men?

J.T. I have taken him to mean, as I was mentioning this morning, Christ apprehended spiritually; the word spiritual, alluding to what is constitutional in the believer, perhaps indefinable, but over against what is natural in us, and even legitimate. Spirituality implies an indefinable feature, somewhat parallel with the idea of life, but more elevated, as connected with the spirit of a man. Joshua would therefore typify Christ as you begin to apprehend Him as distinct from His authority, as seen in Moses, or even in His priesthood, but what He is as bringing within our range the great spiritual thoughts of

God: involving His realm, the eternal state of things. We begin to discern it in a small way at first, as in Exodus 17, for he is seen only in a military sense there. An element comes into the soul, indefinable even by the person himself, but yet it is there, and gives character and colour to the person henceforth, and you feel the power of it in him, especially as he takes part in the assembly. The subsequent history of Joshua throws light backwards; and we can look back, each in his own history, to the time when this began in his experience. Not that he did not have the Spirit before, nor partake of spiritual food, as we had this morning; but the circumstances, the smiting of the rock, and the attack on Amalek bring out this element in the believer's soul, so that he can even speak of the law, which taught him what sin is, as "spiritual", Romans 7:14.

We have the upward movement in chapter 24, which is a continuation of the subject. It should be pointed out that this upward movement is the result of what intervened; namely, the introduction of the law and the covenant, and the abstract state needed for ascension as indicated in chapters 21,22 and 23, which contemplate experience in the land. In the light of those chapters -- which are included in the words read or spoken by Moses, and then written -- ascension, as in chapter 24, is possible. The teaching of chapters 21 to 23 is abstract and indicates what is suitable to the people in the land. Moses goes higher and Joshua goes with him, and it is thought that there is in Joshua, in the second half of the chapter, an element entering into our subject. He ascends with Moses and comes down with him, so that he had all the experience of the forty days above.

F.J.F. Does that represent Colossians to us?

J.T. I have no doubt it would. Colossians hardly takes us into the land, but it is the process of entering, and indicates what is suitable there. Our minds are set on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of

God. If our minds are there the features of heaven come into them.

H.W. What would be indicated in Joshua being Moses' attendant?

J.T. It is the thought before us, intimately allied with the mediatorship of Moses, which is still in mind, and is a leading thought all through Exodus. The time comes when he gradually disappears and Joshua alone remains in the leadership; this would allude to our progress. In these early chapters we have the thought of spirituality in a comparatively small way. It will be observed that Moses went up actually into the mountain. Jehovah says to him, "Come up to me into the mountain, and be there", Exodus 24:12; that is a fixed place for the time, and then "Moses rose up, and Joshua his attendant; and Moses went up to the mountain of God". In the first verse, Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders are directed to "Go up to Jehovah". They were to "worship afar off", but "let Moses", we are told, "alone come near Jehovah". The company, that is Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy did not go up into the actual mountain. They went up, it is a question of ascension in principle. Moses alone, with Joshua, went up into the mountain; Moses was there .

W.H.U. What would be the import of the six days' silence? The glory covered the mount six days, but on the seventh day God spoke.

J.T. Formation would go on, I suppose, in the silence. An important matter in the service of God is to wait in silence. We have often remarked as to the presence of the Lord at the supper at Bethany, that the silence was only broken by Judas. There was a period of spirituality, and spirituality is required for silence in such circumstances. One can thus be silent in power.

E.S.W. Would you say a little more as to what is in your mind as to the difference between the elders going

up in principle, and Moses and Joshua going up in actuality?

J.T. It indicates assembly service at the present time. We do not go up in a literal or physical sense. Paul went up, whether in the body or out of it, he could not tell, he said; it might have been either. It was literal then, but now as in assembly service we do not go up save in a spiritual sense. Christ has gone up in a literal, corporeal sense, and is there, verse 12. Joshua, too, went up and came down with Moses. Hence I think the chapter is to promote spirituality, apprehended objectively in Christ gone up, but already known in the Joshua character. The chapters intervening, 17 to 23, fill out what is needed in the soul to learn what is in chapter 24. Moses going up definitely and being there and Joshua with him.

The number directed to go up would indicate Israel, or the people of God representatively. Moses had that in his mind when he "built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel", verse 4; the saints as a whole are represented. They are to go up, but evidently not up to the mountain proper. They were to remain, as Moses says to the elders, "Wait here for us, until we return to you; and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you: if any man have any matter, let him come before them", verse 14. That is, the ascension did not alter their literal position on earth. Ascension is typically a spiritual matter for us as in assembly. It does not alter our general position here below in the place of responsibility and testimony.

F.W.W. What is the import of these tables of stone and the law and the commandments given to Moses, in which, apparently, Joshua would have part?

J.T. Moses would ultimately come down with them, as specified here, "the tables of stone, and the law, and the commandment that I have written, for their instruction", verse 12. These items allude to what should

be brought down as governing the people of God in relation to the divine dwelling. They involve the principles governing us in the house of God. The dwelling is in mind in the next chapter, and Moses going up implies that he was to receive instruction for it. The tabernacle would be morally an impossibility without these, because the tabernacle is composed antitypically of the saints, and these elements are essential to its very constitution; that is, typically "the tables of stone, and the law, and the commandment that I have written". It might be thought that each item referred to the same thing, but not in the renewed mind, which observes fine distinctions; it is through our minds and affections that we are formed.

P.L. So that the law of the house in the prophet Ezekiel is attached to the top of the mountain?

J.T. Just so, "round about", You refer to Ezekiel 43:12? The impression conveyed in the term tables of stone, is permanency in an antitypical sense. There is to be no variation at all in what is given. It cannot be added to, or subtracted from. It is written with the finger of God, as we are told later. Then the law refers to specified authority, not simply authority in a person, but what is specified, what we can act by; "To the law and the testimony!" (Isaiah 8:20). We are told that if they do not speak according to this, "for them there is no daybreak (Isaiah 8:20)". The law is a specified thing, as we had this morning, in the victory indicated in Romans 7:25, "I myself with the mind serve God's law"; whatever that law may be; so that law, as specific, is of immense importance. There need be no doubt about it, it is specific. Then there is the commandment written for their instruction; the commandment is more personal to God. It is of peculiar force in the mind, and in the conscience. "If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord's commandment", (1 Corinthians 14:37). It is personal

and direct from the Lord. "I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you", (1 Corinthians 11:23). That is for our instruction. All this came down as Moses came down, with Joshua. Moses had all these things with him, and the tabernacle, as we have it in chapter 33, called the "Tent of meeting", would be that in which they would be applicable; and Joshua was there; that is, the spiritual element is there, and does not depart from within the tent. So that God relies on the spiritual for the maintenance of these things. Like the prophetess Anna, who "departed not from the temple", (Luke 2:37).

W.J.H. The apostle seems to bring in three of these things in the epistles to the Corinthians -- the "fleshy tables of the heart", 2 Corinthians 3:3; and "not without law to God", 1 Corinthians 9:21; and "the commandments of the Lord", 1 Corinthians 14:37.

J.T. You are thus maintained as in the house; not as those who are casual and stay in their own houses and worship at their own doors, Exodus 33:10. They would not be concerned about what was in the tent. They worship because of a special display of glory, but in our chapter Joshua represents the spiritual, departing not from within the tent. That is the element that is needed for the preservation and maintenance of what is due to God in His house.

J.D. The impressions that Joshua would have as being with Moses on the mount would qualify him, as brought before us in chapter 33.

J.T. Yes. I think we might see the link between chapters 24 and 33, as to the ascension; our part being ascension in principle, Christ's part actual ascension. The Lord says, "go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", (John 20:17). That is truth in the soul, so that ascension properly precedes the establishment of the house here in testimony. It is a heavenly thing

on earth, and aside from the spiritual, which involves the knowledge of the heavenly, the house will not be preserved. We may be affected by the displays of glory from time to time, but the maintenance of the house requires that the spiritual element is there. Itis there; the "young man departed not from within the tent". I think that the epistles to the Corinthians, for instance, indicate persons who are characteristically this; persons who are concerned about the state of things, and how far the people as a whole were getting away from the truth of the assembly. There were those who cared for it. They were there.

F.J.F. Would Simeon be one in whom that element is found? He was there to receive the Lord as He came in.

J.T. He is a good example. I was also thinking of Anna, but Simeon represents the intelligent side. He is introduced to us as "a man in Jerusalem",(Luke 2:25) which is significant, because Jerusalem viewed spiritually means so much. Later the ass's colt is found in that spiritual environment. Bethphage, Bethany, the mount of Olives, and Jerusalem taken together form a group of spiritual suggestions in which the colt was held. The Lord is helping us now to keep the children in such an environment, for as held they are capable of spiritual thoughts. Jairus' daughter also is said to be raised up into a spiritual environment, as often noted. It is said of Simeon, that he was in Jerusalem "And he came in the Spirit into the temple"(Luke 2:27); he was there, and took the Babe in his arms. I believe that is how Luke would help us in this matter of spirituality, that in principle we do not leave the house. Simeon and Anna together exemplify this thought.

C.D. Joshua as going up with Moses would become acquainted with the pattern of the house, all the holy detail of it, as given to Moses.

J.T. That is what I thought. The literal ascension is

attached to the mediatorship of Christ. Our attention has been called to the silence of six days; then Jehovah speaking, as indicative of what went on above. What did Joshua see? What did he hear? We are told what Nadab and Abihu, and Aaron and the elders saw. They saw the God of Israel, and what was under His feet. That was impressive, and would promote spiritual feelings. But what did Joshua see? Moses was there forty days and forty nights, and Joshua with him. So that it seems as if Colossians would help, as has been remarked, setting our minds on things above, in a meditative way, the Holy Spirit in us enabling us to grasp what is there. The Lord says, "the Son of man is in heaven", (John 3:13); a great spiritual thought in John's gospel. "If then ye see the Son of man ascending up where he was before", John 6:62. In these references in the gospels we see the heavenly side of our position. Peter says to the Lord, "thou art the holy one of God", (John 6:69); he gathered up that in his soul, from what he saw and heard, especially as in that chapter.

E.B.McC. Do we see in that the sisterly element; they learn in silence, and thus the subjective state is formed?

J.T. I think it is just in that way that our sisters come into the thought of spirituality. Taking Anna and Simeon together you have the intelligence in the man, and the subjective devotedness in the woman, coming in at the same moment. That is, Anna linked herself on with what Simeon was saying, and she praised God -- the brother first and then the sister, -- denoting spirituality. How could they join in with such intelligence and holy feeling, marked as "in Jerusalem", aside from spirituality? "In Jerusalem" here is a characteristic thought.

H.D.T. Is there some point in Joshua not being named in the earlier part of the chapter?

J.T. I think so. Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders are named, but Joshua has a

small place in the chapter; yet in the matter before us he had a place beyond anyone else except Moses. It is still a small feature of our subject, but it is there. What we have been saying is of the utmost importance: what did he see up there?

H.J.M. Does it suggest the thought of our ascension in the service of God, with the Lord gradually getting a greater place in our hearts?

J.T. And it involves the mind, as we have been saying -- the ability of the believer to place his mind on things above. Romans 7 shows that the believer is in control of his mind; chapter 12 shows that the mind is to be renewed. Colossians says that we are to set it on things above. The Holy Spirit enables us to grasp what is there, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God -- where He is. We apprehend Him there in His mediatorial character, but we apprehend also the spiritual element which abides, and that is Joshua.

H.D.T. So that it is a hidden matter at the moment. It is going to work out in its results later.

J.T. I think it is a hidden matter generally, even in our meetings, but it gives character to those in whom it exists. It shows itself in their attitude, in their manner, and in the part they are able to take in the assembly; it is felt, and normally all who are present gain by it. It lifts the service of God out of the realm of the natural mind.

J.D. Would there be any analogy between what is set forth here in Joshua and Moses, and Paul being caught up into the third heaven and hearing unutterable things?

J.T. Paul said he could not tell whether he was in the body or out of it, but it must have added much to his spirituality. He did not speak of it for fourteen years, but I am certain that after he came down and was adjusted, increased spirituality would be seen in him. In his ministry Paul stresses spirituality.

H.J.M. The great mediator was the exclusive object of attachment for Joshua. Typically, he was greater than the mountain, and greater than all that was given, and greater than the people.

J.T. The mind is to follow the Mediator. "Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. And the glory of Jehovah abode on mount Sinai". "And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights". The mind is the great medium of all that is connected with intelligence. The soul, of course, is the seat of the affections and feelings which are to be governed, but it is the mind which is presented here. "I ascend", says the Lord, "to my Father and your Father(John 20:17)". The mind takes that in and is affected.

C.F.F. Is there a connection between this and the mount of transfiguration?

J.T. There is a relation between them. The mount of transfiguration was to establish special conditions in the persons that were taken up -- in the three witnesses. They had a special place in the testimony. It involved peculiar spiritual wealth in those three men. Of the three, Peter alone speaks of it. They saw the heavenly side of the Lord's position. The Lord told them not to speak about it until He rose from the dead. It belonged to the new, heavenly order of things. As already said, none of them speaks of it in ministry except Peter; and as about to put off his tabernacle he does so with such words and such feelings as to show that it had been in his soul all the time, maturing and being added to.

A.E.M. Would you say that abstraction is an essential feature in spirituality in the service of God, and does that come from learning the control of the mind?

J.T. I am thankful you mention that. One has thought of it a good deal lately. John helps us greatly on the line of abstraction. As one has control of one's mind, governed by the truth, the Spirit supports one. The mind of the believer is renewed. He can thus eliminate

from it, and shut out what is not needed at any particular time; so that Paul saying, "whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God",(2 Corinthians 5:13) would mean that his mind and his affections were fully on God. He was able by the Spirit to exclude all else for the moment, he would be in ecstasy, as Peter was. As we thus have control of our minds, we learn as in assembly to shut out all else, and even in an individual way at times; the Spirit then gives you a view of heavenly things. I believe that is a most important thing for us at the present time.

E.E.S.L. Does the capacity to make the progress indicated in Joshua have its beginning in the Holy Spirit sustaining the spirit of our minds?

J.T. Exactly. What we have been saying about Romans 7 enters in too, it is the control of one's mind. I believe in most cases the mind largely controls the person; deliverance, in principle, gives you control of your mind, so that you can make resolves, and you can retire to be with God, to set your mind on things above, and the Holy Spirit is with you in that. In fact, it is only by the Spirit that we can be maintained in it, and I think the chapters alluded to. Exodus 21, 22 and 23, imply the abstract state in which we may be with God. I am entitled to take account of myself in an abstract way, and the Spirit sustains me in it, and God takes account of me in that way, too. I believe we are to follow Moses -- the going up of Christ. His present position on high, and what He is as Man: what His condition is there. We are to be able to take in all these things; and as thus held in the mind, by the power of the Spirit they will be formative.

E.E.S.L. We need not be afraid of being presumptuous in accepting definitely the great principle of self-control.

J.T. Quite so. Then as to spirituality, in one like Paul coming down from the third heaven, there would

be much added in the house of God here below; not only what we have had, the tables of stone and the law and the commandments, but spirituality abiding in the house permanently. It is thus that the house of God is maintained here.

W.J.H. I suppose the seventy would have one judgment, one thought, of what was above when they came down, but Joshua would have something very much greater, as having been further up, having gone the whole way with Moses.

J.T. Think of the scene presented: it is glory! Glory is an immense thought. We are told that "the appearance of the glory of Jehovah was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain, before the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and ascended the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights", verses 17,18. Think of all that was inside, as it were, beyond what Israel saw! Their minds would follow Moses going in, but then there was the unfolding of the pattern. What was that pattern? It was Christ. For forty days God was bringing out and unfolding the pattern of what was in His mind. Think of the glory involved in that! Joshua represented the spiritual side there. What an enlargement in him there would be during the forty days! And so it is that the Spirit enables us to grasp heavenly things as presented. We are entitled to look in there. Stephen looked in. He saw the heavens opened and he tells what he saw. Hebrews has been called the book of the opened heavens. This is what is opened up to us, and then there is liberty and power given to look into heaven. Entering the holiest corresponds: the believer has access there -- power to look in and see what is there.

C.C.E. Speaking practically, we do not give ourselves time for a consideration of these things. The hurry of modern life is not conducive to spirituality.

J.T. That is an important item. Time is one of the scarcest things that most of us have, but still that difficulty has to be overcome. John says, "and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father"John 1:14 -- that requires withdrawal from ordinary things, and the fixing of our view on Christ with the Father, what He was with the Father. As confirmatory of what you say, one would call attention to what finishes this matter of communications on the mountain. In this connection we might refer to Exodus 31:13 - 17. You do not get earlier what is stated there. God is bringing it in there for the purpose of impressing us with the necessity of taking time for divine things -- not for service, but for contemplation . What we need is that in the power of the Spirit we should absorb what revelation affords for us. That passage is the finish of the instruction on the mountain, and shows what God had in mind in view of His house; that His people should be restful spiritually and take time to contemplate divine things.

A.E.D. Would you link that with the mount of Olives as coming in continuously in the Lord's service? Would that be a spiritual realm into which the Lord was able to retire?

J.T. Yes, indeed! "By night, going out, he remained abroad on the mountain called the mount of Olives", (Luke 21:37). What was He doing there? What communion, what enjoyment. He had with the Father in that out of the world state of things!

F.J.F. Is there a suggestion of the wondrous pathway of the Lord, in the pavement of sapphire, as the body of heaven for clearness?

J.T. I suppose it is to be reflected in us, the footnote gives, "the transparency of sapphire". It is a question of transparency. How clear all is under God, under His holy feet, as seen in Christ! He would have us in that transparency of walk. It involves the tabernacle

period. He "went about in a tent and in a tabernacle (2 Samuel 7:6)". One can understand the holiness of the tabernacle, even the floor of it. The dust of the floor of it was to be used to bring to light something done in a hidden way, in the way of evil. Numbers 5. It would be exposed. God was reflected here in the footsteps of Jesus. What transparency there was! everything would become exposed through Him. He said, I am "altogether that which I also say to you (John 8:25)". That is to be reflected in the believer. He is to be altogether what he says, there are no dark parts.

H.H. What is meant by "under his feet"?

J.T. I think it must include the dust on the floor of the tabernacle. Death was known there, as nowhere else, but there was the exposure and judgment of hidden evil; for this, the dust had to be put into holy water in an earthen vessel.

H.H. With regard to the ascension, do you think it comes within the range of the assembly as made up of spiritual persons?

J.T. I think the assembly is maintained here on that principle. It is what comes out of heaven really. We all know what happened in Peter's trance. He was in an ecstasy, withdrawn from ordinary affairs, and what came to him was a sheet knit at the four corners, let down from heaven. The house of God required that, it was a heavenly matter. Peter was to be brought into this side of the truth; his labours had been in relation to the Jews, but he was to be brought into the heavenly side of the position, and God used extraordinary means to effect this. As we saw here on Lord's day, he fulfilled his obligations in the dignity of a son. Although he did not preach sonship as far as we know, he was a son characteristically. In his trance God brought him into the heavenly side of the truth and he moved in the power of it in the service to be rendered, in bringing in the Gentiles, and brought them in at the highest

point. The Holy Spirit fell upon them while he was speaking. That would impress him.

F.W. The bringing in of the Gentiles was a great contribution to the house of God.

J.T. He did not bring them in as a Jewish apostle, but as a man, caught up to heaven, as it were, and let down. He was qualified to do it by the special service of God, so that the Gentiles were brought in at the highest point, not by way of what was established at Jerusalem, but by what was in heaven. Acts 10 is a highly spiritual chapter.

Ques. What is the thought of eating and drinking on the mountain?

J.T. It is that you are happy and free in nearness to God. They are called "nobles" at that point. It refers to our dignity; that we are suitable and equal to the exalted position we are in. I thought we ought not to omit this point about Peter, as to spirituality -- how the house of God is constituted. The Gentiles are brought in by Peter; he was qualified to bring them in, not as a Jewish apostle, but as a man with the keys of the kingdom of heaven. He uses the keys in a dignified way, as qualified to use them by the vision, the result of what he obtained by his abstraction on the house-top. He was spiritual enough to be in an ecstasy, and, as in it, heaven instructed him so that his service is highly spiritual. I believe that to be a feature; not only what we say, but the spiritual touch we give to it in our service.

J.D. In regard to the dust of the tabernacle being mingled with the holy water, how does that work now in bringing evil to light in a soul?

J.T. The Lord does it typically in the priest, so that hidden evil is brought to light; it is in the presence of this element of transparency. The dust of the tabernacle was peculiar. Death was known there, not death in the ordinary sense, but death was known before God.

There was no floor in the tabernacle, just the wilderness. The dust of it was to be used for this exposure in connection with holy water. The transaction in Numbers 5 is very peculiar. It stands in relation to evil being put out of the camp. The leper and the like can be easily discerned, but unfaithfulness to Christ is not always so easily discerned. There may be unfaithfulness and yet the outward relation seemingly intact. That is the point; the evil is disclosed by the dust of the tabernacle being put into the holy water. The woman is made to drink it. Numbers 5:26.

E.S.W. Does the dust applied in that way show how the individual reacts to this testing application of death? Faithful persons would also react to the test, as that dust was applied.

J.T. Yes, there is fruitfulness as we react in transparency to it; we can face it. "He that doeth truth cometh to the light (John 3:21)". I think the truth as to Joshua so far is clear enough. He is to show that, what is to be in the house, as we may say permanently, is this element of spirituality in a young man. It is an early stage in Exodus 33:11, but we shall get it in a fuller way later.

P.L. Do we have the two thoughts brought together in Timothy 3? The young man is to learn how to behave in the house of God, and immediately following is the reference to the mystery of piety, involving the incarnation and Christ being "received up in glory(1 Timothy 3:16)".

J.T. It is a question of behaviour in the house, "the assembly of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly the mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh, has been justified in the Spirit, has appeared to angels, has been preached among the nations, has been believed on in the world, has been received up in glory", (1 Timothy 3:16). All that is cherished in those who are spiritual. There is a great need of this in all gatherings of the saints -- the spiritual

who would stand up in all circumstances to maintain what is due to God.

F.W. Moses "returned to the camp; but his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from within the tent". What is the difference between the action of Moses and the action of Joshua?

J.T. The action of Joshua implies the spiritual side at the present time; the passage really contemplates the present time. Failure having come in, Joshua maintains the permanency of the house in character; and Moses would typify Christ in His personal official right returning to the camp, which would mean that He walks amidst the golden candlesticks. He visits the gatherings, and in principle the whole of Christendom. He has the right to move about, but our part is to stand by the house. Joshua is the son of Nun, which name is said to embody the idea of sprouting, suggesting life; that which is to be perpetuated.

H.D.T. He is described in both passages as Moses' attendant.

J.T. That emphasises what we have been saying. We are still in the initial phases of the subject of spirituality. He is called in his own book the attendant of Moses, but here being a young man he represents the development of the subject of spirituality, leading to its full maturity. He "departed not from within the tent", as a young man.

H.H. That would apply to the present time. The exercises of spiritual men over against the breakdown in Christendom.

J.T. The truth and character of the house is preserved in those who are spiritual. Not simply what brethren hold, as we may say; it is the spiritual element that is to give character to it, because the house of God is a heavenly institution; it has, in a sense, come down from heaven.

R.S. It must be maintained in a spiritual way. I was thinking of the young men in Acts 5.

J.T. Those that buried Ananias? Just so, they are ready to do that, to look after the saints, even though they may be erring ones.

D.H. If spirituality is maintained among the people of God, cannot we expect God to move and speak to them, as we see here? Jehovah, the passage says, "spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend", Exodus 33:11.

J.T. Quite so. We can see the importance of the house of God, and the need that it should be preserved spiritually. The great privileges that are attached to it are seen here in Jehovah coming down and speaking with Moses; what privilege is involved! How well worth while to be spiritual, even from this point of view alone, so as to preserve the truth of the house!

E.B.McC. Moses would set forth one developed in spirituality?

J.T. No doubt. He goes up again without Joshua, for the matter of spirituality is not stressed after this chapter. It is Moses without Joshua in the next chapter, because another thing is in mind, the renewal of the covenant -- figurative of the new covenant.

E.B.McC. Pitching the tent outside the camp shows that Moses knew what to do.

J.T. Quite so. And Joshua, in departing not from within the tent, is fully in keeping with the spiritual intelligence of the mediator.

SPIRITUALITY (3)

Numbers 13:16 - 25; Numbers 14:6 - 10,21 - 24

J.T. At our last reading we dwelt on Exodus 24, in which we considered the matter of ascension, Joshua appearing there as Moses' attendant and going up with him into the mount. That is, spirituality is represented in him there in relation to ascension. Moses represents the mediatorship of Christ, and Joshua the spiritual element which we are to observe objectively -- as we do, it lays hold of us, so that we are able to ascend. Then there is the descent from the mount, Joshua coming down with Moses, carrying forward the thought before us, having been with him as receiving the pattern of the tabernacle, and the instructions relative to it.

In Exodus 33 Joshua is seen as not departing from the tabernacle. He is now called "Joshua the son of Nun (Exodus 33:11)". The meaning of his father's name is said to be "continuing", or "perpetuating", an important thought added here, for it is a question of continuance. He continued; he departed not from the tent. I suppose the idea of continuance would be passed on to Joshua constitutionally so that the spiritual element is characteristically always in the house; if it be not there, then as the Lord says, "your house is left unto you", (Luke 13:35). Spirituality must be permanently in it, if the house is to continue. So that the apostle says in Hebrews 3:6 "whose house are we, if we hold fast the boldness and the boast of hope firm to the end".

Our subject now leads to the inheritance. The two readings today should include the inheritance, and the essential need of spirituality in order that we should possess it. Unspirituality is disclosed in these chapters in Numbers and is enlarged upon in Hebrews. It implies exclusion from the inheritance; for it is really

unbelief. What may be pointed out first of all in chapter 13 is the change of Joshua's name. It is a very significant matter. In verse 16, after the names of those sent to search the land are given, Moses calls Hoshea, which means deliverance, Jehoshua, which means Jehovah is Saviour. We have thus a great advance in Joshua, which is to be borne in mind in all that we have to say henceforth: the change of name indicating a great increase in his personality. It is not referring to any increase in Christ's personality, but in our apprehension of Him. It is this new name that is used to designate Joshua in Exodus; although given later, it would be used by Moses in writing the book; but it is at this juncture that the name is changed, so that henceforth he is more in our eyes as typical of Christ, and here Caleb is introduced as representing ourselves; those who are benefiting by what is presented objectively so far. It is Caleb that is said to inherit -- Caleb and his seed. One would suggest that we take particular notice of the introduction of Caleb, in order to understand how we should progress from this point -- he is a man of another spirit. This is not said off Joshua, because what is said of him is that he is "a man in whom is the Spirit", (Numbers 28:18). That is more Christ Himself. Another spirit is what should characterise those who are acquiring spirituality.

A.B.J. Would you enlarge a little on the change of Joshua's name?

J.T. It would, I think, point to some fresh feature of the Person of Christ coming into evidence at this juncture. We of course speak of Him from what we read in scripture, but it has to be remembered that the mind of God unfolded itself in persons, and then the Scripture was written. The thing exists before we have the Scripture recording it or the doctrine governing it. So that all instruction that we have, before there was any writing of the Pentateuch, would mean that progress in

the knowledge of God was seen first in testimony in persons. It would be seen in the progress of persons moving in it, not in writings yet; and in truth it should be so with each of us, that our testimony is according to our measure, not simply according to what one reads, but according to one's measure. We must read, of course, and have doctrine, but our true testimony is according to our measure.

J.D. Would John's gospel amplify what you are saying as to the thing existing. Of Andrew it is said: "He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him. We have found the Messias (which being interpreted is Christ). And he led him to Jesus. Jesus looking at him said. Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone)", (John 1:41,42); J.N.D.'s foot-note says "looking carefully" -- the thing existed. Is that the idea?

J.T. Quite so, it existed potentially in Peter. It was a question of his name: "thou shalt be called Cephas"; but in Matthew it is: "thou art". That supports fully what you say, that the thing did exist. It is what exists that is named. Following out the thought in Joshua, the time had come for an increased presentation of Christ typically to our minds; for spirituality must keep pace with knowledge, "we all have knowledge", the apostle says. That is objective knowledge, but conscious knowledge is another matter, and that is much the same as that which existed before the holy writings. Conscious knowledge in a person who is the subject of God's work would be the measure of the testimony of that person up to any particular time.

E.S.W. In the development of spirituality with us, does this mean that Christ becomes more personal to us? The change is from Deliverance to "Jehovah is Saviour", indicating that instead of being occupied with what the Lord has done for us, we now find something more in Him personally.

J.T. That is good. Deliverance is an experience, but the person called Jehoshua, Jehovah is Saviour, is in the antitype an Object of worship. Christ becomes an Object to us. It is a point reached in our histories, when He is known in that way. So that the Lord says to the man whose eyes had been opened, John 9:35, "Thou, dost thou believe on the Son of God?" It is a question of the man's state, whether he is equal to it, and he says. "And who is he. Lord, that I may believe on him?"(John 9:36) and the Lord says,(John 9:37) "Thou hast both seen him, and he that speaks with thee is he". Evidently he had seen Him and not known Him as the Son of God, but now the fact is disclosed to him as a matter of faith in his soul. Hence he says, "I believe. Lord: and he did him homage", verse 38. He worshipped Him, no longer simply as the One who opened his eyes, but as the Son of God.

E.E.S.L. Is this something like Simeon's statement, "mine eyes have seen thy salvation"(Luke 2:30)? It was not the thing in the abstract, but he had seen the Lord.

J.T. Yes, he came in by the Spirit. He is speaking by the power of the Spirit of God, showing that what we are in growth becomes consolidated in our minds. The mind takes in what corresponds with our experience and we are consolidated so far, hence the blind man had reached a point in his history that would remain. He was a worshipper of the Son of God.

H.J.M. Would Zacchaeus fit in here? He wanted to see Jesus, who He was, and Jesus Himself entered his house, so that Zacchaeus might get a right view of Him.

J.T. Quite so. He wanted to see Him, who He was. He had that desire in his soul, but he must get into position in order to see Him; looking down from the sycamore tree on Jesus would not do. The Lord entered into his house, and thus he would get a right view of

Him. Exodus gives the house, the dwelling-place of the spiritual; Joshua not departing from it. He is essential to it; that is, spirituality, in whomsoever it may be, must be there . Concurrent with this, the Lord, as seen in Moses returning to the camp, has liberty to act in His authority throughout the profession; but for the house, spirituality must be there. Numbers is a concurrent thought. It is not the house, but the inheritance that is in mind, and Christ acquiring an increased place in our souls, so that Caleb immediately comes into view. We have a testimony now, not only in Christ personally, but also in the formation in a saint, Caleb, who is henceforth representative of appreciation of the inheritance.

E.S.W. Is Joshua seen here as acquiring dignity and personality? These men in Numbers 13:1 - 16 are all described as princes and heads, but Joshua is more distinguished.

J.T. Joshua, by Moses' action in changing his name, is put above all. We are on new ground really, only the section before us enlarges on the sin of the ten spies and the whole people. Such a one as this is now in their midst and bearing testimony, and with him the great formation seen in Caleb. Caleb is, comparatively speaking, made prominent in these two chapters -- a man with another spirit. A spiritual man will not have the spirit of the world. He renounces it. It is not the Spirit of God here, it is another spirit -- in the sense of being different, as of God, from the spirits of men generally.

P.L. Would you say that the beginning of the Colossian epistle, enlarging on the glories of Christ, would attach to the thought of this change of name; while in the personnel at the end of the epistle have we, in such as Tychicus, Onesimus, and Epaphras, the lovers of the inheritance as Caleb was?

J.T. I think so. As we proceed we shall see this

feature in the chapter relating to the daughters of Zelophehad, and here indeed, as you will observe, it is said in chapter 14:24: "my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it". We shall see later how his seed comes into evidence, so that we have a great spiritual lead in another than Christ here. The truth is taken on in such proportions that it is given a lead, as it were, by itself, in persons who are not typical of Christ, but typical of spirituality; and they have a seed, who are the ones to inherit. Rahab received the spies and sent them out "another way". The word another is a good one in these matters. One may take on things intellectually and speak of them well, but we must look for another spirit, and another way.

S.E.E. Do you distinguish between the spirit that Caleb acquired typically and the Holy Spirit? Would "another spirit" be similar to the expression in Ephesians 4:23 -- "being renewed in the spirit of your mind"?

J.T. It does not allude to Caleb's own spirit which he received from God and which every man has. It refers to what he was characteristically in his spirit. If we say, A man has a good spirit, that does not mean simply that he has a spirit, but conveys what is characteristic of him.

F.I. Does it come about with us, as we are under the hand of the Spirit of God, and have the Lord before us as our Object?

J.T. It must come in that way. The Spirit is contemplated as present, as you will remember, in Exodus 17, our subject necessitating the Spirit given. So that the change in the believer referred to here is by the Spirit, but through exercises that we have already noted. We get the expression for the first time of "another spirit". We get Caleb here for the first time, and then this expression.

H.D.T. Spirituality in ourselves is not exactly to be our object, but it comes about as having Christ as our Object?

J.T. That is right. So that Christ is exalted here. Joshua typically is enlarged, referring to the estimation the saints have of Christ. The Lord was acting as the Son of God when He put the mud on the man's eyes and opened them, but the man evidently was not ready, for he said, "A man called Jesus" did it, (John 9:11). It was when the Lord heard that they had cast him out, that He found him, and introduced the subject of His sonship, then the man comes into it; showing that we progress in stages, the Lord watching the development of our souls and bringing in the truth needed as we proceed.

C.S.S. Would you say that worship flows from what divine Persons are to us, more than what they have done or are doing for us?

J.T. That is right. Though the man in John 9 had seen Christ before, there is no word about worship until the Lord makes Himself known to him, and he says, "Lord, I believe". He is now capable of believing such a great truth.

E.E. In connection with a right spirit, John refers to that which they had heard, seen, and handled, 1 John 1:1. When with the Lord here on earth John spoke in such a way that he showed he was not moved by a right spirit; he would have called fire down from heaven. We need to be in company with, and contemplate the Lord to derive a right spirit.

J.T. Yes. John, I suppose, represents faith in steady attachment to Christ. John regarded himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He puts the matter as to who he was on to the Lord. If Jesus loved him, he must have been lovable. He loves us all, but the Lord loved him especially. How did he become lovable? By taking on the features of Christ. David is the beloved, his

name means that, as typical of Christ. The announcement from heaven is "This is my beloved Son,(Matthew 17:5)" and we are taken into favour in the Beloved. We become beloved, lovable, by taking on the features of Christ. One does not wish to be loved any more among the brethren, than he is loved in heaven, and heaven would love him according to the measure of his taking on the features of Christ. It is simply an extension of what is in Christ. The word from heaven to Him was not "all my delight", but "in whom I have found my delight,(Matthew 17:5)". God has found His delight in Christ, but, by extension in the saints as well.

Rem. Had not Caleb a spirit of faith developed in the company of Joshua?

J.T. In the type, that is what is in mind; thus Joshua having already acquired distinction with God, it was the privilege of all the spies to know him in this way. It was not a secret matter, but ten of them apparently acquired no gain at all. They must have had remarkable times in caves and other secret places as entering the land, going all the way north to Hamath, and down again to Hebron. What holy conversation they could have had, but evidently they did not profit by it, except Caleb, and hence he comes in just here. It is in searching the land, typically in the opening up of the mind of God as to the inheritance, that Caleb comes into evidence. He must have learned from Joshua, and there is a great deal in that, because, in the revival God has been opening up the territory for us and has used men to do it. Those who are the companions of such men have a great advantage, but how many of them have been marked by spirituality? The most prominent leaders in Mr. Darby's time, and those associated with him, became the leaders in divisions six or eight years after he died, showing that spirituality in those with whom we are in association may not help us at all. We must have the root of it in us.

L.F. Moses goes to great pains in chapter 13:17 - 20 to indicate to them in detail what they were to examine.

J.T. Yes. The Scripture says "Go up this way by the south and go up into the hill-country, and ye shall see the land, what it is; and the people that dwell in it, whether they are strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; and what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there are trees in it or not". We are told that "they went up, and searched out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, where one comes towards Hamath. And they went up by the south, and came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak were there. Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt". Then it goes on in verse 24: "That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the grapes which the children of Israel had cut down there, and they returned from searching out the land after forty days". We are told in verse 20, that it was the time of the first grapes. Moses says, "take courage, and bring of the fruit of the land". So that typically the description refers to our own times, the period of Christianity. Israel, of course, will be in the land in a literal sense, but ours is the time of the first grapes. These twelve men entered it at its best. We have to do with it at its best -- our inheritance is heaven's best.

A.E.M. With these ten men, is there some weakness carried forward from their earlier history, or is it that at any time in the development of the truth we may drop out through not taking advantage of the help available at that particular time?

J.T. It seems that we have to consider Caleb well at this stage. We referred to the times they must have had in the long journeying, and evidently Caleb was a learner all the time. One can understand that he and

Joshua would have peculiar seasons of communion. I believe that the point is two, at this particular time, representing full testimony to appreciation of the inheritance, whereas ten are against it. Joshua and Caleb here have the character of a remnant, and suffering is marking it. If any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, he will suffer persecution. You can always find it in that way. The history of the people seen in the ten, and in the whole of the people coming under their influence, would indicate that the people generally were not developing spiritually at all. Caleb, I believe, represents here one who had an unnamed and unrecorded history, like others in scripture, but his history qualified him for the great truth, seen at this particular time. That is, there must be secret history to develop such a man as Caleb. Already he has another spirit; surely he must have been advancing secretly.

E.E.S.L. Would Caleb exemplify the immense value of being able to discern and follow spiritual leadership, while the ten and Israel who followed them might warn us of the terrible danger of contesting the ground when spiritual leadership is available to us? - instead of accepting it we refuse it.

J.T. I fully agree with that. He is outstanding as profiting by the experience in this search with Joshua; whereas the ten do not gain, and so it is in any movement implying a search. It is a question of search here, and the great thought of search is in the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, we are told, even the depths of God, but then that must imply operations in the saints. The search is to carry us with it, and in this instance only Caleb was affected, and that is what is stressed in Hebrews, that the most fell in the wilderness. They did not profit by the example set before them; Caleb did. So it is in any movement of God where a divine search is going on, and spiritual things come

out through the search. Only a few get the inner thought, because they are spiritual; the mass do not. They may go on for a while, as indeed is the case in the revival in which we are sharing now, the greater number went off from the truth; spirituality was not developed, although the opportunity was there.

H.D.T. Is the matter all the more serious because all the twelve men are described as princes, as though they were leading men, but the ten were leaders away from the truth?

J.T. That is so. It shows the danger, as I was remarking, as seen in the history of the last century; how many leading men took part in the falling away in the division of 1890, and more particularly in 1908. It was the princes, "men of renown", who took issue with the truth.

P.L. In regard to searching out it says, "the glory of kings is to search out a thing", (Proverbs 25:2).

J.T. That is what came out in Christ. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing, (Proverbs 25:2)" and I believe that enters into the administration given into the hands of Christ. Things are searched out, and Paul says it is by the Spirit. Paul was available to the Spirit, and did not say everything he knew to the Corinthians. He moved with the Spirit, and the Spirit was ready to search out everything for them, but they were not ready for this, and that corresponds with what we have been saying.

J.D. Would you say that the sin of the ten is more pronounced by the fact that when the people spoke of stoning Caleb and Joshua, the glory of God appeared in the tent of meeting? That would come in the defence of what God had in the two.

J.T. That is how God comes in. In crises God shows Himself in some way. Here it is said, "the glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting to all the children of Israel", (Numbers 14:10). That settles the

matter -- the presence of God with those who are right.

As regards this search, these ten men had part in it but gained nothing by it, on the contrary they opposed the two spiritual men. In the search, there are great thoughts suggested, especially in regard to Hebron, to show us how far back the matter reached; it is what God ordained before the world for our glory. Colossians goes that far back, but Ephesians goes further back, Ephesians is the greatest search of all.

F.W. Would it be right to say that the whole situation for the testimony was really preserved through the spirituality of Caleb?

J.T. That is the point, I think.

J.D.U. Is that not because Caleb followed Jehovah? It is in reference to that, that he is spoken of as having another spirit. Jehovah speaks of the others as despising Him. Does that mean that they had not laid hold of the fact of the change of name, "Jehovah is Saviour" and, therefore, his ability to lead the people into the inheritance.

J.T. Yes. Caleb, in chapter 14:24, is called, "my servant Caleb". According to what he says in Joshua, the land that he had trodden was to be his and his children's, Joshua 14:9. Moses sware to him, so I think he is the saving element subjectively. It is a question of spirituality in the saints. Christ is in heaven, Joshua -- "Jehovah is Saviour" -- is an objective thought now. The subjective side is in Caleb. He is really more stressed in that sense than Joshua, because it is a question now of the saints holding the ground, and that is what Hebrews takes up, the question of faith."W which have believed", says the writer, "do enter into rest (Hebrews 4:3)". It is characteristic of us who believe, that we enter in.

A.B.J. Would not Caleb have in his heart something of the purpose of God as indicated in Moses' song on the wilderness side of the Red Sea?

J.T. No doubt; he came out of Egypt. He would have part in that song, and it would be light in his soul that God would bring them into the land of His inheritance. He and Joshua are the link here with entrance into the inheritance. A very remarkable thing, two men out of two million people maybe - six hundred thousand men -- two men forming the link between the exodus from Egypt and the inheritance which God provided. It is a question, not only of what I know, but of what I am spiritually -- a man of another spirit. So that the unbelievers all fall in the wilderness; only the little ones go in. These two men represent formation, and the little ones represent a generation, another generation; but the idea in mind is in these two men, hence the importance of spirituality.

C.S.S. Peter speaks of seeking out and searching out with regard to the glories of Christ. Is that the line we are on?

J.T. It is. The thought here is searching. The word by Moses to the children of Israel in chapter 13:2 was, "Send thou men, that they may search out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel. Ye shall send a man of every tribe of his fathers, each a prince among them". There is full opportunity for all the people to come into this search, into the wonders of the land. The report brought by Caleb and Joshua is called in Hebrews "glad tidings". It is the glad tidings of the land, brought to Israel through these men, but then the others engaged in the search discredited what is most precious, what is so valued by the spiritual. That is Christendom. Christendom is discrediting the whole matter of the inheritance of God; here, only two stood by the truth, and they go in. All else failed. A most solemn and far-reaching fact, and stressing the necessity of spirituality.

F.W. Do these ten suggest to us what has taken place in the public history of the church? On the line

of responsibility, everything has broken down, but power for the testimony lies in spirituality as presented in Caleb and his seed coming into his possession.

J.T. That is exactly the position, so the unbelievers proposed to return to Egypt, you will observe. "And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them. Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died! And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? And they said to one another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt", (Numbers 14:1 - 4). That is pretty well what has happened. The glad tidings of the heavenly, and the purpose of God alluded to in Hebrews 4, has been rejected in unbelief. That is what is current, falling after the same example of unbelief. It marks the whole history of Christendom; but there is a remnant, as seen here, and it goes through. Caleb and Joshua go into the land with another generation.

J.W.H. Is that seen in principle in the second epistle to Timothy? The apostle there encourages Timothy in saying that "God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion", 2 Timothy 1:7.

J.T. Quite so. That epistle provides for those who go through. Ecclesiastically this involves separation from evil. Here, the judgment falls on the rejectors of the gospel of the heavenly land; and these two, and another generation with them, go into Canaan, that is, those who came out of Egypt go into Canaan, in principle. The purpose of God, the mind of God, stands. It cannot fail, so that Israel goes in, the spiritual element that came out of Egypt goes in with a new generation.

Ques. Would you say a little about searching for forty days?

J.T. It is a full period. Forty is a protracted period as regards anything mentioned under that head. It is not simply three or four, but forty -- a thorough search. So that the spies cover the whole territory and it "was the time of the first grapes". Moses before that said, "take courage, and bring of the fruit of the land", and they did, the testimony was thus brought down, so that there is no excuse at all for the unbelief. And so today the testimony of the land is here, hence the solemn responsibility of those who are refusing it.

A.E.M. Would this matter of going through with another generation bear on our local meetings, in that spiritual persons should have influence and power to carry things through?

J.T. As we had before us a little last night, John deals with the idea of generation in this character. He introduces Christianity in the first chapter of his gospel saying, "as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God, to those that believe on his name",(John 1:12) That is, faith is the link from Egypt into Canaan, but we must have a new generation. So he adds, "who have been born, not of blood, nor of flesh's will, nor of man's will, but of God", (John 1:13). That is the principle, faith carrying through the identity, but a new generation is essential to the new place. We must be of God, children of God.

L.F. Would the spiritual move forward in the full confidence that the land does flow "with milk and honey", and that as to the enemy, "Their defence is departed from them", as seen in the statement by Joshua and Caleb in chapter 14?

J.T. That is the point. "Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments. And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying. The

land, which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land. If Jehovah delight in us, he will bring us into this land, and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey; only rebel not against Jehovah; and fear not the people of the land; for they shall be our food. Their defence is departed from them, and Jehovah is with us: fear them not". That is, Jehovah has delight in us. John, I think, brings out in his ministry what is delightful; he was himself "the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 21:20)". So that faith is the link between our responsible life here and our eternal portion. Faith is the public link, but generation is the essential link for eternity. There must be generation, and that is what John develops. Joshua and Caleb say, "If Jehovah delight in us". God delights in His children. He delights in those who have taken on the character of Christ.

G.M. While the whole were agreed as to the excellence of the land, the ten failed through unbelief as to what God could do for them.

J.T. They enlarged on the giants. They were at one as regards the land at first, but unbelief began to work -- and that is the solemn side of those who refuse today -- you get inconsistencies . Caleb says in verse 30, "Let us go up boldly and possess it, for we are well able to do it. But the men that went up with him said. We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we (Numbers 13:30,31)". Caleb represents the full testimony, and the opposition shows itself as soon as unbelief begins to work -- they are inconsistent, for they say, the land eateth up its inhabitants, and in the same breath they say, "all the people that we have seen in it are men of great stature,(Numbers 13:32)" If the land ate up its inhabitants, whence the giants? They say further, "there have we seen giants -- the sons of Anak are the giants -- and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were also in their sight", (Numbers 13:33). All this is inconsistent, showing that when unbelief begins to work, you get the most

inconsistent things. Such contradictory things indeed mark the general doctrine of those who today reject the heavenly side of the Christian position.

W.J.H. The apostle in Ephesians 6 did not minimise the spiritual wickednesses in heavenly places, yet he had great confidence in the power of the Spirit to strengthen them so that they should enter into their heavenly inheritance.

J.T. That is the full answer to what we have here. Ephesians is the full search, the result of the divine search in Christ. "The glory of kings is to search out a thing,(Proverbs 25:2)" as we were saying. The whole matter is searched out by the Spirit, and Ephesians shows that in taking unto us "the whole armour of God"(Ephesians 6:11) we are able to stand. The Father's Spirit working in us, we are "fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height(Ephesians 3:18)".

G.A. Earlier you spoke of objective and conscious knowledge. Are Joshua and Caleb now marked, as spiritual persons, by the possession of these two features of knowledge in a balanced way?

J.T. This is evidenced in the glorious manner in which they bear witness in chapter 14:6,7: "And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of them that searched out the land, rent their garments. And they spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, saying. The land which we passed through to search it out, is a very, very good land". You can see that they are equal to their objective knowledge, which they have by the search; the search today has brought the knowledge of heavenly things within the range of all. The Scriptures, and the ministry God has furnished, bring the result of the search within the range of all, but then, who is equal to it in consciousness? Only very, very few, and I believe Caleb and Joshua

represent these. It is a question of being equal to what is presented objectively in the search. Caleb and Joshua have in them the moral element, being affected, and formed, by what they saw; knowing, too, God's delight in His people. They delight in the whole position, being spiritual; hence they stand and they go into the land. We are told in verse 38 of chapter 14 that Caleb and Joshua lived "still" -- the others being slain in the wilderness. Caleb characteristically inherits the land, verse 24; Jehovah calls him "my servant". He is specially the one who inherits the land, and the book of Joshua will show us later how full of the thought of it he was, how cumulative his knowledge was, how he developed in understanding and power.

G.C.S. Do you think that Caleb and Joshua alone, being spiritual men, were capable of carrying Eshcol's grapes? They had entered into the enjoyment of what they had searched out.

J.T. I agree. It is said that they "cut down thence a branch with one bunch of grapes, and they bore it between two upon a pole; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the grapes which the children of Israel had cut down there", verses 23, 24. So that it would be as it were what all did. Two of the whole number did it. Thus all were committed to the testimony of the fruit and fulness of the land, hence their inconsistency later, as we have seen. It must have been a wonderful bunch -- a striking testimony to the power of growth in the land at "the time of the first grapes". They could all see it because they carried it on a pole. The whole twelve had plenty of opportunity of seeing it, but only Caleb and Joshua valued what was there. I believe what we are saying is the truth, that the two men were subjectively equal to what was presented objectively in the search. The grapes were an objective thing, but the ten did not profit by it.

SPIRITUALITY (4)

Numbers 14:26 - 38; Numbers 20:7 - 13; Numbers 21:16 - 20; Numbers 26:63 - 65; Joshua 14:6 - 15

J.T. What is in mind for this reading is to see how faith works in the believer from the point reached this morning until the believer is settled, as it were, in the inheritance; then to show how the Spirit works concurrently, indeed, supporting faith, keeping it fresh. Hence these scriptures should be considered one by one, only, being so many, we cannot remain long in considering any one of them. Christ is seen objectively in Numbers 13 in the change of Hoshea's name to Jehoshua; the testimony was therefore enhanced; the testimony accruing from the search. The search was complete, and the testimony rendered was complete, but the element of unbelief prevailing in the ten, as over against the two, its result is to be seen. Our passage in chapter 14 shows that the judgment on the unbelievers and complainers continued for forty years in the presence of the little ones, as is said, "your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know my estrangement from you", verses 33,34. That is one solemn fact entering into the period of their little ones as they were growing up; all this happening before their eyes. They represent the generation that should inherit, and in the antitype this has to be taken up by each of us. The search was for forty days, disclosing a perfect testimony as to the heavenly land. The flesh, with its incorrigibleness, has to be judged day by day for forty years in the experience of those who

enter. In this period faith had its distinction. Then types of the Spirit follow, running along with this experience, with a view to building up spiritual constitutions. The first is in chapter 20, where the water flows and the people drink, in spite of ministerial failure. It comes through ministry, that is, through Moses and Aaron, but the ministers failing most seriously; the water, however, flowed in spite of their failure, and the people drank. It is not said in Exodus 17 that they drank, but they drink now; meaning that there is advance in the sense of appropriation. It is said that "much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts"; but the responsible ministerial element is judged; all this enters into assembly history, and individual history at the same time. Hence, chapter 21 brings out the incorrigibleness of the flesh, and its judgment in the brazen serpent, that is, sin in the flesh condemned, and faith appropriating the well. It is not the rock, but the well -- a digged well -- alluding to scope being made for the Holy Spirit in the believer, so that the Spirit is recognised feelingly. Then we have the prophecies of Balaam, bringing out what the people are as under God's eye, never to be cursed but blessed, and then the numbering in view of the inheritance in chapter 26. So that faith goes through, as we are told in verse 65 of that chapter, "there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun"; they go through; that is, the link between Egypt and Canaan is maintained in faith. Those whom God brings out He brings in, in identity; not in condition, but in identity; and not simply as raised from among the dead, but through faith and the Spirit developing a constitution suitable for Canaan. That is seen in the passage read in Joshua 14. Faith is still strong, still unimpaired, as appreciative as ever of the inheritance, and even more so. That is in general what one believes the Lord would have us to ponder

over as part of our subject. Later we shall have opportunity, God willing, to consider the generation that goes in with Caleb and Joshua as in the daughters of Zelophehad and the daughter of Caleb. We ought to dwell particularly now on this point of faith going through in freshness and power accompanied and sustained by the Spirit.

A.M.H. Would you say as to faith represented in these two men, and the constitution in Caleb, and the generation that is numbered as along with them, that these account for Balaam's prophecy? What he prophesied is really there before God in substance.

J.T. Quite so. It is important to keep in mind that spiritual substance is there from the outset.

F.J.F. Is that why the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith should not fail; that thus he could go through?

J.T. Yes. If God takes up a people, or a servant, He maintains His identity through faith. Faith is the operative element on the side of the believer; it is the gift of God, but it comes by a report, and it enables the believer to go through the wilderness into the land. The Spirit is received from God; it sustains faith, so the believer may be full of faith as a man like Stephen. Scripture says he was "full of faith and the Holy Spirit", Acts 6:5.

P.L. Does Stephen in his address indicate that he had travelled those forty years?

J.T. That is an important suggestion. Of course he travelled much more, but evidently he had judged the flesh, as it came out in the forty years.

P.L. I wondered whether all the thoughts you have suggested this afternoon are not gathered up in Stephen. Did he not reach the land, full of faith and the Holy Spirit?

J.T. That is what I thought. He is strikingly mentioned. In the Acts 6:3 the twelve apostles say: "Look out, therefore, brethren, from among yourselves seven

men, well reported of, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we will establish over this business", then, in Acts 6:5, "And the saying pleased the whole multitude; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit"; in Acts 6:8, "Stephen, full of grace and power"; in verse 10, "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke"; in Acts 6:15, "all who sat in the council, looking fixedly on him, saw his face as the face of an angel"; then in Acts 7:55, "being full of the Holy Spirit ... said. Lo, I behold the heavens opened", and in the last verse, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And having said this, he fell asleep(Acts 7:59,60)". Your remark is well supported in these passages. They show a man marked by faith and the Spirit going right through into the land.

H.D.T. Would you say a word as to Paul's charge to Timothy to maintain faith and a good conscience?

J.T. Another side surely. Someone having failed in this respect, having made shipwreck. A good conscience must go with faith, and it is therefore significant that it is said of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 14:38, that they "lived still of the men that had gone to search out the land". As others came under the judgment of God, they lived. That would be the idea of going through; as others fail, those who have faith live. The just live by faith.

E.B.McC. You spoke this morning of some having dropped out, but certain men whom God used to recover the truth in the last century went on to the end; Would they correspond with Joshua and Caleb?

J.T. Yes. It is a question of life. The expression, "lived still", literally means that they did not come under judgment. It is very remarkable that very soon after the death of Mr. Darby, the great subject of life came up for consideration -- the Lord reminding us

that the testimony could not go on except through living persons. Christianity is not simply doctrine, or principles, by themselves; it is a question of living persons; those who stand as others fall.

H.H. These were exercises of 1884 as well as 1890.

J.T. Yes, all bearing in the same direction. Certain ones were setting up a system of doctrine and making the Old Testament saints have eternal life; they were whittling down the truth, denying it really; and the Lord came in, and showed through ministry that eternal life is in Christ, and it could not be divorced from the Spirit. It was not simply something obtained through faith in Christ, but maintained by the Spirit, as the Spirit is life.

Ques. Would the thought of trading come into this, making use of what we have.

J.T. The type of the prophet's widow, 2 Kings 4, is applicable, because it relates to the use we make of the Spirit. Faith develops by the Spirit. It is not simply that I get the Spirit at a given time and rest in that, but, speaking reverently, I use the Spirit. The passages read indicate how faith appropriates the Spirit. The use of the Spirit, which Romans 8 teaches us from this point of view, involves that we live. If we, by the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, we live. The forty years during which these men, one by one, died in the wilderness is the testimony of God's judgment on those who fail in this. As we accept the truth of Romans 8, putting to death the deeds of the body, we live. Then it goes on to say, "If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin", Romans 8:10; that is, there should be no more sin. If Christ comes in. He sees to that; that the body is no more a vehicle of sin, or He cannot be there; and the Spirit is life so that there should be righteousness; that is, righteousness is the development of life. The statement, "But if the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead dwell in you",(Romans 8:11) shows what a great

thought is in mind, in Romans 8, regarding the Spirit. It is the Spirit of that Man that is so pleasing to God. Then it says, "he that has raised up Christ from among the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you,(Romans 8:11)". So that the position is secured right through in a practical way, not simply on the principle of faith, but in addition to that, through the Spirit. If we are alive and remain when the Lord comes, with the Spirit dwelling in us, we shall be quickened -- our mortal bodies will be quickened -- on account of that Spirit.

A.E.D. Would the thought of sowing to the Spirit and reaping eternal life fit in with what has been suggested, Galatians 6:8?

J.T. Yes. You reap eternal life by sowing to the Spirit.

F.J.F. Would you say that those who have left on account of surrendering the light of the truth and the path of faith, have surrendered the Lord's presence by doing so, and thus are in estrangement?

J.T. I think that is right. You are alluding to the word "estrangement" in Numbers 14:34: "After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know mine estrangement from you". This is the attitude God takes up, estrangement. Their house is left desolate.

L.D.M. Did Moses cause estrangement when he smote the rock instead of speaking to it?

J.T. Moses has to suffer having this incident recorded, so that we may see how God resents the failure of those representing the public ministry at the present time. Those who profess to minister the truth have failed, but nevertheless the water flows. That is, the dispensation is maintained in spite of their failure, but God does not pass over their failure; they were not to go into the land, that is the point. Moses did not fail in

a characteristic sense, for he was faithful in all God's house. This incident is regarded as representing ministry typically.

E.E.S.L. Did they fail in misrepresenting God?

J.T. Moses used the wrong rod, and he was not told to smite the rock, but to speak to it. We all know how the clerisy loves authority; indeed, it has been so all down the history, since the introduction of the clerical principle. Scripture says, "Moses took the staff from before Jehovah, as he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them. Hear now, ye rebels: shall we bring forth to you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts", Numbers 20:9 - 11. With his staff he smote the rock; the staff of authority; whereas the truth is, that inasmuch as priesthood had been fully vindicated in chapters 16 to 18, smiting has already taken place. Christ is Priest in heaven as having died, and speaking to Him is now all that is needed. Moses used the rod of authority, falsifying the position, and that, really, is the history of the clergy, but yet the water is flowing; the rock is there, thank God!

N.B.S. What is the thought in God's instruction to Moses to speak to the rock?

J.T. Christ being in heaven, this is the time of speaking, not of smiting. Christ is in heaven and the Holy Spirit is here. It is the period of the word of God and our freely addressing Him, 1 Timothy 4:5.

N.K.McC. Why are the beasts brought in in Numbers 20 and not in Exodus 17?

J.T. They are live stock and come under God's care. They have a place right through from Egypt. I think it would be also to bring out the plentifulness of the water.

A.M.H. Is this speaking to characterise the whole of

the ministry in the present day? For instance, "in meekness setting right those who oppose", 2 Timothy 2:25. Undue pressing, or forcing of a matter, would be a denial of the character of the moment.

J.T. Quite so. The servant of the Lord must not strive. We know how, from Rome and all patterned after it, much stress is laid on authority. No doubt that is what is meant; in the antitype we see what was in the mind of God. Moses has to suffer so that we might see this great thought as applicable to us now.

H.J.M. Is it intended that true ministers should use the rod of priesthood, and so speak to Christ, as the Rock, that God is hallowed before the eyes of the people? The character of the moment is to hallow Him by addressing Christ as the Rock.

J.T. I think that is the thought. A feature of clericalism viewed by itself (not that some sharing in it are not godly men) is that authority is needed to sustain the thing. Rome is sustained by the constant assertion of mere human authority, which God hates. God would never record this of Moses and Aaron were it not for our education as to what it typifies. He loved them too well, but they have to suffer on our account. God brings this out in order to show how abhorrent is the attitude of the clerical system, which it represents; going so far as to speak to the people of God in this disrespectful way -- calling them rebels.

H.H. Paul's conduct at Corinth would be quite different to Moses using the rod. I suppose there is a relation between Numbers and Corinthians.

J.T. He refrains from using the rod, but he put it to them as to whether he should come with the rod. He preferred to come in love, and the way was made open for this.

In Numbers 21 we have the Spirit again, not coming in through ministerial work, but as the well itself. The idea of the rock is in Christ, but in an objective sense.

The Rock which followed them was Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:4. It was there, and in spite of the objectionable action of Moses, the water flowed, because typically it was still the period of grace, and the Lord is not going to be limited because of ministerial failure. The character of the present dispensation must be maintained. Christ is still on the Father's throne, and the Spirit is still here, and that is the line He is on. Sin in the flesh is dealt with in chapter 21 in the brazen serpent, and now the Spirit is viewed, as we say, in a subjective sense. It is the well. "From thence to Beer(which means well), that is the well of which Jehovah spoke to Moses, Assemble the people, and I will give them water", chapter 21:16. Without any reference to the rock or to ministry, "Then Israel sang this song, Rise up well, sing unto it" -- "respond unto it", is said in the note. There is a response to the Spirit in this sense. It is a question of the well, but the well in the believer, the well of water springing up into everlasting life, so that we read, "Well which princes digged, which the nobles of the princes hollowed out at the word of the law giver, with their staves", verse 18. Now we have reached the supply, which is dependent on our state and not on ministerial action . It is within the scope of each believer. So that it is a question of digging, that is to say, of making room for the Spirit.

E.B.McC. Could we give this an application today, the princes digging the well being the ministry that is coming to us today? We have ministry meetings, is that the well of water springing up in our midst?

J.T. It is a question of moral authority - princes digging at the word of the law-giver. God had said of this well, "that is the well of which Jehovah spoke to Moses, Assemble the people, and I will give them water", and then there is the song including the digging. It is a matter of authority, not merely the exercise of gift in ministry. We are on the way to finality, for the

Spirit is within our own scope according to John's point of view; it is a question of our state. The Spirit is given to the believer and it becomes in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Digging is making room for the Spirit -- removing what hinders with authority.

H.H. "Shall become in him ..." John 4:14.

J.T. Quite so; Romans 7 and 8 also correspond with this type.

E.E.S.L. What kind of action is contemplated by this gathering of the people together, and the princes digging the well?

J.T. I suppose it is gathering in the sense that the saints are united. We are under divine ordering. Of course it implied a literal gathering together then, but as applied to us it is the general thought of gathering. We have two thoughts in Acts 2; first that they were together in one place when the Holy Spirit came, and then in the end of the chapter, all that believed were together, and hence the things that are stated of them. This principle of being together operates so that the Holy Spirit has scope. He is within our range, as it were. God gives Him, of course, but here it is the springing up through digging. It is a definite place here, "Beer"; a point to be reached, not a rock, but a well; hence the movements afterwards, as we have often noticed, "from the wilderness they went to Mattanah", and so on; a steady movement towards the land; no longer a zigzag course, but a course out of the wilderness into the land, where the judgment of God does not apply.

W.J.H. As you said, that is suggested in Romans 8, where so much is said about the Spirit; being led by the Spirit of God; being the sons of God, and being glorified.

J.T. Yes, especially where it is said, "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God", Romans 8:14.

It would answer to this type, as the Spirit is fully recognised in the believer. Then there is movement towards the land, because He leads now. The believer uses the Spirit, but then He leads the believer towards the land.

G.M. God was finding pleasure in His people!

J.T. There would be no estrangement now. We overcome the estrangement on these lines. God is complacent in us, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water".

In chapter 14 you have those who live, while others die; those who live on the principle of faith, and then in chapter 15 God says, "When ye come into the land (Numbers 15:2)". That further light in your soul is assuring as conveying the purpose of God. It gives you balance, as affording the certainty of believers being brought into the land. Then chapter 16 is the awful rebellion of Korah, which brings in the establishment of the priesthood in Aaron, on the principle of life. That is, Aaron's staff bears fruit over night, and in appropriate order, budding, blossoming, and ripening almonds; thus priesthood is established in life. That is the lesson of this chapter. God would say to Moses and Aaron, Now act on that principle . It is a question of life now, not of smiting. It is a living order of things. It is Christ's priesthood, as He is above. He is living to make intercession for us. He is available for us. "Such a high priest became us, holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and become higher than the heavens", Hebrews 7:26. That is our Priest; that is the position; God now directs Moses to Aaron's rod, saying, "Take the rod", that is, the priestly rod, which is laid up in the tabernacle, Numbers 20:7,9. Moses takes the rod, but he uses his own rod for smiting, using it twice, calling the people rebels. This is the great failure we have been speaking of. These chapters afford important lessons in relation to our subject, especially as to faith and the Spirit.

Ques. Would the period that intervened between the smiting of the rock and the digging of the well suggest that they had not continuously availed themselves of that which God had given?

J.T. The facts stated at the beginning of chapter 20 show that they had not availed themselves of the Rock that followed them, but it is there amongst them, and God would have them to drink now. Hence He directs Moses to use the priestly rod, but chapter 21 is further on, "Assemble the people, and I will give them water"; the water takes the form of a well, not a rock, meaning it is now in the saints and is to spring up. The Rock is an objective thought, that is Christ, but the well is in ourselves. Then the prophecies of Balaam come in; God holding him in His own hands, so that there should not be a word from Balaam but what is in keeping with God's own mind as to the people. They are not to be cursed at all, for they are blessed. God is pleased with them. The enemy would curse them, but God blesses them. It is irrevocable, so that through these prophecies we are established as to the mind of God. Then God counts His people again. We find they have not diminished, the numbers are about the same as they were forty years before; but the only ones remaining of those who came out of Egypt are Caleb and Joshua. They represent the element of faith sustained by the Spirit of God; and Caleb, in Joshua 14, says of himself in effect, that he is in faith and in the power of the Spirit. He reaches the inheritance on the line of faith and the Spirit, and he is as vigorous as he was forty-five years before, showing how faith is sustained, and how God looks for this in us.

Ques. To maintain us in fruitful spirituality, do we need plenty of water?

J.T. Quite so; so that these allusions to the Spirit that we have been reviewing, account for the vigour of Caleb at eighty-five years of age. He was as vigorous as

he was at forty. The secret is faith and the Spirit; he is a spiritual man from the beginning; it says of him, as he is introduced to us, that he was a man of another spirit. He says, "I brought him word again as it was in my heart". That is the man; he was spiritual, thoroughly appreciating what God had purposed for His people.

Ques. Does Caleb suggest that state in the Spirit which goes right through?

J.T. That is what I am seeking to show, and how important it is for us all to go through in this sense -- in spiritual vigour. In this way we bear testimony to the power of Christianity, that we die in faith. "All these died in faith", Hebrews 11:13. Well, if they did, why not we? They did not have the Spirit; we have; so that if the will of God requires that we die, then we die in faith and in spiritual power as well.

A.M.H. Would it be right to say that whatever the people were basically as brought out of Egypt, they are now characteristically such as cannot be cursed, but they must be blessed?

J.T. Yes. The brazen serpent having come in, God has dealt with sin in the flesh, so that whoever looked lived . In the antitype that is eternal life, which is God's blessing. Psalm 133. Joshua and Caleb lived. But now he that believeth has eternal life. So that we go through. The Spirit sustains us. Eternal life is not simply through faith, I do get it by faith at the outset, but it is sustained by the Spirit. To divorce it from the Spirit is fatal.

E.S.W. Would it be right to say that at the outset faith takes precedence of the Spirit with us, but we come to see eventually that the Spirit takes precedence over faith? Both are needed to enter into the land.

J.T. Faith and hope shall cease, but the Spirit does not. In eternity He takes the form in us of the Spirit of adoption.

W.J.H. Paul seems one like Caleb. At the beginning

he brings the report to Ephesus of all the counsel of God, and goes on with that, and "being such a one as Paul the aged,(Philemon 9)" there is no diminution of spiritual power.

J.T. In the letter to Ephesus which we have had mentioned before, he enlarged on unity among the brethren. He turned aside in the parenthesis of chapter 3 to speak of himself and the knowledge he had of the mystery -- he wanted them to know this. They did not have all that he had, but what he had was available to them. It is involved in the search, as was remarked; and in chapter 4 he stresses unity.

L.D.M. Did Caleb have his eye on Hebron from the moment that he saw it in the land?

J.T. Evidently, and so we are told it was built before Zoan -- that is, it represents what was before the world. He wanted something that was before this world. Of course his forefathers -- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- all had been there. Hebron was well known in the family of faith.

H.D.T. You spoke of Ephesians going further than Colossians. What had you particularly in mind?

J.T. Ephesians fully develops the counsels of God. So that it is "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ ... having marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself, ... . taken us into favour in the Beloved", Ephesians 1:3 - 6. The full thought of the search is in Ephesians.

A.H. They journeyed after this song. This is the second song, is it not? After this song they journeyed.

J.T. They journeyed also, we read, after the first song, which is an objective thing. It was Moses and the children of Israel, but Moses leading. We are told that Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea. It is a question of the leadership of Moses, but now it is

typically the leadership of the Spirit. "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God", Romans 8:14. That is what is implied in this type. They went from Mattanah to Nahaliel and so on, and reached Pisgah, which looks over the surface of the waste. So they moved forward and, I suppose, took a view of the past -- "the surface of the waste"; but they are now moving out of the wilderness. The Spirit leads us out of the wilderness . He leads us in the wilderness, but leads us out of the wilderness, and that is the point here. It leads on to Canaan.

A.M.H. Why is this digging at the word of the lawgiver instead of the priest? One would have thought it was more a priestly matter.

J.T. I think it is the authority of Christ as in Romans.

F.J.F. What does Caleb mean when he says "to go out and to come in", in Joshua 14?

J.T. It is liberty, I suppose. "I am the door; if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture", John 10:9. I suppose there is liberty in a general way. We know how it applied to David. He brought Israel out and brought them in. It is one thing to lead the saints out, and another to bring them in, but then here, it is a person himself going out and coming in, and we are to learn to do that. A trustworthy person can do that.

E.E. Would you say a little more about the lawgiver?

J.T. I think it is Christ as presented in Romans; the authority of Christ is there in relation to digging. In fact how can you get on without it? It applies to oneself. You can see, for instance, in the woman of Samaria how she understood the teaching of the Lord. "The water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life", John 4:14. How she would need the teaching of Romans to be subject, to teach her the feature of subjection, for the Holy Spirit only operates in those

who are subject. The gospel is for the obedience of faith, among all nations, and the Spirit is given to those who obey. So that while we are down here we need the authority of Christ.

A.M.H. The authority of Christ would help us to recognise and remove obstacles so that the Spirit would be free unhinderedly.

J.T. Yes. "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord", (Romans 7:25) is a recognition of the Lord's authority; and the subject of the Spirit is afterwards opened up. Romans 7 really implies making room for the Spirit, in some sense, because you have reached the ability to name inward things, so as to disallow sin in the flesh, what would hinder the Spirit.

P.L. So that spiritual ministry always bears the stamp of divine authority -- speaking as oracles of God.

J.T. Just so.

SPIRITUALITY (5)

Numbers 27, Joshua 15:16 - 19; Joshua 17:3 - 6

J.T. Our inquiry so far has brought us to the end of Numbers 26, in which it is stated that "there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun(Numbers 26:65)". The passage in Joshua 14 was read yesterday afternoon to show how faith , up to this point, is the leading thought, the link between the beginning of divine movements in Egypt and the land of Canaan; marking, too, the identity of the persons, but their condition is wholly changed according to certain passages read in Numbers, particularly those which treat typically of the Spirit. The forty years' journeying in the wilderness after the exposure of the flesh in Numbers 13 and 14 is a witness to the destruction of what was disobedient. The apostle says in 2 Corinthians 10:6, "and having in readiness to avenge all disobedience when your obedience shall have been fulfilled"; meaning those who have faith. The little ones, or children of the transgressors, were to see the destruction of their fathers during those forty years. For faith, this would mean that the flesh in each one is destroyed, all discipline having that in mind, the "destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus(1 Corinthians 5:5)". Hence God deals with us in discipline through history on the one hand, but on the other hand, where faith is, there is the Spirit building up a constitution, and this involves spirituality. Faith is seen in these two men, and they go through into Canaan, and the children of those who were destroyed inherit according to the divine word.

Now it is thought that we may see in the Scriptures read, how the children are in the inheritance. The qualities of which they were constituted are seen

representatively in the daughters of Zelophehad and the daughter of Caleb. The children of those who came under the judgment of God were to inherit, and these daughters of Zelophehad and the daughter of Caleb are representative as showing that if they inherit, they do so as formed by the Spirit. They have the qualities suitable for the inheritance. They did not go in simply because they were children when the disobedience took place, and so were not responsible; they go in as suitable , as subjects of the work of God. "The daughters of Zelophehad speak right", according to Jehovah's own testimony. Their thought is, as they say, "Why should the name of our father be taken away from his family, because he has no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father", Numbers 27:4. That is their exercise; they wanted a possession in the inheritance of their father, but they wished to enjoy it among the brethren ; an excellent trait in persons who enjoy the inheritance of God. Then Achsah, Caleb's daughter, as already possessing the inheritance, desires to have what sustains in it, namely springs of water. These two families illustrate how the inheritance is laid hold of by the children.

P.L. Would it be right to say that the confession that their father died in his own sin, and also of his sonless position -- five of them, suggestive of weakness in remnant days, taking that ground -- shows that they had bowed to the government of God in regard of the forty years?

J.T. That is so. Saying that he died in his own sin, as distinct from the sin of Korah, would indicate that they understood sin in the gravest sense - that of a party active against the truth. They do not allude to the refusal to go into the land, which marked the ten spies at that time, but they allude to Korah's sin, which will take us down the history typically; sin evidenced, not only in the refusal of the land, but in the terrible

rebellion of the clerical system. They understood that their father had died in his own sin -- it was not a collective sin for which he died; there was no collusion in it. They indicate in all this that they had a just judgment about the sin of Korah and his band. In putting forward their matter, they recognised the principle governing the position. "They stood before Moses", the passage says, "and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and the whole assembly". The book of Joshua says, "they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes". That is, they recognised their position in a divinely appointed economy. They were intelligent in their approach in making their plea, showing that in the antitype they were assembly people, they knew what to do. They were not marked by lawlessness.

P.L. Would you say that the expression drawing near, which attaches to the three scriptures dealing with them, would suggest that they had drunk into the spirit, so to speak, of their great ancestor Joseph, who says to his brethren draw near? The birthright going to Joseph would fit in with their desire for it.

J.T. These were tribal features.

W.J.H. Had you in mind, in regard to their father dying "in his own sin", that personal failure and breakdown is less serious than party activities among God's people, and that there is less hope of recovery in the latter?

J.T. Yes. The sin of Korah is outstanding linked up, in Jude's epistle, with Cain and Balaam; showing the seriousness of party affiliations amongst the brethren, which are ever ready to crop up. It is very striking that they distinguish between their father's sin and the sin of Korah.

J.D.U. Is that an indication of spiritual formation with them? They duly estimated the sin, and also appreciated the inheritance.

J.T. Although the personal sin was there, the name of their father was not to be wiped out or forgotten. I suppose they had the idea of grace, one of the features of the assembly, introduced at the very outset and embodied in the word that "The Lord is indeed risen and has appeared to Simon(Luke 24:34)" -- that was pure grace.

E.B.C. Do they connect the thought of generation with the inheritance?

J.T. That is the point we are on, to show how these women represent a generation. John's line enters into this; it is not only generation, but suitable family development. The idea of an inheritance must involve the family; it comes down from the parent. It is not a creational thought, it is a family thought.

H.D.T. In regard to the question of grace, in Acts 4:33 it says "great grace was upon them all". That precedes those who had lands coming forward and making them available.

J.T. It is one of the features of the economy, running parallel with the breaking of bread. The two things are seen in the first assembly after the Lord arose, the breaking of bread and grace; the latter recognised in that the Lord appeared to an individual sinner -- Simon. There was no party link at all, just his own sin, and the Lord appeared to him . So that his name stands; Judas's does not, neither does Korah's name stand in the family of God. In that sense the name of Zelophehad does. Then the two disciples from Emmaus witnessed to the breaking of bread -- the Lord was made known to them in it. So that the divine economy as initially inaugurated stands thus. The name of Christ attaches to that position, and so, too, the children in John's writings -- "those that believe on his name(John 1:12)".

H.H. Referring to faith and spirituality as necessary for the inheritance, I was thinking of the expression in the gospel of John, "he that believeth"; this is in

addition to the work of God seen there, as set out in individuals such as the blind man.

J.T. Faith is stressed in the children of God -- those "that believe on his name" (John 1:12) -- and they are also said to be "born of God". John speaks of persons, who already are disciples, coming to believe; they thus add to and strengthen their faith; "his disciples believed on him", John 2:11. John contemplates persons believing because of the signs which the Lord did, but they were not trustworthy. That brought out the necessity for new birth . In the second chapter the Lord "manifested his glory; and his disciples believed on him(John 2:11)". John has in mind that there should be a real abiding faith that goes through, so that at the end, he says, the signs "are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name", John 20:31. Alongside of that is the great enlargement of the truth of the Holy Spirit in John, first in new birth and then in the living water, and later in a personal sense.

F.I. Do you have in mind that when these women came up before Moses and the whole assembly, they had a sense that they would get a judgment which would be supported by grace?

J.T. That is the point; what underlies the assembly, as representative of God, is grace. They had confidence in coming before Moses and Eleazar and the princes of the assembly. The full economy of God is in mind. John states it: "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand,(John 3:35)" that is the idea of the divine economy in John. It is stable, you can rely on it. In Matthew the Lord says, "if also he will not listen to the assembly, let him be to thee as one of the nations and a tax-gatherer(Matthew 18:17)". Christ delegates the authority there, thus the assembly is to be listened to. Christianity, abstractly, is on a firm foundation, even as to administration.

A.M.H. Did they recognise the lack of faith in their father, and desire that they should not fail in relation to faith?

J.T. That is a moral necessity if the father's name is to stand in the inheritance. "Why", they say, "should the name of our father be taken away from his family?" It is with a sense of grace that they include a request that the name of their father should not be taken away.

P.L. This inquiry addressed to Moses, Eleazar, and the princes, sets afoot the later inquiry Godward, and results in a statute set up in Israel. Is this an encouragement for spiritual initiative and zeal in regard to one's part in the inheritance?

J.T. The definite statute set up, "a statute of right", shows how God honours their exercises in adding the result to the statutes of Israel. The statutes and ordinances of Israel mentioned so often in Psalm 119 show how faith valued them. In Numbers 27:11, we read, "it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of right, as Jehovah commanded Moses". It is a great matter if a crisis like this brings out an addition to what is already there. A point is reached; a landmark in the spiritual history of Israel, that is to stand in regard to the inheritance. The inheritance is a final thought. This "statute of right" is a very important addition to what was already there, and the next thing is how these women carry forward their thought. They had not forgotten this matter. They went into the land, and again recognised the economy as it was. They had admitted their father's sin, now it is a settled matter. They say, "Jehovah commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren"; then is added, "And he", that is, Joshua, "gave them according to the commandment of Jehovah". They condensed the thing. They assumed that matters were settled legally. They do not again allude to the sin of their father, but we get an additional thing: Joshua gave

them "an inheritance among the brethren of their father"; then we are told, "And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan. For the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead", Joshua 17:5,6. So that it would seem that these women got the very best. It was Canaan they sought, not Gilead.

H.S.H. Why does the inheritance of these women come in again at the close of Numbers in regard to marriage?

J.T. That is an important side of our subject which may be reserved to a meeting later on if the Lord will. The brethren here have some exercise about mixed marriages.

Ques. Is it important that it is not only their claim, but Jehovah's matter, and He justifies them in the place where they invoke the name of Jehovah, and gives them the best portion in the land?

J.T. What comes out is that these women are honoured; their exercise brings in a "statute of right". It is a very remarkable thing that God honours them in this way. Jehovah adds, in Numbers 27:7: "thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them", and the end of verse 11 states that "it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of right". It seems to me that this statute of right is very important today, because our relatives are so distant from us in many instances, but we can share the inheritance with them, however far they may seem to be from us. The link of the family, however attenuated, is maintained. I think that ought to help us in regard to our brethren now. John speaks of "the children of God who were scattered abroad John 11:52". Perhaps many have little or no idea of any link with

others. This statute of right is a divine provision that brings them in for a portion in the inheritance.

C.S.S. You have spoken of generation; is it seen in John 4, where the Lord speaks of worshipping the Father, before He speaks of worship to God?

J.T. Quite so. That would show that in grace He was bringing the woman in. She was claiming relation with Jacob, but it was not valid. The Lord implied that He was a Jew, and she regarded Him in that light and He accepted it. She had no family claim, but He brings her in, in grace. She comes into the inheritance; the living water, which comes into our subject, being essential to it.

A.E.D. Does Paul use this statute of right in Ephesians 2 in bringing us Gentiles into the inheritance?

J.T. That is right. It depends on family link, which we Gentiles now have: "no longer strangers and foreigners but ... of the household of God(Ephesians 2:19)".

A.E.M. A distribution of the inheritance comes down to the one that is nearest to him. Is that an important principle in trying to help?

J.T. Yes. "Ye shall give his inheritance to his kinsman that is nearest to him in his family", Numbers 27:11. I suppose the idea of family in John, the generative thought, allows for great extension. We recognise when it is valued by any, and we can move in relation to them, owning them as our brethren.

A.M.H. Would the loaf in the Lord's supper keep this before us, that, what we are about to go forward to, is not limited to ourselves?

J.T. We being many are one bread, by extension, includes all Christians. One misses them and tells the Lord so. Many may be without the Spirit, but there is a link with the family nevertheless, and evidence of the divine generation affords one a claim as of the family.

S.E.E. Would the statute of right be established in

the passage in John 1:12, "but as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God"?

J.T. Quite so: it is for them to take up. The passage referred to in John 11 does not contemplate the ability to do it. They are "scattered abroad", but the right is there, and it is part of our work at the present time to instruct people on these lines. John's gospel is intended for that.

E.S.W. All these relationships seem to stand in relation to the Father. Would it extend to every family in heaven or on earth, named of the Father?

J.T. That is the way it works out. Paul speaks of one God the Father, not many fathers, but one.

E.E. The impoverished conditions through the workings of sin make things more difficult even for those who are spiritually minded to come into their proper portion.

J.T. The apostle warned that difficult times should come, and they have come. You are made to feel it when you come in contact with those who belong to the family, but are not in practical enjoyment of it; many are prejudiced and preoccupied, but this passage gives us a wide area to operate in; we should seek to impress them with the fact that they belong to the family of God. If you say to a person who is hard. You are my brother, -- one has often noticed that the word brother touches any one who has family instincts.

J.D. You mentioned those who are scattered abroad; in dealing with souls, would you look for the features of the generation according to John 1?

J.T. Certainly, that is the point here. When travelling and meeting people you cannot but see in some the evidences of divine generation, but they are terribly beclouded and hardened through circumstances, as has been remarked, the circumstances of sin, and religious circumstances, and I think John's gospel is intended to meet that. You begin with Christ, the Person of Christ.

If there is reality in any one, he will respond to the opening verses of John's gospel, and then in verses 12 and 13 you come to persons who receive Him. Are you receiving Christ? If you are, you have the right to take the place of a child, as believing on His name, which disallows all other names; and you are born, not of the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God. How peerless it is, and what stability it gives us as having faith in Christ, believing on His name!

J.D. Would the coming forward of the feminine side -- the daughters of Zelophehad -- involve the subjective state, consequent upon generation?

J.T. That is right. There may be much to be learnt from their names, and there should be, but the general thought is that they represent the subjective side. They speak with a right feeling. God is honouring them. I believe they represent those who are fully fit for the inheritance. They value it and speak intelligently about it. They wish to bring down the name of their father, and to be among their brethren. What fine traits these are!

As to Achsah, Joshua 15, the question of the husband comes in. In this spiritual order of things, we must have that feature, which has place as entering into our minds. So Caleb says, "He that smites Kirjath-sepher and takes it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife". We are now in the marital state. She is a child of Caleb, of the man who has come through, the man of faith. He has come through from Egypt to Canaan. Identity is there and the marriage thought is there, and what is her exercise about the position? Verse 18 says, "And it came to pass that as she came, that she urged him to ask of her father a field": that is, she urged her husband, "and she sprang down from the ass". She is spiritual and she has spiritual agility. I think that is what

is meant by the word "sprang". "And Caleb said to her. What wouldest thou?" She recognised her father in her movement off the ass; and she said, "Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a southern land; give me also springs of water. Then he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs". That is another fine part of our subject, showing what marked both the children of parents who had fallen, and the child of parents who went through in faith. She wanted springs of water, and he gave her more than she asked, he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

C.S.S. Does this come on the line of desire and dependence on God as one man who could pray, "Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me, and enlarge my border", 1 Chronicles 4:10.

J.T. Quite so. In the book of Chronicles you get touches of that kind in the history. The idea of the inheritance is there in one man -- Jabez -- and God granted him all his desires; showing what is available at any time to any who has desires.

C.C.E. Have you any thought why this incident as to Achsah is repeated in the book of Judges?

J.T. I think, to carry on this fine thought of the inheritance in the family of Caleb, showing what a start the tribes had in the land. We have this thought carried through; a woman wishing for springs of water. It is a subjective thought. You could not have the book of Joshua without this; and so you find the son of Eleazar the priest -- Phinehas -- in the end of the book, God thus showing what continues.

W.J.H. Is Paul like Caleb, as he comes to Ephesus and raises the question of whether they had received the Holy Spirit in view of occupying this blessed territory?

J.T. Yes. That is the basic idea, consequent on the gospel, in Ephesus, as if the matter of the Spirit must be settled at once. There can be no going through into the counsels of God without it.

H.H. Would you say a word as to the upper and nether springs?

J.T. I think the upper would be like Ephesians and the nether like Romans. Colossians hardly touches on the Spirit, except "love in the Spirit". The Spirit is not stressed in Colossians. It is the going into the land there. In Romans you have great enlargement as to the truth of the Spirit, and then in Ephesians the Spirit in relation to heavenly things.

E.E. While speaking of Achsah, what is there for us in that she moved her husband to ask for a field?

J.T. I think she is recognising headship, he is the one to take the initiative. That is what I understand. She is thoroughly right in the matter, just as the daughters of Zelophehad were right. She recognises her husband.

F.I. As you have already said, the marital side enters into this; what he received she was able to name properly. She urged her husband to ask for a field; she had received a southern land; but she rose to the highest thoughts, and would have springs of water.

J.T. She recognised her husband. She urged him to ask of her father a field; and she sprang down from the ass. She is in the right attitude of subjection, and Caleb said, "What wouldest thou?" She was where she would get answers: "And she said, give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a southern land; give me also springs of water". It was the time of asking and she took advantage of it. God loves that in His people and responds to it. Elisha says to Elijah, "let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me(2 Kings 2:9)". Elijah says, "Thou hast asked a hard thing: if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee", (2 Kings 2:10). This would mean that the gift of the Spirit requires such a state. It is not simply the position of Romans, but the ascending thought, the heavenly position. You get a double portion in view of that.

What a great position Achsah was in! Her husband had just taken Kirjath-sepher, which is The city of books, and she is consciously in need of support in this great position. How can I overcome the influence of books save by the Spirit? I lay hold of the mind of God and live in the mind of God, and man's books do not influence me.

W.J.H. At Ephesus they burnt certain books as they came into the light of what Paul brought them.

J.T. That helps in what we are saying. We have to transfer these types into our own circumstances, because they are for us. Books have an immense place at the present time, and saints are damaged by them, but the Spirit enables us to overcome them. We touch certain subjects -- history and such like as we need, but we are not overcome by them; we overcome them by the help of the Spirit.

L.D.M. The Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance.

J.T. Yes; the earnest would mean you get it in principle now, enabling you to overcome what is presented in the books and the like, what controls the world.

E.S.W. Would you link these two great features with the Lord's supper? Our place in the body with a view of the inheritance, and spiritual joy to enable us to go forward into it.

J.T. That is right. The Spirit, of course, is with us in assembly from the outset, in fact. He is always with us in the sense of the anointing. At a certain point there is an upward trend, which would imply the Spirit of adoption. In His power we are carried over to the heavenly side of things.

E.E.S.L. What is the inheritance? Is it the whole of that which God has made available in the word for our possession and enjoyment in divine things?

J.T. It is a very wide thought. We touched on it yesterday as to what the spies were to inquire into;

what they were to find out, and in order to indicate the variety of things, Deuteronomy 8:7 - 10 helps us, "For Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of waterbrooks, of springs, and of deep waters, that gush forth in the valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, where thou shalt lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose mountains thou wilt dig copper. And thou shalt eat and be filled, and shalt bless Jehovah thy God for the good land which he hath given thee". This passage indicates the things that are there. You get indications of it later; for instance, in Jonathan's victory, it is said that the honey flowed. So that the idea of it was carried down. It is a spiritual matter for us -- what we enter into according to Ephesians. The Spirit is said to be the earnest of it, and it is brought to us by the Spirit in principle, but only in that sense, not the complete fulness of it, so that we are carried through. In Ephesians the Spirit is the earnest of the inheritance, extending "to the redemption of the acquired possession(Ephesians 1:14)".

J.W.H. Does that connect with the bunch of grapes?

J.T. That was the testimony to it. The "first" grapes, to show how productive the land was; pomegranates and figs were also brought down.

W.J.H. It is spoken of throughout scripture as the land that flows with milk and honey; could you help us to get a spiritual thought as to that general expression?

J.T. I suppose there is the thought of the Messiah, Emmanuel, that we share it with Him, Isaiah 7. Although from living creatures, butter and honey would not necessitate their death.

Ques. Do we have to claim the inheritance as the daughters of Zelophehad did?

J.T. That is the thought. God values our going forward in this sense, especially claiming it amongst

the brethren. Esau stands over against all this. He sold his birthright for a mess of pottage.

J.S.D. While we come into the inheritance in a corporate way, why are the various portions allotted, to some in one way, and some in another?

J.T. Each will have his portion in the land. The boundaries of the tribes are carefully maintained, possibly alluding in some instances to the test we are to one another, because the boundaries are sometimes very irregular, and one tribe, such as Simeon, had his inheritance inside that of Judah. There is irregularity in that sense in Joshua, which I suppose alludes to our responsibility here -- to bring out our love, in bearing with one another. In Ezekiel, the boundaries are in a straight line, the inheritance of each is straight across the land. There is no such test implied in the coming day as there is now. Nevertheless each tribe has its own setting.

C.S.S. Is the new generation to take full possession of the land?

J.T. Achsah asked for springs of water and she urged her husband to ask for a field -- two definite things, but both are available. The idea is that you want some feature or features, and asking is in order. God is urging us now in what we have before us to lay hold of the inheritance and to understand what is in it. Springs of water are of particular importance.

E.E.S.L. Would the Spirit of God in taking up these daughters of Zelophehad and Achsah, place before us a contrast to the selfishness and lack of appreciation which Israel showed, and which resulted in their carcases falling in the wilderness?

J.T. Quite so. God urges us to lay hold of the things He has prepared for us -- for those who love Him.

SPIRITUALITY (6)

Deuteronomy 1:1 - 5,35 - 38; Deuteronomy 31:1 - 8,14 - 19; Deuteronomy 34:9

A.E.M. We would be glad of a word as to how the generative principle, which involves our being of God, stands related to the idea of adoption which is through Jesus Christ to Himself.

J.T. The generative thought, as far as I understand it, stands related to the saints as children. Adoption, or sonship, is conferred. We are said to be "God's sons by faith in Christ Jesus", in Galatians 3:26; and in Galatians 4:5,6 we are said to receive it, "that we might receive sonship. But because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father", The generative idea is seen in our being born of God. It is constitutional and underlies our sonship. We are said to be "born of the Spirit" and "born of water and of Spirit", in John 3:5. Birth by the Spirit involves what is substantive spiritually, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It is something, as it were, substantive, and hence basic as to our family relations with God. Then we are said to be born of incorruptible seed, the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever: this affecting us as to our intelligence; and finally we are said to be born of God, from whom we take on the family characteristics, which are developed in John's first epistle. The generative thought is obviously connected with what has been before us; for in the types we have considered, there are numerous children, not exactly children of God, but typical of them as a new generation; the principle being there, involving nature and ability to take in and to enjoy what is of God.

A.E.M. Is the thought of children on the same level as sonship?

J.T. As to family status. Yes. Only sonship is greater,

as that in which Christ has part, and it is the final or eternal family relationship. Sonship is the relation in which we are viewed as capable of sharing the divine thoughts and purposes. In this relation we are viewed as able to share with Christ the affections of the Father, and to respond to them. The relation of children corresponds and refers to us as we are down here, and in which we represent God in a moral way as partaking of His characteristics. We are of God.

A.E.M. Does that allow for development?

J.T. It does. There are several words used in the original for the word "children" in English; some diminutive and one covering the whole family, old and young.

A.E.M. I was going to ask if the way in which adoption is brought forward in Ephesians is to make room for the superior position of Christ in relation to it. Fatherhood in God and sonship in Christ were existing perfectly before we were brought into the family.

J.T. Christ is never viewed as a child in the sense in which we are children of God. In sonship He is spoken of as a child in a physical sense, "the child Jesus", but never in the sense in which the term applies to us spiritually. It is always sonship with Him; it is in Him that the full thought is seen. We are brought into what He had already inaugurated as a Son, that is as incarnate. We are brought into that, not born into it.

A.M.H. God having secured through birth what was entirely suitable to Himself and for Himself, adoption is added, to take us and place us in sonship in God's sight.

J.T. The same persons in another position. It is not bringing many children to glory, but sons to glory. The full family thought is that we are equal to entering into the divine counsels corresponding with the term "brethren of Christ".

H.H. Will the idea of the family be eternal, although

you say the thought of children applies to us down here?

J.T. The family thought goes through. The word "children" seems to be applied to us as derived of God generically, fitting in down here in the scene of adversity; we are according to His mind, the Spirit being the link, and witnessing with our spirit that we are children of God, so that we are now the children of God. Sonship for us properly refers to heaven, although we have received it and are sons; but really it is a faith state of things now, the Spirit, as the Spirit of adoption, making it a reality to us; but as to our actual condition now, we are not fully equal to it, hence it is said "we await adoption"; in other words, we await sonship, "that is, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23)". That is not said of us as children.

S.E.E. Is the equality of the two positions in our relation to the inheritance seen in the two passages, Romans 8:17, "And if children, heirs also: heirs of God, and Christ's joint heirs; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him", and Galatians 4:7, "So thou art no longer bondman, but son; but if son, heir also through God".

J.T. These passages show that the two terms are equal in that sense. "Heirship" belongs to us in both relations.

Now to resume our subject, it is needful that we should revert to the second part of Numbers 27, beginning at verse 12; having already enlarged on the daughters of Zelophehad, and what is conveyed in them spiritually, also Caleb's daughter and her husband; these showing the generative side, that is, those in the relation of children or seed. In Numbers the necessity for the new leader appears, as the "statute of right" is established, arising from the exercises of these women. We have the new leadership introduced immediately and by Jehovah Himself. Moses mentions it, but

Jehovah says to Moses, "Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land that I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy peoples, as Aaron thy brother was gathered, because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, ... And Moses spoke to Jehovah, saying. Let Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the assembly, who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in, that the assembly of Jehovah be not as sheep that have no shepherd", Numbers 27:12 - 17. We have the judicial pronouncement as to Moses again alluded to here that he should not go in because of rebellion against God's word. Others had been precluded for the same reason. They fell in the wilderness. Moses is to go up to die and to be buried by Jehovah Himself, according to another scripture, but he is wholly clear in his spirit. He is thoroughly with God as in the discipline, and suggests of himself that there should be another leader, and alludes to God's knowledge of the spirits of all flesh -- "Jehovah, the God of the spirits of all flesh,(Numbers 27:16)" the God of the spirits. So that Joshua is evidently in Moses' mind as a spiritual leader. Moses' service was that of apostleship, or authority, but now it is a question of spirits, and so Jehovah speaks about Joshua, having the Spirit, not "another spirit", but "a man in whom is the Spirit"(Numbers 27:18). So that I think we are coming here to the climax of the thought entering into our subject. Christ viewed in this way as having the Spirit. He is divine, of course, and gives the Spirit. Acts shows that He charged the apostles by the Spirit, Acts 1:2. Indeed, He went about doing good in the power of the Spirit. We read about Him casting out demons by the Spirit of God. So that we have Christ in type here, Joshua being a man who had the Spirit, characteristically. It is he who is to lead the people into the inheritance.

L.D.M. Does the readiness of the children to enter the inheritance make way for leadership by the man in whom is the Spirit? I was thinking of the daughters of Zelophehad.

J.T. Yes. It is very significant that Jehovah in answer to Moses says, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit"(Numbers 27:18). Moses had spoken to Jehovah, calling Him "the God of the spirits of all flesh,(Numbers 27:16)" He would therefore know the spirit of Joshua; He would know the spirit of the one needed to lead; in fact. He was God over them. God Himself is a spirit. The Lord says to the woman of Samaria, "God is a spirit, and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth(John 4:24)". Here He is the God of the spirits of all flesh, so that the matter is peculiarly spiritual now.

F.J.F. Does that show that leadership is dependent upon what God knows of the leader?

J.T. Just so. The whole matter now is between God and the leader who has the Spirit, and believers who are spiritual, for the daughters of Zelophehad had showed that they were spiritual, as also Achsah. So that entering into the inheritance implies that the Spirit is here. Those who form the assembly are basically, at least, spiritual, although Paul had to say that the Corinthians were not this characteristically, though their status was that. They were in Christ and the Holy Spirit was in them.

The book of Deuteronomy further develops our subject. Moses in the closing period of his life was able to say so much about it; as under discipline, not in spirit under it, but clear of it, yet it still attached to him in the government of God. Moses was not going into the land, but he is able to say much about what is there; and what is needed in those who go in. Hence it is thought well to suggest these Scriptures in Deuteronomy because the aim of the book is that we might go in spiritually and suitably. Moses merges, we may say,

in Joshua. It is a gradual matter, but finally they are both together at the door of the tent, and the Lord comes down and they are spoken to as together, and later, according to the last chapter, Moses dies, and Joshua is said to be filled "with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses". So that Moses merges, as it were, with Joshua. That is, they represent two features of Christ: the one authoritative, but more, because in Deuteronomy Moses' position borders on headship. It is what Moses says himself, and finally he emerges, as we said, in Joshua, who represents henceforth the leadership that is needed to take the people into the land.

J.D. "Because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation", Numbers 27:14. Would anything like that happen today to one who had been a leader?

J.T. Leaders may fall out of the ranks. We remarked yesterday that Moses had to suffer personally. He rises above all this, but nevertheless he has to suffer. So that we should take heed to ourselves. Disregard of the commandment of God on the one hand, and disrespect for the saints on the other, disqualifies a man for the leadership. That is what the apostle had in mind in the first letter to Corinth, and the second, too, "If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord's commandment", 1 Corinthians 14:37. There were those at Corinth who were aiming at leadership, but were evidently disqualified. We know in the history of the testimony many have fallen out, who had a very definite place in the testimony, so that I believe the records of Moses' failure are to warn us. In Deuteronomy it is generally more that he suffered vicariously, that is, instead of the people; that in truth the state of the

people required the rebuke -- required that he should suffer. He says, "Jehovah was angry with me on your account" Deuteronomy 1:37.

A.E.M. What is the position in relation to priesthood? Eleazar seems to be prominent in connection with Joshua, as though the two are linked up.

J.T. I think Eleazar represents the spiritual side of priesthood and hence qualified to be linked with Joshua, so that it is again two persons representing Christ, but spirituality stressed in both. Eleazar is said to be "the prince of princes of the Levites,(Numbers 3:32)" a peculiar place he had even before his father died, but now he is in the true position of priesthood. I think, therefore, we have to look at Joshua and Eleazar together as entering into our subject. The priestly side is usually official, but in Eleazar it would take on what is peculiarly spiritual, not only authoritative. It says, "And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him, by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him, even the whole assembly. And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before the whole assembly, and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him commandment, as Jehovah had said through Moses", Numbers 27:21 - 23. The thought of the Urim is introduced. We are now in the presence of peculiar spirituality and stability. What a vista of glory and blessedness opens up as we see all this functioning in Christ, and our having part in it! Joshua is installed before Eleazar and the whole assembly here.

C.S.S. Would it work out as a result of obedience? When we get a man that is filled with the Spirit, it is said that they may "obey him", Numbers 27:20.

J.T. Obedience and being helped by the Lord into the inheritance go together. In the antitype it is the

Spirit being the earnest of the inheritance that enables us to possess. We value the thought of the inheritance, as having already acquired spiritual instincts through the generative work of God, the Spirit taking all that up and developing sonship in us intelligently. We see how God Himself, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, is bringing many sons to glory, Hebrews 2:10. And in doing so He has made the Captain of our salvation perfect through sufferings. That is, Christ has reached a point of perfection, meaning a condition answering to the purpose of God; and we, too, are brought into that condition, the relation of sonship attaching to it; and then in the acquirement of the purchased possession completed in the redemption of our bodies, we shall be in it as He is in it. So that divine Persons are all helping to bring us in. Hence the importance of what we had this morning of the intelligent desire to be there.

Ques. Is that the idea when Moses said, Jehovah "will go over before thee", and then of Joshua, "he shall go over before thee"?

J.T. And further, as we already noticed, Moses specifies that the new leader should go out before them, and come in before them, and lead them out and bring them in, all this having an answer in Christ as amongst His own. It is said in Acts 1:21, that the needed apostle should be one who had assembled with the brethren "all the time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out amongst us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up". His movements were spiritual movements. The two men at the ascension had this in mind: "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall thus come in the manner in which ye have beheld him going into heaven", Acts 1:11. It is a question of manner of movement, how the Lord went into heaven. He went up in their sight. So He was transfigured

before them. There are peculiar touches which were to react in the disciples. All this, as a type, enters into Joshua's position here, who would lead the people out and in. Moses says, "who may lead them out, and who may bring them in" -- they must not be left outside.

C.A.I. Does this not involve the intelligent apprehension of the mystery, and our being able to function intelligently in the body under the headship of Christ?

J.T. We are coming to that. Spirituality is essential to it. Of the spiritual man it is said, as already remarked, he himself is discerned of no one. Persons who are not spiritual are in a practical sense outside the range of the mystery.

L.D.M. Paul laid his glad tidings before those conspicuous at Jerusalem, as we see in Galatians 2. Is that the recognition by them of his measure in spiritual things?

J.T. They gave him the right hand of fellowship. The apostles there were capable of discerning the grace given to him. Peter understood Paul. His closing words about him showed how thoroughly he understood the apostle Paul. Others did not. As to discernment, Paul gives a peculiar touch in Acts 14. He looked on the man who was lame, and discerned that he had faith. He discerned that the man had faith to be healed, that is the power of discernment in a spiritual man. The lame man heard Paul speaking. Evidently he was affected by it -- that kind of speaking. Paul, on the other hand, discerned that he had faith, and so said to him with a loud voice, "Rise up straight upon thy feet",(Acts 14:10) and he did so. He had never walked. The man represents the kind of material needed for the assembly The Lord says to Peter, "thou art Peter". Peter had in mind in his ministry to bring out that kind of material, so he calls the saints living stones and a spiritual house. Paul directs Timothy, in his second letter, to commit what he had heard of him in the presence of many

witnesses, to "faithful men", 2 Timothy 2:2. Timothy would thus be obligated to find them, to discern them. There is thus to be discernment in these administrative matters. The spiritual discerneth all things.

J.D. Would this be on Paul's mind after he had left Troas on the way up to Jerusalem? He sends for the elders of Ephesus and says that he has not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God. Would the continued service of God by the saints as entering into His counsel be on his mind?

J.T. The counsel of God came out in his service at Ephesus peculiarly. His letter to that assembly further confirms this. It was highly spiritual, and hence it begins with the inquiry, "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit?" Acts 19:2. A spiritual structure was in view. His enquiry was prophetic, that is, the work should take on great spiritual proportions; the assembly would grow into a holy temple in the Lord.

Now as regards Deuteronomy, in chapter 1 we have fine spiritual touches, first as to the distance to the land. "These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel", conveying spiritual thoughts, "on this side the Jordan, in the wilderness". Then we are told of the environment, and the names are given. "There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea". There were evidently yet certain brotherly feelings in Edom. This book recognises them, but they were affected by rivalry. Then we are told that it was "in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Jehovah had given him in command to them; after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth and at Edrei". All this is spiritual, and it is affecting that a man of a hundred and nineteen years and eleven months should furnish us with such a book as this. Whatever

the discipline he had gone through, being prohibited from entering the land, he is now at the height of spiritual power and understanding. He is to see the land. He is to see it, as fully appreciating it, but not yet to enter it. Dispensationally he is representative of law and authority, and hence could not enter, but personally he is equal to it. He is able to accept the governmental dealing of God upon him. He knows at once that discipline and authority can never by themselves take the people of God into the land of Canaan. There is more than that needed. That is, we must apprehend Christ in the Joshua character; but we are told in effect here, and it is a spiritual touch, that you may get to Canaan in eleven days instead of forty years. It is for us to see how that could be.

C.S.S. Is the opening of this book in contrast to the opening of Leviticus?

J.T. Yes, the latter is approach to God, as in the tabernacle; the former is instruction for the land. We have the thought at the end of the passage read, that he had unfolded this law, that is, the opening up of what was in his mind. Moses began to unfold or expound to them. It is the spiritually instructive side rather than authority.

W.J.H. You base your reference to Paul travelling quickly to the line of the purpose of God, on the fact that in Damascus he preached that Jesus was the Son of God?

J.T. The Lord says to him, "why persecutest thou me?" Acts 9:4. It was a spiritual word, involving the assembly, for the saints are alluded to as Himself. Paul would appreciate it later. It is a spiritual touch at the very outset, and then he immediately "preached Jesus that he is the Son of God (Acts 9:20)".

I thought we might now look at the second passage read in chapter 1:35 - 38. The exclusion of the evil generation from the land is alluded to. Then it is said, "except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it,

and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah". And then, "Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither; strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it". Caleb goes in and occupies the land that his feet trod on. Joshua goes in, too, but he goes in in order to cause the people to inherit; Jehovah says, "strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it". Christ has gone into heaven; He is there in order to cause us to inherit it. Moses then says, "I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done to these two kings: so will Jehovah do to all the kingdoms to which thou shalt go. Ye shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God, he will fight for you". Deuteronomy 3:21. Stress is laid in this section on the destruction of Sihon and Og; they represent some great obstacle to our entering into the inheritance. It was after he had smitten Sihon and Og that Moses began to write the book of Deuteronomy. I think it is tantamount to saying, that we have to look to ourselves if we are to understand Deuteronomy; are these two kings really overthrown in the antitypical sense? They allude to our bigness according to our natural valuation of ourselves. So long as I retain a sense of my own importance, I am hindered, in fact I can hardly understand Deuteronomy. It is not a question of authority. So long as I am occupied with myself in any way, I need authority over me. In that sense I need Moses. Paul says, in effect. Shall I come unto you with the rod or in love? (1 Corinthians 4:21). This great man Og has to go down. He seems to stand athwart the path of Israel into Canaan; but Moses overcame him. It is after that, we get Deuteronomy, and I believe it is to direct our view to this matter as to whether I have any personal motive as active in the things of God, any thought of personal prominence, to be big, something more than I am now.

If so, I shall never understand the book of Deuteronomy, nor enter Canaan in the history of my soul. These two men were overthrown, and Joshua is told that he would overcome all the others in the same way. The crucial point is to overcome these two men. "Thine eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done to these two kings: so will Jehovah do to all the kingdoms to which thou shalt go (Deuteronomy 3:21)".

H.W. Does that agree with the apostle Paul in connection with his intelligence in the mystery? He says, "To me, less than the least of all saints, has this grace been given", (Ephesians 3:8).

J.T. That enters into the overthrow of these two kings. I have often wondered, and have spoken of it to others, how he could say that he was less than the least of all the saints, and yet he does, and significantly in the epistle to the Ephesians. It corresponds with the overthrow of Sihon and Og -- the latter shown in Deuteronomy to have been a very big man. If in the attitude of my soul I am less than the least of all the saints, I am able to respect the brethren.

W.J.H. The Psalm referring to the removal of these two men, Sihon and Og, says, "for his mercy endureth for ever", Psalm 136:19,20.

J.H.F. Did Rahab enter into the spirit of this when she referred to these two men on the occasion when she spoke to the spies?

J.T. She did. She would see that the spies were not like these two men, they were different.

A.M.H. The first chapter speaks of God having gained these victories, and in the third chapter it is we. Does that correspond to Colossians -- to using the circumcision of Christ, first arriving at it in Christ in the soul and then mortifying our members?

J.T. Just so. That is the way to victory over them, mortifying the flesh. "Have your mind on the things that are above", (Colossians 3:2). That is a great point as to

entering. We follow our minds, and then the passage says, "for ye have died, and your life is hid with the Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)". When Christ comes out we shall appear with Him in glory. All these are great thoughts on the way to the inheritance; and then, "mortify therefore": that is the line of overcoming these two men, and of maintaining the victory in our souls.

Then going on to chapter 31 -- Moses now is saying, that he is a hundred and twenty years old. He says "I can no more go out and come in; and Jehovah hath said unto me. Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. Jehovah thy God, he will go over before thee, he will destroy these nations from before thee, that thou mayest take possession of them". Moses, although so old, continues in faith and spiritual power, and at the closing moment of his life he is able to write this remarkable song, Joshua associated with him, evidently, and he completes it. So that Moses now is completely identified with Joshua -- merges in him, you might say, so that as he dies, "Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses". So that I think in these verses we are in the presence of Christ, as it were, disappearing as in authority, but in full view as leading us into the spiritual inheritance of God for us.

A.D. Do we get that in Solomon, when he asked God for wisdom that he might go out and come in and judge "a great people"?

J.T. Yes. David and Solomon are a continuation of Joshua in the types. Joshua is Christ bringing us in in spiritual power. It is, in a sense, a hidden matter, expressive of what goes on in the souls of the saints, but shown in their upward way and manner and service. David and Solomon take up the service of God which is linked with the book of Joshua.

Ques. Would you say that Joshua influenced the people rather than used authority?

J.T. That is the idea; the spiritual power needed peculiarly in the assembly; there we need also the wealth of inheritance. He brings us into that wealth, but then, as typified in David and Solomon, Christ orders the service of God, the praises of God. It is another side of our position.

H.D.T. So that what has been before us in spirituality would suggest a state capable of being influenced by what is in Christ.

J.T. That is what is so needed in assembly service. We thus discern the Lord, for instance, as He comes in a spiritual way. It is not His presence in a corporeal sense. He comes in a spiritual way and the spiritual understand, they know that He is there. They discern Him and say, "It is the Lord".

S.E.E. Would this form of spiritual leadership be expressed in Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God"?

J.T. That is more general, not exactly assembly service, but links with the song before us. This song is ordered by God, and Joshua is evidently brought into it; Moses completed and spoke it to Israel. And then we have the blessing of the tribes in the next chapter. These two chapters furnish a magnificent finish to the book; we are introduced into the land, at least into the confines of the land. It is a matter of rich spiritual feelings, and calculated to promote joy and festivity. So that we are entering in gladness of soul into the divine territory. We are received there, too, as equal to it.

Ques. Do feelings according to God constitute substance?

J.T. They do. There is a certain richness in divinely

formed and developed feelings. One under control in the assembly knows what feelings there should be at a given time. Priestly intelligence in the believer enables him to know what to do in the assembly.

S.E.E. We are used to various forms of admonition -- does this in Colossians 3 need to be taken account of more, "admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs"?

J.T. You are not likely to provoke resentment if you admonish in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. It conveys good feeling, and yet it may convey the truth. We have had it elsewhere; singers in Israel such as Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were prophets as well, so that prophecy may come to us in spiritual hymns. Many of our hymns are prophetic, bringing God to us.

E.S.W. Would it be right to say that the service of God in its highest sense can only be rightly taken up by persons who are in the enjoyment of the land? We can only serve as we have traversed the way you have indicated as following and being with Joshua; having spiritual substance formed in us?

J.T. I am sure that is right, so that worship in Deuteronomy is through the wealth that you acquire in the land; you bring the fruit in a basket. It is the wealth of the land that comes into the higher features of worship.

J.D. Would it connect with 2 Chronicles 5?

J.T. That is the full thought of it in the types.

Ques. Would the land represent the breaking of bread?

J.T. The breaking of bread is in the wilderness, but when Christ comes in we move on to the land. The land is where we are in association with Him.

J.W.H. In the last chapter we are told "the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as Jehovah had commanded Moses". Would that be the great result of what is cumulative in regard to the great thought of

spirituality, worked out as we are found together in the assembly?

J.T. Yes. The Lord takes up headship in the assembly, involving lead and influence rather than direct authority. Authority is there, however, so that we are as reverential at the end, in the family setting, as in the beginning in the dominical setting. We do not take any advantage of the Lord as coming to our side, taking His place with us as His brethren. We are always reverential.

GATHERING AND ATTRACTION

John 11:49 - 53; John 12:31 - 33; John 10:1 - 16

My theme tonight is gathering and attraction, Christ being the Gatherer and also the Object who draws men and women to Himself by attraction. Attraction comes first in order historically, for it is found in the physical creation; gathering or shepherding is later, it awaited the creation of man. Abel represents the thought of gathering or shepherding, for he was a keeper of sheep, a man whose interests were in what was living. He is the prototype of all shepherds, and the occupation took definite and permanent form in the family of faith; the family of Abraham. It was abhorrent to the Egyptians; in the spiritual sense it belongs to those who have faith and love, the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

I have in mind to speak of it as John presents it. He records this remarkable prophecy of Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year. Such a prophetic word from such a man is of peculiarinterest, and suggests the importance of the prophetic word. God used the high priest of Israel at that time, not that there were not persons more suitable, but He would have testimony rendered to Christ by an exalted official among the Jews at that time. That God should use him reminds us of His sovereign ways, and also of the great value that attaches to the prophetic word and the consequent importance of being available for such a service. If we desire gifts, which we should, it is particularly that we should prophesy. God used Caiaphas, He used Balaam; showing how resourceful He is, that He uses whom He will according to His purpose.

However little Caiaphas understood his own words, we understand them, and the Spirit of God in recording

them moved on to speak of "the children of God". Perhaps Caiaphas never used this phrase, or scarcely understood the words; there is no evidence whatever that he was among the children of God. One may preach to others, or even prophesy; may convey the mind of God, and yet, as Paul says, himself "be rejected", 1 Corinthians 9:27. So the Spirit of God moves on to the children of God and says, "not for the nation only, but that he should also gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad", (verse 52). That verse has a peculiar relation to John's ministry, which God, as we have often said and heard, intended for our times. The effectuation of Caiaphas's prophecy is postponed; I mean the effect of it in the nation of Israel; the effect of the death of Christ in that nation will come about in its own time, for we are told that all Israel shall be saved -- all Israel, not every person known as a Jew, "for not all are Israel which are of Israel(Romans 9:6)", but the whole nation of Israel shall be saved, but not until the fulness of the Gentiles, or the nations, has come in, Romans 11:25. We are in this category, a goodly number of us here, tonight, thank God. We are of "the fulness of the nations". As soon as it is completed God will have recourse to His ancient people, and the whole nation shall be saved -- born in a day, we are told elsewhere.

John, in keeping with his general line, introduces the thought of the children of God, but he regards them here (or the Spirit of God through him does so), as "scattered abroad". That thought would have touched, and was heavy upon, the heart of Christ, for He died that He should gather together into one the children of God that were scattered abroad. Doubtless we are all children of God, one would assume that we are, but some of us may be among the scattered ones. There are many in that sad case. It is sorrowful that any of the family of God should be scattered abroad. The Lord

had just been engaged with the family at Bethany. They were not scattered, they were each specifically known; known personally to Him, for He loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus -- He loved the three; they belonged to the family of God, they are representative of it, not as scattered, but as in family circumstances and relations: the Lord Himself being as it were their Head. There are those in this happy state at the present time; God has come in in a wonderful way, gathering His children. The application "children of God", is found in chapter 1 in a more happy and victorious setting, and each here will do well to compare the two scriptures, that in the first chapter and that in the eleventh chapter, and inquire in which setting he is. Those in the eleventh chapter are the children of God, but they are scattered. They have no certain dwelling-place, without a father, as it were, without a head -- scattered abroad. Nothing is said about them, as in such a position, having the right to take the place of children.

John 1:12 speaks of those who receive Christ. I want you to notice what it says in that verse, "as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be children of God". That is another matter. That is what belongs to us normally, not only that we are regarded as the children of God, but we value the relationship, take it up and glory in it. They are not scattered abroad. The Spirit of God describes them for us, they are those who believe on the name of Jesus, they received Him when others rejected Him. The Lord said to the Jews, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not", (John 5:43). It may be, there is one or more here who has not definitely received Christ. In His history of service here the time came of "his receiving up". How He moved in the light of this! But then there was the time of His reception on earth, and John tells us that those who received Him were given the right to be the children of God; to take their place as believing on His

name, and then we are told that they were born -- the family thought is added to their position as being the children of God, being born, as we are told, not "of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:13)". That is normal Christianity; it involves house conditions, and the affections belonging to the family.

The other passage (John 11:52) implies persons who have left that, those who, although retaining their generative relations to God, are scattered. They belong to the family, but they are not in the circumstances of the family, and so we have this thought that Jesus died in order that they should be gathered together into one, no longer so many units, but "into one". That is into the oneness of love, or, in other words, into the oneness of life, which tends to produce the oneness of love; that is John's line, and life is the expression of love. Why should any of us be among the scattered , Christ having died in order that we might be gathered?

It is the gathering time now. I shall speak in a moment about attraction, but I want to stress now that it is the gathering time, and also that there are not wanting those who are shepherds. As I have been saying, the shepherds belong to the family of faith. You will recall how Joseph tutored his brethren as to what they should say to Pharaoh. Pharaoh says to them, "What is your occupation?(Genesis 47:3)" but Joseph anticipated this inquiry of the monarch. It was an occupation in reproach in Egypt. It could not be much in reproach in the mind of Pharaoh, for he himself had cattle and needed shepherds to look after them, so that in this respect he was not characteristically an Egyptian. We may look for such in our exercises as under reproach; where we least expect it we may find what corresponds to us as of God. So Joseph had carefully primed his brethren to say to Pharaoh, "Thy servants are men that have been occupied with cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers", Genesis 46:34. Let us not be

ashamed of that occupation, for it is an honourable one. It is really persons occupied with live stock, typically living people; and so Abel stands over against Cain. Cain was occupied with purely material things -- machinery and the like, building cities, which would lead to honouring the god of forces, Daniel 11:38. Faith is engaged with living persons. Our eternal occupation will be with persons, not with machinery and the like. So that as Pharaoh inquired of the five that Joseph selected to take to him, they said, "Thy servants are shepherds (Genesis 47:3)". One of the gifts of Christ was "shepherds and teachers", in one person -- a most valuable brother! Teaching may give one more prominence, it is seen on the platform, and requires more grace to keep small. The shepherd services are often unseen by others, requiring self-abnegation, and toil, as with the Lord Himself going into the mountains for the lost sheep. Hence the importance of the ability of a shepherd. It is a question of life from John's point of view. "Children of God" is a generative thought, and there are many of our brethren having a link with God in that sense, and yet having no family circle. Dear brethren, let us take that word into our hearts, a family circle where affection is. God has provided it at the present time. It is a question first of our relation with Him through His generative power. He has brought it about Himself, "the children of God".

Some of you perhaps have not followed up the abstract thought involved in this; the natural instinctive promptings of your heart have been toward worldliness, earthly-mindedness it may be, but yet you retain the holy seed as being born of God. It is a question of life, and so in chapter 10 the Lord refers to Himself as Shepherd -- and that is, in the main, the instruction for this evening, that He is "the shepherd of the sheep". Only One could say that. One might be a shepherd or an under-shepherd, but only One could say that He

was the Shepherd of the sheep. He is known as One who comes in by the door, who takes the regular way, not a clandestine way, which is that of the thief and the robber. Christ is "the shepherd of the sheep". And then He goes on to say, that He is "the door of the sheep", and then again that He is "the good shepherd" who "lays down his life for the sheep". He has come "that they might have life", Jesus says, "and ... might have it abundantly", and again He says, "I am the good shepherd; and I know those that are mine, ... as the Father knows me and I know the Father". Think of that kind of knowledge. It belongs to life. It is a question of life. The sheep are viewed in that way. They hear not the voice of a stranger -- they know the voice of Christ and follow Him. This is all abstract.

You may say, I know but little about that. Well, go back in your history and remember the occasions in which you definitely desired to take a firm stand for the Shepherd, to follow Jesus, but other things came in and drowned the feeling, but the feeling in itself was perfect: that is what I refer to in using the word abstract. The Lord never forgets that time when there was an instinctive movement in your soul to be a follower of His, but you have allowed it to be overwhelmed by worldliness, earthly-mindedness, or some other interest. The desire, however, was perfect, and the Lord would bring you back to this, as one of His sheep. I am speaking now, as I said, of what is abstract. We can never understand this passage and other passages in John, save as we understand the abstract side. It is not always abstract, for as I have said, now and again this longing comes up in worldly Christians, but they stifle it, they allow it to be quenched. Government is sometimes in bad men, yet you get it in the abstract. Pilate, for instance, knew that Jesus was innocent. His wife told him that she suffered much on account of Him, and he was minded to release Him. Abstractly he

was right, but he came under adverse influences and fell, and delivered up Jesus to be crucified. In like circumstances, then, we must go back to the abstract and work it out, ceasing to stifle it. It is perfect in itself, hence let it develop. Christians viewed as sheep have their own characteristics. They are true in their instincts, but these are often stifled. I speak of this in a practical way, for many stifle innate feelings and lose in their own souls.

Now the Shepherd is always knocking at your door, as He is tonight, I am persuaded. He is the good Shepherd of the sheep. There is no other. Do you yield to Him? Do you acknowledge Him? Has His voice a charm? He said, "I am the door". If there is a movement with you at all to get into the realm of righteousness, the word from the Lord to you is, "I am the door: if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture", John 10:9. Thus you will have holy liberty. You have not got it now, if you are allowing these holy instincts of life to be stifled in your soul by worldliness. The Lord is waiting, knocking at your door, and saying to you, "I am the door of the sheep". How we love to bring out what He is to us, "the shepherd of the sheep", "the door of the sheep", and then, "the door" (an outstanding thought) "if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture". Many of us understand that. We have come into liberty because we have allowed our instincts their place. We have developed and fed them. We have come to own Jesus as the door of the sheep, the door by which if anyone enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture -- a very full statement of the Shepherd's service. Then the Lord tells us that He laid down His life for us. It is an overwhelming thought, following upon the others, as you let it into your soul. He laid down His life for

the sheep, and then again He says in effect, I know them and they know Me.

What I have been saying is all abstract as regards the sheep; you begin with that. The time was when you did know something of Christ. He took note of that. It is included in what is said here, "I ... am known of those that are mine", but He is dealing with the full thought in an abstract sense, saying, that His sheep know Him as the Father knows Him and He knows the Father. Think of the circle open to us, dear brethren, in the sense of knowledge, the kind of knowledge. There is the kind of love that the Father has for the Son, but there is the kind of knowledge that exists between the Father and the Son, and the sheep are admitted into that. Is it not attractive? But I am not at this moment speaking of attraction, but rather of what the Shepherd does. He goes on to say. He "brings" the sheep, not attracts them exactly, but He brings them. That is to say, the Shepherd goes to where you are and brings you. And He says there are "other sheep". He had been speaking of the Jewish sheep; He had gone into the fold and put them forth, so that they followed. That was His service to them, added to the great fact that He laid down His life for them. He opened up the way for them to come out of the Jewish fold, and then He brings the other sheep that He had, and constitutes them all one flock. Not one flock by themselves, but both classes forming one flock and having one Shepherd.

So, dear brethren, I think you will agree to what I have said, and see from the Scriptures I have read that the Lord is serving in this wonderful way. It is a matter of life, and a matter of generation, too, and I may say that generation is greater than creation. Adam was created, of course, but also generated. He was of God, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and Adam became a living soul. That is how he became

a living soul. He became it by the breath of God. So that we have the two thoughts. As "the children of God" we are of the family; this refers to generation, and gives us a status above creation. We are, of course, creatures, but then we are born of God, but how sorrowful, as born of God, that any of us should be unattached! Are there not here some who are unattached, having no association of holy spiritual affection? The Lord died in order that He might have you with the brethren, and with them as one, not simply as so many persons, but gathered "together into one", a remarkable suggestion of unity; but what affection enters into it, what warmth! There may be some here, as I said, who are unattached, let me appeal to you. The Lord died that you should be attached to Him, as Head, and attached to His brethren in the power of the Spirit, and that in a practical sense. It is a matter of oneness, oneness in life, the evidence of which is love. That is what I had to say about gathering.

Now attraction is concurrent with what I have been saying. The Lord says, "Now is the judgment of this world". It was immediately the Jewish world, but in principle it applies generally, and He would draw all unto Him as lifted up from the earth. Think of the ignominy involved in that statement, for He spoke this "signifying by what death he was about to die"! I have been speaking of His laying down His life, that was an action of His own; no one could take it from Him, but in this passage He was speaking of being lifted up by men. Three times in this gospel He is said to be lifted up, but this time, as lifted up. He would draw all unto Him. It is a question of attraction, concurrent with His shepherdly service -- there is this magnetism that is in Christ: His personal attractiveness.

To illustrate it, I refer briefly to Noah: as in the ark, he is presented as attractive. The animals are not said to go to him until he is in the ark and not only

in the ark, but in the ark family-wise. My two points thus run together, embracing the family thought. Christ is more attractive, if I may make comparison, as He is apprehended in the family, in the radiation of love from Him to the saints and from the saints to Him. He is more attractive there than elsewhere, and that is what Noah presents. He went into the ark and his wife and his three sons and their wives: eight of them; and then the creatures "came two and two unto Noah into the ark (Genesis 7:9)". That is the feature I commend to you. If you apprehend Christ personally, as does the bride in the Song of Solomon, then think of Him in the radiation of affection as seen in that book. She spoke of Him according to His personal attractiveness and beauty: but there is in that book the radiation of affection and that is most felicitous in the things of God. The nearer you get to the Lord the more you find the presence of that kind of love. So that the animals, two by two, went unto Noah, not simply into the ark. They went to him in the ark, that is the point.

The Lord has brought about, in these last days, such conditions that Christ is known family-wise. Even straying ones, as in the end of this gospel -- persons who went off fishing, seven of them -- He called children, an appeal being thus made to their family instincts, and every one born of God has these instincts, if they would only allow the assertion of them. It enters into the salvation of souls, to admit the exercise of family feelings. Do not drown them. Let them have full play, and if you do, you will look for other Christians. You will find out where they live and seek them out, and life will begin to radiate between you and them and you will say, as gathered together with them. This is my place, I am at home here. One knows of instances of this kind -- the Lord in the passage I read in John 12, says, "I, if I be lifted up", that is, lifted up alone -- none of us was lifted up with Him. He bore the ignominy

alone, and He said this signifying what death He should die. It was the death of the cross. The shameful death of the cross! But He is so certain of the attraction that is in Him, that He says, "I ... will draw all to me". There is no doubt about it. There is correspondence in those drawn, and hence the work of God in them is implied. Elsewhere He says, "No one can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him (John 6:44)". There are many that need to be reminded of this. You are ashamed of Him. You are ashamed of the cross, but He is confident that in time the work of God will assert itself and you will come to Him in spite of the shame, bearing His reproach. It is your privilege. May God bless these things to all of us.

THE TEMPLE OF GOD AND THE SCRIPTURES

John 2:18 - 22; John 5:46,47; John 10:35; Revelation 3:12

This service will take the character of remarks (I hope, in the power of the Spirit) on the Holy Scriptures and on the Temple of God. These are two prime subjects, important at all times, but particularly in our own. I selected John's writings only, as they have peculiarly in view the last days. It will be remembered by most of us that it is recorded in the last chapter of the gospel of John that John was following Jesus, and Peter inquired of the Lord, "what shall this man do?(John 21:21)" Evidently John was an unimposing, markedly unambitious brother who valued love more than most things. The Lord in replying to Peter said, "If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me", (John 21:22). The Lord, although not meaning that John should remain alive until He came, certainly meant to connect Peter's mind with the period of His coming, and that, as it approached, provision would be made for the peculiar conditions that should arise. So it is that the bearing of John's ministry is toward our days, for which, those of us who have understood this and proved it, thank God continually. John, therefore, among other things, stresses the Scriptures, but also stresses the Temple of God, connecting it, in our first scripture, with the body of Christ here; and in Revelation 21 with Christ as the Lamb in the holy city. He says, "I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22)". The conditions in the city are suited to the divine presence, yet the idea of the temple is there, and divine Persons are said to be in it; implying that They are very accessible. The Lamb will

certainly be accessible, and God in Him; so that inquiry will be made then in the temple.

I purpose to speak about the Scriptures first. They are peculiarly the object of the enemy's attack at the present time; for many years past, indeed, they have been the subject of attack continuously; for, although a certain body of professing Christians of great antiquity and renown, assumes to recognise them in toto, yet they are largely nullified by its interpretations - as effective a way as there is of rendering them ineffective as read by men.

In the period of the Reformation, as many of us will know, the authority of scripture was asserted. This was met by the body, to which I allude, some years later, by spurious additions to the Scriptures, beclouding them and dragging them down, to say the least, to the level of mere human productions; the Apocrypha was added to the canon of scripture. Then again in regard to the temple of God, God graciously, in later years, revived the thought of it. The truth recovered included what Paul conveyed in his question to the Corinthians, "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. Light from the temple was thrown on the holy page of scripture and the true canon of scripture was discerned and preserved, and has been maintained to the present moment, and will be, by the help of God, to the end: the Spirit being here. This great revival of the truth, so far-reaching, so illuminating, so practical, entering into the various meetings of the saints for the study of scripture and for ministry, is discounted by the same religious body in what it calls The Bull of Infallibility, in which a mere man, under certain conditions, is regarded as competent to speak with divine authority. Antichrist, we are told in the Scriptures, "sits down in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God", 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

I mention these facts, dear brethren, because we should know them. They belong to the working of evil against the Scriptures,, against the Holy Spirit, an against the temple of God. It is well to have them in mind, because God is looking for faithfulness amongst us, that the authority of scripture may be maintained inviolate, and that the presence of the Holy Spirit, as constituting saints in whom He dwells, the temple of God, should be maintained not only in terms, but in practice, so that we need not speculate on what any part of scripture means. No honest Christian would say that he understands all scripture, but, in dependence on God, as the brethren assemble together in the light of the temple, the Holy Spirit sheds light on the holy page of scripture, so that we understand. Many of us have been gladdened as on such occasions light broke in, the Spirit of God inn His own way, sometimes quit unexpectedly, making a passage luminous in a fresh way. A peculiar joy enters into the heart of a servant when he has such an experience. The blessed Spirit of God moving, acting in the temple, causing light to shine in, gladdens, perhaps, not only the one whom He used, but all who heard. If there are those here who regard what I am saying as unintelligible, I would urge you to look into the matter and consider the significance, as seen in scripture, of the temple of God.

There are two words used for temple in the New Testament, both appearing in John 2:14,19, the former referring to the general building called the temple, the latter to the inner sanctuary, and is the word used throughout the book of Revelation. It refers to the immediate presence of God, where also He makes communications, as in Numbers 7:89. Think of the greatness of it! The Psalmist says, "to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4)". It may be there are those here who have never thought of it, but the temple of God is one of the most important facts of the moment. It is parallel

with the Scriptures in importance. It is in virtue of the temple that the canon of scripture has been determined. Whatever may be said of ecclesiastical councils and their findings, it is in the power of the Spirit that the saints determine what is of God; what is authoritative as from Him. They, as of the temple, discern it, and regard as spurious, however canonised, what has no part in the Holy Scriptures.

I want first to speak of the Scriptures before continuing about the temple. You will see how the two thoughts as to the temple are linked in my first passage -- John 2; first, the temple in the general sense, out of which the oxen, etc., were cast; and then the Lord speaks of the temple of His body; and, as to the latter, John says, that after He rose from among the dead. His disciples "believed the scripture". We have a suggestion here of the importance of the light of resurrection in relation to scripture. They believed the scripture. Many of us here, it may be, believe because we have been born into Christian households. We have regarded the Scriptures according to their face value, theoretically perhaps, scarcely reading them much. Presently some school teacher tells you that the book of Genesis is doubtful, and the book of Jonah a fanciful story, and you partly believe it. In thousands of cases this has happened. Hence the importance of looking into the great matter of the resurrection. John says, on more than one occasion, this included, that the truth of the resurrection and glory of Christ bears on the authority of scripture. In truth it is as apprehending by the Spirit, Christ risen and indeed glorified, that we get the full bearing of scripture. The Bible becomes a new book to us. It is lighted up with the glory of Christ. Hence here the disciples after Christ arose "believed the scripture" -- it is put first, and after that "the word which Jesus had said". The word which Jesus had said, as I hope to show presently, implies the temple.

The body of Christ was the temple. It was the temple while He was alive, and here in the flesh, but now His word is believed. He raised Himself, and the light of His resurrection enabled the disciples to believe what Jesus said as well as the Scriptures. Hence, as believing the Scriptures, on this principle, they become peculiarly interesting. A living thought enters your soul, the resurrection of Christ is a wonderful fact in the soul. One of the most remarkable things is that after He arose He expounded to two wandering saints in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself -- Himself in that condition. Of course they refer to Him in flesh and blood, but now He is in a new condition, and so the effect of resurrection in the soul enables one to read the Scriptures in a new way. They are Appointed to be read in churches -- thank God! especially in England; but how read? The Lord says to one, "how readest thou?" And again an honest man, the Ethiopian eunuch, in answer to Philip's question, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" says, "How can I, except some man should guide me?(Acts 8:30,31)" That is the attitude of soul to take, and hence I lay stress on the word read in John 2, "they believed the scripture".

This is the first point; the second point I would make is the exposition of the Scriptures. "He expounded unto them", we are told by Luke (Luke 24:27). God furnishes expositions, and He would urge us to use them, to avail ourselves of them; the Lord led the way into it; "he expounded unto them in all the scriptures"(Luke 24:27) -- what an unfolding! How one would love to hear how He touched on the different books of the Old Testament! He never touched on the Apocrypha, you may be sure. Philip again in answer to the eunuch, preached unto him Jesus, beginning at the scripture the eunuch was reading. I cannot say that he was reading the prophet Isaiah right through; but undoubtedly it was under the guidance of the Lord that he was reading that particular

chapter; and it was under the direction of the Lord that Philip was there to help him to understand; and so it is the Lord provides expositions of scripture. Why not avail ourselves of them prayerfully? One could list some of them, but I would certainly urge the use of divinely furnished expositions. They are of God, and to neglect them is loss. Do not allow them to replace the Scriptures, read the scripture first and then the exposition.

Then again, I would say. Search the Scriptures. That is what the Lord says in John, "Search the scriptures". We may do so, as for hidden treasure, and we will not fail to find it. The Lord says, "in them ye think ye have eternal life"(John 5:39). You will find eternal life spoken of in the Scriptures, but you will not find the substance in the Scriptures, you will have to go to Christ for that. Eternal life is in Christ, but the Scriptures aid you in the understanding of it. He says, "ye think that in them ye have life eternal, and they it is which bear witness concerning me", John 5:39; and again, "ye will not come to me that ye might have life", John 5:40. Many pore over the Scriptures in that way instead of linking the reading of them with Christ; He is the substance of all scripture, the spirit of all scripture. Then again, the Lord says "the scripture cannot be broken" -- a very great thought. What a word, dear brethren, at the present time, when men are so boldly, blasphemously, suggesting that Christ told lies. He makes much of Moses. He says, "if ye do not believe his writings", John 5:47. Think of the Lord putting the writings of Moses before His own words! Yet men would make some of Moses' writings fictitious. The Lord says, "if ye do not believe his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:47) I am speaking so that we might be fortified. Times are getting worse and worse, and God would have us fortified on these points. "The scripture", said the Lord, "cannot be broken", John 10:35.

Many of you will remember the connection. They thought the Lord was blaspheming because He said He was the Son of God, and He said, "Is it not written in your law, I said. Ye are gods?" (John 10:34) and, in this connection, the Lord says that the scripture cannot be broken. Let us accept it. Well, says the Lord, if those to whom the word of God came are thus spoken of, "do ye say of him whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world. Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am Son of God?"(John 10:36) I speak thus, as I said, that we might be fortified, that our feet may be on solid ground in accord with the Scriptures. They cannot be broken, the Lord says, and anyone who attempts to break them is taking direct issue with Christ. He will do well to remember that he is not stronger than the Lord.

Well now, in the few minutes that are left I wanted to return to the temple. I have connected it with John's writings, because he uses the word more than any of the evangelists, quite a number of times in the book of Revelation. I quoted one in chapter 21, where the thought is connected, as I said, with the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. "I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, and the Lamb (Revelation 21:22)". So that it is connected with divine Persons, and hence in our scripture in John 2, the Lord refers to His body as the temple. As He was here in the flesh, how approachable He was! Yet in His answers He was concerned about the divine thought governing the question, and on the other hand, the state of the questioner. Now He is risen and in heaven, and will function as the temple in the heavenly city presently; in the meantime the temple is here in the saints. Let no one be afraid of that remark as to the saints, but here it is the saints viewed organically. Some of you may be quite out of contact with this thought of an organism and, of course, you are losing enormously. It is the time to learn how to function in the organism called "the mystery of God;

in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge", (Colossians 2:3). They are hidden there. The hiding implies spirituality in the saints, for the saints are viewed, in the Scriptures, in a mysterious sense, as possessing the Spirit; and viewed thus, they have in them, deposited by the Spirit, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Can any Christian assume to get along without this wonderful thing -- the mystery of God? It is God's thought for each Christian, that you should have part in it, and so the apostle says to Christians not very far advanced -- those at Corinth -- "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ... for the temple o God is holy?" 1 Corinthians 3:16,17.

We need not, as I said before, be speculating if a thing is not clear to us in the Scriptures. The Lord would have us to have recourse to the temple, and at the same time to have patience. "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)". That would preclude speculative and fanciful thoughts. I need not be fanciful, I am not strengthened by it, I am not helped by it, nor are my hearers. I should have recourse to the temple; the matter may not be made clear at once, but I may go again, and again, and again; presently, as I have said, light breaks through. I am able to revise my article in dependence on the Lord. I am able to take my stand as responsible for its contents; if I do not, I should not publish it. The temple meets it all. We are wonderfully furnished, dear brethren, and the Lord would bring this to us, "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16) What is it for? For inquiry. It is much safer to inquire there than from any brother; not that we should not inquire from one another; I am not disparaging that -- but the temple, the Spirit being in it, is the supreme thought in this matter, and God would have it honoured. Hence we find in the most complicated

period seen in scripture, in the book of Revelation, the temple is more referred to, and actually used, than in any other book.

What a complicated state of things is now coming in? What darkness in varied forms of apostasy is spreading abroad rapidly! How essential that the temple should have its place! John shows us that it is to have its place in the conditions depicted in the book of Revelation; hence I have read the passage that relates directly to our own times, to this meeting tonight: Revelation 3:12. The Lord refers to it in speaking to Philadelphia; He assumes that the overcomer in that assembly understands the temple. We may assume that that brother had been ministering; had given addresses, and sought to expound scripture. How could he be sure of the truth of what he ministered? By the temple. The Spirit of God is speaking, according to these addresses, to the assemblies; the temple is involved in this, and the overcomer in Philadelphia understands. The Lord says, "him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God", Revelation 3:12. The Lord was the temple itself -- only He could be that. Now He will make the overcomer a pillar in the temple of God. Why does He say that? Because the overcomer would understand and value the great honour of being a pillar there. How shall I be a pillar there, if I have not been a pillar here? It is here that I am to stand up for the truth, and the assembly is "the pillar and base of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15)". It is possible and most important that the minister should understand, should be assured as serving the saints, that what he is saying is according to God. It is possible for him to speak "as the oracles of God (1 Peter 4:11)". Thus he values what the Lord proposes to him, to make him a pillar in the temple of His God. That would be a support to it, and an adornment to it.

Dear brethren, that is the need now -- support and adornment of what is of God. We often speak of these

things, and rightly, in our Bible readings; but then what about certainty as to what we are saying? What about assurance that it is the mind of God, that you can subscribe your name to notes of it, depending on the Lord? "In many things", says James, "we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man", James 3:2. Mistakes are made, but I am speaking of the possibility, in a general way, of speaking the word of God, and knowing that it is the word of God. The saints need to be assured, and the minister needs to stand by what he says and writes, assured that it is in its general substance and bearing the word of God. He can do so in virtue of the temple. It is in part the Lord's answer to modernism. It is a wonderful thing, that the Spirit of God is actually speaking today, the temple of God running concurrently with the authority of scripture; so that the Scriptures are understood and can be applied in a spiritual way. It is a great triumph, and the Lord would have us to enlarge on it, to understand how to inquire in the temple of God. There are two things as to the house of God that the Psalmist -- indeed David himself -- stresses: "to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4)". He says, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple". (Psalm 27:4). The soul is to be entranced by that -- "the beauty of the Lord", the wonderful divine traits that are delineated for us in the house: it is a question of the place of the affections. Then there is more, namely, to "inquire in his temple". It is quite right to take the concordance, and read the Bible carefully and studiously; but do not forget to inquire of the Lord in His temple. Read in your own room, of course, but the light usually comes in more freely and fully as one is in the attitude of inquiry when the saints are together as in the temple. Let us accept it as a fact. It is

a fact, and many of us have proved it. Let us prove it more. We have only touched the fringe of this great truth. It is God's way of meeting modernism, and al that is like it at the present time. The incorruptibleness of the Scriptures, the spirituality of the Scriptures, and their applicability to all circumstances are lighted up by the Spirit in the temple. There is a great door opened up to the dear brethren, and one is urging it, on oneself and on all, to make much of this side of the truth -- the temple of God. We have not far to go to seek it. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God", says the apostle, "and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)" As we come together humbly and simply, in recognition of these things, the light shines around us -- what Christ is to God, and the way by which Christ effects all His thoughts. All these things come out when we inquire in this way, in His temple. May God bless the word!

IDENTIFICATION IN GOD'S WORLD

Revelation 7:9 - 15 (first clause), Revelation 14:1 - 3, Revelation 20:4

What is in mind at this time is to speak about identification in God's world. These scriptures furnish a basis, a three-fold testimony to the point in mind. The book is indeed marked by testimony to the certainty that believers in Christ shall be identified in that world. The Lord Jesus Himself spoke of "that world and the resurrection (Luke 20:35)". He said that those who share in it neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels, Luke 20:36; they are the sons of God, being sons, as He says, of the resurrection. This instruction in no way precludes the idea of identification of those who belong to Christ in "that world".

What I hope to show is that they will be identified by certain moral features that marked them in this world in the days of their responsibility, but taking on a permanent form in a spiritual sense, still carrying the identification of the persons with it. The Lord says to His disciples, as they gloried in speaking to Him of the power that wrought in them through the ministry, "in this rejoice not, ... but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens", (Luke 10:20). He mentions only their names. The epistle to the Hebrews speaks of "the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven", Hebrews 12:33. Again the allusion is to a register of names, as we may say, a Who is who book in heaven. Each will answer to his name, and have his own distinguishing feature in life, and not only in life, but in family dignity, for each is a firstborn. This could only be said of the divine family. In no other family is every member a firstborn. Hence, dear brethren, our family status above is mutually equal.

What I have in mind now is not the family status,

but the moral features that mark the children of God here in the sphere of responsibility, carried forward into the day of glory, for we read of "the liberty of the glory of the children of God", (Romans 8:21). I propose to speak of them, of their traits, in classes. It is a question of the class to which each here may belong. As children of God, and as sons of God, we are all of the same family, but from the moral side there are classifications, and these classifications arise from what each has been in the sphere of his responsibility. To what class do I belong? To illustrate what I am saying, the apostle Paul speaks of certain who "shall be saved, but so as through the fire", (1 Corinthians 3:15). They will be a class in a sense -- not one to aspire to, certainly, although everyone so saved is a testimony to God's sovereign mercy, and the saving value of the blood of Jesus. It is pitiable, however, that one shall appear in that world in that class, for he has no works to glorify him there -- they are all burnt up. His building in the structure of God professedly is of no value at all, on the contrary, wood, hay, stubble, only fit to be removed, or destroyed by fire; but as heaven claims him eternally, there is no change as to the person himself in that: "he shall be saved, but so as through the fire (1 Corinthians 3:15)". We read in this book of Revelation of those who die in the Lord after a certain time. "Blessed the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; for their works follow with them", Revelation 14:13. They are not saved so as through fire, their works stand.

Now, these are the ones that I have in mind as a class, and in what I am saying no doubt the dear brethren will not be passing the thoughts on to others, but each, including the speaker, taking them to himself so as to understand where one is in the divine classifications in God's world. As I said, there can be no question about us as to our family status, even the one whose works are burnt up has that; but in the clearance account --

that is, on entry into "that world" there must be a clearing of accounts -- this matter of works must arise. So the elder in our first scripture is of a class well versed in the works of God through His people - for indeed, eldership is made to depend on moral qualifications -- they are a class by themselves, the twenty-four elders. One would greatly desire to be amongst them, I mean from the moral side; it is not a question of the family side, as I understand it. These elders are conversant with the whole testimony of God, and consequently they are qualified for their service. They sit round the throne in this book; they have thrones; they have crowns; they know what to say; they know what to do and when to do it.

You can understand the pleasure in the mind of this elder as he looks at the vast multitude of the redeemed that no one can number. He cannot, as it were, let the opportunity pass of calling attention to them, and so it will be in God's world. God loves to call attention to the fruit of His own works, at the same time accrediting those to whom He calls attention; even as the Lord Jesus in the house of Simon the Pharisee says to Simon, "Seest thou this woman?" (Luke 7:44). What pleasure He had in calling attention to her? Then again, Mary of Bethany, as she was censured by Judas, the Lord says, "Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this", (John 12:7). The clearing period in that world will be full of such remarks. It is well to face it, as to what will be said of each of us. Under what head will each be classified? It is in our hands now to determine. Divine counsel, of course, determines the place of each in the family. All the saints are being brought to glory and each will have his distinction and place, the brethren of Christ too, the members of the body also -- the organism. It is not left to each to determine his place there. It is a question of infinite wisdom. Only divine skill could devise such a thing as the assembly viewed as an organism: it is the masterpiece of God in

creation; it is all His own work, but then, from the moral side, as related to the judgment seat of Christ, it is in our hands as to what class we are in.

The elder, in chapter 7, representing the divine side worked out in man, says to John. "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?" A double question -- "What are these? ... and whence came they?" We have identification of persons and, as you might say, their localities. Hence, "what?" or "who?" and "whence?" "Whence came they?" The elder has much in mind; he does not say all that he could say about them. The Spirit of God had already said of them that they were "standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palm branches in their hands. And they cry with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb", verses 9, 10. The Holy Spirit tells us that, but the elder does not say everything. He says enough. The Lord could have said much more about Mary of Bethany than He said, and much more about the woman in Simon's house, but He said enough for His purpose. So here the elder says, "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?" Why did John not ask about this wonderful company? The elder calls his attention to them -- at least he calls his attention to them so as to bring out who they were and whence they came. That is an appealing matter, and, dear brethren, when heaven calls out, whoever may do it in that day, what shall we have that can be mentioned? It may be that there are those here of whom it can hardly be said that they "have washed their robes, and have made them white". These people went the whole way in their appropriation of the blood of Christ, and they had palms, we are told: "palm branches in their hands. And they cry with a loud voice, saying. Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb". They would not

accredit anything to themselves, but heaven accredits them. They are ascribing salvation to God, for in truth, that is how the matter stands, but yet there is the idea of saving ourselves, as Peter says, "Save yourselves from this untoward (or perverse) generation", (Acts 2:40). If anyone here is in any association marked by perverseness, save yourself from it. It is in your hands to do it. God alone can save you from eternal ruin, but it is in your hands, the Spirit working in you, to save yourself from a perverse generation, and moreover to work out your own salvation. Not exactly your salvation from eternal ruin, but your present salvation, from the world and from the power of Satan too, to work it out. "It is God", says the apostle, "which worketh in you", (Philippians 2:13), but the working out is your matter.

These have used the blood of the Lamb as available to wash their robes and make them white. Each of them would look at his robe and see whether there was anything still needed, and make a full appropriation, in his conscience and intelligence, of the precious blood of Christ which cleanseth from all sin. They had done that, and they were victorious. They knew it, and they ascribe salvation to God, and we are told of them, that they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. I cannot go into all that is said of them right down to the end of the chapter, but only point out this, that they are worthy of heaven's interest; heaven, through the elder, calling the prophet John's attention to them that he might know them. They belong to a class. There are a great multitude and "they who come out", we are told, "of the great tribulation"; not simply a tribulation, but the one -- terrible experience, but coming out victoriously, a great triumph. We are on the fringe of it. The Lord Jesus has promised the saints of this dispensation to keep them out of the great tribulation, but these white-robed saints under our notice come through it. They

come out of it, we are told, a great crowd, showing that, after the Lord Jesus comes for us, there will be another gospel effecting great results. He "shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord"(1 Thessalonians 4:16,17) -- after that there will proceed another gospel. Things will be done quickly -- an angel is seen flying, having the everlasting glad tidings to announce to all on earth. Revelation 14:6; and there will be great results. Chapter 7 speaks of a great number of saved. They come out, having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, and they are before God, before His throne and serve Him day and night in His temple. How pleased heaven is with them! They are a class by themselves, secured through the gospel that is to come, but the same traits are to be seen in them as in us. It may be that there is someone here who has not washed his robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white. If so, I would urge you to do it.

Now I come again to chapter 14 to show another group. These are numbered, the others are not; they are said to be "a great multitude, which no man could number". In chapter 14 we have the number stated -- a hundred and forty and four thousand, we are told, and they "follow the Lamb". I have been speaking of saving ourselves from a perverse, generation; from associations that are not of God. It is incumbent upon every Christian to withdraw from iniquity and purge himself from vessels to dishonour, so that he may be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. It is incumbent, in the most urgent way, on everyone here to see that he does this. The time is short and the Lord is demanding it.

In this chapter we have a measured company, as I said -- very divisible, and they follow the Lamb. It is not now a question of washing their robes, that is assumed, but this passage goes further. It is a question of being with the Lamb -- in our times, to be with Christ as separate from evil. They are said to be "bought from the earth", which, of course, involves redemption, but they are "from the earth". They are bought for God, and it is said, as to the moral side, "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God (Revelation 14:4,5)". Now this has a very direct application to the present time, and what is stated enters into the classification that I have been speaking of. These form a class, they are on a higher level than those in chapter 7, for they are very divisible, implying that they understand love. They understand divine order; they understand how to hold themselves in relation to each other; they are free from rivalry of each other; they are like Nathaniel; he is their prototype in the sense that he was "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile", (John 1:47).

What guile there is, what dark counsels are current in the world! Each of us knows in his own heart the tendency to guile. These have not any. They are bought from the earth and from among men. They are first -- fruits to God. They belong to the same period as the great multitude do, only they are now intelligently and affectionately, as I may say, with Christ, as also with one another. For a hundred and forty-four thousand, as I said, denotes that we are truly with one another in affection; that the Lord can call upon any one of us to serve, and that one is ready to so do without any sense of superiority to others. He is just one of the number that is under the Lord's hand, he loves the Lord, and

he loves his brethren. He is for the Lord, he is with the Lord, and will say to any of his fellows. It is the Lord's work, you do it, or I will. It is only one work and mount Zion is the great centre of it. "Here will I dwell", says God, "for I have desired it", (Psalm 132:14). It is the place of divine satisfaction and pleasure, hence love must be there. We cannot be pleasing to God without it. This is a voice to us, for if I "have not love, I am nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2)". Be it the most learned man in this city today, he is nothing if he has not love. That is what scripture says. It is a very sweeping statement, and ought to be faced. The Lord Jesus says, "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves", (John 13:35). How can an organisation of men, of whom some are unconverted, perhaps infidels, perhaps those that deny the authority of scripture, or deny the deity of Christ; how can there be love in such a fellowship? The Lord never thought of classifying such people amongst His disciples. "Love amongst yourselves" involves reality among us. The Lord spoke of "love amongst yourselves" as Judas had gone out, John 13:35. "Love amongst yourselves" requires that we should withdraw from associations where love cannot operate.

This one hundred and forty-four thousand symbolically refers to persons who, under the Lord's hand, were lovable, being of those who love, so that He can proceed with the great thoughts of God in relation to mount Zion. As the assembly today is the centre on earth of divine operations, so in that day, mount Zion and Jerusalem will be the great centre, and these one hundred and forty-four thousand -- a symbolical number -- are persons under the Lord's hand who, as subjects of the divine work, are seen with Him on mount Zion. They are intelligent as well as having love. There is a song being sung above and they listen to it. They are not part of the assembly; they are on the earth, on

mount Zion, but they have corresponding traits to those who form the assembly. What they have, we have, or ought to have, and the Lord would suggest to us that we should not be without these traits if we want to be in classifications that are honourable in that day. It says, "I heard a voice out of the heaven as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard was as of harp-singers harping with their harps". The word "harp" is striking here: it is a sort of representative musical instrument of heaven. In fact, there is no musical instrument mentioned other than the harp in heaven, I understand. It is a stringed instrument spoken of in the Old Testament, and in the use of it the vocal powers are free to join in with the music of the harpers. This was a new song. Think of the vastness of the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder! This describes what John heard: the voice of "harp-singers, harping with their harps". Applying this in a natural sense, how can we listen to the harpers harping with their harps here, or hear that voice of many waters, with the voice of thunder in our ears? The Spirit of God is impressing us with the magnitude of the thing. What a voice! What a song! Heaven has its own sounds, and if it designs to use these in relation to music, who can question it? The music is discerned, notwithstanding. It is a heavenly matter, the singers are there, and those on mount Zion are near enough to heaven to hear, and they value what is sung. It is said, "they sing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, who were bought from the earth".

These form the second class that I had in mind as illustrative of my subject. They are identified in God's world by their love and devotedness to Christ, by the order and the intelligence that marks them. All these

things apply at the present time to those of us who have part in assembly service. It is a time for perfecting it. Such a class as this will have a great place in that world; persons marked by the things I have spoken of, and who can learn such a song as this; although on earth. They can learn a new song, sung in heaven. What a choir above! Do we not aspire to such service? Is it not attractive, so that we should go in for it now, and understand the manner of the service of God, with our David, who is the sweet Psalmist of Israel, whose "instruments" are perfect in the song? There may be some present who have hardly thought of all this. Perhaps the Lord may be speaking to some one in this respect, attracting you by what there is in the divine realm -- the realm of faith now, presently to be the realm of sight.

Thirdly, chapter 20 is distinctly a resurrection scene, and not only a resurrection scene, but a heavenly scene. In this book the centre of everything is heaven, as it is today. Although the assembly is here and is the centre of God's operations, it is heavenly. It is like the great sheet let down from heaven, spoken of in Acts 10. That chapter indicates what the assembly is now, a heavenly vessel on earth for testimony, about to be taken up to heaven. Verse 6 in Revelation 20 depicts a heavenly scene, but what is stressed is resurrection. It is said, "This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power; but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years". It is "that world, and the resurrection" (Luke 20:35); the thousand years, that is, what we call the millennium, where all these things I am speaking of will come into display, where our classification will be seen, where one will be over ten cities, and another over five, according to his classification. Here we have three classes of persons under one head -- that is,

persons who have part in the first resurrection. The authorised version is somewhat defective as to these classes. The first is, "I saw thrones; and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them". That is one class, referring undoubtedly to those who form the assembly. Judgment is given them, and they are sitting upon thrones. The epistles to the Corinthians make a great deal of judgment. Viewed thus, I commend them to you at this time. There is great stress laid upon judgment; above all, each of us is to judge himself, for if I do not judge myself, I cannot judge others according to God. It is thus that the assembly is being taught as to judgment. "Know ye not", says the apostle, "that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3); and again, "ye also shall sit on twelve thrones", the Lord says to the disciples, "judging the twelve tribes of Israel", (Matthew 19:28). Judgment will be a great feature attaching to the assembly in that day. Hence the need for learning it now, and, above all, each should learn to judge himself. A man that rules his own spirit, through self-judgment, is greater than he that takes a city. If he rules his own spirit, he will be in the greatest of all cities -- he will be an integral part of the heavenly city as it comes down. He has to learn how to judge -- to execute judgment. Thus, the first class here sit on thrones.

In regard to the second class, the passage tells us that John saw "the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God". Thirdly, there are those "who had not done homage to the beast nor to his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand". These classifications have present applications. The first one directly applies to ourselves, that is, we are to know how to exercise judgment; we have part in the heavenly city. The second and third are persons who come in later. They belong to the short period which is to succeed our period, which is a very long one. This

short period, regarded as critical in God's ways, when good and evil are brought into peculiar evidence, will bring to light these persons who will suffer peculiarly. This is my last point -- the question of suffering. I shall be ashamed in the day of Christ if I have not something in the way of suffering to my account; and normally I believe every saint would feel that way. It is good for us to suffer. "Take thy share in suffering", says the apostle Paul, (2 Timothy 2:3). The evading of it is to our loss; and so these persons are spoken of as "the souls of those beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God". They were beheaded. Why should that be said? There can be no doubt that the allusion is to spiritual intelligence, which the enemy would especially put out of his way. How important it is -- particularly in difficult days -- to be intelligent! The priest's turban, or head covering, was ornamented, and upon it were the words "Holiness to the Lord". It denoted holiness of thought, holiness of understanding -- all infinitely perfect in Christ. The saints are said to "have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)". This implies that each has learned to judge himself as regards his natural mind, not allowing it at all in divine things. It is a curse in divine things. The natural mind does not understand the things of God, 1 Corinthians 2:14. It is a question of holiness -- dependent on the renewal of the mind, Romans 12:2. This is by the Holy Spirit, who gives us intelligence in the things of God. I suppose the beheading here implies opposition to that. Persecutions against the people of God usually aim at their leaders -- those who are devoted to the testimony and who understand the mind of God; but the word here would be to urge us to that holiness of understanding and thought. The enemy knows its importance and hence beheads these victorious saints. John the baptist was beheaded.

The third class in our passage are persons "which

had not worshipped the best, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands". What a voice that is today! This evil, called the mark of the beast, with which God takes direct issue in the earlier part of this book, is a peculiar feature of modern times. The great impetus given to human intelligence in these times, beginning particularly with the Reformation, and the circulation of ancient literature at that time and later, greatly stimulated the human mind. Giants in human ability have come into evidence and through them an immense variety of inventions, bringing, to a large extent, misery on mankind. It is irony, but it is so. God would have His people possess a judgment of all this; deliverance is really in that -- "your judgment", the Spirit of God says. Revelation 18:20. God is calling upon us to have a judgment of current things. This matter of the mark of the beast is one of the leading factors of the modern world. It is going to be full -- blown presently, and these martyrs suffer because they refuse it. Are we to be behind them? -- Surely not! They are brought in here lest there should be any question as to their part in the heavenly position. All those who suffer martyrdom in the coming day -- the greatest day of persecution -- will have their place in the heavenlies, the assembly always having a distinct place there. The assembly never loses her distinction, but still there are other families in heaven as well as the assembly. Do we not rejoice in that? It is a question of the Father's glory. Of the Father, we are told, "every family in the heavens and on earth is named", (Ephesians 3:15). I am speaking now of the moral side, they had not done homage to the beast, nor to his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and hand. The passage continues with the statement, "they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years", verse 4. Then verse 6 says, "Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection: over these the second death has no

power; but they shall be priests of God and of the Christ (Revelation 20:6)". They are serving others. Then again, they "shall reign with him a thousand years".

That is what I had to say, but in order to clarify the position, I would say that class two will be most glorious; martyrs, you might say, of the first order standing out against what we have to do with now in a diluted form. They will have it in all its intensity, and they will love not their lives unto death. They are triumphant and will live and reign with Christ publicly. The millennial glory of Christ is contemplated: we shall share it with Him. After the judgment-seat of Christ our identity comes out; it will be determined, from these moral traits, and it will be glorious, the traits are glorious; and, dear brethren, it is in our hands now to qualify so that we may have an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I could say other things, but I would like to make clear that, in this book, identification is a great feature. Even the heavenly city is identified by certain marks, and what I have said on these three passages will show how we are to be classified, and it is within our range now to qualify by having these traits, so that our part in that day will be glorious, and we shall not be amongst those whose works are burned up.

GREAT THINGS

John 1:46 - 51; Acts 2:4 - 11; Revelation 21:9 - 17

I wish, dear brethren, to speak about great things. The word great in the Scriptures applies to what is evil as well as to what is good. The worst formation known is great Babylon -- the word is used in regard to her, and applied to many men in the history of the world; it carries largely the thought of evil exploits, for unregenerate man is capable of admiring evil doings. The whole world will presently wonder after the beast; saying, Who is like him? Who can make war with him? Yet in a moment he is destroyed, he and his lieutenant, the false prophet, are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire, without any effort, without any struggle of arms even. Revelation 19:20. And likewise, the great promoter of all evil himself -- Satan, that old serpent as he is called, the devil, -- one angel takes him, and chains him, and places him in the pit.

It is well to have these things in our minds, so that we may not be alarmed by man's doings, however great they may seem to be; for, as to each of the personages in the world, who are called great, their breath is in their nostrils. Thus the mind of the believer is turned by the Spirit of God to the One of whom Gabriel says, "He shall be great(Luke 1:32)". Gabriel says that of Jesus as about to be born.

The Spirit would call our attention to Him at this time. John does not present Him to us as a Babe, but as become flesh. He says, "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth (John 1:14)". He is great!

Nathanael, following on others in this chapter, shows us a believer, just coming into the realm of

faith, and at once discerning the greatness of Jesus; a true mark of a worshipper, one who begins to see the greatness of Jesus, and less and less of the greatness of man. More and more do real believers, as the Holy Spirit operates in us and opens our eyes to Jesus, turn away from what might have held us and dazzled our minds. This chapter is a galaxy of personages affected by and reflecting the glories of Jesus; of Him who is introduced to us at once: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... . All things received being through him, and without him not one thing received being which has received being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1,3,4)". There He is! The Spirit of God alone could put such words together, and the Son of God alone, a divine Person, could become the theme of such words; no creature could become the theme of such words. The words themselves are divinely set, and tend to affect us, and cause us to turn aside from what is current -- men and their doings -- to Jesus; to Him who is presented in these wonderful verses. So, as I said, amongst those who are thus affected is Nathanael, an ordinary man, as we might say, hitherto not spoken of, sitting under his fig-tree, and he hears about Jesus, having been found by Philip. The Lord Himself had found Philip.

The word found has a special place in this section of the chapter, and every true believer understands that; how one is found by Christ. He finds Philip Himself. It always comes home to one; each believer can say, Jesus found me, entered into relations with me, had a transaction with me. He found Philip, and Philip found Nathanael. The idea of finding marks this gospel. Philip found Nathanael, and says to him, "We have found him ... Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth (John 1:45)". He had found Jesus. In truth, that is how the matter stands, Jesus has found me, and I

have found Him, and the result is eternal. Philip's remarks to Nathanael elicit from him the evidence that there was very little in his soul at this time, the fig-tree would be very much his environment; it is often the case with men and women, and young people; how small is our environment; a little bit of dress, it maybe, or a house, and a garage and a car, and so forth; living in a narrow environment. Philip brought infinitude to the attention of Nathanael, that is indeed what every true evangelist does, he brings infinitude to us, "the gospel of God ... concerning his Son". Nathanael is not equal at the moment to the great news brought to him; far otherwise: "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" he asks. Think of the paltriness of that! as one affected, like Philip, says, "We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph (John 1:45)".

The words affected Nathanael but little, yet he was capable of being moved, for he responded to Philip's invitation, "Come and see". John will have movement, he will not leave anyone sitting; if the light comes to where he is sitting, if he stays there, he is of no account to John -- I mean the spirit of God through John. There is nothing of God in one not capable of moving; he may talk glibly about things, but spiritual movement is required. One may come to a meeting like this out of curiosity to hear what is said, but unless there is capability of spiritual movement you are here in vain. So Philip's invitation, "Come and see", moved Nathanael. He had no hesitation in saying that, for Philip knew well that anyone who would come and see would be affected; he had been affected himself. And so the Lord looks on Nathanael coming to Him. One often thinks of this, how the Lord looks at persons as they come to Him, the Last Adam. The first Adam looked at the animals and named them, but Christ names men, knowing them by their movements. He says of

Peter, "thou shalt be called Cephas (John 1:42)". He named him as looking on him. That is the idea. Andrew had brought Simon to Him, and He named him. He is the last Adam; He is not naming the animals and birds, as the first Adam did; Jesus is naming men, naming them as He sees them moving to Him. When He saw Nathanael coming to Him, He said, "Behold one truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile". One has often thought of that, no guile , how much guile there is, even among God's people; the Lord says of Nathanael, no guile. Nathanael rightly says to the Lord, "Whence knowest thou me?" and the Lord responded, as He does respond at all times where there are reasonable questions -- such questions as evidence real interest. As seeking to serve in the gospel, one has to do a good deal with young people, and in some there is no response, not even a word. Young persons can talk at length about other things, but if you ask them about their souls there is no word. That is the evidence of the absence of life. The Lord loves to converse with us, and those who are seeking our souls also love to converse with young people.

The Lord was pleased, I am sure, with Nathanael's inquiry, "Whence knowest thou me?" The Lord did not turn aside from that question, nor answer it with another, as He sometimes did; He said, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee". He throws Nathanael back on his own history: before Philip called him. What was going on in his mind then? Was he thinking of the figs on the tree, or what might be on it later? The Lord knew just what was transpiring in his soul. Nathanael was not slow to discern the greatness that was before him; that is the point, for we are to become full of the greatness of Christ, so that all else might be eclipsed. Nathanael was full of greatness, not his own greatness, but the greatness of Christ; he said, "thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel". He grasped in his

soul something of the greatness of Christ. The Lord said, "Thou shalt see greater things than these". The Lord is always ready to lead forward one impressed with His greatness, and our minds can never be too big for Him. One is always challenged as to the littleness of one's mind. Solomon comes into such exercise; a man like ourselves, but given great largeness of heart. He spoke, you might say, of everything living; even botany, life in all its phases, but not the heavenly side of the truth. Solomon had great largeness of mind and heart. One would crave largeness of mind, of the renewed mind, to take in the great things that are in Christ. The Lord says of Nathanael. "Thou shalt see greater things than these". Increase in greatness is the thought; infinite greatness is in Christ. So the Lord says, further, "Verily, verily, I say to you. Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man". Notice the change of number; it is "ye" now, for in truth, when the greatness of divine things is in view, we need all the saints. I get on better as with the saints in considering the things of God; my mind becomes freer and more enlarged in relation to the brethren, than it is when I am by myself. Ephesians 3:18 says, "in order that ye may ... apprehend with all the saints". We are helped as with the saints. As Nathanael used the title the "Son of God" he referred to Christ in relation to His kingship of Israel. The truth of our dispensation involves greater things. What great things belong to us!

In referring to the Acts, I do so because it relates to the Spirit of God coming down from heaven, freshly; the Spirit, of course, is never other than fresh, but still one may have latitude to express what marked His early activity as come down. The Lord Himself refers to the Holy Spirit, saying that He "goes forth from with the Father", John 15:26, as if to set the mind on the relations of the Spirit with the Father in heaven, and

how He would carry out down here on earth, the Father's thoughts about Christ, the Father's thoughts, too, about everything that we should know. Hence, before Peter begins to speak, the account tells us of the saints to whom the Spirit had come; it was a matter, as you will all know, of a filled house, the saints are seen here as in a house, not simply an upper room; it is called a house, and the house was filled with the sound. A sound as of a rushing mighty wind is heard from heaven, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Was there ever a house like it? We hear of the Houses of Parliament, and such great places in relation to men, but think of this house! Think of the sound that entered into it and filled it! The sound would not exclude certain other things, but it filled the house, and the Holy Spirit came in the form of cloven tongues of fire, and it sat upon each; every person in the house was affected; each was identified; each had his own distinction. The Spirit came in in relation to that distinction, the Spirit was in them according to the distinction the work of Christ had imparted to each of those persons; the Spirit comes in to enlarge it, and make it suitable for testimony here and for eternity with Christ. All that is included in the work of the Spirit as here in the assembly. Here in Jerusalem are devout men, Jews from all parts of the then world, and they hear the apostles speak in their own tongues "the great things of God". That is what believers should be talking about, and it challenges our hearts as to whether we are giving the doings of men more place than the great things of God. I am now calling attention to the action of the Spirit of God in the saints; He gives us "to speak forth" in testimony. And then the writer tells us that they were speaking of the great things of God. This implies deliverance from the present state of things, and the conditions which have arisen which the enemy would use to overwhelm us. The people of God are in danger of being

darkened in their minds by current things, which the enemy would use to darken our minds and oppress us, whereas the Holy Spirit would keep us on the line of the great things of God. They will stand when the great things of men will disappear for ever, and it is our privilege to speak about them, and that according to the example set at Pentecost. Speaking of His great things directs hearts to God Himself.

In occupation with the things of God, we learn how to name them. The brethren have remarkable experiences, the Lord having revived the truth and brought us back to original thoughts and operations; still we become so accustomed to them that we are apt to lose the sense of their greatness. The operations of the Spirit of God now are in themselves great relatively, even as the rising of the dead; the Spirit's operations are God's operations, and they are going on. Believers are the subjects of the Spirit's work, and we are apt to think too little of them, to minimise them, whereas they are really great, the great things of God. The epistle of the Ephesians opens them up to us in an especial way, and we shall enter into them soon as the heavenly city. I am referring again to the plural ye in the Lord's reply to Nathanael. The Lord would bring us together to speak of these things to us, to think of these things. He says, "Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened", etc. There are greater things, and still greater. We are living in the period of the opened heavens; let this be impressed upon our minds. The epistle to the Hebrews contemplates the opened heavens. "We see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour",(Hebrews 2:9) it says; it is heaven opened to us, and so the Lord says to Nathanael, "ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man". He is not calling attention to the angels by themselves. He is calling attention to the fact that He must come first in our minds; they

ascend and descend on Him. The idea is that Christ is first, and so the greatest creatures are attending on Him. If you look into heaven you will see Christ is everything there. As ascending on Him, the angels begin with Him. They do not descend on Him first, but ascend: they began with Him down here. Stephen looked into the opened heavens and "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:55)". Hebrews 2:9 says, "We see Jesus ... crowned with glory and honour".

I would now turn briefly to the last scripture read, just to show how all this greatness is seen in relation to the assembly and how we are essential to it according to divine purpose; we are part of it. The Lord's statement, "Ye shall see the heaven opened" is carried through. Peter sees the heaven opened and a great sheet coming down, knit at the four corners; that refers to ourselves, it is full of all creatures which God had cleansed. It is called "a certain vessel ... bound by the four corners,(Acts 10:11)" it is held in divine power. It refers to the assembly, in the purpose of God, as I said, essential to the great things. The Spirit tells us in Revelations 21, that one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, said to John, "Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife ..." I will show thee -- that is another word I want you to get into your minds. We need to be shown from the very outset; the principle of being shown is stressed in the Scriptures. This angel was one of those who had had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues; "had had" implies that that was past; the judgment is a past thing; he is now occupied with the present thing; the present positive result of the work of God, and it is included in the great things of God. Outside of divine Persons, nothing is greater than the mystery, the assembly. Would that the Lord would bring that home to our souls. It is seen here, shown by an angel who

earlier had to do with judgment, and I may say that unless each of us has had to do with judgment, and is governed by judgment, we shall not have understanding of this great matter, "the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God".

It is the angel that judges, and corresponding with it the apostle says, "Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19)". Otherwise we shall not see this wonderful sight; it requires that we shall judge the current evil of the professing system, if we are to come into the light and appreciation of the heavenly city; it is one of the great things of God. John is privileged to see it -- in this book he is not an apostle, he is a prophet; as an apostle his name is in the foundations of the city; one of the foundations, but he is a prophet here. We are living in times in which prophecy is having a place, and it enters into this, for if we are to understand the great things of God we need the prophetic word, the prophetic word brings God, and His great things, to us.

John says, "and shewed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone". You can understand that the holy city is, as I said, one of the great things of God, "Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone". What a change from the murky things that are around us -- evil counsel and lying statements! The man of sin comes "in all deceit of unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:10)". "Bright as crystal" is the river, too, that flows out of the city, all is clear. Then there is the measuring of the great city, which idea is to affect our minds. Twelve thousand stadia is said to be the measure. Think of the vastness of it, the length, breadth, and height being equal! Vastness is the idea that the Holy Spirit would get into our minds, and this wonderful thing is really composed of persons, of

what the Holy Spirit has effected in our dispensation from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord. Think of the myriads of persons, all actuated by one mind, actuated by love! The Spirit helps us to see the force of the language used in the Scriptures to describe the mystery, and to describe the assembly -- and each of us can say to himself, I belong to that! What could be greater to get into your soul than that you belong to it? Understanding the truth of it, you say, I want to function in that, I want to come in with Christ and be in relation to Him, that He may be my Head, as belonging to that! God is carrying out His great thoughts, and about to display them in this wonderful thing called the heavenly city, which comes down out of heaven from Himself.

Well, dear brethren, that is what I had in mind, mentioning the measurements at the end. As I said, the Holy Spirit would impress our minds with them. The height of the wall is a hundred and forty-four cubits. Think of the height of that as a wall stands! Add fifty per cent and you have the feet measurement of the wall, and that is intended to impress our minds with something, that is, exclusiveness: that nothing of what is evil, nor common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie shall enter into it. And the effect of that is to make me exclusive now, that is what it is for, that I may function in a little way in relation to this great matter, and see how the assembly itself is part of the great system of things that are called the great things of God. We are to be in them, occupied with them, dear brethren. To say the least, it means deliverance from the present darkness. Satan would darken our minds with current events, but the Lord would keep us in clarity of mind and spirit, so that we move in love in the presence of the evil and in spite of it, and that is victory! "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"(1 John 5:5)

DIVINE COMFORT AND PROTECTION

Isaiah 26:20; Genesis 6:14 - 16; Genesis 7:7 - 16; Genesis 45:9 - 11,17 - 21

I had in mind to show from these scriptures what God provides for His people in the way of comfort and protection as emergencies come, especially those expressive of His judicial dealings.

The judicial dealings of God sometimes become positively punitive, as in the destruction of Jerusalem. That was a judicial act of God, more extreme than others, and had a punitive character. The Lord when alluding to Jerusalem encompassed by armies says, "these be the days of vengeance (Luke 21:22)". Although this dispensation is one of grace, yet God, at all times, reserves the right to act punitively, particularly as regards His ancient people. He has allowed them to come in nationally into our dispensation, as an act of grace, but being insubject to Christ the wrath of God came upon them, as John says in his gospel, "he that is not subject to the Son ... . the wrath of God abides upon him", John 3:36. That applies now. Although the world is in reconciliation, and any Jew repenting comes in for grace, yet the punitive judgment of God on the Jews nationally continues. Divine grace prevailed, so that some should be saved, and hence we are told, that "the Lord added daily those that were to be saved (Acts 2:47)". He added them where the most comforting and protective circumstances obtained. The most blessed of all the shelters which God has afforded in times of stress arising from His own judgment is seen in Acts 2. What happy conditions resulted from Peter's preaching, and the work of God that preceded it, in the one hundred and twenty! The description is remarkable before it is said that the Lord "added".

That furnishes a key to what I have to say at this

time, for God is undoubtedly dealing judicially at the present time, and He would have us with Him in it. He comes our way, going on to judgment, and although the present dealings are not final, they have a judicial character, and God comes our way on His journey to the execution of judgment, so that it enters into our period. He would have us to be with Him in what He is doing. He is pleased to take on friends, I should not like to be other than a friend of God, and He comes to us so as to draw us into the current of His mind, and make us His friends. It is thus in Abraham's case, in Genesis 18. God came to him, as on the journey to Sodom, but Abraham was not the final objective. Mamre was not the terminus of the journey, it was on the way. God is now on the way to judgment; and in principle we are in the time of His judicial dealings already; they are not final, but His dealings are of that character, and He comes to us on His way. He comes our way, and would call us into accord with His mind as to what He is going on to.

In Genesis 18:16, God was leaving Abraham without saying anything to him as to what He had in His mind. Abraham entertained Him well, and Jehovah accepted the patriarch's hospitality. A most lovely picture of it is drawn by the Spirit in Genesis 18, but God was now on His way, moving on away from Abraham with the two angels, and Abraham went with Him. That is what God looks for in His visits, that we go with Him. Abraham went with Him "to conduct them", and then Jehovah says, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?"(Genesis 18:17) He had not said a word to him about it under the tree, when He was accepting his hospitality. You might have thought that He should have opened up His mind to him, but He did not; He waited until Abraham moved with Him, so the word comes from God, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?" And then He says, "For I know that he will command

his children and his household after him ... to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him(Genesis 18:19)". This brings Abraham into the whole position of the government of God, so that he says, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25) He did not say that under the tree, but now he has moved with God, and he is on the ground of friendship. He speaks freely to Jehovah and says, "the Judge of all the earth"; that is a new title, which God receives at the hand of His servant; not that He was not this before, but Abraham now names Him thus; and so it is that Abraham became the friend of God; he is later called this. He became known in that way, and one wants to be so known. No doubt many here have come into it, and perhaps others are being interested as I speak; the way is open, God is, as it were, asking you to come into this, to be one of His friends; to be a confidant of God, one to whom He may disclose His mind. You get impressions from God in that way, far more accurate than the news of the day; the impressions you get you could hardly put into words, but they are distinct and for yourself. It is assuring to receive impressions from Him. Abraham is called the friend of God, and God would call us into this. Nothing could be greater at the present time, because He is going on to the completion of all His thoughts, and He looks for sympathy and companionship in it, and He has it, thank God; He has those who are friendly with Him, and who want to know what He is doing.

Abraham would modify what God had in His mind, and God is ready to accede if Abraham could show that conditions warranted it. It is an important matter, to go over the field and see what basis there is for prayers, what basis there is for asking God to do things; He is ready to listen to us. He listened to Abraham most patiently until Abraham had to stop. What I am saying

is really a very touching thing, and ought to appeal to us, for God is going on, and He is ready to open up His mind to us -- Shall I hide from Abraham ... ? (Genesis 18:17) It is because of conditions in Abraham, and later he is called a friend of God. He comes down to us with that title, and it is surely that we might, as children of Abraham, come in for our inheritance among those who are friends of God, but friends according to the conditions indicated in our father Abraham. Of Zacchaeus the Lord Jesus says, "he also is a son of Abraham", but that was because of conditions in him, as the passage shows, Luke 19:8,9. Surely we want to come into the inheritance of Abraham.

Now there are things existent that are causing pressure, and I want to show you how God would relieve us in this that He opens up to us, without easing the conditions for the moment, but indicating that they will come to an end. The first verse I read says, "Come, my people, enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past". There is a limit to it. Instead of staying out in the storm, faith finds a way inside. It is not the holiest here -- it is like the word in Matthew 6:6, "enter into thy chamber", something that you have, "and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee (Matthew 6:6)". He will do it. Here also in Isaiah it is what God's people have, "thy chambers". Let us look round and see whether we have such places of recourse to God, places belonging to our -- selves. Some have recourse to prayer when the storm comes; we hear of "public prayers", in the presence of an impending storm. Well, that is not the thought, that is not enough for God, neither is it enough for faith. What characterises us in our attitude Godward, is that we have learned to pray, and are marked by prayer.

It touches one to refer to the fact that the Lord was praying in a certain place and one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray",(Luke 11:1) as if to say, That is what all of us need. He did not say. Teach me to pray, but Teach us -- he was a true community brother; it is an Ephesian touch. It is a great advantage that the Lord in His attitude towards God should come within our range, that we may see Him pray, and hear Him pray. This disciple saw Him, and says, "Lord, teach us to pray",(Luke 11:1) It was what they all needed, and we need secret chambers as well as places of public collective prayer; the latter, of course, are of immense importance, for the house of God is called a house of prayer for all nations; where God makes His people glad, Isaiah 56:6,7. Here in Isaiah it is "thy chambers". Getting to God in your own way, in your accustomed times, and out of your accustomed times; one of the best times is in the wakeful hours of the night. Let us learn to take advantage of all such opportunities. It is a question of what is known individually by experience: "enter into thy chambers", it says, "and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past", It is all within your range, it is no question of religious show, but secret access -- your own way towards God.

Such is the divine way of escape from the indignation that is affecting others. In Acts it is said, "the Lord added (to the assembly) daily those that were to be saved(Acts 2:47)". That was the Lord's doing. He brought them into that environment, but now this is our matter, dear brethren, "enter into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself just for a little moment". Learn to do this often; if you only get relief for a short time, it will become longer the next time; learn to do it. Instead of carrying the burden, have recourse to your own chambers, shut your own doors, and "hide thyself just for a little moment, until the indignation be past".

That is positive relief, even as if the storm did not exist. The storm is apt to be too much for us. The word to Elijah was, "the journey is too great for thee(1 Kings 19:7)". He went on a way of unbelief, but still God through His angel pursued His servant, and made calves for him, and gave them to him, saying the way was too long. God thus had sympathy with His servant, and made provision for him. So now He would have us take advantage of what there is provided for us in the way of an escape from pressure. It is of course a spiritual thought, and if, as I said, it is only for a moment that your soul is entirely released from the pressure, the next time will be longer. You get nearer to God each time, and there is no disturbance, no pressure there.

God is considerate for us. He knows our frame. He knows the enemy has peculiar advantage at the present time, for he is using current circumstances to oppress us, and hence the need to have recourse to God; we shall come out the stronger. The pressure may not be lessened, but we become stronger, and more like God. He, indeed, becomes "a little sanctuary" to us, so that we not only have a hiding-place, but also the gain of His presence.

I go on now to Genesis, so that we may see how safe the position is, it is not my chambers now, it is God's ark, what He has made. It is a staunch affair, it is impregnable to what is against us, being pitched inside and outside. It is of considerable size, three hundred cubits long, as you observe, the breadth is fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits, a good-sized ship, even now, especially in length. The ark being pitched within and without with pitch is to assure us that it will go through, we can trust it. An important matter to get into our souls is that there is that of God which is trustworthy, you can trust it. What comfortable quarters there are inside, no stifling

atmosphere is suggested: there are first, second, and third stories, and rooms in it as well, as you will observe, providing comfort. At that time God had in mind to impress people with the fact that a storm was pending; the most far -- reaching punitive act of God that has come upon the earth so far, but, there were those that were to be saved, and they are to have confidence in the thing provided, to understand that it is reliable, and that it is not wanting in the needed comfort. There is an outlet above, it has a small window in the top; God's measured provision so that those inside could look up. There are family affections there, too; no children are mentioned, but a family of full-grown persons; four families, we may say, to accentuate the thought, but all regarded as one house -- Noah's house. Thus the ark not only affords protection, but also family affections.

In Genesis 7 it is said that "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowl, and of everything that creeps on the ground, there came two and two unto Noah into the ark". That is the position, there is an attraction there. If anyone here is not affected, it is because you do not understand the subtle currents that exist in the spiritual world. The spiritual world has a certain correspondence to the material universe; the latter has currents, and so has the spiritual world. The Lord Jesus says, for instance, "Now is the judgment of this world, ... and I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me", (John 12:31,32). That is the position now, and it is the position indicated in this scripture in Genesis; the judgment of the world is pending, but there is an attraction in Noah different from all else. He is six hundred years old, a mature, experienced man, taken on by God, and now he isin position. We do not hear of the animals going to him when he is outside the ark, it is when he is in position, that is, as with his family inside, he is attractive. Is not Jesus attractive

to us all? One says, I do not care for the brethren, as an antediluvian who heard Noah preach might say, I do not care for Shem's wife, or for Ham's wife, nor have I much interest in those animals that are going in there. That person is electing himself out of the means and sphere of salvation. He is incapable of being attracted, but as the Spirit of God gives a glimpse of Jesus in position, as seen in Noah, you will be attracted. Stephen saw Him above, at the right hand of God; but what is before us now is not only Christ in that position, but also in relation to His people. His family, as it were. That is involved in the adding spoken of in Acts 2the Lord added those that were to be saved to those who were linked together by the Holy Spirit. He is in position amongst them and most attractive. So it is with Noah, he is among his family: Shem is there, Ham is there, Japheth is there, and their wives are there, Noah's wife is there -- eight of them; and as in this position, all the creatures come to him two by two -- they come -- there is attraction in it, they go to him as in family position, they go into the ark to Noah, and they are saved. They come in two by two, unto Noah "and the Lord shut him in". The position in which salvation is secured, as seen also in Isaiah 46:13, is most attractive, and I would urge anyone who does not understand to look into it. It is a spiritual matter; we are to get under the influence of the Holy Spirit's current leading as to it; Christ in heaven and in relation to His own down here -- that is the assembly.

We should now see how the matter of time enters into all this. The six hundredth year of Noah's life is mentioned, and the day that he entered into the ark, and on that very day the flood came! What a day it was! A day of salvation for those who went in, but a day of unmitigated judgment for those who remained outside. The Lord Himself refers to this in His service on earth. He speaks of "the day that Noah entered into the

ark"(Matthew 24:38) -- what were they doing? He says, they were eating, which was quite legitimate, and they were drinking, which was quite legitimate, and they were marrying, which was quite legitimate, they were given in marriage, which was quite legitimate. They were occupied with all these ordinary matters up to the very moment that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, says the Lord Jesus, and drowned them all. How grave that thought is! What a day it was! - and what a day this is! Almost every day brings a crisis in the world's affairs. Then we must think of what spiritual history enters into each day; some coming into the place of salvation, and others ignoring it and thus staying out. To stay out of the ark is the most foolish thing that anyone can do, the most absurd, and yet it is constantly going on. What a history of folly! On the other hand, what a history of wisdom and spiritual understanding! -- many availing themselves of what is available, the way of salvation as typified in Noah and his house in the ark.

In Genesis 45, in the verses I read, we have another thought. In Noah there was an attraction, and no great distance to be travelled to him, but in Joseph's day there is a long way to go. Another adverse thing is pending, indeed it exists: there were five years of famine to come, two already gone. It is thus an experienced matter, everyone knows the dreadfulness of it, and there are five years more, that is what Joseph tells his father and his brothers. Anyone who experiences a famine of food and water knows how affecting and depressing it is, how distressing! The brothers of Joseph and Jacob his father would understand, "because the famine was grievous",(Genesis 41:57) and they all experienced it. In the midst of such conditions Joseph says, "tell my father of all my glory in Egypt". That is a very different thought, the glory of Christ where He is now is a great and blessed thought; but it is not simply where

He is now, but typically the place He has acquired among the Gentiles. Joseph also says, "Haste and go up to my father, and say to him, Thus says thy son Joseph: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, tarry not. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near to me, thou, and thy sons and thy sons' sons, and thy sheep, and thy cattle, and all that thou hast. And there will I maintain thee: for yet there are five years of famine; in order that thou be not impoverished, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast", Genesis 45:9,10. What a protective proposal this is as we feel the present pressure! We do not know how long it may be; and of course this passage may be widened out to cover the famine that is abroad in the world spiritually. Prophetically it alludes to the famine among the Jews, the judgment of God on them; and the Jewish remnant were to go out, as it were, among the Gentiles, to find Christ there, as Paul says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory", (Colossians 1:27), that is what it is dispensationally.

To make the application present, we do not know how long this oppressive condition will last, but spiritually this is the way out of it: the Lord is presenting Himself here. Thy son Joseph, he says to Jacob, and, I will nourish thee, and you will be nearer to me. It is a long way to go, but then, he says, I want you to come, and I will maintain you (the word for nourish is maintain). One is maintained by the Lord Jesus in these circumstances; thus we are not overwhelmed by the pressure, we have everything we need in going out to Him and in keeping near Him. Joseph is the lord of all Egypt, he is in charge of all the resources in the way of food, and all the good of Egypt, he says to Jacob, is for you. That is, it is where Christ is. When Joseph is in Egypt it is not the same Egypt as it became afterwards, or as it was before; the Egypt with Joseph in it is a place of advantage. The Gentile world, when Christ is in it

and accepted in it, is better than the Jewish world, for Christ was rejected there.

Now the Lord is inviting us to come out of the realm of pressure, sending a message, I will maintain you, there will be no lack at all. It is a faith matter. To make the thing complete, Joseph says, "And there will I maintain thee; for yet there are five years of famine; in order that thou be not impoverished, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast". Let us not forget that side, for the serious consequence, if we fail in energy of faith at this time, is that we will come to poverty, we will be so overcome with current things that we will come to poverty spiritually. Whereas the Lord is urging that we come to Him, He will nourish us where He is. For some it is a long way to go, as seen in this chapter, and if there are any here who think it is a long way to go, the Lord says, I will send you waggons, so that the journey will be easy, will be comfortable. I know what you are enduring. I know your outlook, but you will come to poverty if you stay there; your salvation is to come in faith to Me, to apprehend Me in My glory. Presently He is coming out with glory, putting His right foot on the sea and His left on the land, and the whole matter will be changed, but in the meantime we are to go out to Him, it is a faith matter, as I said, and the Lord says, in type here, I will maintain you, providing you with all that is necessary.

Pharaoh says, "Say to thy brethren. Do this: load your beasts and depart, go into the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. And thou art commanded -- this do", Genesis 45:17. That is in the message, it is thus no optional matter, it is a command. To disregard a divine command is a serious matter, I need not say. The passage says further, "take waggons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for

your wives, and take up your father, and come. And let not your eye regret your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt shall be yours. And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them waggons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way". A long history follows, telling of the glad response of Jacob and his family to Joseph's offer, but I would stress that it is a commandment. The Lord orders us to come out to Him. What is in mind is that we should get to the Lord about the things pressing upon us, apprehending Him where He is. The Spirit of God would support us in this, so that we are outside of all these distressing things, and as living in our own realm, we shall not come to poverty. We are maintained in spirituality, the level that is needed in the service of God; for what is toward God in the assembly, and what is for Him in testimony here. The Lord is showing us the way by which we may be preserved in superiority to all that is current, and thus we are in safe keeping. In Egypt, according to this, you are out of the range of it; Joseph being lord of it, there is plenty of food, plenty of all that is needed, but the Lord says. You must come, I have given you the means to come; it is the Holy Spirit. We may thus reach the Lord, day and night; it is most urgent -- that we may live in His realm, where His glory is, and where there is abundance and we shall not come to poverty. May God bless His word!

MANHOOD

John 16:20 - 28; John 17:6,22 - 26

J.T. What is in mind is manhood in relation to the service of God. Here we have a man born, as entering this section of the Lord's instruction; and then, in chapter 17, He speaks of the disciples as men. These chapters, from 13 to 17, are to be taken in relation to the Lord's supper, John does not mention the Lord's supper, but he gives us much more which stands related to it in the Lord's closing words than the other evangelists, and he stresses manhood.

The Lord's supper is intended to bring in the youngest believers as well as the oldest, and hence we have the new covenant included in it, the young being particularly in mind, that we should be free from Judaism, maintaining liberty in the service of God. No one having the Holy Spirit and walking in the truth is omitted from the Lord's supper, although all may not be in the full thought in the service, for all cannot be said to be men in actual growth. It is in manhood that the full thought is secured for God, so that whilst the youngest is included in the service, ample room in the assembly is made for the greatest developments, and that is what these chapters have in mind, that is, manhood in the service of God.

In Deuteronomy, in conjunction with the instruction as to the three feasts -- the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles -- we have the direction that all the males in Israel were to appear three times a year before Jehovah. This, in the antitype, would provide for freshness in the service of God. These verses read stress the feature of manhood, and the figure the Lord uses is to show that the instruction implied that the disciples should go through great pressure, but that it

would culminate in a man, or a state of manhood: hence the joy that a man is born into the world. The opening chapter of the Acts, indeed the endings of the gospels, contemplate manhood. Christianity did not begin with the babe stage; it began with manhood.

J.S. Is that the reason God created Adam, "Man"? We get the full thought first.

J.T. That is right, he was not a babe, he never was a babe or a boy; and his wife said of Cain, "I have acquired a man ..." (Genesis 4:1) Babes are recognised later, especially in Exodus, but the introductory thought in Genesis is manhood. The service of God in Exodus contemplated the household; the passover stood in relation to the households of Israel, which included everyone in each; you eventually have that they all ate the same food and drank the same spiritual drink; so manhood is in view in the youngest babe in the household.

H.D.T. Does this scripture show that we arrive at manhood through pressure?

J.T. That is what I was thinking of in proposing it; the Lord had in mind that Christianity should begin in manhood, and that involved pressure, contemplated in the allegory here. He went through pressure supremely for us, but they needed it, and so now, the pressure that is upon us is to produce something; God has something in mind to be produced. There has been a good deal of instruction for us: light as to fellowship, the Lord's supper, and the service of God generally; the Lord has greatly helped the brethren, corresponding in a little measure with the light that the disciples had in company with Himself; but the pressure must come, you will not have the man without it.

H.D.T. You mean that this comes at the end of the instructions from chapter 13 to the end of chapter 16? Is pressure the way by which we come into the good of ministry?

J.T. Yes. It is largely through pressure. Of course, "Jacob's trouble" will involve the most awful pressure, but still it will culminate in manhood too. Israel will carry that thought out in the future, Christ will go through it with them in the character of David, and He will have His companions with Him on mount Zion, Revelation 14:1 "These are they who follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes". That is manhood - a hundred and forty-four thousand standing with Him upon mount Zion, having His name and the name of His Father written upon their foreheads.

E.S.W. The manhood of Christ was not attained in this way. It was by virtue of His Person in manhood that He sustained the pressure. It says, in Philippians 2:7,8, of Him, "taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man, ... .". Would you say something about that?

J.T. Well, the first statement is that He appeared in ordinary guise as a Man, in the ordinary circumstances of men, in ordinary toil, and the like, but that is plural -- "in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)". It would mean that He did not take on any outward distinctive features in His incarnation; it was in the likeness of men, for God had no particular man in mind that He was the likeness of. He was in the likeness of men, which would represent their ordinary circumstances. He ate and drank and slept, and He worked as a carpenter -- a touching thing He had the ordinary lot of a man in that sense; sin apart at all times, but He took His place in that way. It was the divine thought that He should appear in that humble way: He emptied Himself, taking a bondman's form. Then, "having been found in figure as a man, he humbled himself" (Philippians 2:8): that was what was suitable to manhood as in testimony. I should say it is a trait of manhood, according to God that one should humble himself, and become obedient; obedience belongs to manhood. Christ led the way in all this, and hence we

are enjoined: "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5)".

E.S.W. I was just wondering if that is the standard, and if you would suggest that we reach manhood through pressure, as having the Lord before us in this way?

J.T. Pressure is needed for us, clearly. Philippians speaks of His manhood in contrast with Adam -- "did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God ... (Philippians 2:6)" The allusion there is to Adam, who aspired, through Satan's suggestion, to be like God, but the Lord had that already, and as having it. He took on a bondman's form.

C.S.S. The Psalmist says, "in pressure thou hast enlarged me", Psalm 4:1. Jabez prays for enlargement and "God granted him that which he requested", (1 Chronicles 4:10). That prayer would be pleasing to God.

J.T. Quite so, he got enlargement from God, "God brought about what he had requested". (1 Chronicles 4:10)

J.S. Does joy play an important part here? Whilst the pressure is real, yet there is the "joy that a man has been born into the world".

J.T. Joy has a great place in these scriptures. That I hope will come into our inquiry. This thought of man is most important, especially now, because God has ordered pressure, and this affects the assembly, which is His supreme interest; the pressure is ordained of God to develop manhood. The thought was, that as the Lord arose He should find this, that there should be manhood, that the disciples should come into what is involved in this figure, have joy that a man was born. One can understand, as you take the facts presented in Acts 1, how as in the upper room, the brethren would humbly look around on one another, and Peter might say to John, Bartholomew seems to be getting on very well now; and other names might be mentioned in the same connection: the progress being regarded as the

result of the terrible ordeal they had been through. They are now there in manhood. The account suggests a state -- of manhood, to which the Holy Spirit comes; the Holy Spirit coming in would sustain that and develop it in all that would follow; but the thought was there, in the upper room. Every interest of God would be treasured in those whose names are given as in the upper room. Those who saw the Lord go up to heaven go into the city; that is where true manhood was.

R.W. The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward. Is that the thought of having a full stature?

J.T. Just so; the levitical side is present in the upper room, so that the time of the nursery had, in principle, passed. "The fulness of time" had come, the time appointed by the Father, they were in the state of manhood, and not in the nursery, the Lord left manhood here, and the pressure was the perfecting experience.

L.C.C. Is joy the result of seeing manhood developed in its varied features amongst the saints?

J.T. Well, you can see yourself how it appears in certain crises: how you can say that a certain brother is getting on -- the last sorrow he had was a finishing thing; the pressure had helped him.

J.W. Is manhood connected with "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you"? The Father answers men in this connection.

J.T. Well, the Lord had it in mind, "In that day ye shall ask in my name; and I say not to you that I will demand of the Father for you, for the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me, and have believed that I came out from God", John 16:27. The Lord goes on to say, "I came out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father. His disciples say to him. Lo, now thou speakest openly and utterest no allegory. Now we know that thou knowest all things,

and hast not need that any one should demand of thee. By this we believe that thou art come from God. Jesus answered them. Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, and has come, that ye shall be scattered, each to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me (John 16:28 - 32)". That would happen, and what is in mind here is that there should be manhood through the pressure occasioned by it. The beginning of the Acts shows that manhood was there, and joy consequent upon it.

M. Was it their companionship and their identification with Him that produced the pressure, and so developed the manhood?

J.T. Yes, they saw true manhood in Him, they accompanied Him; and when it was needed that an apostle should be appointed, the requirement was that he should be one of those who assembled with them during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among them, from the time of the baptism of John until He was received up. That, we may say, is the whole history of manhood in Christ down here, and the disciples were cognisant of it; the light had been in their souls, but the pressure brought the effect of it out. Left to themselves for a while after the Lord ascended, it was seen in them.

M. You said that manhood was there before the Holy Spirit came. One was inclined to think it was the Holy Spirit that produced manhood.

J.T. Manhood was there, Christ left it here. In us now it is by the Spirit, but the apostles and others who were with Him were formed in a special way while the Lord was here.

J.S.K. While the pressure may remain, the joy no one shall take from us, the Lord says, verse 22.

H.W. Is this the great point the apostle Paul had before him in his labours and conflict, to present every man perfect in Christ?

J.T. That is right -- every man perfect!

H.W. According to the apostle Paul's ministry it would involve their intelligent appreciation of the mystery.

J.T. It would. Paul makes much of manhood, he takes it up with the Corinthians; they were babes. He says, "I brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly; as to babes in Christ. I have given you milk to drink, not meat, for ye have not been able, nor indeed are ye yet able; for ye are yet carnal"(1 Corinthians 3:1 - 3); and, "we speak wisdom among the perfect (1 Corinthians 2:6)". Hence the importance of selecting brothers to attend special meetings; the more advanced growths are the ones to be there, because there is thus more scope for the Spirit in them. There was very little scope for the Spirit in Corinth, but evidently there was in Ephesus; there is no limitation in Paul at Ephesus, for he was able to announce to the saints there "all the counsel of God", Acts 20:27.

F.A.F. The expression here, the Father -- "I go to the Father"-would be a great one, would it not? The Person Himself, rather than the relationship. The relationship is there, but "the Father" implies God as revealed at the present moment.

J.T. He is revealed in that relation, that is John's way of presenting the truth. Of Christ, John says, "we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father(John 1:14)". Then He is the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father; that is that Person, as you say, but that Person in that relation, that is, it is God known in grace.

E.G.H. Do you suggest that assembly travail is necessary for the production of manhood?

J.T. Well, quite so. It really took that form, it was a collective thought, they all went through it; the Lord accredits them with having gone through it, and the man was the product, it is really what was there in the

way of love and intelligence in the apostles. Take the example of Peter in chapter 6, for instance: "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast words of life eternal; and we have believed and known that thou art the holy one of God (John 6:68,69)". That is a manly thought expressed, and no doubt the Lord valued it in that sense. Again, when the Lord says of Lazarus, "let us go to him", (John 11:15) Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him", (John 11:16). That is manly. John gives you such touches. Yet the finishing thought was in the peculiar pressure of Gethsemane, involving Christ's death, and all the suffering connected with it; the Lord's activities on the first day of the week, after He arose, were to gather up all that. His appearing to those going to Emmaus brought it out, for they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and those with them gathered together. The Lord gathered up all the elements of manhood, and it was in the assembly, that is the idea. Luke gives the idea of the assembly, and John gives the persons who formed it; the Lord coming in, as Luke records, shows the assembly was there. And John's account, chapter 20, shows the message had gone in before the Lord, and when He came and stood in the midst, the disciples had the doors shut; legalism was shut out, Judaism was shut out. Their hearts were affected in that way-to the exclusion of the Jews, and the Lord came in, and they were glad to see Him. He says, "Peace be to you (John 20:19)". They were required for a commission, as He had had a commission: "as the Father sent me forth, I also send you (John 20:21)". He does not send out babes. He sends out men. All this instruction shows that in principle, at least, manhood was there.

E.G.H. The demanding or asking, is that the function of a man?

J.T. Yes, demanding indicates that manly qualities were there, speaking on equal terms, as it were.

M. What hindered the Hebrews from arriving at

this point? The apostle says, "when ... ye ought to be teachers, ye have again need that one should teach you", Hebrews 5:12.

J.T. Well, manhood had been among them, they started with it. He enjoins them to remember their leaders, who had spoken to them the word of God. They were men, the reference being to the apostles.

H.D.T. Is there a possibility of having pressure without this being realised? Hebrews 12 rather contemplates that they had sunk under it, without it being used to produce this with them. I suppose we may go through circumstances without the spiritual gain.

J.T. Hebrews would show that there had been plenty of pressure on those addressed, and hence circumstances for the development of manhood, but clearly the Jewish believers had not progressed. The contrary is the fact indicated. When they should have been teachers, they needed that one should teach them what are the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God. A babe, the writer says, is a person who partakes of milk and is unskilled in the word of righteousness; whereas full-grown men partake of solid food and on account of habit have their senses exercised for the discerning of good and evil. They began with the most perfect testimony to manhood, why did they degenerate from it?

F.W. Does growth enter into this at all?

J.T. It does, as we have been intimating. Perfect manhood was there in Christ, and the apostles grew up in relation to Him, and the pressure brought it to culmination. Thus as the Lord arose He gathered up all, and the results were seen on the first day of the week, John indicating that the meeting was late in the evening -- the suggestion would be of a full day's results. Correspondingly in Acts 2 they were all together in one place, with one accord; there is no thought of discord at all, for there was manhood: the Holy Spirit came tothat.

A.J.D. Does the whole service of God in Ephesians have this in view?

J.T. Exactly, "until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man (Ephesians 4:13)". It is that we should be no longer babes; the working of the body, its self-building up in love, depends on this.

I should say that all pressure divinely ordered has manhood in view, but the Lord sometimes sends special pressure such as the present, and what will be the outcome of it? We may think of it at the moment as a disaster, but what will be the outcome for God? That is how we have to regard it. He may see the need of it among the saints, we have considerable light, but are we formed by it?

E.S.W. What you have been saying would indicate to us the necessity of cultivating the features of manhood before the pressure becomes severe, so that we may be enabled by that means, in subjection and patience, to go through it intelligently and be formed after Christ.

J.T. That is right, so that you do not give way in the pressure.

E.G.H. Is the thought of the woman here, in connection with the travail, to show it is not merely an acquirement of the mind, but it is a constitutional matter?

J.T. Yes. It is a maternal thought, having the result stated in mind. It dates back to the garden of Eden. Undoubtedly, the travail had manhood in mind when it was first imposed. When Cain was born. Eve said, "I have acquired a man with Jehovah (Genesis 4:1)".

E.G.H. Asking the Father, verse 23 -- does that imply you are free from self-consideration and linked up with the interests of Christ? Is that manhood?

J.T. I think so. The Lord is intimating what manhood is all through here. "Verily, verily, I say to you, that ye shall weep and lament, ye, but the world shall

rejoice". Weeping and lamenting are elements belonging to manhood; the world rejoicing -- just the opposite. "And ye will be grieved, but your grief shall be turned to joy". That is transformation -- grief turned into joy. You do not take any short cuts when pressure is on, devices of your own to get out of it, and alleviate it by manipulation; you go through the thing. Your grief shall be turned into joy, that is complete transformation, it is a divine process. Grief turned into joy; thus we do not want to turn away from grief, it yields well!

A.J.D. Does that bring us into line with the thought of the new man?

J.T. Quite so; that is the process largely through which he is formed.

J.S. Do you think that in the manhood state we joy in tribulation because we know the results?

J.T. Well, that is what God works out after a person has peace with Him: "we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works endurance; and endurance, experience; and experience, hope; and hope does not make ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us". That is, such a person has light, and does not want to be without any of these elements; they are workers for his blessing; and so you cannot afford to turn away from grief, for it turns into joy.

H.D. Is there any relation between this and the first sign -- the water turned into wine?

J.T. Well, quite so; the Lord says, "Fill the water-vessels with water. And they filled them up to the brim (John 2:7)". I suppose water thus presented represents the full thought of cleansing in the believer; the Lord turns it into wine.

E.S.W. The grief here appears to be connected with

the consciousness of the absence of Christ - missing Him from this world, whereas joy is connected with His presence. "I will see you again", He says.

J.T. Quite so, "ye will be grieved" -- that would be because He would be arrested and taken away from them, and the sorrow connected with all that, but then that grief would be turned into joy.

C.T. In connection with the grief, it speaks of her joy. Would that connect with Philadelphia at all: it says, there, "I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial", Revelation 3:10?

J.T. Well, yes; here the hour had come for them; it was an arranged thing, the Lord deliberately went to Gethsemane, He went there; it was the place of pressure; the word indicates it. He went into the place of pressure and He brought them with Him; He would have them to go through it, so He put some here, and some there, to watch. They go through the thing, but they do not go through it very well, but still the process went on, and something was accomplished.

C.S.S. The three men in the fire, Daniel 3 - the Lord was with them.

J.T. He was with the disciples in the pressure, too. The Lord took them into Gethsemane; the word is not in John, but it is in Matthew and Mark. He went with them to the place, and there never was such an hour of pressure. "And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and deeply depressed", Matthew 26:37. He had in mind that they should go through what He was going through; and there would be sorrow at His death. Think of the anxiety that they must have had, especially the women; the anxiety that they had when the Lord was actually dead! All this was in the Lord's mind when He spoke what we have read in John 16.

F.W. Are we to look at assembly exercises and crises from this point of view?

J.T. I think so. We must have been through them to know what is implied. The Lord has graciously preserved us from great scatterings, for many years now, and it seems to me as though He allows other things, other heavy pressure, because we need such discipline, whatever the form it has. Scripture would indicate that we have to go through pressure if there is to be manhood, consolidated manhood.

F.W. You were remarking that we are not to take short cuts in order to modify or eliminate the pressure; matters have to be faced and gone through with God that Christ may be produced; is that the idea, and joy would be the result?

J.T. Quite so; Paul speaks about Christ being formed in the Galatians, but he had the travail, whereas they should have had it; he was travailing again, because of the retrogression; he wanted to bring them back into manhood.

E.S.W. The present crisis taken up rightly would tend to consolidate the saints, would it not? Internal dissensions tend to disrupt.

J.T. I believe that is what God has in mind, that the light we have been receiving should become formative, God helping us through the pressure.

H.D.T. Would you say that this section has the service of God in view, not only the testimony?

J.T. I would say the service of God the Father is in mind. So in chapter 17 He alludes to the saints as men. "I have manifested thy name to the men that thou gavest me out of the world". The Father's name is manifested: manifested in Christ; and He that hath seen Him hath seen the Father.

Rem. Seeing Him in manhood they saw the Father.

J.T. It required manhood in them to see what was there. So He said to Philip, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me,

Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9); manhood would discern that.

A.J.D. It is manifested in manhood, and therefore it is for men, for the formation of men.

J.T. Quite so; the Father came into their range in a Man, that is the idea; the Father's name is manifested.

F.I. When we come together "in assembly", I suppose we should be free of the pressure before we take on the service of God, because we would have the Lord in our midst.

J.T. Quite so. The pressure does not come into the heavenly service.

F.I. I was thinking that; I thought the pressure would touch us as individuals to bring us to manhood, so that when we come together "in assembly" we are able to take on the service of God.

J.T. That is right, and so in Nehemiah. In assembly service the pressure is not to be there; it is a spiritual state of things that we come into, and what is suitable to it should be carefully in mind, and all that is contrary eliminated. Nehemiah 8:9 - 12 illustrates how sorrow is at a certain time prohibited: "And Nehemiah, that is, the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that explained to the people, said to all the people. This day is holy to Jehovah your God: mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. And he said to them. Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared; for the day is holy to our Lord; and be not grieved, for the joy of Jehovah is your strength. And the Levites quieted all the people, saying. Be still! for the day is holy; neither be grieved. And all the people went their way, to eat and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great rejoicing. For they had understood the words that were declared to them". That is a feature of manhood, that you understand what governs a particular position, and

you eliminate all else. Grief would be right otherwise, but not here.

J.S-k. Would you say the assembly coming together is on the ground of resurrection -- that could not admit grief?

J.T. Well, we do not come together exactly on the ground of resurrection, we come together in the wilderness, but we come together in the power of the Spirit as anointed. We are thus enabled, as understanding what is suitable to a given time, to eliminate all that is not suitable, hence we are not to carry our griefs in there. We are to leave them outside, the Spirit enabling us to do so, that we may be entirely free for the assembly, and ready to receive impressions that are for the assembly; and joy is one of the leading things -- the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

E.G.H. The thought of the Lord is that we should all be joyful. In chapter 3 there is the bridegroom's voice; it brings in joy, and then we come on to chapter 16 -- manhood: is it completed in chapter 17?

J.T. The Lord gathers it all up in His prayer. These elements that you allude to, build us up to this. It is remarkable how much of joy we have in the Scriptures! Here it is on account of the fact that a Man has been born into the world, the Lord extending it to the disciples: "but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one takes from you"; and again, "ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full", verse 24. I believe all enters into the assembly, that the service is to be a joyous occasion, suitable to the Lord. One says, "how I went on with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, a festive multitude", (Psalm 42:4). To come into the assembly with a downcast countenance and a heavy heart, is not honouring to the Lord.

F.I. The basis of our coming "together in assembly"

depends upon the glorification of Christ, and we being occupied with Him in the place where He is, there would be no sense of pressure or sorrow; we should be filled with His glory.

J.T. Quite so. So throughout the closing chapters of the gospels that is what you find, the relief that the pressure has gone, and it is now joyousness in the power of the Spirit, and that is what the Lord is looking for.

G.H. The Lord when He met some of His disciples on the resurrection morning said "Hail!" -- I understand that means "O joy".

J.T. He said simply, "Hail!" Yes, joy would enter into the primary meaning and agrees with what is before us. The Lord is, as it were, saluting them. Mark gives the darkest picture: at first the disciples did not seem equal to anything as the Lord rose from the dead; even the women are unequal to the position, they are full of fear; but in John's gospel the disciples are glad when they see the Lord, they are ready for it.

T.S.McG. When that end is reached, is joy ministered to the heart of God?

J.T. Well, joy suitable to the assembly will result in praise to God. Of course, as soon as you return to ordinary circumstances there will be trials to face, but in the assembly it is dishonouring to God to bring in these depressed conditions.

A.J.D. There is an issue to pressure when we come together in assembly, so that God can get His portion.

J.T. Yes; we are able by the Holy Spirit to lay aside what would hinder, although right in other circumstances. The assembly is the divine residence by the Spirit.

J.S-k. Whilst it is in wilderness conditions, we have power to come together in liberty. We have power to lay aside the grief and all else that occupies us in the

ordinary sense, we come in "from amongst the dead", so to speak.

J.T. We get on to resurrection ground, as you said, and heavenly ground, too, but the Lord's supper is neither; it is in the wilderness, where Christ is not, that is the idea. If He comes in as the risen Man and the heavenly Man, that is where the ground is changed. We come together in the wilderness, but we come together before He comes.

T.S.McG. We remember Him as away.

J.T. That is right; we are where He is not, but as soon as He comes in, the ground is changed in principle. Then it requires that we should be brought to His side, so that we are with Him, entering into His thoughts and affections and responding to them. We have to understand that when He comes in, the ground is changed; it may take time for us to come to it, that we should be amenable to Him, but the principle governing the position should be accepted at once.

J.S-k. I had in mind Caleb and Joshua - when they were in the wilderness they carried the thought of the land in their minds.

J.T. Yes. You may have the greatest riches in your treasury, but you do not bring them all out at once, you bring out what is suitable to the wilderness position first, and when the other phases come in, you are ready for them; but in no phase has grief any place, it is to be left outside altogether.

F.W.W. The dominical side of the supper would help us in appreciating deliverance from what is adverse.

J.T. You mean the authority of the Lord; quite so; and I believe that the reference to the new covenant in the Lord's supper is to augment that, that whilst the authority of the Lord is there, there is liberty: "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,(2 Corinthians 3:17)" but it is still the Spirit of the Lord -- authority is there.

E.S.W. Would you say more as to the exclusion of

Judaism by the new covenant? What form would Judaism be likely to take amongst us as gathered together for the service of God?

J.T. Well, when the Lord sat down with His disciples at the time He introduced the supper, they would be held by Jewish principles, they would stand in that relation, and so it is now. There is much Judaism now; many of us have come out of human organisations, and Judaism is the principle in them, if not heathendom and idolatry; therefore we are apt to bring that into the assembly; and I think the idea of the new covenant is to wither that up. In earlier days brothers coming in to break bread used to kneel down individually and pray. Well, that was a religious habit, that was Judaism; and other such evidences of Judaism were recognised. Well, the new covenant enables us to lay all that aside; it is not necessary to the service of God. You come in by the power of the Spirit, and sit down. The Lord placed Himself at table, Luke 22:14; that is an example, we are to be there suitably.

C.S.S. Would not a prayer meeting also be a scene of joy?

J.T. Isaiah 56:7 says so: Jehovah says, I will "make them joyful in my house of prayer". Further, "in thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand ... pleasure for ever more (Psalm 16:11)". As already quoted, the Psalmist says, "I went on with them to the house of God, ... a festive company (Psalm 42:4)". Even the thought of the house gives joy.

H.D.T. In the Acts, after the apostles had suffered, and were feeling the pressure of things, they lifted up their voice in prayer to God, and according to His promise He made them joyful in His house of prayer Acts 4:23 - 35.

K.A.A. Is the end of this exercise seen in the glory in the last scripture read?

J.T. It was in mind that we should touch on that,

John 17:22 - 24: "And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, as to those whom thou hast given me, I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world". Your thought is that these glories here are to occasion joy?

The Lord begins with the word "men", those the Father gave him; they had kept His word; they were really men, because that is a trait of manhood. "They were thine, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word". What He says of them indicates plainly that they were men from His point of view. And He further says, "And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one", verse 22; and then He asks that we should be with Him, to see the glory that the Father has given Him, verse 24.

N.K.M. Would you say another word as to that glory?

J.T. Well, it seems to be peculiar to Himself, connected with the love with which the Father loved Him before the world was. It is a glory which links on, I think, with the glory which He had along with the Father before the world was. It is evidently a glory only to be seen by the saints, not shared, as connected with the love wherewith the Father loved Him before the world was.

H.D.T. Could it be described as a connecting link between His place in Deity and His place in manhood for eternity?

J.T. It seems so; it seems that whilst we cannot compass it, we can see the link between Him in manhood

and what He is in Deity, because in verse 5, it is Deity: the glory that He had along with the Father before the world was. The saints are brought to the edge of abstract Deity, of infinitude. We cannot compass it, of course but we know it is there; we are conscious of that. It is most touching that the link is practical, for the Lord says, "I desire that where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world". That is, a thought that existed before the foundation of the world is linked up with what we see. I think the language is to develop love, as the medium through which we come into the greatest things.

F.I. Does it give emphasis to what is said later -- "the love wherewith thou hast loved me"?

J.T. Well, I should think so, that that might be in us, you get some little glimpse of it in that we realise something of the love wherewith the Father loves the Son, for that love is to be in the saints.

E.R.C. Is the development of intelligence and love involved in manhood?

J.T. Yes; we may have in our minds the idea of an impassable gap between us and abstract Deity, but I do not think that is intended to be conveyed in scripture. I think love is the link, and whilst we are still creatures we have access to what is infinite, we are conscious of it; for our Priest has "become higher than the heavens,(Hebrews 7:26)" and that belongs to the realm of Deity.

M. The Lord makes much of unity in that particular passage, saying, "that they all may be one".

J.T. Well, that is part of the great divine scheme. We were saying lately that the mystery involves immensity; all the saints from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord are included in it. The measurements in Revelation 21 indicate its largeness, but they are symbolic, you cannot follow them literally, a solid cube

of persons, viewed thus; it is a spiritual thought, a substantial thought. But the mystery involves all saints from Pentecost to the coming of the Lord; it is one organically, meaning that everyone is in his place. Think of the vastness of it! Myriads of saints all functioning in relation to one another, not merely so man persons, but an organism, all functioning in relation to one another; it is beyond anything that has ever been suggested, the creation is secondary to it. How vast it is! and wonderfully formed, too; it is formed of persons, persons contemplated in this chapter; men who are one, made one in love and intelligence. We are to be one through the glory that He has given us, the glory the Father has given Him. The brethren would do well to ponder the vastness of it and the quality and variety of its composition and formation. How can I fit in it? I can function, perhaps, in the local features of it, but can I fit in and function in the heavenly city as presented in the Scriptures? I believe all this is in mind in the Lord's prayer here: "that they may be one, as we are one; I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one and that the world may know that thou has sent me"; and again, "And I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou has loved me may be in them and I in them".

H.D.T. Would you say a word on the thought of "in" -- as thou, "Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us"?

J.T. I think the preposition would imply operation. The Father and the Son are operating. I think these verses involve the mystery. There is a great operative mind controlling it; all worked out in love.

H.D.T. "I in them", verse 26. Is it thus that He makes known to them the Father's name? He says "and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them". That

is, entering into the sense of what is seen in the Father in relation to Himself; and we have part in it.

J.T. That is right, the love being in us gives us scope in relation to Him. Hence the prayer of the apostle Paul "that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love", (Ephesians 3:17). The love being there, there is scope for His operations.

A.J.D. You were saying we are brought near to abstract Deity in this chapter. Would that be that we are brought into all the fulness of God?

J.T. Well, John 17:5 connected with verse 24, to which we were referring, links the glory that we are to see in Christ with the Father's love for Him before the foundation of the world. It was suggested that our nearness as with Christ, verse 24, and the glory that we behold is because of love and its operation. The glory which Christ had with the Father before the world was, and the love which the Father had for the Son before the world was, are linked together; and the glory which we are to see as with Him stands in that connection. There is immense privilege for the saints and richness of thought generally in these wonderful verses.

H.D.T. Paul in Ephesians 3:20 says, "to him that is able to do ..." There is power to bring us into these things.

J.T. Just so. It is according to the power which works in us.

FAITH'S OUTLET FROM PRESSURE

Luke 21:19, 1 Thessalonians 4:4

These short verses are selected from the Lord's own words and also from the words of His great servant Paul; they deal first with our souls and secondly with our bodies. There is also a third great component part of man -- his spirit, which shall have a place in my remarks; but I am thinking particularly of our souls and our bodies. Our spirits have the greatest place, being first mentioned in the order in which the Spirit refers to our three component parts: "Your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23)". Our spirits are mentioned first. Evidently the greatest component part of man is his spirit. He gets it directly from God according to Ecclesiastes, and the Lord alludes to it as to Himself. He commended His spirit to His Father, a most impressive reference to the perfection of His manhood, not that He had a spirit other than Himself. Whilst He was really Man, He was uniquely so, having existence before His manhood, which does not apply to any of us. Becoming Man, He is Himself His Spirit, for He tells the thief that he should be with Him in paradise. They were both going there that day, not through resurrection, but through disembodiment for the moment, but they were both men in that sense. Jesus was as really man as the thief, having a spirit as a man, too, but it was Himself. Coming into manhood He became His own spirit, taking on other component parts of humanity. Personally He never ceases to be God, but yet He is Man, but His Spirit is Himself, as my spirit is myself, but I receive my spirit from God. He was God and came into humanity here. He was personally a divine Person and became His own spirit

in manhood, so that it was Himself. "Today shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)".

I refer to this to make the matter clear as to Christ, so that we should not have the erroneous thought that He had a spirit besides Himself. Incarnation is the thought presented in scripture; that is, "the Word became flesh"(John 1:14) -- a divine Person taking human condition. He was His own spirit, and yet as in manhood, He was really Man. He felt as we do, sin apart, committed His spirit unto God, to His Father; as Stephen did in committing his spirit to Jesus, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (Acts 7:59)". You can see therefore how great the thought of spirit is in manhood, especially in Christ. It is Himself. It is inscrutable that He should be so compressed, and it touches the heart, but He never ceases to be Himself. He is Himself always. Yet coming into manhood He compresses Himself and speaks as a man, feels as a man, using the words "My spirit", and "My soul", and "My body". He "emptied himself, taking a bondman's form", Philippians 2:7. Referring to our "whole spirit, and soul, and body, (1 Thessalonians 5:23)" what is important for us all, in view of what has been remarked, is to understand the analysis described in Romans 7, by which we are enabled to discern inwardly the difference between each -- what the spirit is and what the soul is. The body is simple, it is material, but the difference between soul and spirit is not so simple; and in addition to that the mind, and other elements in us which are subsidiary to what I am saying. The three main thoughts are the spirit, the soul, and the body, and the analysis in Romans 7 enables us to discern them. The one who describes it apparently went through it before he had the Holy Spirit, but now it is by the Holy Spirit that we are enabled to make the analysis. It is our privilege to do so now. The matter has been gone through experimentally at least by one, and the facts are stated in the clearest manner.

It results in one coming to his ego, that is, he comes to himself. "I myself", not simply "I". "I" is the ego, but "I myself" is the ego in consciousness, and, in saying that, he is in control of his mind, "So then I myself with the mind serve God's law" (Romans 7:25). So that he is now morally right. He has arrived at the distinction between sin in the flesh and himself. It is a moral point that he reaches. It is most important. Unless we reach the moral result in the process, we miss the gain of it. Never shall we reach the divine end at all, unless we have the moral element in our minds. "When we were in the flesh" (Romans 7:5) is a moral allusion; not flesh and blood, but flesh as the thing which is the result of sin in man. It could not be so viewed in any other being but man. Having gone through the thing, we can say that the result of our investigations inwardly is that with the mind we serve God's law. That is a moral result and resolution. I may say here that none of us is of much account unless we learn to make resolutions before God. This is a definite resolution. "I myself with the mind serve God's law" (Romans 7:25). Through the process we arrive at these component parts. I am able to speak of my spirit, and my soul, and my body.

In Hebrews we learn that the word of God divides asunder between soul and spirit; it is so piercing, so sharp. It discerns between soul and spirit; the discernment is in me by the word -- discerning between soul and spirit, and joints and marrow. I am speaking now of the ability that the word of God gives me to distinguish. So Mary the mother of our Lord, in beautiful reference to her growth in the things of God (and who in her day had such opportunities?) says, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour", (Luke 1:46,47). She had learnt to distinguish. Before anyone had gone through the experience of Romans 7 she had learnt to distinguish between soul and spirit. She was a worshipper, but an

intelligent one, a balanced one. In fact, you can scarcely get anything more balanced than the sentence I quoted from Mary's note of worship in Luke 1. Balance is needed in all things, but in the things of God particularly; much is made of weight and measure in regard of the things of God. Weight and measure imply balance.

As regards this passage in Luke 21, I wish to impress all with the need of keeping our souls at the present time -- always of course -- but particularly at the present time when externally the whole atmosphere is disturbed. It is not a religious attack by the devil which is current, not that he is ever idle as regards what is of God directly, but this is an indirect attack on what God is doing. The current situation in the world is an indirect attack of the devil on the service and work of God. I lay that down as my judgment, but I am assured that I am right, and it is what I have in mind, for our souls are apt to be disturbed and deranged; and if they are, we will not be able to say with Mary, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" (Luke 1:46,47). If she had been disturbed by current public events she would not have been able to say that. Think of the course of public events which ensued. Think of Luke's account of the Lord's remarkable discourse from which I have read -- there are three accounts of it. His discourse on prophetic events bearing on the last days. The Lord alludes, for instance, to Jerusalem. He says. "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh (Luke 21:20)". As any Christian at Jerusalem at the time looked out on the Roman armies encircling the city, how depressing it would be! That would be the effect of it, and Satan would have in mind that every saint in Jerusalem should be affected by it, but the Lord tells them what to do. There can be no question that the enemy would depress them. How could the service of God go on with these brethren

in Jerusalem in those days, if they were overwhelmed and filled with apprehension because of the terrible things that were happening. They would remember the Lord's words, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh" (Luke 21:20). He Himself had anticipated it, as seen in chapter 19. He wept over Jerusalem, reminding them of what the Romans would do. He was not without feelings, without a soul, but in weeping over it He was completely above the sorrow in His own spirit. In the darkest period of His life He was happy in spirit. When the time of His rejection was apparent He "rejoiced in spirit". That is the idea, dear brethren, to be above things.

This chapter is full of such things as would depress and distress and derange our whole moral being. In the verses previous to that which I read, the Lord had been speaking of the terrible persecutions which the saints themselves will endure. We cannot speak of that now, because the attack is not directly upon us. There is practically no persecution now in the sense in which the Lord was speaking, save in a few parts of the earth. I should not make little of the persecution in certain countries, for apostasy has set in, and the saints are suffering, but generally speaking the attack is not against us, it is indirectly against us and against God and against Christ, but it is not direct. Still, we know what the consequences are likely to be, although God is keeping His hand over the position, and we are apt to be unduly affected. Hence the word here, "In your patience possess ye your souls". See to that. See that they are yours really. I must see that I have my soul, that I have it myself, that it is under my control. I gain it in patience, it is my own; for it may slip away, becoming disconcerted and deranged and I may lose the sense of the divine Presence and fail to answer to God in service. Hence the idea of patience, not ignoring

the pressure, but patience in it and gaining our souls. Not that we have not got them. Everybody has his soul in a sense, but I may have a thing and fail in its use so that it is not functioning, according to the divine appointment. It may be influenced adversely.

How am I to gain it, possess it? In "patient endurance". I see this to be one of the most important matters of the present time. It is inevitable that we must to some extent observe what is happening, but what about my being? What about my spirit, my soul, and my body? I am responsible for them, and I am to hold them for their proper purpose according to divine appointment. In the midst of these throes in Luke 21 our Lord introduces this terse but forcible remark, "In your patience possess ye your souls". Patience is one of the great features of Christianity. It implies waiting, but waiting enduringly, not in a mere theoretic way, saying, The Lord is coming and things will be set right: without our showing the slightest evidence that we really feel these things, that they are verities to us. We can be full of theories of that kind, and pick up remarks of others, but the Lord is concerned here about the soul - the state of my soul, as to whether I possess it. That is, feeling current happenings in the world, whatever they may be, but going through them, possessing my soul in going through them. It is my property, and I am keeping it so that it functions according to God. That is why we are told, "gird up the loins of your mind (1 Peter 1:13)". It is an important thing to keep the mind right. Girding alludes to a girdle round the loins. The allusion is to keeping things under control. They are not lightly strewn about, scattered with every wind, affected by every happening, but you have your mind, also your soul and your spirit, under control.

James speaks about patience, the proving of our faith works it, chapter 1:3,4. How important it is! "Be patient therefore, brethren, James 5:7" he says, and again, "Ye

have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful James 5:11". James would make it very real to us. Indeed it was pending the destruction of Jerusalem that he said that. Possibly he was in the city, anyway he wrote in view of it, "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, James 5:7". He would make it very real. So he speaks of one purposing to visit a certain place to traffic and get gain, and spending a year there. He condemns the trading spirit that leaves God out of its reckonings, instead of saying. If the Lord should so will, and we should live, we will also do this or that. That makes our dependence on the Lord very real. The will of the Lord is in my soul every moment. These two things go together: If the Lord will and I should live, I shall do so and so. I am balanced, I am kept right as to everything. Not that we should not calculate as to our affairs. James owns this, but insists that we bring in these two elements, then you are having to do with the Lord momentarily. You are thinking of the possibility of dying because your body is still mortal, so that you are kept in the attitude of constant dependence. And then have patience in all this; do not be irritable in it, do not be disappointed. Exercise patience, for "patience [worketh] experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us(Romans 5:4,5)". How real and assured that makes our lives!

As regards current matters, there is pressure, but then God is working through pressure. If He is to work, if there is to be formation, there has to be intelligent recognition of what He is doing, not a mere abstract or theoretic allusion to this and that, but I am with God in what He is doing; He is in operation and I know what He is doing. That is the idea. I know what His end is and I hold myself for Him, I am material for His

formation; I am in His hand as the Potter. Such an attitude implies my intelligence and knowledge. God has me now as "clay", that is to say, I am suitable for His work, for the great end He has in mind, valuing it; thus the work goes on. So the Lord says, "In your patience possess ye your souls". On this line I have my soul; it refers to affection. The spirit is more my link with God. Through my soul I reach men -- rivers of living water flow out through my soul. Thus I must have my soul kept, possessed in a real way, so that it is functioning. What a thing it is to be in this world with all the terrible influences that are at work, and to possess one's soul, so that it functions. It implies purified affections Godward and manward. It also enters into the service of God. "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour (Luke 1:46,47)".

The second part of my subject is the body, more easily dealt with because it is physical, the verses selected are from the passage written by the apostle to the Thessalonians in regard to what was so common among the heathen -- fornication. The Spirit of God makes much of our bodies, and here it is in a very concrete way. Possess your vessel, he says. "That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour". It is what I have. Just as I have a soul, I have a body. It is that in which I am visible to others, that in which all the senses function; it is called a vessel. The whole man is a vessel according to other passages. The believer is a vessel -- spirit, soul, and body -- he needs them all for the full thought of God. It is said of us that we are vessels of mercy prepared for glory. What a thought that is! It includes our bodies. It also includes our spirits and our souls. But we are prepared for glory. So the body is sown in dishonour, but is raised in glory. That is the physical side. It is called in Philippians, a body of humiliation, and it

is well to accept that it is so. We cover and ornament it, but it is still a vessel of humiliation. The word is not "vile", as it is translated in the authorised version, but it is "body of humiliation", and the Lord Jesus is coming, we are told, to transform it "into conformity to his body of glory (Philippians 3:21)" -- one of the finest thoughts! The greatest thought as to our bodies. Not only like His body in resurrection, but His body of glory. Think of the magnificence of this -- that our bodies should be conformed to the image of His body of glory. The preparation is going on now, but not in our bodies; there is no formation at all in our bodies, the formation refers to the moral side; we are being prepared according to the statement, "which he had afore prepared unto glory (Romans 9:23)".

You say, prepared for heaven, but I think "prepared for glory" is a greater thought; that I am capable of taking on glory, and having part in glory; I am equal to it. You do not want to be behind in any glorious display in the coming day. That is what is in mind. You do not want to be behind, for there are going to be wonderful displays of glory. The idea of glory involves what is public. It is what is manifested. Think of the magnificence of the thought! We have the word weight attached to it. "An exceeding weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17)". We need ability to support that. If I am called to be alongside of Jesus, the King of glory, the Lord of glory then I need power to support me there, to be equal to sustaining the weight of that. Think of the weight that a king has on him, or any personage in the place of government. It is glory, but with weight attaching to it. I want to be equal to the great displays which are presently to take place. When He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. Paul says He is going to make our bodies like His body of glory. Hebrews 2:10 says, "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing

many sons unto glory ..." We want to have in mind to be ready for the glory, to be capable of sustaining glory, for that side of the truth is stressed in scripture.

I have turned aside to speak of Romans 9 as regards every one of us as vessels of mercy prepared for glory, because it includes the whole of man, the whole tripartite being -- spirit, soul, and body. I have been speaking of the spirit and soul, but I am speaking now of the body, and all that to which I have just immediately been referring reflects backwards on the use I make of my body at the present time. It is a vessel. The fact that it is mortal does not at all detract from that. Abstractlyit remains. The body of the believer, with his spirit and soul, is to be "preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ", (1 Thessalonians 5:23). It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; and if alive at the coming of the Lord, the believer's body will be quickened, Romans 8:11. What I am speaking in now, what I am acting in now, what I am expressing myself in now, will remain, only it will take on another condition. It must remain. The whole man goes through. Thus what I am to be, is intended to reflect on what I am now. Hence, as a vessel, how am I using it? Let each one "possess his vessel in sanctification and honour": possess it in the midst of a world of corruption, for Christendom in this respect is little better than heathendom.

It is most important that we should have this before us, that our bodies are vessels to be held in sanctification and honour. One could speak much of the few verses before and after this passage, as to what is said of the unfairness and evil generally of fornication, especially as to how the marriage vow is violated in the most lawless way. It is gracious of the Spirit of God to put the thing on such a level as is found in this passage. Let us hold our vessels "in sanctification and honour". And in order to show how this comes about Romans

develops the doctrine of it; it enters into chapter 8. I have been speaking of chapter 9 as relating to the vessel, the whole man; but in chapter 8 among many other things the apostle says, "If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin (Romans 8:10)". That is, it is because of that, the terrible thing -- that which the body is capable of, what is expressed through the body. If Christ gets in there. He will deal with it. Let Him in then. Surely He is entitled to an entrance. "If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin", (Romans 8:10). It is not that sin has made it dead; it is because Christ is there that it has become dead. Christ makes it dead because of this terrible thing that works in it; that it ceases to act -- and then "the Spirit is life (Romans 8:10)". That is, if Christ has a place at all, and one can hardly be regarded as a Christian unless he gives Christ a place, then the Spirit is life in view of righteousness, on account of righteousness. That is to say, Christ deals with the sin, so that there should be life by the Spirit, and righteousness. When He comes into the world presently He will deal with the whole matter in a most drastic and effective way. But He is doing that with me now. The Christian in principle is the millennium. He represents the way by which the millennium comes about. Thus if Christ has a place in me, I have part in the blessings of the coming world. My body is dead. It has ceased to act in relation to sin, ceased to respond to sin. I have come to see the value of my body, that it is to be an instrument of righteousness. Take the gospels -- as Christ comes into any of the instances brought forward, the matter is dealt with, it is settled. "The Spirit is life because of righteousness", (Romans 8:10) that is, on account of righteousness. It is life in view of righteousness. There should be righteousness in the person. Righteousness in the believer is in the power of life. What a transformation that is!

So as to confirm this the apostle goes on to say, "if

the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you" (Romans 8:11) -- note that word "dwell". Think of becoming a dwelling-place of the Spirit of God! Then, "he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you (Romans 8:11)". Note that it does not say Raise our mortal bodies, here. It is quickening. It is to bring out the point of responsibility; our bodies viewed thus are alive, not in their graves. The point is that the believer will be changed or quickened on account of God's Spirit which dwells in him. But it is "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus (Romans 8:11)". Think of the love that entered into the resurrection of Jesus. You say. It was the power of the Father, but it says, "he was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father"(Romans 6:4) -- one of the most wonderful passages. It is the glory of love, it is the shining out of love, the love that the Father had for the Son. He raised Him up by His glory. He was enveloped in glory and taken out from among the dead. What a wonderful matter it was on that day when the Father reached forth in the infinitude of His love and took the Object of it out of the grave. Jesus died and went into the earth and the Father waited until three days and three nights were completed. H might have done it before, but He waited until the three days and three nights were completed before gratifying his love. But when the three days and three nights were passed He raised His beloved Son. He took Him up out of the grave, and so it is "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus (Romans 8:11)". That is, Christ as a Man in all His attractiveness to God. He also raised Him because of the testimony, which is implied here in the title "Christ". So that there is a dual thought in it He quickens us because of our personal attractiveness to Him and also because of our part in the testimony. We do not want to be behind in that. Christ has part in the testimony. That is what He came into manhood

for, and He carries it through and I want to be with Him -- you want to be with Him. All this enters into the idea of the quickening of our bodies. What a triumph! Men and women quickened as it were on the spot, quickened where they worked, where they lived, where they glorified God in their bodies. How glorious to be looking for this, to bring it into daily exercise, so that the thing is always with you. They are not mere platitudes and theories. The Spirit who has raised up Christ is dwelling in you -- how real that is! Not merely that you see Him above by faith, but He is dwelling in you and the testimony is going on. In the saints thus viewed, delightfulness to God goes on every day, and when the moment comes, each will be quickened where he serves. So that you can see the importance of what I am saying as to practical Christianity and deliverance and victory day by day in the presence of the present pressure which, in the government of God, has come upon all the earth.

ROOTS

Mark 4:16,17; Isaiah 37:30 - 32; Daniel 4:15,16; Colossians 2:6,7

These scriptures speak about roots. It is thought to speak about them; first to call attention to persons who, although they have received the gospel, have not gone on in the truth of it, not having root in themselves. The initial idea in the proclamation of the gospel is the sowing of seed, as the parable teaches in the chapter in Mark from which I read. The idea is that in the reception of the word of God there is not a drawing back, but a going forward; that is, "faith, to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:39)". Matthew and Mark point out that there are four kinds of ground into which the seed of the word of God through the gospel falls. What is said of this kind, called rocky ground, contemplates that the individual who received the word proceeds for a time. Many would regard them as genuine, hopeful, possible, or probable material for further development of features of the work of God; but there is something amiss. There is no root. Job speaks of the root of a matter being in one. That is the first phase of my subject.

The second is in Isaiah, where we have a remnant, having peculiar application to the present time. It takes root downwards. The right principle is already in them, and, becoming active, it takes root downwards, that is, to the point whence sap is drawn.

Thirdly, we have in Daniel 4 a person under severe discipline. He is genuine, and the figure used is of a tree cut down, not that it falls, but is cut down, and "the stump of its roots" remains in the earth, with a band of iron and brass upon them, implying limitations.

Then, fourthly, the saints viewed in the Colossian state are enjoined to be "rooted and built up in him"

-- in Christ. These are the four features of what was in mind.

The first, as already intimated, contemplates shallow, unfruitful, uncertain, nominal believers; a bane to the spiritual who carry things for God, who build up the saints. They find such material, I may say, impossible It is not that I would eliminate anyone here from the realm of divine operations, that is, where the Spirit is actually operating. It is a wonderful thing to be in that realm. There is a mighty current always present, particularly in occasions of this kind, of which the Lord says, "Gather the people together, and I will give them water (Numbers 21:16)". The saints gathered together thus, or moving in this direction, are pleasing to the eye of God. Some of those of whom I have spoken may be here, carried along by others in the right current. As here, you are where God is working, but up till now there has been no evidence of root. You are in acquiescence with certain forms, adopting certain language that is in itself right, and yet discrediting those who are concerned about your souls.

There are those who watch for our souls, and we should thank God for them. But in the cases I referred to souls are looked after, and those who do so find no clear evidence of genuineness; there is always an elusiveness so that your motives cannot be fathomed, and whilst you are outwardly among the saints, yet there is a constant uncertainty. You may not have been tested yet. The persecution may not have arisen in your case, but when it does, if you proceed as you are now, you will fall away. Something will offend you. You will be no more with the brethren, no more to be seen. The secret is, no root in yourself. It may be that it never occurred to you that if you analyse your moral being you could find a root if it were there. There are roots, you may be sure. Roots of bitterness are in such people. The love of money is apt to be there, and that

is a most extensive, extraordinary root -- a root of all evil. It is a remarkable statement. Any of the class I have spoken of that may be present is sure to have that root, and if you look in you will find it is there. All your calculations are on that line. You would like to have more and still more, disregarding, perhaps, the accumulated evil that goes with that. You may not meet it for the moment, but presently it will appear. "The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10)". It is sure to be where the divine root is absent.

Nothing can be more serious and solemn than as one investigates he finds the absence of the divine root. It exists in others, but not in you. It is a time therefore for looking into matters and seeing how the root is in others. They are not like you. Why should you be different from the people of God? Why should you not find the divine way and take it? If you have discovered a lack of this kind, there are others who have what you have not. Why not inquire from them? They are ready to tell you. If you consult the Lord (and He is ready to be consulted at any time), as Paul said "the Lord will give thee understanding in all things", (2 Timothy 2:7), He has means of communicating His mind to you. He will make His mind known through your parents, your brothers and sisters, and others. The Lord is ready at any moment to communicate His mind, to give you understanding, to give it to you. Why not seek it? "The Lord will give thee understanding (2 Timothy 2:7)". In earlier days He could say to a needy soul. Consult My servant John -- he will tell you; Paul will tell you. Today there are those whom He likewise can use to help you, your parents, if Christians, as I said, can instruct you in the way of God, as also your brother or your sister. There is no excuse at all if you remain in ignorance of the gospel. The Lord has set around you the means of light and understanding.

Why, then, I say to you young people, should you

be uncertain? Why should you be indefinite? Why not look into matters and see what is in the way? Why are other roots with you and not this one; the root in yourself, in virtue of which the word of God becomes operative; the root by which you are constituted honest, having an honest and good heart; a root which constitutes you good ground on which the word falls and bears fruit thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold? This is within your reach. As you face these things it is certain that the Lord will come in for you. You must see that the divine root is in yourself, as Mark makes plain in the passage read. That is what he is saying to you through me tonight. It is a question of what is in yourself, constituting you good ground, as I said. It is not in nature. God affects you by His Spirit, so that you receive His word and yield the fruit of it in "an honest and good heart (Luke 8:15)". He has been endeavouring to work in you in this sense, but you have stood in the way. You have allowed the other roots to bear fruit, disregarding what is of God. The gospel may have been received, but, persecution on account of it arising, you became offended and bore no fruit. Such being the case you soon find excuses; you are no more at the meetings; no more Bible reading; no more prayers; Satan has secured you. The secret of this is the want of uprightness of heart, and not allowing the Lord to have His way in your soul. He is speaking to you now. The Spirit of God is saying that henceforth it must not be said of you. No root in himself, and hence no fruit for God -- because you have submitted to His work.

Coming to Isaiah, it is a time of crisis, of great pressure, such as the world is enduring now. Sennacherib had attacked Judah with overwhelming numbers. It is a time of pressure and I am persuaded, dear brethren -- one finds oneself constantly alluding to it -- that the pressure is for us. It is also for mankind generally, of course, for it has the gospel in mind, the work of God.

It is in view of soil, that in which God can work more freely and resultfully than He has been working in modern times. He is going to get something out of it. The responsible man here is Hezekiah. It was now a question of those responsible amongst the people of God, those who understood the time; who knew what Israel ought to do. The king was deeply concerned, but he knew what to do -- and he sends to the prophet. We have been speaking today of the prophetic word. There are those who, like Hezekiah, are sincere in their responsibility and know where to turn. It is a most important thing to know where to turn in a crisis.

The prophetic word, I believe, is a prime thought at the moment. God is affording it and, as we had it today. He would have us to make way for it. The preparatory way for it is the way of surpassing excellence, that is, the way of love; not the way of complaint; not the way of depression, but the way of love. It includes the whole assembly in a given place; that is, all who are walking in the light of the assembly, and God would stress that -- all. "If therefore the whole assembly come together (1 Corinthians 14:23)". God loves the thought of the assembly. He loves to see it functioning, and it functions in many ways, but in this particular way, the way of surpassing excellence which is preparatory to the incoming of the divine mind through the prophetic word. Why should we be without it, dear brethren? God said of old that He makes known His mind to the prophets. He will do nothing without bringing them into it. He said of Abraham, "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? (Genesis 18:17)" He did not. Abraham was a prophet. Why should we be without the divine mind? We cannot get along without it. So those who were responsible, like Hezekiah, had recourse to the divine mind. They had recourse to the prophet. So did Josiah. He knew where to turn. It was a woman, a prophetess, but nevertheless one who conveyed the mind of God.

She dwelt in the "second quarter" of the city, but he had access to her, and he did not despise her dwelling. He sought her and he found her, and she conveyed the divine mind to him, and there was a great result in the increase in quality of the service of God. That is the point. You may be assured of it, that today the point is increase in the quality and extent of the service of God. It was so in Hezekiah's day and also in Josiah's day. Hezekiah is adding here. The result of all this pressure is a positive contribution to the hymns, to the means of divine praises. That is what you get in Hezekiah, so too in Josiah. This book does not give us all the facts of Hezekiah. What contributions there were when he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and how he brought in Nathan and David, the great leaders in song, but it is all in connection with this, that the sincere man in responsibility knew where to turn. He turned to the prophet Isaiah.

I do not want to enlarge on the chapter, but the message of Isaiah was, "Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof". This is agricultural work, skilled farming. That is the thought, that we come to this through pressure. It is a question of a remnant, but God is going to improve what there is of Himself. He appreciates what there is, but He would improve what there is, and He would improve it through prophetic means; but He would remind us of what the first year is in order to reach the third year, and the idea of a remnant taking root downwards and bearing fruit upwards. What grows of itself is not the result of skilled work, but still it is the work of God. The soil that is of God produces something. Spiritually, where would any of us be if it were not for that? Before the revival of the truth in these latter days there was but little skilled labour in the

scriptural sense, but nevertheless there was growth and many of us got blessing. There was that which grew of itself, without skilled cultivation. But God intends that there should be skilled cultivation of the land. Adam was to dress and keep the garden of Eden; but as you go afield in Christendom, there is no skilled cultivation, and yet it is in a sense the divine soil. There are saints there and we include them in our thoughts and prayers. The process leads to "the third year", when the saints, divinely instructed, are to sow and reap.

What is the idea of sowing? The idea is that there is a soil which will produce a harvest, and that soil implies that as the seed goes into it there is a root whence sap is drawn. So we sow and we reap; that is in truth what has come about through the sovereign mercy of our God in bringing about remnant conditions. They are features of the early part of the dispensation. We are told, for instance, to sow to the Spirit. That is one idea of sowing. There are many so-called denominations of men which do not do that. They may sow in a human way, and being more or less sincere, they get some fruit, but it is what grows of itself. There is no skilled agricultural work, whereas the thought of God is that there should be skilled and careful workmanship, that of those who know what they are doing. We sow and we reap. Sow to the Spirit, says the apostle Paul. Let us look into that word, as to whether we have been doing it. Many have been sowing to the flesh. I know well enough in myself how much of that there is. But what do we reap from that sowing? Corruption. In Genesis 6 we read that corruption and violence filled the earth. Why? There was sowing to the flesh. But as we sow to the Spirit, we shall reap life everlasting. We reap it on such occasions amongst the brethren as the present one; the Holy Spirit Himself in us causes the water of life in us to spring up into

everlasting life. That is the idea, that we sow in the third year. People that are instructed in the light of God, in the teaching of the truth, understand how to sow in order to reap, to sow for a desired crop. " ... the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof". It is an intelligent process for: "... the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward". God is looking for that. It is fruit borne upward, not affected by thorns or weeds, not affected by the want of skill in attending to it. The fruit grows upward. That is what marks the remnant.

I now come to Nebuchadnezzar, the head of the Gentile monarchies, the "head of gold". God made him so. God has set out His mind as to these four monarchies, having made in them provision for the public government of the world until Christ sets up His kingdom. They are in this sense part of His service and He gives a remarkable lead in Nebuchadnezzar. He would make him a representative of Himself, not only in rule, but in spirit, for indeed he became a preacher, but it was through discipline. If there are any here under specific discipline, the book of Daniel, in Nebuchadnezzar, furnishes instruction as to this matter of roots, that, in spite of the discipline, being a subject of the work of God by His Spirit, the real root is in you. Those of us who know you may say. The root of God is there. You have been inflated, given way to pride and ambition, to lust it may be, and the discipline surely came. The truth as to his discipline came directly to Nebuchadnezzar, first in his dream, then by Daniel in interpretation, and then by a voice from heaven, so that the discipline is put into execution -- the tree is cut down, but the stump is left. It does not fall down. We read of trees falling down and they are found there, but a tree cut down is a different matter, because the sap is in the tree. It is not dead. Job says, "there is

hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that It will sprout again ... through the scent of water it will bud",(Job 14:7,9). When it falls there is a suggestion of its being dead, ... Jude speaks of certain being "... twice dead, plucked up by the roots (Jude 12)". Apostasy is setting in now; that is what is happening.

In the case before us the root is in the ground, whence the sap is drawn, where the life-spring is. Discipline proceeds, but the stump of the roots of this tree is to be held in the earth by a band of iron and brass. You may say. That brother ought to be back in fellowship. Ought he? If the band of iron and brass is there surely according to God, then the suggestion is that there is no growth in a true sense while discipline is being exercised. I refer to formal discipline as seen here. The object of discipline is the destruction of the flesh; that is, it is a negative thought, but a necessary negative thought in order that there should be a positive; that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In the meantime there is the band of iron and brass. The discipline is not lifted. The Lord said, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven (Matthew 18:18)". It is a question now of showing unmistakably that the flesh is dealt with definitely. We are bound by the hands of the brethren, but also released by the hands of the brethren, for the Lord further says, "whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven", Matthew 18:18. We know that the Corinthians failed in this, but they were amenable to the apostle's injunction that they should confirm their love to the offender; that implies that the bands are removed.

We read in Daniel how Nebuchadnezzar came to this. It is a most instructive chapter in that way. We see how he came to it and how manifestly he judged himself, but there was a definite period of seven times to pass over him. God fixed the period, and that period

had to run its course. He was to eat grass like an ox, a beast's heart was given to him. In the tender grass he was wet with the dew of heaven. Think of such discipline! Nebuchadnezzar was just in the circumstances of a beast. It was all discipline. The facts were to wear down the flesh, to destroy it. He had to experience them for seven years -- spiritually a complete period; and then God released him. The period appointed by God synchronised exactly with the result of the discipline of the man, so that he now praises the God of heaven. He says, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of the heavens, all whose works are truth, and his paths judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase (Daniel 4:37)". He preaches the gospel, too, we may say, as the early verses of the chapter show.

Finally there are these roots which belong to us in the Colossian state. Some of you may be asking in your minds. What does he mean by that? The truth is that local assemblies have states generally differing from each other. It is remarkable that what characterises a town or city affects the brethren. The Lord says to the apostle Paul, "I have much people in this city (Acts 18:10)". Corinth was in His mind and all the influences of Corinth over the Christian were, no doubt, in His mind, too. Local companies are affected by the characteristics of the city in which they are, and that affection causes a state which has to be corrected. In fact, it has to be understood what the influence is, so that we may provide against it; set our faces against it, so as to overcome it. What marked Colosse was that it had got on well. The apostle Paul had not been there. It was not a Pauline assembly for some reason, although it was in the province of Asia. They had not seen his face in the flesh, but they had gone on in the truth and he could say that he rejoiced as in spirit present with them. "For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit,

joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ (Colossians 2:5)". All that was pleasing to the apostle, but then there was the need of being rooted in love and built up in Christ. The wording is somewhat different from that in Ephesians, but this is in keeping with the state of the Colossians, for they were in danger of philosophy (that is, human learning) and vain deceit. These two things go together. Where there is the love of human learning or wisdom (which the word philosophy signifies) there is vanity and deceitfulness.

In truth learning enables us to deceive. Refined people are often extremely deceptive. They seek to convey the best kind of feelings outwardly, while in truth they are not there at all. They can put on skilfully a veneer that conceals the real state below. So philosophy and vain deceit go together. Learning too helps people to sin. Thus some become skilful in it. The world is marked by this at the present time. There is careful education as to how to be lawless, how to gratify the lawless desires of the flesh in the most skilful way to get the greatest results. Hence the Colossians needed this word from the apostle: "... Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving". The point is "in him", that is, in Christ, takes us out of the realm of the world altogether. As in Christ, you do not need philosophy. To say nothing of the evil of it, you do not need it. What the apostle means is the realm to which you have been brought as in Christ -- rooted in Him, built up in Him. Your soul is maintained in the sense of your status in Christ You are built up in that relation. You are not allowing spiritual instruction to add to you as a man in this world. Many add them together -- the spiritual intelligence with the status in this world, the money, the human education a man may have -- all to make a certain show. That is very objectionable to God,

also damaging to the testimony. What saves us from it is, "... Rooted and built up in him ..." That is, it is exclusive; "in him" excludes all that is unsuited to Him, that is unnecessary in Him. In Him we have everything that is necessary, so that we deliberately refuse philosophy and vain deceit. Thus the further necessity of being "... stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving". The status, dear brethren, "in Christ" is exclusive, in which you need nothing of this world. Anything of Egypt is a reproach there. Hence the instruction in Joshua 5 as to circumcision: through it the reproach of Egypt was rolled away. The full bearing of that type is set out in our chapter: "in whom also ye have been circumcised ... in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ,(Colossians 2:11)". Christ has judicially terminated the flesh in its totality in His vicarious sufferings, and now it is under reproach, it is abominated in the realm of Christ. Thus we are to be "Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving". This is a passage that is most essential to us in view of all that we have had before us as to the kind of pressure we are enduring, so that we may be outside the world and the mind of man, the world of learning and philosophy and vain deceit. We are outside of it all as "in Christ" and then established there and built up there. "Assured in the faith, even as ye have been taught".

THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST

2 Samuel 19:9 - 30; John 21:18 - 22

I wish to speak about the supremacy of Christ. It applies to each believer; to each assembly; to the whole assembly; and to the whole earth, and to the whole universe. The supremacy of Christ relates to all. It is an appointment by God, but what is in mind now is that each of us may make it his appointment, his resolve, that Christ is to be supreme in his soul, in his house, in his business, and in the assembly in which he has part. God has made Him both Lord and Christ, we are told, and being by the right hand of God exalted. He has sent down the Spirit, as Peter says, "he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear". (Acts 2:33). The coming of the Spirit, among other things, was to establish and maintain the supremacy of Christ in believers, and in the assembly.

The history of the public body, preceding the revival of the last days, tells of revolt and displacement of Christ, and since that time the Holy Spirit has been operating to bring out the establishment in some, at least in a remnant, of what God had ordained. The overcomer in Thyatira is regarded by the Lord as one who is able to rule, implying that the assembly in Thyatira had disregarded the authority of Christ, and the overcomer there would have part in the rule in which Christ is to serve universally presently. It was in a remnant day: "to you I say, the rest who are in Thyatira", (Revelation 2:24). In other words, what may be called a reconstruction in the history of the assembly began, and is typified in the chapter from which I read in the second book of Samuel. The Reformation made a way for it, but did not really establish it, for it did not overthrow man's rule in the professing body.

Much work was done which led up to the reconstruction period, but there was little or no construction according to God in the Reformation. The work scarcely went beyond what we may call individual, that is justification by faith. That is not properly an assembly truth. In later years, I may say centuries later, the reconstruction work began, and it began with the recognition of Christ in heaven. As Pentecost began, so did this work begin, only in a smaller way: it was a "day of small things";(Zechariah 4:10) but nevertheless the divine way was resumed. That is what I have in mind to dwell upon, that we may see the manner of reconstruction.

Israel was scattered according to the verses read: "all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the land of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom. And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?" 2 Samuel 19:9,10. The real facts of the case are laid out. The speaker or speakers were undoubtedly moved by the Spirit of God to call attention to the real state of the matter, the state of the people. For it is as sure as anything, if one is leading astray, as in the case of Absalom, the fault is not only in Absalom, it also exists in the people. Some amongst them have come to see this. They have come to judge the state of the people. There was strife among them. You will observe that it is throughout all the tribes of Israel: "all the people ... throughout all the tribes of Israel". A most lamentable state of things, felt by someone, and that someone is able to convey the facts of the case; a most important matter in crises. Then the speaker, or speakers, say, "why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?" That is the real issue, and that is the issue through all these verses and throughout all the verses in John's gospel. It is the

issue universally, too, today in Christendom, and will be the issue in Jewry by and by, after the assembly is taken away by the Lord, in His love for her. The Jews will come into evidence, and the issue will again be the supremacy of Christ. God will work, or nothing could be done. However much activity there is, dear brethren, unless God is in the work, there is nothing really accomplished. What is accomplished must be accomplished by God. He uses instruments, but He does the work, and that is so here.

They plainly say, "Absalom ... is dead". He is no longer the issue. So that the eye is directed away from him. All Israel, we may say, followed him at one time. He was a man of great natural attractiveness. He made it a point to be attractive. Men who draw disciples after them make a point of being attractive, and so it was with Absalom. He is not a type of the antichrist, but of antichristian influences at the present time. Now he is dead. Thank God many antichrists are dead. The antichrist is not manifest yet; he is not publicly known now; the time has yet to come for this, as the apostle Paul says, "that he might be revealed in his time", (2 Thessalonians 2:6); there is that which hinders him now. He will come quickly when his time arrives, when God withdraws the hindering element. "Absalom ... is dead". Thank God for all Absaloms that are dead and not living. They are to be feared if they are living. Men who take on the character of antichrist, whether politically or religiously, for we have to take both into account -- we thank God when they are dead. The antichrist himself will never die as ordinary men die, he will be cast alive into the lake of fire. That is God's judgment of him. Before there is a shot fired in the great battle according to Revelation 19, the beast and the false prophet are taken alive and cast into the lake of fire. Such is God's way of pouring contempt on human strength or human combinations of strength.

David himself follows up this word, saying, "Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house?" The issue is that Christ should be supreme. His authority has been interfered with. David's authority had been interfered with. He had been caused to flee his capital and his house, and now the voice of the people is heard, "Now therefore, why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?" There had been much speaking previously, doubtless; much strife as to the battle that had just been fought. Naturally, we are always ready to talk about such things, but not a voice raised to bring the king back. That was the real issue; and so the king takes a hand in it himself. At the opportune moment in all crises and issues, the Lord comes in and takes a hand Himself in the matter. He has done it, as I said, in the great revival one hundred or more years ago. It was a constructive revival. God has always been constructive. It is easy to pull down, but not so easy to build up. Thus the Lord comes in constructively, in due course, in all these issues. Here David sends a message by two trustworthy men, Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, "Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying. Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house?"

"Why are ye the last?" How many there are in Christendom today who are not doing this, even now! Thank God for any who are doing it. He knows those that are His. Many are not moving at all to bring Him back to His house. If I am to bring Him back to His house I must begin to open my heart to Him, because the saints are His house; and not simply open my heart, but begin to look into myself, and see whether things are right in my heart, and if not, see that they are set right. For in truth that is the idea, the Lord is deprived, by many of His own, of what belongs to Him. Hence David further says, "Art thou not my bone and my flesh", verse 13. "Why are ye the last to bring the king back?" To whom is this spoken? As applied

today, it is the word of Christ to every Christian in this room, to every Christian in Newcastle, to every Christian in the world. That is the message by two trustworthy men; two priests who so far had served well. David is a type of Christ appealing to His people -- "Why are ye the last?" Why should you be allowing personal considerations, why should you be apathetic to the rights of Christ in your own heart; allowing wretched things, it may be, to shut Him out? He is knocking at your door. If He comes in. He comes in for an assured end; as He said to Joshua earlier, "No; for as captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come (Joshua 5:14)". That is. He came at the right time, and coming in at the right time. He will make an end of the matter. He is stronger than any of us. If we keep on shutting Him out, something of a serious nature will happen to us. That is a warning. He has rights, and means to enforce them. Are we stronger than He? Not only do governmental things happen now, but actually punitive things happen also. The apostle Paul does not hesitate to say, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed", (Galatians 1:9); not when the Lord comes, as in 1 Corinthians 16:22, but now. A most solemn thing. The Lord would assert His rights, and not only His rights, but His power to enforce them.

In Zadok and Abiathar there was a dual testimony, and it was effective. The Lord raises up two instead of one -- one may do, but two is adequate testimony -- and here is an effective appeal. The word is "my bone and my flesh". "Why are ye the last?" You Christians! You know you once confessed Him; maybe you were once in fellowship. Why not now? Many testimonies have been rendered to you. Two trusted men here, Zadok and Abiathar the priests, were used by David to bow the hearts of the men of Israel. That is what God is looking for, someone to relinquish his

own assumed rights or grievances, it may be. Instead of standing by unmoved, bow your heart to the message of Christ. It says, "ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh", verse 12. He is speaking to known persons. The Lord is here suggesting in type the very greatest thoughts to us, so as to move us to give up our selfish thoughts, and to give Him His rights in our souls. We are told, "he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah as of one man; and they sent to the king, Return thou and all thy servants".

You may say. Never mind the servants, I have grievances against them. Many in Israel might have had grievances against many in Judah or vice versa. Some of David's servants might not have been acceptable, but they were now. How often some claim to admit Christ and say much about Him, but nothing about His servants, or it may be slander them. The test now is whether you will admit His servants. We read of the Lord being invited to a marriage, and also His disciples, John 2:2, which shows that the Lord was truly considered -- His disciples were also invited. Simon the Pharisee did not invite His disciples, and so it is, if we are really bowed by the message of Jesus to our hearts, we shall admit all His servants, for His servants enhance Him. Think of Christ and His apostles. Who would leave them out? The Lord looks for you to value them. They represent Him. All His servants do; here all David's servants were invited to return. In this respect we are not to discriminate. The Lord is a better judge of men than we are, and if He has chosen servants let us accept them. He says, "He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me", (John 13:20). Let us never assume to know better than the Lord. Many do, to their grief and to the grief of their brethren, too. The Lord has selected men as His servants, and wisdom in us will accept them. We need them. How great the need is for true servants!

Well, this is the result of a message typically from Christ to those who really belong to Him; those of whom He can say, "my bone and my flesh". There is a distinguished one here, Amasa, who was personally near to him, and David says to him, "Art thou not my bone and my flesh?" What an appeal! This is one of the greatest thoughts. Not simply bought, or redeemed by Him, but of His bone and His flesh. That is the position in the reconstruction period. Everything must begin with Christ and His supremacy or nothing will be right. While that is lacking; and it includes His servants, for in truth the Lord is never (I am not speaking in any way than to glorify Christ) more attractive than in the midst of His house and His servants. Why should I rob myself, and rob Him of His pleasure and His glory? Why talk so much of the Lord personally yet disregard His servants and His people?

Well, in this period where reconstruction is proceeding, all kinds of people will be moved, so, as you will observe, we read here that "Judah came to Gilgal". I should say something about that before I go on to Shimei. Scripture says, "the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan", verse 15. The king, we are told, returned and came to the Jordan. That is the way he comes. The meeting is to be there. Jordan I need not enlarge on; it is a type of death, but it is finality. In Jordan things are dealt with in a final way, but the accompaniment of Jordan on the Jerusalem side is Gilgal, and Judah went to Gilgal. Dear brethren, if reconstruction is to include us all, this the way. Go to Gilgal, The king has come to Jordan. He is coming that way. There is a ferry there. We do not know who supplied that ferry or who worked it. I suppose it refers to the underlying, unpretentious love ready to serve the Lord as need arises -- here is an important way. Judah

was at Gilgal. David was at the Jordan. Why not let us take that way? It is the true way, the spiritual way. If Christ is to be in His house truly, I have to go that way. I have been speaking of getting things right in my own soul, and Gilgal is the place for adjustment. It is through sharp knives, no compromise or reserves. It is a place of sharp knives. That is to say, things are dealt with at their roots at Gilgal, and hence I am suitable to come to Gilgal and conduct the king over the Jordan. What a fine combination of spiritual things you get here! It is the way of reconstruction, so that each of us should have his place in the structure. Christ is supreme in the assembly, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone(Ephesians 2:20)". It is a question of His supremacy, and thus of ornamentation by Him. We must have Christ first. He must have His place if there is to be a final state of things, and one that God can approve.

Well, Shimei comes, and so does Ziba. They want to make their peace with the king. Why did they not do it before? One of them, a blasphemous sort of man, cursed the king. He has now the heart to come, and he comes; and the sequel shows he is not to be turned aside; and so does Ziba come. They both come with display; the former with a thousand men of Benjamin. That is no way to come to make a confession. I am not saying that Shimei was not pardoned. In result it is only a provisional pardon that he gets, whereas what is needed is a plenary one, such as will carry the penitent through. The sequel proved he did not judge himself. Solomon tested him, and the test brought out that he was not subject, and he lost his life.

Then we have Ziba with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, but that is not the way to come to confess, to put things right. He was a slanderer. In all difficulties amongst us you maybe sure there are men like Ziba and Shimei, and when the king is coming back they want to get right, to be reinstated. These two men are

to be taken notice of -- I touch again on Shimei because his case brings out another type, namely, one of the sons of Zeruiah, Abishai, a man that was on David's side always, but a very hard kind of man. All these things come out in this crisis, as Simeon says to Joseph and Mary: "that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:35)". That is the king, and so, here is a man that is always on the side of David, a hard man, as I said, and he would dissipate grace. He would ignore the dispensation as illustrated in what was said in the assembly in Jerusalem: "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon", (Luke 24:34). A man like Abishai would make little of that. He would say, if he were there. Why Simon, why appear to Simon, who denied the Lord? Why has the Lord appeared to him first? Abishai says to David, "Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?" verse 21. You say. It is obvious, but is it obvious? Is a man like this son of Zeruiah, Abishai, to be the judge? What is his history? That of a hard man, as I said. David says I am not going to submit to that judgment. Whatever reputation a man has of being loyal to the truth, reading all the ministry, and able to give a good lead in the readings, if he is a hard spirited manhe is not to be trusted for judgment; maybe for doctrine, but not for judgment.

What one needs for judgment is spirituality: "ye that are spiritual". David says, "What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me?" verse 22. Think of a man who has a reputation of being one of David's men; yet David says "ye ... be adversaries unto me". Such a man who has a good reputation as being out and out for David is an adversary to David through the hardness of his heart. He does not know grace, and so David further says, "shall there any man be put to death this day, in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day

king over Israel?" verse 22. That is the point. Typically it is the Lord asserting His authority. It is "this day" we are dealing with. It is a question of principles now, not persons, and David is king, and his judgment stands, not Abishai's. We want to get the Lord's mind. If any man speak, let it be as oracles of God, 1 Peter 4:11. I may have a certain judgment, but coming into the assembly, my judgment may become changed, God being there, and I ought to be ready for that. The spirit of a hard man is utterly incompatible with the assembly of God. In this respect the truth marking the assembly is, "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon" (Luke 24:34) -- the one who offended most seriously. It is a question of grace, and David is stressing this point. He says, "I am this day king". It is not what anyone else says. In the antitype it is a question of the Lord, what His mind is. We want to be in line with that and able to convey it as needed. If we are to have reconstruction we must have grace, and what goes with that is the breaking of bread. That is what marked the assembly in Jerusalem according to Luke 24. David says, "do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?" It was a triumph. Thus Shimei's matter is settled. David is establishing principles. Shimei had come down with a thousand Benjaminites. One can see that he had not fully judged himself, but it is a question of Christ and the principles governing that particular time. He is establishing principles; to set up again the dispensation, as it were. The king said to Shimei, "Thou shalt not die. And the king sware unto him". That is a landmark as to principles. So under all circumstances we must have the character of the dispensation maintained.

Then we have Mephibosheth; another man appears. He does not go to Jordan. He meets David "as Jerusalem came to meet the king", verse 25. He is a Jerusalem man. He is a man that belongs to the place. "He had

neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace". That is to say he indicates he is not making any show at all. His external appearance indicated his internal love for David. In that sense he was perfectly dressed. In Mephibosheth there was unswerving affection for the king, and desire that he should be in his own place, that is, in his house. David had his own place in Mephibosheth. That is the next point, so that Mephibosheth says to the king in verse 30, "Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come again in peace unto his own house". Not simply into Jerusalem, but into hisown house. Nothing will be right until he is in his own house, on the throne, too. In the antitype it is that Christ should have His full place in the assembly -- in the hearts of His own.

If a local company is to be right, the supremacy of Christ must take effect in every heart in it. He is thus in His own house. He has come back to it. He has been in it, but ousted from it. Now He has come back to it. Is not the Lord speaking to us in this so that we may renounce our self assertions, our self vindications, and let the Lord have His place, and all will be right? So Mephibosheth crowns the reconstruction here when he says. Let Ziba have all. I am not concerned about the land, I am concerned about the king, in his house, for as far as I am concerned he has always been in it, that is, in my heart. He wants the king in every heart in Jerusalem. He is a Jerusalem man, and a Jerusalem man wants all the saints in Jerusalem, that the king may have his full place in his house. It is a question of the assembly, and each being in it, and allowing the Lord His place in his heart, so that He may have it in a collective way.

Now to finish, just a word in regard to John 21, to show how Peter was brought to this. I need not go

over the chapter, but it is a reconstruction chapter. Seven of the disciples had gone off fishing, after the Lord had manifested Himself to them, setting them up in the assembly. Peter's own name means "stone". The Lord had been striving to set these men in the building, now they have gone off fishing. So that there has to be recovery, and it is seen in this chapter. I do not go into the details of the Lord's searching of Simon's heart, but it is really a heart matter, as indeed in 2 Samuel 19. Seven of them went off fishing and they caught nothing. The Lord was on the shore with a dinner ready for them -- a regular meal, not simply something to eat; for such is Christ. He would take His place again in their hearts in His own dignity, through the way He provides for them. "Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine", (John 21:12), for that is the word; it is used for the chief meal of the day; and as they dine, the Lord speaks to Peter. In the end of verse 17 He came to final probing of Peter's heart. It was a heart question. I suppose Peter was never more tested in his heart than at this time. It was in the presence of the Lord. The Lord was here carrying on a transaction to secure Peter's heart, so that He could confide in him, not doctrine here, but persons. Think of the value of the saints to Christ! "My lambs", He says, "my sheep". In effect He says to Peter, I am going to trust you with them, but you must let Me into your heart, you must let Me settle all these things in your heart that you have been going on with: all your self-confidence and pride. It is a heart matter, and so finally the third time -- more than twice -- the Lord says to him, verse 17, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him. Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him. Feed my sheep (John 21:17)". One has often called attention to this verse. There are two words in the

original for know. Here the first is what is called conscious knowledge. Peter says to the Lord, "Thou knowest all things". He recognises His deity, which is all-important, and especially at the present time. One who knows everything is God, for only God knows everything, and Peter acknowledges this. He knows it consciously, not only by observation; he is aware of it in every respect. But then Peter adds another word for know, and he says, in effect. Is there not something about me to show You that I love You? That would be objective knowledge. Peter is calling attention to himself as before the Lord, saying: Lord, is there not something in me to show You that I really do love You? That is the point, and it finishes the matter. The Lord did not deny what Peter implied. There was something in Peter's manner that indicated his love for Christ. The Lord knew the love was there, but it had been hidden, beclouded by his conduct. All the clouds are now gone and the Lord intimates that the matter is settled, and hence Peter can be entrusted with the sheep and the lambs. The Lord will not trust us until we are thoroughly transparent and it can be seen that we love Him.

Now I refer for a moment to the verses I read, "Jesus says to him ... When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him. Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said. Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him. If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou

me", verses 18 - 22. This is a question of the Lord's will -"if I will". It is again the supremacy of Christ; Peter must recognise it in regard to the Lord's servants. "If I will". The matter is settled that the service of the loved one (that is, John) is left open; as if the Lord were to say. Peter, you cannot manage everything. It is a question of My will, as to what this or that one must do. Peter was wanting to be in the know of things about everybody, but the Lord reserves His own rights as to whom He will use. Can I tell whom the Lord will be using twenty years from now? He has His servants, and foresees every emergency. My business is to follow Him and recognise that the Lord has His rights, and not seek to know or control everything. Leave the matter open. Let the Lord dispose of His servants as He will, and it will always be to the best advantage for the testimony. So, I would emphasise that in all these scriptures it is a question of the supremacy of Christ amongst His people, and nothing will be right until everyone of us accords Him that place in our hearts, and then collectively as in the assembly.

HOW PROPHETIC MINISTRY AFFECTS THE SERVICE OF GOD

1 Corinthians 14:22 - 25; 2 Samuel 12:25;2 Chronicles 29:25; 1 Chronicles 25:1

My discourse at this time will have the service of God in mind, to show particularly how prophecy affects it. There can be no doubt that the current sorrowful international conditions are intended by God to bring His people into the reality of the light vouchsafed to them. One man, David, who had a great place in the service of God, as I hope to show, both as inaugurator and as actively engaged in the service, said, "in pressure, thou hast enlarged me", (Psalm 4:1), so that we are not to evade any pressure divinely brought about. We may occasion pressure upon ourselves, and have to reap of our own sowing, but if God bring on the pressure, either directly or indirectly, it is not to be evaded, it is to be accepted, and in the acceptance of it we shall profit by it, so that our part in the service of God shall be more effective. God will obtain more from us.

One of the last things said by God in the Old Testament, according to the arrangement of the books is, "Will a man rob God?" (Malachi 3:8). God shows in that book that His people were indeed robbing Him in tithes and offerings, and He directs them to bring the tithes into the storehouse, and they would see what He would do. He would open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing which they would not be able to contain. Such is the attitude of God in a day of small things. And in that same book, that is, Malachi, Jehovah shows how He values those who fear Him. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another and He hearkened. We are not told what they were saying, but they feared Him. We may be sure they were not always

talking about the weather, the markets, or the like -- although they may have had to touch those things. They were speaking in a holy way, as in our own day, those who fear the Lord, calling upon Him out of a pure heart, would speak of "things above". They set their minds on things above, and speak of those things, for in truth a wonderful range of things opens up to us, as by the Spirit we set our minds on them . The word above is relative; it implies moral elevation, and thus the constitution of the saints becomes enhanced. They are not absorbed in the ordinary common talk of men and women, what is often small and even corrupt. God would remind us of our dignity and our capabilities, and the Spirit, we are told, searcheth all things, even the depths of God. He searches them as in us, and in relation to us, not on His own account, for as God He knows all; and believers as having Him know all things, 1 John 2:20. He searches the things of God as in us so as to bring out the reserves, the wonderful things of God, things that were before this world: "Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man's heart, which God has prepared for them that love him". (1 Corinthians 2:9). He has great regard for those that love Him -- of course, those whom He loves, too.

So with all this in view I read in 1 Corinthians; not because it is a specially heavenly epistle; it is a wilderness epistle, intended to regulate us as in the wilderness. It gives us the position of the assembly in the wilderness, and the behaviour proper to it, and how God is to be served in it. We have commandments; indeed, it would seem as if the whole first epistle is one commandment; headed up under the words "commandment of the Lord". "If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise ... that it is the Lord's commandment", (1 Corinthians 14:37). The verses I have read are, therefore, included in the

commandment, that is, that there should be meetings for prophetic ministry. What is said in those verses leads to greater things; indeed, the whole chapter refers to greater things. "I will sing", for instance, "with the spirit, but I will sing also with the understanding", (1 Corinthians 14:15).

One would love to have heard the apostle sing. There is not a verse of a hymn sung by the apostles now extant, as far as is known, but heaven used to hear them -- beautiful tones, we may be sure, and beautiful words, too! So that Paul said, "I will sing with the Spirit, but I will sing also with the understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15)". You may be sure he could sing, as well as David and Moses. The Spirit of adoption in us, the Holy Spirit viewed in that way, indites the true songs; songs of Zion; songs of the assembly. We read of a song in heaven; it is said to be a "new" one, in wonderful tones, "as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder", (Revelation 14:12); and yet it was the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Those who formed the assembly are being trained now to have part in that wonderful service above in immense volume, and yet in distinct symphony, and with the highest kind of musical instruments, namely, harps; symbolically, the most refined notes issue from them. Prophetic ministry bears on all this, as our chapter shows.

So these verses deal with prophecy. They enjoin meetings for prophecy, not in an arbitrary way, but the epistle shows how important they are, and how superior to other meetings. They are superior, at least in this sense that they bring about education in a person who is ignorant, or an unbeliever, even, and that education leads to self-judgment, and it involves that all present judge. We are not to be afraid of the saints' judgment. We cannot trust our own. Not that one may not judge oneself thoroughly, but we have to be on the watch, for our hearts are so deceptive. It is wholesome,

at times, to hear of the judgment of others as to us, and not to underestimate it. Not that such judgment may not sometimes be unfair, but at the same time, it is safe to listen to what others say about us.

The word judgment is a key-word of this epistle, both as to ourselves and as to others, for we are not only to prepare for the singing in heaven , but also be in the light of the judgment-seat of Christ. How great are our prospects! "Do ye not know that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3), and the world, too; but how shall we ever attain to that, save as we learn to judge ourselves in the very roots of our being , and to ask others, too, as to what they think? For normally our brethren are in accord with what scripture teaches and are worthy of our confidence. So we are to confess our faults one to another and pray for one another, and, of course, to confess our faults to God. It is a great advantage to confess our faults to the Lord's people. And, of course -- according to their character, as scripture indicates -- certain sins should be confessed to the assembly, its judgment of them being necessary .

So these verses contemplate prophetic ministry, such as brings about self-judgment in a person, even if it be an unbeliever; and I may say that the Christian assemblies are in this public sense open to all. God is there, and even an unbeliever may be reached by the word. Let no one say he cannot go in. The door is there and so, according to the passage, an unlearned man, or an unbeliever, might go in, and the prophesying is going on, and he comes under the power of it, and is convicted in his own soul and is convicted of all present. For such is the wonderful organism of the assembly. The whole assembly is affected by what happens. There is no part dark. If people do not understand me, why is it? If I am convicted they should know, but if they do not know, then I should let them know; there is something I have to confess to them. So that he is