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Pages 1 to 257. From 'The Continuance of the Testimony' and Other Ministry between 1911 and 1920 (Volume 202).

THE SUPPER IN RELATION TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK

Acts 20:7, 11; Revelation 1:9 - 11; 1 Corinthians 16:1 - 4

J.T. I thought it would be advisable to consider the first day of the week, and how the Supper stands in relation to it, and also to look at other features of the first day of the week, which we find elsewhere. In this passage we have the Supper in connection with the first day of the week; then in Revelation, John is in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians you get the apostle's injunction to the Corinthians to set apart on the first day that which they wished to contribute. The three thoughts might be put together, the Supper, the Spirit, and the effect seen in giving. An important point to remember is that christianity is founded on precedent, rather than on injunction or commandment.

J.S. The Supper comes from a precedent. The Lord instituted the Supper, therefore we have it. It is not a command.

J.T. Well, we have the request, but He instituted the Supper, "This do", He says. The first day of the week is not given by commandment; it represents a spiritual idea and the early christians took notice of what Christ did on that day. They took notice of what He did when He instituted the Supper, and what He did on the first day of the week.

J.S. What do you refer to?

J.T. He came to His own on the first day of the week; they took notice of that. The Lord's day was never intended to be recognised by the world,

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and we should never attempt to impose it on the world. It is a spiritual thought, whether it be the first day or the Lord's day. The first day sets forth a new beginning; the Lord's day the day in which His authority is recognised. Evidently it cannot be used by the world; the Lord's authority has no place there. He is rejected, but we anticipate the day when His authority will be universally recognised. John anticipated it as he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. We begin with the Supper. The three scriptures may be taken, I think, in proper order as I have cited them, (1) The Supper; (2) "in the Spirit"; and (3) practical righteousness down here coming out in giving.

Ques. Would there be any connection with what we do at the Supper, the bread, then the cup, then giving?

J.T. The giving has reference to the scene down here; the Spirit has no reference to the external world; He has reference to the spiritual world. In giving you are not beside yourself, but in the Spirit you are. In giving you are considering the needs of saints, taking account of things in a sober way, but being in the Spirit puts you in accord with what is spiritual. They came together with the Supper in view, and it is mentioned as if it were customary on that day, but we are not told to do it then. The Lord came to the disciples on that day, therefore the precedent is established for us. Christianity is a free system, and is based on what others did; the Lord and the apostles. You will find that the Spirit of God in recording what is in the gospels aims at showing that the apostles' ministry and administration were in accord with what Christ did. Matthew shows that what Christ did supports what the apostles did in administration. Mark shows that the apostles' ministry was in accord with Christ's ministry. Luke shows that Paul's ministry was in

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accord with His ministry. Thus we have the apostles linked up with Christ in the testimony, so we may be perfectly sure of our ground, if following the principles established by them.

Ques. The first day is more a day of privilege than of rest, I suppose?

J.T. Yes, it ought to be a day of rest, but the conditions that exist in the world forbid this; so the Lord, on the first day of the week, was marked by great activity, but His activity had one end in view, I think, to get the saints together. The saints were given to Him as a sort of recompense for Israel, and He wants them together, to be entirely for Himself. Each "week" is a figure of the whole christian period; every week stands by itself, and marks a course; so the assembly begins afresh every first day; the convening is renewed.

Ques. Does not the apostle receive instruction as to the Supper in 1 Corinthians 11, "For I received from the Lord"?

J.T. That was to show it was for gentiles as well as Jews, as the record in the gospels does not extend beyond Jewish believers. The Lord shows the importance He attaches to the Supper by committing it to the apostle of the gentiles.

Ques. What is the import of the Supper?

J.T. It is the last meal of the day, ordinarily a meal in which we are free, using the figure of the ordinary meal. It comes in at the end of the day's labour, and not at the beginning. Your mind is not charged with the cares and responsibilities of the day. We should come together as free; the family idea is more seen at the Supper when all are free.

Ques. How are you to secure that?

J.T. There ought to be great exercise as to the Supper, I believe saints ought to be greatly exercised as to it, that we might have moral power to lay aside care, for the Lord is aiming at having the

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assembly for Himself. The word in Genesis is, "It is not good that Man should be alone", Genesis 2:18. We forget that the Lord seeks companionship; He seeks to have His affections reciprocated. God provided for Adam, because of that, and what God has provided for Christ is the assembly.

Ques. Do we specially come into touch with Christ then?

J.T. He puts Himself into touch with us, I think.

Ques. Why did you put the three points alluded to at the beginning in the order you did?

J.T. The Supper is the proper starting point. From thence we are led on to the spiritual side, and the result of all is you come out here to exhibit the grace of Christ in giving, and the three things are connected with the first day of the week.

Ques. Should we be exercised more about this?

J.T. Apart from individual exercise, we are not equal to the Supper. We come together, I think, as we are here in flesh and blood as those who have to do with the world outside. Our exercises are very shallow with regard to divine things. What John says is "God is a spirit" (John 4:24), and hence having to do with God requires that we should be spiritual, for spiritual persons worship Him in spirit and in truth. Hence the necessity that flesh should not intrude. We come together, I think, as here in this world, and He reminds us that He knows each one of us by name as we are here; but as we lay hold of the spiritual world, of which He is Head. He gives us to understand that we have a new name, that all in His world is under His control, just as all in the natural creation was under Adam's control. As he gave names to all, so in Christ's world, He has all control.

Ques. What is the reason for the order in Acts 2, "The apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers"?

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J.T. If not abiding in the apostles' doctrine, one would not be suitable for fellowship.

J.S. It is necessary to have things rightly distinguished in our souls, in order that our exercises may take a proper channel.

J.T. The Supper was never celebrated during the forty days in resurrection before the Lord ascended, but when He ascended, and the Spirit came, you find the Supper immediately. There is nothing about it during the forty days. This is significant. It was on the night in which He was betrayed that He instituted it, and the apostle who records it afterwards tells us the same thing. Hence, I take it, it has reference to the sphere in which He died, not the sphere of resurrection. Clearly He did not die in Canaan, as Canaan is the sphere of His resurrection. He died here in the world.

G.G. What do you mean by the world?

J.T. The world as it stood, where Christ was put to death; it was all arrayed against Christ. What was the disciples' path? Were they to go back to the world? Christ provided that they should have a fellowship; they were not to go out of the world, but to have a fellowship in it, the fellowship of His death; therefore in presence of the world, we are committed to His death.

Ques. How do we partake of it?

J.T. We are in flesh and blood when we partake of it; we are assumed to be so. John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day", and Paul says he was "caught up to the third heaven"; that is spiritual; that is the assembly. The breaking of bread introduces us to what is spiritual.

Ques. Can the terms "breaking of bread" and "Supper" be used interchangeably?

J.T. The regular formula is "the breaking of bread". The Supper means both bread and cup. If analysed, there is different teaching attached to the

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bread and cup, but that was the way they spoke of it -- the breaking of bread.

Ques. You attach importance to the act of breaking?

J.T. In the chapter you have the two thoughts distinguished, breaking and eating. The breaking is the reminder of Christ, the eating could not be. He never ate the Supper, only the Passover. Hence you have in the Supper what is objective and what is subjective -- for the eye and for the mouth. You see and then you commit yourself to it. You get, "As often as ye shall eat".

A.P. Have you any thought as to the expression, 'We receive it from His hand' which is frequently used?

J.T. He primarily delivered it to us. As it is commonly used I do not go with it, as we do it when He is not here. Seeing He is not here, it has to be done by someone. I do not understand the Supper if Christ is present. If it were to be a supper over which He was to preside, I cannot see why He did not have it when He arose. As regards Emmaus it was an informal supper, and He just remained long enough to break the bread. If He were present at the Supper, we should not need to be reminded of Him, "This do in remembrance of me".

Ques. What about that line of the hymn, 'In Thy presence break the bread'?

J.T. That is not scripture.

Ques. When is He present?

J.T. I would not limit the Lord. You can never make divine Persons act automatically, I would not pretend to say when He makes Himself known to us; but I do say this, when He does it is discernible to the affections.

Ques. What as to His leading the praises?

J.T. It is characteristic.

Ques. Does it involve His presence?

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J.T. I think He does it in the assembly as convened. We must distinguish between what we are in our ordinary circumstances and our position in assembly.

Ques. Do we break bread in the wilderness?

J.T. I do not understand it in any other way. Canaan represents a wholly spiritual idea. We are in conditions of flesh and blood. The Supper is a literal thing that we partake of. Corinthians contemplates the saints as here in the world, so that if an unbeliever came, it would be a testimony to him.

Ques. Does the presence of the Lord affect everyone?

J.T. It has a great effect.

Ques. What does "in the Spirit" involve?

J.T. The assembly in the mind of God is spiritual.

Ques. Do you mean the material or moral world, when you speak of the world?

J.T. Both; we are in a position to be taken cognisance of. Christ was not during the forty days. The world is foreign and adverse, but it can take cognisance of us. The assembly itself cannot be taken account of in that way. Into that company an unbeliever might come, and go out to the world and report that God was in them of a truth, but that is not the assembly in heavenly privilege. The old corn of the land is partaken of in the assembly; we touch Him in that character; that is assembly privilege properly. The old corn is Christ going up to His own sphere, not the bread of God coming down. John 20 conveys an entirely spiritual idea; the doors were shut, yet the Lord came in, in spite of that. We are here under the eyes of the world, and they take cognisance of us, but the world knows nothing of what goes on in our souls. As we enter into the significance of the bread and the cup we enter the spiritual world.

Ques. Is Christ there then?

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J.T. Yes, if He is there. He is sovereign; He does not work automatically. You cannot put it that way.

Ques. The Lord broke the bread and now we break it.

J.T. We do it because He told us to do it. It was His customary act, and this was the last time He did it; and now He says, 'You do it'. The bread sets aside our wills. Christ's body was the vessel in which He did God's will, so our wills are set aside. It is brought in in chapter 10 so that you cannot be independent, or do what you please.

Ques. What about Matthew 18:20, "There am I in the midst"?

J.T. That is levitical, it is those burdened with God's administration in the assembly. That is a great burden, and the Lord is with them to support them, but John 20 is what is for Christ. When burdened you are not then for Christ. You are occupied with service, and the Lord helps you and supports you; but in assembly it is what is for Christ.

Ques. What about "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you"?

J.T. These chapters set forth the provision the Lord made for the disciples, in view of His going; and chapter 20 is the inauguration of what is new. One of the provisions the Lord made is "I am coming to you". First you get another Comforter, another divine Person coming to take His place. He would not leave them. Christ was leaving them, so He says, "I am coming to you", not when or where, or that He is coming to stay. I do not think we should add to it. The thing is to be in expectancy, and He will not disappoint that.

Ques. You get in 1 Corinthians 1, "The assembly of God ... sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints". Can the world take account of that?

J.T. Oh, yes, I think so; you are set apart. The Corinthians were endued with all gift, and set apart

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down here. The world can take account of that, I think, from its own standpoint. They are viewed in the wilderness condition, "all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord".

Ques. What about your second point, "in the Spirit"?

J.T. Well, our time is gone. That suggests what the assembly is, viewed in relation to Christ. In order to touch this, you must know something of being "in the Spirit".

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THE WITNESS OF PAUL AND THE CONTINUANCE OF THE TESTIMONY

2 Timothy 2:1 - 26

J.T. I would like to suggest before we proceed with this chapter that it would help us if we could see more clearly what the position of the apostle Paul was. A right understanding of the epistle requires a right understanding of the apostle in relation to the testimony. The Lord's sovereign authority is involved in Paul's position. Paul as a vessel was His choice, and to him the complete testimony was entrusted; hence you will find a great deal is made in the epistle of Paul's witness of his sovereign place on the one hand, and of his character on the other -- what he was as a man. I think you will find that these two things are emphasised in this epistle -- especially what he was; and, in keeping with that, that Timothy was his child; I mean what he was as formed by the truth, and thus the product of his testimony, that is to say, what kind of children he would beget. I thought I would mention that more particularly so that we might realise the importance of it.

H.D'A.C. It is most important.

Ques. What is the deposit?

J.T. Well, I think it is what we endeavour to get to know of the testimony.

H.D'A.C. What was the other deposit that Paul had entrusted to Him, against that day?

J.T. You tell us, Mr. C.

H.D'A.C. I thought Paul had put everything he had into the concern. He had entrusted everything he had into the concern. He had put every penny he had into the business. There was nothing for him on earth but the testimony. Now, what do you say to that?

J.T. I go with that.

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S.B. Does that mean he was completely under the authority of Christ?

H.D'A.C. Yes, he knew Him whom he had believed. He knew what he was doing.

Rem. Those in Asia had turned away from him, but he looks to Timothy as the one whom he could trust.

J.T. Yes, Timothy was his own child. It is well worth considering the relation in which Timothy stood to the apostle.

J.S.A. I suppose there was no one with whom the testimony was so closely linked, save Paul himself.

J.T. Yes, I think that. You get that fully confirmed in his letter to the Corinthians. They had ten thousand instructors, but only one father. He says, "As my beloved children I admonish you". He gives them the place of being beloved children, but they require to be warned, and the conditions existing at Corinth hindered his coming to them. He stayed away lest he should have to execute judgment; so instead of coming himself he sends Timothy. He says, "I have sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ", as if the apostle intended to prepare the Corinthians for his own visit by sending his child who knew him so perfectly.

J.A.M. It is all to show the character of the vessel in whom the testimony is carried on.

J.T. The Lord takes care that the testimony comes out in a suitable vessel.

T.M.G. "The same commit thou to faithful men".

J.T. That is how the apostle intended it to be transmitted. I am sure the Lord would bring the light very near to us as to what the testimony is, but then the question is as to the character of those who have got the light, whether they are really

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formed by the light. The apostle's wish was to have children begotten by the testimony in a way after his own character.

T.M.G. "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose".

H.D'A.C. Even in the very charge he gives to Timothy, he himself was a witness of it. He did not charge Timothy to do anything he had not done himself. He was the expression of it.

R.L. Is that why he says in Philippians, "I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state"?

H.D'A.C. It is a very serious thing to give a charge to another unless you are yourself the exponent of it. Paul exemplified all that he charged upon others in his own life.

J.T. It was the Lord's intention that there should be no lowering of the character of the vessel. Paul was especially taken up as one who should be near to Christ. He brings himself forward as one who followed Christ. Follow me as I have followed Christ, he says in effect. He asks Timothy to remember his ways.

Ques. Did the testimony come out in an individual way?

J.T. It came out first in the Lord. The assembly is the pillar and ground of it. The assembly upholds the testimony. The communication of the mind of God is to an individual, and I believe that Paul is especially taken up and fitted by the Lord as an adequate vessel connected with the testimony. He was not only capable of expounding it, but, as Mr. C, says, he was himself an exemplification of it.

T.M.G. The assembly does not teach.

J.T. No, but it supports what is taught.

Ques. Would that be implied in what the apostle says to the Corinthians, "Ye are our letter ... known and read of all men"?

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J.T. Yes, it was great grace on the part of the apostle to give them such a place, and his thought was that he would send his beloved child in the Lord to them, that they should be put in remembrance of his ways in Christ. He wants to speak well of them. They were in his heart. I have often thought that a brother who cannot speak well of the saints is not commendable. The apostle says, 'Do we need letters of commendation from you? why, ye are in our hearts'.

Ques. As to the testimony, did you say the testimony was not in the assembly?

J.T. I said the testimony was unfolded by an individual or individuals specially called by the Lord for His purpose; that is, one fitted in regard to the administration of the truth. Paul was supported by his Master here. He says, "By the grace of God I am what I am". By his own account, every bit of him was by the grace of God. He was specially fitted to unfold the testimony, but the assembly supported what he taught. The assembly at Ephesus, I think, was specially fitted by the Lord to support what the apostle taught. It is due to the Lord that we should consider all that he said in the unfolding of the testimony.

H.D'A.C. I think it is due to the apostle, because where would the truth be without him? They might support the truth firmly, but it did not exist till he came. It is a wonderful thing to be set to support the truth.

J.S.A. If we want to get a right thought of the testimony or of expressing it, we must come back to Paul.

H.D'A.C. That is just what I think, to recognise that all the activity would be in keeping with the vessel. To whom do we owe all that? We owe it to the apostle Paul.

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With regard to his being the vessel, I suppose it was hinted at in his conversion, "This man is an elect vessel to me, to bear my name".

J.T. Quite so.

W.K. The word 'support', Mr. T., is a little ambiguous. What do you mean by that?

J.T. I mean they should be in sympathy with the minister through whom the light comes; that should characterise saints. It did not characterise the saints at Corinth. The defect at Corinth was that they did not value the vessel through whom the light came to them. He had begotten them. Now, if you stand up to minister, you know what it is to have the support of the saints. How sweet it is! Paul was very much concerned about the church being the pillar and ground of the truth. The ways and walk of the saints go with it. It would be manifested in them. They would support what the apostle taught. You take the church at Philippi. The apostle's letter shows that the saints there were in sympathy with him, in sympathy with the gospel. Is not that so, Mr. C.?

H.D'A.C. Yes. He enlarges on that in his first chapter, "From the first day". They appreciated the testimony. The result of that was they were interested in the gospel because it was through him it came to them.

T.M.G. "Your fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now".

J.T. Yes. Onesiphorus in Rome sought him out diligently and was not ashamed of his chain. There is a man singled out specially by the apostle because of his sympathy and interest in the vessel of the testimony.

Ques. What are the things Timothy had heard from the apostle?

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J.T. He had heard these from Paul, not from the twelve, so one can understand the verse only by what Paul has written.

Ques. In presence of many witnesses. What does that mean?

J.T. Well, what he did was brought out into the light. If it was communicated to Timothy personally, it was not communicated to him alone.

Rem. It was not communicated to Timothy or Paul apart from the truth that was ministered to the assembly.

H.D'A.C. It is found in the assembly, though you cannot look at the assembly today as having that character; so this epistle hinges on the individual position. It is entrusted to Timothy, not to the assembly; that is, to one of Paul's children.

J.S.A. Then the position of the testimony has reference to the broken state of things.

J.T. He was more than Paul's child. There were a great many children of Paul who did not answer to Paul. He says, "Thou hast fully known ..."; thou hast closely followed in my line.

I think the second chapter sets us on an important line which must have been a great stay to the apostle's heart. He had no one like-minded with Timothy who naturally cared with genuine feeling for the saints how they got on. I think you have here first of all the character of the apostle, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus". That is the descending line that goes down. It is a very great study, I think, what the Lord was as a Man; and then what Paul was, and then what Timothy was, and then what Epaphroditus was. They were all on the same line; they were all after Christ.

R.L. In the epistle we are sometimes spoken of as in Christ Jesus.

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J.T. I think that what you suggest is right; alas! man has broken down in the church, but there never is a breakdown in Christ.

R.L. Everyone else fails, but there is no failure in Christ.

J.T. Now we have been endeavouring to get to our relation to the testimony at the present time. And at this juncture we have to look for a moment at the testimony as presented in Ephesians, because it is the mind of God that it should be maintained in the saints.

R.L. Will you open out a little what the testimony is?

J.T. I think the testimony is comprised in the epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians. That is, Romans deals with men on earth: Romans gives the relation between God and men on earth. Now, that, to my mind, is the first problem to be solved. Then Ephesians presents to us the counsels of God in regard to Christ and the assembly.

Ques. Should these two aspects be preached in the glad tidings?

J.T. I think so. Romans is the gospel of God to men; Ephesians, Christ and the assembly.

Ques. Where do you place Colossians?

J.T. Colossians is corrective. Romans and Ephesians are the setting forth of the truth.

H.D'A.C. Do you think the postscript at the end of Romans connects that epistle with the Ephesians?

J.T. It may. I think the epistle to the Romans is not to meet the need at Rome. It was really a letter intended for all the saints. He wrote it to the gentiles to unfold his gospel.

W.K. Between God and man it was a question of life and death.

H.M. It has been very often said that the epistle to the Ephesians was only written to the Ephesians.

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J.T. I think the saints of Ephesus were in a state to receive such a letter, but the letter is the unfolding of God's testimony.

J.S.A. The Corinthians were not in a state to receive that letter.

J.T. No, nor were the Galatians. There is good reason to believe that it was of a circular character.

W.K. It has been said that it was a circular letter, and that 'the Ephesians' was added after.

J.S.A. Do you not think that as a principle it would be addressed to those that were in a condition to receive it?

J.T. There can be no doubt in reading it that it gives the unfolding of the counsel of God in regard to Christ, and that was not unfolded in the epistle to the Romans. All the truth that relates to the earth is dealt with and adjusted in the Romans. Every question of man is solved in the epistle to the Romans. God has solved the problems -- righteousness and life.

J.A.M. Would you say a little about the testimony in Romans?

J.T. What a wonderful thing it is to be able to look up into the face of God and be accounted righteous! God has brought that to pass, "I am not ashamed", Paul says, "of the glad tidings; for it is God's power to salvation ... for righteousness of God is revealed therein, on the principle of faith, to faith". God has brought that about; but then the next thing is you are made to live to God.

Ques. Is that all unfolded in 2 Timothy 2:8, "Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead"?

J.T. Yes, that involves the testimony of Romans; it is in connection with Jesus Christ of the seed of David.

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Ques. Then would that expression, "That they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory" belong to Ephesians?

J.T. I think that is very good. What do you say to that, Mr. C.?

H.D'A.C. Yes, there is the righteousness and power of God.

J.T. Love is behind the righteousness.

J.S.A. We need only to walk with God consciously in His presence and also with confidence in the love of God.

H.D'A.C. Yes, and you feel you love God.

J.T. Romans gives us the spirit of sonship, but in Ephesians it is the state of sonship. God has solved the question of righteousness and life. The earthly side of the truth is first stated, and then the heavenly, which is the special position of the church. Ephesians gives the position of Christ and the assembly, completing all God's counsels. You must have the earthly side first. There must be conciliation of the two trees. God set them there, and there they are as a testimony to the truth of the idea of good and evil. You must have the question of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil settled before you can touch the tree of life.

Ques. How is the first settled?

J.T. It is settled in the death of Christ. The question of responsibility devolves upon man. Man was placed in the garden in responsibility. That is the first commandment. That conveys the will of God. Man was placed there at the will of God, and God's commandments were subsequently involved in the expression of His will for the moment. Man had transgressed the commandments, and God's will is contravened, and so all was lost for man; and that brings into evidence what Christ was.

Ques. What is the promise of life?

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J.T. The kind of life God had in His mind primarily was the life God intended to continue in Christ. Romans shows how that kind of life is brought in. The saints are not viewed as risen in Romans, but Christ is. The point is that eternal life is available in a Man. It is in another Man. It is brought to pass in one Man, and in Him is eternal life. It was testimony. It involved the kind of life God had before Him.

Ques. Would it prefigure the place Christ has entered into?

J.T. Yes.

Rem. The One who settled the question of responsibility is now to us as the tree of life.

J.S.A. God sent His only-begotten Son that we should have everlasting life. There is now only the one tree.

J.T. Yes, and that brings in the thought that Christ is eternal life.

L.W. Is man not now responsible under the Lord Jesus Christ? You made a remark that the Lord Jesus had met his responsibility.

J.T. Romans regards us as here in the wilderness. Romans sets man up where he was before. It sets him up in relation with God. God has secured His place in that man, and that man is made to live. It is the sphere of God's will. Now you are called upon to prove whether you are in the kingdom or not. Walking in the will of God is the test.

J.S.A. Then, I take it, children have a responsibility, "As obedient children".

J.T. The point of view in Romans is that you are taken up where you are. Now what are you going to do? You are not taken to heaven. You are living here. Chapter 12 contemplates your walking up to that.

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S.B. And we are set up in responsibility because we are in the new position, but there is power given to maintain it.

J.T. You have support. Enough to pay your debts, and to live on the rest. There is not a single obligation which has not been made good.

T.M.G. The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit.

L.W. Is it the responsibility involved in love to Christ? Love is the fulfilling of the law. You are able to fulfil every responsibility because you have got the Spirit.

J.T. Righteousness has been brought to light, and the ultimate end of lawlessness is made known.

R.L. If man as a creature does not submit to Christ as Head he is not free of responsibility. It is those who have submitted to Christ as Head that are free of responsibility.

H.M. What is the difference between life and eternal life?

J.T. The individual has to be made to live; but Christ is eternal life. Life is not intelligence, it is power. Life is required for the wilderness. Romans contemplates that man is taken up as he is here -- man is made to live in his affections as Christ lives. Eternal life is an objective thought, whilst life is a subjective thought. That is said of the Spirit. The Spirit is life. With God eternal life is in Christ.

J.S.A. I think Mr. T's remark goes to the root of the distinction -- life looked at as subjective. Eternal life is objective in a sphere of its own.

Ques. Is eternal life presented in contrast to death?

J.T. Yes. The gift of God is eternal life.

R.L. "This is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent".

J.T. We live in relation to an unseen scene.

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RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONS BETWEEN GOD AND MAN

Romans 3:1 - 31

J.T. I suppose the epistle to the Romans is the testimony of the relations between God and man. I think it is a very great consideration that God was in a position to intervene and to re-establish the relationships between Himself and man, so that there is a complete adjustment of everything on the earth. The actual conditions that exist on earth are laid bare in the earlier part of the epistle, and then there is an adjustment of them in relation to God.

W.L. And would you say that that adjustment, whilst in the first place it takes up the simple one of man as man in relation to God, also includes the special position of Israel?

J.T. You must have the whole thing, but man as man is the great thesis. Unless God had justified Himself in reference to everything as well as man, things would not be quite clear. The Jew is alluded to in this chapter, "What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way, chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God"; that is to say, all that was of God connected with Israel was fully accounted for and recognised; they had the oracles of God. I believe it is of great importance at the present time for the Lord's people to see that there must be a testimony in regard to our relationship with God, and to see how that adjustment has taken place, so that the position of man on earth and the relationship is fully established.

W.M. God has made that adjustment Himself.

Ques. Is that why we have the mercy-seat?

J.T. Yes, the mercy-seat is the great central thought in the passage. It is as if God has taken

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His seat on the throne, and put Himself in touch with His creatures in consistency with His nature. The adjustment is brought about from God's side. The central thought is how God justifies Himself.

W.H.M. That He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

T.M.G. Just, according to His throne.

J.T. The position suggests the tabernacle, not Egypt; it is the wilderness because the mercy-seat did not exist in Egypt. I think the thought is that God is acting from His own position.

J.A.M. It is not a question of man's need, but of God's righteousness.

J.T. Yes, exactly, how God puts Himself in touch with all that is without in accordance with His own nature.

T.M.G. That is really the thought of the mercy-seat.

J.T. Yes.

Rem. In order to show forth the completeness of the testimony, the absolute departure of man is shown.

J.T. I think so, and that every testimony previously rendered was ineffectual. The testimony of the creation had reference to man as a whole; the testimony of the law had reference to Israel, and so both were ineffective.

Rem. It is the gospel of God in Romans.

J.T. And it is concerning His Son; that is to say, He has found a vessel to carry out His will. You see the testimonies previously rendered were not concerning His Son; they were divine; that is to say, creation was God's handiwork, and has to be taken account of; the testimony was there, but it was ineffective; but although ineffective, it rendered man unsuitable.

J.G. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handiwork.

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J.T. That was clearly the thought in the testimony in creation; there was the index in it to what was spiritual; it only waited for the spiritual system to be introduced for us to understand the index; Christ answers in heaven now to all that was in the heavens. Then there was the testimony of God's will in Israel, that is, God asserted His right to man's affections, but He never secured them.

T.M.G. That was the law really; He claimed what He had a right to.

W.L. Would you not say Paul's object in writing is not exactly to present the gospel to sinners, but it is written to saints that they might understand the manner in which God has manifested His righteousness? If we are not clear on that, we do not apprehend our place. If we are not clear as to the position as men on earth, what is the use of bringing in the heavenly position? There is rather an interesting expression in the gospel which would connect itself with this, the publican condemned himself and justified God, and he got the blessing.

T.M.G. That is what settles the soul.

J.T. I think it prepares for the divine system, because as you find in Luke 7, you have the woman in the pharisee's house. What came out about her was that she loved much because she was forgiven much; therefore the better you understand Romans the better you love Christ.

Rem. It is the over-abounding grace that comes out. The better you love Christ the better you are for Him; this applies not only to the disciples but to the women also, because they were with Him and ministered unto Him of their substance.

J.T. The one who is forgiven much loves much; the more we judge sin the more we appreciate what Christ has done for us; so that to my mind the effect of the epistle to the Romans on the soul is wonderful. No one can tell you anything; you understand

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everything on earth; there is a perfect judgment of everything on earth in your soul, and you are in relationship with God; and then the effect of it all is that you love Christ.

S.C. What you have just said shows the importance of a soul's having the sense of what is presented in the epistle to the Romans.

J.T. You are not likely to be carried away by anything material if you are grounded in Romans. If you were the best astronomer in the world all you would know in regard to the heavens would be a testimony to God's wisdom. If we are clear as to the teaching of Romans, we are not likely to be carried away by an earthly religion, because that also is discovered. Everything here is exposed in its true light. You would not be carried away by anything material, because the material system is only a testimony to the spiritual; and you would not be carried away by man's wisdom, as the second chapter exposes it; and we shall not be carried away by an earthly religion.

Rem. So that really you see that the influences to which the Galatians exposed themselves are really met in Romans.

J.T. If we were established in what Romans presents, we would not be carried away through philosophy or religion.

W.L. A thorough establishing in what is brought out in Romans prepares the soul for the introduction of heavenly truth; and until then, no matter how much we might speak about it, it has not come to be a reality in our souls, because you have not come to know God in heavenly relationship.

J.T. The point is to distinguish God. However plausible men may be, if what they say is opposed to what God has said, you judge God must be true, even if you do not understand what they say. So

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that as Mr. L, says, the knowledge of God in the soul is an immense fortification against evil.

W.L. I think the two things that are said to be impossible for God to do are very remarkable: He cannot lie, and He cannot deny Himself.

Ques. Does the thought of the covenant come out in Romans?

J.T. I do not know that it would be exactly the point, because the covenant has the house of Israel and the house of Judah in view, whereas in Romans it is God and man.

Ques. Is not the teaching of Romans for the individual?

J.T. The point is to re-establish the relation between God and man, and what is to be gathered from it is that the relationship is in another Man. The first man is removed judicially in the cross, because the sin-offering was burnt without the camp.

J.M. It is not that that man is set up again; he is removed.

J.T. The sin-offering is burnt without the camp, showing the uncleanness of it; but then in the burnt-offering that man is gone in death; therefore you have a mercy-seat which is clearly seen in Christ risen. It is a question of what was brought inside, sprinkled on the mercy-seat and before it; it is the blood of the sin-offering.

T.M.G. And then the glad tidings are concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. He was the One who not only superseded the first man, but He set him aside.

J.T. As we were seeing, every claim of God was met in Christ, so that the order of man that was to exist is set forth in Christ, whilst the lawless man is removed by His death. It is very much like what Genesis 6 sets forth; you have first the man that is righteous, and he appears in the midst of corruption; Noah appears in the midst of corruption, and he

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walked with God, and he preached in the midst of it, and he had the testimony that he was righteous, and then he goes through death. I do not know whether that thought is clear, but I think it is very important to see that the head of a new system was first there before the old was removed.

T.M.G. That is a very important thing.

Ques. You mean it is illustrated in Noah?

Rem. It is only such a one who could meet the situation.

J.T. I think it is wonderful to think of God looking down on Christ, and what He was under God's eye.

W.H.M. Is it not in that way that the epistle to the Romans is such a beautiful answer to the Book of Job?

J.T. How can a man be just before God, is that your idea?

W.H.M. Yes; and then he longed for a daysman to lay his hand on both.

J.T. I think there is a hidden allusion to Israel in Job. The principle of the book is the same principle that applies to Israel in its re-establishment on earth.

Rem. You said the lawless man is removed to introduce the just man.

J.T. Well, I think that meets the present idea that Christ added anything to man here; it is a totally false idea, because He was the order of man that was to be established and that was to continue. Now, what is very precious to my mind is that, whilst we are removed vicariously, we are retained personally.

J.M. It is a question of the order of man that is to continue.

J.T. Yes. Now in the death of Christ the order of man was set aside vicariously, but still man was

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retained before God, but it is man in Christ that is retained.

T.M.G. That is another order of man; but then that order was testified to here.

Ques. Would you say our personalities were retained?

J.T. Yes, you see that historically in the disciples. There was a race of men retained by the Lord so that He comes up out of death with a new humanity -- that is, with the disciples -- retained.

Rem. That was a greater triumph for God than sweeping the scene in judgment and bringing in a new creation altogether.

J.T. God could have obliterated them completely, and He might have brought in another generation in Moses; but that would only have been an act of power. His righteousness and mercy would not have been evidenced.

Ques. What do you mean by saying that the personality is retained?

J.T. Man is retained; you and I have been sinners, and that order of man is removed from before God in Christ, but you and I are brought back, and we are men.

W.L. I would quote a verse which gives the idea, the apostle says. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me".

J.A.M. Would you not say the way God has effected all this is what forms us?

J.T. I think so; the individuality remains, but then the apostle says, "By the grace of God I am what I am". That is, characteristically he is what he is by the grace of God.

Rem. If God was merciful it was on a righteous basis.

J.T. How could He be merciful aside from what was His nature? You cannot compromise any

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attribute of God, because He is merciful in the mercy-seat.

Rem. I suppose it all proves how the gospel is entirely from God.

J.T. And there must be the vindication of every divine attribute.

T.M.G. God must act in accordance with all that He is. So when Stephen saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ it meant that all God's attributes were fully set forth.

J.T. After Exodus 33, you have the tables of the covenant and the ark again alluded to, because it was on them that everything depended; because they referred to Christ, and the lid of the ark was the mercy-seat. So that the rights of mercy are taken up in the mercy-seat.

Ques. What is the force of "through faith in his blood"?

J.T. The point is that no one can get it apart from that, but God has set it forth -- a mercy-seat.

Rem. Faith is the answer.

J.T. Faith in us gives us part in it; it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The death of Christ has vindicated every attribute of God, and therefore wherever faith is, it regards the blood; and chapter 3 is the death of Christ, it is the blood, and wherever there is faith in that, there is righteousness for you.

T.M.G. But chapter 3 is God's side, it is not so much us.

J.T. I think it is a question of God in chapter 3.

Ques. Would you say that answers to Leviticus 2; God gets His portion first?

J.T. Quite so; the bullock really answers to us more in Leviticus 16. The side that applies to the present dispensation is really the bullock. There was only one bullock; there was no 'scape-bullock'; the blood of the bullock was carried inside and there

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was no scape-bullock that the people could see going off with their sins. So that the present moment is a moment of faith. When the Lord returns Israel will see Him and will know their forgiveness; but we know Him now by the Spirit.

W.L. I think the second scape-goat refers to an earthly people walking in the light of revealed forgiveness.

J.T. Justification is on the principle of faith; that is, you do not see anything. Faith is brought in here; it is a minor thought in the passage; the point is that it is a showing forth of God's righteousness.

W.L. I think it is a great thing to see that it is in the death of Christ that the righteousness of God is manifested. Our righteousness comes in in the next chapter.

J.T. It is God taking up a universal position in regard to men to set forth His righteousness. I think faith is a necessary element in the setting forth of the righteousness of God. It is seen in those who have faith.

J.A.M. In that way it is from faith to faith.

J.T. The light would be wholly in an abstract way aside from its having an answer in man.

Ques. Presented to man for the obedience of faith; does God call for faith on the part of man?

J.T. I think the faith in man answers the setting forth of God's righteousness. God has brought about faith in your soul.

W.L. There is an expression later on which refers to the obedience of faith. Israel lost the blessing because they would not submit to the righteousness of God.

J.McF. Would you say that faith is a state in man?

J.T. Well, it is difficult to call it a state exactly, but it is a principle which God produces and which

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answers to the light of the death of Christ. As far as I know it cannot be defined; it has to be owned to be understood. It is said to be the gift of God. I think the righteousness of God is in the death of Christ, but then its bearing must be seen, and for that you require faith in man.

J.A.M. The righteousness of God is set forth, but faith comes into the gain of it.

Ques. Do you speak of faith as a necessary principle for the setting forth of righteousness?

J.T. Well, faith was there in connection with the death of Christ. Faith always embraces God's testimony. You could not have any idea of God's testimony apart from faith.

Ques. Am I right in the thought that faith came in after the departure?

J.T. Oh surely, it contemplates darkness.

Rem. And so it says we walk by faith and not by sight.

Rem. Abel is the first that was seen to walk by faith. Adam was a figure of Him that was to come, but Abel was more than that; Abel had the substance.

J.T. You may have a type of Christ in an animal, or in a man, but when you have faith you have got substance. In connection with faith you have the light of God livingly expressed, not simply in a dead type; there was something vital in faith.

W.M. Would you not say faith is a capacity God gives to receive the death of Christ?

J.T. Surely; God has placed it in your heart, and it was there in connection with the death of Christ. There never has been a time since Abel when there was not faith in the world. Faith supposes a testimony rendered, I do not believe there ever was a testimony rendered when there was not faith to receive it.

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W.L. The character of the blessing that faith presents to you is connected with the revelation God has made of Himself.

J.T. So that the faith that there is is really of Jesus; that is the kind of faith; it is not the faith of Abel, it is the faith of Jesus; that is the faith of our day.

Ques. And would you say it was another aspect of the display of the righteousness of God in the previous part of that verse -- the passing over of the sins that are past?

T.M.G. I think the point is that God always acted upon what was before Him, that is, the death of Christ; and Old Testament saints had faith in whatever light God had given them; and that God passed over sins on the ground of what was coming. Now, the believer's sins are forgiven on the ground of what has actually come. It is all the same death of Christ.

J.T. God gave them credit for what they would not have given themselves credit for. Moses is said to have esteemed "the reproach of Christ"; now, Moses would not perhaps have given expression to it.

Ques. What is the difference between faith in God and faith in Christ?

J.T. Faith in God is that you have confidence in God, but when you come to faith in Christ, there is an addition to it; it is that you believe in that order of man.

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ENTERING INTO WHAT IS SPIRITUAL IN CHRISTIANITY

Hebrews 6:11 - 20

J.T. It is well to be reminded that the coming in outwardly of the christian economy is not, in itself, the great end God has for us here. The divine end is that we should enter into the spiritual side; not merely seeing everything which is proved not to be of Christ, but that we might enter into what is positive as set forth in the position Christ has taken up. There was escape in the cities of refuge from the avenger of blood, but we should not only think of escape, but of what is inside. The Forerunner enters "within the veil". It is true that we have fled for refuge, but there is a great deal more in christianity than that. That is why I suggested this scripture. It shows us what the Jewish remnant came into; they not only escaped the impending wrath, but came into a spiritual order of things. Many think in coming into fellowship (putting it in simple language) that they have reached what is final, but that only marks them off on earth. It is, of course, very important that every christian should come into fellowship, but what is within the veil is what we want to see. Christ has taken up a position there as Forerunner, and, not only so, but He attends on us as Minister of the Sanctuary, so that we might be helped to enter in also. I mention that to show what I am exercised about.

It is said in Acts 2:47 that the Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved, but their side of the matter was to take up the spiritual, and to go in for that. The Lord had taken up the position of Minister of the Sanctuary so that they might be introduced to what is spiritual. In taking sides with Christ, they were relieved from judgment;

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that is Acts. But Hebrews, which contemplates the same people, shows that they were entitled to enter "within the veil".

A.N. It is not merely what we are saved from, but what we are saved to.

J.T. Our position is a question of the death of the Lord. That marks off our position here. It is very essential that every one who loves the Lord should be in that position. If we pretend to love the Lord, and evade that, we are disloyal to Christ. If we take up that position, Christ will introduce us to the other. He has gone in there; His death determines our position here, but what He is up there determines our position there.

J.F. Does that involve practical fellowship?

J.T. Our being in fellowship marks us off in this world, but fellowship does not introduce us to what is spiritual. We require the Spirit for that, and the support of the Minister of the Sanctuary. Take the company in Acts 2; it was a very large company, and they were marked off by identification with Christ in the breaking of bread. It is what they were before men, a testimony to this world as to the rights of God. That is what fellowship is; but what were they before God? What are we before God? Christ's position now, as having gone in, describes ours. He has gone in as Forerunner. The remnant are brought into a heavenly position, and we want the light of that. The laying hold of that position gives colour to us as in fellowship. We get the heavenly colour by laying hold of the heavenly position.

Ques. What are we to understand by the hope?

J.T. It refers to our position in divine counsels. Israel's hope did not go so far. Our hope enters "within the veil", "the hope set before us, which we have as anchor of the soul, both secure and firm, and entering into that within the veil" (verse 19). Coming into fellowship is not salvation in the true

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sense. Although the company is an immense influence, for where the Spirit is there is immense influence, salvation proper involves the position where Christ is now; that is, we must have another place. In Hebrews the holiest is looked at as heaven itself, but there are two lights in which we can regard the holiest. In the first place, the tabernacle represents God's universe, and that being so, the holiest represents heaven. Secondly, it represents the presence of God and Christ there. The christian position is not an earthly one, but a heavenly one, and Christ's present position describes God's thought for us. If a young believer comes into christian fellowship, he escapes the influence of the world and comes under another influence. In adding to the assembly such as were to be saved, God had that in view. A position has been opened up to us in God's system, and power is available for us to lay hold of it, both in the Spirit and in Christ, and it thus becomes a question as to what we are going to do.

G.N. Every influence here is against us, but we are brought into a sphere where every influence is for us.

J.T. The Lord's supper is to the end that we might enter in.

P.L. "He brought us out thence, that he might bring us in", Deuteronomy 6:23.

J.T. Yes, that is very good. We must not be satisfied with an outward position. Fellowship is all important as separating us here, but we must see that there is a spiritual side, and the hope set before us is connected with that which is "within the veil". Israel's hopes are connected with reinstatement here as a nation under their Messiah, but our hope enters within the veil. Unbelief is the great sin in Hebrews, and as the light is presented as to the position, the question is, Are we going to embrace it? It is an immense thought that Christ is the Forerunner, and

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it is in that connection that our hope enters there. The whole aim of the Lord in His dealings with us is that we might take up a spiritual position.

G.N. The two on the way to Emmaus would be content with an earthly hope.

J.T. Yes. The Lord blesses His disciples in Luke, and is received up. In Acts l, which is linked with Luke, a cloud receives Him out of their sight, indicating that the old dispensation was still recognised; but when we come to Stephen, the cloud disappears; there is no longer a cloud. Stephen sees Jesus in heaven, and that sets forth christianity. That is to say, christianity is a cloudless system, not a cloud in it, nor a shadow in it; and we are introduced into the fulness of God's counsels. While God bore in patience with Israel there was a cloud, a partial concealment of God in His nature and counsels, but at the same time the cloud was a testimony to His patience. Not until the testimony of the Spirit was refused, did God bring His people into the full light of His counsels. The veil, in a way, was Israel, for the position of Israel as marked off from other nations beclouded God; but when God comes out in His holy nature, He must have all men before Him. It must be God and men. From Genesis 9 onwards there was a cloud, something that concealed God. It continued in Israel and while the Lord was here in flesh, and also after He went up to heaven and until the ministry of the twelve was definitely refused and that of the Spirit in that wonderful vessel Stephen. Now, Stephen looks up to heaven and says, "I behold the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God". There is no cloud now. The cloud which was with Israel in the wilderness, in the tabernacle, and in the temple, is gone, and Jesus is there alone. That is christianity, but the way to it is through death. No one in Scripture is more interesting than Stephen, "Shew

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me thy glory", Moses had said. He had also said, "Shew me now thy way". God's way is through death, and it is also said to be in the sanctuary and in the sea. Stephen was in "the way", and being in "the way", he saw the Lord -- "Thy way is in the sea" -- and he saw the glory. We must connect the two, the divine way and the divine glory. What Moses and Elias spoke of on the mount was not the glory, but the way -- the decease. It was as much as intimating that they could not be there but on the ground of the death of Christ; they could only hold converse with Jesus there on the ground of His death. Then He went down from that point to Calvary -- that was the way.

Rem. It would be the same power that supported Stephen that works now.

J.T. Quite so. Luke is the only evangelist that records the theme of conversation on the mount. Luke gives us the Lord's manhood. How wonderful that that Man was worthy of conversation! The point of their theme is the Man. We have to see that Jesus established a title in His Person to go back to God. He took man's place on earth, and glorified God in every possible way. He established a title as Man to live here on earth, and then He goes up, and there the theme is His death. What a theme it was! Only on the ground of His death could Moses and Elias be there, and only on that ground can we be there. Jesus went up Himself to the mount, but He would have had to remain there alone had He not gone down again, so the conversation refers not to the ascent to the mount, but to what came after -- His death.

G.N. Can we have the veil on our hearts?

J.T. Any earthly system recognised in the soul is a veil, also any religious system recognised on the earth. It beclouds the light of God in the soul, 2 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 10 correspond. In the

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former the apostle does not speak in Jewish language; he uses christian language, that is, language which simply describes christianity as it is. In Hebrews, he uses Jewish language, but when writing to the gentiles who were made acquainted with Jesus, he shows that the glory was in the face of Jesus.

Rem. Will you please say a word as to full assurance of hope (verse 11).

J.T. It is a great thing to have your feet in a sure place, and to know just where you are. In verse 18, you get "two immutable things". Christian ground is the only ground there is. Abraham had no misgivings as to his position. The Hebrew believers were weakening, the light was waning, and they were giving things up. This describes a great many believers. It is "Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which is now", Galatians 4:25. Christendom has drifted back to law. Hebrews is a very important epistle now, as it is the call to leave the camp. Coming into fellowship does not, in itself, introduce you into the presence of God; it marks your position in the world; but then you get the exhortation, "Let us draw near". They were already in fellowship, but they did not take up their privileges "within the veil".

Ques. What is meant by "within the veil"?

J.T. The place that Jesus has before God as Man describes it.

Ques. What is that place?

J.T. Well, consider Him. You are called on to do this (Hebrews 3:1). Consider Him personally, and then His position. You get the greatness of the Priest, and then "Such an high priest became us". You have to consider all that. He not only leads you into the new system, but into the most sacred enclosure of it. We have the heavenly part.

Ques. What are we to understand as regards the veil in 2 Corinthians 4:3?

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J.T. Paul was not a minister of the dispensation which had a veil, "If also our gospel is veiled", he said, 'I am not doing it; my gospel has no veil'. He was so in the light of the glory, that there was not a speck in his ministry.

P.L. It shone out as clearly as it shone in.

J.T. "We do not preach ourselves", he said, "but Christ Jesus Lord, and ourselves your bondmen for Jesus' sake". Then he says, "Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts". And what for? "For the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". His ministry was as clear as the sun, not a speck on it, not a speck to shade it -- that is the kind of ministry that has come into the gentile world. The old dispensation had its full day, but it has worn itself out, "That which grows old and aged is near disappearing", Hebrews 8:13. It disappeared under the brilliancy of the ministry of Paul, and so it does in those who receive Paul's ministry. It is a cloudless gospel now. Stephen's testimony was reflected in Paul's ministry.

Rem. It was from within.

J.T. Morally Stephen was within; that was his place. He had said the last word to Israel. If he had come back, like Paul did who was stoned and rose up again, what kind of ministry would he have pursued? He had seen something no one else had seen.

Ques. Is the truth of this set forth in the Supper?

J.T. Yes; christianity is there in essence. Israel showed itself reprobate, putting a man to death whose face shone as the face of an angel. Any system that can do that is out of court with God. Suppose Stephen had revived, what kind of ministry would he have given? He was the great minister of glory and he would not have gone back to judaism. He had clung to the nation, but now he would have

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gone on with the new thing. In Acts 8, in spite of the onslaught of the wicked one, the evangelical spirit is active. It is active in the presence of the most wicked hostility of the devil. He entered, in the person of Saul, into houses to obliterate the gospel, but Philip is active in the gospel to show that God is not defeated. Then after God shows that the spirit of the evangelist survives the onslaught of the devil. He brings in the power of the kingdom to show how completely superior He is to all down here. There is a light from heaven, and a sheet from heaven, and, following on that, the gentiles are introduced and receive the Spirit; there you have the full gentile position.

It is a great thing now to enter within; it brings us to the full result of the gospel. The gospel announces the full position in Jesus in heaven, and, therefore, the gospel, fully answered to, leads us there. Directly we lay hold of the heavenly position, we come out in heavenly colour. In Numbers 15 the children of Israel were to have a "riband of blue", which signified that they were a heavenly people. Stephen was heavenly; he had the face of an angel -- an angel being synonymous with a heavenly being.

Ques. Will you say a little more as to the holiest.

J.T. As we were saying, there are two lights in which it may be regarded. God has put Himself in touch with man and hence His presence as known in Christ constitutes the holiest for the believer. Then the tabernacle is a figure of the universe, and the holiest, in that sense, would be heaven itself. In Hebrews 10 the holiest is the presence of God, hence it says, "Let us draw near".

Rem. Will you say a little as to Melchisedec?

J.T. He describes the order of the Lord's priesthood and being said to be without father, without mother, and so on. He suggests a divine Person.

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Aaron was taken from among men and he suggests the function of priesthood, as it says: "That he may minister unto me", but Melchisedec describes what the Lord is personally. We come in more on the line of Aaron and his sons. There is no such thought with Melchisedec.

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LOVE AND JEALOUSY

Song of Songs 2:8 - 14; Song of Songs 8:6 - 10

My thought in reading this scripture is to dwell on the love of Christ. This scripture forms an opportunity for presenting the love of Christ. This song is a love song -- Christ's love song.

There are many different songs in Scripture and there is great interest in them. A song is a celebration of God's intervention on their behalf; a psalm the means by which we express our experiences; every believer should have a song and a psalm. You are in the full light of the intervention of God in Christ, outside of yourself, and you celebrate this before God; then what follows on that is the wilderness, the divinely appointed place for experience, which is just as much a divinely appointed place for you as the land. It is a place appointed for us of God, so that we may prove what He is to us. That is where you learn your psalm -- you give voice to your experiences. The Psalms are the experience of the soul with God. The Scriptures abound with songs and psalms, and they should abound in the assembly; and we are exhorted to sing and make melody in our hearts to the Lord "in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs".

This Song is a love song -- composed by Christ in Spirit. The Old Testament abounds with evidences of the workings of the Spirit of Christ; the Spirit of Christ appears wherever faith appears. Noah was formed in measure by Christ, and his preaching was by the Spirit of Christ (See 1 Peter 3:18 - 20). No other spirit is of any interest to the one who knows Christ. This is specially so in the Psalms. We are not wanting in that kind of poetry in the Scriptures and it was the Spirit of Christ in David that wrote the Psalms. A man is what his spirit is. We read of

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the spirits of just men made perfect, made perfect through the Spirit of Christ, and we are called to drink in the Spirit of Christ, which is so different from the spirit of the world, which is characterised by selfishness. The Spirit of Christ lifts you to God's world, which is characterised by love, the love of Christ.

Now the Song of Solomon is Christ's love song; it is a composition of the Spirit of Christ. Solomon was a peculiar vessel in the Old Testament. Every Old Testament saint portrayed Christ in some peculiar way. David was a man of experience; he experienced life, and went through things, and hence he was the "sweet psalmist". Now Solomon is not a man of suffering; he was marked by affection, he was born into affection; his name (Jedidiah) signified, 'Beloved of Jehovah', a name divinely given. He says, "I was my father's son", as though David had not another, "I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother", Proverbs 4:3. Now you are entitled to take that place before God. He loves you as though there were not another beside! David mourned for the loss of the first child of Bathsheba, but David bowed to the judgment of God, and God gave him Solomon, and Solomon was beloved of his father, and he responded to his father's affection. Absalom was also beloved by his father, but he did not respond to his father's affection; he was like the apostate world.

"I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother". Now you are entitled to take that place. John speaks of Him as He was here, in the affections of the Father, the peculiar place He had with God while down here. "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father", and "We have contemplated his glory ... an only-begotten with a father", John 1:18, 14. Divine love had that testimony.

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Three things characterised Solomon, wisdom, sonship and affection. Solomon is a type of Christ in that way from the affection side, so that you have a suited vessel in Solomon for the Spirit of Christ to take up to sing about love, to make a love composition. The great end in view is that, if you learn the song, you learn what love is, and you learn also what jealousy is; there is no love without jealousy; if you know the love of Christ you must have jealousy, or else you do not know christianity. Jealousy is necessary for our safety, and the bride understands love and jealousy. "Love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave ... Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it". As strong as death, there is nothing to be compared with it. "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned". "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead", 2 Corinthians 5:14. There is no moral force in the world compared to the love of Christ, and under its influence you are able to judge things here, and to see that there is not one pulsation in this world for God! "Then were all dead". He died, and everything is under death, "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again", 2 Corinthians 5:15. What a practical thing the love of Christ is! How it enables you to form a judgment of all things here! All is dead for God. He has done with the world, which is but a scene of death. But God can speak of things that are not as though they were, "That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose again". There are people who are living, and the only people who are living are the people who are loving -- love is the evidence of life. "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we

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love the brethren", 1 John 3:14, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth", 1 Timothy 5:6. You have passed out of a world of selfishness and are brought into a world of unselfishness, for love is unselfish and thinks of others. Christ has established a claim over our hearts by dying, "that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves". "If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned". There is nothing like it in the world.

Jealousy saves you. You know the love of Christ, and you know jealousy, and, if you apprehend the jealousy of Christ, it will save you from the idolatry around. "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?" 1 Corinthians 10:22. The outlook of the present christian world is terrible. "Jealousy is cruel as the grave". If He loves you, He will not allow your heart to be captured by another. Satan desires to entice your soul away from Him. Paul was jealous over the assembly with a jealousy that is of God. Satan diverts hearts from Christ, but Christ will not suffer it, and Paul says, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men", 2 Corinthians 5:11. He was in earnest lest the saints should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. What is Satan using to divert your heart from Christ? It is a wholesome thing to know the "terror of the Lord". Woe be to the influence that diverts from Christ! He will not allow it. At the end of the Song the bride appreciates love and jealousy. The Lord triumphs.

This Song is Solomon's masterpiece, because he celebrates the great triumph of the Lord. Solomon composed a thousand and five songs, but this is the "Song of Songs" -- the masterpiece. In chapter 2, the Lord is seen setting Himself to gain your heart. Every christian should know something of that.

Christ expresses what is in His heart; He begins by

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telling her what goes on in her heart -- all her experiences, the bright and dark, the ups and downs. He gives the bright side first. The Lord knows your experiences. He knows what you go through, and He takes special interest in recording where He looms on the horizon of your soul, "The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains; skipping upon the hills". See how swift the Lord is! You see the way He meets a soul. It is the swiftness of love -- she appreciates his agility to draw near to her, "He standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice". The Lord has got walls to overcome to reach you. He has put no restriction on man, we put up the barriers. How many barriers do you put up between you and the Lord? Walls and lattices are fixed things; such was judaism -- that which is stationary. But the Lord is there. He would reach the soul, and He says, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock". The Lord would have movement, "Rise up". He says, 'you are in a dangerous position'. "Let me see thy countenance". A man's countenance is for God -- it is the best part of man. A beast looks down, but man was made to look up. Man was made in the image of God, to be the reflection and glory of God. The thought is, that God would look into the countenance of man. The woman who had been bowed down eighteen years, the Lord bade her look up. It is a matter of the attitude of your soul -- He wants to see your countenance and hear your voice, "Let me hear thy

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voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely". "Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm". All that is brought to pass by the knowledge of His love.

Then in chapter 8, "We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts, what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver, and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar". This is practical. Typically this refers to the ten tribes of Israel; historically the Jews are the most grasping and selfish nation in the world, but the Lord shall triumph over that people. Judah (the two tribes) will then be no longer selfish as they are now; they will be saved from the greed, avarice and selfishness that marks them now. The two tribes will then think of the ten tribes, Ephraim (the little sister) the very best of thoughts. No breasts is deformity; deformity in Scripture is want of affection, to be undeveloped in affection.

"I am a wall, and my breasts like towers", fully developed in affection, knowing His love and responding. "Then was I in his eyes as one that found favour". Judah does not vex Ephraim, but thinks of her with affection. All this indicates how completely the Lord will triumph in the day that is coming; Judah will then be wholly unselfish.

I hope you will see in this a little of what love is. We learn the love of Christ through His dealings with us. The Lord's love was measured by His death, "For love is strong as death". Jealousy saves you from the idolatrous world. Christ is jealous over you. May you be fully conscious of what you are to Him, then you will have power to help others.

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GOD'S OPERATIONS IN VIEW OF HIS OWN GRATIFICATION

Exodus 13:1, 2; Jeremiah 2:1 - 3; Song of Songs 8:6, 7; Revelation 22:16, 17

What one observes in all God's dealings is His thought that He should have something as a portion for Himself. God has affections, and His thought is that His affections should in every way be gratified. It will be found in all His dealings that He has in view something for Himself, and the end that will furnish that is not an inanimate thing or things. God has called the first creation into existence and variety marks it, for He delights in variety. That is the leading feature in the material creation, but notwithstanding all the beauty and variety of that order of things, it does not convey God's great end. The material thing passes away; it is not an end in itself, but is an index to the spiritual order. God is a spirit, and what He has in mind to secure for Himself is spirit. Hence the material order does not present to us what is in His mind to be perpetuated. What is in His mind to abide is a spiritual order of things, and if we examine that carefully we shall find it is to be formed after Himself; in fact, it springs from Him morally. The whole scheme emanates morally from God. When we come to apply that to the present moment what we discern is that christians are formed after God; the order of man which is to be before God eternally is formed after God in a spiritual way. The book of Exodus opens up the beginning of this, so in this chapter which immediately follows the celebration of the passover. God is asserting His claim, and He lays claim to the first-born. I wish you to take notice of that. If we rightly apprehend the passover we shall yield ourselves to God. I do not account any person to have truly appreciated

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the passover who does not yield himself to God. Before you can become a spiritual formation you must yield yourself to God, and there is no spiritual formation until you have done that. Hence the kingdom necessarily precedes the building. That is the order in Scripture. The primary thought of the kingdom is seen in Moses -- he was king in Jeshurun. After the truth of the passover has been introduced, Moses has a kingdom; so we are told they were all baptised to Moses in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2). That is to say, we have been handed over to Christ in our baptism, and in the faith of the passover we recognise the lordship of Christ. The One who is the Pascal Lamb is exalted to be Lord, and we are committed into His hands that our wills may be broken. I do not, of course, confine the kingdom to that, because the kingdom is also for the protection of the people of God. The kingdom necessarily existed before it was established, and the book of Judges is a testimony on God's part that the kingdom was a necessity, because every man was doing that which was right in his own eyes. It was a period of theocracy. God ruled; He was King. Moses had passed away, and the kingdom did not extend beyond Jordan; God had assumed the rule of His people, but not through a mediator. The kingdom is now in the hands of an anointed Man, and as baptised to the name of the Lord, we are brought under the sway of Jesus. If the kingdom is in the hands of the Lord, He will break your will and mine in order that you and I may be formed after Himself. There is no formative work going on in us if the will is unbroken. The Lord will do it. "Are we stronger than he?"; no, we are not. The strongest willed man Scripture presents was Saul of Tarsus. The Lord broke his will and produced His masterpiece. The Lord takes that man up as an individual. See what formative work there

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was in the apostle Paul. He was so formed after Christ that he could exhort the saints to be his followers. What a mighty triumph he was in the hands of the Lord! He was formed according to God, created in truthful righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). That is the thought we should keep in mind -- God laid claim to him for His own end. The great point is to yield oneself up to God, and as yielded up to God we become a spiritual formation.

Jeremiah 2 gives us light on the early stages of Israel's history. The Lord says, "I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown". There was nothing then for the flesh -- they went after Jehovah into a land not sown, and God says, "I remember for thee". They had forgotten. Israel then was "the first-fruits of his increase". With what pleasure He reverted to it, the kindness of youth, the freshness of first love. They had at that time appreciated the passover, and acted in faith; they had light as to Jehovah; they had passed the sea in faith; they were moved collectively as one man in the energy of faith. Suppose light is thrown on our early days, what is disclosed and what are we at the present moment? What we find in Israel is that there has been a trial of jealousy -- there had been departure in heart from God. They had turned aside in their hearts' affections from Jehovah. He became jealous (Numbers 5). Do you know what jealousy is? There are two things we come to know, love and jealousy, I want to come to these things. Israel knew love on the banks of the Red Sea. Do we know love? We talk a great deal about it. Paul says, "The greater of these is love". Love is the nature of God; love is of God. It is not a product of man's nature, "Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us", 1 John 3:16. God has made known

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His love in the death of Christ; it has to be learned there.

In the Song of Songs we get love treated of. It sets forth the love of Christ. "The song of songs, which is Solomon's", was Solomon's masterpiece, the masterpiece of the greatest poet. Solomon wrote by the Spirit of Christ. One attaches no value, no moral value, to any composition save what is by the Spirit of Christ. Solomon's song is the triumph of Christ over the affections of His people. It is His triumph over His people, not over His enemies. The Lord is dealing with each one of us in order to triumph over our affections and to gain them. He takes great and wonderful pains to accomplish this. The bride knows what love is, and what jealousy is. If you look into the law of jealousy, you will understand that anyone who goes through that ordeal is not likely to forget it. If you are unfaithful, the Lord will put you through that trial. Jealousy is founded on love and is a sure proof of it. There is a fountain of love in the heart of Christ for you, and, therefore, there is jealousy. The trial of jealousy is a terrible thing, both for christendom and for Israel. Israel has to go through it yet. The systems around us are called christian, and christendom is responsible as outwardly espoused to Christ. Can you take that into your mind? The professing system today is the ruin of what Paul espoused to Christ. What a fearful responsibility rests upon that system, but there is no change in the heart of Christ toward His assembly, and if there is love, there is also jealousy. If the Lord Jesus Christ takes you into relationship with Himself and makes you know His love, you will have to undergo the ordeal of jealousy if your heart is diverted from Him. You do not have to go through it if the Lord is not jealous of you. Suppose we take the church at large, has there been any cause historically for jealousy? There is abundant ground for

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suspecting unfaithfulness. The church has become a public harlot. The book of Revelation proves that she who had the responsibility of being the spouse of Christ has been utterly unfaithful. There must, therefore, be the trial of jealousy, and those who have had to pass through it will never forget it. But we can thank God for it; it proves His affection; the fact that He has got love for us is proved. Are your affections being transferred to another, even perhaps in a very little way? The Lord is the first to feel it, and He becomes jealous. "Jealousy is cruel as Sheol: the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, flames of Jah". The bride knew that. Jealousy in Christ is love in another garb. He becomes jealous in order to recover: jealousy is cruel as Sheol, unrelenting. The One who becomes jealous is all powerful. What an awful climax stands ahead of Christendom! Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? You may say, 'How may we provoke Him?'. By turning our affections to another. That is idolatry, and if the Lord has to take issue with us, the victory will be His. If the Lord takes issue with christendom, He can do it only as a jealous husband, and what a fearful end there will be for that which had the responsibility outwardly of being the spouse of Christ. The bride knew love too, for after having spoken of love she says: "We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts"; that is, divine affections had not been formed. The bride knew the love of Christ and thinks of her sister. The true proof of genuine love to Christ is that you think of others. She had a profound sense of the love of Christ; "Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong as death". She would cling to Christ now, as having no confidence in herself, for there she would be secure. Cling to Him, and trust to His power to preserve you. But, as I was saying, the effect of knowing love is that the

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bride thinks of her little sister; she wonders what is to be done for her. She had the very best thoughts of love. The little sister was in a very poor way, she was not developed in affection, but love in the bride as restored thinks of others. "If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar". That is what love would do; it would build up and adorn its object, having in view development of love for Christ.

I read the passage in Revelation 22 to show how completely the Lord has regained the affections of the saints. As we have been seeing, God will have something for Himself, a race formed spiritually after Christ in affection. That is what is to continue before God. At present it takes the form of a people like ourselves. We are baptised to the Lord, and as committed to this the Spirit has a free hand to form us after Christ. The church outwardly is proved to be unfaithful and the curse is pronounced upon her; she bears the curse, "Her children will I kill with death", Revelation 2:23. But in a hidden way there have been those characterised by faithfulness to Christ, I hope, through the Lord's grace that as a result of our being together, there will be more decision for Christ. The Lord's appearing is undoubtedly drawing near. He looks for victory. In the end He secures for Himself the affections of His people, so I read those few verses in the end of Revelation to show the importance of being able to give a true answer as to who Christ is, "Whom say ye that I am?". The Lord Himself raised the question on two occasions, and I have noticed how from time to time the question of the Lord's Person is raised amongst us. The end in view is that He would constantly remind us of who He is. Outside of the enclosure of the Spirit there is no knowledge of Christ. No soul has knowledge of Christ outside the region of the Spirit.

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David says in Psalm 110, "Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put thine enemies as footstool of thy feet". No one could understand that apart from the Spirit, and now at the close of Revelation the Lord says, "I am the root and offspring of David". Here He does not raise the question as to the truth of His Person; He answers Himself in all the dignity of who He is, "I am the root and offspring of David". There is no question now as to who He is, and all is settled too in the heart of the bride, settled in intelligence and in affection as to Christ. She knows Him, and directly He answers Himself, the Spirit and the bride say, "Come". This is distinct evidence of spiritual formation; the trial of jealousy is past, the bride is proved to be faithful. The outward thing may be unfaithful, but there are those who have intelligence as to Paul's word in 2 Corinthians 11:2, "I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ". That has been secured in the end. There is the evidence of faithfulness, and directly He presents Himself she knows Him. She can answer the question, "Whose son is he?". The assembly can answer it. We know the Lord is "The root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star", and we add to our knowledge that word of affection, "Come". That is the great aim of the Lord to secure. The great effort on the part of the evil one is to seduce us; every true servant knows something of this. The Lord is jealous over you young people lest you should be diverted by the things of the world. This in principle becomes idolatry, but the bride loves Him; she says to Him, "Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm".

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WALKING IN DIVINELY PRESCRIBED CONDITIONS

John 14:15 - 23

My thought is to seek to point out the advantages of walking in divinely prescribed conditions, and I shall take the liberty of referring to these conditions as embodying God's covenant. Whenever God is pleased to make a covenant, that covenant involves the conditions in which those are set with whom, or in regard of whom, the covenant at any given time is constituted. Moreover the privileges consequent upon the covenant depend upon the observation of the conditions on the part of those who are set in them.

Now, whilst God has not made a covenant directly with us, the assembly, nevertheless the conditions under which the assembly was inaugurated were involved in the new covenant; in other words, the assembly was established in the world under the conditions involved or set forth in the new covenant. The apostle Paul took the ground of being a minister of the new covenant. He said that God had made him, with others, a competent minister of the new covenant, "Not", he says, "of the letter, but of the spirit, for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life", 2 Corinthians 3:6. "The Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty", 2 Corinthians 3:17. In other words, as I understand it, the apostle and his associates in their ministry established the conditions under which the assembly was inaugurated, as it has come to us in this world.

I refer to that at the outset to get an understanding of the conditions in which the early christians were set. As I said, the apostle took the ground of being a minister and that was in the spirit of the covenant. Then he goes on to explain that the Lord is that Spirit, and in order to understand the expression,

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you must understand the gospels. The gospels present to us the Lord, so that when you read the gospels and understand them, you say that is the Lord. So the apostle says, "The Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". In other words, the apostle brought in not only a system of doctrine, but the "Spirit of the Lord". He brought into this world, I might say, into the gentile world, the Spirit of the Lord, and what followed upon that was that the gentile believer and the Jewish believer were set in relationship with one another in a spirit of liberty. That is what the apostle James, as I understand it, calls the "Law of liberty", so that christianity was established in the world in the Spirit of Christ. It was established in the law; it was controlled by the law, but that law was the Spirit of the Lord which was liberty. I conceive that to be, in a brief way, the conditions under which the early christians were set. James, as I said, calls it the "Perfect law of liberty", James 1:25.

I wish to come back to that, but, first of all, I go to the Old Testament in order to show that the advantages of the covenant, or the advantages of the conditions in which God was pleased to set up man at a given time, were only enjoyed as the conditions were complied with.

Now, take Adam; you remember the remark of the prophet Hosea referring to Israel, "They like Adam have transgressed the covenant". From that we can gather that, in the mind of God, He established a covenant with Adam. He placed Adam here on earth under certain conditions. Adam was set up under certain conditions; they were briefly expressed. Adam was put under law, but the Spirit of God calls it the covenant, and we may dwell upon it with interest. There was a being deriving all that he was morally from God. All that he was morally he derived from God; and, as deriving from God, there

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was that which answered to God, and so placed him in conditions, in circumstances, which in every way enhanced his relationship with God. The environment was calculated to enhance his relationship with God. Everything tended to promote interest in, and love to, his Creator. Consequent upon that, God came into the garden.

You may perhaps have difficulty as to divine Persons moving towards you, but I just call attention to it as the scripture presents it. God came into the garden. He was not there always, but He came in, not in order to discover the sinner, Adam, for the scripture does not present that. "The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day". He came into it at a moment which would be most advantageous to Adam, for I need not remind you that the elements had no effect upon God. If the cool of the day referred to anything, it referred to Adam. That happy relationship between God the Creator and the being whom He had created was in God's mind, so He came in and walked in the garden in the cool of the day and He called for Adam. There was the creature to whom God had imparted that which was intended to answer to Himself, and God looked for response. There would have been a full answer on God's part to man as under covenant conditions, and as abiding in the covenant Adam might count upon the divine presence, upon what I may speak of as divine visitation. One may easily infer that these would continue, as God would vouchsafe His presence to Adam in the garden. Instead of having response from His creature, He found Adam hiding.

But I pass on to another covenant; I pass over to Noah. Although there was a most remarkable covenant made with Noah and his sons and the beasts of the field, and with the earth, the Scriptures do not open up to us what Noah and his sons and

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family might have enjoyed. They do not open that up to us, because, as in Adam's case, so in Noah's, directly he was set up here under the terms of the covenant, he completely failed, so that the full bearing of the consequence of the covenant, or what it involved, is not brought out.

When we come to Abraham, God is free to open up to us both by light and actual fact what His mind is for His people. Now, we have here the thought of sovereignty and power, "I am the Almighty God; walk before me", I want you to take that in. Here is God opening up to Abraham the light of His power. Abraham was to walk before God; that is a divine thought, to walk before God. Now God enters into covenant with Abraham at once, and that was the covenant of circumcision, I cannot enlarge on this covenant, the peculiar blessings consequent upon the observation of the terms, but Abraham answered to the terms, he was circumcised, his son Ishmael, all his males, and all his house. He brought the truth of circumcision into his house; he was equal to the terms of the covenant. Next, following upon that, he was in his tent door and God visited Abraham! A wonderful moment! I take it to be the supreme moment of his history; his house and all that he had were answering to the conditions, the acknowledgment of it being seen in circumcision, and he received a divine visitation.

Now, I want you to ponder these things, that God should vouchsafe to us His own presence, as we walk in the observation of the conditions. No one with spiritual instinct could fail to delight in the picture in Genesis 18. God made a covenant with Abraham, and with becoming activity on the part of Abraham, he was circumcised from the flesh, for the flesh never pleased God. His activities, and those of Sarah in the presence of God, were in every way in keeping with the occasion, and then we see how

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God associates with Abraham. He lingered with him. The angels went to Sodom, but God lingered, and He said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? ... For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him".

I pass on to Israel. The next covenant that we have is what God proposed to Israel. Having taken them out of Egypt, He brought them to Himself upon eagles' wings. Think of that, eagles' wings! "I have borne you on eagles' wings". What interest there was with God at that moment! It was when Israel was young. "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son", Hosea 11:1. It is upon youthfulness that divine love found an outlet. "I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth", Jeremiah 2:2. What delight God had with Israel! "I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself". I now make a proposal to you, "If ye will ... keep my covenant, then shall ye be my own possession out of all the peoples" and then I can place you anywhere, "For all the earth is mine". But, He says, 'I want you to understand the terms of My covenant'. That is Exodus 19. Exodus 20 contains the terms of the covenant, and at the close of that chapter, we have the same principle established, as I have already pointed out. The Lord says there, "In all places where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee, and bless thee". God would come to His people. The fact is this, the very highest blessing is the presence of divine Persons. What could exceed it in the soul's enjoyment? What could exceed the consciousness of the presence of divine Persons? "In all places where I shall make my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee". These were the terms offered to Israel in connection with the covenant, I am not dwelling on the dark side in all these cases, for the divine end was never reached. The fact is, we never

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reach anything except on the principle of what is new. It is always on the principle of what is new, some new thing that God brings us into. As I have been saying, the apostle Paul takes the ground of being a minister of what is new, and I believe the best way to understand the covenant is to understand Paul's ministry.

Referring to the passages read, I would remind you that the Lord spoke these words at the Supper. These sayings of the Lord all took place on the occasion when the Supper was instituted and I want you to bear that in mind. Whilst John does not give us the covenant in any formal terms, what he does give is the spirit of it; that is the great thing. What I have especially before me is that we might get some impression of the spirit of it. The apostle says, "The Lord is that Spirit". Whilst Matthew and Luke refer formally to the covenant (the Lord said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood") John gives us the spirit of it; that is the important feature. I do desire that our souls would lay hold of the spirit of it. The apostle says, "The Lord is that Spirit", and if you want to get that and understand what it is, you have to read the gospels and study John 13. There you have the Lord; I say, 'That is the Lord'. You understand what I mean? A man does something beneficial, he does something that is advantageous to the people, and we say, 'That is the man'. Now John 13 is the Lord.

You will never become acquainted with Christ save in that way. You must get at the spirit of the thing; and where that is -- the Spirit of the Lord -- there is liberty. Did you ever see love bound up? Love always finds an outlet. The apostles show the activity of divine love here, and it was never shut up. It always found an outlet, and that is what the gospels bring to us. The more you know of the Lord, the more you love and understand the spirit of

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the covenant. So the apostle James says, "So act, as those that are to be judged by the law of liberty". How do your actions stand in the light of that? Suppose you measure yourself in the light of the apostle's word. He says, 'Now you are to act as those who are to be judged by the perfect law of liberty'. Well, you have no need to wait for the judgment seat of Christ. The perfect law of liberty is the code of christianity. It is the present code of the people of God. The apostle says, 'The Lord is the Spirit of it'. The covenant of John 13 -- ponder it, that is the Lord, that is what He is, look at Him -- He lays aside His garments, He takes a towel, basin and water. That is the Lord. Whatever the thought is, that is the Spirit of God's way of presenting Christ to us. You see what I have done, "Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet". "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you". How do you love? How are you going to answer to the perfect law of liberty? There it was in Christ. "As I have loved you ... love one another". What happy terms, what blessed terms are those under which we are placed! The Lord Jesus presents to us the spirit of it. We are to be formed according to that. The apostle says, "We all", that is, each one of us, "looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face". What is that glory but the expression of what He is? He who carried out the divine will here, that is the Lord! "We all, looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face". What is His glory? His glory was the effectuation of the divine will. He was the spirit of the covenant. "We all ... are transformed according to the same image". We are in correspondence with one another. We are all made alike. It is His mind to bring us into correspondence; that

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does away with all social distinctions. We are brought into correspondence with Christ and with one another. It is the perfect law of liberty which does the levelling. If we are glorying, we are all happy, we are glorying in that which God has done for us. We are brought to correspond with Christ and with one another. There is no discrepancy between you and me. The divine mind is to bring us into correspondence with Christ and with one another, so that there is no discrepancy. You have nothing to boast in more than I. We are brought into correspondence by the glory of the Lord.

John 13 intimates the terms of the covenant in the spirit. The Lord puts things on the true basis, according to the divine basis. "If ye love me, keep my commandments", and then He unfolds the same principle that I pointed out earlier. We may say, there is nothing said about the covenant in John, nothing said about the Supper, but there is something really greater than the outward form, there is the spirit of the thing. The outward form is of little account apart from the spirit of it. Elsewhere, the Supper is formally presented to us and also the covenant, but John gives the spirit of it. The Lord presents it, and we are put into correspondence with it now, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will beg the Father, and he will give you another Comforter". I do not dwell upon this. He then says, "I am coming to you". Now, that is what I want to dwell upon for a moment. He says, "I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you". Now, take that verse with the preceding one about the Father coming and the Son coming; you can clearly see that you have the same principle established that appeared in the garden of Eden, that appeared in connection with Abraham, and also with Israel. As you serve Him in the terms of the covenant, you have the divine Presence. No one can

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undertake to exhaust a subject like this; I only want to suggest things to you, I would hesitate to define. All that ministry can do is to present impressions or thoughts for you to work out. You will find out first of all, without any conditions being stated, the truth of the word, "I will come to you"; secondly, that He comes to the individual and manifests Himself, and thirdly that He and the Father come to visit you. I want you to take notice of that active verb. We ought not to hesitate to allow divine Persons to use active verbs, that is -- to come.

In maintaining or observing the terms of the covenant, we can depend upon blessing. Such is that which God vouchsafes to His people in this day. In other words, the present moment is a provisional moment, there is nothing final or permanent. It is a provisional moment in view of testimony. The time for eternal blessing is coming; we have it now in measure, and in the meantime we have all that is necessary to sustain us. For the Lord to come to us is one thing, for Him to come for us and receive us to Himself is another thing. To "come to" or "coming to" us is the provisional side of things.

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THE HOUSE OF GOD AND THE VALUE OF LIVING IN IT

Hebrews 3:1 - 6

G.M. I suggested this scripture because it states formally that the saints are God's house. The question is often raised, What is the house? So it is better to have a formal statement from Scripture, "Whose house are we".

H.B. Why is the condition brought in "if indeed we hold fast"?

J.T. Because the house of God is a real formation; it refers to those indwelt by the Spirit. It is not fair to connect it with an unreal state of things; it is not scriptural. It is connected with a real state of things, persons indwelt by the Spirit. It is well to have clearly before us what it is at present. We are the house of God in a provisional way; we are not always to be that. Moses is said to have been a faithful minister in God's house. There are three men in the Old Testament, who stand in a special way connected with the house -- Jacob, Moses and David. In Genesis 28 you get the first mention of the house in Scripture; then in the Psalms it is stated positively that David would not give sleep to his eyes, till he found a place for Jehovah; but Moses was a servant in the house, whereas when we come to the antitype of Moses, Christ is Son over it, and Son over it as the One who has built it.

Ques. Would you say His death is the foundation of the house?

J.T. Yes. David had light as to the foundation; it was laid where the sword of Jehovah was sheathed. It will be remembered that when David numbered the people, he incurred the displeasure of Jehovah, and the sword of Jehovah was set to destroy the city. David accepted the full responsibility of the guilt, and he has guidance as to approaching God on

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mount Moriah. He was afraid to go to Gibeon, where the tabernacle was, where that which represented the first covenant stood, but he did approach on the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite; and he discerned that God accepted his sacrifice there. The sword of Jehovah was sheathed there, and that actually took place in the death of Christ; so the foundation of the house is clearly laid in connection with the complete execution of justice on the man in the flesh, and, at the same time, man is accepted there. That light has to enter our souls as to the foundation of the house. David prepares immediately for the house, following on that.

J.S. Why is the first thought of the house in connection with heaven in Jacob? "This is the gate of heaven".

J.T. I think that he felt God was there; that is another point in regard to the house; it must be so. Jacob was not equal to the presence of God! God was there, and the house is in close proximity to heaven, though it may be instituted on earth. Was it in your mind that some take account of it like this, not as a very happy place, Mr. M.?

G.M. Well, I do not know; it often seems to young people as if it were not a very congenial place.

G.N. That is the view from the outside. Jacob said, "How dreadful is this place!"

Ques. Was Jacob an object of interest to heaven?

J.T. Yes; a lonely wanderer, and a man who had established a very bad reputation; but with all that, an object to heaven.

Rem. The ladder is the link with heaven.

J.T. Yes; the angels of God are ascending and descending on it. As to the significance of that, it refers to Christ; He only could be an object to heaven. It is alluded to in John 1, "Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man".

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Ques. What are the greater things the Lord alludes to in John 1?

J.T. The things of christianity; man as such -- the Son of Man -- should be an object to heaven, not Israel.

G.N. Why do you give David precedence over Solomon?

J.T. David had the light of the house; Solomon simply carried out things according to the light David had. David had light as to it, and got it, as I said, by seeing that the foundation was to be laid where the sword was sheathed. It is a great point to get hold of; man is accepted on the ground of sacrifice and on that spot (mount Moriah, in the type) where the flesh is condemned. He discerned that that was the spot where the house should be, and that is for us to see. The flesh is refused there, and man is accepted -- the house is for man. 1 Chronicles is really greater than what follows; not only do you get the foundation of the house, but the service of the singers and others all provided by David. So Solomon only puts into effect what is suggested by David. David tells us formally that he had the pattern of all these things by the Spirit, and what hindered him building was simply that he had been a man of war.

Moses had to do with the house as a more provisional thing, not as a permanent fixed abode. Moses had to do with the house in a contrary scene, in the wilderness. It is important to see where the ministry of Moses stands in the ways of God; the order of the house comes in in connection with his ministry. He got his commission at Horeb, and he was to take the people out of Egypt to serve God there at Horeb. There the covenant was given, and the order of the house. In regard to the ministry of Moses, you will find continually repeated in his message to Pharaoh that the people were to be let go to serve God. In all

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his messages to Pharaoh this is apparent; the people were not merely to be liberated, but to serve God, and the primary thought was to serve God in mount Horeb. So it is clear that if we are to be in the house where God's service is to be carried on and maintained, we must be apart from Egypt.

G.G. In what way is the house presented in Hebrews?

J.T. In connection with the greatness of Christ. We are called upon to consider Him, and He is the greater than Moses. We are said to be the house -- the saints -- and Christ is over it, not as Moses, simply an appointed servant, but Christ is over it as Son, and this lends a very great element to the house, which did not exist in Old Testament times.

Ques. What brings us practically to the truth of the house?

J.T. If God obtains His place in your soul, you are very glad to hear about His house. You have the desire that David had, to dwell in the house of the Lord. What do you say?

Rem. I was thinking of the fear we were speaking of connected with the house of God. Why is it?

J.T. They do not know God. Had Jacob known God, he would not have had fear. He came back after to that spot, and the fear was gone; he did not call it a dreadful place any more. God had met him and wrestled with him. Young believers do not always appreciate the house as they do not know God.

Rem. You get the house in Exodus 15.

J.T. Yes, I will prepare Him a habitation.

Ques. How do we get free of Egypt?

J.T. What helps as to Egypt is that after we get light as to the resurrection of Christ we are met immediately by Marah, and this refers to the discipline of God. The judgment of God is really upon us, as men in the flesh just as much as on the Egyptian;

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we have to drink the judgment in that sense; but its character is altered when we see Christ has been under it. We see He has been under what seems so adverse to us.

H.B. We have to drink what overwhelmed the Egyptians.

Ques. What is the character of the epistle to the Hebrews?

J.T. Hebrews is a book of contrasts. The house is under the supervision of the Son, and if so you have a wonderful atmosphere in the house. That lends it a wonderful attractiveness. Instead of its being a dreadful place, as it was to Jacob, it becomes a very desirable place. Then we have not to go far to seek it. As this passage formally states, it is the saints: "Whose house are we".

Ques. Why is it put in that conditional way -- "If indeed we hold fast"?

J.T. Lest it might be connected with an unreal state; lest it might be connected with a state of profession.

Ques. Is not continuance a feature of the house?

J.T. Yes; what marks the house is confidence in God, and rejoicing in hope; those who compose the house have confidence in God and rejoice in hope.

Ques. Please say something as to the provisional character of the house.

J.T. We are not to be the house permanently. The house of God stood connected with the Jew, and was taken up in a provisional way among christians, pending the re-establishment of Israel, "Your house is left unto you desolate", the Lord says in Luke 13, and in chapter 14 you get "My house may be filled". The idea of the house is thus continued in a provisional way, pending the reestablishment of Israel when again it will be connected with Israel. It was important that the Hebrews should understand this.

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H.B. Is that why we are taken back to the tabernacle?

J.T. Yes; here it refers to the wilderness.

G.N. Israel should have been the reflection to the nations of what God was.

J.T. God dwelling in the midst of the people should have given character to the people. That is the divine thought, and when you come to christianity, that is what marks the house; those who compose it are in sympathy with God.

Ques. Is the Spirit's voice limited to the house?

J.T. Yes, I think so; the Spirit speaks there.

A.N. Do you think the house of God is connected with the sphere of purpose, or how God is known in the way of testimony, or both?

J.T. Both, I think. The house in natural things is that in which the man himself is reflected; so with God's house. That gives the house a very great place. Then too, the house of God is universal; and that is the most important thing we can accept; it is not a local idea. The house of God is universal; those who compose it are not of any particular nation.

Rem. The law of the house is holy.

J.T. Yes, for God is holy: "Be ye holy, for I am holy". As we were saying, the house is a universal idea; and those who compose the house are exercised about universal things, not about national things.

Ques. When does the provisional aspect terminate?

J.T. When we are transferred to heaven; the idea then is taken up in Israel.

Rem. Christ built the house.

J.T. Yes; He is a divine Person, and is necessarily greater than any servant could be. The universe is not God's house now, for the reason that it is not clean. It has to be cleansed. It will be so in the millennial state; there will be no part of the creation in which God is not known. We take the position

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now, in a provisional way; but in the future the position will be taken in regard to the whole universe.

Ques. Does God dwell in the house?

J.T. God dwells there, and His character is reflected. The first epistle to Timothy indicates the character of the house.

Ques. How do you distinguish between the Father's house and God's house?

J.T. The former is John's line; the latter is Luke's line, and stands connected with the gospel. The Father's house is the family sphere, and refers to what is eternal.

D.G. Will the house of God cease with the millennial order of things?

J.T. Well, you will have the tabernacle of God. I am not prepared to say that the tabernacle is exactly the idea of the house; still, God is with men eternally. It is what wisdom had before her. It is the great end of God's ways, and He secures that -- a dwelling with men; but the idea of the house, as we have been thinking of it here, is where it is introduced into a contrary scene, and God's order is to be maintained in the presence of what is contrary.

Rem. "He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house"; the allusion is to Christ.

Ques. When did He build the house?

J.T. The provisional house?

Rem. Yes.

J.T. At Pentecost. Christ embraces the two figures, David and Solomon. David prepared the material and Solomon put it together. Christ answers to both, so that we have now a habitation of God by the Spirit.

Ques. What about Matthew 16?

J.T. The point there is "living". In scriptures that have reference to Jews and Jewish christians, the idea of living is employed. Peter says, "Thou

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art the Christ, the Son of the living God". So in 1 Timothy where our behaviour is spoken of in connection with the house it goes on "which is the assembly of the living God". Matthew 16 is the assembly viewed as such, and that never ceases, but the house character is a provisional thing.

Rem. It has a peculiar force on that account.

J.T. Yes; and I will tell you another thing; the house in the future will never equal what it is now, as it has now taken form in the greatest and most dignified family in the mind of God. If you take what is most august in the counsels of God and place it down here, in the sphere allotted to Israel, it will bear that testimony in a much more dignified way than Israel. So, too, with eternal life; the testimony to it will be borne in a more dignified way by the assembly than by any other family. When it is taken up and applied to a heavenly family, you can see what a dignified character it will have. Just as in ordinary life all have to eat and drink and sleep, but means and education and refinement tend to add a peculiar lustre to life, so it is in divine things; the dignity that attaches to the assembly tends to render the testimony to eternal life more dignified than it would be in connection with any other family.

Ques. Does the house present a different thought in Timothy to what it does in Hebrews?

J.T. Timothy enlarges upon it, and treats it as a subject; it is only introduced here in Hebrews in connection with the Apostle and the High Priest. Christ was great in contrast to Moses, who was only a servant. Timothy treats of it as a subject and the condition becoming to it.

Ques. What are the functions of the house?

J.T. The house, taken as a whole, is a provisional idea. It is that in which God dwells, and His character is known. It is evangelistic. We have a place of nearness to God, and can intercede for all outside.

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We pray for all men; it is a universal idea. We ought to be enlarged in that regard. We belong to an order of things that is universal, not national.

D.D. There is the idea of room connected with the house.

J.T. Oh yes; Luke 14 shows it is a very wide sphere, but God intended it to be filled. It is a great help to see its universal character. We pray for kings, not the king.

Ques. Is that the idea of Acts 10?

J.T. The point in the four-cornered sheet was that it was universal.

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GOD'S IDEAL

Luke 10:38 - 42; John 12:3 - 9

I connect these scriptures, because they present to us in an individual, a woman, the leading characteristics of christianity; and I desire to speak about christianity. I desire to speak of it, as presenting that in which God realises His ideal. It has come in, in a certain sense, as an interruption -- not an interruption of God's eternal counsels, but as an interruption of His ways on earth. But whilst I venture so to speak of it, it is an interruption that is exceedingly pleasing to God, because it realises that which we have spoken of as God's ideal. God realises His ideal in the presence of a world that is antagonistic to Himself. He has a peculiar pleasure in that, because He has in christianity a vessel ennobled as the complement of Christ in heavenly glory, which lends a lustre to every vessel connected with it. God had given expression to many thoughts in connection with His earthly people, but all these thoughts are now set forth in christianity. They have taken a peculiar lustre from the fact that the vessel is a heavenly vessel. Take, for instance, eternal life, which was a thought that God has given expression to to Israel. He had preached the gospel to Abraham, and had promised eternal life in principle to all the families of the earth in Abraham. It was God's mind in regard to Israel, and, on the ground of this, every Jew expected it, and the Lord coming into manhood brought it into form to Israel. The divine idea was realised in a Man among them. The Lord said, "Ye will not come to me that ye might have life". Man's will shut him out from the blessing. Hence the Lord turns to His sheep. The Father's commandment was that, life eternal. In giving it to His sheep, He gives it to them as separated from the nation. That company had a place in connection

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with Christ in heaven. The testimony of eternal life is set in the assembly, in a vessel which from its heavenly calling and dignity necessarily lends a lustre to eternal life, which it could never have had in Israel. God takes particular delight in christianity, that in it here on earth He realises His ideal. He sees secured in practical form every expression of His in regard to Israel -- the worship of God and the service of God, all set forth in the assembly.

I have been saying that it is a sort of interruption, but it is an interruption that affords peculiar pleasure to God. In the book of Genesis the generation of Esau is given in chapter 36, and there is no interruption. The generations of Esau are pursued by the Spirit of God until the line of Esau is seen on the throne of the world. God allows it to go on. Now in the next chapter of the book we have the generation of Jacob and, directly we have that, there is an interruption -- we have Joseph. No other generation is mentioned; God, as it were, has turned aside to Joseph. The generations of Jacob are overlooked until we find Joseph enthroned in Egypt. Look what there was in Joseph for the pleasure of God. It was Christ, as rejected of His brethren, under the eye of God, until He is received in glory by the gentile world. Then the interruption is ended, and we see Israel in connection with Christ.

In Exodus we have a similar line of thought. In chapter 6, after Moses and Aaron were charged with a message to Pharaoh, the Spirit of God gives a list of the heads of the fathers of Israel. There is an interruption. I wish to dwell upon that. We have three families, the heads of three families. When it comes to Levi, it stops. The Spirit of God gives us the full line; in other words God is taking up Israel in responsibility. He reaches the Apostle and High Priest, i.e. Christ the antitype, the One by whom the new system is to be established; then He stops.

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That is christianity. God reaches Christ, as it were, in connection with Israel in responsibility; we have the Apostle and the High Priest of our profession.

In the book of Hebrews it is not a question of Israel in responsibility but the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. That is a very wonderful foundation of what the apostle had in his mind; now we are to consider Him. We have the Apostle and the High Priest of our profession. It is not now a question of the reinstatement of Israel on the ground of profession, but God has established a completely new system, a system which embraces the heaven and the earth, and we are to have part in it. As I have been saying, the names of the heads of the families are interrupted; the Spirit reaches the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Now we need to consider Christ. What a position the antitype had in regard to the world system! But there was the position; God reached the Apostle and High Priest. We have Him by whom the new system is inaugurated and by whom the service of God is carried on.

I read these two scriptures because they present to us what one understands to be the features in christianity that are peculiarly pleasing to God. I wonder if our hearts are exercised as to that to which it has pleased God to call us. Exodus 18 describes the kingdom. The people were in the wilderness, and they are in the recognition of divinely-appointed authority in a man. Every need arising amongst them was taken to Moses. Would that we were able in all simplicity to take everything to Christ! Nothing happened amongst the Israelites but what was taken to Moses. In the next chapter God says, "I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself". He says, as it were, I want to open up what is in My heart in regard to you. "Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all

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people, for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation". I allude to chapter 19, because it presents to us what is in the mind and heart of God. If we are to be with Him, we are to be formed according to Him. God, having now the people with Himself, would open up His heart to them. I connect that with Luke 10. The chapter shows us man in need here. In the book of Hosea, the remnant, as having the spirit of faith, say, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us, in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight", Hosea 6:1, 2. I understand that the Lord was here on the part of God, in testimony, and the remnant recognised the testimony. Now the spirit of faith was in Israel when the Lord was here, and the Lord was here in answer to the spirit of faith. He entered into the house of Bethany, and there the Lord was more than a healer; He was there in the reviving of the hopes of Israel. Was He not in the soul of Mary a reviver of her hopes? What conclusion would the spirit of faith have come to? Do you understand what it is to be raised up the third day? In the resurrection of Christ, we have the raising up of every hope, and we are to live in that. We shall live by the spirit of faith in His sight. I understand that to be brought about by the quickening power of the teaching of the covenant. We are raised up by the working of God who raised Christ from the dead. It is a question of God's power. Faith always takes account of the power of God. I refer for a moment to the faith of Joseph. The faith of Joseph is the counterpart of the faith of Abraham. The faith of Abraham is that God raised Christ from the dead. The faith of Joseph is that God raises the saints. He gave commandment concerning his bones.

The epistle to the Colossians enables us to take

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this ground that, if God raised Christ, we are raised by faith. We are in the light of God's power in raising Christ. There is more than that; we are also quickened with Christ. That is what I understand to be the counterpart of being raised. "We shall live in his sight". We are quickened in affection God-ward, and we live in His sight. We are secured for God eternally.

Mary was sitting at the feet of Christ, and listening. I want to dwell on that, and connect it with Exodus 19. The presence of Christ meant that God was here; there was in that Person, for her soul, the presence of God. How is God to be known in your soul and mine? We have to sit and listen. It is a wonderful thing to be brought to God in the wilderness. He says, You have seen My power, what I can do for you, but I want you to know My heart, and hence the covenant is introduced. The new covenant is that in which God opens up His heart to you. Christ is said to be a covenant for the people. Mary understood that; instinctively she understood that in that Person the heart of God was opened up to her; hence she sat at His feet and listened.

I hope there is not one here who is not making progress. See to it that you go on. Mary was, in the two days in chapter 11. There was the adequate testimony that God was there. In John's gospel she arrives at the third day, a resurrection scene. "In the third day", says the spirit of faith, "he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight". God has come in. Bethany is the sphere of the remnant. Death had come in, was on their spirits. He raised up Lazarus, the subject of their hope. In chapter 12 we see the same family in resurrection conditions. Lazarus is there; there is affection for Christ. All is over in regard to the world. In the early part of chapter 11 the two sisters were engaged with a dead man. In chapter 12 they were engaged with Christ.

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They were living in the sight of God. Our affections move towards divine Persons; we are quickened God-ward. Christ died for all that they who live should not live unto themselves but unto Him who died for them and rose again. The scene at Bethany is a resurrection scene. Christianity is that in which the divine ideal is realised. We may say that God had secured His end with Mary anointing the feet of Jesus. She takes the very costly ointment and pours it on the Lord. God never secured that in Sinai. The first covenant could not produce that. It is the new covenant, the complete outgoing of affection for Christ. I think in this woman is presented what christianity really is. The Lord defends that which is fragrant to Him. The woman in Luke 7 is a lover of Christ, and she is defended by the Lord. In Luke 10 Mary is a learner and she is defended by Him. In John 12 she is a worshipper, and she is defended as a worshipper. It is thus that John shows us how the divine thought is realised. They that worship God are to worship Him in spirit and in truth. I think that John shows us in this woman how the divine ideal is produced. It is produced by learning God in Christ. The Father seeketh such as His worshippers. That is what christianity is. It is that in which every divine thought is realised. I believe that the highest thought of God is that He should be worshipped; and that we should be free to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

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DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION

Acts 7:59, 60; Acts 8:1 - 6; Acts 9:1 - 6; 2 Timothy 4:16 - 18

What I desire to show you, beloved friends, is the character of that which receives divine support and protection in this world. That there is such a thing as divine support and protection is, I suppose, admitted by all, even in the christian world around. Nations and men assume that God acts in protection and support; but I desire to show what it is that God is supporting. It is easy to show what He is not supporting; that would not be a very difficult task. There is one thing perfectly evident that He is not supporting -- the public body of christians: I think there is very good evidence that He is opposed to it. I think that God has given very distinct evidence of His disapproval of what is going on around us. God has His own way of indicating His pleasure and displeasure; and those who have eyes can see what God supports, and what He opposes, so that it would not be a difficult task to show that the public body called christians at the present time is not receiving any support from God.

Now, I assume, as christians here each one would desire to be conscious of the support of God, and of the protection of God. I would call attention to the way God honoured and supported Christ; to show how God signalises Christ, and that in honouring, defending and supporting Him, God will not honour anything other than that which is of Christ.

Now the Lord, beloved friends, was here in the world on the part of God. It is a very great thing to read the gospels in this light, that He came into this world on the part of God. He came knowing full well what was in it; He was well acquainted with the history of the world, and He came into it with the full knowledge of all, and in perfect sympathy with every thought that was in the heart of God.

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He came into it as shown in the words; "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God", Hebrews 10:9. Now, that was a much weightier undertaking than we think; but the Lord had weighed everything, and He came into the world fully gauging every requirement of God, and fully estimating what He had to contend with in carrying it out. He came into this world as the vessel of divine glory. No greater subject of meditation could present itself to you than the presence of Christ as Son of God in Manhood. His heart was with God, and He thought with God, and took everything into account as it affected God. That was Christ here.

"The heavens declare the glory of God", Psalm 19:1; the earth was a dark spot in the universe, and what made it dark was that it was contrary to His will. What the Lord undertook was to establish the glory of God down here where everything was opposed to it. There was an Object on earth in which heavenly intelligences could see divine glory. Christ brought in, morally, all that was delightful in heaven; the glory of God shone down here. Take that in and you will have an idea of the ark of the covenant. Political, religious and social activity was brought in in opposition to that: "Take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed", Psalm 2:2. Every element of the world was set against the anointed one of God. The anointed Man was the Man here for God; God anointed the vessel of His glory. "I delight to do thy will, O my God". Every element was set in movement against that. Look at Him as He comes up out of the waters of baptism! His baptism was to fulfil all righteousness. God anointed the praying, dependent Man.

The Lord goes down before the world, but I want to show you what God vindicates and supports and protects. He "was transfigured before them ... and his raiment was white as the light", Matthew 17:2.

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You cannot explain that; He was transfigured with the glory He was entitled to, but instead of remaining in the glory, He goes down deliberately to die. Moses and Elias were talking about Him, about His death; they "spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem", Luke 9:31. He goes down deliberately to die; there was deliberate intent. One could dwell on the journey, on the scene in Gethsemane, but I only allude to them that you might have Christ before you as the ark of the covenant as He went down; apparently the powers of the world overcame Him, but the issue was between God and the world. It remained for God to show where right was.

Now the resurrection of Christ was not public, nor were the events connected with it. There were certain public events, but the world knew nothing, nor did it see Christ after resurrection. The world saw Him on the cross; He was there for God's will. He was there for God; and I have often thought of the pleasure God found in Christ in the way He removed the man that grieved God's heart. He was terminating the course of a man who had been an occasion of grievance to the heart of God. He was crucified in weakness; He went down before all the eyes of the world publicly.

To Israel He was as One having no beauty, but beauty was there. There were those who saw the beauty, to whom the light of the Lord shone, and who appreciated Him. The Lord had attracted a company to Himself; He had touched hearts and they saw His beauty.

I want to show that God vindicates Christ publicly by giving the Spirit to His disciples. I do verily believe that the gift of the Spirit was God's way of vindicating Christ. The issue was between Christ and the world, and God would decide the matter.

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The Jews, in putting Christ to death, believed they were acting for God. But was God with them? Peter said, "God was with him" (Acts 10:38), but the Jews denied it. The Spirit convinced "the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment", John 16:8. What did the Spirit establish here? He established that Jesus was vindicated! The resurrection was not public (although that vindicated Christ), but the Spirit was public. For fifty days it was undecided whom God supported, but He gave the Spirit to the followers of Jesus. What is the Spirit? The Spirit was the power by which Christ was raised, and the power by which the disciples were identified with the testimony. He was the power by which they were to be supported in their testimony. God could in that way show what He would support. He was supporting Israel in the days of David and Solomon, but that support was now withdrawn. Moses and Joshua had support but it is accorded now to those that attach themselves to Christ.

Stephen presents the case, as it were, for God in regard of Israel, filling the position in the Spirit of Christ. It was a critical moment; but his face reflected what was in heaven; "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge", Acts 7:60. So we see that God supported Stephen; He could have rescued him from the stones of his persecutors. Paul was stoned to death afterwards, and he rose up and went into the city; God could have raised up Stephen, but it was far more glorious for Stephen to go down. Stephen was in perfect accord with the ark of the covenant. In crossing the Jordan there were two thousand cubits between the ark and the camp. Stephen was allowed to follow the ark; he was equal to it by divine support. Think of the power he is able to express in the presence of the bitterest opposition, the Spirit of Christ when he went down into the waters of death. He was wholly conformed to

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Christ; he did not seek deliverance. Stephen was in the way, and he saw the glory; the end of that way was death, but the end of that death was glory! The way is through death, that is God's way. He asks for no deliverance, but he died with feelings of affection for Israel. He loved Israel, and the hopes of Israel were buried with him for the moment, and though Stephen was not allowed to remain for the testimony, yet his testimony lives. God saw to it that the light of that man's testimony should find a vessel in Saul, a man who represented the power of the wicked one for the moment.

I want to touch on the power of the kingdom. The kingdom is for the support of the testimony. David represented the kingdom, and what marked David was unwavering interest in the ark. Now Saul is a representative of the power of the world. He not only attacked the assembly corporately, but privately; he acted with intelligence and determination to carry out his designs, he visited the homes where the saints lived. He held great power; he meant to obliterate the light. God had placed a greater power in the hands of Christ; that is the kingdom. Now God brought Saul down; the Lord spoke to him; it was the meeting of two great forces, nothing could be more interesting. Saul had the power; he had letters from the high priest, he was the representative of the power of the world, but God brought Saul down. The great meeting had taken place; Christ overcame. It was an eventful meeting, the greatest that had ever taken place. It brought Saul down: "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

He wrought in Saul what corresponds to Himself, for Paul says "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?". That is the Spirit of Christ; that is the attitude of the Lord with regard to God; that is the ground to be on. In that man you have a vessel for Stephen's

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testimony; his testimony was not buried. Paul's testimony was precious; he says that his testimony was not bound. The testimony was to take the form of love to man in a vessel to be formed after Christ; now that was Paul. You know Paul's history; Paul should always be studied after Christ, I have scripture for that: "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ", 1 Corinthians 11:1. What a man he was! how the Spirit of Christ came out in him. To the Corinthians he sent Timothy, "my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ", 1 Corinthians 4:17. See how the Spirit of Christ came out in Paul, he said: 'I can only bring judgment; instead of coming myself, I send my son to you, my dearly beloved son, he will put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ'. That was the Spirit of Christ. Everywhere he went he was supported and protected. Few in our days know what it is to be forsaken of the saints, and to have to say at a moment when you need support more than at any other time, "No man stood with me", 2 Timothy 4:16. At one time he represented the power of the world against Christ; now he represents the power of Christ against the world. He stood before the emperor -- the Lord stood with him; the Lord was not ashamed of His servant Paul. He breathes out the spirit of Christ; when all forsook him he says, "I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge".

So I understand in 2 Timothy the apostle calls attention to the standard. He had carried the testimony of God into a certain position and set up the standard; we are not to recede from that. We are called upon to support the testimony, Paul's testimony. How is it to be? In accordance with the ark of the covenant; that is to be the character of the vessel. We have light; the Lord supports that in a vessel suited to it.

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So He will stand by each one of us; "When I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10), no self-consciousness there; "Behold, he prayeth", the Lord said of him to Ananias. "Behold, he prayeth" is a most wonderful commendation.

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THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD IN THE FULFILMENT OF HIS PROMISES

2 Corinthians 1:20 - 24

J.T. The scripture we have read refers to establishing, anointing, sealing, and the earnest of the Spirit. You get one element in the knowledge of God in the opening of the epistle and that is the faithfulness of God. The faithfulness of God is seen in the fulfilment of His engagements. The promises refer to the Old Testament, to Abraham. Jehovah made promises to Abraham, and they were all fulfilled in Isaac. Abraham was the root of promise; in Isaac all were fulfilled. Whatever promises there were, they are all yea and amen in Christ.

Rem. It is very important that the soul should be in the light of God's faithfulness.

J.T. Yes; this is where establishment comes in: "He is faithful who has promised", Hebrews 10:23.

Ques. Do you connect His faithfulness with the promise?

J.T. With the fulfilment of the promise. God makes Himself known as Almighty; He proves Himself such. The promises were made to Abraham; but when Jacob left Canaan, to go into Egypt, God speaks of Himself as "the God of ... thy father". It was a question of the security of the promises. They are all secured in Christ risen. All the promises were deposited in Christ on earth, but resurrection confirmed them. God's faithfulness was involved in His name. In Psalm 40 you get, "I have declared thy faithfulness", and in the knowledge of God as faithful, confidence is established. Promises could only come to any on the ground of resurrection. What God had in view in the promises, He had to make good. It is of great importance to know that God is faithful, for the soul is established in the faithfulness of God. Departure cannot alter God. Jacob was crooked,

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but God says, as it were, 'Do not be afraid, I am the God of thy father'. Jacob was established in another Man, in resurrection; Jacob's soul was set in the light of Isaac. God assumes a new name, that of Jehovah, and this involves His faithfulness. It goes further than Almighty. Isaac is a very important figure of Christ risen.

In chapter 1 of the first epistle we get "God is faithful", and again in chapter 10, "God is faithful"; that is not a promise, it is a verity. God takes a man out of this world and makes promises to him. The character of God is involved -- His faithfulness -- so He reveals Himself to Abraham as the Almighty God. He has proved Himself to be such in the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ means the promises fulfilled to Abraham; but it means a great deal more. The promises of God involve the overthrow of death, for you cannot connect blessing with a dying world, with dying. The promise to Abraham was confirmed in Isaac in Genesis 22, where you have Isaac out of death. The great principle before us is power, and the attestation of the power of God is resurrection. No believer can doubt when he sees the resurrection of Christ; it removes every fear; there is no fear! God has brought one Man out of death -- Christ -- and He can bring others out. All is secured in Him, and all is good to faith now, and in spite of all the break-down, there is nothing to fear. God's faithfulness is involved, and His power. Notice the striking character of Abraham's faith (Romans 4:16, 21). Abraham had faith in God that He was able to do what He had promised. Abraham had nothing according to flesh; all was secured in another order of Man, Christ risen. Abraham embraced the light; that is the idea of faith. The Philippian jailor believed all the light and acted upon it. Faith lays hold of the light. The way in which God has made Himself known involves the testimony;

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one cannot suppose faith apart from the testimony. Faith is the reception of the testimony.

God who "establishes us with you in Christ" is the God who is faithful. All is worked out in the assembly now. The great point to apprehend is the faithfulness of God, it is a great standby for the soul. "For glory to God by us", refers to the faithfulness of God; our position depends upon it. Paul was a monument of the faithfulness of God, he was of the seed of Abraham. The promises are in abeyance in a public way, but they are not in abeyance to the remnant. God is faithful; He has not given up His promises. You learn God's faithfulness in Christ risen; Christ went into death. God raised Him.

Ques. What is the anointing?

J.T. The anointing was to distinguish; Israel was to be distinguished. Moses says, "So shall we be distinguished", Exodus 33:16. As I understand it, anointing is for the head, a person's head is anointed. It is one thing to have the Spirit in you, and another thing to have the Spirit on you; you are distinguished when the Spirit is on you. You are marked off by the Spirit of God and others can take account of it. The boldness of a man's face is changed (Ecclesiastes 8:1), altered by the spirit; what a great thing it is to be distinguished in that way! There is true nobility in a man walking in the Spirit. It may be true in you, and not on you. In this scripture, you have the anointing, the sealing and the earnest of the Spirit. These are three different ideas. The Spirit distinguished Stephen; he was christianity personified. He was full of Christ; there was nothing else there.

Ques. Would the anointing have the blessing of others in view?

J.T. I think so; it is for testimony here. You see that in Christ, that God anointed a Man for His testimony (Psalm 2). You have the same thought in

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David. God commits Himself to Christ. He has taken up that Man.

Ques. Does this involve spiritual capacity?

J.T. In John the anointing teaches you. The point here is what God has done. The effect of the Spirit is that the boldness of a man's face is changed. You come out in the character of Christ. We are established in the anointed One. In Isaiah 42:1 we read, "Behold my servant ... in whom my soul delighteth! I will put my Spirit upon him". God would set forth Himself in Christ to gain the affections of His people. In Luke you have Christ saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me". It is the Spirit of God. Christ is the anointed One, and He is to be continued; we are anointed. The epistle to the Romans shows how we are brought into accord with the ark of the covenant.

Rem. It is the effect of the gospel in the soul.

J.T. The shittim wood refers to the blessed humanity of Christ. God could set His seal on that. The gold was upon the shittim wood. "Thy law is within my heart". The boards of the tabernacle were of the same wood.

The point is, it is God which establishes you; God does it. The point is what God can do. The outward effects of the Spirit can disappear, but the Spirit is given to you for ever. The anointing is for testimony, the sealing is for God, and the earnest is for us.

We intelligently answer to God's Amen. It is the answer in the soul to the evidence of the faithfulness of God. It is future for the nations, but all is good to my soul now.

All promises look on to the world to come. The presence of the Spirit is a testimony to the faithfulness of God. "The promise is unto you, and to your children", Acts 2:39. "That the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations", Galatians 3:14. The assembly

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comes into all the promises made to Abraham, but a great deal more too. We have all by the Spirit in Christ risen. We have there all that will be displayed in the world to come.

Where failure has come in the water is required; afterwards the towel to set you at ease in the presence of God. The first epistle answers to the water, the second to the towel. The Spirit removes everything that would cause uneasiness in the presence of God. There is no fear when the soul is in the light of all that God does.

Promises refer to the earth; they involve the question of what God can do in an evil world. The purpose of God is beyond the promises. The promises serve to bring out what God can do, He is bringing in a world according to His own nature, and putting out a lawless world. It is an immense thing to have a sense in one's own soul that God is able to perform that which He has promised. The power is resurrection -- Christ risen from among the dead. The great point is to show all that God has done. He has done these things. The Amen is simply confirmation, or affirmation, the end or confirmation of everything.

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THE DIVINE WAY OF CONTINUING THE TESTIMONY

2 Timothy 1:13, 14; Revelation 1:9, 10 (First Clause); Exodus 6:23, 25, 26; Judges 18:30, 31; Judges 20:27, 28

I have before me to call attention to the divine way of continuing the testimony of God until the end, until the coming of the Lord; as the Lord said, "If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?", John 21:22. Everyone who loves God will be interested in this inquiry. Indeed, no one who loves God and who loves Christ will be indifferent in regard of the continuance of what He cherishes such solicitude for, that is a right perpetuation of what the Lord introduced here, beginning with Himself. We all know how, after having washed His disciples' feet and communicated to them the thoughts of His heart, warning them as to what they would have to contend with, He lifted up His eyes to heaven. One of the most, if not the most, attractive pictures that Scripture affords is that the Lord, having said these things, lifted up His eyes to heaven. What uninterrupted communion existed from the outset between the Father and Himself! How in all His unwearying service the Father's eye rested with delight on Him, for He found One who would do all His will; and so the Lord lifted up His eyes to heaven. What a spectacle for heaven, if not appreciated on earth! How the Father's eyes, so to speak, would meet His! And then He poured out His heart in regard of those whom He had been ministering to and forming, with a view to the continuance in them of what cost Him, or was about to cost Him, so much. And similarly the beloved apostle, Paul, having in like manner set up the assembly in the most wonderful service next to that

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of the Lord's, set up that company at Ephesus, having declared unto them the whole counsel of God. Then he commended them to God; with what solicitude he thought of them, as they, the elders of the assembly, wept upon his neck. And so in a later day, when even Ephesus itself had failed him, he enjoins his beloved child Timothy in regard of what is so precious, the good deposit, and as we take account of these things, dear brethren, we cannot but be concerned, not only as to the preservation of the things of God in our own lifetime, but in all the time that may follow according to the will of God. It behoves each of us indeed to think of what is said of one, that he served his own generation by the will of God; but then there is, it may be, that which is to follow, and what comes to me is this, dear brethren, the importance of example. Not only am I to hand on to others, if it be the will of God, but what I may hand on to others is not only in the way of light and truth but in the way of example; as the apostle again says, "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life". That is, you see, not only the truth, the doctrine, but the manner of life. The committal on the part of God of any deposit must be contingent on the manner of life; so it is said, "If the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead dwell in you, 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". That is to say, the anointing must depend on the manner of life. What a manner of life is that of Jesus! "The Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus" -- God takes account of the manner of life, because our manner of life is the test as to how much we are formed after Jesus. How much of the life of Jesus is there? For God will have no other. He has seen the green here in Jesus, and He looks for that, He looks for the life of Jesus

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in the saints, and the life of Jesus is that which supports the anointing, hence Jesus first, the Christ next.

Well now, I wanted to show by connecting these two scriptures with what I read in the Old Testament how what I have remarked involves what, in official language, is called priesthood. We are called upon to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; consider Him. In the first scripture I read in Exodus, the Spirit of God gives us the genealogy of the tribes until we arrive at Levi, and then He stops; because for the moment He is not concerned about the tribes taking possession. He is concerned to bring before us the great vessels of the exodus. And what you will observe is that Moses' children are not mentioned -- he had sons -- whereas we have Aaron and his wife and his sons, and then Eleazar and his wife and his son Phinehas. After history will interpret the meaning of this. After history shows that whilst Moses' posterity, or one of them, is found in the way of idolatry, this son of Aaron, the son of Eleazar, is found standing before the ark of God. What I wish to point out is, dear brethren, that whilst apostleship has its own wonderful and unique place in the ways of God, it has to do with revelation, with inauguration, and is not charged with the maintenance of what is set up. If, therefore, we limit ourselves to apostleship, if we limit ourselves to light and ignore the Spirit, we shall find ourselves in the way of Jonathan. I wish the dear brethren would notice this particularly, because we have all round about us the results of adherence to the light by profession, and the total disregard of the Spirit, and all the blessed Spirit as here in this world involves, namely, the house of God. You will observe that Jonathan, the son of Gershom, served as priest in the tribe of Dan before an image made by an idolatrous man. He and his posterity carried

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on an idolatrous priesthood during all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. We are today confronted exactly with these conditions, a priesthood maintained that is not of God, not of the order of Aaron, having indeed a worthy ancestry, for what can be more honourable than the ancestry of the apostles? But to assume to occupy their place is a serious matter. Here we have an order of things which is idolatrous, supported by one who had such an ancestor as Moses, all the time the house of God is at Shiloh; a rival to the house of God, having the honour of such an ancestor. There are those who claim antiquity, and all the glamour that goes with it, only to fortify themselves against the truth of the house of God. Thank God, the house of God is still existent, and will remain while the Spirit is here; but there is that rival institution, and believers will do well to take note of its character; it continued until the time of the captivity. Yes, it did; but then there is the house of God in Shiloh; and believers today, thank God, are becoming awakened to the great fact of the house of God being still existent, and what the Lord would do for us, as we come into the light of it, is to continue it, to maintain it, and I believe that this involves the knowledge of God in every one of our souls. One sees young people being affected by the truth, and one rejoices in it, but we have to be careful to see that we are cultivating the knowledge of God and acquiring a personal acquaintance with God. Besides this, although we may partake outwardly of the symbols of fellowship we shall not reach in our souls the house of God. The house of God is contingent on the knowledge of God, for "he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him". And, further, it says, "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God". Young believers need to take note of these things,

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and especially the confession of the Son of God. It is the character in which the Lord presents Himself to Thyatira. In that assembly, idolatry was forming itself, and it continues. We have around us an idolatrous state of things which has no relation whatever to Aaron, and so the Son of God has to say to that. His eyes as a flame of fire, "But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come". He would have them, and if one could reach the ears of the people of God in that system, one would say, "Come out of her my people". The Lord would say that to them, and is saying it, for as Son of God He has got rights over His people; and the knowledge of the Son of God, and the confession of it, qualifies one for the dwelling place of God. "God dwelleth in him".

There are two things which are essential for every believer in regard of the house, and these are dwelling in love and the confession of the Son of God. These two things qualify one as the dwelling place of God. God is pleased to dwell in those who dwell in love and who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and so you come into the house. I do urge on every one here to see to it that you are in the house, not only in an outward way, but by way of the knowledge of God, by way of love, by way of confession of Jesus as Son of God.

So that the house of God, it says, is at Shiloh; that was its place. Shiloh refers to Christ. There are wonderful places in this world, as we speak, reared up in the name of the Lord, but Shiloh has no pretensions. Shiloh is the gathering centre, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto

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him shall the gathering of the people be" (Genesis 49:10) or, more correctly, 'the obedience of the peoples'. You see the kingdom subserves in that way the assembly. The sceptre and lawgiver are essential, meaning spiritually Romans and Corinthians, the Lord being the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. These are essential so that there might be the gathering of the people, the obedience of the people in the gathering place; and hence the house of God is an assured thing where Shiloh is recognised, and where there is the obedience of the people to Christ, as Paul says, "Ye ... have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were instructed". There is no realisation of the house of God, viewed from the side of gathering, apart from the saints being subject to Christ, and subject to one another. So that the rival institution stands up alongside of the house of God, but then which is to prevail? The Lord says to Philadelphia, "I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee". We can bear the reproach in the knowledge of His love, and in course of time all shall have to own who the loved ones are. Can anything, in a way, be more precious than the knowledge of being a loved one? So He says, "I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee". What an incentive there is to continuance till that glorious day when we shall be seen in triumph, as it says, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ". "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith".

Well, you see the position, the house of God at Shiloh, and the rival institution in Daniel How was the order of the house of God to be continued?

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Chapter 20 shows the man who continues, that is to say, the priest after the order, not of Melchisedec nor of Aaron, but of Phinehas. Phinehas is a priest of his own kind, he has signalised his priesthood with a javelin; he is a man who can come forth at a crisis, disregarding the consequences, and stand for God. He comes forward with his javelin at a time when everything was hanging on a thread; for Balaam's wicked device had only too well succeeded, and the camp of Israel was about to fall in the plain. One man saves the day. One man came forward and signalised his priesthood by his adherence to the holiness of God when it was about to be submerged in the abyss of corruption. The continuance till the Lord comes in the precious things He has died to secure for us is made to depend in a way, not on the advanced, for it should especially appeal to the young believer. The old ones, we trust, have long known it, and we may well pay a tribute to those who have preceded us, and handed on to us the precious heritage we have; but how are we going to hand it on to others, and to maintain it, if it be not the Lord's will to come in our lifetime?

John presents to us in his own person a priest of the Phinehas order. The Lord said of him, "If ... he tarry till I come". That was a spiritual thought. Some said that the Lord said, "That disciple should not die", but the Lord did not say that. That suggests how an error becomes prevalent among the people of God, adding to what is said. "Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar". He did not say that, but "if I will that he tarry till I come", the Lord left it for the spiritual, and one would seek to get the spiritual thought, for it is in spirit, that is, by being formed in spiritual thoughts, that we are available for the preservation of things. John says, "I was in Spirit on the Lord's day". There is the priest. First he

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says, "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ". What a priest he was! Have I ever been in an island for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus? An island is an isolated place, and the word of God, if you are true to it, and the testimony of Jesus, will isolate you at times. Thank God, no one of us shall ever be called upon to walk alone; I do not believe the Lord requires it now, but if it be necessary, am I equal to it? Are you equal to it? It is a test to be cut off, to be isolated. I know of one who said he would walk alone if necessary. I cannot say I could undertake that, but I believe the Lord would bring every one of us to that. If this treasure we have in the earthen vessel, as Paul speaks of it, is worth anything, if it is worth what Scripture says it is worth, it is worth my life, because it cost Jesus His life; He gave up His life for it. And so John says, "I ... was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus". But how was he there? Was he living out the real life of a prisoner, grinding in prison life? No, beloved, it was very different from that; martyrs are not like that. He says, "I was in Spirit on the Lord's day". What a happy time he was having! Although cut off, as I said, he had access to God. The Spirit's power opens the heavenly door, if one is rightly shut off. The doors even of the saints may be shut on you, but the door of heaven will open. Wonderful triumph for a martyr! "I was in Spirit", not as if it was anything extraordinary; it is referred to as something he well knew; so that we need not fear the consequences. If we lay hold of the value of the treasure, of the deposit come down to us, and are resolved to stand by it, we shall be victorious. In all the addresses to

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the assemblies overcomers are assumed. It is not, if he overcomes, but "He that overcometh", to ensure that there should be overcomers. So we have all the sympathy of Christ in the opened heavens.

He says, "I was in Spirit on the Lord's day". What was Nero doing? What were they doing at Rome? Nothing like that. All the facilities of the world combined could not afford the joy John had in Spirit on the Lord's day. Wonderful thought! heaven itself was open:-

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

And so we see one maintaining things rightly in the true spirit of Phinehas; he is a priest, one who has the covenant of life and peace. I can maintain things rightly as in possession of life and peace. John had these in abundance on that Lord's day. And so, dear brethren, in John, as I said, you see the continuance of the real thing; that is to say, the priest as in Phinehas, one standing before the ark of God in those days. Who stood before the ark of God in the days of the apocalypse? John did; he stood before the ark of God, and he had a wonderful time. We shall not fail of these wonderful times if we stand firmly by the precious treasure that has come to us, involving the truth of the house of God. The ark of God was at Shiloh then, and Phinehas stood before it. There were dark days without, but there was one man standing before the ark of God at that time, and that was Phinehas.

I just wanted to add from 2 Timothy the thought of the maintenance of things doctrinally. We must have the faith, the unity of the faith, as it says, "Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith". We must not let one item of it go. "The faith" is not the thirty-nine articles. Faith is what is in a person, a living thing, not in a book. So the outline is held in the faith of the saints, hence we want the outline.

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So Paul says to Timothy, "Have an outline of sound words, which words thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus". That is how we are to have them. One does not despise books; the Holy Spirit is pleased to use them to instruct us, but the outline is not to be in books, the outline is to be in us. I believe the Lord would remind us of that in regard of ministry, otherwise we shall take licence in the use of our minds. The outline of sound words is most essential for ministry, "Keep ... the good deposit entrusted", how? "By the Holy Spirit which dwells in us". That is how it is to be kept. You see God will have a living state of things down here. One sees it extending; one sees what the Lord is doing, but we need to be reminded of the outline of sound words, and the good deposit which is to be kept, not intellectually, but by the Holy Spirit. I believe that is again the priesthood of Phinehas. Priesthood depends on the Spirit. In other words, to be a priest is to be a spiritual person. In the mind of God all believers are priests, but to take up function for God, to be here for God, is by the Spirit. Keep by the Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, the good deposit entrusted. I do not know of anything in a way that tests one more than that, how to use the blessed Spirit of God. He has come in here in wonderful grace and lowliness to maintain things for Christ, and He is at the disposal of all those who love Christ. So you may use the blessed Spirit in that way. By Him we cry "Abba, Father"; by Him we put to death the deeds of the body; by Him we live; by Him we walk; by Him we wait for the hope of righteousness, which is by faith, and by Him we keep the good deposit. It is a test to us as to the use we make of and the manner in which we may employ the blessed Spirit. He has placed Himself at our disposal, so that we may be found priests unto Christ's God and Father. That is service.

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Well, dear brethren, that was all I had to present, and I do urge the recognition of the Spirit in everything, but particularly in the maintenance of the good deposit, of that which involves the continuance of the precious things Jesus died to secure for us.

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THE LOVE OF GOD KNOWN IN THE WILDERNESS

Romans 5:1 - 21; Romans 8:28, 33 - 39; Numbers 24:1 - 9

The scriptures read are familiar to us, and I would seek to show from them the manner in which the love of God becomes known by us, and the effect of it. I would direct your thoughts to that side of the believer's position known in Scripture as the wilderness. I need not say the love of God goes beyond that! it goes into the land. When we come to what the land typifies, we have what we may call the excess of love which would take us to Ephesians: "God ... because of his great love wherewith he loved us". There we have reference to the love of God as seen in the place He has designed for us. That is the excess of love. I do not dwell upon that tonight, but upon the wilderness position, and the epistle to the Romans is engaged with that point of view. It treats of the manner in which the love of God has been revealed in meeting our need here, and then the manner in which it becomes known subjectively by the Spirit. It is when it becomes known subjectively that the work begins. It was said of Israel, "I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown", Jeremiah 2:2. There had been an objective setting forth typically of what God was to Israel in the passover and the Red Sea. Israel thus had an appreciation of Jehovah and what He does with His right hand. God's right hand is the symbol of His power. God had intervened for them, and had done wonderful things with His right hand. I would say, speaking reverently, that God's heart moves His right hand, His hand of power. You remember a proverb that says, "A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's at his left", Ecclesiastes 10:2. God's heart

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moves His right hand; it is for faith to see this. I need hardly say that the right hand of God was seen at the resurrection of Christ. The acts of His right hand are in love, and our deliverance is the result. Well, Israel was moved. The first movement of heart in you may be forgotten by you; you may have turned into bypaths; but God remembers the first beat of your heart for Him. "I remember for thee", He says.

He goes on to say, "Israel was holiness unto Jehovah". Divine love in the heart is holy love. Then Israel was the first-fruits of God's increase, I want you to note that. The love of God, that love which is so perfectly set forth at the cross, is shed abroad by the Spirit in the hearts of the saints, the Spirit of God, as it were, touching each individual heart, and there is movement, there is increase. Israel was the first-fruits of His increase, the increase of God's love. You will find continually in Scripture there is increase. Adam and Eve were to multiply; God said of Abraham, "I ... increased him". That increase really commenced at the Red Sea. The increase of God is in His love becoming effective in the hearts of His people. The effect of the cross is to widen out, until all the saints become moved to what Christ is to God. Psalm 150 tells me that everything that has breath praises God. Well, Israel was "the first-fruits of his increase". Let us take care of the principles, and God will take care of the numbers. God will not be behind in numbers. The book of the Revelation helps as to this. It is written for our encouragement, and there is a premium on the understanding of it. You find numbers in the book of the Revelation, "ten thousands of ten thousands and thousands of thousands", that is to say, numbers that are incalculable, divine numbers; God brings them in. When the ark moved Moses said, "Rise up, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered;

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and let them that hate thee flee before thy face". When the ark rested, "Return, Jehovah, unto the myriads of the thousands of Israel". It is illimitable. I will make thee, He says to Abraham, "a father of a multitude", of what? "of nations".

Abraham was called alone. Abraham stood by principles, Enoch also, and he speaks of the Lord coming with His holy myriads; he could not say how many. God called Abraham alone, and blessed him and increased him. He stood by the principles, and God dealt with numbers. God will bring in the results. In Revelation 7 the elect of God come to light and they are taken account of by God, a hundred and forty-four thousand, and after these a great crowd which no one could number. In the next chapter they must have room; the sphere belonging to them in the counsels of God is occupied by others. In regard to the hundred and forty-four thousand in chapter 7, their prayers and the prayers of the "great crowd" are answered by the trumpets, and the trumpets clear the scene; room is made for them. In chapter 14 we have those with the Lamb redeemed from among men. There you have the idea of those whom God regards as His increase. They love the Lamb. Do you love the Lamb, the Holy Sufferer? It is in those who love the Lamb that we see the increase of God.

Psalm 133 says, "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" I refer to that to suggest what the increase of God is. There are multitudes and numbers incalculable all actuated by the love of God. The whole scene in result will be actuated by the love of God. Israel was the first-fruits of His increase in the wilderness, and He loved them. That is how God reckons increase. He reckons it by love, love shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit.

Well, Romans 5 corresponds with Exodus 15,

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and the end of Romans 8 with Numbers 24. We have thus what is at the beginning of the wilderness, and then what is at the end. I would like to show how the affections develop. At the end of Exodus 15 there are trees and water, seventy palm-trees and twelve wells of water. In other words, God would nurture any little affection that is in us. Is that how we take account of the ministry of those who care for us? It is the provision of God's love. When you take your place amongst the saints, you come to twelve wells and seventy palm-trees, which would refer to the apostolic ministry. God thus nurtures the affection that has begun to move in your heart. Do not allow it to be weakened. God remembers it. He has it in His mind. You need not be discouraged because the wilderness journey is before you. Exodus 15 indicates that God brought them out, and He means to bring them in, bring them to the sanctuary. That is His thought. But the wilderness is there; and we see from Numbers 24 that there are trees and water at the end of the wilderness as well as at the beginning. What a triumph! Balaam saw things under the influence of the Spirit! His face was "toward the wilderness", and he saw the people in their tents in the order of their tribes. It is a type. The order of the tribes is not seen at the banks of the Red Sea. The order of the tribes comes into view in connection with the tabernacle. The saints are put into order by the tabernacle in the wilderness. There are several views of the wilderness in Scripture; one is that it refers to the progress of the believer's soul. Another is that it is a sphere in which God puts His people into order. Confusion marks the saints of God today because the tabernacle is despised and disregarded. The tabernacle is the great guide in the wilderness up to Numbers 21. After that, the Spirit is the guide; the tabernacle is no more prominent. The early part of Numbers

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tells us how the people are put into order. The tabernacle is reared up, and each man pitched by the standard of his father's house. He was to pitch in relation to his father, and every family was to pitch according to his tribe, and every tribe had its position in relation to the tabernacle. That is what Balaam saw. The position today is marked by disorder, and the secret of disorder is disregard for the divinely appointed system of which the tabernacle is a type. The Spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he takes account of the people as of God. That is to say, they have passed the brazen serpent on Numbers 21 which typifies the setting aside of the natural man who never recognises divine order, the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God; so those that are in the flesh cannot please God. But of those who have the Spirit it says, "Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you". We are in Spirit; that is there is now a state in us -- "in Spirit" -- answering to the outward position of the tabernacle. You enter into the position, in your soul, by the Spirit. What we see now is, that at the end of the wilderness period the people are trees. First there is the order of the people; God loves order in the assembly. God's thought is for our time, that there should be local companies, and that in these local companies there should be order. God is the God of order and peace, and that in the assemblies. All the local companies on earth are to be governed by the same principles. Hence the prophet sees the people in the wilderness, that is where they are seen in perfect order according to the tribes. God loves the idea of tribes. You will find that the Scriptures enlarge on the thought of the tribes. God will never give Israel up until He brings them back to their tribes. It is lovely to see the tribes, to see the order of the tents in the wilderness, so the people are seen in the vision as "cedars

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beside the waters". Planted by the hand of God, rooted and grounded in love. Waters are divinely-appointed means of producing growth, "How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel! Like valleys are they spread forth, like gardens by the river side, like aloe-trees which Jehovah hath planted, like cedars beside the waters". At the beginning the people were sheltered by palms and were refreshed by the wells. Now, they are themselves trees beside the waters. That is by the work of God in them, divine cultivation, divine nourishing. What a triumph in the wilderness! How one cherishes the thought of belonging to such a company as that. That is the great result of the work of God by the Spirit. Numbers 24 is a continual strain of exaltation. "His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted". God has brought them out of Egypt and the whole of Balaam's vision indicates the great result of the work of God in His people in the wilderness. Such is the great triumph of God in us here. After this, we are ready for Canaan. The book of Deuteronomy treats the people as God's elect, and Canaan their dwelling place. That book is to educate them for Canaan. God opens up His heart to your heart in Romans 5, He makes it known to you subjectively by the Spirit. Thus the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit. Romans 8 is the result of that. The Spirit shows us the place we have in God's heart. The result is that God acquires a place in our hearts, "All things work together for good to those who love God". It is a wonderful thing to have the love of God in you. Nothing else is of any account to God but that. Hence He sheds it abroad -- I love that thought -- in our hearts by the Spirit. It is shed abroad effectually, and the result is the Spirit keeps working in the soul where there is a place in the soul for God. Do you love God? "Thou

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shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ... and thy neighbour as thyself". Now Romans 8 shows us the result. The saints love God, and they come to see the full strength of His love. Hence nothing in the whole universe can sever them from it. The love of God is in Christ in its totality. Nothing, he says, can "separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord". We see its fulness there. The love of God, whether in regard to us, or Israel, or any other family coming into blessing, is all seen in Christ Jesus. We are free to view it in all its entirety in Christ, and nothing can touch it. That mighty love will fill the whole universe. Nothing can separate us from it. One might go on to suggest Ephesians; it is just a step out of Romans to Ephesians. In Romans, those whom God calls He justifies, and whom He justifies He glorifies. Ephesians opens up the glorifying; but in Romans at the end we have a doxology in regard to God's purpose. Paul speaks of the mystery; he could not open it up to the Romans, but to the Ephesians he is free to open up this great divine thought. Our places are heavenly places. The assembly is nothing less than the body of Christ, the fulness of Him, who is given to be Head over all things, the fulness that shall fill all in all. That is what was in the apostle's heart. The right appreciation of the epistle to the Romans prepares us for the epistle to the Ephesians; and in the Ephesians we have the excess of love. It is His great love wherewith He loved us. May the Lord bless the word to His people.

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THE GARDEN

Genesis 3:8 - 10; 2 Corinthians 6:16 - 18; Song of Songs 4:12

What is on my mind to speak of, as you may have perceived from the scriptures read, is the thought of a garden. The thought appears early in Scripture, and God never gives up any thought of His. If He fails to realise His intention in it in one way He secures it in another. God is very persistent; were it not so, many of us would have been left out. If God takes us up it is for a definite end, and He never gives up His thought in regard to any one of us. He may allow our feet to wander into bypaths, but He never withdraws His eye from us; and the moment there is a touch of restoration we are reminded of the primary thought. Abram had to go back to the place of the altar, and Jacob to Bethel where he had been twenty years before; so God never gives up His thoughts, nor His ways with us.

Now, among God's thoughts, you get this idea of a garden. A garden is that which is special, and for a man's own peculiar pleasure; we know what labour and attention are bestowed upon a garden, and the end is that it is for the pleasure of the owner. We may have thought the garden of Eden was for Adam. It was for him, no doubt, but it does not say it was formed for him. God planted it and man was placed there, but he was not to be the sole owner; the garden was the garden of God (see Ezekiel 28:13). Satan was said to be in the garden of God. So Adam was not going to reap all the pleasure of it. It was divinely arranged; the design was perfect, and it was laid out by God, and the planning could not be surpassed. Adam had a place in it, but it was for God, and in proof of that we find God walked in the garden in the cool of the day. The garden was designed for God, for the

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pleasure of God but in relation to man; He was to have His pleasure in it for He was to be with man. In Genesis 2 we get the garden planted and man placed in it; in Genesis 3 God walked in it and talked in it; His voice was heard; "They heard the voice of Jehovah Elohim, walking in the garden in the cool of the day". That was the situation; and this fact brings to our hearts what God is and what His thought is. He purposed to have a sphere, and in that sphere He seeks to have the affections of man.

Well, all that has failed as regards Adam, for he was driven out and the garden was lost, but God has not given up His thought; the divine thought remains. God has found the man, and He has found the sphere; He has formed the garden. It is this I want to make clear so that we may understand what is in God's mind for us. You will remember how Israel was alluded to. Israel was spoken of as a garden. Now, sin having come in, if God is to have a garden there must be separation. There was no thought of separation in Eden; the garden was planted eastward in Eden, and a river went out of Eden to water the garden; there was to be influence so that it might be maintained; that is, God was prepared to perpetuate freshness and fruitfulness in the garden. There was no thought of separation, but sin having come into the world all has become corrupted, and there can be no garden. Now, perhaps you think the world appears sometimes so fair and attractive, even to the believer. You will remember Lot lifted up his eyes toward Sodom, and it looked to him "as the garden of Jehovah". Abram had been called out of the world, and Lot had not, but he came with Abram, and he did right. I would say to the young people here, if you see people moving and responding to the call of God, go with them; you will do right to follow them. If you are the

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children of christian parents and their faces are heavenward, go with them; you do right. Now a moment came when there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. Lot set his face to well-watered plains; Lot lifted his eyes and beheld all the plain of the Jordan. It was thoroughly watered before Jehovah had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, "as the garden of Jehovah", so deceptive was the vision; it was a delusion, for Sodom was the city of abominations; it was equivalent to concentrated wickedness. The scripture says, "And the people of Sodom were wicked, and great sinners before Jehovah". The world may seem fair, and it may allure you, but it leads to judgment, for that is its end, but the grace of the Lord delivers out of it. Nothing is more encouraging than the grace of the Lord which works to deliver us from it. John's estimate of the world was the estimate of intelligence governed by the affections. His estimate of Christ was that if all the things He did "were written one by one", he supposed "that not even the world itself would contain the books written". There is one continuous flow of grace upon grace, wave upon wave, and "He gives more grace". Think of the grace of the Lord; nothing is more encouraging. Lot's righteous soul was vexed with the "abandoned conversation of the godless ... through seeing and hearing, dwelling among them". He stayed there and judged the thing; that will not do, so you must get out. Now the Lord's grace works to help us out of it. There is no limitation about His grace. Do you want to get out of it? The Lord will help you to get out of it. Think of Him sending the angels to get Lot out of Sodom. There was no hope for Lot to escape apart from the help of the Lord. How many have been delivered that way, and there is no way of escape apart from the support of the Lord. If we climb up

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for worldly glory, or reputation, or to the pinnacle of the temple to get a place amongst the saints, the devil will say, "Cast thyself down", but the Lord will help you down; we have to come down. You can always count on the grace of the Lord. May you not be diverted by that which looks like the garden of the Lord, but is not. If sin has come into the world, the idea of a garden cannot be realised without separation.

It was in this connection I read the passage in the second epistle to the Corinthians. When there are a first and second book in the Bible, the second gives you what is complete. 1 Corinthians is the water to cleanse, for there was sin there; the second epistle is the towel. There had been the allowance of what was defiling in the assembly, but Paul had learnt from Christ. He had learnt John 13; that was his own commendation. He was a competent minister "of the new covenant", and had been made so by God, "not of letter, but of spirit". Now, the first epistle, as I have said, was the water, and the second is the towel. It is a great service to convict a soul if he has got away. "My brethren, if any one among you err from the truth, and one bring him back, let him know that he that brings back a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins", James 5:19, 20. We cannot say we are not our brother's keeper. If you approach God He will raise the question as to your brother. The Lord Jesus had the saints in His heart; He carried them to heaven with Him. Cain's answer was, "Am I my brother's keeper?". The Lord Jesus kept people; "Those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished". Did it ever occur to you as to your brother? If you come to the altar with your gift, and "there shouldest remember that thy brother has something against thee, leave there thy gift before

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the altar, and first go, be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift", Matthew 5:23, 24. You cannot pass by your brother. The idea of reconciliation is collective. God takes pleasure in a man walking aright, but He has pleasure in the affection you have toward your brother. Paul could give an account of the saints; he would not allow sin on the saints; he brought in the water; he brought in the means of cleansing and he brought to pass self-judgment. Then the towel is to remove the unpleasant effect of the water, so that the saints are set down in ease in the presence of God.

When you come to this chapter you see that God sought a place among the Corinthians. They belonged to God; they were God's assembly, God's temple. God had title to them, but He did not have the income. He wanted a place among them. If God had a garden, He wanted to walk in it, and to speak in it as in Eden. God never gives up a thought, and He has wrought to bring it to pass among the saints. How could God come in and walk among the saints when a licentious man was allowed? The apostle removed the defilement, and then he says to them, "Ye are the living God's temple". If you take account of christendom you would never think God lived there; there is no regard for God; you would think He had no feelings or sensibilities. But God lives and says, "Ye are the living God's temple; according as God has said, I will dwell among them, and walk among them", and that leads me to think of Eden. Walking in a garden is for pleasure; it is not walking to go somewhere; and His voice was heard, and it was not that of rebuke. That came later. Think of God coming in to dwell, and of God coming in to walk; how touching! And then, look, He says, "I will receive you; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty". Now all that

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is contingent upon separation. There must be withdrawal from a world of sin if God's thought is to be realised; so it says, "Wherefore come out from the midst of them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and touch not what is unclean, and I will receive you". Is that not worth while coming out for? Will you lose by doing so? God offers an inducement: "I will be to you for a Father". I have often thought of the Fatherhood of God. Here it is not the heavenly side of the relationship, but the earthly. We have often thought that God enters into our sorrows, but He also enters into our joys, and He withholds no legitimate affection and relationship. I appeal to the young specially. God would take you under His wing; He will not deny you any joy; He withholds no good, and, what is greater still, He would lead you on to what is entirely spiritual, and in that connection He dwells among us and walks among us.

I turn now to the Song of Songs. The Song of Songs is not a matter of the relationship which exists between God and His people, but rather that of the relation between Christ and the earthly bride, Israel. It is a love song in which He triumphs over the affections of His people, a people who had been marked off by the grossest selfishness and greed, and now they love Christ and one another. In the last chapter what the Lord speaks of is His love to her, and she speaks of her love to Him, and then we get that she loves others. She speaks of her little sister, "We have a little sister ... What shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? -- If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar". It is the great triumph of affection. It is in this connection you get the thought of a garden: "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy shoots are a paradise of pomegranates, with precious fruits; henna

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with spikenard plants; ... with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices, a fountain in the gardens, a well of living waters, which stream from Lebanon". There you have the primary thoughts connected with the garden; fruit, trees, spices and waters. The divine thought is now realised among the saints in this dispensation and in Israel in the future. All the elements of the garden are in the Spirit. It is by the Spirit that the fruits are produced. Then God brings in discipline upon us, so we read, "Awake, north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth"; the spices are all there, but God calls out the fragrance of His grace by His discipline. We need not dread discipline; it is God's way of bringing out what is placed in you. If God's love is shed abroad in your heart what a seed is there; and the wind of discipline, the wind of affliction comes and the spices flow forth. The south wind is the wind of affliction in a modified form. What a benefit discipline is to us! It is doubtful how we should get on without it. The cold comes first, and then the south, with warmth in it; so the Lord tempers the wind, and by it He receives what He seeks. The north wind awakes, and the south wind came, and then there is something for Him. Souls are often pressed down with discipline, but afterwards we all feel we would not have been without it, and instead of saying, like Jacob, that all these things are against me, we can say, "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat its precious fruits". We should cultivate something for the Lord. In that sense we should all be composers, like the psalmist: "My heart is welling forth with a good matter ... my tongue is the pen of a ready writer". After discipline we should be able to compose something for the Lord. Then He answers, "I am come into my garden". He ever responds; He moves. He is invited

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into His garden, and He comes. He says, "I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey". He eats the fruit of His own culture, and then He invites others to do the same. "Eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved ones!"

Well, that is just what was before me. God never surrenders a thought. In the future we shall have the paradise of God, and the Lord says, "I will give him to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God". It is a privilege, meanwhile, for this thought to be realised in those who have the Spirit.

May the Lord help us that there might be fruit in His garden.

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OUR POSITION IN THE WILDERNESS

Romans 12:1 - 8

J.T. My thought was that we might see that we are to be here at the disposal of God. It is one thing to see our place in the counsels of God from eternity, another to apprehend our place now as to testimony here. In other words, the wilderness is not simply a place that we get through as quickly as possible, but a sphere in which we are to be for God in connection with His testimony. Instead of being brought to heaven immediately, we are left here in our bodies as we are. The point is, how are we to be at God's disposal? Romans meets the soul and adjusts it in every relationship; Corinthians shows how God disposes of us. The thought before us is that we are set up here in relation to His testimony. We are brought to God in Romans -- the believer is adjusted in his soul and instructed how to be for God. God says to Israel, "Ye have seen ... how I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself". Then He would say: 'Are you going to be at My disposal -- for Me?' I doubt if we all own that we are at God's disposal. God is pleased to leave us here that we might be.

Rem. We are here for the will of God.

J.T. That is what comes out, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice ... that ye may prove what is the ... perfect will of God".

Ques. How is the body regarded as a living sacrifice?

J.T. In contrast to dead sacrifices. Israel was accustomed to dead sacrifices. One holds one's body for God, the Spirit becomes life instead of the will of the flesh. The inwards of the animal, opened up, represented the offerer; of course it is Christ who is represented, because the hidden springs of man are

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corrupt. The woman in John 4 was exposed, her history was brought into view by the light; then what the Lord introduced set the springs in motion another way by the Spirit, they are set in movement God-ward. Instead of the flesh actuating the body, one's inner being is actuated by the Spirit; it is moved God-ward.

Rem. I suppose chapter 3 gives us the will of the flesh.

J.T. Very good; you have there the mouth, the tongue, and so forth actuated by the flesh. How different when the inner being is moved by the Spirit! The Lord proposes to give living water to the woman in John 4, that which would become in her a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Ques. Is the sacrifice voluntary here?

J.T. I think so. One always has a sacrifice, God is pleased to leave us our bodies. "The body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness"; we are able to regard our bodies as living. We have a sacrifice which is most valuable, the body is more valuable than our means.

Ques. Does not sacrifice involve self-denial?

J.T. Our bodies look for satisfaction, but we deny them; we hold them for God. So, in Corinthians, our bodies are members of Christ. We always have a means of sacrifice while alive in the body. Pharaoh would retain the cattle, that is our possessions, but they are essential for the offerings.

Ques. Do you think the cattle are included in "Let my people go" with a view to their serving Him?

J.T. I think so. Service begins at Horeb, the body is essential to service; it is our "intelligent service".

Ques. This would follow upon chapter 8, the love of God controlling and the Spirit giving power?

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J.T. Yes. The epistle makes much of the love of God; it is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That is one thought; the next thought is the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There, the love of God is viewed in its totality, in chapter 5 it is not so viewed, but as shed abroad in our hearts. In chapter 8 it is in its entirety. At the end of chapter 8 the love of God sustains the Christian in all that he goes through in the body.

Ques. In what way is the body redeemed?

J.T. I think the redemption of the body in chapter 8 refers rather to our being taken out of death. The idea of redemption through death is "Ye have been bought with a price, glorify now then God in your body"; but in Romans 8 we await the adoption, the redemption of our body. It is a great thing for the believer to see that his body is his means of sacrifice; he may have no other possessions but he has a body. If a man has a business he has a means of sacrifice; Moses claimed the cattle for sacrifice, therefore the cattle had to go through the sea. It is well if a man's business is so used. It was not so with the two and a half tribes; their cattle hindered them from going over Jordan. Our body is always at God's disposal; God is pleased to accept it as a sacrifice. In the types, the Kohathites had no wagons; they bore their burdens upon their shoulders; they could only use their bodies. They are a type of believers who support the testimony, bearing it in their hearts. There is that which requires wagons. We need temporal means, we must travel or we cannot get to see the saints. "Doing good and communicating" is on that line. The poorest saint has a body; this is the most valuable sacrifice, he can make use of his body in the assembly. It is very important how we use our bodies.

Ques. Do you mean that believers render both Kohathite and Merarite service?

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J.T. I do. The Kohathite had the most sacred things to attend to.

Rem. J.N.D. used to say that the only value of position was the privilege of giving it up for Christ.

J.T. If we sacrificed more, we should have more power. You cannot say you have no means; you have the most valuable means. It is to be a living sacrifice -- living -- as it goes on to say, "your intelligent service". The inner springs are set in motion by a new power, the Spirit.

Ques. Do you bring in the thought of affection and intelligence?

J.T. Yes. So you have an organism in the wilderness which is living, men put together in affection. If you give to God, He will place you in relation to the saints. After the people were brought into the wilderness they celebrated what God was. His right hand was glorious in power; His heart is at His right hand, therefore it was a test for the people's affections. He leads them and bears with them; if they murmur He makes no complaint until they come to Sinai; and then He says, "Ye have seen ... how I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself"; as though He said, 'It was My power, not yours; now what are you going to do for Me?' If they would be for Him, there were wonderful privileges for them; they would be His peculiar treasure. Then He calls Moses up into the mount and opens His mind to him. What was in His mind was that the people should provide material for the tabernacle. The material, in Christianity, is in persons who have the Spirit. It took nine months to rear the tabernacle. We should pass over, for the moment, the failure of the people. They gave willingly; the tabernacle is set up, and the Lord is pleased to dwell there. How wonderful! All this is in the wilderness. Then in Leviticus, God speaks out of the tabernacle to Moses and thus to

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the people, as if to say, 'I dwell here and I want you to approach'. It is only a figure, but the thoughts are there. In Numbers, He speaks "in the wilderness ... in the tent of meeting".

Ques. What does that signify now?

J.T. The wilderness position of testimony. The people are to be numbered from twenty years and upwards. Each person is to have a place in relation to the tabernacle; he is to pitch by the standard of his father's house, to stand for God where God has reached him. If these things are to come to pass here, the believer must be devoted to God in his body. The body is of great interest in that way.

Ques. What do you understand by "mortal flesh" in 2 Corinthians?

J.T. There it is more the fragile character of the body. "earthen vessels", that is the other side of the truth. God has been pleased to cause the light to shine in our hearts that it might shine forth; but if it is to shine forth, the body must be broken: "Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body". I think of the dying of Jesus in this way. He went down from the mount to die -- it was His mind to die -- they spoke of it on the mount, and He went down to effect it. Is it our mind to go into death? The other side is God's discipline: "We who live are always delivered unto death on account of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh".

Ques. Would you say that, if that path was His, we should have the same mind?

J.T. You are delivered unto death. The Lord says to Peter, "When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself"; that is, he carried out his own mind and will, "But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands" -- that is the dying of Jesus --

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"another shall gird thee" -- there is perfect resignation. That is the principle of the dying of Jesus.

Rem. It would really mean subjection to His will.

J.T. Jesus went from the brightest spot to Calvary. We do not look for anything else. He did not try to ward it off; that was the state of His mind.

Ques. Sacrifice, as we get it in Romans and Hebrews, is not the same thought as worship. Would you say worship is more connected with the spirit than the body?

J.T. I think so. Sacrifice is always in the court, not inside the tabernacle.

Ques. Would not sacrifice be more individual?

J.T. Yes; but do not forget your brother when you go to offer: you bring your gift to the altar, but then it says, "and there shouldest remember that thy brother has something against thee".

Ques. Would that imply we cannot go on unless we are right with each other?

J.T. God will not accept your offering unless you are right with your brother. Sacrifice is in the court of the tabernacle, and there might be ostentation, but God says, 'What about your brother?'

Ques. Then the gift is an individual offering?

J.T. What we were saying is most important, while you offer as an individual, you recognise the saints; God will raise the question as to what place the brethren have in your heart. He says to Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?". Cain replies, "Am I my brother's keeper?". But God knows about Abel. It is most important that our brethren be on our hearts when we draw near to God. If we draw near, God looks at the breastplate. When the high priest drew near he had the names of the people on the breastplate; this is reflected in believers. If we draw near, we really say, 'I love You', to God. God

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says, 'Do you love the brethren?' If love is there you have the means. God institutes that in which the testimony is to be displayed -- our bodies. The Spirit and the love of God qualify for God's system of things. Leviticus shows the means by which the people were gathered; the door of the tabernacle was the gathering point. Then, if gathered out of love to God and to one another, Numbers shows our disposition in reference to the tabernacle. The opening paragraph gives the idea of the book -- every family in Israel is disposed of. Moses and the priesthood got their place immediately opposite the door. We should seek our place. God speaks in the tabernacle in the wilderness -- the people are to be numbered. There is a representative of each tribe at the numbering; this signifies local responsibility. Each individual is to pitch by the standard of his father's house; that is, you are to stand for God where God's light has reached you. The tabernacle gives the thought; how happy for us if we accept it! God supports us in these connections.

Rem. That is very encouraging. Some of us have wished to get out of our circumstances.

J.T. Light has come to you in connection with your father's house. Stand there!

Ques. Why in connection with the father's house?

J.T. The father's house was given a place in each tribe; the tribe was divided into families. The daughters of Zelophehad were not to marry out of the tribe of Manasseh -- it would impoverish their own tribe. A young man twenty years of age might prefer another place, but he had no choice; he is to pitch by the standard of his father's house. He must not assume that any circumstances are too adverse for the power of God. He is able to support us. The circumstances of the woman of Samaria had been most objectionable; had she consulted her own feelings she would have left the city, but she

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goes straight back to the men. That is the principle, while the Lord sends you to the assembly, the first place in which to get right is your own house.

Ques. With regard to love to the brethren, we cannot express the love to those who walk crookedly?

J.T. No. Like Joseph, you might have to speak roughly to them. As gathered on the ground of righteousness, we can have no fellowship with what is not right. If a man is not doing right, you cannot have fellowship with him. You could make it clear that you are acting in love, yet testimonially it is a question of marking that man and having no company with him. If he deliberately goes on, he will come in for the discipline of the assembly. The principles of gathering began with Moses; there was separation from evil. Moses came down from the mount with all the light of God, but he could not connect it with the camp; the believer has all the light of God; what does he connect it with? It is not in the spirit of "I am holier than thou". Moses pitched the tent far from the camp and called it "the tent of meeting", signifying that he knew others would meet God there. All that sought the Lord, came out. If you think more of the people than you do of the light, the light becomes dim; but if you take care of the light, God will take care of the people.

Ques. What about being transformed by the renewing of your mind?

J.T. It is an allusion to the light of another world. That light alters you completely, so that you are not only apart from this world, but you are different from it in the texture of your being; you are not governed by the principles of this world, you are governed by new principles: "transformed by the renewing of your mind". God gives us the principles of His world; they apply to business and every other relationship.

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I would commend the study of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, if you desire to understand the wilderness. It is not a place that we are to get through as quickly as possible; the wilderness is the divinely-ordered sphere where God displays His testimony. His testimony is displayed in our bodies as set in relation to one another. You have here "We, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other". Everyone is included. As to what we shall be, we shall appear in heavenly bodies; but, for the moment the testimony is displayed in these bodies.

Ques. "That ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God". Is that actual experience?

J.T. Yes, and you do not suffer by it; you gain. In Colossians and Ephesians, it is what we are in God's purpose; here it is the Spirit's work in us.

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THE LIGHT GOVERNING THE LORD'S SUPPER

1 Corinthians 11:23 - 28; John 20:19 - 26

J.T. One thought in connection with the Lord's supper is that we have to come together in order to partake of it. The chapter we have read from 1 Corinthians shows us that it was partaken of in the assembly, "When ye come together in assembly". The word 'together' is very important.

R. So that it is not contemplated that a person takes the Lord's supper for himself as an individual merely.

J.T. Nor can he take it at home. His own meal is to be taken at home, according to this passage.

J. Why was it necessary that there should be this special revelation from the Lord in glory as to the Supper? I presume it was continued after Pentecost. In Acts 20 they came together to break bread. Why was there this special revelation as to it? There must have been some special reason.

J.T. What occurred in Acts 20 was probably after this. The formation of the Corinthian assembly is in Acts 18. What appears is that the gentile believers were without any direct warrant for eating the Supper unless Paul had received it from the Lord. It was primarily connected with the passover.

J. It comes in connected with the assembly.

J.T. Exactly. In Acts 2 they broke bread at home. Acts 20 shows that they had already conceived the idea of coming together to do it.

M-s. Is this a confirmation of a previous communication?

J.T. It is confirmation to the gentile believers that what the Lord had delivered to the Jewish believers, to the Jewish remnant, could now be taken up by them. The Supper was primarily given to those who had the Jewish passover, and the early chapters

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of the Acts do not make it appear that they had as yet ceased to have the passover, so you will find in Matthew and Mark that the Supper is connected with the passover. It is not as yet dissociated from the passover, from the Jewish ritual, but, when you come to Paul, his ministry, properly speaking, supposes that all that is over, that there is no longer any connection with what was at Jerusalem, and that coming together is the setting aside of the whole Jewish ritual. That which had prestige on earth is superseded by a company of believers in Christ coming together. They require no longer that which is set up at Jerusalem. All that is set aside.

M-s. The passover was taken at home, I suppose.

J.T. When they got into the land, it was connected with the place in which God's name was named. Each family had it at home, but it was connected with the temple where God had placed His name.

M-s. In Acts 2, where they continued in breaking of bread and prayers, was not that the Lord's supper?

J.T. Yes, but connected with the Jewish remnant. God had not abandoned the system at Jerusalem, and, while that went on, the Supper was not clearly set forth, but you have it in this epistle, and, in Acts 20 they came together. That supersedes the temple, and supersedes the whole.

R. It was proper then that it was the subject of a fresh revelation to the apostle, as the one to whom the mystery of the assembly was committed.

J.T. So that it was connected with the assembly in this epistle and in this chapter.

Ques. What is the force of coming together?

J.T. It supposes that we love one another! The Supper is the celebration by those who love one another, and, as loving one another, we show that we love Christ. If we do not love one another, if

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we do not love the saints, we have no moral title to break bread at all. Your love to the saints is the proof that you love Christ. What do you say to that?

R. It is a question if we do take the Lord's supper if we do not love one another. It would be a denial of the truth of it. We could not partake in what is the Lord's thought of it.

J.T. You could partake of the elements.

M-s. It would not be consistent with the Lord going into death if we did not love one another. It would draw forth love to one another.

J.T. It is a collective act, a collective thought, and it is celebrated by those who love the Lord, and the proof that you love the Lord is that you love one another. The proof of our discipleship is that we love one another. The disciples came together to break bread, for the Lord had said, "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves". Why do we come together?

H. Someone has said, because we cannot help it.

J.T. We want to meet one another if we love one another.

R. It has been said, 'I go to meet the Lord'. Would you not say that that is not really the right way to come together? That is not the exact purpose, that we should come together as units, apart from one another in spirit.

J.T. There is no virtue in the room in which you meet, and, if you are the only one there you gain nothing by coming. That is not the right way. It is misleading (one has to speak guardedly) but it is really misleading to say you come to meet the Lord. You come together. If no brethren are there you cannot have the Supper and you gain nothing.

W. If you meet the Lord you will gain something.

J.T. The room does not attract the Lord. You could then have it at home. The room is not sanctified, there is no virtue in the room.

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H. At the same time you would say that we have the desire to meet the Lord.

J.T. Yes, "We would see Jesus", but you would recognise the appointed way.

H. We come together and break bread, and then meet the Lord.

J.T. That is the order.

R. You press that, because it says, "All that believed were together".

J.T. And here, "come together in assembly". Many come together, and never think of loving the brethren. It is of great practical bearing the thought of "together". You are together with those that you love. It is a company of that kind that attracts the Lord.

J. And that is fellowship.

J.T. If you love the brethren, you will not do what will grieve them, and you will not do anything inconsistent with the death of Christ. "Love one another" is fellowship. You are in fellowship with those that you love, and you would not grieve them or grieve the Lord whom you love.

H. "If therefore thou shouldest offer thy gift at the altar ... be reconciled to thy brother", Matthew 5:23, 24.

J.T. If you come to meet the Lord the Lord would raise the question as to the brethren -- how about the brethren? Do you see what I mean? "If therefore thou shouldest offer thy gift at the altar, and there shouldest remember". You are sure to remember it. That is where remembrance is brought to you, because God will remind you.

J. That is very important.

J.T. You cannot ignore the brethren and you will not if you love them.

M-s. What is the force of "Let a man prove himself" (verse 28)?

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J.T. He comes as a self-judged person. In this chapter the point is conduct in the assembly, not outside of it. In chapter 10 it is a question of how you behave outside it. If you come without examining yourself, you will be judged by God. The indirect judgment of God is outside, but the direct judgment is inside, and, if you do not judge yourself, you will be judged.

R. That direct judgment is because the Lord is in connection with the house of God. Judgment begins at the house of God.

J.T. You are immediately in the Lord's presence, and there it is direct judgment.

R. There the Lord allows nothing to pass.

J.T. It is a serious thing to come into the assembly. If we judge ourselves we shall not be judged of the Lord.

H. The judgment of the Lord is as direct today as it was at the beginning.

J.T. On account of weakness at present, it does not appear so, but we are under the direct judgment of God in the assembly. You can remember, if you look back, instances of it. If sin is allowed and unjudged, it is as sure as anything can be that you come under the judgment of the Lord.

R. Though it may be long borne with.

J.T. There are men who will not submit to the Lord's will; hence the importance of self-judgment.

H. It is very serious to be in connection with the assembly, for it is the house of God.

J.T. "If first from us" -- real christians, you know. Then, on the other hand, if you are misjudged, the person who misjudges you shall come under judgment. You recognise, "The righteous Jehovah is in the midst of her, he doeth no wrong. Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light", Zephaniah 3:5. You can leave things, if you are suffering for righteousness' sake; the Lord will bring it to light.

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J. It is striking in the early chapters of the Acts.

J.T. Each feature there brings out some feature of the testimony, and nothing is repeated. Ananias and Sapphira's case is the example of the direct judgment of God.

H. It was in connection with them that I referred to it that it is as direct now as then.

J.T. We have that striking instance to remind us of what it is, the direct judgment of God. I hardly know of anything that is of more direct importance than that we should see what it is to come together and what more befitting than that as loving the Lord and loving one another, we should have the Supper which makes way for Christ.

J. That which speaks of His love to us, not so much our love to Him.

R. "The night in which he was delivered up". Is that connected with the fact that we take the Supper in connection with the Lord's absence? He is the absent One.

J.T. Yes, and it suggests to us how irrepressible His love to His disciples was. The pressure was terrible at that time, not only the pressure from without but the pressure from within. Satan himself was there in one of the number, "The hand of him that delivers me up is with me on the table". And yet His love was there.

J. That is very striking. Having so soon to come into contact with sin, and yet His love was just the same to His own.

H. At a time when He might well have expected that they would have thought about Him, but He is thinking about them.

J.T. One can understand Paul's desire, "To know the love of the Christ". There is a distinction between the love of God in Christ and the love of Christ. The two things are seen in Romans 8, the love of Christ from which nothing can separate us,

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and the love of God in Christ from which nothing can separate us. The love of Christ is His love as Man for us, as His brethren. He is on our side, as I understand it. The High Priest is taken from among men, with a man's feelings and affections -- always divine, for even in Aaron we have that thought -- clothed in blue, pointing to the fact that he is the heavenly man, and he had the breastplate on. The breastplate refers to the place that the saints have on His heart as a Man. The love of God is more presented in Moses, the apostle, seen on the part of God, to present the love of God to us.

J. So it is never said that God loved the assembly?

J.T. No doubt God does love the assembly, but it is a different idea entirely.

R. Why is it always spoken of as the assembly of God, not the assembly of Christ?

J.T. That comes out in Corinthians, the assembly of God. It was not man's assembly, that is the force of it.

R. It is a common term, the church of Christ, but it is not scriptural.

J.T. "My assembly" is the nearest approach to it. One can understand Paul's exercise that the saints might know the love of Christ "which surpasses knowledge", and yet it is to be known. A consideration of the circumstances in which the Supper was instituted helps us, because everything there tended to repress that love. The weakness among the disciples themselves, and especially Judas's defection, all that tended to repress it, and yet it shone there.

R. The Lord said, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer". He does not say, "to eat the Supper with you". Why the passover? Because He would bring Himself before them in that way.

J.T. In the celebration of the passover, He was like the Head of the house, as in Israel, and it was

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touching that He should regard them as His house; but then, after supper, He took bread, supper being finished (see note to John 13:2), so that, there the disciples are set on a new footing. Instead of the passover, they are to have His Supper, "This is my body which is given for you".

J. Having come together, what follows? How do we go on?

J.T. We come together for that purpose, to break bread, and therefore we seek to do it. Would you not say that?

J. That would be the primary object of coming together.

M-s. What is really involved in the breaking of bread?

J.T. It is important to bear in mind that the apostle here does not record what the disciples did on the occasion. He does not say what they did, although we know they did something. He says, "I received from the Lord ... that the Lord Jesus ... took bread ...". He tells us what the Lord did. That points to something that we have to consider because it is a question of what He did, if we are to be reminded of Him. What the disciples did at the time would not remind us of Him. Our actual taking the bread and eating it does not remind us of Christ, because He did not eat the bread, neither did He drink the cup. He did eat the passover, we know, and drink the passover cup.

J. That is in keeping with His present position.

H. Do you confine the word 'do' to the breaking of bread, and not to the eating of it?

J.T. I do not see how it can mean anything else.

H. After the drinking in Corinthians there is the word 'do' still, although there is no breaking.

J.T. "Having given thanks broke it, and said, This is my body ... this do ...". "In like manner also the cup, after having supped, saying, This cup

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... this do". I think it was what He did, the blessing of the cup. He blessed the cup.

R. It is what the Lord did in taking it and the moral import of what He did in giving His body and His blood.

J.T. Look at Luke 22:19, 20, and 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25, "In like manner". The word 'manner' referred to what was done.

R. I would like you to repeat that. One has always thought that "This do" referred to the whole thing. You put emphasis on the breaking of the bread. Do you mean by each one?

J.T. By the person who breaks the loaf. The loaf has to be broken before you take the Supper. The unbroken loaf is the Lord's body, the expression perhaps of our unity. But in order that we should partake of it, it has to be broken, or else why do we break it?

H. At Emmaus "He was made known to them in the breaking of bread". Though the words do not occur in the actual Supper, it has bearing on it perhaps.

J.T. We know He did not eat of it at the time, but He simply broke it then.

J. They recognise the manner in which He did it.

H. Do you connect the giving of thanks of the Lord with the breaking of it, not merely the breaking of the bread, but the way He did it and the giving of thanks? The one who breaks the bread, the way in which he gives thanks for it and the sense he has of the Lord's love, should bring Him into recognition.

J.T. The Spirit records what the Lord did, not what the disciples did. They did something no doubt, but it is what He did that reminds us of Himself, not what they did. It has been said that the breaking of the loaf is simply for convenience. A man sitting down at his table does certain things to make the food more easy to partake of. He does it

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because he is head of the house, and supposing the head of the house is taken, if there is affection in the household, they remember what he used to do in his capacity as head of the house.

H. And a son doing it afterwards might bring the father to remembrance.

J.T. The son does it because it has to be done, not because he is head of the house, because he is not head of the house. We do it because it has to be done but the act reminds you of the Lord.

J. There is nothing special attaching to the brother who breaks the loaf.

J.T. Nothing whatever, but there is something special in what is done.

Rem. The Lord Himself is to be recalled in the love that went into death for us.

J.T. If we love the Lord, we cherish the things that remind us of Him, His devotedness in devoting His body to us and in giving His life. All that comes before us, because in chapter 10 the Lord's body is for God's will to set aside our will. He said, "Behold, I come, ... to do thy good pleasure", but then He devoted that body to us. Nothing could appeal to us more than that, "This is my body, which is for you".

H. What had been for God's pleasure is now for us?

J.T. He devoted His body to us as going into death to set aside all that was against us. We remember the absent One as He is; it is the absent One we remember. That is the point of the Supper. It seems to me strange that anyone should think otherwise. It is remembrance. Of whom? Of One who is absent. It ceases when He is present; there is no more need for it. There is no dead Christ now, you know. He does not say, 'This do in remembrance of Me as dead', but "of me". He is alive. It is not a state we remember, but a person.

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W. As gone into death.

J.T. What we do shows the Lord's death. What He did reminds us of Him; what we do is testimony to the world, our eating and drinking. They can see us eating the loaf and drinking of the cup. That is quite another thing.

Ques. The actual breaking of the loaf is not in any way symbolical of the Lord's death?

J.T. But it reminds us of what He did, and of His being Head of the house, which is a touching thought.

S. It surely reminds us of Himself in death.

J.T. All that comes before us surely, but it is a person we remember, not a state. It does not say, 'Remember Me in death', but it says, "For as often as" you do it, "ye announce the death of the Lord", which is testimony. You surely remember it if you show it forth, but the point is that you remember the Lord.

R. "This do in remembrance of me" comes before the other.

J.T. The history of the church only shows the necessity for it, because they have forgotten the Lord. The Lord is forgotten, "For this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt -- we do not know what is become of him!".

M-s. It would be preservative in that way. The Lord's supper is recalling His love to our hearts.

J.T. It preserves the assembly's affection.

H. Is not the affection connected with the thought that such as He went into death?

J.T. And in all those circumstances His love shone. The Supper brings all that to our attention. You have the thought here, "The night in which he was delivered up".

R. Morally that night exists now. Outside it is still the night of His betrayal.

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J.T. Judas went out, and he carried the spirit of the betrayer into the world. It added to the wickedness of the world. The spirit of the betrayer has gone out into it. Now in the presence of that, we maintain our sense of what the Lord is to us. The Supper is for that purpose.

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THE REINSTATEMENT OF MAN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Genesis 40:1 - 23; Zechariah 6:9 - 14; Luke 24:50 - 53

What I wish to speak about tonight is the reinstatement of man in the presence of God. We have to take that in as a fact, that man is reinstated in the presence of God. This reinstatement was not hurried. It was after due consideration. I read Genesis 40 to establish the principle. At that early date in the history of the race on the earth you have the principle of reinstatement established. And it is remarkable that it should appear in what may be regarded as the ministry of Joseph, a ministry which, in its earliest stages, took the form of interpretation. You will remember how Job alludes to the importance of an interpreter, one among a thousand. Joseph had a particular experience in dreams, but his dreams required no interpretation. The utterance of Joseph's dreams was their interpretation. His brothers understood him, his father understood him. His dreams, in the uttering of them, carried their own interpretation with them. I need not enlarge upon them; they are well known to you. I wish more particularly to refer to his interpretations, the first being found in this chapter and the next in the following one. I may say at the outset, that in the first interpretation, there is introduced the idea of reinstatement, and the reinstatement of man in the presence of God. And following upon that, in order, in the second interpretation in the next chapter, you have the preservation of the life of the world. These were two great principles to be introduced at that early date, that, whilst the race outwardly was marked by divine rejection, and consequently by death, there should appear in testimony the principle of reinstatement and the preservation of life.

Now, the suggestion of these things must be of

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interest, and they come about in connection with what may be regarded as exercise. God is pleased to exercise men; you get nothing without it -- I mean subjectively. Exercise brings about inquiry, and inquiry brings in light. And the light that is introduced involves that man is reinstated in the Person of Christ. That is wonderful light to the soul. The man that was rejected is seen in the baker. The baker is a man who has to exercise himself, but he comes under the curse. That man is not accepted. That man is not reinstated. If man is to be reinstated, it must be in a man who is fully tested here, and who, as thus tested, answers in every way to God. Now, I was saying at the beginning that the reinstatement is not hurried. It is quite true that the testimony of the angel in regard to the birth of our Lord was that that holy Thing which should be born should be called the Son of God. That was like the cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat. There was the protection of the Lord's Person in the communication. But the public acknowledgment on the part of God, of Man in Christ was not until Christ was thirty years of age. Now, you will understand, I am speaking guardedly. The public acknowledgment on the part of God, of Man in Christ, was not until He was baptised. You will understand that He was before His baptism what He was after; there could be no change in His Person. But the divine acknowledgment of the reinstatement of man in Christ was after that Man had fully attested what He was. What a history, what a pathway, that was under God's eye! You will find the Spirit of God carefully avoids anything like a public acknowledgment, only there is a full attestation of what He is. Take the gospel of Matthew, in chapter 2, the Spirit of God eight times alludes to our Lord as a little child, "Take ... the little child and his mother". Think of the interest on the part of God. But yet it is the little child and his

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mother. In the next chapter, when He is baptised, the heavens are opened upon Him, when He is thirty years of age. There is the public acknowledgment on the part of God of His acceptance of that Man and His delight in Him. I would like you to ponder that. The testimony of it appears at this early stage. One man is hanged upon a tree -- we are not told exactly why. There can be no error, I need not say, in any of God's doings. All we have here is the statement that one man is reinstated, and the other is hanged upon a tree. But how much enters into that! How much enters into the consideration of the man that is reinstated! As I was saying, if you have a man reinstated in the presence of God, ministering to Him -- for that is what is said of the chief butler, ministering to him -- God has His portion. God is ministered to in that man, and on the other hand, you have the idea of the curse. It is important to remember that the curse lies in the background. The first epistle to the Corinthians presents to us in the Lord's supper, that man is reinstated. There is the blood of the covenant. There is that which is definitely called blessing. I wonder if we apprehend the Lord Jesus in that light. He has been introduced in this world as attested in His walk and ways. Think of John's estimate of Jesus! He says, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us". He was not at a distance from us. He was among us. He moved about amongst us. He was the true vine that produced the grapes. That is the Man that is reinstated. Would that one could enlarge upon the incarnation! You all remember the service of the Kohathites. The most exalted service was not entrusted to the Levites. The priest put forth his hand of affection and covered the ark with the covering veil. One would love to bring forward Luke and John. Luke puts forth the covering veil. He brings in, in his divinely inspired record, the humanity of

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our Lord Jesus Christ. See how beautifully he covers Him! In chapter 2, before he introduces us to the Lord, he surrounds us with a priestly atmosphere. Look at that! He has written to his beloved Theophilus: 'I wish to set forth with method'. And directly he ends his preface, he introduces a priestly atmosphere. The whole of chapter 1 is a priestly atmosphere. And in chapter 2, you have the ark. I would appeal to you as regards the Person of our Lord. How do you take account of Him? Luke, before he introduces you to Him, surrounds you with a priestly atmosphere, so that it is like the principle of sterilisation, that all the corrupt principles of our minds and hearts might be sterilised, might be rendered impotent there. That is what Luke does for us. He surrounds the mind and heart with a priestly atmosphere. He introduces us to Zacharias and Elizabeth, who is herself of the daughters of Aaron, a priestess so to say. He introduces us to Mary the virgin, and to the angel Gabriel. They all lend their own quota of priestly atmosphere to the surroundings before you have the Person of our Lord introduced. And then, when He is introduced, He is surrounded, as it were, with a heavenly multitude. In chapter 2 the whole earth is in order. You remember how Zechariah the prophet speaks about four chariots which had gone out, and one quieted His spirit in the north country. Chapter 2 opens with order on the earth, and with a census. What for? Everything, beloved friends, to enhance the introduction of the Lord. When He comes into the temple, the angels add their quota -- a multitude of them. What an atmosphere they brought! We need that. We need an atmosphere from heaven. There is plenty from beneath, from the bottomless pit. The whole earth is steeped in it. And we dare not come from that into the surroundings of Jesus. The multitude of the heavenly host brings in an atmosphere that will be fitting.

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Then He comes into the temple, and there is the priest. Do you want to see a picture of the priest with the ark in his hands? That is Simeon! See what it says of him! It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit (that is the real priest -- a priest who has got a revelation by the Spirit about Christ) that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And there He was. He asked no questions. It was divinely communicated to him by the Spirit. There was no careful investigation as to the history of things externally. Faith knows nothing about that. The spiritual man knows nothing or seeks nothing -- He is taught by the Spirit. Simeon took the Babe in his arms and blessed God. What a marvellous picture! He blessed God and said: "Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation". "A light", he says, "for revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel". That is how Luke introduces us to the Lord Jesus Christ. What a priestly touch that is! There is the rigid refusal of all that is unsuited to that scene, to these surroundings. Is it not of all moment to be introduced into that? Or are we content to remain outside the limits of that atmosphere? To look at it, as it were, from a distance, and remain outside the limits of the priestly influence, the priestly surroundings. That is what Luke introduces us to. But he does not stop there. He goes on to the boyhood of the Lord. He expatiates upon that. He shows us the tender plant, as Isaiah had presented Him prophetically, "He shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground". There is nothing in the soil about Him to conduce to His growth, not even in the affection of Joseph and Mary was there anything, not one moral element, conducive to the growth of that tender sapling. It was all barren desert as regards Him, and yet He grew up. He grew up

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before Jehovah as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground. Not even in the affections of His parents and family was there one iota of sap to conduce to His growth. He derived nothing morally from that. It was dry ground. Nevertheless He grew. That is the Man who is reinstated. "Wist ye not", He says, "that I must be about my Father's business?". Did He get that from Mary or Joseph? They understood nothing of that, "Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing". Absolutely dry and barren as regards the Lord. Nevertheless He grew in perfect humanity. He grew up before Jehovah as a sapling. Every word, every movement, every step was an indication of that vital energy that was inherent in Him. Nothing from without, all in Himself.

And now, in the next chapter you have the baptism -- every feature of the man developed. All that man should have been for God was there -- nothing else. "Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature". There He was under God's eye. With nothing ministering to Him from without, but all within. He developed into full stature as a Man in the presence of God. He goes up out of the waters of baptism in prayer. What a picture! What a perfect delight for God! Never had the golden altar been fully realised till then. There was all the holy fragrance of perfection in Man ascending on the altar of incense. The heavens must open; I speak reverently; they must open on that. God had looked down from heaven to see whether there was any good. There had been none good. But now, there is not only a look from heaven, but the heavens are opened upon Him. How suited, how perfect the scene! The heavens answering to moral perfection in Man upon earth. What complete infinite reinstatement of Man in the Person of Christ!

If that Man is reinstated, there must be administration. In Genesis 41 is the administration. The interpreter

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becomes the administrator. And the administration involves the preservation of the life of the world. That is his name, "Zaphnath-paaneah". The man who is reinstated in complete acceptance with God is the administrator. Hence Luke 4 introduces the administrator. The Man anointed by the Spirit is the Administrator. The Man who is accepted is anointed. And the Man who is anointed ministers. "The Spirit", He says, "has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor". There is a clear indication of the mind of God in blessing for the world. For Joseph became really the preserver of the life of the world.

I have dwelt upon Luke's order, upon Luke's record, so that we might have the divinely presented view of Man in Christ. Nothing can exceed that in interest. As you dwell upon it, you perceive the righteousness of God in reinstating man in that Person; in confirmation of that you have Zechariah's testimony. I may say in passing that Zechariah has a very remarkable bearing upon our own day. He is the last of the prophets but one, and he was contemporary with Haggai and with Joshua the son of Josedech. He was one of those who encouraged the building of the temple. Now, who will be concerned about the temple? I would appeal to you as to the temple. If man is to be reinstated, he must think of God, and if he thinks of God, he must think of the worship of God, and if he thinks of the worship of God, he must think of the temple. Who thinks of the temple? The priest. You will understand that I am dwelling upon this line so as to lead to exercise in regard to priesthood. Why has christendom lost the temple? And in losing the temple, why has it lost the light? The answer is obvious -- because they have lost priesthood. If we lose priesthood, we lose all, subjectively. Now you may attempt to be a Levite. Assuredly you will be beside the

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mark. The Levites were brought near to Aaron and presented to him. What Zechariah presents to us is the priest. You will bear with me, but I want to make the subject clear. He introduces the crowns of gold and of silver. There was Josedech, the high priest. Now, who is to be the high priest? The Branch is to be the High Priest. How do we arrive at priesthood? It says, "He shall grow up out of his place ...". You can never reach priesthood except by righteousness -- never. We are told in the Psalms that the righteous grow as a cedar. If he grows to be a cedar in righteousness, he flourishes as a palm-tree in the house of God. We will never flourish as palm-trees in the house of the Lord, if we do not grow up in righteousness as cedars. What about the Branch? He grows up out of His place. The Lord never sought to alter His circumstances or to put Himself forward. He never assumed to be anything. He was the lowly, meek, subject Man. In the temple, He asked questions and answered them, but He went back to His parents and was subject to them. That was fitting. He grew up out of His place; He grew up where God placed Him. He never altered His circumstances. But what follows that? "He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory". Is not that it? Are you after glory? Do not seek levitical glory. It will pass away. Seek priestly glory. "He shall bear the glory". He grows up out of his place. He thinks of God. He builds the temple of the Lord. It is the priest that does that. And now what? "And shall sit and rule upon his throne" -- not as a Levite -- "He shall be a priest upon his throne". As a priest! Is it not the throne that you are after? What is the glory you are after? There is a man who grows up in righteousness. In other words, there is the principle of local responsibility. You grow up out of your place, and the next thing is you think of the temple. If you are true to

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righteousness, you will be true to holiness, but not otherwise. If you attempt to reach the temple without righteousness, you will corrupt it. The road to the temple is righteousness. If you think of the temple, if you consider for God, then what? You sit on a priest's throne. I would rather sit on a priest's throne than on a levite's throne. There are many such thrones -- levites' thrones -- in the world, in christendom. The archbishop's throne is that in principle; it is not a priest's throne. A priest's throne is reached by the road of righteousness and holiness; that is, you consider for God.

And now, the next thing is this -- there is the counsel of peace between them both. You travel the road of righteousness, you reach holiness -- you reach the temple -- you get into the mind of God, you enter into the counsel of peace -- God and man perfectly in unison. In the unison of what? In the unison of peace. Peace is in the sanctuary. People who are at variance are not in the sanctuary. There is no such thing as quarrelling in the sanctuary. All that is outside the court of the tabernacle. All the strife is in the camp. But here we have a priest sitting upon His throne. He has reached it by the road of righteousness. He is in the counsel of peace with God, "The counsel of peace shall be between them both". Such is the position of the Lord Jesus with God.

I read the passage in the end of Luke to show you what an end Luke presents to us. He opens with the priestly atmosphere, and he closes with it. He opens with the heaven in view, and the angels there. They were not priests. I need not say they were heavenly visitors, carrying with them a heavenly rather than a priestly atmosphere. But at the close, you have a man going up to heaven as a priest. It is as if God were to say, 'You have reached the throne by righteousness, you have got the breastplate

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upon the heart for the saints who are there'. He was the true Aaron. He led them out as far as Bethany. The saints were upon His heart. Luke 24 is the breastplate of the high priest. Chapter 22 indeed is the breastplate. The breastplate is seen at the Supper. Chapter 24 shows that the same breastplate is with the Lord in resurrection. He is with the saints; He is thinking only of them; He would have the saints together. He was the true Aaron. And having collected them together He led them out as far as to Bethany. They are under His influence now. What a triumph! We have not only the High Priest, but we have His service. We are with Him, and it is as if God were to see the priestly course upon earth. He has on Him all the habiliments of the High Priest -- garments of beauty. And as He blessed them He was carried up into heaven. It is not now the heavens opened on the man, but heaven receiving the Priest. It is not that He went up, that would not be becoming to a Priest. He is received up, carried up. And how carried up? As He blessed them; as He exercised His priestly functions in blessing, He is carried up into heaven. What a Person to be in heaven! The breastplate is there with all the names of the tribes upon it, that is to say, the names of all the saints. They are upon His heart, and upon His shoulders as well, for the names were upon the shoulders and upon the breastplate of the priestly garments. Man is reinstated in heaven. That is the excess of grace. He is carried there in the attitude of blessing man here.

But He secures a place for us there, for I may add that Luke gives us the representative of all believers, the heavenly Man. He goes up into heaven, and He has left behind Him a testimony that His followers shall go too. He says. "Rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven". Our names are

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written in heaven. I was saying this afternoon, that God has a perfect right to put a family in heaven. Man is reinstated before Him. He has got title to place a family in heaven, and so, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, He has raised us up together, and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ. Such is the completeness of man's reinstatement in the presence of God, that he occupies heaven. Heaven is really occupied by man according to God before earth is so inhabited by him.

I may not proceed further. I feel I have dealt with the subject in a very feeble way, but I am sure you cannot fail to have followed in some measure what I am exercised about, and that is particularly, that there might be amongst the saints a priestly state. If we move away from a priestly state, we lose everything subjectively. You may remember things, but you have lost them in your heart, you have lost your joy. You have no power for holiness, and no power to appreciate and enter into the things of God.

May the Lord produce in us that priestly state!

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HOW WE ARE TO BE REGULATED IN THE LAST DAYS

2 Timothy 3:1 - 17; 2 Timothy 4:1 - 8

A.F.R. We get in the end of the second chapter a company that were calling on the Lord out of a pure heart, and then in this third chapter instruction as to the last days and perilous times. I suppose we are in the last days and perilous times, are we not?

J.T. It is a very important matter to note how we are to be regulated. The Spirit clearly outlines the conditions which should arise, in the early verses, and depicting the general state of things. He gives us the character of the opposition. It is opposition in the way of imitation. But think of the character of the vessel in whom the light has come to the gentiles; the kind of vessel, which is very important, the apostle Paul, his doctrine and manner of life. Both things should be connected.

Rem. He mentions several things besides doctrine and manner of life.

J.T. Yes, he says, "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience ...". I think we do well to consider Paul, because he is distinctly the vessel of our light. In taking up Paul, the Lord brought in the vessel through whom our light came in. So therefore, it is of great importance to consider the vessel and the circumstances of his conversion and call. He was converted by heavenly light, and it was alluded to in that peculiar way; it was a light from above, a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun; and as to the extraordinary character of the vessel, he was a vessel without an equal in Scripture -- I mean, among the servants of the Lord; so that we have his light and character as guidance; and therefore in our day, if there is to be teaching or

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service, Paul is the test. His manner of life must answer to every sphere, so that you want to know all about a man, if he has anything to say in the things of God. We have to take account of a man's manner of life and what he endures. I am sure there was never a more simple man than Paul; he was the essence of simplicity. We want to have luminous bodies.

Ques. Can you tell us how that is brought about in the saints?

J.T. I think you value the treasure. If we only appreciated the light that has come to us at such a cost! Paul always took account of the treasure. A man has his priestly sphere, but if he goes into the sanctuary, he should shine, should be luminous. If a man is a levite, he should shine. It is not simply what he says, but what he is. The Lord took up the Levitical service in Luke 4, "All ... wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth". "The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him". In the Lord's sphere, everything was infinitely perfect, everything was in its place. A man should shine in every sphere, his family sphere and his business sphere.

A.F.R. What is the character of the difficult times? You said something about imitation.

J.T. He gives a list of the kind of people that have to be met. You have an outline of the kind of things we find about us. It is not only that Satan brings in corruption, but the bottom of it all is resistance to the truth. It makes it extremely difficult when men do not come out into the open. Therefore the importance of our being in the good of life, because that is the only thing to meet that kind of opposition. These difficult times come in after we have had the mention of a company that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. It is a question of the man of God here. He was entrusted with the truth.

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How is he to get through, and carry it through with him? You do not want to get through just with your own skin, but to carry every divine thought with you. This chapter and the next one show how it is possible. Paul shows that it was possible; that is to say, he carried the truth, and a crown was awaiting him -- he had been faithful. If we regarded the truth more as a treasure, we should stand more for it. What is it that we are contending for? Well now, Timothy knew Paul's life and Paul's doctrine. What is Paul's doctrine? If we are to shine in our light we must have Paul's doctrine. It was a light from heaven and a voice from heaven. So that the truth is attached to heaven. The point in the light from heaven is that it was not the light of Jerusalem. When Isaac was offered, the angel speaks out of heaven; that is to say, that man is the object of heaven. Then we have the genealogy of Rebecca, and she is taken into Sarah's tent. But the Spirit of God is careful to give us her genealogy.

Ques. Is it that in the midst of difficult days, the saints are to look out for men of Paul's kind?

J.T. That is it. There is something about a heavenly man that is inimitable. We have a freewoman in heaven for our mother, Jerusalem above, and God for our Father. I think it is very striking, the Spirit immediately gives us Rebecca's genealogy. Isaac is really Paul's text in the Old Testament, because Isaac is the heavenly man. Luke gives us the first record of Paul's conversion, Paul, the second and third. Paul's record was that it was first, a great light from heaven, and second, a light above the brightness of the sun. It was in order to show that Jerusalem had been set aside that the light came out from heaven.

Rem. Paul was Timothy's father.

J.T. He had no one like Timothy, no man likeminded.

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Rem. Would it be a continuation of the apostle?

J.T. Yes, as his son. Paul sent him to Corinth; he could not go himself because he would have to exercise authority. This simple son of his could rightly represent him. I believe it is of all importance for us to take account of Paul's doctrine, and the manner of man he was. There is something peculiarly dignified about a heavenly man. He is free. There are certain laws which govern men here, and they very often enter into our Christian exercises. Now a heavenly man is free of all that. He is different. There is something about him that is different. We seem to have two things in 2 Timothy 3. We have first, Paul's doctrine and manner of life, and second, persecutions to endure; and thus we have the whole body of Christians; and the point in that is that we should be perfect, that there should be no want at all. Thus Christianity contemplates how God carries this out in the man of God. Now the man of God is the man for the crisis. He is not simply negative. He always knows what to do. He pursues a positive line. It is a continual crisis now. You are constantly on the alert. It is constant conflict, and the man of God is prepared for it. I think, perhaps, a most remarkable illustration of a man of God is Moses. The first great crisis in the history of the people was when they made the golden calf, and Moses comes into view. Before ever he went into the camp, he pleaded for the people. That is what he was for the people with God, and when he comes into the camp, we see what he was for God with the people. If a man is free from all earthly influences, that is really deliverance. Now you are here to stand for God. It is very beautiful to see how Moses pleaded with God for the people before he went into the camp, and then stood for God in the midst of the people. You could not have a much worse crisis than that. All the people were

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under the influence of idolatry. So in chapter 2 of this epistle, the man of God comes out. You do not consider for anybody but yourself if it is a question of idolatry. You come out, and God will take care of the people. You stand by the principles. The meeting was composed of those that were in the camp; they came out of it. If you put Christ where Moses was, you have the answer. He had the law in His heart. That is one great mark of the man of God. And he loves the saints. It seems to me the apostle was quite free to commit truth to a man like this. But then, in chapter 4 you have the work brought out for the servant. We are not to let our hands hang down. In the difficult days, work is to go on. In spite of the difficult days, he says, "I charge thee therefore ... preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine". There is work set out for Timothy. I think we ought to bear in mind that no circumstances in this world can interfere with assembly principles. The Father does not come into view in this epistle; it is more the Lord. In this our day it is, if you find anything to do, do it. You hear a great deal about the Lord's guidance; I would not object to this, but the word is, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might", Ecclesiastes 9:10. If you find anything to do, do it. You are doing the work because it is to be done. It is a very remarkable thing that in Acts 6, where the apostles put certain things aside, and said, 'We will not do that', the men they set apart to do it, the Spirit of God brought forward. I refer to Philip and Stephen. Peter and the others said, 'We cannot do that', but the Spirit of God takes up these two men, and they are the most important men in the testimony. If you refuse to do any work that is to be done, the Lord will take up somebody else instead of you. The apostle Paul never refused

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anything. The work must be done, and the man of God will do it. We must not say, 'This work is for me, and this work is for you'. It is more that the work has to be done.

Ques. What is the crown of righteousness?

J.T. It is the answer in glory to your having been a righteous man here. What a righteous life Paul's was! The Lord could take him up, and it was a matter of simple righteousness for him to pursue that course.

Ques. Does not the expression "a man of God" come out in reference to the last time?

J.T. I think he shines in a crisis. The idea is much more prominent in the end of this epistle than in the beginning. The Lord said to Philadelphia, "Hold fast ... that no man take thy crown". I have no doubt that Philadelphia's crown was Christ Himself. Philadelphia loves Christ, and she is to hold fast everything that refers to Christ. For the assembly's crown, the assembly looks on to the appearing of the Lord. A crown is what you cherish, what you prize most. It would be well worth while to consider things in that light. As we sometimes sing, 'Heavenly light makes all things bright'. John said that he heard the Bridegroom's voice, and his joy was complete, but Paul brought in the bride. He not only heard the Bridegroom's voice, but he satisfied the Bridegroom's heart: "I have espoused you to one man, ... a chaste virgin", 2 Corinthians 11:2. Ephesians is the great end of Paul's ministry. I think we have to take account that Rebecca was only in Sarah's tent provisionally. The assembly is here provisionally following up Sarah's position. I do think we ought to live in the light of heaven, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee". Israel has its light, and is to shine in it. Now we have our own peculiar light, and it is for us to shine in it.

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THE GENTILES BROUGHT INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD

Luke 15:11 - 32

J.T. The passage read presents the truth from God's side showing what He has in the returning son. I like to read it in connection with Acts 10, which may be regarded as the historical fulfilment of the parable. Peter began to preach and God acted while Peter was preaching; that is He gives the Spirit to the gentile. Chapter 10 is the Spirit's account of what happened and then when Peter gives his own account he says, "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them". He had just begun to speak when God acted. God was acting, so Peter could be quiet. Peter, we might say, was not a very fast runner when it was a question of the gentile; God, so to speak, outran him.

Rem. Do you mean that the father running and falling on his son's neck answers to the Spirit falling on the gentiles when Peter began to speak?

J.T. Yes. In the book of Chronicles the cherubim are seen looking out. In Exodus in the tabernacle they are looking down on the mercy-seat; in the temple they are looking out towards the house. Wherever there was a movement God saw it.

Rem. We are to take account of the activity of divine Persons in this chapter in the way God has set Himself to recover man that man may be in His presence altogether for His pleasure.

J.T. Yes. The thought in the gospel is much more what divine Persons have than what man gets. The house in Jerusalem is left in chapter 13, then it is to be filled in chapter 14 and then in chapter 15 we see the kind of people that are going to fill it and God's delight in those people. They fill it suitably; they are robed and shod and ringed before they

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enter. The music and the dancing all go on in the house. It is a great thing to see the kind of people that fill the house and what goes on in it.

Ques. Is God's house the same as the Father's house?

J.T. God's house is what is constituted provisionally down here on earth; that is Luke's line. John speaks of the Father's house, that is heaven; Luke brings in a sphere here where God is seen, which is for His pleasure. What goes on in the house is within the hearing of the elder brother; he does not know what it is but he gets the explanation of it.

Rem. He was not in sympathy with what was going on inside.

J.T. He was out of sympathy with God Himself, that is to say it is the Jew that is in view. What came to light was that the Jews were not in sympathy with what God was doing.

Ques. In what way do they who are outside the house take account of what is going on inside?

J.T. In the beginning it was worked out in Jerusalem; the Holy Spirit wrought and there was that there which was evidently for the satisfaction of man. The saints were happy, they were satisfied and they did not have the world. That could not fail to attract the attention of man as we see here. What we require is to experience this ourselves. The house is the testimony here to what God has wrought for man. There was music and dancing; that is to be here. The Lord said in reference to His own ministry, "We have piped to you, and ye have not danced". That is, the Lord's ministry here brought in the source of music to man and they were not moved by it. But that was not in the house; it was public; it was in the market place. Now that is all transferred to the house.

Rem. Joy and satisfaction are the two outstanding features of the house.

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J.T. That is where our weakness lies, we do not give people to understand that we are satisfied; our faces do not indicate that.

Rem. We have to possess it before we can give expression to it. It is a condition to be reached.

J.T. There is music going on which is intended to appeal to the ear of man; the question is whether people are dancing. Scripture speaks of dancing in a remarkable way. David danced before the ark. That is the thought of the recovery of Israel in the future.

Rem. At the end of the previous chapter we get, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear", and then at the beginning of this chapter all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming to hear Him; they are the kind of people who appreciate the music.

J.T. There must have been others in the house beside the younger son, but he is the only one made prominent.

Rem. He is an example.

J.T. Yes. There is a great lack of satisfaction among the Lord's people and no doubt it is the influence of the world. Issachar is said to be like an ass couching between two burdens. One in that state is not likely to be very happy, he is not happy in the world, nor is he happy among the saints, he is trying to carry two burdens. If you profess to be a believer in Christ there ought to be some evidence of it.

Rem. Naphtali was "satisfied with favour". The son is brought into that in this chapter.

J.T. The house of God supplies every element of satisfaction; it would not be according to God otherwise.

Ques. I did not catch your connection between this chapter and Acts 10.

J.T. There it is a question of what God is doing for His own satisfaction. Peter was not even looking

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towards the gentiles. He was praying, we may be thankful for that, but were the gentiles in his prayers? God has to awake him to His mind by a most extraordinary occurrence. If Peter had been praying for the gentiles he would not have had need of the sheet coming down from heaven filled with wild beasts. God resorted to this extraordinary means to enlighten his mind. It is a great thing to get to God's side of things. God was enlisting Peter's sympathy. Then Peter goes to Cornelius and stands up to preach and he does preach, but he says, "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell", that shows it was God's action, not Peter's. I do not say that everything in this chapter finds its answer in Acts 10, but it shows how God carries out His thought in regard of the gentile. In the gift of the Spirit the gentile had everything in principle. No one knows the love of God till he has the Spirit.

Rem. In Acts 13, when Paul is refused by the Jew, he says, "Lo, we turn to the nations", and then we read that "the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit". The gentiles were being brought in.

J.T. That is the point. What a great testimony that was in the gentile world! In the synagogue they were not filled with joy and the Holy Spirit. One great point in Luke is that he records a new order of things. At the beginning of every gospel we get a line of thought that gives character to the gospel. Matthew introduces a new kind of legislation. The Lord says, "I say unto you"; that is a new principle of legislation. Mark introduces a new kind of service. He tells us that the Lord went up to the mountain and appointed the twelve that they might be with Him that He might send them to preach; they go as from His company preaching a new order of preaching. Luke is a new order of things, so in chapter 5 we have the kind of people that are in the new order of things, people who have judged sin

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like Peter who, feeling his sinful condition, said, "Depart from me". Then the palsied man gets strength and thus they are fitted for the house of God. The Lord tells him to take up his bed and go to his house, and he departs to his house glorifying God. That is the new order of things, men go into their houses in power. There is the old and also the new order, the earthly and the heavenly, the temporal and the eternal; all these things are in contrast. People who have judged themselves are the people who form christianity, people who in effect have said, "Depart from me". If you have to do with such people you will not have much trouble. Take a man who has been carried all his life; instead of being carried he becomes able to carry and the house is changed when he goes in.

Rem. The son gets the best robe in the house.

J.T. Yes, and that is a new idea.

Rem. Chapter 14 is a new house.

J.T. Yes, in contrast to chapter 13 where the old is left.

Rem. There is plenty in the house.

J.T. The house of God is established provisionally; the Father's house is not provisional, but the house on earth is provisional, so that the saints should lack nothing till they get home.

Rem. If they miss it here then they cannot have it afterwards.

J.T. Quite so, if the saints do not appreciate the house of God now they will not appreciate the Father's house in the future; there is a provisional order of things set up so that we may have the thing now in substance.

Ques. Was Paul in the power of it when he was before Agrippa? "I would to God, ... that not only thou, but all who have heard me ... should become such as I also am, except these bonds".

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J.T. I think so, he was satisfied. The christians at the beginning must have had very fine meetings. They came together as those who had formed an appreciation of Christ and it is such people who made up the assembly normally. "We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God". That is what they were.

Rem. The prodigal was made suitable for the house.

J.T. What he was clothed with was brought out of the house. The best robe is the best; it is Christ viewed as in heaven. He is the heavenly Man. Paul says, "If even we have known Christ according to flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer". It is what Christ is as He is now in heaven, that is the garment we are clothed with, "As he is, we also are in this world" answers to it. The best robe is Paul's doctrine, He saw Christ in heaven, and he laboured to present every man perfect in Christ. He would not have one man less than that Man morally. His ministry was that everyone should be like that Man, conformed to Christ where He is. One would like to see the saints moving on earth for God's pleasure; that is God's idea, so that what goes into heaven is suitable for heaven. It is shown to be fit for heaven while on earth, hence the spiritual man does not feel there is any discrepancy between him and heaven.

Rem. What is of heaven is down here.

J.T. The heavenly comes into everything down here, so that God is justified in sending it back to heaven.

Rem. Although the house of God is provisional yet what is in it will not pass away.

J.T. No, it will not pass away. It is remarkable that in 1 Corinthians you have the body raised; "sown in weakness" but "raised in power". In 2 Corinthians we read of "our house which is from heaven"; it comes out of heaven. The whole man

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outwardly and inwardly comes out of heaven. God has been pleased to set His testimony in His house, and that indicates the greatness of the vessel. Not only what is heavenly but all the principles of the coming world come out in the house. We are taken up to heaven but all that pertains to the earth remains behind; that will be carried on by others.

Rem. The idea is that we find the source of our joy there instead of in the world, the house of God thus involving a contrary scene.

J.T. Certainly. It is the Spirit's sphere where the government of God is carried on and the will of God is carried out. That is seen here. Those who come into that sphere are filled with joy in the Holy Spirit; they are satisfied.

Ques. What is the difference between the house of God and being "Built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit", Ephesians 2:22?

J.T. In Ephesians it is the privilege of the saints collectively; what they are, they are no longer strangers.

Ques. Is that provisional?

J.T. Yes, it refers to the same house.

Ques. Does man become God's testimony in the house?

J.T. That is where the character of God is set forth. The man in Luke 15 was recovered, he was not acting for his own good now. He is forgiven, he has the Spirit of God and is clothed with the beauty of Christ.

Rem. He is able to look out in testimony to the whole world.

J.T. The river of Eden as it flowed out of the garden was parted and became four distinct streams. That speaks of what is evangelical, it went out universally. So the son, as recovered, would be interested in others. Two things were said of him, he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found.

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A beautiful thought. The Father recognises him as living; his affections were quickened God-ward, he does not live to himself now.

Ques. Would Romans 5, "The love of God shed abroad in our hearts", answer to it -- the heart satisfied with God, and also John 4, where the Lord proposes to give living water?

J.T. Yes, only Romans 5 is God's side. John 4 corresponds with Romans 8.

Ques. Do we come into the sphere of life here?

J.T. Yes, the son is now characterised by life. His affections are in activity towards God.

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THE ELEMENTS OF SPIRITUALITY

1 Corinthians 2:1 - 16; 1 Corinthians 3:1 - 7

J.T. We might consider what it is to be spiritual, the elements of spirituality. The apostle has to say to the Corinthians that he could not speak to them "as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal". It is evident that we are intended to be spiritual if we have received the Spirit. If we were to look at what a spiritual person is, then we might measure ourselves up by that.

Ques. Is that why we receive the Spirit?

J.T. Yes, in order that we might be spiritual, and judge all things. Certain things are contrasted in the word, spiritual and natural, heavenly and earthly, and so on. We can make no substantial advance in our souls till we come to the truth of this chapter.

Rem. The hindrance with the Corinthians was that the truth of the cross was not accepted.

J.T. Quite so. So the apostle's ministry had in view the laying of a spiritual foundation in their souls. "That your faith might not stand in men's wisdom, but in God's power". The apostle's power was of a spiritual character, "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power". The initial idea of what is spiritual is found in the Lord's communication to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit"; so that the principle of a spiritual man is introduced in new birth. Nothing can be more interesting than to follow the growth of a person born anew, until there is full development.

Rem. "The spiritual discerns all things".

J.T. Yes; nothing is hidden from him; he sees through everything, every moral issue. You may think you are hidden, but you are not; the spiritual discern you. It was infinitely so with Christ, but it is also so with every spiritual man. God's intention

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is that there should be a spiritual order of things in the world, a new order. Luke brings in a new order of things, but John brings in a spiritual order of things. The apostle shows that his preaching at Corinth had this in view.

G.N. The spiritual man takes account of all that is of God.

J.T. The Lord's answer to Nicodemus shuts out flesh. What is born of the Spirit is spirit. It is not the Spirit, it is the character of the thing. Something has occurred in man that is "spirit", and that develops until it becomes spiritual. Luke writes "accurately acquainted from the origin". It is the same word as "born anew". In John 3 many believed, but Jesus knew what was in man. He was acquainted with man from the outset, and this led Him to refuse man as he was. So in the next chapter, man must be born from the beginning. New birth refers to that, no other kind of man is to be trusted.

Rem. It says, "But there was a man from among the Pharisees".

J.T. It is a 'but' of distinction. It distinguishes Nicodemus from the others. He showed that he recognised what was of God.

Ques. Was he born anew when he came to Jesus?

J.T. I think so.

A.N. He has spiritual perception.

J.T. He attached a moral value to what Jesus did. He says, "Thou art ... a teacher from God".

A.N. It was a question of measure with Nicodemus?

J.T. Yes; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. It begins to show itself in various directions. To judge oneself is a spiritual act, very elementary perhaps, but it is an indication.

G.N. The character in which the Spirit came at Pentecost would indicate self-judgment.

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J.T. Yes, "parted tongues, as of fire". A great change marks a person who is born anew. He views everything from a different standpoint. He may not be very happy at the beginning, but his very unhappiness is a mark of what is there.

Ques. That would be different from the Spirit indwelling?

J.T. Yes; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit; it is its character.

Rem. There must be a new moral being, or christian company could not be enjoyed.

J.T. Yes, there is now a link between the person and the christian company.

A.N. There is a condition resulting from new birth, and also from an indwelling Spirit.

J.T. The Spirit enables you to judge the flesh, but that is not power. There is a tremendous struggle with the flesh. Take Romans 7, "The law is spiritual". How did the man find that out? He discerns that, and that the flesh was incorrigible. An unconverted man could not see that. The young man in the gospels says, "All these things have I kept from my youth". He never once discerned the spirituality of the law. It would have killed him. The Spirit adds help to all the exercises of the new nature. It is one thing to say "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"; it is another thing to recognise a spiritual man.

A.N. There is the new thinking faculty there.

J.T. It works out in all the various elements or parts of a man, in affection and mind, "Thus must the Son of man be lifted up". It answers to a spiritual instinct. In Romans 8 the man sees the flesh, that which he was struggling with, condemned.

Ques. Were the Corinthians in the good of the brazen serpent?

J.T. I think not. You have to see what the flesh is in you, before you can value the brazen serpent.

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"The law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin".

Rem. There must be a measure of eyesight with the one born anew or he could not see the kingdom; then it says, "Except any one be born of water and of Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God", John 3:5.

J.T. The kingdom is a spiritual idea. No one can discern that except one born anew.

Ques. "Born of water and of Spirit", is that revelation?

J.T. You cannot separate it from the death of the Lord. It is a matter of cleansing.

Ques. Would you say the man returning from the pool of Siloam is a figure of one born of water and the Spirit?

J.T. He goes further than John 3. What was put on his eyes spoke of the incarnation, "Siloam" is 'sent'. It implies the Lord's death.

Rem. He not only sees but appropriates.

J.T. Yes, and he has remarkably good reasoning powers spiritually. The manner in which he met the Pharisees is very striking.

Rem. The way to spirituality lies through the cross.

J.T. Yes; the apostle in 1 Corinthians is laying a spiritual foundation, hence he insists on the cross; and his preaching is in keeping. He does not embellish it with anything human, "My preaching", he says, was not in "persuasive words of wisdom". That involves spiritual and levitical work. He took account of the conditions there and ministered accordingly. Paul is the model. In chapter 3, he sets out how a spiritual man looks at things. He considers for those to whom he ministered, so that they should be spiritual. Popular evangelisation does not lay a basis of spirituality. How could music accredit the gospel, or suggest anything spiritual? Such things would lay some other foundation in the soul. The result

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is persons who are not spiritual. In ministry, you have to think of the fruit; what you present will bear fruit in time. So the apostle labours that nothing should be presented but what would produce that which is spiritual.

A.N. It has been said that building on revivalism is like building on the edge of a knife; there is no foundation.

J.T. Yes; souls are affected, but they do not see the assembly. The assembly is a spiritual formation, and to see it, we must be spiritual. A truly spiritual person discerns all things, everything in the moral universe. But the Corinthians were carnal and a carnal man puts one brother against another, and that precludes the possibility of building up. Work cannot go on in saints while these things are permitted. The apostle says, "Has Paul been crucified for you?". What spirituality was there! He knew no other man save in relation to Christ.

A.N. How do we become spiritual? Is it the result of refusal of the flesh? We see the end of the flesh in the cross. Do we come into accord with that?

J.T. We appropriate the light that comes to us. How abundant everything is in the physical universe; and it is so in moral things. There is no lack of light, and we are to be conformed to it.

A.N. There is no defect in the testimony presented.

J.T. The Corinthians did not labour under any disadvantage. The ministry was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, but there was with them preference for the flesh. Where there is a desire to go on there is surrender. Self-judgment is needed. Things which have been accepted formerly as in accord with rectitude are judged. In christendom sin is legalised, so that people may go on with it with a good conscience. Certain things are preferred, and in order to be maintained, they are legalised.

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Saints have to judge all that. A spiritual man judges all things.

G.N. He refuses things first in himself.

J.T. If you judge yourself you judge the world. Your empire will become extended. If you rule yourself, you will have others to rule, and eventually you will judge angels. The new order of things is set forth in Luke, in those who are sinful and have come to it, that they are capable of doing the worst things possible. These are the people to trust. Chapter 5 of Luke introduces the new order of things, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord". It is a great thing to get hold of the principle of judgment. A christian man gradually becomes a millennium in himself; he has all the elements there, life (the Spirit of life), and then there is the consciousness of sin, but it has no power. So it will be in the millennium.

G.N. What connection is there between what Peter said, "Depart from me", and the draught of fishes?

J.T. The light shone in. The Lord must have wrought in Peter's soul, or he could not have discerned who was there. He recognised the Lord, it was the indication of something spiritual there. He saw too what he was himself, capable of doing the worst things.

G.McK. What will be universal in the world to come, comes in with yourself now.

J.T. That is a great thing. I learn what will prevail in the future.

G.N. The saints are thus qualified to rule.

J.T. Your empire will be extended. If you do not rule yourself, you cannot rule anybody else. The Lord trusts you when you have learned that you are sinful. Peter was made a fisher of men. The Lord could trust him in this way; and then He says, "Feed my lambs" at the close. That was a wonderful

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trust. This was given to him in answer to self-judgment.

A.N. Your knowledge of what you are does not incapacitate you for service.

J.T. No, it capacitates you for service. The Lord promotes Peter. Peter had denied the Lord. Then in John 21 he says, "I go to fish", and the others say, "We also come with thee". Peter was about to go back to what the Lord called him out of. Yet the Lord, when He restores him, makes a shepherd of him.

-- .F. The man in John 9 is formed by following the light presented.

J.T. Every bit of light is a fresh revelation of Christ, and if we see that, we want to be conformed to it. No christian wants to have a lower standard. It is, "Until we all arrive ... at the full-grown man".

G.N. As you answer to the light, the flesh is displaced in yourself, not only removed at the cross.

J.T. You are to be in accord with the cross.

G.N. What you recognise, you realise as you answer to the light.

J.T. You have the Spirit to help you. In Romans 7 the man delighted in the light, but had no power to be conformed to it. In chapter 8 he had the power.

A.N. What is the link between this chapter and Romans 7 and 8?

J.T. This is abnormal; Romans 7 is normal. There the man sees the spirituality of the law, but he has no power. This is abnormal; for though a good foundation had been laid with no mixture, others had started to build, resulting in what was abnormal.

H.H. The man in John 9 moved on to the Son of God. The movement in his case is remarkable.

J.T. Yes; the reasoning power he developed, the spiritual reasoning he was capable of is remarkable. Christendom is built up by the legalisation of lawlessness;

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hence it requires spiritual power to judge it, and to be clear of it. We must not admit any standard but Christ.

A.N. What do you mean by the legalisation of lawlessness?

J.T. Things that are wrong have been considered right for centuries, and people are perfectly happy in it.

Rem. "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient".

J.T. I do not refer to that. One has respect for everything legitimate. A spiritual man may waive his rights, but the "all things" the apostle alludes to were lawful. I do not refer to that. What I refer to is that which is illegal being considered lawful. God never instituted anything that did not stand in the power of the Spirit. If it were a matter of serving tables, those used had to be filled with the Spirit. Balaam is the originator of mixture; that sort of teaching. It was a doctrine; that was the serious thing. That means the thing is legalised, "Those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak". There are those who teach these things. Then people think it is all right to do them. Look at the ability that man has! Bishops, synods and councils are all on this line; all essential to make things binding. True spiritual exercise is shut out; hence a spiritual person necessarily judges all this. He will not have anything that is not of Christ.

G.N. He has a position of wonderful advantage. A spiritual man must be outside all; he can only withdraw from it.

Rem. The man who was blind saw men as trees walking; afterwards he saw every man clearly.

J.T. Yes, you may think a certain brother very wonderful but perhaps he is standing between your soul and Christ. You cannot see over a tree, nor can you see past that brother; he is like a tree in your

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eyes. The third chapter of Philippians gives us the way a spiritual man takes account of things, "We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh". This shuts out ceremonial religion. "We ... boast in Christ Jesus", the apostle says, "and do not trust in flesh". He might have trusted in flesh more than others but he says, "What things were gain to me these I counted ... loss", and he tells us why; for "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". As regards his politics, he tells us that his politics were in heaven. That is how a spiritual man takes account of things.

-- .F. "We have the mind of Christ".

J.T. We can think as He did. It is the same faculty. If we only looked at things as Christ did! What a judgment He had! Think of Him sitting down on the mount of Olives. Think of what passed through His mind, think of His wonderful discourse. He judged the whole fabric of ritual and religion from that standpoint of the mount of Olives, and that standpoint was heaven really.

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UNITY

Numbers 7:1 - 23, 89; Numbers 8:1 - 4

My thought is to say a word about unity, and what is consequent on it, that is, divine speaking and divine light. You will see that if these two things are set in Scripture as consequent on unity, unity is a very great point to reach and to be maintained.

It has pleased God not only to set Christ in heaven, but to establish a unity on earth in men, and in men who had previously been opposed to each other. Not only were the Jews and gentiles opposed to each other naturally, but the gentiles themselves were "hateful, and hating one another". Now God's thought was to bring to pass a unity under these conditions, and having established that, His voice could be heard here, and His light could shine. That is what these passages present to us.

Numbers afford us in type christianity as inaugurated by God in the world viewed as the wilderness. The book, as many know, refers to a date which was one year later than the passage of the Red Sea. It was a year and a month later, that is to say, it contemplates the saints as not only knowing redemption through faith, but as having to do with God experimentally in adverse conditions, and, more, as having received the Holy Spirit. The book records that all the people were numbered from twenty years old and upwards, that is, from the age of what we would ordinarily call manhood. The boyhood state is omitted. The people are regarded as having come to manhood; that is, they have the Spirit. So Numbers, as I said, applies to those who not only know redemption through faith in Christ, but who have been experimentally with God in the wilderness for at least one year, and who have God's Spirit. If you measure up to these things, you can then take up Numbers as addressed to you. You must never

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conclude that Numbers was written for the children of Israel. It was written after they had passed through the circumstances recorded in it, and they will never be in those circumstances again. It refers, therefore, to christians. I am saying things that are simple, but it is well to be reminded that Numbers is as much for you or me as Romans, just as much.

I should like to point out one or two principles which precede unity. You will remark that the speaking in Numbers is out of the tabernacle in the wilderness, that is how it reads. In Leviticus the speaking is simply out of the tabernacle; that is, the position of the tabernacle is not in view. It is a question of approach in Leviticus, and the ordinances there had reference to the land as well as to the wilderness, but when you come to Numbers, Jehovah speaks to Moses out of the tent in the wilderness, and the point is the relation of the people to it there. It is God taking account of His people in relation to the testimony in the wilderness. In the first chapter the numbering begins with Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob. God takes account of us according to our responsibility. That is a remarkable element. A christian who has not accepted his responsibility is in danger. Such a person as an irresponsible christian is not considered. All are responsible, and taken account of in regard to that responsibility. Do not ever say, They are the cause of it. Shoulder your responsibility. Whenever you speak of difficulties among God's people, the responsibility belongs to you. Think of David. "These sheep, what have they done?" I have done it all, he said, I am blameworthy. He accepted the principle of responsibility to God. It is a great day, young believer, when you accept your obligations in regard to God and to His testimony down here. Now, if you accept responsibility, the next thing is that God assigns your work. You cannot choose it. So in the next chapter Judah

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comes first. That tests you. If you are thinking only of your prominence in the work you are assigned to, you will be greatly tested if Judah is put before you. Judah stands for the sovereignty of God; so, when the tribes are placed in regard to the tabernacle, Judah comes first.

These are two great principles therefore in Numbers. First there is responsibility for each one of us, secondly, the work you are to do is assigned to you by the Lord. Every true servant accepts these principles. If from his heart he seeks only the good of the testimony, he is not concerned what he does. The Lord knows better than you what you can do, and He assigns your work, "What shall I do, Lord?" There is a great deal to be done. I do not say Saul understood it, but his words summed up the situation. The apostles at Jerusalem had failed. I am not speaking disparagingly of them; they were most honoured men, but they had not carried out their commission. It extended to all nations. Jerusalem did not cover all nations, it was not even the capital of the world -- Rome was that -- and the apostles could not hope to come in touch with all nations at Jerusalem. Yet the testimony is that they remained there, "What shall I do, Lord?" What a work there was to do, the work of evangelising humanity! What a mighty work is there! But the Lord must decide the work to be done. Who did the work through Paul? It was the grace of Christ in him that accomplished the work. God did the work, and Paul got the credit -- and what a credit! What great results accrued from Paul's labours -- what Christ did through him -- not merely the evangelisation of the gentile, but the bringing home of a bride. What a mighty work that was! It all begins with the recognition in Saul's soul that the Lord must appoint his work.

The great feature here is unity. There is nothing more important than that we should see this, and I

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want to indicate how christian unity comes to pass. It takes a good while to read over those eighty-nine verses; most of them are a repetition. The Spirit could easily have given us the details of the offering of one of the princes and then have added, Each of the twelve offered the same. But He does not do that. He goes over each in detail. What I understand by it is that all these princes had the same appreciation of Christ. Did you ever think of that? How are we brought together? We are each enlightened by the gospel, and the gospel is the presentation of Christ. We all know the apostle's statement, "God's glad tidings ... concerning his Son, ... Jesus Christ our Lord". The light comes to our souls, what is the effect? You appreciate Christ, and I appreciate Christ; thus you and I are united. Your mind is filled with that with which my mind is filled; your heart is filled with that with which my heart is filled, the result is perfect spiritual unity. There is no other unity that will abide. The most baneful principle that could be imbibed is agreement to differ. It may come to that in detail, but never allow it as a principle. What we have been speaking of is the unity of spiritual affection, that is what it is; that unity will abide for ever. What do these chargers and bowls full of fine flour mingled with oil refer to? To Christ in the perfection of His manhood. The silver chargers and silver bowls refer to Christ known in redemption in the perfection of His manhood. It is not the same as at the Red Sea. It was there undoubtedly, but there was not the capacity on the part of the people of God to see it there. This is development. Who brings this offering? A prince. There are twelve princes, and each one is carefully designated as a leader of a tribe; they represented the tribes of Israel. What have they? They have Christ in their souls in the perfection of His manhood, known in redemption. How wonderful to have that

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in your soul, to know the Lord Jesus Christ in all that infinite perfection in manhood, known in redemption! Think of "Jesus Christ come in flesh". Have we such a Christ in our souls? It is a great thing not to rest merely on statements of Scripture. What is your personal estimate of Christ? Each of those princes had a distinct estimate of Christ as Man, and all were in agreement. What a perfect presentation of unity, all entirely agreed in their estimate! The excellency of Christ eclipsed every other man for them; no possibility of hero-worship, save that of Christ, in men of this type. Paul was one, "We ... boast in Christ Jesus", Philippians 3:3. That was the Man for him. If you have not arrived at that, some other man will get hold of you; you will bring in some other man besides Christ. A prince has power with God and with men; he has Christ in his heart in the perfection of His manhood, known in redemption. If you look at this chapter in detail, each prince had a perfect estimate of Christ both in regard to His Person, and His qualification in connection with the work of redemption. Ponder that, and read through the chapter, long though it is. Do not get weary of reading it. Bear in mind that the Spirit is telling you that each of them had a full estimate of Christ in this way. It is men such as Paul, Peter, John and Timothy that the Spirit has in mind. God loves to ponder the expressions of these early christians as to what they thought of Christ. John says, of the works of Jesus, "which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written". That is a prince's estimation. That man had a true estimate of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says. "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". He is not content to say, 'for the knowledge', but "for the excellency of the knowledge". The knowledge of Christ was everything

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to Paul, "Yea", he says, "I count all things but loss" -- he did not want anybody else or anything else. If he thought of gain, Christ was his gain, not means here, nor prosperity. So, too, Peter speaks of excellent glory. "We ... were eye-witnesses of his majesty", he says. A spiritual prince clothes everything with divine sentiments. He calls the mount "holy"; there is nothing profane or sacrilegious about Peter; he cannot admit of anything of that kind. The mount is holy; the glory is excellent. It is the majesty of Christ that he is talking about. He did not say this on the mount. He was scarcely a prince then; he was asleep in the presence of the glory. There was no manhood in that. That is what marks a minor, asleep in the presence of the glory, that was weakness. He woke up, however, and saw it, but he did not call it excellent then. Now, he says: It was the majesty of Christ I saw there, and I heard a voice. What did it say? "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight". All these are the sentiments of a prince in christianity. These were the men christianity began with -- princes, and a unity existed which the world had never seen anything like before. It began on the day of Pentecost, and was maintained in the appreciation of Christ. Had you said, Paul, you must agree to differ, in order to get along with your brethren, he would have said, Never, no agreement to differ. Agreement lies in appreciation of Christ. Is it ever to cease? Never! Fellowship is down here, and refers to walls of protection down here. That ceases, but unity ever remains. Never will you lose your appreciation of Christ, and, as I shall not lose mine, and saints in general will not lose theirs, it is an eternal unity, a unity of spiritual affections, never to be lost. God loves that! He loves it down here. He will have it up there unquestionably, but He will have it here where evil is, "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to

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dwell together in unity!" the psalmist says, and he tells us what it is like. It is something very great, "It is like the precious ointment ... as the dew of Hermon". In connection with unity I would say that when it is a question of God's counsels there are "many brethren" spoken of -- the Spirit uses a word in the full meaning, but, when describing the goodness and pleasantness of unity, it is simply "brethren", not a question of many or few. Then, as I said, it is likened to certain things, and the passage closes up with, "There the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore". Blessing is connected with it. It is not simply unity of men but of brethren. It is a lovely thing to see men together as brethren.

Now in this chapter in Numbers, after the unity in Israel is fully indicated and that in the most tangible way, for the Levites are provided for with waggons and oxen, then the altar is taken account of, and then in verse 89 you find God is speaking. It is as if He said. 'You all love Christ; now I want to speak to you through Christ'. Is not that attractive? It says, "Moses ... heard the voice speaking to him from off the mercy-seat". The mercy-seat is Christ. God would say: 'You all love Christ; you have shown it plainly in your gifts, and I want to speak to you through Christ'. Could anything be more desirable than to have a word from such a One, whom we love? Divine communications come to us through One whom we love. How enhanced they are in this way! We love to hear things from one who is an object of affection, so where there is the demonstration of love to Christ, God speaks. Hence we get a word, and the word is through Christ, but has reference to the testimony. We all love the testimony; we love to hear of it through Christ; so God speaks to us about it through Him.

We may depend upon it that, when there is divine speaking, the testimony will be opened up, for the

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testimony was below the mercy-seat. Hence there is the opening up of the mind of God. Then in the next chapter the candlestick comes into evidence -- the assembly has its place. If Christ has the first place in your heart, you need not be afraid to speak of the assembly. There were seven lamps, and all had to be lighted; that is, the light is to be sevenfold. It is in the power of the Spirit, and it is supported by the candlestick. What is that? What but that which we see in the previous chapter? What would support the light of Christ but what loves Christ? The Spirit of God here lights the candlestick that we all may see it. And what do we see? Something all of gold, beaten work, the work of God, it is that which supports the light. What a picture! "He lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, ... And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work, according unto the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses". But what is the pattern? Mark, it is not 'patterns'; it is always in the singular, "the pattern which the Lord had shewed Moses". It is the pattern that Moses saw on the mount, and that was Christ. Christ was the pattern, of the altar, of the table, of everything, so here the candlestick was "according unto the pattern". What is the assembly to be here on earth? What was Christ in the gospels? Read them, and then measure yourself by them, and see the discrepancy. It leads to exercise, and exercise gives place to the Spirit of God, and then you have the "beaten work". The light was to be "over against the candlestick". What will the assembly be in the future? All measured and according to the pattern. It comes down and it is measured (there are measurements in Ezekiel and then again in Revelation), and its measurement is perfect; there is not a discrepancy; all is according to the pattern, the workmanship of God. There will be no work going on then; it is now

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the work is going on. Look at the Lord's people. How do you regard them? I regard them as those in whom this work is going on day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and then we see the result in the Revelation.

Paul laid the foundation according to the pattern, and he says. "Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon". He says, Go by the pattern. If not, you bring in material which will come under judgment. No other foundation is laid than Christ, and the whole structure must be Christ, from the foundation to the top-stone. And it is Christ, and will be Christ, and will come out of heaven according to Christ.

May God give us to be according to it at the present time!

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VIEWING THINGS FROM A RIGHT POSITION

Matthew 24:1 - 4; Revelation 21:9, 10

What is before us is to seek to show the advantage of viewing things from a right position. God is pleased to give us this advantage, and it is of all moment to have it. The mount of Olives in Matthew 24 represents a place of vantage from which to have a right view of that which the Lord Jesus had abandoned. He had abandoned the temple, and having abandoned it and also Jerusalem He would accord the disciples a just view and estimate of what He had abandoned. Now, when we come to the other side, to that which is specifically called the holy city, new Jerusalem, the prophet is also taken to a vantage ground, so that he might see her according to all her glorious perfections.

The present day is one in which the people of God are very listless in regard to what the Spirit would say. You remember how in speaking to the angels of the assemblies, the Lord singles out certain ones who had ears and that singling out assumes there would be those who had no ears -- a very sorrowful consideration. I trust we have ears, but remember, it is not everything to have ears; we must use them. So the Lord says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches". So that having an ear, it is a great thing to use it. If we do not exercise our ears, we are liable to be deceived and to mistake sin in the camp for the noise of war, as did Joshua. Moses and Joshua when coming down from the mount, drew near to the camp, and there was a noise in the camp -- there is a noise in the camp at the present time -- and Joshua said, "There is a shout of war in the camp". That was the judgment of one whose ear was unexercised. He mistook the noise. Moses, on the other hand, declared, "It is not the

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sound of a shout of victory". What was the truth of the condition of things in the camp? "The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to sport". That was the condition; this was what was going on in the absence of the mediator, of Moses. I refer to that, to emphasise the need of exercise as to using our ears. The Spirit of God speaks at the present time, so the Lord appeals to those who have ears.

This passage in Matthew suggests that the Lord has withdrawn from earthly organised religion, and in withdrawing from it, He has judged it. If you go back in the narrative, you find the Lord coming into Jerusalem, and as coming into it He judges everything in it. He takes account of things as they are, and ends with the words, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... Behold, your house is left unto you desolate". That is His last pronouncement on the city. He had drawn near to it in grace in the tenderness and affection of the Bridegroom. It was His city, "the city", in His own language, "of the great King". The temple was there and all its service, but He pronounces judgment on it.

Christians require to have a true estimate of things as they are in the world. Our judgment is often superficial; hence the needs-be for the Lord to help His people to form a just estimate of things. To illustrate from Scripture this thought of divine aid in seeing things, I would refer to Abraham. According to Stephen's words, the God of glory appeared to him in Mesopotamia. That is how God reaches the soul. He appears to you where you are, but you are not to stay there. Were it not that God graciously appeared to us in the place where we were found, we should have remained where we were, instead of being where we now are. I do not say that Abraham saw the glory of God in Mesopotamia. It does not say the glory of God appeared to him, but the God of glory, an entirely different thought. Mesopotamia

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was not the sphere of divine glory: "Get thee out", God said. Think of God leading him out and showing him the land! What a thought that is! To be shown the land by God Himself. It needs to be shown to us divinely. God said to Abraham, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look ... northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward". And God supported him in lifting up his eyes. So now, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, is here to show us things. The Lord said that He would show us what is coming. Think of the Holy Spirit showing us things! Never assume for a moment that we could look at anything divine unless it were shown to us. The Holy Spirit is here in order to show things to us. How important it is then for us to lift up our eyes!

When we come to Moses we have the same thought. Moses was one of those who wanted to see. He said, "Let me ... see thy glory". That is what God delights in. The present time is a great time for display, things for the eye are paraded in every direction. The man of sin who is coming in will be on that line, he will be a sort of show-man. He will bring signs from heaven, wonderful things shown to the people that they desire to see, but they are deceptive things. If you want to see the world, you clothe it according to your heart's desire. Look at Lot. The Lord did not show him the land; there is nothing said of that. Lot saw the well-watered plains of Sodom, and he gave them a name, a name such as was in his heart. He called them "the garden of the Lord". What a delusion! And he connects it with the land of Egypt. Such was the heart of Lot! It was not set on the land. The plain of Sodom was in no way like the garden of the Lord. That was Satan's delusion! I speak as a warning, as young christians are liable to clothe the world with heavenly garb, but it is an absolute delusion, Satan's work. There were two things that Moses desired to see, first the glory of

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Jehovah, and secondly, the land of Canaan; these things were in his heart. He saw the glory on the mount of transfiguration, and he did not seem in the least out of accord with that scene. The glory was in his heart, for we are told that he was one of the men who appeared on the mount, and spoke with the Lord Jesus. He saw the glory and he saw the land. Jehovah took him up to mount Nebo and showed him all the land. What a wonderful vista for Moses as he was alongside the Lord! Think of the Lord pointing out this place and that place in that glorious land! That is what the Lord would do for us. No one of us is equal for the exploration of heaven. We require God to show it to us.

Now the Lord here had abandoned Jerusalem. Have we accepted that? There is in this world a system of organised religion. The influence of christianity was such that Satan could not ignore it; hence he suggested to the leaders of the world to adopt it, so that the name of the Lord should be regarded as one of the assets of the world. Think of the rejected Nazarene; think of His name being adopted in this way. And in connection with that name a system of organised religion is built up, and in it we find sin and lawlessness legalised. It is a most serious consideration; are we able to form an estimate of it? It is carefully elaborated, so that it has the appearance of being of God, but it is the outcome of the teaching of Balaam. Satan through Balaam could not succeed in cursing the people of God, so he turns him into a teacher. If we examine the chapters in Numbers which record the doings of Balaam, we find that he pretends to make much of God, but in his heart he loved the wages of unrighteousness. The teaching of christendom has come from men who earn their wages by it, that is what is in their heart. What kind of teaching is it? If teaching for their masters, they will please their

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masters by the teaching; hence you have the legalisation of every kind of lawlessness. Scripture speaks of those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak. It was as if he said, 'Balak, if you do not pay me for cursing the people, you must pay me for corrupting them by teaching'; and the teaching, alas, has succeeded, and an elaborate system of lawlessness has developed out of it. Now, beloved christians, we have to face that, and to judge it, and for this we need the Lord's help, and He is pleased to accord us every advantage we need. He left the temple, but before leaving it, He pronounced its doom. Jerusalem had slain the prophets, killed those sent to her, and now her house is left desolate. The Lord formally leaves Jerusalem, and now He is on the mount of Olives. That is the position, and it is the position He assigns to us.

I would say a word as to the mount of Olives. It was the place of the Lord's interchange of holy thought and affection with His Father. He went there whole nights. "Every one", we read, "went to his home, Jesus went to the mount of Olives". The very expression indicates the Spirit of God. The olive tree suggests the Holy Spirit. Now where are we to be? Jesus left the city. Have we left it? Have we left it politically? Have we left it religiously? The Lord withdraws and goes over to the mount of Olives and sits down there. The disciples, in the beginning of the chapter, had come to show Him the buildings of the temple, that wonderful system which had stood the test of centuries! Look at its ramifications, will time destroy it? One can well understand the enquiries of hearts as regards the great systems that exist today. What does the Lord say? He says, "Not a stone shall be left here upon a stone which shall not be thrown down". Do you believe it? Not one stone in all that huge fabric that will not be thrown down. This announcement involves the complete overthrow of all

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that is earthly, all earthly organised religion. How blessed is our privilege to sit down on the mount of Olives with Christ, and look at it all! What a stay to the heart in the presence of the overthrow! All the light is on the other side of the ravine, so to speak, as we are separated from Jerusalem, withdrawn from it, and listening to His word as to the ultimate destruction of the whole system. We can readily see how important it is to live on the mount of Olives. It is impossible to get a right view of Jerusalem in Jerusalem. In order to get it you must withdraw from the city, abandon it, and come into the sphere of the Holy Spirit. Sit down on the mount with Jesus. Ask Him questions about it. Have you any difficulties about it? Ask the Lord about it. The disciples came to Him there after His words, and said, "Tell us, when shall these things be". How delightful to the Lord to be enquired of, as He sat on the mount, as to when those things should happen. Then there is this wonderful chapter 24; are you in the light of it? There is the opening up of the history of things, until the coming of the Lord. I do not enlarge on the prophetic side, but it is important that we should pay attention to it, for prophecy has the effect of detaching our hearts from this world. The Lord is pleased to answer the questions of the disciples by opening up happenings from that moment till His coming, in order that the saints should not be deceived. "See that no one mislead you". What a warning! Where all kinds of pretensions are rampant your refuge is in sitting down on the mount of Olives with Christ. The disciples came unto Him privately. One loves to resort to the sphere of the Spirit privately, withdrawn from the world, to sit down on the mount of Olives and receive the explanations of Christ.

Now, if Jerusalem is to be destroyed and the temple left desolate, they are to be replaced. Abraham looked for a city, and we are not left without one; so before

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the scripture closes we have a view of the heavenly Jerusalem. Hence in Revelation 21 it is said, "He carried me away in the Spirit". That is what we require; we require to be carried away in the Spirit. Contact with this world, being in the midst of it, tends with the most spiritual, to dim the vision of our souls, so it is "one of the seven angels which had had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues", the angel who judges the world, who carries John away in the Spirit. What I am emphasising is the great distance between the world and what is of God. So the idea of judgment is first presented, and then John is carried away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain. How much do we know of it? When Elijah was caught up, the sons of the prophets wished to look for him. They suggested that the Lord might have cast him into a valley somewhere! The Spirit of God does not take His people to a valley, He takes them on high. What a wonderful experience, carried away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, your back turned on the world, you see it no more. The angel not only holds in his hand the bowls of the judgment but he can show us the holy city, Jerusalem. It is what we saw in connection with Abraham, divine showing. And the city is seen coming down out of the heaven from God. Have you seen it? Who are they who see it? Those who look for it, the men of faith, and the city they see is one whose builder is God Himself. Every spiritual man looks for that, the holy city, heavenly Jerusalem. Philippians 3 presents the point of view of a spiritual man. It shows us how a spiritual man regards things. The apostle says, "Our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens". The spiritual man has politics, but they are in heaven, in this city.

My point at the beginning was to engage you with the divine vantage ground, and I would commend to you the mount of Olives. I would commend to you sitting down with Jesus there, and getting from His

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lips the judgment of things here; and I would also commend the importance of having in our hearts the heavenly city, for remember, we speak of things according to our hearts. You will recall how Caleb brought a judgment of the land according to what was in his heart; so if you have the city in your heart, you will be looking for it; and if so, it will be shown you by one who judges the world. And what a view! The city, coming down out of heaven, having God's glory, the vessel of divine glory!

May the Lord help us to be engaged with it!

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GIDEON THE BROTHER

Judges 8:1 - 3, 18 - 23

J.T. I thought it would be helpful to pursue the subject of Gideon. In this chapter we have indicated what he was as a brother. Chapter 6 is what he is -- among other things -- in his relations with God; chapter 7 is what marked him in the conflict; and chapter 8 indicates what he is as a brother, and how he manifests the traits becoming to a brother. If God is pleased to come in sovereignly and raise up a leader, those who have already been in the first place are sure to be affected, so now this chapter helps us in seeing in Gideon the spirit of a brother. He recognises the leading tribe -- Ephraim. He credits them with a great share in the victory, so that instead of a conflict arising between them he pacifies them; whereas Jephthah, later on, lacking the spirit of a brother, contends with Ephraim, and fearful slaughter ensues. But chapter 6, as we had yesterday, affords wonderful instruction as showing how the servant is set up in his relations with God. It is first power with God, then power with men. Another great truth that comes in incidentally is the principle of example. Christianity has been inaugurated on that principle; it is not by precept but by example. Now the old economy was on the ground of precept. Moses was not all that he said: Christ was all that He said, and hence is not only the law to us but the example. That is seen very clearly in Gideon. Chapter 7 brings in his followers; his companions in arms were wholly dependent for what they did on what he did.

Rem. That is what Paul would refer to when he linked up his manner of life with his doctrine.

J.T. Yes, he brings it in, particularly in Philippians -- they were to walk 'as they had him as an example'. Many, he says, walk of whom I speak

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with tears; they minded earthly things; they were enemies of the cross of Christ.

Ques. Do you mean that the manner of life is the brother?

J.T. Well! it comes in really before that. Of course, it comes out in the brother, but it comes out more in the way of example. The warrior and the servants -- are in chapter 7. First of all, the army has to be reduced. The army is tested as to whether they are on natural lines, or on spiritual lines; i.e. whether they can lap the water like a dog -- which is contrary to nature for a man, though quite natural for a dog -- or whether they have to bow down and drink in a lazy, natural, easy sort of way. That was the most drastic test for them. It reduced the army to three hundred, and then after that test they had to learn how to do things from Gideon. They were to do what he did: that was how the victory was to be achieved. So that whether it be Christ, or whether it be one who is of like passions with ourselves, such as Paul, we have to go by example if we are to be effective. It is not only what you are told to do; it is what you see another doing. We are to be observant as to how things are done; in that way. I think chapter 7 is, in principle, the gospel of Mark. The gospel of Mark is the levitical gospel, it is the gospel for the levites, and the principle in Mark is not simply what the Lord did -- although that is there -- but how He did things. Many of us do a good deal, but then the question is whether we do it rightly -- whether things are well done. The leaders of christendom do things as they think right, but the gospel of Mark is the check on all that; it is the workman's gospel. So that it is not only the thing that is done, but it is the manner in which it is done.

Ques. I suppose that would be illustrated in what Paul in Acts 20 says to the elders of Ephesus. It was

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not only that he served the Lord, but he did it with all humility of mind and many tears.

J.T. Yes; that was how the thing was done; it was befitting, and Timothy was a man similar to that: he was a man accustomed to tears. Paul remembered his tears, for tears of that kind were valuable. Paul's tears were such as the Lord would put into His bottle, and Timothy's too -- they were worthy of preservation!

Rem. I thought too of how the latter part of Acts 20 would illustrate what you said as to the Lord looking on Gideon: "I have shewed you all things, that thus labouring ... and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus ...".

J.T. That is excellent; that is just what I was thinking; Mark really got his ideas from Paul. He knew a good deal about the christian household, and he speaks more about the Lord being in a house than any of the other evangelists do. He was a companion of Paul at the beginning, and he had opportunity to see how the work was done. He failed in that; he went back to natural principles. Now, the greatest evidence that he was recovered lies in the fact that his gospel is taken up with the manner of the workmanship. He occupies you with the Lord's workmanship. So that the gospel looked at in that way is like chapter 7 of Judges -- it is the true Gideon. 'You look at me; do as I have done; what you see me do, you do'.

Rem. So that in that way, it is not simply that the work is done, but Christ is expressed in how you do it.

J.T. Yes, God thinks a good deal of that. With Luke, it is not so much how the thing is done, how relief is brought in, but he magnifies the thing accomplished. Whereas Mark emphasis how the thing was accomplished, he tells us the Lord did everything well.

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Rem. It is not sufficient to have the line of the truth, but we have to be characterised by the spirit of it.

J.T. Quite so. One enhances the things he speaks of by his manner. I think every brother ought to be exercised about doing something. First of all, timidity has to be judged; those that were fearful and afraid had to be sent back. Then, secondly, if you are not afraid, you must be free from the love of ease and comfort; while God accords to us many mercies to enjoy, if He gives them to us, we must not live in them. If anyone lives on honey, for instance, he will build up a very poor constitution spiritually, but you will find a little of it is all right. It helps a man, as we see in Jonathan; it enlightens his eyes. Saul forbade it altogether, which is a feature of apostasy -- forbidding what is legitimate. But with anyone who lives on honey, the question is, whether he can really continue.

Ques. Where would John the baptist come in?

J.T. Well, he lived on locusts and wild honey, that was not what ordinary people lived on. It was evidently something outside the range of natural culture; it was not honey cultured in a bee-hive at home.

Rem. That would be more what would come out of the rock.

J.T. Yes; it was something that he found wild, uncultured by man.

Ques. What do you mean by that?

J.T. Man loves culture. It is the thing that God has given, but it is refined down to suit the debased natural taste of man.

Rem. There is that which is sweet in nature which is of God; and there is that which is sweet in man's world.

J.T. Yes. I think John had the thing wild from man's point of view, but I should not say from

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God's; I think he found it just as it was in the wilderness. These soldiers of Gideon had the water there; it was a great blessing, but it had to be taken just for the sake of supporting them for the moment. They passed on, having another thing in view. The prophet has the testimony in view; he just takes what God gives him as supporting him.

Rem. Everyone could not take up the Lord's battles in that way.

J.T. No. I think we have, first of all, to judge any sort of timidity, and consequently, if one takes up the things legitimate in nature, he is not to make them an object. He is just to view them in so far as they are subservient to the testimony, or his position in it. That is where most of us fail, we make business an object, for instance, instead of making it subservient to the testimony. We should just touch it as using it, but not abusing it.

Rem. I suppose if one is really set for it, all these tests we go through will really bring us out fit.

Ques. Fit for what? The conflict?

J.T. It is a question of the testimony really. When you look at it spiritually, what Gideon had in his pitcher was what Paul had in his heart -- the earthen vessel. 2 Corinthians 4 is the antitype of Judges 7. The third chapter is the ministry -- the excellency of the ministry; it was a ministry that far excelled that of Moses, the ministry of righteousness. In chapter 4 we have the suited vessel for it: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels", which is literally an allusion to Gideon's pitcher. Gideon did not have the light in himself; he had it in an earthen vessel in his hand. Paul was the vessel himself so that now the Lord says, You have the treasure and you have the earthen vessel. So Paul says, "We which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh". It is the life of Jesus -- that

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is the light that shines, it shines as the vessel is broken. The Lord Jesus was delivered unto death; it was the dying of Jesus. Jesus is really the true Gideon: He went all the way into death. Paul was delivered to it.

Ques. What is the force of the breaking of the vessel?

J.T. The force of it is that God delivers us to death in discipline, so that the vessel is broken up -- all that is round the light to hinder it. I think it is one accepting death on oneself.

Ques. Is that "always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus"?

J.T. Yes. God had in view the life of Jesus to be displayed, and Paul was quite in accord with that. So he said he bore about in his body the dying -- not the death -- of Jesus; that is, Jesus going down from the mount of transfiguration to Calvary.

Ques. Do you make the treasure equivalent to the light?

J.T. Oh, yes! "God, who commanded the light to shine ...". Then the apostle says, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels".

Rem. I am alluding to the light in Gideon's pitcher, was it the same as the treasure?

J.T. Yes, I think it is. I think the treasure is like that; it is an allusion to Gideon's pitcher. Paul calls it a treasure, it was only a light in Gideon's pitcher.

Rem. The pitcher was broken -- the dying has to be maintained.

J.T. Yes, it is a constant thing.

Ques. Was not the light the sword of the Lord -- of Jehovah?

J.T. Yes. It was in that way that the conquest was to be secured by the breaking of the pitcher. The effect was that the enemy was set in complete confusion; he was put to complete rout by the

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testimony. It is a question of the sending out of the testimony.

Ques. Did not that characterise Paul's movements?

J.T. Yes. That is what I thought Paul became -- a reflection of Gideon as a model. He is the only one in Scripture who is set out as a model for us except the Lord Himself.

Rem. I suppose that in chapter 4 to which you referred in 2 Corinthians, it is really apostolic, but I take it that you mean the same principles which came out in the apostle have to be maintained in us.

J.T. I am sure that is the point. We are like the three hundred of Gideon's army, and the word for us, I think, is to look on Paul. "Able ministers of the new testament", I think, is apostolic. They were competent ministers of the new covenant, and their sufficiency was of God. But we, in our measure, are to be followers, as he says, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ". So that if Paul were living now, for instance, and he wanted to set himself before us as an example, and he could not come himself, he would send a son of his -- that is Timothy -- to put us in mind. He sent Timothy to the Corinthians that they might be reminded of his ways as they were in Christ.

Ques. Why do you bring the brother in last? You spoke of the warrior in chapter 7.

J.T. The brother is what we shall be in heaven; it is the last, it continues. The warrior character and the levitical character will cease.

Rem. What I meant was that I thought what we were as brothers ought to give character to us as warriors.

J.T. Well, it does; but I think it is right to bring in the brother last. It is a greater thought even than an apostle, because the brother remains. What will Paul be in heaven? A brother -- he will not be an

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apostle there. He will be nothing more than a brother. He may have greater affections, perhaps, than some of us, but as to his rank, he is a brother.

Ques. Would you say that it is in having the spirit of a brother that the service is regulated or adjusted?

J.T. Undoubtedly. Gideon was a brother at the beginning as much as at the end; but the Spirit of God leaves the traits of the brother until the end -- until chapter 8.

Ques. As a matter of fact, has not each one who reaches the company of brethren really got a victory over the enemy first?

J.T. Quite. And he is a brother from the outset really and truly. The gospel of John fits in more with chapter 8; the gospel of Mark with chapter 7. Gideon said to the kings, "What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor? And they answered, As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children of a king". And then Gideon says, "They were my brethren, even the sons of my mother". That is the gospel of John.

Ques. Is there the thought of order -- moral order -- in the way in which things are presented in 2 Timothy 2"Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace"? Righteousness involves conflict; the brother would come in with the third -- love.

J.T. That is very good. Faith, hope and love. The greater of these is love -- that is the brother -- that is the thing that remains.

Rem. In times of distress and difficulty, we find that we often reverse the order, and we speak as if we did not carry out the spirit of a brother, but the first principle is righteousness.

J.T. Yes, but the brother is the standby; the brother is born for adversity. The apostle may fail, and the Levite, but the brother never fails. Love never fails and love is in the brother.

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Rem. In speaking of the testimony, Paul would, of course, be a child of the covenant, and those who followed Paul would necessarily be the same, that is, children of the covenant in connection with the testimony.

J.T. Well, yes, in a way. The covenant sets us free, but a person could not properly be a vessel of the testimony unless formed in the testimony. The Lord is the model for us. If anyone wants to understand the model servant, then he should read Mark; if anyone wants to understand the brother, he should read John. In that way, the gospel of John is morally the greatest gospel, because it deals with what is eternal. It is not the thought of administration; it is not official, it is what abides; it is eternal. John is on the eternal platform.

Ques. Would you say that the Midianites had to be dealt with before there could be the exercise of the brother as such?

J.T. Yes. We could not be here this afternoon if the Midianites had not been dealt with. I mean to say, the clerical principle has to be judged -- that kind of person who takes away the food supply. We could not be together if it were unjudged, I mean in a practical way. You could not arrive at the brethren unless you judged that thing. So that chapters 6 and 7 necessarily come in before you could see the brother. Now, Ephraim is one of the brethren. He has not yet disqualified himself from being a brother, though he has lost his place as a leader; he has failed there. Many a man has lost his place, alas! as a leader, but he retains his place as a brother. He must recognise the brother.

Ques. Why did Gideon seek to propitiate him?

J.T. I think it shows that he (Gideon) was like the second bullock. The second bullock was not one year old; it was seven years old. That is to say,

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Gideon had progressed and was a developed man; he was not a novice. The apostle was much concerned lest novices should have to do with the things of God; they are sure to do damage. We must recognise the elder brother; we cannot disregard him, although we may not follow his lead. We must recognise his brotherly relation to us, and we cannot go far wrong by making allowance for everything possible. If the Lord has used him, give him credit for all possible, for if God is with a man, you can afford to be very liberal.

Ques. Do you think that Gideon as having the spirit of a brother saves the situation in his humility?

J.T. It would have disrupted Israel; a new conflict would have arisen at once. If you get rid of the clerical principle -- I am referring to the Midianites -- which may cover other things, there is always the danger, though that be got rid of, of disruption amongst brethren. If we have not the Gideon spirit we shall have disruption. It was the spirit of Gideon that saved the situation.

Rem. That is the spirit which says 'I am an unprofitable servant'.

J.T. Yes, he had a humble estimate of himself. The more you are with God, the more magnanimous you can afford to be; the less you demand, and you can afford to give all credit to people.

Rem. But he did not say it in a conventional way; he really meant it.

J.T. Yes, it was quite true, they had captured these two kings (chapter 7: 24, 25). We see they had achieved a good bit in spite of the fact that they had failed before. It is a very fine thing to see a brother who has been defective (and perhaps passed over by God before) come up at the end and do his part. It is only right to give him credit, and, in fact, to maintain unity you have to do that.

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Rem. The apostle recognises Mark in the end after he was recovered.

J.T. Yes, and Barnabas too.

Rem. I suppose the principle in christianity is that every little bit of good is taken account of. I thought of the Lord as the perfect Servant, "Behold my servant whom I uphold ..."; there is the recognition with Christ of all that is good and all that is of God, "A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench".

J.T. Yes. He is not marked by destruction or by overthrowing.

Rem. I thought too, there might be a tendency to be occupied only with the evil in another; but in christianity you take account of the good first.

J.T. Yes. So that if Ephraim envies Judah, Judah does not vex Ephraim. We must not vex the elder brethren.

Rem. Is it not the principle that a soft answer turneth away wrath? It seems to be distinctly manifested here on the part of Gideon.

J.T. It is a very fine example of it. You have in the first instance the grace of the brother recognising the original leader with all due consideration; and secondly, he refers to some that had been killed -- those were not Ephraimites, they were his brethren. Chapter 8: 18, 19 brings in the true brethren of Gideon. The Ephraimites, although brethren, were not exactly sons of his mother. The defect invariably lies in the mother, in the want of a good mother. We have all got the same status; Ephraim had the same status as Gideon, that is to say, they were all Israelites -- they were all brethren on the father's side, but they did not have the same mother. There are many of us who do not show a good motherly influence; it is the mother that gives the character. The mother does not give the status; the father gives the status.

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Rem. We all have a good mother!

J.T. We have. Our mother is Jerusalem above. But then, do we recognise that mother and take character from her? Gideon does not say, They are the sons of my father; he says, They are the sons of my mother. It is not said they were the sons of Joash. They were the sons of his mother, and yet she is not mentioned by name. It was sufficient to say that she was his mother.

Rem. That touches the question of being freeborn.

J.T. Yes. It really suggests that we are in the good of sonship. The mother in this dispensation is the system that God is allied with -- that He is in covenant with. It is an allusion to marriage in Galatians. We know that He is not in covenant with the old legal system any longer, He is in relation now with a heavenly system of things.

Ques. Do you think that this is why in Galatians Paul says, "I would they were even cut off which trouble you"?

J.T. Those men that troubled them would take away the mother influence -- the heavenly influence would be cut off.

Rem. Resembling the children of a king -- is that status or character?

J.T. That would be status. They were like Gideon -- all of them as the children of a king; that would be their dignity. But their character was from the mother.

Rem. That is a very interesting point, as to the father and mother, because it would be borne out by what the apostle says to the Thessalonians, that he was gentle among them as a nurse cherishes her own children. It was the way in which he conducted himself towards them in affection; he counted on them taking that character. But further on, he

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takes the place of a father, and there it is connected with the kingdom and their calling.

J.T. Yes, I think he had to do the part of a father and mother, and the thought is that of a nursing father -- only married people understand that. It is a man who has to do the part of a mother. It is in that way, I think, the apostle treated the Thessalonians as babes. It is the only epistle in which the saints are said to be in God the Father -- it is a very remarkable statement. The mother side is not in view. They are in God the Father, and Paul likens himself to a nurse; but then a nurse is not a mother. But he was also a nursing father: he had the fatherly affections. It is where the saints are in the light of the heavenly calling of the assembly that the mother comes into view, it is the heavenly calling and place of the assembly that brings in the mother character.

Ques. Do you mean that the tenderness and affection that are in the mother have to be in each as a brother?

J.T. Yes. The motherly influence forms the character, and then the next thing, one would notice, is that you get the best children in large families. If you have only one child, he is at a very great disadvantage, he never learns to be a brother or a sister. Now, God sees that, so that christianity is seen in children and in sons. It is not in a child or a son. It is in children or in sons, because you must have children to produce family affections.

Ques. Would you say that the greatest part of our education is in relation to the brotherly spirit?

J.T. Yes. It is in connection with the saints in that light, that we are formed for eternity. What Mark teaches is for time. Workmanship is for time, but the family relations and affections are not for time only -- they are for eternity. So in that way John is the greatest gospel. What goes on now in

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our relations with one another as brethren, is for eternity. The nearest thing to heaven is the circle of the brethren -- it is in principle, heaven; it is not very far off from heaven. The idea is that the Father's house is a family sphere. It is where the affections of Christ as Head flow out; and then they flow out toward one another. They become active in that way toward one another.

Rem. The ones that appropriate the good mother are the ones that come to be slain first.

J.T. It appears so here. The Ephraimites were not slain; those that were slain were those that were like Gideon. Another point seen here is that they were all like the children of a king -- they were all like him, which shows there is a similarity in the family; there is a family likeness, and it is very strong. The Lord, in a way, is Head of the family. He is the Son, and there are many sons.

Rem. As in Corinthians -- conformed to the same image?

J.T. Yes, that is the principle, "We ... are changed into the same image". I think the emphasis is on the "same". We are like one another.

Ques. Whom do Zebah and Zalmunna represent?

J.T. They are evidently representatives of a bad spirit, men that can slay children of this type -- children of a king. Great beauty shone in these persons whom they slew, and their death follows that. Had they spared these brethren, they, in turn, would have been spared! In other words, they represent the spirit that is in opposition to the brethren. According to John's epistle there is a certain spirit of opposition to the children of God; it is the spirit really that is seen in Cain -- the family of Cain; it is the spirit of opposition to the divine generation, and God can never excuse that. "They have both seen and hated both me and my Father". It was in that order of generation. "If the world hate you,

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know that it has hated me before you", John 15:18. That generation is hated. It is a spirit that hates, persecutes, and slays that generation. The nations are judged according to the way they treat the brethren (Matthew 25). It is a serious thing to persecute one on account of his brotherly spirit, in fact, it is an unpardonable thing in the sight of God. It denotes a Satanic spirit, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren". Instead of hating them we love them.

Rem. It is a sort of test in that way.

J.T. Yes, it is. Instead of coming into judgment you have the testimony that you have passed from death into life, because you love the brethren.

Ques. Do you think they were right in asking Gideon to rule over them?

J.T. I was just going to call attention to that; we have there another trait of a brother. They were not right in doing so, because it would have brought in the Midianite snare again if they had set up a ruler. What you see in Gideon is that he is a true brother; he was true to the dispensation -- God was King over them. So that no brother would rule over the saints in that sense. Paul says, "Not that we rule over your faith, but are fellow-workmen of your joy"; that is how the greatest brother looked on the saints. The men of Israel said unto Gideon, "Rule over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also". They were making provision for a long time! But Gideon said, "I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah will rule over you". That is very fine. That is one of the finest traits of a brother. What an opportunity he had!

Rem. The spirit of a brother is more the character of a preserver and a guider than a ruler.

J.T. Quite so; he would do his best for the brethren.

Rem. Ruling hardly comes in in that relationship.

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J.T. No. The triumph is that a man is so entirely free from his natural aspirations that, on such an opportunity as this for their gratification, he declines it absolutely.

Rem. You were referring to Acts 20. Paul finishes his address by commending them to God and to the word of His grace.

J.T. Yes. He guards them against clericalism by saying "Remember the words ... It is more blessed to give than to receive". Gideon would be a giver, not a receiver; though, alas! he fails later in the chapter; but we may pass over that, for all the types fail.

Ques. What is the thought here in Jether being afraid to draw his sword?

J.T. He was the first-born. He came short, like the first bullock. He was not up to the mark. He was unable to slay the two kings.

Ques. Would you say what a brother does when he sets up an ephod?

J.T. I do not know. While Gideon shone in his refusal to become a ruler he failed religiously. That is, he set up something in his house that ultimately became a snare to the people. It was of a religious character. I think one might fail on that line -- in making oneself a centre religiously without assuming to be a ruler.

Rem. I thought the general bearing of the chapters is that we are always in danger. However much Gideon had been helped in the past, he was in danger at the end.

J.T. You are never out of danger while you are here, even the most special servant. It is a very searching thought. The Spirit of God is pleased to record this one thing that reflects on the character of Gideon; but on the whole he was a faithful man, in fact, he becomes a test to Israel -- they did not remember him at the end of the chapter.

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Rem. If we had the testimony before us we would be preserved. Would you say in a word, what the testimony is?

J.T. I do not know of a better way of putting it than Mark who says: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God". It is a remarkable thing that instead of saying, The beginning of Jesus Christ, as if of something that would speak of the Lord Himself, he says, "Beginning of the glad tidings", showing that the point he had in his mind was the glad tidings, and how they were to be promulgated at the beginning. Now, I think it is clear that the glad tidings are the testimony; of course, the Lord is the personification of them. He refers to them in that way as the great thoughts of God, but then it would be the glad tidings as including all the divine thoughts for man effected in Christ.

Ques. Why this desire on the part of the people to make Gideon a ruler?

J.T. There is always that desire with us. It is a sort of latent desire that shows itself constantly, because if you place a man in a position of ruler it relieves you from exercise. We do not like exercise or responsibility; we like it in our business but we do not like it religiously. Now, the book of Revelation is only addressed to people who feel their responsibility. If we do not accept our responsibility the book is not addressed to us; it is addressed to the angel -- the responsible element.

Rem. I was thinking of the bramble -- it did not refuse the honour that was put on it; all the other trees refused the honour.

J.T. That is the next chapter; it is most striking. Abimelech comes in in the next chapter. He is the antichrist. He is the opposite of Gideon. Instead of refusing to rule over his brethren, he slays them. He slays seventy of his father's sons; that is the spirit of antichrist. And then he is shown up by

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Jotham who likens him to the bramble-bush, the only bush that would accept the throne; it is a worthless bush, the bramble. Any man who covets in the Lord's things is only a thorn-bush, he does not bear any fruit. The other trees declined, saying, 'I am not going to leave the position which God has assigned me, and in which I am useful'. It is remarkable how the disposition to make a ruler -- to place someone over us -- is constantly found. It is simply that we do not want the responsibility ourselves; we want to pass it over to somebody else.

Rem. That would be to bring in the clerical spirit again.

J.T. Yes, it makes room for it and it feeds it. The idea of being a member of a congregation in christianity is not found. It is found in the Old Testament.

Rem. They were not prepared for the exercise. A ruler would invariably take the wrong way.

J.T. Well, the one we appoint would.

Ques. Would you say a ruler is control by power, but the brother sets forth affection?

J.T. Yes, I think so, I think a brother retains his place, so that he can be free to exercise his affections.

Rem. I was thinking of John and Peter. It seems that John had the secret of the Lord. As a brother John is the model, and, having the secrets of the Lord, he could tell Peter.

J.T. Yes, he calls himself their brother and companion in tribulation.

Rem. Though Gideon refused to be a ruler, he was a leader and he made suggestions to Ephraim that Ephraim followed.

J.T. Yes, I would say so.

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THE NECESSITY FOR LOVE IN THE USE OF GIFT

1 Corinthians 14:1 - 40

Corinthians is obviously an adjusting epistle, for the apostle had had enquiries as to points of order. He is dealing not only with outward order, but the state that necessarily underlies it. Notice the large place that love has; saints should enquire as to whether they love God, for deep things are prepared for those that love Him (chapter 2). Then in chapter 8 it says if anyone love God the same is known of Him. In chapter 13 we get the great description of love, showing that one is nothing without it. Therefore we have the Supper also in this epistle, and at the end of chapter 16, "If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha". Hence the epistle is largely made up of the great necessity for love in the things of God. The ending is Paul's way of emphasising his own estimate of Christ. When the Lord comes, he that loves Him not will be accursed; the present is not the time of the curse, but it will come, hence the terrible outlook for christendom. This epistle answers, in a way, to the Canticles of the Old Testament, for the Canticles end up with love for the little needy sister as well as for the bridegroom. This was wanting at Corinth; the great defect was the lack of love -- "Have love amongst yourselves". He has to speak of it as something more or less unknown to them.

The picture of love presented in chapter 13 is the great essential for the working out of gift. It has to be spoken of in the abstract as it was not present in a concrete form, as, for instance, at Ephesus where he speaks of their love to all saints. It is quite right to have a desire for "spiritual manifestations", but without love it is like children playing with toys, and

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Paul says, "When I became a man, I put away childish things". The way of surpassing excellence is love -- we are to follow after love. We are not to neglect gift -- but there is one thing needed, always one thing which stands out prominently, and that is the need. In Timothy it is righteousness that was needed, for he was told to follow righteousness; what is specially needed is always prominent. In chapter 14 we see the way that love operates on earth. In the gospel of Mark the blind man is said to follow Jesus in the way, and in Acts "the way" became a synonym for christianity; the way is the way of love. Strictly love had not been shown before the incarnation; it was the Lord who inaugurated the thing among men; it is very doubtful if it had taken form before Christ became Man. It was reflected in the Old Testament, but was not seen there, according to 1 John 3:16, "Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us". In Romans it says, "For a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". John seems to recognise no other love. "Every one that loveth", he says, "is born of God, and knoweth God". It was shown forth in the death of Christ.

If you have to deal with evil it is a question of righteousness. After you withdraw and have acted righteously, you must then maintain love. One who is set for loving may be entrusted with a gift, and it is quite legitimate to desire one, for love can use a gift. In this chapter prophecy has a large place, verse 3 showing the wonderful results -- edification, exhortation and comfort; love would bring in these things. Historically prophecy followed the gift of apostleship, see Ephesians 4:11; indeed it is a question whether all do not exist together. They did at the beginning, and all in principle exist now, for

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the authority of the apostles remains, and will remain in their epistles.

In Leviticus there is instruction at the outset for the offerer but there is also a law given for each offering, and Aaron and his sons were to be responsible as to this; the priests were to instruct as to the law. A law is a fixed thing. In John's epistle he says, "I write unto you, fathers ... young men ... little children", and adds, "I have written unto you, fathers ... young men". He writes to the babes in the present tense only, and he says more to them as current instruction than to the fathers and young men; he wrote so that the instructions should be placed on the statute book, so to speak. Paul speaks of the importance of Scripture in writing to Timothy; the gospels also were current instruction. The priest was to be an interpreter of the law, so he must be spiritual. The idea is that the things written are the law for us. Chapter 14: 37 remains as definite authority like the law of the offerings, and is, we may say, placed in the possession of the priest. The apostles must actually have written a great deal more than we have in the manuscripts, but we have enough in the way of authority to guide us; the apostles' ministry remains. The point in apostleship is the authority of Christ, but prophets bring God in, hence the great need for them at all times. Under David there was usually a prophet and his function was to bring in God in the way of conviction. In David's old age and weakness the spirit of antichrist, as seen in Adonijah, was present before David's death, he not even rebuking him. But Nathan, Zadok and Benaiah became exercised, and Nathan goes to the king with Bath-sheba, and brought about the enthronement of Solomon. Nathan is the type of a prophet as we know it today; he had the mind of God about things. Zadok signifies a priestly state, and Benaiah the military

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element. Adonijah and his band shrink into nothing! Nathan, Zadok and Benaiah represent spiritual elements at the present day. The rights of the Lord are seen on the one hand, and the antichristian principles on the other.

The question in chapter 14 is, Where is love? Moral condition goes before what is official. A person having followed righteousness in separating himself (2 Timothy) now insists on commandments and order becoming the house of God. If you have anything to say it is to edify. Where it is a question of our individual walk, righteousness is prominent, but where others are concerned it is love also; one who loves the Lord's people can have the means of helping them, love being the one thing needed. It is the greatest and it remains -- it is what one is. Gift is only an instrument to meet need here, but the priestly state remains. Love remains. If a man sees that he is greater than his gift the latter will not damage him. Love is what a man is; God is love. This statement was not made until after Christ came. Gift as such passes away, but a brother remains; as it is a question of what a man is. Paul says, "By the grace of God I am what I am". Love is the great thing; love delights to serve; Paul would do anything to help the saints, and see how effective he was. It is an advantage to have all these things in the possession of a man who loves. His letters were a testimony of the love he had for them. They were not purely apostolic, but brotherly also: "Paul ... and Sosthenes the brother". Notice John's epistle also, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren". The place the saints have in one's heart is a constant witness to that. In writing of Timothy the apostle Paul says, "I have no one like-minded".

The Corinthians had a peculiar place in Paul's affections. Compare the words "Have ye a brother?"

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(Genesis 43:7) and also the words of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?". The brotherly spirit was not strong at Corinth evidently. Onesimus was sent back to Philemon by Paul as a brother beloved. The Philippian jailer became a brother; he does the part of a brother to them, washing their stripes, and so on, and we must notice also in that chapter (Acts 16:40) that it is not the word 'assembly' but 'brethren'. Love is formative -- the love of a brother is the love of a man so that is why Christ taught so perfectly how a brother should love a brother. See also Romans 8:35 - 39, for the love of God and the love of Christ. "Love one another; as I have loved you", that is impartial love -- we do not select those we love, we love "all the saints". It is greater to be a brother than a servant, as the gift ends, but a brother remains. Mutuality is also to be seen in this epistle; whatever is there belongs to all. They had revived their thinking of him, he says; that was a good sign (Philippians 4:10).

In this chapter it is a question of the mind governing the part one may take in the assembly. Whilst love is fundamental the understanding has a great place, they were to be grown men in understanding, "The spirit of your mind" -- the spirit is the indefinable thing which permeates the mind; the spirit of one's mind is shown in casual things. It is a renewed mind alluded to here, but the mind is that faculty that controls a man. The assembly must not be a bedlam, but must be marked by intelligence. The effect of prophecy is that God is owned to be amongst them (verse 25). When the Lord was in the temple at the age of twelve they marvelled at His understanding. There is also, besides understanding, the "spirit of wisdom and revelation" (Ephesians 1:17); that is inclusive of all that is of God, and is a thing to pray for. The things of God are prepared for those that love Him. No one knows the things of God but the

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Spirit of God, and the spirit of wisdom and revelation is an advance on the renewal of the mind; to enter into the thing fully we must have the spirit of wisdom. It is the difference between following the plan in building a house, and getting to know the spirit of the architect. Spiritual understanding may be acquired; the mind is to govern you in all you do. We are to sing with the spirit, but with the understanding also. We must always consider what is suited to the moment because you commit others to it; it is a question as to whether they can say amen; whether it is suitable and adds to what is already said, or whether it detracts. There is a law for everything; God being what He is, when He inaugurated anything He inaugurated a law to govern it, for example, "The law of the Spirit of life", and the rule of new creation, Galatians 6:15, 16. The assembly is formed of intelligent persons, "I speak as to intelligent persons, do ye judge what I say", the apostle says.

Taking part in a meeting is an act of faith but it first supposes you have got something; then it becomes a question of using that at an opportune moment, so you look to the Lord. You act in simplicity looking to the Lord. Therefore every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man who is a householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old (Matthew 13:52). A householder has a treasure; every believer is a householder, and so should have a treasure. The Lord is a householder, and so each of us can bring something for His house (compare Matthew 24:45 and Malachi 3:10). Whatever we have increases when the Lord takes it up. We should cultivate a little household and have something in it; we should be contributors. In 1 Kings 17 the prophet really raises the question as to what the woman has in the house. The woman said she would

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bake the meal so as to eat and die, but the thought in eating is to live and not die. However reduced we may be, if there is a little the Lord can take it up and use it; if you bring out the treasure the Lord takes it up and increases it. In Malachi 3:10, the Lord says, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse ... and prove me ... if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing". The blessing is contingent on something being there already. Every christian ought to be exercised to be a householder; how are we to get food? If there is no food in the storehouse there is dearth all round and consequently death. Giving up meetings is next to apostasy; you get in Malachi 3, "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another". We need to take heed to Hebrews 10:25; there was a danger of christians apostatising to judaism, so it says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is".

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THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST

1 Corinthians 4:1 - 5; 2 Corinthians 5:1 - 11

J.T. These verses show that things will be manifested when the Lord comes. It is remarkable that things are put off till the coming of the Lord; the idea of the judgment seat of Christ is coupled with the coming of the Lord. We must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. There are things we do not understand now that will be made plain then. We feel that the judgment seat is suitable to God, that there is a moral necessity for it; it takes in all the seemingly complicated conditions that sin has occasioned both in the world and in a christian's history. What is done in our body, whether good or evil, everything must be adjusted. It takes in the whole pathway. Paul could say, "I am conscious of nothing in myself" -- there was self-judgment -- but he does not trust to that; so one is kept humble before the Lord.

Ques. Does that include all that I have done before and after I was converted?

J.T. I do not see how you are to escape all that has been done in the body. The sin you commit as a christian is not less heinous than the sins you committed before you were converted. Suppose you tell a lie as a christian, that is just as much a sin as when you were unconverted. It is the deeds done in the body -- how you use your body. The judgment seat of Christ has nothing to do with salvation, it is not that you will be made to suffer -- it is not penal, but if there had been good deeds where there were bad ones, your reward would be greater. You will see that in many ways you have missed opportunities. You cannot reach finality as to anything now; you do not trust your own conscience as to sin. We appear before the judgment seat of Christ with our

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glorified bodies; we are clothed at the judgment seat -- the wicked dead are naked at the great white throne. God, after judging every one according to their works, searches the book of life to see if the name is there, as if to make sure. Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire -- their works consigned them to the lake of fire.

It is only at the judgment seat that we will see clearly the motives that have been behind the deeds. Many will be pure that we have judged to be impure, and many will be found to be impure that we have judged to be pure; and feelings that you thought were poor under pressure, you find were right. You see how suitable it is that there should be a perfect judgment according to Christ. Many will have their works burnt up, but they themselves saved, no reward. Each will receive according to his deeds, not good for good and bad for bad, but will receive praise for the good and nothing for the bad, no praise. You are not punished for the bad but you are conscious of the loss. You have lost opportunity for doing good, but there is no suffering in the way of remorse. We shall be satisfied that all is done according to Christ's holy judgment and say "Amen". We are to walk individually according to the light we have; this keeps one humble; it has nothing to do with our salvation. We should seek to walk so as to please the Lord and be transparent.

Ques. Suppose I have a difference with a brother and it is not settled here, will it come up at the judgment seat?

J.T. It will. If not settled here, it will be judged as evil, and you suffer loss. Every question should be settled here in view of the judgment seat. How shall two walk together except they be agreed? John and Peter were together, there was harmony between them; there was the walk of two, two of

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the assembly. If things are not settled here the assembly suffers loss. I have been greatly impressed lately with the importance of meeting things and settling them here. Things are allowed to drag along without being settled. I often imagine it is better to let things go than to take them up, but that creates a bad atmosphere; you are not to suffer sin on your brother. We all, servants and all, must stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Our reward and our place in the kingdom are determined according to Christ. The good is appraised and the bad is not; I accept my place in the kingdom and thank God for it. It is profitable to see the necessity for the judgment -- it refers to motives. The value of that piece of work is according to the motive that was at the back of it. There is an obvious necessity that the Lord Jesus should judge everything. We should always seek to be pleasing to Him; we should always have the consciousness that if the Lord should come, we are ready for the change. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God, and he was translated. We should be zealous how to please the Lord, and I believe what the Lord is doing now amongst the saints is to bring about a state suitable to Him. We should be exercised and jealous that we might be suitable to Him, walking here in transparency under His eye, responsive to His love.

At the judgment seat the motives are brought to light and adjusted -- perhaps something only the Lord knows about. The hidden motives are important. There are often jealous motives admitted without being judged, and they become evil. Nothing so hurts us in our souls as this! Jealousy is one of the most detestable things in Scripture, to be jealous of a brother or sister.

Ques. What are we to do when we have been defiled by being in the presence of those who are profane?

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J.T. Many of us are taken account of by the enemy at such a time, and are made to feel we are guilty, but we are not. The red heifer provides for that. You cannot control man's mouth. You judge that in you which corresponds to it; you apply the death of Christ as set forth in the ashes of the red heifer with running water. The death of Christ applied by the Spirit cleanses you effectively, and you rise above it. While we hear many things that are defiling, we have no part in it or sympathy with it; you may not have power to rebuke it, but you have no part in it. If you touch a dead man you are defiled; we have so little sense of the holiness of God. You are not constituted unclean until you refuse to judge yourself -- to be relieved you use the ashes and the running water -- not to do so disqualifies for fellowship.

Ques. Would you make clear the difference between the Lord's coming for, and with, His saints?

J.T. "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, ... and so shall we ever be with the Lord". The translation of the saints involves the affections of Christ. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear"; everything is adjusted before the appearing; we see the moral fitness of everything being adjusted. We should ever seek to be pleasing to Him, and to think more of what He is to receive than what I am to receive. Our place in the kingdom will be according to what we receive; there will be no discrepancy between His judgment and ours. We will all say "Amen", like the woman in the trial of jealousy in Numbers 5 who was to say "Amen". Joshua told Achan to give glory to the God of Israel; how much more as christians should we say "Amen" to Christ's judgment as to the value of our works or deeds done in the body. "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to

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light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God", 1 Corinthians 4:5. There will be something to occasion praise in every one of us. We are apt to underestimate some things and overestimate other things; we are to judge nothing until the Lord comes. He will put the right estimate on everything.

Ques. How often should I forgive my brother in a day?

J.T. Scripture says seventy times seven. Matthew 18 shows how the christian should be furnished with an exhaustless supply of grace; in the kingdom the supply does not run out. Matthew 5 requires even more grace. "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift". It requires more grace to go to a brother who has something against you than to forgive one who comes and asks forgiveness.

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OUR VOWS

1 Corinthians 2:1 - 5; Jonah 2:7 - 9; Hebrews 13:1 - 19

Paul was determined to know nothing among them save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, the one Man that pleased God, and that Man crucified. These Corinthians were allowing the first man: "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling". Paul said, "I was with you in weakness"; having been among them for eighteen months, he knew what their danger was. Paul said, as it were, 'I will show you how to disallow the flesh'.

What is needed in a meeting is a man who can show how to do things, a leader; Paul said, "I was with you in weakness", and, instead of displaying his learning, he was simple, "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom". He did not select words such as the flesh could joy in, but spoke in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; he maintained an outward appearance of weakness. He selected this way of ministry among them because of their danger, because of what was among them. Young converts are likely to take their cue from leaders, hence the leaders should be exponents of what they say. They should walk softly; one who has the truth in his soul states the facts and leaves it. He relies on the Spirit to make it effective, for the natural man can effect nothing. In Romans 8 the carnal mind is enmity against God -- for it is not subject -- "They that are in flesh cannot please God".

Jonah said, "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Jehovah". He comes to the idea of the spiritual in the voice of thanksgiving; he has advanced from the natural to the spiritual. He was sent to Nineveh; instead he went to Tarshish; he would make a wide sweep, taking the licence of the flesh;

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his will was active. God says, 'I will bring that to an end, I will bring that man back to the spiritual'. God leaves no escape for the will: He limits you! Jonah feels his own nothingness; he was powerless, but he said, "Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple". If you are going on in the natural, God will come in, He will bring about circumstances, it may be a sick bed or limited circumstances, but you will be limited. It shows you are really His own; if you were not, He would let you go to Tarshish. When one is circumscribed by the discipline of God, he begins to think of God and His people. Jonah praises before he is delivered; Hezekiah after he is recovered.

Jonah says, "I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed"; his prayer is the expression of a fully recovered soul. This shows that discipline has done its work. The principle is that we pay our vows. One is hardly a christian at all unless he has made a vow; in a vow you assume obligation, and you are now no longer free to do your own will. It may be that after that you do your own will, but God will circumscribe you, and will pen you in like Jonah. When you really repent and come back to God, you say, 'I will pay my vows'.

In Romans 6 your baptism is an obligation, and in Romans 12 you present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Jonah says, "I will pay that which I have vowed". He wants to fulfil his obligations, it is the foundation principle of christianity. You assume your obligations. The vow we have made is an obligation to live for God. Paul said, "What shall I do, Lord?". You present your body.

In Numbers 30, if a married woman vow a vow in the presence of her husband and he is silent, it stands. So if a christian vow a vow in the presence of Christ and He is silent (which He is) the christian is held responsible, and if the vow is not kept, discipline

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comes in. The New Testament requires it, you have obligations and you must fulfil them. Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah". A christian is not worthy of the name if there is not resolve. Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, "When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed". We treat altogether too lightly our obligations; when you accept christianity you accept responsibility (1 Corinthians 2).

It is nice to compare Jonah's prayer and Hezekiah's; Hezekiah prayed and got the answer; Jonah is still in the place of need, when he says, "Thou heardest my voice, ... All thy breakers and thy billows are gone over me, ... Yet will I look again toward thy holy temple". A truly recovered man thinks not only of God but of God's people where the light of the temple is. 1 Corinthians 2 is to show how they were to be on spiritual lines. God is not dependent on human culture, and Paul laid it aside. The great point in discipline is that God is brought in. Jonah had reached in his soul the light of the temple. Wisdom is not of this world, the perfect man is one whose senses are exercised, and thus he discerns.

You do not get much in a meeting, unless there is a leader; it is one thing to be a teacher, but another to lead, to show the way. You lead after Christ, but you do not assume to be a leader. Paul not only had the light, but he could say 'follow me'. A good shepherd is a good leader. When difficulties arise one man must die for the people, the aggrieved one is often the one that dies, the one that suffers is the one that dies. All is effected by the Spirit; we must be on spiritual lines, there must be spiritual instincts. We have the mind of Christ; we have the thinking faculty of Christ, we can think of things as Christ

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does, we have a faculty according to God, a spiritual mind.

Hebrews 13 shows how we arrive at spiritual thoughts. Jonah anticipated it; he offered the sacrifice of praise almost identical with Hebrews 13. Sacrifice and praise can only come when what I am naturally is gone in death.

We should be exercised about paying our vows; meeting our obligations as christians; our bodies are to be presented a living sacrifice.

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REVIEWING THE WAYS OF GOD

Nehemiah 9:7 - 27

P.L. We have remarked in our former readings that it is profitable to review the operations of God and see how they are linked up together, and His ways in relation to the accomplishment of His thoughts. One would be exercised to take an intelligent review of the ways of God at all times.

J.T. The whole chapter stands together, and is the outcome of the previous chapter. The mover under God's hand here is Ezra the priest. He brings in the word, and the people gather together to hear it, showing that there is a movement from God's side. Chapter 8 brings before us how the word is brought to their attention, and the sense imparted to them, also the privileges involved in it, as opened up and availed of, so that the people were brought into the positive blessing presented in the word. Then there is in this chapter confession or acknowledgment suitable to correspond with this, the acknowledgment being marked by priestly intelligence. We get here a remarkable outline of the ways of God, together with an intelligent apprehension of what He was Himself in those ways, on the one hand, and what man was, on the other, all leading up to the full admission on the part of the people, led by the Levites, of their shame and break-down, and then at the close they say, "And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests are at the sealing" (verse 38). It is a remarkable position to arrive at, a position that has its own answer today spiritually, or should have.

J.H.J. The power and patience of God come out in connection with the history of the people in a striking way.

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Rem. The people are looked at in the light of God's faithfulness.

J.T. Yes, His unchangeableness. It becomes a name of Deity in the Old Testament according to the note, "Thou art He" (verse 6). It is an expression which is really a name of God. God had called Himself "I AM". That was the name by which He undertook to deliver the children of Israel, and now they say, "Thou art He". It sets forth the answer in us to the revelation of God.

J.K. Will you say a little more about what He is as known to us?

J.T. He said to Moses, "Say unto the children of Israel: I AM hath sent me unto you", Exodus 3:14. It is the ever existing One. That is how He is presented from His own side, but here they say, "Thou art He". It is the response from our side that is in view. Faith has discovered Him to be what He said He was.

J.K. A priest is in the sense of what God is, and in the light of that he can review the history of the people.

J.T. That is it.

J.H.J. Is this what we come to?

J.T. It is what we should come to. It is the ground the apostle takes in 2 Corinthians, namely God's faithfulness, "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ ... did not become yea and nay, but yea is in him. For whatever promises of God there are, in him is the yea, and in him the amen, for glory to God by us" (chapter 1: 19, 20).

J.K. The sealing of the covenant at the end of the chapter is very beautiful; the people are now in a position to accept the covenant.

J.T. Yes, they are in the light of a proved God. In Exodus things are presented from the divine side, but here, the people have come by their experience into the light of a proved God. This chapter is

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wonderful as showing how the priest has discerned what God was about during all those long years of failure on the part of the children of Israel, but of grace and faithfulness on God's part. We may well take up such an attitude as this. In Hebrews 13, the saints are called upon to remember their leaders, those who had spoken unto them the word of God, but then it goes on (verse 8), "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come". What He was, He is, and shall be. We stand in that light.

J.K. We are not standing on the failure of the assembly, we are in the light of His goodness.

J.T. There is no change in God, so where faith is active and there is corresponding self-judgment, there is a return to God in the sense of His faithfulness.

Rem. That would produce confidence.

J.T. Yes, in a proved God, "Thou art He" (verse 6).

J.M. It is rather suggestive that the first time this is mentioned it is in connection with Him as Creator (verse 6) and the second time in connection with the promises to Abraham (verse 7).

P.L. Would you say the first celebration of God would indicate the way He has secured His universe, and the second, the way He peoples it?

J.T. That is very good, it would so appear. The creation of the universe, the bringing of it into existence, is very wonderful for faith; for science it is, but science only touches the surface. "By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God". It does not say, 'the will of God', "He spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast", Psalm 33:9. It was imperative, but in His word we have the mind brought into activity and all that flows from it, the skill and beauty seen in the universe. By faith we apprehend the origin of all.

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P.L. So it is the God of glory who appears to Abraham, the God who has already established things, and will place man in them.

J.T. God secures His desire in the material creation, there is no mishap there. There is not so much in the mere calling of material things into existence, but all the skill, beauty and poise we see in creation come in as the result of the Word. Christ is the Word really, and having made all things, He sustains all in wisdom, so nothing is lost, but the divine result reached, "Thou quickenest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee" (verse 6). This is something you do not get early in Scripture. Ezra is behind all that is said here. His spiritual intelligence lays hold of the situation. It is very remarkable the way it comes out here, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands", Psalm 19:1. The psalmist connects it all with God. That is faith, and, in this way, a christian gets real joy out of the creation of God. But in material things, you get life. There is the grass springing out of the earth on the third day; rule, on the fourth, in connection with the heavenly bodies; and, on the fifth, you get creatures with affections (verse 20), not yet intelligent; the word 'souls' would indicate the instincts born of these affections. All this is the fruit of the word of God. Then on the sixth day, there are not only living souls, but man and woman made after God's image.

P.L. Would you connect vegetable life with individual response God-ward in early affections: and animal life with the reciprocal affections of the saints as together? Human life would carry the thought of man in intelligent affection.

J.T. In this way, answering to John 20, there are the three figures, first, vegetable life; second, animal life, the lower affections being in view where the soul is mentioned; and third, human life, the brethren

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really, involving intelligence and a higher order of life.

J.M. "Thou quickenest them all". Does that cover the thought?

J.T. Life is in all in some way. God is the living God.

J.H.J. Would you connect with this Revelation 4 and 5? In the former God is to be praised in connection with creation, and in the latter in connection with redemption.

J.T. Yes, and the living creatures are the product of that; they support the throne. In chapter 4 God has His portion in creation, and in chapter 5 in redemption.

Rem. God desires to have a living scene before Him.

J.T. Everything that hath breath is to praise Jehovah, "The host of heaven worshippeth thee", they say here. The reference in the verse is to the order in which the things appear, all answering to the mind of God.

J.M. So the first mention of "The Same" covers the thought of the universe, and sovereignty comes in.

J.T. In verse 7 it is Jehovah Elohim, an additional thought to Almighty God. It was how He was known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. His new name involving redemption.

J.H.J. Involving departure too; would you say, and sovereignty?

J.T. Yes. God gave men up. They did not like to retain Him in their knowledge, and God gave them up, but says, as it were, 'I am not to be without men', so He falls back on His sovereignty, and selects Abraham.

Rem. He does not make any mention here of Abraham's part in idolatry.

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J.T. No, very little is made of that. The omission would show he was not a leader in it, I think the Spirit of God would not unnecessarily mention anything to the discredit of His people.

J.K. This chapter traces how man has failed. It commences on a high level, and shows how man dropped down.

J.T. "Thou art the Same, Jehovah Elohim, who didst choose Abram and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham" (verse 7). That is a beautiful spiritual touch. Whoever the speaker was, he was spiritual. In giving Abraham his name, God intended by means of him, to fill the world with men.

H.W.S. God is presented here in His moral nature, that side is made prominent. His glory comes out in connection with man's responsible history, His victory over sin.

J.T. Oh, yes. Men gave Him up and He gave them up, so He says in regard to Abraham, "I called him ... alone, and blessed him". That is an encouragement to faith now. What may He not do with one man, but the question is whether that man is a father, is he able to produce? Adam produced and Noah produced, but in the main, their generations were not for God, whereas Abraham's would be. "I know him", God says, "that he will command his children and his household after him", Genesis 18:19. So it goes on here, "And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest the covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, ... to his seed" (verse 8).

K.J. God's complete thought of bringing to pass a generation according to Himself came out in Abraham.

J.T. God changed his name and gave him the covenant of circumcision, as if to say, 'Now, Abraham, your generation is not to be after the

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flesh, but after the Spirit'. "Be fruitful and multiply" was the word to Noah, but here is a man whose power in flesh is formally cut off, causing him to be shut up to God.

J.H.J. Abraham's family is taken up in the children of Israel, and their journeys pursued.

J.T. Yes, but in dwelling on Abraham, we are in the presence of the spiritual family, as we are the true children of Abraham. He is our true progenitor, so it is a spiritual family who are to people the earth and the heavens. God saw to it that the generation should be after the Spirit and not after the flesh, so he gave him the covenant of circumcision. Circumcision is introduced in connection with the name of "Almighty God" (that for us would be the Holy Spirit).

-- .G. "Then people began to call on the name of Jehovah" (Genesis 4:26), would convey the thought of the beginning of a seed for God.

J.T. Yes. It began with Seth. He begat a son and called his name Enos; the name means worthless, weak, failing man. Seth pronounced judgment in this way on his progeny, that which was born of flesh. There is light in that, "Then people began", it says, "to call on the name of Jehovah". So God begins over again in chapter 5, "And called their name Adam", it says. The generation is taken up in Christ figuratively, the appointed One.

-- .G. Would that be the line of God's testimony here?

J.T. I would call it the life line. One and another died, but there was one who did not die, he is taken up to heaven; it is a testimony to the power of God.

-- .G. Does the secret of Abraham's call lie in absolute sovereignty, or were there qualities with him that God could use?

J.T. Well, whatever was in him, God put it there, so he is referred to in the prophets as "wholly a

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right seed", Jeremiah 2:21. It gives the stock from whence the people sprung.

F.S. Do you connect this recognition, on the part of the people, of the way they had been recovered, with their being brought out through Ezra?

J.T. Yes, with such a God as this they make a covenant. How safe they were in it. They committed themselves by their seal to a position in relation to God, and obligations flow from this.

P.L. "He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true", John 3:33.

J.T. Quite so.

J.M. All this enlarges our thoughts as to God.

J.T. He is a poor christian who has not got a seal.

P.L. What is the thought in the seal, is it committal?

J.T. Yes; "set to his seal". Is God not worthy of it?

F.S. It is important to see that what is traced out is how God is effecting things for Himself, for His own pleasure.

J.T. Yes, it is interesting to follow the line, "And thou hast performed thy words" (verse 8), "and thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea", and then verse 11, "And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they went through the midst of the sea on dry ground". How beautifully presented it is all through the chapter!

J.H.J. It is "And thou" throughout.

J.T. Yes, what God did, and what they did.

F.S. With the knowledge of such a God you can afford to commit yourself.

J.T. Yes, what He has proved Himself to be. "And thou didst make thee a name, as it is this day" (verse 10).

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P.L. "And didst shew signs and wonders" (verse 10), "Thou leddest" (verse 12); "Thou camest down" (verse 13); "Thou madest known unto them thy holy sabbath" (verse 14). There is an intelligent and priestly review of the operations of God. Those operations are never mechanical, the movements of His heart are in them.

J.H.J. Would you connect this with God establishing us in Christ?

J.T. It is the way you arrive at it experimentally. God does that of Himself. Now the soul is encouraged in dwelling on these verses. It gives one a sense of 'What the God that thou hast found'. In the desert He teaches us this, 'All His grace shall there abound'. The priestly eye is running over it all here, this chapter does not give us a mere narration of facts. It is the way things are gone through experimentally.

H.W.S. It is not the covenant in Sinai that is brought forward, but the heart traces God in all His ways.

P.L. It is the principle of covenant more, in which God would engage Himself.

J.T. Yes. If we refer to what is said about the law here, it is simply, "And thou camest down on mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from the heavens, and gavest them right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments. And thou madest known unto them thy holy sabbath" (verses 13, 14). It is not formally called a covenant, the point is more to bring its value before the people, "right judgments and true laws, good statutes and commandments", such as they needed. God provided all these.

J.K. With regard to ourselves, it is affecting to see the assiduity and determination with which God places Himself in covenant. See psalm 89 as to the sure mercies of David. These God assures by oath

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and covenant. So He commits Himself to His people by a certain line of action and we respond.

J.T. Yes, though not in legal bondage, but as acquiescing with what God proposes. You come out boldly and commit yourself, "Because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our Levites, and our priests are at the sealing". The representatives were all there.

J.K. We have something at the Supper that would correspond.

J.T. Generally speaking, a christian has a seal, and sets to it that God is true.

J.K. Our seal is absolute reliance in God.

J.T. If you read down this chapter you are made to feel you cannot trust yourself. But when you think of the One who is spoken of here as "the Same", the God who gave Christ, who gave the Spirit and who has supported His people all down the ages, you can trust Him.

P.L. "A spring shut up, a fountain sealed", Song of Songs 4:12. The heart is sealed up for God, and allows of no rival.

J.T. That is true. Romans works out to this end. A christian commits himself; he is for God and presents his body a living sacrifice. This is his 'intelligent' service; in the light of what God is, all I am is for God.

H.W.S. How would the public committal work out?

J.T. You are committed to God in baptism. You are baptised to the name of the Father, Son and Spirit and in the name of the Lord. This latter is for protection. You are baptised to all that wonderful light revealed in Christ, hence it says, "Baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit", Matthew 28:19. The breaking of bread is the other sacrament which is public, you partake of the bread and drink of the cup publicly.

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I am not saying that is all there is in it, but that is in it. I am known on God's earth as one of God's people, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction along with the people of God", Hebrews 11:25. Verses 19 and 20 of this chapter are very beautiful, coming in after verse 18.

J.K. What do you mean by the word 'sacrament'?

J.T. It is an ordinary term, well understood, what is called an ordinance. There are only two sacraments, not seven.

F.S. In regard to the thought of committal, in the light of this chapter, a soul should have his own sense of what a God he has committed himself to. One would take account of the impressions of a priest here; so, in like manner, the knowledge we have of God is a support to us in regard to our committal.

J.T. Yes, it is everything, as you cannot keep yourself. It may be thought in responding to the covenant, you are undertaking what you cannot fulfil, and that you will only break down. But you have the Holy Spirit, and are in direct relationship with God, because we are sons, and He will keep you. It is a most blessed position to publicly commit yourself, but of course it involves obligation.

H.W.S. Our associations test us.

J.T. Yes, especially at the present time when there are so many claims.

J.M. God would make an additional appeal to us, on account of the way He has recovered light to us.

A.S. Would manna suggest heavenly support; verse 15?

J.T. Yes, what Christ was in everyday life, hence you have it always.

-- .G. As a result of long acquaintance with God, you would be enabled to say what was said here, but what about a young soul asking for fellowship?

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J.T. It is a great thing for such to abide near those who have a long acquaintance, and to see what they do. The word says, "Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7); then there are those present who "watch over your souls" (verse 17); we are to take account of them, too.

Ques. You were speaking a little while ago of acquiescing to what God proposed, would that be the result of the Spirit's activities? "Ye have the unction from the holy one", 1 John 2:20. That is spoken of the babes, would that be the thought of acquiescence, but not full intelligence?

J.K. A young soul might have priestly intelligence as to what God is.

J.T. The young must be rightly instructed, but they must keep near the spiritual. We read in the prophets that "ten men take hold ... of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you", Zechariah 8:23.

J.H.J. "Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst" (verse 20). In connection with all this God gets praise and worship; it is what He secures as the result of His ways.

J.T. Yes, and they seal the covenant, they come to that. They might well do it; every day and every minute of these forty years they were sustained by God. "Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing" -- what a word that is, that "their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not"!

P.L. It does not say they acquired anything: they lacked nothing, it is the wilderness position.

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J.T. Yes, not the accumulation of wealth, but needs met.

F.S. They acquired the knowledge of God.

P.L. Yes, the chapter is full of that.

J.T. The paragraph from verse 22 to verse 25 refers to what He gave them. Then there is the sorrowful answer in the next few verses. I might read verse 32 before we close, "And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and loving-kindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, ... on all thy people, since the days of the kings of Assyria unto this day. But thou art just in all that is come upon us; for thou hast acted according to truth, and we have done wickedly". Then see verses 36 and 37, "Behold, we are servants this day, and the land that thou gavest unto our fathers, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are bondmen in it. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress". What a position, and because of it all, they make a covenant. They recognise the urgent necessity for it.

P.L. So that the conditions of captivity at the end become the occasion under God's hand of the writing. The people take up a definite position in relation to God.

J.T. A spiritual man recognises public failure.

P.L. And eats the sin offering.

J.T. Salvation lies in taking up the position occupied at the beginning.

Ques. What is the thought of writing?

J.T. What you write down you are committed to, you cannot deny it. If you recede from that, you

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apostatise. You get the word in Hebrews: "If he draw back, my soul does not take pleasure in him. But we are not drawers back", the apostle says, he is referring to what christians are normally, they do not draw back.

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TIME AND PLACE IN 1 CORINTHIANS

1 Corinthians 16:1 - 24

J.T. Time and place seem a feature in this epistle by the reference to the first day of the week. There is a close relation between this epistle and the book of Numbers in the sense that Numbers opens with time and place. "Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year after their departure from the land of Egypt". There is a strong relation between the epistles to the Corinthians, the first epistle particularly, and the book of Numbers in that way.

Ques. Has it anything to do with the condition of things?

J.T. It indicates that the saints are viewed in this letter as here in the presence of the world. The letters to Colosse and Ephesus have a position in the land more in view, and the features I have mentioned are not present there. The Lord Himself, in grace, came in within time limits. There were certain limitations which He graciously recognised, which, after He rose from the dead, are not in view. He is not in any way governed by natural limitations after He rises from the dead, and there is a certain correspondence I think in the position of the saints as left down here in testimony; they are set within the bounds, in measure at least, of limitation, which we have to recognise in the government of God.

Ques. Paul speaks about wintering here; is that on the same line?

J.T. Yes.

W. Do you refer to limitations as at the outset? The Lord came in as a babe.

J.T. Yes; He came into those conditions in grace, and recognised them.

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R.B. Do you think this chapter comes in in the light of all that came out in chapter 15?

J.T. Yes, I suppose so. There are general features I suppose to regulate us as to our giving.

R.B. What I meant was that it seems to take up everyday walk down here after he has been dealing with such a wonderful unfolding as we get in chapter 15.

J.T. Chapter 15, of course, gives us the resurrection in all its bearings, not as applying to us now, as in Colossians and Ephesians, but the resurrection treated of in itself as a subject, going on to the final end of things. This chapter would fit in, I think, with the general ordering of the assembly. Chapter 15 is, I suppose you might say, a subject by itself. It is not the application of resurrection as apprehended by faith, although God does give us the victory, but the subject is treated by itself in all its bearings.

J.G. Is our resurrection with Him contemplated in chapter 15?

J.T. No; that is Colossians and Ephesians. Here the resurrection was denied, and the Spirit of God takes advantage of the opportunity to unfold the great subject of resurrection as the triumph of God.

C.G. Being in the light of it and walking in the truth of it, the saints here are able to continue in the presence of adverse circumstances.

J.T. Yes, it is not simply that He will give it to us. He gives it, "Thanks to God, who gives us the victory by our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, my beloved brethren, be firm, immovable, abounding always in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord".

C.G. Apart from this, we could hardly remain here immovable, could we?

J.T. No, but it is a subject by itself, and the epistle is mainly occupied with the order of God as

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it should be seen in the saints as set here in the presence of the world.

Ques. Does chapter 16 in that way link on with the end of chapter 14, "Let all things be done comelily and with order"?

J.T. Yes. This chapter gives the order of the assembly. Resurrection is treated as a subject by itself, but it is an essential thing in order that we might be immovable in this position.

R.B. Is that the object of its being introduced?

J.T. I think so. It fortifies the soul as to evil, but it is not the saints risen by faith as in Colossians and Ephesians; it is not the present application of resurrection.

-- .S. Is the thought of the body in chapter 12 that of the condition of time and place as spoken of in this chapter, what they were characteristically?

J.T. When the Spirit of God treats a thing by itself, as for instance the body of Christ, then He brings in, as in Colossians, that He is Head of the body, the assembly, but in Corinthians it is the thing in character, so there is no article; it is what they were characteristically, "Ye are Christ's body". Hence, as I said, the governing feature in the epistle is that it is set in relation to time and place in the wilderness position. You could not have those features in connection with what appears in Colossians and Ephesians, for they contemplate the feast of weeks, which is not bounded by time. That which is linked up with the work of the Holy Spirit is not governed by time, because it links us with heaven and eternity, that is Colossians and Ephesians in principle. Whereas the order here in Levitical service and the arrangement of the tabernacle has reference to this present position, for that is before men, hence the thought of place and time.

F.W.F. You get the thought of direction here, he says, "as I directed the assemblies".

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J.T. Yes, that is all apostolic.

Rem. You were speaking of the work of the Spirit from the divine side, but here it is the work of the Lord.

J.T. It is that which is furthered in the activities of the saints generally speaking, but you cannot exclude the Spirit, for the Spirit has a place in this epistle. In chapter 12 we get the Father, Son and Spirit; that is to establish the principle of unity, but generally speaking the position here is governed by the Lordship of Christ.

Ques. How would you regard the way in which Deuteronomy opens? You get time and place there.

J.T. Deuteronomy is wilderness ground. It is education for the land, but it is in the plains of Moab. But when you have the first day of the week mentioned you are at once in the presence of that which is governed by the sun, as you might say, it is one day in the week, one day out of seven. You cannot think of that in heaven; nor can you in the land, as we speak; that is not governed by the sun, it is eternity; the feast of weeks links you up with eternity. It shows the immensity of the scope that is opened up to christians. Whereas this epistle is to regulate us here where evil is, and where God will maintain His testimony in us in spite of the evil.

W.G.B. The collection here was special, was it not?

J.T. Evidently; for a special purpose.

W.G.B. There is very little said in the New Testament as to collections, is there?

J.T. There are references in the gospels. The Lord sat over against the treasury, to see how they cast into it.

W.G.B. "But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased", Hebrews 13:16.

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A.J.W. Would there be an underlying principle here as to our own collection?

J.T. I suppose so; this was for a special purpose; but the giving among the people of God is the outcome of love, or should be. It is regulated by the authority of Christ here, by apostolic authority; which is very striking. It is how you should do things here.

R.B. Does not that verse in Hebrews our brother quoted just now link it up with the Supper?

J.T. I should think so. Sacrifices suggest a right response on the part of the saints to the love of Christ. The reference to this in the next epistle places it on very high ground, because it says, "They are deputed messengers of assemblies. Christ's glory", 2 Corinthians 8:23. They are the shining out of Christ in carrying a bag of money.

Rem. That was not giving the money.

J.T. No, it was carrying it.

A.J.W. Putting it on the ground, as you say, of apostolic authority, does suggest that what we have is at the Lord's disposal.

J.T. Yes. Barnabas sold his property and laid the money at the apostles' feet; it was for them to dispose of it.

A.J.W. I was thinking of the word in the gospel too; "The Lord has need of it", Luke 19:31.

Ques. In the parable of the unjust steward the Lord says, "If ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who shall give to you your own?" Luke 16:12. Is that the thought of stewardship?

J.T. Yes. Only that you see if a man has a million pounds, he can very well give a pound or two; there is no sacrifice at all; that is stewardship as I understand it. A sacrifice is what costs you something. So "with such sacrifices God is well pleased".

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A.J.W. The widow cast in all her living; she is the model. She "has cast in more than all".

W.G.B. That shows how God takes account of things.

J.T. Yes, but I think we ought to recognise that it is not only that we are disposed to give, but the question is how you are to do it.

W.C. How would this work out now?

J.T. If you have means you are responsible to the Lord for them, and if you do not know those who can dispose of them more wisely than you can, you have to do it yourself. Generally the brethren have wisdom from the Lord to dispose of means.

Rem. I thought possibly the Corinthians had no rent to pay, therefore there would be no collection the first day of the week.

E.P. Do you not think the principle is important that it is as you have been prospered you are to give? It is not to be in a haphazard way, but as you have been prospered.

J.T. There is a very great consideration in that. As he says elsewhere, it is on the principle of equality. We have to exercise wisdom, and it is, to my mind, very gracious of the Lord to help us with an injunction like this. If a man has a family he has to consider them. It saves us from extreme action. A man might give more than he ought to give.

Ques. You suggest this is regulation.

J.T. It is a gracious regulation for us. It is to help us in what we are doing that we do it intelligently.

J.J. Was not this giving too in view of testimony? The Corinthian saints' sending money was a great evidence of the apostle's success in his ministry.

J.T. Yes, in the Lord's governmental ordering all is turned to account so that the bonds between the gentile and the Jewish christians should be strengthened, and I believe there is a good deal of that at the present time. Things have been allowed

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of God to happen nationally which are intended to result in a strengthening of the bonds among the people of God universally, so that national bonds are broken down, and the house of God comes into evidence in love, love rising above mere national feeling.

Rem. You were speaking last night about universality. There is a tendency among us to be occupied merely with the wants of our little local meeting. You were telling us about German meetings. I suppose had there been any means of communication, it would have been acceptable to the Lord if any money had been sent to them. I suppose our thoughts should go out beyond the necessities of our own local meeting.

J.T. I think it becomes the occasion of the Lord working in us, which is really the underlying principle of the house of God. You get the injunction: "Let all things ye do be done in love". What he was ordering was not special to them, it was a catholic idea, which runs throughout the epistle.

Rem. I was wondering why the apostle wrote to Galatia and Corinth about collections. The churches at Galatia needed correction because of bad doctrine, and this assembly needed correction because of bad behaviour. He did not write to the Philippians asking them to collect; why is that?

J.T. I think it is evident they needed this apostolic aid to help them in the working out of love amongst them. Love is the underlying principle, but apostolic authority forms banks in which it is to flow; it is regulated.

W.C. They needed no exhortation at Antioch to send relief to Judea. Paul and Barnabas had been there.

J.T. Yes, I have no doubt that the evidence of love at Antioch was largely the result of the presence and influence of these remarkable servants of Christ. They had been there for a considerable time at that juncture, as far as I remember; Barnabas went to

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Tarsus to seek out Saul, and for a whole year they were gathered together in the assembly and taught a large crowd, and the disciples were first called christians at Antioch.

Ques. Should that mark us in this way, that we should be ready for opportunity to minister?

J.T. Yes, I think so, and then to be sure that you are doing it rightly, to be governed by wisdom, which calls for right information as to what we are doing.

R.B. Why is the thought of the laying up at home brought in?

J.T. Well, your wife and children would know what you are doing. Giving necessarily involves home responsibilities. Even although you are head of the house, you cannot act independently. The Lord takes account of every right feeling and sentiment there may be in His people.

R.B. I go with that thoroughly. I was thinking, as to sending to saints abroad, this would be instruction for us as local gatherings. It is only righteous to pay the rent and to meet the need of local saints that may require help. But we should have something when special contributions are needed, and would not this instruction come in in a case of that sort?

J.T. Yes, and then what practical help there is when a husband and his wife deliberately take account of their prosperity with which God has prospered them and say, 'Now this is to be done for the Lord'; there is very great blessing in that.

A.J.W. The apostle calls attention to the house of Stephanas, that the household had addicted itself to the ministry of the saints.

J.T. Yes, the house that Paul baptised.

Rem. Only this is rather wider; the word used for house here would include slaves or servants.

J.T. Yes; it is an effect of baptism.

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Ques. In what way?

J.T. That those that baptised were addicted to the ministry of the saints.

C.G. The control of the Lord would become practical. Might not some time have elapsed between the household having been baptised and the apostle's writing?

J.T. No doubt.

C.G. So that children would have grown up.

R.B. I was going to ask for a little light on verse 8. You were speaking of time and place; it seems there is something more than the mere season and place.

J.T. Yes. We were speaking of Pentecost, it was apparently one feast (Read Deuteronomy 16:9 - 12). There is no number of days given, whereas in the other two feasts you have a number of days. I only refer to this as it may help your thought about Pentecost.

R.B. Really I had more in mind the mention of Ephesus in connection with his tarrying there until Pentecost. I did not know whether there was anything below the surface.

J.T. It is suggestive, for Ephesus really leads us on to an eternal state of things and heaven.

J.J. Would John 7 refer to the point here, "The last ... day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water". I thought perhaps the giving here was on that line.

J.T. Yes, only that is the source from which the rivers flow out; here you have the banks formed in which they are to flow. But it is the same principle, I think.

J.J. It is greater than John 7.

J.T. Yes, this is the full result of the Spirit given.

J.J. But that would be behind this chapter.

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J.T. Yes.

E.P. What would you say about verse 9 as following verse 8, "A great door is opened to me and an effectual one"; would that have reference to Ephesus?

J.T. Yes, but I think that comes under the head of levitical government, which is another subject. You have in Numbers the regulation of levitical service coming under priestly direction. I suppose the apostle Paul was the great levite, but he gives that as a reason for remaining till Pentecost.

Ques. You mean his levitical service?

J.T. Yes.

A.J.W. Do you think his levitical service was working "the work of the Lord"?

J.T. Yes. You have regulations as to how the saints regard those who are in levitical work. It is a point that is well worthy of our consideration as to how we regard those who are in levitical work -- they have to be considered if they are truly engaged in the work of the Lord, and Paul says of Timothy, "He works the work of the Lord, even as I". He is a model levite, and a standard for others.

-- .F. He seems to speak of Timotheus with very great certainty and confidence.

J.T. Yes. To my mind it is of very great value to us to have apostolic direction as to how we are to act with regard to giving. Perhaps we think sometimes we honour the Lord's servants by asking them to preach, as if we are patronising them, but that is a false position to take. They are levites of God, and have to be regarded as such. They must not arrogate priestly functions. Timotheus was not doing that; neither was Stephanas: they were setting themselves before the saints with girded loins ready to serve.

A.W. How might that be done?

J.T. A man should not assume to be a priest because he is a levite. Every saint is a priest, but we must not base priesthood on levitical service. That

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is clericalism; men assuming to be priests because they are ministers.

R.B. The Levite was evolved from the priest, not the priest from the Levite.

J.T. I think Numbers shows that the levitical ministry is made to depend on priestly service. That is, first of all God says, 'Every Levite from among you is Mine'; that is His sovereign right to every christian. Then He says, 'The firstborn belong to Me according to My sovereign right'. Then He numbers them, and there are some over, more firstborn children than there are Levites, and He carefully prescribed that there should be a certain amount of money given to balance this, and the priest gets that money. Hence the priest's position is established unquestionably, for all depends on him. Jehovah says, The Levites are to be given to Aaron and to his sons. A minister does not own the congregation, the congregation owns him in principle. So in Antioch, the Spirit said, "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them"; there is a recognition of the priestly function of the assembly.

W.G.B. While we are on this subject will you help us as to preaching the gospel with priestly skill and levitical vigour?

J.T. With the priest his age is not in question; there is no limit to the age in which a priest is to serve. The priests refer to the saints as having the Holy Spirit; they are priests at all times and under all circumstances as having the Holy Spirit. The thing is to be spiritual, "The spiritual discerns all things". That is the point in regard to priesthood; there is no age given as to priestly service, whereas the Levite was to serve from thirty to fifty, generally, showing that levitical work is to be carried on in the energy of life. It is under the direction of the priest, but there must be no flagging, the thing must be done.

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C.G. Will you distinguish between the work of the Levite and priestly work?

J.T. Generally speaking the levitical work is to carry things, to bear burdens, and it was no small matter in the wilderness to bear these heavy burdens under the hot sun of the East and amid the burning sands of the desert. It was strenuous work and required energy, so you can understand the apostle here in regard to Timothy saying, 'Do not hinder him; he needs all the help you can give him', and so does the servant today. If you can be sure he has the Lord before him, do not withhold your help from him, he needs all the support you can give him.

W.C. "Let not therefore anyone despise him" (verse 11). How would the despising come in?

J.T. What is your thought?

W.C. Is it a question that there should be, on the one hand, moral power, and on the other hand intelligence?

J.T. I think Timotheus was a timid man and of a very retiring disposition, in fact tending to give up, a brother of that type. But he was a true man, that is the point. He worked the work of the Lord, like Paul, and now the apostle says, you must see to it that he is helped.

Ques. The support you were speaking of would be given in prayer very largely.

J.T. Yes, and sympathy in every way. Sympathy is a very great thing for a servant.

W.A.S. Is that priestly service on the part of the brethren?

J.T. Yes.

J.J. It is the work of the Lord.

J.T. The work of the Lord is a very wide conception. Each levite is engaged in some part of it. Elsewhere we learn what be has to do according to the grace given to him. There were three different classes of Levites and each had its own particular

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service, and Eleazar the son of Aaron was the prince of the princes of the Levites (Numbers 3:32). The Kohathites had the most precious service to do, but whatever the work was, it was strenuous, and the Levite needed all the support the people could give him. So no one need lack the support; it is open to all to furnish it.

Ques. Our brother was speaking about preaching the gospel; where would you place that?

J.T. That is levitical work. Eleazar and the sons of Aaron represent the priestly element among the saints. It is a matter for each one to discover what the Lord has fitted him for, and to do that, not to interfere with another's service.

W.G.B. What struck me very much was a petition of yours in prayer before the gospel, that you might 'preach with priestly skill and levitical energy'. I believe you did, but I want to know how to do it myself.

J.T. I think priestly skill and levitical energy sets the thing before you correctly.

Rem. That was what I had in my mind when I asked about preaching; whether that which is priestly is not connected with it.

J.T. The priestly element is in yourself and the other saints. You are regulated by your priestly discernment and wisdom.

Ques. And would the measure of my approach to God be my power in preaching?

J.T. Certainly. The power you have with God is priestly power, and the power you have with men is levitical power. Your power with men is dependent on your power with God. Jacob had power with God and with men, we read.

Ques. You are greater than your office?

J.T. Certainly. A saint is greater than an apostle in that sense, for an apostle is simply a levite, it is levitical work. What Paul was as in Christ is greater

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than what he was as an apostle. In chapter 12 of the second letter he says (verses 2 and 3), "I know a man in Christ ... of such a one I will boast", not as an apostle.

E.P. What is said of the household of Stephanas is very interesting, they "devoted themselves to the saints for service". The thought of the saints came before service.

J.T. Yes, and the reference to Apollos is interesting as showing what levitical instincts he had. Having spoken of Timothy whom he expected with the brethren (not the brethren with him, he is one of the brethren) he says, "concerning the brother Apollos". We know that Apollos was a man head and shoulders above most in the knowledge of the Scriptures, but he was simply "the brother Apollos". And Paul says, "I begged him much that he would go to you with the brethren; but it was not at all his will to go now; but he will come when he shall have good opportunity". It seems to me that Apollos is marked off here as a man of levitical instincts. He knew that Paul could not go to Corinth; undoubtedly he knew the exercises of the apostle. Paul said, 'If I go to Corinth I shall have to use the rod'. Apollos says, 'That is my mind; I will just wait'. It seems to me there are two levites together here. Apollos was not one of Paul's children. He came from Alexandria and represented the independent action of the Spirit, as compared with Paul. But he was a vessel of the Spirit, and he is in entire accord with the Spirit, as Paul himself was.

Ques. Is that why he speaks of him as "the brother Apollos"?

J.T. No doubt; and they were to be like-minded, with Apollos as well as with himself, and with Timothy. This epistle, among other things, is intended to regulate us as to the place of the servants. They come

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under the priests, but they are to be regarded according to their abilities and devotedness.

E.P. I would like you to say a word about verses 13 and 14.

J.T. How important it is to act in that way instead of with childish jealousies. As he says earlier, "In malice be babes; in your minds be grown men", 1 Corinthians 14:20. The reference, I think, is to the age of twenty in Numbers. One graduates to manhood as at 20, and takes up his place in the ranks, and is to acquit himself as in that position. Whatever he does is in love.

Ques. In connection with what you say as to Numbers, would the thought be there, that one should have a sense of being taken account of by God; one whom God has taken up?

J.T. Quite so. Is there anything else we should notice?

J.J. Is there any special reason for bringing in the curse at the end of the chapter?

J.T. It is a most remarkable text. As if the apostle should say, I have been speaking of all these wonderful things to you, Corinthians; now, "If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema Maranatha". It is a final word and most solemn. I think it indicates the presence of certain ones at Corinth who were not christians; they were really opposers of Christ, and God does not overlook them. He knows what is going on in our hearts; whether we love Christ or not.

Ques. Is there any connection between this and the destruction of Korah's company in Numbers?

J.T. Yes. The truth was that at Corinth there were leaders of parties and setting one against another, instead of simply going on with levitical service. The apostle knew what was going on there.

A.W. It has been connected with the law of jealousy in Numbers 5.

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F.W.F. In this last chapter there seems to have been a measure of recovery. Do you not think this chapter is a little like the next epistle?

J.T. Yes, very likely. He speaks of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus because they had supplied what was lacking. Everything there was encouraging; he got the priest's portion there.

J.J. I suppose they were not up to the Macedonians in the next epistle, who gave themselves to the Lord.

J.T. No, but these three men were evidently up to the mark. They supplied what the Corinthians lacked.

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THE BOARDS OF THE TABERNACLE INVOLVING SONSHIP

Exodus 26:15 - 30; Romans 12:1 - 9

J.T. Romans corresponds very largely with Exodus. Romans 3 speaks of the mercy-seat. It develops how the christian is brought into accord with that. The ark contained the testimony; it brings one into accord with God's will, not in a military sense but as supporting what is contained in the ark. The boards in Exodus 26:15 are standing up. The believer stands up in relation to the ark. The boards as bound together were a support for the curtains. The tabernacle may be taken as a type of Christ, also as a type of the saints. The one bar which runs from end to end typifies the Holy Spirit, binding all together (verse 28); the boards are all bound together. The principle is of sacrifice; our bodies as a living sacrifice.

W.A. All the material for the tabernacle was found here on the earth, but it is lifted on to another platform by the sockets of silver, which speak of redemption. It is in wilderness conditions that we prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect. What is it to prove the will of God?

J.T. It is what God may have for you in your circumstances here; you accept them as God's will and do not seek to alter them. The point is to find out what is God's will: though it may be adversity, it proves in time to be good and acceptable.

Rem. We are said to be "one body in Christ" in verse 5 of Romans 12, not the body of Christ. We have to be the former before we can be the latter.

J.T. I think that is how we answer to the forty-eight boards of the tabernacle. In 1 Corinthians you see the boards set up according to God. Acacia wood is the wood for the tabernacle; it is the strongest

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of all woods. The wilderness needs endurance. Cedar wood is for the temple, that is more for dignity. The boards are of the same wood as the ark, but all are covered with gold, speaking of God. If one comes in and hears prophecy he will report that "God is indeed amongst you", 1 Corinthians 14:25. The curtains embroidered are made to speak of the Holy Spirit maintained in a principle of fellowship. We must be true to that principle in our everyday life. It is consistency; you cannot eat of the Lord's table and of the demon's table. The goatskin and the badger's skin exclude evil. The goat is an isolated animal, not gregarious like a sheep. You have to be a goat with regard to the world, but a sheep in regard to the saints.

J.T-e. Fellowship is maintained individually.

J.T. In 1 Corinthians you exclude all that is contrary to God. It is a matter of partnership and consistency with the articles thereof.

J.T-e. Is that why discipline comes on those who are not consistent?

J.T. The Lord can deal with it. "Are we stronger than he?" 1 Corinthians 10:22. It is a dreadful thing to be linked up with an idolatrous world.

W.A. The dimensions are fixed.

J.T. Yes, they are unalterable. Another thing that is necessary is example. The Lord says in Matthew 11:29, "Learn from me". Paul sent Timothy so that the saints in Corinth might learn in him the ways of Paul.

W.A. Is that involved in presenting your body "a living sacrifice"?

J.T. Yes.

W.A. The boards are of the same material; they carry out the will of God and prove it. What bearing has the will of God on fellowship?

J.T. It was in connection with what the boards supported; it is that all should love the will of God

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and be subject to it. It is not only that you are negative with regard to the world, but there is the positive, being transformed. There is something different.

W.A. It is a change of form, he is different in being like God. The boards were transformed when taken from the trees and covered with gold.

J.T. In the functions that follow Paul speaks according to the grace given to him -- that is the example.

J.T-e. Our actions towards one another would be priestly?

J.T. The thing is to find out our measure and act upon it for the good of all.

-- .G. The blood of the covenant and of bulls and goats that Moses used for sprinkling is just a pattern. The Spirit was active then, though not indwelling as He does with us.

J.T. If we are going to move on in service we must know the basis that enables us to do so without fear. What goes back to God is what is of Himself. It is outside nature; it is the Holy Spirit shed abroad in our hearts.

H.McM. It is not natural affection.

J.T. No, it is what is outside me as a man in flesh. It is what is of God.

W.A.C. God is love.

J.T. You see that as an objective. It is what God is that is shed abroad in our hearts. It is like the sun, it shines forth into our hearts.

H.M. In Romans 5, is it a question of condition, that conditions are right in our hearts for the shining in?

J.T. Quite. It is the condition of those recovered. It is persons who are recovered that He takes up on the line of priesthood. As priests we do not pass in, it is as sons we pass into the house. The first thing is to be conscious that you are in a condition

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to take up the service of a priest. In Luke 15 the prodigal is a recovered man and at the end of the gospel you get men praising and blessing God. Luke takes up recovered men and they become priests.

H.McM. When we come to the ark with nothing in it but the two tables of stone, our priestly service ends. God's will is done.

J.T. When that comes in, the scene is filled with glory and with those who are like Christ.

W.A. It is not that things have disappeared but they have merged.

J.T. The Old Testament does not take you as far as "sons of your Father", though you get "sons of Jehovah". You have the thought of the spirit of sonship in Romans 8; that is that we are now under the hand of the Spirit and are brought into the position which God had for us in His eternal thoughts in purpose. I believe it is that at the mount of Olives. The Lord goes there that this adjustment may be brought about.

J.P.G. Will you name others recovered in Luke's gospel?

J.T. The two going to Emmaus and I suppose the whole of the recovered persons would be seen in "the eleven, and those with them" (chapter 24: 33). There is a condition formed in them into which the Lord can come, and He comes and says, "Have ye anything here to eat? And they gave him part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb".

J.P.G. You think that the top note is, "in the temple praising and blessing God"?

J.T. Yes. They were priests then. You start off in Luke in relation to the priest in Luke 1 and 2. In Matthew and Mark the Supper is spoken of as what is to God, not to the Lord; but in Luke it is the other side, the remembrance side. The eating and drinking is testimony; it is a different thought

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to remembrance. I have to be careful that I do not eat and drink condemnation to myself. Is my course consistent? What can the world say about me?

J.P.G. I deny my own testimony if I am not consistent.

J.T. You cannot take up the dignity of sonship unless you are in the good of it, so you get the Spirit of adoption. In Romans 8 we get the family setting, it is necessary for us to come into the truth of adoption. Where the parents of a family are awry how can the sons take up the dignity of sonship? We all want to go forward as a great company of sons. Priests come on as a result of men recovered, but God's thought is that He should have a company of sons. Having been brought into this position consciously by the Spirit, we now have a vista brought before us in connection with the Father, which is greater than the Father's house. The latter is referred to in John 14 and is future and actual. The house is one thing, but what we can touch as coming under sonship, is the Father's own presence, which is far greater.

W.A. It is what is in His mind.

J.T. It is only those who stand in the nearness of sonship who can enjoy the presence of the Father and it is only as "strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man" that we can enjoy it. How long do we find ourselves able, in the presence of the Father, to take a survey? Why is it? We are not being strengthened by the Spirit of the Father in the inner man. That is why. It is that you "may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge; that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God".

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J.P.G. You might reach a point where you do not know whether you are in the body or not. You would not want to come back.

J.T. It is possible for us, but, being what we are, we have to come back. You see how divine Persons stand in relation to one another. The scene of glory is made up of that. You get the fourth dimension. I suppose it refers to all the way the Lord went on behalf of God to secure His purpose. That is the depth. Man has never been able to fathom this.

H.McM. We are looking at things that are past knowledge and beyond the range of the finite mind.

J.T. That is why the apostle prays, "that he may give you ... to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man".

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Pages 258 to 418. From 'The Early Wilderness Encampments' and Other Ministry 1921 - 1929 (Volume 203).

THE EARLY WILDERNESS ENCAMPMENTS

There is a rich endowment for the wilderness; Jehovah has provided all that we need. We might consider the wilderness encampments, the initial ones, leading up to Exodus 19, the greatest of the encampments where all the light of the tabernacle and their journeyings was unfolded to them, extending to Numbers 10.

Each encampment has a spiritual meaning; each one is instructive and would involve the light that preceded. The great encampment was at Sinai; it lasted ten months and there all the light of the tabernacle was unfolded.

THE EARLY WILDERNESS ENCAMPMENTS (1)

Exodus 15:23 - 27; Romans 6:1 - 11

The journeys were all recorded in Numbers 33, "Their journeys by the commandment of Jehovah". What an interest God has in our journeys; He watches over our progress from the outset and each stage is written down; first there is the interest God has in the individual believers; then His interest in the saints viewed collectively is evidenced. He takes note from the beginning of every believer, to the end that He may set them in the assembly. The encampments from Rameses to Sinai refer to what is individual, although the people marched together; they are typical of the believer coming into the knowledge of God in his soul. At the encampment before the mount they listen to what God has to say; that is collective, where God brings out the covenant and the tabernacle, so the next movement is in the light of the divine system of things.

In the first stage we are brought into personal relation with God. Christ died, the Just for the

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unjust, that He might bring us to God; the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit; this is individual experience: "I have borne you on eagles' wings ... to myself".

The heart of God is revealed in the covenant, and the mind of God in the tabernacle. Love takes precedence, the love first, then the mind; love does not overbalance intelligence. In Ezekiel we have love in two forms: from the loins upward, and from the loins downward; love and intelligence run together; love is applied to the lower affections first; the Spirit becomes a fountain springing up, but entering into the mind of God, it is the breath; the Lord breathed into them. The Spirit comes in as water and breath; water for the lower affections, breath for the upper, intelligence and counsels are unfolded with the breathing side; as in Genesis 1, there are living souls, but Adam receives the breath of God; that constitutes him in the likeness of God. The compassions of God come out in Romans; the covenant comes first, then the tabernacle which is the mind of God; the covenant is the heart of God; the love of God is the beginning of things, the gospel coming out; God desires to be known.

Power comes out first; His love is behind His righteousness and His power. The first thing is breaking the power of the enemy and the subjection of the will; that prepares the way for the love of God to be shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit; so we reach the love of God by the subjection of the will.

The man, the head of the house, goes out to his flock and seizes a lamb on the tenth of the month, and brings it to his house for four days where everyone could see it; every child would notice it and be impressed with the fact that that little creature which was not guilty of anything must die. So Christ is

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before us as the righteousness of God, provided by God. This is the first thing to see as God's provision for us.

We utterly failed, but the righteous One comes into view on the tenth day; that little lamb was under cognisance of all in the house. Ten days marks the period when man had failed. The divine intervention comes in at the time of our breakdown; ten is the number of testing, then the righteous One comes in, the Man who had "done nothing amiss". He comes into view that man may be morally affected by the worth and glorious grace of that One; in the gospel we present the worth of that Person who goes to His death as the righteous One; "a lamb without blemish and without spot", 1 Peter 1:19.

The four gospels would correspond with the four days. To know the depth of my own guilt, I must know the righteous One; we "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God", Romans 3:23. That little creature kept up for four days tells me what Jesus was on earth, before He died. At the end of each gospel we have the death of Christ; every act of His life was in the light of His death and every gospel was in view of His death, as the consummation; the lamb in the house was known to be there to die; it comes to the man's house. This does not prefigure Christ as in Leviticus 16, where the blood is carried into the tabernacle and put upon the mercy-seat -- but it is the man's house; the lamb is brought near to the family. I am judging myself; this is my beginning: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months", Exodus 12:2. This is all individual; how near the lamb is brought to you; so near that every one can take note of it; everyone did not get inside the holiest to see the blood on the mercy seat where the whole universe was in view, but this is for me, the individual. The lamb should be roast with fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs;

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this represents our state; we are searched by the unsparing judgment of God.

Christ our passover is on our side. It is important to apprehend the foundation of our acceptance; the starting point is Christ our passover. The passover was the greatest of all the feasts; there all are looked on as redeemed.

Four brings in the universality of the testimony; the Lord Jesus is brought under men's eyes that they may see what righteousness really is, not only in the law, but in a Person. Why should He have to die? He dies near to me; that is the principle of the four days; He came near and was known as the righteous One -- it is that One that dies; thus is the knowledge of sin. The glory of God is the great standard and that is Christ.

In this day of confusion, if there are those desiring fellowship, we should carry them back to Christ our passover and see how far the fundamental principle is understood. The 'Good Samaritan' came where the man was, came within reach of the man; on the cross. Jesus was near to the man beside Him. We must each say, 'the little lamb died for me'.

The lamb suggests the grace of that kind of man; the ass's colt had to have its neck broken unless redeemed by a lamb; unless we can abide for the pleasure of God and become the kind of man so delightful to God, we must have our necks broken. He is so gracious as to come near to us, for we must have our necks broken unless redeemed; only one kind of man will do for God.

Political leaders, both past and future, are likened in Scripture to beasts, that is full of ferocity; the more power a man gets the more he discloses his ferocity, but here is the Lamb! John weeps because no one is found worthy to open the book, the title deeds to the earth, for worthiness is moral. The

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Lamb is in relation to the seals where the saints are brought to light; the saints are on His heart; there are a hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, and they follow the Lamb.

If the lamb has been at the disposal of the colt, the colt is at the disposal of the lamb; we are here for God.

See a little colt trotting along beside its mother in the freedom and enjoyment of life -- we are at once reminded that a lamb had been killed that the ass's colt might live. Is not a lamb of more value than a colt? That is just the point; we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, "as of a lamb without blemish and without spot", 1 Peter 1:19. The lamb character symbolises Christ, the impossibility of offence. There was no aggressiveness; a lamb is absolutely helpless; it avoids what is violent and aggressive, so expressive of Him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners; yet the Lamb overthrew all the beasts.

In connection with the animal creation, it is evident the Creator had in mind that certain animals should have certain characteristics to stand in contrast to Christ, the Lamb.

Adam's intelligence is tested to see what he would call the animals, and what he called them, that was their name; God did not reverse it. Later on (Leviticus 11) God intervenes and says what may be accepted and what should be refused; what really expresses Christ is for food.

Christ as the last Adam will name every creature in the world to come to show what God has wrought in them for the glory of Christ.

Jesus looked on Peter and named him. John, in keeping with the gospel of life, presents the Lord looking on men to take account of the movements of life in them, and naming them.

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In the world to come the animals will all have the lamb character, the lion will lie down with the lamb, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.

I must come to this "four days" in the history of my soul. I must judge myself in the light of that lamb.

The millennium is already true for us; we all have our ferocious tendencies, but in the light of those four days every soul is judged, bringing to light the lamb kind of man; that character is reproduced in us.

The next thing is eating; that brings about the constitution; without the eating there cannot be the sustained constitution. Eating is expressive of our nature, clean animals will not eat carrion; feeding on Christ is indicative that we have the nature of Christ. Eating exposes us; it reveals that we eat according to our nature; so our reading and conversation expose us.

Various foods are mentioned as representing Christ, the roast lamb, the manna, the shewbread, the old corn. Eating is approbation; we consider the intrinsic value of that Man personally; what He is for God, and what He is for man. Christ is our food.

The passover must be eaten with unleavened bread which I supply; that is the state of soul; sincerity and truth; then there must be the bitter herbs, bitterness is in my soul; I am so guilty and unworthy that He had to die for me. This is the first eating but it has to be kept up; we go back to it.

The manna is Jesus in this world, His life down here. I must get up early to gather the manna.

The shewbread is what sustains me as a priest. God has a tabernacle which must be sustained. The old corn is Christ as heavenly. I am a heavenly man too; I eat the heavenly food, so the four kinds of food are collateral in my soul's history; I need them all, but each has its own setting. There is no type of

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John 6, the bread of God comes in for life, which is an additional thought. The types shew how we come into life, and are sustained in the light of life by eating what is expressive of Christ.

With the Israelites, movement began the day after the passover; they moved militarily, not ecclesiastically; they moved in a military way, 'harnessed'; they were already able to walk together in rank; the young believer must learn to walk with his brother; you find your neighbour to eat the lamb with you and this helps in the movement; we can march out together if we eat together. In military rank there is separation from what held you before; it is effective and holds good now as much as then.

Considering the military aspect, we have to learn to obey; the first principle is obedience, otherwise we have a mob. The king in Jeshurun comes in later; Israel came to love Moses, but first we have to learn to take orders, "What shall I do, Lord?", Acts 22:10. That is the man who takes orders. The mob is all about us bearing the name of christendom. If divine light and love have touched us we must be under orders.

John and Peter are great contrasts, but Peter and John are walking together; the unleavened bread has brought them down where they move together for God.

It is difficult to take orders; it tests me; I have to learn to do it. Paul begins with, "What shall I do, Lord? ... Rise up, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee" what to do. He takes orders from the brethren. Acts 9 helps us in taking orders and then falling in sympathetically in what the orders imply. "Saul, brother"; a military officer does not speak like that; a brother recognises him as a private soldier not a high officer. There are colleges now to equip men to give orders. We must learn to take orders; Paul exhibits this principle in his path:

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he joined himself to the brethren and went in and out and preached; then the Lord sent him and he made a circuit and then returned to Antioch where he had been committed to the service; the principle of obedience -- taking orders and coming back to the point where he had been committed to God having fulfilled the responsibility.

"Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ", Ephesians 5:21. Do not get out of the rank; walk together; this is unity. Those who are setting out in the christian path need to learn to walk in subjection; those who straggle will encounter a rearguard action, for the enemy is close at hand; he catches the hindermost. Keep in the forefront of the battle on the advance line. The young are training for the land. Jehovah graciously kept the Israelites from warfare at first, the point was to teach them how to walk in military array.

What connection is there with the bitter waters of Marah and Romans 6?

It is wise to couple the type with the antitype as this passage, with Romans 6; our baptism places us where the Red Sea placed the children of Israel; Marah is also involved, "We, as many as have been baptised unto Christ Jesus, have been baptised unto his death"; it is not mere form, but is meant to be tasted; the thought of Marah was bitterness; death has to be tasted. Marah came at the close of the first definite three days' journey; the next "three days' journey" brought them to Numbers 10:33, death and resurrection. The people are moving forward under Moses here, but in Numbers 10 they move out under the guidance of the ark. In Exodus 15:22, it is the three days under Moses' leading, an individual matter; thus far the believer is under the guidance of the Lord. For us, the wilderness should be accepted; the Lord leads us this way. It is a

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happy path in a spiritual sense, but there is nothing in it for the flesh. The Lord leads in the way of testing. Israel went into the wilderness through the Red Sea, not by way of the Philistines; they encamped between Migdol and the sea.

There was an opportunity for faith before Israel crossed the Red Sea; they went out of the Red Sea into the wilderness; they might have gone another way, but God said they must go this way. The Red Sea was before them, the army of Pharaoh behind them; it was Jehovah's mind that they should learn what death is; it was that they should have this experience that He brought them there before the sea. He puts them through this exercise, "Stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah", but they stood still too long, so He speaks to the Israelites again through Moses. "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward"; their first exercise was about standing still, and the next that they should go forward, what a step for faith! The sea was in full view on either side, the Egyptians behind them. They were to go out in the sight of all the Egyptians. Egypt was burying its dead at this very time. So at our baptism it is a public matter, death is in sight; our going out of Egypt is not to be private, but of a public character. At the baptism of children, the house is thrown open; it is public. (Entering into privilege is private. So the children of Israel were chased out of Egypt, but drawn over Jordan, the land before them.) So the Lord Jesus went out of the world publicly; He went out through the gate of the city bearing His cross, but He went into heaven privately. It is a humbling thing to the world to have to bury its dead, but the Israelites were being buried also; baptism is burial. The Egyptian burial is so gruesome, so dismal, lightless and hopeless. Jacob and Joseph refused that burial.

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By faith Moses went down into the sea; by faith he saw the thought of God concerning His Son. The people were baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; all darkness to them but light to Moses; he had taken the bones of Joseph with him; he was in the light of the burial of faith. Joseph had given commandment and Moses acts upon it. That was a remarkable testimony, carrying about that casket in the wilderness; through all the failure of faith they went through Jordan with the bones of Joseph, and that was a constant rebuke to failing Israel. Their baptism was in the name of Jehovah -- to the full light, typically, of the revelation of God, the full light in which God is. In christian baptism also you come under His protection, under the wing of Christ the Lord; death is in view of burial, so death has to be tasted.

They carried the bones of Joseph through the wilderness; we carry the bones of the true Joseph in the breaking of bread; this One has died with all the thoughts and purposes of God in His heart. We carry the bones of Joseph all the time.

There is more in baptism than death; Israel came out of the Red Sea into the wilderness. The song is that which fills the minds of the saints, what the Lord has done in bringing them through. There is Miriam's refrain; they all share in it; now we enjoy the light as believers, and rejoice in God's work as in Romans 6. The Lord is the Leader. He takes our hand and says we must come this way. "Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?". The Lord says through Paul, 'Now come with Me, as many as were baptised to Me, were baptised to My death!'. Unless we come that way, it is hopeless. Miriam's refrain is the subjective side.

Then they went three days' journey into the wilderness, and found no water.

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(A question was asked about the different scriptures on baptism. Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:16.)

We are baptised to Him; the children of Israel were baptised to Moses as the leader, and this is the way he led them. The scripture in Matthew brings them into the kingdom; the "to" in Acts 8:16 means that I am committed to the Lord. In Matthew I am under God's wing, and He will defend me from all enemies; I enjoy His protection; we are baptised to the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. "To the name of", because it is the revelation of the "name"; this is a wonderful thing, that we are brought out of darkness into His marvellous light, under His wing. The Godhead signifies the divine pleasure in that the Son of God has come, and all is committed to Him.

Now the test comes for the Israelites, in that there is no water: "They could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter". I must say, for myself, this is what I have tasted in all its bitterness: "We are become identified with him in the likeness of his death". Moses must bring them that way and there is no other way for us.

Moses led in the song; they could not go to Marah before that song. There is the song of triumph that the Lord leads in, then He says, 'Come the way that I have been'; it is a privilege to enter into the bitterness of death that the Lord went through, but He gives us to enter into the triumph before we taste the death. That song on the shores of the Red Sea was one of glorious triumph, in which they all joined, now they are prepared to take up death in all its bitterness. Think of the greatness of that song, the grandest song ever sung, they even danced on the sand of the sea shore; if we are not in the good of that song, we are not free to taste of Marah.

The next point is the wood -- what you are baptised "to", the "Name". The wood is Christ personally;

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the Lord has brought you to taste death and you do not like it; it is a mixed condition, an analysis has to be made. Your feelings and affections are mixed, there is that in you which revolts against the water of death. The Lord says, 'I have been into this for you, for love of you; come this way after Me'.

Moses was shown the wood; there are many spiritual things lying around that we do not see; there is fresh light about Christ for us; we come to appreciate that He actually died for me. "Who has loved me and given himself for me"; He had me in His heart; this is wonderful, if received. Moses cried unto Jehovah when the people murmured because of their thirst, "and Jehovah shewed him wood". It is where death has come in. The Lord loves me, because I am related to Him, but He loved me long before I came into relation to Him; it was a tree, but cut down, for Christ who was living has died.

You see Christ in His personal love for you. Moses represents the Lord Jesus as acting for God; "Death reigned from Adam until Moses"; death disputed God's rights; death must give way. Christ is presented sacrificially first, but the wood implies His personal love for me, a link until I go up out of the wilderness leaning upon my Beloved. It is not atonement here, but He loved me; it is the Christ that died, but died for me.

Now a new history begins; it is not Colossians, but Romans 6. Now, I start out with Christ; I am prepared to go on in correspondence with Christ.

The many 'withs' of Romans 6 are linked on to the Colossian 'withs'; the links have grown stronger; you are now in movement with Christ. The young believer has certain relief, but Christ is not yet an object for his affection. You must have affection for Christ to get you through the wilderness. We should have recoiled from the experience of death, but the

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Lord brings us to it, tribulation comes, "ten days"; He limits the time according to our strength.

"The waters became sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance; and there he tested them". The Lord Jesus has gone into death for you; it is unto His obedience that you are sanctified (1 Peter 1:2); that is the obedience, and that is the ordinance. Then the statute; the testing-point is, 'Am I prepared for this?'. "If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, and do what is right in his eyes, and incline thine ears to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the complaints upon thee that I have put upon the Egyptians; for I am Jehovah who healeth thee". You see what His statute and His ordinance signify, and the result from it. Young believers have diseases; they have to be healed. The Lord will put no more of these diseases upon them. The young like strong things, like garlic and onions, but that sort of disease has to be healed.

The world is compounded of elements apart from the life of God. God proposes to heal the diseases that make the world an unclean and unwholesome place.

Why is the world put in contrast to the Father? Because young men are in question; the Father is set over against the world. Christ says, "Righteous Father"; the Lord's holy soul felt the Father's name to be an antidote to the world. The heart has got an object in Christ; now the test comes in the statute; love is always tested. We are sanctified to the obedience of Jesus Christ. His kind of obedience; we are in correspondence with Him; it is the obedience of Christ; it is specified; it has been shown out in Christ, the mind is formed by that; the first movement in the soul is obedience. That is the thing that stands out in a newly converted soul; he begins to obey and to love; it is One you love and love wishes

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to be in correspondence with its object. Every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We would rather die than surrender a divine principle. There is nothing sweeter than being in moral correspondence with the Lord Jesus; it is great sweetness to be with the Lord in every position, to pass along a scene like this and look up into heaven and say, 'I am in moral accord with a Man like this'; this forms true christian character.

We have not only "become identified with him in the likeness of his death" (Romans 6:5), but also "we shall be of his resurrection"; that is an incentive for the heart to carry us through. The statute and ordinance are set alongside. The statute is that if I love the Lord, I want to be in correspondence with Him, and that lifts the believer's path into the Lord's path. We are raised with Christ; now the water is becoming sweet, we have here a long wilderness path, tested every day by our wilderness circumstances, a test for love. "Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him" brings me into correspondence with Christ because I love Him. Then there is the reckoning of Romans 6:11, then Colossians 2:6, "As therefore ye have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in him". I have received Him in His love for me. We do not belong to the world that put Him out, but to the One that was put out. This is death tasted because of the love of Christ. Then we come to the wells and palm trees: "They came to Elim; and twelve springs of water were there, and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters". The believer is the Elim the Lord provides for me; the palm trees are the fathers who have known Christ from the beginning, they are the recompense for the bitterness of Marah; they are outside of me, but God's provision for me; they use the things they have gained for those that love God; these meetings

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involve the seventy palm trees and the twelve wells of water; what the Lord has provided for those that love Him. "Twelve" speaks of administration, we are in an encampment now; this is a definite point reached where I can sit down and enjoy what God has furnished for His people. The palm tree denotes victory; someone has been in the conflict and gained the victory, and the Lord is now using them for the young believer; for the moment the young believer is resting at Elim, he is being taken care of. Paul was a notable palm tree; he said to the Corinthians, "All things are yours". Paul was content to be the filth and offscouring, but the believer was in his mind; all he had was for the benefit of the young believer; how well off he is! It is not yet the assembly but the Lord's provision for his rest and refreshment; the whole idea is gladness, satisfaction, peace -- so different from the bitter waters. The next move from Marah is Elim; it is God's compensation. Marah is accepted in love to Christ and now we are free to take the best he has to give; He provides food, shade and refreshment.

How the palm trees came there is another matter; Paul could say, "All things are yours", but of himself he said, "God has set us the apostles for the last ... a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men", 1 Corinthians 4:9. What masterpieces the apostles were! These men were seventy, seven times ten, more than the apostles; the twelve springs indicate the definite administrative number: seventy is a more elastic number; it is what passes through the whole administrative period, in others beside the apostles. The seventy palm trees are brought about by the acceptance of responsibility together with the Holy Spirit; if you accept responsibility you have all the power of the Holy Spirit behind you; Timothy and men of like mind who know Paul's doctrine and manner of life, "Death works in us, but life in you", 2 Corinthians 4:12.

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We accept responsibility when we see a need and say 'I would like to meet it'; the Holy Spirit will be there to help us.

THE EARLY WILDERNESS ENCAMPMENTS (2)

Exodus 19:1 - 9

The third month marks a certain spiritual history in which the believer reaches the place where he is prepared to listen to what God has to say. At the outset the believer limits himself to what applies to himself. The nobleman at Capernaum believed what the Lord said about his son, because it referred to himself, but when the servant came to meet him the word was confirmed and he received the word, and "he believed, himself and his whole house", John 4:53. It is said in Deuteronomy 33:3, "Each receiveth of thy words". It is not only what applies to myself, but to God and His counsels; I receive it all. You first trust God for His deliverance and now you commit yourself to Him and to His love. Jehovah's words are precious, the saints "sit down at thy feet". It is like the position today. We are encamped to listen. Paul said, "I have not shrunk from announcing to you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:27); there was an ear for it. Mary of Bethany represents this position, prepared to listen. Jehovah spends ten months at this encampment unfolding His mind to them, a wonderful series of meetings where God unfolded one thing after another. It is not God speaking "in Son" as in Hebrews 1. Peter says, "Let us make three tabernacles"; he is ignorant of the situation; there never had been three tabernacles. The tabernacle is one; the divine thought is unity; Peter was out of accord; then there came a voice out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son: hear him"; He is the true tabernacle. First it is God's affections; He discloses His heart, then His mind. Deuteronomy is to include family manners, that they might go into the land

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with family affections, but this encampment is for the wilderness, it is more military. This is the most important of all the encampments where God opened up His mind in regard to the universe, as well as to a people and a nation. We get to the end of three months and see what follows. In Exodus 16 the manna is given, and in chapter 17 the water from the rock: it is the Spirit from the divine side, not yet as a state in us. Directly the Spirit is recognised conflict ensues, the conflict of the flesh against the Spirit. Chapter 17 teaches us that it is a perpetual warfare; there is no let-up in this conflict; the flesh must never be allowed the upper hand. At once we realise the value of intercession; this warfare is a secret matter; we often make a good front but this secret thing is going on and success in the conflict depends on the intercession of the Lord. Aaron and Hur hold up Moses' hands; it is authority, not exactly priestly function -- God's rights in my soul, the Lord's rights in redemption recognised in my soul.

This is a distinct point reached; here you learn how to fight. Joshua for the first time is to fight a battle. He learns how at this juncture, for he is to be in supreme command later on but as yet is only in command of this battle. Moses' hands, expressive of authority, are upheld.

The power of Amalek is broken, but never disappears, so the conflict is perpetual and Amalek comes up again where there is spiritual decline; fresh victories are gained but the conflict never ceases: "Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation!"

Amalek is the flesh in me. The Philistine is the man in the land, the religious feature, what men are as built up in divine privilege and light without having gone through death; but Amalek is Satan in the flesh harassing you. The elder son is the Philistine;

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he wanted to keep the prodigal out of the Father's house.

Joshua is yourself; you have got to fight. Joshua is the man who comes up later, you cannot take your place in the land unless the flesh is subdued. The enemy makes an attack when alone with defiling thoughts, but then Joshua comes to light, who enables you to fully and finally triumph. We delight in the law of God after the inward man and will not allow anything to the contrary. Romans 7 is the conflict of Amalek and Joshua; it goes deeper; it is from the divine side. We "thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord" and the Lord delivers. Amalek would stop believers from going into the land. Before this in Exodus 17 we get the complaining about the water. It is met by the Lord's authority; the rod represents His authority (verses 1 - 7). Amalek came to fight without saying why; it is brought in here to show it is the attack one may expect. The triumph is celebrated in an altar, "Jehovah-nissi", 'Jehovah my banner'. It is the power of the Lord, presented from the side of authority. I say, against this thing I enlist the Lord; it is a matter of prayer. I pray to the Lord; it is a serious conflict and victory comes in prayer. When the enemy is overthrown there is a fresh appreciation of Christ. As it works out in the believer it develops a spirit of prayer -- he looks to the Lord and does not enlist flesh against flesh; and this is a constant thing. We look to the Lord as Paul did, after he had been in the third heaven, he prayed that "a thorn for the flesh" might depart from him, but the Lord said, as it were, 'This is the very thing you need, for the flesh is so powerful in you it will take advantage of you'. He prayed three times, and then stopped, for the Lord sent the thorn, as though He would equip him for the most serious trouble. "My grace suffices thee". Romans 7 leads to Numbers 21. Amalek has

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to do with internal enemies. Romans 7 is Samuel hewing Agag in pieces.

The Lord has taken the initiative Himself: 'Jehovah my banner'. He will blot out from under heaven all the work of this enemy. We are sure of final triumph. Joshua is the believer in this particular time, he is the man himself who has to fight, "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". It is 'My banner', not 'our', each one has to raise his own banner.

The battle is to hinder one from coming to the house of God. Martha was harassed in spirit, not free for divine disclosures. Mary was free. Unless this battle is settled, we are not free to sit down as Israel sat before the mount in this encampment. When you begin to make much of Christ in the soul the flesh resists. There must be discernment, an analysis must be made by the believer; it begins at Marah, we make an analysis of what the forces are now. Marah means bitter water; the flesh revolts, wood is cast into the waters, and they become sweet; I see the Lord as having died for me; I appreciate the fact that it is my privilege to be associated with Christ in death; the flesh revolts against death, but Exodus 17 is having received the Holy Spirit, now Satan comes into view and I must make an analysis to see if it is the flesh. If so I must refuse it; there must be prayer; victory in the conflict depended on Moses' uplifted hands, not those of Aaron the priest but Moses', the authority of the Lord. Satan is not allowed to attack until the Spirit is received; the Lord is now with you, so you give God a place, and that is the altar, 'Jehovah my banner'. Moses' hands were upheld "until the going down of the sun"; a battle to the end. Resurrection is the final victory; the Lord's authority will have a link with us to the

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end as long as we need it, to the end of the period, for it is a provisional period.

What is the difference between Amalek, Ishmael, and Esau? All three are types of the flesh.

Ishmael disputes what is spiritual; the object is Isaac. Ishmael occupies the house many years but when Isaac comes in Ishmael resists; there is religious persecution. Ishmael has a certain status. Esau is the great man of the world, a man of the field, an athlete or hunter; he has kings; he builds himself up first. Esau was the firstborn and he builds up his kingdom before there is any kingdom in Israel, but he must give way to what is spiritual. There is competition among the great men of the world; college men with attainments, degrees and titles, the 'twelve dukes'. Esau is the grossness of the flesh as developed in Egypt. Amalek is the "old man", but the "old man" is a collective idea; there is only one "old man". Satan can take up the character of Amalek or Ishmael, both to oppose Christ.

Manna comes in before all this conflict; in everyday circumstances I must consider food; what am I to eat? Christ is the food, I love Him and I want to live in Him. This is manna, what He was before His death; you want to feed on Him once humbled here.

Esau would not let Israel pass through his territory; the journey to the land was only eleven days by mount Seir. Esau's position is recognised; he is not to be touched, though he would not let them pass through; you must keep to the things the wilderness speaks of. Esau is of the family, a twin brother; he is recognised by what gives man a distinction in this world, prominence and titles; you give up religious advantages to get to the other side. Esau sold his birthright; he did not esteem it of great value. There is no place left for Esau in the world to come. He is the great college man; he

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develops the features that give man a place in this world, in contrast to brotherly love; there is some other influence at work beside the Spirit. We shall only dwell in the millennial day amongst brethren; the brotherly spirit will pervade. Jacob was the despised man, but after his name was changed he met Esau as a prince with God, and in time he realised it. Jacob had the brotherly spirit, he would consider for the little ones and for the flock. Esau was a fast driver, he would overdrive the cattle. Esau would take care of the great ones, but Jacob would look out for the weak ones of the flock; he was content to stay behind.

Exodus 18 is a millennial picture, what all is leading to is complete adjustment, not only in my soul, but in the whole world. Moses sat to judge the people; it looks forward to the One who will hear every case; the believer is content to wait for that One. The believer has found his banner; he is already sure of every need met and all being adjusted. In the world to come there is One who will judge in righteousness, and perfect adjustment in everything.

Moses' father-in-law represents the nations; the elders eat bread with him "in the presence of God"; it is the adjustment of all matters before the "king in Jeshurun". Finally the sphere of the peace of God is reached; they encamped at the mountain of God. Moses' wife is introduced; the bride gives grace to the scene. Gershom's name reminds us that the Lord had been a stranger in His own land and Eliezer speaks of the complete deliverances; now they could sit down at the mountain of God. That scene is an encouragement to us. Morally this was mount Zion; this leaps over dates to the world to come, the mountain of God; there are a hundred and forty-four thousand with the Lamb on mount Zion (Revelation 14:1).

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Horeb is the covenant; Sinai is divine demand. Horeb is the covenant mount, where Israel served God. What is sown in Horeb is reaped in Zion. Moses kissed his father-in-law there: that is the brotherly spirit.

We would like to see saints delivered from worldly pollution, but the Lord adjusts all that as King in Jeshurun. There will be an adjustment of all these matters; you need not have anything to do with the world. Now see what a world He has; the tabernacle signifies the unfolding of the wisdom of God, the God who loves us. Deuteronomy is the spiritual side. He opens up His heart and His mind. He is King in Jeshurun: it is the Lord having come to acquire a place, not now through authority, but in affection; they are "my willing people" (Amminadab).

At the encampment in Exodus 19 Jehovah is bringing Himself before you. "I have borne you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself". He would have you to know that He loves you, and would have you to love Him; so they encamped before the mount to learn there to know Him and His heart and mind.

The idea of priesthood was to spread over the whole nation (Exodus 24:5 - 8). The youths offered bullocks to Jehovah. Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar and on the people; the priestly function is exercised by the youths; God gathers up the first-fruits of their affections. He said, "Every firstborn is mine", the energy of youth. Youthfulness is very nice, and suggests that God would have freshness. Reuben is "the first-fruits of my vigour" (Genesis 49:3), but there was a development of lustful vigour abhorrent to God; when Reuben comes in on the spiritual line it is, "let Reuben live and not die" (Deuteronomy 33:6); the Spirit takes that place and the Spirit is life; the Holy Spirit cries "Abba Father"; it is the Spirit of God's Son crying in our hearts. So the bride in

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Revelation never loses her youthful vigour; she is always a bride. The virgins go out to meet the Bridegroom; they did go out to meet Him pure and perfect at the outset, and eventually they come back to that, so bridal affection will mark the end.

A needed word to the young believers: "But youthful lusts flee, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart", 2 Timothy 2:22. "Be not drunk with wine, in which is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit", Ephesians 5:18. "My heart is welling forth with a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king", Psalm 45l. It is my heart: I will speak of the outgoings of spiritual energy to the Lord; the vigour, energy and freshness of youth is delightful to Him.

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THE EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE TRUTH IN PAUL (1)

2 Corinthians 3:1 - 18

This letter is marked by the truth being exemplified in the vessel by whom it came. The truth lies there in the apostle. The reflection of these great truths which are developed is seen in the apostle; so he constantly refers to himself, so that there might be mutuality, and all might be of God. He firmly establishes his veracity in the first chapter, and it was in keeping with God and Christ. He calls God to witness upon his soul.

This epistle is parallel with Deuteronomy, so you get unfolded in chapter 1 that the saints should have the Spirit of the Lord.

What do you understand by the spirit of the new covenant?

It is the administration of it. Moses was king in Jeshurun, that is in the affections of the people. In Deuteronomy 33:3, "Yea, he loveth the peoples". The place the people had when gathered together. Moses speaks on the wilderness side of Jordan, in the plains of Moab; it was a retrospective view, and he brings forward what God's dealings were behind what was outward. The Lord is that Spirit, in bringing the love of God into our hearts. It would connect itself with the cup in the Supper. The spirit of the new covenant is the way He administers it. He is King in Jeshurun. He has got your heart and He administers there. Christ had been displaced at Corinth. The great love of God involves the inheritance. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". This is one of the greatest subjects of Scripture. The Spirit of the Lord makes way for the love of God; He has the right of way in our affections. Moses commanded, the divine order was established, and Moses was king.

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Did Paul need to be commended? He is raising the question whether Christ has right of way. The apostle was the representative of Christ; he was Christ's minister; so that the place they gave him indicated the place Christ had in their hearts.

In the heads of the tribes assembling together, the love of God will be brought in. The heads refer to the moral government of the house. "Christ's epistle ministered by us". What comes after leads to that, what Christ writes on us refers to it.

The first thing is to see whether the Lord has liberty with us. Has He the right of way in our hearts? Ye are Christ's epistle. God is set forth. Christ is the writer; what Christ is, and what God is, is written. Moses has great concern that there should be a representation of God ere they leave; and it is from that book that the Lord quotes. Moses says, "What doth Jehovah thy God require of thee ... ?", Deuteronomy 10:12. It is not a legal command, but the spirit of the thing. The Lord quotes from Deuteronomy in Matthew 22:37. He says, "On these two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang". This must come out before Jordan is crossed. The Scriptures bind the strong man. The man in Christ does it; the Scriptures are the weapon, "Who is my neighbour?"; the neighbour is brought in. "Go, and do thou likewise". That beautiful spectacle is seen before crossing Jordan. God is loved, and the neighbour is loved, and the enemy is put to rout. "Yea, he loveth the peoples". It is Jehovah who loves them. In 2 Corinthians 5 we are brought in for God.

The basis of Moses' blessing is, "Who shall bring an accusation against God's elect?", Romans 8:33. Romans adjusts us, we are said to be "one body in Christ", we are not one body in flesh. That lays the basis of Corinthians. Moses was faithful; he comes into prominence personally. The mediator comes

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before God in faithfulness. He secures the presence of God for the people; 'I cannot have it otherwise, you must be with us'; in that light we should read Deuteronomy.

The ministry of the Spirit is righteousness and glory. These expressions convey to us what God is.

The Lord has abundant resources. He said to Zacchaeus: "Today I must remain in thy house", and he "received him with joy". In that way we bless the cup, "Today salvation is come to this house, inasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham"; he is an heir to Abraham. The Lord is the heir; 'the more space you give Him, the more you will get, Zacchaeus'. He says, "The half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man ... I return him fourfold". He was a son of Abraham and what marks Abraham is the dispensing of blessing. The Lord is on the line of administration, He gave gifts to men. The principle of the sons of Abraham is, We bless, we have the means to bless. Peter, too, administers. "Silver and gold I have not; but what I have, this give I to thee". Peter is on the administrative side, and John has the family spirit. So Peter says, "What I have". He says, "Look on us", a combination of the administrative and family sides, "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean rise up and walk". That is what he had. The word of God is made a means of making money today; the Lord preserve us from it!

The Man you know is made Lord and Christ: He is the One in charge. It is wonderful for us, because He is on our side. Think of what you are connected with! We have come "to Jesus, mediator of a new covenant". What have we got? "We have such a one high priest ... minister of the holy places"; we have Him. Roman Catholics might boast of what they have, the pope and a great many things; but we have Him, and the glory system; He never

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changes. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come". We have come to the whole system, nothing less.

The children of Israel said, "For this Moses ... we know not what is become of him", but Moses asserted himself; they did not have long to wait to see what had become of him!

The Lord is preparing a people, everything is on the upward line. You want to save the truth and the brethren at the same time. In Numbers 31, "There is not one man of us lacking". The principle of recovery is needed. The Lord says, "I have besought for thee". Recovery begins with prayer. We cannot say, we have not lost a man. The responsible man fails, but the faith of the responsible man does not fail. There are extremely few you cannot pray for. Death is only the end of that. The Lord never gives any of us up. James says, "He that brings back a sinner from the error of his way". The Lord would have us seek to save our brethren, and to hold all saints in relation to Christ. Our hearts are to be directed "into the patience of the Christ". As with the High Priest, Aaron and his sons with him, you get the prayers as wide as the thought of the breast-plate.

The sons of Abraham should be here in blessing.

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THE EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE TRUTH IN PAUL (2)

2 Corinthians 5:1 - 21

In this epistle we get the spirit of leadership. We see in the apostle how it is God's way to maintain His people through the spirit of leadership. In each chapter he refers to himself. There is the evidence of great spiritual energy. It is set down here as a stimulus, that the saints should move on in that direction.

He was wrought for that heavenly house, "He that has wrought us for this very thing is God". He was an apostle and represented the power of God; he gave them a spiritual lead in this letter. It is God's way that there should be a spiritual leader amongst the saints. What he calls for is not in word but in power. The apostle outstripped those in Corinth. (As J.N.D. said, 'he left his miserable competitor far behind'.) The Holy Spirit being here He will operate on these lines. You have a true man, who "has set to his seal that God is true", John 3:33. In chapter 3, the apostle loves the people; he is not behind Moses. He is not trading in the word of God, he loves the saints. He could show how he loved the Corinthians. He is conscious of the dignity of his ministry; it was such that it was apparent to all except those blinded against it.

The way of love is of surpassing excellence. In this epistle, God has made us competent ministers. In the apostle's labours, He gives a lead for all time. It is important that everyone who ministers should go by the pattern, so as not to impair it, but commending it. A brother's influence should be in the right direction.

God has committed reconciliation "to us" (verse 18). What a committal it was! The ground is occupied by Christ: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world

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to himself". Reconciliation is something received, worked out in Christ and established in Him too. At the cross all that was contrary to God was removed, and then what remained was of God. According to Romans 5 "we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son". Removal was always through death. The forsaking came in while the Lord was alive, "Why hast thou forsaken me?". We are given to understand the awfulness of it. The public testimony was that He died. "For if, being enemies, we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son". There is no atonement without death, "Our fathers confided in thee ... and thou didst deliver them", Psalm 22:4. He was not heard. The awfulness culminated in death. He was made sin, "Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us". He laid down the life to which sin is attached; that life had to go. The mystery of redemption is that He was made sin, that lawless principle which originated with Satan.

Death had to come in; reconciliation is effected in His death, and now it is in Him where He is. The we and us of the epistle are apostolic -- a very interesting remark was made in this connection. In the holy anointing oil, the ingredients were varied and of different quantities; some were five hundred shekels and some two hundred and fifty; while in the pure incense, though the ingredients were varied, the quantities were equal. In both cases they were compounded "after the work of the perfumer". The perfumer is typical of the Holy Spirit, so that while there is diversity of gifts, there should also be mutuality; it is the work of the Spirit to produce this, and in 2 Corinthians the apostle is labouring to this end, that all should go up to God as a sweet smelling savour of Christ. All the promises have found their fulfilment in Christ. "in him is the yea, and in him the amen". All the promises to and

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from Abraham found their consummation in the king, David, typical of Christ. Nothing has been lost; herein is seen the faithfulness of God, all has been secured for God in Christ, and for His people too; in the day to come this will be evidenced.

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READINGS ON MARK'S GOSPEL

Mark's gospel was taken up in the same way that Luke's was in London. We had the Lord Jesus, the Person, in His activities, and His manner; then the levite, as instructed and sent out by Him, until at the close of Mark there are educated, qualified levites. As in Mark, urgency marks this time; there is no thought of breakdown though we are in the midst of the breakdown. The contrast between the truth as living and the growing darkness around us was continually referred to.

The Levite had his novitiate for five years, following recognised leaders, then at thirty years he was commissioned, and sent out with definiteness; the Holy Spirit reserved the right of appointment (Acts 13 and 14 are the models). Three things were to be noted:-

(1) The fundamental rights of the Head, and the Holy Spirit guiding according to the authority of the Head;

(2) The recognition of the fellowship of the brethren;

(3) Return to the Centre when the work is fulfilled.

God is not sending out people unprepared. The Father said, "My beloved son, in thee I have found my delight" -- an accepted, approved path; a corresponding experience should precede the levites' service, communion with God and giving Him pleasure; God's eye is on you; others may make little of you, but God notices you, knows where you are and at the right time brings you forward. In Mark the Lord Jesus was driven out into the wilderness. What are you in the presence of the enemy, among wild beasts? What you are in the presence of the Father supports you there. In the governmental

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course that God has pursued the beasts' mouths have been stopped, but they exist; we may as well accept it, the "mystery" of evil now, but the open character of the opposition will reappear. Men are held by the authority of darkness. The man with the unclean spirit was in the synagogue; the Lord attacked the evil there, then went to the house of one who was to be a great leading light and dealt with evil there. First the unclean spirit was seen entrenched religiously, then in the family. The Lord was dislodging the authority of evil, and teaching the truth. Next we see the leper, man just as he is; the paralysed man, and the man with the withered hand, hindrances to service overcome; and then the new thing (Mark 2:21, 22). The Lord was outside the whole system and would draw man out; they came to Him from every side.

In chapter 3 we have the workman; the hand is dried up and must be restored; the man was not demon-possessed, but he had no ability to serve God. The Lord Himself was the Workman (chapters 1 and 2), but now He is bringing in workmen. In the next great feature the Lord goes up into a mount and calls whom He would to Him. Before the work, the workmen must come under divine selection; they must be with the Lord before they are sent out. The Lord takes what is His own out of the synagogue; everything of value is made part of the new system. He is readjusting things; He has title to interfere as to the sabbath and He brings the persons out. Man is of the greatest value to God; it is an immense loss that man is away from God; God attaches great value to men, because His Son has been pleased to come into manhood. Those who do the will of God are dear to Him (verse 35). In verse 13, with lordly authority He calls; He is the centre of interest: "Whom he himself would", a very personal touch. The twelve were to be with Him. In

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the mountain you are out of the range of family influences. Verse 22 -- the awfulness of that charge; how are you to face it? You must recognise the Spirit in your service; this is the thing you have to encounter; no one in christendom would recognise the position you occupy; the scribes came down from the headquarters, for those at the centre of official authority will not admit the choice of the Spirit. The Lord does not defend Himself but He defends the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the last witness, full and extensive. God will not admit of His being refused; His testimony is the last.

In chapter 4, there is the sea indicating death. It is well to have a crowd to listen to you, but death keeps you from their influences. The true levite is greater than his service, it does not intoxicate him; out in the midst of death there is nothing for the flesh.

Then the sowing; you must know how to bring in the crop. In verse 21 the lamp, if it is put under a bushel, is being used for selfish ends, but verse 23 indicates recovery, christendom is gradually losing what it had; those that have, are being added to. Verse 35, "the other side", for the servant is not to settle down in any locality; in the tribe of Levi, all around the tabernacle, we have the principle that I go everywhere. The disciples were learning. Verse 36 -- "as he was"; we would not alter anything; He would not alter things to satisfy man's wish. If you take Him "as he was", you get new light; you see the wind and the sea obey Him.

In chapter 5 there is demon, disease, and death. The Lord dealt with evil in all its phases before sending out His disciples; these three instances close with the testimony of life; His power in overcoming Satan in sin and death, brings in life. This completes the course of the disciples' education; this is the point of recovery and the scene is cleared. Romans

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5: 11, "Through whom now we have received the reconciliation". In raising Jairus' daughter the Lord excludes certain influences that interfere with His ways, and took with Him Peter, James and John, "those that were with him", a selected company who are sympathetic. These three healings bring in man, woman and child, every range of humanity.

In chapter 6: 7 the Lord now sends out the disciples on their own responsibility; then after the action of Herod in beheading John the baptist, the next lesson is "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a little" (verse 31). The disciples "related to him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught". Put yourself alongside these twelve men; the brethren may say this and that about your service, but what would the Lord say? This takes away self-confidence and keeps a man balanced; your bit of levitical service over, you go and relate it to the Lord, all is exposed; you often go when you are not successful, but the twelve were successful; we are more apt to go to the Lord before we go out than when we come back. In verse 32 they go "apart into a desert place by ship"; we have told Him all, but He has not replied; the ship is the test; there is silence here to lead them to search things out, for in the Lord's company in a desert place there is nothing for flesh; it is the value of self-examination; but the Lord showed His great sympathy with, and thoughtfulness for them. With many coming and going is a good time for levitical work, but no time for rest and food. Now they are in for a strenuous time, and the enemy would use the great stress laid on them and take advantage of it to damage the vessel, "Come ye", not 'go'; a delightful word; what are we in His company? The test develops as in verse 37; in the Lord's presence could they succeed as when sent out alone? The solitude of the Lord's presence tests one;

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the ship suggests relaxation in the company of the Head; these things humble us, "Shall we go and buy ... ?". It is a poor thing to go and buy, for in the most barren experience you have got everything; He says "Go and see". He knew, but they did not. You find out your own measure; "a man is accepted according to what he may have"; the Lord distributed what they had; the bread multiplied under His hand; an important feature in our levitical instructions, for we learn how to do with what we have; no circumstance can arise too great for the Lord. Verse 45 -- He cannot entrust the personal handling of the sheep to them yet, for they were not formed. He would give a parting word, that the sheep might go away with a sense of Himself; and then (verse 46), "he departed into the mountain to pray". Verse 47, the evening came and found the disciples alone on the sea, labouring against the contrary wind; they were toiling in rowing, as they pulled together. The fourth watch is near the morning; He brings relief from satanic opposition. He comes like the morning star. Let us look for present relief in local matters, for when the ship seems jeopardised, He comes.

In chapter 7, we get the legal system, the exposure of man's inward parts; the terrible character of what goes forth out of the heart of man. Verse 24 -- "And he rose up"; He goes Himself, a different move from what is current; we cannot restrict Him in what He inaugurates, He has a variety of resources, He has public and private ways of His own. Verse 27 -- "the children" are those already under His wing. He owns this link with Israel; this woman, like Ruth, came to trust under the wings of Israel's God; she proved there were crumbs. The daughter "lying on the bed", waiting for Paul to come along. In the next section (verses 31 - 37) the Lord's wonderful sympathy comes out; having become man He identifies

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Himself with man, He groaned, He felt the thing; what came out of His mouth touched his tongue. He showed His sympathy even in the dialect He used; he is the true evangelist; and the result was the man heard and "he spoke right".

In chapter 8: 22 - 26 the Lord takes the blind man away from the influence of the town; first there was a man who spoke and heard, and this man here who sees, but He does not honour the town by telling the news there. In verse 27, the disciples arrive in their levitical education at a definite knowledge of Himself; the confession of who the Lord is.

In chapter 9, the servant having profited by previous instruction has now to accept a path of suffering. The Lord descends from the mount to suffer. The glory is pressed upon their spirits (see 2 Peter 1:16 - 18), the period when they were 'with Him'. The coming power and kingdom is the next thing in their education. Peter says we are witnesses of the suffering and partakers of the glory; Paul says we are witnesses of the glory and partakers of the suffering; the glory was the stay of Paul's heart in the path of suffering. We touch the transfiguration today on the principle of selection, "some of those standing here"; if I am not one of them, why not? I am at a great disadvantage if I am not one of them; the power of the kingdom supports you; you are supported by the saints and the presence of the Spirit, a wonderful bulwark. Verse 8, it is "Jesus alone with themselves", a beautiful expression of the christian position. The next thing is a case of urgency (verse 14), "Bring him to me"; it is intended to humble us who are so privileged, as the disciples were, but have no power to meet the situation; we all come under His withering rebuke; we must face things as they are, our extreme weakness; fasting is the remedy. I have a vessel; my body; God is not using angels, but men; you're usable; prayer is the

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place of intimacy, but what about fasting? You abstain from legitimate things. The Lord brings this out in the house privately; help is given in the house (verse 28); it foreshadows the house of God, there must be individual communion with the Lord; your body is the question; you are kept humble and insignificant in your own eyes. "Bring him to me", the enemy seeks to destroy the young generation (verses 20 - 22), the future is gone if the young child goes. In verse 33, they are again in the house; the Lord tests them; what follows shows what was going on with them; they had been disputing by the way; the cause for weakness comes to light. In verse 36, we have the character of those who are to represent Him; He takes such into His embrace. Then in verses 38 to 41, we are to be guarded; the truth is the "us" includes all, "he does not follow us"; "Forbid him not", the Lord says. The systems around us are a public scandal but the Lord uses whom He pleases in them. Verse 39 -- we are thankful at least that such a one will not be able soon after "to speak ill of me". This man would not go far; we could not trust him for long; it is not our business to shut men's mouths; that is for the Lord to do; we are not to interfere; we recognise a divine power in such men; there is a check on infidelity, thank God for that! In verses 43 - 50 are hand, foot, eye, all snares to servants that hinder spiritual progress; the issue is eternal punishment for we are dealing with serious things; it may involve eternal banishment from God. In verses 49 and 50, fire is the judgment, and salt the testing; salt is purifying and we get a wholesome state of things.

Chapter 10 gives the way the judging and testing come in, marriage, children, earthly possessions. The Lord says in finishing the subject of earthly possessions (verses 29, 30), one who has made sacrifices for the testimony gets in a spiritual way what he

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loses in a material way, recompense, spiritual and material also. We are "not ... to trust on the uncertainty of riches; but in the God who affords us all things richly for our enjoyment", 1 Timothy 6:17. God gives for enjoyment, not to add to man here; the calling of God on high cannot be added to; if I have things here I share with the widow and stranger, and have a hundredfold for the present time. Verse 32 -- it becomes a serious matter whether we are in the "way". The Leader of our salvation must suffer; the followers must suffer too. The Lord began to tell them so that they might not be taken unawares. Every movement in connection with the testimony must involve suffering. Verses 35 to 45 show that the kingdom as connected with the future is less dangerous; now, any personal preference tends to division, ten against two; we must keep on mutual lines, Jesus only and ourselves. The Lord adjusts things by calling the ten to Him; He saves us from copying the nations, and doing what they do.

In chapters 11, 12 and 13 we have Jerusalem, with its accumulated guilt under the eye of the great King, who had a right there. So chapter 11: 11, is a solemn situation; He forms a judgment as to what professes to own God; He is not insensible to what is around. This is the central evil; He is inspecting it; it has to reckon with Him. The Lord found in Bethany what He should have found in the fig tree. He came into the city as its rightful owner, but He found no place to rest. 'Ah! There is a Bethany'; He goes out there, where two or three are gathered to His name.

The instructions to the servants specially end in chapter 13. The first feature of chapter 12 is sympathy. The Lord says He is a man going out of the country; at the end of chapter 13, he gives authority to his bondmen and commands the doorkeeper to watch; this indicates the position now. Sympathy

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comes out at Bethany in those who had witnessed His works and participated in its benefits; then the feast of unleavened bread and institution of the Lord's supper; this affords more for contemplation than for teaching; it is sacred ground where one can only feed.

In all the Lord's reminders as to what they should suffer He adds, "And after three days he shall rise again". He brings in the element of victory beforehand, the full assurance of victory for those who serve. The Lord's position at God's right hand secures His sympathy in their service.

In chapter 14 the devoted act in verse 3 brings out what was in the disciples; "some" (verse 4) are not named. But verse 9 shows how the Lord valued the act and the love that is behind this. This woman had fellowship with His sufferings but the atmosphere outside was heavy with the evil intent; her action has all this in view. She calls attention to His dignity; she has the Person before her, anointing His feet, in that He was going out, those same feet were coming in, in Luke 7. The "day" is arriving; hers was an intelligent priestly act, she knew what was coming. Her name is not given because the person was the flask; the breaking of the person brings out the fragrance, one who grasped the opportunity and was equal to the moment, a scent of holy perfection. She, sitting at His feet, had taken in that the Lord said He was going to die; He had poured in what she poured out; experience, an affectionate state in one who takes account of what He said, 'My burial', she knew the day had arrived. His own feet carrying Him out; He was not carried out. "What she could she has done"; sisters are of the greatest service in the way they follow with priestly sympathy. A man with a pitcher of water and a woman with a flask of pure nard are characters who know the importance of the moment; these two are

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closely allied in this movement. Notwithstanding the condition of things at Jerusalem, there is a house where the Lord has control, and a man is going there with a "pitcher of water". The Lord has a place at Bethany, and a place at Jerusalem, "My guest-chamber" is where He has access. It was very humbling that the disciples had to be told about it. Today this man in verse 15 with the pitcher of water has ministry, what refreshes vitally, something sustaining and encouraging. In verse 17 we have a place where family feeling and affections and sentiments could be developed; in verses 22 to 25 there is the Lord's supper, not yet separated from the passover, a part of the passover originally, for which the bread and cup were prepared; it was a whole loaf; the Lord did not take up a broken loaf, nor send out for fresh material. He used the loaf in relation to the passover; the links in the chain are kept up; the passover is displaced by the Lord's supper. Where do we find these conditions today? If there is a guest-chamber then the situation is saved; hence the revival at the end of the age. The Lord would have a place for His guests, "with my disciples" (verse 14); not only that He is entertained there but His disciples with Him; He had a moral right there. The Lord's supper is His own supper; the "room" must be His, free from all restrictions.

Chapter 16. The Lord said He would rise again; the servants were to have this knowledge in view of their sufferings. The third day, because the Lord had complete experience in death, as in Psalm 16:10. The Psalms present the experience of the thing, it was more than tasting death. He continued three days in death. He died and was buried; death was felt by the Lord. He experienced death (see Jonah 2:5, 6). It is of all importance that He was buried; we cannot undertake to say what that meant to Him when He utters the words "Thou wilt not

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leave my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to see corruption". He knew what it was to be there; one -- two -- three days; the Lord would encourage exercises on our part as to His feelings, the reality of going into death. The psalms are important as an element of testimony for us to ponder over, what our souls may feed on as the Lord drew near to death, meeting God and meeting Satan, and then meeting death. His fame was heard of as He entered death's domain; He experienced the thing, the Son of Man three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. He lay dead in the heart of the earth. He was there. Jonah was a type: the Lord had to experience the thing Himself not because of what He was personally, but He goes into death vicariously as the Victim. He could not have covered all we were under by going into death and being buried. He comes out without the grave clothes into a new condition, the grave clothes were there but He left them behind Him; there is One who has gone into a wholly new condition, fine linen, not grave clothes.

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CORRESPONDENCE WITH CHRIST

Colossians 1:12, 13; Colossians 2:9 - 15

Ques. What is the thought in verses 12 and 13?

J.T. The Father's making us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light, and having delivered us, and translated us, bring before us the preparation that is needed for entering into the inheritance.

F.H.B. Is the making fit developed in chapter 2?

J.T. Yes. It is at the end of the wilderness rather than the beginning. At the beginning we see authority vested in the Lord, rather than "the Son of his love" character here.

F. What does "sharing the portion of the saints in light" signify?

J.T. We could refer to Numbers 26, the portions are found there. The Lord said, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places", Psalm 16:6. That is the portion in the inheritance. Both Numbers and Joshua treat of allotments.

M. Is it what is enjoyed now?

J.T. This goes further, as is indicated in Numbers 26. The next thing is, 'Am I fit for it?'. Colossians has the fitness in view.

F.H.B. Naturally we are not fit for the inheritance and we are incapable of entering upon it.

J.M. What is in your mind as to the inheritance?

J.T. What we share with Christ, what God has prepared for them that love Him, as we were having yesterday. It is what we shall share with Christ in a spiritual way.

T.E. Does that include what the Lord has redeemed?

J.T. Yes, "the acquired possession", Ephesians 1:14.

T.E. As Peter says, "Reserved in the heavens for you".

F.H.B. The Lord having entered in has taken possession for us.

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J.T. The identity of the tribe was to be preserved when they took up their inheritance. The man with great requirements got more than he with fewer. Suppose a man still further increased could he force out a weaker one? No, for after all "the land shall be divided by lot", Numbers 26:55. Whatever capacity you have is satisfied, but the sovereignty of God has to be recognised and each has to have a place.

F.H.B. Is the quickening in chapter 2 the capacity to enjoy?

J.T. Yes, it is the Father's action both in the preparation of the saints, and deliverance from the authority of darkness. Many of the saints are suffering from the authority of darkness.

T.E. Would the darkness be the cause of the superstition coming out?

J.T. Yes, the Father has delivered us out of that, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love; what a change!

T.E. Why is it the Father?

J.T. In view of the family.

F.H.B. In the family you get rule, but it is by love.

J.T. In Ecclesiastes the preacher is the king, but the thought of king subserves that of preaching. Preaching is the important thing, and the king uses his authority as such to support what he says in preaching. In Proverbs, it is "Son of David, king of Israel" who speaks. Therefore Proverbs is more the kingdom of the Son of the Father's love. The Lord is that, and He would instruct us in family relationships. The relationship makes subjection easier, and induces love.

M. Is "made fit" connected with what you get in Proverbs?

J.T. Yes, the land was divided among the tribes, but the family was to retain its own place.

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M. Is "fitness" an intelligent response to the position?

J.T. Yes. Deuteronomy 1:2 helps as to the preparation for the inheritance. So it gives the distance between mount Horeb and Kadesh; that way was not very long. Then Moses says, 'This is the mind of God for you, but you are not to go in yet'. It took all that we get throughout the book to prepare them for it. Deuteronomy is not exactly God's command; it is written by Moses' own initiative.

F.H.B. Do you mean that Colossians answers to Deuteronomy?

J.T. Colossians is a little beyond Deuteronomy. Moses leads you up to it. His work is more in keeping with Romans and Corinthians. He carried the people to the land, and desired God to give one to lead them in. So at the end of Deuteronomy you have Joshua (chapter 31). Deuteronomy is the burden of Moses' exercises and you find he gives the people motive after motive for loving God. So we go into the inheritance loving God, who gave it us.

F.H.B. In correspondence with the Son of His love?

J.T. Yes, in Deuteronomy 10:12 - 22, you get Moses speaking to them so as to induce love for God.

J.M. They had a wonderful incentive to love.

T.E. Does Deuteronomy give us what Moses learnt experimentally with God?

J.T. Yes, he had come to have great affection for God's people. Proverbs is the rule of the son. I am impressed with that. Proverbs runs parallel with Ephesians. The virtuous woman is the product of the teaching.

J.M. "In whom ...", Colossians 1:14. The Lord is thus presented to move the affections, and deliver one.

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J.T. That one so great should be spoken of as a son! You go into the land with the full light of the knowledge of the Son.

J.M. It is like the way the Lord is presented on the other side of Jordan.

J.T. The way the Lord is here presented completely sets free from philosophy. People are in danger of the working of man's mind; that is where the authority of darkness comes in. The enemy would use education and ceremonialism against the saints. Christians who would not think of the theatre might be caught by other things, which might have a hold, for instance, social status among neighbours. Balaam, who could not curse the people, taught them, but what did he teach? To go on social lines. It succeeded in drawing them away. That is what Colossians is guarding against.

M. All things that destroy the spiritual sensibilities.

J.T. In appreciating the Son of the Father's love, you are delivered from all that. A philosopher with any amount of book-knowledge would have had no effect on the company in John 12. Mary was there, and she had heard about the Father. The world can give you nothing, though it professes to have new light. The Lord is head of all principality and authority, "Ye are complete in him, who is the head", Colossians 2:10. In Ephesians you have "above every principality" (Ephesians 1:21); that is to deliver us. Next we are circumcised, that is, made to correspond with Him in putting off the flesh.

F.H.B. That is flesh as a whole, not only the bad flesh.

J.T. In Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan comes before circumcision, but the latter is first here, because it was needed most; it cuts you off positionally. It is not a question of whether I am up to it, but the position set out.

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F.H.B. The flesh says, "Bring us not over the Jordan". Only those who have accepted circumcision want to go over.

J.T. You bring nothing into the assembly that you have pride in naturally; the reproach of Egypt is rolled away.

T.E. What is the need for baptism?

J.T. "Buried with him in baptism", Colossians 2:12. You are viewed as in identification with the death of Christ. One who loves Christ would value these statements. There is no resurrection of the believer in Romans, but it comes in here, because Colossians is to place me in correspondence with Christ.

J.M. This would be the soul coming into what has already taken place.

M. In the type the Jordan is before circumcision?

J.T. In Colossians, saints are exposed to the mind of man, the better side of the flesh. You might accept baptism, but circumcision is more definite.

T.E. The children of Israel were commanded to do the circumcision themselves.

J.T. And it involves suffering. It is presented on the divine side here. You go through it in relation to Christ.

F.H.B. In the book of Joshua, he is commanded to do it.

J.T. Circumcision comes in as Moses came from the wilderness (Exodus 4:24 - 26).

F.H.B. What answers to circumcision after the people were in the land is "Put to death therefore".

J.T. Here it is rather how things stand on account of Christ's death and resurrection, "If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ". The way is open to you and all is done in the power of affection. It is as a risen living people that you accept death.

F.H.B. The Lord appears on the other side to attract and draw us. Love makes the doctrine effective.

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J.T. "Have your mind on the things that are above", because the mind is the vulnerable point. The Spirit of God greatly enhances the mental capacity.

F.H.B. The mind governs the man.

T.E. "We have the mind of Christ".

J.T. No natural intelligence can compare with one who has the mind of Christ.

Ques. What is the difference between "put to death" and "put off"?

F.H.B. Is it the inward working of the thing?

J.T. Yes.

J.M. The things to put off are habits.

F.H.B. What about quickening?

J.T. That brings you into living touch with Christ. He is made to live in our affections, and response is created in our hearts to Him.

F.H.B. It is set forth in John 20. We have not only power to live, but to do so in relation to Christ, "Having forgiven us", the coast is clear; there is nothing in your way.

F. The children of Israel were only eleven days' journey from the land.

J.M. It takes us as long as it took them.

J.T. Very few of us go into the land.

T.E. Is Ephesians in the land?

J.T. In the light of it.

M. We think we are in if we taste the fruit of it.

J.T. Yes.

F.H.B. Going into the land does not take us out of the wilderness. There are periods in which we may enter in, but we come back in the strength of that.

J.T. Passing out is by the Spirit, not faith.

J.M. Would you not agree that we should always have as light our heavenly position?

J.T. Surely; even if you are compelled to admit that few saints go in, you do not lower the standard.

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The Preacher was wise, he still taught the people. You do not give up; you keep on bringing it before them.

F.H.B. The morning meeting is the most favourable occasion for entering in.

F. There love takes us in.

Rem. The apostles took possession of the enemy's land. The conflict today is to hold what we have. Acts 20 is the climax.

J.T. God is acting for us. We little realise the awful things that are going on.

F.H.B. All the divisions have been conflicts.

J.T. Coming out of the place of privilege into the wilderness. Colossians gives what governs you as having been in. Romans gives what governs before you go in, "And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him", Colossians 3:17. That marks a man who has been in the land.

F.H.B. J.N.D. said that Numbers comes after Joshua with us.

J.T. You get that from Numbers 15.

M. After a taste of the land we are better able to take up our wilderness relationships.

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SONSHIP AND THE HOUSE OF GOD

Proverbs 24:27

In all I have to say my wish is that through it we may be led into a clearer apprehension of the house of God. This book of Proverbs should be read with that in view, and that those who are to occupy that house are to be known and addressed -- for we should be addressed as we are known, as sons. In Hebrews the writer reminds his hearers of this, that this book of Proverbs addresses the saints as sons (Hebrews 12:5). In remarking thus I would refer to the kingdom, for the writer of the book, although he presents himself as a son, also speaks of himself as king in Jerusalem (Ecclesiastes 1:1). In other words the son is King. His kingship is therefore subservient to his sonship. The kingdom under his influence subserves the house. So that this book should be read in the light of the family and the house and may be rightly connected with John's gospel, as the book of Ecclesiastes may be rightly connected with Mark. In the book of Ecclesiastes the writer presents himself as the preacher, and as the preacher he was king. His kingly authority and resources would be subservient to his preaching. So that the preaching is sustained, in that way, with abundant resources. Right of way is guaranteed to all preachers, for the King has supreme control. So that in the shelter and protection of the kingdom He forms an assembly. Indeed, every preacher may be taken to represent one who forms an assembly, that in which divine intelligence and divine order and administration should appear. But, in Proverbs, it is, as I said, the Son, who not only is the Son of David, as born to David, but one peculiarly loved, as he says, "I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother", Proverbs 4:3. We have suggested

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therefore, the Son of the Father's love. The Father, we are told, has translated us from the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love, and in that kingdom, beloved brethren, we come under the influence of that Son. It is the kingdom of One who is styled the Son of the Father's love.

I would speak to young people here, knowing there are many of them. There may be those who are seeking light, and who are perhaps held under the authority of some darkness; some darkness. The most terrible bondage is to be held under the authority of darkness. It may be some system established by imitation, or on false principles, or influenced by men's minds. Whatever it is it has authority over your soul. It would have no authority over you were it not that you did not believe that the system was right. Its authority lies in the power it has in your conscience, in your life; and the Father's work throughout the world today is to deliver His people from all such authority, whatever it be, and bring them consciously into the kingdom of the Son of His love. It is an advanced side of the kingdom, I admit. It is the Colossian point of view, the point of view that must be attractive to every lover of Christ. The Son of the Father's love has a kingdom. He has a kingdom, and all that kingdom, all the power of it, is subservient to His love. In His love He has brought love into the world. According to John it did not exist until He came into the world, "We have known love, because he has laid down his life for us", 1 John 3:16. He says to the Father in that wonderful prayer (John 17:24), "Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world". And that love is brought in here. Not only did He possess love in His own Person as divine, but He knew and enjoyed the love of the Father and He brought that in here. Indeed, John presents Him from the very outset as in the Father's bosom; He was in it.

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Think of His being here in the lowliest and most ordinary of circumstances, and yet in the Father's bosom, in the enjoyment of the Father's love. And as He went about, as John says, "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us". Dwelt among us. Who are the 'us'? Fishermen! What love! Drawn to Him! He dwelt among them and John says, "We have contemplated his glory". Would that one had the ability to present such a subject. It is one that should detain our hearts as it detained his heart, as he says, "We have contemplated his glory". He had come within their range. He was dwelling amongst them. He went into Peter's house. He would sit down with them in the most ordinary manner. He would converse with them; He "dwelt among us", John says. He had come, as I said, within their range. And so through God's grace He came and opened their eyes. They contemplated His glory. They saw beneath that lowly exterior a Man in unclouded relation with the Father, continually the Sharer of that love. He was indeed the Son of the Father's love.

Well now, you see, the Father has translated us into that kingdom, the kingdom of such a One as that. And what will He do for you? Well, He would take you up and, as you notice at the beginning of this book, He would address you from the outset according to the dignity of your relationship. You are a son from the beginning, "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son ... come under law ... that we might receive sonship", Galatians 4:4, 5. The youngest believer here may take that up. It is a question of reception. It is not a question of attainment; it is a gift. As the word says, "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift", 2 Corinthians 9:15. It is unspeakable; yea, meeting all the desire of our hearts. And so I would say to the youngest here, the love is here that we might receive sonship. And then it says, "Because ye are sons", not 'ought

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to be'. It is no question of attainment, because we are sons. Being sons He has sent out the Spirit of His Son into our hearts; so now our strength is equal to our day, and as I said that is within your reach, of the very youngest here, for sonship is conferred and the Holy Spirit is given on account of our being sons. And so the book of Proverbs opens with this word, "My son". You will find it all through the book that the address is to sons. The Son is, as it were, speaking to those who are brought into relationship with Him, the same dignity; and one never surrenders that. The believer, as he moves on in the Spirit, never surrenders that dignity, be his outward circumstances what they may. But then if he addresses me as son what is it in view of? "Ye have quite forgotten the exhortation". Alas, how true that is often. The exhortation he cites addresses you as sons. That is the point, you see, the address is to sons. But then if it is addressed to sons, what is the import of it? That we might be truly that. That we might be sons in our walk, in our circumstances and in our associations. And so you find that the Son is connected with fellowship, "Called into the fellowship of his Son", 1 Corinthians 1:9. The Son, as I said, is connected with the kingdom, and the Son is connected with the house. He has built it, and having built it He is over it. How delightful, that we, as sons, should be there with the Son over us. Not under the rule of darkness, but under the rule of love. How delightful is that rule!

Well now, in coming to my scripture, you will understand that the word is addressed to a son. Verse 13, "My son", again in verse 21, "My son". He is addressing a son, and I do urge on every one here, as a believer in Christ, to accept it. Do not hesitate to accept it. It is for you. The One that is speaking to him, typified in Solomon, was with God from the beginning. He was there when the foundation

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of the world was laid. All that God did was done by Him. The very heavens were made according to Him. The mountains and the hills and all that we see around us, all were made by Him.

Well now, beloved, all that is available to you. He is going to bring out the most wonderful thing that has been in the universe, the assembly. That is what is in view in this book. And in order to do that every resource of wisdom is available. How important, therefore, that we should listen. And now, what I want to say is, the book is full of wonderful instruction. It is full of blessed items intended for those who are sons, that we might be in the house. Wisdom built her house.

Well now, the first thing is, "Prepare thy work without". God has had to do this. He prepared His work without. In order to do that His Son became a Man and wrought, "My Father worketh hitherto and I work". Well, He says, 'I did nothing in secret'. You see all that He did while here. Everything was right; it was all there. The Lord was the very essence of simplicity and transparency; even the cross in all its meaning was a public thing. God, in other words, justified Himself in Christ in regard of everything, in regard of every claim, every question. God justified Himself in all His work. There was the utmost simplicity in all that God did. He has justified Himself. His work has been prepared publicly. We come into the benefit of it. But then I have to follow that course. God, as I said, did things in public. He prepared His people for Himself too. A field is that which yields in the way of profit. If there be stones to remove, if there be weeds to remove, the point is to have a crop. It is to be for yourself. God's field is His people. He has justified Himself in all that He has done. He has His field in which He sows and in which He reaps. But then, He also built His house. He has His field prepared and then He

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builds His house, the coming down of the Spirit of Christ from heaven. Then, I think it is not for God; it is for us, and the great principle for us is to build to God, by example, and therefore, I would say to young people here, 'What are you doing'. You see, you are a son, and have to be regarded in dignity. And then I would put it to you to look into your affairs. What have you been doing? Moses says to Jehovah, "The work of our hands, establish thou it", Psalm 90:17. What have you been doing all these years? What is there for God? What is established for God? or has it all gone to the wall, gone for nothing? Well, if that is so, it is because you have not prepared "thy work without". Look to your public works. See these fences around the field, are they thrown down? These outhouses, what about them? Are you looking after your cattle? What about that field from which you expect a crop? You see what a man sows he reaps. It is not only what a man sows, it is where he sows.

Hence the instruction of wisdom is that all these things have to be looked to. Suppose my house is in disorder; suppose my business is in ruin; all that is beneath the dignity of a son. You see the idea of a house is to have peace. Your house must be according to your public works, according to your field. Hence, how entirely incongruous it is to be living with God's people with all my public affairs in disorder. Well, it may be my associations are not right. I have got to see to that. But then the field is particularly interesting to notice because it is that from which you are expecting yield. "Mine own vineyard have I not kept". Song of Songs 1:6. What about that? You have to drink the water of your own cistern in that way. What is in the field? I only make a suggestion; you have to work it out. "Put thy field in order". In order to have an income spiritually the field has to be set in order. You have to remove all

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these stones and all these weeds. You have a plough and a harrow. God gives the increase. It is for you. Set it in order for yourself, so that your brethren will see that you have an income of your own. You will share it happily if you have more than you need but the thing is to have a field, an income.

"Afterwards build thy house". Now, building your house is taking your place in sonship. There is in truth only one house. When Scripture speaks of building a house it has reference to the individual side of my responsibility; what I do and what I have in it. So that it becomes then a question of my participation in the house of God.

And now, let me ask what understanding have you about the house of God? You say it exists. It is not simply an institution that has come and gone. No, beloved, the house of God remains. It is available as long as the Holy Spirit is here, as long as the sons are here, and there is a place in it for you. No one should be outside of it. The house is for the development of the affections. It says of God that He places the solitary in a house. And who is the solitary one here? God would place you in a house. He set up the sons together, as I remarked, when the Holy Spirit came, and then Peter preached and three thousand were converted and the Lord added them. The word 'assembly' should probably not be there. The point is that the converts were added to these one hundred and twenty persons, named persons. Every one of them was distinguished; having a name means distinction. And the Holy Spirit came upon them. What affection there was there. When another came in he would meet Peter, he would meet John, he would meet Mary. What holy conversations they would hold. What times they had in those days, "They received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart". That was how things began. You will not find such power today. Nevertheless

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there are those who correspond to these names, and if there is one here that has not found his place in connection with these names, the Lord would help you. The Father would place you in a home, for He places the solitary in a house or a home. That is what God is doing. He is drawing His people together and placing them in that holy sphere of affection. The Son who has built it, He is over it. So that it is permeated as one might say, by the light and affection that radiate from Christ as the Son. I hope there is not one here that has no field. The great thought that God has in view is that we should be led on to come into the house, as sons who have been instructed by the Son of the Father's love.

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HOW GOD MAINTAINS THE CHARACTER OF THE DISPENSATION

1 Kings 19:12 - 21

The Lord refers to the prophets Elijah and Elisha at the beginning of His ministry in Luke. They evidently represent the ministry of the prophets as a whole, that is, the patience of God. In Elijah we see that even if an honoured servant or a number of servants break down, the service that God renders to His people proceeds. Ahab was king and Jezebel was queen in Samaria. Jezebel had succeeded in causing Elijah to flee. God nevertheless takes up Ahab and gives him a most signal victory. I think the situation as it stands illustrates how God maintains the character of the dispensation. Although Elijah thought he was the only one here we have in chapter 20: 13 a prophet available to the Lord for the declaration of His mind. Many are not distinguished by name but are available to God. There are those who are obscure. God knows them and carries on His work unhampered, "And behold, a prophet drew near to Ahab king of Israel", 1 Kings 20:13. Just "a prophet". Elijah himself stands out as representing the prophetic service and the facts connected with his ministry bring out the faithfulness and patience of God. He is not dependent on any one; the work proceeds. What you see in the breakdown of Elijah is that God is attending to him too as well as looking after Ahab and His people. God gives Elijah two breakfasts in one morning. God would show the bountifulness of His provision. The two breakfasts were sufficient to carry him forty days to Mount Horeb showing the wonderful patience of God and His attention to His people in carrying on His service. He can use even an Ahab and nameless servants in the provinces are available to God for this

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great victory: "By the servants of the princes of the provinces", 1 Kings 20:14. Led by Ahab a marvellous victory is accomplished by God Himself, not by the faithfulness, righteousness or holiness of the king. There is nothing said of the young men God uses. He was thinking of His people. He never gives up His love for them.

Jehovah's voice was not in the things mentioned, the wind, the earthquake or the fire (verses 11, 12). Jehovah was there in the character of the soft gentle voice; but it was unmistakably the voice of God. The attention paid to Elijah himself reminds us of the wonderful thoughtfulness of God for those who serve Him. How fair He is and how considerate! Elijah went for his life and came to Beersheba in Judah and left his servant there (verse 3). Beersheba strictly belonged to Simeon but passed back into Judah's hands; it represented the faithfulness of God, "the well of the oath". Had Elijah been energised by faith he would have stayed there. Those who serve ought to be specially encouraged. He passed by and left behind the faithfulness of God, yet God takes care of him. "Jehovah, take my life" (verse 4); "And behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise, eat! ... At his head was a cake, baked on hot stones, and a cruse of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise, eat; for the journey is too great for thee. And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God" (verses 4 - 8). This is particularly what those who serve can count on. The consideration of God for those who serve is very encouraging. The angel of Jehovah spoke not once, but twice. The second time is an added testimony to God's care. In waiting for it you get what supports, he went in the strength of that food to

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Mount Horeb. He was just going to resign his commission. Moses received his commission, but did not want to go. There is a tendency with us to receive our commission and not go. God says, 'I will enable you to go'. He had passed Beersheba and said, "Take my life". Jehovah meets him in this wonderful way and strengthens him by this food to go to Horeb. God as it were says, 'You are passing back seals of office, but the king's government must go on'. You can reckon on God at Horeb; you are going back to the beginning. God met His servant there, for it was weakness, not will, with Elijah. God had begun at Horeb, and He would indicate to Elijah that He was not giving up. God says 'I will accept your resignation but the king's government must go on; the dispensation must be maintained. I have plenty of power at My disposal'. He causes all those things to pass before Elijah (verses 11 - 13). He was there Himself and in all the power that marked the beginning of His movements. Elijah is to know this. Changed circumstances are to be taken account of. Elijah should have been in the land serving the people. God says, 'I will get someone else to do it'. This is the way God carries on His government or service, whatever the servant may do. God does not give up His servant but goes on with him in wonderful favour.

Verses 15 and 16. The next book brings out the service of those three men. Elijah is told here to anoint them. God still pursues His service; there is no lapse at all. A Prime Minister is supposed to propose another one, but Elijah had no thought of that. He said 'All is over', but God says 'not at all; I am going to take up Ahab, and a nameless prophet, who is near enough to Me to give him My mind'. This shows the kind of people God can take up. The work goes on. The book of Ezekiel represents this great principle, the king's government

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must go on. Far away from Jerusalem Ezekiel saw a wonderful array of power, all under the direction of a Man in heaven. In Ezekiel 1 we have the likeness of four living creatures, everything taken account of universally. The still small voice stimulates Elijah. He comes and serves with Ahab again, but only till the new officers are ready. There is a further word to him, "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus" (verse 15). So God links on now with Elijah those known to Him, what He had reserved to Himself, "Elisha the son of Shaphat ... shalt thou anoint prophet in thy stead". The offices are all filled. Elijah has heard the divine voice linking him with those whom God had reserved for Himself. One thinks of the Lord's servants a little as to how much place they have with us. We see here the wonderful thoughtfulness of God for those who serve, even though they may break down. Elijah interceded against the people, according to Romans 11:2 - 4, which is not a levitical thought. How much thought is there as to their needs? Paul was ready to sacrifice his life in going to Jerusalem; he knew that bonds and imprisonments awaited him; but he went on. The Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good courage", Acts 23:11. Paul was not found pleading against the people. Moses took his place before Jehovah and intercedes for the people; he was prepared to sacrifice himself for them. Samuel says, "God forbid that I should sin ... in ceasing to pray for you". How Moses rises from that point; he looms up in wonderful lustre. God is ready to honour a man who is willing to be blotted out for the saints. The man Moses is a great consideration for us; he was before his dispensation. He said, "Let me, I pray thee, see thy glory".

Elisha comes in as one who poured water on the hands of Elijah. We see here the faithfulness of God in giving Elijah such a wonderful finish after all this.

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Service is such an essential thing with the people of God; they are so scattered. How much do we think of those that serve us? Who watches for my soul? There are those who watch for our souls. How many were praying for Elijah? He wanted to be sustained. We think there is no need to pray for such a one. After a great victory the servant needs to be prayed for. What a difference between chapters 18 and 19! In chapter 18 Elijah slew four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal; in chapter 19 he runs away from Jezebel! It is an immense thing to get a conception of the greatness of the service. The anointing was in the right order. It was Elisha who actually anointed Jehu and Hazael. It was much better to bring in Elisha first, before anointing the two other men. See the position of the servant here. He has a signal victory, but it is in the flush of success that we overlook the necessity for preparation. We must have Gilgal. Chapter 19 brings out the danger, but brings out too what God is to the servant. Abraham was saved by Melchisedec coming to him with bread and with wine as he was exposed to the influence of the king of Sodom. Elijah had learned the lesson of the "soft gentle voice"; he was greatly delighted that God had a man. He found him; it was not accidental. God had Elisha in His mind; he was content to be the least of all. God can go on with His work through the most unlikely people. You cannot despise the meanest. The Syrian is the hereditary enemy of the people of God, ever ready to attack. It was an extremely dark day; Jezebel was in power in Samaria, and how is this tremendous attack to be met? We should never think of Ahab being used. I have been thinking of the word to Joshua, "As captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come", Joshua 5:14. You must let the Captain act Himself. He takes up unlikely persons. What you see is that God is unchanged. God has His own special vessels

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in view, but meantime there is no lapse, the work goes on. So Ahab is taken up. God shows how long He bears with those in responsible positions. This period synchronises with the Reformation as a type. There were those then in responsibility, kings and others, who acquiesced in the attack on idolatry. God went on with them as far as He could. Judgment does not descend on Ahab's head, because he humbled himself, a wonderful evidence of God's patience. But God has His own anointed ones. The service goes on through Sardis to Philadelphia, which corresponds to the ministry of the anointed ones. God commits Himself definitely to these, so that the work goes on; an anointed one is one who has the Spirit.

There is nothing about Elisha in all this, but his time was coming. You get the anointing in principle, in 2 Kings; Elisha does that, see 2 Kings 8:13 and 2 Kings 9:6. It was in the mind of God that grace should precede judgment. Elisha represents the grace of God, the heavenly element which comes in.

God gives a signal victory (chapter 20: 16); the servants of the princes of the provinces went out at noon, two hundred and thirty-two of them, and seven thousand of the children of Israel. These went out against Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings that helped him. The order is according to God. I think it was no longer a metropolitan but a universal movement. Metropolitanism is always in the way. The great principle of Rome is metropolitanism; here it is the universal thought, the servants of the princes of the provinces. The Reformation brought in all kinds of things. Ahab, and those with him, represent the general features of that movement. You get another type in Micah; he is selected rather than Elijah. As we draw near to the end of this section we see those in responsibility, king Ahab and king Jehoshaphat, depending on their kingly position,

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sitting on their thrones in the open place at the entrance of the gate. There is nothing to come out of that. It shows also how far the prophetic ministry had sunk, until it became the mouthpiece of lying spirits. In chapter 22 the alliance of the two kings was wrong. Here they are in their pomp, but the prophet Micah says, "I saw Jehovah sitting upon his throne". The result of all this is the disclosure of the enemy. Ahab is flattered by lying prophets, spoken to by lying spirits to support an outward show in things relating to God, "Who shall entice Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?". "A spirit ... said, I will entice him. And Jehovah said unto him, Wherewith? and he said, I ... will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets". In verse 24 we have a distinguished man; his name is given. Lying spirits go forth to support a false position. It is interesting to see that all the host of heaven was shown to Micah; all that was available for him. We hear of the Church of England and the Church of Rome about to come together. There are plenty of lying spirits to support them. Micah says (verse 23), "Behold, Jehovah has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets". Finally he says, "Hearken, O peoples, all of you!".

The Lord saved Jehoshaphat; his disguise did not hide him from Jehovah. So much for amalgamations with what is false. This is a time of lying spirits. It is simply dreadful, birds of heaven come and roost in its branches (Matthew 13:32). In Babylon they are in a "hold", or a prison (Revelation 18:2). Rome will not allow them to say what they like, but Protestantism gives them liberty. Scripture calls them "unclean and hated". The apostasy is manifesting itself now through Protestantism.

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THE ANOINTING OF THE LORD

Matthew 26:6 - 13; Mark 14:3 - 9; John 12:3 - 8

Matthew gives great prominence to the house, beginning with chapter 2: 11. His great presentation of the Lord's service, linking it up thus with the position in the house, would indicate the dispensation of God referred to in 1 Timothy 1:4, "God's dispensation, which is in faith". The dispensation is house-wise. The anointing of the Lord's head in Mark was intended to save the saints from recognising any man in an official way, save such as are according to the Christ, and involving the anointing. The woman discovered who was entitled to it. Coming at the end of His service she expresses her appreciation by anointing His head. The memorial would save us from recognising or committing ourselves to any other service. This anointing is at the end of His service. It is handed down by way of a memorial as a standing testimony to us that all other services are to be repudiated. It would deliver the Lord's people from all those systems which anoint men for service, from theology to law or medicine. She would not anoint any of those; she would not commit herself to them. The Lord can express His mind of the service which He approves. In this act she shows her appreciation of Christ. A woman's name is tacked on to the gospel; a wonderful honour! She represents the subjective state formed by the teaching of the gospel. The servant must be in keeping with what he ministers. Paul was in keeping. "Thou hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct ...", 2 Timothy 3:10.

Rem. This act of the woman shows her own state.

J.T. That is the thing the Lord commends. Mark says, "What she could she has done".

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Rem. The Lord sees that in her.

J.T. It shows that what seems to be a very small incident may mean much by way of testimony. You cannot commit yourself to a testimony based on fleshly attainments. This is the end of a course, the end of His service here. She seems to represent that experience of His service. The wise men had light, they saw His star, that of the King of the Jews. They followed it and entered into the house. They brought forth things suitable at the time to do Him honour and homage. The pursuit in Matthew leads a soul into liberty and leads it to perform this service. There was not any experience yet with the wise men, as the Lord was a child. But as He comes down from the mount, He cleanses the leper, and the centurion sends to Him about his servant. He then enters into Peter's house and relieves the mother-in-law of the fever, which is the beginning of relief to the soul. Matthew 8:14: "He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served him". Again in the next chapter, verse 10, it says, "He lay at table in the house, ... the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax-gatherers and sinners? But Jesus hearing it, said, They that are strong have not need of a physician, but those that are ill ... . I have not come to call righteous men but sinners". This is the position here in the house. He is there as a Person available to sinners. Then in verse 23 He came to the ruler's house and said, "Withdraw, for the damsel is not dead, but sleeps. And they derided him. But when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took her hand; and the damsel rose up. And the fame of it went out into all that land". In the one house He is in the midst of sinners and publicans; in the other He puts everybody out. In the next paragraph it says, "Two blind men followed him, ... And when he was come to the house, the blind men came to

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him", and they got their eyes opened in the house. In chapter 13 after He had spoken the parables, He comes into the house and the disciples come and ask Him to expound the parable of the sower. Then He opens up to them the truth of the assembly. He would have them to be as householders. At the end of chapter 17, He is again in the house. Peter comes to Him about the tribute. The Lord anticipates Simon in the house, saying, "Then are the sons free". He brings in divine resources to relieve from bondage. How are we as to the light of it? The freedom has to be maintained. One piece of money is enough, "for me and thee". In the course of instruction with regard to the house we are brought into liberty with Christ. This woman is in liberty in Simon's house.

We get the anointing on the head in both gospels, Matthew and Mark, "God's dispensation" (1 Timothy 1:4) has reference to the house. In Matthew it is the administration of the house. When God dispenses His bounty the service used must not be after the flesh, but as the Lord shows the pattern. This woman's memorial would keep us from that, both in administration and in service, in teaching and preaching. 1 Timothy is to teach us how to behave in the house of God. So 1 Timothy 3:16 says, "The mystery of piety is great. God has been manifested in flesh ... has been received up in glory". The house has that in view.

John's record does not attach any memorial to the anointing. He has the locality in view. The house was filled with the odour of the ointment, but there is no memorial mentioned. John has in view passing over into the spiritual realm. John's gospel has no Supper, and no baptism, for all is inside.

"What this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her". There could be no greater

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distinction than to have one's name tacked on to the gospel by the Lord Himself.

Rem. In Malachi "a book of remembrance" was to be written.

J.T. That is for Jehovah; He says, "And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure", Malachi 3:17. "Wheresoever these glad tidings may be preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall be also spoken of for a memorial of her". The fact that the name is not given makes it evident that it is the thing she did that was to be the memorial. Where there is an administration connected with the Lord you give the anointing a place. This saves us from a radical spirit, putting all on the same level.

Ques. What is the difference between Mark's account and Matthew's account?

J.T. Mark makes much of the house too, but more in connection with the gospel, with teaching and preaching. Mark says, "What she could she has done". She breaks the flask too in Mark. In both gospels she pours it upon His head. In John you get the exact measure and the exact price, three hundred denarii. Mark says "more than three hundred denarii", and Matthew says "much". All the house gets the benefit.

Ques. Why is it His feet in John, and His head in the other gospels?

J.T. Anointing the Lord's feet refers to the Lord carrying Himself to the grave. Not like Peter, of whom it was said, "another shall gird thee, and bring thee where thou dost not desire", John 21:18. This is John's way of presenting the truth of the Lord's death. The woman is intelligent. It is not here a question of His Person or His office but rather that He was going out through death.

Ques. Does the breaking of the flask speak of committal?

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S.J.B.C. We are to be subject to the claim of one Person only, in the Lord's interests. Barnabas exercised a claim over Mark which really detached him from the Lord's interests.

Rem. "The house was filled with the odour of the ointment".

J.T. All get the good of an intelligent spiritual service rendered to the Lord in the way of giving thanks, or whatever it may be, "Suffer her to have kept this" (in John); "done it for my burying" (Matthew); "she has beforehand anointed my body" (Mark). In John she had thought of it long before. Affection thinks of Him as dying. Burial is what touches your heart. Death and burial go together, resurrection speaks of joy. Others bring spices after He died. She had really preserved what she might have expended on herself. It was the outcome of thoughtfulness beforehand. John brings out the spirituality and affection which were there. Angels can have no such appreciation of the Lord; they are not called upon to go through death.

Ques. Was it customary to anoint a person in this way?

J.T. No. She had seen His power in the resurrection of her brother, and now she sees Him as the One who was about to die, although He had no need to. The thought in her soul in keeping this pound of ointment was His going out in death, and it was to be a real death. She had heard Him groan; she had seen Him weep. She has really now transferred her affection from Lazarus to Christ, the One who raised Lazarus. Death coming into our families greatly helps us in the apprehension of the Lord's death.

Rem. She really went with Him.

J.T. This is the last of her as far as records go. There is no memorial of her mentioned. She has gone into another world after Christ; she is not seen

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at the grave. The other woman's memorial is for us, in order that we should become like her, and not be subject to any leader after the flesh. How important it is to have things measured, "In the assembly I desire to speak five words with my understanding, that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:19), namely, things are to be spiritually measured and suitably expressed, I would not accept Judas' estimate of it. It is remarkable how John pours supreme contempt on the spirit of the man, "Not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag, and carried what was put into it". Even in service, or in addressing the Lord we should be measured. You do not go beyond that. She waited her opportunity when they made Him a supper. John always takes advantage to pour supreme contempt on Judas' estimate. Measure too makes room for others. It speaks of the preciousness and rarity of the gift. It could only be done under the influence of such an One; One who was going into death. The apostle Paul said, "If ye should have ten thousand instructors in Christ" (it is astonishing how men have heaped to themselves teachers!), "yet not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the glad tidings", 1 Corinthians 4:15, and "I desire to speak five words with my understanding ... than ten thousand words in a tongue", 1 Corinthians 14:19.

Rem. "This is my beloved Son"; that was the Father's description of His Son. God cannot say more than that.

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PRINCIPLES OF RECOVERY (1)

Genesis 5:1 - 24

We might consider certain features of the principle of recovery as seen in Genesis. There are four features of recovery in this book, and in each there is presented that which pleases God as the result.

It is a simple thing to say that the end in view in all God's operations is to bring about something for His own pleasure. The end in Revelation 4:11, gives God's thought: "For thy will they were, and they have been created". This section, which deals with creation, is on that principle.

In Genesis 5 we have the reinstatement of Adam as head, ending in Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who represents what is for God's pleasure: "Before his translation he has the testimony that he had pleased God", Hebrews 11:5. Perhaps the Lord would help us, in these days of recovery, that there should be full results, what is for the pleasure of God.

What pleased God is seen in the very beginning; it appears at the outset. God sees the creation that it is "good"; then, it is "very good", the full result is reached. In the ways of God everything, whether good or bad, is worked out to finality. Jeremiah saw a basket of figs (Jeremiah 24:2, 3), some very good figs, and some very bad; the present are the days when things are either very good or very bad.

Jeremiah was told to put on a girdle and not to dip it in water. Then the second time, the word came to him to go to the river Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock. After many days he went back and digged, and took the girdle from the place where he had hidden it, and found the girdle marred (Jeremiah 13:1 - 11). However much there is of outward

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nearness to God and privilege, unless it is dipped in water, we are good for nothing. Dipping in water is the application of death. Unless there is the application of the death of Christ, we are good for nothing; there is nothing for God.

There is to be discrimination at the time of the end. Mixtures are an abomination to God, even good things that are mixed. Everything is to be of its own kind. We have come in at the end when there is to be special discrimination: "Let him that does unrighteously do unrighteously still; and let the filthy make himself filthy still; and let him that is righteous practise righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still", Revelation 22:11. In the parable in Matthew 13:47, the fishermen draw the net to shore and sit down; they take their time to sort out the fish, gathering the good into vessels, and casting the bad away; there has to be discrimination. God is bringing about what is very good; not quantity, but quality. Ephesians is the full result of God's work.

"The just balance and scales are Jehovah's; all the weights of the bag are his work", Proverbs 16:11. It requires delicate scales of fine measurements for His present work. His work in His people; we come to Troy measure. We do not know the weights He used in making the universe, or the kind of scales for so vast a work; but to us, now in this period of discrimination. He affords the means of determining the quality: "All the weights of the bag are his work". There was not the same nicety of discrimination in weighing mountains and rocks; but weighing fine gold is delicate work. God has His own weights. What facilities God must have had in creation; but now what facilities He has in His work in His people; for He never gives up His purpose. God was acting and working, in the days of creation; then He appraises the result Himself. He saw that, "It was very good".

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We see the principle of recovery in this fifth chapter of Genesis. That which pleased God came out at the end of Enoch, the seventh from Adam; he was the full result of that period. In this chapter God goes back to the original thought, "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him. Male and female created he them; ... Adam... begot a son in his likeness, after his image" (verses 1 - 3). Here likeness is first, "A son in his likeness". In chapter 1 it is, "In our image, after our likeness"; image comes first. Likeness is moral correspondence, image is representation, officially. There must be likeness before there can be image. Adam is emphasised in this chapter, not Eve. In type, the assembly is there, but all is found in Christ.

Seth, who is a figure of Christ, is the one in whom recovery is brought about. In Enoch we have recovery to the likeness of God, not image, but likeness. There is a tendency to accept something less than God's thoughts, but God has nothing less before Him than Ephesians, Christ and the assembly, the full thought of God. He "gave him to be head over all things to the assembly", Ephesians 1:22. Recovery to be complete must correspond with that.

Adam failed in moral likeness, but recovery is in Adam: "Adam ... begot a son in his likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth". Eve dominated in chapter 4. She led in giving the name to Cain; but when you come to Seth you have the moral principle. Enoch is the idea of likeness worked out. Seth accepts the judgment of God; he says, as it were, 'I discern that this child of mine is going to die; he is a mortal man'. Then recovery lies in calling on the name of Jehovah (Genesis 4:26). The Spirit of God now is able to take up the sons of Adam in the light of men calling upon the name of Jehovah. The Holy Spirit pursues that until the seventh, then the thing is worked out to a result. The

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great dominating feature is life. In the creation, in the third, fifth and sixth day, God reaches a scene of living things, a living order of things. There is first vegetation, then animal life, then man. Genesis 1 is really recovery; the darkness was local, "Darkness was on the face of the deep". It was local relatively, the darkness was not universal. "And God said, Let there be light". God said, as it were, 'We must bring out a scene of life here'. The third day brings in what is for God's eye, the green vegetation. The fifth and sixth days bring in animal creation, what answers to affections, "living souls", Genesis 1:20 - 23. In Revelation 4 where recovery is in view, the green, "an emerald", is seen in the rainbow, the token of life. Then there are "living creatures" in the midst of the throne; they recognise the holiness of God: "And the four living creatures, each one of them having respectively six wings; round and within they are full of eyes; and they cease not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come", Revelation 4:8. This is a living state of things in holiness, "Within they are full of eyes" speaks of discernment, and when these living creatures "give glory and honour and thanksgiving to him that sits upon the throne", then the elders say, "For thy will they were, and they have been created". God's full thought is reached, and the elders are the ones who announce it.

Cain's offering could not have been a right offering without the burnt-offering. The meat-offering is provided in Leviticus; God accepts it in its place, but a living creature must be offered with it, a burnt-offering.

Enoch got the full divine thought after he begat Methuselah; then it is said that he walked with God three hundred years and begat sons and daughters. This is very practical. The christian must walk on both legs. Enoch set before his family the full divine

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thought in this respect; he walked with God three hundred years. The Lord Jesus was cut off in the midst of His days. Enoch was taken, before he filled the years, "he was not", he was invisible. That is, he was not a Senator, or some notable man. God took him, although he was nothing in the sight of the world: "he was not". We must have before us, every day and every minute, that God is going to take us. God reached in Enoch what He looked for when He came down into the garden in the cool of the day and called to Adam. In the seventh from Adam, He found what He was seeking, He sets out an ideal, then a course is pursued in which it is reached. He does not give it up. Recovery is to the quality of what God began with.

One is concerned as to how the saints of God are going to get through. The young people are coming into a system in this world developing rapidly in great prosperity. How shall we escape the awful influence of prosperity? Enoch was very good in contrast to what was very bad. Enoch was delivered from the system around him and knew the Lord's mind; he prophesied of the Lord's coming with "His holy myriads, to execute judgment", Jude 14, 15. The present influences of prosperity are terrific. You say, 'I have a family and a business and I must make my way', but the question is, how much of a model are you? Enoch was a model; though no one followed his lead, yet he was a model. You not only have light, but you must be the thing. The younger ones should imitate the older ones. Enoch begat sons and daughters, that is the practical side.

The idea of likeness is ever present. John's ministry coming at the end brings in the idea of likeness, "in the likeness of God". It is a question of overcoming. John's ministry brings in what God is here, so that there should be representation, like the Lord, made like Him. He breathed into them that they

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might represent Him. He had laboured to make them like Himself.

Enoch was formed by the light that was there. We are not told how it was carried through, but light was there. "By faith Enoch was translated"; faith laid hold on what was there; he knew God in the measure that God had come out. Enoch held and cherished every divine thought. We are not told how they were preserved; but the light was there and Enoch treasured it, every bit of it, and he walked with God.

The overcomer in Philadelphia includes the whole range of the truth. God had His own way of bringing the light into Enoch's soul. He walked and developed constitutionally, and was formed and brought into agreement with God's mind. It is a most precious thing to have conveyed to you that you please God, that there is correspondence with God. Likeness first, then image; image is representation; service is on that line, representing the Lord; but there must be likeness, without likeness it is incongruity. It takes time to bring about likeness to God in us. Do not put service before likeness, damage has been done there. What underlies service is the understanding that you belong to the family of the first-born ones registered in heaven. One is in the consciousness of being a son; you are greater than your service. In Romans it is "Son of God"; He is greater than His service.

Enoch walked with God, not God with Enoch. God is particular about His company. Genesis 4 is a chapter of disaster, where woman predominates; Genesis 5 is recovery to God's thought, not a word about the woman. "He begot ..." all through; these are the begotten ones, the first-born are mentioned by name. This is the paternal side, the father; it is God's line.

Enoch sees God's judgment coming in. Recovery

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in chapter 5 is in contrast with chapter 4, where Eve was prominent. Begetting originates with God. In Philadelphia it is "The temple of my God ... the name of my God ... the city of my God". Chapter 4 is one of disaster; Christ typically, dies there. His counterpart is Seth. He goes into death. Seth means, 'appointed', instead of Abel. Headship comes in in chapter 5, in Adam. Things will never be right if the woman dominates. Adam was in the image of God; this is presented in the masculine. Man is the image of God; the seed is of the woman. Of course there must be the woman for the working out of God's ways; He called "their name Adam". The woman finds her place at the feet of Jesus, as we see in the gospels. This leads to the assembly.

When the wrong principle is introduced, no matter how long a period intervenes, God never forgets it. In Timothy, where government in the house of God comes out, the woman retains her divinely given place. The assembly was made for Christ. In the Revelation the woman shows what she really is by leaving her place, with most terrible results: Jezebel is eaten by dogs; her hands and feet only are left. Judgment comes in at the end; divine principles must be adhered to now. The Lord made a great deal of women in the gospels, but they recognised His place; they are found at His feet. In the coming day, "Seven women shall take hold of one man" (Isaiah 4:1); they recognise their place and man's place.

In Genesis 5 the life-line culminates in Enoch. He lived by faith; he took account of the testimony that existed. Enoch had no company here, but he had "myriads" before him (Jude 14). Enoch never changed his company, three hundred years walking with God. Genesis 5 is the life-line. We look for translation. The life-line is in the seventh. All is in view of life, the life of Jesus. Enoch must have come under reproach; he was different from the men

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of his day. If you are different, if you are heavenly, you come under reproach.

The testimony in death is important in its place, but it brings life into evidence. In Genesis 5 death only brings life out, death enhances life, the power of life comes out, "We who live are always delivered unto death ... that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh", 2 Corinthians 4:11. Enoch was a lonely man; Hebrews 12 brings out the cloud of witnesses among whom he shines.

Enoch's father lived nine hundred and sixty-two years; but he died. Enoch evidently accepted that all were dying. The very presence of death helps us now. In the light of resurrection and translation we develop what is for God; we own that death is on us all; we live in the light of translation. You confess that you are not of God if you want to build up things here. Psalm 90 is mortal man. "So teach us to number our days, that we may acquire a wise heart". God would impress upon you that death is on you; we "number our days".

Faith connects you with an unending period, with what is eternal. God comforted Enoch with His own company. The dangers that beset young christians are appalling. God has opened up another world, and in the acceptance of it we escape the present evil one. What delight to God to have a man walking with Him! What opportunities Enoch would have of learning the thoughts of God!

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PRINCIPLES OF RECOVERY (2)

Genesis 8:15 - 22; Genesis 9:17; Revelation 4:3

By connecting the passage in the Revelation with the one read in Genesis 9, we may see the full result of the divine movement in Noah. The rainbow links the two passages unmistakably; the colour suggested is "emerald", indicating the mind of God by a living order of things. God smelled an odour of rest in the burnt-offering, in death -- the rainbow goes beyond that. Genesis 9 shows that the principles of government (found in chapter 8) had taken effective form, "I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living soul", with the result that there are four living creatures in Revelation 4, what is universal, answering to the mind of God in intelligence, strength, rapidity and firmness, and recognising God as, "Holy, holy, holy ... who was, and who is, and who is to come". The elders, who are in the priestly understanding of the mind of God, continue, saying, "For thy will they were, and they have been created"; this is the full result of what is begun in this section.

Genesis 6:9 introduces a new chapter in the divine ways. Genesis 5 gives the history of Adam, and his generation and now another head comes in. There are no loose ends with God. He gives the thing from the inception; we get the things from start to finish.

God takes account of each of our histories. He begins with us with what is definite, and His end is to correspond with that. As with Mark, God does not hold things against us. Mark was entrusted with important communications. Also the Lord took Peter up for a purpose, and He saw that the end corresponded with the beginning. Also Jonah, the fact that he wrote the book, and gave his own

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history, shows that he appreciated in his own soul the end that God had in view.

The living creatures say, "who was, and who is, and who is to come"; the beginning, the middle and the finish; He is the same to the end.

The Lord's way is to bring us through death. Jonah had to go that way. Paul in dealing with the Corinthians had to go that way himself, in order to be a help to them. You cannot be a help to the saints unless you go that way yourself. You see that which hinders, and as having gone through death, you know how to deal with it, "God ... who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver", 2 Corinthians 1:10. Paul had great conflict in Asia in establishing the testimony. There was a supreme effort of the devil against him, and his ministry at Ephesus. The combat was very severe; but the apostle had the sentence of death in himself, and trusted "in God who raises the dead", and "the word of the Lord increased and prevailed", Acts 19:20. The whole world-power crumbled there. In Jonah's case, the second commission was altered. In chapter 1 it simply is, "Arise, go to Nineveh, ... and cry against it"; but after Jonah's experience of death, it reads in chapter 3: 2, "Preach unto it the preaching that I shall bid thee". There is to be a definite preaching now that Jonah is qualified through death.

The end of all flesh has come before God; now it is a question of bringing through what is of God. We learn here something of God's way of bringing us through on the ground of death and resurrection. The apostle had gone that way, and he was intent on bringing through what was of God at Corinth. This is the great principle in Noah. There were elements at Corinth that were of the devil, and Paul must be cautious because there was something to bring through; the Lord said, "I have much people

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in this city". The Revelation shows that God will bring creation through in life.

The Lord Jesus is in touch with all that is of God in this world; one side of the seal is, "The Lord knows those that are his". We do not know, and we move in relation to the other side of the seal, and "withdraw from iniquity"; that is the moral position we occupy.

God began with Noah at his strongest point, his family; but God had greater thoughts than Noah's immediate family. If one is true to his own house, God will take him up in a greater way. God begins with what He can approve in us. The point is, to find out what is of God. How will we get on together, if we do not make allowances for the weak brother? "All the weights of the bag are his work". We are to make great allowances, and all that is of God must be saved and brought through -- as Noah brought things through in the ark. We must find out what is of God and see that it is preserved.

In order to understand the kingdom, you must understand the King. How did the King deal with the little ones? He took them in His arms and blessed them. Do not stumble the little ones: "Their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (Matthew 18:10); that is how the King cares for the little ones. The weak brother has something in him of God to be carried through. You find some mark of God in the soul, and you need wisdom to bring that through. The Lord will make him stand. You feel that you have to do with God's property. If you can take account of what is of God in a brother, you have a basis to work on; only what is of God is to be worked on; working on the flesh is lost time.

The birth of Noah brought in hope (Genesis 5:29): "This one shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands, because of the

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ground which Jehovah has cursed". There is a recognition of the curse, and that Noah would be a comfort concerning the work of their hands. There was light there as to the curse; Cain did not recognise the curse. Noah brings in a state of things that enables God to go on, not on the ground of the curse but of blessing. That is the ground on which God is dealing with us. God has found another principle on which to deal with us, and has been going on that line ever since. Whatever the natural conditions God goes on, on the principle of blessing. God never changes His mind; the end to be reached is what pleases God. The great recovery today is for God. Ephesians is strictly the beginning of christianity, and we are to be brought to this.

The second letter to the Corinthians brings in new creation and reconciliation. God intended to bring the Corinthians in for His pleasure. The covenant indicates what God is to the creation; Revelation is the answer. We see there (chapter 4), a great array of power to bring about that result; but all is based on the sacrifice of Christ. There is nothing greater than that!

"Noah found favour in the eyes of Jehovah". We read nothing of the communications that passed between God and Enoch; but in Noah we do. Enoch was not a head, but Noah was. Enoch was a most beautiful finish of what was in the mind of God at the outset. In Noah, there is a new beginning in grace, and the fruit of it is seen in Revelation 4, "Noah found favour in the eyes of Jehovah ... was a just man, perfect amongst his generations", Genesis 6:8, 9. One would covet a record like that! A model amongst them. David served his own generation. There is not only being a model, but serving; there should be an exercise as to serving our own generation.

Noah had remarkable knowledge of God, and it is

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what we know of God that has an effect upon us. Noah passed through discipline, and we learn from these men about God's disciplinary ways with us. Job is the great standing witness of God's ways in discipline with us, and we see how God carries us through.

Enoch means "disciplined"; he was a disciplined man, "Shall two walk together except they be agreed?", Amos 3:3. God says, as it were, 'If you walk with Me, the flesh must be curbed'; a walk with God for three hundred years signifies that Noah would know something about Enoch, and be affected by it. Enoch was a family man, as was Noah. Such a man would be a model. All this teaching culminates in Abraham, who is the great father.

Noah would be put to the test in having a wife, three sons and three daughters-in-law, in close quarters with him in the ark. Where we are put to the test is in the local meeting. We hear of no quarrels in the ark; the long confinement would be a test of patience. The ark was an enclosure full of varied life. There would be great opportunity for studying the varied expressions of life in the ark. It was a testing place, yet a position that was invulnerable; death was all around, but all inside were secure.

It was "by faith, Noah ... prepared an ark for the saving of his house", Hebrews 11:7, and he preached as he laboured. One wonders that he could endure it to have so little result. The question was asked, 'If the preaching of Noah may have produced something'. Peter indicates that all, except those saved in the ark, are now in prison (1 Peter 3:19, 20).

Building was a concrete testimony, and preaching went with it. But Noah had an influence on his own house; Noah saved his house. Lot did not, "God ... spared not the old world, but preserved Noe, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness", 2 Peter 2:4, 5; it was an ungodly world; their spirits are in prison.

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Noah was "a preacher of righteousness"; he preached of what God would do; he preached for one hundred and twenty years; "The long-suffering of God waited ... while the ark was preparing". There was the principle of grace, but also sovereignty; the time was limited.

Then, "God remembered Noah, and all the animals, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark" (chapter 8: 1). It is God's consideration for what is living, not for the vegetation, but animate things; God loves what is living; in Revelation 4, in the "living creatures", we have it secured now in four, who continually say, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty".

Each variety of life was, no doubt, kept in its own sphere, but all would come under the eye of Noah as head. It presents our own position, in close quarters. The millennium is extended; but our own position is in view here. We are set in localities in nearness to each other. One is to live together with the brethren in unity. In the vessel which Peter saw come down from heaven all the creatures were together.

Reconciliation is distance removed between God and man, and man and man. We are set together spiritually; the Lord groups us together. The sons of Noah and their wives may have felt the close quarters of the ark; they may not have liked to see a bear come in; but he came, and they had to live with him. Do not move from your meeting. The question is, Are they all living? The voice said to Peter, "What God has cleansed ..." If God has been at work, it is for us to accept the result. He is to determine who is to be in His house.

The animals came to Noah; he was head; this is very suggestive. The ark period is a type of our present circumstances; what is of God has to be carried through. The ark was a limited sphere: "My

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children are with me in bed", Luke 11:7. The children were well cared for.

God shut Noah in, and then, "God remembered Noah, and all the animals ... with him in the ark". "And Noah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him. All the animals ... went out of the ark". All the living creatures are seen moving out; a wonderful spectacle of the movements of life!

Noah considered for God, and God smelled a sweet odour in the burnt-offering and Jehovah said in His heart, "I will no more henceforth curse the ground on account of Man ... all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease". Now we have a fixed order of things, blessed be God; the relationship of man with Jehovah. It is an order of things established in blessing.

This is in contrast to earlier times, when it had been hard to find something to live on because of the curse. Lemech had said, "This one shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah has cursed".

God must have come in in great mercy after the flood, having smelled the sweet odour of the burnt-offering. The cattle too were given to Noah for his food. Government was placed in his hands, and no doubt stronger food was needed than men had earlier. Spiritually this is so at any rate. Death had to occur so that Adam and Eve should be clothed; now it should take place that men might have the needed food.

There is no way of securing things except through government. The state of man is recognised as evil in the book of Proverbs, and the great truth of kingship comes out. In Revelation 4 the throne is the

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embodiment of all this. The subject of government is great; how it subserves divine thoughts.

In all that is before us, God uses the assembly to carry things through. In Peter (1 Peter 3:20, 21), it says that the water saved them, as baptism saves us now.

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PRINCIPLES OF RECOVERY (3)

Genesis 28:10 - 22; Genesis 31:1 - 3; Genesis 32:22 - 32; Genesis 35:1 - 16

Of the four distinct features of recovery in this book, this one is the most important.

In chapter 5 recovery is seen in Adam, brought about by light which came in at the birth of Enosh (chapter 4: 26). His father discerned that man is mortal, and room was thus made for God. If man is dying, all is hopeless unless God comes in. The end of that was, that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God and did not see death; we see a full result in him. Death in that chapter emphasises the thought of life; the presence of death only brings out the power of life; death is ours; it only enhances the life that we have. So from that point of view, the great result would be that we walk with God; we afford pleasure to Him. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God, and God took him. One would be so concerned that he should be so pleasing to God that He would take him.

Noah signifies rest; he brings in something for men that would be a comfort, a relief from toil; comfort comes in through Noah. Emerging from the ark on a clean earth he offers to God an offering of a sweet smelling odour, the burnt-offering, speaking of Christ. Noah is placed in formal relation to God by the bond which remains to this present time in the covenant. Noah brought through that which was for God. In the dove returning to Noah there was a testimony that she found no rest. There is the principle of discrimination in the dove, pointing to the time when the Lord Jesus should appear. The dove brings in the evidence of the work of God in the olive leaf "plucked off". It was not a floating leaf, it was "plucked off". We must take account of every bit of the work of God. Then the close relation

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to each other in the ark signifies the development of affections. Love delights in nearness. We are to get near to our brethren; we do not want to be separated from them.

We now come to Jacob to bring out the third feature of recovery. Jacob was a man fleeing for his life. The house of God comes in, in that connection. Jacob presents an extended feature of recovery. If we are fleeing from the face of our brother, the house of God comes in as a haven for us. There is here the great interest of heaven in one who is fleeing from his brother. Jacob had faith; he valued the birthright. Though he did not use the right way to obtain it, yet God knew he valued it. God makes promises without conditions. It involved an immense field of discipline when God said, "I will not leave thee until I have done what I have spoken to thee of" (chapter 28: 15). God in sovereign mercy takes us up, and it involves a lot of discipline to bring us through to His thought about us. He travels with us in all our paths, even in our devious ways; but He will not fail to make us feel that we are in them. The byways were used in the days of Deborah: "The travellers on highways went by crooked paths. The villages ceased in Israel, ceased until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel", Judges 5:6, 7. God takes account of our leaving the highway, and makes us feel it; the highway goes up to Zion, where all appear before God.

As Jacob is returning to his own land, before he reaches Bethel, he is much more concerned about Esau than about God. But God shows him that He is much more to be feared than Esau. He says as it were, 'Never mind Esau, get right with Me'. Jacob is greatly concerned as to how he is to meet Esau. He marshals his forces to make a good showing before Esau; but God met him and said, 'You have to do with Me'. Jacob valued the blessing. If you

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can discern that a man values what is of God, you can support him.

The house of God is where God expresses His interest in us. It is not a building here, but the divine thought. He expresses His interest in you, the interest of heaven (read chapter 28: 10 - 22). The angels were interested in Jacob. Jehovah stood above the ladder and said, "The land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed ... I will not leave thee until ...". God has His end in view, and He will not give it up (Philippians 1:6); Christ's day is the day of display, when God has fully recovered man for His pleasure.

"Whom the Lord loves he chastens", Hebrews 12:6. "I have loved Jacob", Romans 9:13. Jacob is a model of chastisement, and his end is wonderful; his sun goes down in a wonderful setting; he has the light of God in his soul, he worshipped. We may as well make up our minds to that. "Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives". The work of God underlies all this chastening. "Jacob ... gathered his feet into the bed, and expired", Genesis 49:33. It reminds you of the Lord's death; He died in power; Jacob in his death proved the presence of God with him.

At what point did God come into view on Jacob's return? It was when the wrestling was over, when Jacob said, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me" (chapter 32: 26). He always valued blessing from God. It will be observed that he had oil; he anointed the pillar with oil in Bethel twice (chapter 28: 18; 35: 14).

When Jacob awoke from his sleep on the first occasion of God meeting him at Bethel, he said, "How dreadful is this place!" In awakening he forms an estimate of the place, "Surely Jehovah is in this place, and I knew it not". Notice, "is" in it, not 'was'. This is another great feature in this subject,

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where God is. God has not left this earth. He has left a door open that He might enter any time. In Genesis 2 God does not finish creation, and leave it to work automatically. God comes in and gives impetus morally to all. Whatever may be said about 'nature' acting, faith connects everything with God. In the moral system God gives impetus to things. So Jacob said, "Jehovah is in this place ... this is the gate of heaven"; heaven and earth are brought together; the house of God is the gate of heaven; it is morally near, not distant, "As the days of the heavens which are above the earth", Deuteronomy 11:21. The house of God is "above the earth". The vessel coming down from heaven was preparatory to the house of God; the house really took form under Paul. Peter's mind would run in an oblong or rectangular way, but the house is four-square; it is a universal thought. There are many assemblies, but one house. It is a test to be obliged to give a name to a thing of which the characteristics are presented. Jacob said, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". Adam was thus qualified, he could tell an animal's characteristics by looking at it, and could give it a name. The Father names all the families, He is "Father" to every family, and we are given names too; so, when Jacob gives the name, "This is ... the house of God", it shows that he had sufficient insight to understand God's thought. Jacob arose early in the morning, the time of freshness; he set up the pillar, and poured oil on it.

"The gate of heaven", is where heaven administers its will; the gate is where administration comes in, "God's dispensation, which is in faith", 1 Timothy 1:4. God is dispensing in His house; it is house-wise. There is consideration for everybody in God's house. We must not be harsh or critical, but consider for people, "Her husband is known in the gates" (Proverbs 31:23);

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the assembly is the expression of Christ. Bethel stands out as a well-known landmark in the history of Israel; a spiritual witness to the people. You see the import of the spiritual thing; you name it. "This is none other but the house of God". Jacob reasoned it out and said, 'God is here'. You say, 'If God is not in this place, I must get out of it; if God is in this place, I must get into it'. It is the reflex of heaven, heaven brought down. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul says, "I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men" (heaven has an interest in all men); "for kings and all that are in dignity, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity"; it shows what a place the house of God is. Solomon's temple was a place for prayer for all nations, "And as to the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched-out arm); when he shall come and pray", 1 Kings 8:41, 42. God will accept his sacrifice; even the eunuch, God gives him a place within his walls. It is a place where He honours the people, and makes them joyful. From the time the house is brought in, it is His mind that His people should be joyful.

The angels ascended and descended on the ladder. They ascend first, the movement begins where Jacob is: "the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man" (John 1:51); here the ladder means constant communication between that place and heaven. Jehovah stood above the ladder, above it; it only emphasises the administration; He controls all that goes on. The idea of the ladder may suggest that there are degrees of nearness.

Jacob set up the stone for a pillar. The oil was his estimate of the place; he ennobled the place by

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the oil. The drink-offering in chapter 35 is more than oil; the drink-offering is for satisfaction, what is for God's pleasure. Christ is Son over God's house; He is there as representing God. The High Priest is there as well. He is on our side.

Now in chapter 31: 13 it says, "Now arise ... and return to the land of thy kindred"; God seeks to move Jacob out by the thought of his kindred. God sets before us inducements, in order to restore us; He reminds us of the land of our fathers. There are many of the people of God who can scarcely take in the thought of the house of God, but they can the thought of kindred. They are those that you love spiritually; you may be no longer with them; you may have wandered elsewhere, but the word is "Return ... I will be with thee". The great thing is to have God with you (chapter 31: 3), "The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith: Yet will I gather others to him, with those of his that are gathered", Isaiah 56:8. God takes account of the outcasts. In John 9 the man who was blind became an outcast; then the Lord met him, and gathered him in. "Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night, if ye will inquire, inquire; return, come", Isaiah 21:11, 12. God encourages you to return.

When Joseph was born, then it was that Jacob said, 'Now I will move and go back'. God ever helped Jacob; even in the matter of the cattle He prospered him. God never took His eye off Jacob. He must go to Bethel. Jacob was still Jacob; he wanted to make a great show before Esau; he prepared a magnificent present for him (chapter 32: 13 - 15); but he takes a true place before God: "With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau". Jacob sent the family over the brook. "And Jacob remained

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alone"; he had to do now with God, not Esau.

Jacob was moved when Joseph was born (chapter 30: 25). Evidently, light came into his soul; God brings in the light of Christ; He is the One in whom the light is. The Holy Spirit uses Joseph at this early stage, as a figure of the One to come (chapter 33: 7); it is Joseph first, and then Rachel, when meeting Esau. Joseph is put before his mother; the Holy Spirit puts Christ first. So Isaiah 9:6 says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given"; Christ formed in us, is recovery; Christ beginning to take form in your soul; you know Him in the house.

In chapter 32: 1, 2, the angels of God met Jacob on his way; a great testimony to the interest of heaven. And he said, "This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim". He named the impression he received from God. "Two camps" -- it was adequate testimony; one man was the object of heaven's interest to that extent that two camps of angels met him.

Esau was a big man, a man of the field; the man Jacob had wronged; he had, in truth, wronged him. Esau looms up before his mind in great proportions. God says, virtually, 'It is not Esau you have to do with, but with Me'; but there is gentleness, for He lets Jacob prevail. There are the sympathies of the Man; God approaches us in Christ.

The Holy Spirit brings out the power of Jacob; the development in his soul; it is the power of the Spirit. One is to be in the house as a prince. This involves having power with God and with men. If you pray for a brother, or a company of saints, you get power with them. Israel corresponds with Romans 8; we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; the Spirit characterises the christian. Jacob limped, but "the sun rose upon him"; he was recovered.

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The ring is the brethren's recognition of your reinstatement (Job 42:10, 11). When the brethren begin to give you a piece of money, that is the completion of recovery. Every one does it; all Job's acquaintances, his brothers and sisters, thus show their confidence in him. It is a golden ring, the affections of the brethren. The money supported him. Job had twice as much as before; God had given it to him. "Ye have ... seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful", James 5:11. The piece of money from the saints is worth more than millions from one that is not a saint.

Jacob gets a new name: "Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel". He asks for the name of the other wrestler, but His name is not given. God's name is known in His house; you have to get into the house to learn that (chapter 35: 11). "I am the Almighty God"; now we have got it! You get confirmation in the house, the statement of the end reached by God. The divine end is reached, and God gives an account of the result of the process. Our name is changed when we recognise we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. In Romans 8 we pass from flesh to Spirit. In Romans 7 you have lost confidence in yourself. There is nothing impossible to God, for now, all is in the Spirit. "Jacob" is the name as to his responsible life; "Israel" represents what is spiritual and what belongs to privilege. But he is called Jacob and Israel right through; the two thoughts run on until the end. Paul said at the close, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first". You retain your public identity, and what God has done for you. As a "man in Christ", Paul was not the first of sinners. Jacob's public history is a monument of God's grace; so with all of us; but new creation is all of God.

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"Nations" bring in the thought of fruitfulness; the house is now in view; also kingship, that on which things hinge: "The shout of a king is in his midst", Numbers 23:21. There is moral power; one is serviceable to the Master. "A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee; and kings shall come out of thy loins" (chapter 35: 11); there will be immense results as we submit ourselves to God.

At first, the angels came down, and God stood above; now it is God who comes down, "And God went up from him in the place where he had talked with him". Jacob had personal communication with God; God had come down. Jacob would have a great regard for that spot where God talked with him; it is a dignified spot now. Communications are made, God makes them, and the place is hallowed; it becomes precious in your thoughts.

Christ is Son over God's house, the Son is free, and we have been delivered from the authority of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love. The truth of the house is universal; evil in one place affects us all. Most precious communications came out, after the truth of the house was established. The significance of the drink-offering is that the place is for God's pleasure. You consider for God henceforth; you see to it that things are for God there. At Bethany they made the Lord a supper; they considered for the Lord. The oil honours God and men. Christ was already a drink-offering, but the Spirit came upon Him to honour Him.

The house of God is a loved spot; think of the dignity that belongs to the assembly; the Lord is there! He will look out for it. God supports what He anoints.

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PRINCIPLES OF RECOVERY (4)

Genesis 37:1 - 11; Genesis 42:1 - 24; Genesis 43:16 - 24; Genesis 44:18 - 34; Genesis 45:1 - 15

In Jacob we have recovery to the house of God. This section is recovery to the state of brethren; Joseph's brethren talked with him, as having been kissed. Joseph is here as a type of the Lord. It is a Jewish scene dispensationally; but for us, a church scene, for those who form the assembly. It is not the house of God, but brethren, as assembling in relation to Christ. The house of God is in relation to God; this is our relation as brethren. (Compare Psalm 133).

Declension having taken place, what has come about in our time is the proper relation as brethren. Joseph kissed Benjamin, then all his brethren; then they talked with him. Before this, their conversation had been consultation; but now, as having been kissed, they talk with him.

The first passage gives the clue to what follows; all is bound up in Joseph. It is our own period, really. He has all the light in his soul. In chapter 37 he is a lad of seventeen years, he is doing service as a junior. The other sons of Jacob were older; but Joseph is acting according to his age. (See note to verse 2 in the New Translation).

Joseph was hated with a double hatred, personally, and as to his testimony. He was doing service with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, whose mothers were not such as would afford a right moral training. The people of God now are not well mothered; they are suffering from their mothers, in the systems around us. Joseph brought his father an evil report of them, their evil discourse. Such was not surprising in the children of such mothers. It is what the people of God are suffering from, who are not in the light of the assembly; they are not properly mothered; they use bad language. Jerusalem above is our mother.

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Joseph is a type of the Lord, as a vessel prepared for service. The Lord acted most fittingly. Luke gives facts of the Lord's history as a youth; it was comely. He was hearing and asking questions of the teachers (Luke 2:46, 47). The young have to learn to act in a comely way.

Rachel was a true wife; Joseph and Benjamin were her children. When Joseph sees Benjamin, his mother's son, his heart is deeply moved. Joseph had the advantage, we may say, of a good mother. "Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother; for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck", Proverbs 1:8, 9. Solomon's word was, "I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother", Proverbs 4:3. Timothy had a mother and grandmother who were faithful to God.

"And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons". Here the father's love is spoken of. He made him a vest of many colours, he was distinguished by his father; he comes under the father's eye, loved above all, indicating the varied glories and virtues of Christ. One feels the heinousness of the crime, in the murder of such an One. John 1:14 says, "And 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". How perfectly what is indicated in Joseph here came out in Christ! It was fitting that these moral qualifications should appear, before the light comes out as to the place he is to occupy. Joseph's dreams involve the testimony, the place Christ has.

The brothers are filled with hatred and envy: "They hated me without a cause". The testimony Joseph rendered brought out their hatred (chapter 37: 8): "Wilt thou indeed rule over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his

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words. And he dreamed yet another dream, ... And he told it to his father ... And his father rebuked him, ... And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying". The sheaves would indicate the earthly company and the stars the heavenly. Our mother now is Jerusalem which is above. Only those who have come to recognise the assembly have the right discourse. Even those who have turned aside from time to time do not have the right form of conversation.

Those who are in human organisations do not understand serving with the brethren; the clerical garb is not in keeping with this. Paul says of Timothy, "I expect him with the brethren" (1 Corinthians 16:11), not the brethren with him. We learn to serve as least among the brethren. Timothy learned how to serve from Paul. "My children, of whom I again travail in birth until Christ shall have been formed in you" (Galatians 4:19); Paul travailed; it is a maternal exercise. It is important to notice the principle of serving with the brethren. "For also the Son of man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister". The Lord was distinguished, according to Mark's gospel (chapter 10: 45) on that principle. Paul discloses the secret of his levitical service in 2 Corinthians 11; and in Colossians 3:12 we have, "Bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, long-suffering".

Joseph's coat was made by Jacob. It would reflect what he was, the man's moral character. Clothing distinguishes a person. It was a cruel act to take that coat back to their father. It shows the awful state of these men, his brothers. See the process through which they have to go, to come to the full acknowledgment of the guilt. Joseph spake roughly to them: "Ye are spies". Joseph remembered his dreams (chapter 42: 8, 9,16). "Send one of you, that he may fetch your brother, but ye shall be imprisoned, ...

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And he put them in custody three days". That should be specially noted, his rough speaking to them, and putting them in prison. The brethren who are guilty in regard of Christ need to be put into confinement to begin with. It was love that did it. Joseph turned himself away from them, and wept (verse 24). But he had to resort to measures that would bring out their guilt, and arouse their consciences; they were to realise what the iron entering into his soul meant. This was to bring them to the thought of brethren; even in speaking roughly, he was acting for God, without any feeling of resentment. In persons being recovered, we must act for God. We may seem harsh; but it is in love. Everything works out accurately according to Joseph's intent. The kingdom of God cannot be maintained without a prison house. This is practically unknown to those who do not recognise the house of God.

Benjamin is not there yet; Joseph had a longstanding account with them to be straightened out. Benjamin had no part in the crime; he is the overcomer. The Lord has His eye on the overcomer. When Benjamin comes in, all is changed. Persons in the state of these brothers should not be at large; they should be restricted, 2 Thessalonians 3:14 shows that a brother may be restricted: "Do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed of himself".

They did not appreciate Joseph's place in his father's affections; but now they are obliged to recognise him as the lord of all Egypt. If you resort to will and violence, you find the Lord has another position, He is Lord. Saul had to do with the Lord. He was breathing out threatenings against the disciples of the Lord.

In chapter 42: 1 Jacob says, "Why do ye look one upon another?". There was food only in Egypt, and they had to go for food to the last place they

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wanted to go to. Their consciences were beginning to work here.

Then in chapter 43: 16 "Joseph saw Benjamin with them". Benjamin is most interesting, as he corresponds with the overcomer. The Lord has peculiar interest in the overcomer. These ten brothers with murder in their hearts were not fit for Joseph's house; but when Benjamin comes with them they are taken into Joseph's house.

Joseph has a man over his house; his home was well ordered. This was a man, too, with great sympathies, "They came up to the man ... And he said, Peace be to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father". He is a most interesting man!

This is the first word as to their relation with God, but now Benjamin is there. The man is the sympathetic element in the house of God, he says "peace", and speaks of their God and their father's God. All this is on the line of recovery. This man recognises that they are connected with God.

Joseph would receive nothing from them until they were right, not even their money. Benjamin has to suffer with his brethren, though not in the crime. Directly Joseph sees Benjamin, he says, "Make ready". You see the grace of Christ; the overcomer characterises them all.

How do you connect the overcomer with Benjamin? He had not part in the crime; he had been with his father. The overcomer is one who had no part in the defection. Philadelphia is owned in that position.

Benjamin is the son of his father's right hand, where power is. The ten brothers refer to the responsible element in the assembly; the overcomer is the one who accepts it. It is Thyatira. Ten represents those who are responsible, who have part in the guilt.

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The man brought Simeon out to them. Simeon would contribute something that would help them to judge themselves, through his own prison experience. This man over Joseph's house is the element of sympathy among brethren; he is intelligent in the Lord's things.

Benjamin has five times as much as the others; the overcomer gets that, it is something special; the Lord emphasises that. Benjamin had a good appetite; "Benjamin -- as a wolf will he tear to pieces"; he evidently ate the portion given him. He does not take the lead. Jerusalem properly belongs to that tribe and we never hear of Benjamin complaining because he did not possess it. In Deuteronomy 33:12 Jehovah was to "dwell between his shoulders"; but Jerusalem was given to Judah.

The overcomer is the link with God. He stands for what the assembly is, unassumingly, and he brings all the others. Believers were not brought into the house at the Reformation. The overcomer does not complain; he is set for the salvation of all. He feels the situation intensely but he would bear it, as going to his Father with it.

Joseph was a man of affairs, coming home at noon. It speaks of the Lord as a Man of immense affairs; Joseph comes home at noon and they join him there. Little Benjamin, the youngest, gets five times as much; the little one gets the blessing. In chapter 45: 4, "Joseph said ... Come near"; but not until after their confession. There must be full, unqualified confession: "God bringeth back again that which is past", Ecclesiastes 3:15. God relinquishes nothing.

The cup was put into Benjamin's sack; it was Joseph's cup. It was the next great thing after his house; it was that by which he discerned; the thoughts of their hearts were brought out. The striking thing is, that it was put into Benjamin's

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sack. He had to go through all that sorrow with them, but he does not complain. Judah brings out from Joseph that word, "Put every man out from me!". Everyone that loves the Lord feels everything that happens. The cup is put in Benjamin's sack, so he has to feel it. The word "Does my father yet live?" is filial and brotherly affection.

"Judah came near", chapter 44: 18. Judah was representative. He came to Joseph's house; that was the place to come to, and Joseph was still there!

Joseph could not control himself; for the time had come now to make himself known. He put the servants all out; this is a family affair: "Tell it not in Gath"; we do not publish these things. How plain the way is for recovery if we are seeking it. Christ assures our hearts that He is like Joseph, the brother. It is the time of famine yet.

Joseph kisses Benjamin first; the Lord is sure to recognise the overcomer. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany represent the overcomer. We see the great importance of Benjamin. The overcomer will hold things for Christ, and for the brethren too. The kiss indicates unchanged affection. In regard of Benjamin, Joseph fell on his neck and Benjamin on his neck; it does say that of the others too; but there was a depth of feeling the others did not share, and it was mutual too.

Dispensationally, Benjamin represents the remnant, but this applies to us. The great result is that Joseph's brethren talked with him. One is not in the assembly rightly unless one can talk with the Lord, near enough to take the words from His mouth. The whole wealth of the land lay open to them. Benjamin would have remained in obscurity; but they had to go back and get him.

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BAPTISM AND THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD

Genesis 6:8 - 10; Genesis 46:1 - 8

J.T. Baptism, I thought, is pre-eminently connected with Noah, and my thought in having these two scriptures read was to link up the personal character of Noah and the faithfulness of God as seen in Jacob. I thought the faithfulness of God stands out distinctively in that he sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. There is no mention of Abraham here, because he now sees the fulfilment of the promises, which is in Christ risen from the dead. Isaac being a figure of Christ in that light, and God confirms that in saying that He is the God of His father Isaac. Then we have Jacob's sons carrying him and all taken account of now as if secured in blessing. He had a long time to wait for this, for the Spirit of God mentions his generations in chapter 37, but proceeds no further than Joseph; all that intervenes is to work out the faithfulness of God in bringing back his family. Evil had already begun to work in them, a most discouraging history until we see the end of it. God in His faithfulness restored all, and then they are taken account of, so we have the names of all the children of Jacob, their wives, their sons and their daughters, not one omitted; an immense encouragement, it seems to me, for every parent, for we all have to experience delinquencies in our families, but this history, I think, is to encourage us to hold on in faith.

W.P. When you speak of God's faithfulness in that regard, are you referring to His promises?

J.T. Yes; what He promises He would fulfil, and the light that came to Jacob from Joseph in Egypt brought it all to him; the spirit of Jacob revived, it says, and he sets out to Joseph, and this is the only instance, I think, where we find Isaac coming in so

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prominently, because Jacob sees that God has acted to fulfil the promises.

D.L.H. I had the thought that when Jehovah says in answer to Jacob, "Fear not to go down to Egypt", there had evidently been some fear in his mind. Isaac had been distinctly told not to go out of the land; he was the heavenly man, and it would seem that Jacob just at the border hesitated as to whether he was right to go out of the land, and Jehovah appeared to him in the most gracious way and said, "Fear not to go down".

J.T. What is so fine in regard to Jacob's state of soul then is that he sacrificed to the God of his father Isaac, meaning that he had come to see that although he was on his way to Egypt which was not within the scope of the promises (and that was the test, as you say, that he had to go there) yet it says he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac and God spoke to him, as if he had come under God's eye now as acting in the full light of the position. But that was the point, whether he had faith enough as going out of the sphere of purpose, to rest in God. Everything is fulfilled in a risen Christ. He says, "Jacob, Jacob!"; the recurrence of the name, I think, means that he was especially in God's mind at the moment; so "Jacob, Jacob"; "Abraham, Abraham"; "Saul, Saul"; these expressions mean that the person is especially in the mind of God, as corresponding to the light.

D.L.H. He uses the title "Jacob", too, not "Israel". It was the name that was connected with the poor feeble man that had often stumbled, and was now encouraged to go on, for God was with him.

J.T. It seems to me to be an immense encouragement that even if the promises are not fulfilled in our own days, we may rest in the faithfulness of God, for He looks a long way ahead.

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Rem. In the same way it says, "The sons of Israel carried Jacob their father". Is that the same line of thought? There seemed to be in measure the embracing of the divine thought.

J.T. It says, "God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob!": the thought of what he is spiritually is identified with what he is representatively. God works out His spiritual thoughts in us in our responsible life; we get remarkable instances of this in the history of Jacob. It is seen that God works out His own thoughts in connection with our responsibility to the end that the spiritual man is ministered to. The name "Israel" refers to what the man is in the mind of God, so it would appear that the sons had come to that. It says, "Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father", as if they were no longer the mere product of Jacob after the flesh; they had become spiritual, and the previous history would show that this was so, for they had come to recognise Joseph. When our children come to what is spiritual, they begin to value their father. I think one of the greatest things in Scripture is the patriarchal principle, that you are able to go on and present the right thought to your children, even although they may be refractory and ungrateful. You are true to the light that has come to you; the principle of a patriarch is to hand down things, "House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers", Proverbs 19:14. A father conveys a right thought to his children; they may not recognise it, but you leave that with God -- they have their posterity to think of. This passage shows that Jacob's children had come to what is spiritual; they look at their father in the light of what he was spiritually.

Rem. They took their cattle and their goods also, I notice.

J.T. There was a means provided, as it says,

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"Their father, and their little ones, and their wives, on the waggons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him". I suppose these waggons would be representative of what God provides. You see the combination of circumstances here point to the result of God's discipline, and that He is now commending His faithfulness, all the family of Jacob is secured; he is not carrying them now: there was a time when he was, and it must have been a heavy burden.

D.L.H. It is interesting to note that when God speaks to Noah, after intimating that the end of all flesh had come before Him, He says, "Go into the ark, thou and all thy house; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation", Genesis 7:1. That is to say, there was one man and that man was righteous under the eye of God, and that God would have all his house embraced in the thought of salvation along with him. That would be a great encouragement to us, and I suppose what we are referring to in the later history of Jacob is a kind of answer to that; all his house was secured.

J.T. In chapter 37 he only gets one, God only takes account of one, Joseph, but here they are all taken account of, as secured for God.

W.P. Applying that to ourselves and speaking of the faithfulness of God, are you connecting it with the thought of "thou and thy house"?

J.T. Yes, indeed, I thought of reading that scripture first, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house", Acts 16:31. Very few take up that thought of the gospel; it is part of the gospel, you know. This chapter shows how we may reckon on the fulfilment of it; it is a promise and every promise of God is yea and amen in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

D.L.H. I suppose, for the time being, Egypt takes rather a different character from what it usually

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bears in Scripture, and Pharaoh here is hardly representative of the power of evil, but rather of the hand of God.

J.T. Just so. When the male children are to be destroyed, then Satan is working again: "There arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph". While Joseph ruled, Egypt was a different sphere. I suppose the exercises of Jacob found their answer in the Jewish remnant when earthly hopes were deferred; they had to take their part in the gentile world. His act in Egypt is recorded in Hebrews 11.

F.W.J. This is the only place where the details of a deathbed are given in the Old Testament, and it was a very happy one.

Y.Y-L. You said you had two thoughts in your mind, one in connection with Noah and one on the line of the faithfulness of God.

J.T. What I was thinking of is that the Spirit emphasises the godliness of Noah; he "found favour" it says, "in the eyes of Jehovah", and then we have his history. Where the Spirit of God gives us a history, He has a new beginning before Him, I think. You have it in chapter 5, "This is the book of Adam's generations", the same idea. There you have the beginning of an exercise, and Enoch was the seventh from Adam (Jude 14), that was the end of that exercise, it culminated in life, not in death. "Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him", a wonderful culmination of Adam's generation. It is Adam reinstated, not as fallen, but as reinstated in Seth. Light had come in, in the name that Seth gave his child. He called his son's name Enosh (as you do today, Mr. Y-L, that is really what you call your boy); he is dying, his name means 'mortal', for life is only on that ground. That was how it came in. They called on the name of Jehovah; then you get Adam's generations; so it is

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Adam taken up in the light of the acceptance of the solemn fact that man is under death, he is mortal. So Enosh, Seth, Cainan, and so on, each lives a long life, but he died, until we come to the seventh, and he does not die, and that, I think, is the light in which we may take account of the babe. He may die, but the culmination of it is that Enoch did not die, the seventh is the perfecting of the exercise. So the seventh does not die, but lives, but he lives as one who walked with God; that is what we have in mind. So Enoch is the end of that period. Then we have the generations of Noah; he begins another period, and we are to work out in this period the principle of divine judgment, not simply by death, but by the deluge. It is not "in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die", that came out in Adam, culminating in Enoch; the period we begin in Noah involves the judgment of God on the world. It is wrath, the windows of heaven are opened and the fountains of the great deep; that is additional to the fact that a man has to die as having sinned. The whole system is dealt with; therefore Noah's personal godliness is emphasised; God can take him up; he found favour with God. Then it says, 'These are the generations of Noah' (see Note); "Noah was a just man", what a great thing that is! Of how many men of whom histories are written can this be said? He "was a just man, perfect amongst his generations: Noah walked with God".

D.L.H. Is he not typical here of the just One?

J.T. In a broad sense I am sure he is. Who could correspond with this and go through the judgment save Christ? Nevertheless, he is a type of any Christian who has children. He walked with God; then it says he "begot three sons". Enoch did not begin to walk with God till after he begot the sons. I think Noah profits from his grandfather in that he sees, as the matter stands here, that it is better to

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begin to walk with God before you have the family than to begin after, for he began apparently before.

Y.Y-L. Have you in mind the two lines of thought, that the offspring may come into blessing as the result of the father, but fail in faithfulness, as seen in Noah, and on the other hand, the faithfulness of God, as seen in Noah's offspring?

J.T. Yes.

Y.Y-L. Now what do you mean as to walking with God before the offspring arrives?

J.T. I think it is a very important thing that parents should, in setting out on their responsibilities as parents, walk with God. I have often thought that, even in regard of securing a wife; it says of Jacob that for a wife he kept sheep. One qualifies in caring for the saints. Many features enter into this principle of young parents, those who are starting out, taking account of things for God, for we are apt to be selfish and think for ourselves, but Noah walked with God; I have no doubt he saw the gain of that from his forefather; and these children were born into that light, these three sons.

N.L. Are you referring to the fact that Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah, and that Noah is an advance?

J.T. Yes. He walked with God, and then it says, "And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth", that is how it stands here, how the Spirit of God puts it down.

D.L.H. With reference to what you were saying just now as to Noah's special testimony; when he preached righteousness, I suppose that the righteousness which he preached was connected with the coming in of the judgment of God on the whole world's system. If we preach righteousness (as we ought to do) the righteousness of God is connected very much with grace and the mercy-seat.

J.T. I am sure that is so.

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D.L.H. We have to take righteousness very much in regard to the way God Himself is acting. If He was about to act in judgment to overwhelm the then world, His righteousness would be consistent with that; whereas now God is acting in grace. His righteousness must be consistent with grace.

J.T. What an immense thing it was for God to have a vessel like this; for He had said, "My Spirit shall not always plead with Man; ... but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years", meaning that Noah should be the vessel of the Spirit; indeed we are told in Peter that the preaching, although by Noah's instrumentality, was really the preaching of Christ. It says He was "put to death in flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in which also going he preached to the spirits which are in prison, heretofore disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah", so that the Lord Himself, in spirit, preached through this vessel.

D.L.H. Then I suppose the character of that preaching was impending judgment.

J.T. Noah had to bring up his family in the midst of most dreadful conditions. We speak of the conditions now in the world; they are getting worse, "Wicked men and juggling impostors shall advance in evil, leading and being led astray", 2 Timothy 3:13. The darkness is permeating everybody; it is an awful time; one is impressed by the darkness that there is, and your children come into that state of things and have to grow up in it, and it is a great encouragement to see that it is not any worse than Noah's time, for apparently then there was not any sympathiser, and the children are brought into it, but provision is made, and he prepared an ark.

Ques. What would answer to the ark today?

J.T. I think in a way the assembly. The two things go together; baptism is the negative side, which is your acceptance of God's judgment of the

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world; but the positive thing is not the acceptance simply, you have to do the thing, he prepared an ark. In a wide sense, as Mr. H, says, the Lord is no doubt typified in the way Noah provides for his house; but it works out in you and me in the way in which we bring in the positive, what is for God. The question often arises, What are we to do with our children? Look at the literature they have to read in the schools, and all that, but the thing is how much meal you have. There is the great pot. A man's house and bringing up a family involves much. One goes out and brings in a wild thing; in going to school he is apt to get hold of some infidel thought and bring it in. The prophet says, "Bring meal" (2 Kings 4:41); that nullifies. For the house is not like the circle of the saints; you cannot put your child out because he has a wild thought; nullify it by bringing plenty of meal. The point is how much meal you have in the house. In Proverbs one has noticed there are two evil agencies; a man that speaks froward things and a woman who flatters with her words (Proverbs 2:12, 16). The man is one who speaks with authority in the world; men think they have got what they call the truth; under that head they talk about evolution and all things of that sort; but they are froward things, they are contrary to the mind of God, however learned they may appear; they are contrary to Scripture. Then the woman who flatters is the side of the world that affords pleasure, theatres and picture palaces and novels, these flatter men in the flesh. The young man in Proverbs is enjoined to avoid these two things. The history of Jacob affords wonderful examples for us, so that we may know where the shoals are, going down to live at Succoth, for instance, to build a house.

D.L.H. How do you explain that piece of serious failure, as I suppose it was in the thought that is

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brought in about Jacob giving Joseph a "tract of land above thy brethren"? I suppose he got Shechem as his portion, did he not? "The land which Jacob gave to his son Joseph", John 4:5.

J.T. I suppose it must be taken up in faith. He says, "which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow", Genesis 48:22. Jacob must have come back to the principle of the word. All things are ours, but they are not taken up on the line of nature or the flesh, but of the word which purifies everything. Every bit of inheritance now in the time of our pilgrimage is on the principle of what you take by faith and by conflict.

D.L.H. Historically, what he took from the Amorite with his sword and his bow was rather humiliating, but the Spirit of God evidently takes that point up as a matter of faith. Jacob must have received it in faith, from God.

J.T. I am sure these two thoughts combined in the souls of those who have families will show us the practical righteousness of a walk with God counting on God's faithfulness.

N.L. You referred in your prayer to Ephesians. It says to fathers to bring up their children "in the discipline and admonition of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4), it is fathers. One feels the seriousness of the exhortation, for it involves sacrifice and patience, not only the act of baptism. Does it not involve that you go on in faith? Discipline is a word that means a great deal, does it not? It fits in in my mind a little with what you were saying in regard to Jacob. Sometimes the course of discipline involved is pretty long.

J.T. We see in Abraham how concerned he was as to his posterity. The last great feature in Abraham's path is concern about a wife for Isaac. We have to be on our guard against alliances in our families; Isaac suffered from that.

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Y.Y-L. Do you think the time comes in the history of a child when it grows up and may cease to feel under the parents' power? Should that be so? I was thinking of "fathers" and the discipline continuing; you feel sometimes at a certain age the parents may lose grip of their children.

J.T. That is where you have to fall back on the faithfulness of God.

Y.Y-L. You would never give up as a father, would you?

J.T. No, never. The great thing in a parent is that "he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice", Genesis 18:19. Now all the sons of Abraham in Genesis answer to that, he saw to it that they should answer to it as far as lay in him, so that (as we have often remarked) he lived in tents with Isaac and Jacob. He was concerned about the immediate children, Isaac, and the grandchildren: he lived with them both.

Ques. Would you connect the faithfulness of God with answering to every exercise we have in this way? I was thinking of the psalm, "Thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands", Psalm 128:2.

J.T. Just so. Faith without works is dead. If I reckon on the faithfulness of God, I see to it that it is fulfilled as far as lies in me. I have no doubt that one of the greatest features in Genesis is the patriarchal feature, that you are exercised all the time to pass down the right thought, for in the ordering of God you may have to leave the results, but you want the thing passed down. Abraham began with the God of glory; it has to be passed on.

Y.Y-L. It would be normal, would it not, for the parents to see their children brought into the gain of that to which they are committed? I suppose as parents we should desire that. A great many years

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often elapse between the moment the child is committed and the moment when it is brought into the gain of what is done, but God will answer to it.

J.T. Yes. In baptising your child he is heir with you of the same promise and you live with him accordingly.

D.L.H. Joshua is very fine, when warning the children of Israel as to what was going to happen, idolatry and the like; he says, "As for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah", Joshua 24:15. He did not compromise.

A.S.L. How wonderfully the two sides of things are put together in those two passages you have quoted, "Since Abraham shall indeed become a great and mighty nation; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him"; that is sovereign purpose; then it goes on, "For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him", Genesis 18:18, 19. It is made, in a way, dependent on his faithfulness. Sovereignty, on the one hand, and Abraham's faithfulness on the other. We may say, God is sovereign and almighty and will carry out His promise; so He will; but in this way it is made to depend on us.

J.T. Then you see how the patriarchal principle works out in Joseph, bringing the children out from between his knees; he held them there. Then we are told the later posterity were born upon his knees (Genesis 50:23).

Ques. Would you say that in the light of the faithfulness of God you can fulfil your obligations?

J.T. Yes. It is a great incentive to be faithful when you have the light of the faithfulness of God, for the victory is won before you begin the battle.

Y.Y-L. Perhaps you will explain that.

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J.T. You believe God. Nelson used to count his prizes before he went into the battle knowing he was going to get the victory. No one can do that better than the christian, for he believes God, and He will do what He has promised. You never give up a child, you hold to the promise.

F.W.J. "Mine", Jacob says, the grandchildren are his as well as the sons.

J.T. I think that is why the Spirit of God gives us the list of names here to show that God takes account of every one of them, not one is lost.

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READINGS ON EZEKIEL (SUMMARIES)

(1) Ezekiel 1:1 - 25

Ezekiel has a peculiar application at the present time as combining the government of God, which is universal and applies to every person in the world, and the direct work of God in His people, culminating in life in chapters 36 and 37, and in the city and the house in the later chapters. The book is marked by signs, corresponding in that respect with the gospel of John, with which, indeed, there is a remarkable analogy throughout. The signs were given through the prophet personally, and involved much personal suffering. He was identified in that way with the sufferings of the people of God, and took his place among the captives by the river Chebar. John was a "brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation" in the Isle of Patmos.

The continual recurrence of the term "son of man" indicates that the Lord is seen acting in relation to all men; the promises to Israel are in abeyance, while divine operations are general and universal. Israel comes into view in the person of Nathanael in John 1, who recognises the Lord as Son of God and King of Israel, and the Lord says, "Thou shalt see greater things than these ... Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man". While Israel's hopes are primarily in the Son of God and the King of Israel (Psalm 2), the Son of man (Psalm 8) has reference to the whole race of man. In John 3 He is Son of man as lifted up from the earth to bear the judgment of man, and "Son of man who is in heaven". His universal dominion comes into view in chapter 12, and in chapter 13, when Judas went out, the Lord said, "Now is the

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Son of man glorified". The word of the Son of man is in relation to all men, so that blessing goes out to the whole race of man before Israel's hopes are realised as such. Israel will come in as we see in chapter 20, in Thomas, who recognised the Lord, not as King of Israel but as "My Lord and my God". In the last chapter of John the draught of the one hundred and fifty-three fishes would refer to the service of the Jewish remnant in the latter days; but blessing is secured for the whole race of man before the fulfilment of the promises to Israel. That is how the matter stands in Ezekiel as seen in the repeated reference to the Son of man.

The heavens were opened to Ezekiel and he saw visions of God by the river Chebar. "The hand of Jehovah was there upon him", showing that these visions, and the support he was about to realise were far from Jerusalem, the centre of accredited religion on earth. In our times also we have God acting in sovereignty without regard to any particular centre. The hand of Jehovah upon him was by way of identification and support. Ezekiel on his part was fully identified with the people of God in their captivity, a point of great importance. Nehemiah is a good illustration of identification with God's people. In the government of God he was a cupbearer to the king, a position to be desired humanly speaking, but he was not occupied with that. He used the circumstances to help the people of God, not in a patronising way, but as identifying himself with them. It was the same with Ezra, and every man of God; they shared the afflictions of the people of God. Their position may have appeared to be against the people who were in captivity, but under God's government it was really for His people. So Daniel was exalted to a great place in the kingdom, also Mordecai and Esther. These identified themselves with the people of God in their exaltation,

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and God used them. In the government of God one may find himself in circumstances above those of the people of God, but anything we have is to be made subservient to them.

These captives had accepted the government of God in falling to the Chaldeans, and God promises to Jeremiah that their lives should be granted them for a prey: "Like these good figs, so will I regard for good them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans; and I will set mine eyes upon them for good", Jeremiah 24:5, 6. God is about to fulfil His promises in that connection by bringing in light through Ezekiel. As we accept the government of God in respect of failure, light comes in. It was so with Ezekiel and he got the mind of God, "The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God". It is not now merely referring to Palestine, for the symbols here represent the agencies of divine government as affecting the whole world. This is what we have in the book of Revelation, the mind of God in regard of the whole earth. It gives the servant a wonderful place, but with it there is, on his part, the acceptance of the position the people are in. You suffer with the people of God, as being the depository of the mind of God. Nothing strengthens your heart more than to see what He is doing. The heavens are opened, and the heavens are co-extensive with the whole earth; God is extending His operations.

"The word of Jehovah came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest". Vision is one thing, and enlarges the view, for you see things as they are, but the word is what you hear, and the mind of God as it is, finds expression in the word. Then not only is there light from God, but an array of power to carry out the mind of God. We see the effect of that power today, "And I looked, and behold, a stormy

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wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself". All this is to remind us that the north refers to judgment. The north is always the point from whence the governmental dealings of God come. These may be punitive, or they may be corrective. This symbol is corrective with a view to establishing conditions in which God may operate directly. The governmental agencies are indirect, but as a result of these there are today conditions on the earth such as enable God to operate directly. The results are the things to take notice of, the government of God being, as one might say, in a mystery. There are secret agencies, the angels, for instance. "Are they not all ministering spirits ... ?"; there are myriads of them sent out to minister to the heirs to salvation. They operate secretly, nevertheless surely, in controlling government with a view to the preservation of what is for God on this earth, so that the gospel may go out without hindrance and saints be free to come together. Ezekiel's eyes are opened to discern God's secret activities for His people, and his mind would be at rest in regard to everything.

As accepting the situation Ezekiel becomes the depository of the mind of God, and there is nothing now to puzzle him. He sees that God has power, no matter what the condition on man's side, to enforce His will universally. Things are constantly occurring in family, business, and international affairs, that would tend to overwhelm the people of God, but this would establish us as showing that God is working to one end. Ezra and Nehemiah also show the secret government of God operating in favour of His people. We may expect such revivals as those books indicate if we are in the light of Ezekiel. We see how they are brought about -- by public identification with the people of God. One might say, indeed, that there has been revival, in acknowledgment of God relative to His governmental dealings with the

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assembly, and heaven has been opened up; the twelfth hymn is an expression of it. Things are seen in their true bearing. We do not have to read a profane book for the history of Europe; we see what God has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. God is looking for sympathy in what He is doing; this book opens that up. You are with God, and suffering is entailed. The bride is the Lamb's wife; it carries with it the thought of suffering. Suffering refines us and clarifies our vision.

The more we identify ourselves with the suffering, the more we shall get the benefit of the word of Christ now. In Song of Songs 6:5, there is an allusion to the individual separateness of the saints in the expression. "Thy hair is as a flock of goats". Goats symbolise individual separateness, and a flock of them would suggest a flock of persons who have severally learned separation. Our position is one of having severally withdrawn from evil. In the next chapter it says (verse 5), "the locks of thy head like purple". Royalty is now seen in suffering. To withdraw from evil and to walk with those who are separate involves suffering.

The creatures (verse 5) and having the likeness of a man a lion, an ox and an eagle (verse 10) would suggest that the creation is in sympathy with God, and the intelligence, courage, firmness and rapidity with which His will is carried out. Whatever man is doing on his side and with all his plans, God is working. Angels, principalities and powers are all moved in relation to the testimony, and you have the consciousness in your soul of victory. It culminates in the heavenly city coming out from God at the end of Revelation. We are working now in relation to the house, and Ezekiel connects these two thoughts. John sees the city in prospect. Abraham looked for a city, and Ezekiel sees the city in chapter 40, but the man with the measuring line occupies him with

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the house in all its various features. So John, while having a vision of the city when writing his gospel later, occupies us with the dwelling. In the first chapter we have the thought of the Son dwelling in the bosom of the Father and the disciples of John enquiring, "Where abidest thou?". In chapter 8 also the thought of the house comes in in connection with the Son abiding for ever.

The rainbow is in evidence in the last verse. It is another assurance of the everlasting faithfulness of God; nothing can happen without Him. The rainbow is an outstanding testimony, known everywhere. It is an evidence of what God is in His faithfulness to the creation.

(2) EZEKIEL 2:1 - 10; EZEKIEL 3:1 - 4; EZEKIEL 4:4 - 13

In the first chapter what the prophet saw was the glory of Jehovah. Above the expanse over the heads of the living creatures was the likeness of a throne and the appearance of a man upon it, and in verse 27 we read, "I saw as the look of glowing brass, as the appearance of fire, within it round about; from the appearance of his loins and upward, and from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire". The man has reference to Christ as He is now in heaven, and the appearance from the loins upward would suggest all that Christ is God-ward, and the appearance from His loins downward would refer to what He is man-ward; the fire is in keeping with the fact that we are in the presence of the governmental dealings of God. It is a wonderful scene and it enters into the present dispensation in a way that perhaps no other part of the Old Testament does, because it is heaven brought into view and what is in it, and its actions

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in relation to earth. The heavens are opened and the Son of man is in evidence. Stephen said, "Lo, I behold the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God". What that involved was that Israel's hopes were to be deferred, and God was about to operate in a wider domain than that of Israel.

Chapter 2 brings in the adjustment necessary for the vessel. There was no adjustment necessary in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ; He was ever in accord with His testimony. Where there is a type of Christ there is always that which refers to our training ground, with a view to our having part in God's great service. Ezekiel as son of man is brought into accord with the man whom he sees in the vision, by whom the position is held in heaven while Ezekiel is ministering on earth.

The thought of the Son of man as unfolded in John's writings may be linked like the expression, "greater things than these". The Son of man lifted up makes way for the bringing in of eternal life for "whosoever". The gospel comes in to unfold the thought that God so loved the world; and that is a greater thing than the promises to the fathers. It is morally greater because it culminates in the tabernacle of God being with men. The promises made to Abraham do not go beyond the millennium, and they are provisional; they become the means of working out God's primary thoughts. The promise of life precedes the promises to Abraham, and in John's gospel the first thing mentioned after the deity of the Lord is asserted, is that "in him was life, and the life was the light" not of Israel, but "of men". If we go back in Scripture we see in Proverbs 8 that God had man before Him, and the Lord Jesus Christ in becoming a Man brought in life for man. Before that is developed He in faithfulness presents Himself to Israel as the Messiah, and we

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read that "he came to his own, and his own received him not". They had an opportunity to do so. The lifting up of the brazen serpent would indicate that the ground must be cleared for God to bring in His original thought. The serpent brought in the distance and it goes back beyond the promises; it is a matter of God dealing with the problem of sin so that all should live. Israel will come in after God's universal thought is completed; that is a great help in understanding John; it is a question of the life being the light of men. It is the greatest thing from the standpoint of God's love and compassion. John deals with our own time and so does Ezekiel, who sees things according to God. He gets a vision of the city, then of the house, and of the land. The glory returns at the end and the last words of the book are "Jehovah is there".

Ezekiel is called upon to endure terrible conditions. We are reminded that to be a servant of God, we must go through things as they are. The failure of the assembly involves sorrow. We read that "in all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9), and every servant has in some measure to go through things in this way. His personal sufferings in connection with the testimony that he rendered would give special power to the ministry of Ezekiel. In chapter 3: 15, he says, "I came to them of the captivity ... and I sat where they sat; and I sat there astonied among them seven days". There was complete identification with the people and his demeanour would demonstrate to them that he was humbled about things. The seven days would suggest a perfect spiritual experience, and they would be impressed by his attitude; he was astonished at the conditions under which they were.

It is analogous to the state of things at the present moment, in that what should be here for God in separation has been captured by the world. There

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are those who feel the position, those "that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done" (chapter 9: 4), and they are spared the judgment; corresponding in a way with, "I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial", Revelation 3:10. Ezekiel dates things from the captivity showing that he had accepted that as a definite judgment of God. Those who come into the light at the present moment would do likewise. Revelation 2 and 3 give us the history of the assembly and its captivity and we date from that. We do not date from Pentecost, but from the time of the recovery when captivity was recognised. The denominations around us do not recognise the captivity, there is no such thing with them, but those in the light of God recognise it, and that is where God begins to work on the line of recovery. Everyone in human organisations is in captivity; he is not free. There is a date given in the beginning of Ezekiel which is not definite, but the captivity is very definite (see chapter 40: 1). Any spiritual person would recognise the date. We constantly hear a reference to the last ninety years; it dates back to an occurrence that the world takes no notice of, but we take notice of it, because it has a definite bearing on spiritual history. It is clear that Ezekiel does not go back to David nor to Exodus, he goes back to the captivity. In its bearing on ourselves we acknowledge that everything was lost on the side of man's responsibility; we study the addresses to the assemblies to get at the spiritual dates. The truth dates from Pentecost, but in our experience it is from the recovery. There is a lack of power as compared with the early part of the Acts, for although the Spirit is still here, the vessel is limited. He operates through a vessel, and if the vessel is narrow and limited. He is restricted. In the preparation of a vessel there is a vision of the glory; it was so with Ezekiel, and if you go back to the recovery you will find that the Lord

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gave manifestations. He impresses the servant in some way and the servant gives out the truth accordingly, and the Holy Spirit can enlarge upon it and apply it to the varied needs of the moment.

The vessel has to be brought into accord with what he has seen. He was so affected in chapter 1 that he fell upon his face, and note (chapter 2: 2) he is raised and the Spirit which was in the wheels enters into him so that he is consciously in the power of God, he knows subjectively how the thing has to be carried out. "They went every one straight forward: whither the Spirit was to go, they went; they turned not when they went" (chapter 1: 12). Then he is enjoined to eat the roll, "Thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house, open they mouth, and eat that I give thee. ... And I ate, and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness" (see chapter 2: 8 and 3: 3). He appropriated the thing; it became part of him; it was sweet because it was the mind of God. John goes further, "I took the little book out of the hand of the angel, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth as honey, sweet; and when I had eaten it my belly was made bitter", Revelation 10:10. It was bitter because he saw the consequences. This would indicate the difference between the two dispensations. The truth has to be appropriated and become a part of us, so that one may be what one says. You have not only the thing in your mind, it is part of you; you are like the Lord in your measure. He was altogether that which He said.

"I will speak with thee" it says in chapter 2: 1; then the Spirit enters into him, and he heard Him that spake. It goes without saying that the Lord should be listened to; the Lord's word has authority. Then the Holy Spirit takes up the word and enlarges upon it, and emphasises it through different vessels, and you are to hear them. It is a serious thing to

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despise what a man may be ministering, because he may be ministering in the Spirit.

Chapter 3: 17 - 21 shows the seriousness of having light from God. If the Lord has given light to us, and He has, we are under obligation to all to make it known, and if we fail in that it will be required of us. The Lord may take away the light if we are not faithful. There is a time to speak, and this is the time. What we have here shows how serious a matter service is in our day. Ezekiel had to testify to those who were hard-hearted. John ministered in Jerusalem more than all the other evangelists; it corresponds with the character of things at the present time.

Chapter 4 brings out what the prophet has to experience and reminds us of the vicarious death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ezekiel was bound down three hundred and ninety days bearing the iniquity of the house of Israel; he is identified figuratively with the death of Christ. It indicates how we are to impress upon men that Christ had to die if men were to be saved. A great deal is said in these days of man's own vicarious work in view of salvation. It is a lie. There is no way out for man except by the death of Christ, and this passage would emphasise that fact. The different kinds of grain the prophet was to take for food would suggest what Christ is as man, in His perfection. The foods are cereals, what the earth had yielded for man, typifying the Lord Jesus in His acceptability as Man to God and His being food for man. The prophet has to bake it with that which came out of man, man in all his awfulness and pollution. All came to light at the cross. I know of nothing which corresponds with this remarkable passage save the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, where on the one hand man in perfection is represented before God, and on the other hand man is seen in all his

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offensiveness. The more you enter into the meaning of the cross of Christ the more effective you are in dealing with men. Paul says, "But far be it from me to boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world", Galatians 6:14.

(3) EZEKIEL 5:1 - 4; EZEKIEL 6:8 - 10; EZEKIEL 9:1 - 7

The epistle of James reminds us of the patience of the prophets, and in addition to what has come before us in the earlier chapters of Ezekiel there is this thought of patience or endurance, which in a supreme degree enters into successful service at the present time. What we closed with yesterday was the thought of the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet being obliged, by the command of the Lord, to lie on his side for three hundred and ninety days to bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. He would be reminded every day of the sin of the nation. What he endured in his posture and what he ate would suggest the Lord, of whom it is said, "Him ... he has made sin for us", 2 Corinthians 5:21. It is a remarkable expression, and the eating in Ezekiel 4 would remind us of that, and that the Lord took the whole thing upon Him as dying vicariously. The incident suggests also the importance of taking things to ourselves as being in the sphere of the responsible body. The next chapter reminds us, in the shaving of the head and the beard, that all that may ornament us has to go. It would recall to the prophet what Israel was; she was an ornament. Ezekiel speaks at least twice in this book of Jerusalem as an ornament, it is what she was as set up by God in the midst of the nations. Jehovah would take account of Israel in that way, but all that has to go; its pristine beauty is abandoned

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in the scattering. It is judgment, but judgment with a view to purification. All that which we would regard as ornamentation naturally and legitimately (for Israel, Jerusalem had that place) has to be abandoned. We cannot, for instance, in our day assume to take on the pristine beauty of the assembly. The next chapter brings out the remnant, and we have to accept that, it is just a question of a remnant.

Patience would be the crowning work in a servant of the Lord; "The signs indeed of the apostle were wrought among you in all endurance", 2 Corinthians 12:12. Patience is to have her perfect work with us. In all these experiences of Ezekiel how much there was to irritate the flesh, in his having to lie on one side for three hundred and ninety days, and to give up all that ornamented one. That comes home very close to us. The Corinthians were not equal to it; they were maintaining what attached to them naturally, social coteries; rich and poor were distinguished; and they were reigning as kings. All these things lead to idolatry, to linking on with the world. I have no doubt that "when the days of the siege are fulfilled" (Ezekiel 5:2), reminds us of the death of Christ, which rightly apprehended, means the end of all that distinguishes ourselves. One has to take one's place with the people and to see that what attaches to us even legitimately has to be relinquished and a new beginning has to be made.

With regard to the remnant, you are confronted with this, it is not the whole as at the beginning; it may be, in the character of it, but not as regards its official position. Hence you do not use official terms such as "the assembly", "the elders", "the evangelists", and "the teachers"; you hesitate to employ terms that apply to the assembly as at the beginning, involving ornamentation; the gifts were ornaments. You have in fact taken a razor; the hair

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and the beard are shaved off, and you have lost your identity. You have lost what beautified you, and have to begin all over again. The assembly today has not the ornaments and dignity of the original. It may be characterised essentially as the same, but is not the original. The original was an ornament, as it says of Jerusalem in this book more than once; but in this chapter instead of being an ornament the hair is cut off, and divided into three parts. Go and look for those hairs. What can you find? There is something to be found, but it requires care and intelligence to discover it. We read in verse 3, "Thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts". To find those hairs requires great diligence, but the process of securing them has not been in vain, and it lays the basis for the remnant being definitely spoken of in the next chapter.

In the history of the assembly the judicial dealings of God began from the departure, from the time of Ephesus, and continued so that now it might be difficult to find one of the hairs as corresponding with the original beauty. Nevertheless the binding in the garments indicates great care used for preservation, and just as chapter 6 shows that there is a remnant, so in our own times the remnant has come into evidence. The truth regarding the original however, would govern the position now, and you treasure that. So the heavenly city bears the marks of the pentecostal assembly; it is all intact from the divine side. Nevertheless it is a remnant. After the address to Ephesus in Revelation 2 the "lamp" or candlestick is never once mentioned; it represents what was public and ornamental. The light, the candle, is here, but we do not assume to have the candlestick. Everything vital is preserved and is seen in the heavenly city. Paul mentions "Jerusalem above", but the thing itself was not brought out in a corporate way until the Revelation. It reflects backwards,

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and in seeing it the believer understands that nothing is lost. The twelve tribes are represented there; the twelve apostles are there; nothing is lost. The apostles were faithful, they like Jonathan of old 'wrought with God', but there is no indication of faithfulness afterwards, so in coming down from God out of heaven it is a question of the faithfulness of God. It is from Him, and it has an immense bearing on us because we see the victory is sure, and we are content to move on now in the recognition of the principle of a remnant. That is what Ezekiel would enforce, so that the prophet acts accordingly. The hairs are divided up and committed to the fire and smiting and scattering. How can you find them now? It seems paradoxical, but they are found, and in the next chapter a remnant comes to light. One has to give up all that one would look upon as ornamentation, as a cleric would regard the church, clothing himself with all its antiquity, its apostolic succession, and so on. There were the days of the apostles, and the assembly was a wonderful ornament in the world, but who inherited that? It has to be given up, we cannot claim it now. We look forward to the heavenly city, but that is not yet; it is in prospect. We should never lose sight of the original, but we have to accept that we cannot claim anything of it.

The hair is divided up into three parts, but there is then a few hairs bound in the skirts. That points to the divine care; all that is of God is cared for and is seen in chapter 6: 8, 9. Throughout the dispensation God had His eye on those preserved in the skirts, but the time came when they were definitely regarded as a remnant. They came to the point of self-judgment in regard of the guilt of the whole assembly. That is where 2 Timothy comes in. The Lord, when He speaks to Philadelphia, refers to all saints. Nevertheless to come into the position

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in which God recognises us as a remnant, there must be self-judgment, not only as regards what I have done but relative to the whole position. There is such a thing as divine recognition. The division of the hairs would show that those who were scattered were recognised and taken account of. Where there is the definite acknowledgement of the breakdown of the public body, then I think God owns a remnant, but it could never be more than a remnant. What it may be spiritually is another thing.

God owns the remnant in the way of giving it light. You cannot deny there is light, and there is formation. There is that in this world today that men cannot get over. God takes account of those who judge themselves. He honours them, and knows how to do it in consistency with Himself. So the Lord says, "I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not ... I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet", Revelation 3:9. Could you have anything more precious than that? In this character we read, "They shall know that I am Jehovah", (chapter 6: 10).

In chapter 8, the prophet is in his house: "As I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me ... and he ... took me by a lock of my head". He was in the energy of life in his body, his hair had begun to grow. It was the same in Samson's case, and then it was the signal of the overthrow of the Philistines. We have here the testimony of the power of a risen Christ. There has been a testimony to Christ lifted up, and lifted up in a way that symbolises there is living power in Him, thus has God rendered, in faithfulness, a wonderful testimony to the public body. Christ has been carried up to heaven; the testimony is above men; it is not now on the level of men. The power lies in the testimony of a risen Christ, lifted up above heaven and earth.

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Ezekiel is lifted "up between the earth and the heavens"; he comes in from above, not from the level of the city.

The remnant is alluded to in the sixth chapter, and then we see how those who belong to it are taken account of in connection with this ministry of a risen Christ, for after the resurrection is brought in you have the idea of a man clothed in linen (chapter 9: 2), and he sets "a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done".

The appearance in verse 2 is in the reverse order to chapter 1: 27, because it is not now a question of emphasising his relations with God, but his compassion towards men ("the appearance of his loins and downward"). The testimony of late years has been a wonderful witness to the compassions of God. The fact that it is the appearance of fire does not affect what we are saying. It is a holy testimony; the fire is for purification.

(4) EZEKIEL 10:10, 14 - 22

There seems to be remarkable order in the instruction of the book. Chapter 4 gives us the death of the Lord Jesus typically; chapter 8 suggests the resurrection: the prophet is taken by a lock of his hair and carried up between the earth and the heavens and brought to Jerusalem. Chapter 10 emphasises the heavenly testimony, the frequent occurrences of the word 'cherubim' suggesting what is of heaven. We thus have the truth before us in three important aspects; we have seen the effect of it, and how it has been linked up with the remnant. In chapter 5 the prophet has to have his hair and beard shaved; the hair was divided into three parts, and of these "a few in number" were specially cared for. In chapter

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6 we have the remnant formally recognised, and then in chapter 9 the remnant embraces everyone who sighs and cries on account of the abominations that exist. They would be taken account of in that connection and spared the judgment, as the Lord says to Philadelphia, "I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial", Revelation 3:10. They are carefully marked so that the six men with the slaughter weapons pass them by. God specially interested Himself in them, and we may be assured that God is interested now in everyone who sighs and cries, and that they are marked. It is a divine mark on them, and they would be distinguished by the intelligence of life. All this is leading up to the final retribution that is coming on christendom. Peter deals with the government of God, corresponding in that way with this book, and he tells us that the judgment begins "from the house of God", with those who are really believers. That is the significance of the men standing by the brazen altar; all takes place from the standpoint of the house.

The 'sighing' and the 'crying' involve your having been with God in regard of the abominations. If you move about in the world you are impressed with the awfulness of things that exist at the present time even amongst those who professedly own the Lord's name. You feel the things you encounter and suffer in your spirit; it is in that way we suffer with Him at the present time. Those "that sigh and that cry" are such as have accepted the captivity. The book of Ezekiel is divided by the dates given and they refer to the captivity. You will observe that in chapter 11 there are certain ones who say the land is theirs (verse 15). There are today those who profess to occupy ground divinely given, claiming apostolic succession; they disregard therefore the captivity. Chapter 11, however, shows that God takes account of those who regard the captivity; they are the

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ones to whom He becomes a little sanctuary. It is important to note that the dates refer to the captivity, for no one comes into the light of God save as acknowledging this. Then verse 15 answers today to those who claim to be the assembly of God. There are two great branches in the professing system, perhaps three. The position Rome claims to have is the direct line, then the Anglican, and possibly the Greek church. These are saying 'the land is ours', and they have not the slightest idea of the church being in captivity. This book would place such under the eye of God for judgment. Those who accept the captivity come in for divine recognition and care. They have lost the temple and all its glory, but He becomes to them a sanctuary Himself. That is what we are coming to; without pretending to be anything we come in for the divine recognition of the remnant, and thus He becomes a sanctuary to us. Christendom denies the heavenly character of the assembly and it becomes an organisation for the world. The ministry of Ezekiel is to bring in the heavenly. It says in chapter 11: 24, 25, "The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity; and the vision that I had seen went up from me. And I spoke unto them of the captivity all the things that Jehovah had shewn me". Those of the captivity come in for all the light that Ezekiel had, and that light came out of heaven. That indicates how matters are today; those who accept the captivity and bow to the hand of God in it have come in for recognition in chapter 6, and then in chapter 11 they find the sanctuary, and Ezekiel, representing the ministry of Christ, is amongst them. As accepting the judgment of God and humbling themselves, how they would enjoy the words of Ezekiel; what happy times they would have notwithstanding their external captivity! They had access to God. He

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Himself would be amongst them through Ezekiel. "I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you" (verse 19). God would work with them notwithstanding all their captivity. Those who accept the captivity now come in for all the light of heaven.

John's gospel comes in on the lines that we are on. You have first in that gospel what Christ is God-ward, "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father". That corresponds with the vision the prophet saw at the river Chebar; the measurements from the loins and upward. In Ezekiel 8 the measurement begins from the loins and downward; that, I think, would be John 3, the Son of man lifted up. He takes our place as lifted up on the cross; and then opens up the way. The great subject of life is opened up, involving the death and resurrection of Christ. "God so loved the world"; that comes out in the measurement downward. The love of God works, and then in John 6 the great question of food comes in and brings in the heavenly position. In chapter 7 the Holy Spirit is here, not as in chapter 4 as a gift, but as come down from Jesus glorified. "This he said concerning the Spirit ... for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified". It is through Christ glorified we have the Holy Spirit here, and that brings us to the tenth chapter of Ezekiel; it is the heavenly side.

The ox is left out in the description of the cherubim in chapter 10, and there is a variation from chapter 1. "The first face was the face of a cherub" (verse 14); that dominates the position. The ox is left out and the order is different. It is a question of what is heavenly. The ox has the earth specially in view. The first chapter emphasises the ox; the feet are specially referred to. In John 3:12, 13 the Lord says, "If I have said the earthly things to you, and ye believe not, how, if I say the heavenly things to

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you, will ye believe? And no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven". The Son of man being in heaven knows. So we have the heavenly order of things in Ezekiel 10, which refers to Jesus in heaven and the Holy Spirit here maintaining the heavenly testimony.

Ezekiel 8 would correspond with the great subject of life in John. The prophet is taken up by a lock of his head; there was a new growth of hair, and the hand takes hold of that and lifts him up between the earth and the heavens. All that refers to the energy of life, "Even as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son also to have life in himself", John 5:26. There was power in the hand that took the lock, but there must have been power in the hair. There was the power of God in raising Christ, but there was life inherent in Christ, as there was, in type, in the sheaf of Joseph that stood up. That would cover John 3 to 6, and in chapter 7 we have the heavenly position; the Spirit here answering to Jesus glorified.

There are four things marking the living creatures in chapter 1, intelligence, strength, firmness and rapidity; all these things enter into the government of God. These creatures are known on earth, but the cherubim, who knows about them? They represent what is heavenly, no doubt governmentally, for they are seen in the tabernacle; indeed, the first mention of the cherubim is in connection with government (Genesis 3:24). But what is to be noted is that they are unknown on the earth; we have no reference to them in Genesis 1, which brings before us what we are conversant with on earth; the cherubim refer to what is heavenly. The book of Job gives us light regarding them; they are in sympathy with God. One has to be prepared for every step in an exercise; and as we enter into what is meant by the

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prophet lying on his side, and the terrible conditions relative to soul exercise that this prophecy suggests to us, we would be fitted for a more elevated position, and as understanding the resurrection we would be rendered able to discern that which is abominable to God. Those in the official position say the land is theirs; they have on the hair. They have revived the whole system, as in the Catholic ceremonialism, and they pride themselves on the possession of it, whereas Ezekiel 5 shows that every trace of it has to be cut to the roots. Then the new growth in chapter 8 would be life in resurrection taking us outside of all that. It would prepare us for the cherubim, concerning which they know nothing.

Another interesting point in this section is the care and minuteness with which God Himself looks into everything. Ezekiel himself felt the extraordinary rigidness of the judgment; he says in chapter 9, "And it came to pass, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah, Lord Jehovah! wilt thou destroy all the remnant of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? And he said unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness; for they say, Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and Jehovah seeth not. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense their way upon their head". That is, God graciously explains to the prophet who felt the judgment was too severe, that it was imperative. We must deal with these things. Then it says in chapter 10, "And I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne". The throne is not occupied; God is Himself in the very midst of what is going on and so He says to the

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man, "Come in between the wheels" (not "Go in" as in the ordinary version); God is not said to be sitting on the throne; He says, as it were, 'I am down upon the earth'. It is to assure any heart that may be timid in regard of any rigid refusal of evil, that it is imperative. It is very much like the Lord walking among the golden candlesticks; nothing escapes His eye. In verse 18 we read, "And the glory of Jehovah departed from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim". It seems as if He would impress Ezekiel that what He was doing was imperative, a thing required, or He would not have done it. He vindicates the glory departing. It indicates, moreover, that we have not the Lord's presence in the public church itself; He has left it. In chapter 11: 22, 23, the glory has left the house definitely: "And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city". It is from thence that Jesus went up to heaven and the glory is now in heaven.

Many have accepted the captivity and yet are not prepared to deal with the evil. There are few of us who are, but God takes pains to impress upon us that the judgment is necessary. He would not call for it were it not. The tendency with us is to spare ourselves, and there is great allowance made for the flesh. The judgment by these six men with the slaughter weapons was very drastic; no one escaped, neither little children or women. There was no natural pity; it is natural sentiment that works damage. Even Ezekiel himself hesitates, but Jehovah explains that it is imperative.

Chapter 11 becomes intensely interesting to those who love the Lord, because He becomes a sanctuary. He says in verse 16, "Although I have removed them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to

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them as a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come". Now it is very touching that He Himself would become that, in humble circumstances, far from Jerusalem, scattered among the countries. You can have all that God is, only in humble circumstances. Thus today, where you have the acknowledgment of the captivity and sympathy with the mind of God, He comes in, not only as honouring us, but to be a sanctuary.

In John 14 we read, "He that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him". The manifestation is not exactly the sanctuary. It is that the Lord reveals Himself to us in a certain position and that becomes light. Then Judas (not the Iscariote) says, "How is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us and not to the world?". Jesus says, "If any one love me, he will keep my word". There you come to a further thought, the word. The word of God means the opening up of God's mind, and if we keep that there is room for God to dwell. Hence He says, "We will come to him and make our abode with him". It may be in outwardly humble circumstances but nevertheless it is there. The thought of keeping His word comes in answer to the question relative to not manifesting Himself to the world, and it involves that one as keeping His word is governed by the light of another world. Fellowship and all that we enjoy are connected with another scene and while outwardly we might be in adverse conditions here, the Lord would help us in our spirits so that we might enter into it. In our circumstances today we are looking on to the future, for our goal is the heavenly city.

(5) EZEKIEL 16:60 - 63; EZEKIEL 20:33 - 44

These chapters speak of God's relations with His people. It is a happy coincidence that the subject should come before us on Lord's day. Chapter 20

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brings in the bond of the covenant; but chapter 16 refers back to the covenant made with Israel in the days of their youth. The Lord helping us to apprehend the import of the bond of the covenant, we shall greatly gain in the consideration of these chapters. The order in which the truth has come before us already in this book has been, first of all, the position which the prophet fills as identified with those in captivity, and then the opened heavens and the vision of the instrumentality of divine government now that Jerusalem was given up. Then Ezekiel is seen as bearing the iniquity of Israel, lying on his side for three hundred and ninety days. In the shaving of his head and beard, there is the setting aside in figure of all that beauty that attached to Israel. This is involved in the death of Christ. Then the remnant is formally acknowledged, and the resurrection of Christ is typified in the prophet being lifted up by a lock of his hair and carried between the heavens and the earth to Jerusalem. Following on that there is the marking of those who sigh and cry for the abominations, and the heavenly testimony in the cherubim, in which Jehovah Himself is found in the midst of the scene of judgment, everything transpiring under His perfect scrutiny; then He is a sanctuary to the remnant.

These chapters would therefore introduce what God was to His people at the outset and what He is to the remnant; what He was at Pentecost. He is to us, for there is no change in His love. Following on all the light we have had, I believe the Lord would impress us with the love of God. The covenant He made is still good, and would be rendered permanent. He says in chapter 16: 60: "Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant". A further thought is conveyed by the bond of the covenant in chapter 20. The covenant

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represents all that is towards us as expressed in the death of Christ; the bond is the obligation which it involves on our side. Those who commit themselves to the Lord's supper enter into that bond. Chapter 20 makes much of the Sabbath; the Sabbath was the sign of the first covenant just as the Lord's supper is a sign of Christ's love to us. They had disregarded the Sabbath, and similarly the Lord's supper has not been regarded entirely in its true bearing in the assembly. So chapter 20 is to bring us into the bond of the covenant, first by rule, firm and stringent (verse 33), then by the rod, which I suppose would be discipline. It is the rod of love now. The application of verses 33 to 37 to ourselves is very plain; they remind us that it is a very real thing to have to do with God, and while He deals with us in grace, yet He takes account of the guilt of the assembly in which we have all had our part. God expresses His resentment of their history in that regard when He says: "With a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I reign over you". We cannot be indifferent to the history of the assembly; God is not, and He bears all in mind in dealing with us. In chapter 20 He takes account of the history of Israel from the time they came out of Egypt; He is not addressing the remnant, but the whole house of Israel; and the chapter has its bearing therefore in relation to the history of the assembly. The whole assembly is addressed in Philadelphia, but the features the Lord approved of are seen in a few. The recovery of the truth has in view the whole assembly being gathered out for Christ. Those who are in the position of the remnant acknowledge the guilt of the whole assembly.

In Ezekiel 12 we have a captive's baggage referred to, and the prophet establishes a sign in the bringing out of his baggage in their sight "as they that go forth into captivity". The captive's baggage would

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hardly contain the best robe, and you would look in vain for any heavenly clothes there. There are those in captivity today who still claim that the land is theirs, and they do not admit having a captive's baggage. If you were to suggest to the archbishops that they were in captivity, they would not admit it, and yet if you were to look through their baggage you would find the proof in their garment. One knew a brother who retained his surplice after he had come into the light, and eventually he wore it again. It was really a captive's baggage. The prophet takes it up as a sign that they were going into captivity, but there were those who did not accept it; they said the land was theirs. The bond of the covenant does not enter into the captive's baggage, and the instruction in chapter 20 points to heavenly things.

The expression in verse 33, "With a mighty hand", is the same as used when God dealt with the Egyptians. The God of Israel would deal with His people in the same way as He did with the Egyptians. He goes over the ground again and will bring them into the wilderness (verse 35); not the wilderness of Egypt but that of the nations, and for us it would be the wilderness of the different systems that have been established. Many of us have found our home in them, but we have been called out of them all, and they are a wilderness to us. That is how God works. Christendom is in captivity; those who profess the Lord's name have gone out from their heritage, their relations with God; all that has been given up for worldly things; and now God would bring His people back so that we are no longer strangers but "fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God". We come back to the house. The departure and captivity is from what the assembly was as set up in the beginning.

What we have had before us has been leading up to the recovery. Chapter 5 shows they had to go

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through a terrible process of discipline in their hearts, after which the remnant was formally acknowledged in chapter 9. That should be understood; no one is omitted, and the man with the inkhorn marks everyone that sighs and cries. Chapter 10 brings in the heavenly light that operates with a view to our deliverance from earthly surroundings and then God says in chapter 11, "Yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come". Then come those chapters, which correspond with the recovery of the Lord's supper, in which we have the love of God and the bond by which we are held on our side. But recovery involves what we have in chapter 20, "with fury poured out, will I reign over you", and coming under the rod, as in verse 37. These things show we are in a serious position and one that cannot be regarded with lightness, or accepted without exercise. There are those who run into the position like the man in Mark 10, but who soon left it. Blind Bartimaeus did not run into it. The other came running into the way with an apprehension of the Lord Jesus as a good man, like many today who come to Him with religious sentiment, but when the Lord tested him, he went out, whereas blind Bartimaeus sat by the wayside and did not come into the way until the Lord called him. He was in a good position when he sat by the wayside, and he had light as to the Person of the Lord, "O Son of David, Jesus", Mark 10:47.

The covenant in chapter 16 reminds us of the faithfulness of God; in chapter 20 there is the response on our side suggested by the bond of the covenant. In the former chapter God says, "I ... entered into a covenant with thee" (chapter 16: 8), and that stands. In other words the relations with God entered into with the assembly stand. It is an abstract thing now, but His dealings are to bring us into it that we may enjoy it. The faithfulness of

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God is one of the most important things in the position, "God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son", 1 Corinthians 1:9. Again, "God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay ... in him is the yea, and in him the amen" (2 Corinthians 1:18, 20), that is in Christ. Ezekiel 16 I think answers to it. It was a question of their being established in what they had forsaken. They had forgotten, but God said, "Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant" (chapter 16: 60). The recovery is sure to bring to light a lot of extraneous matter, and God says in chapter 20: 38, "I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me", you may reckon on that. But the thought underlying the covenant made with them at the beginning, when they were young, is very precious.

"There shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings" (chapter 20: 43), is part of the process of recovery. Jehovah is dealing with them now on the ground of His faithfulness. He had said, "And thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate; thou also and thy daughters, ye shall return to your former estate" (chapter 16: 55). That is, they would return to their natural weakness; it was degeneration. Christendom is degenerating to what it was before the light of the gospel came in. The world is fast drifting back into darkness worse than paganism, into "its former estate". It is simply appalling for any one to move about in this world and come into contact with the teaching prevailing amongst men, tainted with elements of paganism and orientalism of the worst kind. Men are drifting back into darkness. Chapter 16 shows that God enters into a covenant with His people and as we come into the light of it we abhor

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our relations with what we were once connected with. If christians only knew the awfulness and corruption of what many of them are connected with they would abandon it. Well, God is bringing us into the light of His love, and that is eternal. As we enter into the bond of the covenant we enter into what is eternal. The movement that has been going on all these years is the outcome of the faithfulness of God. Every promise is true, unalterable, and His faithfulness brings us back to Him. There is the constant renewal of the thing to us in the cup, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do, as often as ye shall drink it"; it appeals to us in that way.

The bond of the covenant brings in response on our side which shows we are true to the bond. That is where many of us are very weak. Some would say that this is putting us under bondage, but it is the perfect law of liberty. I have been brought back to the perfect love of God and I want to dwell in it. There is a second party, and we come in as such in the acceptance of it. But see the terms of it! All the wealth of heaven is proposed. Is it not worth while entering into it? It is not now a question of the faithfulness of God, but of our responsibility; the idea of a bond is that I enter into it with a view to being true to it. It is by prayer in the Holy Spirit that we keep ourselves in the love of God. The first activity of the Spirit is to shed abroad the love of God in our hearts.

Now that we are surrounded with so many systems, the fellowship is more important than ever, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, ... I drew them with bands of a man, with cords of love", Hosea 11:1, 4. He draws by the bond of love, and as we sit down to the Lord's supper weekly that is what comes before us, the drawing of love and the bands of a man. We know we could not keep ourselves in

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it, but the God that restores us will keep us. That does not of course militate against what we have said as to the word, "Keep yourselves in the love of God", Jude 21.

"I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah ... . For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel serve me, the whole of it, in the land" (chapter 20: 38 - 40). You see now what He has in mind; the whole assembly comes into view. What a testimony He raises up to Himself in the presence of the whole profession! Then He says, "As a sweet savour will I accept you, ... and I will be hallowed in you in the sight of the nations" (verse 41).

The mountain in verse 40 would suggest the seat of strength, and would emphasise the importance of the strength of the position. The foundation of God stands. "All the house of Israel" is the whole assembly, and He omits none. If all are not present, God misses those who are absent. Our position now is we are going on to the land while we are maintaining first principles. The heavenly city is in prospect, and we are going on to that. Its light bears upon us reflectively, throws back its beams, "Her shining was like a most precious stone", Revelation 21:11. The light of the assembly at Pentecost stands also and we hold to that. We shall never get back to pentecostal days, but we are going on to the city, and we have that before our souls now.

God secures His portion, and according to verse 40 they were to yield Him His offerings. There are heave offerings and the first-fruits. The former were specially emphasised in the tabernacle system. The heave is the movement of the heart God-ward, and the wave offering is what comes before His eye.

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The covenant rightly understood brings about movement of the heart, and there is something for God now. The first-fruits would bring in Christ, "the first-fruits, Christ; then those that are the Christ's at His coming", 1 Corinthians 15:23.

God is now operating with a view to the deliverance of saints, and things are becoming more and more manifest; the good figs are very good, and bad figs are very bad. The profession is becoming worse, the vitality is leaving it, and it is becoming a mere shell. The truth regarding the Person of the Lord Jesus is being given up, but God is gathering out what is good with a view to the rapture. Many of the Lord's people are dissatisfied; they are sighing and crying, and if some of us who have more light had a deeper sense of our obligations, there would be more deliverance. Christ is the first-fruits for God, and every bit of increase we make is on that line. Then He says, "As a sweet savour will I accept you". It is ourselves that He accepts; it is not worship that He looks for, but worshippers. It is the persons that God wants; "The Father seeks such as His worshippers".

(6) EZEKIEL 34:15 - 31; EZEKIEL 36:24 - 32; EZEKIEL 37:1 - 19

These chapters, including those that intervene, treat of subjects that bear on our own position in a striking way, leading up to the work of God in us, the new birth, which is alluded to in John 3, and then life by the Spirit in resurrection. We have dwelt on the government of God in chapter 20, particularly emphasising the rod, and the bond of the covenant, the former having reference to discipline, and the latter to the fact that we are brought into a definite position by way of committal in relation to that most precious thing, the love of God. No

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position can be more blessed than that of being in the bond of the covenant.

In chapter 24, the sudden death of the prophet's wife is a sign pointing to the fact that Jerusalem and all that it stood for had to be relinquished. That principle comes out in the Acts, where we see the Jewish remnant lingering around Jerusalem, loth to give it up, but however precious it was in their eyes, it had to be accepted that God was dealing with it in judgment. There are those at the present time who cling to religious and other institutions, which have perhaps been the desire of their eyes, but the judgment of God has to be accepted upon them. There was to be no mourning; it is a remarkable sign. It is illustrated in connection with Paul, who was brought up according to the strictest sect of the Pharisees, and he was so held by the system that centred in the temple, that he would go to any length, was willing indeed to be cut off for his brethren, but he had to learn that the judgment of God was upon it all.

It is not a question of personal beauty or ornamentation as in chapter 5, where the hair is shaved off; it is not yourself, but someone else. The prophet's wife would be a sign of something else, something that has gained a hold upon the affections; but we have to learn that the judgment of God is upon it, "And I spoke unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died". It was very sudden and severe; she was the light of his eyes. All this should have a sobering effect upon us as christians; it typifies the judgment of God upon everything, however dignified according to man in this world; and it says we are not to mourn for it. The wife, as representing these religious systems which have such a place in the affections of people who are really the Lord's is really dying at the present time under their very eyes. The love which was there years ago

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is ebbing out and God is withdrawing His support. The prophet was to refrain from any sign of grief, showing how entirely free he was from natural feeling. How spiritual and how subject he was! It is what God would expect in His people now in regard of what is around.

There is order in the teaching. The life of many christians is bound up with religious organisations, and this chapter deals with what is religious and national. After the death of the wife we have the judgment of certain nations, Ammon, Moab, Edom and particularly that of Tyre, meaning that part of the world which is privileged on account of the light; in other words, Western Europe, and the extensions of Europe in the world. These territories have been wonderfully enhanced and augmented by the presence of the light of God in their midst, for the whole commercial system has been built up under the influence of the light. Men would not admit it, but it is nevertheless true that this section of the world has been greatly enhanced as compared with the East and Africa. It is because it is in relation to the divine territory, as it were. The succeeding chapters, therefore, take these circumstances into account.

The Revelation is doubtless the enlargement of this teaching, where the strong angel throws the great stone into the sea, indicating the violence with which the great city Babylon shall be cast down. Prior to that we read, "Great Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and has become the habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird". That does not mean her final destruction, which follows later. So it says, "Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins, and that ye do not receive of her plagues". The countries that have had a privileged place in relation to the light (Europe and its

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outgoings), all come within the radius of God's government; they are in divine territory, and hence the seriousness of the responsibility. Take this country, and the Continental countries; they are all christian, and all admit of the light of christianity. They have built up a great system of commerce, but Satan is behind it, and we have to see that it is doomed, although we have to do with it more or less in our path of responsibility. It is well to be able to distinguish between it as given us for sustenance and what it is as under satanic domination.

"Great Babylon has fallen". Centuries ago Babylon ruled every kingdom of Europe; but it has lost that place. As to the beast being ridden by the woman, it is not the beast in its last features, but a view of the beast from its inception. It covers the whole history of the beast and the history of the woman; it is not the last phase but the whole thing, "The beast which thou sawest was, and is not". Rome had the position of domination in the history of the beast, but she has not got it now. When the Pope of Rome spoke Europe quaked, but it is not so now. God has brought about its downfall. In the government of God it has fallen and has become 'a hold or cage'. Anyone with eyes can see that it is a cage. Protestantism is a tree in which the birds can lodge; these persons in it can say what they like and no one can check them. The Presbyterian synod has hardly any power; there are infidels in all the Protestant systems, but there is not power to deal with them. Rome has become a "hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hated bird". They are wicked and filthy, but they are caged; that is, they are held in by recognised limits of the teaching of Rome. You will find infidelity in Rome, but it is limited; in Protestantism men can say what they like. The whole history is summed up in the book of Revelation.

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What we have to see, as intimated in these chapters in Ezekiel, is that all this territory that has been influenced and enhanced by the light of christianity, is coming specially under the judgment of God. Countries that are in the sphere of light are dealt with first, and you see how God is dealing with them. It is to the end that we get out of and apart from what is working and hold ourselves free pending the coming of the Lord. The moral state of things is depicted in Revelation 18:2, 3, and then God calls upon us: "Come out of her, my people, that ye have not fellowship in her sins". Such movement is brought about by the exposure of the thing in your conscience. God brings light in so that we may be no longer held, "See therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness", Luke 11:35.

The Lord's coming is not referred to in Ezekiel, but we have what is dependent upon it. The city comes into view in chapter 40, and from thence onwards we have what refers to the millennial order of things. In the nations referred to from chapter 35 onwards, we have what corresponds with the territory that has already been referred to as benefiting by the light. Tyre had a good beginning. It shone at one time and evidently received favour from God, but it soon departed from that and became proud. The pride of the princes is enlarged on, so that applying it to what is present, we can see that what was of God at the beginning has now become an immense system full of pride that God must pass judgment upon, "I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; and thou shalt be sought for, and shalt never be found again, for ever, saith the Lord Jehovah" (Ezekiel 26:21); there is not a vestige to be left of her greatness. The book of Revelation is intended to separate the saints, because the mind of God is disclosed with regard to the whole system.

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You leave it because you see the judgment of God is coming upon it.

The allusion to Jezebel in the address to Thyatira bears on the religious side: she "calls herself prophetess", the national or the worldly side of things is developed later. The opening of the seals brings in preliminary judgment and finally we reach the point where "the kingdom of the world of our Lord and of his Christ is come", Revelation 11:15. The city is subjected to a great earthquake. The city represents the world, "where also their Lord was crucified" (Revelation 11:8), and if you love the Lord you see that, and you refuse to be identified with it. Every time you take the Lord's supper you are reminded of it.

After the prince of Tyre is destroyed, much is made of Egypt. It is undoubtedly the world of the flesh, the resources of the flesh, and has its bearing on those who live in natural things. We may not aspire to political honours, or social, but we may live in what is natural, and we have to see that God's judgment is upon that also. Egypt is the place of earthly resources, with its river and so on. We are all apt to live in these natural things, and it is a solemn thing to see that the judgment of God is on the whole system although these things in themselves are legitimate. To go in for them in an Egyptian sense, however, is evil. Your family has to be viewed accordingly. You look at your child as given back to you in the death of Christ, but how many of us are prone to bring our children up on the principles of the world! There are those who do not aspire to political honours, yet they are making much of their natural things, perhaps even thinking it is according to God to do so, but it is Egyptian, and has to be judged in the light of these chapters; it is to be regarded as uncircumcised.

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In chapter 33 we might well note in passing what is recorded in verses 30 - 32. It has a very pointed reference to listening to the things of God, "They come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people ... and behold, thou art unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not". How often, after a meeting, a remark is made as to what a nice time it was, but with no thought of doing the things, doing them like Ezekiel, so that they become part of one. The epistle of James speaks of "a hearer of the word and not a doer", and often such are loud in their praise. One has to be afraid of people who are on this line because it is very doubtful, in such a case, how deep the truth has got. The word comes, and it sobers you; then you are not prone to praise the one through whom it comes, but to take things home and get to God instead of flattering the preacher.

In chapter 34 we have the shepherds, "Prophesy against the shepherds". The Spirit has in view those who are in the position of caring for the sheep. They are not to escape in their unfaithfulness. The Lord, of course, is the Shepherd for us. John emphasises that, and it is a great thing to have an apprehension of the true Shepherd, and avoid the false ones, who feed themselves and not the flock. In verse 22 Jehovah says, "I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey ... And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd". It is a most striking passage as corresponding with our own times, and marks how God has brought in the true Shepherd. The Lord opens that up in John 10. The man in John 9 is cast out, and the Son of God takes him up; then the Lord develops the truth of the Shepherd. That is what the Lord would emphasise to us, "one shepherd",

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because there is a great tendency to set one person against another ("I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ", 1 Corinthians 1:12). The principle of John is "one shepherd". However dignified a person may be through whom you get light, it comes from the Lord, for He is the Shepherd. The spirit of the shepherd is greatly needed today. Here it speaks of the shepherds pushing with their horns, and goading his people, but the Lord was tender and loving. "Has Paul been crucified for you?", Paul says. No one has been crucified for you except Jesus. So it is a question of hearing His voice in ministry, and the more we hear His voice in that way, the more we would appreciate those through whom He ministers. Scripture makes allowance for that; they are to be regarded with esteem.

Consequent upon the introduction of the one Shepherd we read, "And I will make with them a covenant of peace". It brings in the idea of peace, a thing which you cannot get in this world. The Lord in sending out the seventy said, "And into whatsoever house ye enter, ... And if a son of peace be there", Luke 10:5, 6. It is a principle underlying the assembly; those who are to form it are sons of peace. The world is full of trouble, there is no peace there, but the assembly normally is marked by peace. Luke works it out, first in the reference to "On earth peace" (Luke 2:14), and later he speaks of "a son of peace". The local companies of God's people are to be marked by sons of peace. Then we have also "peace in heaven", Luke 19:38, and the local companies reflect therefore what is in heaven. God, who is the God of peace, enters into the covenant with us; "I will make with them a covenant of peace", Ezekiel 34:25. The thought of sons of peace is a very practical one because of local troubles that arise, and the underlying fact that sons of discord

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are in evidence. There is not yet peace on earth, but peace in heaven, and peace in the local companies reflects what is there.

(7) EZEKIEL 36:24 - 32; EZEKIEL 37:1 - 19

In these chapters we have come definitely to the work of God in His people. Hitherto we have been occupied in the main with His dealings governmentally, dealings perhaps that were external. John 3 has a direct allusion to what we now have before us. It is good to see how God triumphs, and that in all His dealings with us He is not attempting to improve the flesh. There is a wholly new start, and the correspondence with John's gospel is perhaps more striking here than elsewhere, especially as chapter 36 is directly alluded to in John 3.

The work of God in us is marked by certain instincts from the outset, instincts that may not always be intelligible to those who possess them. Jacob when born is a type of one who is a subject of the work of God, he laid hold of his brother's heel. It cannot be said that he was intelligent as to what he did, for he was a babe, but he had instincts of life; a work of God was there; he displaces in principle the man first born after the flesh. And that is what marks everyone who is born again; there may not be at the outset much intelligence as to what has taken effect in the soul, but there are instincts, and the people of God take account of these instincts, and are thereby assured of the work of God. The principle is one of displacement of the man born after the flesh, typified in Esau.

Chapter 37 has to do more with what is collective; it involves resurrection; we are risen. In chapter 36 it is the work of God which fits us for the sphere of resurrection. We have the two sides in John's gospel; the individual believer is there treated of up to the

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end of chapter 9. In chapter 7 the Spirit is known as come down from a glorified Christ in heaven; in chapter 8 the Lord says (verse 12), "I am the light of the world; he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life"; the believer now moves in relation to Christ. Chapter 9 shows the believer as isolated through being true to the light he has, the light of life. The Lord says to him, "Thou, dost thou believe on the Son of God?". He answers, "And who is he, Lord ... ?" and the Lord says, "Thou hast both seen him, and he that speaks with thee is he". Now this is the end of the individual side; he has arrived at the thought of the Son of God, the One who is declared to be "Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead". Romans 1:4. Hence the succeeding chapters of John to the end of the eleventh, bring out the power of the Son of God in resurrection. "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it". He is glorified in the raising up of the dead. Chapters 10 and 11 treat of the resurrection, and then chapter 12: 1, 2, shows the company figuratively risen. So we have life in these chapters treated not so much in connection with the work of God in us in a moral way but with resurrection. For us to be risen is, of course, by faith; it is not exactly the work of God in us, but the work of God in Christ; it is what we understand now. When we are actually risen it will not be by faith; what is actual is not by faith. He raises us actually by the Spirit.

The man in chapter 9 is a sample of one who has traversed the road which leads to life. "I give them life eternal", John 10:28. In describing the bride in The Song of Songs it says, "Thy hair is as a flock of goats, on the slopes of mount Gilead", Song of Songs 4:1. I think that means that each of them

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had had separate relations with God. A goat is a creature that isolates itself, and the saints are viewed by the Lord collectively as a flock of goats. In John 10 it is a flock of sheep, but the Lord sees previous history as described in the man who was isolated and cast out. The company is formed by those who have a separate, isolated experience. We are not converted in bunches; each one has to judge himself. There has to be the separate experience of isolation and self-judgment, and then we are set together as a flock of goats in which expression the Lord emphasises the isolation that we have to experience prior to our collective relations. I doubt if any of us is rightly in the company unless as having this experience with God. It is secret individual relations with God that make moral fibre in the christian; he is of positive value in the company then. "God maketh the solitary into families". When one is cast out the Lord takes him up. Another thought is expressed in The Song of Songs in regard to the hair: "The locks of thy head like purple", Song of Songs 7:5. If on the one hand there is individual dealing with God, there is also suffering. The man in John 9 suffered. The purple indicates suffering. It is the royal colour; "If indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him", Romans 8:17. This is the time of suffering.

The "new spirit" in Ezekiel 36:26 is not the Holy Spirit; it is your spirit; verse 27 refers to God's Spirit, an additional thought. The former is that part of you which is in direct relation to God; that is what man's spirit is: "the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit", Romans 8:16. Verse 26 goes with the new birth in John 3 as directly born anew; you are born from top to bottom. The whole moral being is affected; it is not simply something in me, but I am affected. Therefore my spirit is changed. There is nothing that impresses you more than a man's

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spirit. It is the answer to Philippians 1:19: "The supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ". It is difficult to say that always marks you, because if it did there would be no room for anything else; you would be perfect. "Except any one be born anew", refers to the whole man; it is from the outset. It is the same word as is used by Luke in chapter 1: 3, from the very first, or "from the origin". The man is changed; therefore your identity is changed in that you do not recognise the flesh any more. It is not that you have another spirit; you have a new spirit, you are born anew. You are affected in your being by the work of God.

You have the beginning of things in new birth and then the next thing is the Son of man is lifted up. That deals with the "old man", what I was. Jesus was made sin for us. The serpent of brass was like the thing that sinned, and Jesus was made sin in wondrous grace. All that I was as born in the flesh is dealt with, morally of course, in the Son of man lifted up, and that makes way for God to give the Spirit. It is on the ground of your faith in the lifted-up Son of man that you get the Spirit, not on the ground of being born again, which is the sovereign act of God.

John's gospel begins at the end of the wilderness journey, because he is dealing with the subject of life. Emphasis is laid on the Spirit. So in Ezekiel 37:1 we read, "The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and Jehovah carried me out in the Spirit". It is not simply that Jehovah spoke to him, but that He carried him out in the Spirit. In chapters 3 to 6 of John's gospel the Lord is dealing with what is entirely spiritual in the great question of life, and many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him, because this subject depends on the Spirit. The Spirit is spoken of more in Ezekiel than in any other prophet. The natural man is shut out.

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It is a spiritual matter. The body of the book has reference to the governmental dealings of God, then he comes to this great subject of life, and the Spirit is emphasised.

New birth is not exactly life, because life in Scripture is in power and enjoyment. In Genesis 1 the seed of the fruit is in itself, but the life in it begins to be operative only when it begins to take on from its environment. Now the first feature of the environment in John 3 is in the uplifting of the Son of man. All that lay upon me, the liabilities of my sin, have been dealt with effectively in the uplifted Son of man. It is after you have the Son of man lifted up that faith comes in (verse 15); earlier it is not faith, it is a question of the work of God. God having dealt with me in the death of Christ, there is something to believe. I am not called upon to believe what is wrought in me, but in something outside of me. There is no efficacious faith save by the new spirit. Many believed on Him because of the signs; it was not efficacious faith. Faith does not take account of what is visible, the signs, but of the things that are invisible.

In verse 11 the Lord says: "We speak that which we know", you are now in the presence of Jesus speaking and testifying. All that is for your faith, and then the next thing is the love of God. That is the next thing in the environment. You are beginning to take on from the environment just as any seed does. It is dependent on the heat of the sun and moisture, and I think all these things are set out in the subsequent teaching of the Lord.

In chapter 4 the living water is introduced, but that is not what you are to believe in. You believe His words, "The words which I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life" (chapter 6: 63). That is, the natural man is completely shut out. Peter says to Him, "To whom shall we go? thou hast words of life

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eternal". Peter desired what the Lord had, the words.

When you come to Ezekiel 37 it is "the whole house of Israel" (verse 11), all the land of Israel. Chapters 36 and 37 as applying to christians involve the two parts of John's gospel. The first dealing with us individually, and the second, beginning at chapter 10, taking account of what is collective.

In the valley in Ezekiel 37:1 we are able to take account of each other from the standpoint of the sovereign work of God. He works in us and brings us into an entirely new sphere. The assembly on the line of His purpose would answer to that, where all things are of God. The next thing is unity in life. The stick of Ephraim and Judah become one, as it were, in the hand of Christ. It is the most perfect expression of unity you could get, and it is the only way to bring about that unity we all so desire to see. We have the same instincts, and what can He not do? He has a weapon now; He has that by which He can effect things, and in His hand they become one stick. John 10 comes in on that line; the sheep know Him and He knows them, and there is unity in the enjoyment of life; there is one flock. It speaks of a "holy flock" in chapter 36: 38, "As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her set feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am Jehovah". That is what we ought to aim at in our fellowship, "flocks of men". There is another beautiful thought in that chapter. There is "no more the reproach of famine" (verse 30). There is plenty to eat and delight in. In verse 26 you have the preparation, by the work of God, for this new life. If you think of christendom today, you think of spiritual barrenness, the reproach of famine. Now here when God begins to work and life is brought in, there is no more reproach of famine. You will observe the chapter begins with

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the "Mountains of Israel", and then all the features of the land are spoken of, so that they should be fit for this new life. God works to bring in these conditions, and then He brings us into them. It says, "I will increase them with men like a flock". These would be living men, and they are described as a holy flock. There would not be much famine if we were in the good of that. If we expect God to work now, the great thing is to have the conditions of life; He will work if the conditions are there, "Give ye them to eat", Matthew 14:16. It is a reproach to us that there should be no food. The Lord's supper would correspond to the set feasts in verse 38. We come in, in that way, as a holy flock, as outwardly assembled. We come together in assembly to partake of the Supper.

Chapter 37 is collective: "These bones are the whole house of Israel". The second part of John's gospel gives the collective side. In chapter 13 the Lord washes their feet. It is to bring out the results of the work of God. He has the assembly in view; it is collective, and therefore in chapter 14 He speaks to the company. As we walk in the light of the assembly we come in for the gain of the Spirit as viewed in that chapter. You realise the good of the Comforter if you keep the Lord's commandments. It is His operations in the company that supply the conditions of life.

We have referred to the resurrection of Christ in connection with chapter 8, the growth of hair suggesting inherent power as well as external power. This chapter 37 is the resurrection of the people. Romans contemplates the resurrection of Christ as apprehended in the gospel, but in Colossians we read, "In which ye have been also raised with him" (chapter 2: 12). I think of this chapter on that line. Colossians deals with life and our being quickened with Him, not yet raised up as in Ephesians. In the

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former epistle resurrection is by faith; we take the ground of resurrection because Christ is risen; but quickening is not by faith; we are made to live actually by the Spirit.

What we have arrived at in chapter 37 is very beautiful; they dwell in the land; they have food, there is unity and blessing. Thus you can see how God has wrought. On these lines as saints become spiritual, they come to see what life is.