Psalm 45I; 2 Samuel 23:1 - 4; Daniel 4:24 - 26; Romans 5:1 - 18

Tonight I should like to speak of Christ in relation to the kingdom, believing that Romans 5 stands for the kingdom. So, beloved friends, I feel free to touch on the two passages in the Old Testament because the first one indicates what the king is like, what kind of person the king is, and the second indicates what the kingdom is for. And then in Romans 5 we get the kingdom enlarged in its reference to christians.

Now, beloved friends, I think I have indicated what I should like to dwell upon by the Lord's help and one feels that one always carries the sympathies of God's people in speaking directly of Christ. David does speak of Christ. You will all remember that the passage begins "Now these be the last words of David". David was a wonderful speaker, a wonderful singer. He was said to be the sweet psalmist of Israel. He had wonderful things to say in his psalms; wonderful things to say about Christ. Psalm 45 in an especial way indicates the substance of the Psalms in that respect; he gives an account of what is going on in his heart and of what he said concerning the king, and what he said was in perfect accord with what he thought. His thoughts and his words had Christ as their theme. He said "My heart is welling forth with a good matter". It was spontaneous, his heart welled forth with a good matter and his affections were stirred as he was led to see Christ, which he did; for all the men of faith saw Christ. David saw Christ and in occupation with Him he said, "My heart is welling forth with a good matter ... my tongue is the pen of a ready writer". His tongue was in perfect keeping with his heart and his heart was full of Christ, and his heart welled forth with a good matter. It is not always with us that our hearts well forth with a good matter, for out of the heart of man everything proceeds which is

corrupt and bad. A new source had entered into his heart and welled forth with a good matter and what he spoke about was the King. He says, "I speak of the things which I have made touching the king". Now that to my mind sets before us what you get from David, he was the sweet psalmist of Israel, he spoke of Christ, and he goes on to say, "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer". He then goes on to expatiate on the beauties of the King. That was what David was engaged with; therefore, when you come to his last words you may depend upon it that they are not in any way inferior to the words that marked him in his lifetime. As the psalmist he was engaged with Christ and he is going to speak his closing words, and what were they about? About the King. I take it that David was perfectly qualified to give an account of the King and it appears to me that christians should become acquainted with the King. David gives us an account of the King and he goes on to tell us what the King should be, not only from his own experiences, but from what Jehovah had told him. He says, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me". What did He say? "He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds". Now you get not only David's personal estimate but God's conception of the King. He says, He must be just and must rule in the fear of God. I do not dwell on it -- my thought is simply to seek to indicate to you what the King is. I wish to engage you with Christ viewed as the King. The Lord is just and is the very embodiment of justice. He rules in God's fear and His rule is marked by infinite justice. I only bring that forward so as to encourage you to consider Christ as viewed as the King. You can come to Christ with the utmost confidence that He answers in every respect to God's King. David did not answer as he did not rule always in justice. There were very many discrepancies in his rule but there are no shortcomings with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ answers perfectly to God's requirements

in every respect: He rules in the fear of God, and He is a morning without clouds. One experience which a great many pass through and which is conducive to spiritual health and prosperity is indicated by the horror of great darkness which fell upon Abraham. I know that there are very many of God's people in that state, in a state of darkness and bondage. What is Christ? A morning without clouds. David says, "He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds". It is very wonderful when your soul is in a state of darkness to have Christ arise upon you, as the light of the morning, even a morning without clouds. That is what He is. I only touch on that so as to encourage your hearts to exercise faith in that Person. He dispels the darkness directly you place implicit confidence in Him. He is as a morning without clouds: the mists and fogs disappear.

I know what I am saying: there are many souls filled with doubts and the result of doubt is discouragement, but in the presence of Christ all that disappears. Faith brings you into the presence of Christ and the clouds disappear and the experience of your soul is as one arising in the early morning when the sky is without a cloud. The more clearly you see Christ the more every doubt and fear disappears. It is a wonderful thing to be in a state of soul as a morning without clouds. That is what Christ is in resurrection. That is God's conception of a king and that is what Christ is. The Lord Jesus Christ is a king according to God's own heart; there is not a shade of divergence between God's thought of a king and Christ. Has your soul ever entered into the presence of Christ in that light, Christ in resurrection? Having referred to the end of Romans 4 1 feel free to touch on this, "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification". He was raised on our behalf, He was raised for our justification, but chapter 6 shows another side of the resurrection; He was raised by the glory of the Father -- He was raised because the Father's affection was set upon Him. His Father's delight was in Him; He was raised by the glory of the Father. That is another view entirely; but the end of

chapter 4 shows Christ raised on our behalf. He is raised for your clearance. God has so considered our consciences that He has raised Christ for us. He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification; but when you come to chapter 6, He is not raised for our justification; He is raised by the glory of the Father. The Father's pleasure was in that Man, and that Man went into death, and the Father must have Him out of death. The Father's pleasure is in Christ, and if Christ goes into death the Father must have Him out of death. Directly Christ is raised you get the thought of the King. I do not say for a moment that resurrection in itself takes us to heaven. Christ Himself was forty days on the earth before He went to heaven. He was as much risen from the dead during the forty days of His sojourn here as He is now in heaven. Resurrection set Him in a position in which He could go back to heaven at any moment as having accomplished the counsels of God. As risen, Christ goes into heaven with every qualification of King; every qualification necessary to be the King was witnessed in the person of Christ and then He goes to heaven.

In Jacob's last words to his twelve sons in Genesis 49 he gives an account of the twelve tribes. He said, "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days", and thus to one tribe after another he has something to say; and when he comes to Naphtali he says, "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words". The animals in creation afford to God a mode of expression, and the hind undoubtedly is used to indicate to us the resurrection of Christ. The hind is let loose, she bounds, she is an active animal, and would suggest Christ as risen from the dead. It is a wonderful thing to get in your soul a conception of Christ as a hind let loose, let free. He went down into the domain of death but He came up out of it in all the glory and strength of His own Person, He burst the bands; as a hind let loose He came forth. It says, "He giveth goodly words". Did you ever sit and listen to the goodly words of Christ risen? Christ risen is the Speaker. He bounds from the grave, He

comes up as a hind let loose, He can go anywhere in His own domain, He can go to the very highest point. In one of the gospels it says He "was taken up into heaven", Mark 16:19; in Luke 24:51, it says He was carried up into heaven, and in John 20:17, He says, "I ascend". Christ is as a hind let loose and He goes to the highest point in heaven. He is installed as King there and He sends the Holy Spirit who appeared here as cloven tongues as of fire, and who sat upon each of those assembled at Pentecost -- what for? He is going to give goodly words. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to speak to man and so He gives goodly words. The gospel may be taken as the goodly words of Christ. I think the gospel is what Christ has spoken and there are no such words in all man's eloquence. There are no compositions equal to the gospel. I need not remind you that there were many great works of literary men and speakers, but what could be compared with the goodly words of Christ? I take the gospel to be the goodly words of Christ. Are they not goodly? Are the terms of the gospel not goodly? How they meet man! You remember how the Lord Jesus Christ spake when He was baptized and was anointed by the Spirit -- it says they marvelled at the words of grace which proceeded from His lips. His words were goodly. He was announcing the glad tidings. God had anointed Him to preach the gospel. Now He has gone up to heaven and the Spirit comes and He speaks, not now personally but nevertheless He speaks and His words are goodly. The apostles were His mouthpieces in the Acts and as long as His Spirit continues on earth we have a continuance of Christ speaking.

I read the passage in the book of Daniel because it indicates to us what the kingdom is. David tells us about the King and Daniel gives us an idea of the object of the kingdom. It is given in a few words. Nebuchadnezzar was the ideal king; according to the image he was the head of gold. Now, he was exalted, he was self-occupied. In the next chapter after Daniel's wonderful interpretation of the king's vision, Nebuchadnezzar makes an image of gold, which was undoubtedly suggested by the vision; he made

an image of gold and called upon everybody to worship it. The image typified his own personal greatness. God says, you have to discover that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men. You may say, Nebuchadnezzar deserved that lesson, but do we not all deserve that? We all have not an empire like Nebuchadnezzar but if we had we should be just like Nebuchadnezzar, you may depend upon that. Your empire may not extend beyond your own body but that is ruled by you and you take pride in it, naturally the greater the empire is in extent, the more the pride; but the pride that is in an individual in regard to his own body is the same as is seen in the emperor; so each has to discover that the Most High rules. Have you discovered that? You may ask me who the Most High is? It is not difficult to answer. If you go to the Epistle to the Ephesians you can see it is Christ. Evidently the Most High is a Person who is the highest, and He has gone far above all heavens. There is no one higher than Christ, He is really the Most High. Every individual has to recognize that He rules. Nebuchadnezzar had to come to it and you have to come to it. If you do not come to it now while He has blessing for you, you will come to it later when it will be judgment; for God has decreed "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord", Philippians 2:10 - 11. Nebuchadnezzar had to learn through bitter experience. He was driven from men, and had to eat grass like the beasts of the field that he might know that the Most High rules. It was well for Nebuchadnezzar. I do not believe there was ever a king outside of Israel that God took such an interest in as He did in Nebuchadnezzar. This man, Nebuchadnezzar, was of great interest to Jehovah. It is a wonderful thing if God undertakes to discipline you. In the presence of God we are just beasts; so it is well when God puts His hand on us and the result is we learn that the Most High rules. Christ is the Most High and He rules. God has given Him that place, He has given Him the highest place and every knee is going to bow to Him. Nebuchadnezzar was driven from men for seven years, he "did eat grass as oxen, and his

body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws" -- a terrible experience to go through. His reason left him, but God's hand was with him and there was hope for him. I speak in that way to encourage you. If God's hand is there, there is hope for you, but you must come to the point of surrender to Christ. There is no blessing for man until he surrenders to Christ. And Daniel says, "Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule". So will yours. He gives you His own kingdom, and God's kingdom is very much greater than your kingdom, and He purposes to give us the kingdom in all His infinite goodness, but you will never experience that until you bow to Christ; not until then will God ever give you a footing in His kingdom, there can be no tolerance of your will in God's kingdom.

"And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule". The stump remains, that was a great mercy. I wish to call your attention to this because I believe that the state of many persons who are regarded as believers is due to the fact that there is no surrender to Christ. He says, "Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee", but where? You know we often hear that the sheep of Christ never perish, but there is no present blessing if there is the retention of our own wills. "Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule". It is after you discover that the heavens rule that your kingdom is made sure to you. You have not anything while your own will rules. While you retain your own will you have no guarantee of anything, but directly you surrender to Christ, directly He is known as King, you have the guarantee -- He says, 'Your kingdom is made sure'. Is your kingdom made sure? Not if your own will is retained. You may wonder why I am dwelling on this; I know that there is no guarantee for present blessing and enjoyment while you pursue your own way. Nebuchadnezzar lost his kingdom and all his enjoyment for seven years. Many a

man has shone amongst God's people until he began to tolerate his own will and he had to be driven out from among them. You have to learn that Christ rules. "After that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule". God will not have any other kind of rule. The king that rules in heaven is described by David. God has a just ruler, a ruler as a morning without clouds, and He is not going to tolerate any other.

It says in verse 36, "At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me". Is that not an apt description of the believer who surrenders to Christ? His reason returned, his brightness returned. I have seen christians, who had gone on well and positively, allow their own wills and then it did not look as though they had any reason. A man who has been controlled by Christ who turns and follows his own will has lost his reason, but in returning and surrendering to Christ he says, "My reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me". It seems to me that there is very great encouragement in this remarkable case of God's discipline and the whole point was that Nebuchadnezzar had to discover that the Most High rules, and that is Christ. Christ rules in heaven and God will not therefore tolerate any other.

Daniel shows us that man's will has to be broken, and that the heavens rule. Romans 5 enlarges on this, and we see the positive side of the kingdom, that is, that everything that God has got now for us, for believers, is administered through Christ. I think that each one can readily take in that the King is not only to subdue but He is an administrator, not only a suppressor of evil but an administrator of good. You take Joseph as an example, he was practically in the place of the king and he administered good. He had all the wealth of the world at his disposal; all the corn of the land was under the hand of Joseph and it was all administered by him; so you have in Joseph another picture of the King. He is truly for the suppression of evil and for the subordination of one's will, but he is the great administrator.

Saul of Tarsus was met by the Lord on the way to Damascus and struck down. He had to learn what Nebuchadnezzar learned, that Christ was ruling. Saul bowed his knee and said, "Lord", recognizing the lordship of Christ; but the Lord did not leave him there. He had a servant in Damascus, Ananias, who was under his direct control; He sent Ananias to Saul and he ministered to him. Now that is what Christ does for us, everything God has for us comes to us through Christ. He may use vessels on earth but it is all by Christ. He administers blessing when you submit to Him, so the apostle says, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God" -- but by whom? "Through our Lord Jesus Christ", and the end of the chapter shows we have life. He says, "Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord", so that Christ is not only an absolute ruler to break your will but He administers all the blessing of God to us, He has all the corn of Egypt at His disposal and you will never want. I am sure there are believers here in this room who can testify to it -- since we have bowed the knee to Christ we have found that He has a bountiful hand. The Lord Jesus Christ administers to the needs of our souls in a bountiful way. He meets us in every possible exigency of our path.

It says, "So might grace reign ... unto eternal life".

It is given to us through Christ, not exactly in Christ in this chapter but through Christ -- it is a question of administration -- it comes to us through Christ, so we may readily and absolutely submit to Christ. It is wisdom.

"Wisdom is justified of her children". They speak of wisdom and recognize the authority of Christ and in result wisdom is proved because Christ does care for us and we shall never want. Can you not testify to it that you have never wanted? David said he had not seen the seed of the righteous begging bread. He had not seen it, I certainly have not seen it. I take the seed of the righteous to be those who are related to Christ, they never have to beg. You will never have to beg if you are related to Christ. The believer does not have to beg. The Lord Jesus Christ has in His

hand all the wealth of God and if you have to beg it shows that you are no relation of Christ. We are children of Abraham the righteous, and we do not have to beg. Many christians are in poverty but it is because they do not know what is in Christ.

May God bless these few words in regard to Christ.

SALVATION AND PRESERVATION IN CHRIST

Genesis 47:27 - 31

In reading these verses my thought is to show that salvation and preservation for God's people now are found in Christ as rejected by Israel and accepted among the gentiles. Joseph's possessions in Egypt foreshadow the present place that Christ has gained in the affections of the gentiles. Egypt was not strictly the place of glory for him who foreshadowed Christ. Canaan should have been the sphere of his glory, for it was Canaan that God had promised to Abraham; therefore if Joseph, who represents Christ, is glorified in Egypt it is evident that there was no place for him for the moment in Canaan. He was rejected there. And what I wish to say is, that although rejected in Canaan, rejected by his brethren, salvation for the remnant of Israel is found in him and preservation; and moreover, salvation for those who lived in Egypt -- salvation for the Egyptians was found in Joseph. Now that is what I should like to make plain for it seems to me that, although in a general way God's people are clear enough that salvation is in Christ, they are not so clear that it is in Christ rejected.

And hence many true believers in Christ retain their place in this world. So long as you maintain your place in the world out of which Christ has been rejected you will never realize salvation. I do not say that you will not go to heaven, because everyone who believes on Christ in the present dispensation will have a place in heaven; but I do say that, unless you accept the rejection of Christ, present salvation will not be yours. Now I do not say that you will not have a good conscience in regard to God because faith in Christ gives you that. Faith in Christ risen involves clearance for the guilty sinner; that may occur in Egypt, viewed as the world, or it may occur in Canaan, viewed as the sphere out of which Christ has been rejected; but, beloved friends, that in itself is not salvation. It is a most blessed thing for man to be conscious that there is not

anything between God and him; and faith in Christ risen involves that for the guiltiest person on earth. Christ risen from the dead means that God has been glorified in His death, for we are told that He was "raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father", Romans 6:4. He is raised from the dead in right of what He is in His own person and in right of the virtue of His atoning sacrifice. God has raised Him according to Romans 4:25 for our justification. That involves that God was perfectly glorified in His vicarious sacrifice. In chapter 6 He is raised by the Father's glory -- that refers to His person. The fourth refers to His work -- the sixth to His person. Believing in Christ risen, the guiltiest sinner may see himself as clear as Christ is in the presence of God. I should like to establish everyone in the light of that. I would not like to detract from any joy you have in your soul in that blessed light. I should encourage you in it, beloved friends. But what I wish to show you is this -- that salvation is in a rejected Christ. If you asked me for the scripture I would quote Acts 4:11 - 12. Peter is speaking to the leaders of the world, to the leaders of Israel, and he says, "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". Whose name is that? The name of the rejected Christ. It is in His name that salvation is. And those who prefer to retain their place in the system of things out of which Christ has been rejected do not realize salvation.

Well now, I wish to go back in the book of Genesis for a moment in order to show you the beginning of the section from which I have read. You must remember that the Scriptures were not written in chapters, they were written in sections, and this section of scripture really begins with chapter 37. Chapter 37 begins with the generations of Jacob. "These are the generations of Jacob", and the only person mentioned is Joseph. I do not know if you have noticed it but it is worthy of inquiry as to why it is, although Jacob had twelve sons, that when the Spirit of God undertakes

to give us the generations of Jacob, the only son mentioned is Joseph. You get no record of the generations of the other sons and children of Jacob until you come to chapter 46. That is to say this section of Scripture begins with Christ. Chapter 37 is Christ here in the flesh and when the Spirit of God undertakes to give us an account of the generations of Jacob the only person He can light upon that He can take account of is Christ. Every other man in Israel was unworthy of divine notice. "These are the generations of Jacob, Joseph". God, as it were, looking down from heaven upon the millions of men upon the earth finds that there is only one man He can take account of and that man is Christ. In all the myriads of Jacob's seed there is only one upon whom the eye of God can rest with complacency and that is Christ. Christ is taken account of by God as the only one worthy of mention. And the Spirit goes on to tell us that he was hated by his brethren but his father loved him. He was hated because his father loved him. Jacob loved Joseph and his brethren hated him all the more because his father loved him. So chapter 37 is the beginning of this section. Joseph is the only one whom God can mention. When you come to chapter 46 you find that the Spirit of God now mentions all the others; but, beloved friends, Christ has to be rejected, He has to die, and the intervening chapters record for us the rejection of Christ and the path of Christ figuratively and His glory in Egypt. All that took place in the intervening chapters. Christ is glorified in Egypt and now the gospel is preached. Joseph himself becomes the preacher. Now I allude to all that because I wish you to see clearly the present situation, which is this: Christ is glorified among the gentiles and everything of God is bound up with Joseph, with Christ as glorified among the gentiles. No nation under the sun had such privileges as Israel, but if they were to derive anything from God after the death and resurrection of Christ, and the setting aside of the nation, they must go out to the gentiles. Blessing henceforth was not in connection with Canaan but with Christ exalted and honoured among the gentiles.

When you come to chapter 46, Jacob is going down to Joseph. I wonder if there is any one here tonight who has never left Canaan. You may wonder why I say that you should leave Canaan, because you may have it in your mind that it is a sphere of blessing; but it cannot be if Christ is not there. It took Jacob a long while to learn that; his hopes, his faith were connected with Canaan, and rightly, because God had promised Canaan to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but Joseph was rejected. Ah, beloved friends, be the society what it may that you are connected with, be its history ever so ancient or so honourable, Christ is rejected, Christ is not there. You may find it hard to leave -- Jacob did. But tidings from Egypt moved him. What were the tidings? "Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt". The spirit of Jacob revived. Would God the light of Christ's glory among the gentiles would enter into our souls -- that is what moved Jacob. And Jacob found himself at Beer-sheba. I do not know if you have noticed Beersheba but it is the southern extremity of the land of Canaan, and Jacob was there -- it was the exit out of Canaan into Egypt. What must Jacob's feelings have been as he crossed the border of Canaan? The eyes of his heart would travel back into the territory promised by God to Abraham, Isaac and himself. Is it all over? Are the promises unavailing? Have they fallen to the ground? The God of Isaac appears to him there. Who is the God of Isaac? The God who raises the dead. Isaac is Christ risen. And God virtually said to Jacob at Beer-sheba, 'Jacob, do not be distressed; every promise I have made to Abraham, to Isaac and to yourself is to be fulfilled and shall be established in due season'. Not the God of Abraham, but the God of Isaac, the God who raises the dead -- the God of Isaac appeared to him at the southern extremity of Canaan, virtually saying to Jacob, 'Everything that you have cherished in your heart, every thought of God shall find its answer in the risen Christ, nothing can fall to the ground'. It is Jacob's extremity: he is about to die of hunger, the promise cannot feed him or sustain him in his soul. Christ figuratively is in Egypt, He is glorified there

and if you are to live you have to go down to Joseph. Joseph had plenty, all the corn, and that in abundance. No one could tell how much corn Joseph had. The famine prevailed everywhere. In Egypt it was no better than in Canaan, but everything centred in Joseph. Everything! The wisdom of Joseph had devised that which should be the sustenance of the life of the world. His name, Zaphnathpaaneah, signifies that he was the preserver of the life of the world. Everything the world required for its sustenance was in Joseph. All was in Joseph -- Egypt was as dependent on Joseph as Canaan. The gentiles today are as much dependent as the Jews. He is glorified among the gentiles but that does not mean the gentile world is any better than the Jewish. It is not among the kings of the gentiles, it is in the affections of God's people taken from among the gentiles that He is glorified. It is among those who have affections for Christ. And He is honoured among the gentiles and it is there that all the wealth of God is under His hand. Jacob had his face toward Egypt and directly he turned his face toward Joseph in Egypt God said, 'I will take account of you and all your posterity'. The only one worthy of notice is Joseph but in chapter 46 every one who belongs to him is mentioned -- not now rejecting Christ -- they are going out to Christ -- they are forsaking Canaan for Christ. What would do that but faith? Only faith would depend on God's promises. One cannot read the Acts without being struck how reluctant even the apostles were to leave Jerusalem and Judea, but faith went over all the barriers. Barnabas was one -- he went down to Antioch fearlessly. He was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit. Ah, beloved friends, he believed on Christ glorified among the gentiles. Was Christ not glorified at Antioch? We are told that there were those there who were ministering unto the Lord. Did they not glorify Him and honour Him? Barnabas was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and he recognized Christ among the gentiles. The Spirit of God tells us about Barnabas, and I think if you wish God to take account of you now and call you by name you have to turn your face towards Christ rejected in the

world but glorified in the faith of the gentiles. I only touch upon it, but directly Jacob and his family turn their faces to Egypt God takes account of them. He not only tells us about Jacob's sons but his sons' sons and his daughters. All are taken account of by God directly they turn their faces toward Joseph in Egypt. To my mind that is a wonderful picture of the present moment and I would inquire from everybody here as to whether you are clinging to any earthly system, any worldly system, for there is no salvation there. I am not depriving you of a good conscience. I wish to emphasize -- every one who believes in Christ risen is justified by God; but salvation is in a rejected Christ. Forgiveness is not in a rejected Christ -- it is in Christ risen; but you must accept Christ rejected in the world. The apostle says, "Neither is there salvation in any other", Acts 4:12. Who is that one? The one whom the builders rejected is become the head of the corner. So I say if you are connected with any earthly system, be it what it may, you will not find salvation there. You have got to go to Beer-sheba and Beer-sheba means that you are abandoning every earthly tie, every earthly association -- you are abandoning it all -- it is imperative. There is no choosing; if you are to live and be sustained in your soul you must go to Christ -- it is imperative -- no one could fail to see it in reading Genesis. What could Jacob have done? Famine reigned. It is easy to understand what famine involves, it involves death, and so he goes to Beer-sheba and that is where we have to go. We have to abandon every earthly hope, otherwise we shall die, because there is no food or sustenance in any earthly system today. Christ is outside. I am not making demands upon you but what I am presenting to you are facts presented in the Scriptures. Everything is bound up with Christ and Christ is not connected with any earthly system. He is outside of them all. If you want to five, if you want to be sustained, you must go out to Christ.

So he sends a message to Jacob -- "Tell my father of all my glory in Egypt". And he sends with the message a testimony to his power and to his wealth -- the wagons and

abundance of sustenance for Jacob and his household. But the point was they were to go down to Joseph in Egypt. Well, they go down and so they and their posterity are preserved on earth. Where are the Jews preserved today? Many efforts have been made to locate the lost tribes of Israel and we ourselves are acquainted with one of the tribes. Where do you think the true Israel of God is being preserved? Christ is preserving it. Who could do it but He? Who has the power to do it? The Lord has. Christ has power to feed and sustain the true Israel of God. They are found of Christ as glorified among the gentiles, they are found in the land of Goshen, in the best of the land. I am speaking for the moment of the remnant of Israel; for Jacob represented the Israel of faith abandoning the earthly Canaan for Christ rejected; and what do they find? What did they find in Egypt? Just turn for a moment to chapter 47, verse 11, where it says: "And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to their families". There it is -- I take it you see there the Israel of God preserved. Zaphnath-paaneah was the name given to Joseph by Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and the import of it is, the preserver of the life of the world. I have not any doubt that Joseph was that; at any rate he preserved the posterity of God's people upon the earth and these are the only people in whom God has any interest. God will preserve His own people; but not only is the Israel of God preserved by a risen Christ but the gentiles find refuge there -- the Egyptians came to Joseph. The Egyptians were suffering from the famine -- the famine prevailed everywhere in Egypt and Egypt was as dependent upon Joseph as his father and brethren, and they found sustenance in Joseph. And so tonight, beloved friends, may it be your position, by implicit faith in Christ, to know what it is to be blessed and to be nourished by Him in Egypt.

Then it says, "And they had possessions therein".

Some of you here tonight may think that christians have not very much; but then you do not know what they have. It is all a mystery to you. You know the gospel speaks about "The unsearchable riches of Christ". What do you know about that? You are a stranger to all that. Joseph's father and brethren found something in Joseph; they got possessions. You know christians do not go in for the possessions -- that is really where the difficulty lies with many. Jacob had possessions in Canaan, he did not have Canaan, he lost Canaan for the moment, but he had the assurance in his soul before he left that everything was secured in the God of Isaac; but when he came down into Egypt he had possessions in Egypt. Where do you think all the possessions he tonight for christians? All in the Spirit. They are in Christ, I admit, but they are laid hold of and enjoyed through the Spirit. It says: "And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen". Goshen was a place especially set apart for Jacob.

And then it says: "And they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly". Now, I think, these are things, beloved friends, that should mark us. You know a man who has possessions in the Spirit of God is not looking for them in this world. It is as sure as possible if a man is endeavouring to possess something in this world he has not possessions in the Spirit. Now Barnabas had some. "Barnabas ... a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet", Acts 4:36, 37. They were earthly possessions, they were legitimate possessions, they were possessions he was entitled to, doubtless, as a man here in this world; but he sold them. What did he do with the money? He laid it at the apostles' feet. How do you think he did that, how could he do that cheerfully? He had other possessions. The Spirit of God had come to Barnabas "For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit", Acts 11:24. The Spirit is the earnest of the inheritance and in the Spirit we have spiritual possessions and in virtue of these we sell the earthly ones. So Barnabas sold what he had and laid it down at the apostles' feet. The

apostles were the representatives directly of Christ, hence Barnabas laid the money at the feet of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ knew how to reckon the value of that offering of Barnabas. You need not think for a moment that Barnabas lost it, he got it back with interest. The Lord is the banker who pays the best interest on deposits -- and here was the interest: Barnabas was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. Did not Simon offer money for the power of imparting the Spirit? The Lord Jesus Christ gives you that which is infinitely beyond money. He gives the Spirit, and with the Spirit you have the possessions. And if the believer has not these possessions he is hankering after the world. The believer has not only possessions therein but he multiplies.

It says, "And grew, and multiplied". It is a wonderful thing that here the people of God who were about to die in Canaan are now cared for by Christ in a hostile country; for there was no love between the Egyptians and Canaanites. Jacob was a shepherd and a shepherd was an abomination to the Egyptians. There was no natural love between an Egyptian and Jacob, but there was between Joseph and Jacob. Joseph loved his father and his brethren and so it is now. The gentiles as such have no love for us as God's people, not any more than the Jews; but Christ has love for us. Christ has an interest in us, He gives us the Holy Spirit, and in the Spirit you have possessions and there you grow. Did you ever see a christian grow? A true mark of the growth of a christian is that he loosens his hold on things here. Jacob was going to die and he did not want to be buried in Egypt. He had no interest in Egypt, neither has a believer. The only interest you have is this -- that there are some among the gentiles who believe in Christ. Canaan is the place of your hope; so Jacob requires an oath from Joseph. It is, as it were, that you were making a contract with Christ. Did you ever make a contract with Christ? He loves His people to draw near and make a proposition to Him. You have got the counsels of God at heart, every enlightened believer has the counsels of God at heart. You want to see the counsels effected. You are

nourished for the moment by His power and His wealth but another king is rising who knew not Joseph, and Canaan was to be the sphere of blessing. It was the sphere of the famine for the moment, but God never deviates from His counsels. Jacob says: "If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: but I will he with my fathers; and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him". He makes a contract with Joseph. That was in perfect accord with Joseph's own mind. You may depend upon it that the Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely more set upon the accomplishment of the promises to Abraham than you can be, but He does delight in having us express our interest in divine counsels. Jacob says, Do not bury me in Egypt. If you are going in for the things of Egypt today you cannot consistently require that you shall not be buried there. It is consistent if you are going in for this world that you should have an honourable burial and a monument; that is consistent; but if on the other hand the only interest among the gentiles for you is Christ and His people, there is no burial there. Canaan now is in prospect -- Canaan is the sphere of blessing, Canaan it was that God had spoken of as the inheritance; in Canaan eternal life shall be established; in Canaan man shall live for God, man out of the tomb shall five for God. Jacob says, 'That is what I want. Do not bury me in Egypt: but I will lie with my fathers; and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt'. Now you see faith and it is a picture of faith today in a christian who thinks only of the bringing to pass of God's counsels. God is the God of Isaac and that means He is the God who raises the dead and everything is to be on that footing in Canaan. God had assured Jacob of that at Beer-sheba, hence he says, 'Bury me with my fathers. There it is God will come in, there it is He will raise the dead, and I want to be there amongst them'. So we wish to be, we shall be, brought into the sphere of blessing in the power of Christ's resurrection;

but in the meantime we are enjoying the land of Goshen -- Christ is for us -- here He sustains us by His power.

In the next chapter we have a most delightful subject. He bowed himself upon the bed's head after securing Joseph's oath and now he blesses both the sons of Joseph. Why did he bless when he was dying? A perfect expression of faith in Scripture. "By faith Jacob, when he was a dying", when he was at the extremity of weakness, "blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff". That is faith when a man blesses when he is dying -- he has no outward strength, no outward power but faith in God and the God who raises the dead. He blessed both the sons of Joseph. Isaac had blessed Jacob and Esau in relation to things to come, in relation to present things. There is nothing outward for us -- Isaac's blessing had relation to things to come and Jacob blessed when he was dying -- nothing in this world. Faith connects everything with God's world and the blessing of Jacob descended on the heads of Joseph's sons in connection with God's world for Joseph.

I do not know that I have kept strictly to my point but I think you can see if you are to enjoy what is in Christ today you have to accept His rejection. It is useless to expect it if you cling to an earthly association. There are multitudes of believers in Christ who are mixed up with associations of this world but salvation is not there -- it is in connection with Christ risen and glorified among the gentiles, and if you are to have it you must accept the rejection and go to Beer-sheba and go to Egypt, that is to say, to Joseph and he will nourish you there, and you will have possessions and you will grow and become multiplied. May God grant it to us.

THE VOICE OF GOD AND THE VOICE OF FAITH

Hosea 6:1 - 9

I read these few verses mainly because they contain the voice of faith: On the one hand the voice Of God, and on the other hand the voice of faith. The voice of faith is first introduced in this chapter, but I suppose that before there can be the voice of faith, the voice of God must be heard in our souls. The Lord causes His voice to be heard in our souls to the intent that there should be an enunciation Of faith Godward. Now, if God speaks to us, He speaks very pointedly. Many seem to think that God is very indefinite, but those who have heard His voice testify that He is very direct and very pointed. He goes to the root Of the matter, and it is not at all likely that He should speak to you about things that are beyond you. It is more than likely that if God speaks to you, He will remind you of things that are immediate, that need calling attention to, things that are obviously of moment. That was the service the prophets rendered to the people. Their office was to call the attention of the people to certain things then existing, and it was essential that they should be noticed. Is that clear to you? "Have I hewed them by the prophets". That is a remarkable expression. The figure is that of hewing down trees. When we come to the Scriptures we find that the instrument by which God cuts is the word. "The word of God is quick and powerful ... to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do", Hebrews 4:12, 13. In other words, if God speaks to your soul through a vessel, a prophet, your soul is brought into direct touch with God. The vessel is Of no importance in that respect. When God speaks to you, everything is exposed. The dissecting instrument Of God is so keen and so sharp that everything is rooted out. Let

us recall the ministry of Samuel and the prophets which was to bring the word Of God unto the people of God. The Lord says, "Have I hewed them by the prophets". You may remember one instance of it in the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:17 - 40). God exposes everything; Elijah says, "How long halt ye between two opinions?" That was God's way Of addressing the conscience Of Israel at that time. "If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him". What a word that was. If some Of those seven thousand in Israel, unknown to Elijah, who had not bowed to Baal, were in the audience, they would have responded to the call of the prophet. Usually people that come to gospel meetings are exercised, though some may come out of curiosity. If you come persistently, it shows that you are exercised. Exercise of soul is very often covered by a thick veil, but when I observe people persistently coming to hear the preaching of the word Of God, I think that generally there will be results. The word Of God is loathsome to the flesh. It is a bore, and there is nothing attractive in it to the flesh. Many of God's people are hidden, and Elijah ought to have known that. God knew of them. They were not in public; if they had been Elijah would have known it. Even today many of the Lord's people are covered up. They come to hear the word Of God. What do you come for? There must be some bit of interest in your heart or you would not come. There must be something there, and that is what encourages one. Elijah called the people together and on that occasion, by the help Of God, he exposed the prophets of Baal. What a marvellous moment for the prophet of God, one man alone in the presence Of four hundred prophets of Baal. The people were halting between two opinions. If you are halting between two opinions, your leanings are against God. You may appear to be neutral, but your sympathies are sure to be against God, just as the people's sympathies were with Baal. Neutrality in the things of God is an utter impossibility. Let us suppose there were some of those seven thousand there in Israel who secretly refused Baal, refused to kiss him or to

bow the knee to him. How they would have appreciated Elijah and his call to the people: "How long halt ye between two opinions?" God had His mind about Baal. I know many here that are on the Lord's side because they have taken a public stand for Him. They are not hidden. If Elijah were here he would see them. There may be some here who are hidden. There is no doubt a resolution in your heart that you are not going to serve Baal, but you have not come out publicly for Christ, and taken a stand, yet you are secretly approving of what I am saying. The Lord says: "Have I hewed them by the prophets". God had His way in that respect. You will remember that Elijah took the four hundred prophets of Baal and slew them. That was direct wrath upon those prophets; the wrath of God executed by His prophet. But he did more than that, he hewed the people as well as the prophets, but in the case of the people, he hewed their consciences. That is what one would like to do. There is no work outside conscience work. The prophets were engaged in ploughing up the consciences of the people. The Lord said that men had laboured, the prophets had laboured. They had been ploughing for centuries. They had been hewing the consciences of the people by the word of God, and the greatest and the last of them, John the Baptist, continued this ministry. He went out to the wilderness and preached to the people, and by the word of God he effected conviction. There is nothing at all for God in your soul if you are not convicted of sin. Peter says, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord", Luke 5:8. Now John the Baptist says, "The axe is laid unto the root of the trees", Luke 3:9. That is the idea of hewing. The moment was come when the tree was to be cut down by the roots. Not at the centre but at the roots. Do you understand that? God goes to the very bottom. God intends you to be rooted and grounded in love. That is where the roots are to be. The root of the tree is shown by its fruit and if the fruit is bad (and, in the case of man after the flesh, it certainly is) the tree has to be cut down by the root. That is the idea of conviction. The word of God enters the soul,

and the whole moral being is ploughed up by the heart being rendered thoroughly unhappy and uneasy. I was saying elsewhere some time ago, that you never have a good conscience until you have had a bad one. When the word of God enters your soul, it brings home to you what you have been and what you are, and you smite your breast and say: "God be merciful to me a sinner", Luke 18:13. You may thank God for any vessel that brings the light of God to your conscience. It is a mercy to you.

In the beginning of the chapter we read "Come, and let us return unto the Lord", and what I want to show you by this, beloved friends, is that the word of God not only exposes you, but it brings to you the light of God, the God who is love. Look at the gospels, which are the unfolding of what is intimated in these few verses: "He hath torn and he will heal us". In a sense these few words put together contain the ministry of the Lord Jesus. The Lord exposes by divine light and then He ministers grace -- a wonderful thought. The law came in by Moses, but grace and truth came by or subsist in Jesus Christ. The Lord anoints -- He does all that is necessary for those who are wounded in spirit. He binds up the broken hearted. "He hath torn"; do you know anything about this experience? The tearing is what one may call surgical work, and then follows the binding up and the healing. There is a wonderful picture of all this in Luke 10. There was a man going down to Jericho having the oil and the wine, and he bound up the man who fell among thieves. That is the ministry of grace, "He hath torn", and "He will heal". How is it with you? Is your spirit torn, your soul rent with sorrow and conviction? You remember the bride in the Canticles, how she says, "I am black but comely". Why was she black? The sun of conviction had looked upon her and had scorched her. I say, turn to the Lord. It is better to turn to the Lord than to suffer, for we know that they who are under conviction do suffer. It is a question of the grace of God. Christ died. Death had to be accomplished before anything could be effected for man. The Lord Jesus went into death that God might have a free hand to bind up.

"He hath smitten, and he will bind us up". Faith does not stop there. You want to get on to new ground. The man who was bound up in Luke 10 was not left on the road. On the other hand we have the woman in John 4. The Lord did nothing for her but He set her in motion. She left her water pot. There is no intimation of His doing anything for her. She moves herself. That is in entire keeping with the fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. In Luke 10, the man is carried. The Samaritan placed him upon his own beast, and he is carried and taken care of until the Lord comes back. That is what the Lord does. What souls require is to be led on to a new position, on to new ground. Do you follow what I am saying? There are multitudes of believers hidden away, and they are as yet on the old ground, they are simply where they were before their conversion. I want you to see that a change of ground is involved in the gospel of God. Notice what is stated further: "After two days will he revive us". Everything has to be noticed in Scripture. The two days must be taken account of. Then it says: "In the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight". Now without enlarging on this subject (because it is a very great subject), I may say the verse suggests life, and there is nothing in the Scriptures of wider bearing than life. I may say that the Lord raises the question of eternal life every now and again with His people. Many saints are not clear on the subject, and the Lord will not allow us to rest until we understand it. The question of fife and everlasting life arises here. "After two days will he revive us". Not binding now but being in the position of death. Faith accepts it. Have you accepted it? The apostle Paul says, "If one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Corinthians 5:14), so that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves but unto Him who died and rose again. Here there was before the eye of God a Man who answered in every way to God. Adam had transgressed the covenant, but the Lord says, "Thy law is within my heart". He had not transgressed the covenant. He delighted in the law; He magnified it. That Man must live before God. He would

have a title to live before God, and the two days were testimony to it. "After two days will he revive us" is the testimony to a man that lived before God. He was here for God's pleasure. He was endowed with the power of the kingdom, and with that power cast out demons. "I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected", Luke 13:32. In other words the Lord would die and take up life in an entirely new state. He was entitled to life in the flesh, but in the spirit He has taken up life in a new condition, and that was on the third day. The Lord rose from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. Hence the resurrection of Christ is for faith: "In the third day he will raise us up". Now I want to ask you if you have any part in the divine thought expressed in the apostle's words: "Lay hold on eternal life", 1 Timothy 6:12. Life after the flesh would not answer to the mind of God. The Lord established a title to live, but in resurrection He has taken up a life which is a life out of death. So that it says, "in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight". I wonder how many of this company have gone through these three days. You have got to pass through them in your soul. Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly. "So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth", Matthew 12:40. The fourth day is the day of decay. "In the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight". I understand that to be everlasting life. It is life after three days, a double testimony. This, beloved friends, is death and resurrection. It is what I understand to be the peculiar blessing of God for us, reviving us and raising us up that we might live before Him. Where do you live? I fear most of us live before men. The apostle's idea was, he judged that if one died for all, then all have died. Christ was raised that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves but to Him who died and rose again. "O that Ishmael might live before thee" (Genesis 17:18), said Abraham, but God said, not Ishmael but Isaac; and Isaac had to die in figure and he rose in principle out of death. Hezekiah also is brought up out

of death in figure to live before God. It is "The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day" (Isaiah 38 19). God accomplishes that for Himself. "After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight". If you get hold of that you have something that will give you a footing on new ground and that ground is the ground of resurrection. It is not Ishmael, but Isaac; as the apostle Paul says, we are children of the free woman, and hence we live before God. You want to keep in God's sight. He takes pleasure in you. You may not know it, but God has pleasure in the believer. He will raise you up, and it is to the end that you might live. What is the idea of living? I understand it that your affections are taken up with another. The Lord's word to the woman at the well was that a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life was to be in her. The Spirit takes hold of the believer's affections, transfers them from the world to divine Persons, and in that way the fountain springs up into everlasting life.

In the next verse, the language of faith is "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord". There is a resolution, a resolve to follow on to know the Lord. God is before you and you wish to know Him, and you follow on to know Him. So it says, "His going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth". It points to His highest present position in heaven, and He comes down as the heavenly rain. We shall follow on to know the Lord, and we shall have, as I understand, the heavenly influence of Christ. This influence comes out of heaven upon our souls, so that you and I are on new ground and under a new influence. And, beloved friends, the Lord Jesus as in the highest place should influence all below, as the sun influences the earth. It is an immense thing to be under the influence of a heavenly Man. May the Lord bless the word to us.

THE LORD AS PREACHER AND AS WISDOM

1 Kings 3:16 - 28; Luke 4:16 - 22; Luke 7:11 - 16

The thoughts that are specially in my mind have reference to Solomon as a type of the Lord both as Preacher and as Wisdom. I think it will be found in the Scriptures that these two things go together. That is, the idea of Wisdom is coupled with preaching. You will find in the book of Proverbs, which gives us an account of Wisdom, that Wisdom is presented to us as a preacher, and you will find in the book of Ecclesiastes that the preacher was Solomon; and, moreover, that as preacher he was king. He tells us formally that "I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem".

Now I wish to dwell for a moment on that, before I go on to the thought of Wisdom. I think it is exceedingly important to us who are interested in the gospel, to see that the one who is in charge of the preaching is also the anointed King. There are several preachers spoken of in the Old Testament, but I think that you will find that Solomon is the only one who is formally designated as "the Preacher"; and in introducing himself as the Preacher he tells us that he was also king -- not that the king was preacher, but that the preacher was king. In other words, the power vested in Christ as King or as Lord is to underlie the preaching. Hence you have universal preaching, because the power of Christ is of universal bearing. Exalted to God's right hand, Christ is in a position from whence He can affect any part of the earth below. He is in a position to carry out His designs in any part. So that the evangelist Mark, who presents to us Christ as the Preacher, tells us at the close of his gospel that Jesus sat at the right hand of God, and that His disciples went everywhere. They went "everywhere", which meant that every part of the earth was now at the disposal of Christ and His ministers. There were none who could stand in the way for the reason that Christ was on high, having all

power in that position. He could open doors everywhere, so that the apostles went out "everywhere". And what did they do? They preached -- and we are told that the Lord worked with them. That is to say, as seated at the right hand of God, He was superintending the preaching, and He worked with the apostles "with signs following"; so that the testimony was not only presented but it was confirmed by the acts of power on the part of the King.

That is the position occupied by the King, who is the Preacher. Now, it may not have occurred to you in that way that Christ is the Preacher. He is charged with the proclamation of the glad tidings and so He could say -- "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor". That was a great thought. There was now a man in the midst of men anointed by God to preach. And what preaching, beloved friends! He began at home -- every servant of Christ must begin in his own local sphere. If he does not shine there, he will shine nowhere; and if he is possessed of spiritual power he will manifest it there. No conditions can interfere with spiritual power; it will show itself, be the conditions what they may. So the Lord begins in His own city where He was brought up. And the Lord's outward circumstances in no way enhanced His mission. He was born of poor parentage and His outward circumstances were of the most lowly character; it is touching to see that He deigned to enter the world in the lowliest of circumstances and in a despised city -- Nazareth. But He began there; He began "where He had been brought up", where everybody knew Him. And what was the testimony? Every movement of Christ in that synagogue was marked by grace. The movements were wholly new. They had been accustomed to Jewish teachers, but now there was a different kind of Teacher. He opened the book, not in a haphazard way, but at the right text. He opened it, beloved friends, at a passage that referred to Himself in that particular position and in those particular circumstances; and He read the scripture. And it says, "He closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down". Those were the movements,

those were the actions of the Preacher. We are told that the eyes of all that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. That was God's anointed Preacher; and then He began to speak; and we are told that they marvelled at the words of grace that proceeded out of His mouth. That is, His mouth was, as it were, an anointed mouth. It was the mouth of God's Preacher -- and the words were words of grace.

Well, that Preacher has gone to God's right hand. He has laid the ground in His death for universal preaching. By His sacrificial offering upon the cross, He has wrought atonement, and now God has Christ in resurrection; for remember, that God has Christ now, not as He had Him when He was here in flesh. God was ever infinitely delighted in the Son, both before His death and after. There could be no change in Christ personally, but before His death His preaching was, of necessity, limited, now the preaching is universal.

Luke 14 refers to what God found in Christ as having wrought out redemption. It is the celebration. It says, "A certain man made a great supper". The Lord had been discoursing in the Pharisee's house, and when one of the company said it was blessed to eat bread in God's kingdom, it gave the Lord the opportunity of unfolding the present gospel moment. He says -- "A certain man made a great supper and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready". Now what do you think the Lord has in His mind? The Lord looked on to the moment when He should have accomplished redemption and in every way carried out the will of God in regard to sin; when He should have glorified God on the earth where God had been disowned by men. I do not know anything to compare with that passage from a gospel point of view. It implies that God is free, and that there is now nothing in the way. He has Christ out of death, righteousness is accomplished; and God celebrates it. It is a question of what He finds in Christ as He is now. Not what He was, but what He is as having accomplished redemption. It is as if God was saying,

I have Christ now in resurrection; and I have Him on a platform upon which I can invite all men everywhere to participate in the celebration.

If you ponder that, it will convey to you the character of the present moment, and that is what is unfolded in the gospel that Christ is charged with. He is the Preacher as having accomplished redemption; and God has translated Him from earth to heaven. It was due to Christ that He should be translated; but according to the gospel of Mark, who presents the Preacher, He took His seat in heaven so as to superintend the gospel here upon earth. In Luke He is carried up, and as He is carried up His hands are extended in blessing. That is, we have a man up there whose hands are extended in blessing for humanity below. In John, He goes up on account of His people, He ascends to His Father and their Father. But in the gospel of Mark, He takes His seat in the place of power on high, and the preaching goes on everywhere.

The preaching is this; all things are now ready; and God freely invites all to come. I need not repeat the familiar passage, but I would just make one further remark as to Luke 14, and that is that it involves the house of God upon earth. The feast is celebrated here. It is celebrated where men are and its celebration is in the house. I wish to say just one word on the house. In John's gospel it is connected with the family. It is alluded to first in chapter 8, where the Lord says that the Son abides there for ever. In chapter 14 the Father's house is connected with the family of God. "In my Father's house", He says, "are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you". That is, it is an eternal abode for the heavenly family. But Luke is engaged with the house in its provisional character. I want you just to ponder that word. The house of God as it is in the present moment is provisional. It is constituted to meet the need necessitated by the gospel, for it is to confer on those who hearken to the gospel the blessing of God ere the time of the fullness of blessing arrives upon the earth. That fullness of blessing cannot be fully entered into now; it is presented

to us for our faith to lay hold of; it is now in faith. But we are told of the "unsearchable riches of the Christ" -- they are unsearchable; and, beloved friends, it involves a heavenly position. So the gospel of Luke shows that the excess of grace lies in this -- that God has a place in heaven for man. Yet all this is presented to faith to be thus laid hold of; and it is to be awaited on the principle of faith. But meanwhile we are not left without something. Hence you have the institution spoken of in Scripture as God's house, and that is set up here in the presence of men, and all are invited into it. As the parable goes on to say -- "Go out", He says to the servant, "into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled". So that one can say to anybody -- God's house is open to you. God has established here, where need is, that which meets your requirements as a believer in the gospel, that in which you may find the comforts of the home, and where you may taste the blessings of the gospel in a practical way. So that a great element in the preaching is where the celebration is. And what is the celebration? It is not eternal blessing that is viewed, nor the abode in the Father's house to which John refers. It is present blessing. It is that which God provides for you as a present thing ere the time of the fullness of blessing when we are introduced as God's sons in the Father's house.

So in the 15th chapter the same is true, for the merriment is in the hearing of the elder brother who was in the field. It is therefore what men can take cognizance of. He heard it and he did not appreciate it, in spite of the fact that the Father appeals to him on the ground of relationship. He says, "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found". That is, it was as if God was appealing to the Jew that he should rejoice in the return of the gentile.

Well, I have referred to all that to indicate what is involved in the preaching. I wish now to say a word in regard to the way in which wisdom is evidenced in the preacher; and here again, Solomon is a type of the Lord Jesus.

You will all recall how he sought wisdom. As made king, the one great desire of his heart was that he might be endowed with wisdom. Now wisdom is one of the most wonderful things that Scripture speaks of. Indeed we might say it is the only attribute that is personified. I need not refer you to the book of Proverbs, for we are all acquainted with chapter 8 in which Wisdom is personified. And as personified what we find is that Wisdom is intensely interested in men. I believe that is the great point in writing the chapter. Wisdom gives us its own history. It tells us it was with Jehovah "before his works of old" -- before anything was made; and it tells us moreover that it was by Him when everything was made. And then it goes on to say that it rejoiced in the habitable parts of God's earth. In that we see that Wisdom was engaged with humanity; and then it says, "My delights were with the sons of men". That shows that we all are subjects of Wisdom's interest; and the reason is that we are men -- that is what commends you to Wisdom.

Now I wish to show you that what comes out in Solomon is ability to discern what is going on in the heart of each individual. As I said, he sought wisdom; and after he had received it he is put to the test. These two women present themselves before the king, and the question that was to be answered was -- did Solomon really possess wisdom? The result was the triumphant evidence that he possessed wisdom such as none had ever had before. I want you to note how it came to light. There were two women, and there was one child in dispute; there was the dead child and the living child; and the question was to whom the living child belonged. Now there may be one here tonight who is passing through exercise; you are wholly unable to settle it yourself, and no one can settle it for you. What I wish to impress upon you is that the Lord Jesus can; He is the Wisdom of God. It was that wisdom that came to light in Solomon's ability to discern the heart of a mother; it is capable of reading a mother's affections. Now, I think a mother bereft of her child is a type of humanity destitute. Now you may not think yourself destitute, but you are

destitute if you have not Christ. If you take actual conditions into account, death has come in, and family relationships are bound to be dissolved and broken up. All that you may cherish must disappear presently. You yourself are to disappear in the most humiliating way; dissolution confronts you, and it is the judgment of God upon you. Now I say, is not that destitution? The Lord Jesus knows the exercises of one who has come to the recognition of that truth.

Every true believer in Christ has been enlightened inwardly by the light of God, and by that light he has been enabled to take account of these circumstances, to look at death as it is upon humanity, at his own condition as it really is; and the moment that takes place in your heart, the Lord Jesus is engaged with you. This woman to whom the child really belonged is a type of a truly exercised soul. She yearns for her child, she was the true mother. Whatever else might be said about her she had the heart of a mother, and Solomon decided the case by showing that she truly owned the child because she yearned after it. But look at the other woman, the wicked woman. She had no mother's heart, she says -- "Divide it". That is not the heart of a mother; it is a wicked heart; and that is the heart of the unsaved who is under the domination of the wicked one. Satan is a murderer from the beginning, and all who are under his influence have the same spirit. I do not say that everyone is a murderer, but the spirit of the world is a murderous spirit. Now Solomon refers to this spirit and says, "So are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof", Proverbs 1:19. That is, the spirit of the world has no regard for human life. And so the woman who was not the mother of the living child did not have a mother's heart, the other did. And I bring it forward for the comfort of any one who may be exercised, who may have soul need. The Lord Jesus is interested in your soul, and He reads what is going on there. God's wisdom is evidenced in Him.

It was because of that that I read Luke 7. The Lord is brought face to face with a scene of death. I was speaking

this morning of such a scene that John records. John records for us the death of one of God's people, the death of a member of the divine family, and he shows how Christ was moved and how He wept at the graveside of Lazarus. But the death scene that Luke presents has no reference to the family of God. It has reference to man. That is, Luke is, an evangelist, and the evangelist is engaged with the race -- with men; engaged with them because they are men. Now it does not appear that the Lord ever knew this widow, nor does it appear that He knew the young man, whereas in the gospel of John, the Lord knew Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And in calling Lazarus out of the tomb, He called him by name; He says, "Lazarus, come forth", John 11:43. Now here in contrast to that it says -- "When he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out". It was a man. The next thing we are told is that he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. There is a point to take note of. What was it that elicited the Lord's sympathy? It was the widow's heart. The widow in Luke is a type of the race, and what elicits the sympathy of Christ is the need of the human heart. As found in the midst of humanity the scene draws out His sympathy on account of the widow. It says, "She was a widow".

Well now, the Lord touches the bier. In the case of Lazarus He simply said, "Lazarus, come forth". Here He says -- "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise". Apparently He did not know his name. The point was that he was a man. It is of no moment whether you regard yourself as known to Christ, or otherwise. If you have need in your heart, you belong to humanity, the Lord Jesus is set for your relief. And notice, He did not take the young man to Himself. If you think of Lazarus you will remember how the Lord said, "Loose him, and let him go". Now, what will Lazarus do? What will a member of the divine family do when he is released from death? Will he go back to his own relatives? No. Suppose you are released from death and let go, what will you do? The Lord gives you, as it were, an opportunity. Where will you go? Well, we are told that

Lazarus was found at the table with Christ. But what the Lord did with this young man was to deliver him to his mother. What is emphasized is the Lord's consideration for the widow's heart. She had been bereft of her only son, the object of her affections; and the Lord does not claim him. He thought only of the widow for the moment, and so He delivered him back to his mother. That is to say, the widow was reinstated in the city of Nain. The Lord Jesus sends her back into that city with her son; and thus she has means of support.

That is what Christ will do for everybody. He will do it for you. He will reinstate you, not indeed to simply live here upon the earth, but He will supply you with all that is requisite for your position down here. He will do infinitely more for you; but the point in this passage is to show how the sympathies of Wisdom are drawn out. There should be comfort in that for anyone exercised. Solomon commanded that the living child should be given back to its mother, and Christ commanded that the living man should be delivered to the widow. That is, He supplied each heart with what it needed for the moment. And what do you need? What does the human heart really need? What can satisfy you? Why, only Christ. Wisdom not only reads your heart, but supplies what it requires. Your heart requires a satisfying object, and Wisdom provides such an object in Christ. And then, what a change! The dark blank of the future is changed into eternal brightness. You are set up in the presence of the Lord. You have Him.

Much more might be said, for the gospel not only presents an object in Christ, but a range of things in connection with Him, even as we are told, the unsearchable riches of Christ. All that is bound up in the gospel. But for the moment I would press upon you how the Lord Jesus knows what is going on in your soul, and that He knows how to bring in the remedy.

THE ASSEMBLY SUITED TO CHRIST

1 Samuel 25:1 - 3; Ephesians 5:25 - 27

For a complete understanding of these Scriptures, it is essential that we should know something about the assembly. I have no doubt that the apostle Paul may be likened to David in his exercises: there was a point beyond which David's prayers did not extend, and I assume that Paul's prayers would end as he saw the assembly in heaven. It would be the great end of his exercises. What a man cherishes he desires, and what he desires he prays for, spiritually. Now David had a great conception of royalty and of rule. He is the man whom God took up to set forth that idea, and he had a great conception of it; his prayers were ended as he saw that Solomon had been provided by the Lord to be his successor, as he saw a man endued divinely with wisdom to occupy his throne, and as he saw that man in his throne fill it according to God, his prayers were ended. So that the great end of his exercises is seen in Solomon. I have no doubt, beloved friends, that the apostle Paul had such desires in regard to the assembly. In fact no one could read Ephesians without perceiving that. That was the great end, that the Lord Jesus who had appeared to him on the way to Damascus, the one man who filled his vision afterwards, should have a companion. It is the outcome of affection for Christ, that is the secret of all ministry. That Man became the controlling object of Paul's life, and as he saw the assembly afterwards in its beauty, his reproaches were unmeasured that he ever persecuted it. He had been exceedingly mad against it, and would have obliterated it, member by member; afterwards as he saw all these members as members of Christ in their beauty, his reproaches against himself were unmeasured. Thus, beloved friends, he saw to it that it was the great aim of his life to bring in every member -- to present every man perfect, that there should be nothing lacking; and I do not suppose that while the apostle was here he ever

ceased praying for the members of Christ. That which, he says, comes upon me daily -- the care of all the assemblies. Now that indicates somewhat what a vessel Paul was, and how the great aim of his life was to present the saints in heavenly glory to Christ. The assembly is presented as a suited companion to the Lord Jesus. So that in order to shine in our peculiar light we have to apprehend this, that there is a Man in heaven walking alone there. He has no link upon earth. That is what we see in Isaac. He walked alone in the field and the tent was desolate. Paul came upon the scene, as it were, then. He would fill that tent. He would bring in that companion in a heavenly garment so that she should grace the courts above. She should be perfectly at home there, and suited to the grandeur and glory of the scene. Now that was what was in the heart of Paul; that was the great burden of his life. What a mission that was! To bring in one great enough to occupy provisionally the tent of Sarah in testimony, and great enough to occupy and grace the courts on high. Well now, the Spirit of God foresaw all that and whilst you get in the Old Testament types of the Lord's personal ministry on the earth, as for instance in Noah, Abraham, and Jacob, you also get types of the twelve and finally types of Paul's service. They do not interfere with each other; they run in parallel lines in the Old Testament, and I need not say that Paul's line is the special line. To begin with we have to understand the assembly's position in regard of Christ in His varied connections.

Now the Spirit of God here shews us the Lord in type at the head of the creation. You will find that in every relation the Spirit considers for Him. That is what the Old Testament teaches us, and if the Old Testament considers for Christ we ought to consider for Christ. There is nothing we think less of than the desires of Christ. We all have our desires and we pray for them. But what about the Lord's desires? He has got desires. One could cite passages where He solicits sympathy in his desires -- He covets sympathy. As typified in David, He longed for the water, the water that was in Bethlehem, and there were

those that entered into His longings, and satisfied His longings at the risk of their lives. At the cross He looked for sympathy. Nothing could be more touching to our hearts. He looked for it. Now what I want to shew you is that the Spirit of God in the Old Testament anticipates the desires of Christ. You have Him in view in Adam as the head of creation. Look at the dignity with which Adam appears. He stands out as obviously the Head. He gave names to each of the animals. Such was the intelligence in the Head, and the Lord is the great Antitype. He said to Peter, "Thou art Peter", and the name described what Peter was, the name suggested the assembly. And so, when Eve appears, Adam says, 'This is different'. Would that we could distinguish so that we could see the strong line of demarcation. He observes the difference. This time, he says, "Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh". I alluded to that to shew you that the Spirit of God considers for Christ in that connection. He is not to be alone in that relation. The Spirit of God considered for Him, and so we have in the woman the helpmeet suited to Him in that relation. The assembly is intended to fill that place in regard of Christ in every possible relation, and she must understand Him. She is suited to Him now. She comes in on that line, she comes in in that relation and she is in every way suited to Him in that relation.

Now when you come to Rebecca you have another idea. It is not now Christ in regard of creation, it is Christ viewed as alone. He is walking alone in the field in Genesis 24. Now you will understand that if Christ appears as in Isaac He must fill the whole scene, and He does. In Genesis 21 Isaac is the great object of interest, but Abraham's house does not extend to heaven. In chapter 22 he is the object of angelic interest from heaven. The angel calls to Abraham out of heaven. It was to remind Abraham that that young man was no longer limited to his sphere, that that young man was claimed in heaven -- no longer limited to the sphere of Abraham. Abraham cannot compass all that Christ is. That young man was no longer limited to Abraham's house. The heavenly beings were occupied

with Christ in Isaac. It is well to remember that. Not only is it said that the angel called to Abraham, but that He called out of heaven. The fact of it was the Angel of Jehovah emphasises the heavenly position. Therefore directly Isaac appears as owned in heaven we get the genealogy of her who should be his companion. In other words, it is that the heavenly man now is dignified, and he must have a companion. She is brought in according to her genealogy. She is in every way suited to her glorious calling. Christ is a heavenly Man and He is alone there, and the Spirit of God in the Old Testament anticipates His desires in type and He provides a companion.

In Joseph you have the Lord, loved of His Father, hated by His brethren, but Head of the gentiles. He must have a companion. Moses, the deliverer of God's people and orderer of the house of God, is another type of Christ. As deliverer of Israel He is rejected, but He has a companion when he is rejected. He has got a companion in the house of God. He has a right to marry whomsoever he will. Moses is a type of the Lord in His sovereign rights and therefore he chooses whom he would. It is a question of asserting his sovereign rights, and he or she who quarrelled with that right became leprous. Who dares to question the rights of the Lord? The great controversy with Paul was whether he should go out among the gentiles. This instance is no question of beauty. There would be no beauty in an Ethiopian woman. It is a question of asserting the sovereign rights of the Lord. Anything that goes with natural feelings is never right in the things of God. The sovereign grace of the Lord alone is right. You may depend upon it what He does is right. He is wise.

Now we come to Ruth and Boaz. You get rule there, you get the Lord typified in Boaz. What a Man of wealth He is! He is not to be alone in that. It is a great deal to have salvation and light, but these things do not satisfy affection. He secures a companion on the ground of redemption. Who can raise a question as to His rights over the assembly? See how the apostle Paul alludes to it in writing to the Ephesians.

Now when we come to Abigail we see she is a worthy personage. She was of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance. That is what the Lord is looking for. She is to become the wife of David. Now what you find in this passage is that the links with the old order are gone. Now my suspicion is that the defect with regard to the professing church lies there. Samuel died. Christendom disregards that. Every link between God and the old system is severed. Saul should have been the link as the anointed king. Alas, in Saul's case there was no link. In Saul you get every form of religion but no divine answer, no divine work. Hence while Samuel lived the link was with him; he was the link between God and the people. It is of all moment to see that every link between God and organized religion is broken at Samuel's death. Every link has been severed between all earthly organized religion and God. We have not to go far to find such religion. There is that all about us. Samuel died: now it is just there that the assembly appears in her beauty and intelligence. I believe the Lord would speak to us as regards these two points, intelligence and beauty. She is said to have been of good understanding. She embraces the light of all previous types. We have been singing that heavenly light makes all things bright. Everything seen in that light is seen in its true relation. We have to do with spiritual things, and spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Now we are told that God has given to us an understanding: it is a wonderful thing to have. If I did not have it I should ask for it. The courts above shall be thronged with people that have such an understanding. Do you think for a moment that God will people heaven with people that are ignorant below? That is the kind of people that shall be in heaven -- a people in whose hearts God's laws shall be. They shall be subject to God's laws. The apostle said, "I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God". The heavens shall be peopled with such persons. God has given us an understanding. Paul said to Timothy, "Consider what I say", 2 Timothy 2:7. It is to be considered as distinct from the understanding. As I said before, if

you have not got it, ask for it. I believe we are extremely deficient in prayer. The Lord gives liberally. He does not upbraid; He loves. How much would a man require to go in for all that is represented in this town? You require an understanding for the divine order of things. Paul told Timothy to turn to the Lord. The Lord will give it to you. See how it altered the Ephesians. After Paul had taught them he prayed for them; and more than that in Ephesians 1, he prays that they might have the eyes of their understanding opened, and in chapter 3, that they might be strengthened in the inner man. In other words we have to be great enough to take this in. The ministry may enlighten you, but only God can build you up in your heart, inwardly, that you may know the love of Christ; and that which you are to know surpasses knowledge. You turn away from all organized religion and He gives you an understanding. He loves you then, He loves you for what He gives to you. He puts beauty upon you, and the beauty He puts upon you increases His affection. In Psalm 45 it says, "Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty". The Lord is more attracted to you. In Abigail we have the two things combined. She has a good understanding, and she has a beautiful countenance. I do not suppose there is anything more attractive in the Lord's creation than a beautiful countenance. These things are real. If there is a good understanding, it is produced in you; if you have a beautiful countenance, it is God's work in you. Solomon says, "Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely", Song of Songs 2:14. Just contemplate that account for a moment. David was a spiritual man. I doubt if Abigail was ever appreciated until she met David. Nabal was a churl: David was a man of refined spiritual sensibilities. The Spirit of God tells us she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance. Who would appreciate that more than David? David had no equal in his day; how appreciatively he would contemplate Abigail! He would appreciate the good understanding and beautiful countenance. So, dear

brethren, the Lord is looking for that now, and He is seeking to produce it. Let us not assume it is in us the moment we believe. A good understanding and a beautiful countenance are the fruit of divine work in you. If you are changed, you are changed only by the work of God; nature gives way to what is spiritual. The apostle could not leave the Ephesians without bringing in this beautiful subject. The Supper was to produce love. You do not find the Supper in Ephesians. They knew something about the love of Christ. The apostle placed them in the love of Christ. I wish I could make that clear. The Lord says afterwards, you have left the point which you reached. It was the point of departure from a position already reached. They had not left it when Paul wrote. So he could write about the love of Christ to the assembly. "Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it". In Galatians Christ gave Himself for you, but in Ephesians, Christ loved the assembly and gave Himself for it. She is in every way suited; the good understanding and the beautiful countenance, she is given all these things. The Lord gives them; He does it by the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has come down to produce all these things in us. He has got that which we need, and if we have not got it, the simplest thing is to ask for it. If we have not got it the Lord will have no pleasure in us. May the Lord lead us into it in our prayers.

THE HOUSE OF GOD

Genesis 28:11 - 22; Genesis 35:1 - 7

In taking up these passages one feels that one is likely to be treading on ground already well trodden by most of us here. In saying that, I am assuming that the most of us are in the house of God, for if one has to show the line indicated in these passages, we begin with the light of the house, and end with dwelling there -- the highest possible privilege for the moment. I say "for the moment" because it is a provisional order of things, pending that into which we are about to be introduced definitely and finally. The Father's house is not provisional, it is a fixed order of things which abides, but the house of God is not that. It is very near to Heaven as you see in chapter 28; there are direct communications between Heaven and it, and as these communications are all from the top they are not likely ever to be cut. The house of God is the gate of Heaven -- very near to Heaven, although not exactly Heaven -- and it affords every possible comfort and satisfaction for the moment. Such is the house of God, beloved friends; one hopes that most of us are there; if you are not there may there be interest that you might get there! There is only one road to it and what you fund at the outset is that God proposes to be with you there. He says so to Jacob. If God were not accompanying the believer, he would never really reach the house. But God proposes to be with you, and that is a great encouragement. What I would desire is to show how divine interest in the believer is manifested, however crooked he may be; for the fact that you are a believer is no guarantee against crookedness. But however crooked and objectionable you may be to those who know you, God has undertaken your cause and will never leave you; He will pursue you. Although you may go into the world, His eye is never withdrawn from you, and He shows that His eye is upon you. I am dealing with a believer, you will observe, for Jacob is not a type of an unbeliever. The

circumstances that brought out his crookedness proved that he was a believer. If not, he would never have sought the blessing. He believed in the blessing -- do you? Esau did not. After it eluded his grasp he became a believer, but his belief was of no avail then. He sought the blessing with tears. He valued it when it was beyond his grasp. That will be the case, alas, with many a soul living at the present time. Jacob, though outwardly a much less desirable man than Esau, was a believer -- a believer in the blessing. I take it everyone here is such as that, some perhaps not quite prepared for the consequences of it as yet, not prepared for the condition suited to it, nevertheless you believe in it. I believe in it, I never knew the time I did not believe in it, but there came a time when I appropriated it. Not to be a believer is to be a profane person. Do you desire to be classified in that way? It is not a question of outwardly gross profanity in divine things as we understand it, that was not Esau; his profanity lies in this that he despised the blessing. That was all. He sold it for a mess of pottage. There were certain circumstances which seemed almost to excuse him -- he was about to die with hunger -- but really no circumstance warrants despising the blessing of God. One may go down to the gates of death, but there is no warrant for despising the blessing of God. What does it evidence? Profanity, man's utter nakedness; he is exposed. What has the western world become -- that world to which the blessing of God has been presented? What are the grand results? It has been wonderfully favoured. Look at the western nations! The light of God has been presented to them in such a man as Paul, accredited with all that he was, for he was altogether in accord with his testimony. He brought christianity into the western world and set it up. The result is outwardly a world of profanity, a profane world. That goes without saying. And in what does it consist? In despising God's blessing, which is simply bartered for immediate gain.

Let me appeal to you as to whether you are in that class, despising what is proposed to you -- the blessing of God, what God proposed for man? Esau despised it, but Jacob

did not despise it. But while he valued it and had his eye on it, he was not prepared to give up the present world for it. This is the state of many at the present time -- true believers in the blessing, but unprepared to go in for it where it is to be found, for, mark you, it is to be found in a place.

I want to dwell on Jacob, as what one notices is that the house of God comes to light in connection with him. It is a very remarkable thing that God should bring such a wonderful truth into evidence in connection with one individual. Do you know that if there is a movement in your soul -- just the initial movement in your soul -- not only the house of God on earth but all heaven is interested in you! The very initial movement in the soul of this man produced movement, not only in the sphere called the house of God on earth, but in heaven. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth", Luke 15:10. As if God would say, Now look at that! How quickly the angels discern the joy and sympathize with it. The joy is in their presence, not in them for the moment, over one sinner -- one! Now all the great happenings in the world, all those great events occurring in the present world, will not occasion any movement in heaven; they produce no stir in heaven; but one sinner repenting causes joy there. Such is the interest that a response in the heart of man occasions in heaven. Nothing brings into evidence what God is more than that does.

So here in Jacob you have a man in whom divine operation had taken place. He had on the principle of faith secured the blessing; it was his. You make it good as a matter of title, even if you are prepared to defer it as a matter of blessing. Is it not so? We are prepared to defer it for years and years, and we go into the world to make a show there! Yet God waits upon you, and Jacob's history begins with this -- a ladder is seen. He was asleep -- like many a soul -- fast asleep. But divine interest is in you though you are asleep, and even in your sleep God would make known that interest in you. Depend upon it you are as precious to God as Paul is. Only God could speak to a

man in his sleep. I could not. God alone can speak to a man asleep. He has his own way of doing it, "in a dream, in a vision of the night", Job 33:15. God has His own way of causing His voice to be heard, so He produced in Jacob whilst asleep a sense of the care He had for him. Jacob woke up; he never woke up before to such light! The sun had set when he went to sleep; the sun had gone down. It depicts the state of the soul, for Jacob felt apparently there was not a friend on earth -- not one to befriend him among all the sons of men. He was alone -- alone with a stone for a pillow -- when the sun went down. But the sun goes down to come up; it never sets but to rise, and Jacob never woke to a brighter sun than on this occasion. He woke to all the light of heaven, the light of the opened heavens. Not simply the light of the sun but a light above the sun! Heaven was opened. We are in that dispensation, the dispensation of the opened heavens. The heavens are opened now. We are not told that he looked in. He was like a young man who valued the blessing and hoped to go in, but who, for the moment, looked elsewhere -- anywhere but there. Stephen looked in. He did not look anywhere else, he looked steadfastly in. He was a christian, a fully developed christian; and in the power of the Spirit he looked in.

Jacob awoke to all that light. How I wish I could make known that light, the light of Christ in heaven reflecting all the heart of God. You see it in the face of Christ. How wonderful to wake up to all that light. The light is too much for you, you say. It was too much for Jacob. He did not deserve it. It was not too much for Stephen -- is it too much for you? "The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ", 2 Corinthians 4:6. What is it intended to do? To shut out all other things from your heart. "The light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God". Satan hates that image and would do all in his power to shut it out. He blinds the minds of them that believe not "lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them", 2 Corinthians 4:4. That is what Jacob awoke to -- the light of heaven, the Lord at the

top of the ladder and angels ascending and descending on it. Think of that! that friendless man, and rightly friendless, for he was a supplanter, a man of no character, friendless on earth but not friendless in heaven. Ah! you are not friendless in heaven. There was the Lord on the top of the ladder, and the ladder came just to Jacob. And angels, the sympathetic emissaries of Him who was at the top, were communicating with man at the bottom, and were ascending and descending on the ladder!

Just think for a moment of a praying father and a praying mother! I have great sympathy with parents. God has placed the idea of a christian household here, where there are affections, where there are brothers, sisters, father and mother. God has got the affections of a Father, and He understands what it is to be deprived of the obedient affection of children. Those who are parents know what that is. Now Jacob though friendless on earth, as we were saying, was not friendless in heaven. And what I would say in this connection is that God causes His sympathies to flow out through the saints here at the present time -- through those that are near to you. They manifest divine sympathy to you. So that although you may feel yourself under the conviction of sin, and thus shunned by your companions and the world, yet you will not be without sympathy. And your companions will shun you -- it is as sure as possible -- directly you begin to feel what sin is, and what the world is, and to judge these things, the world will despise you. I refer to Lot; he was the mayor of the town (or city) but directly he receives the messengers of God, and brings forth unleavened bread, the people of Sodom turn on him. He is no longer a popular politician, no longer a mayor; he is an alien now, a "fellow" coming from the country. "He will needs be a judge", they say, Genesis 19:9. Directly you begin to feel what sin is and own it, and what the world is and own it, you will be despised and shunned. You will feel yourself friendless, but you are not friendless. Jacob was not. You will have truer friends than ever you had. God will stand at the top of the ladder and be your Friend.

Well, Jacob regards all this as a terrible thing. And why so? "How dreadful is this place" he says, "this is none other but the house of God". The house of God dreadful! It was a place in which he was not happy or comfortable. But what we find is that the element of righteousness came into Jacob's heart. There is no progress spiritually until the element of righteousness comes into your heart. How did it show itself with Jacob? He responds to the claims of God -- the God at the top of the ladder who was so interested in him -- He had some claim. "I will surely give the tenth unto thee", Jacob said -- a very poor answer, but it was the element of righteousness. Would to God all the christians of Christendom would give a tenth, there would be some righteousness. With Jacob it was to be himself nine times out of ten, but God was to be before him once out of ten; and that was something to his credit. I would ask you how many times have you got God before you? He will not despise it. If it is only one hour out of the week He will give you credit for it, but oh! how much you will lose; and will lose all the other hours. They will all go for nothing. Jacob was one-tenth righteous; it was enough to give him a footing, but it is as if God would say, Jacob, there must be more than one tenth before I am through with you. God loves us too much to allow of nine-tenths for self, and only one-tenth for him; for remember -- it is only what God has that we get as a matter of practical enjoyment.

When we come to chapter 35 we find that Jacob has had twenty years of God, and twenty years of himself too, twenty years with nine-tenths given up to self. Now, how is it with you, young man or young woman, how are you to start? Look at the eunuch in Acts 8; he had been up to Jerusalem; he was returning reading the Bible -- would that men would read the Bible -- and he read a wonderful section of it, Isaiah 53. And his soul was entranced by a wonderful man. He had never read of a man like that before -- a Man who was prepared to go down to death as a lamb. Is that the prophet? he inquires. Oh no, it is not the prophet. No prophet could conceive in his heart to

depict such a man as that. It requires the Spirit of God to depict Him. The Spirit of God in Isaiah outlines such a Man as that. No, that is not the prophet. And Philip opened his mouth and preached unto him Jesus. What did the eunuch do? Did he give a tenth? Oh no! He went down altogether. "See, here is water", he says, and he is baptized. What did it mean? It meant self was gone. He gave himself up for Christ. Wonderful moment in the history of a man's soul when Christ comes before him in all His beauty, and self is abandoned for Him!

Well, as I was remarking, there are twenty years between the 28th and 30th chapters, and during all those twenty years God saw to it that there was one great end to be reached in that man's soul; that end was the house. Jacob had said, "If God will be with me ... so that I come again to my father's house". Ah no! Jacob, it is not that, you left your father's house in disgrace, you are not going there; you may go there incidentally, but you are coming to Bethel now. Thus would God address him, for remember you may go into the world and make a name -- and you will suffer -- but God never withdraws His eyes from you never. He will follow you for years, and directly you are on the way back He will meet you. It is wonderful to be met by God! Two hosts met Jacob: what a reminder! But it was only the beginning of something much more wonderful, for in the same chapter we find that God meets him. All he has -- the result of the achievements of his life -- go over the brook, his wives, his cattle -- they are not going to the house of God, his cattle are not wanted there -- and he is left alone. He was no insignificant man, he was a man of means; but he was alone -- alone with a man who wrestled with him. The only thing I would emphasize in this connection is that in result Jacob said, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me", Genesis 32:26. Ah, he has reached it now! He wants the blessing now; he must have it. Mark, it was Jacob who said this, not the One who wrestled with him. He wanted to go -- it was the Lord Himself, and He wanted to go, but it was only in order to bring out what was in the heart of Jacob. The Lord has

put something in, and he compels us to give it out. He loves that.

Now Jacob is limping. He went over the brook limping. The limping will bring you into reproach here, but you have got the blessing of God in your heart, and the limping will not hurt you in the house of God. Jacob got the Spirit typically. It constituted him a prince, and that is the only kind of person who goes into the house of God. "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel". All is wiped out now, not at the cross alone, but in the history of your soul: you are no longer a supplanter, the Spirit of God has taken possession, and you have a new name. What a wonderful name Israel is! Jacob can lift up his head in dignity now. He has got means now. He can come to Bethel. It is now God the God of Bethel.

Paul says, "We are making our boast in God"; he says, "through whom now we have received the reconciliation", Romans 5:11 (New Trans.).

I could say a great deal more, but what I would desire to leave with you is a sense of the interest God has in a soul. He will never leave us till we are entirely adjusted down here, so that we may be fully equipped for His house. May He give us the answer to that!

THE PERFECT SERVANT

Mark 8:22 - 26

What one specially sees about the evangelist Mark is a recovered servant -- a servant who had turned aside from the path and who was restored; as restored he is enabled by the Spirit to portray for us the service, walk, and ways of the perfect Servant. If you think of it in the divine ways of grace that God should honour a servant who had failed by allotting him such important work you can only say the grace of it is wonderful. Further, what is characteristic of his gospel is increase; with most of us there is a tendency to decrease and to retrogression.

In Numbers 29 which sets forth in figure the best period in the ways of God as to the earth -- the millennium -- we see that even that is characterized by decrease. Its brightest period is the beginning. The feast of tabernacles, the last great, feast is typical of the millennium, and we find in verse 13 of that chapter that the offering begins on the first day with thirteen bullocks, the second day twelve, the third day eleven, the fourth day ten, the fifth day nine, the sixth day eight and the seventh day seven. That is decrease! But a perfect number remains -- seven. The millennium is not typical of complete breakdown, but things are at their best in the beginning. This is a sad picture. The number, however, does not go below seven, and all the sacrifices that refer to the Lord Jesus remain. Mark is different from this.

Matthew begins, when giving us the parable of the sower, with the best soil producing a hundred fold, then it decreases to sixty, and finally to thirty; whereas Mark begins with thirty and advances to sixty, and finally reaches a hundred. Mark increases. That is very encouraging for us. You should never allow the number to go below thirteen, which the feast in Numbers 29 begins with.

The apostle Paul said he had shown the Thessalonians how to walk and to please God, and he wishes them to

increase (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Now this is what you get in Mark's gospel in connection with service, and I need not say that Christ is the perfect Servant. It is a wonderful illustration Of grace that God should be pleased to take up a man like Mark who went away from Paul and Barnabas, and give him such a great work to accomplish -- to write an account for us Of the perfect work Of the perfect Servant.

Another feature Of his narrative is the sympathy present where the Lord is operating. For example -- a man "borne of four" (chapter 2). That man had sympathizers in his paralysis. There is plenty Of paralysis spiritually. I believe in gospel meetings and I love to have the Lord's people at them; they support me and give me their sympathy. In this chapter you find sympathy with this man who is blind; Mark says they "besought him", there was sympathy with the blind man. If you put a notice outside the door, that board has no sympathy, nor has the notice; but if you go and invite a man to hear the word he is impressed with your sympathy.

One great feature in Mark is that there is an air Of sympathy in the operating room (so to speak). It is one thing to carry on your labours surrounded by hostile critics and another thing to have sympathizers; the latter is what Mark gives us. Mark brings in houses. Households are places Of sympathy, places Of relationship marked by affections. In the house into which you are born there are relationships in which you are cared for. If you grow up in these you get the idea Of God's house. Relationships carry affections. Had the paralytic been carried by two it would have been an evidence that there was sympathy, but when there are four it indicates that there is sympathy everywhere; four signifies universality.

If you do not want the Lord Jesus you are apt to turn your back on the Lord's people. If you have to attend a meeting you look for the end more than for the beginning; but let me tell you those christians are your friends, they are your only true friends; your unconverted relatives are not nearly such good friends as they. A christian relationship is the best.

The four men who bore the paralytic could not get to the door Of the house where the Lord was, but they were allowed to break up the roof and let him down. Evidently the owner Of the house was sympathetic. Also they bring the blind man to the Lord and He takes him by the hand. Think Of the Lord Jesus whose hand upholds all things -- think Of Him putting out His hand to a blind man. A blind man is not an asset but a liability. If you are governed by your own will you are a liability, not an asset! The Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister. Even at the right hand of God He is, according to this gospel, still working with His servants. The operations Of Christ from heaven are world wide. The Lord is working with the preaching not to honour the preacher but to help souls. He is with the preaching and extends His hand to help (chapter 16: 20).

A city is a place of concentrated evil. We read of the two witnesses in Revelation 11; they witnessed for 1260 days, but after their testimony is given the beast slays them, and the bodies of these two men lie for three and a half days; there is indignity heaped On their corpses. They "lie in the street Of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt". Do not seek the cities except you go for testimony. Elders were appointed in every city in connection with the testimony (Titus 1:5). If your eyes are to be opened God will not open them to be occupied with the city. The Lord led the blind man outside. God has his eye On the elect. Before you are converted you are kept out of the influence Of the cities. God keeps and orders things so that you may not see evil, as in Isaiah 33:15. He "shutteth his eyes from seeing evil".

How one loves to bring forward the grace Of Christ! He casts out the demon with a command, but He did not lay His hands On the demoniac. Look at the gentleness with which He leads the blind man out of the town, what confidence it inspires; encouraging away from evil. Then He spat upon his eyes and put His hands on him and asked him what he saw. (Spitting indicates the humanity of the Lord.) He saw something. You who say that you

are converted -- can you give an account of what you have seen since you were converted? I believe one way the Lord has with us is to ply us with questions. Do not let these questions pass. He asked the blind man if he saw anything. He replies that he saw men as trees walking; his view of men was out of all proportion.

This world is divided into governments -- the newspapers take account of it in that way. We are told in Revelation 13 about the number 666. "Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast" -- who can do it? Only the spiritual. The number is there and directly you have the spiritual eye you see the number. In the coming day the number will be as distinct as possible, so that no person with the eye of wisdom can fail to see, and that number is 666. And so with the word city -- "which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified". That is written across the face of this world. There was a writing in Daniel's time in connection with the gentile world; the fingers of a man wrote upon the wall. There was a heart behind the hand that wrote on the wall. I say this so that you may have right eyesight -- the humanity of Christ brought to the attention of the eye. Before the Lord could put his hands on the man the second time He had to die, for the second touch is the gift of the Spirit. "He that is spiritual judgeth all things", 1 Corinthians 2:15.

I would raise the question with the young people here -- since you have been converted what have you seen? This man saw "men as trees walking". This describes, I believe, a great many young christians, their vision is distorted. The apostle John says far more to the babes than to the young men. He says very little to the fathers and little to the young men. He speaks to the babes because of the dangers. Their chief danger was antichrist. Already (he says) there are many antichrists. The blind man saw men entirely above the ordinary level, but the Lord laid His hand upon him the second time. This is the second portion completing the matter. The first touch involved that He had to die. To see men as trees walking and to have been left there would have been dreadful; but the Lord works

out the great work of atonement for us. He lays His hands upon this man, not one hand only! After that he puts His hands again on his eyes and made him look up. If you look up, you look past the trees. Stephen looked up. He looked steadfastly into heaven. He saw no men as trees there but he saw Jesus. After the Lord had put his two hands on the blind man the second time, he saw everything clearly. It is not that you see men as trees, but you take account of them clearly. Deception is brought about by man. The Lord sent the man home to his house. I wish to emphasize specially that the effect of the work of Christ in Mark's gospel is to put one right in one's own house. He does not say, go back to the village, but to the house. After you get a bit of light, what is the next step? That light is made good in you. The Lord takes good care that you are not left to yourself. He sends to his house this man who had hitherto been a liability, but who was now an asset. A wonderful advantage to the house! The Lord Jesus sends you to the house. This is the idea in Mark's gospel: in John's gospel we get another thought in connection with Lazarus. The Lord did not send him anywhere after He raised him, but says, "Loose him, and let him go". It is as though He said let us see what he will do; and we see what he does in chapter 12; he is found there in company with the Lord Himself; "Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Him".

The trouble with many is that they are deceived by man -- their vision is distorted -- they "see men as trees walking", but the Lord will give the second touch; and the second touch is the gift of the Spirit. Then you have got Christ before you -- not man. If you have that one Man before you, you will not be deceived.

THE GOSPEL AS LIGHT

John 1:8, 9; Mark 7:24 - 30

It is of great importance to present the Gospel as light; as one said, "I have even given thee for a light of the nations", Isaiah 49:6. One would aim at that -- that in what is presented there might be light, and for this reason I read the passage in the gospel of John -- the evangelist who loves to present Christ as Light; indeed he is accustomed to use astronomical figures in his gospel and in his epistle. Allusions are frequently made in his writings to what is known to science as astronomy. But the allusions are of the simplest kind, as the physical things referred to are visible to everyone and indeed living conditions on the earth depend on them -- the sun and the moon and the stars. John's language is far from scientific in the ordinary sense, but extremely spiritual. He is very fond of monosyllables, in which he expresses the profoundest possible truths; so that while the greatest mind may be ministered to, the youngest child also may find interest and food. 'John's simple page' conveys what I am referring to. It is "simple", and yet, as I remarked, profound.

Well now, I have referred to John in that way so as to bring forward the thought of light, and I want to specially dwell on the word 'true'. He says of John the Baptist, "He was not that Light". The Baptist was a faithful witness of the Light. He was like a star. The Lord says of him: "He was the burning and shining lamp", and that the Jews "were willing for a season to rejoice in his light", John 5:35. But the evangelist says, "He was not that light". He was a light but not the Light. And then he proceeds to tell us what the Light is; he says, "The true light was that which, coming into the world, lightens every man". Not every Jew, nor every Englishman or Irishman. The true light knows no special nation; it is impartial. Partiality is a most baneful thing. The true Light is contrary to that; the true Light makes no difference.

It sheds its beams on every man. That is the true Light. That is in contrast to the Jew. The apostle John always slights the Jew, as assuming to be privileged. The true Light was there in their midst. "He came to his own, and his own received him not". He dismisses them. "His own received him not". They are dismissed from that point onward. They are out of court. The true Light henceforth is for man as such. And so also in the earlier statement. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men". Of men, not of Jews specially. If they take their place as men, certainly, but if they retain their position as a privileged class, not for them. Terrible thing to be excluded from the light. A total eclipse shuts out those assuming to be privileged. John goes back to the beginning. What was there? Wisdom. "In the beginning was the Word". There was no Jew in the beginning; there was no gentile in the beginning; men were in the divine thought. Wisdom said "I was daily his delight ... rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men", Proverbs 8:30, 31. Palestine is not the only habitable part, nor this country. No; there are habitable parts elsewhere. God laid out the earth; Wisdom designed it for men. Wisdom not only builds the house, but she also designed the earth for men to dwell in; and in laying it out there were certain areas specially prepared for men -- habitable parts. Hence as to the future we read: "He has not subjected to angels the habitable world which is to come, of which we speak", Hebrews 2: 5. Thank God, He has put it under the Son of man. Do you not love the thought anticipated of a habitable earth to come -- an earth peopled by men like Jesus and ruled over by Jesus? That is the design. As He came into this world life was in Him, and the life was the light of men. It was as if God said, 'That is the idea, there is my thought as to man living on the earth'. That Man moved about for God's will only; He did always those things that pleased God. In that Man also all that God is for men was set forth. That was the true Light. I am dwelling on this because of the importance of it. We are living in a period in which there

are so many false lights. Now in navigation a false light is infinitely worse than no light at all. Anyone who goes to sea knows that. There are many false lights today. Young people and old people are exposed to them, hence John the evangelist here gives us a guide as to the true Light. Everything claiming to be light should be compared with this passage. Is it partial? The true light is impartial; it makes no sect; it takes account of no class of men specially; it takes account of you because you are a man; that is the true Light. We should test everything that comes to us as gospel by that. Does it take account of you just because you are a man? If it does, it is the true light. When it came into the world it shed its fight on all; it made no selections. Think of the way the gospel takes account of you! Consider the Epistle to the Romans: it finds man just as he is; it tears away all the varnish. When light comes it exposes every contrivance by which men would conceal their true state, and all is "naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do", Hebrews 4:13. And so also is it naked to the conscience of the awakened one. Have you ever been awakened by the Light? Well, that true Light is shining upon you. Standing before the great white throne no one can say, The fight has not shone on me. It shines on every man that comes into the world.

One word more about the Light. He that doeth truth comes to it. He that does evil hates it. You may not persecute the christians but you have no appreciation of them or the things they cherish. This often marks children of christian parents, and if not judged it develops into hatred of the Light. "Everyone that does evil hates the light, and does not come to the fight that his works may not be shewn as they are; but he that practises the truth comes to the light, that his works may be manifested that they have been wrought in God", John 3:20, 21. Thank God, He is working. One would not attempt to preach were it not that one believes this. The preacher presents the light, and reckons on the work of God. If there is a work of God with you, you come to it; you love it. What is wrought of God in you is made manifest; your interest in

the saints, your love of the Scriptures, your hatred of evil are evidences of it. But then you not only come to the light, you are to become a child of light. In chapter 12 it says, "While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may become sons of light"; as a child of light a believer is like a star -- he shines as a light in this world.

Well now, I read the passage in Mark, because it shows you how the true Light acts. It says the Lord went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He had gone about doing good in Galilee and Judaea; now He goes out into the gentile borders. Mark presents the manner in which the Lord carried on His ministry. It says He went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon and entered into a house. How many thoughts enter into such a position! The Creator of the world in a house! He was there as light. It says, "He could not be hid". Do you wonder at that? Has He come into your house? Yea, to come closer home, has He come into your soul? Let that question be answered by each of you. A new day dawns when the light comes into your soul, He finds a conscience there; He finds a heart there; He finds an intelligence; He sets about to put all right, to adjust everything. Romans presents this adjustment, the whole man -- body, soul and spirit -- is set right. If the Lord has an entrance into your soul He adjusts you; He sets your conscience right. That conscience! It has been an uncomfortable occupant of your house, so to speak. Did you ever thank God for it? God gave man a conscience in His mercy. It is the avenue through which He reaches us as in our sins. Happy the man who is at peace in regard to it as in the light of God. The Lord Jesus sets the conscience at perfect rest; He cleanses it with the meritorious value of His blood. As the conscience charges, the blood of Christ comes in its atoning value to the soul; it "cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Mark, it does not only say "sins". The conscience is set at rest, not only in regard of one's transgressions; by the blood of Christ it is set at rest in regard of indwelling sin as well. Indwelling sin has no power in the presence of the light of the blood of Christ in the conscience; the conscience is

purged; the believer in Christ is thus at rest in regard of sin and sins.

The Lord placed Himself on the frontier of the gentiles in a house, and He could not be hid. A certain woman whose house had been upset and deranged by the devil came to Him. The woman had a house, too; the gentile world had been invaded by the devil and the household arrangements were upset. Mark says, "little daughter --"Matthew says "daughter". She was one who normally would be the delight of her mother but she had an unclean spirit. How Satan likes to attack the heart of a parent, and this too through the little one who should be its delight. Satan had got in. Mark does not tell us how. Those of us who are parents have some knowledge of how he affects children. Will begins to work with a child. I have remarked lately that the apostle Paul in his exhortations to the christians at Ephesus speaks about the child before he speaks about the parent. Satan attacks through the child; he is the weak point. This was a little one. The mother's heart takes account of the fact that Satan is there. It was a solemn overwhelming fact that faced her morning, noon and night; her little girl was indwelt by a demon. What havoc Satan had wrought in the households of the gentiles! It says she "was a Greek"; she belonged to an enlightened nation, but all the philosophy and learning in the world will not save her child. Learning, national reputation -- all is utterly futile against Satanic inroads. That is what Jesus finds amongst the gentiles. Well, there was blessing in store for the woman and little girl, and there is blessing in store now for us who are parents and for our children; for God does not give us children to become a scourge to us. Satan creates the scourge. A child is a gift from God. "Happy is the man", it says, "that hath filled his quiver with them", Psalm 127:5. Well, there was blessing in store for the woman and the little girl, but in this instance it came through the faith of the mother. But salvation for a child necessarily implies that he has faith in Christ also.

I wish just to dwell for a moment on the manner of it. She "fell at his feet", a right attitude surely, and she

besought Him that He would cast the devil out of her daughter. The Lord says to her, "Suffer the children to be first filled". She might have said, 'I am talking to you about a child', but she did not. Her child did not belong to the children He had in His mind. There were children -- think of the grace in which He regarded Israel! They were the children. The Lord is bringing to us in this figure a household scene -- a table, children at it, and dogs under it. The dogs do not get up on it and take the crumbs off the table! Nevertheless it was very humiliating to be likened to them. Very. Now the Lord says to her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs". She answered, "Yea, Lord; for even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs". Are you equal to that? It would be difficult to get a finer picture of a truly humble person than this. Sometimes one has to explain things to people, and I often think that too much explanation takes away the edge of the truth. Anecdotes do not help. What is needed is exercise. The more exercise the less necessity for explanation. The Lord did not resort to it at all; He simply brought forward this simile. How simple and yet how forcible. Now He says, Look, is it right to take the bread the children are eating and cast it. Mark you, it says "cast it". It is another thing to take the bread and cast it. The Lord Jesus was not doing that. He was in the midst of Israel and He was ministering to Israel. He was true to the position and it was the position of a householder. The woman asked nothing as to what He meant. I do not deprecate questionings, for it is a good thing to have questions -- but be sure that your questions are conscience questions and heart questions. Sometimes the Lord refused to answer at all. Why? He is thinking of the question and the questioner that is behind it. But when you get a soul really exercised and the truth is put to him, he bows. That is what she did. She says, 'Yea, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs'. And they were falling thick and fast and they are falling now. I am not saying that there is such a scene today exactly, but see how the Lord comes to where the gentiles were, and presents

the household idea to the woman, and now she says, Yea, Lord. Would to God that someone here tonight would say that in his soul before God, 'That is my position -- a dog beneath the table'. Mark you, you are not a vomiting dog, you are not a dog that needs to be guarded by a chain; that is not the idea here; it is the domesticated creature who knows his place. I wonder if you do! We are all apt to be a bit bumptious, every one of us. It is a wonderful thing to arrive at a knowledge of your place before God, and kneel to all that God has set up here. That is the truth of Romans -- one is recovered, that is, he respects God and respects every institution of God, whatever it is, down here. The woman says, 'Yea, Lord: yet the dogs' -- she was one of them. At once the Lord says to her, "Because of this word, go thy way, the demon is gone out of thy daughter". In Matthew He exclaims at her faith: a wonderful thing to find faith like this! Think of the Lord Jesus Himself exclaiming at it, and yet the woman had just said a word; she said "dogs". "Thy faith is great"; and when He speaks of a great thing it is a great thing. It was a wonderful thing to Him to find faith like this in the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He says, "Because of this word". Now I was speaking about one bowing, but the Lord loves to hear you speaking. What have you got to say? You have been given a mouth to say something. Have you ever said anything in regard of Christ? Or in regard of His work in you? The Lord loves to hear that. He says, "In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression", Proverbs 10:19. We say a great many things that are utterly useless, but there are sayings that the Lord takes account of. And he says to this woman, "Because of this word, go thy way, the demon is gone out of thy daughter". Many a time relief comes to the conscience by a confession. I believe there are a great many private christians; they live in private; they never say anything about the Lord Jesus; they never say anything about their belief in Him -- what He has done for them. Be sure that you have a saying that the Lord can take a note of. And it says further, when she was come to her house she found "her daughter

lying on the bed" (verse 30). Who did that? I wonder. The demon did not lay her upon the bed. It is the touch in Mark. Mark would interest you in the gospel. He would attract you by it. Matthew does not tell us anything about the bed; Matthew occupies you with the power and with the rights of the Messiah. Mark is engaged with the servant and how he does his work. And how touching it is with this mother, with a true mother's heart, as she returns to her house; for she had a house; thank God she returned to it. She finds the demon gone and the little girl on a bed. Was that not care? Young people need that. You know when the demon goes he leaves a certain fagged-out state spiritually and you need care; you need rest, the soul needs rest. Mark gives us the picture with the bed, the little girl is on the bed without the demon. What complete victory by the word of Christ! Well, that was all I had to say, but I wanted to make dear to you how the Lord Jesus carried out His service as the Light. It was said of Him by Simeon that He was "a light for revelation of the Gentiles", Luke 2:32. He brought them into evidence for blessing. Hence he goes to their borders and into the house and a woman hears about Him who also has a house; she comes to Him and her house is adjusted.

Now I would advise you if you have got similar trouble, come to the Lord Jesus; He is available. I need not remark it is in a different house today, but nevertheless a house. He is available there for the adjustment of your house, for the adjustment of your conscience and your heart; for the establishment of your soul before God.

RECOVERY IN RELATION TO HOUSEHOLDS

Luke 18:9 - 14; Luke 5:18 - 26; Luke 19:1 - 10

I think it will be understood by those who are instructed that it is the gospel that effects the recovery of man to God, and that involves his adjustment with God. My thought tonight is to show how a man is adjusted in regard of his house, because if the head of the household is recovered we may say that God has reached His thought, for it involves all the other particulars of a man's position. I have selected this thought because of its importance in the mind of God. It has a much greater place with God than we are accustomed to think; it involves the family. God intends that the human race should be subdivided into households, the family thought being prominent. The household in Scripture is a prominent thought, indeed it is taken up by God in regard of Himself. He has a house, and our enjoyment of God's house necessarily depends upon adjustment in our own houses. The introduction of the gospel into the western parts of the world was marked by the recovery of households. I refer to Acts 16. You will recall how the testimony through Paul brought about the recovery of households at Philippi. Now I want to show in the passages I have read how adjustment takes place. That is why I read chapter 18 first, because it shows how a man went down to his house justified. Chapter S shows how a man was sent to his house by the Lord, but there is another thought, and chapter 19 shows how such a man receives the Lord in his house. I want to speak a word for every conscience, for there are those here tonight who have not houses. There are children here, and there are those perhaps who have no parents, so I want to speak a word to everyone. The parable of the Lord in chapter 18 serves to show how repentance is brought about. There are two motives whereby men generally are governed in regard to God, one is religious respectability, the other is a genuine desire to be right with God. Now we are in relation with

God from one of these two motives. It is for each one to determine before God which of the two motives governs us. The pharisee spoken of went up into the temple to pray, evidently priding himself in the religious garb in which he was clothed. His going down was not prompted by any inward desire to be right with God, in other words he was a mere religionist, and it does not say that he went to his house. The other man had another motive; God had been working, he had discovered certain conditions in his breast which were contrary to God, he had discovered that he was a sinner. Satan did not tell him that, Satan never tells you that; a motive and conviction like that arises from God. He had discovered something in his breast, and that was that he was a sinner. If there is anyone here who has not discovered what this man discovered, I would speak to you. You are in a dangerous condition. I am a great believer in the fact that man is responsible to God whether he acknowledges it or otherwise, but when light comes from God, by whatever means it may come, there is the acknowledgment of responsibility to God. When Peter stood up with the eleven at Pentecost, he announced the gospel with the effect that men said "what shall we do?" Peter does not say, 'It is not for you to do anything'. Let us not make any mistake. You cannot do anything to make yourself acceptable to God, but I again remark that Peter did not say, 'It is not for you to say that'. It was for them to say that, it was in perfect order for them to say that, every man has to say it in principle in his soul before God; for there are requirements. Peter's word is "Repent", which is an active verb. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you ... and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit", Acts 2:38. You shall receive it. God offers it, that is another matter. "When they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both", Luke 7:42. God has nothing else in His mind towards man, nothing but forgiveness, "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations", Luke 24:47. If however one refuses it is another matter. What good or value is it to you if you do not receive it? It is similar in regard to

the Holy Spirit. "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive", John 7:39. "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water". That is the gift of God, but there is the act of receiving: "Have ye received the Holy Spirit?" Paul said, Acts 19a. I have to receive things. Have you received the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit? There are two sides to the truth. So the element of responsibility is in a man's soul, responsibility attaches to everyone, the great white throne is on that line. "The books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life". In the books are recorded all the acts in responsibility. "And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works", Revelation 20:12. These are the books in which God has recorded man's walk in responsibility. We read of "the righteousness of God revealed", but "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven" too, Romans 1:17,18. What is done in secret is all known to God, it is all recorded; and man is held accountable at the great white throne. Then it says, "Another book was opened, which is the book of life" so as to make it quite certain that no one consigned to eternal perdition should have any question that his name is not in the book of life. Well, the question of responsibility had come into this man's soul, he had to do with God; it does not say how it came about, but it was there, so his cry to God is "O God, have compassion on me, the sinner" (Luke 18:13, New Translation), as if there were no other sinner in the world. Have you come to that, to the sense that in your responsible life here you have sinned against heaven, and in God's sight, as if there were no other sinner but you? The Lord said, "This man went down to his house justified". His wife and children would now have a different man in the house. He did not have the Holy Spirit, it is not so presented; all that is said is the elementary thought of righteousness, but it is very important. It does not say he went to his business, or his club, justified, but he went

to his home and he went there a different man. How is it with us as heads of our houses? Are we righteous? You cannot represent God there if you are not righteous. Righteousness must be shown there first, afterwards in the business, and in other relationships, but it must come out there first. It does not say he was sent there, his going there was a normal result.

Now we come to chapter 5, a remarkable passage well known to many here; I have read it to bring out one principle, for it indicates how a man went to his house in power, carrying his bed, and in so going he glorified God. That is another matter; besides that he was sent there by the Lord Jesus. As if the Lord would say, 'I can commit myself to that man, he will represent me in his house'. It is incumbent on me to be righteous without being told to be; it is the normal result of righteousness in my soul. As I am sent to my house by the Lord, it is that I am to represent Him there, not only God in righteousness, but to represent Him as I take my place as head in my house. How remarkable, it is God's thought that there should be in the house not only the acknowledgment of what is right but the headship of Christ effected in the head of the house. This man was paralytic, he was a kind of head who had to be attended on, he never did anything for anyone, he could not, for he was without strength. He was a sinner in his house and therefore unrighteous: no unconverted man can be righteous before God. It does not appear either that he was specially marked by faith. If there are those here who think a person cannot be saved on the faith of others, I would call your attention to this chapter, "When he saw their faith". It is great encouragement to have faith about precious souls, especially about our children; one is encouraged to have faith because it says "When he saw their faith". I am not denying that the man had faith; he did have it, and the Lord forgave his sins. He also said, "Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house"; the Lord empowers him and then sends him to his house. Am I so in the dignity of the power of Christ bestowed on me that I can rightly represent Him in my house? For

He sends me to it. See the dignity upon one who is sent there by the Lord Jesus; he is given power to be there on His behalf as representing Him in headship in all his movements in the government of his own house. He went out before all who were there and God was glorified of all. What a result, a man by his movements glorifying God. I have often thought of the incident in Acts 3, the man who sat at the gate of the temple who was healed: "And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong"; he entered the temple "walking, and leaping, and praising God". What a marvellous triumph. His ankle bones were made strong, evidently the point was the limbs, it was a question of walking, so he stood up "walking, and leaping, and praising God".

Now I pass on to Zacchaeus, who gives us a kind of climax as to the household. Zacchaeus did not offer the Lord his house, the Lord as it were says to Zacchaeus, I am going to your house. Have you ever received a servant of the Lord or any of the saints of God in your house? Do not think you are honouring them. If you regard them in the fight of their relation to Christ you are really being honoured by their presence. The Lord said, "I was sick, and ye visited me", Matthew 25:36. It would be a serious thing to say the Lord Jesus was ever sick personally. He was not, but there is in His thought complete identification with His people, so it is the sickness of His people He refers to, the nakedness of His people, not His own; the hunger of His people, not His own. If you look at the saints in their relation to Christ you will feel honoured by their presence. The Lord told Zacchaeus that He was going to abide that day at his house. Zacchaeus' position in the tree was quite justifiable, there was such a crush round the Lord that he could not see Him. Large multitudes of people came round the Lord as He was ministering and He would not send them away hungry. However justifiable your position may be, your house must be regulated by the Lord Jesus. I want to be regulated by His word in everything and it is incumbent on me to be so. A spiritual man is one that is regulated by Christ. So the Lord says to

Zacchaeus, 'Come down, your position must be regulated by My word and commandments'. The Lord is interested in our circumstances and the relations in which we are found. Am I regulated by the commandments of Christ in my household? "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down", the Lord says: "Make haste", do not waste any time. If any adjustment is shown to be necessary in your circumstances do not delay, look into the matter at once and make the alterations that are necessary in order to conform to the will of Christ. The Lord said, "Make haste", and Zacchaeus made haste. When the Lord's mind is made known there must be no delay, you must act. So he came and it says he received the Lord joyfully. It was a happy house under the blessed direction of Christ, and Christ the guest. The Lord said He must abide at Zacchaeus' house and Zacchaeus received Him, really as a priest regulated by the word of Christ. He was like the priest in the temple when the Lord Jesus was taken there as a babe. Simeon was there and received the babe into his arms -- a wonderful scene; he was a priest in the true sense as he held the true Ark of the Covenant in his arms. He went into the temple by the Spirit; like Zacchaeus here who received Christ into his house, he received Christ in the temple of God in a priestly way. Then he says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation", Luke 2:29, 30. He praised God, he worshipped, his hands were filled, he was before God in the temple of God in all the acceptability of Christ. Zacchaeus' house is not the temple of God, but He receives the Son of God into that house and then there is joy. There is nothing so lacking among the people of God as joy, and I believe the reason is that we are not regulated by the Lord. He says to Zacchaeus, "Come down", and Zacchaeus came down and received him joyfully. Then the Lord gives him his status, He says "he also is a son of Abraham". Perhaps you think that is not saying very much. Is it not? It is the most dignified genealogy that I know of. Abraham is the heir of the world. Everyone who has got heirship has got it on the principle of

faith, the children of faith are the children of Abraham. I referred to the priest to show you that as you are regulated by the word of Christ you come into priesthood; He comes into your house and then you are knighted, and the greatness of your genealogy makes you suitable. Zacchaeus is constituted a priest and is regulated by the true High Priest; as a priest his genealogy is recognized, he is a son of Abraham.

That is the substance of what I had before me, I commend it to you. You cannot have things right in the assembly unless they are right in the households of God's people. The gospel adjusts man's place in that connection. Eternal salvation is a great thing, but I am thinking of our position here in regard of testimony. The gospel qualifies you for that. May the Lord give us grace, power and intelligence, for the gospel adjusts one in regard of all these.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:1 - 14

J.T. The 29th verse of chapter 2 bears much on the beginning of the third chapter, and it indicates the important fact that righteousness flows from what God is. The introduction of Abel as the typically righteous man, as the man whose works were righteous, is helpful on that line, because his righteousness was not the fulfilling of any specific injunction or command. It flowed from a certain manifestation of God's attributes.

G.W.W. It flowed from an appreciation of divine revelation really. Your thought is that that must be the basis of righteousness with us at the present moment?

J.T. That is what I thought. In John's epistle it is connected with our nature as born of God, but I think Romans works it out as the result of our appreciation of the light of the revelation of God.

W.L.P. Pursuing righteousness shows that it is practical.

G.W.W. How are you connecting this with Romans?

J.T. Romans is the unfolding of righteousness, in an objective way, in God. It says, "The righteousness of God without the law is manifested" (that is to say, that kind of righteousness) "being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe", Romans 3:22. That is, God has come out in Christ to show what His righteousness is; and the result of that is the practice of righteousness in the Christian by the Spirit; whereas here it is the outflow of the nature more. As born of God we practise righteousness.

G.W.W. Do you limit, in Romans, the thought of righteousness to God taking account of what is evil and dealing with it according to His own holy nature and being?

J.T. No, I think it includes His taking us up -- His taking man up in mercy. His righteousness is seen not only in dealing with the evil, but in the blessing of men.

He reserves the right to act in mercy, so that righteousness works out in a positive way. "He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever", Psalm 112:9. In God and in us it is not limited to the negation of evil or the dealing with it authoritatively. It is also evidenced in blessing.

J. S. In the retention of man.

J.T. Yes, in retaining man here in blessing. That is what His righteousness is. It works out in the same way in the christian. Men are to be retained here before God in blessing. If we were to withdraw (as we speak) from a brother for evil, destruction of the brother is not in view but rather his retention in blessing.

A.F.M. In Romans 4 we are said to be reckoned righteous, and that precedes the practice of righteousness, according to chapter 8, does it not?

J.T. Yes. One has to be reckoned righteous on the principle of faith. I think the practice of righteousness in Romans is by the Spirit, and so it is the result of the light. The power of it is the Spirit.

G.W.W. Have you not a little thought more as to God's side? Is it God's righteousness?

J.T. Well, I think what was said as regards the retention of man in blessing is most important. God is just and justifies him that is of the faith of Jesus. Now it seems to me that "of the faith of Jesus" (Romans 3:26) lays the basis for the order of man that is to be retained. It is not exactly that you have faith in Jesus there. It is that you are of that faith, light as to that order of man is in your soul, and God justifies one who has that faith. He is to be retained here in blessing; but then there is no other man to be retained. Chapters 8 and 12 show the result for God. I speak only of the truth as presented in Romans. Ephesians shows that those justified and indwelt by the Spirit are set down in heavenly places. The "faith of Jesus" lays the basis for all that follows, because it is that order of man that God has in His mind.

B.T.F. Would you say that Romans sets a soul free before God on a righteous basis?

J.T. Yes, I think it gives us a good conscience, but at the same time, corresponding with the good conscience, we have light as to the order of man that is seen in Jesus. That is the order of man that is to be retained and sustained here.

J.D-s. Therefore the importance of righteousness and its place. It stands at the threshold of blessing. I suppose that is the reason why we have it so prominently presented in the Romans.

J.T. It really is in that respect the foundation of God, and it is therefore so important that we should have it. Now Abel is the first one that is said to be righteous. In Hebrews 11, he is said to be righteous; his works are said to be righteous, and it is in the light of the fact that he had faith. He had some apprehension of Christ. It is not that he was told to do this or that, he apprehended what was suitable to God from what had taken place in regard of his parents.

J.D-s. From what had been made known of God to his soul; and is not that the way we get holiness, as well as righteousness, and indeed everything else that reflects the character of God in the believer?

G.W.W. What was remarked as to Abel is very interesting. He had got some sense in his soul that there was something for man out of death. This he must have learned from the coats of skin with which his parents had been clothed. He appears to have laid hold of the fact that God would find a righteous ground for action through death.

A.A.T. Cain did not avail himself of this light.

G.W.W. There was no appreciation of light with Cain. The same light was shining for both, but Cain had no appreciation of it.

W.L.P. Abel justified God. When speaking of being retained, do you mean set apart?

J.T. Ultimately all will be removed in judgment save those that are according to Christ. In the meantime God sets apart him that is godly for Himself. Of course we know Abel was put to death, but that does not set aside the fact

that he is for God, and he will be raised up at the last day.

A.F.M. Would you say that Abel in a way is a type of one who has the faith of Jesus?

J.T. I think he is. I think God takes account of him in that way. The order in which we find righteousness in the Old Testament I think is first of all in Abel, and then in Noah. Noah preached it. I do not apprehend that he preached simply that men should pay their debts, although of course that would go with it. He undoubtedly presented some expression of the righteousness of God.

G.W.W. It is a remarkable thing that God came out in Abel and Enoch. God found Enoch righteous. He walked with God and was pleasing to God. Noah presents the thought that every bit of revelation God made, when responded to in the believer, becomes the foundation of righteousness in his soul. This he presents in testimony.

J.T. So it would be very interesting to know just what Noah spoke about when he preached.

G.W.W. If we studied those earlier chapters of Genesis we would see the way revelation came out; with each fresh dealing with men on His part there was a shining out of what God was; and what is still more interesting is to see it all coming out in testimony in Noah, because he preached it to the men of his generation.

B.T.F. And a very effectual part of Noah's testimony was preparing the ark for the saving of his house.

J.T. That supported his preaching. It was a public testimony that was unmistakable. He condemned the world by it. But then God had said that His Spirit should not always strive with man; but his days should be 120 years. It was a merciful thing for God to extend the time in which His Spirit strove in grace with man. I suppose Noah would be in keeping with that. One acquainted with the mind of God, and in sympathy with it, would not wish to have the period of grace shortened. The full year -- the acceptable year of the Lord -- is to be spent out.

G.W.W. It is very interesting. Noah was a just man in his generation, and Noah walked with God, and so the testimony of Abel and Enoch is assumed in his.

J.D-s. Noah would understand what was set out in Enoch.

J.T. He would at least have the testimony of a walk pleasing to God, and that man taken up to heaven.

A.N.W. And would he not condemn the world by what he did rather than by his preaching?

J.T. The building of the ark condemned the world.

J.S. It was a right thing morally to build the ark.

J.T. Quite. It was built for salvation.

A.A.T. And it was a right thing for the family to get into the ark. Is the thought of righteousness involved there?

J.T. In the ark there was the testimony of salvation; however limited, it is there. It was a divine thought.

A.A.T. I gather from a remark made here that one's apprehension of God is expressed in one's practical righteousness. If so, is it not possible to know forgiveness of sins and not know about righteousness?

J.T. But a true apprehension of righteousness leads to the doing of it. For instance, forgiveness; according to the parable in Matthew 18 the man did not forgive as he had been forgiven; the Lord says to Peter "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22), I suppose it is unlimited forgiveness, and that is righteousness. It is righteous to forgive.

G.W.W. The fact is, the failure on that point comes to this, that people have taken up the thought of forgiveness without seeing that forgiveness of sins is that which has been proclaimed on God's part through the death of Christ, and that they stand before God on that wonderful footing.

J.D-s. "We have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins".

G.W.W. Not merely past sins, but the believer is set in the forgiveness of sins with God, and if there is a sense of that in his soul he must maintain the spirit of forgiveness with all he comes in contact with. If he does not he is a wicked servant, and, as you say, the man in Matthew 18 is taken up on that ground. He did not show this to his fellow servant; he did not act consistently with the grace of his Master. That constituted his wickedness.

J.T. It is not that you would suggest any licence. "There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared", Psalm 130:4.

W.H.F. You were saying God's righteousness is in asserting His rights in mercy in forgiveness.

J.T. That is what He is doing now. But man turns that into lasciviousness. The world shall learn righteousness when God's judgments are in it. The enforcement of His rights in mercy does not produce that now, but rather lasciviousness in an unconverted man. It does not affect him at all. It rather produces, you might say, disrespect for God, and righteousness has to suffer. This is the suffering time for righteousness, but presently righteousness shall reign. Now grace is reigning. That is a very important thing to remember; it is grace reigning through righteousness now, and therefore the unconverted man turns it into lasciviousness and righteousness has to suffer, but when righteousness rules it will not suffer. Then wrong suffers, sin suffers, so the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness when God's judgments are in it.

A.F.M. You would not say that is the character of the present time exactly? You would not say God's judgments are in the world now?

J.T. Except as seen morally in the saints; but the public situation, as proclaimed in the gospel, is that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Man in the flesh takes advantage of this, and therefore it is the suffering time of righteousness. Every believer, being a righteous man, has to suffer.

A.F.M. Would you compare that with Abel?

J.T. The first righteous man was put to death. He had to suffer.

A.A.T. You would not say righteousness was suffering in the assembly although it is in the world?

J.T. That of course raises a very important line of thought, that there are the two spheres -- the one over which Christ rules and the other over which God rules in a special way. In the first, normally, righteousness does not suffer. Christ rules over the house of God directly and He

rules in righteousness, as 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 2 and 3 abundantly show. In the Scriptures the history of righteousness follows on to Melchisedec, who is said to be the king of it. He is a very important man to come in at that juncture. By interpretation he is king of righteousness, and at the same time king of peace.

A.F.M. That is the righteousness enjoyed in the world to come, do you mean?

J. T. Well it shows the great place righteousness had in the course of the testimony.

A.F.M. "A king shall reign in righteousness", Isaiah 32:1.

J.T. Yes, but Melchisedec coming in in Genesis 14 is very important. As regards righteousness, he comes in when a man had suffered in the rescue of his brother. He comes in to bless Abram.

J.S. Are God's rights in mercy foreseen in the clothing of Adam and Eve?

J.T. I should say that is the first great testimony of His righteousness. He had a right to do that and He did it. On this ground, although driven out of Eden, Adam and Eve were, in a sense, retained. Adam recognizes his wife as the mother of all living.

A.A.T. And He would have retained Cain if he had availed himself of God's provision.

J.T. "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin [sin offering] lieth at the door", Genesis 4:7.

G.W.W. The great object with the enemy was to sweep man from under the eye of God. He would carry all off. Well now, if one might so say, if God had allowed Satan to carry that out it would have cast an eternal slur upon God. He intervenes through the death of Christ, procuring for Himself a perfectly righteous ground on which to set on one side the effort of the enemy and retain for Himself that order of being that He had desired.

J.T. That is very beautiful. So the "faith of Jesus" is important to note. Those that are of the faith of Jesus are the ones to be justified.

G.W.W. The second of Galatians has been spoken of

already this morning. "While we seek to be justified by Christ", Galatians 2:17. You have the same thought there. Our identity is in another Man.

J.T. Quite. Romans 3:4 suggests, I believe, character; the verse in Galatians position or status.

G.W.W. There seems to be that foreshadowed in the clothing afforded Adam and Eve. It has come out of death and, however obscurely Abel laid hold of that fact, he apprehended that on that ground only could he approach God. He saw there was acceptance with God through death. In that way he was looking on to what God had before Him as the basis for all His works.

J.T. In him the relationship of brother appears, and is emphasized. Seven times in Genesis 4 is Abel referred to as Cain's brother. The righteous man is the brother. How are you going to treat him? To be in relation with a righteous man tests us.

A.N.W. I think your reference to these two men is very remarkable -- that Abel was a brother. I notice that, grievous as Adam's sin was, the curse of God is not said to be upon him, but the curse of God did come upon Cain. It is the seriousness of destroying a righteous man.

J.T. Cain was cursed on account of his treatment of his brother; Canaan was cursed on account of his treatment of his father.

J.S. Relationship appears to become the test.

J.T. Quite so. It is in John's epistle.

A.N.W. I was going to say Abel had a testimony to which he answered; Cain had a further testimony in the fact that he saw Abel accepted, but he slew him.

G.W.W. Cain's "way" marks apostasy. The warning comes before us in Jude as to him. "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core". Rejection of the testimony was fatal.

J.D-s. Do you connect the children of God in the first verse of the third chapter with the twenty-ninth verse of the second chapter?

J.T. Yes; the twenty-ninth verse of chapter 2 introduces

the subject in chapter 3. Righteousness is one of the marks of the children of God.

J.D-s. We are children of God as begotten of Him, and therefore righteousness should mark us, inasmuch as it marks God; our dealings with our brethren -- indeed with all -- should be on that line. Anything less than that is unsuited and is a contradiction really, and a denial of the fact that we are begotten of God and, therefore, His children. We see the great love conferred upon us in being called the children of God. It seems to me it is in connection with what we have in the twenty-ninth verse -- the practice of righteousness.

J.T. Then the righteousness practised by the children of God is not simply one that conforms with legal requirements; the world, we may say, could take account of that, but what it says here is "Therefore the world knoweth us not". The world does not know the children of God nor the righteousness they practise; a righteous man, as seen in Abel here, is not taken account of by the world except as one to be persecuted.

J.D-s. The Father and the world, according to John's epistle, are put in contradistinction. Therefore, if we are begotten of God, in that way children of God, and have to do with the Father, of necessity what will mark us will not be appreciated or valued by the world. The world and the Father are diametrically opposed.

W.L.P. Righteousness condemns the world.

W.H.F. The children of God are of divine origin and therefore the practice of righteousness is natural to them. J. S. To love your brother is righteousness. It is a right thing to love your brother.

J.T. Yes, quite. There is to be a retention here of an order of man that is according to Jesus. That is the point one has to have before one's soul in all one's walk and ways. It is what is according to Jesus, because He is the righteous Man.

A.N.W. It is striking that righteousness should be connected with the forgiveness of sins, because men in the world view forgiveness -- if they view it at all -- as though

God would say sin is not sin. It seems striking that mercy and forgiveness should be connected with the righteousness of God. Men in the world will look for forgiveness as though God would say they are not so sinful after all, whereas that is not the idea at all.

J.T. No, I think righteousness always judges sin with authority. That is, holiness repels. It is something intolerable; but righteousness deals with it with authority.

J.D-s. You might say a little more about what makes a righteous man according to God unpopular in the world. I think it would be very useful to us if you did.

J.T. I think it is worked out in this chapter. It says of the Lord that He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; His whole course was marked by this, and it brought Him into suffering, as we see typified in Abel. So I think as you aim at being like Jesus in your relations here that you are not popular. You are different from the world. Your spirit is different and in the discharge of legal obligations you do it in His spirit. You do it as He did it. So I think it is that which brings us into reproach and suffering.

G.W.W. In that blessed Man we see One wholly actuated by love in the midst of a scene actuated by hatred and evil. There could be no moral affinity between the world and Christ. God is going to set aside evil in this world and love is to be the prevailing influence of the world when that blessed Man comes to fill the universe with love under the eye of God. If actuated by that at the present time you must receive at the hands of the world what He received -- hatred. Man does not want the principle of love to his neighbour, being wholly actuated by himself by feelings of hatred.

J.D-s. In this epistle righteousness is the opposite of lawlessness. If born of God and therefore belonging to the family who are regarded as the children of God, and practising righteousness, one should of necessity come into conflict with the lawlessness that marks the present scene. It is worthy of note that righteousness is dealt with so extensively in the epistle to the Romans, which is the foundation epistle. There the first feature of the kingdom

of God is said to be righteousness: "Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit", Romans 14:17. And so in 2 Timothy 2 those separated under the gracious hand of God are marked first of all by righteousness. I think that is of moment as showing the importance of righteousness in the mind of God.

A.N.W. Might I ask why it does not come first in Corinthians where the apostle says "Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption"?

J.T. I think wisdom was important in that letter on account of the conditions at Corinth; on account of Greek pretensions wisdom stands in the forefront.

W.H.F. I do not think the world understands anything about righteousness.

G.W.W. But when the world sees the representation of what God is in His children, it is keen enough to hate it. The world does not intend to allow principles according to God to rule down here.

A.A.T. I suppose we see that coming out in connection with our young brothers who cannot undertake to take human life in war.

Rem. They suggest a generation like Jesus.

J.T. Yes; He grew up as a tender plant before Jehovah and in favour of men as a Man; but directly the Holy Spirit comes upon Him and He stands up in the synagogue at Nazareth to preach, it says they marvelled at the gracious words proceeding from His mouth. So far, so good; but the citizens of Nazareth would have Him to do something that would distinguish them. He was brought up there, and so they would only too gladly have their town helped and distinguished. And then the Lord brings in the great fact that God had gone outside the limits of Israel in the exercise of His grace. In the Old Testament times He, through the prophet, had gone to the widow and had also cured Naaman. They would not have that. They "rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong", Luke 4:29. Thus we see how

the world hates the righteousness of God. I think that what the righteousness of faith says is of great import. It speaks. "But the righteousness of faith speaks thus: Do not say in thine heart, Who shall ascend to the heavens? that is, to bring Christ down; or, Who shall descend into the abyss? that is, to bring up Christ from among the dead. But what says it? The word is near thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart is believed to righteousness; and with the mouth confession made to salvation", Romans 10:6 - 10, New Trans. We have been dwelling on the effect of the Lord's testimony in the synagogue and how it brought persecution, but here the apostle alludes to a time when Israel should be scattered (Deuteronomy 30). The righteousness of faith in that day would say to them that it was a question of the state of their hearts as to what God is. "If thou ... shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart is believed to righteousness".

Ques. You have been speaking about righteousness in relation to our brother; but in relation to the world, how do we practise righteousness otherwise than by discharging our legal obligations?

J.T. Certainly you do that, but that would not bring you into reproach. What brings you into reproach is the character of God, as seen in Christ, coming out; and maintaining in you, towards all, an attitude such as marked Christ. This does violence to social distinctions, national feelings, and even family claims (although these latter have their place). The pride of the world is bound up in its own principles and distinctions.

A.R. S. If you stand for the rights of God?

J.T. That brings you into reproach.

G.W.W. The world is stirred up and you have to suffer; but if we do not present what is morally according to God we may slip through this world pretty quietly; but

the moment what is according to God comes out in our life the opposition of the world is tremendously stirred up at once.

A.R.S. It seems to me, as our brother said, if you simply meet your ordinary obligations in business and the like, the world will respect you, indeed, honour you, for you are of value to the community among whom you may be, but the moment you stand for the rights of God, which have been violated here, they will not have it at all.

A.F.M. When called to war now a non-combatant experiences the hatred of the world very largely.

J.T. You see how it was wrought out with the Lord. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me". He was brought up in Nazareth and was in favour with God and man there (Luke 2:52), but He stands up and says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor", and then when He asserts the full bearing of that they will not have it. They were filled with wrath, and would have killed the Lord. It was a question of the rights of God.

A.N.W. Do we not occasionally get into trouble through a faulty maintenance of the rights of God? We think we maintain His rights when we do not. Is there a standard of righteousness, or is it controlled by my individual conscience?

J.T. The standard is what God is in Christ.

G.W.W. We feel a good deal of suffering perhaps through hardly a right stand sometimes.

J.T. The thing is so wide it would be difficult to cover the different phases of righteousness, but take one point. God is not a national God. He is not God of any nation now specifically. He is God of the nations as He is of the Jew, so that He has no preference as regards nations. He set up Christ as head of every man, whoever he may be. Well now, you have to hold to that.

G.W.W. Yes, but if you stand up for that at the present time, you are going to get into trouble.

J.T. But it is in keeping with the dispensation in which we are. God has set up Christ as head of every man. Well, I must regard every man.

G.W.W. The principles of the kingdom that are set forth in the opening chapters of Matthew are to govern us at the present time as people in whose midst the kingdom of God has been established morally, and we are to act on them towards one another. They must govern and actuate us as those in the kingdom.

If we are controlled by those principles in our relations with one another, we are to a certain extent coloured by them; we are waiting for the time when those principles will be universal. That is what we are looking out for, but those principles will bring us into antagonism with the scene around us at the present time because that scene has to go out before God's kingdom is established. Man's world must disappear before God brings in His own.

J.T. I think that is what brings about the conflict. Men may not be able to give an account of why it is they oppose, but there is an intelligent spirit behind them.

J.D-s. The world to come is to be established on the basis of righteousness, and everything is established for us now on that basis. So if we know righteousness as it is presented in this epistle, our righteousness will not be accepted by men in the present age.

J.T. As the Lord says: "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven", Matthew 5:20.

PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE OF GOD

Ezra 3:1 - 13

J.T. There has been some concern that entrance into, and even participation by christians in, the evil that has come to be prevalent, might exclude the application at the present time of the principles that governed the house of God in the beginning, and I felt the consideration of this chapter would show that we must abide by the principles given at the beginning which govern the things that remain and are used for us; only we have to rightly divide the word of truth. The failure of the church has necessitated certain limitations which we have to come to accept. For instance, to refer to Ezra, their return was not by any commandment given either through Moses or through David. It was by the word of the Lord through Cyrus, the gentile king. That in itself was a very humiliating circumstance for the people of God, but, acting on that word and bowing to the word of God in their circumstances, as having come to Jerusalem, they revert both to Moses and to David.

G.W.W. They had nothing else to guide them.

J.T. Not in regard to the house.

Ques. What had you on your mind in regard to limitations?

J.T. Well, there are certain limitations, and very serious limitations. For instance, we cannot assume to be the assembly of God, as we have often remarked. That is a very great limitation. Therefore we cannot act on a scripture in the full literal sense that applied to the house of God when it was intact.

Rem. The limitations are all on our side, none on God's side.

J.T. No, but they exist as a fact. It is a fact that no company of christians, however large, in a locality today would claim to be the house of God, because they do not include all the christians in that locality.

Rem. I would suggest that when the ark was in place in

Israel there could be no possible question as to where the centre of gathering should be. When the ark was removed and it disappeared there resulted a great limitation, and great exercise as to where God might remove it to; those who were exercised were involved in a totally different line of things, like this that is in evidence here. There was no ark, and I suppose in the present time there is no visible centre in that sense; therefore we are thrown upon a line of spiritual exercise as to how far we can discern the leading of the Holy Spirit back to original divine principles. There is nothing visible. Is that at all what you had in mind as to limitation?

J.T. Yes. Moses began with the ark. They begin here with the altar. That is on account of the condition. They began with the altar "for fear"; it says, "was upon them".

A.F.M. Is that a good beginning?

J.T. I think it was righteous. They were following righteousness.

Ques. Was one of the signs that they put themselves under the protection of the Lord?

J.T. I think God will protect us if we sacrifice. That is, protection here is put on moral ground. God protects those who sacrifice.

B.T.F. Would you say what the altar represents now?

J.T. It is a question of sacrifice. The chapter brings out the reason for it. It was the fear of the enemy. They set the altar on its bases and they kept the feast of tabernacles, and offered the offerings that were enjoined by Moses, every day according to its requirement, referring, I suppose, to Numbers 29. That chapter gives us the offerings for each day and the fifteenth day of the seventh month, which was the day for the feast of tabernacles. They remember that and offer the offerings that were required for each day of the seven days -- of the eight days really -- which I think is recovery. Recovery of the truth is marked by sacrifice.

A.F.M. What do you mean by sacrifice?

J.T. The surrender of all that which one may be and one may have.

R.M.L. Buy the truth, is that it?

J.T. Well, it is. It amounts to that, but here there is the positive presentation of Christ in the offerings.

G.A.T. Have we here the thought of recovery and in chapter four the thought of maintaining the truth; when our adversaries come up we absolutely refuse to have anything to do with what is being built up on the world?

J.T. I think the principle of the altar precedes the building. Before we can come together and be built up we must have this principle of the altar. We cannot be together except on the ground of sacrifice.

Rem. At the outset there is a remarkable presentation of the person of Christ, and of Christ in sacrifice, and to appropriate that involves the consequences of His death and the cost to us of His death, so that the altar is immediately put to very rich use, but the rich use to which it is put is, as it were, the acceptance of the full consequences of the death of Christ, and that is sacrifice, but it is presented especially on the side of God's appreciation of it. What is emphasized is not the sin offering. It is very remarkable that though this was the time of the day of atonement, the sacrifice and the day of atonement are not mentioned, but it starts out with the rich appreciation of God in the sacrifice of Christ, and that is appropriated, but then it is sacrifice. Would you go with that?

J.T. Yes, quite, inasmuch as it is sacrifice, but the question is whether it is acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

G.W.W. I think (if I might suggest it) that you are using the word "sacrifice" in two different connections. It seems to me you look upon it as our sacrifice, that we are sacrificing. Is that right?

J.T. Yes, quite. Surrender.

G.W.W. Laying down the first principle of this (not new establishment exactly) new condition of things, is in surrender. That is not what was in your mind?

Rem. Yes, it was, but the presentation of it that comes in is of Christ in death, according to God's appreciation. Now if I am going to accept that it leads to a subjective work in connection with myself that involves the highest

order of surrender. I cannot touch that without surrender of everything that involves my position, and place, and person, and delight. Otherwise I cannot enter into what is in the divine thought in the burnt offering. I think it is the same idea. It may be my clumsy way of expressing it.

B.T.F. Is your thought that before the truth of the house can be reached the altar must be understood?

J.T. I think that is important here. Moses began with the ark in the instructions referring to the tabernacle. The altar came in after. Instructions were given in regard of the ark, the table, the curtains, the boards, the altar of burnt offering, and then we have the altar of incense. Here they began with the altar of burnt offering, and yet it says the foundation of the house was not yet laid, because "the foundation of the house" had reference to what we are built up in. It has reference to the work of the Spirit in us, but in a day of recovery it seems to me we must begin with sacrifice, and it showed their intelligence as to God that they reared up the altar in view of the enemy outside, as we get in Nehemiah in the building of the wall, for protection. They put things on moral grounds. That is, they understood God would defend that, and He does.

G.A.T. What is the altar for us?

J.T. Well, it is Christ. Christ is the altar.

G.A.T. How would you apply that?

J.T. It refers, I think, to what He was as having to do with evil. The dimensions given to us in Exodus suggest the strength of the manhood of Christ. That is to say, not in the sense that He raised the dead (He is declared to be the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead) but the idea is endurance in dealing with evil, moral strength.

A.F.M. It was brazen.

J.T. It is the judgment of sin in the principle of it with authority.

A.F.M. There were horns on it.

J.T. These denote the strength, I think.

A.F.M. Now in the way the truth was recovered to us of late years, it seems to have been in that order. The altar preceded light as to the house.

J.T. I have understood from those contemporary with the recovery of the truth that that was what marked the people of God -- they began with sacrifice. It cost them something, because the sacrifice is not of any moral value unless it costs one something. David said in regard to the foundation of the house that he would not have it unless it cost him something.

W.H.F. I suppose the altar indicated the people's relations with God, and when they got back the first thing they did was to set up the altar.

J.T. It is the only ground upon which we can have to say to God.

G.W.W. But if relations are to be re-established with God it must involve complete judgment of all that which caused suspension of those relations. That has to be recognized, does it not? You cannot just simply pick it up again as if nothing had happened. Sin that brought about a suspension of the relations must be recognized, and then a fresh sense is communicated to the soul of how the relations must be established in another Man. I suppose that is in the burnt offering, is it not? Now that must involve my laying aside everything that in any way partook of the character of evil, which brought about the suspension. I do not know whether you see what I mean?

J.T. Yes, I quite see it.

G.W.W. What I mean is this, you cannot simply say, 'O, well, we will revert to what we had before this came in'. It would seem to me that in the setting up of the altar there was the definite recognition of the breakdown of relations with God and His people, and if a little remnant is coming back and there is to be the re-establishment of anything there has to be the due recognition of that. God must be given His place and I must take my place.

J.T. So it becomes in that way the pursuit of righteousness.

G.W.W. Yes.

J.T. The seventh month ought to be the threshold of the millennium for them. It is in the types. It is the reawakening of Israel and the setting up of the millennium, of the

world of blessing. That is the month they had arrived at, but, instead of going into the millennium, they must bow to the conditions in which they are. The nation had completely broken down and had to return to the land of Canaan, and come into Jerusalem under the direction of a gentile monarch. A very humiliating thing! And they had been so under the influence of things in the world that provision had to be made to establish the genealogy of each one, as to whether they were of the true line of Israel. It was really for unrighteousness that they had to set up the altar at the very outset.

B.T.F. Do you speak of the altar in the same way that you would speak of the sacrifice that we find in the early days of the church's history? That is, they sold their lands in one instance and brought down their books and burned them in another instance. Do you speak of it in that aspect?

J.T. It is the sacrifice in that aspect in view, only it rises to the requirements of God, you see. They offered according to the instructions given for each day of the feast of tabernacles, beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, so that they arose to the divine requirement.

J. S. Would that indicate moral condition?

J.T. I think it shows how they were progressing, as having returned. We began with this, they had come back to Jerusalem. That is a point to be noted because it shows that, bowing to the will of God, we come back to the divine centre and we are then in position to apply Scripture, and these points may be applied.

G.W.W. What does the feast of tabernacles represent to us?

J.T. I think it is the Lord coming to us. It says in Deuteronomy, chapter 16, verses 13 - 16, "Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: and thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast

unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles". If you look at the feast of weeks you will observe that there is no time limit to it. It says, "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee: and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there", Deuteronomy 16:9 - 11.

You see he gives them no limit of time for the feast of weeks, which refers to the Spirit; that is, the enjoyment one has in the Spirit is not connected with nor bounded by time at all. It is bounded by eternity. We are connected with heaven and eternity as having the Spirit of God; but the feast of unleavened bread, as also the feast of tabernacles, are bounded by time. The first, the feast of unleavened bread, has reference to the judgment of sin in the world, which goes on all through the time that we are down here, and the second, the feast of tabernacles, refers to the positive thing that we have got, within the same period of time. I think the feast of tabernacles has reference especially to the Lord making Himself known to us.

A.F.M. You mean in the assembly?

J.T. Yes, as we are dwelling in booths. It says they dwelt in booths. There would be families, localities, suggested, I think, and the introduction of it here in Ezra has reference to the place the Lord had in the hearts of the

saints at the outset of recovery. They had come to Jerusalem and they were of one mind. It says they were together as one man in Jerusalem, so that if we are walking, following righteousness with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart, we are now free to enjoy unity.

W.H.F. Is there any place where the Lord says if they call on His name He would come to them? Is this good to us now?

J.T. Quite. It shows that the very highest blessing accorded to the saints is available to us.

G.W.W. So, in connection with the recovery of the truth the very first thing that really happened was that Christ got His right and proper place before the souls you speak of. That is, the recovery of the sense, which had largely been lost, of His being the living, glorified Man at the right hand of God, the One capable of bringing to pass everything for God's pleasure in spite of the failure that had come in. That was the initial step of the recovery, and what led Mr. Darby to see the truth as to the church was that there was recovered to his soul the sense of a glorified Man at the right hand of God.

J.T. Now you are coming to the point, because Jerusalem is not Moses' ministry. It does not represent Moses' ministry. It represents David's ministry.

G.W.W. Yes.

J.T. And so for us it is Paul's ministry. We are recovered with Paul's ministry or we are not recovered at all.

G.W.W. And so what was really filling the soul of Paul in his ministry was a living, glorified Man at the right hand of God.

J.T. That is the substance of his ministry.

G.W.W. Now that had been lost and the consequence was things had been set up in that which professed the name of Christ on earth without any real reference to Him, but the first thing the Spirit did when He began to work recovery was to establish the real place in which Christ was in the hearts of His people, and then everything began to fall into place.

J.T. There is nothing right without that.

G.W.W. No. As one has been listening this afternoon one has been wondering in one's own soul whether the keeping of the feast of tabernacles does not somehow indicate the truth of Christ having His right and proper place in connection with His people.

J.T. I think it does. I think that this chapter is like John 14:21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me". Now they had come to the point -- they had come to Jerusalem, which spiritually is heaven.

G.W.W. They were to come out of all those circles which might give them any position or prominence, and were all to become dwellers in booths. It seems to indicate the setting aside of all those social distinctions which have to be recognized in a sort of way in our responsible life, but which nevertheless tend to keep the people of God apart from one another, so that they are all found on common ground. I do not know whether I am right.

J.T. I think so, and the Lord comes in where His commandments are kept. There may not be much in the way of building yet, but directly you come to Jerusalem and adhere to the commandments then you have the principle of manifestation. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him", John 14:21. There is the manifestation, and then the Lord goes on to say that He will love one who loves Him and keeps His words and such will be loved of the Father, and that the Lord and the Father will come and make their abode with him. So it seems to me that the feast of tabernacles suggested that the Lord was with them.

B.T.F. In what way would you apply the thought of building now? For instance you might say the house was built, God had formed the house. Now in what way would you speak of the building now?

J.T. We have to take up the house in an abstract way, because they are said here to come to the house before it was rebuilt. We return to it in an abstract way, and the

building, I. believe, is when we are together. Edification goes on as together. I am especially concerned that we might see how the Lord draws near and is with us as we return to Jerusalem and adhere to the commandments.

G.W.W. There is certainly some moral importance, that it would be greatly to our profit to get hold of, in the keeping of the feast of tabernacles at this juncture, as indicating moral preparation for what was coming in. One questions whether or not the failure all around us has caused a good deal of the weakness and failure that has come in together with an attempt to bolster up something ecclesiastical, without being satisfied with what is entirely moral; there appears to me therefore to be something in the dwelling in booths. I wish we could get a real sense of what it means that every man has to leave his house and go and dwell in a booth. There seems to be some moral preparation there for what was coming in.

J.T. What is it?

G.W.W. Well, I do not know, but I am very anxious we should get at it.

Rem. I would like to revert to what has been said as to the burnt offering, which was evident in the early days and the light that came in as to the glorified Man, which put such a wonderful impress upon those who were first recovered and able to give us the light. I think the appreciation they had was very largely that the glorified Man was the One who gave pleasure to God in the sacrifice in the burnt offering. Now in these first six verses no less than seven times is reference made to the burnt offering. The recovery in the souls of the people was God's appreciation of the value of the person of Christ and the work of Christ when He devoted Himself to the pleasure of God. Now the one who is glorified is the One who suffers that way, and He is the burnt offering; that is seen outstandingly here, it is seven times over referred to, and I think the point of recovery eighty or ninety years ago was the appreciation of Christ in that light.

G.W.W. Yes, the appreciation of the burnt offering leads the people to the feast of tabernacles. I am not

prepared to go and dwell in my booth unless I am in the appreciation of the new position into which the burnt offering aspect of the death of Christ has introduced me before God. I am in the appreciation of that new position so that I think very little of that which will give me a certain position here, and I am delighted to take common ground with all the people of God as those who all alike have been the subjects of divine grace, and to enjoy with them the things concerning Christ. I am rather looking at the burnt offering as giving me the moral preparation.

Rem. I think that is entirely so. If you take the history of the people of God, there has always been light as to the forgiveness of sins -- that is that Christ died for our sins -- but when the offering of Christ devoted to the pleasure of God, as we get it in the burnt offering, was understood and when it found place in their souls there was a new point of departure which led into all the faithfulness and meekness of the Philadelphian state, and I think it is that that we get indicated here, and that leads on to the feast of tabernacles.

W.B. I have a difficulty in that you were speaking about how light as to the Lord in glory recovered the Lord's people in days gone by. Does not the altar set forth Christ here upon earth as a man? Is it not the strength of that Man that is able to meet everything, and is He not strong enough in His own Person to maintain everything for God, to stand against evil, to give up all, and to surrender and sacrifice as a Man? Is it not all down here upon the earth?

G.W.W. Yes, but is it not all done in view of the place of acceptance for His people, all going up to God surely, but in that burnt offering the foundation is laid, not for the putting away of sins, but for the place of acceptance in which a redeemed people are set with their God. Is that not what comes out?

W.B. Yes, that is true, but my point is that it was all accomplished on the earth, not in the glory.

G.W.W. But what has it in view?

W.B. It is for the glory, but I learn it now upon earth.

G.W.W. Surely.

J.T. The point is that they came back to Jerusalem, which it has been remarked is spiritually the heavenlies, the centre of rule and blessing where Christ is, but then, as was remarked, the altar has reference to what Christ was here as Man, but the burnt offerings bring in the thought of acceptance. It is reconciliation. That company is before God according to that, so the people know in what they offer there (conforming with the requirements of God) they are before Him typically in all the acceptance of Christ, and in that way they are qualified for the booths, I apprehend, and the presence of the Lord, the dwelling with us of the Lord.

Rem. That is of tremendous value, because if you look through genealogical writings there runs through a general idea of the forgiveness of sins, but acceptance and reconciliation was light which led on to recovery and which is in the savour of Christ's preciousness to God in that sacrifice.

G.W.W. That is the initial step and we are not going to get along on the line of recovery, or light that was given as to the house or anything else, until the soul is established in that point. That is going to help us to seek identification with the movement.

J.T. Quite right.

G.W.W. We not only come to the burnt offering and appropriate the new position that has been established in Christ (and we have got a sense of it in our souls consequent upon receiving the Spirit), but we are prepared to dwell in booths. We move on.

J.T. In bringing all this back to what is practical, in the second epistle to Timothy you have a company of people, or a number of persons, who call on the Lord out of a pure heart, with whom you can follow, and it may be wondered what these people are going to do. And so, "All scripture", we are told in that same scripture, "is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness", 2 Timothy 3:16. Well, I turn to Ezra, which has its place in "all scripture" and I get instruction as to how people similarly situated acted, and I get light, I get confirmation, and what I find is that they returned to Jerusalem. What

would exercise those that have got a pure heart and are calling on the Lord would be to return to Jerusalem too. That is, they have returned to Christ as He is at the right hand of God. Scripture abounds with instruction for the people of God and I want to find what application it has to me, or, rather, to us. How am I going to apply Scripture? Well, Paul says, 'Now, Timothy, you must remember this that the scripture has to be rightly divided'. It is complete in itself but it has to be divided, and you must remember that great limitations are involved in the breakdown that has come in. In the midst of what is formally called "a great house" it is quite clear that one has to be very careful as to how one is going to apply Scripture. You have got to use discernment and discrimination, otherwise you will find yourself in a false position in the use of it. So that the saints look into the Scriptures. It is very remarkable, in Ezra and Nehemiah, how much they made of the Scriptures. Presently a man arrives who understands the thing, even Ezra. He was instructed in the law of God and returned with that qualification -- a man raised up of the Lord expressly to help the people of God under those circumstances. So the people gather together on a certain day, in the open space before the water gate, in order to hear the law read, and, as Ezra read it, standing upon a pulpit of wood, all the people stood and listened. Then after he reads it, he and the other priests instruct the people as to the meaning of what he had read (Nehemiah 8:1 - 12). Now it seems to me that in that way you have a mode of procedure, and, following it, as I said, all the land is before us. There is nothing we may not touch in the way of blessing and privilege.

Rem. It is a very helpful suggestion. You mean they returned to the house of God. The house of the Lord was not in visible evidence; there was no house there at all, yet morally they returned to it, and therefore to the principles of it, and to the things in the mind of God connected with it.

W.L.P. The laying of the foundation and building of the house is entirely moral now, is it not?

J.T. Quite. That is a further development. We begin with the altar, we begin with the sacrifice. That is, I have to sacrifice for you and you for me if we are to walk together, but, mark you, they were together as one man in Jerusalem. It was not a place of their own choosing. They might have selected another place in the kingdom of Persia to set up a temple to Jehovah, but Jerusalem was the spot and they assembled there as one man, so it seems to me that the great error that has been made in christendom is that Jerusalem has been overlooked. In all their efforts to set up the worship of God, the service of God, this one great principle has been overlooked, namely Jerusalem.

B.T.F. The Lord being with His people, to what do you actually refer then?

J.T. It is the feast of tabernacles that succeeded it. The dwelling in booths would mean they were dwelling closely, and He would be with them.

B.T.F. I was thinking of the present application.

J.T. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21) and then, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him", John 14:23. That is the encouragement one has in keeping His word.

G.W.W. The thought of the house of God in any spiritual way was entirely lost in christendom, and the thought of God's house was limited entirely to a building over whose doors was inscribed, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven". It shows how completely the moral and spiritual idea had been lost. Now what is to be recovered, and established in the souls of the saints, is the true appreciation of the house of God.

J.T. That is it.

G.W.W. But that has got to be done in your soul. It has got to be done in men.

J.T. As we are together as one man then we can apply the truth of the house.

G.W.W. Yes, but the sense of it has been re-established in each one of our souls. It is not anything outward or visible, but it is recovery to the true moral sense of the: house. The rule of that house is holiness.

J.T. That leads to another thought, namely, the house is universal.

G.W.W. Eventually.

J.T. It is a universal thought. It brings in all saints in all lands, in all nations, so that it saves one from national or local ideas. They came to it before it was rebuilt, but you see this, that it is a question of the light of the thing.

W.B. What is the point of the seventh verse?

J.T. Shall I read it? "They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia". Well, you see what they are giving now is not for sacrifice on the altar. They are now thinking of the requirements of the house, the necessary elements for the house.

G.W.W. Might we say the moral constituents of the house? That is what is brought there. That is what our souls need to have a sense of.

J.T. These things are not put on the altar. We began with what is due to God, and that is what I had specially before me in this passage. That is a question of following righteousness. It is the assertion of what is due to God first of all, and then you bring in, as you said, the constituent elements of the house. We must have these.

A.N.W. Is it not sacrifice also?

J.T. Well, it may be, but you see sacrifice is for the altar.

A.N.W. Always?

J.T. I think so.

A.N.W. What about the praise later?

J.T. The reference there is to the altar. I think sacrifice usually involves the altar. It is a question of what you present to God, as to whether it conforms to His requirement, and His requirement is Christ. But then you think of the necessities of the house, the requirements of the house.

A.F.M. Would you say the truth of the house has been recovered to us during the last years, and the point now is that our souls should be in the moral good of that? That is the position now.

J.T. You see they came to it before the foundation was laid even, showing you have the idea in your soul.

Rem. And do we not see that when they appreciate the light of that, two very important elements at once come into view -- that is, headship and priesthood. That is Zerubbabel and Jeshua. As soon as they return to the house and have the mind of God concerning that, there comes into view at once headship and priesthood.

J.T. Quite right.

A.F.M. Would you say the particular point of recovery lies in the fact that God is here by the Spirit? Was not the presence of the Spirit neglected and misunderstood?

J.T. Quite right, and then what has been said should be well noted, that, as coming back to the house we have the apostle and high priest. We have authority. Christ is Son over it. That remains true. He is Son over it, He knows every stone in the house and where it is, although I may not know, nor do we claim to be it.

Rem. We are of it.

J.T. Quite, we are of it, but then we have access to Christ and He has access to us, so that in the late great issue that arose the point was that Christ is Son over the house. He is over it as Son of God. That is, He is Ruler of it.

G.W.W. Not a mere figurehead.

J.T. No, the real ruler of the house of God. So that they have Zerubbabel here, and Jeshua the high priest. Thus we are wonderfully provided for. We have all that they had at the beginning in that sense, so the epistle to the Hebrews becomes so important in our day, because it emphasizes what we have.

Rem. What we have come to.

J.T. Yes, quite, what we have come to in chapter 3. But we have access, it says, into the holiest, and we have a great High Priest over the house of God, so let us draw near. Therefore I say there are no limitations as regards

God, or as regards our spiritual enjoyment and intelligence. All is perfectly clear in regard of God.

G.W.W. I think if you will follow it through what you find is that every trouble that ever arose among us was in some way an attempt of the enemy to obscure those original recovered principles. Some time ago an attempt was made among us to lay down the ground that all being children in the presence of one God was the original ground on which brethren were found gathered together. I asked the only brother living who could tell me anything about it and he said that was so. Mr. Darby came along and found them there, and then brought these thoughts in connection with the glorified Man in heaven to them. They saw at once that the idea as to children of God would not hold and the great majority accepted the light and moved on in their souls. Those who did not became leaders in the Bethesda division.

J.T. They began with this chapter, but the point of gathering is not some family. Jerusalem is the centre of gathering.

G.W.W. Yes, we must come to something beyond the basis of some family, which is a ground that will not hold. I think that headship and priesthood and moral condition have been ceaselessly assailed -- never perhaps more so than in the last difficulty we had. I am perfectly persuaded it was an attempt upon the headship of Christ.

J.T. And His governorship in the house of God. He is Ruler in the house of God, and as Son. It is serious to have anything appear to interfere.

J.D-s. I am very glad to hear it. If I understand it, a Timothy a is the way into all this morally. It is a very great relief to find it is so. It is an immense thing when we come to Jerusalem. We find the structure there. It is all there. Then as we have not built it it has to be reached morally; but then we find there is the Head and Priest present.

J.T. So what you see is this, if you are in a locality and there are some brethren calling on the Lord out of a pure heart, you say obviously we belong to the house of God,

Christ is over it, and you suggest that we should act on those principles, and we find the Lord does help us in the government of the saints.

J.D-s. Yes. Manifestly there must be limitations, the church having failed and become in the condition in which we find it today. There must be limitations from our side. It would be mere pretension for us to assume otherwise. To shut our eyes to it would be folly.

Rem. One is impressed with the tremendous value of this, that we have everything that was established in a material way. The kingdom, the throne, the temple, the city, the house, have all been swept away, but we come back here to Ezra and we find everything without exception that was of moral and spiritual value is preserved in its associations and is workable, and absolutely maintains for the returned remnant the intercourse with God that was enjoyed before, and in a deeper way in a sense, so the thing becomes of immense encouragement as we see it in that way, I think.

J.D-s. It might help if you would tell us why you said this is all laid on the pattern of David, not Moses.

J.T. Well, I think it was David that brought in Jerusalem. He captured Jerusalem and he received the pattern of the temple by the Spirit, it says. As a matter of fact, David is the head. I do not think that Moses is head in Exodus, Leviticus or Numbers, but he is head in Deuteronomy, because in Deuteronomy he speaks, not as it says "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying". He speaks more as one who has the mind of God in Deuteronomy. You understand what I mean?

J.D-s. I do.

J.T. You will not find the continual repetition "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying". It is what Moses says, showing that in Deuteronomy he is more head, preparing the people to enter into Canaan. Now when you come to David you find nothing of that either. You find nothing of 'The Lord spake unto David, saying'. What you do find is what David said, and what David did -- especially what he did, and in what he did in preparing of a service for the

house of God you have the great principle of the headship of Christ in providing the service and the song, or songs, for the house of God, so that David brings in the Levites and constitutes them singers and then delivers the songs to them to sing. Now we find that alluded to here (verse 10), "And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel". So that they are now at the full height of the thoughts of God in regard to the house.

A.A.T. In christianity if Paul answers to David, what answers to Moses?

J.T. The instructions given by the twelve, I suppose. The twelve represented the authority of Christ and in the inauguration of christianity in the world they are typified in Moses.

B.T.F. You have been speaking much of the house in order to fix it on our minds. Would you just name some of the prominent features connected with the house in a practical way?

J.T. David helps us there. First of all he discerned what the foundation was by the sword being sheathed by the angel on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. He says, "This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel", 1 Chronicles 22:1. He discovered it in that way. It was not pointed out to him, and that only confirms what I was remarking, that headship comes in on moral grounds. He discerned that that was the foundation. From that point onward David is occupied with nothing else than preparation for the house of God. That fills his soul and he hands over the pattern and the material to Solomon, and Solomon puts it together.

A.P. Why do the elder brethren weep here?

J.T. I suppose it was a right feeling, that they remembered the former glory of the house.

A.P. As has been pointed out recovery brought them into a deeper knowledge of it.

J.T. So it does, because it leads us on. As we read in

Haggai 2:9, "the latter glory of the house shall be greater than the former". But I think it is quite right to have a right judgment of the failure that has brought in the ruin of the first.

G.W.W. If we think of the different things brought to pass by the unfaithfulness of saints, we can but mourn; it can but fill us with sorrow; and perhaps one is not really ready to take up the position until one recognizes with sorrow that consequent upon failure the church has been shorn of a great many things previously attached to her. At the same time one can understand the shout of joy. We see the gate is being opened that we might go in to enjoy all those things, vital and moral and of such importance. It is not merely mourning over the departed glory of the thing. We have this wonderful promise and rejoice in it, that the glory that is going to come in yet shall be greater than anything we mourn over; the latter glory shall be the greatest of all.

J. S. Is that an evidence of the spiritual state? While the foundation is simply being laid they sing. They do not wait until the house is completed to start singing.

J.T. It shows the great place the Lord had in their hearts.

EDUCATION FOR HEAVEN

Luke 9:28 - 36; Matthew 17:1 - 8; Mark 9:2 - 8

I wish to speak of these verses but wish also to read Matthew's account and Mark's account of the same occurrence. Matthew's account is in chapter 17, verses 1 to 8, and Mark's in chapter 9, verses 2 to 8.

In connection with the gospels the word to Timothy by Paul has a special significance, namely, that we should rightly divide the word of truth. The gospels afford a wide range, I need not remind you. They are on a much wider platform than the epistles. The bearing of the gospels goes beyond the church, I need not say, and goes into the millennium, so we need to bear that injunction in mind in reading them, namely, to rightly divide the word of truth.

I want to speak a word about the educational feature of the gospels, so I have selected these passages; especially the one in Luke, for they present to us what is highly educational. Immediately the disciples were in view, but at the time these narratives were written the disciples had undoubtedly learned their lessons, so that they were not written for them. They were written for those who should follow after them, those who had been converted through them; they were written for us so that we should profit by their education. We are to be educated divinely, beloved friends, if we are to be educated at all. I need not remind you that the gospels do not educate us for a place in this world. The education that the gospels afford is to qualify us for that world, the one that is to come. For ourselves immediately the education is for the heavenly part of it. A very blessed suggestion that, that we are to fulfil a function in the heavenly part of that wonderful world that God has before Him.

These three men -- Peter, James and John -- were taken by the Lord to receive this special educational experience (for such it was) and the record is left for us as followers

of theirs in the path of faith, so that we should partake of the education that is available in it. So I will dwell upon the thoughts in Matthew, and say a few words as to Mark; finally I would desire to go into Luke more fully.

Matthew tells us that the Lord's countenance shone as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light. That is what the Spirit of God introduces through Matthew for us. Neither Mark nor Luke refer to the sun in their narratives, and for the reason that I have stated, that Matthew is the educational gospel for administration. We are to be administrators; we are to have part in the rule of the world to come. Now these are not mere theories. I do not wish you to think that I am putting out accepted theories among the saints. I wish you to understand that what I am saying, I am speaking from conviction in my own soul as to the significance of the passage.

However insignificant we may regard ourselves, the mind of God is that we shall have part in the administration of that wonderful system of things He has before Him. He has His mind about it and He does not want you to come short. Hence the importance of looking at the sun. In some parts of the earth it is regarded (at least at certain times) as an enemy, but I am sure the whole human race would conclude that the sun is the greatest of all factors in the material system, especially in the wonderful regularity in which it revolves (as we speak), regulating everything in our system.

A wonderful piece of education, beloved friends, to look at Christ in that light! What a countenance was that! John sees Him later in the vision in Patmos. It was as the sun shines in his power, it says. We as christians have come to see that our politics are not connected with this world. We have come (at least some of us have -- all christians have not) to see, with Paul, that our citizenship is in heaven. We have come to see that in connection with Christ there, there is a system of politics, or citizenship, in which we, as believers, have part. It is not only that I am to be with Jesus -- wonderful as that is. Every believer is to be there. The Lord will have us. He loves us and

hence He comes in order to receive us to Himself. We are told that. As He says, "That where I am, there ye may be also", John 14:3. Most precious truth for those who love the Lord, but that is to be in the Father's house, in which there are many valued things, but there is a wider idea than the Father's house. There is the city of the, living God, to which we have come. Out of it is all government. The government is to be on the shoulder of Christ. Would to God He were here now to take it up! Every nation cries out for a governor, for one who can face things and solve them. The government shall be upon His shoulder, His name shall be Everlasting Father. Think of the care, the parental care, the interest of Christ in the whole realm of God. The government of the universe is sustained on His shoulder. And then He is the Prince of Peace. All these great ideas shall enter into the city of the living God, whence shall issue all rule and all light for the whole realm of creation. What a wonderful thing, beloved friends, that God has destined that we are to have part in that. We are to have our part in that wonderful scheme. How important, therefore, to study Matthew.

Matthew is what I might call the legislative gospel, and also the administrative gospel, for in order to have administration you must have legislation. Now chapter 5 gives us the legislation of the kingdom. That is also upon the mount, but in chapter 17 it is the Administrator that is presented to us, the Ruler. So His countenance is like the sun. What brilliancy! As you think of the countenances of the nations, who knows anything about them? Things are all done in the dark. Whereas here you have the countenance of the Ruler as the sun in brilliance, and then all His circumstances, His clothing, are white as the light -- not a spot or shade either on His person or His circumstances. Who can rule in the house of God? Who is qualified to rule in the house of God save one whose countenance is as the sun in clearness and brilliance with no dark part, and whose circumstances and whose relationships (domestic and otherwise) are as white as the light? 1 Timothy makes it plain as to who is to rule in the house of God.

Now Matthew, as I understand, is the gospel that instructs us in regard of rule. When you come to Mark what you will note is the word "themselves" appears as exclusive, as I apprehend. It says He took them to a high mountain apart by themselves. Now that is Mark. Mark is, as we know, the evangelist who presents to us Christ as the servant of God. You have no reference to His birth, or to His boyhood in Mark. It is the beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God. That is how Mark introduces his subject. Very abrupt -- no reference to His parentage or to His locality. It is Jesus Christ, Son of God, at the beginning of His service, and so the Lord takes them with Him. They go up into the mountain.

The Lord is selective and exclusive. We must not be afraid of the word 'exclusive'. It is a very good word provided it is preceded by selection, by divine selection. Now according to Mark they are taken aside by themselves. How lovely that is! It is as if to say, 'Now, Peter, James and John, only you three'. The Lord evidently had no compunction in regard of hurt feelings. Only Peter, James and John, only you three. You say, a very small company. Ah, but a very select company. That is the point. It is not a question of the number. Not that we shall not have numbers, but I prefer selection first, the selection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a wonderful thing to be selected. "Ye have not chosen me", says the Lord, John 15:16. Had we been left to ourselves not one of us would have chosen Him. A very solemn thing to have to admit -- not one of us would have chosen Him. He says, you did not choose me. Had they been left to themselves they would have been with the multitude, with the majority, who rejected Him. "When we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him", Isaiah 53a. He is not our selection, but He says, "I have chosen you, and ordained you", John 15:16.

The Lord selects and He ordains. A wonderful thing to be in that select company! Now it says, He took them apart by themselves, and all that happens happens for them. Wonderful consideration in divine education! If you will

notice, He was transfigured before them -- not simply transfigured. It is not simply the fact of the transfiguration. That is there, but it happened before them. How much happens before us? Think of His consideration for us -- how things happen before us. They do not happen before the world. The world does not know what we enjoy. Did they know it, their attitude would be different. As Paul says, speaking of the Lord in another connection, "the hidden wisdom ... which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory". The wisdom of the Greeks is public, and all the sages that have followed (many of whom live now) you can attain to by getting their books and reading them, and listening to their lectures, but the hidden wisdom, beloved friends, which none of the princes knew (the word "princes" here does not mean simply the rulers of the world, but the learned men of the world). Not one of them knew it, he says, "for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory", 1 Corinthians 2:8. And so, beloved friends, the world does not know the things that come before us. Hidden away in obscure places and rooms (for the meeting rooms we have are not built for us; none of the cities of the world provide for the saints of God; we have to take what we can find usually) we find things that the world knows nothing about. They happen before us -- not before the world.

The Lord in going away, before He went up to heaven, prayed, and He deliberately excluded the world. A very serious thing! "I pray not for the world", He says, "but for them which thou hast given me". That is our position. He prays for us and He manifests Himself to us. Judas says, How is that Lord? How can you manifest yourself to us and not to the world? "If any one love me he will keep my word". The secret is, if you love Christ you will understand how it is that you are one of the exclusives, one of the select ones to whom He makes manifestations. Is that not enough for you? There are those who look for companies and are glad to see a lot of brethren. Of course we are thankful to see large companies,

but then, beloved friends, it is a question of the countenances of those of the company. What kind of countenances have they? Gideon says to the kings of the Midianites, "What sort of men were they that ye slew at Tabor?" What were they like? That is the point. What do they look like? Well, they say, every one was like you. Each one of them is the child of a king. That is the company. There is no difficulty in regard of numbers, if you are after them. It only requires a bit of talent, and a bit of energy, and a bit of strife, the strife of Herod, the leaven of Herod, and you will get a company. There is no difficulty about getting a crowd. They are easily secured. It is a question of the quality. What kind of countenances have they? What kind of spirits have they? What kind of hearts have they? Ye have come, says the apostle, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and we want men, as we had it here today and yesterday, calling on the Lord out of a pure heart. These are the people.

Well, now, I think Mark calls attention to this, they are exclusive, they are a select class. Oh, you say, you are shut up to yourselves, you christians, you brethren. You are too narrow. I am not defending the narrowness of the flesh, because the flesh is exclusive too in its own way, carnally so. I am speaking of the exclusiveness that is based on the selection of the Lord Jesus Christ -- His selection. You say, you are shut up to yourselves. But then, beloved friends, look what we are shut up to. Suppose we admit your contention, look what we are shut up to. What do you know about what we see? About what we enjoy? You have no part or lot in it. Look at the countenances of God's people. Look at their ways. See if they are not happier than you are. How do you account for it? The secret of it is, beloved friends, that we are shut up to Christ. That is the secret of it. But then shut up to Christ is shut up to what? Shut up to all there is in heaven and eternity. Think of the vastness of it. We have spoken here today about the feast of weeks and the feast of Pentecost, that in the New Testament there is no time limit. It is not regulated by the laws of time or of nature. As christians we are shut up to that,

the vastness of what God is in Christ, made good to us by the Spirit. As Paul says, If the outer man perisheth (and he does) yet the inner is renewed day by day. You do not see the inner man. You only see the outer. He says further, We look not at things that are seen. We are the filth and off scouring of all things, nevertheless, we look at the things that are not seen, and in the light of all that, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us an eternal weight of glory. That is the christian's part.

Mark, I apprehend, is on that line, so he tells us that the Lord took them apart to a high mountain by themselves, and was transfigured before them, and after the transfiguration, in Mark it says they looked around and they saw no one but Jesus only with themselves. I only refer to that and I leave it with you, but, I say, what a wonderful thing to see Jesus only and themselves!

Do not say in your heart, I am nothing. Are we nothing? Place the saints with Jesus and see what they are. They are jewels. Really you might say that expression "Jesus only with themselves" is the essence of the epistle to the Colossians. That is what it is. The Father speaks out of the cloud, and He says, "This is my beloved Son: hear him". And they look around and they see no one but Jesus only. Jesus only with them. He was with them. Well now, that, as I apprehend, is how Mark presents the thing. He occupies our minds with this beautiful picture -- a glorified Jesus announced from heaven as the Son, who alone is to be heard, and He is there with the three men who are selected. He is with them and they do not see anything else but Him. As I said, it seems to me to be the substance of the letter to the Colossians.

In turning to Luke what I wish to enlarge on is the Man, and what you will see is that the transfiguration occurred while He was praying. It does not say that it occurred before them. I think that in a way the Father would say, 'I am not going to leave it all with you. It is not all for you now'. That lovely picture of a Man praying, lifting up His face to God in prayer, is for God. "And as He prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment

was white and glistering" and Moses and Elias appear and they are talking with Him. What are they talking about? All these things are educational. They are talking about His decease. I suppose if we were to meet Moses, with our natural sentiments, we should like to ask him several questions about the Egyptians, or about Pharaoh as the warrior that ruled in his time. He could tell us. He could solve that problem. He could tell us, if we were disposed to ask him, certain things about the Red Sea and Mount Sinai. But there was nothing said here about those things at all. He was in the presence of the Lord of glory, he and Elias, these two wonderful men. Elias could have told us about Ahab and Jezebel, but not a word about these things. They are speaking to the Lord about His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. That is the theme of their conversation on the mount.

Well, now, Peter was afraid, and John was afraid, and James was afraid; not only were they afraid, but they fell asleep. It says "Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep". It seems Peter is the foreleader in the sleeping here. There is usually a leader in these things. There is not time to enlarge upon the leadership in which Peter figures; we have to be on our guard as to leadership of the saints which results in disaster for them, and as to whether we are influencing anybody wrongly. If you want to go to sleep go to sleep by yourself. "Peter and they that were with him", it says. It seems as if they were together as a trio, in spite of the vision before them. It is a terrible thing to have partisan feeling. You may say I am forcing the passage, but the Spirit of God puts it just that way. "Peter and those with him" it should be (New Trans.). They were with Jesus on the holy mount. It was a question of being with Jesus and that is the question, beloved friends, for us. It is not what man you are with, what company you are with. It is a question of being with the Lord, with Jesus. It is a question for the secret of your soul to determine whether you are with Him, or whether you are with Peter or somebody else.

They were oppressed with sleep, it says, and then it

further says that when they were "fully awoke up they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him". That was what they woke up to and that is what we all wake up to. Now that is what is available -- that is the light, the light of Christ's glory. But now see how it is with them: Peter is spokesman again, and he says to the Lord, "Master, it is good for us to be here". For us. "And let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias". Now, Luke says he did not know what he said; Mark says he did not know what to say. How like the conditions around us, men waking up and now making their proposals -- three tabernacles. I wonder how many there are, how many tabernacles today in what we call christendom? How many? In Paul's time even, at Corinth, he says, "every one of you saith" (mark, there was nobody exempt). "Every one of you saith I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas, and I of Christ", 1 Corinthians 1:12. They were all guilty. There was none exempt. "Every one of you". That is how it is in christendom. Each one of you says, I am of this, I am that, and I am the other, and someone says, "I am of Christ", another sect called christians, as distinguished from others. The apostle says, "Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" Away with your sects! Away with your leaders! Return to christianity.

Peter, it says, did not know what he was saying. Well, it is not only that they do not know what they are saying, it is far worse than that. The divisions of christendom are an attack on the Lord Jesus Christ. It is an attack on the truth of the church. It is Satan's way of nullifying the truth. That is what it is.

A cloud comes and the Father's voice is heard. It says that a cloud overshadowed them. Ah! God is going to have to say. Today, beloved friends, His voice speaks amid the din of the different voices of leaders. God speaks. It is a question of righteousness, the rights of God are involved in it. "This is my beloved Son: hear him". There is only one tabernacle. There are not to be three tabernacles. Three would be a denial of the truth of the Deity, for God

is one. So in Exodus it was asserted there should be one tabernacle, and Christ is that. At least He stands for it here. So the passage further reads, "While he thus spake, there carne a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud". That is to say, God brings Peter's wicked speech to an end. Would to God He would put an end to it now, at least in the hearts of His own. The greatest comfort one has in a way is that the Lord knoweth those that are His, and if you have any such device in your heart, or any such speech as this, would to God the cloud would come and put an end to it forever.

The cloud came as a rebuke to Peter while he was speaking. There is no such thing as what he was saying. If you are holding any such thing as that it is not from Heaven. That is from the devil, that voice that suggested putting the Son of God on a level with Elias and Moses. God will not have it. That is what heaven says. But God has His mind about things and He is going to deal with them. God is a righteous judge. He is judge of all the earth, as if Elias says: "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not", Zephaniah 3:5. God has His own mind about everything and is going to bring His own judgment to light, so He hushes this wretched speech of Peter's. You say it was not so bad? Just so, it shows where you are. What does heaven think of it? It was an attack on the Son of God. That is what it was, putting Him on the level of Moses and Elias, so "while he thus spake" it says, "there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared". Thank God for that, they were afraid. They had good reason to be afraid with such sentiments in their hearts, for thus God was educating them. Thank God for that. They were to learn and judge. Thank God they were disposed to learn.

And so the passage goes on to say, "There came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him". That is God's voice, as if He would say, 'Just give up all those wretched ideas about numbers, about leaders, and look at My Son, listen to Him, let Him speak to you.

Hear Him!' And so it says, "When the voice was past"; that is, the voice in its own time has passed and now you are to be tested by it. The voice is past. When it is past Jesus is found there. It does not say He was found with them. "Jesus was found alone".

Now, are we prepared for that, to be with that blessed Man whose life was taken from the earth, who was received up into heaven and who is at the right hand of God? When Stephen saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God, he said, "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God". Standing ready to serve, ready to speak, ready to teach; are we prepared, beloved brethren, to listen to Jesus the Son of God?

"And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen". I do not think you go and tell out these things. The thing is wonderful. Think of this wonderful treasure they had. You treasure it in your heart, it will work out. They did not tell anybody in those days, but Peter does tell us about it. He uses the expression "holy mount". "When we were with him", he says, "in the holy mount", 2 Peter 1:18. But whom did he tell it to? To whom does he tell this? He tells it to the Jews of the dispersion, in view of the fact that he was about to put off his tabernacle. He says, 'I want to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance'. We do not tell such things to impure people. It is not fit that they should hear about it. These things are priestly things and are for pure minded people. You say, why are you telling them to us? Just because I believe you are pure minded. I believe that.

We were remarking today about Jehu, the one who executed the judgment of God; he met with Jehonadab, and said, "Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" Jehonadab said, "It is", 2 Kings 10:15. Well now, I believe that about you, that your hearts are right, because fellowship is not simply that we have agreed in regard of doctrine. It is really a question of heart. Is your heart right with my heart, and is my heart right with your heart, and both our hearts right with the Lord's heart That is the circle of fellowship. Jehonadab says, 'My

heart is right with your heart. I am with you'. So Jehu gave him his hand and took him up to him in his chariot. I apprehend that is our position, in this sense, we are together with pure hearts, with hearts that are true to each other as they are to Christ. And so, beloved friends, Peter took account of those to whom he wrote as having pure minds. We should stir up pure minds. I would not like to stir up an impure mind. An impure mind had better be left dormant. The reading of a novel will stir up an impure mind; they are intended to stir up the flesh in the human heart and human mind. But Peter, as a true priest of God, is recognizing purity in the minds and in the hearts of God's people, and says, I want to stir up that. That is what is to be stirred up. It is to be stirred up by way of remembrance. Remembrance of what? Remembrance of this wonderful vision on the mount of transfiguration. He says, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty". 'We were eyewitnesses when we were with Him on the holy mount'. He does not say, 'When James, and John, and myself were on the holy mount'. It is Christ he is bringing before them, not James, John and himself. We "were eyewitnesses of his majesty". So he leaves that as a remembrance in the pure minds of the people of God, and so what I seek to do tonight is to stir up your pure minds that we might be educated and especially that this wonderful Man should be before us. They saw only the Lord -- "Jesus alone". He it is that is to fill the vision of the people of God, and, in these last days, to keep us from the antichrist; for Jesus is the Christ, and as we have Him in our hearts we are invulnerable to the influences of the antichrist. May the Lord bless the word before us tonight.

THE END IN KEEPING WITH THE BEGINNING

Haggai 2:10 - 23

I have selected this passage because it, I hope, will serve as a development of what we were engaged with on the previous occasion.

I desire to show that at the end of the days the divine thought is to bring about what is in keeping with the beginning of the days, that there should be a correspondence between those who are found at the end and those at the beginning; when I speak of the beginning I mean Christ, according to the principle of service which is found in Him: "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!", Isaiah 42:1. God began with that, and He intends to end with that, and so I selected this passage to seek to develop how God will bring about at the end that which corresponds to what He began with.

I need not remind you that there was no need for development in Christ. What He was as Man He brought into nature in manhood. Natural claims are fully admitted in their place, but when there was any attempt to establish these claims it was at once disallowed, even in His own mother. Indeed, from the outset when Simeon comes into the temple he enunciates this principle. You can only get spiritual thoughts from spiritual men. Simeon came in by the Spirit. It was a very great prospect in Simeon's soul that he should see the Lord's Christ, and he had not forgotten it.

In the temple he takes the Child into his arms. Now, beloved friends, I take that to be a sort of picture of those of this dispensation, who have to do with Christ, those who will be priests. This must be by the Spirit, for the flesh profits nothing. So Simeon takes the Child, and he blesses God; he was truly more consecrated at that moment than ever Aaron was, for he had the fulfilment of all the types there in his arms, and he was a worshipper. By the same Spirit he speaks of the Babe and says to Jehovah,

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ... . for mine eyes have seen thy salvation". His service was over; the true Servant had come -- "Mine elect in whom my soul delighteth". But Mary and Joseph were there and they marvelled. One can understand how the flesh in them may have suggested 'This means honour for us', but there is no honour for the flesh. Joseph is ignored by the man who has the Spirit, and he addresses himself to Mary, not indeed in such terms as modern language uses -- 'Holy Mary, mother of God' -- no, Simeon says, "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also". This would certainly be in the death of the Lord, and there should be no recognition of the claims of the flesh. When Jesus is there, on the cross, having accomplished everything for the will of God, and Mary is there, He, as the Son of God, directs her to John, "Woman, behold thy son". He stands alone in all His dignity as Son of God, and so, beloved friends, the flesh is utterly refused when you come to Christ in His manhood. "Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God", Hebrews 10:7. That was the obedience of a Son, One here to do the will of God.

According to Matthew's record, He comes to John. I just dwell on this for a moment; John is baptizing. I might remark that he represents the moral features of the last days, one who refuses any moral place. Let us not talk of rivalry or leaders. John was but a voice. Jesus came to John; what an honour for a mere mortal! Mark you; He came to John, He knew him.

Would that we could take into our souls what it is to be with God. No one has any power unless he has been there. John had been there and hence his power. John said, "I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Jesus said, "Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness". The righteous One must have things just right. He was baptized and as He comes up the Holy Spirit comes upon Him -- God honouring His servant whom He had chosen. How little we take in what Christ was, in Manhood, for the Father! In the light of it we can well understand why the blood is mentioned

so much in the Old Testament. Jesus was God's only One. He found His all in Him, in this desert of humanity. "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground", Isaiah 53:2. The ground yielded nothing; all lay in what He was in Himself and so, beloved friends, we have this voice saying, "This is My beloved Son". And the Holy Spirit comes and abides upon Him, so He is now formally and publicly taken account of by God, and anointed for His service, and as anointed He went about. I do not understand a gifted servant being local, a gift is for the assembly. So the Lord went about, He acknowledged no local claim as a Servant, "I must preach ... to other cities", Luke 4:43, so the servant goes about, but doing good. This is what marked the Lord.

Now I want to show how the end corresponds with this. I do not mean that there can be a Pentecost again. I know that everyone that belongs to Christ will shine presently with Him but it is a great thing to see to it that there are the features of it in these last days.

"His wife has made herself ready", Revelation 19:7. She thinks of the Bridegroom and what is suitable to Him -- fine linen bright and pure, not merely white, but bright, it shines. The fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. Although we may have things in the bud there may not be any fruit.

In this chapter in Haggai things were lethargic, people were concerned with their own affairs, and the house of God was neglected.

In Zechariah 1:20, 21, we get carpenters mentioned, as being employed to overthrow the horns, descriptive of the gentile monarchies that scattered the people of God. The angel, seated on the stone rolled away from the tomb of Jesus, was there as if in gigantic irony, showing that the power of the gentile monarchies was overthrown. God is not going to be diverted from what He began with. He will go on until there is a complete answer to Christ.

Angels are ministering spirits for those who shall be heirs of salvation. Every Christian should be a builder, a constructor. The seed royal is preserved in the hearts of His people and soon will come out.

Recovery takes place very rapidly in Haggai, the people had not wandered far. So there are two messages in one day. Not many of us could stand this. One message a day, or even a week, is often enough for us. The first message calls attention to the work in their souls, verse 12. Ceremonialism is powerless for sanctification. God was against the people, the principle of construction was neglected but the foundation is very important. "Let each see how he builds", 1 Corinthians 3:10. But then, are you building at all? You mark the day in which you begin to build, and you get prosperity. I put it to your souls to mark the day. Have you begun? Now he mentioned four trees, as symbols. We are called upon to consider ourselves. Have divine things come to a bud in me? I think of the possibilities of one who desires to build. God waits for the full fruition of the seed in us. Let us take heed not to hinder the development, verse 18. What I expect is the development of these four things, through God's grace, in His people. The seed is sown, but He wants increase. I can picture one of those Israelites going to his garden and looking for the promise.

The vine is the fruit of the Spirit. As regards exercise you must take account of yourselves, but must look to the Lord, there is no good in ourselves. The vine is for joy. How lovely that a christian through self-judgment can bring joy to the Lord.

The fig tree typifies goodness, divine goodness. Barnabas is spoken of as a good man.

The pomegranate. A type of unity among the people of God. These things God will bring about for His glory. Let brotherly love continue, and increase. In the eye of God it is lovely. Unity precedes testimony.

The olive typifies the Spirit in the way of dignity. The oil makes a man's face to shine. It is the bringing in of Christ. These things may be in the bud, but in the development we have what answers to Christ and God's purpose with regard to us. In the second message the mind is turned to Christ. You can only get it among the saints. The Spirit directs our hearts to One who sets His seal upon us.

THE HOLY SPIRIT AS THE COMFORTER

John 16:11 - 33

J.T. The point of the chapter seems to be the office of the Holy Spirit as the Comforter in relation to the world. The world would be exposed in all its true character by the demonstration -- the public demonstration -- of the Holy Spirit in the saints. His presence would demonstrate that the Jews and the world were guilty; firstly, that there was sin with them, "because they believe not on me", secondly, "of righteousness because I go to my Father", thirdly, "of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged". Thus the disciples were at a great advantage when He came, in the fact that He would bring all this about in a public way. Instead of the Jews having the advantage, they would be in the position of the condemned, and Christ would be vindicated.

The chapter suggests the vindication of suffering ones, those who suffer for God. The apprehension of these things would mean an immense advantage for the Lord's people suffering in this world. He would justify their position to them.

P.L. I suppose chapter 17 would give us the priestly service of Christ, and chapter 16 the Comforter's mission.

J.T. Yes; we have Christ on the one hand, and the Holy Spirit on the other, and we have every reason to be confident of victory. Acts 2 shows that the world was condemned.

Ques. How would it be a public demonstration?

J.T. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was an evidence that God had accepted Christ. The Jews had professed to believe in God, but they refused to accept Christ. The Lord was rejected in that way, and went down into death without God interfering for Him. They said, "He calls for Elias", but Elias did not come to help Him. The inference was, He was not of God, or God would have saved Him. The question was whether God would come in and approve Christ by raising Him from the dead.

Well, the resurrection took place before the eyes of men; the empty sepulchre was a testimony that He had been raised. They told lies about that to cover up the great defeat that they had suffered. The Roman watch was at the tomb, but they became as dead men when the angel appeared. They gave bribes to cover up their defeat, but no one could cover up Christ's victory when the Holy Spirit came in. We hear "every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born". Everybody at Jerusalem heard what was said. Again they sought to obscure their defeat by saying, "These men are full of new wine". But Peter stands up, and denies it. The enemy's defeat was final. Then he proceeds to explain the resurrection of Christ, and His ascension. "Being by the right hand of God exalted". God had exalted Him; the presence of the Holy Spirit was proof conclusive of it.

P.L. In joy, they bring a man into the world, so to speak. They have travail in anguish, but Christ is reproduced in them.

J.T. These passages have reference to the people of God who are in the world, but apart from it in their souls in the power of the Spirit. And you notice it is not a babe, but a man.

The Holy Spirit is the testimony to victory. The saints may overcome the world, and know it. The world may not accept the judgment. It makes no difference whether or not the criminal accepts the sentence passed against him; he is guilty. On their part, the saints have the Spirit of glory and of God resting upon them.

The apostles did not seek to evade suffering. They suffered, but then they suffered as justified persons and as victors. Thus there was great moral power in their souls.

Ques. "Of righteousness because I go to my Father?" Why is it the "Father"?

J.T. The thought of God revealed as Father stands in relation to God known in grace, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"; "The world hath not known thee". In spite of the fact that He was to be seen here in grace, the world failed to respond, and thus the world is marked

off as unrighteous. Jesus is with the Father; that is the testimony of righteousness, and the vindication of what Jesus had been on earth. What He was as Man merited that He should go to the Father, and the world not believing on Him is proved unrighteous.

Rem. "Thou hast loved righteousness and hast hated lawlessness".

J.T. As with the Father, Christ is invested with all administrative authority. The world leaves God out; it is marked by disregard of the Father. The Holy Spirit coming in has brought in demonstration of that. Righteousness is now with the Father; no one would seek it in the world. But He is righteous, taking note of every little thought or act for Him. The Father's discriminations are infinitely accurate (see Hebrews 6:10). This helps you to suffer here. Christ has been here, was refused, and is now with the Father, so that the pathway in the world is one of suffering. But it is the path of those who are proven to be victors. That is an immense thing. I was thinking of Paul and Silas as a very remarkable illustration of that. "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God". They knew there was no righteousness with the jailer, nor in the imperial system, but there was righteousness with God. Jesus, who had been here, and proved what righteousness is, was with the Father.

Ques. Was it on account of the apostle's following a course of righteousness that he was brought into reproach and suffering?

J.T. Yes, surely. It was also the occasion of God's approach to Europe with the glad tidings. But they had a sense that righteousness was with God. Their prayers are interspersed with praise. Then God acts in power. The prison is shaken, and the jailer is about to commit suicide, all disclosing what the world really is. But then God was there, and the jail was turned into a temple. There was priestly service and praise there. The point with the apostle was to get at this "man of Macedonia". The earth quaking seems to have terrorized the jailer, but Paul's voice allayed his fear. Paul says, "Do thyself no harm"; that is not the

voice of the world. There is sympathy and consideration, and the man is moved by it. He dresses the stripes of the suffering men himself and bestows respect upon them which he never exercised before in dealing with prisoners. It shows the man had changed; it shows the effect of righteousness. Grace in the apostle had affected him.

Ques. Is your thought that the demonstration is carried on through the people of God in the power of the Spirit?

J.T. Yes. Peter's epistle, when speaking of the government of God says, "If any man suffer as a christian" there is evidence that Christ is with them in it. And the sufferers are victors. Paul was set for destruction, but the Lord says, "I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake".

Ques. Why is it we are so slow to walk here for the Lord in that way? We do not find saints suffering much.

J.T. That is a good question. We are more or less disposed to look for an easy path. Christianity is set up in victorious persons, appointed to suffer for it. He has ordained it thus in His government, and it works out for the saints' blessing, and enhancement of the testimony. We must be near the Lord Jesus Christ to bear suffering. He has led the way.

Rem. Perhaps if we had the sense of His love, and the position we have been set in in the world, we should be more ready to walk in accord with the Lord's mind.

J.T. God has many ways in the world, but suffering is a mark of royalty. The purple in the tabernacle is a royal colour. "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him". The apostle Paul speaks of his as a light affliction, which was but for a moment, and yet what suffering he had to bear! Many of the Old Testament saints had to suffer severely before they were allowed to hold a very exalted position. David is one and Joseph is another example. The great thing to begin with is victory. There is no question of want of power. The Lord has endowed us with that in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

It says the prisoners were listening to them in the prison. They would be struck with their sense of triumph. It was

all working out the will of God. Paul had the sense of that. We must never allow the least suggestion in our hearts of weakness on the part of God. It is a question of His will. Peter tells us that it is His government towards us. If we are only submissive, it is wonderful what He can do for us. "Our light affliction ... worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen". Yes, that is it. It is said of the faithful Moses, "He endured, as seeing Him who is invisible".

This chapter is full of victory. And what a blessed thing it is that the Lord would have us victors too according to our measure.

Rem. If we accept the path, we shall get the benefit of the Spirit?

J.T. Yes, He will support us, and as being with us, He will take of the things of Christ and show them to us, and glorify Christ in us. Christianity begins with victory. What we endure is simply the appointment of His will, not an evidence of His weakness. We shall find His power in the path.

Rem. "The time cometh" it says in the second verse. I suppose that is the present time.

J.T. Yes; after the Spirit came. So that He prepared them for it. "Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake". First, it is God's appointment, then it is your privilege. We ought really to delight in it, to think that we are set in such a path.

Rem. Timothy is exhorted to take his share in suffering. Suffering is there, but we may want to shirk it. Are we going in for a path of ease, or the path that means suffering?

J.T. Suffering has a great purifying effect upon us. It becomes the furnace in which God develops in us the gold. "More precious than of gold that perisheth". If the soul is sustained in moral strength through the ministrations of the Spirit, it will not shirk the suffering. And it will not be a case of 'I shall have to put up with it'. They "prayed, and sang praises unto God". They rejoiced that they were

counted worthy. If we suffer we shall also reign with Him.

Ques. What puts you on that line of righteousness? To be "counted worthy to suffer". What enables you to take things up like that?

J.T. In suffering you enjoy things as you never have before. Nowadays, there is a little revival of the Spirit and power of Pentecost. I am sure it is so; as you realize the extent of the victory, you will be able to take up the path of suffering -- suffering for righteousness. And the more one progresses, the more one sees that it is only light affliction. It is "for a moment" and "not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed". The apostle says, "I count all things but loss". He was giving things up for Christ's sake.

There is no greater position morally than that of christianity. May we accept the suffering as the divine will and as a privilege. The apostle says, "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, ... persecutions, afflictions ... what persecutions I endured", not 'what came upon me', but which he endured. He went through them with God. There was a witness to Christ in going through them. "As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long", but "we are more than conquerors". Not only one day in the week, but all the day long. "We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter". Just lined up in the market and branded for the slaughterhouse. That was the attitude of the apostle. And he never complained once, but was counting upon God all the time.

There is another feature, which comes out in Acts 14 22, that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom". God is not glorified in the actual pain or inconvenience you endure, but in the way you stand it. The suffering brought out the preciousness of the offering.

So in our chapter, the first thing is victory, and then the Holy Spirit to aid us in the position. Then the end of the chapter develops what Christ will be to us. "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy". The Lord is in the prospect of victory and of joy. Then how His gentleness and tenderness is marked in this chapter! What pains He takes too to

assure them of the position, that they might be prepared for suffering, and get the gain of the Spirit; that they had the Father's love and His love. No one could take their joy from them, because it was the joy of known relationships and divine love brought to them by the Spirit. "All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you". What a range of things that is! "All things". That we might be here a victorious people. "The unsearchable riches of the Christ".

"The Father" brings in the thought of peculiar affection. The One who would provide the very best things, enrichment and glory -- all spiritual things; it does not need the Holy Spirit for material things. But He would open up spiritual relationships, spiritual blessings.

Ques. "Do ye now believe?"

J.T. That is a very testing question, as to how much we believe. "That thou camest forth from God". Then there is more than that; that He went back to God. What does that involve? It involves what He was as Man, and all that should be developed from that.

"Because I go to the Father", I think, relates to the brevity of our time here. It is but for a moment.

Ques. What about the verse that says "I will see you again"?

J.T. That would have an historical and also a present bearing. It is something we may look for now. As we are in the good of the Spirit, in how wonderfully real a way the Lord often comes before us, so that we instantly realize it is He. "I will not leave you orphans". So that I would not make it entirely future. It is a mark of christianity that the Lord comes to us, and our hearts rejoice.

Chapter 20 opens up the new order of things, the system and sphere of things in which the Lord sees His saints, according to chapter 16, verse 22, and in which they rejoice with Him. The soul passes through the daily suffering, but there is the joy of seeing Him. The church's history is one of weeks. The first day of the week begins a new chapter; it all centres around the Lord Himself. "He shall glorify me".

READING ON ROMANS 4 AND 5

Romans 4:22 - 25; Romans 5:1 - 11

G.A.T. There are some who are not clear about the question raised at the close of our last reading. Would you mind me raising the question again about Christ not shedding His blood?

J.T. What is the difficulty about it?

G.A.T. Some think He did and some think He did not, as it was brought out in the reading.

J.T. Well, of course it is a question of how the words may be used. As a matter of literality, the blood was shed after He died. It could not therefore be an act of His own, but He laid down His life, which is equivalent to blood shedding in the sense that blood shedding is the giving up of the life to which sin was attached sacrificially. It is said that without shedding of blood there is no remission, so that great emphasis is laid in the Scriptures on the shedding, or on the pouring out of His blood. He speaks of it being poured out for us, and shed for the sins of many. In Matthew and Mark the reference is, I think to "many" in Luke it is to us, to christians.

A.L. In Hebrews 9, from which you are quoting, as to the shedding of blood, He is looked on as both the offerer and the victim. It says, "Who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God". That would involve the shedding of His blood, would it not?

J.T. Yes, and the further statement that He entered by His own blood.

A.L. Yes, He has entered in by the power of His own blood, and I think it is very clear that it involves the shedding of His blood. Hebrews 9 would have no importance if the blood of the victim was not presented to God.

J.T. Yes, if you bring the type into it in that way, He was not only the victim but the offerer. He was the priest as well.

A.L. Yes, and the priest never entered in without blood.

J.T. So the contrast is that Aaron entered in with

blood not his own, whereas Christ entered in by His own blood, having obtained an eternal redemption.

W.L.P. Is not this a technical point, and the fact of it being His blood is of great importance?

J.T. I think Hebrews 9 makes it clear that He was not only the sacrifice, but the priest as well -- the offering priest, so that He entered by His own blood, yet historically He died before the blood was poured out. So that we must not be material nor literal in dealing with the matter. It is a question of the value of the blood as poured out, and obviously from Hebrews 9 He entered, He is in the presence of God now representatively, by His own blood.

R.S.S. You said this morning that the termination of that condition of manhood, both for Christ and for us shows the moral necessity for the pouring out. It was necessary for us, because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It was a moral necessity that it should be poured out, but as to the matter of fact there is no question it was after the Lord died that the spear pierced His side and His blood flowed forth.

J.T. And in truth the blood is presented in scripture as from God's side, as descriptive of what God is. It is the blood of the covenant. The covenant was on God's part, not on Christ's part. That is, Christ's life belonged to God -- the life belonged to God. His body, I apprehend, was His own, for God gave it to Him. "A body hast thou prepared me", but the life, according to the type, is in the blood, and God claimed that from the beginning, pointing on to the time when Christ should become man. God laid claim to that life, so that the pouring out of that life, or that blood, was a witness of what God is, what God is to us.

A.N.W. And there can be no question that, as John presents it, the very reference to it is to show that that life is given up. John is the only one that gives emphasis to the fact that He died.

J.T. He is the only one that gives the fact of the spear piercing His side, but the others, Matthew, Mark and Luke, refer to the shedding of His blood in the institution of the supper.

A.N.W. John brings to light the fact emphatically that He died on the cross. It seems to me his is the only gospel that records the fact that the soldiers came and found He was dead, and it emphasizes too that the soldier pierced His side, from which the blood and water flowed forth. They, John says, bear witness (1 John 5:8).

J.T. He evidently lays emphasis on a dead Christ; that is, the complete ending of that order of life. John lays emphasis on that again in his epistle. He says the blood is the witness, and that the Lord has come by water and by blood. He has come that way.

R. S. S. John is the apostle who takes up man's condition. "Except a man be born again", for instance. That is the way it begins. It is a question of the condition of man and the termination of that condition.

J.T. And so the Book of Revelation makes a good deal of the blood.

R.S.S. Why, do you think?

J.T. I think it is all on that same line, that that life had to be given up: that, the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice depended on that life being given up, terminated.

R.S.S. Of course (I speak reverently) in a way the Lord could scarcely have shed His own blood. It says, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed", Genesis 9:6. One might take his own life, but the Lord could not do that. In one sense it was taken from Him: in another He gave it up. I think we have to bear in mind those two aspects.

J.T. I think we do well to take note of the way faith is introduced and enlarged on in this section, beginning with chapter 3. We have there a law of faith. "Where then is boasting?" it says. "It has been excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by law of faith", Romans 3:27.

R. S. S. Which means, of course, on what principle, does it not?

J.T. The exclusive power of it, as shutting out all human pretension in regard of God, and in regard of man's relation with God. This remarkable thing called "the law of faith" works for the exclusion, in christianity, of all

pretension to man having any part in the work of redemption, and this law must be in the saints. It is not a question of what is in God, nor in the mercy-seat, but of what is in man -- this law.

D.R. Is Abraham in that way taken up as a sample man?

J.T. I think Abraham and David are brought in to emphasize the working out of this law of faith, which excludes, in the very nature of it, human pretension.

W.C.R. So, God is just and the justifier of him that is of the faith of Jesus. Is that the thought?

J.T. Yes.

W.L.P. What would be the difference in faith and the law of faith?

J.T. The two things have to be apprehended separately. The use of the word "law" in this epistle is very striking. Faith existing, there is a certain law in it, and it is brought in here as exclusive of man's pretensions. That is, it: excludes all that which we have to do with in christendom today in the way of pretension in the things of God. That is what this law does, but obviously the law cannot exist without the faith, and the faith is not in God. It is in us, so it reads: "Nay, but by law of faith; for we reckon that a man is justified by faith, without works of law", Romans 3:28. Then he says: "Do we then make void law by faith Far be the thought: no, but we establish law", Romans 3:31. What I have in my mind is the importance of seeing how faith is brought in as the mercy-seat is introduced; that it says through faith in His blood. The idea of the mercy-seat is linked up with faith in man, and, this faith existing, a law is in it which excludes boasting.

G.W.H. So it gives man no place.

J.T. It makes everything of God, what He has effected in Christ, and disallows man.

A.N.W. Would the thought of law suggest that it is perfectly logical? Faith seems illogical to men, but it has a system all its own that is perfectly workable. The point is to see the centre of that system, which I would suggest is the mercy-seat.

J.T. Yes, just as with electricity or anything in God's

creation, there is a certain law governing it, and the more it is worked out the more it will be found that the law is accurate in every particular. The more, therefore, you inquire into creation, the nearer you get to God as the Creator, and the more you will discover that everything is worked out on the principle of law. Everything in the creation is worked out on that principle, and the scientist is concerned about that law. That is what concerns him -- to discover that law and its workability. Well now, the same thing is obviously found in what is moral. That is, if God in the first chapter conies in as the Creator, in the third He comes in sacrificially. In coming in in that way, He is to be apprehended on the principle of faith. That is the thing to get hold of, and in that faith, which lays hold of what is presented on God's side, there is a law, and that law is workable, and faith is logical when the law is understood. There is no discrepancy. Things are found to work out logically, and, in proof, this epistle is a most logical epistle. It is the enforcement of what is of God on the mind through the conscience, so that things are worked out in a man's soul logically and you cannot shake a man who has entered into things in this way. That is, it is not simply that he is resting on the statements of Scripture. He is working on the principle of law.

A.N.W. As Mr. Darby said, infidelity is irrational. Is it not?

J.T. Quite, most irrational.

J.B. Does the law of faith not save from superstition?

J.T. Quite.

H.G. Do you mean there is a sort of established method of operation in that way? It is not a mere sentimental kind of thing, but you see that God is working on certain lines, along established lines. Is that the idea?

J.T. That is it. He has come out now in the working out of His scheme of redemption. It is in the light now. He brings forward in chapter 4 certain evidences from the Old Testament that He was already working on it before, only the thing was very obscure. He had already begun on these lines. Abraham and David are witnesses to the fact

that God had begun on these lines before. Abraham seized the idea and David seized it, and now he says, it was not written on his account alone, but on ours also. Things were written for us and they are understandable now in that the thing has worked out in Christ.

D.R. Would it be right to say that righteousness is only made practically good in us in proportion to our faith? As it is said of Abraham, that he "believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness".

J.T. Yes, I think one only answers to God in the measure of his faith.

W.C.R. In the beginning of Romans 8 we get the same thought you were speaking of, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free.

J.T. That is another reference.

W.C.R. It is law. It seems to be the power connected with the Spirit. The Spirit is one thing and the law of the Spirit another.

J.T. Many christians are just resting on the statements of Scripture, and of course the soul clings to the Scriptures, you know. I get the benefit of the light there, but I do not know the law that governs it. I know that I get the benefit of the light to that extent, but how different it is with a man who knows the law of it. I do not suppose anybody really knows the law of electricity, but there are those who know something about it and how different it is to such, and so in this epistle the intent is that we should be established. Not only God has said this and that, but how it works out morally.

H.G. Abraham and David were before their day in that sense. We often speak of men being before their days.

J.T. They were pioneers.

H.G. So, taking the question of circumcision, the act itself really recognizing man after the flesh, the men who had faith would see after all that God was working in view of another order of man, the setting aside of the man after the flesh, so that a man who had faith would see beyond the system he was engaged with. Is that the idea?

J.T. That is the idea, and what you find is that the

Spirit, in referring to these men in the New Testament, interprets what they did and said in the light of the New Testament.

A.N.W. Abel, for instance.

J.T. Just so, and Abraham. He "rejoiced to see my day" the Lord says, "and he saw it, and was glad". That is, He puts that interpretation on some event in Abraham's life.

G.W.H. And when it says that Abel by faith offered unto God, did he offer in the light of Christ?

J.T. Oh, yes, he did. He was ahead of his day. The faith period had not yet come in.

A.N.W. He must have understood something of the law of God's world morally.

W.C.R. And Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. He looked on.

J.T. Quite so.

A.N.W. Is it not true that men try to reach up to the laws of creation by the laws known to them? They never can reach the origin, but by faith we understand it.

J.T. So Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which is seen should not take its origin from things which appear". We apprehend that.

G.A.T. Would you explain what you said about faith being in us, not in a Person but in ourselves. Did you say that?

J.T. Faith, you see, must be in us. It is not in God. You cannot attribute faith to God. Immediately the mercy-seat is brought in, you get, "Through faith in his blood", Romans 3:25. That is, the idea of the mercy-seat assumes there is faith here. It would be inefficacious otherwise.

R.S.S. You are not now speaking of the object of faith, but of faith which is in us.

J.T. Yes, it says, "righteousness of God is revealed therein, on the principle of faith, to faith", Romans 1:17. That is, there must be the principle of faith in me to lay hold of it, so directly the mercy-seat is introduced you have

"through faith in His blood" brought in. Here God is working in man correspondingly with that which He presents in Christ. Otherwise it would not be efficacious. The thing would be a dead letter, and from that point onwards, throughout chapter 4 you have this great principle of faith developed after the mercy-seat is introduced, and Abraham and David were ahead of their day, because the day of faith is the present day strictly -- "God's dispensation, which is in faith", 1 Timothy 1:4. That is the present time. These men were ahead of that.

D.R. And "without faith it is impossible to please him", is it not?

J.T. Quite.

J.B. Then those men belonged to this present dispensation in that sense?

J.T. They are brought into it here.

J.B. Hebrews 11:40 brings them into it, does it not?

R.S.S. I rather thought what characterized Old Testament saints was faith; what should characterize New Testament saints is love. How does that agree with what you are saying?

J.T. Oh, but it is faith working by love. This is pre-eminently the dispensation of faith, because there is nothing for sight now. Of old there was, especially in the previous dispensation. That is, the tabernacle and the cloud. It was a dispensation of sight.

R. S. S. Yes, but really the height of the thing lay in faith then.

J.T. Oh, that is it. That is, these men that had faith went beyond the day in which they lived. The day in which they lived was dispensationally a day of sight as far as God's outward ways went, but our day is not that, so that John's gospel makes much of faith. The Lord asks the question, "Do ye now believe?" John 16:31.

G.W.H. He was inquiring about the principle of faith within them, or if it were there. Is that the idea?

J.T. Yes, you see after He arose from the dead (and it is a very solemn thing) He found the disciples, the apostles to a man, acting in unbelief. He reproached them, it says,

with their unbelief and hardness of heart. It shows that, in spite of the greatest possible advantages, the flesh is essentially unbelieving; yet He goes to work and before He went to heaven He brings about in these very men a state of faith. He brought about in them a state of faith, so that during the ten days between His going to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit what they did was marked by faith. There is no evidence of unbelief.

If we do not have faith, we may have our meetings and all that we go on with, a system of meetings, local and general, but what is underlying it all? The twelve had the most wonderful time for three and a half years with Christ. No one ever had such an opportunity, but what was the result? The result was that He had to reproach them with their unbelief and hardness of heart after that. I mean these privileges, these advantages, in themselves may be a dead letter unless there is faith.

W.C.R. It speaks in another place about the word not being mixed with faith.

J.T. Quite so, that is a point. The word was not mixed with faith -- therefore it is ineffectual.

G.W.H. At new birth do you get faith as a principle?

J.T. I think so. I think the principle is there.

G.W.H. Otherwise we could not believe.

J.T. The effect of it is that one feels after God. What you are feeling after you do not see.

G.A.T. I can understand having faith in a person -- I have faith in God, that He can do so and so, but I cannot catch what it is to have faith in myself.

A.N.W. Does not that last remark help you?

G.A.T. I cannot get it.

A.N.W. In connection with new birth, that obviously is in yourself.

G.A.T. But what does faith rest on?

J.T. Faith has to have something to rest on. Something must be presented to us to believe.

J.B. Testimony, would you say?

J.T. Quite, the gospel. But then there is a capability that is not in the flesh.

G.A.T. Would you mind telling us how it works amongst us?

J.T. It works that way -- the truth is presented to you, you believe it. The woman Mary Magdalene that met the Lord first at the sepulchre came to the apostles and told them she had seen the Lord. Now Mary, of all the women amongst them, should have been accredited because she had had seven demons before she was converted; they were cast out of her by the Lord. She was a remarkable testimony of His power, to what He had effected in her, and yet when she brought this report to the apostles it says that what she said to them was as idle tales. Now that is a remarkable thing. I should believe any sister here in Detroit, or any brother; why should I regard something that he said to me, or she said to me, as an idle tale? What: does that prove? It proves what the flesh is in spite of the greatest possible advantages which they had. They had been in the company of the Lord for three and a half years and they had been companions of this godly woman too, and yet they could not believe in this remarkable testimony, this wonderful fact, the resurrection of Christ. They not only disbelieved the thing; they made the woman and others liars.

R.S.S. And in spite of the fact, that seems to be rather unaccountable to us, that the Lord Himself, as recorded for instance in Mark, probably four times, on His way to Jerusalem testified what would take place and then that He would rise again; in one place I know it says the third day. That always seems difficult to understand -- why it did not affect them.

J.T. And the other scriptures too -- the Old Testament.

G.W.H. Did I understand you to say that the principle of faith is to increase continually in the believer?

J.T. Well, the thing is to get that principle. Have I got it?

H.G. That is the point, I am sure, because, as you said, christianity does not consist in meetings or in congregations. Christianity is a faith system, and if we are going to be held here for God in any sort of reality we have to have a foundation of faith laid in our souls at the outset. Hence

the importance of a scripture of this kind. One feels a good many souls have never had to do with God on the faith principle; have never seen how God has secured in Christ a mercy-seat, a groundwork, and is free to come out in all the grace, and goodness, and mercy of His heart to man. Even that principle has not been laid in a great many souls. They may have had credit for a certain amount of light, but are dissatisfied and do not really have peace with God because the foundation of faith has not been laid in their souls. I do not know if you go with that?

J.T. Oh, that is it. You look back over fifty years -- some here have experienced that time -- what advantages places have had and men have had. Well, the time comes when the most precious light is presented and the thing is refused, you know, deliberately refused. Well, what is that? Where have we been? These twelve apostles had had the most wonderful advantages, and yet here is a thing brought to them that they ought to have already accepted, this light of the resurrection. The thing is an idle tale they say. It seemed to them as idle tales.

Ques. Then the measure of your faith is the evidence of your acquaintance with God?

J.T. And then you see faith working by love, and, as I was remarking, what a task the Lord had before Him on the morning of the resurrection. This is what He found, you see, and He goes about and works with these men with the result that after He goes to heaven, during the ten days that intervene between His going to heaven and the coming of the Spirit, they act in the most intelligent way. They are marked by faith. That is what He brought about.

A.N.W. Referring to your remark, which I think is very true, have we abused the Scriptures? Is it possible to say that? I hardly like to say it, but have we abused the Scriptures to bring about the charge you make against us? One has perhaps had faith in the Scriptures which has not put one's soul in touch with God.

H.G. I believe that is so.

A.N.W. I mean we have referred to the first verse of chapter five, whereas we have overlooked perhaps the third chapter.

G.W.H. Would you connect what you are saying with Ephesians 1:17, "The spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him"? Would that be the same thing?

J.T. God will give you that, you mean?

G.W.H. Yes, the apostle's prayer.

J.T. Yes.

G.W.H. They evidently had not the spirit of it.

G.A.T. Faith made good in my soul would prepare me to accept the truth when it is presented to me.

J.T. As soon as the light comes from God you embrace it. Not that we swallow things down without exercise. The principle of this epistle is to work the thing into our souls through the conscience into the mind, so we have the thing intelligently, and yet through the conscience.

G.A.T. Would you say Simeon was in the good of that?

J.T. Yes, quite. He was one that was prepared. He had come by the Spirit into the temple, and he is prepared for the thing, and embraced the light as it came, and so did Anna.

G.A.T. That has made clear to me the reason why I do not always accept the truth.

J.T. You may depend there is some bit of flesh, of will, at work.

H.G. I think, generally speaking, people have an impression that if they are justified, they are justified for this world; that they will be under advantage in connection with this world, whereas really justification is for the world to come. It was so with Abraham. It speaks of him being the heir of the world. It was not this world, as I understand it. Our outlook often indicates how little our souls are in the light of what men call faith. Christianity is a faith system.

A.N.W. From the fact that the first verse of the fifth chapter was true before that verse was written, one wonders how many would be in the good of it if that verse was not written.

H. G. Is that true, what I was saying? Am I right?

J.T. Surely! That is the point of the meeting, that the saints should have faith. You come to meetings and you

listen to things, but what effect have they on you? As the Lord says, "Do ye now believe?" Well then they say, Yes, Lord, "we believe that thou camest forth from God", but that is not all. There is more than that. He has come from God and He has gone to God. We have to believe all the truth.

W.C.R. I suppose what we believe governs us?

J.T. Yes, that is so. If one believed that Jesus came out from God and that He went in to God, one must believe that He left the world, as it says, "Knowing ... that he should depart out of this world to the Father" (John 13:1) -- out of it, so one would go out of it willingly.

H.G. Does not Abraham set forth the principle in a sense? He knew he was the heir of the world and yet he pays his way here -- he buys a burying place for Sarah. Well, a man who has such faith, even if he is cut off from the earth, is not surprised, and yet in his own soul he carries a sense that the world, everything, belongs to him: so he is an anomaly. No one can understand him, but he can understand the line by which God is working. Someone spoke of the way some of our brethren here suffered for their faith in connection with recent matters, I see man has no place here. As far as the world is concerned it is only here on sufferance. As far as God is concerned, the man of the world is only on sufferance. Though faith can take that in, the christian says, I can claim nothing here. If they cut me off, it is what they did to Christ. I wait the time. So a christian waits and faith supports him in the most difficult position and enables him to act intelligently in the midst of the most difficult position.

J.T. Yes, I think Rahab illustrates that. "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace", Hebrews 11:31. She perished not with those that believed not. Whilst she acted traitorously as regards her country, she acted on the principle of faith. From God's point of view, the present occupants of the earth are only on sufferance, and Rahab seized that.

G.A.T. Would you think what Mr. G. was just speaking

about would be brought out in Revelation 10 where the strong angel comes out and sets his right foot on the sea and the left upon the earth? He maintains the whole thing there.

J.T. It is testimony that it is God's, and then he has a little open book in his hand, which he gives the prophet. I suppose in what he spoke the history of Western Europe is taken up. It is there and the prophet understands what it all means. It is very bitter in the carrying out of it, but then the people of God have got to go through that bitterness. God will take up the inheritance and we have to suffer in the process, but it is ours.

J.B. I was noticing in reading about the apostle Paul in the Acts that it speaks of his reasoning. I suppose we really get set forth in the book of Romans his reasonings with regard to Christ.

J.T. I think this is a remarkable treatise on the gospel, and it is a reasoning of the thing.

J.B. Again and again we get the word "reasoned" -- a reasoning from the Scriptures.

J.T. The thing is worked out logically in the school of one Tyrannus at Ephesus. The apostle reasoned there daily.

R.S.S. It is likely this epistle to the Romans is a summary of what we get in the Acts, where we do not get the details.

G.W.H. You said this morning chapter 3 was for God, did you not?

J.T. Chapter 3 is God coming out in righteousness.

G.W.H. And chapter 4 is reckoning.

J.T. Chapter 4 is what Abraham our father found. It is our side. What have I found? So it begins: "What shall we say then that Abraham our father according to flesh has found?"

H.G. You have discovered the line God is working on.

Is that the idea?

J.T. Yes.

R. S. S. It is still objective?

J.T. It is, but these men are brought in to show how

faith works. What has Abraham found on this line? Well, he found wonderful things. It goes on to say, "For what does the scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness", Romans 4:3. He found that. And then it says further, in verse 6, "Even as David also declares the blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness without works". So that these two men found these things. The one found righteousness, and the other found, as it were, the blessedness of it. Not that David only spoke of the blessedness, but he had the light of it.

H.G. And I suppose Abraham being brought in before the law and David after would suggest that it is the same undeviating principle that God was working on from the outset. Law had not changed it at all.

A.N.W. So it would test the Jew, who counted on Abraham and David.

J.T. It would blast their thoughts in regard of works and boasting, that these very men who were their great worthies were marked by this principle of faith. When you come to the working of the thing from our side, what we find is that God has not only acted in the death of Christ in establishing righteousness, but He has acted in power for us in raising Christ from the dead. "Who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification". Hence this chapter brings in the power of God.

R.L.C. There is a man in us that would take us off the line of faith. In Galatians it says: "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" Galatians 3:2. There was a tendency to slip away from it into that which was beggarly and of no help to them.

J.T. It is the toleration of the flesh in one way or another. We see the working of the flesh in those who advance, and how it works to rob us of the most precious light that God may give us.

G.A.T. This should exercise us, that the Spirit of God is preparing us for the ministry that He will bring to us when we are in condition to receive it.

J.T. So circumcision is brought in here as a trial of the righteousness which he had. Circumcision is the proof of it. In other words, the Holy Spirit in the christian is the answer to this righteousness that God is pleased to confer, and that means that I cannot allow the flesh. That is what I understand.

H.G. Circumcision recognized man after the flesh. This is the very reverse of what circumcision was. The presence of the Holy Spirit virtually says, 'I have done with that man'. When God gives the Spirit of another Man, He says, 'I have done with you'.

J.T. And circumcision in the meaning of it involves the Spirit. "We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh", Philippians 3:3. That is, circumcision has been the proof of righteousness, so circumcision in the spiritual significance of it is that the flesh is to be disallowed continuously.

J.B. Would Colossians come in there? "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled", Colossians 1:23. There is continuance there.

J.T. What was the connection?

J.B. With regard to what was being said about getting off from the line of faith and the allowance of the flesh. So it says in Colossians, "If ye continue in the faith" as though there was a possibility of getting off those lines. Is that the meaning of it there?

J.T. Oh, yes, it is continuance in the thing, in the faith.

W.C.R. Faith there is more christianity, is it not? Not the law of faith.

J.T. Yes, it is "the faith".

J. S. In the epistle of James we get the practical meaning, and I suppose what you have been remarking would convey our thoughts to those men you spoke of. It was Abraham that had the works of faith. We do not need to be deceived in any way with one saying he has faith when he has not the works of it.

J.T. Yes, James shows if you say you have faith, you must prove it by works.

W.C.R. Apparently from that there is live faith and dead faith.

J.T. As to the reference there to dead faith and living faith, the living faith is evidenced in works.

H.De B. Faith supported by love.

W.C.R. This morning we had the righteousness of God presented to us, and then we are told the righteousness of God is towards all and upon all that believe.

J.T. What have you got to say about that?

W.C.R. I wanted you to open it up a little for us.

J.T. Well, I think God as it were clothes us with that garb on the principle of faith, as you believe. It is towards all, which is the general bearing of the gospel, as we have it in Luke 7. It was there for Simon as much as for the woman. It was there for faith, as we have often remarked, but He says to the woman, "Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace". It was put on her, so to speak. "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven" (Luke 7:47), He says, and she goes forth clothed with righteousness.

W.C.R. In 2 Corinthians 5, we are spoken of as the righteousness of God in Him.

J.T. We are made that. It is there not simply the blood, but as having the answer to His having been made sin. "Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God's righteousness in him", 2 Corinthians 5:21. It is a very remarkable word. I suppose it contemplates what we shall be as in the glory with Christ.

W.C.R. Would we be that now at all? Would believers be a kind of a declaration of the righteousness of God at the present time?

J.T. Oh, well, they would be in the measure in which they set forth the thing, but how can I say I am, or assume to be the righteousness of God? That I am accounted righteous on the principle of faith is something that I know myself. I can hardly prove that to anyone else. I think "that we might become God's righteousness" is what He displays in the future: that I come out in a glorified body, the full expression of God, acting in answer to the death of Christ. "That in the ages to come he might shew the

exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus", Ephesians 2:7. That is, His righteousness is not destructive, as I remarked. It is constructive, and He brings out into public view the full result of it. That is to say, men in glorified bodies like Christ's.

W.C.R. Now the beginning of Romans 5 seems to be a kind of an answer to what Christ did. The righteousness of God is presented, and the power of God, then in the love of God, but the first part of chapter 5 seems to be an answer in us.

J.T. Yes, that we have peace with God. I think the fourth is a chapter that ought to be especially dwelt upon, as showing how the believer comes into the thing; that he comes into the reality of God's power working for him and the possession of the seal of circumcision; that one has in one's soul by the Spirit a conscious thing, a seal of the righteousness that I already have, namely, the disallowance of the power of the spirit of the flesh. Now that is what circumcision spiritually means.

A.N.W. Why is that so obscure there? Why is the Spirit so content to be obscure there until chapter 8?

J.T. He is only for the moment establishing the principle of faith in these men, in Abraham and David, but we can put a good deal into it from Colossians and Philippians. We can see what circumcision means for us. That is, God had revealed Himself to Abraham as the Almighty God. It is in that connection we get circumcision. It is a question of God's power. If God is Almighty, then I do not need to trust the flesh. It is not to be trusted, but disallowed, and the ordinance of God for me means that He has raised Christ and that power is working in me. That is what it means for me. Therefore I do not need to trust the flesh at all. It profits nothing and I disallow it.

D.R. Then is it on the strength of that that we have the statement in verse 11, "We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ"?

J.T. You joy in God instead of in the flesh.

G.A.T. I can see much more clearly than I could this morning how I get relief.

G.W.H. The very fact of the believer having the Spirit indicates that all he has derived from Adam, the fallen condition, is gone in the cross, is it not? The identity remains.

J.T. The identity of the believer remains, but by the power of the Spirit he is in accord with the righteousness of God. It is how his death was seen in the cross, and at the same time He brings the sinner in before Him without his sins, and the seal of that is the Spirit really. I have with me every day the seal of that, so that I do not allow the flesh. Otherwise I lose the sense of it. I must have the seal. He received the seal, it says, from God.

R.S.S. So Romans 4 assumes that we have the Spirit.

J.T. Yes, it does. That is (if you understand) if you use circumcision in its spiritual significance.

R.S.S. Quite so. I suppose most of us understand. We talk a great deal about circumcision and the Spirit. They do not seem to be very relative on the face of it, but circumcision was what marked the people of God as God's in Old Testament times; the Spirit is what marks the people of God in New Testament times. We are sealed by the Spirit. That is the relation between the two.

J.T. Baptism has to do with what is outside of a christian; circumcision has to do with what is inside of him, so I cannot disallow the flesh but by the Spirit. The force of it you see is in the endeavour to bring in an heir according to the flesh, to bring in a product of the flesh for God. Circumcision disallows that. The child that is to be brought in is to be brought in on the principle of divine power, not human power, so that Isaac is born after Abraham was too old to be a father according to the flesh, so circumcision is the seal of the righteousness which he had before.

D.R. Speaking of circumcision in that light, it would correspond with the beginning of Ephesians where it says, "having believed, ye have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise", Ephesians 1:13.

J.T. It works with it in that way, that the Spirit in you maintains you in accordance with the light you have received in the gospel.

H.G. You do not apply then the resurrection of Christ here so much to the power of death that lay upon man?

J.T. Oh, I think it is more than that, Mr. G., because it is worked up from this: "Therefore it is on the principle of faith, that it might be according to grace, in order to the promise being sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of Abraham's faith, who is father of us all (according as it is written, I have made thee father of many nations,) before the God whom he believed, who quickens the dead, and calls the things which be not as being; who against hope believed in hope to his becoming father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be: and not being weak in faith, he considered not his own body already become dead, being about a hundred years old, and the deadening of Sarah's womb, and hesitated not at the promise of God through unbelief; but found strength in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what he has promised he is able also to do", Romans 4:16 - 21. It is a question of God's power. That was what he believed in there.

G.A.T. Did not Sarah laugh at this?

J.T. Yes, you see what is alluded to here is Genesis 15 to 17. That is, it is faith in a God who reveals Himself as Almighty. That is chapter 4 of Romans.

H.G. It was the inability of the flesh to bring forth anything for God.

J.T. Yes. Well, if I have discovered that I may as well hold to it and the Holy Spirit enables me to hold to it.

L.E.S. Would you say a word as to the distinction between faith and the Spirit.

J.T. The Holy Spirit comes into the believer consequent upon faith and He is the power by which faith is sustained, and by which faith acts in the believer, so that without the Holy Spirit one could not lead a life of faith in this world such as is presented in the New Testament. I do not deny they led a life of faith in the Old Testament, but then the Spirit of God takes up certain things they did and said, and

clothes them with divine thoughts. Their public life in many respects was occupied with things that are seen, but christianity is "The just shall live by faith". He lives by it.

J.B. Does not Habakkuk call attention to that?

J.T. That is the passage I referred to. It is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). It seems to be the one expression from the Old Testament that christianity is hung upon. "The just shall live by faith".

R. S. S. In the beginning of chapter 5, there was a remark made in connection with the righteousness of God, the power of God, and the love of God. I think these three chapters are connected with those three things in God, are they not?

J.T. Yes, quite.

R.S.S. Did you make some remark about that, Dr. R.?

W.C.R. I said they were presented objectively to us, and I thought perhaps the beginning of the fifth chapter was our answering to it.

J.T. The fifth chapter begins with a "Therefore". It is very interesting to follow the gradual development in structure in Paul's writings; how he gathers things up. Now he has attained volume, so to speak, in which he is perfectly free. "Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God". He brings the christian on to the plane of faith, and from that he works out a wonderful experience. He develops, as you might say, christianity, how it is worked out in the believer from the divine side; not yet from the Spirit's side in the believer, but in the way the light affects the believer. That is chapter 5. He works it out from that point of view. He has attained a very wonderful plane or altitude, whence he develops the result of what he had been presenting, so he says, "Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God". That is what christians are characteristically. That is how matters stand with us.

F.W.T. Would you say that light is only light as there is corresponding faith?

J.T. Yes, it is quite obvious that the light of the gospel as presented in this world is not light to any except those who have faith.

F.W.T. I meant experimentally in us. That is, as light is received there must be the faith to support it.

J.T. Yes, so that the measure in which we receive the light is the measure of our faith.

R.L.C. The system of faith is established now by the Spirit, is it not? It says in Galatians 3:25, "But, faith having come". He refers to faith's day there, does he not?

J.T. Yes, he does.

W.C.R. Where it says, "access by faith into this favour in which we stand", what does that mean?

J.T. I think he is just treating of the christian's position characteristically, as if he said, Now this is how it is with christians; this is how the matter is with christians. "Having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God". It is a concise way of putting the christian position for anyone whom it might concern. This was a wonderful company of people.

A.N.W. The christian position individually, would you say?

J.T. Yes, as it is worked out in the individual.

G.A.T. And it ought to be true of every christian that he rejoices. It is for every christian.

J.T. Yes, and it is for every christian to find out, have I reached this altitude?

G.A.T. You do not believe in sad christians then?

J.T. This shows a company of victorious christians, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

W.C.R. And boasting in tribulation.

J.T. He goes on to say, "And not only that". There is more than that for us.

Ques. What does "the glory of God" mean in this scripture?

J.T. It is the showing out of what He is in His attributes.

Ques. As coming out where?

J.T. In the millennial world. That is what we are rejoicing in hope of. The apostle presents a company of victorious people, and the very worst things that can happen to us are working for us. We get several workers in the next paragraph, and they are all working for us, so that the very worst things that you see happening to us are our workers. It is to bring in the munificence of the position.

Ques. Is that where faith comes in?

J.T. It is through faith we have access into this position, "And not only that, but we also boast in tribulations". That is another thing.

H.G. Only a man who had faith would know he was in favour when he was in tribulation. Is it not the antithesis really of what marked judaism in a way as indicating the importance of being in the light of faith?

J.T. So that no circumstances can arise to baffle a man who is in faith. "Not only that, but we also boast in tribulations". That is certainly a new thing in this world. If you analyse the experiences of the Old Testament saints, you will find they dreaded tribulations.

H.G. The king could say, Let it not be in my day, but in the day of my son. He passed it on to his son.

J.T. And "the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me", Job 3:25. These things show they were not in victory, whereas the christian is. Then he goes on to say, "Knowing that tribulation works endurance; and endurance, experience; and experience, hope". A worldling would think these workers were against him. A christian regards them as his workers. Jacob submitted to the things that befell him, but he complained afterwards. He was not in victory.

W.C.R. How can we boast in tribulation? Can you boast in the actual tribulation, or is it rather in the thought of what it will effect in you?

J.T. That is it.

H.G. "Knowing that".

J.T. Quite so.

W.L.P. You rise above it.

J.T. Faith says, It is a worker, it is one of the workers. It is a remarkable triumph. It is as if Paul would say, If you only understood christians, this is the kind of thing that we know. The things that you regard as against you are our workers. They are working for us.

G.W.H. So David brought back from Ziklag great spoil. Tribulation brings great fruit, does it not?

J.T. It worketh patience -- one of the scarcest things in the whole world perhaps is patience, and tribulation works it, so that what happens in the way of adversity has got to be looked at and we have got to see whether it is really working this in us. Otherwise it hardens us and sours our spirits. It defeats the divine end unless we are in faith.

J.A.W. All this tends then to build up in us by the Spirit a constitution in which we can really rejoice in the midst of tribulation, and it is all in hope of the glory of God, is it not?

Ques. Is it rejoicing in hope of the glory of God as relief?

J.T. Oh, no, you love the thought of God coming out. What can Satan do against a man who rejoices in tribulation? He is invulnerable.

G.W.H. But a man who would rejoice in tribulation is a man who would accept it from the hand of God, would he not?

J.T. I think so. I think Habakkuk is a great help in this way, he first wonders why it is and then he sees that God has done it, so he arrives at a new song, on the principle of faith. I mention Habakkuk particularly, because, as far as I know, he is the only scripture writer that treats of the subject of faith in the Old Testament strictly.

A.L. He changed his instrument.

J.T. Yes, he did. He found out what God was doing, and now he says, "On my stringed instruments", Habakkuk 3:19. It is a higher key.

A.L. One note. It is not a variable note like a wind instrument.

J.B. In high places too.

J.T. He gets hinds' feet.

H.G. The enemy comes imputing the power to his god, but he realizes it is not his god at all. "Thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction", Habakkuk 1:12. A man gets salvation, does he not, when he can see that God is working behind all the power of the enemy for His people? And that brings us back to the point that it is a faith system. You have to be in the light of it to take that position. You are justified by faith on that principle.

J.B. The glory system would be that to come, and faith connects one at the present moment with that glory system, would it not?

J.T. Yes.

A.L. Isaiah says "the work of righteousness shall be peace", Isaiah 32:17. What is the difference between that and this?

J.T. I think that would fit in here. "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever". It would fit in here as it affects faith, I think.

A.L. And then would you not say that Isaiah gives a little help on "through our Lord Jesus Christ"? It says: "Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength" (or, the rock of ages), Isaiah 26:4.

We get stability through our Lord Jesus Christ, would you say? Although we may shake and waver even when we are on the Rock that never shakes.

J.T. The believer according to this chapter does not shake either. There is nothing can disturb you if you are in the light of these things.

D.R. Tribulation as it comes before us here, has it not a future bearing?

J.T. What it says is that it works endurance. That is, you bear things pending the coming of the Lord. You are not going to give up.

D.R. You were speaking of these things as workers. The apostle Paul says, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory", 2 Corinthians 4:17. Is there not a

connection between that and what comes before us here?

J.T. Yes, quite so.

Rem. It brings us into the truth of the kingdom.

J.B. Why is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts mentioned last? Is that the result reached or is that the sustaining power?

J.T. Oh, I think the chapter leads us on to the covenant, what God is to us, so that He has found an outlet for His love. In the death of Christ He has found an outlet for it into the heart of the christian by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

H.G. In that sense have we not rather to know the righteousness of God and His power before we can appreciate His love; that, while the gospel is the fruit of His love in a way, yet that is not the first thing presented to man. Is it not a question as to God's rights being secured in your soul, and in His power?

J.T. And then His love.

H.G. And then His love, yes. "Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith", Romans 1:17. It is not, therein is love revealed.

R.S.S. We have to reach chapter 5 before we have love referred to.

H.G. Very often in the preaching Of the gospel the love of God is presented, but it always seemed to me more or less wrong. Because Of man being what he is, it is important that a foundation Of righteousness should be laid there, and too the light of the power of God.

A.L. I would like to understand that a little. You mean that in the foundation of righteousness there is the removal of man? Am I understanding you rightly?

H.G. I thought in righteousness God's rights had been founded, so He might come out to men.

A.L. How were they founded?

H.G. In Christ -- in the mercy-seat.

A.L. In His death, you mean?

H. G. Oh, unquestionably.

A.L. Do you connect verse 5 with what we gain Of divine teaching in the cup?

J.T. Oh, yes, it runs with it. I always think of this verse in connection with the cup -- the love of God.

A.L. Shed abroad?

J.T. Yes.

R.S.S. You spoke of it as an outlet and an inlet.

J.T. In the death of Christ the love has found an outlet, but then the love is to have a place for us, and it has found an inlet into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.

R. S. S. And does this suggest, or does it go too far to say that this verse gives us in our hearts the consciousness of the love of God?

J.T. I think that is true. It does not say that we love too. That is chapter 8, you see, by the Spirit.

R.S.S. Quite so, but we have the consciousness that God loves us -- He loves you.

A.N.W. So is it not rather more than faith?

J.T. It is by the Spirit here.

A.N.W. I perhaps had in mind to question the difference between faith and the Spirit.

J.T. I might see that He loves me by the death of Christ, but this is that I am conscious that He loves me. The love is in my heart.

R.S.S. It is the Spirit that gives consciousness always.

J.T. I think so.

A.L. Would you say that in that sense we drink of it?

J.T. From that side. This is from the divine side. The Holy Spirit coming from God into my heart brings His love into it.

R.S.S. So you might say faith gives you the light; the Spirit the consciousness of it.

J.T. That is very good.

G.A.T. It is encouraging in this scene, where sin has come in, that God is able to maintain for Himself a place where His love can flow, amongst men.

J.T. How important that one should keep one's heart with all diligence, in view of the fact that the Spirit has brought the love of God into it. What a treasure is in the heart of the christian -- the love of God.

G.A.T. There is more in Romans than we thought.

J.T. And perhaps more in our hearts than we think -- I mean the love of God is in a man's heart. Think of the treasure that is involved in that! The love of God is in a man's heart by the Spirit of God!

W.C.R. So nothing that is not according to love, that is not of God, should be given a place in our hearts. We sometimes allow other things there.

READING ON ROMANS 8

Romans 8:1 - 17

J.T. It might be well perhaps to link on the things we have already had before us in chapters 4 and 5 with what this chapter presents. I suppose chapter 5 sets out the position, founded on the facts previously presented, from God's side, before we enter into the thing.

R. S. S. Did you say the position?

J.T. Yes, the position occupied by Christians normally.

R.S.S. Would that be the first part of chapter 5?

J.T. The whole chapter I think presents to us what has come in through Christ. It is, as you might say, a summing up of the reasons and of the facts previously presented, and has to be looked at in that way in order that the Christian may see what he is invited into. How he enters into it is developed later.

R.S.S. We should see what is brought in through Christ. As you said, the word "through" is a characteristic word in that chapter. It is not exactly yet what is made good in us, but what is brought in through Him.

J.T. That is it.

G.W.H. So in chapter 6, it is what we begin to say to Him. "What then shall we say?"

J.T. Yes, the question is raised now, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Romans 6:1. This leads to the development of our side of the matter, but the magnitude of the position is presented in chapter 5, and as we consider that, the greatness of Christ comes out so that He acquires a place in our hearts and becomes in principle Head in our souls.

R.S.S. Mr. Raven, in Chicago in 1898, pointed out that in chapter 5 we have four things through Christ: the kingdom, the new covenant, reconciliation, and eternal life.

J.T. It is well to be reminded of it, and it helps in what we are remarking. The saint, the believer, has now to see the thing in its magnitude from God's side.

W.C.R. Does the latter part of chapter 5 present the last Adam, in contrast to the first, and what He brought in?

J.T. Quite so. So He acquires in that way a place in the mind and the heart, and becomes in principle Head. I think the gospels furnish us with examples of how Christ acquired a place in souls through what He did for them, as, for instance, the woman at the well. "Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?" John 4:29. That is to say, she based her judgment or belief on what He did in her case. He told her all things that ever she did. One can understand what a place He would have in her soul henceforth. She would scarcely turn to anybody else to learn anything. She would turn to Christ as she had opportunity.

H. G. You get in chapter 5 not only the place that He acquires with us, but His place as ordained by God in regard of every man. You get the scope of things presented in the word "all" in that section. When the application is brought in it is just "the many" -- is that right?

J.T. Yes, quite.

H.G. So you get the full thought of headship, as well as the place He acquires in our affections.

J.T. So that according to chapter 5 He comes in as One who is able. I suppose leadership in the world came about in that way in the history of the human race, men acquired leadership and dominance over their fellows through their exploits, as for instance in Genesis 6. Then came men of old, men of renown, probably affording a basis for the mythology of the heathen. These great heroes being magnified, acquired dominance over men. Well, Christ comes in on those lines, and necessarily overshadows every man, not simply because He is the Creator, the Son of God, that is another matter, but because of what He accomplishes as Man before men.

R. S. S. You were saying that here He is Head because of what He has done, and in Colossians He is Head because of what He is, whereas in Ephesians He is given to be Head. Is that correct?

J.T. Yes, that is correct, so Ephesians brings God into

the thing, God making Him Head. It is a question of God's counsel, but here He is the only available one. He has proved Himself to be the only one.

R.S.S. So is He Head to you and me because of what He has done for us individually?

J.T. Yes.

G.A.T. You said great men came on these lines. They have copied the lines from Him; He has not gone on their lines?

J.T. I spoke of what preceded Christ in the history of the race. Men arose (Scripture speaks of them) of renown, and through their exploits they acquired a place over the hearts and minds of their fellows that gave them leadership. I only referred to it as illustrative of what we have in chapter 5, that Christ coming in, by His exploits acquires a place that cannot be denied Him. Therefore it is on moral grounds. It is really the ground on which leadership exists today among the people of God, and indeed in all times.

G.A.T. But He has not copied the lines from the great men, has He?

J.T. Oh, no, I am not speaking of copying. I just spoke of that as illustrative of what we get in chapter 5.

W.C.R. In 1 Corinthians 11, He is presented as Head, but as Head of every man there. How does that come in?

J.T. That is the order God has set up in the creation. That is divine order I think. Christ becoming man is necessarily Head of every man. The Head of every man is Christ. It is what had then come about. He refers to what then existed, Christ being exalted to heaven. He is not spoken of in 1 Corinthians 11 as the head of the race, but as the Head of every man, as over against woman. He is not the Head of every woman, but the Head of every man.

J.B. Would it be right to say that Adam, as a figure of Him that is to come, is the figure in headship?

J.T. Yes, that is it. He was over everything.

R.S.S. When Peter says in Acts a, that the One whom they had crucified God raised up and made both Lord and Christ, is it the thought of leadership rather than headship? In what connection does that come in?

J.T. That is what God has made Him. That brings in God's sovereign rights. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion", Psalm 2:6. It is a question of God, and I think "the Christ" is hardly the thought of head. Christ is head, of course, but "the Christ" is the anointed. That is the idea in it, so that God has found One by whom He accomplishes everything.

R.S.S. It is not exactly the thought of headship there, is it?

J.T. It is more than headship. He is "the Christ" on God's side because He is anointed. The principle of "the Christ", I think, is that He accomplishes everything for God. God has found a Man by whom He accomplishes everything.

R.S.S. Anointing largely indicates what God has in view for a man. David was anointed. Even Saul was anointed.

J.T. And what God would set forth in him in the anointing. God has a vessel by which He sets forth what He is Himself -- "the Christ" is on God's account, hence nothing shall be left undone. Everything shall be done perfectly and according to the mind of God now that He has "the Christ".

R.S.S. Is headship usually on our side?

J.T. It is what He is on our side Godward, and what He is practically in the way of wisdom.

R.S.S. And is it that in all three scriptures we referred to?

J.T. I think so, that we have found a head now, One who represents us Godward, and who is wisdom to us, so that we will not go to anyone else for anything.

G.A.T. Therefore there is no mystery now to the assembly.

J.T. Things are all known to us, to the assembly, but the mystery remains as regards those outside. Those that are initiated know what is going on.

J.B. You could not have reconciliation unless you have the head.

J.T. No, I think that is it. It is what Christ is Godward

and we come in under that, but it works out very simply in regard of a christian coming into the truth. Here is a Man that has told me all that ever I did. Now He is to be considered. The conclusion she arrived at on that basis was that He was the Christ. Is not this the Christ? If He could tell me all things that ever I did, He could do more than that. That is a fair conclusion.

G.A.T. She would think He could forgive her all that ever she did.

J.T. He not only tells all, but He does all. He does everything for God. That shuts out man. It shuts out all human innovations, because Christ does it.

A.L. Does the thought of the head suggest one out of whom everything is evolved?

J.T. Yes, I suppose that would be right.

A.L. In the universe of bliss, as we speak of it, everything will be evolved from that Man.

J.T. As we have often remarked, Romans is the potentiality of the thing, and you see in this Man who has done so much for your soul that there is much more, and you get the expression here "Much more". It is a conclusion worked up to.

A.L. A logical conclusion.

J.T. Yes, there is much more you see, and as you proceed on the line of much more (and you are entitled to) you arrive at wonderful results, so that the youngest believer need not be shut out from the principle of headship, because he begins with it. It is what this Man is to me. Well, there is much more, and the "much more" is to appropriate Christ in that light.

O.J.O. Then you would say He should be to you what He was to Mary Magdala at the sepulchre -- she was looking for Him.

J.T. Quite; also Mary the sister of Martha understood what He could do. "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died", John 11:32. She knew that. That is the principle, you see. It is what she has already learned as to Him that enables her to form that conclusion.

W.L.P. Will you say something in regard to His being

Lord, as headship here is connected with His being Lord and Christ?

J.T. The lordship of Christ is a question of God's authority -- that is rule. It refers to the subjugation of evil.

W.L.P. It is higher than headship, is it not?

J.T. Oh, I do not know, it has reference to the subjugation of evil and the protection of God's people against evil. The lordship of Christ is in that connection, I think.

W.L.P. No one can call Him Lord except by the Holy Spirit..

J.T. It is the position He takes now against evil, and Satan never recognizes Him in that way. He never, if he can avoid it, recognizes Christ as Lord because he knows that He is against Him.

H.G. In our apprehension of things which do we learn first -- lordship or headship?

J.T. Well, it is difficult to say.

H.G. "Who art thou, Lord?" Saul says, and, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Afterwards he receives the Spirit. I suppose it is the Spirit of the Head, is that right? (Acts 9:5 - 6).

J.T. I suppose that would be the way. It is just a question of whether the recognition of Christ's ability is not already there too. That is, "What wilt thou have me to do". He is doing something, and I suppose that would be the order.

G.A.T. Do you not think we first have to recognize His rights over us as Lord?

J.T. Yes, I suppose so.

G.A.T. And then you recognize His ability to lead you.

J.B. "Why persecutest thou me?" would be headship more, would it not?

J.T. That would bring in His relation to the saints, would it not?

J.B. As Head to them.

G.W.H. But is not subjugation necessary before you can hear -- before you come into that attitude of listening?

J.T. I suppose so.

W.L.P. I suppose to recognize Christ as Head would

need more spiritual intelligence than to own Him as Lord, would it not?

J.T. Yes, I am sure that is so in the full working out of headship but what is obvious here in chapter s is that the believer from the outset of it, in coming into what God has presented, what God has established, apprehends in this way that He is the One who does things and is to be looked to; He thereby acquires a dominance in the soul which develops into headship.

J.B. Does the illustration of Adam being head not fall short of what we have here?

J.T. Well, it does because Adam had very little opportunity to do exploits, to do anything. But you see the principle in that he named the creatures, and whatever he said was a creature's name that was its name. That God did not alter it is indicative of the remarkable intelligence that Adam possessed from God. I think he qualified as head in that way.

R.S.S. Would the names that he gave the animals set forth their characteristics?

J.T. The name would arise from what he observed in the creature.

A.N.W. God made him head, did He not? And in that way he would be efficient.

J.T. He did, and I think the fact that he named them rightly proved his efficiency. He qualified in that way.

J.B. He also named the woman.

J.T. He did. He considered the facts and said, "This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man", Genesis 2:23. That shows the intelligence he possessed.

J.B. That is the intelligence of the head?

J.T. Yes.

A.N.W. Although his dominion was not to be exercised alone. Is not the thought "let them have dominion".

J.T. Quite so. Genesis 2 is more Ephesians -- his doing things. This is the basis, you might say, the fundamental principle of headship that I come to recognize Christ as the One who does things.

G.A.T. In this epistle He is Head now. We come to learn that; is that the idea? We do not make Him Head -- He is that already.

J.T. You come to discern that He is this because of what He has accomplished for you.

G.W.H. Going back to Acts 2 again, I would like a little help. How do you distinguish between Luke 3 and Acts 2, between receiving the Spirit at His baptism and being made Lord and Christ?

J.T. I think in Luke 3 He was constituted the anointed priest "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor", Luke 4:18. The principle of anointing is that God has a vessel or instrument through whom He accomplishes things: whereas in Acts 2 He is made Lord and Christ in heaven. Therefore, the sphere of His lordship is universal. As Peter says in speaking to Cornelius (Acts 10:36), "He is Lord of all" -- of everything. So the Christ detains Paul in Ephesians 3, and the Lord detains him in Ephesians 4. In the third it is the working out of the mystery, and in the fourth it is the ordering of the saints -- that we might walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called. He is prisoner of the Christ in the third for the reason that the Christ had had him brought there so he might work out the mystery. As he says, "the administration of the mystery" ending up with "to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages", Ephesians 3:9 - 21. That was what Christ was developing and Paul was employed for that, and he is detained, he is the prisoner of the Christ; but in the fourth he is the Lord's prisoner because the Lord saw the saints needed regulation in the ordering of things, and therefore His authority was necessary, and so He detains Paul in that way. He is the Lord's prisoner, and it is a remarkable thing in connection with the foundation of the assembly that it is not only "the Son of the living God" but "the Christ". "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", Matthew 16:16.

H.G. As Head does He put his own impress on things, or the impress of God?

J.T. I would say His own. As "the Christ" He would put the impress on things. As "the Christ" I think He represents God.

H.G. Yes, I see, but I thought as Head it was simply our side of what He is as "the Christ" -- that in headship it was rather our apprehension of the place God has given Him representatively of Himself. In headship He is more than "the Christ" -- He is the anointed One who represents God, in a certain sense, as to what God would effect by Him, but in headship I come into that. Headship is more our side you said?

J.T. It is the same Person from our side.

H.G. And the point in my mind was whether in headship I would take colour from God, or whether it would be from Christ Himself. It is of course from Him, but is it God, so to speak, that He writes on things among men?

J.T. I think when you come to writing, it is the "epistle of Christ", is it not?

H.G. Yes, it would be there.

J.T. He is the image of God. H. G. But He sets forth God.

J.T. That is as "the Christ", I think.

H.G. I see.

J.T. If He writes, it is the epistle of Christ, but it is the covenant that He is dealing with. He is the minister of the covenant and it would be, I think, to bring God in and write God, what God is on the saints. It says, "Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them", 2 Corinthians 4:4. It seems as if "the Christ" is the image, is the One who represents God here, but then we have a Head. It is what He is as Man, and He brings in a race of men before God altogether of His own kind, and that is another matter, I think.

W.L.P. You were saying a moment ago that Christ did things, did you not?

J.T. Yes.

W.L.P. Well, does not the Head do things too?

J.T. Oh, yes, of course, you cannot say He does not. It is only just to get the main features of the different titles.

"The Christ" is obviously the anointed One; if God anoints a Man, He commits Himself to that Man, to the end that that Man should bring about all His thoughts, should accomplish things for Him. So in Luke 4:18 He stands up in the synagogue, and says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor". So that is the position. It isn't that He is Head there, but He is there on God's account to preach, and that is the light in which "the Christ" stands in scripture. So He is "the Christ". Peter says, "Thou art the Christ". Well now, that does not seem to be anything new, and yet the Lord says, "Flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens", Matthew 16:17. So that it was light in Peter's soul that this Man that stood before him was "the Christ", and that would mean that Peter would not look to anyone else; he would not allow anyone else. Everything must be done by the Christ. That is an element of the foundation.

G.A.T. In that way He becomes Peter's Head, does He not?

J.T. You can understand that He would be that. It is not simply that Christ can do things now, but that God has anointed Him to do it. It is a question of God's rights. As an illustration, you might get much abler men on the throne than the present occupant in Great Britain, but it is not a question of his ability but of the oil that is upon him. That is the idea in the Christ.

J.B. Is not that the distinguishing feature all through the book of Luke?

J.T. Quite so.

J.B. He does things on behalf of God, like God, and for God.

G.W.H. But is not the oil an evidence of what is there

J.T. No doubt, but we have to think of God in the thing. It is a question of God's choice. We have to think of that.

R.S.S. As in the case of Saul. That was why David would not take Saul's life when he could.

J.T. He was the anointed. David would not touch him.

W.C.R. The apostles were ignorant and unlearned men -- yet the principle was there -- they were anointed.

J.T. Quite so.

D.R. On the ground of the revelation of headship, is it in that way the company answers to the Lord?

J.T. I think the Head brings in the company to God.

R.S.S. You made a significant remark a moment ago regarding Matthew 16, that the assembly is founded on Peter's confession of Him not only as Son of God, but also as the Christ. That is the foundation on which the assembly is built. Now we understand that in a sense in regard to the Son of God, but in regard to "the Christ" how does that come in?

J.T. It is that you disallow human innovations. You disallow man's activities. The Christ does everything. It is an element in the foundation. Not only is the thing set up in life; because the point is "the Son of the living God" but there is an exclusiveness in it -- that man has nothing to do with this -- it is "the Christ" -- the One whom God has anointed. He is the One in this structure, so that it works in that exclusive way, to shut man out.

R.S.S. Yes, and the foundation? It really refers, does it not, to "Upon this rock I will build my church"? It refers to the apprehension in the believer's soul of that One, as the Christ, and as the Son of the living God; as the One who could accomplish everything for God, and, as we would say, a Man of the new order.

J.T. It is "Jesus Christ" when you come to the new order. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). Not "the Christ" there, mind you; it is the order of man that is in the foundation, the kind of man. "The Christ" is a question of God choosing a Man, and no one can have anything to do here but the Man of God's choice, the Man whom God has anointed.

R.S.S. I think maybe we are accustomed to laying great emphasis on "the Son of the living God" in Matthew 16, but in at least one of the other gospels Peter confesses Him as "the Christ" and "the Son of the living God" is omitted, is it not?

J.T. In Mark it is "Thou art the Christ" (Mark 8:29) simply: in Luke it is "the Christ of God", Luke 9:20.

R.S.S. In connection with what you have said, I would like to understand Christ a little better in that relationship.

J.T. Does it not commend itself to you that the apostles rigidly excluded any human innovation in laying the foundation? No one should have anything to do with things save those inaugurated by Christ. God anointed Him, and He anoints His apostles. So the assembly is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ being the chief corner stone. It is a question of divine authority in it -- a most essential thing -- and that element controls, and it is rigidly exclusive of man's authority in the things of God.

G.A.T. In Peter do you get the kind of a man that is qualified to have part in it?

J.T. Yes, and so the Lord says, "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household ... ?" Matthew 24:45. It is not anyone essaying to be there. The Lord puts His stamp on a man, and what is he there for -- and what is he to be? A giver of meat in due season to the household. The Lord has put him there for that purpose. So the authority of Christ runs right through in that way, and the authority of Christ is the authority of God.

H.G. The centurion in Luke 7 seemed to apprehend the dignity of the position that Christ was set in. I mean to say, the Roman emperor must have had a great position in his mind, but he would not have gone to the emperor to heal his servant. He knew the emperor was as powerless as he was himself. So the dignity in which Christ was set was evidently great in his mind, was it not?

J.T. That is a powerful and striking illustration of what we are saying. He had light as to the power that Christ has. "Say in a word, and my servant shall be healed", Luke 7:7. That is what every christian here wants to get into his soul, that the headship of Christ is not something away in the distance. The principle is laid in your soul at the outset. He is the

One that does things. Hence you go instinctively to the Lord.

G.A.T. Would you mind giving us the difference between the three scriptures you referred to in connection with headship -- Romans, Colossians and Ephesians?

J.T. I remarked several times that here it is a question of what He does.

G.A.T. Excuse me, but what I wanted to know is, does it bring me to a different stage in my soul?

J.T. I think so. Colossians is an advance on this. There you come to a recognition of who He is. The truth is developed in Colossians from this point. He has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, and then the Spirit goes on to enlarge on that Person, and in right of what He is, He must have pre-eminence in everything, so that He is Head because of what He is personally.

H.G. David was anointed first of all because of what he was in secret. His moral beauty marked him out; and then he acquires a place in the thoughts of the people because of his exploits; then finally he is placed there by God, publicly as head. Is that right?

J.T. Yes, quite so.

G.W.H. And in 2 Samuel 5 they accord him that place at Hebron, do they not?

H.G. They do.

A.N.W. Is not headship difficult to understand apart from associates? I was wondering why you were so hesitant to recognize lordship before headship. Do you not get greatly helped in linking yourself with others?

J.T. That is so.

A.N.W. I thought to bring that to pass lordship must have its effect.

J.T. Only the individual from the outset of his knowledge of the things of God apprehends that these things have come in through Christ. Chapter 5 shows they had come in through Christ, so at the very beginning I see that this is the Man, because "the Christ" is the subject of the gospel, and that principle begins at the outset of your spiritual history.

G.W.H. You said at Rochester that at conversion you get the germ of everything. Do you not?

J.T. Oh, I suppose you do.

G.W.H. So in the soul of the believer there is a parallel with what is in the mind of God.

J.T. You see in the woman at Sychar's well how simply it works out. There she gives her conclusion on what He did for her. That was capable of infinite amplification. "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" John 4:29. How much there is to be opened up in that. It was the beginning of her spiritual history.

R.S.S. He told her all really that is in God's heart, and all that was in her heart, and there is nothing outside of that.

J.T. Quite so.

D.R. In that way when the Lord begins to speak to the Samaritan woman He commands the situation right away. Lordship is arrived at in that way and she is prepared to, receive everything from Him.

J.T. One is more and more impressed with the fundamental character of Romans: how it forces the truth into the soul logically. If you acquire an apprehension of Christ as presented in Romans 5, you have an element in your soul that stays there, so you instinctively turn to Christ instead of turning to men in your difficulties.

G.A.T. Like the woman you mentioned in John 4, you will impress others by what you see and by what you are.

J.T. Yes, quite so.

R.S.S. The necessity of headship, as it is brought out in the close of Romans 5, is immensely great, from the fact that the human race was without a head. When Adam died, they were without a head, and it was necessary that a new head should be brought in. I was wondering in that connection (we are speaking of things largely from the way in which they stand now in connection with the Lord's resurrection and when He took an abiding place) when He was born into the world, was He head? Could we speak of Him as head on the ground of His birth -- who He was?

J.T. It would be only a question of what was in God's mind. The announcement of the angel to the shepherds is

very beautiful -- "Unto you is born this day in the city of David" (He is born to them) "a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord". It is very beautiful how it is put. It is not with headship, but lordship. "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord", Luke 2:11.

R.S.S. He was that, at the moment of His birth.

J.T. That was of course the mind of God. Following on that, Simeon takes the Child into his arms. "It was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ", and he takes the Child into his arms and says, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ... for mine eyes have seen thy salvation", Luke 2:26 - 30. You see the thing was all there.

A.N.W. Even the wise men presented their gifts to Him.

J.T. Yes, just so.

A.N.W. The One born King of the Jews.

J.T. But then that would be all a question of how God took account of things, the mind of God, and certainly how everything was centred in that Babe.

R. S. S. But it gradually developed and came out.

J.T. Quite so.

R.S.S. Largely in His ministry, but above all finally in resurrection and ascension.

J.T. Yes.

D.R. In speaking of headship, you remarked a little while ago about the way it becomes power. In Corinthians He is Head of every man. Would you confine that to those in the assembly, or give it a universal application?

J.T. I think it is universal. It is the position He occupies in God's ordering now.

A.L. You spoke a little about the appropriation of the Head, and I would gather from what you said that the apostle is seeking that we should lay hold of Him as Head in the apprehension of what He has been to us personally in our own souls.

J.T. That is what I think chapter 5 will do, and as you look into it you are impressed with the far-reaching character of His one act of obedience, as, for instance, there are

now those reigning in life, as one result. Well, what an immense thing that is! Then, to refer to one or two points, justification of life, and then grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Think of the scope of it, and the far-reaching character of it. Well, if you have the light of that in your soul, you are restful, and you turn to the Lord. You do not turn to anyone else, because this is what He does, and He can do anything. As Job says of the Lord, "I know that thou canst do everything", job 42:2. That was what Job arrived at, and so one arrives at that in regard of Christ.

A.L. That is where Peter came -- "Thou knowest all things", John 21:17.

J.T. That is the principle.

G.A.T. The centurion said, "Say by a word", Luke 7:7.

J.T. Yes.

A.N.W. Would you say the moral effect of knowing Christ as Head is in the confession of Him as Lord?

J.T. I suppose so. You are not afraid to confess One who can do everything.

A.N.W. You do not own Him as Head of the world, but as Lord.

J.T. That is the confession, but He is known in your soul as Head.

G.A.T. Why is it that we are not always so free to confess Him -- not only young people, but some on the way pretty well are not always free when we get amongst the world. It is easy enough here, but not so easy in business.

J.T. The spirit of the world is against that. Satan is against Christ as Lord. He knows it is the overthrow of his kingdom and he puts it as far away from him as he can.

G.A.T. But do you not think we should be beyond that?

J.T. Oh, quite. We are enjoined that now is the time for confession.

W.L.P. You are apt to run into a legal way of confessing Him, are you not?

J.T. It should be by the Holy Spirit. In that way there is power in it. It is not legal.

R. S. S. We are under the influence of Christ as here together, but when we are in circumstances such as our brother refers to, although we are still under the influence of Christ, we come to some extent under the influence of the world and the people with whom we are in contact.

The question is, which is the greater? I suppose that would account for our exceeding weakness, but the more the greatness of Christ is before us, the more we will be delivered.

G.W.H. Is it not a very great advantage to see that in Romans 5, He is the Head of every man in the world by rights of redemption.

J.T. Well, quite so. Headship is available to all. The bearing of redemption, justification, and life, is toward all the human race. The whole human race is immensely enriched by this wonderful Man if He is apprehended.

R.S.S. That is what I was trying to express when I said we were without a head, and the head we had brought us down and down into what? But now the new Head we have brings us up into what? It is inexhaustible.

J.T. It is a great thing to see things in that wide scope.

R.S.S. Do I understand from what has been said that the Lord is Head of every man, even unconverted people in the world?

J.T. That is what it says in Corinthians.

R. S. S. I thought you rather referred to His being Head of man in contrast to woman.

J.T. So I did, but if He is Head to all men He is Head to the women indirectly, because the man is head to the woman.

W.C.R. Mr. Raven spoke of the great advantages in Western Europe and America which were due to Christ being brought in as Head.

J.T. I think that is so. The immense strides that have been made in what has been called 'civilization' are largely due to the emphasis given to the knowledge of Christ as Head here.

G.A.T. Is His becoming Head of great advantage to men?

J.T. It is a sort of material advantage now, but look at the spiritual advantages in chapter 5. Reigning in life, having "justification of life" (that is, a life against which no charge can be laid), and then grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life. Think of that! Think of the immensity of the riches in that! And that is what is going to be displayed and the testimony will be that He has done this.

H.G. But meantime we can be discovering in Christ features which exhibit His greatness, as did the widow of Nain, and those who returned to John in prison (Luke 7). But is this not the work of the Spirit, transferring us constitutionally from Adam to Christ, so that we really come out in the character of that Man?

J.T. I am sure that is so.

H.G. The Sanhedrim could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which Stephen spoke. He was irresistible.

He not only confessed Christ as Lord, thereby recognizing His absolute rights over him, but as a man there in the constitution of Christ he is perfectly irresistible. They may kill, as they killed Christ, but they could not stand before him. One feels the need of being transferred constitutionally, so to speak, into the life of our Head, so that in that way one has ample wisdom, in the spirit of that Man, for meeting any situation.

J.T. You see in the gospels, on the one hand, illustrations of believers testing what Christ could do, and basing their conclusions on that. On the other hand, you have examples of men benefiting from Christ and getting no moral gain from it, as, for instance, in John 5. We were speaking of the woman in John 4 getting moral gain. She based her conclusion on what the Lord said to her, and answered to Him in that light with great results; whereas the man in John 5 who was at the pool of Bethesda was healed by the Lord but got no moral gain from it. He did not know the Lord. Rather he went to the Jews and really got the Lord, as you might say, into trouble. One just refers to the passage to illustrate it, "The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is

not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day", John 5:10 - 16. He does not appear to have obtained any moral gain from the advantage of getting to Him. On the contrary, he brings persecution on the Lord by his course.

W.C.R. I was thinking of the demoniac, of the moral gain he got "Sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind", Mark 5:15. He was able to go into the city and publish how great things God had done for him.

J.T. Yes, he was an illustration on the other side. Then of the ten cleansed, nine of them evidently got no moral gain from it. I suppose these cases are illustrative of numerous believers now who get no moral gain from the benefit accruing to them, whereas those who follow the things up and see that Christ does things, and turn to Him, grow, and progress, come into the good of headship, and come out here in a constitution after Christ.

G.A.T. Do you think that is the reason why so many fall away?

J.T. I think we do not go on from the beginning.

D.R. I was wondering if Stephen would answer to what we find in Romans 8:2 -- "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death".

J.T. Well, I am sure he would, but then you see he goes much further than being free from the law of sin and death, does he not? I think Stephen answers more to what we had yesterday. That is, the Spirit of that Man breathed into him, because we have to distinguish between the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and the breath of Christ

communicated to us. The latter is not what is in Christ Jesus, but what is in us. John 20 is what is in us -- breathed from Him into us. This passage in the beginning of Romans 8 refers to the position of life. Life is in Christ. According to the end of chapter 6, "eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord". It is the position of it. In the end of chapter 5 it is the instrument through which it has been effected: the end of chapter 6, the position of it; and the beginning of chapter 8, the spirit of that which is in that position "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus".

G.A.T. And do I understand that John 20 and the last part of Romans 8:9 is the Spirit of Christ in me -- He breathes into us?

J.T. That would be it more. "If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him".

A. L. That is breathed into him?

J.T. It is.

A.L. That is distinct, is it not?

J.T. Yes.

W.C.R. Is not the law of the Spirit of life more than having the Spirit?

J.T. You see it is "in Christ" and there is a law there.

W.C.R. The law of the Spirit seems to suggest the believer coming under the rule of the Spirit. Many believers have the Spirit but are not subject to the Spirit and are not under the rule of the Spirit.

J.T. Yes, but it is the law of the Spirit of life. It is no doubt the Holy Spirit, but it is the thing that prompts the saints as living. The position is in Christ, but it prompts us. To illustrate what I mean, when we are together as we are now there is a Spirit prompting us, which in principle prompts all the saints, but you realize it more when together, and you see how that works out for deliverance to the very youngest when together.

A.N.W. If we are going to speak of chapter 8 at all, would you tell us what the "Therefore" really refers to before we go on with the other part of the chapter?

J.T. I think chapter 7 is the condemnation of conscience that the law would bring in. I think that the state described

in chapter 7 implies the man was condemned in his conscience, but is no longer condemned. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death".

J.B. It is power.

G.A.T. Would you say it shows he is in full deliverance from the body of sin?

J.T. Quite.

A.L. And is it not by way of contrast? There is a new law come in, while the old is not abrogated.

J.T. The old law stands. It remains and rules over a man as long as he lives, but he has died out of it, and, as to enjoyment, he is free in his soul because of the new law he is brought into.

J.B. This law has power to free one.

J.T. We have not time really to deal with these great subjects in these short readings, but we cannot afford to pass over chapter 6, even at the risk of taking the next reading for chapter 8. The position of the believer now, in the light of all these things, in regard of the world, in regard of what is outside of him, is what chapter 6 opens up to us, and so the chapter is developed from the question, "Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?"

H.G. It is sin viewed there, as you said, more like the world; the principle is in the world, do you mean?

J.T. Yes, I think that is what is alluded to, so the position is that baptism is immediately brought in and its meaning is taught. So it takes place in the presence of the world. It takes me out of the world as regards my interests and the like, but I am still in it literally, so that in Romans 6 I am dead to it. In Colossians it is dead from it. The thing is here yet and I am in the presence of it, so Romans 6 becomes a most crucial chapter in that way, as regards one's public position.

R.S.S. In Colossians you said, we are dead from it?

J.T. From the rudiments of the world. Having my back on it, I am going into Canaan; but Romans is not that. Romans is that I am adjusted in regard of God, and live here as thus adjusted in order to witness to the newness

of the thing that I am brought into, newness of life, newness of the spirit, renewing of the mind. It is a new order of things witnessed to in my daily life before the world.

G.A.T. So in this chapter I refuse to live in sin; I refuse to have it reign over me even.

J.T. Yes, sin does not reign over me, and I am dead to it, and that works out in every moment of my life as before the world. One has to have this truth in one's soul, I am dead to that.

H.G. Dead to the world in which the will of man dominates, do you mean, and baptized to Jesus Christ?

J.T. Yes.

H.G. You were saying yesterday that "Jesus Christ" sets forth character. Is that the idea?

J.T. The order of man.

H.G. Yes, are you baptized to come out in the presence of the world in the character of that Man?

J.T. I think so. It is well to look at it as it reads: "What then shall we say? Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Far be the thought. We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it? Are ye ignorant that we, as many as have been baptized unto Christ Jesus, have been baptized unto his death? We have been buried therefore with him by baptism unto death, in order that, even as Christ has been raised up from among the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life", Romans 6:1 - 4. We are baptized to him, but that is not what he is dealing with. That was already admitted, but he says, "As many as have been baptized unto Christ Jesus, have been baptized unto his death". That is the point to get hold of. So that, He has been raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. It does not yet say that we should be raised, for baptism in Romans does not prefigure resurrection. It does in Colossians because it takes us into the land. There is no wilderness in Colossians, the Red Sea and Jordan coalesce, as has often been remarked. In Romans there is no Jordan, only the Red Sea, so I am not raised. It is Christ that is raised and the bearing in my case is that I am here in newness of life.

That is, my manner is changed. I am in the same old place, with the same kind of work as I have always done. My surroundings remain what they always were, but I come up out of death different from what I was. My spirit is different; my manner is different.

A.N.W. Is newness of life walking as Christ walked?

J.T. It would amount to that. It is very individual, you see. It is simply newness of life, without saying what the thing is. In Colossians we have the thing concretely presented -- new men.

A.N.W. Not Egyptian slavery any more -- is that the thought?

J.T. No, you are in liberty.

A.L. Is Romans 8:2 not much on the lines of Romans 6:14?

J.T. Now what is your point?

A.L. "Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under law but under grace". Many a soul reads that and says, there it is in the Scripture, but it has dominion over me. It does have dominion until the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is apprehended, does it not?

J.T. Oh, quite, but I am quite sure that chapter 6 necessitates the Spirit. However, I think so far it is the workings of what is objective. That is, we are told it is the new system and not the Spirit that is in me that is treated of.

It is what you are under. You are not under law, but under grace. It is not what is in you but what is over you that is brought in.

A.L. Then would you say what is over you is greater than what is in you?

J.T. You see it is the system, the new dominion. It has the effect of liberation, so sin has no power over you.

R.S.S. In connection with continuing in sin -- "Should we continue in sin?" -- I believe Mr. G. made some remark in regard to the world. Is this sin in me or is it the whole character of the scene that you have to do with?

H.G. I said I thought sin in Romans 6 referred to a principle in the world, not to something in myself. I would base that on the fact that it says "For in that he has died,

he has died to sin once for all". The Lord did not die to something in myself. Consequently I think it is viewed in that way.

R.S.S. And sin is lawlessness, as we understand. That is the character of the scene we are in, and it is death to that something outside you -- is that so?

H. G. I thought so.

J.T. The body of sin. The more the human race multiplied, the greater the power of sin became; and then, added to that, the education that accrued from the light of God as given to the Jews increased the power of sin in the world, and the greatest evidence of the strength of sin was when the Lord Jesus was crucified. Sin had developed its greatest strength at that moment, so that the crucifixion of Christ involved the crucifixion of the old man. But then the power of sin in the world is not a bit changed. It is only that our old man, the body of sin, is annulled in christians, because christians see that in the death of Christ the old man was crucified.

Ques. Is that where reckoning comes in?

J.T. Quite, that comes in afterward. "Reckon yourselves dead to sin", Romans 6:11. That is, to the working of this thing in the world. Reckon yourself dead to that, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

D.R. Would it be right to say that we have in chapter 6 what we ought to be, and chapter 8 gives us the power to be it?

J.T. The eighth is the Spirit, you see. It is a treatise on the Spirit; what the Spirit is to the christian; but the sixth chapter treats of the elements of the gospel, what is presented today objectively, and it is a reckoning. The presentation of light refers to God.

Rem. One brother said we are actually dead.

J.T. If you were actually dead you would not have to reckon. The reckoning has to be maintained, and chapter 8 comes in as power to do that, but the epistle is worked out logically, as we have remarked, and chapter 6 is based on baptism, which is a public thing. It is a question of my public position and conduct here.

H.G. This is not baptism exactly, as you receive it

when you are baptized, is it, but the teaching of it?

J.T. It is the teaching of it, and the apostle is evidently greatly encouraged because they had obeyed from their heart the form of teaching in which they had been instructed.

A.N.W. However much more the Israelites had to learn after crossing the Red Sea, on crossing it they had a right to disown the reign of Pharaoh.

J.T. That is so, but they were never changed themselves.

A.N.W. That is open to everyone that has benefited from the death of Christ surely, to reckon that.

H.G. The trouble is their tastes were not changed. Their position was changed, but their tastes were not.

J.T. There was no answer in murmuring. That is a common thing in the world.

G.A.T. And they long for the leeks and garlic.

H.G. It is a very important thing to change the position of a child, or a household, and to have the tastes changed.

J.T. That is the point. The Israelites, you might say, retained their old tastes in the wilderness, so there was nothing new. Nothing new in murmuring, nothing new in longing for the leeks and garlic of Egypt, and certainly nothing new in setting up the golden calf and worshipping it. These were all elements that were old and wicked; the point is to bring in what is new, and what is new is of Christ.

H.G. I judge the manna would suggest the formative principle for the continuance of life. You are baptized with a view of coming out in the life of the manna.

J.T. I think that is beautiful. They say, "What is it?" Exodus 16:15. It was something new -- no Egyptian element, and as it was understood it was Christ according to what He was here. That is the new thing. So I have to consider in all my movements now, 'Am I presenting this new thing, or am I what I was before ?'.

G.A.T. Now in the seventh chapter he has the desire, but not the power. How does that affect us now?

J.T. It is the new nature of a christian. It seems he

delighted in the law of God after the inward man, but, as you said, he had no power. I hope we are all clear about chapter 6, because it is the crucial chapter as regards our public position in this world; whether I am walking consistently with my baptism, and to do that I have got to pat on something new. My manner must be changed.

H.G. I feel what you say cannot be over-emphasized, in view of the increasing lawlessness everywhere. The question is, what kind of spirit are we presenting in the midst of it? I am sure that is the test today and the only thing that will be really testimony.

W.L.P. Will you say a little more about the constitution we are to develop, because if the constitution is right then our tastes will be in accordance with that, will they not?

H.G. Exactly so. It is a serious thing to put people on the Arabian side of the Red Sea in baptism. It will not do, for they will still desire the food of the land they have left behind; I thought manna met them at the outset to form constitutions for a wilderness people. They said, "What is it?" It was something new. If they had fed on that it would not have formed Egyptian constitutions, but Christ-like constitutions, so they would come out in newness of life.

A.N.W. Yet the depths of their hearts were learned in the despising of the manna, rather than in hankering after Egypt.

J.T. Yes.

J.B. Did not the manna bring that out?

J.T. It brought out that they had no taste for Christ. They had not developed new tastes.

J.B. That was really the worst thing brought out with regard to the manna, was it not?

J.T. So my position here, according to chapter 6, is that I am dead to sin. That is the ground I take by reckoning myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. That has to be maintained every moment of my life.

G.A.T. Now sin presents itself, and how does that work out?