Selected Addresses - Volume 1

overthrow of the power of the enemy, and the bringing in of blessing for the people of God, "and all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet" (verse 20).

2 Kings 11:1 - 12

In the scripture which I have read, I think you get principles that obtain and stand in relation to the condition of things in which we are found today; and I think, furthermore, you get brought before you, in figure, what has been before us a good deal in our meetings, - the great value God places on our affection for Christ, and our privilege as His people to be down here in the way of testimony, seeking to maintain what is of Himself in this world. It was a very solemn time in the history of God's earthly people. A usurper was on the throne. Athaliah's son had been slain - it was of the Lord that he should be slain - and she had usurped the kingdom. She was a daughter of Ahab, and she bore the unmistakable traces of the one from whom she sprang. I suppose the fact of a woman being in evidence is indicative of a subjective state. It was a state of apostasy, and things could not have been much darker, and it must have been a source of grief to every godly man in the kingdom to see Athaliah on the throne. When she saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal seed. How suggestive this is of what we find today. On every hand you can see the effort of the enemy

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to obliterate everything that is of God. We are made more and more conscious of it, as time goes on, that with untiring malignity the enemy is set, and will be set to the end, to obliterate every vestige of what is of and for God in this world.

But we know that every move of the enemy only gives an opportunity for God to work and to show what He can do. If we find a woman in evidence in connection with what was opposed to God, on the other hand we find a woman who had real appreciation of what was of God, and it is encouraging to see, in the midst of the general departure, that God took care that there were those who were formed according to His mind, and who were qualified to maintain what was of Himself for the moment. Here it is that Jehosheba comes to the front. She was the wife of Jehoiada the high priest. It is not always that a woman takes character from her husband, but it is a happy thing when she does so according to God. The church should take character from Christ. Jehosheba had evidently drunk into the spirit of her husband, whose duty it was to maintain the people in relationship with God, and his wife was in accord with him. It is only as we catch the Spirit of Christ that we can come out here for God and maintain what is of Him and for Him in this scene. What did she do? She had divine sensibilities; she had light from God and knew what was precious to Him, and she appreciated it. She had courage too. She stole Joash from among the

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king's sons who were slain; and they hid him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years.

God's eye was on that child. He was only a babe of a year old at the time, and everything in connection with him spoke of weakness and insignificance, but he was destined to exert a mighty influence for God in the land. This woman fed and nurtured and tended that babe, and he grew under her hand, and in doing this she undoubtedly had divine support. Now I think that babe sets forth the testimony of God. If you speak of the testimony now - it all centres in Christ - what does the world think about it? Nothing! It has not a bit of interest in it. It is beneath its notice as being too insignificant. It may be treasured by those who have an appreciation of God, but outwardly it is in its babyhood. But a day is coming when it shall come into evidence and all will have to take account of it, and then those who have been true to Christ and have nurtured what is of Himself in the day of His rejection - in the day of small things - will be publicly justified. The day of manifestation is certainly coming.

Jehosheba, it is said, took him and hid him in the house of Jehovah. That is very interesting. The house of Jehovah contained a very precious treasure, and I suppose every bit of light - all God's thoughts as to Christ, and that is treasure - is to be

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found at this moment in the house of God. If we want to find wisdom and knowledge, we shall not find them in the world, for it has no true wisdom; but you will find them in the assembly "in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). So that child was hidden and not taken account of publicly, but there was one who was in the secret, for her heart had been formed under divine influence, and she appreciated that in which at the moment God's interest centred.

Well, time passed on and in the seventh year Jehoiada took those who were responsible - "the captains of the hundreds, of the body guard and the couriers" - and brought them into the house of Jehovah and made a covenant with them and showed them the king's son. Ah! dear friends, there is often quite a period elapsing between the moment of our learning Christ as a Saviour and as the King's Son. We have, I trust, learned Him as the One who came in wondrous grace and met all our deep need as sinners. We have tasted that the Lord is gracious and have proven His priestly care in connection with the difficulties of the pathway. But, blessed as that may be, there is something more wonderful than that. It is this. Did you ever get a sight of the King's Son? Did you ever see Christ, not in His relation to you and me, but in relation to God?

I would not attempt, even if I could, to speak of all the glories that are covered by His title as Son of

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God, but that name makes you think at once of the peculiar relationship in which He stands, as Man, to God. At the annunciation, we are told He was to be called Son of God. At His baptism by John and at the transfiguration, you hear the Father's voice, as He looks down with infinite delight on that blessed Man and says, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight" (Matthew 3:17). Every thought of God is wrapped up in Him and He is going to give effect to every counsel and purpose of God. He will flood the whole universe with the light of God and awaken in the heart of every intelligent creature a suited response to that. Think of the greatness of that Person. As God looked upon Him and saw the immense moral results that were going to flow from Him, well might He say as He contemplated Him with perfect satisfaction - "My Beloved". As we heard last night, "Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!" (Isaiah 42:1).

I want to come to a narrower circle than that, however. The Son of God has been pleased to take us into association with Himself now. "Me and thee" (Matthew 17:27). Oh! beloved brethren, the more we appreciate the greatness of His Person, the more shall we appreciate the greatness of that love which has been pleased to take us into association with Himself. I think Peter learned that. What was it that Peter saw, as recorded in Matthew 14, when he was in the boat? He saw a Man walking on the

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water. That was something new, a new order of Man; something outside of nature, beyond human ken, walking on a storm-tossed sea. There He was, superior to every adverse power in this world, and He filled the vision of Peter's soul, who says, "Lord, if it be thou, command me to come to thee upon the waters" (verse 28). Peter had such an appreciation of His greatness that he felt He could enable him to walk there too and that His love would have him there, and when he gets the word, "Come", he responds at once and joins the Lord on the water. There are two walking there now. That is association. There was One great enough to sustain Peter above all the power of the enemy which is directed against God's people. Not only had Peter tasted that the Lord was gracious, but he had come to Him as the Living Stone. He saw what He was as refused here, "cast away indeed as worthless by men, but with God chosen, precious" (1 Peter 2:4).

You have seen a builder pick up a stone, examine it and cast it away. He could not use it. That is what the world thought about Christ. But Peter learned, if not at that moment at any rate subsequently, what He was to God - chosen, precious - and he comes to Him, the Son of God, the Living Stone, and learns something of what it is to be before the Father in the preciousness of the Son. In that way he is built up, formed suitably for conscious association and for a place in that wonderful structure, the spiritual house, where all is

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characterised by vitality; whether it be for offering up spiritual sacrifices Godward, as a holy priesthood; or for coming out as royal priests administering here among men the bounty and favour of God. Well, it is a wonderful thing if in any measure we know what it is to leave the ship and join Him outside of everything here. If we have affection for it we shall find, not only that we are sustained, but that He delights to associate us with Himself in the wonderful place He has as Man before the Father. And only, I take it, as we know something of this, shall we be able to come out in the way of testimony for Himself.

Now I think the scripture I read gives you something of this moral order. First Jehoiada "shewed them the king's son", and then he made provision for guarding his person and for the protection of the house of the Lord. It was a wonderful answer to devotedness, for I judge those thus charged with responsibility were characterised by the spirit of Jehosheba, and their promotion was morally suitable. They were to "encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand", and to be "with the king" as he went out and as he came in. Their privilege was to be in nearness to the king, and witnesses of his various activities, and they were to guard his person from every enemy. If we have learned God's thought in regard to Christ, what greater favour can we enjoy than to be near Him, in complete moral accord with Him,

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and to be intelligent as to His gracious activities! Do you think, if we love Christ, that we would tolerate any indignity directed at His blessed Person? We should be very sensitive as to what was due to Him. In the case of Joash, if any man came within the ranks he was to be slain. That man meant mischief to the king. So while we would ever seek to maintain the spirit of grace, there is no quarter to be shown to any man who would insidiously or openly direct an attack at the blessed Son of God. You would not receive such an one into your house nor salute him. Neither would we be indifferent as to the circle of His interests. We would guard the house that it be not broken down. It might be difficult to locate God's house today, because things are broken outwardly, but it is still here. Moreover, if you can find any who, in weakness, are seeking to maintain what is of God, you would stand with them shoulder to shoulder.

In a world where the enemy is ever active, I do not think we could have a greater privilege than to be "with the king", and having a share in such a blessed service. But while it is a privilege, it involves conflict. Not that we would miss the conflict, for His support in it is abundant compensation, but every heart that is true to Christ must at times long for the moment when the conflict will be over, and when Christ will come out in all His power and glory and dispossess the enemy. This is beautifully set forth in the action of the high

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priest. "He brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony". How every loyal heart must have been filled with gladness at that moment. Every eye, was turned on that child. He had been hidden till then. Now he comes forth, and all their hopes centred in him and their expectation emanated from him. "He brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him" - the power and glory of the kingdom were vested in him, - "and gave him the testimony". He was to see that the law was carried into effect.

You can trace for yourselves the result of his coronation. Athaliah instinctively read in it her doom, and she rent her clothes and cried, "Conspiracy! Conspiracy!" The house of Baal was broken down, and God's house was repaired. Joash began at once to effect a mighty change for good to God's people. But, faithful as he was at the beginning of his reign, he failed at the end, bringing into greater relief the perfection of the One of whom, in many ways, he was a figure. How blessed for us to look forward to that day which will not be marred by failure, that "morning without clouds" (2 Samuel 23:4). Christ will then come forth crowned with many crowns. He will give law to the universe, and the whole scene will be pervaded by His beneficent influence. The coronation of Joash suggests that day, for "they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!" How that cry must have rent the air! It was the beginning of the

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What a moment is coming for the people of God when, instead of conflict, it will be quietude - rest. You and I are soon going to join in that shout of victory, "Long live the king". In the world around us, the eyes of the nations turn respectively on their own rulers, and they celebrate their praises in their national anthems. But, as another has suggested, soon every national anthem will be hushed. When God brings forth His King, every eye will be turned on Him. Every true heart will leap with holy joy. Christ will be the theme of universal praise, and every voice will be blended in one harmonious loud acclaim, saying, "Long live the King".

Indianapolis, January 1908

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THE WORLD TO COME - GOSPEL ADDRESS

with this world, but would have us in the light of what it is doing and would intelligently form us in connection with that great end.

Mark 10:13 - 31

I take it for granted that most of those present here tonight are Christians, some of them with a large measure of light, and it will be no new thought when I say that from the moment sin entered into this world, God was working in view of another world.

When God created, or set in order this world, He placed a man over it. That man was intended to be representative and descriptive of Him - to be His image and glory - but he failed at the outset, and death as the judgment of God passed on that man and the world with which he was connected. Now another world comes into view - the world to come - and regarding that world, God works inversely. He first of all finds a Man whom He can trust, and that is His well-beloved Son, a Man after His own heart, who should fulfil all His will. He is tested in every way in the furnace of affliction. Satan and men are allowed to do their utmost against Him. He is tried in public and in private, but there is no turning aside, and even at the supreme moment on the cross, when for sin He was subjected to the

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judgment of God, He never failed to maintain as a Man all that was due in devoted obedience to God. But more than that, He showed Himself perfectly competent to deal with all the evil that had entered the first creation and to bring to pass an order of things in which God should have His pleasure. To that end He died and rose again. In His death, man after the flesh and the world system which that man, as energised by Satan, had constructed, were judged. Death, too, and he who had the power of it, were annulled, and in that very spot where this was accomplished, all that God is in His attributes and nature came into evidence.

Now the One in whom all this has come to pass is risen, and has gone to God's right hand, and in Him God has established in resurrection, a world for His own pleasure, which Christ will fill with the light and glory of God. That world is not yet to be seen as a matter of display, but it will be brought into evidence at the coming of the Lord. In the meantime it is there for faith, and the Holy Spirit having come from that glorified Man, it may now be known and enjoyed in the power of the Spirit. I think that is plainly inferred in this Scripture, where, although the world to come is mentioned but once, you get several references to the kingdom of God, because in the kingdom you get now every moral element that will obtain when the world to come is publicly displayed.

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In the Scripture that I read, these two worlds are brought strikingly before us. The young ruler (see Matthew 19:22 and Luke 18:18) moved in reference to the one, and the disciples in reference to the other. Possibly you have noticed that in each gospel where the incident of the young ruler is mentioned, it is prefaced by the account of the bringing of young children to Jesus that he might touch them. I think the connection is exceedingly beautiful. We are not told who brought them. I suppose it was the parents, and it was eminently fitting that they should do so. I should judge that every right-minded parent would desire to bring his children to Jesus. You may ask what is implied by their desiring Him to touch them. I think they wanted Him to put His blessed impress upon them. There was not a bit of worldly ambition in that. If you are ambitious for your children to shine in this world, do not bring them to Jesus to touch them. You will only meet with disappointment if you do. He will touch them, but He will impress them with that which is of value to the Father, with those moral qualities which will be approved in the world to come. He will put His own beauty upon them, a beauty which will be appreciated in the Father's world. But "the disciples rebuked those that brought them;" the Lord was much displeased and said unto them, "Suffer the little children to come to me; forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God". He saw in them a pattern of those who are

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suitable for the kingdom. A little child is not of much importance in this world. It has no vote, and its name even would not appear in our directories. It has no place in the commercial or political world, and if it dies, little heed is paid to it. But there is a circle where it occupies a very large place, and that is in the family, and in the affections of the father. And, depend upon it, if the Lord touches any, it will not be to give them prominence here but to give them a place in His own circle. Mark what He did, "And having taken them in his arms, having laid his hands on them, he blessed them". That shows they were very little; indeed they are called "infants" in one scripture. I wonder if you would like the Lord to do that for you? The heart could not conceive of a greater favour, and if you are content to be little and of no account here, He will do it for you.

In this scripture we read of a young ruler coming to Jesus to enquire the way of life. There is something very interesting in the exercises of a young person. This one was eminently qualified to enjoy life in this world, and doubtless the world was very attractive to him. He evidently held some position of honour, and his ample fortune would enable him to grace it, for he was very rich. Moreover he had youth on his side. He was moral, too, and courteous, for he kneeled to the Lord, and he was earnest, for he came running. There was a great deal that was attractive about him, and Jesus beholding him loved him.

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This young man was evidently in exercise. With all that he had to make life happy, there was no permanency to it. He realised that death was here, and the more qualified a man is to enjoy life, the more terrible does death appear, and his question, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" told only too plainly what his exercises were. Evidently he hoped in some way to be able to retain life in this world. Though he addressed the Lord as "Good Teacher", he was ignorant as to the true character of the One he was addressing, as well as of the truth concerning himself. If he had hoped to be able to claim life on the ground of his goodness, that hope must have been shattered by the Lord's answer, "No one is good but One, that is God". Manifestly then, he was a sinner, and as such had forfeited life here.

But the law might hold out some hope for him, for it promised long life (not eternal life) to the obedient. So the Lord directs him to the second half of the ten commandments. Could he meet its requirements? Alas, that, too, failed him. As to the breach of any overt act, he was blameless, but it discovered in him, as it did with Saul of Tarsus, the very principle which it condemned. Lacking the one thing which the law demanded - love - that essential quality for the Father's world, it discovered in him, underneath all that beautiful exterior, that dreadful principle of lust - of covetousness - which ruined this world, and which

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is the ruling principle of man after the flesh. Similarly the law found one point of attack in Saul, and it struck him in that vulnerable point: as he says, "I was alive without law once; but the commandment having come, sin revived, but I died. And the commandment, which was for life, was found, as to me, itself to be unto death" (Romans 7:9, 10). He found it was all over with him on that ground. Death must do its work.

The same thing was true with this young ruler, and it is so with every man, and it is wisdom to face it. In spite of this, the heart of this young ruler clung to the world from which death must soon separate him for ever. It was a bitter thing for his spirit to have thus to face the truth, but it was the Lord who loved him who thus undeceived him. Had this world been according to God the Lord would Himself have remained in it, and have put honour upon it and those who belonged to it, but it was a world of lust and pride, a world in which that blessed, lowly Man had no place, and He virtually says to this young man, 'I cannot hold out any hopes for you as regards this world; I cannot reinstate you here and I would not if I could. There is no room for Me here, but I am going to a world where I shall be everything - the Father's world - and I will give you a place there if you have any appreciation of Me, for nothing but what is of Me can enter there'. "Go, sell whatever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in

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heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross". That is the way the Lord was going and He speaks of heaven, of a cross, and of following Him.

But man after the flesh has no appreciation of that. He clings to earth and present glory, and the thought of following One who was in reproach and about to leave the world by a cross of shame was intolerable. Do you wonder that he was sad? It says, "But he, sad at the word, went away grieved, for he had large possessions". It was a death-blow to all that he was naturally and yet it was the only answer the Lord could give to his question; and it was the only way into life.

And Jesus looked around about him and said unto His disciples, "How difficultly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" The disciples were astonished at his words, and again He said unto them, "How difficult it is that those who trust in riches should enter into the kingdom of God!" What do riches do for a man? They give him a status in this world, an importance in the estimation of others, and to this the heart of man clings tenaciously. So the Lord further added, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God". This astonished the disciples out of measure, and they say, "And who can be saved?" The Lord tells them it was a natural impossibility, but with God all things are possible. God could make a camel to go through a needle's eye, but it would

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practically disappear as a camel. I take it that that needle's eye is the cross. God is not going to save a bit of the first order of man. It ruined one world, and it will not be allowed to have entrance into another.

But God is going to fill His world with those who have an appreciation of Christ and who take character from Him. How is He going to bring this about? He does it by presenting all His thoughts of grace and all His counsels of love to us in Christ. He delights to occupy our hearts with that blessed Person and our minds with that world which He is going to fill. Thus Christ and His world become attractive to us and we are prepared to go the way that He has gone so as to be with Him.

Peter tells the secret, "Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee", adding, as another gospel reads, "What then shall happen to us?" (Matthew 19:27). You may say the disciples had legal thoughts still. It is true, but nevertheless they dearly loved the Lord and had left everything so as to be in His blessed company, He was attractive to them and they loved Him better than anything else. Does He thus appeal to your heart?

You get another beautiful example of it in Saul of Tarsus. What a transformation came over that bitter persecutor on the way to Damascus and afterwards. I think he had a great appreciation of himself up to that time, for he had never till then met as good a man as himself. He, too, had great

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riches; not in the way of money, but in the way of religious reputation, a reputation which gave him a distinct status in the religious world. But when he met the Lord all was changed, and he dropped everything. His heart was captured by the grace that shone out in Christ. He might well have expected to be crushed when the Lord appeared to Him from heaven, from the midst of that glory above the brightness of the noonday sun, for here he was following the poor sheep of Christ and with murderous hatred seeking to wipe His name from off the face of the earth. But the Lord met him in compassionate grace, and this was something new to that self-righteous Pharisee. The grace of Christ attracted him, and from that moment he was ambitious to disappear before the excellency of His glory, and gladly renounced his place here for a place in the brightness of that world which by its glory had made everything here to fade into nothingness. From that moment he moved in relation to Christ and His world, and the more he moved, the more he disappeared here. He accepted the reproach of the cross gladly, for it severed him from all that might hinder his being in the company of his Lord. The needle's eye, which excluded all flesh, was gain to him, and he followed Christ, 'the Object bright and fair', moving in the direction in which Christ had gone, and I think that all the work of God in our souls has that end in view. Divine love would not put honour on man in connection

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Now Peter, though not very intelligent, was moving in that same direction. He says, "Behold, we have left all things and have followed thee; what then shall happen to us?" (Matthew 19:27). The Lord assures him that He will be no man's debtor, and even in this world will not be negligent of those who from love to Himself and the gospel have been prepared to suffer material loss.

But I think we can view this morally also, and it presents to us a still greater thought. For those who have left houses or brethren or lands for His sake and the gospel's, He promises a hundredfold now in this present time and, in the world to come, life eternal. I suppose a house furnishes protection from the elements. Do you think He will fail to provide those that love Him with abundant protection from the hostile influences that obtain in this world? Or if, for the truth's sake, you have to suffer the loss of those who are near to you in the ties of nature, He will not fail to raise up those who stand in a closer relationship to you than any earthly friends, so that you will always have company, and those with whom you can be in close and happy association. And if it came to you having to forsake your land, as that which ministered substance to you, so that you have no foothold here in a material way, He will feed you with the fatness

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of His house. In every way He will compensate you. Along with the persecutions, He will care for you during the whole of your pathway down here, so that, free from every evil influence and nourished and sustained by what is of God, you may find your portion in those affections that flow among the brethren and where life - eternal life - may be enjoyed even now, as it will be in all its fulness in the world to come.

May the Lord make the light of these things more real to us. As they become so, we shall desire to be more and more assimilated to Christ. The Lord closes by saying, "But many first shall be last, and the last first". The Lord was the last here, but the ladders are to be turned upside down, and He will be first in that world. Everyone that loves Him delights in that thought, and indeed, even now, He is accorded that place in the hearts of His people. He has marked out the path of life and of true exaltation for us. May His love so command our hearts that our joy shall be to follow Him.

Toronto, October 1908

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THE TESTIMONY

will lay no other burden upon them, but they are to hold fast that which they have, and He speaks to them in such fashion that there is kept alive, with that little remnant in Thyatira, that which continues the line of testimony for the time being.

Haggai 2:3 - 9; Zechariah 6:11 - 13; Malachi 3:14 - 18

The Lord has had a people here upon earth before, in whom He has worked out experimentally His ways of grace and patience and support through every phase of failure and breakdown and corruption, and He has carried what is of Himself through to a certain definite predestined end. We speak of the remnant and we speak of that which fears the name of the Lord in connection with the Old Testament times, but we need in our minds to take account of the fact that the remnant, as also that thin line which preserved the fear of the Lord, is something which is a divine necessity; God must have such a line, for in that line is vested His testimony which in such manner is preserved and kept alive till the end of God is reached.

We need not be concerned the least bit that the testimony of God is going to break down. It is not. We need not be concerned the least bit that God is not going to carry things through and have a living testimony up to the moment of the coming of Christ. He will. The only thing that need concern you and me is that we, through His infinite grace, may be found identified with that testimony. The

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testimony is going to be there. The whole question is, where are we going to be in respect of it? So I have turned to the closing words of a closing age in order that, by parallel, we may see whether the Lord has not a voice for us in it that may be a very positive help, encouragement and cheer and something for our faith to tie to in connection with Himself.

I think that in taking from the period of the setting up of the kingdom in its effectiveness with David and Solomon we have something that we may consider as a parallel to what we have had before us together in the setting up of the assembly. I know that the one deals with the kingdom, and the assembly is not the kingdom - I only draw attention to it to get a moral idea that is connected with it; - and what one sees is that what was set up of God in its perfection and effectiveness in connection with David and Solomon has come down to deplorable straits in the day when King Nebuchadnezzar comes in and takes what is left of it and carries it captive to Babylon. Through all the vicissitudes and all the deplorable sorrow of that decline, I think we have something that parallels what we get from Ephesus in its brightest day, as that from which emanated the light of God here on earth - the assembly in its brightest estate - till the moment when you come down through the ages to the sad story of Thyatira, where you see that which has borne the name of Christ corrupted, apostate and

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fallen. Babylon has come in and captured spiritually, just as in a former age Babylon came in and captured nationally.

If we look back to the former time we might ask the question, Where is now the testimony of God? The testimony of God hung, as it were, upon a slender cord of some five or six strands. In other words, if the power of the enemy prove sufficient to wipe out five or six men such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the testimony of God has gone from off the face of the earth, for the whole light of God that remained in that day, so far as we have the record of it, hung upon these men in that captivity. And so we see that they are tested in the furnace and they are tested in the face of the lion, everything that could come upon them to consume and devour was there, but why was that slender cord not burned? Why did they come out of the furnace without the smell of fire upon them? Because in the furnace was one like unto the Son of God. How was it that Daniel comes forth from the den of lions undevoured? The whole power of the enemy is absolutely helpless, for the reason that God was maintaining His testimony in the persons of these men.

When we look at Thyatira we are not surprised to discover that the grace of God has preserved in that awful scene of iniquity that which He marks with pleasure and approval, and the Lord speaks to them in the sweetest and most encouraging way. He

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I would connect Sardis with Thyatira because, so far as I see, the elements are virtually the same, the elements of the world, but not so much in the aspect of apostasy as that deadly paralysis of rationalism, the exercise of man's will and man's judgment which has come in to put its chilling influence on that which presumes to call itself by the name of Christ. He says, "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead". But even there He discerns that which He can recognise in a way and perhaps we can find a little parallel in the day of Esther, the day in which the living God has disappeared from sight. It is the book in which the name of God is not even mentioned and truly it might be said, they had a name to live and were dead, yet God acted behind the scenes and held His hand upon that which He knew and recognised as of Himself.

I want to go on to that which I am sure is of immense cheer to every believing heart and that which we can all turn to and extract a great measure of comfort from. I refer to the divine movements in the people of God which drew out from the captivity of Babylon those who returned into the land, and gives to the eye and heart of God,

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for the moment in that remnant, all the value of what He possessed there originally. We see that the true remnant is what is produced voluntarily by the grace of God. There is no compulsion about a remnant. So we see in the ways of God, the decree goes forth from what was the reigning power, that whosoever will of the people of the captivity was at liberty to get up and go to the land of Canaan and the city. Therefore the limits, the boundaries of the remnant were purely that which was voluntary. The word of God came to them, and every one was at liberty to get up and move if he would. If they did not move it was the surest sign and proof that the condition of things in which they found themselves was the condition of things which they preferred. Their ears were deadened to the call of God. They took no further interest in the coming of the Messiah.

The land had ceased for them to be the land of promise, and they were merged in the place of their captivity. What was the result? Some few thousands - yet the captivity may have included millions - responded to that call and came back into the land, and, finding themselves there, immediately there goes up the sweet savour before God that tells Him that everything His heart desired to find in His people as a whole, He has still. They built an altar, not alone for the remnant, but for the twelve tribes of Israel and for the God of Israel. The house is built, the foundation is laid, and the foundation was

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not for the remnant. The foundation expressed all that Israel was under the eye of God.

Now I ask, what was the object in the mind of God in bringing a remnant back from Babylon? The object in view was a very specific one. It was to prepare for the coming of Christ. The Consolation of Israel was to come (Luke 2:25). The Hope of Israel and the Expectation of all the nations was to come. Where? He must needs come in the midst of His people. Would He come in the midst of them in Babylon? Surely not! It would be in His own land. When He presented Himself it would be in the royal city. He would come to Jerusalem, to Mount Zion, and therefore the hand of God is put forth over the captivity, and the grace of God works in hearts to bring them back from the captivity into the land, in order that there might be preparation for the coming of His beloved Son. That is what God was working for. We turn in these days to that which so peculiarly interests us and we see a divine movement which has affected every one of us. There was a movement of God not so long ago - a matter of two or three generations - when out from the captivity of Christendom the Spirit of God worked in grace through those whose eyes had been opened to what God was about, to what His purpose was; light as to His assembly poured in; the coming of the Lord became an object. There is the idea. So out from the captivity of Christendom, the spiritual Babylon, there moved, through the

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impulse of the Spirit of God, those who were delivered from its captivity. To what end was this? That there might be prepared material apart from the system of this present world, out from under the dominion of the god of this world, which should be in the expectation of, and moral fitness for, the coming of the Lord amongst them. That is the end in view with God, and that is what surely will be maintained till the Lord comes.

So in the days of Ezra, it is very beautiful to see how, for a brief moment, things ran really according to God. Look in Ezra 8 and you will see there was a conception of the claim of God and a conception of what Israel was, the like of which I doubt if you find recorded from the time of Moses to Ezra. We find in the sacrifice offered Israel was recognised, the Kingdom was recognised, the fact of everything being on the ground of resurrection was recognised, the new ground that must needs come in. All is indicated in that act of faith of the people in which they brought that abundant sacrifice and presented it before God. After that what do we find? We find that what had moved out with such freshness and such spiritual energy begins to dim and die down and we find that the word of God has to come in again and again to speak to that which had really been the remnant, for the remnant ceased to be the remnant. The remnant itself in its turn began to turn and be corrupted, to fail and break down. Then we find another remarkable spiritual

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impulse comes in in connection with Nehemiah. He comes in on that scene, and let me call your attention to the fact that as a matter of history Nehemiah is the last record we have till the first and second chapters of Luke. Therein is its deep significance. It is the very closing thing of the doings of the people of God under the energy supplied by the Spirit of God ere the coming of Christ. What is the great thing about Nehemiah? He builds the wall. How great is that wall? The company of those who needed to be enclosed was very small, but the wall was built as big as Jerusalem; it was built big enough to hold all. There could be no let-down in that respect. It was not built to suit a little company. It was built big enough, broad enough, to hold all. But then there comes the question of what was inside that wall. What is the idea of a wall? The idea of a wall is, as I understand it, the exclusion of that which is harmful and dangerous. In other words, the idea of a wall is separation from evil.

Perhaps we could very well have understood that when Ezra first came back he would have built a wall. We might have thought that would be the first thing. Here was a defenceless people in the midst of their enemies and the first thing would be to build a wall. Not at all. The idea of a wall is to exclude that which is offensive to the Lord; that which is detrimental to the Lord and His interests. Therefore I think Ezra and his times correspond to

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Philadelphia, "I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut" (Revelation 3:8). That is, the enemy has no power. It stands for the time being, in the spiritual energy that was supplied by the Spirit of God and there was absolute liberty. Therefore we find in connection with Philadelphia, as with Ezra, the temple and the city. It is not the wall, but as the end draws nearer and as the times become more perilous in their moral elements, the man comes before us who gives the call to build the wall, separation from evil, and the reason for it, so far as I understand anything today, is seen when you approach the analogy in Laodicea; that is to say, what had come out in spiritual energy as a true remnant of God has itself fallen, has itself become a failure. So the last thing before the coming in of the Lord - the thing that becomes most urgent, and most important, for the people of God - is the truth of separation from evil; the exclusion of and separation from every principle of lawlessness and iniquity. In other words, it is the principle of 2 Timothy 2. That is what I see in Nehemiah.

Of course there are a great many other things, but it is the last thing before the Lord comes in personally. Now we hear it said, in the way of expediency among men, that times are so out of joint and things are so mixed up that we must relax and not attempt to apply principles that applied when everything was in order. Believe me, that is the counsel of the enemy. What we see in the ways

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of God is that the greater the confusion, the more apparent that everything is out of joint, the more urgent is the need that those who have the light of God, those who know something of what the assembly is, those who have in any way been brought to see and value the testimony of God concerning His Son, and that which is due to the Lord, should never allow themselves to be brought to the point of saying that it is a matter of indifference. The wall must be maintained. True, it is a question as to the spirit in which the wall should be maintained; but where does the Lord put you? He has put you in one place and me in another. We are put here, there, and in the other place, and what we find in Nehemiah's day is that every man was to be ready to build against his own house. That is the place where he had to build. He was to build in preparation for conflict with a sword by his side, and he was to build it with his ear open for the trumpet of alarm that might call the assembly to a point of danger that was not at his own door, but was yonder on the other side, and to which he must go to take his part to meet the conflict and maintain what was due to the integrity of the name and glory of the Lord. That is what I see in Nehemiah.

I just call your attention to these things very cursorily in passing because I want to get on to another idea, and that is the manner of voice that speaks, and the nature of the material to which the

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voice is addressed. Therefore I have read those verses in the last three prophets. Haggai and Zechariah speak of the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. Depend on this, that as things get darker and darker, and as the way becomes straiter and straiter, as it becomes more and more urgent that we should enter in at the strait gate, with all its penalty upon the flesh and all its reproach in connection with this present evil world, the resources that the hand of God brings to light for the blessing and support and maintenance of His people exceed beyond measure all that has ever gone before. You may rely upon this, the people of God never had a better time in which to live than this day. Those whose eyes have been opened to the light of God never had a time of such surpassing privilege as the moment in which we now are. We may well, as we do, thank God that our day and lot are just now, in view of the return of the Lord, with all the immense privilege and resource that He makes available for His people despite the consciousness of their feebleness and weakness.

Do not let us get any delusion about the idea of numbers. If you are walking with one or two, or three or four, thank God for it, and thank Him still more if you have fifty or a hundred, but do not be deluded by numbers. Remember what is set forth in Gideon and his company. As the numbers decreased from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men, the value increased in inverse ratio, till at last Gideon is

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left with that which is so separate and tested, and so set free from every element that appeals to man according to the flesh, that the Lord says, as it were, Here is something I can use. I take immense consolation in seeing that the Lord's people can be appreciated immensely in value. If we would sum up things in a calculating sort of way, what do we see? Turn to the building of the temple, the Lord says, "I am with you". "The word ... and my Spirit, remain among you". The Lord says that He will give peace, and in every possible way He gives encouragement.

When we come to Zechariah, what do we find? I only call attention to one or two things. I do not know a more striking figure of the Spirit of God than what we get in Zechariah for the last time, and in the verses I read to you tonight you doubtless were all struck by the beautiful way in which the priest and king were brought to light in the person of Joshua the son of Jehozadak. The priest and king who comes in with Melchisedec blessing, with all the elements of the kingdom, with righteousness and peace and joy. We get it all brought out in the prophet of that last day; and so we might go through and multiply. I only call your attention to these things, though in passing, I want to pause and give a little word of exhortation. I want to suggest to you that you read the Old Testament more. I have found that those who have taken up the Old Testament, and have sought light from God

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concerning it, are greatly helped. When we come together and seek to grasp divine principles as they are brought before us in meetings like these, and when we seek to get a conception of what the Spirit of God is bringing out as we read these things in the New Testament, there is great feebleness, there is great lack of apprehension, for the reason that we have not a grasp of the Old Testament, and the Spirit of God in giving us the New Testament assumes that we are grounded in the Old Testament. I just put out that little word to suggest that it would be greatly to our profit if we would give more attention to the Old Testament, because we are greatly crippled when we come together and seek to apprehend what the Spirit of God is bringing before us in the New Testament, if we do not see the import of the type, the shadow, the value of the illustration and all that sort of thing upon which the New Testament is based. We are all of us familiar, I suppose, with the saying that, in the Old Testament the New lies hidden and in the New the Old lies revealed.

Well, now, when we come down to the voice of Malachi, we come down to the last word which God had to say to His people till the angel came in and brought the word of promise to Zacharias the priest. There was a long dark interval; for in Malachi's day the darkness had so closed in that it was almost complete. The kingdom had gone. The remnant as such had gone. That which was responsible before

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God was polluted so as to be utterly obnoxious to God. That which should have had discernment - the priesthood - was lacking in all discernment. They called evil good and good evil, and they did it for the reason that they were incapable of discernment. And what do we find in that period? The eye of the Lord is upon, the heart of the Lord is open to, and the ear of the Lord is attentive to, those of whom He speaks as "they that feared Jehovah". Do you think it cost anything for those who feared Jehovah to stand and maintain what was due to Him in righteousness in a sphere where there was the perversion of everything that was right? But they stood, and they spoke often one to another. It is unquestionably here that we get the Old Testament counterpart of 2 Timothy 2. They departed from lawlessness and iniquity. They followed, in their light and their day, "righteousness ... with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22). "Jehovah observed it, and heard, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared Jehovah, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be unto me a peculiar treasure, saith Jehovah of hosts, in the day that I prepare". One looks to see great things with regard to these saints in the world to come. One may be sure of it - the Lord is going to cause that special treasure to shine out in a very special way of privilege and blessing in the world to come.

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But what I want to get hold of a little before closing, is the moral import of all these thoughts. For what one sees in this line in Malachi, which merges into the line in Luke - it is all the same generation - is how the hand of God is fostering and caring for that feeble, almost expiring, spark. Why did He cherish it and take such care and infinite pains with it? Why does He put such a mark and stamp upon it all? Because that was the jewel that was being preserved under His hand and heart, ready to receive His beloved Son. That was the value of it. It was not its intrinsic value according to man but was that moral element, formed and fashioned in divine grace, and divine righteousness, that should be there ready to receive His beloved Son, when He should come into this scene. There were the high priest and rulers and the officers of the temple, but not to them could God commit His beloved Son. He would say "They will have respect for my son" (Mark 12:6), but when that Son would come God would commit that precious treasure to those who were morally formed by Himself into fitness to receive Him, and like Him; therefore the testimony of God is certain to be preserved. It cannot fail. The whole question is the moral element that will go to make it up.

Now I want to call your attention to what that moral element is. We must take account of this, that the Hope of Israel was coming; the promised Seed was coming; the One on whom hung everything for

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God and man was coming. We continue from Malachi to Luke, and I am going to read a verse or two in Luke to bring out this point, because I have not a shadow of doubt that when the Lord stands at the door in Laodicea and knocks, that His intent is to find those whom He will so mould and form into moral conformity to Himself, that when He comes there will be that which is wholly responsive to His love. Is there anyone here in this company that would desire at the hand of God a greater privilege - from Abel on to the coming of Christ - than to be allowed to be in, and of, the testimony of the Lord and found in such place and fashion that he is waiting, when all else is asleep and dead? Can you find anyone in the whole range of Scripture with whom you would like to change places? I believe the privilege before us at this moment is greater than has ever come to any people of God in any previous age. We will just look at the moral elements, because they are not of the world, and if we are shaping our course by the principles of this present evil world we are out of the line.

First there are Zacharias and Elizabeth, and where is their dwelling-place? We read that they dwelt in the hill country in a city of Judah. Was it important? I doubt it. The Spirit of God does not give the name of the place. It was not Jerusalem. It was clearly some obscure spot. When the time came, Mary got her up into the hill country to this obscure spot to find Zacharias and Elizabeth. The

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Spirit of God knew where it was, and the angel Gabriel knew, but I doubt if the high priest knew where it was. We find concerning Zacharias and Elizabeth - "They were both just before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6), and I would ask you to compare that with what has been before us this afternoon as to the precepts and commandments of the Lord. Here were two in this place maintaining that which was due to the Lord in the midst of universal unrighteousness.

Then we come to Mary and when the angel comes to her we read that Mary said, "Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word" (verse 38). We want to catch the moral import of this. With what beautiful grace Mary acknowledges this wondrous favour, a favour which was enough to have turned the head of any Jewish woman.

I go on further, and in chapter 2: 8 we find, "And there were shepherds in that country abiding without, and keeping watch by night over their flock". What kind of shepherds were they? In the same prophet - Zechariah - we read of shepherds and they devoured the flock, they neglected the flock, they despised and robbed the flock over which God had set them; in every possible way, they were unfaithful. But what do we find of these shepherds? They were in the field, that is the world, and it was by night. The moral gloom, that had

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settled over the religious world was of the deepest and darkest kind possible. Who cared for the flock of God? Who had an eye to watch out for that which belonged to the Lord in faithfulness in that day? There were shepherds that were watching their flocks by night and in this was a moral condition that the Lord sets great value on. He will reveal Himself in connection with it. He will make known His mind, and He will unfold the coming of His beloved Son, He will use such instruments to make known to His people that His Son is coming, the One in whom He is going to have His pleasure and delight, but do not forget the characteristics - they were shepherds. They had a care for the flock. They were in the field, the place where the danger, where the power of the enemy is, and it was night; the night of moral darkness brought in by the god of this world. They were faithful men, honest men, true men, and the light of heaven comes to them, the glad tidings are brought to them, and then we see how the response comes out in them - "And it came to pass, as the angels departed from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, Let us make our way then now as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger; and having seen it they made known about the country the thing which had been said to them concerning this child" (verses 15 - 17).

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When it comes to a question of the coming of the Lord, as He truly is coming, as to the manner of His coming and what He will bring, depend upon it that will be learned in connection with shepherds who are faithful to the flock and who, through the night of darkness that is upon us, are watching. There is no secret of God too great to be committed to such, for the blessing of His people.

Well now, we go on another step or two, and we come into the temple, and what do we find? "There was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and this man was just and pious" - the element of righteousness, the question of that which had respect and fear for the commandments and the rights of God, comes out - "awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him" (verse 25). Do you catch the moral characteristics? Do you not see them running all through this chain? Here are the people the Lord was coming to: Zacharias, Elizabeth, Mary, shepherds that watch by night, Simeon awaiting the consolation of Israel and with the Holy Spirit upon him. "The latter glory of this house" was fulfilled at this moment; for the parents of the Lord came into the house and brought the babe, and it was put into the hands of Simeon, and the word of the Holy Spirit in measure was fulfilled, the latter glory of the house exceeding any glory that ever was there in Solomon's day. The Lord was there. "Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word,

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in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (verses 29, 30).

Just to say one more word. "And there was a prophetess, Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, who was far advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, and herself a widow up to eighty-four years; who did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings" (verses 36, 37). A widow! A widow is desolate in this scene. A widow is bereft. She trusts in God, she continues in prayer. We see in Anna that which marks her if we go back to her origin. As in the blessing which Moses put on the tribe of Asher, so her foot is dipped in oil (Deuteronomy 33:25), she has the energy of the Holy Spirit and for eighty-four long years has she stood; as her day so was her strength. The world is out of her account. She departed not from the temple, but continued in prayer and fastings. Do you catch the moral element in all this, that suitability under the eye of God to receive His beloved Son? "And she coming up the same hour gave praise to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem" (verse 38). There was a company! We have not their names. We do not know how many there were, whether it was two or five or fifty, but in Jerusalem, scattered about were those who looked for redemption in Israel. Anna had no difficulty when her eyes had looked upon the Christ of God, the redemption of Israel, the salvation of

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Israel, in going to this one, that one, and the other one, saying, 'He is come'. 'I have seen him'. The company was known. It was not in the high priest's palace, it was not in the king's palace, nor with the rulers; it was not with the great ones nor with the rich, but from first to last, every element speaks of obscurity, as far as the world was concerned. But nevertheless He comes. He comes to that which, too contemptible, small and mean to be taken account of in the estimation of man, is in the sight of God of great price.

I just bring these things before you for the reason that the moral elements still exist. Those that look for the coming of Christ know each other and love each other. The Spirit of God abides. The King and Priest are upon the throne, opening the ear to them that, loving the Lord, separate from evil and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. That open ear still exists. The Lord will come and will come soon. He will have a word for the waiter and watcher, 'Well done'. Again I would say that no greater privilege for the people of God can be conceived in any age, than that which lies immediately in front of us, if when the Lord so comes He shall find us watching.

Toronto, October 1908

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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

if place be given, with real subjection to the Spirit, sowing to, and walking in the Spirit, just such effects will be produced.

Philippians 4:11 - 13

This epistle has been in my thoughts of late because of its peculiar character, as no other epistle, so far as I know, has at all the same distinct elements in it. A brother said to me in connection with our readings, the profit of which has been felt by all of us, what does this effect? This suggested to me this epistle, as bringing out the thought that what has been before us in figure, in connection with David, as setting forth Christ and the sphere of things which He dominates in power, grace and blessing, together with the effect that is produced, is very largely illustrated by the one who wrote this epistle. You will note that it is what you would call an individual epistle. It does not take up assembly truth as such, and another thing one notices in connection with it is that it is not a corrective epistle; it is not written to set right things that are wrong, but on the contrary, the whole epistle from beginning to end breathes the most beautiful spirit of one who is thoroughly content, absolutely at rest, who has no unsolved questions or unsatisfied desires. This suggests that the line of truth the Spirit of God is bringing out to us is intended to have a formative effect in the soul and spirit, so that

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One is free to say that as a general thing one does not find a great amount of rest and thorough satisfaction amongst the saints. Why is it? It is a fact that I am sure must have often impressed us, that looking at Christians in general, when it is not a question of the forgiveness of sins, or of peace with God, or of the assurance of reaching heaven when the whole of the story is over, they are not restful. There may be no misgivings as to one's soul's salvation, but when it comes to the practical, experimental side of things, there is a great deal of unrest and pressure, instead of the peaceable fruits of righteousness. So one turns to the epistle to the Philippians, for the reason that the Spirit of God, I think, never brings before us truth objectively without giving us an example in a living person, of the way in which that truth works out, if one is disposed to be really subject to the Spirit. Now that is what one finds in the man who wrote this epistle. He is a man who has graduated in the school of God and has taken his degree. About such a man there is nothing that is forced or unnatural; so that like effects will be produced in those who are ready to follow along the same path with all that it involves; and therein lies the problem, because it is a path which is not pleasant to the flesh; it is losing one's life in this world, but finding it to life eternal.

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So, if one takes up Paul's ministry, it is profoundly interesting to see the line along which the Spirit of God gives it. If we look at the way in which Paul is taken up, one sees that it is deeply suggestive; there seems no question but that he is the moral successor to Stephen, who was full of the Holy Spirit, and who "fixed his eyes on heaven" (Acts 7:55). Stephen saw, through the fulness of the Spirit, and the fulness of faith, as he looked steadfastly into heaven, a system of glory which centred around the Son of man. That was Stephen's vision. He "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God", and his testimony was to the Son of man. Now the term Son of man brings before us a sphere of glory of His own. As Man, God has put into His hands the gathering of everything together, and the administration of everything in blessing, the ordering of a realm which shall be wholly in harmony with the mind of God. The witness to the universe that God was right when He purposed in His counsels to put things into the hand of Man to be administered. Such administration can produce the highest effects of blessing and the perfection of administration, glory and order. So Stephen's point of view is that he saw the glory of God connected with the Son of man who has that order of things in His hands to bring about, which continues until eventually He delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father, and God is all in all. The witnesses of

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Stephen's martyrdom brought their garments and laid them down at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul; and what we find in the next chapter (Acts 8) is a sort of link through the Ethiopian, to whom the testimony is brought of One whose life is taken from the earth. Stephen's life is taken from the earth, following on in the way of the blessed Lord whose life was taken away; and the eunuch says, "Behold water; what hinders my being baptised?" Thus in figure morally his life is taken from the earth as Stephen's life was taken actually. Stephen was absent from the body and present with the Lord, and, as passed away from this earth, he ceased to be available as a living testimony for the Lord. Yet what is wanted here is that living testimony for the Lord, which is found in a man whose life morally has gone from the earth, which is suggested to us by the eunuch's baptism, showing that he is ready to grasp the light that is put before him, that his life should be taken from the earth as following Jesus. It is characteristic that we hear no more of him after he goes on his way rejoicing; he disappears from view. Then Saul on his way to Damascus sees the glory, and begins at the point where Stephen left off. The Lord speaks to him from the glory, and Saul comes forth endowed with the garments of witness from Stephen's death. The witnesses had brought the garments and laid them down at his feet, and in chapter 9 Saul has taken such up and put them on, as it were, and he comes

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out with his own peculiar testimony in that chapter, preaching that Jesus is the Son of God, even as Stephen had testified of Him as the Son of man. Saul testifies to that sphere of divine relationships and wondrous affections which have been opened to us in connection with the name of the Father and in connection with the brethren of Christ; he preaches that Jesus is the Son of God.

Now the line of his testimony in doctrine develops in the same way. As we have heard this afternoon, in the epistle to the Romans we have the way of righteousness opened up, and what Paul was led to set forth as doctrine eminently characterised Paul's life as a man. He was wholly recovered to righteousness. What he was as a man in flesh had ceased to characterise or control him in any way. He had lost his life in this world, and now what he sets before the saints in the epistle to the Romans is that which characterised him in the manner of his life and his walk. It comes out in the Acts and in his epistles. One does not need to inquire what sort of a man he was, because in his measure, and allowing for the frailty of the flesh, what he said, that he was.

Then we come on to the question of headship: Paul would set that before the Colossians, and he does it as being himself in the good of it in his own soul; he had embraced with all his affection the headship of Christ. There was no divided mind with Paul about that. There is nothing mystical or

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sentimental about what one gets in Philippians, but there is that which Paul reached in a way that is perfectly clear, and which is within the reach of every one whose mind and heart are set upon it - that God shall have His rights, that Christ shall have His place, and that whatever stands in the way shall go. I think that comes out in connection with Paul, and so (as it is expressed in Galatians) there is no question at all but that Ishmael is cast out. It comes out as clearly as can be that so far as Paul was concerned he was not a man of two purposes, he was in the liberty of sonship, and he could speak of what he knew - "For me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). He expresses it in Galatians also, "I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

If it be the standpoint of Ephesians, which reaches up to the heavenly places, there was nothing that hindered Paul, and therefore he reaches into all the counsels of God that have been set forth in connection with Christ glorified, and we see him moulded into conformity to the truth in that epistle also. With regard to Stephen, it was requisite, in order that we might see the effect produced in a man, and how far the power of it could go, that he should actually pass out of this scene; but with regard to Paul, who followed, as it were, along the same lines in connection with the Lord's sphere of

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things, we now come to a man who is qualified, by conformity to Christ, to stay here; he is quite ready to go, but in view of the testimony of the Lord, he is brought before us here in Philippians as a man who has learned his lesson in the school of God, and who is, therefore, equally ready to stay. Thus, if we take up this epistle we see in the first chapter that Paul can say, "According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For for me to live is Christ, and to die gain" (verses 20, 21).

We find that our pathway here is greatly affected experimentally, and tested, by that with which we are put in contact, and it is intended to be so in the ways of God. We are tried by contact with the saints, with our brethren, and we come into connection with wilderness things in our relation-ships and home circles and so forth. All that comes properly and naturally in the ways of God with us. What one sees in Paul is that there is not a phase of the exercises, vexations, trials, heart-searchings and sorrows that come out in connection with the saints, but he knew and proved them all, and he loved the saints through all, with the deepest devotion. He was now "Paul the aged" (Philemon 9); and it is well to remind all here that at the time he wrote he was a prisoner in Rome. Such is the man who is writing to us when tidings are brought to him in prison that

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some of the saints were not behaving themselves rightly, and that they were doing all kinds of things, some thinking to add affliction to his bonds in connection with the gospel. Such questions come to us in a practical way. They come before us in the saints. The question which very frequently arises is, whether people will walk with us, or will not walk with us? Why can we not do any kind of things in connection with the gospel? Paul could not go with all kinds of things, but tidings are brought to him that some were doing things thinking to add affliction to his bonds. He does not say, 'Go and do the same', but in that Christ is preached he rejoices. He is thankful, whatever occasions it, that Christ is preached. But it leaves those who, in self-will, contention and of a wrong spirit, are carrying on this course, exposed in their ways. It is beautiful to see the perfection of the way in which the servant of the Lord can take up and meet that kind of difficulty. How can he? Because he is instructed. He has "learnt", he has had to do with the saints, he has taken up things in relation to Christ and His system; in everything as it has arisen, the point of view that has presented itself to Paul is - how does this bear upon Christ and His circle of things? So he is enabled in the most perfect manner to indicate how one is to withdraw from lawlessness and unrighteousness and yet take up the spirit which the Lord indicated to His disciples when He said, "Forbid him not" (Mark 9:39). The Lord does not

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say, 'Go with him' but He does say, "Forbid him not". Paul expresses very much the same point of view from his prison in Rome, in verses 14 - 18. Again he is enabled to say, "For for me to live is Christ, and to die gain". To be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord is great gain, but aged as he was, and prisoner as he was, he was yet wholly interested in the saints in what pertained to Christ here. So that when the Lord indicates to him that He is going to leave him here a little longer he says, in effect, 'I am very well satisfied with that'. Here is a man who is perfectly satisfied, who would count it great gain to leave the world, but who, when the Lord says, 'For My interests stay a little longer', is satisfied. What could Satan do with such a man as that? There is a power of testimony against which the god of this world can make no headway, and if there remain one such man on the earth who has caught that spirit, the testimony of God is secured in that man.

If we turn to chapter 2, we have a manner of spirit brought before us which is most beautiful, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (verse 5). Would that one had time to dwell upon it in all its sweet and precious details, which Paul brings before us, presenting the manner of spirit that came out in Christ Jesus, in His patient service going down even unto death. Then the Spirit of God brings before us, in connection with Paul, and Timothy, and Epaphroditus (that by the mouth

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of two or three witnesses every word might be established) an exhibition of the same mind in men. There are three witnesses in this second chapter, showing how the manner of mind that was in Christ Jesus had seized upon them, and turned them into practical conformity to Christ. Paul was ready to be offered on the sacrifice and service of their faith. Of Timothy he says, "I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on. For all seek their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ" (verses 20, 21). Finally, of Epaphroditus, he says he was sick nigh unto death in the service of the saints; that is what had brought him there; it was the mind that was in Christ Jesus that had so possessed him, that he had lost his life in this world morally and was near losing his actual life because of his devotion to the saints. Thus it is not only Paul, but like causes produce like effects in others.

Then if we turn to the third chapter we come into the greatness of resurrection: "To know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, if any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead" (verses 10, 11). Here was a man with lineage, with learning, with political position, with influence and everything of that sort, who says, 'I have left all these things and thrown them away as refuse'. Now the object that was before his soul and which shines out in this wondrous light from that prison in Rome was, "To know him, and the power

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of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings". If in any way you are affected by the power of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, what can you expect? Suffering. It will bring you into the same path with Christ. "Being conformed to his death, if any way I arrive at the resurrection from among the dead". So he goes on and says, "For our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory, according to the working of the power which he has even to subdue all things to himself" (verses 20, 21).

In the last chapter, when he comes in touch with the question of what they are encountering, he brings out that there is the God of peace, and the peace of God that can fill and fortify and garrison the heart. What do we know about it in a practical way? Peace with God we speak of in connection with our sins, but what do we know of the peace of God? Sometimes the question is raised, Why is it that we do not seem to get an answer to our prayers? What are you praying for? Oftentimes the bent of our prayers, the objects that are before us in prayers, are things in which we want God to interfere in regard to our circumstances. We are afraid of sickness, or there is a cloud of sorrow that is impending, or there is pressure that we do not see our way through. Perhaps it is weakness and infirmity of body, or we may be in connection with

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someone who is trying us sorely; or in assembly matters we may be burdened; we petition God as to these things, but it is like praying against a stone wall. There seems to be no response from Him, and we have no peace about it. Well, if we are privileged to turn and look at a man in whom these things are experimentally worked out, we see one who has no object or desire, nothing to ask for apart from that which is in suitability to Christ, and which is according to the mind of God. Therefore when a thing arises he puts it before God, and if he has really learned God, there is peace, rest and satisfaction in the knowledge that he has presented it to Him, and he can thus leave it to Him as to the turn that He will give to that matter in the answer. Will He lift the burden? Will He leave the pressure there? It is immaterial, because "the peace of God ... shall guard your hearts and your thoughts by Christ Jesus" (verse 7). And so the man who is in the Roman prison, can tell us he has learned "in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. In everything and in all things I am initiated both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer privation. I have strength for all things, in him that gives me power".

I just bring these things to our notice, and would lay emphasis and stress upon them as being in line with what has been brought before us in these readings, because if I understand it at all, and

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if anything practical is to be the outcome of it, it is that the Spirit of God would bring before us that we are connected with an exceedingly great order of things. There is nothing so great in the universe of God as that, into the light of which He has been pleased to bring us, over which Christ is established Head. We are brought not only into the kingdom, but into association with Him; and there is opened out the whole range of the glory that the Father has put upon the Son; so that if we fail to take account of ourselves here upon earth as each one of us having distinctly and definitely our own place under the headship of Christ (the realisation of which in a sense depends upon us), we miss the mark. There is no purpose, so far as I see, in an individual Christian struggling on in an individual pathway through this scene, for he never gets more fit for heaven than the work of Christ has made him. Hence, unless he takes account of himself as linked up with the headship of Christ, and His administration here on earth, and the testimony in connection with it, he is only an isolated Christian drifting on. One says it in all sobriety; such an one fills no definite place here for God. The line of things that has been before us in these readings is really to bring us to see what is our point of contact with the headship of Christ; what is our position in connection with the ark of the testimony. How are we set in connection with Levitical service; what have we to do with priesthood, and that which

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enters in before God? So it is that we should be formed according to Christ, in order that what is of Christ should be under the eye of God here in this scene, and that the character of God should be made known. What one sees in Paul is a man wholly absorbed in the power of these things, and therefore transformed into the character of them; who is at perfect peace with God, at perfect peace with man, and at peace about his own circumstances; in short, a man that no power of the enemy can upset or disturb in connection with the testimony.

Indianapolis, January 1909

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DOING THE WORK OF THE LORD

does not follow us and we forbad him, because he does not follow us;" and the Lord's answer is, "Forbid him not; for there is no one who shall do a miracle in my name, and be able soon after to speak ill of me; for he who is not against us is for us".

Matthew 12:22 - 50; Mark 9:38 - 40

A question was raised this afternoon which suggests the difficulties that we necessarily encounter as to the pathway in a day of confusion. The question was asked concerning those who have a desire to go out in service to the Lord and in making the gospel known, how far are we limited? How far can we take as guidance what was given from the Lord to His disciples at the beginning, or how far has the failure of the outward vessel of testimony affected that? It is a most interesting question, and one, moreover, that applies not only to those who seek to go out in service, but to all those who seek to maintain what we believe to be due to the Lord in separation from evil, and that doubtless includes all of us here in this room.

The Lord has put us through many siftings and exercises, some of which have been exceedingly painful. They have tried us right into the marrow, so that we have found ourselves separated from many with whom we have walked in times past in fellowship, and the thing has come home (as such testings and exercises do come home) at very close quarters, separating those who are exceedingly dear to one another in the bonds of the Lord as well as in

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the bonds of relationship. Now there must be a cause. Does the Lord really call for and expect this? Is such a pathway a misconception of His mind, or is it a response in affection to a call that cannot be denied? Pondering over the thought that was raised by the question, my mind turned to these scriptures as portions which have been of some help to me personally, and may perhaps be of help to others.

You will recall that in our reading we had an instance in the case of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, of one who, while maintaining to a certain extent ground that was owned of God, departed from what such a position called for, and went down and allied himself with associations the most iniquitous that existed in that day. We had before us how on another occasion a similar alliance came up, and we were greatly impressed by the different point of view in the mind of God on each of these occasions.

In the first case, Jehoshaphat associated himself with Ahab, the one under whom the people of God reached the very culmination of their apostate breaking away in division, who in association with his wife Jezebel expressed the fullest iniquity that could be associated with that people (See 1 Kings 22). Jehoshaphat allied himself with that one, and when, conscience exercising him, he called for a prophet of God, God's prophet came to speak a word which might well have appalled anyone who had the least sense of what was due to God. For the point of his prophecy was this, that

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behind the movement with which Jehoshaphat had allied himself, God was permitting strong delusions to come, through a lying spirit, upon those who loved a lie, that they might be judged. Nothing could be more striking. The prophet had first of all prophesied a smooth thing, such as Ahab loved, but when Ahab knew that such could not be the message of God to him, then Micah told the truth. He told how God had sought a way whereby Ahab might be entrapped and ensnared to his own destruction and how means had been found in the lying word of prophecy, through which Ahab went down to his doom.

All this brings out in a very distinct way how God is in the background, controlling even the workings of the powers of evil, setting restraint and boundary and causing that they shall work out that which is according to His will. We may think that things drift this way or that, come by chance, or are the dark and dreadful power of evil against which there is no restraint, but the Spirit of God lets us into the secret of this as well as of everything else, that there is definite control, the power of evil is held in abeyance. It can go no further than God allows.

Then in the other instance (2 Kings 3), when Jehoshaphat allied himself with the kings of Israel and Edom, it was brought out most strikingly that the alliance in this case, while somewhat parallel, was intended to illustrate the operation of the grace

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of God, and to bring into the most powerful light the extremes to which the grace of God can go. Thus the cases greatly differ. In this second one it is not a question of the judgment of evil under the power and will of God, but of instructing us, and the people of God through all the ages, as to how far the grace of God can go and how magnificent it can be. It is very helpful, therefore, to see the two sides of things.

Now I have called attention to these two scriptures in the gospels not because they are exactly parallel to Kings, but because they perhaps help up to a certain point. In the scripture in Matthew we get these words of the Lord, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters". While in Mark we have, "He who is not against us is for us". From appearances it might be taken that these scriptures are contradictory, but I think the truths connected with them are calculated to be exceedingly helpful to us at the present time.

What are the elements of which we have to take account? The occasion of our being here is our confidence that the Lord has maintained a rallying-point where what is responsive to Himself and His voice can find a congenial atmosphere, a fellowship in mutual encouragement and strengthening. We believe that it is the intention of the Lord, until the time of His return, to maintain some such rallying-point here upon earth, and (as one has often said)

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the only question is, May we be identified with it right through to the end? That is the great question for us. We believe that the Lord has maintained the point of vantage; divine light illumines it, affection responds to it, and we are most truly thankful to gather to what is of the Lord in this day immediately before His return.

But what is called the Christian world, what is expressive of the religious domain, has two broad elements: one is that which is avowedly connected with the power and exaltation of the god of this world, the power of darkness. It is Satanic in its character, tremendous in its force, and is existing everywhere; its purpose is to thwart and defeat the purpose of God - "In whom the god of this world has blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving, so that the radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine forth for them" (2 Corinthians 4:4). That is, it is no haphazard outlet of men's desires, of man according to the flesh indifferent to the claims God, but a well-organised and well-compacted system of evil, controlled and energised by the god of this world, intelligence given to it, and all with set purpose to darken and defeat the counsel of God. That is existent; and a large part of the mischief that has come in amongst the people of God is due to the fact that they are either unaware of it, or indifferent to it.

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I believe that Matthew 12 brings out this aspect of things. The Lord was there confronted with that which had intellectually the greatest light of God in that day, light which they knew well how to use to thwart and defeat the glory set forth in the Person of Christ; and when there had been a notable miracle in which some poor creature had his eyes opened and his tongue unloosed, so that he might see the glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ and speak His praise, then there came from those who had a greater light than any other people in that day the assertion, "This man does not cast out demons, but by Beelzebub". What the Lord had wrought as One who was anointed of God with the Holy Spirit was of deliberate purpose assigned to the work and power of Beelzebub.

With that side of things there is absolutely no compromise; there is no neutral ground, no such thing as indifference, nothing but to take an attitude of the most uncompromising opposition. Hence the Lord opens out that "He that is not with me is against me". For that character of evil, that which will take the glory of God as expressed in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ shown forth in the power and energy of the Holy Spirit, and attribute it to the power of darkness, the Lord says there is no forgiveness, "neither in this age nor in the coming one". Now this type of thing is widely existent; as in the days of Ahab men loved a lie, so now that line of evil is increasing until it culminates in that

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day when everything shall come out in the man of sin, "that all might be judged who have not believed the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:12). The strong delusion works today; we live and move surrounded by a poisoned atmosphere in which it is impossible that we should allow any compromise or neutrality, and from which we must be separated in all the power of our souls. "He that is not with me is against me".

The other side (in Mark 9 and similar verses in Luke 9) presents the more difficult point of view and the one at which a great many have gone astray. There was evidently a lax state amongst the Lord's disciples. He was going to Capernaum. That did not speak very much of going to the throne of glory, because Capernaum did not appeal to the pride or importance of man. They were on that way, and as they journeyed, the Lord, watching with observant eye those that He loved (blessed High Priest, it is ever so!) and knowing all that was transpiring, asked what they had been talking of by the way.

They might well be ashamed; they had been disputing which of them should be the greatest. It indicated that their moral state was not at all in the conception of the One they were following, so that when a little test comes which needs some spiritual instinct, some knowledge of what was suitable to the grace of the One they were following, they were dumb. Yet John can come to the Lord and say, "We saw someone casting out demons in thy name, who

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I believe that is the manner of spirit we need to appreciate and understand. It is a very difficult thing to go through this scene and see all that we do see with the intelligence of the light which God has been pleased to give us, without the desire to interfere and set things right which we know to be wrong. But it is not our business. The one who followed not with them had undoubtedly done a noteworthy deed through the power of the name of Jesus. What corresponds to this today we find connected with the labours of those who are much involved in the prevailing confusion and not at all separated in obedience to the Word. The Lord did not for a moment indicate to His disciples that success in service would be justification for them to go with the one who was not following, nor did it occur to them to cease following and join themselves to the one who had done the miracle in His name.

We have been hearing this afternoon that the sovereignty of God asserts its good pleasure to do what it likes, where it likes, and in the way it likes. If the Spirit of God tolerates the use of a brass band to attract souls and take them where they will hear of the blood of Jesus, it is not our part to interfere.

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If we find that the large part of Christendom is filled with attractive means for getting crowds, it is an utter falsification of our spirit if we interfere and attempt to forbid this. The Lord says, "Forbid him not". We are called to better things than interfering with what is allowed in the sovereignty of God. Sometimes we ask ourselves, 'How is salvation to be accomplished? How is all that belongs to Christ to be gained for Christ?' I believe we are on false ground all the time we are worrying ourselves on that question. One zealous in the gospel may feel that God is working in this place and that, that there is an opportunity of speaking to souls which he cannot get unless he break outside the lines. I think the light given us works in this way: where you see the sovereignty of God working, thank God for it, pass on and be satisfied that in His own way and time He is taking care that all that belongs to Christ shall come to Christ. If He puts the opportunity to reach souls your way, thank God for it and take it with all your heart and soul, but do not join the disorder that is contrary to your light. The trouble is that we want to set things right instead of keeping to our own line. The Lord says, 'Leave that to me'. "Forbid him not" is not the same as saying, 'Go with him'.

Then there comes the positive question. Many a soul has perhaps come before you in the way of exercise: How are they to discern? Things are so perplexing; so many so-called brethren, etc. How is

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one to discern? Beloved brethren, it is simple enough: you get in the line where the Spirit of God is giving living ministry, and you may be sure that if you have not exactly reached the right spot you are not very far from it. There were certain things true at the beginning which are true at this moment; one of them is, "Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity" (2 Timothy 2:19). That is something that never changes its character. Act upon that. Another that holds equally good, "Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart" (verse 22). Act upon that. If we are in the light of the privilege that God has given us, and take those simple lines of guidance given for the last days, we shall clearly discern the lying spirit that is now in the atmosphere of the god of this world. We shall further have such regard for our calling that we shall have no desire to be busybodies or to interfere, while we shall have the conscious peace that keeps the soul in the light and guidance that He is pleased to give through the Holy Spirit even in such a day as this.

USA, October 1909

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THE CONFLICT

the enemy, and the Spirit of God gives the solemn word, which we have no right to ignore, that we are to be equipped.

Ephesians 6:10 - 20; Numbers 23:7 - 10, 18 - 24; Numbers 24:1 - 9, 15 - 19

In the epistle to the Ephesians, after the full light of the purpose of God has been brought out, after the assembly is seen in its supreme place of blessing, the Spirit of God establishes all in the peaceable order and rule that mark every relationship here from God according to Christ. So that everything is provided for, down to the minutest detail, even to children and slaves. Then the apostle says, "For the rest, brethren", and he brings into view that which is the most imminent danger, that which threatens the complete wreck and overthrow of everything that was outwardly established in such divine perfection and blessing.

The Spirit reminds the saints that the character of their conflict is not the kind of conflict that men can see, it is not against blood and flesh, but against the unseen and terrific powers of darkness that have their sway and dominion in the heavenlies; in the high places, whence is directed the full power of the god of this world, to overthrow everything that is established on behalf of Christ.

Now a conflict which is in connection with what is seen may be easy to measure and cope with,

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but the history of the assembly (I speak of what is outward, not of what is according to the purpose of God) shows us that the overthrow came from the unseen; it came from the wiles of the devil, and it has been so complete that there are many of the people of God who are ready to inquire, 'Is there anything at all left?' But everything is left, and what we look upon with such pleasure and with such edification, as established of God in the beginning, remains immutable and unchanged, as from the divine side. So that the assembly upon earth still remains as the educational vessel for the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies, who still look down and learn the all-various wisdom of God. That is true now. It is not what was true on the day of Pentecost only, but now.

When it comes to a question of the conflict, I think, if one may speak for others, we are a little vague as to it in our minds, and the thought arises - What is the conflict about? A man is not going to fight very well unless he knows in some way what he is fighting for, and that it is worth his while. We read Ephesians 6, and we take in the beautiful symbolic language of the Spirit of God, but through lack of exercise and intelligence in taking things up, the impression that is left is apt to be vague.

We perhaps take the conflict to ourselves in an individual kind of way that we are to put on the whole panoply of God and to stand, but for what? It clearly is not a question of standing for salvation,

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nor our individual security, nor our eternal welfare, and I am inclined to think we have often at that point just taken pleasure in the beautiful language and the lofty imagery, without having any very definite idea of what we are to stand for. But we would all agree that what is said to the Ephesian saints brings before us that the people of God are standing together for something. The appeal that comes to them is exceedingly urgent, and is evidently of the most profound importance. The panoply of God suggests that which has to do with everything that is vital in us; energy, the seat of affections, what pertains to intelligence, all that is involved in walk and in our being, are put ready to the hand of the Spirit of God.

There is nothing vague in the conception; the vagueness is in ourselves, and it is in the hope that one may be able to give a little direction to the mind as to what it is to stand, and what there is to stand for, that I turn to Numbers as giving us, in connection with God's earthly people, something by which we may measure the divine thought as to the conflict in the present age.

We have been dwelling a great deal on the remnant; we have many thoughts about it, and perhaps I shall express the same in slightly different language here. So far as I understand it, from the time when sin and treason against God first came in, it became a necessity on God's behalf that there should be that formed of Himself which would

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maintain His rights and hold things for Him during the period in which, in His wisdom, He allows evil to run its course, like successive waves of the sea, rising and breaking through the ages. What we speak of as the remnant comes out in a particular period according to God, to take up and maintain on His behalf that which He has resolved shall be maintained.

Therefore the remnant becomes an exceedingly important conception, because all that is for God at a given period, when things have broken down in man's hands, is held fast by those who are in the light of the purpose and counsel of God. Whatever the times, or whatever the numbers; I think we all agree as to that. Whether there are two or three, as in Babylon, who go through the furnace, or whether there are thousands, like those who went up out of the captivity (Ezra 2), those who maintain for God are those who are morally formed according to God. If you take the history of the assembly, I think it will be found that the assembly as such very soon lost any grasp of the purpose of God, and it became a question of position in this world, with perhaps a sense of security for the world to come.

The interests of God and of Christ in the glorious system of things which centres in Him have become, through the ages, one might say, practically extinguished as far as the knowledge of them is concerned. It never has been really extinguished, because from the time of Abel down,

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God has always had that which has been in the intelligence of His mind, and He will have it to the end. God had seven thousand who had never bowed the knee to Baal, although Elijah did not know them.

Turning to Numbers, we have that which the Spirit of God Himself uses as a type of the assembly. We have the people of Israel redeemed, brought out from Egypt by the mighty hand of God, wandering for thirty-nine years in the wilderness, testing God by every form of corruption, self-will and opposition, but still maintained. God had made known to that people what His purpose was. He had enlightened them; He had not kept back His secrets so far as their place and position in connection with earth were concerned. But it would be safe to say, taking a place with Balaam on the mountain and looking down as he did, that in that company of Israel there were but very few indeed who appreciated what God was for them, or what His purpose was concerning them. Moses, Caleb, Joshua, maybe Phinehas, with a few like them, and the story is told.

Therefore, if you regard them according to their actual condition, you could no more read the mind of God in them, nor intelligence as to ways of God, than you could extract it from Christendom today. Morally, nearly all was gone, and the light and knowledge of God were almost lost; the precious and holy secrets which He had confided to

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them were valued as lightly as the dust of the desert; they could be found treasured only in a few like Caleb and Joshua, whose bodies were in the wilderness, whose hearts were in the land. The mass had their bodies in the wilderness and their hearts in Egypt. That was the difference. If you would inquire of Christendom today, you could get no light as to the purpose of God.

It is one of the striking things in Scripture that to a man (Balaam) who is sold to Satan, a man who deliberately lends himself to the service of the evil principalities and powers in the heavenlies, to such a man God should give such a vision concerning His people and His purpose. It is an appalling, yet wonderful scene, and I dwell on it for the reason that we often move along as though the power of evil did not exist, as though all that we have to contend with is what we meet with from the world and our brethren. Conflict, according to Ephesians 6, has not to do with the world, nor with our brethren, but with the powers in the heavenlies, the powers of darkness, and therefore it becomes a very serious thing if through ignorance we slight or ignore it. The failure that comes in amongst the people of God can oftentimes be traced simply to their ignorance and carelessness as to that about which God has clearly warned us. Conflict is not met successfully because we have not the armour on. No prudent soldier waits to put his armour on in the face of the enemy. He puts it on before he meets

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The sight that we get in Numbers is that here is this mighty people of God come from Egypt, carried on eagles' wings; their foot has not grown weary; their food has not failed them; water has come out of the rock; and the surrounding nations look on with amazement and wonder that the people have not perished in long years gone by. They still live; and so one might in a way look on the divine miracle that through all the past ages, in spite of the power of Satan, and of man, and of what is in the flesh, the assembly still exists, and that lives which bears the testimony of God. Here Balak sends for Balaam in order that, since a divine, a supernatural power was carrying this people on eagles' wings to the land, so might a supernatural power, a power derived from the one who rose up in self-will, pride and independence against God, importing sin into this world, come and block the way of this people. Balaam comes and he tells Balak that all his enchantments could effect nothing. He is taken to this and that point of view; and each successive word that he is made to speak brings out in the most wonderful manner the mind of God concerning His people.

He speaks of Jacob that he should not be numbered amongst the nations. He should dwell alone. The sovereignty of God had fixed its eye on

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that people, His hand had been put out, He had gathered them Himself; they should be numbered as the dust on the seashore, but they should not be numbered amongst the nations. They should be a separate people and occupy a peculiar position from Jehovah.

Then Balaam takes up his second parable and there he unfolds the purpose of God, as the first parable brought out the sovereignty of God. So he says: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither a son of man, that he should repent. Should he say and not do? and shall he speak and not make it good? Behold, I have received mission to bless; he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it". The purpose of God takes no account of sin and iniquity. His redeeming grace comes in and meets that side; the purpose of God which set itself for its own pleasure is irrespective of any such consideration, and nothing that can be brought in can cause that God should swerve or change. He is not a man that He should lie or repent. So Balaam proceeds with his parable; he speaks of the power that had been broken in Egypt, and the mighty King that should arise from amongst them; he speaks of them as strong and energetic in all the vigour of life; he speaks in the light of the purpose of God.

Balaam then takes up the third parable where from the mountain-top he looks down: "How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel!" He could not see or hear their ill-deeds, nor mark

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the crooked ways; he scans that vast assemblage, and then the word of the Almighty bursts forth to show the supreme pleasure and delight which the heart of God has in His people. "Jehovah's portion is his people" (Deuteronomy 32:9). Do we grasp it? Do we appreciate it? Do we let it get into our souls that the portion of the Lord is His people? It comes out in that short parable in the utmost magnificence, altogether apart from the question of what the people were in themselves. What they were to God as the treasure of His heart, what they were in all their beauty as He would yet dwell amongst them, is expressed in that divine language in a way most touching and full of affection. Would to God that we could fall under the spell of what God's pleasure and delight - His personal delight in His people is! The portion of the Lord is His people.

Just one word more on Balaam. He speaks yet again, for the centre of all the purpose of God for the effectuation of everything of the glory which God would bring in depends on One of whom he speaks: "There cometh a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and he shall cut in pieces the corners of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult". He indicates that apart from the feeble hand of man as we know him, in all his crookedness and corruption, the sceptre would be taken and put into the hand of One who was worthy. Balaam sees it. The Star arises, the Sceptre is wielded; he views another world; he sees an Israel indeed in whom is

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no guile, sitting, as it were, under vine and fig-tree with the glorious reign of Christ amongst them, and he speaks the language of a despairing man concerning himself. I just refer to that for this thought - that what the people of God are in the purpose of God is clearly expressed.

If the people down there in the valley could not appreciate it, God sees to it that appreciation comes from the lips of this one whom He uses as His mouthpiece, it may be to shame them, to arouse them, that though they were not in a moral state to treasure these wondrous thoughts, to stand for them, and to enter into conflict for them, yet they must come out even from Balaam's lips, showing further that there is no ignorance with the powers of darkness as to what is going on for God down here in this scene, however it may be with His people.

We may rely upon this, that never since God has had a people, has there been any relaxing on the part of the powers of evil to overthrow and destroy the testimony of God. What was going on below after this? We have a most significant word in Revelation 2. Here the Lord, addressing His assembly, the assembly at Pergamos, calls attention to Balaam, that whereas he failed to turn God in one iota from His purpose of bringing that people into blessing for the joy of His own heart, yet Balaam was fully competent to be a fit vessel for the power of evil. When the vision was on, he must speak the word of the Almighty, he could not

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change a word were his house filled with gold or silver; but when the vision is off he takes Balak aside and he teaches him, he sets himself as a teacher in the wiles of the devil to instruct Balak that if he would act in a certain way the iniquity of the people would become so intolerable that God could not go on with them; thus he taught Balak to put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel. Thus, he produced amongst the people of God such festering sores that it might be expected that God, for the honour of His name and for righteousness, would have to cast the people off and disown them. He did it for reward. He ran greedily after it, and therein is indicated the way in which the god of this world has put temptation across the pathway of that which outwardly is identified with the name of Christ, and has brought in all the shame and the evil from which we seek to gather up our skirts and stand apart, that we may be separated from the iniquity of it.

As to the passage in Ephesians 6, I can only speak a word or two. I call attention to it in view of the urgency of the thing, which is no less tonight than it ever was. The Spirit of God says, "For the rest", and "For this reason take to you the panoply of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having accomplished all things, to stand. Stand therefore, having girt about your loins with truth". If you are girt up it means that you are standing ready for action. You are unencumbered.

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The loins girt up means that the seat of your energies is to be in that condition so that you are ready to stand and to act. You are not trammelled. You are delivered from the power and hold of things. Hence it is having the loins girt about with truth which sets you free, "and having put on the breastplate of righteousness". The seat of affection that responds to everything of Christ must be covered with that which speaks of divine order and rights; hence the breastplate of righteousness. If the people of God would be known by anything it should be by righteousness, because that is the character of God from which man has departed.

Then it goes on: "And shod your feet with the preparation of the glad tidings of peace". There you have to walk; and in what character? It is in character according to what the blessed Lord was here, who brought in all the perfections of a Man of another order, a Man in sweet and holy dependence on God; thus the gospel teaches us that, "having denied impiety and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, and justly, and piously in the present course of things" (Titus 2:12), thus bringing through our walk blessing to those that are around. Then there is "the shield of faith". You get your light from God. The people of God go on together in the sense of what it means to be under the headship of Christ. You get your light from God, and when the fiery darts of the enemy come they are foiled, thrown back and extinguished because the

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people of God are enlightened by God. "With which ye will be able to quench all the inflamed darts of the wicked one". "Have also the helmet of salvation". The seat of your intelligence is covered by that which has given you complete deliverance from all the power of evil and the power of this present evil world.

In that way one sees that everything connected with the energies of life, and intelligence and the power of walk, are suggested in this panoply of God. A people so equipped are going to stand in connection with the testimony. Then comes "the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word;" this in connection with the Holy Spirit is given us as the only offensive weapon; it is living, operative and sharp. If we would seek to know how to use it, the Lord shows us in the way in which He used it Himself. Following this comes dependence in connection with prayer; a people so set are a people who value and prize the testimony, the purpose of God and the affection of God; it is a people to whom He will commit His interests here in this scene. The conflict, therefore, is in connection with the interests and rights of God in this present evil world, and it is here that we are called to maintain them.

Indianapolis, January 1910

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CHRIST, THE TEST OF EVERY MAN

Christ, a new order of Man; but directly you get Christ raised from the dead you have a new generation - a generation after God, who take their character from Christ, and who are morally descriptive of Himself.

Luke 23:1 - 56; Luke 2:34, 35

The thought before me in reading these scriptures is to present Christ in a peculiar light, to speak of Him as the One who, on the part of God, becomes a test to every man. Nothing really tests men spiritually but Christ. Religion does not test a man. One may be zealous and occupied in religious ceremony and yet hate Christ. Look at Cain. Had you passed by his altar you might have judged by his offering that he was more zealous than Abel. But Abel had an appreciation of Christ; indeed, he expressed Christ, and it was this that awakened all the hatred of Cain's heart, so that he rose up in the field and slew him.

Morality, good as it is, does not test a man. Saul of Tarsus was moral before he was converted. Where would you have found his equal? Yet he hated Christ and with untiring energy did all in his power to wipe that Name from off the earth. But on the way to Damascus he made a wonderful discovery. He saw that, moral man as he was, he was presenting the bitterest opposition to Christ, and at the same time he learned that there was nothing but grace in the heart of Christ for him. It was that that broke him down. Afterwards he

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describes himself as the first of sinners, because he had hated Christ more than any other man. The moment you bring in Christ every state of man is manifested. So the question, the burning question, that I would put to every one here tonight is that propounded by the Lord Himself when on earth: "What think ye concerning the Christ?" (Matthew 22:42).

I wish to say a word or two on the scripture I read in Luke 2. It is a wonderful passage. It is part of Simeon's address when he held the child Jesus in his arms in the temple. I can only touch upon one brief thought. He speaks of this Child being "set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against". He says, speaking to Mary, "even a sword shall go through thine own soul" (doubtless alluding to the cross), and "that the thoughts may be revealed from many hearts". It is the latter thought I desire especially to emphasise tonight, that Christ is the revealer of the thoughts of the hearts of men.

Now while this was manifestly true all through the Lord's active ministry on earth, it comes to light with more intense force at the close. In those moments of supreme sorrow and weakness and humiliation, when He is left, as it were, at the disposal of men to do what they would wish with Him, every man shines out in his true character, and in Luke 23 you see that people were not slow in taking advantage of that opportunity. It is true that

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in thought this carries us back nineteen hundred years, but we do well to remember that although Christ is not here personally, yet He is still here - He is here in the way of testimony, and the truth of Christ still becomes the test of every man. I trust, as we speak of Christ tonight, that as then, so now, the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

I desire to confine myself to the chapter I read and to the characters mentioned in it. I have not time to speak of others, interesting as it might be to do so. I begin with Pilate; he was tested by Christ. He was governor of Judea and the Lord was brought before him for trial. Pilate was a vacillating man. He bore no ill-will towards Christ. The last thing in the world he desired was to have the responsibility of deciding as to Christ. He preferred neutrality, and that may be the case with some of you, but neutrality is impossible when the truth is in question. His answer to the chief priests and the people is: "I find no guilt in this man" (verse 4). But that only made them the more fierce. They accuse Jesus of stirring up the people, "teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee even on to here". When Pilate hears the word "Galilee" amidst the rabble cries, he enquires if the Lord were a Galilean, and learning that He is of Herod's jurisdiction he sends Him to Herod.

Pilate thought he had evaded the question most cleverly. He had not had to commit himself one way or the other and he hoped that he had for ever got

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away from his responsibility; but you cannot evade that question, you must meet it. Herod sends the Lord back again, and Pilate finds that the issue is as vital as ever. Then he has a secret interview with Jesus. It was on that memorable occasion that the Lord said: "I have been born for this, and for this I have come into the world, that I might bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice" (John 18:37). And then Pilate said unto Him, "What is truth?" He asked that question, and many a one has asked it since, but he did not wait for the answer. The truth was there undimmed in the Person of the Lord, but Pilate went out from it, closing his eyes to it, and from that time his course is markedly downward. How solemn to close our eyes to the truth! Pilate goes out from that blaze of moral light, and the clouds of darkness gather around him, and what is the end of it? "Gloom of darkness for eternity" (Jude 13).

How graciously God seemed to encourage him to act aright. His wife sends a message to him: "Have thou nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered today many things in a dream because of him" (Matthew 27:19). But having turned his eyes from Christ to the people, he is weakness itself, and the din of the multitude deafens his ears to the voice of God. He takes water, washing his hands and saying, "I am guiltless of the blood of this righteous one: see ye to it" (Matthew 27:24). Can he plead before the throne of God - "I am

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guiltless?" Did he wash those sin stains from off his hands that day? Alas, he did not. And yet there are many like him; seeking to evade the truth, they are forced into a position where they are compelled to ally themselves with the grossest unrighteousness. Could he speak to you tonight, how he could warn you of the folly of trifling with the truth. Pilate asked the question, "What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?" (Matthew 27:22).

Do you ask that question? The answer is very simple. Bow to Him; trust Him; confess Him. Pilate had a magnificent opportunity, and so have you. But he missed it for ever, and there is another question I have often been tempted to put into the lips of that man, and I would put it into yours tonight. It is this: 'What then shall I do without Jesus?' Who would attempt to answer that? The thought of it is too terrible to contemplate. Oh, that it might impel you to declare for Christ now!

Next I pass on to Herod. He was tested by Christ. He was not indifferent, as was Pilate. He was marked by idle curiosity. He was desirous to see Jesus, to see a miracle. He was an utterly carnal man. He could not appreciate moral beauty. You find people of that stamp today. They have no appreciation of what is morally lovely, but they are eager for what appears to be miraculous, and alas! there are those in the profession of Christianity ready to cater for them. But Herod was mistaken as to the One he was to meet. He would like to have

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seen a display of power on the part of Christ. Such would have greatly pleased him and would have been on his own line, the exaltation of man. There he sat with his men of war, with all the pomp and display his carnal pride could muster, but he found nothing in Christ to answer to that. The time had not come for God's power to be manifested. The Lord was here in lowliness and meekness. Herod's time was always ready but the Lord's time had not yet come. He did not have long to wait for it. True, to accomplish the purpose of God, He yielded Himself to the will of man. It was apparently the moment of greatest weakness, but the power of the Gentile was soon to fall before that meek and lowly Man.

We have been speaking together in the readings about the Assyrian, the rod that God used for the chastening of His people. Up to a certain point he was the instrument in God's hands for chastisement, but when the Assyrian dares to intrude in Immanuel's land, when he touches that which is precious to God, all the power of God is against him and the rod is broken. So God had used the Gentile to chasten His people. The Roman power represented that. But when Herod, as representing that power, would touch Christ, he is infringing on the divine prerogative, he is touching that which is precious to God and he must go. If he sets Christ at nought, if he mocks Him, it is to his own ruin; Christ answers him nothing and treats

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him with perfect contempt, and the moral reason for it was soon to be manifested. True, the Lord bowed to the cross and to the wicked hands that put Him there. He is crucified and laid in the grave, and all the strength of the Gentile power is combined to keep Him in it. The great stone is there, the Roman seal is affixed, the guard is set; but He comes forth as a mighty Conqueror, pouring contempt on man's display of power. Morally the strength of the Roman is shattered then and there, and the stone rolled away shows an empty tomb that we may see how complete the triumph is.

But that is not all. As with the Assyrian, the Lord had said: "The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee, laugheth thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shaketh her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? ... the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 37:22, 23). So with the power of the pagan world. Its strength was shattered morally in the resurrection of Christ, and the victory in detail was completed by the daughter of Zion. That resurrection company that you find in the Acts of the Apostles, coming forth in all the energy and beauty of youth, what did they care for the power of Rome? They went forth undaunted by the threats of the world. They were in the good of the triumph of Christ, and they preached it, and before the might of their testimony the foundations of the pagan world fell. Citadel and stronghold gave way as did Jericho of old before the blast of the trumpets, so that the

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mob at Thessalonica were compelled to confess: "These men that have set the world in tumult, are come here also" (Acts 17:6). They shook their head at and despised the mighty opposition of the Gentile powers, and when threatened, they did as Hezekiah did - laid the matter before the Lord.

It is as our souls are maintained in the good of the victory of Christ, and of that resurrection world that has come to pass in Him, that we can with courageous hearts pass through this world that has rejected Him, content to be nothing, gladly refusing its patronage, but with holy boldness bearing testimony to that world of glory in which Christ is everything. Soon that world, now hidden to sight, will be displayed. Soon we shall hear His voice - "Come up here" (Revelation 4:1). Soon, very soon, He will come and the power of the enemy shall be publicly set aside, and He will bring all the glory with Him.

Then we get the chief priests, scribes and elders. These were all tested by Christ and were His bitterest enemies. They represent the religious power. They were the religious leaders. We have been reading about the envy of Ephraim. You get it here. Pilate "knew that they had delivered him up through envy" (Matthew 27:18). These enemies of Christ had a link with the people as had Ephraim in his day, and that made the opposition all the more subtle and solemn. They had had a place of peculiar privilege, but they had used it for their own

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exaltation and had forfeited it. God had set them aside and they had become thoroughly allied with the world. All the light and the power of God was centred in a Man of another order - His beloved Son; and His meekness, lowliness, and grace so exposed all the religious assumption of these men that their hatred knew no bounds. They felt they were superseded. They were fearful of losing their grip on the people, and to hold their position they ally themselves with the world. That is proven by the man they chose. They chose Barabbas; his name means 'son of the father', and he was a true son of Adam, and Christ was the Son of His Father.

Two worlds are built up, one on Christ and the other on Barabbas, and they take their character from each; the one is marked by lawlessness and murder (for these were the charges against Barabbas), the other by righteousness and love. These religious leaders proved to which world they belonged by their preference for Barabbas, for the world loves its own. What an awful exposure! They are tested by Christ, and found, with all their religious pretension, in open alliance with the world as against Him.

I pass on now to Calvary and the malefactors. What a scene is the cross! A scene of moral paradoxes; there the love of God is revealed and the hatred of man is expressed. There we see God judging sin and yet saving sinners. There we see men reviling and murdering the Saviour, and the

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Saviour praying for, and giving His life for, His murderers. Truly the thoughts of many hearts were revealed there. In the other gospels both thieves are said to have reviled Christ, but not in Luke. In this gospel the thoughts of many hearts are to be revealed, and another heart is now found in one of these men. "Now one of the malefactors who had been hanged spoke insultingly to him". A dying thief would not have railed on his fellow thief on a gibbet, but this one railed on Christ because Christ tests and brings to light the true state of every heart. "Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us". This man, in principle, was a Unitarian and so-called Christian Scientist combined. He denied the divinity of Christ to begin with. Satan had come to the Lord with an "If thou be Son of God" (Luke 4:9) in the temptation in the wilderness, and had been utterly routed, but we hear again the hiss of the serpent through the lips of this malefactor. He denied redemption too, for how could Christ have saved Himself and saved others? How could He go surety for the stranger without smarting for it? All that he cared for was temporary alleviation from his sufferings. The future, what did he care for that? He was blinded to a sense of his sin and to the moral perfection of the One who alone could put it away.

But God had an answer for that scoffer, and He answered him through the lips of the other thief. "The other answering rebuked him". How

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magnificent that is! What a comfort to the heart of Christ to hear it! Wonderful light had entered into that man's soul and he took sides with God against his fellow, against himself, against the whole world represented there in its threefold character, and he declared boldly for Christ. He saw Christ suffering "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). He judged himself and God justified him. He says, "We indeed justly, for we receive the just recompense of what we have done; but this man has done nothing amiss. And he said to Jesus, Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom". As another has said, this thief was in a most perfect state of sanctification. He did not ask for relief from his sufferings. He did not ask to have his life continued here. No. This world no longer held his heart. It was not good enough for him. The whole power of it was combined against Christ, the One alone who could bring peace and joy to him, and he did not wish to be left in a world like that. He longed to be with Jesus, to be remembered by Him, to have a place in His kingdom, and he was willing to wait till that kingdom came.

Few would care to be remembered as having hung on a gibbet, but this malefactor apprehended that the glory of Christ was His grace and the thought gladdened his heart that for ever he would cherish in his memory that moment when in his direst extremity he had cried to the Lord and the Lord had covered Himself with glory in answering

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that cry. And the Lord answered him immediately: "Verily I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise". For His own joy He could have that thief with Him that day. Think of the greatness of that work which could take a dying malefactor from a gibbet and fit him for the presence of the Lord. What an answer to the taunt of the crowd: "Let him save himself if this is the Christ, the chosen one of God". Those taunts had added to the Saviour's sufferings and humiliation, but an answering joy and glory came almost immediately; He took a dying thief to paradise that very day.

Great as was the grace here expressed, who would dare to presume on it or trifle with it? I have heard people say: 'I am going to do like the dying thief; he was saved in his last moments'. I ask, 'Which thief?' There were two. The one went from his gallows to paradise; the other went from that spot, illumined by the grace of God, dying as he had lived, in his sins, a scoffer, going out into eternity to share a scoffer's doom.

We have seen what an opportunity this was for men to express their indifference and hatred to Christ, and what a moment it was for grace to display itself, and how that malefactor appreciated and embraced it; but these closing hours of the Lord's life on earth presented also a wonderful opportunity for affection to manifest itself, and it is beautiful to see there were those who gladly seized it. It reminds one of David in the moment of his

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affliction when fleeing from Absalom. True, in his case, he was suffering for his own sin, but he was God's anointed, and in that way he sets forth Christ; and if a Shimei took advantage of that moment of weakness and cast stones at him, cursing as he came, on the other hand you have an aged Barzillai and an Ittai who found their joy in ministering to him in his sorrow. What a comfort that must have been to David's heart and what a joy to the heart of God to see those who were in sympathy with Him about His anointed! So with the blessed Lord here; there were those who saw what a moment it was for affection, and they embraced it.

First we get the women. I suppose they set forth the affections of the saints. The hearts of these women had been attracted to Christ. They had tasted of His grace. He had met their deep need and had made Himself indispensable to them. They had clung to Him with true affection. Their happiness was all wrapped up in Him and His sorrow was theirs, and though they stand afar off at the cross (I suppose you might expect that), yet they are there sharing His sorrow and affliction, not ashamed to be identified with Him, given the place of a malefactor, to the last. The truth concerning that Man is still in reproach. The offence of the cross has not ceased, and true affection would still seek identification with it.

Then we get Joseph of Arimathaea, and coupled with his name that of Nicodemus (in John 19). Both

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of these were men of distinction in their way, and how beautiful it is to see that God would bring them to light in connection with giving the last touches of love to the precious body of the Lord! There was true dignity in that, and a moral distinction that put to shame all the world's honours. Joseph was rich in this world's goods, but he had found in Christ what he had never found in the world, an 'Object bright and fair to fill and satisfy the heart' (Hymn 328), and now he is allowed a privileged part in the fulfilment of that prophecy in Isaiah: "Men appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death" (Isaiah 53:9). Man proposes but God disposes. Wicked men had prepared three graves for the occupants of those three crosses, but one of those graves was destined to be unoccupied that day; it was not to be filled by the Lord's body. They made His grave with the wicked, but He was not to be laid in a malefactor's tomb. He was laid in a new tomb, prepared by one who loved Him. In those closing moments earth's 'rich' ones were raised up to do homage to Christ and to pay Him the last tributes of affection. Associated with Joseph in this blessed service we find Nicodemus. He "came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight" (John 19:39). That was a most costly gift and it indicates that he was rich in affection. It is true that twice when his name is mentioned it is coupled with the fact that he came to Jesus by night, but while

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that might sound like a stigma, it does not appeal to me in that way. Doubtless when he first sought the Lord, he realised that Christ was in reproach. Would that all realised it!

Many come to Christ with little sense of that, for Satan would falsify the truth and weaklings are often the result. But Nicodemus felt instinctively that the world - the religious world - was against Christ, and though he came by night, yet he came. He did not stay away. Better come by night than never come at all. That timidity which marked him at first seems to have developed into moral courage, for on the last occasion when his name is mentioned you find "who at first came to Jesus by night" (John 19:39), yet he comes out into the open and confesses Christ, and never more boldly than when the whole world had proven its inimicable hatred towards Him. I do not follow these devoted souls beyond the death of Christ, beautiful as it would be to do so and to see how those affections that clustered around Him then were carried through into resurrection and were found in the assembly. I have not time to enter upon that. We have seen what a test Christ became in the closing moments of His life here in flesh. My desire is that what has been before us might touch our hearts and appeal to every one of us. He is no longer here in that character, but we are living in a moment that is similar in many respects. The truth of Christ is here. The testimony of the Lord is continued, and

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we are living in the last days, in the closing moments of the testimony on earth, in its present character. Indifference, opposition, envy, we may expect, but that should only serve as an incentive to greater fidelity. Never was there a more wonderful opportunity than the present for affection and wholehearted identification with the truth, to manifest itself. May the Lord give us greater desire to answer to the moment!

Indianapolis, January 1910

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LIFE AND INCORRUPTIBILITY BROUGHT TO LIGHT

A F Moore

2 Timothy 1:8 - 10

I think we all have reason to thank God for having brought before us the subject of resurrection at the present time, for it is most important and, wherever there is faith, attractive. There can be no doubt that resurrection is the great platform upon which every thought and every item of God's purpose is based. We may say that the Scriptures as a whole are summed up in two men - Adam and Christ - the one man having brought in death by sin, and the Other having "by one righteousness" (Romans 5:18), brought in life. Through lawlessness, death and corruption were the result, on the one hand, but on the other hand, death has been annulled, and life and incorruptibility have been brought to light by the righteous One.

Now, we have all had our part in Adam. But the blessed truth is that we now have our part in Christ. We have exchanged Adam for Christ. I trust we have all started there. When the glad tidings came to us they presented another Man to us - a risen Man, and when the light of that Man reaches our hearts, we exchange the man we have been connected with, for Christ - the risen Man, the Man

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of God's purpose, and eventually we are to come out conformed to the image of that Man. That is all settled and secured; wherever there is faith in that Man, we are eventually to be like that Man, and we have the present testimony of it in the Spirit. The Spirit has been given to us, the Spirit by which Christ was raised from the dead, so that we shall ultimately be like the One on whom we have believed, for "If the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead dwell in you, he that has raised up Christ from among the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you" (Romans 8:11).

Now, the point is this, and I think it is the great point of our passage, and it is what led me to speak about it, that life and incorruptibility have been brought to light by that blessed Man. He has appeared. What a wondrous day it was when Christ appeared! He came upon this scene - a death-stricken scene, where there was not a man for God, where everything had failed. Jehovah says, "Wherefore did I come, and there was no man? I called, and there was none to answer?" (Isaiah 50:2). What Christ came to do was to bring about the triumph and the glory of God in resurrection. That is in the recovery of man for God's pleasure, and He has brought it about. It is brought to light by the glad tidings. I was thinking, when our brother was speaking from John 16, about the man born into the world, that that man evidently had reference to

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Now I believe what has been before us today is this: not simply that we are going to be like Christ actually by and by (our bodies of humiliation will indeed be changed); but the point is that we should be in the gain of resurrection now; that we should be able, in affection for Christ, to cross from the responsible side of things, as connected with the wilderness, into the land of purpose; that we should enter into the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the purpose of God. So we get into the good of what God has for us according to His own heart's delight and joy; that we should participate in this at the present time. The way this was indicated this morning was a great help to me, and I have no doubt it was a help to my brethren also. It was shown how we are risen with Christ, namely, "through faith of the working of God, who raised him from among the dead" (Colossians 2:12). That is, we accept what is presented to us in the way of light and testimony regarding His resurrection, and the Spirit of God makes that good in us, so that we are quickened with Christ, and have thus anticipated the time when the same Spirit will quicken the body. We become quickened in affections, so that we are enabled to be here in testimony, because that is

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what is before God, and we shall not be efficient in regard to the testimony unless we are quickened in affection. If resurrection is the basis of God's great purpose, and of His promises which are the result of His purpose, and if we are to be any testimony to what He is going to bring to pass in the world to come, then we must reach resurrection in our souls. The Red Sea is one view of it and it is a blessed thing to see Jesus delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification, and to be clear of the world system where Satan dominates - the world of lust and pride. But it is another thing in spirit and affection to join Christ, by the passage of Jordan, where He is, in the resurrection sphere and so to enter into the purpose of God for us.

Well, that is, I believe, how we are effectual in regard of the testimony. What God will bring to pass in that day is already anticipated in our souls, so that we are a living testimony, of what He will bring in. Hence in our passage, life and incorruptibility are said to be brought to light by the glad tidings. What God intends is to fill the whole sphere, where death and corruption have been, with life and incorruptibility. They have been brought to light, and as we are in the true gain of resurrection, we are a testimony to what God will bring in. You will find in the passage I have read how intimately the testimony of our Lord is connected with life and incorruptibility.

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Before I close I will add a word in regard to the young, that they may be encouraged to appreciate what has been brought to pass in the resurrection of Christ. It is a good thing to have the full range of truth presented to us; and even if the truth sometimes appears to be difficult, the great thing is to appreciate and enjoy it; and it is wonderful how, when we seek to appropriate and enjoy these things, they lay hold of us, and how we unconsciously get formed by them. If I might speak on behalf of those who are older in the faith, we may have been many years on the road and may have learned but little, not perhaps through lack of light, but on account of our own wilfulness. So I would the more suggest to my younger brethren to go in heartily for all that God presents to you in the ministry of His word, and to seek to make it your own. In so doing you will not only enjoy it, but you will make progress, though you may not be conscious of the progress that you make, but you will find that, as the result, Christ will become increasingly known and exceedingly enhanced to your souls. Surely, speaking generally, that is what we all desire. Resurrection is set forth in that blessed Man. He has appeared. He became man with a view to annulling death, by going into death, and bringing to light life and incorruptibility. All this has been effected by that blessed Man. The result is a new generation for God, a generation which shall give Him pleasure, a generation which takes its pattern

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from Christ - the risen and heavenly One. Hence we read, "Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones" (1 Corinthians 15:48). May our hearts be drawn closer to that blessed Man in whom this wonderful truth of resurrection is established, and by whom it will ere long be effected and displayed in the wide universe of God.

Indianapolis, January 1911

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THE REVELATION OF GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE

J Pellatt

John 3:14 - 17; John 7:37 - 39; John 17:1 - 3

In the Old Testament there are only two positive statements with regard to eternal life - one in Psalm 133 and the other in Daniel 12. The reading of these passages would suffice to show that they belong to the future. They are really prophetic and connected with the future history of God's earthly people, and I think you can understand how, of necessity, eternal life in the Old Testament could only be spoken of in the way we have just mentioned - it awaited the revelation of God. The wonderful thing we come to in the gospel by John is the revelation of God. From the very outset of the book, the revelation of God is viewed as an accomplished fact. I will just cite one verse to prove that; "No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). Hence, in the gospel of John, you get eternal life as a present thing.

In Matthew, Mark and Luke it is connected with the habitable world to come; but in the gospel of John it is a present thing, and you can understand why and how it can be presented to us in that way

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in the gospel of John, because in that gospel you are brought face to face with that most marvellous fact - the revelation of God. There are many facts full of interest and of great importance in the Scriptures, but it is not too much to say that the greatest of all is the perfect revelation of God in the Person of the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, but it is in Him viewed as Man down here. Indeed, the revelation of God forms the foundation of the gospel, the foundation of Christianity, and I wish just to draw your attention to two or three points in connection with the scriptures we have read.

First, I want to speak of the revelation of God, and then I would speak a little of the divine intent which God had before Him in the revelation of Himself in the Person of His Son, and then to show a little what eternal life is, and who are entitled to eternal life and how those who are entitled to it are brought into it.

I do not want to make any invidious distinctions in Scripture, but I think I may say simply and freely in regard to the verses read from John 3 that there is a marvellous concentration of light in this passage. It is the light of God, the light of the perfect revelation of God in the Person of Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of God. It would be difficult in all the compass of Scripture to find a passage where there is such a marvellous concentration of light as in these wonderful words

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uttered by our Lord Jesus Christ, in His interview with Nicodemus. I need not attempt to say much - for John 3:16 has been spoken of so often and so fully - but where in all the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, can you find such an unveiling of the heart of God as in that wonderful verse, "For God so loved the world" etc.? The very heart of God is there unfolded, and that in a most wonderful way.

I trust you will bear with the utterance of such simple and obvious truths, but where else in Scripture do you read of God's love for the world? There are many scriptures which speak of God's love for His children - for His people, for those who are in relationship with Himself - but where else, except in this wonderful verse, do you read of God's love for the world? There has been a moment (and what a moment) in the history of the world when all the love of God for the world shone out. I need not say that the statement, "God so loved the world" is not the love of complacency; it is not the love of delight. One can hardly think of the world, especially in the light of John, being an object of complacency, or even those who composed the world being objects of divine complacency or delight, but it is the love of omnipotent pity, of infinite compassion.

Now, taking up these verses again for a moment, I think the revelation of God is two-fold. I think in verses 14 and 15 it is the revelation of God in righteousness. Someone has said, and it has been

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well said, that the righteousness of God is witnessed in the removal, in judgment, of the man that brought in sin and judgment. We are apt, I think many believers are apt, to limit the thought of the righteousness of God to the way that God has dealt with our sins in the death of Christ. But if man according to the flesh, the man who has brought in sin, if that man were allowed to remain, the righteousness of God would be compromised before the universe. But "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up, that every one who believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal".

Many elder believers here, perhaps, will remember a very simple little tract written a great many years ago by C H M on the two 'musts' in John 3 (AV). I think most of us recognise the first 'must' as a necessity on account of man's condition, but I understand that in the second 'must' (verse 14) it is not the necessity of our condition - it is the necessity of the rights and claims of God. Man according to the flesh must be removed in the lifting up of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of man. That was the great antitype of the brazen serpent, lifted up in Numbers 21. The righteousness of God was revealed in the removal of man according to the flesh.

Of course, when we speak of the removal of man, we do not refer to any individual, or to any person as such, because we have but to read the

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Scripture to its end to see that is not the force of what we are speaking of. God is revealed in righteousness and then (verse 16) is the revelation of God in love. That God might be revealed in righteousness the Son of man must be lifted up, but if God is to be revealed in His love for the world, then nothing short of the gift of the only-begotten Son could give expression to that love. I need hardly add that while there is distinction between verses 14, 15 and 16, there is no separation, because we learn that the "Son of man" is the "only-begotten Son". The Lord's words here are the light of the revelation of God. Verses 14 and 15 were spoken anticipatively - that is, you have to travel to the end of the gospel of John before you see the Son of man lifted up on the cross.

But the Lord's words here are in the light of the perfect revelation of God. It is not simply that God was revealed in Him, or by Him, but I think it might be put more strongly - that divine Person, as Man down here, was the perfect revelation of God. No doubt we have to speak in a comprehensive way, because we have to go on in the path of the Lord Jesus Christ till we reach the cross. It all concentrated there and was completed there. The Son of man was lifted up, and hence we have it, "Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10), and it was not in the life of the Lord, as in the

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days of His flesh, that propitiation was effected, but it was in His death.

Now I wish to speak of the divine intent, what God had before Him in revealing Himself. If we adhere to the language of the Lord here, and we are surely safe in adhering to His language, then I think we should have to say this - that what God had before Him in coming out in the revelation of Himself was that man might have eternal life. There is very little in the gospel of John about forgiveness, or justification. There is nothing that answers to the passover or the Red Sea. The very first mention by the Lord Himself of His death is in chapter 3: 14, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up, that every one who believes on him may not perish, but have life eternal". I think we might say, and it is an interesting point in John, that the revelation of God is connected with the purpose of God, and yet while that is true, it is in the gospel of John as in no other gospel, that you get that wonderful expression "every one".

The light shines, a light for all, and if it is the light of the revelation of God, no one can impose any restriction, or place any limitation to that light. Yet on the other hand, the revelation of God is in connection with God's purpose, and this wonderful expression "eternal life" is the expression of the divine intent of blessing for man. It is wonderful in the gospel of John how prominent eternal life is.

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Salvation in the gospel of John always follows eternal life, never precedes it. In verses 14 to 16 it is life eternal. In verse 17 it is, "For God has not sent his Son into the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him". Then in John 10:9 the Lord says, "I am the door: if any one enter in by me, he shall be saved". Salvation comes as the consequence of entering in, and what do you enter into? You enter into that which is set forth in Himself - the perfect light of the perfect revelation of God. In this connection I call your attention to the words in John 17:3, because they are important, "And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent".

In John 20:30, 31 it says, "Many other signs therefore also Jesus did before his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name". The "Son of God", in Scripture, does not set forth the truth of His Person as a divine Person, but sets forth the truth of His Person viewed as Man in relation to God.

I think you can begin to understand, in a sense, how eternal life is the great point of blessing. It is the great intent that God had in the revelation of Himself in the Lord Jesus Christ. There, is the Father revealed in the Son as Man, and eternal life consists in the knowledge of the Father as the only

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true God, and the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Father's sent One. Man had turned away from God, he had lost the knowledge of God, he was in idolatry and lawlessness, and God comes out in the revelation of Himself in that blessed Man, Jesus Christ. The Father is presented as the only true God for the recovery of man from idolatry, and Jesus Christ, the Father's sent One, is presented as the perfectly dependent and obedient One, as the point of recovery from lawlessness.

Who has title to eternal life? The answer of John's gospel is, "He that believes on the Son" (John 3:36). The great point in the gospel of John is to bring you to believe, "That ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in his name". It is the believer who gets it. The great gain of believing is that you get the Holy Spirit, and then you come into the realm and region of knowledge. Receiving the Holy Spirit you come to know the Father as the only true God, and you come to know Jesus Christ, the Father's sent One. May God make these things real to us, so that we may be found answering to the blessed light of the revelation of God in the Person of His only-begotten Son.

New York, May 1911

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SONSHIP

enjoyment that belong to the sons of God, if we have not, in heart and affections, got free from the world - "Out of Egypt have I called my son" - and what marks each one of the sons is that he is morally free from the world: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world" (Galatians 1:3, 4).

Matthew 2:13 - 15; Matthew 3:15 - 17; Matthew 5:43 - 45; Matthew 16:16; Matthew 17:5

I want to say a few words to you tonight on what I understand to be the thought of sonship - what it is to be brought into and enjoy the peculiar privilege of being one of the sons of God. I need not say it is one of the greatest dignities that God could confer upon man; but when you come to know God, you find that He acts according to what He is - according to His own greatness - and He makes the need and the ruin of man but the occasion of bringing out His own resources.

Now, there is nothing more important than that we should get, by the power of the Spirit of God, a clear sense in our souls of what God has called us to. I may say it is one of the deepest joys of any 'son' to have in his heart a sense of the greatness and the dignity of the position to which God has called him. You find today that everything is in movement; there is activity on every hand; but the saints have to learn (and sooner or later everyone finds it out) that activity in service is not morally great enough to command the heart of a 'son'. You may serve, not in the sense of sonship, but you will have underneath the service something that is not

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satisfied. The reason is simple - it is because one of the sons of God is morally too great to be satisfied with service. The only thing that will satisfy a son is the affection of his Father. Someone may say, 'Why am I left in this scene, whilst others are taken home?' The reason is that the affections are ripened sooner perhaps in one than in another. What God is doing in each one of us is ripening our affections as sons, so that we may adequately respond to the joy and delight that our Father has in us.

In Matthew's gospel we have the truth of sonship. No one will deny that the great thought in the King is that He is the Son. You will remember the first time a king was given to Israel, God drew attention to the fact that he was a son - Saul, the son of Kish. But God brought in another kind of man, David, the son of Jesse; and what marked David, the son of Jesse, was that he was beloved. He was a pattern man; he was a man after God's own heart; and he cherished in his soul the fact that he was beloved of God. He may have failed - and he did fail - but his failure, while proving to him with increasing severity the depths of the wickedness of his own heart, made him cling all the more firmly to the fact that he was beloved of God. So, though we may have to learn the depths of the depravity of the natural heart, may the Lord encourage our hearts on this side, - that we are beloved by God.

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Then you find in Matthew what might be called the characteristics of a son: you get his home; and then his privileges. In the first verse of chapter 1 we read, "Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham". There you see He is a Son on two lines; one is that He is the Son of a royal king; and the other that He is the Son of a man of faith. Then in the next chapter we get recorded this remarkable fact - Herod had issued a decree that all the boys were to be slain; and the Lord was taken down into Egypt. Now, why was He taken down into Egypt? I will tell you; He was taken into Egypt that you and I might be delivered out of it. A decree had been issued, by one in authority, that all the boys were to be put to death, and the Lord was taken down into Egypt, not to avoid Herod's sword, but that the scripture might be fulfilled.

But perhaps a still more striking example is recorded in Old Testament scripture - Pharaoh commanded that all the male children of the children of Israel should be killed. Why? Satan's thought was, beloved friends, that God should have no sons. Christ went down into Egypt that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt have I called my son" (verse 15). Now, what is the first characteristic of a son of God? It is this, that in heart and affections he is free from the world. None of us can ever know in our souls the true height of the dignity and

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It is the world that is the danger to the young men (1 John 2:15). When first they start out in the vigour of Christianity, and in the enjoyment of Christ as their Saviour, they would allow nothing to divert them from Christ; but after a time, perhaps, they begin to become occupied with the things of the world. Now, the world is a system all framed and built up by Satan, to rob God of His pleasure in man. Cain went out from the presence of God, and Esau went out, many went out, and they founded a system which is altogether apart from God; and our danger today is lest the principles that obtain in that system should get into our hearts. Now, this blessed Person, who gave Himself for us, went down to make a way out of that system for us. Beloved friends, how far are we out of it? The world is a system where man is kept going in a continual whirl of things, and Satan's object is to rob God of His pleasure in man. God calls His sons out of that world. In the close of chapter 3, we get another characteristic.

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The Son of man is an object of delight to heaven. Why? Nothing could be more simple; it is because He walked "in paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). He says, "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness". The blessed Lord Jesus came into humanity; and although John here would have hindered Him, He is found in "paths of righteousness for his name's sake", and heaven opens on Him with supreme delight; the Spirit of God descends like a dove, and lights upon Him, and a voice from heaven announces, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight".

Now, Christ is the great Pattern; and whilst the heavens opened upon Him in a pre-eminent way, still those who walk in the paths of righteousness - despised and rejected of men though they be - are objects of the most profound interest to heaven, and God looks down with delight upon them. What has God done to prove the extent of His delight in His sons? Well, He has proved it by giving the Holy Spirit from heaven, so that what came out in the Pattern - in the true Son - might come out in us. For He is the great Pattern; and "God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).

So, beloved friends, you are entitled down here, each one of you, to count yourself an object of the great delight of heaven. Scripture, speaking of the family of faith, says of them, "Of whom the world was not worthy" (Hebrews 11:38). No, indeed, it was

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not worthy of them; and heaven has supreme delight in those people. May, the Lord keep us in the path of righteousness, for His name's sake; for it is as we walk in the paths of righteousness that we get the consciousness in our souls that heaven has opened upon us, and that we are objects of delight to God.

Now, another thing I want to refer to is, the spirit of the son. I think from Matthew's gospel, chapter 5, to the end of chapter 7, you see the spirit of a son. He is like his Father; and you could have no greater standard. God could have no greater standard than that His sons on this earth should be like Himself. So you get this verse: "Blessed the peace-makers, for they shall be called sons of God" (verse 9). There you get the idea of a people of dignity, in a scene of confusion. I have no doubt the sons are left down here to be the great peace-makers; and the basis of it all is that they do not tolerate any confusion - neither inside nor outside. This feature comes out beautifully in the early disciples; they went about, and they removed every element of confusion. Why? Because they would only allow their souls to dwell on one Man. If they were referred to by Jew, or Gentile, by Pharisee, or Sadducee, it made no difference to them; they only allowed of one Man, and that One was the Man Christ Jesus.

If you take Moses, in Old Testament Scripture, you find that he started out in human strength to be

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a testimony; and he slew the Egyptian. But what had he to learn? He had to learn that he had only removed one side - the outward side - but the inward side must be removed as well. The Lord to this end meets him and seeks to slay him, to teach him true circumcision, before he is able to free God's sons.

Now, in our ways and manner of life down here we are to be peace-makers. Does that mean that you are going to close your eyes to anything that is wrong? No, it does not. There are a thousand and one things wrong; but a son of God does not go about this world occupied with what is wrong. Why? Because he has the spirit of his Father - the blessed God. And what is He occupied with? He is occupied with what is good. Yet He knows better than any what is wrong.

Now, in chapter 5: 43 - 45, we read, "Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who insult you and persecute you, that ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens". That is the spirit which is to mark us. You may say there are so many wrong things to be put right. Yes, but that is not what the sons are to be occupied with. Their present business is to take care of the interests of the Father; and they are discovered to be sons by the fact that they are going about doing

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good. Just as the Son, that One blessed peerless Person, went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. What is the result? Anyone who has a heart, or appreciation for the things of God is instinctively drawn in that direction.

Take one case in New Testament Scripture. You remember when Paul was on his mission in Philippi, how the heart of Lydia, the seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, was drawn to him. She saw in him a man going about doing good, just like his Master; and she came to him and said, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us" (Acts 16:15). What had drawn her? Had Paul come into the place denouncing everything wrong? No; he came in the spirit of his Father; and there shone out the wondrous goodness and grace that are in the heart of God, and the woman's heart was attracted. We belong to heaven, and the goodness and the grace of God shine upon us at the present moment, in the power of the Spirit, that we may find out those that are weary and heavy laden and be able to lead them to green pastures, and beside waters of quietness, by leading them to the Son.

"But seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples came to him; and having opened his mouth he taught them" (Matthew 5:1, 2). I may say this, the mountain in this passage is morally in accord with the

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heavens at the close of chapter 3. It is a system of things above the earth. He goes up into the mountain, and there, in that place of superiority, and moral greatness, He begins to open out to their hearts what the spirit of a son should be. What is the first thing? "Poor in spirit". People who are aiming after their rights here have no real link with heaven. What marks the sons of God is that they are poor in spirit; they let their interests, so far as this world is concerned, go to the wall; they are poor in spirit, but all the resources and treasures of heaven are at their disposal.

We get a beautiful example in Old Testament Scripture in the case of Elijah. Elijah was a man who was poor in spirit, meek and lowly, and yet he could come into this scene, and bring all the resources of heaven to bear upon the poor and needy people of the world. What we want to display in this world is the spirit of the sons of God.

"Ye have heard that it has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies", etc., then He refers to the fact that if ye merely love those who love you, the tax-gatherers do the same, and if ye salute your brethren only, ye do no more than other people; and He closes with these words: "Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect". Now, I dwell on that, because nothing that is imperfect will go to heaven. Thus the divine standard is set before us to educate us into the sort

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of spirit that is morally suited to the sons of God. And what is it? They are to be perfect as their Father is perfect. Just think of the dignity that belongs to the sons of God! In the midst of a scene of darkness they shine forth as lights in the world.

Now I come to another side of things, Matthew 16. People may say to you: It's all very well to talk, but we have to go through the world; we have to earn our bread and butter, and we have to face things here. Well, speaking very plainly, if I were to take any one of you, and ask you how do you manage to surmount the peculiar difficulties of your business day after day, what would you say? Not speaking of Christianity at all, take a hard-working business man in Belfast, and ask him that question, what would he say to you? He would say - Come home with me. You go home with him; and what do you find? You find he has a place where he can sit down, and dismiss all these cares from his mind - a place where he can rest; where he finds home comforts and encouragement, and the warmth of affection; and he goes back to business again, invigorated, and like a new man.

Now, in this chapter you find the home of the sons of God. The blessed Lord turns to the disciples and asks them; "Who do men say that I the Son of man am?" (verse 13). They replied, some say thou art John the baptist; some Elias; and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Then He said to them, "But ye, who do ye say that I am?" The response is so

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beautiful: Peter says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God". Now, what are the affections of the living God towards His Son? He will give Him a circle that can never be moved. Then the Lord turns to Peter, and He says, "Flesh and blood has not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in the heavens. And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades' gates shall not prevail against it".

It is a great thing to appreciate that circle where Christ is known in His own blessedness - where you go in from the turmoil of this world, and sit down and rest in His presence. You find yourself in a circle where you have not to love your enemies, or to bless them that persecute you. You are loved by everyone; and they are all glad to see you; and you are glad to see them. It is a wonderful spot - the assembly of the Son of the living God. No intruding enemy ever put his foot there; and whilst we have to walk through this scene in the spirit of sons, we have a home circle where we can sit down and enjoy divine refreshment in the house of God.

Now, as to the privileges, there are two great elements that interfere with the privileges of sons, and they are illustrated by Moses and Elias. Moses was a most honoured man. You could not over-estimate his importance, but he had to say to man in responsibility and to tell man what he ought to do. But when you come to the privilege of sons, you do not come to man in responsibility. Moses was a

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wonderful man; he was bearing with a people than whom, I suppose, there never were any more trying to have to do with; and yet he was the meekest man on earth. But you have not to do with Moses; he has to go out, else you are robbed of your privilege of sonship, for he was only a servant. Now, if Moses tells you what you ought to do, Elias reminds you of what you ought to have been.

There are two classes of christians who are not enjoying the privilege of sons, and they are robbed of it by reason of this - on the one hand they say, 'I am not what I ought to be'. Granted. Then the other class say 'Ah, if we had only been faithful, look what we might have been'. Quite true; that is Elias. But neither of these two men set forth sonship. Then there is another interfering element - when on the mount, Peter wanted to speak. You may have a nice thought, and you want to give expression to it. Peter had a nice thought, but there came a cloud and blotted it out. I like what blots out everything but Christ - there came a cloud that overshadowed them, and a voice out of the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight: hear him". To hear Him is the peculiar privilege of the sons of God. There is no greater privilege that the people of God have, than to be in the spot where the Father is free to unfold His delight in His beloved Son to those whom love has drawn together. The Father's delight is that we should hear the Son's voice, and learn what He is doing for the Father.

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And what a delight it will be for the Father to welcome every son into His house!

May we, then, seek more diligently to enter into the peculiar dignity that belongs to us as "God's sons by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26), that the moral characteristics of sons may come out in us now for God's glory.

Belfast, October 1911

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MARKS OF THE SPIRITUAL MAN

is of the flesh, so that what is genuine is brought to light!

1 Kings 3:5 - 10, 16 - 28; 1 Kings 4:29 - 34; 1 Kings 10:1 - 9; Acts 28:1 - 10

I purpose speaking on what the spiritual man is made like, and the consequence of the spiritual man in a day of difficulty. I chose Solomon because I think he is perhaps the most beautiful figure of the fruit of the Spirit in the Old Testament; he typifies, in that way, the spiritual man. You will remember that Solomon was a man of peace; his very name suggests it, and one of the fruits of the Spirit is peace. A king had come in and subjugated every adverse power, and had brought the house of Saul, the carnal man, to a close; and, as the fruit of the Spirit, you get this man - beautiful type of one delightful to the heart of God - on the throne, and you get suggested in Solomon what the spiritual man is really like. I just take these thoughts to give you in a simple and concise way the apprehension of a spiritual man.

If I take the start, the mark of true spirituality is that we take a very small account of ourselves. If you take Solomon, he had everything on the natural side to make him great; he could have said, 'If there is a man in the world of any importance it is myself, for I am the son of David the king, and I have

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inherited the throne; I am in a most important position'. But he says, "I am but a little child". This was not sentiment; it was the consequence in this man's soul of being in the conscious presence of the God of Israel. He meditated before God in this dream, and in it God spoke to him. It is very beautiful; God puts Himself at his disposal for any request. He feels, 'Who am I that I should be spoken to by such a wonderful Person as the God of Israel?'

People may ask, How we are to discern the marks of the spiritual person? They think that a spiritual person is some great brother or sister that has shone for some time amongst the brethren. That is all wrong; that is not necessary for spirituality; it is a person who in the sense of the presence of God can feel his own littleness. This is the first step in the most extraordinary advancement of spirituality. Take the blessed Lord Himself, I am sure we all covet to be as that blessed Man was, going along with the lowly. Look at the humility, the beautiful humility, of the Person of Christ; He created the world at His word, and yet there was the beautiful spirit of humility.

Now when you come to Solomon you get true spirituality, and what is the consequence? It leaves the blessed God free to unfold all His wealth to this man. I would like to draw your attention to the second incident because it is the point that tests our spirituality practically. It is when the saints are

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astray in affections, and when they are mixed up and cannot be properly located; there are squabbles and so forth; it is then that the spirituality of the spiritual man comes to the fore, and this incident is a picture of the lawless state of things. You get people with affections entirely astray; but mark this - there was affection. In one of these cases there was genuine affection, and in the other there was no affection at all. There is genuine affection, and you covet spirituality that we might be able to be with the Lord in discerning the affections that are genuine, so that we might not crush or hinder anything that is really of God.

I think the apostle Paul is a remarkable proof of this. How he distinguished between one kind and another, and how there was in him the most tender consideration where there was failure! Let me give you an incident. Take the second epistle to the Corinthians: Paul discerned the genuine affections in the man that failed. We should have said, 'That man has had a complete breakdown, leave him alone'. The apostle spiritually discerned the true affections. How did he come to them? By bringing in "the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word" (Ephesians 6:17), and which discerns between soul and spirit, joints and marrow. What happened? The man had to be cut to pieces, and he saw there was something genuine there; he did not want that overwhelmed. How we covet to be spiritual enough to use the sword of the Spirit to cut to pieces what

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Here the true mother's heart comes out, and she says, 'Rather give it to the false one than destroy it for ever'. That is where sorrow comes in, and it brings its sorrow. When the Lord cuts to pieces, cuts close home, may we have grace to recognise what the object of it is! Do you think Solomon intended to kill the child? He was going to kill the false affections, and bring to light genuine affections. I just turn for a moment to the passage: "And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice".

I sometimes allow myself the privilege of sitting down and meditating on the assemblies on the earth, and Paul's dealing with them. They must have thought, 'How privileged we are to live in the day of the apostle's ministry'. They looked at the Corinthians and said, 'We shall never make anything of that place;' but the spiritual man had taken the matter in hand, helped by the Lord, and had brought the sword of the Spirit to bear upon the assembly in Corinth. Great searching of heart was the result. Look at the way the genuine affections come out! How their hearts went out to the apostle, and how delightful to see the spurious thing gone; and the testimony reached all the assemblies. We think spirituality lies in an outward form. What

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marked the apostle? He was nothing to look at as a man; he was in touch with the sympathies of heaven. So with the figure - Solomon. He sat upon the throne with the wisdom of the God of Israel.

I turn to the next incident for a moment: it is full of encouragement. What you get there is the gain of spirituality. The apostle gives you a figure in the New Testament, but the figure in the Old Testament is exceedingly beautiful. "And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore". One mark of wisdom is "largeness of heart". We are straitened in our affections; and the reason is we are not wise enough to be large. We are afraid of being captured or turned aside.

What did Solomon's largeness of heart consist in? It not only embraced the people of Israel, but all the living earth for the God of Israel. Do you know what he said to the Queen of Sheba? He did not say, 'You do not belong to the chosen people, I can give you no information at all'. No. He had largeness of heart; that is a beautiful figure of the true man of wisdom - that all the ends of the earth might come to him to solve their problems. What did his wisdom consist in? "He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five". I just want to say a word about proverbs and songs. One covets to name a proverb. You see, when you come to a thing that there is no getting away from, it becomes a genuine by-word among the saints; it

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is a proverb. He spoke three thousand. It is a beautiful figure of one who had the perfect intelligence of what the fruits and results of the death of Christ are in this scene, and everything here is to be measured by the death of Christ for the spiritual man. It is one thing to give a good address, but another thing to make a statement that remains with the saints as a by-word. The apostle's statements live with the people of God today, not because they are remarkable ones, but because they put into form the consequences of the death of Christ for the people of God.

There is another side - "songs". When you come to a song you come to the product of a victory won. We are to speak in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19); it is the outcome of a spiritual victory. There was a victory of Moses, and a song of Moses. Do you know anything of the new song? There is going to be a new song and there will be none but those who are spiritual persons singing it, there will not be a trace of the carnal man; and then the gain of these things is that there is plenty of material in a spiritual man for profit - that is the force of a proverb! Then there is the joy of victory, that is a song - and he spoke of certain things, that is instruction. The gain of spirituality is very great. Take the apostle Paul as an example: if he came into a place where things were going wrong it became evident that this man would not countenance it. What is the next thing you would

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have got? He would have raised a spiritual song in their midst; he would have shown them how to begin at the bottom, and how you can come to the top. What is the bottom? Hyssop; and the top, cedar.

Now a word as to the last incident in Solomon; that is 'testimony'. The Queen of Sheba heard of the wisdom of Solomon. I hear people complain sometimes like this: 'It is very difficult to get an audience, no one comes into our room'. You do not want the audience, you want something for the audience when they come. Do you think if the apostle were to come to this city we should be here long? I greatly appreciate the company of the saints, but if I knew a man as spiritual as he was here, I should be one of the first to go and hear him. How far did the wisdom of Solomon extend? It reached the Queen of Sheba. There was no need for notices, there were results; and tidings had reached the Queen of Sheba. She considered it inconceivable that there should be a man on the earth that could do those things; she came to see, and tell her hard questions. They were nothing to the spiritual man, and when all the questions were ended, the Spirit could unlock the door and show more than any human person can take in. When Solomon had unlocked the door to the system of things for which the spiritual man is formed, she turns and it is one unbroken burst of praise, not to Solomon, nor to the people around, but to God.

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Now, I read the closing verses of the Acts of the Apostles; and I just refer to them for a moment because the figure is beautiful. The system of things has gone to pieces; there is nothing outwardly; but they had escaped. Now we are in this broken day, a day of difficulty, but we are still here - we have escaped - thank God. What is the spiritual man doing? He adapts himself to the conditions of the moment, and in the spirit of the moment just helps to improve the condition of things; he is picking up sticks to keep the fire going. It is a wonderful thing when you can keep the affections of the saints warm towards Christ. But it was an act a little child could have done and it was done in that spirit. Now Satan said, 'I will put a stop to this; I do not mind people quarrelling, but I do not want people to get warmed like this'. The viper appeared. The thing that warms the affections of the saints kills the power of Satan - you may put that down as a proverb! The spiritual man knows this. They see the effects of spirituality. What is the apostle doing? Going on quietly doing what he had been doing - simply and quietly serving under the hand of God.

The benefit of wisdom came out and the issues of life are discovered; the power of life is brought in and testimony goes out. They had expected him to die, but he lives. The Lord graciously awakens an increased desire to get the gain of what was spiritual. They came from all parts of the island to come under the influence of this wonderful spiritual

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power. Now you may say it was all very well in the early apostolic days; we are in the close. This picture is at the close; the ship was gone; they have been thrown on an island; there is little room and little movement, but there is room for spirituality, and also increased largeness of heart towards all saints.

May the Lord graciously give us with renewed earnestness to seek that which is of the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

New York, May 1914

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OUR RESOURCES IN A DAY OF LIMITATION

J Dean

2 Timothy 1:1, 9, 13; 2 Timothy 2:1, 10; 2 Timothy 3:12, 15

It is very wonderful how God has, in the Scriptures, thought of everything that His people need in regard to all that which they have to encounter right through until the Lord comes again. But we all require to know how to cut "in a straight line the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15), so as not to miss the force of the Scriptures in their application to our varied exercises. It is very easy to miss the force of Scripture, and the profit and gain of it, by wrongly applying it. I do not think that the particular defect of people in the separate path - and I may also say of some who have left the path - lies so much in ignorance of Scripture, as in the manifest inability to apply it correctly to things as they arise. Wisdom furnishes the right application of knowledge.

It is possible to know a great deal of Scripture, and yet not to be wise in knowing how to apply it, so that instead of this knowledge being useful to us in an emergency, it rather tends to give us a puffed-up sense of our knowledge, and so with all our knowledge we may take the wrong course and make

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serious mistakes. After all, we need something beyond a correct exposition of Scripture, valuable as that is, to preserve us in God's way.

This epistle was written to the individual. There are not many epistles written to the individual, but it is most important that we should pay attention to those that are written, because each individual needs them for himself. The first epistle to Timothy teaches the individual how to behave himself in God's house, and behaviour according to God's mind in God's house is behaving consistently with what the house is. This second epistle was written purposely to teach the individual - the faithful one, the one who desires to be here according to God's mind, how to be pleasing to God in the midst of a state of things that is not pleasing to Him. It recognises the departure as having begun, that is quite clear. When I say departure, I do not mean exactly departure from Christ, or giving up Christ, but departure from Paul. "All who are in Asia ... have turned away from me" (2 Timothy 1:15).

You see that was the point of the departure, and it was at that juncture that the apostle wrote this epistle to the individual - to his faithful son in the faith, one to whom he could impart directions how to act in regard to the state of things that had come in. That state of things has increased immensely since that day, but instruction was given

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at once to the faithful individual by the apostle as soon as it began, and this instruction is not less, but more, needful at the present time. I fear that many have not been brought by the Lord into the separate path, but have taken it voluntarily. I would therefore earnestly counsel each one to turn to the Lord, and look to the Lord, so as to receive direction from Him in regard to the path He would have you pursue.

Supposing, however, we have been divinely brought into this outwardly separate path from all around us - I mean now as believers, and in regard to religious things and associations more particularly - we are still in danger of falling under the influence of a good deal that we profess to have left, and, indeed, have left positionally. However, we need to leave what is around us in a deeper sense, so as to be clear of it in our souls, in order that what is going on around may not hinder us or indeed occupy us.

Now for this we require to know where our resources are, against all these varied influences to which we are daily and constantly liable, and to which we are so easily subject, as we come into contact with persons who have not taken the separate path, and whose ideas are very far away from the truth - persons who see no harm in a great many things which are contrary to God's mind; and who are very zealous in a way that is not God's

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way. How very blessed, then, it is that God has thought of the faithful individual in regard to these things, and provided in the Scriptures all needed instruction for each one who would be faithful to God in the midst of unfaithfulness, and in order that he might know how to act. These directions are very simple when once we see their true and proper bearing and application. Each faithful one thus knows where to turn for guidance, for instruction, and learns by this epistle how to behave himself in relation to the departure - the ruin around.

Now there is a danger - and I would warn all against it - of simply coming out from churches and chapels, or meetings that do not accept the path of separation, to connect ourselves with a body of people called 'Exclusive Brethren'. True, you may have sat behind (as we say) for a time, and have heard such speak and seen how they act; you may have adopted certain ways as the right course of procedure, so that, in course of time, you may have been received inside, and you suppose by this course that you know how to act. But I do not think that mere observation and usage is the way to learn how to act according to God.

You need to have scriptural principles deeply embedded in your soul, so that if a meeting should become divided, or a rupture should occur, you are not upset at all, because you have that to guide you which cannot possibly change or fail. I think you

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will all feel the force of this, and the importance of the instruction given.

Now there are many things in this epistle to which I cannot call attention tonight, but I want to place before you the resources of the individual in regard to what he has to contend with, and they are all said to be in Christ Jesus. I am not great on numbers, and do not wish to occupy you with them, but it is rather striking that the number seven should occur here, in that, seven times, the expression "in Christ Jesus" is used. This expression is not given here to show the believer that he is in Christ, or what he is in Christ - you get that elsewhere - it is given here more to show the faithful individual the resources he has in Christ in regard to the ruin, in regard to the state of things around.

The first thing here mentioned that the faithful one has in Christ Jesus, and that is available to him in Christ, is, I doubt not, in contrast with a religious order of things in the flesh, where things are accommodated to man in the flesh, where he builds up systems, and an outward order of things in which men can display themselves, where they can honour one another.

The very first principle, then, which every faithful one must have clearly in his soul and understand, and that is available to him is life - "life which is in Christ Jesus". You will call to mind that it was up to this point of life that the

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imitation in the days of Moses could proceed, and no further. Everything on this side of death, we must remember, can be imitated. There are in some of our large cities various meetings apart from each other, and when separate meetings exist in one place that have no fellowship with each other, we surely have a solemn state of things, for such have left the sects, and profess to be unsectarian, and assume to be gathered to the name of the Lord. What are you to make of such a state of things? The imitation is so close that if you were to go into each of those meetings, sit down, watch the procedure, listen to the phrases and the hymns, you could scarcely tell any difference between them outwardly. There is a difference somewhere, but you must discern it in another way; that is in a spiritual way. There is a spiritual way, but it is only found by what you have in Christ. Yes, the imitation has become so close that souls who are not instructed in these principles which are given in 2 Timothy are easily led astray, and drawn into associations from which they would be preserved if they were making use of their resources in Christ.

The first and great thing in order to realise this preservation is to admit where your life is, to admit it honestly in the faith of your soul, and recognise this great truth, that life is in Christ Jesus. Where you are to live, in the life of your soul, is in a glorified Man. That is not a very advanced truth for

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you young ones to grasp, though it may involve a great deal to obey it. The apostle Paul was an apostle "according to promise of life, the life which is in Christ Jesus". God had promised this life, for He intended to give His people a life beyond death for their souls, while they are actually and bodily in this natural life.

What a different character and blessing God's people have in Christianity from what they ever had before! In the olden time the life of an Israelite consisted in that order of things found in the land of Palestine, and was connected with the temple, the priesthood, the ritual, and the whole order of things given them through Moses. Now, of course, Christendom has largely adopted that line of life; it has really imitated Judaism and sought to reproduce its principles and practices in Christianity, as though the life of God's people in Christianity was just the same kind of life as it was before Christ came, and lived, and died, and rose again.

Your life is in Christ, as one of those who have received Christ, and you are to live, in the life of your soul, in what you find in Christ Jesus, in a glorified Man. That is where you are to live, and in what you find there. It is in this way that the imitation is stopped. The imitator cannot proceed that far, and it is only the genuine ones who have the Spirit who can do that. But those who have the Spirit may not do it. They may allow material or

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religious things and influences to have such a place in their hearts and minds as will divert them from the One in whom their life is, and thus practically, I do not say characteristically, they are living in a visible, religious order of things on the earth.

Supposing now you are living in so-called christian work and meetings, however correct and orderly, is that where your life is? What are meetings like if those who compose them are living in them? What would you expect them to be? They are bound to be cold and formal, however correct as to phrases and expressions. There is nothing spiritual or living in such a condition. We need what is vital and living, and therefore something for our spirits and souls, to keep us clear of these deadening influences. Yes, the first principle to hold fast in your soul, the resource at your disposal, is that your life is in Christ Jesus. That is the life that belongs to you, and to which you belong.

The apostle was an apostle "according to the promise" of this particular life that God had for His people in Christ, after Christ had come, and lived, and died, and rose again, and was glorified in heaven, and the Holy Spirit had come down. What a wonderful thing to live in what is found in a glorified Man! Our walk and work are here of course, but our life is not here, and walk and work must proceed from life, or they will not be of a living character. They will consist in a mere

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repetition of things we have read or heard, and the meetings will then be carried on more from habit than from vitality. Life is in Christ Jesus. I believe if that were truly known and obeyed by each one of us we would, as far as our spirits are concerned, be out of the whole state of things going on upon the earth, and we need to be out of it. 'Coming out' means a good deal more than leaving one meeting and joining another. To be really 'out' means that what I live in, what I think about, what my soul moves in, what I am considering and enjoying, is in a glorified Man - in Christ Jesus.

Now the next great thing to admit, to hold fast in your soul, is the fact that what God has given you in Christ is according to His own purpose and grace, and that it was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. A divine Person in the Godhead has now become a Man, and the One who is now a Man is the same Person who was before the world began, and God, according to His own purpose and grace, gave us this wonderful grace, in which we are now standing in Christ Jesus before the world began. Why is that stated here? I think it is to show to every one of us that what is given to us in Christ Jesus is outside this present world and that this present world has no part in it. So that if you drop down into this present visible course of things in your soul, you are robbed of the enjoyment and the realisation of what God has given you in

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Christ Jesus. "Who has saved us ... according to his own purpose and grace".

I might here remark, for the help of the young, more particularly, that there are two distinct aspects of salvation in Scripture. In one aspect it is said, "Who has saved us", in another aspect it is always said, "Shall be saved". You must seek to hold these two aspects distinct. One is God's side, the other is ours. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21). That is very important because we need it now, every day of our lives, every moment of the day. But there is another side. As viewed from God's standpoint, as viewed in Christ, we are always said to be saved. Both are true. Here it is, "Who has saved us". Our works have nothing to do with it, even our faith is not connected with it here. It is not that side, it is God's side. He has acted according to His own heart, His own purpose, His own love - He has saved us according to that which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Nothing that happens down here can touch that, we may be certain.

The third thing is the way to hold fast in your soul the apostle Paul's teaching, not in a detailed way, but in an outline way, a sort of summary, so that you may have a distinct sense in your soul of what really is the apostle's teaching. That is important, because he says, "Inasmuch as I am apostle of nations, I glorify my ministry" (Romans 11:3).

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I do not want you to turn away from Paul, I am concerned that you should not. I hope you have stepped into a path where your recovery to Paul is possible. He says in this epistle, "All who are in Asia ... have turned away from me". What is to save you from turning away from Paul? What he gives to Timothy here. Now, he says, hold fast the form, or outline, of sound words. Where are you to find this outline? In Paul's writings, in his epistles. You have to learn how to use them and apply them, but the outline is there. Every time you read one of these epistles you feel how little you know of what is there, it is so condensed, so much in so few words. Paul here says you want faith and love in order to hold this that you have heard of me, to hold it against all the influences to the contrary. Where will you find faith and love? In Christ Jesus. Are they available to you? They are, if you have received Christ, and are in Christ, they are available to you. Make use of them, for you cannot get on with Paul, nor hold this outline, without them. Of this I am more and more persuaded.

Therefore, Paul says, hold fast this "outline of sound words, which words thou hast heard of me, in faith and love". What is faith? I have not a doubt that faith is the light of the unseen, in the soul here. If you read Hebrews 11, you cannot fail to see that this is what it is. Abraham was called to a land unseen - he had the light of the land in his soul.

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Noah had the light of the flood in his soul, all the time he was making the ark. Where do you find faith now? In Christ Jesus. Where is love? In Christ Jesus. People may talk about their love: such have not got much. You must know where love is, and where it is available to you. You feel you are lacking in faith, lacking in love - how will you obtain these? Own where they are - in Christ Jesus. The faith that gives you the light of the unseen, the love that enables you to act according to God, is what you need in a selfish state of things, where man is seeking his own honour. In this way hold fast the apostle's teaching, have it distinctly in your soul in the way of outline.

The next two things are grace and salvation. I have spoken of being saved. Paul presents salvation in a different way here. "I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus". In the beginning of the chapter he encourages Timothy to "be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus". Two wonderful things - grace and salvation. We are all susceptible to the favour of man. I believe there is nothing which has such a strong influence on Christians as the favour of man, and it is stronger today than it ever was - indeed, people are carried by human influence. What a wonderful thing then it is to have the favour of God and to be consciously in the favour of God, to have the inward enjoyment

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of God's favour, as we go through a scene where man's favour is ruling and controlling people so much. It is remarkable to what an extent a man, or men, may influence others humanly, especially men in the position of ministers or clergymen, or even leading brothers.

Divine favour is in Christ Jesus, it is there available to each one - to the individual. If this be realised, we shall not get discouraged, we shall not be disheartened, nor be upset if others look askance at us and look down on us; we shall not be turned out of the path, nor drawn into things we know to be wrong. Human favour is a powerful influence, but against it we are exhorted to "be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus".

There is a salvation in Christ Jesus. From what? I think it is salvation from man and from what is here, from what we have to contend with in our pathway while seeking to be faithful to the Lord - to be here for God. We need saving from what is contrary to God. Where do we find salvation from man? In another Man. Salvation is in a glorified Man, salvation from what man is here and from human ways. Now if ever there was a time when man was exalted; made much of; asserted himself; had confidence in himself; believed in his own goodness; aspired to be something great; it is today. He will even set himself up to be God shortly. We surely need salvation from man, and salvation from

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man is in Christ. The apostle therefore suffered everything as regards himself, endured it all to encourage the saints to lay hold of this salvation, which is in Christ Jesus. There is grace in Christ Jesus, and there is salvation in Christ Jesus, both available to the faithful individual.

Now we come to the imitation danger. In chapter 3, we find imitation comes into prominence. How are we to meet it? We have to live piously, doubtless, but in a new way. There was such a thing as devoted men, holy men in that sense, in the Old Testament, but the character of their piety could not be said to be in Christ Jesus. Now "all indeed who desire to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted". Why? Because of the different nature of piety altogether, from that which exalts man here in a religious way. How great, in a religious way, some men can be, even having statues erected in their memory, etc. But if the piety be in Christ Jesus, it does not secure that, it secures persecution; but we need not mind, for this piety will give us joy and satisfaction and a sense of acceptability with God, and will enable us to represent God where Christ is rejected. The first epistle to Timothy says a great deal about piety. "Piety is profitable for everything" (1 Timothy 4:8). What a wonderful thing it must be! How blessed to have that which is profitable for everything, while going through a scene like this. Now it is this

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because it has "promise of life, of the present one, and of that to come" (1 Timothy 4:8). Where is it found? In Christ Jesus - that is true piety.

The last thing here mentioned as in Christ Jesus, and I think the most important of all in a certain sense, is the way to hold Scripture, the way to read Scripture - to read it, study it and hold it, on the principle of faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Mark the way it is put here. This statement gives the Scriptures a wonderful place to my mind. Let us beware of anything that would belittle Scripture. Scripture is exceedingly important. Never was there a time when it was more important that we should have Scripture for all we hold or do. What we need so much is the ability to handle Scripture wisely, so that it may make us wise. It is a great thing to be wise unto salvation. Wisdom is the principal thing. How do you get wisdom so as to understand the Scriptures? By the faith which is in Christ Jesus, the faith which is found in that glorified Man. As you read the Scripture, with Christ before you, and have that faith - that divine light which is found in Christ glorified shining on the sacred page - as you read it thus, how differently it appears to you and affects you, from what it does when you merely have the letter before you.

I once called to see a young man who had just been received amongst us, and he of course, with all the zeal of his first love, wanted to know as much

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as he could, and so was studying his Bible most energetically in some of those abstract chapters in the prophets. When I went in he said, 'I am very glad you have come, I want a bit of help with this chapter, I cannot quite understand it'. I felt led to say to him, 'Many a time I have had to close the book and get on my knees'. I said no more and he said no more. The day afterwards he came to me and said, 'I shall for ever thank God that you came in yesterday. I now see that I was beginning to be absorbed with the letter of the book here, instead of the Person there, and that I was drifting into studying the Scriptures in an intellectual way, instead of by means of that divine light which is found in Christ Jesus'.

Now, says Paul to Timothy, it is quite true that "from a child thou hast known the sacred letters, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation", but on what principle? Mark the principle - it is faith, which is in Christ Jesus. The spirit of all Scripture is Christ, and unless you read them in the light of a glorified Christ, you will not see their true meaning and bearing, and there is nothing more serious than misapplying Scripture. The right application, the true light by which the Scriptures are able to make you wise, so that you can apply Scripture properly, is found in Christ Jesus.

My purpose in calling attention to these scriptures is to encourage you all to make use of

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what is here declared to be in Christ Jesus. As we have said, it is not here that the believer is viewed exactly in Christ, it is to show the believer that he has in Christ Jesus certain moral qualities, graces etc. - things which are needed by him in regard to the state of things around, so as to keep him clear of prevailing influences.

We have all these things at our disposal in Christ Jesus - the Christ we have received, the Christ we are going to be with and like. Also we have the Spirit in us who enables us to lay hold of what is here said to be in Christ Jesus, the things by which we are able to meet the errors, the influences, the difficulties of the corrupt state of things which is going on, and will go on increasingly, until it receives its judgment at the Lord's return. I am sure we do not wish to contribute to it, we wish to keep clear of it, and so be free from its influence, and thus be able to turn to the positive heavenly order of things, and go on with God's order and God's way. In order to do this we must keep clear of man's way and Satan's way, or we shall have to prove that we are not able to go on in God's way. God grant that we may give serious and prayerful attention to these simple, divine, and most blessed principles, and things, available to each faithful one in Christ Jesus.

London, October 1914

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SUFFERING AND GLORY

H D'A Champney

Luke 9:18 - 36; Romans 8:17 - 19; 1 Peter 4:12 - 16; 2 Timothy 3:10 - 12; 2 Timothy 4:6 - 8

I have read these passages because they bring out very clearly that the Christian's path here is one of suffering, but it leads to glory. But coronation is preceded by crucifixion, or, to use very familiar words, 'No cross, no crown'. The Lord had all along been preparing His disciples for the announcement He makes as given in Luke 9. But never before had He fully unfolded what is here brought out. The disciples had, however, been daily more and more impressed with His competency to take up the ruined or falling interest of Israel, and to set them free from the dominion of the Romans and deliver them from all evil, and, as Messiah, to reign over them and bring in the long-promised kingdom. But, strange to say, Jesus is about to tell them that their hopes for the immediate setting up of the kingdom in power and glory, and the removal of the outward pressure and evil could not yet come to pass. Before Jesus unfolds this to them, we find Him alone praying. His disciples being with Him He asks them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They answered to the effect that there were different opinions. Upon this Jesus said to them, "But ye,

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who do ye say that I am?" and Peter answers with the greatest decision and certainty, "The Christ of God". The disciples had no question about it at all. It was evident to them that He was the long-looked-for Christ, and that He had all the power needed to deliver man and to set up the kingdom over Israel. But to their astonishment they are strictly charged and commanded not to tell any man that He was the Christ! Jesus takes another title - that of Son of man - and says, "The Son of man must suffer". Instead of showing them that their hopes for earthly blessing were to be immediately realised, He closes such hopes for the moment, and says He must suffer! He takes a grand title - that of Son of man - a title connected with far more glory than that of Messiah, Israel's King. Psalm 8, written long before Christ came, shows it is connected with universal dominion and glory, but that first He would be made some little inferior to angels. Hebrews 2:9 shows that it was "on account of the suffering of death", but that it leads to all things being put under His feet in the coming day. He told the disciples, not simply that He would suffer, but that He must - there was no way of avoiding it if men were to be saved. He must die for them. So He says, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up". The last words, however, showed that the

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suffering was not to end in death, but in resurrection and glory, for He would be raised again, yea, He must (God's glory demanded it) be raised again the third day. What an eye-opener this was for the disciples! They naturally would have looked for the elders and chief priests - the leaders of religion - to receive Christ, but no, they would reject Him and kill Him! But for their encouragement, He shows that the elders, etc., would not succeed in their plot to get rid of Him, for the third day He must rise again!

Then He shows them that, if they would follow Him, their path also would be one of suffering, for He said to them all, "If any one will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me". Now this is no light thing. We may deny ourselves hosts of pleasures, etc., and yet not deny ourselves. To let self go is the last thing we want to do. It means real suffering to refuse ourselves, but we cannot follow Christ truly unless we deny ourselves. Yea, more, for the Lord added, "and take up his cross daily and follow me". Christ took up His cross willingly for the glory of God and in His love for us, that He might die for us, and we are called to follow Him. But we cannot take up His cross - we are not called to do so, nor could we. We are called to take up our own. Each man has his own cross to take up. Men were not crucified on the same tree. Each had a tree, or cross, to himself, and

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had to carry it to the place of crucifixion. Your cross is not mine, nor mine yours, but every disciple has to carry his own cross. This must mean suffering and shame here, and even moral death. If a man was seen carrying his cross, every one knew that he was on the way to be crucified, and that he was considered not fit to live. This is the place the world will give us if we are true in following Christ, and we have ourselves also to take that place as being in ourselves not fit to live. The cross represents the end of man. That is why we read in Romans 6:6 - "our old man has been crucified with him, that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin". Also Galatians 5:24 says, "They that are of the Christ have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts". This we are called to do practically every day - not to spare the flesh, but to deny ourselves, and that without anybody knowing it perhaps in this world. If we sought to get a name for it, and to be thought something of for our self-sacrifice or self-denial, it would not any longer be carrying our cross, but the very opposite. It is a great test for us to do this every day. A man might be willing to do some heroic deed for Christ once and for all, and perhaps lay down his life, but to do this daily, week by week and year by year, for many a long year, this is where the test comes in. But the Lord is sufficient for us and can enable us to do that which He

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encourages us and bids us to do. He said, moreover, that "whosoever shall desire to save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, he shall save it". He would find life in a far better way, above and beyond this world, and he would gain far more than all that could be got in this world. Besides, in what way would a man be advantaged if he should gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? For in any case he would lose the whole world after gaining it, for he could not keep it, nor take it with him when he dies.

Then to help us and encourage us He speaks of His coming in glory, and that in a threefold character of glory, and shows how serious it would be if He had to be ashamed of us then. The Lord does not want to have to be ashamed of His people. It is a delight to Him to be able to say, "Well done!" He does not want us to receive some mark of shame and disapproval on His part at that day, but rather a mark of approval. So in His love and care for us He warns us beforehand, and speaks of the threefold glory of His coming. First, He would come in the glory of the Son of man. This glory is opened out in Daniel 7:9, 10, where the thrones were set, that is, cushions were thrown down for the monarch to sit upon, and "The Ancient of days did sit ... thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him". Then, after the destruction of "the beast" - that is, the Latin

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empire in its last form - a Man is brought near before Him, and everlasting dominion is given to Him, a kingdom that can never pass away. For we read, "Behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (verses 13, 14). We find, too, in the same chapter that "the saints of the most high places" (verse 25), the heavenly saints who died in faith, and who served Him faithfully here, take the kingdom with Him and reign with Him then. It is needless to say, that the Son of man of Daniel 7, to whom is given, by the Ancient of days, that vast dominion, is the despised Jesus of Nazareth whom we find in Luke 9 quietly opening out His glorious future to His dear disciples. How rightly glad, then, should we be at that day if He were to own us when coming in such amazing glory! But how sad if we were passed by in shame, or if we had to receive some mark of disapproval, or if He could not own us at all as belonging to Him! Let us then carefully consider those words, "ashamed of me and of my words". Many perhaps would not exactly be ashamed of Him, but are ashamed of His words. Perhaps we

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slight what He says about forgiving our brother, or about fighting for our rights, or about not being of the world, or about taking up our cross and denying ourselves. If so, we shall find He will have to show His disapproval of us in that day when His approval and glory will be found to be of eternal value.

He will come, too, in the glory of His Father. This is even a greater glory than that of having universal dominion as Son of man, the last Emperor of the world, if I may so speak of Him. He is more than universal Ruler, He is the Son and is the object of the Father's love and delight. What He is with the Father is even more than what He is as having universal dominion. What an honour to be associated with the Son of God! Yea, even to be brought, through Him, into the same blessed relationship with God as His dear sons, so that the world will know at that day that God has loved us as He has loved His Son! Ought not such a thought to affect us deeply? Again, there is a third glory, for He comes in the glory of the holy angels. Now Christ Himself it was that made those holy angels, for the direct work of creation is attributed in Scripture to the Son, the second Person of the Trinity. Jesus is not only Man, He is God, and He made the holy angels to do His will and carry out His pleasure, and they are all at His command, and they delight to serve Him. Think, then, what a

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magnificent escort for the Son of man! For He will come accompanied by His mighty angels, whose power is far greater than that of men, and all ready to serve Him! We read of one angel slaying an army of one hundred and eighty-five thousand men! What resistance, then, could the world make against Christ establishing His kingdom and reigning over the whole world? He will carry all before Him, and men who do not want His kingdom will be cut off and perish. What an encouragement, then, to suffer with Him now, if we are to reign with Him then, and have some distinction, it may be, in a kingdom that will be so glorious that all other kingdoms in the past will be absolutely forgotten or sink into the shade. If, through grace, we are God's children, heirs too of God and joint-heirs with Christ, as we read in Romans 8, we must not forget what follows - "if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him", and that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us".

But to further encourage His disciples, Jesus said that some of them should not taste of death till they saw the kingdom of God. And accordingly, eight days later, He took three of them up into a mountain. We read, He went up to pray - an expression of dependence on God, for there never was a man so dependent as Christ, and He it is who will bring in universal happiness for this world. It

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will not be brought in by the independence of the rulers of this world, nor by the independence and will of the people, but by the praying and dependent Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Suddenly the praying Man is shining like the sun (Matthew 17:2), and "his raiment white and effulgent". There were also two men with Him and intimate with Him, who "talked with him". They were Moses and Elias, and they appeared in glory and spoke, not of Christ's glorious kingdom, but "of his departure which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem" that is, of His exit or exodus, the glorious way He would leave this world by Calvary's cross. For what men look upon only as shame and weakness - the death of Christ - was really a moment of supreme moral glory. For He shone out in those closing moments more gloriously than ever before, in His grace and love to man, and in His devotedness to the will of God in giving Himself a sacrifice for sin, and in expressing fully the love of God to man. He won the battle of Calvary, not at the cost of the blood of thousands, but only of One - of Himself, the Son of the living God, so that through the shedding of His precious blood we might be cleansed from all sin, and might never perish, but be eternally saved. Moses and Elijah also appearing in glory, not only expressed that the law and the prophets of the Old Testament were fulfilled and made good in Christ's glorious kingdom, and on the ground of His death,

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but they are also figures of the saints who have died in faith and of the saints who are, as Elijah was, taken up without dying, when Christ comes for His own. Then we shall be caught up to meet the Lord, together with all those who have fallen asleep through Him; in other words, with all those who have died in faith, and we shall all come with Him in glory. Thus Moses and Elijah are a picture of the heavenly company in glory with Christ, while the three disciples represent the earthly company who will enjoy the reign of Christ over the earth in the coming day. What a day that will be when the praying Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, comes in power and majesty and rules the earth for God, and when all the heavenly saints come in glory with Him!

But there is a still greater thing than the manifested glory of the kingdom. We read that as Moses and Elijah departed, there came a cloud, a bright cloud (Matthew 17:5), and overshadowed them, and that the disciples were afraid as they entered into the cloud, and there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son: hear him". That cloud was the cloud of "the excellent glory" (2 Peter 1:17), and was the Father's dwelling-place, the Father's house. It represents the brightest portion and privilege that we can have - namely, to be associated with God's own Son in the Father's presence, before His face, to know and enjoy His

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love as revealed to us by His Son. This is why the voice out of the cloud said: "This is my beloved Son: hear Him". As we listen to Christ, and learn of Him, all fear goes, and He unfolds to us the place we have in the Father's bosom of love, and in the Father's house. Only the Son could reveal that love. How foolish then was Peter, or ignorant, to put, as it were, Christ on the same level as Moses and Elias, and wish to make three tabernacles, etc. But he soon found his mistake when Moses and Elias disappear, and they find themselves overshadowed by the cloud of glory, and hear the Father's voice calling attention to His Son. After that "they saw no one but Jesus alone" (Matthew 17:8). Surely, beloved, it is worthwhile suffering for Christ here, in view of such glorious privileges! It is nothing new that saints have to suffer. They have always had to suffer from the very beginning of time. And they suffered for many and various reasons. The Old Testament Scriptures reveal many kinds of suffering. Abel is the first case. Abel suffered for righteousness at the hands of Cain, who hated him and slew him. He slew him "because his works were wicked, and those of his brother righteous" (1 John 3:12). Abel owned by his sacrifice that death was on man, and therefore he slew a lamb and offered it to God, and was accepted. He was righteous and suffered from Cain whose works were evil.

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Then we have Enoch, who walked with God three hundred years, and who prophesied of the Lord coming "amidst his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all; and to convict all the ungodly of them of all their works of ungodliness, which they have wrought ungodlily, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 14, 15). It is evident that Enoch suffered because of his godliness or piety. Piety brings God into everything in daily life, and Enoch lived godlily in the midst of an ungodly world, and God owned him by taking him away without his passing through death. "He was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Then we come to Noah - he built an ark for the saving of his house, believing that God would drown the world by a deluge. Noah suffered because he acted under the influence of things not seen as yet, for before the flood the earth was watered by a mist rising from the earth (Genesis 2:6). It is not recorded that there was any rain before the flood. For one hundred and twenty years he testified that God would drown the world, and as Peter speaks of scoffers in the last days who say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Peter 3:4), so no doubt in those early days, before the flood came, Noah had to suffer from scoffers and bear any amount of ridicule. But the flood did come - and swept them all away. We too must expect suffering in this world if we live and are moved by the light

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of the world to come and by the "things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard ... but God has revealed to us by his Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10). The world vainly hopes it will continue for ever, and we must expect their ridicule if we maintain that God is going to judge it and bring in a world of life and glory to take its place. Then Abraham had to suffer in leaving his country, kith and kin, in obedience to the call of the God of glory who appeared to him. For one hundred years he was a pilgrim and a stranger in the land of Canaan, with no politics in this world - no patriotism - for he looked for a city which had foundations and for a country which was heavenly, and rejoiced to see Christ's day. How often we allow natural relationships or false ideas of patriotism to prevent us following the Lord. But if we answer to the call and live as belonging to another country, we shall have to suffer here. What wonderful compensation, however, when we find ourselves part of the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from God for the blessing of all the nations!

Next, Joseph suffered from his brethren. He suffered for several reasons - because his father loved him, and because of his coat of many colours, and because of his visions and revelations, and also because he exposed their evil ways. So the Christian who enters more than others into the Father's love, or who comes out distinctly in the

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beautiful moral clothing of Christ, with its many colours or varied graces, is often hated or disliked by his fellow Christian, who knows little of that love, and does not seek to know it, though the same love is for him too, and whose clothing is more that of the world than of the beauty of Christ. He is hated too by the world which has always shown great antipathy to the chosen objects of the Father's love and care, and who are morally altogether different from themselves. Then, too, Christians have to suffer because of the wonderful revelations of God's purposes of love, which the Spirit reveals to those who love God, and again they often have to suffer, not only because, by their walk they convict the world, but because their godliness is a rebuke to their brethren who walk carelessly, and hand in glove with the world. Joseph also suffered under a false charge when sold into Egypt, and he was imprisoned, though perfectly innocent, and was laid in irons until what God had said came to pass, and the king sent and let him go free and exalted him to be the chief ruler in the land. Perhaps to be falsely accused and misunderstood in this world is one of the hardest kinds of suffering; but let us remember the time is fast approaching when God will publicly justify His maligned people, and at the judgment-seat of Christ every one will be manifested, and no false charges will stand then, and the approved will be publicly manifested.

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Then again, Moses suffered for identifying himself with the despised people of God, the children of Israel, when they were still in bondage under Pharaoh. He might have remained great in Pharaoh's court and have been the patron of the Israelites, but he chose "rather to suffer affliction along with the people of God than to have the temporary pleasure of sin; esteeming the reproach of the Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he had respect to the recompense" (Hebrews 11:25, 26). It was the first time in Scripture we have a people who were the people of God, and Moses had the courage to leave all and identify himself with them. Now this today means real suffering if we identify ourselves with the Lord's people, however much they are despised and however poor, or of what nation they may be. But they will not always be poor and despised. Very soon now they will be seen in the glory of Christ and shining like the sun, and will be by far the most exalted people in the whole universe, and they will have the highest place in heaven of all God's creatures. Do not then let us now be ashamed to own and identify ourselves with those who love the Lord, and who are bound together in true and holy fellowship, waiting for Christ. Again, Moses also suffered because he was the servant of the Lord. He is a striking figure of Christ and was a very remarkable servant. He brought Israel out of Egypt

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and served them forty years in the wilderness. His was a very difficult service and cost him much suffering. At one time, in his faithfulness, he had to stand alone for God against the whole vast congregation of Israel. But God sustained him till the end, and Luke 9 shows him in glory in the coming day. So, too, all who serve the Lord here must expect to suffer, and sometimes even to stand alone, but remember, "If any one serve me, him shall the Father honour" (John 12:26).

Again, Caleb and Joshua suffered because they brought a good report of the land, the whole congregation of Israel, six hundred thousand men, spoke of stoning them, when the glory of the Lord interfered, and the six hundred thousand had to perish in the wilderness, and the two faithful witnesses alone survived to go with the children of Israel into the land forty years later. So, too, if we are faithful in our witness and testimony and encourage one another to take a present possession, in the power of the Spirit, of what God has purposed for us, as His own dear sons and as belonging to heaven, we shall have to suffer at the hands of those who, as it were, despise the pleasant land.

Again, David suffered because he was the Lord's anointed. Saul was the people's choice, but David was chosen of the Lord; he had, however, to suffer many a long day, and his people with him,

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before he eventually came to the throne. But they were happier in the cave than Saul and Jonathan were in the palace, for God was with them. So all who are anointed with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, are sure to suffer in this world. The world does not like that Spirit. It is too blessed for them. "All indeed who desire to live piously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12), but relief will soon come, and if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him.

Then, too, the prophets suffered for having the word of God. They had a word from God, and it reached the conscience and heart of man and exposed him. It also brought God to him, and called for repentance, and testified of Christ as the only hope for man. But they all had to suffer for their testimony. "Take as an example, brethren, of suffering and having patience, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord" (James 5:10). So today, if any one now has anything at all of a prophetic gift, in the way of bringing God to people, and thus causing the secrets of the heart to be made manifest, however small his service in this way, whether it were a brother or a sister, he would have to suffer. Sisters may have some prophetic gift, but if so, they have to exercise it in a way suitable to a woman. Many a mother has in this way brought up her family for the testimony. But whoever at any time has a word from the Lord,

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even in a little way, he must expect to suffer if he is faithful to what the Lord gives. The prophets took the side of God in a day when God was dishonoured and forgotten, and this meant suffering.

The last character of suffering that I have to mention from the Old Testament is found in the Book of Daniel. Daniel and his three friends suffered from Babylon. They refused the defiling food of Babylon. Also Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego refused to bow down to the golden image and join in the world's united religion. They were thrown into the fiery furnace for it, but God delivered them and publicly honoured them. Daniel, too, refused to pray to man instead of God, when all agreed to displace God and set up the king in His stead. It cost Daniel the den of lions. But the living God closed their mouths and vindicated His servant before the world. What an encouragement all this is for us, to refuse the modern Babylon, the proud system of this world's glory, which is quickly approaching its end!

Then in the New Testament the leading sufferer is Christ. He suffered beyond all men. He suffered because of what He was - absolute blessedness embodied in a Man, the full expression of God. Also He suffered in making atonement and in bearing the wrath of God for us as the sin-offering. He, of course, was quite alone in this. Then, too, He suffered for all the reasons I have

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mentioned above. He is the expression of all the varied sufferings the saints have been called upon to endure, for He is the Leader. He was the greatest of all sufferers, and consequently He leads the way in glory, as far beyond all. The prophets all united in testifying to the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. But in a similar way we are called to suffer too. All who have Christ's Spirit are called to suffer for Christ's sake. Christian suffering is more intense than anything known in the Old Testament. It is more inward than outward, more in spirit than in flesh, though there is also often the outward as well. But, "If ye are reproached in the name of Christ, blessed are ye; for the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you" (1 Peter 4:14), and "the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, when ye have suffered for a little while, himself shall make perfect, stablish, strengthen, ground" (1 Peter 5:10). Let us take care we have nothing to do with suffering as an evildoer, etc., but only as a Christian, and when the crowning day shall come how great will be our joy and our reward.

For how will recompense His smile

The sufferings of this "little while!"

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May the Lord keep us faithful till then, so that we may receive the "crown of righteousness" which the Lord will give at that day, not only to Paul, but "also to all who love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8), for His name's sake!

London, October 1914

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THE SPIRIT IN WHICH DIVINE THOUGHTS ARE CHERISHED

could effect this service, God could set forth a testimony of the final overthrow of Satan (Acts 28:5).

Romans 12:1 - 8; Romans 16:1 - 7, 22 - 27

I would endeavour, beloved brethren, to add a word as to the way in which God secures material in the sympathies and affections of the saints, in view of the protection and concealment here of that which is before Him, and by which He will carry out His purpose. He effects it by producing a point of sympathy between the One in whom that purpose centres, and those who cherish Him here in the path of suffering love which He has taken to give effect to that purpose.

The Spirit of God in the earlier part of the Roman epistle introduces Christ as the Ark of the Covenant, the One by whom God gives effect to His counsels. He now labours through the affections of the apostle to promote amongst the saints at Rome those mutual sympathies which, being the product of the love of Christ, would become available to God for the protection of the One in whose spirit these sympathies subsist. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service". It is on the line of surrender, the way the Lord has taken, even

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unto death, that the will of God is cherished here. On this line only can the sympathies of the saints be truly developed and sustained, to cherish all that God found here for His heart in Christ.

In the beginning of Exodus 25, reference is made to the offerings of the people, and they are viewed as being found in sympathy with Moses, in regard of the rearing up of the tabernacle here. In the earlier chapters of Exodus, God had in grace committed them to the authority of Moses, that they might thereby be delivered from the bondage of the Egyptians; but He would now bring Moses before them as the one to whom He had confided the heavenly plan for the erection of the tabernacle, that one vessel here in which every divine thought was to be cherished, and which God Himself would grace with His presence. Hence the spirit of the people in their free-will offerings, and the affections which suggested them, for God can dwell only in the full affections of His people. As appreciating Moses in that light, they are viewed as committing themselves in their affections to him; so the thought of a living sacrifice in Romans 12 suggests a committal without reserve, never to be retracted.

The material in relation to which they offered themselves to Moses was the spoil of Egypt, suggesting the way that the affections of the saints are wrested from the power of the enemy, and placed at the disposal of the Lord, and thus made

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available to Him for the rearing up of that in which He is cherished here. In the spirit in which Moses had surrendered all for them, he would encourage the people to place their affections at his disposal, so that they could thus submit themselves in figure to him as material for God's world. The Spirit of God lays stress in the beginning of that chapter on the variety of the material which was to be offered. The gold might suggest the sovereign impression which one might have received of the love of God, whilst the silver might indicate the sense which another would have as to the Lord's rights over him in redemption. The copper again might suppose the peculiar sense in the soul that another might have learned of God's removal of the man in judgment. Another would figuratively appear in the light of Christ as the One who was out of heaven, as suggested in the blue, whilst the purple might rather refer to the Lord's imperial rights over the universe, cherished in the heart, and so on.

It is evident that whilst the Lord would disclose Himself to true affection in every feature of His Person, He yet reserves to Himself the sovereign right to touch each in a unique way with some distinctive impression of His glory, and thus qualify such a one to take his place in the body of Christ, to shine there in the light in which he has learned Christ. One had rather that thought in view in referring to the variety of the material, each

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impression being accompanied by the peculiar course of education and discipline necessary to the soul's appreciation of that impression. For instance, the light in which the Lord in glory first appeared to the apostle Paul was as the One who loved the assembly, as found here in suffering.

How true Paul was to the light in which he first learned Christ! The Lord first appeared to him as the One who would, in love, protect from heaven His suffering people here, and it was in this spirit of unwearying love that Paul devoted himself to the shepherd care of what was precious to Christ here.

No Israelite could avail himself of the material for his own adornment. God would adorn His people with His presence amongst them just as He invests His saints today with the gift and presence of the Spirit. Their attempt to adorn themselves had only provided material for the golden calf. No Israelite's tent was to be distinguished, the glory being found in that tent only where God was pleased to dwell, the material for which He would secure in the affections of His people.

Each of us can rightly appreciate our distinctive impression of Christ, only as it is available to Him to be interwoven, so to speak, with those of our brethren into the tabernacle, for it is to that end that it has been given. To attempt to use one's impression for personal distinction is to oppose the very object of the Lord in giving it. It is

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in the vessel here that the glory of Christ is to be seen, as it is said of the city in a future day, "Having the glory of God" (Revelation 21:10). As, so to speak, an Israelite saw the gold which he had placed in the hands of Moses interwoven into the tabernacle with the blue and the silver and so on, he would see in its true light the value of what he possessed; and so far as we are found amongst our brethren under the hand of the Lord, we learn the place appointed to us in the body of Christ and find grace from Him to occupy it in His own spirit, to our gain and that of our brethren.

I think we have an illustration of this in Romans 16. Paul in priestly affection appears to view each of the various members of the assembly at Rome as in his own peculiar shining of Christ, and loves to recognise the light in which they are found, for they shine in suffering. In fact, in no other spirit can we shine. There was Phoebe, our sister, a "minister of the assembly which is in Cenchrea". She had been a servant of a local company. How the local company in which one is placed by the Lord affords peculiar opportunities for devoted service! In fact, she could be a succourer of Paul. Surely the spirit in which she would care for the great apostle would be but the expression of the devotion which she had lavished in obscurity on the saints in her own locality. To bear the local burden in priestly sensibilities is to

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qualify for promotion in the assembly. Then Phoebe's journey to the Gentile metropolis had evidently relation to the testimony; Paul could confide to her the apostolic letter, for was she not expressive of the affections in which it was couched? Paul would thus seek to promote amongst them sympathies proper to the assembly, in order that he might, on coming to them, confide to them the truth of the mystery to which he refers in the postscript of this epistle. For only in these sympathies could there be adequate protection for the cherishing of what is concealed.

With this end in view, he closes the epistle with the salutation of Quartus the brother. Apostolic authority had secured to them the light of the position, but the atmosphere necessary to the recognition of the position could only be secured in the spirit of brotherly sympathy. The idea of an apostle is provisional but the thought of the brother is eternal, and if the mystery involves what is in principle eternal, the atmosphere in which it is cherished must be of that character. How this spirit shone in Paul! He owed his introduction to the assembly at Damascus to the touch and grace of a brother (Acts 9:17). He left Damascus in that same grace let down by a basket from the wall. He can stoop to pick up sticks in order to provide for the comfort of the saints, and in the very hand which

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And so with John: it is in the place of suffering in Patmos that he can claim relationship with his brethren. "I John, your brother" (Revelation 1:9), he says. He was the last of the apostles. He fully recognised that they would be removed, but as bringing what is eternal into his ministry, he would take his place amongst his brethren in relationships that were eternal. How Paul welcomed this spirit in the brethren who came out to meet him at Appii Forum (Acts 28:15). It says that when he saw them he thanked God and took courage. Nothing less than this spirit amongst the saints could afford joy to the apostle for he recognised in it an atmosphere in which the desires of Christ for His people, that which lay so near to Paul's heart, could find their accomplishment. It is suggestive of the Lord's own joy in Matthew 11, in the presence of those whom the Father had given Him.

It is interesting to trace this spirit throughout the Acts. The saints at Antioch were morally qualified for divine disclosures which could not be made at Jerusalem, owing to the spirit of brotherly consideration which marked them in their relation to one another and to their brethren in Judea. It is thus in the wilderness path of suffering that the sympathies of the saints are gathered up by the Lord and turned to account for the cherishing of

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divine thoughts. May we be prepared, beloved brethren, to submit ourselves to the Lord in view of the promotion of His own spirit amongst us, and of all that He can confide to us as being found in that spirit.

Indianapolis, January 1915

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HIS INHERITANCE

and enjoy what the blessed God has got for Himself in His redeemed, beloved people.

Genesis 24:43 - 46, 52 - 67; Genesis 25:5, 6; Romans 8:9, 10; Colossians 2:2, 3; Ephesians 3:16 - 21

I have before me to say a few words on what the hope of His calling is, connected, as it is, with the riches of His inheritance in the saints. You will doubtless remember that when God brought Israel out of Egypt, He had it before Him to bring them in and plant them in the mountain of His inheritance. He would plant them there; that is to say, He would have His people to share in the things that He Himself delighted in.

But now I should like us to look for a little at the inheritance on the heavenly side - and I may say in passing it is not the mountain of His inheritance exactly, but it is that which the blessed God has taken up in Christ, and His inheritance in the saints. I believe it is the desire of the Spirit of God to bring us into the good of that inheritance now; that it might not be simply a question of merely being in the company of people with whom you have certain outward privileges, such as the breaking of bread, prayer meetings, reading meetings, and so forth, but that you might have the practical spiritual enjoyment of the inheritance in the circle of the saints now. In that circle you learn to appreciate

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Now I trust, with the Lord's help, to make this more clear to you. I would like to give you the connection in which the Old Testament setting of the inheritance is presented. If I understand the book of Genesis correctly, the climax of that book is reached in chapter 22. I must not, however, enlarge very much on that at the moment, but it is intensely precious - I refer to the beautiful figure of Abraham and Isaac ascending the mountain where Isaac was to be offered up; but I may say in regard to it that the blessed activities of the Father and the Son, with a view to all blessing, both heavenly and earthly, are set forth there in type.

The foundation on which everything stands for God is the offering up of His own beloved Son; and I think it was a wonderful point when God brought out, in figure, a father's affection for his son; and yet the son of his affection was offered up as a sacrifice - a sacrifice that prefigured what Christ was, not merely as the answer to guilt, not merely as the atonement for all the sin and ruin that had been brought in, but the offering up of His Son in order that from that very spot where all the corruption and departure were, there should be a savour of eternal sweetness rising to the heart of the Father. It is from that spot that the Spirit of God records the blessings that were to come in through

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Isaac. Now, just to keep the connection for one moment, you will remember that at the close of chapter 22 there is a little parenthesis which gives you the generation of Rebecca, just immediately before you get the record of the death of Sarah, showing that the assembly was in view before the history of Israel was portrayed.

Now chapter 23 gives us the record of the death of Sarah, and Abraham's purchase of a burial-ground. It is perhaps one of the most interesting chapters in the Old Testament, for it establishes the rights of redemption in regard to the earth, and you have the purchase price paid with the current money of the country, and the land made sure to Abraham for ever. Let me remind you, that piece of land is going to be demanded, and Israel shall come forth and people the earth. The incident is a picture of Israel, for the time being, buried; but the rights of redemption are held by the true Abraham, and He will take up those rights, and Israel will come forth and stand upon the earth, for the purchase price has been paid, the deed has been made sure, and the inheritance rightly belongs to Abraham. Now that is connected with the death of Sarah.

Chapter 24 stands between chapter 23 and the incidents recorded in chapter 25, where other families are referred to; but you will have noticed that in that chapter, Isaac gets the pre-eminent place -

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Abraham gave to Isaac all that he had, and before he died he sent the other families away eastward. The picture is beautiful: there stand Isaac and Rebecca, with all the blessing of his father in a unique and distinct position; and all the other families blessed as only Abraham could bless them, but sent away eastward.

Now the hope of our calling is connected, I think, with Genesis 24; and when you come to consider the way we have to enter into it practically, you will, I think, agree that the Spirit of God has graciously given us, through Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles, three salient epistles that deal with the subject. I do not at all undervalue Paul's other epistles, but the three epistles in which the heart of the apostle comes out in a distinct way, in this connection, are those to the Romans, the Colossians and the Ephesians. I may remind you that the apostle had not seen either the Roman, or the Colossian saints, when he wrote those epistles; he had, however, been to Ephesus, and he knew the saints there intimately. It is an immense thing that we should be established in these epistles with a view to entering on the hope of our calling.

Now let me say a word on Romans 8"If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him". I take Genesis 24 to be illustrative of the Spirit's mission, to bring to Christ a company which will be adequate to fill a special place in His affections; in

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other words they are the company of whom the apostle spoke in the epistle to the Ephesians; they are his inheritance. What marks the chapter is that the servant starts out with ten camels of the camels of his master, indicating that the whole question of the responsible wilderness journey - ten camels - had been contemplated before the servant ever started out on his mission. Is there a faint-hearted or tremulous saint here this evening? You need not be at all afraid; when the servant started out on the journey he knew all the distance that was to be travelled on the onward path, and every mile home. What a heart the blessed God has: He not only gave His Son, but He gave the Spirit of His Son. What was the mind of the servant? His mind was to discover someone that was like his master.

Here the apostle writes to Rome, the metropolis of the world at that time, and his object in writing was to bring to light the mystery of the metropolis of God's world. He wrote a thesis that was to deliver the saints from this world, and put them in touch with the metropolis of God's world, to which they were to belong. And what was to mark them? They were to have the spirit of the kind of Man that God was going to people His world with. Now I think you have this pictured in Genesis 24. There you have the servant explaining his exercises; his communications take the line of exercises, that he might find a wife that was suitable to his master;

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and he asked the Lord to bring him into touch with someone of the same sort of spirit as Isaac. What kind of spirit was that? The servant says, when I ask a drink, the maiden will say, "Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also" (verse 14). What is the gospel? It is the recovery of man for God. So the servant's exercises were not to the end that he should find someone who was very beautiful to look upon; no, but to find someone touched with the spirit of Christ.

Beloved, many of us profess to believe the gospel, but I ask you, how far are we each marked by the Spirit of the Man who is God's Glad Tidings? If you have got the Spirit of that Man, you will have no room for the display of your own spirit. Now, when the camels had done drinking, the servant "took a gold ring, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten shekels weight of gold" (verse 22). We were speaking a little of the inheritance of Moses, here you have it. Just imagine this damsel looking at these things, and feeling that there was now only one person for her - the one who had sent her the ring and bracelets; her hands were only to be active in the service of that one person, and her ear to listen only to his voice.

Well now I pass on for a moment to what we may see in connection with the epistle to the Colossians. There the apostle says, "In which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge".

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Now you can understand the picture in Genesis: you can understand the impression that the servant must have given of his master; there was no question whatever of what they gave to the servant; they gave him nothing; but he begins to unfold the illimitable wealth of Isaac. Oh, I wish we took it in. If a person were prepared to listen to the Spirit's account of Christ, what would impress one would be the extraordinary wealth of Christ, and what God had gained for Himself in that blessed Man. It was to this end that the apostle exercised himself on behalf of the saints at Colosse; he says you need not go outside Christ for anything - "For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and authority" (Colossians 2:9, 10).

Now when you come to consider the question of the state that is necessary in order to enter into the inheritance, and this is a point of very great importance, you will remember that what led the damsel to the conclusion that she should go with the servant was the treasure that he gave out at this particular juncture; we read, he "brought forth silver articles, and gold articles, and clothing, and he gave them to Rebecca; and he gave to her brother, and to her mother, precious things" (verse 53). This is the picture that the Spirit of God gives to captivate the heart for Christ, and to get you to move in your affections to the scene where Christ

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is. Look how the Spirit lavishes the wealth of God upon you. Is His object that you and I might be established, and set up, and made glorious with the glory of this world? No, no. What is His object? It is that we might cut our connection with this scene, and move to where Christ is. The servant says, 'Now I have had the liberty of bringing out the wealth of my master, and I must go back to him again, do not hinder me;' and I think I can see in the spirit of the apostle Paul an intense longing to get the saints to move on that line. He says, "If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above" (Colossians 3:1). Seek them.

The enemy says, 'Adapt yourself to the things that are down here; you had better stop with us; bring the light of the truth and establish a system here, so that we can all be benefited by it; don't mind going over to Canaan; the two-and-a-half tribes settled down here, and only went over occasionally'. But what does the Spirit say? "Do not hinder me" (verse 56). You may say, 'But if I were to move it would mean breaking loose with my father, mother, sister, brother, all the household, and all that I have been interested in, all my life'. But just look at the wealth, the gold ring and the bracelets, and the silver articles and gold articles. How the Spirit of God delights to give an external view of Christ to the affections of His people, so

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that they might cut loose from the things in this world and move towards Him.

The Lord help us, beloved, to respond to the presentation of Christ, so that we may, like Rebecca of old, put them on and say, "I will go". Do not think, beloved, that these things are just to be listened to and passed over. The Lord looks for decision, definite and distinct, that we should be set in the line of the exercises of the Spirit of God for us. The Spirit of God takes up the journey, He accepts the responsibility; and what is He doing on the road home? He is strengthening you with might in the inner man. I venture to say that between the moment that Rebecca cut loose from her own family circle, and the time she saw God's blessed Man meditating in the field, she had her affections strengthened by her communications with the servant.

What is the object and intention of ministry? Why, to quicken, and increase, and intensify the spiritual affections of the saints. Just think of it, the apostle bowed his knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He would give the saints "according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts". You say, 'What do you understand by that?' I will tell you: there was a time when every interest that was common to men in the world had a

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place in my affections; but now I have before me another Man and another world; and the interests of that blessed Man now occupy the place that formerly was held by the things pertaining to this world.

What are His interests, beloved? His inheritance is in the saints, and I venture to say that when you come into a local meeting and look around on, it may be only two or three, you have a profound impression of what they are to Christ. People may say, 'Oh, what a poor lot they are'. They have never seen them rightly. To see the saints properly you must have the Christ dwelling in your heart by faith. You look around, and you are unconscious of any peculiarities they may have; instead you see the preciousness of Christ in them. Rebecca lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac meditating in the field at eventide, and she asked the servant who he was; and he said, "That is my master!" (verse 65). How beautiful to see God giving us a record in the Scripture of the delight that the Spirit has in being at the service of Christ. "He shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you" (John 16:14). I believe, beloved, that nothing is of more real delight to the Spirit of God than to retire behind the affection that He has created for Christ, and to watch those affections in their own proper movement, in their own proper sphere, and to contemplate the delight of Christ in them. Do you

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not think it was a moment of supreme delight to the servant when he saw Rebecca array herself? What a delight to the Spirit of God when the hope of His calling has laid hold of saints, and then to quietly go out of sight, that Christ might have His unique and proper place in the midst of His gathered people.

There is a day coming when He is going to have a public display; when every eye shall see the supreme place that Christ has in the affections of His people; but the Spirit of God desires that He should have that place now. That is the hope of our calling. We are called to be the vessel in which Christ has His rightful place; and that in the very midst of the confusion, and in the scene where the enemy's power is, there should be glory to God in the assembly, unto all generations of the age of ages. As we were reading a short while ago, Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still. What a day, and what was seen at that moment? The power of God in His delight to have man entirely for Himself; one to whom He could listen.

Now, beloved, just think of being called. There will be no barrier in the coming day; but why does the Spirit of God want us on the heavenly ground now? It is that there might stand on this earth, in the very spot where the man of sin will stand, a living witness to God's delight in His blessed Son. What is He going to do for that company? Scripture is so beautiful - the servant told Isaac all that he had

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done. Now, I would like to say one word to encourage you; just think of the servant telling Isaac how the same spirit, the spirit of Isaac, had come out in Rebecca; then he related to him the history of the home from which she had come, and how she had left all to come to him. When she was asked, would she go, she responded, "I will go". I believe it will be supremely delightful to the Spirit to bring the company in to Christ, and - I speak reverently - to report all that has happened in the pathway here, that Christ may welcome the company in all the warmth of His everlasting love. What did Isaac do? He took her into the place where Israel had been, and he was comforted.

People have sometimes said to me, 'Why are we not caught up to be with Him now? Why do we wait?' I will tell you: there are certain things that have to transpire in the ways of God before He can renew His links with Israel; and the assembly holds the ground until the moment arrives for those links to be renewed. Now there are two sides to this privilege; one is that you stand for Christ here. The other is that there is an inside spot, and there are communications of a spiritual character inside, that will never be known by anyone but Isaac and Rebecca. If you were to ask me what I coveted above everything on earth, I should say it was to know a little more of those inside communications. You may ask me, is there any scripture for that?

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There is; if you were to read at your leisure from John 14:1 to John 16:33, you would find some of those communications. Do you know what happens at the close of them? The heart that made them prays. The heart that made those communications prays that the Father, about whom the communications were, might make good, in the company, the force and meaning of them. Beloved, we have a wonderful calling.

We are not called to do exploits on earth, to convert the world, or do some stupendous acts; we are called to fill a peculiar place in the heart of the blessed Son of the Father's love. May God give us grace, so that there will be wholehearted response from every one of us, for His name's sake.

Belfast, April 1915

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THE KINGDOM AND THE WAY

They are very near to you, the elements the Lord alludes to here.

Mark 10:46 - 52; Mark 11:1 - 11

There are two prominent and simple thoughts in the Scriptures, and indeed in the chapters from which I have read, to which I wish to draw our attention. One is the kingdom and the other is the way. Not a way, nor thy way, nor yet the highway (although these are alluded to), but THE WAY. The kingdom has been established in order that the hearts of men might be attracted, and their feet directed into, and maintained in, the way, and a wonderful way it is. It begins with the sufferings and death of Christ, and it involves suffering and death for those who would take it. The path is downward, but it has a wonderful exit; an upward one. The exit of that way leads to glory.

We read in Mark 10:32, "And they were in the way". Who were in the way? The Lord and His disciples. He would not go that way alone. "They were in the way going up to Jerusalem". What was there at Jerusalem? A cross of shame. The Lord had told them what awaited Him, and it says, "And Jesus was going on before them". I would not want to go that way, much less invite anyone else to go that way, unless it could be said that Jesus went before them. "And they were amazed". I do not

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wonder at that. On a previous occasion when the Lord had intimated that He was going that way, Peter had taken Him aside and said: "God be favourable to thee, Lord; this shall in no wise be unto thee" (Matthew 16:22). So when they saw Him take that downward way, I do not wonder that they were amazed, and were afraid as they followed. Oh, it says, they followed Him. 'Yes', you say, but it adds they were afraid. Can you wonder at their being afraid?

Nature could not go that way, for it is intolerable to the flesh. But they followed, and why did they follow? Because Jesus went before them. They had fears, and I can understand that, but there was something greater than their fears; the mighty link formed between their hearts and that blessed Man who went before them. He was more to them than their fears. We read: "And taking the twelve again to him, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him". If, in spite of your fears, you go that way, you are bound to get disclosures. The Lord does not give disclosures to people who hold back. He discloses His thoughts to people who go that way in spite of their fears.

He says: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered up to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him up to the nations: and they shall mock him, and shall scourge

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him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him". That is the way, a downward way; a path of sorrow, suffering, shame, rejection and death. Is that the end of it? No. "And after three days he shall rise again". There is an exit, an outlet in resurrection, and it does not stop there. Where does it lead to? It goes right on to glory. Now it is at that very moment that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come to Jesus, and say, "Teacher", (not Master), "Teacher, we would that whatsoever we may ask thee, thou wouldst do it for us. And He said to them, What would ye that I should do for you?" They say, "Give to us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory". What did they know about glory? He had told them about a downward way. Oh, yes, but their eye was on glory.

Where did they get their impressions of the glory? He had taken them, as recorded in chapter 9, to a high mountain apart by themselves. Doubtless that was an actual mountain in Palestine. I have no doubt there was an effulgent glory there. A threefold glory, indeed, is spoken of; His own, the Father's and that of the holy angels. It speaks of a glory that will be displayed in the world to come, but I would like to engage your mind tonight with what I might call moral glory. You do not need to go to a high mountain in Palestine to behold it. It all centres in a Man. He led them up into a high

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mountain apart by themselves. Why? You can get no impression of glory on the plain. You can get no impression of glory on the battle-fields of Europe. They speak of glorious victories. What are they? Their glory is their shame. You can get no impression of glory amidst men down here. He led them up to a high mountain apart by themselves. You have to get away with that blessed Man, above all the miasmas, and mists of this world. You have to get on to a moral elevation to learn what glory is. He led them there and He was transfigured before them.

Do you suppose the transfiguration added anything at all to that Man? Nothing! For thirty years He had walked in obscurity under the eye of God. But when at His baptism, He came into public evidence, at the beginning of His active ministry, the delight of heaven in Him was such that it could not contain itself. Could that Man have aught added to Him by that which was external? No! Now at this moment, when His ministry is almost completed, again a voice is heard out of the cloud, and you get heaven's idea of glory. The heavens attested His worth, the Father expressed His appreciation of His moral excellence. Here was an answering glory to His path of dark dishonour. He was transfigured, but the transfiguration added nothing personally to Him. Those shining garments, what were they? They were, so to speak, but the

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robe that covered what He was in Himself. We sometimes hear of men, great men, travelling incognito. I say it reverently in regard to the Lord, He had been travelling among men incognito. But He wishes to unveil what He is in Himself on that high mountain in the presence of those three disciples. His moral glory shines out. His garments are "shining, exceeding white as snow, such as fuller on earth could not whiten them" (Mark 9:3). Who is He? He is a Man absolutely for the pleasure of God. Heaven registers its testimony as to what glory is. The disciples saw it and they heard - "This is my beloved Son: hear Him" (Mark 9:7). There is the Man you want to be in touch with, if you would know something about glory.

That is where Peter, that is where James and John, the sons of thunder, got their impression of glory. I believe those men not only knew where glory was, but they heard from the lips of Jesus the way to it, for on the way to that mountain, He indicated, for us, the way to it. Powerful language! He does not invite them to come that way. It is put in a far more touching and impressive way than that. He says, "If any one will come after me" (Luke 9:23). To my heart that is stronger than an invitation. It is thrown open to you, does it appeal to you? "If any one will come after me". What? "Let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me".

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That appeal had not fallen on deaf ears, it had laid hold of the heart of the two sons of Zebedee. I can understand them coming to their mother and saying, 'Mother, we have received an impression of glory and how it is to be reached. The path is clear before us. What do you think about it yourself?' Happily the light of it had reached their mother's heart too for in another gospel where this same incident is recorded, we are told that the mother of Zebedee's children brought her sons to Jesus. I know some mothers who have a wonderful impression of the glory and the way it is to be reached. They would be quite happy for their sons to take the downward path that reaches to it, but their sons are not content to go that way. On the other hand, I know some sons, and their hearts have been deeply imbued with the sense of moral glory, but the mothers are not content that the sons should go the way that leads to it. They would like them to be cultured, to be flattered, to be exalted, to be prominent in this world; but here was a mother and here were her sons in perfect correspondence of mind and heart in regard to glory. They come and she comes, and they say, "Teacher". Why "Teacher"? They heard the Father's voice on the mountain say, "Hear him". "Teacher, we would that whatsoever we may ask thee, thou wouldst do it for us" (Mark 10:35). He says, "What would ye that I should do for you?" They say, "Give to us

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that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory" (verse 37). Why do they want to be so near to Him? They wanted to be morally near to Him, to be in moral correspondence with Him. They knew they could not be, so to speak, the Supreme One. There was only one Man who could be supreme. I would like to be conformed to Thee more than to any other man; would like to sit next to Thee; the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left hand in Thy glory. He says, "Ye do not know what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup which I drink, or be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?" (verse 38). "And they said to him, We are able". And they did, James was martyred, as we read in Acts 12. John, we are told, accepted martyrdom, though he was delivered. They had counted the cost of the road to glory and they never took back what they said in faith. The places given to them were not in the hands of the Lord to assign to them. He says, "To sit on my right hand or on my left is not mine to give, but for those for whom it is prepared". I just say that for a moment, to give you an impression of what is on my mind in regard to glory.

Well now, I would like to say a word in regard to what God has effected, in order that you and I may have our feet put on that pathway. Sin having come into the world, man by nature is in darkness and bondage. He is blinded, in ignorance, and he is

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under the power of sin and Satan. Now, to offset that, God has established His kingdom in a Man, and there are two things that are essential in a well-ordered kingdom. One is power and the other is grace. If I may use a simple illustration, although I do not particularly like human illustrations (they are always more or less weak), I refer to a couple of the nations at present in the world's eye. Take Russia. Russia has always been regarded as a great power. She is doubtless a very powerful nation, but the very worst enemy of Russia would never accuse her of having an overplus of grace. She has the reputation of being despotic and cruel. There is power there, but no grace. On the other hand, take Belgium. If I were a Belgian, I think I should have a peculiar affection for the king of that country. He must be a remarkably fine man. He has shared the sorrows and sufferings of his people. But when his country was over-run by an invading army, he was powerless. That was not an ideal kingdom. In an ideal kingdom you need the elements of power and grace combined.

In the kingdom God has established in Christ, these elements are found in perfect combination, for God has established His kingdom in a Man that has died for His subjects. I might say He has died for every man. Think of a king dying for his subjects! Plenty of subjects have died for their kings in Europe. I have not heard yet of a king who has died

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for his subjects. Think of His grace. Does that not appeal to your heart? Has not that Man a claim on your affections? In dying, He has brought to man all the light of the grace of God. God knew what He was doing in the way He took to get near to man; drawing near to men in a Man. God says, as it were, 'I am going to draw near to men in that Man in order that that Man may have a hold on the affections of His people: that He may be attractive to them; that He may be irresistible in the power He has over their hearts'. I say, there is a King! There is grace! Grace! But that is not all.

When He died there was no weakness. I hear somebody say, but He was crucified in weakness. Yes, but He was mightier in the moment of weakness than all the power of the enemy. He has assumed all the liabilities and all the disabilities of His people - our sins. He went down under them and put them away for ever. Death - He has invaded death's domain. He has gone into it, but He could not be holden of it. Satan - He has vanquished him, and He has come forth from conflict a Victor, and God has exalted Him to His own right hand. The Holy Spirit has come down from where He now is, bringing near to us all that, in death, He has secured for us. We do not need to go up to heaven to bring Him down, nor to the depths to bring Him up. The Holy Spirit brings that Man near to us in a living way, and we can say, like

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the psalmist, "Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27:1). He has brought the light of God to you. "Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evil-doers, mine adversaries and mine enemies, come upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. If a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; if war rise against me, in this will I be confident" (verses 1 - 3).

We get light and salvation in that Man; the light of the grace of God, and all the power of God, are available to us in Him. The end in view is that we might be set free so as to be engaged with Christ Himself. So the next thing the psalmist says is, "One thing have I asked of Jehovah ... that I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of Jehovah, and to inquire of him in his temple" (verse 4) - to behold that Man and to be imbued with His Spirit.

Well now, I have read these two incidents because in them I think we get the thought of the elements of the kingdom of God, light and salvation; elements which must be known ere our feet can take that path. In the first one we read, "They come to Jericho, and as he was going out from Jericho, and his disciples and a large crowd, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, the blind man, sat by the wayside begging". There are plenty of people on the highway unsympathetic with Christ. It is the

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world's highway, but the Lord in lowly grace came that way, on the highway. What is Bartimaeus doing? He is begging, because he was blind. He would not have been begging if he had not been blind. I do not think he begged after he received his sight. Every blind man is a beggar. You ask what I mean. Well, if I find a man begging for forgiveness, for instance, or begging for salvation, I say, that man is blind. The light of what God has secured for men in the kingdom has not broken in upon that man's sight. If it had, he would not be begging.

Let me use a simple illustration, that of a besieged city. The inhabitants are shut in by the enemy; there is no food, hardly one necessity and the people are begging for bread. Suppose the soldiers in that city make a sortie on the enemy and capture train-loads of provisions. They have such an abundance, they hardly know what to do with it. Wagons are sent through the city piled high with food. Placards are posted everywhere, inviting people to partake. The populace would not plead their unworthiness, nor ask if they were hungry enough to share in the good things. They would help themselves quickly enough. If you found a man still begging you would say, He must be blind. So I say to you, you do not need to beg, because grace, boundless grace, reaches right down to where you are through the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Now here was Bartimaeus. He sat by the wayside begging, and when he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out. He does not address Him as the Nazarene. He says "O Son of David, Jesus, have mercy on me". The light of the kingdom, established in David's Son was dawning on him. The crowd had no sympathy with him. They charged him to be silent, for you will find very few sympathetic people on the highway. You will get very little sympathy if you are moving towards the light. "But he cried so much the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus, standing still, desired him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying to him, Be of good courage, rise up, he calls thee. And, throwing away his garment, he started up and came to Jesus". That garment might be useful, or an ornamental thing, but with him the supreme thing was light, and he discarded it. "And Jesus answering says to him, What wilt thou that I shall do to thee? ... Rabboni, that I may see". He is seeking after light. He was in need, "And Jesus said to him, Go, thy faith has healed thee. And he saw immediately".

What is the first thing he did when he received his sight? His eyes rested on the Man in whom God's kingdom is established. That Man who had brought the light of the grace of God near to him. His eyes rested on Him. And what did he do? He did not go his own way. No! He "followed him in

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the way". What way? The very next verse says. "And when they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives". This is very suggestive. What is Jerusalem? It is death. What is Bethany? It is resurrection. What is the Mount of Olives? It is the ascension mount. It is the spot He comes back to when He brings in the glory. That man's eyes rested on the One who was going that way Himself first. Captured in his heart by the grace that had reached him, he begins to follow Jesus in the way.

But there is another element that the soul needs, if it is going to pursue that way, and that is salvation. Consequently in the next incident you see how salvation has come near to men. It is available to men. The Lord sent forth two of His disciples. Why are they called disciples? They were imbued with the same Spirit as Himself. They had been subdued; they had been saved; and they knew how to carry a message to a man who was needing it. He says, "Go into the village which is over against you". A village is not a very big community. The people in this room tonight would make one or two pretty respectable old country villages. It does not involve a great number of people. "Go into the village which is over against you". You have not to go very far to reach it, and, "Immediately on entering into it", - it is not a great distance away.

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What will you find? "Ye will find a colt tied, upon which no child of man has ever sat: loose it and lead it here". What is this colt? Did you never find that colt tied, in your own heart? I have found it. You do not need to go very far to find the colt tied, on which no child of man ever sat. What is the colt? It is called in another scripture an ass's colt. What is an ass? You must not confound an ass in the East with the docile little creature you may have seen at the seaside with the little children riding safely on his back. No, the ass of the East is a high-spirited, majestic, beautiful animal. Kings rode on asses. We read in Exodus, "And every firstling of an ass shalt thou ransom with a lamb; and if thou do not ransom it, thou shalt break its neck". (Exodus 13:13). It is illustrative of an unbroken child of Adam.

You remember Ishmael. What is he called? A wild ass of a man. He is the father of the Bedouin Arab; the unsubdued, lawless, unrestrained man of the desert. That is the spirit of the wild ass. The "colt tied, upon which no child of man has ever sat", bound, but unsubdued is in this room tonight. There are young men and young women here who, if they would look into their own hearts, would have to confess, that is I. I have a will; I want to gratify it; I want to please myself; I do not want to come

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under rule nor into subjection to God, to Christ, to man, to father or mother, or anybody. I want to have my fling. I confess I was there myself once, not possibly in regard to parental authority, but in other ways I was there at one time in my history. "Ye will find a colt tied, upon which no child of man has ever sat: loose it and" - let it go? No! "Loose it and lead it here" - to Christ. What could the Lord do with it? He could use it. How could He use it? Ride on it! Ride on it, on an unbroken ass? Yes, the Lord would ride on it.

I see Saul of Tarsus going out of Jerusalem. What is he? A wild ass of a man. A true Ishmaelite; his hand against everybody, and in a certain sense, every man's hand against him. What kind of a man was he? Unrestrained as regards the Lord. Religious it is true, but self-willed. What would he not have done? If he could, he would have dragged that Man in heaven from His throne and plunged Him down to the depths of hell. A high-spirited Jew, full of bitter hatred and antipathy to Christ. The Lord proposes to attack that citadel, the citadel of that man's heart. What a citadel, garrisoned with a terrific will, strengthened by Jewish prejudice and religious hatred! The Lord says, 'I propose to attack that citadel', and Satan, so to speak, brings up all his supports. I must never let that point go; it is absolutely essential to my kingdom. As this man approaches Damascus (I say it reverently), the Lord

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begins the attack. How does He begin? With anathemas hurled from heaven, and with thunderbolts? No! How, does He begin? He shines on him. He uses an argument far more powerful than centimetre guns. He shines on him. It says, "But as he was journeying, it came to pass that he drew near to Damascus; and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven" (Acts 9:3).

Can you understand that? Saul could not understand it. The light was shining on him! It was a warfare that Saul was not accustomed to. "And falling on the earth he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?" (verse 4). 'What have I done against you; what have My saints ever done against you; that you should persecute Me?' "And he said, Who art thou, Lord?" He recognised the Lord. "And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest". What tender words! As though the Lord would say, 'How easy it would have been for Me to crush you, Saul. If one ray of light felled you, how easily I could have crushed you, but that is not My method of warfare. Look at these hands, this side, these feet; they were pierced for you. I died for you, Saul. There is nothing in My heart against you, nothing at all. There is nothing in My hands but grace; nothing in My heart but forgiveness. I have been through sorrow unutterable, into death itself to bring the light of grace, of forgiveness, near to you'. Wondrous

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method of attack that! So well did the Lord know its effectiveness that He demanded an absolute, unconditional and immediate, surrender of that fortress. He got it; Saul was vanquished. As the old hymn puts it:

'I yield, I yield, I can hold out no more;
I sink, by dying love compelled,
And own Thee Conqueror'.

The Lord says, "Rise up and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do;" and three days later he received the Spirit, the Spirit of the Conqueror. From that moment, Paul could say, "The arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4). Is that not a kingdom? Is that not power? He says, "Go into the village which is over against you, and immediately on entering into it ye will find a colt tied, upon which no child of man has ever sat: loose it and lead it here. And if any one say to you, Why do ye this? say, The Lord has need of it; and straightway he sends it hither".

On the Canadian side of the border, they are posting up everywhere, 'Your king and country need you'. I know a King and a country that need you, young man, young woman. "The Lord has need of it". You say, 'How about my unbroken

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will?' I put it to you, can you resist a kingdom like that? Can you resist the appeal of the Man who died to bring all the light of the heart of God near to you? Can you resist that? It is irresistible. Confess His Name tonight and you will get salvation. There is salvation in the confession of Christ. They found the colt tied by the door without. That is where you are tonight if you are still away from Christ - tied by a door without. I would not like to be tied by a door without. I would not mind being tied by the love of Christ to a door within, but I would not like to be tied, held in fetters of sin, in the power of Satan or the world, by a door without. Where was it? "At the crossway". That is where you are tonight. There come crises in every history. I remember the man under whom I was converted. I met him a few years ago. Speaking of leading men to Christ, he spoke of the necessity of precipitating crises in the souls of men. God precipitates crises in men's souls. There comes a moment when you stand at the place where two ways meet. There is the path of your own will, and there is the path of the will of God. There is the path of present exaltation and glory, and there is the path of sorrow and suffering, the downward path the Lord led in. But, Oh! how different are the issues! One ends in shame and everlasting contempt; the other in what they saw on that mount of transfiguration. It ends in heaven's estimate of glory.

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In Luke it says, "And as they were loosing the colt, its masters said to them, Why loose ye the colt? And they said, Because the Lord has need of it" (Luke 19:33, 34). The master has to stand aside. There is power! Think of the power of a kingdom addressing itself to men in a rejected, despised Man. He comes near to men, to those bound by sin and the world and Satan. He says, I have a claim on you, for I have died for you, and I demand an immediate surrender, and He gets it. Satan must stand aside before a kingdom such as that. "And they led the colt to Jesus, and cast their clothes upon it". Who did? The disciples. That ass, that unbroken, unsubdued colt is free and subdued now and the disciples' clothes are on it.

How did Saul of Tarsus go out of Jerusalem? An unbroken, wild ass of an Ishmaelite; breathing threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. How is he brought back again? In the garment of a disciple. He comes back in disciples' garments, and what is more, the Lord sat on him. You say, what do you mean by that? He begins to carry Christ. Those same feet carry Christ. What was there to be seen of the ass? Nothing but the feet, and they are beautiful for they carry Christ. What kind of a Christ? "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh to thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly and riding upon an ass, even upon

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a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). When Christ rides the ass, He imparts all He is, so to speak, to the ass. Paul could say to the Corinthians, "I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1). Whose meekness? The meekness of an objective Christ, of a Christ extraneous to himself? No, it was the meekness of that Man, whose Spirit, the Spirit of the Conqueror, had been built into Paul's own soul. He is brought back into Jerusalem carrying Christ. It involved for him a path of suffering. "I will shew to him how much he must suffer for my name" (Acts 9:16). He has to go by the way of reproach and suffering, but he comes back in the Spirit of another Man, carrying Christ and morally clothed. He had gone out carrying destruction; he returns carrying salvation with him.

You may say, I do not see very much glory in that. Well, I trust you may see it. At the end of this scripture it says, "And many strewed their clothes on the way". I am certain of this, if there is a man who is characterised by what marked that unbroken colt, and he comes under the subduing power of Christ, so as to take character from Him, as did Saul, many will spread their clothes in the way. They will want their circumstances to come under that Man. He is so morally attractive. "And others cut down branches from the trees and went on strewing them on the way". What are the branches?

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"Overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

I read in Isaiah, where it speaks of the coming kingdom, the displayed glory: "The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day" (Isaiah 2:17). Now the cursing of the barren fig-tree and the cleansing of the temple make it evident that the nation of Israel was not ready to receive Him. There were those who cried, "Hosanna! blessed be he that comes in the Lord's name. Blessed be the coming kingdom of our father David". They had an appreciation of the kingdom. They gloried in Christ. But the nation was not ready for Him. It was like the barren fig-tree; there was no fruit, no temple, no place where God could dwell, no material there.

But if it was not yet true of the nation, the kingdom in all its power and dignity and blessedness is here. It can bring your heart and mine into subjection to that Man, and the result will be that now there will be fruit; there will be a place where God can dwell, and even before the glory comes in publicly, there is moral material secured, answering to Christ, in which God can delight, and that is glory. I put it to you, does that way not appeal to you? It is the way the Lord went. You

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may go that way, too. May God encourage our hearts to take it. May He impress our hearts with what glory really is according to God, and may we follow Him in the way, the moral end of which is glory!

Indianapolis, January 1916

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ONE LOAF

I do not think we are badly off, if, with set purpose of heart to refuse absolutely the corrupting influences of the Pharisee, of the Sadducee and of Herod, we are journeying to that home-land of rest with Christ, and have no more (I emphasise that word no more) than one loaf.

Mark 8:14 - 16

We have just been singing together of a journey that ends in the rest above, and in the simplest possible way I want to suggest a thought or two in regard to the greatness of our resources, if, in taking that journey to the other side, we are travelling in a ship with Christ, and have no more than one loaf. One loaf may seem a meagre supply for a company of people embarking on a journey such as that, but only a natural man would reason in that way, because a natural man needs his eyes opened to see the greatness of Christ. He needs a double touch, like the man at Bethsaida mentioned in this chapter, in order that when the Lord interrogates, as He does the disciples in the incident following, "Who do ye say that I am?" (verse 29), he may not answer according to the judgment of the people, "John the baptist; and others, Elias; but others, One of the prophets" (though great men indeed), but may, like Peter, look only at Him and say, 'Thou art the transcendent Man; there is none like Thee;' "Thou art the Christ".

How little the Lord Jesus was understood in His pathway here! How deeply He felt it, for He was keenly sensitive to every rebuff and to every bit

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of encouragement and cheer! In the incident just preceding this, it says, "And groaning in his spirit" (verse 12). Why was that? The Pharisees had asked Him for a sign from heaven. The Pharisee is a carnal man, and he represents a worldly religion, a religion that suits the flesh. They had asked the Lord for a sign. I do not think you could satisfy a Pharisee if he asked you for your credentials. If he asked you to give a reason as to the company you are found amongst, or your title to take up, even in the simplest way, the ministry of Christ, I do not think you could satisfy him. If you could point to some successional, established religion, venerable with age, that might satisfy him, even though the pall of death hung over it. Or if you could produce a licence, signed by some great ecclesiastic, a pope or bishop, that might satisfy him, even though souls were perishing all around you. But if you sought to show him that, by grace, you are found with a few people, who, through exercise, have been led to depart from evil, and who are making room for the Spirit, and who are passing on to heaven in a ship with Christ, and no more than one loaf as their resource, you would offend a Pharisee by such an answer. He could not understand you.

But think, dear friends, of these men asking the Lord Jesus, this wondrous Servant, for His credentials! A man's credentials consist not in what he can carry in his pocket - something official.

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They consist in what he can do. What had the Lord done? He had just fed four thousand men. The number four represents universality and hence it illustrates what He can do in regard to a universe. The Lord brought His own credentials; they consisted in what He did, and if that does not satisfy them, He leaves them and departs. Today there are signs for those who have eyes to see them, proofs of divine intervention, that heaven is interested and active, for there is bread, and men to distribute it and souls who appreciate and live of it. But the disciples also were woefully ignorant, and when the Lord Jesus says to them, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod", they say, "It is because we have no bread". Has a thought like that ever found an echo in your heart? Not on occasions like these possibly, for we generally find ourselves here in the midst of plenty; but when you are returned to your own little local gathering, perchance, sometimes you say to yourself, 'There is not a great deal for my soul, not much bread, not much ministry'. So I am impelled to encourage your hearts with this thought, that we lack nothing, if, in taking that journey of which I have spoken, we have with us one loaf, if we have - pardon the expression - a whole Christ.

Now I think the apostle Paul seeks to draw attention to this in writing to the Colossians. They were not the product of the apostle's labours, I

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judge. I do not think he had seen them face to face. They were, in measure, the result of the labours of Epaphras, but Paul had heard of them, and his heart was greatly encouraged in regard to them. He says, "If indeed in the flesh I am absent, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the firmness of your faith in Christ" (Colossians 2:5). But they were in danger of being diverted from the fulness that is found in connection with this one loaf. They were in danger of being diverted from the Head, from God's resource for His people, and Paul knew full well what a resource that was, and this leads him to pray for them. He prays that they might be filled. There is no thought in that of lack, of hunger, of no bread. The thought of fulness is characteristic of this epistle, as also of the epistle to the Ephesians. He prays that they might be filled - with what? Filled with that one loaf, so to speak. You may ask why I say that? Because in every clause in that prayer, he asks that the saints might become the moral reflex of Christ, of what came out in Him in His pathway here.

He speaks of the Colossians as "the elect of God" (Colossians 3:12). Christ was that on earth, but they are left down here where He had been, to be the reflex of Christ, and he prays that they might be filled with that one loaf; "filled with the full knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so as to walk worthily of the Lord

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unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing by the true knowledge of God; strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory unto all endurance and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father", etc. (Colossians 1:9 - 12). These moral qualities are but the reflex of what came out in the Lord Himself, that one loaf. Paul knew full well what resources there were in the Head. He says, "In him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell" (Colossians 1:19), and he laboured to enlighten the saints as to it to the end that they might be filled with that same fulness, that he might "present every man perfect in Christ. Whereunto also I toil, combating according to his working, which works in me in power" (Colossians 1:28, 29).

But Paul saw there was a danger of the saints being diverted from God's resource for them, and that the enemy would bring in other and corrupting elements, so he holds up a danger signal. He says, "See that there be no one who shall lead you away as a prey through philosophy and vain deceit, according to the teaching of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Why? "For in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and ye are complete in him" (verses 9, 10). There is no lack. There is no suggestion of a want of bread there. Ye are filled full in Him (see note d, Darby translation). What folly to seek

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to add anything to Christ! Who is He? He is the Head. What of? Of all principality and power. Think of those mighty intelligences in the universe, of whom we know but little, but they all have to stand aside before this wondrous Head. They must all take direction from Him. He is the Head of all principality and power. I do not know that they are brought into moral correspondence with Him. I do not believe they are. At any rate, no such correspondence as Paul speaks of in connection with the saints here, for he shows in regard to them that by circumcision and burial (in which the man after the flesh has been removed and put out of sight), and by resurrection and quickening, they have been brought into correspondence with, and made to live in, the life of the Head. So that by the nourishment flowing through the joints and bands there might be a vessel formed according to the increase of God and capable of holding the Christ. A vessel in which Christ is everything and in all; a vessel suitable, and capable of supporting all that Christ is for the pleasure of God.

How great is Christ! In Mark 6, He feeds five thousand. In Mark 8, He feeds four thousand. In the former incident, He would teach the disciples what they should do, and there are twelve baskets left over; but in the latter He would show them the illimitable resources they had in Him - there are seven baskets left over - but in either case they are

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all filled. He is filling the assembly. He will fill Israel and the nations; He will fill heaven and earth. How can we speak of there being no bread! If you like to carry the thought further (because Colossians presents the truth, I suppose, in a somewhat limited way; it views the saints living on the earth, at any given moment, as risen together with Christ) - if you like to carry the thought to the elevation of things presented in the epistle to the Ephesians, and the greatness of the assembly as viewed there, you get the position God has given Christ as the exalted Man, and the place the assembly has in relation to Him; and she is seen there as the fulness of the Filler of everything.

There are those in the world at the present moment who would like their influence to pervade everywhere, but I am sure of this, that they are hateful to God, for they are stimulated by pride and ambition, and what follows in their wake is destruction and misery. But God has a Man whom He has placed in the apex of the universe. He is called in Ephesians, "The Beloved". We know something of how dear He is to God and how near He has come to man. He has lain in death. Man was there in captivity and darkness, but Christ descended there, and from the lowest parts of the earth He ascended up, far above all heavens, and from that exalted position He will influence the whole universe for God, for He will fill everything

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with Himself. How will He do it? Through the assembly. From that spot where He is in exaltation, having led captivity captive, He has given gifts to men. He has given that, by means of which that one loaf may be distributed and built up constitutionally, in affection and in intelligence, in the hearts of the saints, so that a vessel may be formed suitable for being with Him in glory, and which, in perfect transparency, will shine with His effulgence as the light-bearer of the universe of God.

We are not badly off, if we have no more than one loaf. Our danger is in adding anything to it. So the Lord says to the disciples, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the leaven of Herod". In Matthew 16:6 He adds, "and Sadducees". The Lord does not say, 'Beware if you have only one loaf'. No. He says, 'Beware of adding anything to that one loaf!' I have just a thought to suggest in regard to these three dangers. I suppose we are always in the danger of the leaven of the Pharisees. The Pharisee (as we heard in this room some years ago) was a man who contended for sound doctrine (Acts 23:8), but I am inclined to think that he is illustrative of a purely objective believer. There was no formation and there was no displacement in a Pharisee. He might hold the truth in the letter, but he was as cold as an icicle. He might lay down rules for others, but there was no

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warmth, no formation of Christ in the Pharisee. There was not a bit of the Pharisee (I say it reverently) about the Lord Jesus. Wonderful words of truth and of sound doctrine fell from His lips, but He was Himself the living expression of everything that He said. You could not use the word 'formation' in regard to Jesus exactly, though we are told that He increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man, but the Lord Jesus Christ was subjectively everything that He expressed in an objective way. But the Pharisee moved on merely objective lines, and we do well to beware of that.

And then you get the leaven of the Sadducee. Now the Sadducee was an utterly unspiritual man. He did not believe in resurrection, angel or spirit. He would not accept what he could not grasp with his mind. I pity the man who limits the understanding of the revelation of God to his natural mind. You may be able to grasp certain features of truth by your natural mind, but, oh! those delicate shades of meaning, those lovely touches of Christ and of the truth which the Spirit delights to give you, and which He alone can suggest, are utterly unknown and utterly foreign to a Sadducee. They are only known to a man who makes room for the Spirit. Think of the Lord Jesus - every word he uttered, every act of His, was in

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the energy of the Spirit. Let us beware of the leaven of the Sadducee! Let us make room for the Spirit!

Then, on the other hand, there is the danger of the leaven of Herod. I suppose the leaven of Herod would find a footing amongst us in any desire there might be to be accredited in some way by the world that is around us. You remember the great woman of Shunem, how magnificently she refused to be corrupted by the leaven of Herod. The prophet's suggestion to her, "Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host?" (2 Kings 4:13), was met by an absolute refusal to be corrupted by the leaven of Herod. She said, "I dwell among mine own people". Her dignity was found amongst the people of God; her moral credentials were seen in her absolute separation from anything that might savour of the leaven of Herod. Beloved brethren, let us beware of these three dangers that are found all around us, and if the world would seek to corrupt us by its patronage, may we welcome its frown rather than its smile. As the hymn writer has put it:

Yea let the world cast out our name,
And vile account us if it will;
If to confess our Lord be shame,
Oh then, would we be viler still;
For Thee, O Lord, we all resign,
Content that Thou dost call us Thine.

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Indianapolis, January 1917

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THOU ART MINE

B T Fawcett

Isaiah 43:1; Exodus 33:17 - 19; Revelation 4:10, 11

These scriptures have been suggested by what has been before us as to Elijah's history in connection with his unflinching testimony to, and maintenance of, the rights of God. He stands alone in the assertion of God's rights in the face of the prophets of Baal. We can rejoice at the way he was vindicated and the prophets of the false god discomfited. Previously his faith may have been, for the moment, low, but now he asserts the rights of God at an important juncture, with the result that God publicly vindicates His own rights and His servant too. By way of encouragement then it may be added, we can never be on the line of the vindication of the rights of God without the assurance of divine support. Be those rights connected with small things, or great things, the principle remains the same.

Turning now to Isaiah 43:1, the fundamental truths found there - redemption and possession - touch our hearts! What was said to Israel then is equally applicable to the assembly, as to the weakest individual believer, now. The language is worthy of emphasis: "Fear not, for I have redeemed

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thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine". What a declaration from Jehovah's lips; I have redeemed thee; thou art mine. The youngest Christian is embraced in it as well as the most advanced. It may be familiar to many, but I may nevertheless state that one prominent thought as to redemption is that the one who is redeemed is the property of the redeemer for ever. He belongs to him and to none other.

In the consecration of the priests in Leviticus, the blood was put upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, setting forth that the ear of the redeemed one must ever be open to the Lord's voice; his hand must ever be used for Him - the activities at His command; and henceforth the feet must be in the path He marks out. In Christianity the power available to effectuate this is found in the Spirit, typified by the oil.

In Exodus 33, we have a further beautiful declaration: "I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy". If God has rights in redemption, He has rights too which He exercises in having mercy. The chapter is a most uplifting one. As we view Moses in his intercourse with Jehovah, we are helped. What intelligence he showed; he reached the height of Jehovah's thought for His people, and, great man as he was, he did not want to take that journey alone.

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What a pattern for the believer! He cannot pass on through the wilderness alone. The Lord had already graciously stated, "My presence shall go, and I will give thee rest" (verse 14), and we find Moses responding, "If thy presence do not go, bring us not up hence". This was the secret of Moses' strength. As it were, he says, 'I cannot go alone, if the wilderness has to be crossed, if the people are to be led in, it is only as Thy presence is with me'. Touching on the word "mercy", I think I am right in giving it an application to the wilderness. Jehovah asserts His rights at a moment when the people had failed, and He says to Moses regarding them, "I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy". On the ground then of redemption, of what He is as God, in keeping with His personal glory, we may rest assured that He will have mercy, and that mercy will carry us through. Are we then like Moses, prepared to say that we cannot move a step without the accompanying presence of the Lord? If we carried that with us, how many difficulties we would be preserved from! Can we take Him into every undertaking and association that we may be connected with here? If we are to have spiritual prosperity it is important that this test should be applied.

In the third scripture we find the elders representing the matured intelligence of the old and new dispensations, saying, "Thou art worthy, O our

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Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy will they were, and they have been created". Thus we are instructed as to the world we dwell in, and enlightened as to the groaning creation. All that we see of God's manifold handiwork will yet be for His pleasure. The book of Revelation shows us in detail how this is arrived at. The kings of the earth will then walk in the light of the heavenly city - the assembly - and the present time is the period of education. God has His rights, He is educating His people now, so that they may yet form the vessel for the display of His glory. How important it is that we should answer to His claims. "I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine".

New York, May 1917

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THE FOURFOLD CHARACTER OF THE SPIRIT

A F Moore

Romans 8:9 - 11, 15

I am sure we all feel grateful to God for the line of ministry which has come before us today, in connection with Elijah and Elisha, and as we have had brought before us this evening already, Elijah stood here almost alone for the rights of God, and what a lovely type he was of Christ Himself, who stood here for those rights, who maintained them all through His pathway here, and who vindicated them at all cost to Himself by going into death! It was such a Man as the Lord Jesus whom heaven could claim. Earth refused Him, but God said, "Sit at my right hand until I have put thine enemies to be the footstool of thy feet" (Acts 2:34, 35). As having that unique place at the right hand of God, it was His pleasure to give the Holy Spirit. The one supreme act of Christ consequent upon His exaltation was to give the Spirit. We can hardly estimate the value of that precious act of the Lord Jesus in receiving from the Father the promise of the Spirit and shedding Him forth upon the disciples.

We had before us this afternoon the thought of the attention which Elisha showed Elijah: in fact the

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double portion of the spirit which he desired, was made dependent upon his seeing Elijah go up. We can understand with what interest, and with what affection, Elisha would watch, would attend upon every footstep and every movement of Elijah, and how that when the time came for the translation, he could cry out, "My father, my father! the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" (2 Kings 2:12).

How it typifies that which we find in the New Testament, to which reference was made. The disciples were led out, the Lord led them out to Bethany, and in the attitude of blessing them, He was separated from them. There was a reluctance, in a sense, to go, "He was separated from them and was carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:51), and their affectionate attention was toward Christ. They saw Him go up, and that attention was continued, we might say, during the ten days that they waited upon God in prayer, until the double portion of the Spirit was poured out upon them. Now the Spirit has come, this is the Spirit's time. It is a great thing to know the character of the moment. It is the time when the Spirit is given without measure to us, and because of our intimate connection with Christ, as being the counterpart of that blessed Man, there should be with us the exercise as to how far we are in the good of the Spirit.

He is here in all His unlimited fulness, and we might raise the question tonight as to how far we

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have advanced in our own souls in regard to the Spirit. We might even ask as to whether we have received the Spirit, not that the Spirit is reluctant to take up His abode in any of us, but He may be hindered, either by lack of light, or because of a defective state. With us it is not a lack of light. We are something like the sons of the prophets in that respect, we are intelligent as to things, but is there a state suited to the indwelling of the Spirit? Provided there is that state, He is glad, He is delighted to take up His abode in us.

Now the scriptures I read suggest four thoughts. They present the Spirit in four characters - as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of sonship, and the Spirit of resurrection. I want briefly to go over those points. In the first verse read you will notice that the Spirit of God is placed in direct contrast to the flesh, so the apostle says, "Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you". He raises the question as to the indwelling Spirit, and, provided the Spirit is there, there is the thought of our being not now in the flesh but in the Spirit. Now when the Spirit takes up His abode in us, depend upon it, a great deal has to be done. I believe the thought of God's Spirit taking up His dwelling in us is in view of complete subjugation to Christ. Hence He comes into the believer's body with the thought of

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asserting supremacy there, of having supreme control now, and there is bound to be opposition.

The flesh does not like it. The flesh has had its place there too long to relish finding some One else there having superior power, and for this reason resists that power. Hence we read, "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these things are opposed one to the other, that ye should not do those things which ye desire" (Galatians 5:17). Thus the Spirit is on the side of victory, and the flesh is subdued by His power. When we think of the almighty power of God's Spirit it is a wonder that we are so much in the flesh, for there is an almighty power in the Holy Spirit to subdue the flesh, so that we are brought into the blessed domain of the Spirit, and we are said to be "in Spirit". "Ye are not in flesh but in Spirit, if indeed God's Spirit dwell in you".

Then I think that where the Spirit has assumed supremacy and is in perfect control, He is free to be in us as "the Spirit of Christ", as the Spirit of that blessed Man. The Spirit of God came upon Jesus in bodily shape like a dove and rested in complacency there, and, having been upon Jesus during His ministry here, the One by whom the Lord Jesus accomplished everything, He now takes that character in us, and can take it, as the Spirit of Christ. He is so blended, if I might use that word, with all that Christ was as Man here, that He can be

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in us, as the Spirit of that Man in view of formation. That is the end for which the Spirit has come, that you and I might be formed after that Man, that there might be what answers to Elisha, that the Elisha character of things might be brought to pass amongst us.

Formation then is by the Spirit of Christ. I will tell you what the Spirit of Christ delights to do, He delights to present Christ to us. That is His great thought to present to us the Christ of the gospels. I would commend the reading of the gospels to you, because they bring before us (and the Spirit delights to do it livingly) that blessed Man. Whether you read Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, that blessed Man is presented to us by the Spirit. He testifies of Christ, He brings His beauties and glories before our wondering hearts, so that we are entranced with Christ Himself, and, as we are under the influence of Christ, by the Spirit, we are formed by the Spirit after that Man so that there is another Man now, it is not Adam but Christ.

The new section of Romans begins at chapter 6 (chapters 6 to 8 are all one section), we are taught there to reckon ourselves dead to sin (as a dominating principle) and alive unto God in Christ Jesus. But it is as formed after Christ that we really derive from Him, and can rightly regard ourselves as in Christ Jesus. The truth of being "in Christ Jesus", however, is not developed in this epistle.

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Turning again for a moment to the gospels, as you well know, each gospel ends with the death of Christ. That blessed Man not only gave a new setting to manhood (for He was a Man of another order entirely), but He was capable of making God known, and where was God made known? Partially in His ministry here, but God was fully made known in the death of Christ. In Matthew we have presented the sin-offering, in Mark, possibly the trespass-offering, in Luke the meat-offering and in John the burnt-offering; each gospel reaching a point of consummation in His precious death.

Thus there was the consummation of the holy, blessed life of Jesus in a sacrificial way in death, and there it was that the love of God was fully and perfectly declared. In that blessed Man we have then the setting forth of what man should be, and of what God is, and we can understand how easy it is to love that Man, and to love the God whom He declared. Now when that is brought to pass in us by the Holy Spirit our responsibility, our every obligation upon earth, is fulfilled, because we carry out the law's righteous requirements. They showed that the fulfilment of the law was love - love to God and love to one's neighbour (Matthew 22:37 - 40). As the result of formation, we love God and His blessed Son, that blessed holy Man who magnified the law, and made it honourable, and if you love Christ it is not difficult to love those who are

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Christ's, our neighbours. It is not difficult to love my brother who lives in the same street with me, because Christ is formed in him. I am not called upon to love the peculiarities of the flesh in him, but what is of Christ. Thus the law's righteous requirements are fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.

I will now say a word about the Spirit of sonship, because we are carried beyond what is required on earth, as connected with our responsibility, in the Spirit of sonship. In Galatians 4 we have the Spirit of God's Son. The Spirit of God's Son is there spoken of as being sent out "into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (verse 6). There it says the Spirit cries, "Abba, Father;" but the verse I read in Romans 8 is an advance on that. It says, "For ye have not received a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye have received a spirit of adoption, (or sonship, see note g) whereby we cry, Abba, Father". In Galatians, there is a capital 'S' to the word Spirit, but in the verse we read there is a small 's' to the word spirit, suggesting I believe that the Spirit of God is so blended with our spirit, that our state and the Spirit are one. He is the Spirit of sonship, and we are in the good of sonship; we know our association with God's Son; we are in the liberty and dignity of our place before God as belonging to the family of God, and now we cry, "Abba, Father". What a wonderful result for the

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Spirit of God to have brought that to pass in us! He has so formed Christ in us that now we are of Christ's kind, and are in the good of sonship so that we consciously cry, "Abba, Father". That gives us a wonderful place of association with Christ before God.

Now I ask whether you do not think that a few such saints, dwelling in any town or village, would be an asset to that town or village? Think of Elisha, wherever he went, there were works of grace and power. Grace was active in power in Elisha. He brought new things, wonderful things to pass. Want disappeared wherever he went, and there was wonderful excess in all that he did. If only a few saints in a given place were in the good of what we have been speaking about, I believe we should have the antitype of Elisha in that district. That is what God is looking for, that is what Christ desires and what the Spirit would bring about - that there should be found here, that which answers to the spirit of grace and of power, as typified in the ministry of Elisha, that there should be a reproduction of Christ here through the assembly in the way of grace and power toward men in blessing.

Just one word in regard to the Spirit of resurrection. We read of the "Spirit of Him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead", dwelling. "But if the Spirit of him that has raised up Jesus from among the dead dwell in you, he that has

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raised up Christ from among the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you". Now we have a blessed hope of being with Christ where He is, and the Spirit who indwells us is the same Spirit by whom God raised up Jesus from the dead. He is the Spirit of resurrection, and is the assurance to us of the quickening of the body in view of our being translated to heaven. We are to be caught up by Christ, and to Christ, in the air. We could not go up ourselves, but the Spirit will have to do with the change of the body, and Christ will catch the body up.

There is a great deal of activity today in this poor world; it will all end in smoke, in chaos and utter defeat. The only One who can set things right is the Man at God's right hand, and we are in the recognition of that. Until He moves at the right hand of God there is no movement worth anything for God or man on the earth, but the first movement of Christ from the right hand of God is in regard to the assembly, so that when He moves at the behest of God the Father, there will be a wonderful movement upon earth, a movement of quickening so far as the body is concerned, and of course of waking the sleeping saints who are in their graves, who have gone to be with Christ. But speaking of those of us who remain, there will be a wonderful movement on the part of the saints because their

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bodies will be quickened and fashioned like to Christ's glorious body, and that will be the consummation in regard to ourselves as the subjects of the Spirit's blessed work.

Oh what a hope is set before our hearts in the thought of the Spirit of resurrection, resulting in wonderful consequences for God, for Christ, and for the saints! Let us then place ourselves unreservedly in the hands of the Spirit. We can be in no better, safer, hands. He will assume in us these characters of which we have spoken, and in result there will be inward formation and outward testimony, testimony to the One who is at God's right hand - the true Elijah.

New York, May 1917

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REGULATION BY CHRIST

P H Pfingst

Acts 26:12 - 18

I have only a very brief word to say about this scripture and it links itself with a remark made this morning, which I do not believe received the attention it might have received. That remark was in reference to Elijah's word; "There shall not be dew nor rain these years, except by my word" (1 Kings 17:1). I think one of the most important things about the exaltation of Christ to the right hand of God is that, with it God has established regulation in the hands of Christ.

Now it is a very interesting thing to trace any idea to its source, and as you read the first chapter of Genesis, you find that the idea of regulation is introduced with the sun. There is no regulating feature found in anything before the sun was set in the heavens. It says, "The great light to rule the day, and the small light to rule the night" (Genesis 1:16), and in this respect the sun becomes a most beautiful type of Christ. He is the "Great light". He is to rule. That is nothing new to you, but it is interesting to see that one of the first thoughts introduced in connection with the sun is rule, or regulation.

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I was thinking that the most conspicuous object perhaps, in the present creation of God, is the sun, and yet little attention is paid to it. It certainly is so in the moral universe, applying it to Christ. Think of the glory and greatness of Christ, and yet how comparatively little He is noticed! How do you regard the sun? Do you look upon it as astronomers do in the world? It suggests nothing moral to them. They find enough in it to satisfy their own curiosity and they have invented instruments to calculate the distance from the sun to the earth, and all that sort of thing, but it is all made to enhance the glory of fallen man. He gazes into the sun and he delivers a lecture, and he gazes yet again and writes a book, and the more he gazes the more he sees. It is contributing glory to man. But think of David, he looks up yonder and he says; "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the expanse sheweth the work of his hands" (Psalm 19:1). And when his eyes rest on the sun (and he seems to linger there) he says; "He is as a bridegroom" (verse 5) - a bridegroom - a man expressive of all that goes to make up life and affection.

A spiritual observer discovers Christ in the sun. Would that every one here might become a spiritual and affectionate observer! Reference has already been made to the sons of the prophets, what were they content to be? Of course, they were observers in a sense, but observers at a distance.

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What the Lord looks for is intelligent and affectionate observers. Ephraim is delivered from his idols by the observation of Him, "What have I to do any more with idols? (I answer him, and I will observe him)" (Hosea 14:8). Let us accustom ourselves to observe intelligently and affectionately Christ, and all that God has brought to pass in Him. There is enough there to engage us for all eternity.

But I want to go on to the thought of regulation. The light that shone above the brightness of the noon-day sun in Saul's case, was the moral sun. There was a man who had great education and marvellous culture, a leader amongst men, yet he was pitch dark in his heart. He was lawless and as dark as could be morally. A more lawless man with a more wicked mission than Saul on the way to Damascus, would be difficult to conceive. But then and there from the light that shone above the brightness of the noon-day sun from the very centre of glory, from the living Sun set in the moral universe, God sends a glory-beam through space, into the heart of that wandering star, the heart of a man whose avowed purpose was to extirpate from the earth the name of Jesus, and with that name the power to regulate.

The design of the enemy was to obliterate every trace of a divine work here on earth, so beautifully seen in the Spirit of Christ in these inoffensive disciples, every one of whom was attached to, and

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regulated in their affections by, Christ. That was his purpose and Saul of Tarsus was his tool. But Christ intervenes by light from heaven. That beam of light penetrated right into that darkest of hearts and wrought a tremendous revolution! In the wake of that glory-beam, there was the Spirit, and in virtue of the Holy Spirit that man was attached to the Sun in the moral universe for ever.

Now Christ asserts His prerogative to regulate that man. He has marked out a course for the man arrested by the glory. I would suggest to every one, especially to those that have recently been converted and helped of the Lord to take their place with Him in separation from the world (and there are many such, thank God!), you need not think you have been converted for anything else but to be set in relation to Christ, and to be controlled by Him. In other words, just as the solar system revolves around the sun, and every planet has its orbit around the sun, so the Lord Jesus has marked out for you an orbit. He says to Saul of Tarsus; "For this purpose have I appeared to thee, ... taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom I send thee". 'That is your course, I have marked out that orbit for you, and all your happiness and success in service spiritually is bound up with your faithfully pursuing that orbit'.

We know that he failed in this very respect. In fact the only failure so far as I know about Paul is

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this, that he, for a moment, departed from his orbit. One could understand Paul reasoning, 'Lord, these people, my brethren after the flesh, my whole heart's affection goes out to them'. 'Saul, I have sent thee to the Gentiles. That is your orbit'. Paul says, "I have great grief and uninterrupted pain in my heart, for I have wished, I myself, to be a curse from the Christ for my brethren" (Romans 9:2, 3). He would just as soon be accursed in order to save Israel. 'Saul, your orbit takes you to the Gentiles. That is your concern. I am delivering you from the people in order that you may go there'. His happiness was bound up with pursuing the orbit that the Lord Jesus, as the supreme Ruler in the moral universe, had marked out for him, and at the end Paul says; "I have finished the race" (2 Timothy 4:7). He has traversed the whole orbit around Christ. He has fulfilled the mission committed to him. There is nothing to be added to it. He has finished his course, is ready to depart and be with Christ. What a happy end for a man to consciously say; "I have combated the good combat, I have finished the race".

I only thought of adding this word to what has already been said because it is a very important thing that we should discover our orbit, that which the Lord has taken us up for, because He has taken us up each one for a certain, definite purpose. Our unalloyed happiness, our spiritual prosperity, our

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whole moral formation, depend upon quietly pursuing the orbit that the Lord has marked out for us in relation to Himself. Every man of God has valued regulation. The most notable ones in the Old Testament are Abraham (who commanded his house after him) and Joseph. Pharaoh says to Joseph; "According to thy commandment shall all my people regulate themselves" (Genesis 41:40). It is a wonderful thing to be consciously in your appointed course in relation to Christ, pursuing the orbit He has marked out for you. I say your happiness depends upon it. May each one of us be found in it for the sake of our spiritual happiness, and Christ's joy, for He rejoices over His law-abiding followers!

New York, May 1917

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THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

W J Young

2 Corinthians 7:6 - 10; 2 Corinthians 13:14

It has been a great cheer to me, dear brethren, in these meetings to feel that the Spirit of God has brought before us the adjustment between what is objective and what is subjective. I suppose we all understand the words. Many of us have used them for years. I understand that if we speak of objective truth, it is what we can see in Christ - what God has displayed in Christ - set before us for our appropriation in Him; whereas subjective truth is rather connected with what is wrought in our own souls, what God works in us by the Spirit. I think that God has been very especially calling our attention to the fact that the two should agree.

I read this first portion in Corinthians just to point out the kind of people to whom the apostle Paul addressed his closing verse. They were a people that we might call recovered. He had to write to them a very corrective epistle because of their conduct. In this second epistle he is able to speak of their recovery: they had sorrowed with a godly sorrow and Paul could express his joy in hearing the effect of the truth he had given them. Now we who are here today professedly take the

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same ground, namely, that of being recovered. We take the ground of having been delivered from that with which we formerly were associated - which is so contrary to God, and which long has been alienated from Him.

We take the ground of being recovered, and of desiring to be here for the pleasure of God. I am sure we take this ground. We profess to be separated from the enclosures of human systems, from the enclosures of the world, and to be seeking to be here for the pleasure of God. Now, in view of that, I just want to say a few words about this last verse. I think it is a verse of which, as in the case of the Lord's prayer - the prayer that the Lord taught His disciples - we have somewhat missed the blessing, because it is so misused in other circles. It is so often used in a formal religious way when professing companies of believers are together, but it is a beautiful verse, a verse which suggests to us all the activities of the Godhead, all the divine activities towards His people. The apostle, from his heart, desires for those to whom he writes that they might know, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit".

Now I would like first to say a word as to these activities in what I might call an objective way. Scripture speaks of "Christ's day" (Philippians 1:10); it speaks also of "the day of God" (2 Peter 3:12); and it

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indicates, as we have so often had before us, that the day in which we live is the 'day of the Spirit'. "Christ's day" refers to what is commonly called 'the millennium;' the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will have His rights and reign over this world, when all that Satan has brought into this scene - his works - will be undone, and when this world will be governed according to the mind of God. I think that is the day when "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" will be manifested. It will be brought in by power, but it will be maintained by grace. I think in that day we shall manifestly see grace reigning through righteousness - and do not our hearts anticipate that day? Do we not find ourselves, in view of all that is happening in the world around, longing for the day when the Lord Jesus Christ will have His rightful place, when peace will be permanently established, and when every trace of the enemy's work, speaking broadly, will be done away?

Are we not reminded in our daily lives, and by many an occurrence in our lives, of what sin has wrought in the world? Our brother has brought before us how the Lord mourned over the terrible effects of sin, how it caused Him to groan, in that sin had brought death into the world. Sin has indeed brought sorrow and death into this scene; and it does not matter what circle we touch, what subject connected with the present order of things occupies

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our minds, we are made to realise what sin and Satan have done.

When we turn to the Old Testament Scriptures, how our hearts rejoice over the descriptions there of the world to come, of what a change will be wrought upon this earth in connection with the government and the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, and of how He is going to reign in grace; for grace will reign through righteousness. Everything in that scene will be influenced by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; because I take it that the thousand years of that 'day' will be the answer to all that Satan and sin have wrought during these thousands of years. That thousand years will be God's answer to it all and a manifestation of His victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Well now, it says "the love of God;" I do not think I am straining the application if I apply that expression objectively to the time when God will "be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28), when there will be a new heaven and a new earth - the time about which Scripture says very little. Then that which God is (that is love), will characterise His whole universe. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). That is an absolute statement, as expressing the nature of God; and I think that in the eternal state all we now know in connection with the love of God, and the revelation of the Father - all that we now know of love as belonging to that company of sons whom the Lord

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Jesus Christ is leading to the Father - will be permanently established for God, in the day of God, the great day of finality that God brings in. You remember Peter speaks of it: "The elements, burning with heat, ... But, according to his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:10 - 13).

I think these things are objective for us. We see these days portrayed in Scripture, Christ's day and the day of God. We know too, and are very happy in knowing, that this is the day of the Spirit, of which we can also speak objectively. This is the day of the Spirit; the Spirit of God is really here. He is here for the good of God's people, to maintain something for God, and He will maintain it to the end. I think that is objective, that the Spirit of God will maintain here upon earth until the Lord Jesus Christ comes, that which is for the pleasure of God.

But then I think that the activities spoken of may be viewed subjectively. The apostle says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ". That is, I take it, he desires for the Corinthians, to whom he writes, that the spirit of grace - that power, that influence, through which He will keep and control the world to come - might be effectual in the Corinthians; and the love of God, which will permeate the scene in the day of God, when God will be all in all, might be known in the hearts of God's people. It is not the power that brings these things into existence. He

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does not desire for them that they should know the power by which the world to come will be brought to pass - the power that will make a new heaven and new earth - he desires that the spiritual influence, the very characteristics of these divine Persons, might be known in their hearts. It is not the fact there is a divine Person here, that he desires them to know, but that the communion, the fellowship, the gracious influence of the Spirit of God, might affect their souls.

I delight to think that the whole power of the Godhead - the full activities of the Godhead - are ever at work for the good of His people, to maintain us for the pleasure of God now; and to know that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, that will bring such wonderful things into existence in the future, as well as the power of the Spirit of God, are well able to maintain something for God against the frightful and fearful power of the enemy at the present time. It was these things, contained in this last verse, the apostle desired for a recovered company. He would desire them for us, yea, God would desire them for us, that we might know, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ". Have we not had it before us in the way He dealt with things here? Have we not had it before us in the way He dealt with His servants and those with whom He came in contact when here upon earth? That "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ!"

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Well, He is going to influence the whole world in a coming day, and when He does, everything evil and everything painful and everything sorrowful will disappear; and I suppose that, if we knew more of "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" now, it would remove a great many of the difficulties which beset us. Of the love of God we know but little, but God has given us to touch it in connection with our spiritual privileges and it will characterise the whole eternal state - "the love of God". Finally "the communion of the Holy Spirit" - that which binds us together now; communion of Him who is active amongst us having come to these meetings; who delights to take of the things of Christ and show them to us. These things the apostle desires for us, as he desired them for these recovered Corinthians, and I am sure the Spirit of God would give the word to us, so that it might be a real word for our cheer and encouragement. God desires that these gracious influences might be known in our hearts even now.

Chicago, January 1918

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GOD'S CITY

J Collie-Smith

Psalm 87:1 - 7; Hebrews 12:22, 23; Revelation 21:10, 11

It will not be difficult, beloved friends, to perceive the line of connection in the scriptures which I have read to you. The idea of the city has a very large place in the scriptures, and the first scripture we have read relates to a city which belonged to a past day; the second scripture to a city which is morally extant today, and the third a city yet to come, as to actuality and publicity. I am sure it is the thought and intention of God that we should become acquainted with the ideas that are mapped out in the thought of a city.

You will notice that in connection with each city which we have cited, you have a mountain, and I think that is characteristic of the city as presented by God. When you have the divine city brought into evidence you will find there is a mountain near by, because the kind of city which God introduces is that which He builds. You may depend upon it that it is characterized by stability. There was no mountain in the vicinity of Cain's city. There was no mountain near the city that was reared on the plains of Shinar, because the city that was the product of man, as departed from God, has no

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foundation. There is no stability. The feature of durability is absolutely absent in connection with the kind of city that man is building, but if God proposes to design and build a city you may depend upon it that that city has moral foundations.

So the first suggestion that we get in Psalm 87 is that of holy mountains; God's foundation is in the maintenance of holiness. You may depend upon it that the kind of foundation that God selects is a foundation which is in every way in harmony with what He is, in His own blessed nature and character. I would suggest that every person who has received the Spirit (as we were hearing today) has received, in principle, in initial form, every divine quality that has come within the range of revelation, and I would suggest that every such person in a kind of way is a mountain. God is establishing His foundation in the souls of people who have been brought, in some measure, into moral accord with the revelation of Himself, and they are thus constituted mountains.

What I understand by a mountain is elevation. I judge that every person so marked off by the Spirit of God has all the possibilities of a holy mountain there. That, in principle, is true, but like everything else it has to be developed, and there are all the possibilities of the holy elevation, that which reaches in the direction of heaven, and that which draws from heaven, and makes the plain, so to

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speak, a fit place to live in. There could be no circle here in which a believer could live, were it not for the presence of the holy mountains, were it not for the presence in this scene of men who are drawing down the dew of heaven. In natural things, the fertility of the plains largely hangs upon the elevations; and the thought of God in regard of every one of us, is that there might be moral increase, that these elevations might rise, that they might tower up, as it were, that they might reflect that scene from whence all divine and heavenly refreshment comes.

That was the kind of location that this wonderful city had. It was a city surrounded by holy mountains. It was in that way a city of fertility, of refreshment, and, as we said, it was a city which had moral foundations. Now, whilst it is true that the city that is cited in Psalm 87 is a material city, and that which we have in Hebrews 12 is moral, as also in the book of Revelation, I think we find that what is said of the city in a material way in the Old Testament is merely an index to what lies in the mind of God in regard of this moral and spiritual order of things, which He is building today. So that really the kinds of things that God was building into the souls of His saints in the Old Testament, were not morally different, in kind or quality, from those which He is building into your soul and mine. I know that the way in which these things went into

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their souls was different, and that it went into their souls in a different form, under a different testimony, but I think the quality, the nature of the things which God was building into the souls of His people in the past dispensation, is not different in kind or quality from that which He is building into our souls today. I judge that God, at no period in the history of His ways, would build into the souls of men other than that which was morally Himself.

So when we come to the consideration of these cities, we find that there is no great distance apart from them as to their moral substance. "Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the habitations of Jacob". God loves the habitations of Jacob. He loves the habitations of all His people. God has a peculiar interest in all that relates to the pathway of His people, and He takes account of their dwellings, of their uprisings and their down-sittings, but "Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the habitations of Jacob". Why? Because these are beautiful gates. No city that has ever been raised by man could compare with the moral beauty that shines in the gates of Zion, because in these gates there is a kind of administration, there is a kind of wisdom, that is unknown in the cities of man. But the kind of wisdom that is operating in Zion is really the wisdom of God, and so He loves the gates of Zion. He loves the kind of administration that is carried on there, and

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according to Hebrews 12 we have arrived at Mount Zion, the city of the living God; and because that city is morally existent today (that is, in arriving in our spirits at Christ risen, and taking account of the saints as risen together with Him) we arrive at a spiritual and moral system which is really the product of God. So that here today there are men who have come under the influence of heaven; Zion is near to heaven, and all these heavenly things are really within the reach of our spirits now in Zion.

The kind of wisdom that comes from above is found operating in the gates of Zion, and God has a peculiar regard for the kind of wisdom that is expressed, the kind of wisdom that is applied in the gates of Zion. All the wisdom of this world is incomparable with the kind of wisdom that operates in the gates of Zion. God has a peculiar interest in the kind of wisdom that is being applied to moral problems down here today, because it is really the appropriation and application of divine wisdom, the kind of wisdom that resides in Christ, the One whom God has made Head and in whom all the wisdom of God is found. That is the kind of wisdom, that is found in the gates of Zion, and that is the kind of wisdom that God loves to see operating down here.

So today we find there are moral problems arising. You take all these local difficulties that arise. They will come, and I am encouraged to think

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that God is proving us through these difficulties, by the application now of divine wisdom, the kind of wisdom that is found in the gates of Zion. I say God is educating us in order that we might come out in administration in that city when it is publicly displayed. So, while I am sure it is very distasteful to us to have to meet these difficulties that arise, from time to time, on the other hand, I would be encouraged in this thought, that God is making use of these difficulties and is educating us through them, that by the introduction of divine wisdom there might be the building up in our souls now, of that which will fit us, and make us competent, to come out in connection with the administration of the city in a public way by and by. The persons that are born in Zion have a kind of character that is peculiar to that city. People usually bear the stamp and character of the city in which they are born. It usually imparts a tone and character to them, and people usually have a great regard, and a great love, for the city in which they are born; and I want to ask you, when God numbers the people, when He takes the census, if one might so speak, will He be able to record of us that we have been born in Zion? Will it be said in regard of us that we have been born in that wonderful city?

I am not overlooking the fact that, in a way, of every person who is the product of the revelation of God, it may be predicated that they have been born

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there. But I am thinking now of the way this works out practically today, as to whether we have come under the moral influence of Zion, as to whether we carry the moral character which is stamped upon a man born there, because I do not think, beloved friends, it will be difficult to recognise a 'man born in Zion'. He will carry with him a moral dignity, and will carry with him an air of liberty which belongs to that city. There are two qualities which I think would mark a man born in Zion - the elements of rest and contentment. Now these are two elements which are absolutely unknown in the city of man today. There never was a moment perhaps in the history of this world when discontent and unrest were so evident as now, but God proposes to introduce our souls into a sphere, into a city, where everything is marked by rest and contentment. The people who are the moral product of that wonderful city are a restful, happy, contented people, and I think there is no greater evidence in the world today as to the reality and blessedness of divine things than the presence of these qualities in the souls of God's people.

"They that dwell in thy house: they will be constantly praising thee" (Psalm 84:4), and, whilst the city and the house may be different thoughts, I presume the same moral state is involved in both these ideas, and really what makes the city of Zion such an important and such a blessed city is the

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presence of the house of God, because that is where God dwells. He dwells in that city. Now there may be other cities. We have some of them mentioned in the fourth verse of our psalm, but the principles of confusion attach to these cities. The world's cities are scenes of moral darkness. They are marked by lawlessness. The very first city that was reared in this world, its very foundations were laid in murder, and the principles of hatred and death mark the cities of men. But the cities of Rahab (Egypt) will be brought down. Babylon will be brought down, because there are no moral foundations, but the city that God is rearing today, that which He is building up in the souls of His people, is of such a character that it will not permit of destruction. Everything that God builds up in connection with Zion, is durable and eternal in its qualities and character, and it is of the greatest encouragement to think that out of all this chaos, this world of confusion and death, God is building up in the souls of His people that which is of Himself, that which is eternal in character, and which will survive the break-up of everything that man has built.

Most glorious things are spoken of this wonderful city! Blessed things can be predicated of it, because I think Zion is the summit in regard of divine purpose as related to our present enjoyment down here. Zion was really the summit of that pathway which led up out of Egypt, across the Red

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Sea, across the desert, through the Jordan, up into the land, where God established His people, in that which was suitable to Himself, in a land where the sun shone and where God's eye rested from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. It was a city where divine provision was made, adequate to meet all the needs of the people freely, because God made provision for His people in Zion. Beloved friends, there is always food there, there is always a supply of food in that wonderful city. You need not famish, because God has provided a city for His people where today our souls may be livingly fed. God has always got that which is suitable for the moment. The food supply is such that it never will be exhausted, and there will always be maintained down here, by the power of the Spirit, a ministry suited to the needs of His people at any given moment. So this city is a place of plenty, a place of abundance, where every blessedness is brought within the reach of God's people as a present, daily thing. I would like, if I could, to bring that home, that God intends, whilst His people are down here in this world, that their spirits, their souls and their affections, might be in touch with a moral system which lies outside the range of human sense, and where our souls can take in now all these heavenly joys, all this blessedness that is presented in Christ, for the present appropriation and enjoyment of His people.

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Another thing that marks the people that dwell in Zion is that there are singers and dancers. It is said of them that they find all their springs in that city. "All my springs are in thee". Now I judge that God would have our spirits so absolutely at home in the blessedness of that restful scene that we might know what it is to be joyful. I believe that is the intention of God, that we should never have had a brighter day in our history than the present. I think it is a serious thing if we have to go back in our history to some day which we enjoyed very much and would like to live it over again, because Christianity is such that it increases in our souls, it is "going on and brightening until the day be fully come" (Proverbs 4:18). So our happiness, in that way, ought to be at its zenith today. There ought to be no time in our past history that was better than the present. The people who live in Zion are able to dance and they are able to sing, but, beloved friends, we cannot dance very much if our feet are stuck fast in the mire of this world. The singers and the dancers find all their springs in that heavenly city, the city of the living God. Do you and I find our springs in that city? If so, our feet will not be stuck in the mire of this world. They will not be detained by anything that the earth can present to us. Persons who dance are those who can control their feet. They can control them and guide them skilfully, and I believe that that is the effect of being

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in Zion, that such persons are able to control their feet, and they are able to respond to the divine music, and in that way their souls are in the happy enjoyment of the mirth, the gladness, which characterises this wonderful city where the blessed 'God Himself vouchsafes to dwell, And every bosom fill' (Hymn 74).

Where do you and I really find our springs now? What is governing us? It is a good thing, I think, to raise these questions sometimes with holy frankness. So, what is the bent of our minds? Is it the present order? Does man's city govern us? Do these Babylonish practices govern us, or the house of Rahab? There, is only confusion. Do we find our springs in that city where God is known, where He is served, where He is enjoyed according to all the blessedness in which He has made Himself known in Christ? We arrive now in our souls at a scene, we are connected in our spirits to a vast, blessed system that God has inaugurated in Christ risen, and which He sustains and supports by the power of His Spirit here. There our souls are permitted to draw, now in a present, moral way, by the power of the Spirit, that which will be actually ours by and by. I feel sure what God is going to display in that city in the book of Revelation, which we just touched on, what God is going to display in a public way, is what He is building up today.

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I believe that all the material is being formed now. God was the first builder, and God is now building into the souls of His people that which is of Himself, which He will carry through, which He will preserve, which He will bring to a happy and blessed consummation. Presently God will clothe His people with houses out of heaven. He will give us conditions suited to that which He is building up in our souls now, because the work of God is morally greater than these bodies in which you and I are found today.

God will clothe with suitable conditions that which He is producing in our souls now, and so He will bring the city down out of heaven "having the glory of God". What a scene, when God will bring that city into view; when He will display Himself; when all His moral attributes will find a perfect answer in that city; when that system will become the medium of life, of light, and of administration, in connection with the world. But I feel sure if we are going to take a part in the administration of that city, we must be educated now. A fool's voice will not be heard in the gates of Zion. It is only the voice, beloved friends, of wise men that is heard there, and it is the thought of God in giving us His Spirit, and passing us through this scene in connection with all the difficulties to which we are submitted, that there might be the production in our souls of that wisdom, that it might be appropriated

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and applied in connection with our pathway here; and God will treasure that. He loves the gates of Zion, and God will treasure that: He will bring it through, and He will display it publicly.

Can it be said honestly in our souls tonight that all our springs are in that city where God and the Lamb are known? Well, may the Lord grant that we may know what it is to be the moral product of Zion, that God may be able to record of us, "This man was born there", and that we find our living, and our dwelling there; that we have arrived in our spirits at Mount Zion, the city of the living God, and that we look forward with intense delight to that time when God will display publicly all that He has been building up in this dark, weary scene, and He will bring it through, and He will display it to the glory and delight of His own heart and a wondering universe! May the Lord grant that each of us may come into the gain of these things now!

Rochester, N.Y., January 1919

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THE DESIRES OF CHRIST FOR HIS OWN

R Dunn

John 17:10 - 26; Revelation 3:7 - 13; Zephaniah 2:3 - 7; Zephaniah 3:8 - 20

I wish, with the Lord's help, to speak a simple word of encouragement at such a time as this is in view of the fact that we are near the close of the assembly's history here. We have been speaking of that which is dear to the heart of Christ, as that which is espoused by us in His absence.

I have read part of John 17 because I should like to commend to you for your meditation what it is that is precious to the heart of Christ, so that we might be heartily identified with it. What one feels is so valuable and encouraging in this chapter is that we hear the Lord speaking about the saints according to His love, and apart altogether from their responsibility, and this should deeply affect our hearts. I think it would help us immensely if our souls got imbued with the love Christ has for the saints, apart, as I said, from their responsibility.

I think of John 17 as the Lord's prayer in connection with the peculiar ministry of John. He takes things up in detail, disclosing the pulsations of His heart for His own, and, in the sense that His pathway was drawing to a close, requesting the Father that the saints should come into the good of

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all His ministry. How it affects one's heart to hear the Lord speaking to His Father of His own, and saying, "They are thine". It takes hold of my heart, of all our hearts, to hear the Lord speak of us in this way. He is really voicing the desires of His love for all saints, for the whole assembly; and then He goes on, "And all that is mine is thine, and all that is thine mine". He presents the saints as His, and what comes to light is that the supreme object of the heart of Christ is to bring us into the presence of that which is for the Father's eternal pleasure. The Lord comes into the Father's presence and says, "Now I come to thee", and the burden of His prayer is that saints should come into the full good of His ministry, as we have it in the first sixteen chapters of this gospel.

What I wanted particularly to draw your attention to was the Lord's express desire for us, first that we should be kept - preserved - in the world (not taken out of it), and then that in the day of display it should be set forth that the Father loves us, as He loves Christ. I would commend this to your consideration, the desires of the heart of Christ for us who are left here where we shall be hated because He was hated, where there is no home for us, because there was none for Him. Then, in closing, He requests that those whom the Father has given Him may be with Him where He is, and may behold His glory. I would lay this chapter before

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you in a special way as expressing the desires of the heart of Christ for His own and would ask myself - to begin with - and all, whether we have sufficiently cherished those desires in our hearts.

Now I wanted to speak of Philadelphia in this way as that which at the present moment answers to the heart of Christ. It exercises one deeply to reflect that there is that which the Lord Jesus can take account of at the moment on earth, which yields Him what His heart seeks. It is set forth in this company in Philadelphia, whom He addresses with the fullest confidence. He draws near to them without the slightest reserve, and approves all they are engaged with. You ask me where this company is to be found today. Well, one can only say, it is present here, and each one of us who desires to hear the Lord's voice and to cherish what is dear to Christ should seek to be found answering to the features presented in it.

The Lord takes account of what is there and comes forth to speak to the hearts of His own, encouraging them to go on, and saying, "I come quickly: hold fast what thou hast". We have been speaking of brotherly love today, and seeking to encourage one another on mutual lines, in connection with the sympathies and outgoings of love found in the brotherhood, in the midst of this scene of opposition. It is in the atmosphere of brotherly love that everything precious to Christ is

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cherished, hence how important it is for us to be found together in bonds of brotherly affection if we are to comfort one another in relation to the things disclosed to us by Christ.

It is beautiful to note how the Lord pours out His heart to this company in Philadelphia. There is no blame, no remonstrance, but He speaks to them with perfect confidence, exhorting them to hold fast in view of His coming, and adding, "He that overcomes, him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God". If you love the interests of Christ, you will be prepared to stand for all that is set forth in the temple, and the result is, you will be a pillar. Then it goes on, "And I will write upon him the name of my God". His name covers all His interests today, and as we move together in brotherly love, those interests engage and control our hearts, so that together we espouse what is for the pleasure of God. The Lord would remind us we have not long to wait: "I come quickly", He says, "Hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown". Then, as we were saying, He addresses the overcomer. He would have us to be overcomers, He would have us carry in our hearts today a sense of triumph. Well, I say I want to overcome, and we are here today to encourage one another on the line of overcoming. It involves a path of surrender and suffering, but we are prepared for that if we desire to give ourselves

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to that which is dear to the heart of Christ, and to come out as victors.

I read the passages in Zephaniah because I felt that, inasmuch as they describe the comfort vouchsafed to the remnant in a trying day, just at the close of a dispensation, they are applicable to our hearts at a moment like this. So in chapter 2, the prophet addresses himself to those set for the Lord's interests. "Seek Jehovah, all ye meek of the land, who have performed his ordinance; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of Jehovah's anger". It reminds one of what the Lord says to Philadelphia, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee out of the hour of trial, which is about to come upon the whole habitable world, to try them that dwell upon the earth".

The remnant in the prophet's day were preserved - hid - under the hand of the Lord. We, on the other hand, are to be taken up out of the evil, those who are not earth-dwellers are to be taken away from the scene of judgment. So, referring again to our scripture in Zephaniah, we have the Lord's promise of support to the "meek of the land", then it says, "Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites! The word of Jehovah is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant". I think it is important to see the Lord

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taking account in this way, of the public thing which professes His name. He speaks to Canaan, the territory which belonged to Israel by rights, and calls their land the "land of the Philistines". The Philistines had come up and spoilt everything, but we find from the following verses that a remnant is preserved in the midst of it all. It says, "And the sea-coast shall be cave-dwellings for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereon: ... for Jehovah their God shall visit them, and turn again their captivity". This is a very encouraging word for our hearts.

We have been saying that the Lord's people are here as a feeble folk occupying the outside place, just the sea-coast as we may say, and yet they have a place for "cave-dwellings for shepherds, and folds for flocks". How happy to contemplate this people, little on earth, but wise, pursuing together what is of value to Christ, looking after their food and cherishing all that is divine in character, and although unseen and of no account in the world, feeding and lying down together in their "sea-coast" none daring to make them afraid! Is it not so, is this not our portion at the moment?

If we think of what we are in this scene, we can be taken hold of by the hands like the lizard (Proverbs 30:28), but under the hand of God we have been brought together in brotherly love, and we have our

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shepherds, all under the chief Shepherd, who cares for His burdened people, and affords them pasture at all times. One's desire would be to take full advantage of this provision.

Now, in chapter 3 the prophet gives a word to support the people in the midst of trying conditions. "Wait ye for me, saith Jehovah, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to assemble the nations, that I may gather the kingdoms together, to pour upon them mine indignation, - all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language". I should like to ask, what is our language today, what do we converse about when together? The Lord says He will "turn to the peoples a pure language". It raises the question of what forms the subject of our conversation. The communion of saints is very sweet, but first of all, let us see to it that our communion is with Christ. We want to get near to His heart, the heart of that blessed One who could express Himself in John 17 in such tender regard for His own. Let us get near to Him and learn what His desires are for His people, then we shall have something to talk about when together. We shall speak a pure language then, for all the graces and virtues of Christ and every precious thought brought to light in regard to Him will be the subject of our conversation. In the beginning of Luke it

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says, "In the whole hill-country of Judaea all these things were the subject of conversation" (Luke 1:65). That is a pure language.

Then the word in Zephaniah proceeds, "that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent". One would desire that this "one consent" might be more evident among us, that as our hearts are taken up with Christ, we might move happily together. "Draw me, we will run after thee", the word says (Song of Songs 1:4). Brethren, let us serve Him with one consent. "From beyond the rivers of Cush my suppliants, the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine oblation". God has not forgotten the exercises and prayers of saints; all the supplications of His people are to be remembered. Think how morally beautiful are all these features as seen in the remnant, speaking in this pure language, serving with one consent; and going on in supplication and prayers in the interests of the Lord. "And I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of Jehovah". Are we content that this should be our lot at the moment? That we should be left here in the midst of Christendom, where the Philistine seems to have secured everything, small and lightly esteemed and hated by the world, but pursuing what is dear to Christ with one consent? And is what the prophet goes on to say true of us? "The remnant of Israel shall not

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work unrighteousness, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: but they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid". This is our present portion if we go in for it.

It is a day when we are called upon to stand for the truth, and you get the setting forth of the truth in this "afflicted and poor people" who "shall not work unrighteousness, nor speak lies". These are the features we see in Philadelphia. Thou "hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name". What the Lord can recognise is that everything is cherished in Philadelphia, all that was brought to light when Christ came here, all that came out in the epistles, and every bit of light ministered to us at any time has been valued and maintained by the assembly viewed from this standpoint. Now what does the Lord say by the prophet? "They shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid". If only we were set for it, we should get all the good of all the truth. The Lord would have us enjoying this feeding and lying down together, and that is not all. If found pursuing with brotherly affection and increased appreciation what is treasured in the heart of Christ, we shall be marked in the last days by the shout of a King among us. "Exult, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; rejoice and be glad with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem". What is to mark us at the present moment is a ring of joy. There is

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everything to encourage us in a day like this; saints are getting food, shepherds are caring for us, there is much that is ministered in the power of the Spirit, and now the prophet says, as it were, 'Put your heart into it'. "Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a mighty one that will save", he says. It is the shout of a King; He is mighty and He will see us through.

"A mighty one that will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will exult over thee with singing". The Lord is in the midst of His people that He may preserve them here for the pleasure of His own heart. "I will gather them that sorrow for the solemn assemblies, who were of thee: the reproach of it was a burden unto them". That is a word of comfort for those who care for the Lord's interests today. I will not forget those who bear the burden of things, the Lord would remind us. To the broken-hearted who feel things and consider for God, He says, I shall gather you, I shall not forget the suffering and surrender you have faced in connection with the difficulties of the position. The prophet here reassures the remnant, "I will deal with all them that afflict thee".

Are you within, in sympathy with what is engaging the hearts of saints, or without as an afflicter? Nothing is so discouraging as the critical spirit which stands without and complains. The Lord takes account of the sufferings of those who bear the reproach of the testimony, but He does not

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forget the lack of sympathy of those who stand aloof. Then He goes on, "I will save her that halted". It is good to halt. Jacob was a halter, and it was said when he became crippled, "Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh - the sinew" (Genesis 32:32). It was to be remembered among the children of Israel that Jacob was lamed, and that God has to lame a man to make use of him. He would have us all lamed in that sense, so that we move, not in our own energy and will, but in the spirit of the brother.

It is beautiful to see in this scripture in Zephaniah how the Spirit of God draws attention to features that are pleasurable to the Lord in that day, and brings them out for our encouragement. "I will ... gather her that was driven out". We were saying, the people of God viewed in their conditions of weakness here are like the lizard spoken of in Proverbs 30 - liable to be crushed and driven out, but the Lord is mindful of us in this connection and says, I will gather them and get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. I just desired to bring before you the way the Lord loves to commit Himself to those found in remnant times caring for His interests, the way He opens His heart in encouragement. 'Let not thy hands be slack', He says, 'I am observing

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everything and forgetting nothing, and see what I am doing for you'. As Hymn 361 says, 'Thy tender mercies still pursued'. We are still able to encourage one another, and lie down together and feed, as sheep of His pasture. But, beloved friends, the Lord will soon have His prayer in John 17 answered. The day is very near, I believe, when He will remove us from this scene, to the scene to which our hearts have already travelled.

If only our hearts were more in heaven, they would be less here. All sorts of inviting avenues are being opened up in the present day to allure the people of God from the place of being little and lightly esteemed, where they have the Lord's protection and confidence, to allure them to the things of earth. But He is coming and then, as I said, His prayer will be fully answered and we shall be near Him to behold His glory, with adoring hearts surrounding Himself, occupying our own special place with Him, our souls meanwhile drinking in the blessedness of the realisation that the One who knew us in grace, and saved us below, and gave us to suffer for Him is now supreme where He is.

Then will that word be fulfilled, "That the world may know that thou ... hast loved them as thou hast loved me". Have you ever thought of it? Down here we are in the place of reproach, hated because Christ is hated, the world knowing us not

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because it knew Him not, but in that day which is about to dawn, it will be manifested to the universe that the Father loves us. And further, the Lord's own love to His own will be publicly made known, as He says to Philadelphia, "I will cause that they shall come and do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee".

May He encourage us to get near to Him, so that we get to know something of the precious desires of His heart for His saints, as viewed apart from their responsibilities; and thus thinking of them according to Christ's love for them, we may be a comfort to one another, and be supported in our souls by the consciousness that all is to issue in final triumph, and that even now we have the shout of a King among us.

Ealing, August 1919

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THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD HAVING COME, AND ITS EFFECT

Matthew 27:50 - 54; Luke 24:25 - 35; John 1:29 - 34; John 10:34 - 42

I should like to say a word or two, with the Lord's help, to confirm what the Lord has graciously brought before us, in regard of the importance of the two signs which the Lord said would be given. He said no sign should be given to an evil and adulterous generation save the sign of Jonas the prophet, who was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights; and He said when He announced that, "Behold, more than Jonas is here" (Matthew 12:41). Then He spoke of the queen of the south as another sign, and added, "Behold, more than Solomon is here" (Matthew 12:42). I would suggest that the value of these two signs, known in their reality in the apprehension of Christ in this twofold way, would leave the soul free to contemplate, and appreciate, and enjoy, the immensity of the revelation that the Father made to Peter.

I have no doubt whatever that what is characteristic of the present moment in God's eye is the fact that the Son of God has come. The coming of the Son of God must make a tremendous change

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in regard to everything. Great men had come and gone; wonderful men had been raised up, men whom one can read of and consider with the very greatest interest. We were referring to one to whom God spoke face to face, as a man would speak to his friend; but I would say, with delight of heart, that even that man would fade into insignificance in the presence of the coming of the Son of God. What must it have meant for God to have His Son here? Apart from what it means for you, or any other believer, what do you think it meant for God to have a moment in the history of this scene when the fact was out that the Son of God had come? The possibilities are unbounded; the fact stands, and cannot be shaken; but what one would covet is that the joy of it might come into the soul of the youngest believer.

With that in view, I would like to draw attention to the importance of these two signs. The first is, plainly and distinctly, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. One can hardly understand Jonah; for when God gave him a message for that great and wicked city, he felt that if he carried the message, the city would break down under it and God would bless them; and he did not want them blessed; he wanted his testimony of coming judgment to be vindicated. He did not know what it was to be in sympathy with the heart of God.

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You know the story as well as I do; he tried to evade delivering the message. I believe the present exercise amongst God's beloved people is this, that we might be free to deliver the message in the spirit of it. What message? That which Christ, as Head of the assembly, would convey to all His people before He returns. God deals with Jonah, and takes him experimentally by way of death along the line of blessedness that was in His heart, and so Jonah comes out of the belly of the great fish to announce the message. You know the consequence. He sat down, wondering what God was going to do with the city.

He ought to have known from the very first moment they began to put on sackcloth and ashes that the heart of God would go out to them in all its grace and blessedness. Then God makes a gourd for him, and he much enjoyed it; but God took it away, and said, 'You don't like to have taken away from you what you enjoy; there are thousands of people in that city that cannot discern between their right hand and their left'. How many of God's people are there in Belfast who don't know their right hand from their left? Are we sympathetic towards them? Are we large enough in our thoughts to embrace them, to hold out the hand of sympathy to them in such loving power that they are dragged out of the associations they are in?

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Well, you say, that entails the spirit of another Man, and for that reason I would like to touch on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew gives us what should be brought about in the soul by death and resurrection. I do not mean that he puts us in the full gain of it, but he indicates what ought to be the effect of it in our soul's history. "Jesus, having again cried with a loud voice, gave up the ghost". That is His death - the death of Jesus. That is one part of the sign of Jonas, and the effect is wonderful: the veil of the temple - of the house - was rent in two from the top to the bottom. Marvellous! every barrier that hinders the light and all the blessedness that was in God coming out unhinderedly, gone for ever! There was not a barrier left. If that is the effect of His death, what is to be the effect of His resurrection?

There is more than that effected by His death; resurrection is the basis upon which God is going to establish everything: "The rocks were rent, and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints fallen asleep arose, and going out of the tombs after His arising, entered into the holy city". That is resurrection; mark, it says, after His arising. Wonderful! Just think of it. His death has removed every barrier, and the full light of God comes out, so that we are not surprised that the gospel is said to be the power of God unto salvation.

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Speaking reverently, God can now, in righteousness, do just what He pleases; and thus we have actually brought before us the thought of people outside of death, outside the grave, perfectly suitable to God, walking about in the holy city. The last reference to this city was anything but holy; the last reference to it was a great sorrow to the heart of God; but now the effect of the death of His Son, and His resurrection, is that the city, purged in the sight of God by the efficacy of that marvellous death, is looked upon as a holy city; and those who are made partakers of a holy calling are walking about in it outside of death.

The night you were converted, you thought that you were going to start out and walk here in the liberty and joy of the grace of God that had come into your soul, and never know bondage from that moment ever. If you fail of it, or break down in regard of it, never give it up; it is a divine idea, and the Lord will bring you to it, and have the greatest delight in doing so.

Now as to the second sign, Luke 24:26 says, "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory?" You know why the queen of the south came up; she had heard of the fame of Solomon. I do not know whether you have ever stopped to think how Solomon became famous. God invested that man with wisdom - and the words of the wise are as goads; the goad is

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something that a man uses to direct the cattle into the channel of the master's will - that is what the words of the wise are - as goads. Well, when God invested Solomon with wisdom, he had the greatest problem to face that has ever been faced here. What was that? The question of the adjusting of living affections to their true ownership.

I would ask every believer in this room, are you in the keeping and nurture of Christ - that is, of the One to whom you belong? Do you say, I do not think I am? Then the mother with the dead child has got hold of you. The world is the mother that has no living child, and it makes a claim on you; the true mother stands aside and waits. What is the thing that solves the problem? The sufferings of Christ. Solomon sends for a sword; he will apply the suffering line, and the suffering line brings to light the true owner of the living child. The true mother says, 'Do not kill the child, far rather give it to the woman that is not the mother than kill the child'. Solomon says, 'That is the mother: hers is the living child'. These are the words of the wise. I do not know whether you have ever thought that when God raised Christ from the dead and gave Him glory, He gave Him the right to hold all the living affections in this world; He has earned that right by His sufferings.

Thus when He spoke to those two on the way to Emmaus, whose affections were going astray, He

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appeals to them on that line: "Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things", that He might have a right to hold their affections in a living way. Their hearts burned within them; nobody can do that but Christ; you cannot. There is nothing will ever make your heart burn, if it does not come direct from the heart of the Lord. The words of the wise are as goads. He began to speak to them with such intense feelings of affection; affection is never afraid of being blamed. "O senseless and slow of heart". What was behind it? It was His love. He would not have had them miss it for anything, and instead of being offended, or upset, or perturbed, they were intensely attracted. They looked at one another, and could say, "Was not our heart burning in us?" Not our hearts; they had not got two hearts: when they had been in His company, they were knit together in one, filled by the 'Master of assemblies', and ready to take their place in the company that belonged to Him down here. I would covet that you might be ready to be put into a company suitable to the heart of Christ.

I would turn for a moment to the thought of His glory. It is the glory of that blessed Man. Paul could say, "messengers of assemblies, Christ's glory" (2 Corinthians 8:23). What is the company under His eye? It is a company down here morally corresponding to Himself. I would say this: the difficulty in regard to finding your place in the

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assembly in its living character lies in this fact, that you have failed to apprehend the truth of the second sign. Why? For this reason: that the fact that the glory of Christ is to supersede and put out all other wisdom, and all other resources, and all other glory, would leave you, like the queen of Sheba, with no more spirit in you, totally and entirely at the disposal of Christ.

Our dear brother was speaking of the importance of being subject; what would He do with you if He got complete control over you? What did He do with those two? Would He set up something in their house? No: He would bring them along in their spiritual history till they were morally suitable for their proper place, and then He would leave them. Why? That they might find it. They rose up the same hour. I have often thought they might have said, 'Don't you think we should take a night to think it over, to consider whether it is worth while?' No. I can understand their saying, 'If you had seen His face and heard His voice, as we did, you would never rest till you had found the place'. They found the eleven, and them that were with them. When they sat down in that company, it was with the sense that in that spot they had got no cares, no responsibilities, and no exercises. What had they got? The resources of the living and glorified One. The spot they had taken Him to was their side, although He graciously sat at table with

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them. It is very good of the Lord to come into our conditions and handle things for us, so that we are left without a care in our conditions, but it is to indicate to us the blessedness of His own condition.

May I press the question home upon you, beloved: what way are you going? I like that verse, "they related what had happened on the way". What way? It was a wrong way, yes, but think for a moment of the extraordinary goodness on the part of the Lord in coming after me when I go out of the way and give up hope, give up my thoughts of the holy city with living people, and turn aside to Emmaus and settle down into a country life. You say you will go to the city when you die. What does the Lord do? He graciously intervenes. Where would any of us be if He did not intervene? If you got near the Lord and said, 'Why did you intervene?' He would say, 'What do you think I suffered for? You know what I died for: did you ever think why I suffered?' He suffered to bring us to God, Peter says, and He knew what it was for a person to go out of the way. The Lord joined them, went with them, appealed to them, and brought them back.

This should make one intensely sympathetic if having to deal with a case of sorrow, or departure, or wickedness. Whilst one would not tolerate anything that was unsuitable to Christ, one would pray to have the spirit of the Master towards the

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person who had been dragged into the thing. Well, these two signs should leave a mighty effect on our souls - the divine idea in resurrection illuminating the heart. The practical working of it is seen in the wisdom of the glorified Man. I believe we should be able to take in, in our souls, the fact that that Person must be the Son of God.

Now John the Baptist makes an exceedingly beautiful statement; he says, "And I knew him not". Let me tell you something more; no one else knows Him, and no one can know Him unless He is indicated to them. Peter got the knowledge by way of revelation; John got the knowledge by way of indication. Who was it that gave him the indication? The One who had sent him to baptise. John did not go and baptise of his own accord: God had sent him to baptise and He it was who told him, "Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit". When you see that, you will know that you are looking on the Son of God.

It must have been a moment never to be forgotten. John had looked at Jesus as the Lamb of God, and as he looked on Him he contemplated a Man who would bring to pass a world in which there would be no sin. He begins to dwell on this fact, and enlarges on the blessedness of the Person, then in his going down, and decreasing, and getting out of sight, we see the moral consequence of it. As

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Christ became greater and greater with John, he himself became smaller and smaller, and at last he sees the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and abiding upon Him - the holy purity of the Holy Spirit of God. What was the striking point in that scene? It was that there was a home here for God, the Holy Spirit - a resting place. That entails a holy, spiritual structure.

Baptism with water entails that I am entirely free from the moral influences of sin and death, but baptism with the Holy Spirit involves the thought of an entirely new world. That is the world He brings about. Perhaps we do not think much about the Spirit: one feels one is lost on that line. We look upon the Spirit as the seal and confirmation of all that God has wrought in us - blessedly true; or as the One who sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts - blessedly true; but have you ever taken in the thought that the Holy Spirit is here to hold, maintain, unfold and open out, all that is in the heart of the blessed God? The Son of God was going to baptise with the Holy Spirit.

You can understand the next question: "Where abidest thou?" (verse 38), but I do not want to go into that side; I want to take up the setting of the testimony here in relation to this fact, so I read the closing verses in John 10:38, "If I do (the works of my Father) ... believe the works". What do you think the Father sanctified and sent the Son for?

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May I say it - there was a need, that no one here was great enough to supply, and in order that there might be the material for a spiritual structure where these things could be opened out and unfolded, God takes the initiative into His own hands, and begins the work here. He sends His Son, and He takes the material up in living, responsive affection to the Father, and begins to handle the material.

You can understand the Lord's question in chapter 9. There was a man who was cast out, he was material too good for any structure but the assembly. The moment the Lord heard he was cast out, He took him up. He put the question to him: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" (verse 35). Do you know what it is to be a component part of the assembly? "Who is he, Lord?" He says, 'You have had to do with Him, and it is He that is speaking to you now'. The whole moral being of that man went out to the Son of God. "I believe, Lord: and he did him homage" (verse 38). There is the assembly, it is the material that is wholly and entirely responsive to Christ. Oh to be of it! You say, where is it now? Actually you have to come to it. There is a very beautiful expression here: "He went away ... again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptising at the first: and he abode there". A great many things transpire between the moment you get your first link with it in John's baptism, and when you come back again to that spot. How? In the light

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of the knowledge of the Son of God, the Inaugurator of an entirely new system, and in that system there is going to be satisfaction for the heart of God. You have come back to that spot. What do you find in it? The confirmation of everything that John said. "All things which John said of this man were true". Sin carried out of the world - it is confirmed there. There is something in a living, spiritual way. There are affections, unknown to the soul of man, that are touched at that spot. Where was John baptising - in the land? No, in the wilderness.

If we knew more what it is to find everything empty, according to the words of the Preacher - "Vanity of vanities" (Ecclesiastes 1:2), I think the Spirit would be able to illuminate us a little more as to the signs that point to Christ as the Son of God. When they reached that spot, "many believed on him there" (John 10:42). I would covet, for my brethren and for myself, that we might be brought, in the power of the Spirit of God, over Jordan, into the wilderness where John baptised, and under the influence of that blessed One. We could bring out then the benefits of the sign that indicated who He was, so that many might believe on Him there. How many there are in Belfast that would be immensely helped if they could believe on Him. Well, you say, I have tried to get them to believe on Him. May I indicate the way? It is to believe on Him yourself.

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That is the way. It is not difficult to see that at this juncture the Lord begins to take up your home circle (see chapter 11), the place where you have been so happy, where the privileges that you have had in the meetings have been talked over quietly - the Lord comes in, He takes your brother, and puts him aside. Did He love him? Yes. What did He put him aside for? Not for death, but for the glory of God.

If we have a desire for these things, may the Lord confirm it. I believe the Lord would work in our households, so that the desire might be created. May He graciously grant it, for His name's sake.

Belfast, April 1920

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THE SPIRITUAL CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY

that you are a harsh person, but if persecuted you bless, I form my conclusions by the way the vessel acts.

Psalm 16:1 - 11; Romans 12:1, 2; Colossians 2:19 - 23; Ephesians 3:16 - 21

I desire to say a word or two as to the constitution of the church as Christ's assembly here. I am taking it for granted that everyone present has part in that, and I would just say in passing that the assembly is composed of every person who believes in the God who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, and who has received the Spirit - that is our side of it. God has given an adequate testimony to encourage us to have our faith and hope in Him, in that He has raised Christ from the dead and given Him glory.

He appeals to that faith of the believer that trusts in Him, He gives him too His Spirit, as I have said, and that gives him part in the assembly. But while that is true of every believer, yet every believer does not know what it is to be intelligently a part of the assembly. Now, when I say intelligently, I do not mean as a matter of mind only, but as a matter of usefulness. Take an illustration: - I have a man working in my office and I want to write a letter - I say, 'Do you know shorthand?' 'Yes', he says, and he takes it down as

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I speak. He becomes useful to me because of his intelligence in shorthand. I think you can understand, the assembly is set here for a special purpose, and every person who composes, or forms part of it intelligently, becomes available for that service. I have no doubt Apollos was a remarkable man, but he was not intelligent in relation to the assembly, he only knew John's baptism, and hence he lacked in efficiency for use among the people of God, but he was instructed more perfectly, and so his usefulness was increased. I covet that every believer might be as useful as a believer can be. In view of that it is important that we should be intelligent as to what it is to form a part of the assembly in its moral constitution, and it is with that object in view that I read Psalm 16.

It is the first of a series of psalms that come in in connection with God's glory. We start at that point and the finish on that line is in Psalm 24. On the way all the questions in which need for usefulness arises are taken up and settled. This we find in the intervening psalms, and the series closes with the gates of glory open, and the Man of Psalm 16 goes in; and not only Himself personally, but as the Lord of hosts; that is, there are millions go in too. That, speaking reverently, is the consequence of Christ having come into Manhood. One could not conceive anything more wonderful than the moment when there was one holy Man on this earth.

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He was here entirely for the pleasure of God, He walked in absolute dependence upon God. "Preserve me, O God: for I trust in thee". I believe, beloved brethren, the great contrast to that is the feature which marks the present moment; man says, 'I take very good care of myself;' he thinks he has a right to do this, and alas! it is the principle of his being to think so. What I seek to show you is this: the blessedness of Christ in the way He was here for His Father's business. He was always ready to bring to light every thought that was in the heart of God for man. You could understand that suffering and sorrow came across His pathway, but He would answer, in the language of the psalm, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places". So subject was He to the hand of Jehovah, that even in the most trying circumstances He could say, "Yea, I have a goodly heritage".

Now turn to Matthew 11. He had been rejected and the Lord felt it. He says, "And thou, Capernaum, who hast been raised up to heaven;" the consequence of rejecting Christ is to be cast down to hell. The Lord had the sense (how blessed!) that the pathway was so ordered that the light of the heavenly could come out. You can understand the blessed Lord taking a place under the eye of the Father, and becoming a vessel so that what is heavenly could come out - something hid from the great people of this world. What was it? It was the

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truth of the assembly. What will be the result of this? Well take the close of the psalm - the light in the soul that God's great end will be reached. "Thou wilt make known to me the path of life: ... at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore".

The constitution of the assembly is that it is of Christ, and to reach that in our souls we have to come intelligently to know what it is to be formed spiritually after Him. You say, 'I don't think that will ever be brought to pass with me'. It depends on who is going to bring it to pass; it depends on the workman, and so when the apostle touches upon it in Ephesians, he has to explain that it is not human workmanship, it is the fruit of divine operations - God's workmanship. How marvellous this is!

Now there are three things necessary in order to bring this to pass intelligently in any believer. First, the condition in which you are here. Do not think beloved, get it dismissed from your mind, that these things are brought about in a sentimental way; that will not do. God begins to work simply and effectually with the material in hand, and when He has done, you would scarcely recognise the material. It is the same person, in the same body - and you cannot take account of the person apart from the body and by what you see coming out in that body - but there is moral transformation. If I see you strike a person, I come to the conclusion that you are a violent person, if you speak harshly,

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God steps on the scene, He is going to have material, He begins to work in such a blessed way that He actually brings to pass in that person a yielding up of that body to Him; you say, 'That would rob me of my truest hopes and aspirations', but listen, you would have higher hopes and better aspirations. Before God asks you to relinquish, He impresses you with the fact that He could glorify you, and you cannot glorify yourself. You know He justified you, but He can glorify you, and He has set His love upon you; you are thus moved by the compassions of God, and with His thoughts, and you begin to realise that God can do a great deal better with that body than you could yourself. Then you present that body - the hand that struck, the tongue that spoke - you give it to God to do just as He likes with.

That is very simple, and now you begin to see in the same person, with the same body, little actions and movements that were never seen there before. Perhaps the person who was first out of the room after the gospel preaching stays to shake hands with the brethren. What does that mean to God? He looks down to see the fruit of His grace in that man's hand. He is writing home to his mother to say, 'I thoroughly appreciate the brethren, I am

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at the meeting as often as I can get'. The secret is, God has captured that person - that body - and, do not be discouraged when I say that the gospel has not had its full effect on a person until that person is at the disposal of God with regard to his body. God works also by bringing the moral beauty of Christ before you, and you say, 'I wish I were like that Person'. God keeps that Person before your soul; then you come to the conclusion that your intelligent service is to give God control of the vessel, which in the past you have controlled yourself. What is the result? I shall show you.

Saul (Paul) is presented in Scripture as breathing out threatenings and slaughter; how did this come out? Through his body, his actions; he went to the high priest and received authority to bring bound to Jerusalem any who were of "the way;" he used his body with this in his mind. Now, that man was captured by God on the high road to Damascus, and the effect was that afterward he breathed out the Spirit of Christ. The very same body became the vessel that went through shipwreck, journeyings, perils of waters, and what came out of it? - the Spirit of Christ. I do not know anything more touching than to see that man in prison, and the jailor, who put him there, saying: "Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved?" (Acts 16:30). Paul immediately uses his body as a vessel

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to bring out God's blessed thoughts for man as they are set forth in Christ.

Now, how can you reasonably form an intelligent part of the assembly if you have not submitted your body. The truth is you have no right to it now. You are called to glorify God in your body, which is His. "Preserve me, O God: for I trust in thee", is the Spirit of Christ. I used to take care of my body and take it to all sorts of places, and things, but when I gave it to God, I let Him take it. Do you not think God can take very good care of the body? I remember the remark of a dear brother, now gone to be with the Lord; 'the best remedy for a suffering body is a pious soul'. "The fear of the Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10).

The first thing to do, in order to become an intelligent part of the assembly, is to give over the vessel in which you live to the God to whom it belongs, so that He may get control of it. When He does, He immediately begins to give you an enlarged conception of Christ. I recall that wonderful scene recorded in Exodus 24, after the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt, when Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up unto the Lord and they saw the God of Israel, and they did eat and drink; then Moses received divine communications, the

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centre and sum of which were Christ and His glories.

Now the epistle to the Colossians is presented to a company of people whose bodies had been captured for God, and the point before the apostle in writing to them is that their minds might be governed by what God has before Himself. The apostle had a marvellous conception of Christ. What is your conception of Christ? Christ is going to bring to pass a condition of things in which people are reconciled - are a positive pleasure and delight to the heart of God. Christ is going to bring that to pass, and He is bringing it to pass in the minds of believers now, by setting their minds on things above, where there are "pleasures for evermore", and "where the Christ is, sitting" (Colossians 3:1).

One can understand that when a person has yielded his body, the question comes of keeping up that thought, of its being maintained. It is kept up by the mind being held in the reality of a system of things that is of such a character that it could not be surpassed. You cannot find anything better than what is presented to the believer in a glorified Christ. You will never find anything in this scene to put alongside a glorified Christ. Keep your mind in that direction and you will find that the body will be held in a sacrificial way for God. We see the value of the mind being held, in the incident of Paul and

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Barnabas going out to serve the saints. Their bodies were available, and it is very blessed to see how Paul was minded that nothing should govern him but the service to the people of God. Barnabas had something else in his mind. He wanted to take a relative with him, and a relative who had not been very devoted. You cannot have two minds, and what happened? Barnabas went back, and Paul went on; he went on more devotedly, and with his mind pressing toward the mark. I dwell on this point, the question of what you are minding. What is your mind set on? You believe that you have a link with Christ in glory, you believe that you belong to that world of which He is the Sun and Centre. If you have given up your body, and He is going to use it, He would bring to pass in that body a renewed mind - a mind that has come under the influence of a glorified Christ.

You will find that men's minds are full of one idea - the glorification of man here, but when you have seen that glorified Man, the glory of men fades away. "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god" (A.V.). Have you observed how men become great in this world? I have seen a man come into his fortune by the death of the man that was in the place before him, and some attain greatness through slaughter of their fellow-men on the battlefield. How did that Man become great?

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You know the story of Calvary as well as I do; He laid down His life "through death; to present you holy and unblamable and irreproachable before it (i.e. the Godhead)" (Colossians 1:22). He gave up His body - the One who was great enough to bring about the reconciliation of all things, gave it up and so He becomes the Centre of a system of things that is entitled to hold the minds of the whole universe.

Now, beloved, let us have our minds set on things above; if you begin to live there, you will find that apart from that you have nothing; thus the mind begins to control this body and you act for God, and this makes way for the reality of what is expressed in that beautiful statement, "Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16).

That is how we admonish one another and teach one another; you come alongside one of the people of God, who has got his mind on things above, and you tell him of some trouble in this world - a threatened strike perhaps. 'Yes', he says, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage". If you talk of trouble here, from the standpoint of man, it is a great disaster, but if your mind is set on things above, you feel sure that it must be allowed for some purpose to further the testimony. Let us get the

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benefit of the tests, let us take advantage of the occasions when we are tested of "teaching and admonishing one another". Marvellous! How God came in! I thought all would have to close up, but God came in so wonderfully! and was not Christ intensely dear to you? Hence the hymn and then the spiritual song. You are free to get to the meeting again; you are not under pressure, you are in spiritual victory - hence a spiritually constituted part of Christ's assembly, against which the gates of hades cannot prevail. Under the eye of God tonight, on this earth, in the midst of the most awful circumstances, there is material that is according to God and all of Christ.

The great thing is to have the affections set on things above and to be "strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man". I would ask you now to weigh over the thought of the inner man. What I understand by it is the body presented as a sacrifice to God and a heavenly mind so that there is expressed here the character of the "new man". People say, 'the man is completely changed, we cannot understand it'. There is something there now that was not there before - it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and the great thing is that it should be a spiritual proof of how God loves to maintain, by the mighty power of His Spirit, what is of Himself here.

You are part of the system of things of which all the saints in every clime are a part, "to

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apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height". That gives the universal thought, and you form part of that vessel intelligently in your affections - what is the vessel for? It is for the service of God; I venture to say, if you took that vessel away from the earth, at the present time, there would be nothing for God here. When it actually goes, God will revive His ancient people, so that there will still be here that which is for God.

The assembly is here for the pleasure of the blessed God. Christ was here once for His pleasure, He is in glory now, but there is a vessel here which is wholly of God in its structure, but what intelligent part have I in that? Why, I have the pleasure of sacrificing my body, the vessel in which I did my own will, so that it might become a vessel for His will and glory. No wonder the apostle thinks of "all generations of the age of ages". I sometimes wonder whether we contemplate the marvellous privilege of taking account of what we belong to. You see men of the world with letters after their name, denoting the Society to which they belong, and their rank in it, and they are proud of them. Do you think this superstructure is ever going to fall, or this workmanship ever to be destroyed? What is the present advantage of these things to us here together, who are but a few of that company - the assembly - when we cannot find all the saints? Just

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think; can we not intelligently in our mind rise to that spot where Christ is and survey things from that point? Coming down from there, can we not hold in our heart, as dear to us, what is dear to Christ?

Let our prayers and our utterances Godward, express what holds our hearts, and let us embrace in our affections the whole assembly. Never let us think we are the only ones left; keep the height of the position in our hearts, as we turn Godward, so that something of the blessedness of it may come out in our utterances manward. The Lord graciously lead us into the good of these things for His name's sake.

Belfast, April 1920

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CITIZENS OF ZION

prevails around us, if we are to have a right estimate concerning it.

Psalm 87:1 - 7; Matthew 3:13 - 17; Matthew 4:1 - 6; Matthew 11:20 - 30

I desire, dear friends, to suggest a few simple thoughts in relation to Zion. The psalm that I read discloses an object on earth of supreme interest to heaven, but it also brings to light a people so affected by divine mercy - I refer to the sons of Korah - that they can review and celebrate the mighty operations of God, by which He has established His metropolis, so to speak, in Zion. I know dispensationally it presents a millennial view of things, but one would suggest a moral application of the psalm, and one cannot trace the moral operations of God by which He has established Zion, without finding in them an occasion of constant praise to Himself. One would connect praise individually with His mercy to us in the tents of Jacob, His mercy in relation to the exercises of our individual path, but the word tells us praise waits for God in Zion. Happy for us when we are there to voice that praise. The sons of Korah being introduced (see heading) suggests that, however dark the day, hearts will be found in sympathy with God over His supreme interest on earth.

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The door in this way is left open to persons who have, like the sons of Korah, lost claim to everything but judgment; the door is left open to such to come in on the line of mercy. It is noticeable that their number is not given, as if to indicate that the number might be as limitless as the mercy that has reached them. God's thought is to meet all the rebellion against Him by producing hearts that are true to Him, working in His grace in one and another, who not only praise Him for mercy, which has reached them, but who can delight in those marvellous operations of divine power which have established here on earth a vessel for the pleasure and glory of God, even the assembly.

The psalmist dwells on Zion's gates; the gates speak of rule, influence and administration, the continuation of the spirit of that lowly One, even Christ (He who was the true and perfect expression of all a child of Zion should be), the only spirit in which divine administration can be carried out here. It is not a question, merely of what we do, but it says God loves the gates of Zion; He loves the way things are done, and done by the children of Zion, for the gates of Zion suggest what has to be carried out here on behalf of Christ in His absence. It is wonderfully blessed to dwell in Jacob's tents, but the mercy that has waited upon us in Jacob's tents is intended to set us free for the

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appreciation of the gates of Zion. 'This is what I will bring you to', God would say, 'in spite of what you are, in spite of your perverseness'. One learns mercy in one's individual path, proving it even in the perverseness that marks us all as connected with Jacob; but how interesting to trace the dealings of God in the tent and to link them up with that grace that wants us in Zion.

How the experience acquired in Jacob's tents will yield fruit in Zion's administration; every wilderness exercise should contribute to the wealth of the assembly. It is in all we pass through individually that we learn how God orders things in His house. He has been perfectly served by His Son, and He will never take less than a son's service in His house; all is to be carried out there in the intelligence and knowledge of God. What a blessed character the sense of this gives to the simplest detail in the house of God! It is often easy to see what should be done, but nothing is more testing than to know how to do it.

But not merely do we have the experiences in the tents of Jacob to beget an appreciation of Zion, but there is the place ministry has. "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God". It is the city of light, and every bit of ministry that is of God is intended to move us; indeed, we can measure its effect upon us by the movements of soul it produces with us. Does it find us nearer to Zion, more free

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from our own circle - however much we have been met in mercy there - more at the disposal of Christ in heart and mind, more at liberty for His service, in relation to that which is His commanding interest? The psalmist does not stop at glorious things spoken of Zion, though he delights in them.

Many of us would have closed the psalm at verse 3, but he goes on; for, however beautiful the ministry, things are not, and never do remain, merely a picture to the devoted heart. Devotion can never be satisfied with admiration. A devoted heart must live with the object of its devotion in appreciation and appropriation; and so he goes on, "I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon among them that know me". He has come now to cherish Zion as a divine ideal and everything else - the vast world system in the variety of its subtle features by which Satan would rob us of Christ, and of Zion as an object of interest - is coming under review for displacement in his soul, in the light of Zion. These cities do not mention him, he could never be written up in Zion if they did, but he makes mention of them. And that not by the names they give themselves; Rahab is the name for Egypt, as under divine scrutiny. We have no divine outlook from a tent, we prove mercy there; but we must, in soul, be identified with Christ's supreme interest on earth if we are to have the divine measure of all that

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One loves to think of such an one as Paul under the constraining influence of the love of Christ. What a reckoning he had of every man in this scene, from whatever city he might come. He says, "Having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised. So that we henceforth know no one according to flesh" (2 Corinthians 5:14 - 16). That is the life of a true Zionist; he is going to breathe the air of his native city, the city that gave him birth; he is going to live to the One who died for him and rose again. He passes by the cities in the light of the cross of Christ.

It would almost appear as if they would seek to lay claim to the pilgrims to Zion, as Satan magnifies those various features of his system. There is Egypt, the world of natural resource, but the child of Zion cannot live in Egypt; he can only live in that city which owes its constitution to divine mercy. One proves divine mercy in that confidence of heart which shuts one up to God, enabling one to refuse the natural resources of this world; for that is the thought of Egypt, its river makes it independent of the rain of heaven. A citizen of Zion only makes mention of those cities in the light of the death of Christ, as the word says, "Sodom and Egypt, where

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also their Lord was crucified" (Revelation 11:8). One dare not think of these systems without that spiritual comment on their character, "where also their Lord was crucified;" that settles a thousand questions. Where are Babylon's fashions and vanities in the light of that? The psalmist passes them all by, and now he comes to Zion. He has something to say for Zion, and what does he exalt there? Mutuality, as one feature of it.

There is no family spirit in the places he has enumerated: Egypt, the world of natural resource; Babylon, the Christianised world, heartless to Christ; Philistia, the world of man's mind, intruding into divine things, whose people have assumed possession of divine territory apart from the exercises of the wilderness and the passage of Jordan; Tyre, the business world, the scene of merchant princes, where expansion is the order of the day, but under the authority of the prince of this world; and Ethiopia, the darkness of the natural heart, met, as we know, in the eunuch by the presentation of Jesus. He has faced them and summed up those principles in himself, judging them in his heart, and now he is free to enjoy the mutuality of Zion. A little bit of Tyre, how it clouds Zion! How expansion on this side of death warps our outlook on that marvellous expanse that belongs to resurrection, where the mind and heart are illuminated and enlarged by the Spirit of God, to

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take account of all that concerns Christ and His assembly. Then a link with Rahab, some association with this world, with the various societies of this world, co-operative or whatever they may be, a little bit of Egypt, how it will hinder; it will keep you out of Zion; it must, for those cities are wholly distinct, you cannot have your name written up in both.

But now the objective is reached, and it is beautiful to mark the spirit of the Zionist here; what impresses him is the family idea, better than his own tent, greater than his own family. "This one and that one was born in her". There are men together in the features of Christ, in the mutuality of that love they have learned from Him, that love that cost Him His precious death. They are all wanted there, wanted for ever in Zion, for none grow old there. "This one and that one", there are no class distinctions in Zion; all such distinctions belong to Babylon. It is enough that your neighbour is a Zionist - one of those born in her for you to recognise his claim to all the love of your heart. 'They do not live in our street', you say. Ah! you do not live in Zion if you reason thus, for there is only one street in Zion.

You read of it in Revelation, it is of pure gold. Do you think Zion has many streets today? We are told it is a city compacted - built together; the inhabitants are very close together, drawn together

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under the warmth of divine love. This one and that one, you know them all, all that are available, a brother and a sister claimed in affection as the features of Christ are discerned with them. It says, "The Most High himself shall establish her". Think of the divine power put forward to the establishment of Zion among souls. Nothing will be supported save what is characteristic of Zion, but let those features be in evidence, let there be the mutuality of divine love, and divine power will preserve that from every intruder.

Then we come to the counting, and I would say here, the Lord is to do that, He will not allow anyone else to do it. It is His city and He has the right to register its inhabitants. He has a peculiar link with each, and He loves to write them up for that coming publication, in the day of glory when God will publish the names of those who have loved Zion. They would not have them published now, they are glad to be hidden away, confident that God, in His own time, will bring out each name in relation to Christ. As long as Zion's King is in reproach, Zion's inhabitants are content to be so too. "Jehovah will count, when he inscribeth the peoples".

With what infinite delight will He dwell on every trophy of His grace, in whose heart He has enshrined love for Christ and for the brethren, for every one thus written up shall shine in relation to

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Christ and to Zion. Wonderful to think of each one tracing his origin to Christ! Here, in this scene, it has been proved unmistakably to one and another, but the universe will yet know those features which have so delighted God in His people, for they will be displayed in the day to come. Now the psalmist closes with that beautiful word, "As well the singers as the dancers shall say, All my springs are in thee". All my springs are in thee, not in any wealthy ministry which the Lord might give, not in the gift of an apostle even - no! the springs are to be in Zion, you draw from Zion. Not a brother or a sister within your reach, that you do not draw from. Luke drew from Zion. There was not an eyewitness, not a lover of Christ within his reach, whose company he did not seek, and how rich is his ministry in result. You draw from Christ personally - this must ever be so - but it is open to you to learn His features from one and another, and there is not one of those features available that is not our urgent necessity. It is only as we live in Zion that we can appropriate them, and Zion's springs are very refreshing - they never dry up like Rahab's.

I just wanted to make a simple application from Matthew's gospel. One loves to think of the Lord Jesus as setting forth the features of a true child of Zion, the second Man who is out of heaven. The One who brought into this scene all that is suited to God's dwelling, the One on whom divine

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pleasure could rest as He was found here in lowly grace for God. "Then comes Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan to John". Galilee is the place of reproach under man's eye. It is in Galilee that the light appears, the glory of which the prophet Isaiah speaks; it is there it springs up.

How significant this is, how it suggests that the acceptance of reproach in secret, is the way to divine light; for the vessel to retain the light God gives is formed in the suffering path of reproach. It often surprises us that so much light should come our way and that so little should be retained by us, but the vessel that retains divine light is not made in a day. It is in the acceptance of a path of reproach that a way is opened up to Jordan, the place of divine operations, and Jordan is not far from Galilee. The place of divine reproach is morally very near to the scene of divine power and operations. As objects of reproach among men, how simple to be the subjects of divine operations.

Then we get the account of the Lord's baptism, how He shines out as a model and a pattern here, going under the waters of death in figure "to fulfil all righteousness". What instruction there is for us in this! We do not fulfil righteousness as long as we keep in evidence, we have to disappear, to accept death, and what good is any of us for God, apart from a touch of death? Now we have divine activities. So great is the delight that God has in His

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Son going into Jordan, that He makes it the occasion for these wonderful disclosures that follow. It says, "And Jesus, having been baptised, went up straightway from the water", there is no delay. God can take account of those movements, so pleasurable to heaven, and the answer to them is that heaven is opened to this blessed, lowly Man. "The Most High himself shall establish her". Think of the divine support that is accorded to such an One. It says, "He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him". The Spirit descends in complacent love and rests upon Him; He is claimed in His moral worth as Man for Zion.

The praise of Zion will depend on Him, He will bring in the singers and dancers, He is Zion's King and is saluted in this way before Zion's inhabitants can be taken account of and written up. "And behold, a voice out of the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight". God is writing that blessed name in His city. It says, "Jehovah will count, when he inscribeth the peoples, This man was born there". Think of the peculiar delight with which God's eye rested on His beloved Son.

Then we come to the temptations where the enemy seeks to bring his world to bear upon Christ. The first one applies to Rahab. The Lord is invited to take up what was to hand in the way of natural resource, apart from dependence on God. What an

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answer He gave! "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth". The Lord was alone there, we have not yet "this one and that one", not yet a race, but we have the establishment of Zion, for He, who in moral feature and expression is Zion's child, is, in the glory of His person, Zion's Builder and King. The second temptation is the claim of Babylon. The praise of God was to be in His temple, there was no provision for man's exaltation there. Nor was there any divine service relating to the pinnacle of the temple; there was in relation to the temple altar. The pinnacle is no place for a son of Zion; the temple is for God's glory, and its pinnacle for the setting forth of God.

The Corinthians forgot that. They wanted the pinnacle of the temple; Paul brought them back to the altar - to the cross. The first test resolves itself into the question, is God to be trusted, is God to have man's confidence? The second issue is, whether God is to have man's praise, for the temple is the place of divine praise. How beautiful the Lord's reply: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God". God is before Him and what man is to be for God, preserved from Egypt's resource on the one hand, and for His praise on the other; for the temple is to be used for divine praise, not for the expression of man's glory apart from God. Then the third temptation is a bid for the homage of man's

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heart -- due to God alone. Many a great one, claimed by these cities, had purchased his glory at the price demanded by the tempter, prophetically alluded to as prince of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:2), and who is found in possession of the scene. But "their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god" (Psalm 16:4, Authorised Version), and He whose portion and cup is Jehovah will not be diverted. Homage alone belongs to God, Him only will He serve, and Satan receives his dismissal, sure precursor of that banishment which shall be his from that millennial scene when Christ shall reign, and man's confidence, man's praise, and man's homage shall be for God, blessed for ever. These cities might make mention of Him, but they could not write Him up, they could not claim Him.

Just one word on chapter 11. It says (verse 25), "At that time, Jesus answering said". That answer continues now in the praise of Zion, that praise which was inaugurated by this lowly, blessed Man. When the world was created, there was great rejoicing in the choir of heaven, but here is one solitary Man, celebrating in His praise the inauguration of the most wonderful system that will ever be set up. One thinks of Capernaum and Chorazin, lifted up in privilege and ministry to heaven; mighty works were done in those places. These works would suggest, I take it, what God

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effects in vessels here on earth - people set up in divine power, but Capernaum was unmoved.

How well sackcloth and ashes would have suited them; and if the presence of a spiritual man in our midst does not lead us to take that ground morally, there is something wrong. Every person spiritually beyond us is a rebuke to us; their very progress is a challenge to us as to our links with a system that would detain the heart, and one day an account will have to be rendered - it must be so; a time of settlement will come, and every bit of ministry, and all the gracious influences brought to bear upon us will but add to that account. The Lord will then challenge us as to the use we made of all He put in our way, for His thought assuredly is that we shall take the seed, provided in abundance by grace, and sow it with care and cultivate it in view of the moment when He shall come - for come He will - and inquire as to the crops, as to the fruit that it has yielded for Himself and for His people.

Think of all the seed - seed that has cost Him so much, even His death - put to our hand, all the fruit of His suffering love. Can we wonder that the Lord should inquire as to the harvest? Here, the answer is found in Jesus. He praises the Lord of heaven and earth. And what is before Him? Just a few babes. But all the divine possibilities will find their expression there; everything for God's pleasure will be brought out in those babes; and if

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there is a Capernaum spirit anywhere - as, alas, there must be if light is present, and one is not formed by it - how one can be rebuked and helped out of it by the babe-like spirit? A babe is great in the hearts of those that love it, but of no account at all in the public view.

Then the Lord invites the burdened to come to Him. In your labour and burden, He says, 'I have rest for you, come to me in connection with it all'. It is good to have a burden in relation to assembly exercises, and He would invite our confidence as to all that He is doing. He is jealous in regard to His confidence and those to whom He gives it; it is the babes He wants. In having His yoke they will share His activities in the midst of evil, they will have part with Him in these interests and He will give them rest. Then He says, "learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart". He can draw attention to His heart; men cannot afford to do that.

Think of the motives in Christ's heart; if we learn from Him, it is that we may drink into His spirit and do things like Him. May the Lord hold our hearts for the interests of Zion. The divine system is established, but we are wanted there; the singers and dancers are needed. Soon the Lord will have us with Himself; meanwhile may He hold us under His yoke, standing apart from all that is of man and cherishing His interests where He loves to have us, in His own city, proving our genealogy in

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Zion's features and Zion's language, in the spirit of Zion's King, even that meek and lowly Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Teignmouth, August 1920

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THE VALUE OF PRESSURE

Song of Songs 1:1 - 8

I have read this scripture because it suggests a state that is eminently agreeable to Christ, resulting in that which He will not suffer to be disturbed, a condition suited to divine disclosures and suggestive of that most precious of privileges - the Supper.

Now the Song of Songs, being one of the feminine books of Scripture, is illustrative of the hidden, subjective work of the Spirit. One is thankful that of the one thousand and five songs which Solomon wrote, this one at least has been preserved to us, this celebration of the affections between Christ and His earthly people. The book opens, giving in the first four verses the thesis. In that respect it is much like the Psalms, where frequently the first few verses give you the leading thought before the writer's mind, followed by the exercise of soul passed through in reaching that experience.

How magnificently it opens! What a wonderful day for the remnant it will be! What a wonderful day for Christ, when He is greeted with words such as these! "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine" (verse 2). How

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different from the greeting He received when He first came. The prophet speaks of it. "I gave my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6). What greater contempt could have been poured upon Him than that! But, oh, what a moment when, as the fruit of the new covenant - Christ written in Israel's heart - they will greet Him with language such as this!

But, much as we delight to anticipate that moment, would you wish to keep Him waiting for a greeting of that sort? What is the present gain of the spirit of the new covenant, into which the assembly has been drinking for well nigh two thousand years, unless we anticipate the remnant in language such as this, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth?" I want to challenge you, my friends, do words like these ever escape your lips? Most of us could say something in a fairly clear way of Christ. We could speak of His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His priesthood, or His coming glories, but all that may be very objective in character. But, let me ask, Are you in the habit of speaking to Him? Do you ever ask Him to take you into love's embrace in language such as this, "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine"? Is the love of Christ better than wine to you? I do not care to speak of myself - it is seldom wise to do so - yet what I propose to say will, I think, find an echo in every heart here. I

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never set my heart upon anything in this world that was not disappointing. Even the tenderest of natural relationships is spoiled by death. The blight of death is upon the fairest thing in this world. A profane writer has said:

I never nursed a dear gazelle,
To glad me with its soft black eye,
But when it came to know me well,
And love me, it was sure to die!

Put the cup of natural joys to your lips today and it is dashed to the ground tomorrow. But here is a fadeless joy, "Thy love is better than wine". Death cannot touch it, for death has been its servant. It is a living, dying love, for it has reached us through death and lives beyond death for ever, and the only way we can enjoy life is by drinking deep draughts of it.

Then she celebrates His excellence, "Thine ointments savour sweetly; Thy name is an ointment poured forth". I do not know why the plural is used here, but I would suggest that there is a fragrance attaching to the Lord Jesus in every possible position in which you can contemplate Him. Whatever office He fills, or what name He adorns, He gives fragrance to each. Do we think of Him as Saviour? Well do we remember when first we learned Him, as such, and often still we sing, 'How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds In a believer's

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ear!' Is it as Lord? I fear we often have very legal thoughts in regard to Him as Lord. We regard Him as a greater Moses. We are told we must bow to Him as Lord. I grant it, but why? Because wherever your will works it works destruction. Wherever His will works it works in the way of blessing. But what is suggested in Him as Lord? You remember Joseph; he was lord over all the land of Egypt. When his brethren came down there they bowed down themselves before him, for Pharaoh had commanded that to him all should bow the knee. They are passed through exercise by Joseph, but, at his command, their sacks were filled and their money returned, and back they go to the land of Canaan. Ah, that is the way we often treat Christ as Lord. We come to Him in our deep need, for He alone can meet it, but often we are not at home with Him. Will that suit Christ? Did it suit Joseph? As he looked upon his brethren going away, I can understand his saying, 'That may suit you; it will never suit me. I will never rest until I have you near me in the land where I can minister to you according to my heart's desire'. 'Lord', to them, spelled salvation and abundance.

In every position in which you contemplate Christ - as Saviour, Lord, Priest, Head - there is perfume, "Thine ointments savour sweetly", and all are embraced in one expression, "Thy name is an ointment poured forth: Therefore do the virgins love thee". Do you love Him? Does your heart rise up in

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affection at the mention of His name? You say, 'Ofttimes I must confess it does not'. Why? The virgins love Him. That name is suggestive of a holy walk; it speaks of moral sensibilities uncorrupted by an evil world. "Therefore do the virgins love thee", and then, as drawn by Himself, she runs, conscious of the place she has in His affections, and is brought to the end of divine ways, the full intelligence of love - "They love thee uprightly".

Now she refers to the exercise of soul through which she has passed in reaching this blessedness. "I am black, but comely", black, "As the tents of Kedar", comely, "As the curtains of Solomon". It looks like a paradox. How can she be black and yet comely? And yet, is not all true moral comeliness the result of blackness? She tells us what the blackness is resultant upon. "Look not upon me, because I am black; Because the sun hath looked upon me". Where had she been? In the furnace of affliction, under pressure. Her comeliness is the result of blackness, and her blackness is the result of pressure. The comeliness of the curtains of Solomon are the answer to pressure. I believe the curtains of Solomon are woven in the tents of Kedar. You may ask, 'What do you think the curtains of Solomon allude to?' I only offer a suggestion. They may refer to the tabernacle. It is true that Solomon had little to do with the tabernacle. He went up to it, to Gibeon, to worship, though the ark was not there but at Jerusalem, but

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Solomon made the veil of the temple (2 Chronicles 3:14) and the curtains of Solomon may refer to that, in which were woven materials and colours that speak of the moral and official glories of the Lord Jesus.

A year ago, in Chicago, some of you may remember a brother, in speaking of Lydia the seller of purple, referred to the purple as being one of the constituent elements of the tabernacle and he said, and it impressed me much, that he looked forward to the day when God would drape the universe with the glories of Jesus. But while I trust we all look forward to that day with delight, I love to think that at the present moment God is draping the saints with the glories of Jesus. He is anticipating that day, just as in John 7, where the Lord speaks of the one that comes to Him and drinks, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (verse 38). He anticipates Revelation 22, where the river flows out of the throne. God would have every saint to be a miniature heavenly city now and I believe He would have each one to be a miniature universe. He would adorn the saints with the glories of Jesus, the blue, the purple, the scarlet, the fine linen and the cherubim, writing His moral perfections and glories in them here and now. How does He effect it? I think He does it largely through pressure. Where does the pressure come from? From above and from around. First she traces it up to the sun. "The sun hath looked upon me". Where is the sun? It is set in

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the heaven. It is there by divine appointment. I think we gain greatly by tracing all pressure to divine appointment. Where are we privileged to trace it up to? To the heart of the blessed God. Why does He allow pressure? Because He loves Christ. You say, 'That is no answer'. It is the best kind of an answer. He loves Christ and through pressure He would weave the moral beauties of Jesus into the hearts of His people, that in them, here and now, His heart might find a resting place, a tabernacle, according to Christ. We gain wonderfully if we regard pressure in that light.

Look at the Lord Jesus. I speak reverently in regard to Him, but looking at Him in manhood, what salvation for His spirit He found in tracing all the pressure in His pathway to the heart of His God. See Him in Matthew 11. The cities where His mightiest works were done had closed their doors against Him; there was no response; but at that dark moment He can praise His Father. The pressure here only causes Him to retire to that heart of infinite love. He accepts His rejection as part of the divine ways for the bringing into view of those eternal counsels of which He was the supreme Object, but in connection with which He would bring in others to share with Him. See Him in Gethsemane. Satan is let loose and is allowed to press in on His spirit all that the drinking of that bitter cup involved, but Satan has to stand aside in that conflict. He takes the whole thing from the

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hand of His God and Father: "The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). Even in that darkest hour on the cross, when He was forsaken, to whom does He turn? Only to His God. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Psalm 22:1). His converse is with His God. Who else could He turn to, and what holy intelligence marks Him as He answers His own question. "Thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel" (verse 3). It has often been said there was no mitigation of that cup which He drank. I believe that, and would not want to weaken the thought, and yet, from the language of the psalm, having turned to His God, He looks through the deep gloom of that awful moment and sees an answer to the pressure, God finding, through it, a habitation in the praises of the assembly, Israel and the nations, a universe of hearts springing into being and He taking His place at the head of it, leading that mighty chorus in to God.

Look at Habakkuk. You remember how his prophecy opens. "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see". Habakkuk had a burden. All the prophets had a burden. Have you? 'Yes', you say, 'my family, my business'. Ah! that will not do. Paul had a burden. What was it? The care of all the assemblies. I remember a brother saying, and I have never forgotten it, if we cultivated priestly sympathies we would develop priestly shoulders. I am often pained by my little ability to carry the

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people of God. It shows how lacking I must be in priestly sympathies, but I trust I have a burden. What was Habakkuk's burden? The state of the saints. They were under fearful pressure and the Chaldean was at the door. "Jehovah, how long shall I cry and thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto thee, Violence! and thou dost not save" (verse 2). The pressure was insupportable and that iniquitous nation were giving the credit of their victories to their god. But Habakkuk finds salvation. How? He looks past second causes and sees in it the hand of God. "Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction" (verse 12). I need not pursue the thought further, but you can see how complete his salvation was by the way his prophecy ends. It closes with a song on a well-tuned harp. He gets hinds' feet and walks upon his high places - a heavenly position - a singer upon his stringed instruments. So the bride in the Song traces the pressure to divine appointment, "The sun hath looked upon me". But, though ordered by God, it may come through others and so she found it, "My mother's children were angry with me". Do not be surprised if pressure comes from your mother's children. Who are they? Your brethren.

You remember Gideon. He was a remarkable man. A sad state existed in Israel in Gideon's day. "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand

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of Midian seven years" (Judges 6:1). I do not know who Midian represents; I suppose some deadly worldly influence, and the result was famine. The increase of the land was destroyed by the enemy and there appeared to be but little exercise about it. Still they did cry to Jehovah, and Jehovah sent them a prophet. He recalled God's past ways with them, their deliverance from Egypt and how He had driven out the inhabitants of the land and put them in possession and had warned them not to serve the gods of the Amorites in whose land they dwelt, but they had not obeyed His voice. Then an angel came and sat under the terebinth in Ophrah. I think he was looking for an exercised man and he finds one in Gideon who was threshing some wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. There is one man in movement. Suffering with the rest of the people but not suffering like them. Under pressure, but in exercise in regard to the pressure, and the angel comes to him and says, "Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour" (verse 12). How beautifully he answers, for although apparently alone, he loves to identify himself with the people of God. He says, "If Jehovah be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where are all his miracles that our fathers told us of, saying, Did not Jehovah bring us up from Egypt? And now Jehovah hath cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian" (verse 13). He is turning things over in his mind, and evidently the voice of the prophet had exercised him

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and Jehovah said, "Go in this thy might". What was his might? His exercise. "Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of Midian". But he pleads his littleness and the poverty of his father's house, and Jehovah said, "I will certainly be with thee; and thou shalt smite Midian as one man" (verse 16). It was as though the power of the Midianites was to be in one man and the power of God centred in another man, and that man Gideon. He was a backward man, like Timothy, and slow to take a place of prominence. He does not want it, but finally the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him and he blows a trumpet and thirty-two thousand men assemble to his banner. You remember how the number had to be reduced until there were only three hundred left, and the wonderful victory Gideon gained. When the enemy was in flight he calls the Ephraimites to come and complete the rout and afterwards they chided with him sharply, saying, "What is this thing thou hast done to us, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian?" (Judges 8:1). They were jealous of him and jealousy is cruel as the grave. His answer was beautiful. "Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abi-ezer? Into your hands hath God delivered the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their spirit was appeased toward him, when he said that word" (verses 2, 3). His mother's children were angry with him, but he was big

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enough to go down and sink his own importance. What did he care for honours? If Israel was delivered he was satisfied. Those can have the glory that want it. He is a true man who can sink his own importance to assuage the anger of a jealous brother.

"My mother's children were angry with me". What had they done to her? They had made her keeper of the vineyards. Take care you do not make anybody keeper of the vineyards. The Lord is pleased to raise up men here and there to help us, and we can rejoice for every one He does raise up. God loves to promote His servants and we can surely rejoice in that too, but don't you put a brother upon a pedestal higher than the Lord has put him. Do not charge him with responsibilities greater than the Lord has charged him with. The saints are ready enough to do that. Have you not seen it? They will make you keeper of the vineyards; will hold you responsible to see that the grape vines are pruned and that there is fruit for God, and if you step aside, failing to keep your own vineyard, you may become the object of their bitterest attack, and you will have to own, "My mother's children were angry with me". But bitter as such discipline may be, a circumstance like that, in the hands of the God of all grace, can he turned to spoil, resulting in a bit of the curtains of Solomon being woven in the tents of Kedar.

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This will certainly be the case in regard to Israel in the day to come. They will, of course, be brought under the teaching of the new covenant, but pressure, I judge, will be the handmaid of the covenant. "In pressure thou hast enlarged me" (Psalm 4:1) will be their language. This is plainly illustrated in Paul. In 2 Corinthians 4 we see him as a minister of the new covenant. In the third chapter you get his ministry, and the reason he was so potent a minister of the covenant was that he was in accord with his ministry. He tells us, "Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). What was the character of that which shone forth? Was it not the moral reflex of all that God is in the covenant as set forth in Christ? That was outshining, and God loved it. It was a bit of the curtains of Solomon, of the life of Jesus, and God passed his dear servant through pressure in order to get more of it. So Paul goes on to say, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us: every way afflicted, but not straitened; seeing no apparent issue, but our way not entirely shut up; persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus" (verses 7 - 10). Not the death of Jesus - the dying of Jesus - all the fearful pressure, the ignominy, the shame, the reproach

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connected with the dying of Jesus - the tents of Kedar are there. "That the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body; for we who live" - he is a living man, there is vitality with him - "are always delivered unto death on account of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh; so that death works in us, but life in you" (verses 10 - 12). How comely are the curtains of Solomon! The pressure so intensified Paul's affection for Christ that he cared not if the outward man perished, if only the inward man was renewed day by day. He welcomed the break-up of everything here and looked for the power that would swallow up every vestige of death, when he would be with Christ and like Him forever. Meantime what was his ambition? To be agreeable to Him down here.

So with the remnant, the pressure results in increased affection for Christ. "Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon". She wants His company now, and desires to know where He dwells, where He feeds. Where does He feed? In the midst of moral materials the reflex of Himself. He feeds in the gardens, amongst the lilies. These have His moral fragrance. She will be satisfied with nothing short of Christ. I have said more than once, If I cannot find Christ down here in a living way, what have I to live for? I know He is up yonder in heaven and I am going to be with Him, but that does not keep me going down here. I want to know

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where I can find Christ here. I want rest for my spirit under His shadow, from the burning sun of this world, and I can find Him amongst those who are in concert with Himself. "Tell me, thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon; For why should I be as one veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?" Is that the burning desire of your heart? Have you ever, for yourself, found Christ down here? Have you found a spot where, in a peculiar way, He is free and ungirded, and where you can be free and unveiled? That is the exercise of her heart, and she gets a beautiful answer. "If thou know not, thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock". That, I suppose, would indicate the course of the testimony. We were speaking today about the old men (men who have acquired experience in the school of God). They have left their footprints in the desert sand. You may discover still the course of the testimony. Where does it lead to? It leads to Christ. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come" (Hebrews 13:8). "Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' booths". That is a grand place for the young, the best kind of 'Sunday school'. I have children, and a responsibility in regard to them, and do you think I want them to have anything but the best? The best is none too good for them. Where will they find it? "Beside the

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shepherds' booths". These have an intelligent care for the flock. Get them as near as you can to the shepherds, where the very best food is obtainable, that, nourished and protected, they, along with yourself, may find a spot in which their hearts can expand to Christ and be in the enjoyment of the expansion of His heart towards them. Then she is led on step by step until she finds perfect rest in His affections, from which He will not allow her to be disturbed.

Oh, beloved brethren, this is a path of blessedness along which the Lord would ofttimes lead us, and He would give us intelligence as to His disciplinary ways with us, for they are a means by which He would make us morally beautiful, thus bringing out of the tents of Kedar the curtains of Solomon.

May the Lord bless the word!

Indianapolis, January 1921

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GOD'S GLORY, THE END OF HIS WAYS WITH US

C C Elliott

Psalm 72:1 - 3, 17 - 20

I turned to this passage, dear brethren; it is one of several to which I hope to refer, and I may as well give you the origin of my exercise. I was feeling exercised, before I came here, as to the final effect of all God's dealings. All that He has passed us through, and is passing us through, is for His glory; not merely for our relief and help. Until we are really able to turn to Him in this way, as the result of all our exercises, and the revelation and light God has been pleased to give us, we have hardly got to the end God has in view. Let me remind you that this passage is the end of a book. The Psalms are divided into five books, and each book ends with an ascription of praise in one form or another. I will refer to them in detail to show this. This passage is the end of the second book, and here we have one of the most complete ascriptions of praise to God. I shall show the reason directly.

The first book ends with Psalm 41; in that psalm we see the really godly man, more especially the Lord, betrayed. He says, "Mine own familiar friend, in whom I confided, who did eat of my

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bread, hath lifted up his heel against me" (verse 9). The godly remnant later on will be betrayed and have to find refuge in the wilderness. The psalm which depicts these trying circumstances ends with: "Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity! Amen, and Amen". The end of the exercise of that section is glory ascribed to God; that is the end to be reached of all exercise, however unpleasant or trying the circumstances may be, when the soul has learnt to trace God in it all and bless God for it. This conveys an important lesson, for God does pass us, as saints, through very trying exercises. He sends the trials and our part is to see how we pass through them. It is a very blessed thing if we can turn round and bless God for them, for then the end is reached; we have learnt now to turn to God and say, "Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, from eternity to eternity! Amen, and Amen".

The next book ends with the blessed revelation of God's King, Psalm 72. God now reveals His King, and the earth is blessed. With this ending of God's ways we get a fuller ascription of praise than in the previous book, for Christ is brought in. "Blessed be Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel, who alone doeth wondrous things! And blessed be his glorious name for ever! and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen". The whole earth will be filled with His glory. This leads me to say that God alone is worthy of glory - God alone -

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no man can claim it; glory all belongs to God. God is a marvellous and wonderful Being, whose glory is the end of the universe. When we see that, it shows we realise that we all work in a great plan; it is not merely our own blessing, but God's glory. The saints in this prophetic psalm have now got into the good of this, and the wonderful doxology at the end of it.

In the last psalm of the third book (Psalm 89), we see that though God had chosen David, his family failed, but that despite the failure of what God has set up, He is going to establish His purpose: "Thy seed will I establish for ever" (verse 4), and the end is reached in verse 52, "Blessed be Jehovah for evermore! Amen, and Amen".

The next ending is in Psalm 106:48. This psalm is descriptive of God's faithfulness, but the people's unfaithfulness. Now there is an additional thought; that is, the people are under exercise, but fail, yet God blesses them and they are called upon to say "Amen". Whatever failures there are, or have been, the end is reached, and God is blessed. "Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And let all the people say, Amen! Hallelujah!"

At the end of the last book of the Psalms the millennium is reached and there is a burst of praise to God. Exercises are over, and the end is reached in a beautiful and sustained overflow of praise.

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I could illustrate the same principle from the life of the Lord Jesus. When He had gone through a great deal in the way of service which had been badly requited, instead of turning away in sulkiness, the perfect Man thanks God: "I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes" (Matthew 11:25). I could illustrate it with a yet more wonderful passage: "I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises" (Hebrews 2:12). The blessed Lord passed through all the suffering and forsaking, and now we hear His voice joining in praise in the assembly. God's end is reached.

Now I want to say a word as to the result of individual exercise on the same line. When Paul speaks of himself and his wonderful conversion, he describes God's grace to himself in 1 Timothy 1:15: "Faithful is the word, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first". Then he breaks forth, "Now to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God, honour and glory to the ages of ages. Amen" (verse 17). We see how as an individual he had experienced God's wonderful mercy and he returns glory to God for it. God's end had been reached in that way, because he ascribes glory to the blessed God who came out to him in grace.

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The whole atmosphere of Christianity is one of praise, adoration and thanks to God. It would be impossible to go over all the passages in the New Testament which show this. Christianity is that which brings real joy into our hearts. Righteousness, peace and joy are the very elements of the kingdom. God's object is that there should be an intelligent response in His creatures. The end of Christianity and God's ways is reached when the whole universe responds to what He is as revealed. In the world to come we find two great results described. The one is that the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth: that is, light has come out from God and God is known. The other is that the glory of the Lord will fill the earth - there will be intelligent response in praise to His glory. We find this wonderful response ringing all through the New Testament. Take the epistle to the Romans; when Paul is declaring all God's wonderful ways in reconciling the promises to the fathers with grace to the Gentiles, he breaks out in praise as to what God has been doing: "O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways! ... For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:33 - 36). Paul there had real appreciation of what God had done, not merely that he knew it, but it had so affected his heart that he was able to respond intelligently to God. So far as Paul was concerned

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God's end was reached. Paul was well educated to fill the position of the heavenly elder. Here was one of the ways in which he was being trained (as we all are), so that there should be the consequent outflow of praise to God. In the same book he also ascribes glory to God when he takes a view of the mystery and surveys the vast field; there is what is beyond that which he has unfolded before in this epistle, and he gives glory to God in view of it. "The only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 16:27).

Following this subject further, we find Paul very appreciative of all that God is doing in regard to His work in the world. I refer to the fact that he begins many of his epistles by giving thanks to God for all that he finds commendable in the saints. There are few more wonderful things than God's work in the saints. He is able to take up and form a man, so that instead of trying to show off himself in pride and conceit, he is living here in a humble way for God's glory. It is well for us to consider and give thanks to God for His work in the saints. It is a happy thing to take account of God's work in the saints. In 1 Corinthians even, he could begin by giving thanks; he saw that which was good, though he corrected the bad - that needs a friendly eye. In the case of the Galatians; things were so serious that he could not give thanks to God for them then. He gives thanks to God frequently for the Thessalonians in view of the reality of God's work

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in them and that they were not turned aside. It is a happy thing to be so in accord with God's thoughts as to be continually giving thanks.

The apostle makes a similar remark in regard to an individual and a company. Of the Philippians he said, "I thank my God for my whole remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:3); he was filled with joy in that they were going on well. Paul exemplified this spirit of joy in himself. At the beginning of his work, in Philippi, he sang praises in the prison, and now his heart can still rejoice. He makes a similar remark as to Timothy: "I am thankful to God ... how unceasingly I have the remembrance of thee" (2 Timothy 1:3). It was a striking thing to be able to say of any one that every remembrance of him was so happy that it gave occasion of thankfulness to God. There were no regrets. Paul is wonderfully in keeping with God's thoughts of His people.

Passing to the collective side, Paul also assumes the same blessed attitude, in that he blesses God for what he is about to write to the Colossians. "Giving thanks to the Father, who has made us fit for sharing the portion of the saints in light" (Colossians 1:12). He associated himself with the Colossians, showing that the truth had come in power to his own soul. So in Ephesians, in the well-known passage, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3),

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he not only knew the fact but it so got hold of his soul that he was able to bless God for these blessings. And further, "he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love; having marked us out beforehand for adoption ... to the praise of the glory of his grace" (verses 4 - 6). Sonship is the most wonderful blessing introduced in Christianity, and it, too, is to redound to the glory of God. It lends a peculiar character to Christian privilege.

There are a great many other instances - I could refer to Peter's first epistle - but I would like to conclude by referring to what is often called 'the book of judgment', but which is really a book full of ascriptions of praise, that is the Revelation. If we read the book carefully we find thirteen or fourteen passages in it which call for, or directly ascribe, praise to God. God's purpose is reached in the different companies in what He is doing, or has done, or will do. The most intelligent company is the heavenly company, who are qualified by exercises they have passed through down here, fully coming up to God's thought for them. To guard this, I should say that you do not get exactly in words a worship song in the present dispensation - we worship now in "spirit and in truth;" you do not get a sample of the expression of worship of sons - we should be quite likely to make a wrong use of it if it were put in Scripture. The power for worship is

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there in the Spirit of God, and the relationship is also there. Similarly the Lord taught His disciples to pray; but what we pray is not written now.

In Revelation 4 and 5 we find various circles and a series of companies, from the elders down, so educated by what God has passed them through, or taught them, that they are praising Him; it is like Psalm 148"Praise ye him ... Fire and hail, snow ... Mountains ... Beasts ... Kings of the earth and all peoples, ... young men and maidens; old men with youths, - Let them praise the name of Jehovah: for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above the earth and the heavens" (verses 2 - 13). All are called upon to praise the Lord. It is an ascription of praise and corresponds to Revelation 4 and 5. As you pass the varied companies in review, those who pass through tribulation and overcome the beast yield praise to God (see Revelation 7 and 14); the elders often acting as a chorus. They have gone through much, and have come to the end of God's ways with them and have understood them, and they praise God.

As a last example, when Great Babylon is judged it is most extraordinary how widespread are the various circles of praise (Revelation 19). All are so thankful that the terrible system is gone in judgment - not rejoicing in the judgment exactly but in the clearance of evil. God is greatly concerned as to reality, and He values real bridal response to Christ so much that there is joy in heaven and earth when anything that imitates it is judged and removed.

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Any sense of what is due to Christ gives joy, as Christ is infinitely precious to God. God is training us to appreciate Christ, what He is in Himself and what He is to God; and if God has been pleased to work among mankind to produce those who shall be Christ's companions for all eternity, what must He think of Christ and the assembly.

It is most important to get a right idea of what God is doing now. He is forming the bride, the recipient of Christ's affections and the sharer with Christ of God the Father's love. What does He expect from that company? An intelligent response to all God is doing, understanding all, and responding to it in worship and adoration. There is not much outwardly at present, but God is training souls to appreciate Christ. He does it by exercises, by the light He gives us, by the Holy Spirit. Are we conscious of our destiny? Not only shall we be individually like Christ, but we are to be part of that assembly, "having the glory of God" (Revelation 21:10). That is what the assembly is for, and if we are intelligently in the sense of it there will be the proper kind of worship now.

The result of all God's ways with us is not only that we have light, but that we so appreciate it, and every form of exercise, that we may be able to give glory to Him whether in connection with the wilderness or in connection with our heavenly privileges, "To him be glory in the assembly in

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Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21).

Rochester, N.Y., June 1921

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THE BLESSING OF THE TRIBES

service below, if he had not drunk in the blessedness of love's thoughts above.

Deuteronomy 33:1 - 19; John 10:3; John 11:51, 52; John 15:15; John 17:6; John 20:17

I am sure, beloved brethren, we all feel that the Lord has been graciously helping us this day in the consideration of John's gospel, and this has encouraged one to refer to these scriptures with the desire to link them up with a few simple thoughts in connection with Moses' blessing of the tribes.

You will notice in the scriptures read in John's gospel that believers are referred to as sheep, as children, as friends, as men and finally as "my brethren". One desires to connect those five thoughts with the blessing of the first five tribes; but before doing so I would dwell for a moment upon this final outpouring of Moses' heart regarding the people he had learned to love. He loved them with God on the mount, as God poured into his heart His wonderful thoughts regarding that people, and loved them for God in the wilderness as, in the spirit of his great Antitype, he bore in tender grace with their waywardness and rebellion. The love that filled his heart on the mount was the love that he poured out upon them in the wilderness. He never could have borne with the strain of love's

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When referring to his exclusion from the land, he says on three occasions (Deuteronomy 1:37; 3: 26; 4: 21), Jehovah was angry (or wroth) with me on your account. We know that when we come to the historical account of that incident the Spirit of God writes of Moses that "He spoke unadvisedly with his lips" (Psalm 106:33). It says his lips - there was no intent against the brethren in his heart. How tenderly the Spirit of God comments on that incident! While witnessing to the weakness of the vessel and the rashness of his lips, He also assures us of the fidelity of his heart, as in priestly intercession Moses stood before God in the breach on their behalf (Psalm 106:23; Exodus 32:9 - 14, 31, 32). How genuine was the affection with which he regarded the people and, though he suffered governmentally, as we all must if we give way to the rashness of our lips, the book of Deuteronomy bears testimony to the love of his heart, and the closing scene in the life of that great servant of God finds him pouring out his heart's desires for the people as he views them in relation to their glorious destiny in the light of the counsels of God.

Upon these three occasions Moses refers to that incident, in language which can surely be regarded as prophetically that of the Lord Jesus Himself; for he says, "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". One cannot enlarge upon it now,

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but I would suggest in passing that Joshua comes into view in connection with the first reference; the thought of the extent of the land immediately follows the second reference; and the warning in connection with idolatry is brought in in connection with the third. Is it not a suggestion of what it cost the Lord to go into death in order to bring us under the influence of the love that took Him there, and thus to build Himself up in our hearts; so that in spiritual vigour, in relation to Him whom Joshua prefigured, we may pass over into the inheritance (Deuteronomy 1:37)? But then He also died to establish us in the full light and glory of the inheritance (Deuteronomy 3:27), as well as to build us up in love to go in to possess it - and further, He went into death to make God the supreme object of our hearts in the inheritance as in Deuteronomy 4:23.

How the intelligence of Moses is seen here! He had communed with God over the people, his heart is not retaining reminiscences of their wanderings. None of us can afford to do that in regard to one another. In appreciation of the glorious prospect that lies before them and of the love that has destined them for that vast inheritance, Moses addresses them now as the man of God. He had said much to them officially on behalf of God, but now he was speaking personally to them in the light of his approaching death. One is reminded in this connection of those closing chapters in John's gospel when He who in love was about to enter into

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death for the brethren could clothe them in His prayer to the Father with all the precious thoughts of divine love concerning them (John 17).

It may be remarked that there are three thoughts that precede these blessings. "Jehovah came from Sinai, And rose up from Seir unto them; He shone forth from mount Paran" (verse 2), and one would suggest that these divine movements might be compared to three great landmarks in the operations of God in our souls. Sinai here is given a spiritual application. This serves to illustrate the spiritual character of Deuteronomy. Sinai here is not the ministry of death as in Exodus, but rather viewed typically in relation to divine movement. If we look for a moment at the ten commandments, by way of spiritual analogy, in the way Deuteronomy presents them, we shall see how this works out. "To us there is one God, the Father" (1 Corinthians 8:6). So every graven image is to be refused, for Christ as the image of God must fill our vision. Then in the third commandment God's name is not to be taken in vain, but rather to be cherished. And the Spirit is the power by which we in holy affection can cherish all that comes under the cover of that name here, preserving the blessedness of that name in our hearts. Then in the fourth commandment the sabbath is introduced. If we answer to the light of the revelation, if God the Father has His place in our hearts, if Christ engages us as the One who has brought that revelation near to us, and if the Spirit

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is recognised in relation to the holy sphere where the fruit of the revelation of God is preserved in the hearts of the saints, then we shall know together something of the peculiar joy and rest of the sabbath; for all that precedes would afford us that liberty of heart to unite upon one blessed Man - Christ - who is Himself the Sabbath of God. Not only now the recognition of the Lord as putting within our reach the light of God, nor Christ as the image of God shining upon us in new-covenant ministry, but that blessed Man, God's Sabbath, known in our hearts as the One who will give character to a scene where all shall be of God - a scene anticipated now in the holy atmosphere of the assembly where we come under the restful influence of the love of the Christ. How blessed to contemplate that flow of love taking its source in the heart of God, finding its holy stream here in the coming in of Christ and maintained now by the Spirit amongst the brethren! Then the remaining commandments, contemplating the relation of the brethren to one another, might indicate the way we are regulated in love as together, as the result of Christ having secured His place with us as the true Sabbath.

But now one would return to the reference as to Sinai just to touch for a moment on those stages which the Spirit of God brings before us in connection with divine movements. The point here is that God moved from Sinai; are we moving with

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Him? He cannot move with you until He has established the authority of His rule in grace in your heart. Sinai would suggest this according to Deuteronomy, He would secure His will in your heart in the light of the wonderful possibilities. It would be His foundation in your soul on which He would raise His glorious structure. He would not stop there, the kingdom has in view movement, so it goes on, "And rose up from Seir". One loves to think of the resurrection of Christ in connection with the gathering of the brethren. Seir speaks of the brethren together; you remember the word in Deuteronomy which tells us that it was only eleven days' journey into the land by way of Seir. How prosperous our way becomes in the love of the brethren (Zechariah 3:7)! How the hindrances vanish in such an atmosphere; how blessedly the inheritance opens out! He "rose up from Seir". How affecting to think of the Lord's priestly activities in resurrection on the line of gathering - the skill and grace with which He treated every wanderer and placed them together until at last you have five hundred brethren together, each one of them gathered in, in the shepherd care of Christ. We know, dear friends, the brethren are all to be accounted for, there are no divisions amongst the brethren. So the apostle says, "Of whom the most remain until now" (1 Corinthians 15:6). Many have gone to be with Christ - some are fallen asleep - but there is the number that remain, and they remain as

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brethren. Think of five hundred together at one time and the Lord appearing to them! It is as though He would be there in the delight of seeing them together, for we do not read of any commission given to them. He emphasises in the appearing how He valued them together, and may one suggest that in His activities down through the ages of the testimony He has, so to speak, appeared many times in relation to brethren as found together. "Some also have fallen asleep", the apostle adds. Yes, but they have not fallen out of the ranks, for brethren in this sense cannot divide. It is contrary to the divine nature. So that if we have had sorrowful experience of break-up it only proves that we have not been together as brethren.

It says, "He shone forth from mount Paran". The meaning of the word is said to be beauty or glory. How the Lord would follow up every activity of love that has set the brethren together; that He might shine upon them; how He shone upon them in the full glory of the earthly in John 12 and of the heavenly in John 20! But to what end is all this? That Christ may be supreme as Head. It says of Moses that he loved the people and was king in Jeshurun, and the chapters in John to which I have referred set that out. In chapter 9 you have a man coming under divine control, and then you have the way he is brought into the flock in chapter 10. "One thing I know", he says. We must all start with one thing, but we do not end with it. We must all start

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and learn to contribute that distinctive impression that the Lord has given us in His own dealings with us. But then our brethren, through grace, have what they have learned through Christ, and so we learn to merge together in what we have through grace. But you find in the Lord's dealings with that Bethany family the way He places Himself at their disposal, and binds their hearts together in the sorrow they go through, and then He establishes them according to the divine pattern in beauty and glory. He shines upon them, so to speak, in Paran, as seen in chapter 12. Lazarus is in his place in the dignity of one that belongs to the company, Martha is there in the grace and spirit of a true servant, Mary in priestly wealth bringing her substance to Christ, and so He takes His place in that loved company. It is but the fruit of all His previous movements. The will subdued, the brethren bound together and then their learning to take character from Him as they appreciate Him, leaving room for Him to be supreme among them.

Then we find that the myriads come to light. Ah! if we go this way the myriads will come to light. How marvellous is the grace that gives us brethren! Along this way we shall find our brethren. We are proving through grace how many there are who are available. Enoch, who walked with God, learned the value of the brethren. He was a lonely man as to any company on earth, though in his loneliness finding the sweetest consolation in the

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company of the blessed God, as walking with Him, but he speaks of the brethren as "holy myriads" (Jude 14). If we have not a right appreciation of the brethren it is because we have not been walking with God to get His thoughts about them. If we are lowering them in the calumnies of the enemy it is because we are not with God about them. We find in the prophecy of Enoch as referred to by Jude how he valued the brethren. He says, "The Lord has come amidst his holy myriads" - for all is imminent to the man of faith, nothing is distant to faith, for faith would take you to God.

But I would dwell for a moment on what follows, because if the brethren come to light, the myriads of the sanctuary, the holy brethren, it is that Christ may be amongst them. If we are given brethren it is that we may make everything of Christ together. Happy and blessed as their company is, and surely we delight in it, that is short of the end for which we have been given to one another. The appearance of the holy myriads has in view the bringing in of Moses as king in Jeshurun, and it is in the holy affections of the saints that Christ gets His place as Head.

He begins now to bless the tribes. "Let Reuben live, and not die; And let his men be few", that is of number that can be counted easily. Let him be distinguishable, if one might so say, in love. And then Judah is introduced with his outstretched hands on behalf of the brethren; and Levi in his vigilant

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care of the testimony as a priest. Moses was conversant with all these exercises himself. In the dignity suggestive of sonship he had been on the mount with God, and with that shining countenance he was marked off amongst men, but he had first been distinguished in love before God, as He poured, so to speak, into his heart the wonderful communications of love, and unfolded to him the pattern of the divine system. But then Moses came down; and he stretched out holy hands to the brethren. He was striving for them, not against them, when God tested him and tested his love to the brethren, as He will test ours in every crisis - not only for Himself, but for Christ and the brethren. God offered Moses glory at the expense of the brethren. He knew well enough that Moses would refuse it, but He would have his wonderful reply placed on record that we might see to it that ours is in the spirit in which Moses voiced his. That is, the Spirit of Christ, and so you find here that he stood for the testimony. Not only was he distinguished in love on the mount; not only was he distinguished in his love for the brethren, leading him to say, as it were, 'Let my name be blotted out, that the people may live;' but he was also distinguished in his priestly care for the testimony in a crisis.

I would refer for a moment to Reuben in connection with the sheep in John's gospel. He calls them by name. We have had a good deal about the

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names today, but young believer, the Lord takes care of you in the light of the wonderful possibilities He would realise with you. Let Him take care of you. His care is expressed in intimacy - it is personal. Accept every dealing of the Lord with you in the light of His shepherd care. The discipline that reduces you, that strength of yours that He makes weak, how it tests you, but let all His dealings with you be read in the light of that shepherd heart of His that took Him into death for you. He knows His sheep by name, He loves to speak to them. They are easily numbered by a shepherd. A large flock of sheep might appear innumerable, but the shepherd knows every one of them by name, and they know him. Love has done that, and every name is in His shepherd heart, His priestly heart, and He loves to speak to them. He loves to call them by name. Love in your parents calls you by name, how much more would love in Christ call you by name! He loved Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus. He loved them together, as the Bethany family, and He loved them individually.

I would refer to Judah in connection with the thought of children. You remember the prophecy in regard to the Lord, that He would die to gather together the children of God scattered abroad. Judah stands for the family. It has often been pointed out that Judah's love for the family would preserve it. Reuben said to his father that he would give his sons, but Judah offered, in speaking to

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Joseph, to give himself. So you find here that Judah is distinguishable in love too. I mean, all that is said of Reuben in this chapter is carried forward to Judah. Those that are sheep under the shepherd hand of Christ are shepherded into the family and take their place there as children, so that, while you have on the one hand the shepherd love of Christ that took Him into death to establish a personal link with each one, you have on the other His going into death to bring forth much fruit, to bring in the children, to gather the family together, and the heart that has drunk in of the love of Christ individually can alone appreciate His love for the family.

So you find that it says of Judah, "Hear, Jehovah, the voice of Judah". What is he pleading for? "Bring him unto his people". Ah! He desires to be in the family. He is of that spirit. Can God refuse his cry? Why are we together? God has ordered our circumstances to have it so, it is the fact that He has put love into our hearts that brings us together because we cannot help it, so to speak, because it is the very nature of the divine family to be found together, and He has heard our cry. He has brought us amongst our brethren. Then it says, "May his hands strive for them". If we do not strive for the brethren we shall strive against them. John shows that God allows of no other alternative. We love them or we hate them, and so Judah is referred to here and his hands. He uses them, and how does he use them? He lifts up holy hands to God. That is the

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way in which your hands strive for the brethren. "Be thou a help to him against his oppressors". Who can withstand such a man? All enemies are defeated in the presence of this man, who can get to the heart of God in regard to the gathering of the family.

When you come to Levi, the priest, you remember his previous history. He had once used instruments of violence (Genesis 49:5). How different are the instruments he is using now! The brazen altar - the way God has come out to man. The altar of incense - the way man is secured in fragrance to God as after Christ, the laver, the shewbread, the table, the candlestick. He is using what is expressive of the heart of God, and every priest loves to do that. He had once used instruments destructively. That revealed his own heart, and if such instruments are in your habitation or mine we shall use them as did these men. That unjudged feeling against any one is a cruel instrument in our habitations. It says of Simeon and Levi, "In their anger they slew men". (Genesis 49:6). How good to be delivered in grace from our habitations of cruel instruments, and to be set up of God in His habitation in the care of these blessed instruments of divine love, and thus be with God in His dwelling amongst His people. Well, what a change in Levi! You know how God secured him. There was a crisis and it is often at these crises that there are conversions of this kind amongst the saints.

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The Lord will often use a time of great pressure in the assembly to win our poor hearts from those self-centred tents of violence for His love in relation to His tent of witness. So Levi is introduced here. You remember where he was tested. It was at Massah and Meribah the people rebelled and the rock was smitten. I think he must have been greatly affected by what was involved in that rock. He entered figuratively, I would say, into the sufferings of Christ there. You remember God said He would stand on the rock of Horeb. Yes, think of a rock! An unstable, murmuring people, for man as in flesh is but vanity, but in contrast to all this a rock, and God is going to stand upon that rock. It suggests the stability in which the Lord Jesus stood in death for God, and the way God committed Himself to that blessed Man, and now to us in the gift of the Spirit consequent upon the death and resurrection of Christ. And so the rock was smitten. Some connect the Spirit largely with their immediate needs, but I think one sees Levi getting the water in a very different way. He is connecting the water, the administration of refreshment and grace by the Spirit, with the suffering love of the One who died to secure to us the Spirit. He is connecting all the rich flow of grace, the stream of refreshment, with the smiting of that rock, and thus his heart is built up in those priestly affections to which God can entrust the care of the testimony. How God would use the oft-recurring crises of the

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testimony with all their accompanying sorrows to bring to light those who are with Him in these crises! Levi had said of his father and mother that he did not know them. What a wonderful spirit marked him and how the Lord loves to bring it into relief! He would have it preserved among His people today.

Moses continues, "Bless, Jehovah, his substance". One could think of Mary in this connection. She has got substance. There is no box in John 12. I suppose Mary herself is the box. She has been broken in the sorrows of death. In the eleventh chapter death has done its work, now in the twelfth the holy contents of the box are available and you find she has substance. Oh, how God blesses that substance! He will bless every bit of substance that love spends on Christ. What she might have spent upon her brother's burial she kept against the day of the burial of her Lord. "Let the work of his hands please thee". Nothing could be more acceptable to God in the saints at that supreme moment than the work of Mary's hands. But the word goes on, "Crush the loins of his adversaries". How the adversary, as seen in Judas, was rebuked! His loins were sterile. The loins speak of the affections. They were sterile of all devotedness or love for Christ, and God will crush those loins. Christendom boasts of its loins. It assumes the form of love for Christ with

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indifference to His commandments, but God is going to crush those loins.

Judas's loins were crushed, as it says, in Acts 1:18, "His bowels gushed out". Those affections that had not been divinely controlled now gush forth uncontrolled. Mary's love and service went up in sweet savour to God. She would lavish her substance on Christ. She was one of the true friends, as was Levi in his day.

Now, if the blessing of Reuben can be spoken of figuratively as analogous to the sheep, easily numbered, illustrating the link that each heart has with Christ; and if Judah and his affections speak of the gathering of the family and the appreciation in our hearts of the way Christ went into death to gather into one the children of God scattered abroad; then in Levi you have what answers to Mary, one in the confidence of Christ, a heart that cares in measure for what is upon His heart. And what are friends if they do not share the sorrows and joys of those they love? "I call you no longer bondmen" (John 15:15), the Lord says. They have a new name now. He is naming them as His confidants. Such was Mary.

It says of Benjamin, "The beloved of Jehovah, - he shall dwell in safety by him; He will cover him all the day long, And dwell between his shoulders". How John as the beloved of the Lord had proved, upon the Lord's bosom, the safety of that shelter of holy love in contrast to the atmosphere of betrayal

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around! It is there that we prove how He covers us all the day long, throughout the whole period of the testimony, but the sense of such love would develop in manhood that stature in love, the shoulders that can alone assure to God His dwelling place here in testimony. For the allusion to the shoulders would appear to refer to the position assigned to Benjamin in the land; his territory supporting on either side Zion as the place of God's rest.

One would venture to connect the thought of the men (John 17:6) with Benjamin in this way; the Lord does not leave the scene until He has men - those who are the product of the Father's work who can in intelligent affection take up in manhood the burdens and exercises of the testimony and thus assure to God the state that becomes His rest here in relation to the scene of testimony. In fact the structure of these chapters (John 12 to 17) might in feature be likened to the furniture of the tabernacle. In chapter 12 the brazen altar might be referred to in connection with the Lord's allusion to His death (verses 31 - 33). In chapter 13 the laver is evidently in view in the feet-washing. In chapter 14 the divine administration in connection with the gift of the Spirit might be likened to the shewbread table and its loaves; the thought of testimony in chapter 16 one might connect with the candlestick, and in chapter 17 the Lord is seen as the Priest at the golden altar in His prayer to the Father; whilst in chapter 18 you see the Ark in all its glory going

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down into Jordan, the false priests seeking to uncover it in shame, but John covering it in priestly affections as he records the dignity and glory of the movements into death of the One he so loved.

In Joseph allusion is made to the precious fruits, and things and the best things, so that in the head of Joseph you have suggested the dignity of the divine family - "My brethren". Here you come to the climax. In Joseph you get the vast thoughts, the wondrous thoughts of divine love in relation to that company. "My Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (John 20:17). What power lies in the dignity of sonship, in our place as brethren within! It says He breathed into them, and it is as thus equipped that He sends them forth.

One word in closing as to the gospel, for I take it when you come to Ephraim and Manasseh you have the thought of myriads. Here we have Joseph's family. Manasseh speaks of what is Colossian, I take it. It is what Christ has for His own heart in connection with His desolation; that which is the present joy to His heart as the fruit of headship. He was, as you remember, born to Joseph when he was a stranger. When you come to Ephraim it is a double portion, his name means double fruitfulness, and more what is Ephesian, for the firstborn heavenly family is identified with the thought of a double portion. It might rather suggest what Christ has in the assembly in Ephesian character. But what follows is suggestive because it is the gospel, and

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you have Issachar and Zebulun together. We were having a little this afternoon, the testimony of the gospel, how dependent it is upon brethren being together. Zebulun is to rejoice in his going out and Issachar in his tents. You see there is to be the combination. There is the spirit of going out, in which you invite the people to the mountain; but there is at the same time the affections that cherish the thought of the house of God in relation to the gospel. While there is the Levitical energy in which you go out, there is the priestly state behind it that cherishes for the souls that are attracted in grace the very best that the Lord could provide for man on earth in His house, and it says, "They shall invite the peoples to the mountain", setting forth no doubt Christ in resurrection and the vast system of blessing connected with Mount Zion.

Then, "They shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they will suck the abundance of the seas, And the hidden treasures of the sand". One would desire that there might be more spiritual energy to go forth with the gospel in this closing moment, imbued with the feelings of Christ as a Man for men and in compassionate sympathy with the heart of God, and invite the people to the mountain offering sacrifices of righteousness. It is amongst a sacrificing people that the testimony of the gospel is found. Amidst such suffering companies, as with the Philippians and the Thessalonians, is found the testimony of the glad

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tidings (Philippians 2:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:8), and then they will suck the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand. One feels how feebly one can dwell on such a theme, but one would just commend it to your attention. First we are led to Christ through the love that led Him to death, the Shepherd's voice calling us by name, then gathered together as brethren in the spirit in which Judah loved to gather the brethren, with the testimony now cherished amongst us and substance ministered to Christ, every opposing element laid low in the love that delights to magnify Him in His own sphere. Then the intimacy of friends leading on to the coming out as men with shoulders prepared to support and to carry in spiritual energy what is precious to God here; and then finally in the dignity of the brethren as custodians of divine thoughts going forth from that atmosphere in the spirit of evangelisation with the very best, bringing the treasures of the heart of God to man, confirming what they present as light in that spiritual sacrifice in which we would be ready as a suffering people to set forth the praise and the glory of the blessed God as shining in the face of Jesus Christ. May the Lord help us in connection with these things and bless the word for His name's sake!

Indianapolis, January 1922

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JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS

R Besley

Luke 3:21, 22; Luke 4:1 - 14

I desire to lay certain thoughts before you with regard to the Lord Jesus in the wilderness. You will note that Luke presents the incident in this way - "Jesus ... returned from the Jordan". You will remember that when Mark speaks of it he says that "The Spirit drives him out into the wilderness" (Mark 1:12); whereas when Matthew refers to the matter he tells us that He "was carried up into the wilderness" (Matthew 4:1). No doubt all three of these things were true, but the view which Luke gives is that He returned. It suggests the grace of the Person that was there; there was perfect acquiescence in the will of God. It was His own movement, no doubt, suggesting that He was in the secret of the will of God as to the path in which He should walk; hence He "returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness". I would refer to that, and ask whether we have considered the Lord's movements in that way. The wilderness, for us, is part of the ways of God; and the exercise would be that we return. We may have passed the Jordan, but there is the return to the wilderness. The circumstances of our lives here are part of the design of God for us, and one would desire that

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there might be - if I may put it in these words - the voluntary movement on our part, to take that way as the will of God for us, as being down here.

Luke also says that He "was led by the Spirit in the wilderness", not into the wilderness. Think of the grace of that blessed One here, as waiting upon the Spirit! Such was the grace of Christ, such was the perfection and glory of the Man upon whom the eye of God could rest with delight. As there, He was tested, fasting forty days and forty nights, and He hungered. There was no outward or visible sign of the presence of God; indeed, what was outward and visible would rather suggest that for the moment He was left. So it is with the saints now; their path may be one of trial and difficulty, even down to extremity; but with Jesus in the utmost extremity, there was unfailing quietness of heart; never was there a breath of mistrust in His blessed heart Godward, although in such circumstances.

Now, at such a time, the devil came up suddenly upon Him, and he raised the question as to His being the Son of God: "If thou be the Son of God, speak to this stone, that it become bread". The Lord Jesus, as led by the Spirit, was fully prepared, however He might appear in outward circumstances. He was ever ready for the will of God. If in our path in the wilderness we were led of the Spirit, I do not think we should ever be taken unawares. The Lord replied: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God". As

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Matthew puts it: "by every word which goes out through God's mouth".

I read the incident of His baptism in order that we should note the word which He had out of the mouth of God. We have had before us, while together, the thought of divine communications, and I conclude that the majority of those who are here have known what it is to receive them. I am not speaking now exactly of ministry, or the word livingly in the Scripture, but of some distinct word from the Lord from heaven. That powerful mighty voice that comes from the unseen world. Satan may have heard the word addressed to Christ, but apparently he overlooked it. The Lord did not overlook it. What was the word out of the mouth of God by which Jesus lived at that time? It was the word that had been delivered at His baptism: "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight". At that moment circumstances were adverse; it would appear that the opposite might be true.

Think of the Lord here as a Man upon earth, in the wilderness, fasting forty days and forty nights, hungering, and assailed by the adversary, and yet that blessed, lowly Man lived by a word out of God's mouth. Think of the glory of the One who was there. Surely the wilderness blossomed as a rose, the glory of Lebanon was there; all that will be displayed by and by when His glory shall fill the whole earth. Satan was completely foiled. I would

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ask: 'Have we a word in our souls out of the mouth of God by which we can live?' That word came out of the mouth of God into the heart of Christ as He prayed. Luke says that, He was baptised and praying. How one would desire that the things of God might lift us above the control of what is natural. When baptised we have really said, 'Let us die with Him'. When Jesus was baptised there came a word, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight". We are in the last days, we are in perilous times; and the difficulties, instead of becoming fewer, will become greater, and more in number. Have we a word out of the mouth of God by which we can live? Have we waited upon God in prayer with regard to our baptism unto the death of Christ? We are not going to be governed by the words out of the mouth of "the beast", but by the words out of the mouth of God. If we know what it is to live by those words, in every attack that is brought against us Satan will be foiled; the attack will be fruitless, except that there may be glory to God in the saints, and that is no small thing.

Well, Satan was foiled. There was something there which he could not apprehend. He had come in between Adam and God, and brought in distance, but here was One between whom and God there was no distance. Satan in his relentless hate is determined to overthrow Him. It would appear that the pride of Satan's heart was what overthrew him at the beginning, when as the covering cherub his

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heart was lifted up with pride; and now he resorted to the same line in order to overthrow Christ: "And the devil, leading him up into a high mountain, shewed him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time", and he offers Him all these. "I will give thee all this power, and their glory; for it is given up to me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If therefore thou wilt do homage before me, all of it shall be thine". In other words, he says if you will recognise me you may have this world. But the glory of Christ was that He would have no power, and no glory, unless it was given to Him by God: "Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve".

Satan's lie is used as an attack upon us; he presents all the power and glory of this world in order that we might come under his influence as the god of this world. We were speaking this afternoon of the literature, science and arts of this world; Satan is endeavouring, and he has long endeavoured, to impose the influence of these things upon the saints, so that they may be dazzled by what he has got. Christ was found in the path of complete and absolute subjection to the will of God in this world. I suppose the temptation was peculiarly subtle, because the kingdoms of the world and their glory will yet be His, but He will take them up as the One who has died.

But the adversary attacks again, and goes back to the original line, as to Jesus being the Son of

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God, and he takes the Lord and sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple. The strategy of Satan puts things in a religious setting. How we need to be on our guard, how we need to pray! How we need to wait earnestly, daily, upon God, that we might be proof against the subtleties of the adversary. Satan says, "If thou be Son of God, cast thyself down hence;" and then he quotes a scripture, or rather misquotes it, from Psalm 91"He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone" (verses 11, 12). Was it necessary to put God to the test? Not for Christ, for He knew Him. The word was before us in the afternoon as to knowing God. Christ knew God, as a Man in wilderness circumstances, and needed no evidence of His faithfulness to Him. There was nothing in the heart of Christ to which appeal could be made that He should cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple as though to call public attention to Himself.

How many of us have been subjected to a similar line of temptation, perhaps unknown to ourselves, the outcome of the manoeuvring of the adversary so that we might stand in conspicuous places, and use the places - religious places - for our own advancement to call attention to ourselves, goaded on by the adversary! Alas, how many have fallen victim to the wiles of the adversary, and have dashed their foot against a stone. They will never

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walk again; never! They will never walk with a stately going like that which marked Jesus. There are those, upon whom we look with tears today, who have dashed their foot against a stone.

The reply of the Lord to this part of the temptations is remarkable. You will note that His words were, "It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God". As if He would indicate to the enemy that He had a word from God of which Satan knew nothing; it was not a written word which could be read, but a spoken word which would be heard in the ear. Jesus had a place so near that He had heard a word which would regulate Him at that moment. Precious favour! For us it is the same, for while the written word is to us the law and the testimony, yet there are times when a special application of it forms a word which is spoken and which we hear.

May God grant that our sense of the danger of the power of the adversary against us, of the subtlety of his manoeuvres, may call us to lowliness of spirit that would commune constantly with God, and that our thoughts may be of the glories of the One who went through death, and there closed our history in His infinite love. As we commune with Him we shall be proof against the attacks of the adversary, we shall realise that Christ has died to all the glory of this world, and we shall be preserved in the circumstances in which we have to walk. I am not, I hope, magnifying the difficulties

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unduly; there is power for us infinitely greater than the greatest difficulty. The danger is there, and one would desire that we should walk in the light that we have gained in knowing God, and have power to rise up higher and yet higher in the knowledge of the glories of Christ, as known to the heart of the Father. The end for which revelation has come is that God might be known, and, in being known, that He might be loved.

May the Lord grant us grace for these things for His blessed name's sake!

Belfast, April 1922

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APPRECIATION OF CHRIST

to the blessed consequences of honouring parents, because it goes on to say they are to honour them; they can keep that up as long as they live.

Exodus 25:10 - 22; Psalm 45:1 - 11; Isaiah 53:1 - 10; 1 Corinthians 15:22 - 26

I do not know whether we have been sufficiently exercised as to our personal appreciation of Christ. One cannot speak for others, but I have an impression that Christ would like to make Himself more of a reality to us. To speak for a moment of Adam - we cannot get away from our link with him, there is no use pretending - we are in the habit of attending funerals, and the habit is not likely to decrease. We have thus forced home upon our notice the reality of our link with Adam; painful, I admit, yet profitable to admit it I am sure. Are we equally certain of our link with Christ? Are we equally sure that we have a personal, living link with a glorified Man and a system of things that will never, never pass away? That is what I want to speak a little about tonight.

I would like to have grace to present Christ in a genuinely attractive form to your hearts, because if Christ does not occupy your hearts something else will, and that something, whatever it is, whether legitimate or illegitimate, is the cause of some measure of sorrow in your spiritual history. God has not provided Christ to have a partial place in

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the hearts of any of His people. He has, in His unmeasured goodness and unlimited kindness, given us the very best of all that He has with the intention of filling the hearts of all His people.

Now there are three thoughts connected with Christ on which I want to dwell, simply to try and show you that they meet the three great difficulties that test the pathway of the believer. The first question with us all is a practical and difficult one, that of will. It is no good trying to dispute it, the great difficulty with us all is will. God orders things in our pathway for us, and they do not turn out as we like. Why? Because, we have will. You have a particular liking, and you want it. The liking is not a sin. It may be something quite legitimate, something very simple, but the will comes in when you want it. It is no good pretending to be in the highest heaven when there is something you want and you cannot get it. You are in a state of active will, and before any progress can be made in the genuine appreciation of Christ, that disturbed will has to be settled; and to settle it God introduces Christ in a peculiar way to the soul.

That is why I read the first passage, because what is presented there is essentially a connection with this question of will. You have the thought of the ark of the covenant (I suppose one of the most beautiful types of Christ in the scripture, certainly the outstanding type of the five Mosaic books), and in the ark you have suggested by the Spirit of God

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the thought of Christ, but Christ as a living, personal Man who did the will of God. I quote the language of our hymn to make it practical to you:

'I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto Me and rest'. (Hymn 248)

What did He mean? He meant that the only way to get clear of that rebellious will of yours is to come under the control of the Person who did the will of God. So with His own beloved disciples down here - the Lord chose them that they might be with Him. Why? That they might come under the influence of a Person who was controlled by the will of God. Now in the ark of the covenant there are two things, and I think it is the balance of the two that brings Christ in an appreciative way before our souls. There is what I should call the structure of the box itself, and there is the lid. If I were to speak for a moment of the structure of the box itself, I would speak of what is connected with the humanity of Christ.

Some of us have been speaking together of Luke's gospel, and I think you cannot read the opening chapters without being profoundly moved in your affections as you read of the coming of Christ into this scene. The story never gets old nor too familiar. Every fresh time you read it you are amazed at the skilful care of the Spirit of God to guard every avenue that would lead to a false

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thought of Christ. He comes before your notice a Babe in a manger - holy, harmless, undefiled and separated from sinners. It presents to you the thought of the infinite blessedness of a Man wholly and entirely for God. The secret of that was the lid. The box itself was of shittim wood, overlaid with gold, but what was the efficacy of that box, that golden box, in the history of the people of Israel? It was the lid; it was one solid piece of pure, absolute gold; there was no wood there. It was gold through and through, gold unalloyed.

Ah, beloved, I would like to say this, that in reading, enjoying and appreciating the thought of Christ in humanity, as I think we all do, it is just as well to remember who Christ was. The secret of those cherubim resting there was that the custodians of the rights of God felt that these rights were going to be conserved now, for there was a Person down here in the form of a man, but He was far more than a man, He was the Christ of God. May I say to you what an infinite privilege it is to come near to that Vessel and let God commune with you. You turn round and tell Him your wish, your longing, and that you have a bit of will in it. He communes with you from that spot, and lets you know what He has been able to do for the Man who had no will of His own. What could He do for Him? Was there anything too much? There was nothing too much for God to do for Christ. Why? Because He left the doing of everything to God. You may say, 'It is

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very simple', but the whole of Christianity is simple. The difficulty in a way lies in the simplicity of it, whether in our spiritual history we prefer Adam or Christ. You say, 'I cannot distinguish'. Well, it is a very simple test. In the laboratory they test some things very simply. They put a piece of litmus paper into the liquid to be tested, and if it changes colour they say, 'That is so-and-so'. What is the great test for the believer? Whether the thing dies or not. If it does not die it is not in Adam. Well, you say, 'I do not know anything that does not die'. Surely you know something of the love of Christ? That does not die. Of the forgiveness of sins? That does not die. Of peace with God? That does not die. You must know what it is for God to stand out and say, 'I approve of that Person'. That does not die.

But no matter what it is, if it is in Adam it will die, but if it is in Christ it will live for ever. It will live long beyond the display of its worth in the millennial age; it will live when God folds up this earth and puts it on one side. There will be in the new heavens and the new earth that which is of Christ; that will never die. Half the trouble that besets the people of God is that they fail to bow simply and unreservedly to the blessed will of God. But, you say, I do not like it. Now do not be unkind to yourself. You do not like it? That is a foolish statement to make. It is not a question of liking it. If you knew the end of things you would take a different view of it. God comes out of eternity into

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time, and in a view that looks back, and on, and embraces the whole He says, 'The only solution of this will-question is for Me to bring My Son into this world in the form of a Man and let men see how a living Man in a scene of adversity, with no will of His own, can be happier than a multi-millionaire who could gratify every whim he has'. But what is the secret happiness of this Man? It is beautifully put in the scripture I read, "And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony that I shall give thee". It is a beautiful testimony. Here was this golden box, and in it was the testimony. If I begin to read the testimony, what is it? "Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God" (Deuteronomy 6:5). That was the testimony. The secret of the happiness of Christ here in manhood was that He loved His God, and if I give you a scripture I think you will see the force of it. Talking about His pathway here, men might have said, 'What a pathway of sorrow'. I turn to the blessed Lord and say, 'Lord, what is the pathway like?' "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16:6). He viewed the situation from the standpoint of the will of God, and one covets that for oneself and one's brethren.

We cannot promote the will of God in ourselves, but we can get into communion with the Vessel in whom God has expressed His will, and as we come into communion with Him relative to His thoughts of God we shall find our wills give place

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to the supreme blessedness of the will of God. Now I will give you one more proof of it before I take up this psalm, and that is the epistle to the Romans. There you have the mercy-seat, and God takes it away from its tabernacle setting for the moment, and out of the holy of holies, and away from the sacred seclusion in which it was unapproachable. He sets it out in illimitable grace right in the presence of the universe, and (if I might use such language of the blessed God) He puts the mercy-seat in the presence of the whole race of humanity, and He says, 'I would like to justify the person who puts his faith in that', for He is the Justifier of "him that is of the faith of Jesus" (Romans 3:26). Now remember, that statement was made. Whether any one believed in Jesus or not was not of importance for the moment. What was important was that God should be allowed to prove, in the presence of the unsatisfied will of man, that if He had His own way with men every man would be happy.

What then is the conclusion of this in the history of the believer when that comes into his soul? He presents his body a living sacrifice, and proves "the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2). What have you? You have a moral correspondence in the person who arrives at that to the original golden box, for when God gets possession of any person, what He puts into that person is the testimony that was in the original - "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the

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Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). "Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God". Perhaps you will say, 'It is all very well to speak objectively, but how is the thing to brought about practically?'

Well, I turn to Psalm 45:1, 2 for that reason. You will understand in your own spiritual history the difficulty of bringing an objective thought home to the hearts of the people of God subjectively. Take a simple illustration. An objective thought with God for every believer is that he should not sin. "These things I write to you in order that ye may not sin" (1 John 2:1). You look at that at the close of a meeting and think it is a very fine thought, an excellent thought. You get up in the morning, and you have to work out the thought, but you come down and the kitchen fire has gone out and the breakfast is half an hour late, and you find that the objective thought is certainly not a subjective one. You say, 'These things are very trying'. All the more need for grace. And remember this: in a scene that has refused a Person of the infinite preciousness of Christ you could not expect things to be anything but trying, but the way subjective thoughts are brought to pass is by abundance of grace. It is beautifully set forth in the two great ministries of the Old Testament - Elijah's and Elisha's. The Elijah ministry is the great ministry of claiming the people for the will of God; the Elisha ministry is the abundance of grace.

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Has the One who is the expression of the will of God proved to be the grace of God to my soul? That I believe to be Psalm 45. In your soul history you get disappointed with Adam. It is as well. I do not object to that, but I want you to get a point further. Do you get intensely attracted to Christ? As your history of disappointment goes on relative to Adam, is your history of appreciation going on relative to Christ? And as your history goes on, do you find your heart inditing a good matter? You speak not so much now of the failure, but you speak with more readiness than before of the abundance of grace. Grace, as I understand it, is the expression of the extent to which God is prepared to go that the objective situation may come to pass subjectively in the hearts of His people.

A brother complained to me some time ago that he was so hindered by a bad temper. I told him that I should consider it a spiritual asset. I said, it was allowed to make Christ essential to him. If you had one of the most beautiful tempers on earth you might think you could do without Christ, but God has graciously taken us in hand to fill our hearts with Christ, and He knows where to put the edge on and make us feel the need of being livingly connected with a Person of whom it could be said, "Grace is poured into thy lips". What is grace? It is the way love operates in relation to need. If I went to the golden box and took out the "Thou shalt love", I read it with admiration, and then I come

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down here and find a person who hates. I find him breathing out threatenings and slaughter, and I look to God and say, 'How art Thou going to bring that testimony to pass subjectively in that person?' And it was the appearance of the "Thou shalt love" that made a Saul of Tarsus into the apostle Paul. It was wonderful grace. How did grace work? It first of all gave him an outstanding impression of the magnificence of the One from whom the grace came - "Thou art fairer than the sons of men". I think as Paul (then Saul) pursued his road to Damascus he considered that the Pharisees and elders and the political leaders were the greatest men in the world, but he was suddenly blinded by the light of a glorified Man. He had never in his life seen a Man like that. That was one side of the grace of God.

It is great grace on the part of God to have given us any impression of Christ, but then the next effect was equally good. It gave him a most loathsome view of himself, and the psalmist puts it very beautifully: "In thy splendour ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness ... Thine arrows are sharp - peoples fall under thee - in the heart of the king's enemies". Where do you think Saul of Tarsus wanted the arrow to be sharpest? In the heart of the man that refused Jesus of Nazareth, in his own heart, and in fact the arrows were sharp, and Paul had that heart pierced through till he was sick of having such a heart, but he got something else. He got an

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overwhelming sense of the heart of the Man up there. But there is another side to grace. It is not only that grace gives you a great impression of Christ and an equally poor impression of yourself, but it gives you a sense of the place Christ would put you in. I think I can hear the Lord as He spoke to Ananias: "This man is an elect vessel to me". Well, I read the psalm, and I find: "Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thine own people and thy father's house: And the king will desire thy beauty". I like that. That is the place grace would put you in. Where was the beauty? There was no moral beauty when you got up that Monday morning with the light of the situation in your soul and an incapacity to carry it out; but what did that exercise do for you? It made you feel more than ever the actual necessity of Christ. You turned to Him for fresh grace, and it gave you an impression as you sought to act on the grace, that He saw beauty in you.

Now, He says, 'I want to separate you from all your past associations'. Why? Because they further your will. What about my father's house and my own people? These are the things that nurture the will of man. The Lord said to the daughter, "Hearken, daughter, and see". In the light of the grace ministered and the bounty conferred we can afford to forget these things. Why? So that He may have exclusive rights over us and hold us. What have your own people given you that you can carry

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into eternity? Nothing. Family history and family glory in man's world die in the grave, but when you come to think of Christ, the least of all that He has given you will be as eternally precious in the millions of ages to come as at the present moment. Thank God that you know what it is to be justified in a risen Man! And what is the sum and substance of it all? Christ!

I have spoken of Christ in two ways - in relation to will, and in relation to affection. Now I want to say a word as to the spirit of the believer, because what is being perfected with us today is our spirits. So the apostle puts it in that way as to the believers that have died. What have you come to? "The spirits of just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23). When they are perfected in their spirits they are taken home. Of course, those believers of Old Testament times who have died are perfected, as we are through redemption, but for the moment I am occupied with the fact that they had finished their course, having, as another has said, 'overcome in conflict, and were waiting only for glory'. There are two things, either of which I would covet for any saint. One is that he might be perfected in his spirit and taken home, and the other is that he might be perfected in his spirit and the Lord come. It does not matter which, but the great point is to be perfected in your spirit. For that reason I read Isaiah 53. It is an interesting chapter because it goes back to the original report. "Who hath

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believed our report". The original report, as I understand it, is that God has brought Christ in, and the arm of the Lord revealed is the grace ministered. Now what would be the effect of these two things? A total change of spirit. Physically we remain the same; physically we shall suffer with the rest of humanity; we are in a groaning creation. We shall not have, of necessity, any particular business advantages; we may have extra pressure; but we get great advantages in our spirits. And why? "He shall grow up before him as a tender sapling". Marvellous! I do not know whether we have considered it, but I sometimes sit down and think of Christ growing up under the eye of God, and as I look at Him I cannot help being charmed. It is a sight to charm any one, and I say to myself, 'Wherever could the supplies come from'? The prophet says, "a root out of dry ground". There was nothing in the ground that ministered to it, and yet it grew up.

Now that is a wonderful thing. You know what affected people was not the physical appearance of Christ. It was the spirit of that blessed Man. It was the spirit that had grown in another scene. I believe that Christ presents Himself to Israel in this chapter to bring them to that spirit. I believe there is a day coming for the ancient people of God when they will put aside all their pride and human glory and their claim to be Israelites. They will turn round and look at their Messiah and say, 'I wonder how He

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ever grew up in the midst of such a perverse nation'. But the secret was that His springs were in God, and the secret of the spirit of the believer coming into accord with Christ is that you have your springs in another world. Now what is going to be the outcome of this chapter? What affects your spirit most of all is not the fact that Christ died for my sins, which is blessedly true, but what affects your spirit more than anything else is, I believe, the truth of substitution.

I have spoken of Christ as the Vessel of the will of God, and as the Man of grace. Now I want to speak of Him as the divine Substitute. I think I see this, that the danger in a human view of a divine thought is that it stops short of the full thought. If I were to ask most men experienced in legal matters what is their idea of substitution, they would say, 'Oh, somebody takes my place'. I daresay this is humanly correct, but it will not do. What is your place? You have no place. The divine idea of substitution is this, that if that Person has stood in the place that you ought to stand in, you have to stand for Him in the place where He ought to stand - "No longer live, I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). That is substitution. That is God's idea, and what place did He stand in? The place that the Adam stood in. They all died. I do not know whether you have weighed this over. Pray about it and think about it. Jesus died. Why did He die? Had death any right to Him, any claim? No. But Jesus

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did die. Marvellous fact! I think of Him growing up, of the absolute perfection of the plant under God's eye, blossoming, and bringing forth fruit, and yet He died. What did He die for? That you might live. So the apostle, dealing with the subject of substitution, puts it before the spirit of the Corinthians: "Having judged this: that one died for all, then all have died; ... that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised" (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). Beloved, we are entitled to live for Christ. I do not know anything more precious. You have nothing to live for but Christ; just the rest of your short life here you are entitled to live for Christ. Oh, but you say, what about the past? The Substitute took up the whole question; He wiped out the past, and where the question was He left His own life for the life of His people.

The early believers - I think I can see it in the Acts - were a people like this; just as if you had taken them up and clean cut them off from everything, and then put them back in this scene with new links, new associations, new affections, new family interests, a new destiny, and a new sphere. And they lived; what did they do? They lived to God, and so there is not only a vessel in correspondence with the ark of the covenant, but there is a company of people down here who are following that ark into glory. Surely you think the pathway of the Christian is simple? Why have we

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confused it with theories and doctrines? Because the enemy does not want you to get a simple and unclouded view of Christ; he would glorify or magnify Adam; he would transform Adam if he could. But the Spirit of God with one stroke of His pen writes those precious words over it all: "As in the Adam all die, thus also in the Christ all shall be made alive". One day you will be able to bask unhinderedly in the fullest light of Christ you have ever had; today you may live there in your spirit; to be spiritually minded is life.

The Lord graciously give us a large increase on this line, for His name's sake.

London, May 1922

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THE DIVINE END TO WHICH GRACE LEADS

J Smith

Ruth 1:20; Ruth 2:1, 14 - 16; Ruth 3:9; Ruth 4:17

I have four thoughts in my mind which I wish to set before you, and I would like to use the scriptures read from the book of Ruth to suggest them. I refer to the governmental ways of God, the power of God, the love of Christ, and the love of God.

I have no doubt that many of us have been made to feel the importance of the use the Lord may make of a scripture at any given moment. I was struck with a remark made within the last two days as to the importance of coming together to hear the word of God. I do not know exactly what was meant, but it suggested to me the importance of coming together to see what application God would give to a scripture at a particular moment. We know that Scripture stands unalterable, and the interpretation is one, yet the Lord Himself took up Scripture and gave it a present application. Now in enforcing the application it is important for us not to violate the interpretation. I trust I may not do that.

I submit that in chapter 1 we have the presentation of the ways of God in government. In

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chapter 2 Boaz - figure of a risen Christ - is found in all the wealth of the barley harvest; we have there one suggestive of the power of God, for Christ risen is the greatest exhibition of the power of God: "The working of the might of his strength, in which he wrought in the Christ in raising him from among the dead" (Ephesians 1:19, 20). Then in chapter 3 we have a beautiful suggestion of the love of Christ, for Scripture frequently employs the figure of the man and the woman as suggestive of Christ and the assembly. Then in chapter 4 the Spirit of God reaches the summit of His thought and presents to us in figure sonship, as responsive to the love of God.

Probably many of us have been anxious to preach the love of God to the sinner, but I have a growing conviction that men need to learn to fear God, and this end might be gained if we had the grace and the courage to preach to them the ways of God in government. They cannot escape these ways. Every person must have to do with them. Therefore if you preach to a sinner about the ways of God you present to him a matter he is bound to have something to do with, and if he has come to responsible age he has already had something to do with it; hence you are touching a point where he can understand you. It has been observed that in connection with His ways God has a distinct set of servants. I have no doubt that the book of Ruth opens in accord with the epistle to the Romans, and

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in that epistle you have a set of servants who are not the administrators of the grace of God. I believe, beloved friends, when the Lord sent the disciples to fetch the ass that was tied up, they, in figure, found it under divinely appointed restraint. Now God, in connection with His ways, has a set of servants to maintain men in a position of divinely appointed restraint. So in Romans you are exhorted to be subject to these servants, and it is necessary to be so, not merely for wrath, but for conscience sake. You are enjoined to submit to rulers, to all in authority - policemen, magistrates, etc. These are all in that way the servants of God carrying out His will in connection with His ways, "God's officers, attending continually on this very thing" (Romans 13:6). I mention this because I want to make it clear that in speaking of the ways of God I do not speak of that which is peculiar to Christians; but who can tell the benefit that the people of God gain by coming under His ways in government?

Naomi and her husband had turned their backs upon God's promised land and wandered down into the land of Moab - got into the world if you like - and there they consciously came under the hand of God. What God used was something common to man - not peculiar to saints, but common to man that is - death carried off both the husband and the sons until Naomi said, "The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and Jehovah has brought me home again empty". It was Jehovah

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who brought her back. These ways of God had been, so to speak, the servants of God, and they produced the right effect. As disciplined under the ways of God, Naomi returned to the land - coming back empty, but coming back, and to the land, and in doing so she came into a circle where the servants were altogether of a different character. I believe, beloved, the servants connected with God's governmental ways stand relative to God; but the servants connected with God's grace stand in relationship with God; so that when we come to chapter 2 I have in my mind a different set of servants altogether. But before I pass on, do not let us forget that the blessed God is dealing with His people - dealing with them in His ways - and He would have us intelligent in His ways.

I was speaking a little on this subject last night and touching on Ephesians 6. There the blessed God has a word for the children. I love to hear the blessed God speak to the children. He knows how to do it. He knows what to say to them. Listen! you know it well. He says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord", and I will give you the blessing of long life, "that thou mayest be long-lived on the earth" (verses 1, 3). What child is there who cannot understand that, or to whom that would not appeal? When God speaks to the children, depend upon it He will get their ear. He will not speak to them of things they cannot understand, so might I call this the gospel of His ways - a little bit of good news as

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The ways of God are a very real thing, and in the book of Ruth they were used of God to bring a wandering saint back. He may be speaking to you now, it may be that if you cast your eye back over a few years, you can remember a time when, like Naomi, you were happy with God in His own appointed sphere. Then a little bit of difficulty cropped up; you in your weakness thought the brethren were quarrelling, that the meetings were not very profitable, and the compensation of coming to them was small; a kind of famine followed and you went down to Moab. What did you find there? You found the persistent love of God, which pursued you in His governmental ways, and you found He had a complete set of servants down there in Moab, working to bring about His will for you! It was a very happy day when the ways of God in grace brought Naomi back, "for she had heard ... how that Jehovah had visited his people to give them bread" (verse 6). She was wrong in her soul before she went down, but there was recovery in her soul before she came back. I often hear it said, So-and-so came into fellowship; but they came into fellowship before you knew anything about it. As in measure recovered to the Lord, Naomi immediately gets a convert. It reminds us of David as he says, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation ... I will

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teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall return unto thee" (Psalm 51:12, 13). He says in effect, O God, make me happy and I will bring others to Thee.

In chapter 2 Boaz comes before us. They found out that they had a wealthy kinsman. That must have touched them very deeply, because they had gone down to Moab in poverty, and they come back to Israel to find themselves related to one of the richest men in the land. Can you not understand Naomi saying, 'How very foolish we were ever to go away!' However, she was recovered; and they were brought into touch with Boaz, and at this point the story turns from Naomi to Ruth, and Ruth in figure gets the Spirit. The moment the true Boaz comes into view, and the eye rests on that blessed risen Man, the soul gets the Spirit, and that glorious Man up there becomes the living expression of all that God intends us to enjoy down here. I would like to dwell upon that for a moment. If I want to know what God would have me to enjoy here, I look up there, and all that God has established there in Christ as Man He intends me to enjoy here. Not the mere light of it! Beware of that, beloved! I am beginning to feel there is a very real danger there. There is always a tendency to look at a thing and see that as to title it is mine, and to run away with the idea that I have got it. Let me speak affectionately! Some years ago we knew many who got their eye on the blessing and said, 'It is mine'.

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Was it true? Perfectly true, but it was not the truth. Moses went up to the top of Pisgah and saw the land, and he might have said, 'It is mine'. Israel stood on the shores of the Red Sea, and by faith they saw the land and said in effect, 'It is ours'. They rightly rejoiced in the title. But I am calling your attention to possession. Joshua went over Jordan and saw the land and put his foot on it. He possessed the territory - the land of promise. I grant you he got his eye on it, but he also walked up and down in the length and breadth of it; he got his foot on it and made it his own in point of possession.

It is a very happy thing to look up to a risen Christ and see the sceptre of power in His hand, and everything established in Him up there. But the thought of God is, that all that He has established in Christ up there as Man, He would have us to enjoy down here. So the moment the eye rests upon Him, that moment we get the gift of the Spirit in order that all the power of God might be operative in us down here. It reminds us of the upper and the lower springs (Joshua 15:19). Many dear saints are content with the upper springs. They have come to and exulted in a blessed risen Christ, a Man in the glory, but there is such a thing as having also, with that dear woman of old, the lower springs. Beloved the same power, in its character, that fills the throne is also to fill the believer.

The meaning of the name Boaz I understand to be, 'In him is strength'. Chapter 2 engages you with

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all the wealth of harvest, all the blessedness of the resurrection scene, connected with the Man of strength, the true Boaz; thus you find Ruth gleaning. She is identified with a new set of servants; she sat down beside the reapers. I think it takes power to do that. Many of us are feverish, as someone has said; we are occupied with what we have done, or what we are going to do! Ruth is gleaning, but she is restful in it; she had come to the spirit of God's sabbath and so sat down - sat down beside the reapers. How well might we do likewise! If the true Boaz is up there, He has servants down here. I came up to London for the express purpose of sitting down alongside the reapers. In connection with that, Boaz let fall some handfuls of purpose, and I believe that the handfuls of purpose often test the saints - not merely the sinners. When sinners come into a meeting, if the power of God is there, depend upon it they will soon begin to wonder why it is the preacher knows all about them! Many a time we have heard of them saying, perhaps to a friend who brought them, 'Whatever did you tell that man all about me for?' But, dear friends, it was a handful of purpose. If the preacher knew nothing, the true Boaz knew everything! But putting aside the poor sinner, is it not very easy for us to go to a meeting as a spectator? But there is not much gain in that; the Lord intends us to receive something. If I go to a meeting, and there comes down alongside me a handful of purpose, do I feel uneasy? Oh, no,

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there is blessing in it! It is something that fits right home to me.

Now do not be unbelieving; when a word comes to you like that, do not go away saying, 'Who has been telling So-and-so about me?' Take account of the true Boaz. He has been watching you; He knows every faltering step and every wandering one too! He knows the exact thing to bring home to heart and conscience; for, I submit, He never appeals to the one without the other. Therefore if He drops something right down against you, pick it up. Say, 'That is for me'. I have been listening a little the last two days and I have had this experience; I have said to myself honestly, 'That is for me'. The true Boaz has got us in hand. Then there is more than that, Ruth sat beside the reapers and dipped her morsel in the vinegar. This suggests to us that what we have may be freshened up and increased in value under the hand of the true Boaz.

I come now to chapter 3, where we get the love side. In chapter 2 it is the power and bounty of the hand of Boaz, but He has a heart as well as a hand; so that while in chapter 2 we get a picture of Christ meeting our deep need - and what He does thus is a credit to Himself, praise His name! - in chapter 3 we see, as I have said, that He has a heart as well as a hand. Ruth stands now not exactly as a figure of an individual, but in what I should call a Colossian position. She suggests to us more the assembly

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position, the place of the assembly as the object of the complacent affection of the true Boaz. In that position she says, "Spread thy skirt (or 'wing' - see note 'e') over thy handmaid". It is under His wing you learn the living and present character of His love. I do not suppose natural figures help very much, but one has noticed that if you put your hand under the wing of a bird you always feel the pulsations of its heart. I suggest that Ruth, in speaking as she does, covets protection, but love's protection. She says, so to speak, 'I have tasted the power and bounty of your hand, let me know the sweetness of the love of your heart'. Well, that culminates in union. I am not surprised that dear Mr Stoney toiled and laboured to bring saints to know union! What were they missing? The living, present love of the Christ of God. It was not that they did not know the love that looked in pity on their need as sinners. There was plenty of readiness to listen to the love of compassion, the love that would take a poor sinner up according to chapter 2, but the man who had the presentation of the precious love of Christ to the assembly could not, I am told, get Park Street half full to hear of it. There has been revival since then, thank God! Ruth appeals to Boaz. Did you ever appeal to Christ in that way? "Spread thy skirt over thy handmaid". Let me know, not the love that died for me long ago, but the love that puts its arm afresh around us now, the love that lives and serves today, the

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present love of Christ, the love of Christ to the assembly!

We are not surprised that in chapter 4 a son comes to light. In chapter 3 we have union, in chapter 4 sonship, and the meaning of his name is 'Worshipper'. May we hear the Lord's blessed words tonight, "The Father seeks such as his worshippers" (John 4:23). In chapter 3, in figure, Christ gets His bride; in chapter 4 the Father gets sons - worshippers! Thus the book of Ruth would suggest to us the truth of Romans, Colossians and Ephesians. Recovery, identification with Christ, union and sonship - a bride for Christ and a company of sons - worshippers for the Father.

London, May 1922

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THE REVELATION OF GOD

F H Bodman

Hebrews 11:6; Psalm 90:1, 2, 16, 17; 1 Corinthians 15:24 - 28; Revelation 21:1 - 7

"He that draws near to God must believe that he is". Faith is the answer in the soul of man to that which God has been pleased to reveal of Himself, and the great virtue of faith is that it makes God present to the soul, and brings the soul consciously into the presence of God. It says in connection with Abraham, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham" (Acts 7:2). God revealed Himself in that light, as the God of glory, and the answer on the part of Abraham was that he believed God. He received light; it became light in his soul, and it governed his pathway afterward. To Abraham God became a living reality. Now, I do not know how far that may be true of us all - how far we know what it is to be really in the presence of God in the light in which He has now revealed Himself in His blessed Son. As He Himself becomes to us the one great paramount object, how insignificant everything else becomes. How insignificant man is, and man's world! Man's work, man's will - and how insignificant even the power of Satan is when we are in the presence of God; when God is to us

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the great, present, and all-satisfying object of our hearts. That is the great virtue of faith, and what faith links us with. God Himself brings us into the light, gives us to enjoy the light - in which He has shone out, and revealed Himself in the gift, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So that we behold "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). What a wonderful reality to the soul thus to know God, and to find rest in seeing God - and in seeing everything in the light of what God is.

I like to say for myself, and for others, by grace I am what I am, because of what God is. I am where I am in relation to God, I stand before God in Christ, because of what God is. I can trace all my blessing to that. I have all that I have as regards my present position before God in His blessed Son, through grace. I trace it all up to God. I am what I am because of what God is. When you come to that your feet are on a rock; nothing can shake you, nothing can disturb your peace and rest of heart. All He does, all the blessing He bestows, is the outcome of what God is in Himself.

We get another great thought in the psalm: "From eternity to eternity thou art God". Faith brings the soul into a region which God fills, outside the region of sight and sense, outside everything that is connected with this visible world, into a region which God fills "from eternity to eternity". Think of that! It is a marvellous thing to

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realise that you can stand - you find yourself - through faith, in the region and order of things where there is nothing of man - nothing of man's work, nothing of Satan's work. A region which God fills "From eternity to eternity thou art God". Through His revelation we can look back into eternity, and we can look on into eternity. We can look back into the eternity of counsel, and we can look forward to the eternity of God's rest when all the counsel will be accomplished.

When you think of God as an eternal Being - when you think of Him in all that He has revealed of the counsels of His heart, all that which He purposed in Himself, that blessed will that is the secret cause of everything, of all that He determined back in eternal ages, He is the First. He is before all things. He is the beginning of all things that subsist - and will abide. Nothing will stand, nothing will abide, but that which subsists by the will of God, and in the work of God, and nothing can destroy that - nothing can disturb that. All is determined and settled in divine wisdom, back in eternal ages from everlasting, before the world was, God was the source of it all. What is the spring of it all? The love of God, for God is love. Love is the spring of it all. What is God working for? What will be the result? What will be the end of that which He purposed in divine love, and carries out in divine wisdom and power? Something more than our blessing - blessing beyond conception! - yea, more

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than that - the end of it all will be the complete satisfaction of divine love. God is working to satisfy His own heart - His own love. No doubt it will satisfy us.

If we look into the future, beyond time, what comes before us is a sphere that we know little about, an order of things that we can little understand, which is expressed in that word in 1 Corinthians 15:28: "That God may be all in all". There one gets some sense of what the end of all things will be. The result of His wisdom has been secured by the death of His blessed Son. He has glorified God by going into death, and putting away sin in bearing the judgment of it. He has laid the basis in righteousness, on which God can carry out the purposes of His love. The end of it all will be that God will be satisfied in an order of things in which He can rest for eternity. God will be "all in all". That is what will characterise the eternal condition of things. God will be the all-satisfying object of every intelligent being, engaging the mind and the affections, satisfying the mind and the affection of every intelligent being, every one finding his delight and joy in God Himself. God will be all.

But there is the other side. He will be "in all". There will be a response to that love which is the spring of all, a response to all that which has been revealed of God by every intelligent being according to his measure. God will have His delight, and the

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satisfaction of His love, in the joyful response from the heart of every intelligent being. He will be "all in all". What a scene to contemplate! Could there be anything greater for our minds to contemplate! How marvellous it is that God should have unfolded to us His own blessed secrets! In His grace He has abounded toward us in all wisdom and intelligence, having by the Spirit made known to us the mystery of His will (Ephesians 1:8, 9), that we might be able to understand and take in all that He has been pleased to purpose in Himself. We are taken into the favour of intimacy with the blessed God, and He has made known to us His secret thoughts. What a wonderful position we are brought into! What favour He has put upon us in order that we might be in communion with Him, in order that we might be in sympathy with Him in all that He is doing, that we might live in the region which God fills. That is where faith would bring us. It is God's thought that we should find our delight and joy in His things, and to know that, through grace, He has given us our part in it. Some may think that is very profound and high, beyond their reach, but no matter how young or feeble you may be, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you have received the Spirit of God, you have been brought to know God, and it is for you to know that you have part now, and through eternity, in that divine and eternal system in which everything springs from God, and is according to God.

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What is He doing now? We have looked back into the past eternity and into the future; we have seen our place in both. What is He doing now? He is working in you and me, He has taken us up and made us the subjects of His grace and of His work, and we are in Christ, His workmanship - God's workmanship - created in Christ Jesus for good works, etc., "If any one be in Christ, there is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We belong to a system, an order of things, which is wholly of God, God is the source of it, it springs from His purpose, and is the fruit of His work. We are the subjects of God's work. New creation is God's work, and God has been working and is working, and every believer, every one who is in Christ, is a part of that new creation. What a blessed thing to trace everything up to God, to trace your origin up to God. By natural birth you came into Adam's condition and place - a fallen and ruined sinner - you have been brought out of all that, you have a new origin, you are part of a new creation in Christ Jesus. That is the work that God is carrying on now, by which He is forming the assembly to occupy the most wonderful place in that divine system - the place of the greatest intimacy with God - in Christ. The masterpiece of all His work and wisdom, the vessel in which His glory will shine the most fully: "To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21). That is the end of God's work - glory to God

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throughout all ages - and to think that you and I are part of it; we shall have a place in that universe that will display the glory of God. The light which will shine upon us will bring out the perfection of God's work, and every one will display something of the glory of God.

That is what God would bring before us; that is God's work, and the result will be God's rest. When His love has brought to pass all His desires, not only in the assembly, but in redeemed Israel and in every family in heaven and earth, then God will rest. "He will rest in his love" (Zephaniah 3:17). He will rest eternally, there will be nothing to disturb. What a scene to contemplate! "From eternity to eternity thou art God". Amen.

We may see evil rising up around us, the evidence of Satan's work in many ways - we may be conscious of our own feebleness and weakness, but God would take us outside of all that, in Spirit, and cause us to rest where God is, "all in all". There is one spot where even now we can touch that order of things, and the rest of God. There is only one place, and that is in the holiest of all. In the holiest of all, you come into the presence of the glory of God, which finds its rest now in Christ - the Ark, the blood-sprinkled mercy seat, and the cherubim of glory. A scene that God fills. It is our privilege to enter that scene - the holiest - by the blood of Jesus, and there to contemplate Christ in all that He is to God - the centre of all - His work

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the basis of all; the glory of God shining in His face. If we have ever tasted it we know that we have touched the rest of God. It is our privilege, and may God give us to realise it, to know the blessedness of finding ourselves in the holiest of all and resting in His love, that we may touch a little of the blessedness of that which shall be ours throughout eternity.

How happy to be outside ourselves, and our own thoughts, outside all that is of man, in abstraction, beholding "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". What is the result of such contemplation? Adoration and worship in the presence of God, the source of all. The apostle says, in contemplating the ways of God, "For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36). How true it is! The One who brings it all to pass, the blessed Son of God, come into manhood, and going into death; He will share that glory. In the end of Revelation 5 the apostle John witnesses that scene, in which universal glory is accorded to God and to the Lamb. The Lamb is the One through whom it has all been brought to pass. It is our privilege to know something of it, and to take our part in that which shall be our eternal service, rendering praise, worship, and glory to the Father, and the Son, through the present power of the Holy Spirit!

Belfast, April 1923

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SYMPATHY WITH THE TESTIMONY

A E Myles

1 Samuel 1:1, 2, 6 - 11, 24 - 28

We have had very much before us today the thought of the prophet and the importance of his ministry. I suppose that behind every public appearance for God there lies a great deal of soul history and moral preparation. Elijah seems to come out of obscurity and to be launched suddenly into his ministry, but the manner of his appearing is in keeping with his message and there must have been soul history with him as with others; for what marks the prophets is that they are sympathetic with their ministry. How comely that Jeremiah should be a weeper! He spoke of woes and lamentations. He felt in himself all the sorrow connected with the condition of the people. God would use sympathetic vessels, wherever He finds them, for the communication of His mind. He spoke to Balaam through an ass; an ass suggests moral distance; it is an unsympathetic vessel, but it was in keeping with Balaam's position. He spoke to Naaman, the Syrian, through a little maid. Damascus was a long way from Jordan. The little maid was quite in keeping with the position, sympathetic and intelligent as to the blessings connected with the prophet. Naaman was open to being impressed by

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an official manifestation of the prophet's power, but God had chosen His vessel and it was not necessary that Naaman should even see the prophet's face.

In the first book of Samuel, I understand, we see the development of the divine thought to have a man here for the pleasure of God, a man after His own heart. How precious that thought is to God! One who would be a figure of Christ was to be brought in. Notice with what care God guards that thought. Such a man cannot be presented to Israel without a great deal of moral preparation. Saul could be presented without preparation, overnight, so to speak, but what a searching out, what exercises had to be brought about before David could come in! David will only reign when affection gives him the place. He will reign in Judah while he waits for all Israel. We have to constrain the Lord to remain. As Head, He does not force Himself upon His people, but waits for the call of love.

With this in mind, I would ask you for a brief moment to look at these scriptures and take account of the development that had to take place by way of preparation for David. God begins a long time ahead in moral work. He is never taken unawares. Evil may rear its head; it may intrude into that which God sets up, but He is always quite ready and He provides that kind of ministry which would make His people ready. He began to get ready for David a long time before he comes on the scene. I would ask you to notice the condition of Israel at

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this period. One draws a good deal of comfort from it because we see similar conditions in Christendom today. We were only speaking of it this afternoon; that which outwardly and officially bears the name of Christ is very much like Eli and his sons, the priests. Eli was a true man but old and weak, lacking strength to deal with a desperate situation. His sons were sons of Belial, they knew not Jehovah. They, who should have supplied the vigour that was lacking in Eli, were wicked and wanton. They were altogether out of line with God's great thoughts, and so they must go, and "Ichabod" must be written over that whole scene. Things had come to a dreadful pass in Israel, for the condition of the priesthood reflects the low moral state of the people.

It is at this moment that God begins to move in regard to David. It involves a new departure, a turning aside from that which had failed. The testimony was about to change and God, as it were, looks round for sympathetic vessels with which to connect His ways. His eye took account of a woman, a wife, not a widow, for a widow speaks of death, and life is in view; a woman who was a mother at heart but had borne no child in relation to the system that had failed. He saw the kind of state and condition of heart that would be sympathetic with His movements. What an encouragement for our hearts in this moment of weakness and failure! We sometimes find meetings, just to speak in a

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simple way, where things are almost dead. What is needed is a 'mother', for a mother is necessary for a new beginning, to bring in life. A father is for correction and reproof, but when the official side is weak, as with Eli, when things are beyond correction, the mother is required. Paul travailed in birth in regard to the Galatians, until Christ was formed in them (Galatians 4:19).

Hannah, I take it, in type, if not in intelligence, saw that Christ did not have His place. We spoke yesterday about David's seat being empty in the house of Saul, but what a sad state of things if His seat is empty in the place where He should be supreme! One feels this is sometimes the case, and a Hannah in the meeting, a woman of a "sorrowful spirit", would mourn such a state. Love will not be satisfied with anything short of the Lord having his true place. This woman, Hannah, would not be satisfied. Her husband loved her. He gave her a worthy portion, but it did not satisfy her God-given desires. These desires involved misunderstanding and rebuke from those who should have been sympathetic with God's ways. God can do great things with a desire like that. It was only a small beginning, but how God enlarged it! She began with a desire for herself, she ended with desires for God. Out of it came the prophet, that sympathetic vessel that publicly held the ground for David; he held that place while Saul was reigning; he was the link of communication between God and the people. It was

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through him that the divine pleasure was made known, until David had his place. We can rejoice in the thought that prophetic ministry would bring Christ in. It would bring Him into the place that love would give Him. One feels assured that prophetic ministry, the communication of the divine mind in any day will be maintained, if amongst the saints there is that maternal spirit and desire that is sympathetic with the position.

It was a great day for Israel when David was brought in. How much it meant to God, to have a man after His own heart in the place of headship over His people! It meant no enemy could conquer them, for with David on the throne, all the vast expanse of territory given to Israel in the purpose of God is kept intact. When Saul reigned, one Philistine, Goliath, could terrify a whole army of Israelites, but with David in his place, a few hundred Philistines, more or less, did not matter much to a man like Eleazar. A lion in a pit on a snowy day, an imposing Egyptian, did not mean much to a man like Benaiah. No enemy can find a point of vantage, and everything is held for God. Under Solomon, David's son, the ark is brought into its resting place, the glory and strength of Jehovah into the city of David. All the precious thoughts of God typified in the ark are secured and cherished. A house is built for Jehovah, a house that He is pleased to dwell in, of which every part speaks to Him of Christ. One would greatly desire

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that there may be found with us that sympathetic maternal state that would maintain prophetic ministry, so that the true David might have His place, His true place in our midst.

Indianapolis, January 1924

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ATTACHMENT TO CHRIST

J B Catterall

Mark 9:2 - 29; Acts 15:36 - 41; Acts 16:1 - 5

I thought I might venture to pursue a little further this evening the consideration of the subject that has already been before us so encouragingly of the Lord. One desires that we may have help of the Lord to regard what may be presented from the point of view of its application to each one who is a lover of Christ. It would, I think, be a comforting impression for every heart, especially those who are younger, to realise that the foundation and spring of all service and attachment to the precious interests of God is affection for Christ. Apart from our being lovers of Christ there would be no reason for God committing anything to us in regard to His interests. I am reminded at this juncture of a very sweet word from our Lord when dealing with his disciples here; you will find it in John 16:27. He calls their attention to the fact that the Father's love to them was because of their love for Himself: "The Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me". It is not there the sovereign love of the Father finding its reasons only in its own satisfaction, and in the preciousness and glory of the Person of the Son; it is rather that aspect of the love of the Father that finds its motive, as it were,

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in the fact that the disciples were attached to Christ; and out of that love to the Lord there arose all the sweet commitments in regard of divine interest and service. I would connect with it also the fact that the Lord, when about to leave them, personally breathed into them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (John 20:22). Not only do we see in that an indication of the necessity of the gift of the indwelling Spirit, but we see it coupled, in the action of the Lord Himself, with those wonderful sensibilities and feelings in regard of divine service that were found present with Him as the Sent One. The breathing into them of Holy Spirit was the communication of those sensibilities to them. Doubtless these same sensibilities are connected with the divine nature, as may be seen from John's epistles; and as set forth in the Person of Christ we see them moving along the line of devotedness in regard of the will of God. So in breathing into them, as He did, you see not only His own act as the last Adam, a quickening Spirit, in its authority, but in the quality of His act you see involved the sensibilities of His own love, as the One who was here for the will of the Father. I would enlarge on this, as the Lord may help me, and I trust it may appeal to all our hearts, especially to the hearts of the young.

The guarantee of all our attachment to divine interests is based on our attachment to Christ. It is the outcome of the love of God, and it centres

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sweetly in the Person of the One who laid down His life that we might be secured for the pleasure of the blessed God. I wish to speak in all simplicity on the matter, and I have turned your attention to the gospel of Mark because of the feature that shines out so preciously in that gospel - the glory of the Lord Jesus Himself, and His prominence as the great Levite. Now, if we take the course that the Spirit presents to us, we follow the Lord in affection of heart, as it were, to the holy mountain apart, and we look afresh upon Him as He is there presented to us. I think you will agree that every instinct of the heart that centres in the Person of the Lord Jesus rises with delight to contemplate Him. He is the object of the Father's pleasure! If you ask me where we would get an impression of the holiest, I think I may say that in the three gospels that record the incident we would get it on the mount of transfiguration. We find on that mount the disclosure of the Father's pleasure, and the shining out of the glory of the Lord Jesus. We find that every other glory is surpassed there; it is the glory of God. So it becomes the joy of the heart to contemplate the Lord as He is there presented.

Now I wish to make to you this suggestion: it was the Lord who inaugurated the movements that led to this ministry to the disciples. It was not in answer to an enquiry from them that they beheld this glory; it was His own movement. There is sovereignty in the Lord's care of His disciples, just

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as there is the apparent sovereignty in His choice of those disciples. It was in His interest in regard of their preparation for Levitical service that He judged it necessary for them to witness His glory, and the good pleasure of God in Himself. He took the three disciples to a high mountain by themselves apart, where no disturbing element could come. There they were removed from the surroundings customary to them in the world of men.

I think I may here express the thought, that while in a certain sense service takes its commencement from the side of the congregation, and has God for its object along the line upon which it moves, there is another aspect of that selfsame service which takes its character from the fact that the precious motives are found in the holiest. It is from the holiest it proceeds. And in this gospel we see it is so in the Lord Himself. Now, if that be the character of the Lord's own ministry, how sweet to consider that it is the character of His ministry to, and through, His own. He would appeal to us graciously in regard of this power in ministry. He took His disciples to the mount of transfiguration, where, in the peace of the holiest, as it were, the glory that had shone into their souls might be viewed according to God; there they saw His glory; it was but for a brief moment, but surely, as we think of the ministry, the results were imperishable. They were privileged on that occasion to have blotted out from their vision even what the Lord

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was in His humiliation here, and to see Him in His glory. The luminous character of His glory, as mentioned in Mark's gospel, shone out: "His garments became shining, exceeding white as snow, such as fuller on earth could not whiten them".

We were reminded this afternoon, and in a way that I think should touch the heart of even the youngest who loves the Lord Jesus, that when anything that is committed to us of God falls in our handling from its proper relation to the Lord, it becomes little better than a religion. The whitening of the fuller goes on all around us; may God preserve us from it! At best the fuller depraves the things of God. The purity that holds divine things in their right setting and value, and in their sweetness and power over the saints, as also in their preciousness for God, is the purity that comes from the holiest. Where Christ is, we are safe. If it be a question of the strife of tongues - and that is one of the accompaniments of the present religious position - it is not heard on the mount. The psalmist, in his exercises, takes account of the need for preservation from such strife; he says: "Thou hidest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Psalm 31:20).

We need to be taken away from things that mark the public position at times, to the presence of God, where our souls may absorb, in the power of the Spirit of God, the truth as it is in Jesus, so that we may retain it. Ah! it is no passing glimpse that

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we need of the transfiguration glory. Passing glimpses, and impressions for the moment, may be given to us, but we want what leaves a mark. We need what will be productive of results; and results arrived at from the truth as it is in Jesus go to the bottom of our exercises, and produce fruit for God. Fruit springs up from what is most deeply rooted in our souls. One thing I have learned: no illustrations are required to make divine things simple. It is we who require to be made simple; divine things always are! What could be more simple in its expression, yet more profound, than this scene of the Lord's transfiguration? How completely above all man's adornment, how completely clear of all the thoughts of man, his will, and his ways. How searching to us, yet how comforting is this presentation of the glory, of the Lord; it goes to the heart!

The disciples saw others beside Jesus, and with Him; everything comes out with the most touching significance possible in Mark's gospel - "There appeared to them Elias with Moses". They were together; one of them was used at the commencement of a dispensation, to introduce it, and the other appears almost at the close of that dispensation. Moses was used by God to give what was initial, wonderful in its character and administration, and Elias came in when the people had lamentably failed, and, in regard of God, led in faithfulness to God. To see them together on the

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mount of transfiguration is to see much; how good to see the full value of their ministry as it centred in Christ. I have been told, at times (and alas I have, I think, contributed to it), by some, that they would not have the ministry of certain brethren in their bookcases, but they would have that of others. It matters comparatively little what we have in our bookcases, it is what is in our souls that is important; that is what counts. Whether it be what the Lord has given us in the past, or in the present, all has come to us through much sorrow, heart-searching, labour and sacrifice. It might be said that what was given in the past served the need of those times - it served more, it served the need of the souls of the saints, it serves God's end; it is one ministry. If we hear the certain sounds of the Lord's present ministry to the saints, may we carry the gain of it in our souls; it is one ministry; Elias and Moses were together, and they talked with Jesus. What they talked of specially was that wondrous decease that He should accomplish at Jerusalem; the manner of His going out; I might speak of it as the supreme act. The supreme sacrifice in His service was the laying down of His life. His present service is, blessed be God, the extension of all that was formed as a basis when He laid down His life. His love will never again be tested as it was tested there, and His fidelity will never again be subjected to the test to which it was subjected there. Who will venture to describe the

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sufferings of the Lord! We cannot describe them, but we may seek grace from God that what we know of them may be enshrined in our souls as centring in the Person of Christ Himself.

His present service of ministry to His own, and support for His own, goes on. His service will sustain all in the world to come, for God. His authority will sustain all in blessing for man. When the world to come in its glory has given place to the eternal day, He will be Head for ever. He remains a Servant for ever; He will support all in His service as the One who is subject to God throughout eternity. "But when all things shall have been brought into subjection to him, then the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28). All there will be based on that supreme act when He laid down His life; all has been brought to pass through it. He laid down His life! May our souls cherish that in its sweetness and power. It is the basis of our attachment to the interests of God, and of our Lord Jesus. Our interests in the gospel, our affection to one another, everything must rest on that. They saw His glory, they heard the conversation. It is indicated here that they heard what passed between Moses and Elias and the Lord, and it seems as if Peter felt he must speak, as if he were under an obligation to add his quota to the whole, hence he speaks as he does. But he had to hear the oracle. The oracle was in the

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holiest, and until we hear the oracle we cannot speak aright. Ah, let us hear God speak about Christ! We can afford to be silent when God is speaking. How often our hearts are not silent, and there is no room for response. Here God speaks, and He says: "This is my beloved Son: hear him". They were on the mountain top, and if it were only the mountain top we were to consider, we would say our souls will rest here, it is good for us to be here. It would almost seem as if Peter felt that the building site had been shown them by God, and so he says, "Rabbi, it is good that we should be here; and let us make three tabernacles; for thee one, and for Moses one, and for Elias one". Three tabernacles would have meant three tents of service, three tents of meeting, but no, there must be one tabernacle where the glory of the Lord is resting and where our souls adore. It might be thought if you take this line in regard of the Lord personally, you will undervalue your brethren as brethren, their service, their care, and all the other ways in which they have to be regarded. I cannot see it; but the thoughts of Peter, James and John, in regard to one another, must have been enhanced when they saw His glory, and heard God's thoughts about His Son. They must have looked upon their relative services and valued them in a more distinct way when they looked upon the One who was the centre and the supporter of all service, and saw His glory who was the pleasure of God.

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But, they had to come down, and you know it is the coming down that tests us; the moving about in the camp, and the everyday exercises, and the cares, test us often in such a searching way - in such an unseen way. They prove us in regard of our fidelity to Christ, our love of the truth and our valuation of divine interests. When they came down, the Lord found His disciples in perplexity at the foot of the mount, and they were being subjected to criticism. There is a touch of exceeding beauty in this gospel in the way in which the Lord defends His own. It is very sweet to see how He comes in between His own and the opposer. They were in weakness, as we have often been found when questions of great moment have arisen, and the necessary wisdom, spiritual power, and grace to meet them have been lacking, and the Lord has been toward us. The Lord finds in regard of this case of peculiar need that the scribes are contending with the disciples, and He comes between them and the opposers and says, "What do ye question with them about?" How sweet is the grace of the Lord! Where would we be but for the way in which the Lord covers us in regard of His interests together. He becomes their defender publicly, but in private He puts before them the needs on their side. Viewing the possibility of our unwittingly injuring or neglecting what belongs to the Lord in regard to His own, we would feel how we need His word.

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Our attention has already been called to the case of one engaged in the service of cutting down wood, whose axe-head flew off and injured his neighbour so that he died, though he hated him not in time past. There is no need of having a dry axe handle where there is so much of the grace of the Spirit. It proves that service can only be maintained rightly as with the Lord. You will remember too the case of the son of the prophet who went to cut down wood; he had an axe which was borrowed. He was engaged in building, and was felling a beam, when the head of the axe fell into the water. He was powerless in his service, and he calls to the man of God, feeling the gravity of the circumstance. The exercise points again to the very place of the loss. Had it not been for the power with the man of God, the axe-head would have been irrecoverable; he made the iron to swim, he cast in the stick, which speaks of Christ. The axe was borrowed, and borrowed things are seldom rightly cared for. What we have in our souls in relation to the Lord is watered by the Holy Spirit, and kept fresh and pure and holy, having power in service for God.

I call your attention to these things, because here we see the Lord as the defender and the instructor of His own. This difficulty was of the kind that goes out by nothing but prayer and fasting. It was the result of what might have been passed by in the history of divine things. May I speak a word to my brethren; I am speaking to you

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who are older than myself - grey hairs are honourable if they are found in the way of righteousness. There is nothing so appalling as grey hairs in a path of sin. "The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness" (Proverbs 16:31), but, with the sense in my spirit of how much farther many may have gone in experience than I have, it behoves us, everyone, to remember the younger generation. Let us remember and pray for them. Brethren, if the Lord does not come they will be needed. When the opening is made for them it may be found there are deficiencies in them to which we may have been contributors. Shall I relate to you this incident - it is far from here that it happened. After a gospel meeting in which the Lord had helped in speaking of the rapture of the saints and the Lord's appearing, a lad, son of parents in that company, confessed to his blessing, but brought out the fact that until then he had not known of the rapture. Tell me, what would be the result of a defect of that sort in a little while? But, we say, there is the present ministry. Indeed there is! If I sound at all as if I do not love it, before the Lord I say I do. But when you come to consider the young among us, I say all truth is necessary. May the Lord help us to think more of the coming generation. I know the Lord is thinking of them, I see it coming out in the ministry, and I rejoice in it. He is thinking of them; their whole history has ever been before His heart. I speak to

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ourselves - the Lord would help us to care for the coming generation, so that it may be for the service of God, and the glory of the Lord, if He does not come awhile. You will agree with me that when we would appeal to the hearts of those that are young, it must be on the simple ground of their attachment to God's things, and the interests of our Lord Jesus Christ. The heart that centres in the Lord for His own worth is a heart that God will entrust with His interests. In this we stand together, from the least to the greatest.

I read those other scriptures because I want to show in what way the necessity may arise for prayer and fasting. Prayer brings God in, fasting shuts man out. I do not think, speaking generally, that we would be much pressed in upon by certain exercises and snares, if there were more prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting involve our definite decision as to things in the light of divine pleasure. The snare to Barnabas was not wrong things, it was natural ties, and earthly things; they came between him and the work. The retention of these brings in reproach in connection with the testimony. So that the power which is connected with the "going over" stands above nature, and earthly links, because as the result of the constraining love of Christ we thus judge that if one died for all then were all dead. I think that many of the needs which arise are the outcome of not going over, and thus lacking the attachment to, and support of, God's ordering

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there. The ark of God was only on one side of the Jordan, only on one side was the heap of stones representing all the tribes. The twelve stones in the river where the ark had stood represented all the tribes - but there were also the twelve set up in Gilgal. There was only one Gilgal and that was on the same side of the Jordan as the ark. Those two and a half tribes on the other side of the Jordan were in divine territory, but their hearts had not gone over. God gave them cities of refuge to provide for their practical needs, and to prepare their hearts to go over to the other side. They were all set eastward toward the sunrising. But the meaning of the names of the cities on the other side is interesting. The first was holy; yes, the holy city was there; the next one is a shoulder, speaking of power; and the third one speaks of affection or victory. Holiness, power, affection and victory; are the names of the three cities on the other side of Jordan. On which side are our hearts found? The three cities on the wilderness side of Jordan were separated by Moses and assigned by Joshua. But only the three on the other side were hallowed.

Barnabas, son of consolation, had been serving with the brethren, but there came a testing time. Do we think at the outset that there will come a time of testing for us? In regard of prayer and fasting that must come, I mean in individual history. Barnabas was the son of consolation; he had sold all his possessions, and laid all at the apostles' feet, and

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yet the day came when it was found that he had another holding in regard of which he apparently had not prayed and fasted. You may say, that is over the heads of the young. I think not. The young in the nature of their affection and the character of their exercises sometimes pray and fast more than would appear. However, there was a lack in Barnabas, upon which I will not enlarge. I speak simply, it was not in pursuing essentially wrong things he failed, but in regard of earthly things he was turned aside from the path of the testimony, and what was for the glory of the Lord. There was Mark; he was related to Barnabas, who was a vessel for influence and control; but his influence and lead to Mark were not directed according to the movement of the ark, or the holiest. Mark's education for future service in a fuller way, in the things of God, was hindered for the moment; what had happened in his case, as we have it stated in Acts, was this; at the time when prayer and fasting, as at Pamphylia, marked the service, he forsook the work of God. Now Paul says to Barnabas, as it were, Mark has a lesson to learn, and I want him to learn that lesson. In my affection I would take him into the city of refuge. He asserted the gravity of the case; he did not want to be severe upon him, but he wanted him to learn that it is the glory of the Lord that governs the service. You say, that makes little of us. Indeed it does; but not only so, it makes much of us according to God. Anything else would only

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make little of us. God has been pleased to take us up in the infinitude of His mercy, to be vessels of His glory, and service. It is too wonderful almost to attempt to speak of it further, but there it is, in its blessedness in Christ. God has done it; the treasure is in your soul, and (I speak to the young) the reality is present with you in the work of God. Its consciousness is with you in the power of the Spirit.

May the Lord encourage you to go on. When the heart is centred on the glory of the Lord, we need the help of the Lord. At the very time when the apostle Paul, in the power of the Holy Spirit presenting the truth, made Agrippa tremble he most sweetly acknowledged that he had obtained help of God to continue to that day. Pride and the precious light of the glory of the Lord are never found in company. We constantly carry the tendency to pride with us, but it is not in us when our hearts are taken up with the glory of the Lord.

Mark was tested, Barnabas took him, and sailed away to Cyprus. That was an action not directed by the Lord! There were things that were good in the sight of man at Cyprus, the human side of things. Then see this: Silas takes the place of Barnabas, and Timothy the place of Mark. Now I wish to mention what, I believe in the line of individual history, is a sweet and tender expression of the goodness of God, and the love of a brother. I allude to Paul's reference to Mark, in his second epistle to Timothy he says, "Take Mark, and bring

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him with thyself, for he is serviceable to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). It may be that we sometimes see a brother step into the place of another who may have turned aside, but it is not so often that we see a brother recovered by the one who has taken his place. If Mark was displaced, he was only displaced because he had first gone out of his place. But if Timothy stepped into the place in the Lord's sovereignty, he was in it in the love of a brother; in a brotherly, levitical, and priestly way; he had Mark with him; and Paul says, bring him. I should think one of the things sweetest to the heart of Timothy was to bring, as it were, in his embrace, Mark back to Paul, a chastened Levite, a recovered brother. Timothy brought him back as one who had known what it was to have turned aside from the way of the Lord Himself.

I have been thinking about this point, and you will bear with me in referring to it. If in our history in regard of the Lord's things we have been turned aside, and the Lord has graciously touched us, it is that we might be recovered to the fellowship of the brethren and take up things in the light of the glory of the Lord. A brother recovered is one of the sweetest joys to the hearts of the saints; but, on the other hand, when a brother is recovered, do not say to him, 'Here is the old thing that you were doing, this is where you left off'. If you give him anything, give him what is of God. Recovery is to the Lord, and by the Lord, and for the Lord, and for all else,

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because for Him. True recovery supposes real power in regard of the one who had turned aside.

May the Lord give us patience and grace, and consideration of what has been before us, and encouragement together, so that we may be more serviceable to Him from the least to the greatest.

Belfast, April 1924

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HOW GOD SECURES HIS GREAT END ON EARTH

the ways of God in order to double the people of God (Job 42:10).

Job 1:6 - 9; Psalm 24:1 - 5; Proverbs 25:1 - 4; Ecclesiastes 9:13 - 17; Song of Songs 8:6, 7

I wanted to say a word or two, beloved, as to the way God secures His great end on earth, in the activity of love. How He utilises everything to bring to pass that which He has set His heart upon here, so that not only does He love, but there is a response to His love.

Now I have read, as you will see, from the individual section of Old Testament Scripture, perhaps in one way one of the most interesting sections. The previous book to that which I read first gives what I understand to be a picture of the ultimate end of the unseen operations of God. In the book of Esther you have God operating as unseen, but the fruit of the operations as presented there in figure is the exaltation of Christ, and the assembly (as typified in Esther), after experiencing the sorrow and affliction that belonged to the place of reproach, coming out as a full answer to the true Mordecai in His glory. That is the picture presented in the book.

Then in the book of Job God challenges Satan as to what He has on this earth. The ever blessed

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God Himself inhabits eternity, and there came a day when, amongst other intelligent beings, Satan appeared in His presence, and God asked him where he had been, where he had come from, then raises a question with him in regard to his operations on the earth as to whether he had taken account of this remarkable man - Job. I believe Job represents the spiritual history of every man in whom God operates. He is taken account of by God from the outset as entirely according to Himself. You might not think that of a saint; you might see a good deal of perversity, a good deal that is very unsuitable, but if you were to ask God about any of His people, you would get a similar answer to the remark He made to Satan about Job. "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" He points him out as a man amongst men. I do not know, beloved, whether we sufficiently realise the fact of the great dignity that belongs to any person who stands related to God. You may say, I do not know much; it is not a question of what you know, it is not a question of your strength, it is a question of the glorious, blessed God. Think of having God as your God! It is one of the greatest privileges that any man in the universe can have, to have God as his God, and Job was in that place in the mind of God. He asked Satan, "Hast thou considered my servant Job?" Picture God looking down and speaking of you as His servant. It reminds Him of a time when Christ was here; it reminds Him of a time when One left

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His presence and stood here as His servant, infinitely precious, infinitely blessed. But He inaugurated a line of service - that of serving God with reverence and godly fear.

Now God challenged Satan in regard of such a servant, and Satan makes reply. "Doth Job fear God for nought?" Is there no reason why he serves? Is there no reason why he is what he is? Well beloved, you know as well as I do there is every reason. And God puts him for a moment into the crucible. What a crucible it was! It pictures, as I understand it, every kind of pressure, every kind of adversity, that the god and prince of this world can level against that which is of intense interest to God here. He levelled Job's house, he levelled his family, he would like to have levelled him; but he could not level one of the people of God. When he had done his worst, beloved, the "end of the Lord" was gained, for Job stood out in the presence of men as God had stated him to be at the outset. Now that is "the end of the Lord" (James 5:11). I do not know whether you sit down sometimes and think that love will have its own way with you; that one day, what God has said about you at the outset will be an experimental part of your practical being, as the result of the actual adversity that the god and prince of this world has been allowed to bring to bear upon you. How often, beloved, has the beginning of spiritual joys had to be dated to the loss of a loved one, or the loss of property, or the health. These are

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In this book you come into the presence of three things on which I would like to touch. One is the associations you have formed in this scene; then spiritual ministry; and finally a personal link with God. Job's friends came to comfort him - they were the associations he had formed in this scene. They were remarkable men - Jobs friends. But I tell you what marks associations in this scene, the best of them (I speak of the best, not of the worst). They were kindly disposed, well intentioned in their feelings, but they entirely missed the operations of God with the man - that is the point. You often meet persons who have friendly feelings towards you, well disposed, who come and sit perhaps with you in your trial, and then begin a line of argument about you and your ways, your misdoings and otherwise; and if Satan were having his own way, they would entirely divert you from what God is doing - His intentions in regard of you. Well, I need not say, there comes a time in the history of these people when they are silenced. Then you get what I understand is presented in Elihu, spiritual ministry. You come under the influence of things put in a right way. God is put in His place, man is put in his place, and things are put in their places. The effect of spiritual ministry (how intensely blessed it is!) is that you are prepared for personal ministry, prepared to have to do with God Himself. I think I

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could say, without fear of contradiction, that the profit of all ministry is that it brings you into the presence of God, and that God begins to speak.

One would like to enlarge on this; the consideration that God had for Job is so very blessed. He asks him, in the first place, to stand up like a man. Job might have said, 'I do not feel like one, I feel like a wreck'. He asks him to stand up like a man and answer him - take the position that grace would give him. Then God begins to describe His own greatness to Job. What a help, beloved, ministry is when God becomes great to you. How magnificent it is to hear God describe His own greatness to Job, and asking him where he was when some of the mighty acts of creation were being done. 'Where were you?' Why, beloved, he was nowhere. You know the outcome of it is that Job gets an immense sense of God, and a very small sense of himself. That is "the end of the Lord". "I abhor myself". But oh, how he must have magnified God in his heart! How he must have looked up to God in worshipful affection, with an intense feeling of adoration, and be more than ever fixed in his purpose, that 'He is to be my God'. That is the portion of every child of God on earth. You may say, 'Well, but you do not understand my history'. I do not want to understand your history, I would like to understand the God that is behind your history; and at the end of it you will come out doubled. Everything that you had before comes out now in a

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twofold character; it is not only now that you have got it yourself, but you have got it in relation to God. That is what I understand by the doubling of it. Well, that is the activity of God in His ways with His people in this scene.

Now I come to the Psalms. I think you will agree with me if I say that the object of the book of Psalms is to produce in the heart what the ways of God have produced in the person. The psalm language of the soul is formed in sorrow. You are not now in the presence of Satan and his activities. You are in the presence of a godly soul who would like to fear the Lord and would like to be like Christ. The first Psalm, as I understand it, is that you have got a blessed impression of Christ, and you would like to be like Him, and the Psalms bring you along the road till you really reach Him: in other words, you ascend to where He is. That is, as I understand it, the finish of the book. Psalm 120 begins the ascent, which finishes in the presence of the One you would desire to be like. And I raise the question of Psalm 24, the challenge of the Spirit of God. After you have accepted Christ as your Shepherd, you are prepared to be submissive to Christ, and to let Him have control with you, and then the challenge comes to you as to this question of joining Him where He is. "Who shall ascend into the mount of Jehovah?" and "who shall stand in his holy place?" It is a great challenge. I would say to any saint that the danger after you have accepted in

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your soul God as your God, is of settling down here. So the sorrows of Christ are presented in Psalm 22, to show you what He suffered here, so that that might characterise the scene for you. Then the Spirit of God gives you this challenge, "Who shall ascend into the mount of Jehovah?" Will you leave the scene and join Him, beloved? That is the challenge. But what is the character of person who ascends? A person who has "blameless hands and a pure heart; who lifteth not up his soul unto vanity, nor sweareth deceitfully". It is a great challenge; one would feel, in oneself, utterly inadequate to answer the challenge, but I believe that it is the intention of Christ in His shepherd care to minister provision in the house of God, so that every saint can answer the challenge. The apostle raises the question in writing to Timothy; he would "that the men pray in every place, lifting up pious hands, without wrath or reasoning" (1 Timothy 2:8). Think of having the service of Christ, the great Shepherd of His people, and that in intense affection, so that we might lift up pious hands. What a service! And, beloved, He does it, so that when the day comes that we shall literally and actually join Him, there will not be one saint that will not go up - they will all go up. But I believe the Spirit of God would like us to join Him now.

Now the Psalms become the language of the life of the saint, and, as you know, they conclude with the fact, not that God is your God merely, and

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that you would seek His support and His blessing, but that you are responding to Him unreservedly. "Let everything that hath breath praise Jah" - the whole moral being responds to God. That is the end of God's ways with us in His love, with every one of His people; there will not be a breath about them that is not responsive to Himself. They learn from the contemplation of Christ.

Now those things we have spoken of are what might be called outside experiences. One is in the presence of Satan and his world; the other is in the presence of wicked men and the scene through which we pass. Now we come to the family circle in the book of Proverbs. In the family circle we get remarkable education. I read this passage for the simple reason that it suggests certain things that impress certain parts of this family - the men of Hezekiah. These, as I understand them, represent men who had been struck by the fact that they had seen death give place. They had seen a marvellous triumph against Sennacherib and the host of the Assyrians - that was a wonderful thing, for they had seen the kingdom glory supporting the virgin daughter of Zion, the people of God, according to the purpose of God, supported by the mighty power of God. That vast host perished as one man in the presence of the stupendous majesty of the God of Israel. They had seen something else - they had seen the sun dial of Ahaz go backward. These men

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copied out certain proverbs. You can understand them writing this section of the book of Proverbs!

The proverbs they copied out stood related to a region that could not be touched by death, a region from which death has to step aside when it sees, and say, 'I cannot invade that region, it is beyond me'. When they come to copy out, the first thing that impresses them is, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing". In the family circle we learn under the paternal care of a father, and the maternal care of a mother, what is concealed. You move about the streets of Edinburgh, you speak to an ordinary pedestrian, and say, 'What is there in Edinburgh?' He will tell you about the Castle, and the Rock, about the celebrities of history. 'Is there anything else?' 'I do not know of anything else'. 'Are there people of God here?' 'Oh, there are religious people'. I do not want to know that; are there people of God here? What do you think God has got concealed?

Did you ever stop to think in your meditations that there is concealed in this scene a vessel that one day will perfectly express Christ? It is concealed. Just think for a moment of what is concealed in the heart of one saint, let alone the thousands of God's people! Think of what was concealed when Christ was here personally. How little the great men of Israel realised that, concealed in the lowly form of a Man, was all that God is in all His infinite greatness and His everlasting blessedness - Christ was here.

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And that was God's glory. The best things of Christianity are concealed. The public things come out against the power of Satan and are evident, but the best things are concealed. "Eye has not seen, and ear not heard" (1 Corinthians 2:9). "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing". What is the kingdom for? To break down the barriers that would interfere with your discovering it. Hence it says, very beautifully, "The glory of kings is to search out a thing".

Then we read, "The heavens for height, and the earth for depth". What about the heavens for height? How high have you ever been? I think sometimes we live too much in the lowlands; I think it is unhealthy. Medical men tell patients, 'You want altitude; you must move higher up, get into mountain air'. But take the spiritual health of the people of God. What a wonderful thing it is to touch a little of the heights of heaven. What a height Jesus has gone to! He has "passed through the heavens" (Hebrews 4:14). What for? To fill all things. And then in touching the heights you come to the ability to go down - "the earth for depth". If you go to the bottom what impression would you get? That Jesus had been there. He descended and went into the lower parts of the earth. I believe it is as we get a sense of the magnitude of His present position that we begin to marvel at the depths to which He went in love, in order that there might be no barrier to love's movements. What is between the two? It

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says there very beautifully, "Take away the dross from the silver". That is what is between the two. You want a vessel for the refiner. In the family circle of divine affections we get the exercises and the development from childhood to manhood, to full growth, and under these exercises "there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner". I often say, speaking of very little children in a family circle, how early you discover in them the desire to do the things their parents do. In quite early infancy, as soon as they can walk, you will find a little boy or a little girl wanting to do just what father and mother do. That is a delightful thought to a parent's heart. A parent looks down with supreme affection and says to himself, 'One day you will do just what I do'.

Now I do not know whether you have thought of it in this light, but just think of the heart of God looking down on a people who want to be like Christ. Well, one day they will do just what Christ does. They will come out of heaven having the glory of God. In the exercises that lead up to it you have to learn the unique qualifications that are looked for in the assembly. The Proverbs conclude with a description of the woman of worth, who I believe represents the product of family exercises; a vessel is brought to light who can receive Christ as Head, and who can be true to Him as Head.

Now there are two more thoughts on which I want to touch simply. The one is public testimony in the Preacher, or former of assemblies (see

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Ecclesiastes 1:1, note e). The Preacher represents the public testimony - a testimony rendered in the presence of emptiness and vanity. I venture to say that if you have had any experience (the Lord grant it to us all!) of the precious enjoyment of the blessed realities that have been brought to you, you can look round on this scene at its best with the divine estimate that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. I do not care what it is, accession of wealth or of brains; accession of physical power, or of property - it does not matter what it is, there is nothing to hold or satisfy the heart of a man. "All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full" (Ecclesiastes 1:7). The Preacher in the presence of these things draws attention, striking attention, to the tremendous importance of God. "Let us hear the end of the whole matter: Fear God" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Now I read a section from this book which I want to touch on. There was a city and it was attacked; that is, the situation down here that has been established publicly is attacked by a great king. I venture to say publicly that the outside position looks as if the enemy had managed to build up such bulwarks that the situation will go; it looks as if the city were going to be wiped out. It is found that in this city there are a few men within it, not a great many; the situation, looked at outwardly, is not great, but there is in it "a poor wise man". There is in it, beloved friends, an impression of

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Christ. I think sometimes one may unconsciously, in the ministry of God's holy things, get so occupied with the intensely interesting character of them - and they are interesting, the operations of God, and the glories that are coming - that one may forget the "poor wise man". But the one thing that is important, beloved, is that the Man who was despised and rejected of men should come into evidence in ministry. If He comes into evidence the situation is saved. It does not matter what the situation is; it does not matter how critical, how dangerous, how difficult, how trying it may be, the wisdom of the poor wise man will deliver the city and the situation will be saved. But they forgot the poor wise man; they did not remember him.

I speak for a moment to my younger brethren present. Do you remember the poor wise Man? You say, 'What do you mean?' Have you ever broken bread? You say, 'I have not thought of that; I do not like to be committed to it'. You like the blessings of the city, but do you ever remember the poor wise Man? He delivered the city. The situation today, the fact that we can meet together to speak to one another of divine things, that the love of Christ can be spoken over freely, is because the city has been delivered. Yes, Christ has saved the situation for His people, but, speaking generally, the "poor wise man" is forgotten. The comment of the Preacher is very good, "The words of the wise are heard in quiet". One wants, beloved, freedom from

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the rush of things, and from the confusion around to hear words that would convey thoughts of Christ to us. "The words of the wise are heard in quiet". "Wisdom is better than weapons of war" - to have divine resources in Christ is better than any outward power or outward ability to handle difficult matters. Where do you learn this? I believe in the family in the activities of love.

Now the end is very beautiful - the desire to be attached to Christ livingly in affection. "Set me as a seal upon thy heart, As a seal upon thine arm". Christ and the believer are one in affection, and one in activities. Think of being co-workers with Him - that is the seal on the arm; and also of having Christ in the heart - that is the seal on the heart. You may say, He has you on His heart. Oh yes, beloved, but have you got Christ in your heart? The Spirit of God calls attention in this book to the value of love. If you have everything, but have not love, it is utterly to be contemned. God's individual ways with us end in the fact that we get the one thing that is wanting, we have love. I add, beloved, if the church has not affection for Christ she has nothing. She may clothe herself with vestments and practise religious observances and be marked by strict adherence to details, but the point is this, what is at the bottom of it - is it affection for Christ? All God's ways with us are to this blessed end; He uses the exercises we pass through to bring to pass this fact, that there are men and women on this earth in

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whose hearts God can read the indelible impression of Christ, and what is concealed behind their activities - the arm as it is stretched out - is affection for Christ. You may say, 'A brother has been very trying'. Very possibly he has, beloved, but it is not the trying brother you are helping, it is the love of Christ. You reach out your arm with the seal on it, and you lift him out of himself and he remarks, 'I have never had such kindness shown me in my life'. No, that is the kindness of God. What came out in Christ personally now comes out in those who are Christ's.

In concluding, I merely suggest that in the book of Esther these things are seen as coming to light in their ultimate issue, through pressure, opposition and exercise. Christ comes out in supremacy publicly - the true Mordecai; Ahasuerus, representative of God, is seen in all His magnificence, and in Esther that great vessel - the assembly - is seen in her proper place. It seems that the Spirit of God takes up the individual - Job - to make these principles work out in that one man. You will remember the passage, "One sinner destroyeth much good" (Ecclesiastes 9:18). What is a sinner? A person that has a way of his own, that is a sinner. I do not think the idea of a sinner is a person who does some great wrong, but a person who has a way of his own - one sinner. The Lord give us grace, beloved, not to be the one sinner, but that we may walk in the way of the Lord, and walk

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in the paths of understanding and according to the will of the Lord, and let heaven have its own way. Then we shall put a premium on love. We shall value above everything the place Christ has in our affections, the place He has in our activities and service. If you were to give the whole world or anything else for love, it is utterly to be contemned.

That concludes, as I understand it, the individual books. I would like to say a word, in conclusion, on the prophets. In the prophets you begin a ministry supplied by Christ that will bring these things to pass no matter what breakdown or what departure takes place. For in the prophets you have a voice from God, a divinely given voice, that has never found a situation yet that it was not superior to. Every time the voice goes out the situation is saved. Hence the prophets contain this remarkable statement, "I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth" (Hosea 2:21). If you were to go to heaven tonight and ask heaven what there was on the earth, I think you would be amazed at the answer. 'What is on earth?' 'The church is on the earth, the vessel that is the product of the love of Christ, and which is being formed to be perfectly suitable to that love; that formation is taking place in individuals'. You may say, 'I am not of much importance'. One man saved the city. One has felt that in the history of the testimony of God publicly, the situation has often been saved by one man. Take Luther; take beloved men whom we can recall. One

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man! Oh beloved, to have grace to be the one man that might deliver the city. The Lord give us grace for it.

Edinburgh, June 1924

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DEVOTEDNESS OF HEART

A E Myles

Isaiah 46:9 - 11

One feels how testing it is to minister in the light of what we were considering this afternoon, and yet one is encouraged in that God's way is to give us impressions and suggestions of something still greater than our souls have already enjoyed, in order that we might be found in continual expectation and enlargement in the things of God. We were dwelling this afternoon on the things that Abraham had in his tent (Genesis 18:6, 7). No doubt, the Lord's eye took account of those materials before He made that visitation. One's desire is that we might be found with materials that are necessary to provide for a divine visitation. There was with Abraham, as set forth in the materials, an appreciation of Christ, and the visitation brings to light what was there. The fine flour would represent His holy humanity. What a subject that is for contemplation and delight! To think of the One who, "subsisting in the form of God, did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking a bondman's form" (Philippians 2:6, 7), a subject indeed, for adoring wonder and delight. Then the calf would, I suppose, represent an appreciation of Christ as the One who

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went into death. The calf indicates a fresh and tender appreciation. In order to have a calf available against a visitation, you must keep a herd, for the calves are the result of the vitality and productiveness of the herd. Does it not suggest those fresh impressions of Christ ministered to our hearts by the Spirit, which thus take suitable form on the occasion of a divine visitation, for ministering to the heart of God?

Now the thought on my mind in connection with the passage in Isaiah was to speak particularly to the young people here. There are many here tonight and your presence is a matter of joy to the Lord, with whom you have found a definite link as your Saviour. But what is upon my mind is that there comes a time in the history of a young man or a young woman when the question arises as to what you are going to do with your life. Is it going to be colourless and purposeless? It will be but a colourless life if the varied graces of the Lord Jesus are not expressed in it. It will be a purposeless life if not definitely connected with the purpose of God. This scripture came before me, for it seems to suggest the finality, the eternity, the immutability of the things of God. Who but God could speak thus of the end and the beginning, of ancient and future things, who does what He purposes and whose counsel is His pleasure? Who can say, "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me"?

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What a moment in our history when we become really conscious that there is none like God! Does not your soul glory in Him, in every title He has assumed, and most of all in that precious title as God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Can you say, 'There is none like Him'? David could say, "Wherefore thou art great, Jehovah Elohim; for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee" (2 Samuel 7:22). Can we not in adoring wonder behold the blessed movements of Him who works according to counsel and purpose, who deviates not, who saw the end and the beginning, who called "the man of my counsel from a far country" and can say, "I have purposed it, I will also do it"?

One delights in the thought that every desire and every thought of God will be brought to pass. All the failure and sin of the Adam race will not cause the loss of a single thought connected with His pleasure. All that was committed to Christ, the Man from a far country. Think of Him in manhood, charged with the execution of every divine purpose and the consummation of every divine desire! Think of God thus committed to a Man for the effectuation of His counsels - think of a vessel glorious enough to carry and treasure such thoughts! When these precious things find a place in our hearts, we can say of our God: 'There is none like Him'. There is nothing outside that will abide. The greatest schemes of men are marked by failure.

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Death is upon everything, but we have suggested here a vast sphere of blessing of which the character is, "I have purposed it, I will also do it".

Now, dear young people, in the light of this, I would ask you, 'Have you given your heart to Christ?' I am not asking if you know that your sins are forgiven. You may be conscious of that and yet your life be purposeless and colourless. My question is, 'Have you given your heart to Him?' Are you going to let the hours and days be for Him, that He may work His own likeness in you, that He may teach you to love the God whose counsel He came to effect? Are you going to connect your life definitely with those great and blessed movements of God that are linked with His pleasure? May God help each of us to a fresh consecration and greater devotion to that blessed One who came into our hearts in the character of a Saviour, meeting all our need, and who would conduct our hearts into the enjoyment of that place that belongs to Him as the Son of the Father's love!

Indianapolis, January 1925

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THREE RESULTS OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST

A M Hayward

Deuteronomy 1:32 - 39; Deuteronomy 3:11, 23 - 26; Deuteronomy 4:11, 12, 21 - 23, 32 - 34; Deuteronomy 5:1 - 12, 33

I want, if I can, to bring out that which much touches one's own heart in connection with what has been before us in these two days of being together; and which in a way is set out, I think, in the three passages we have read. The key to them to my own mind is, "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". That is an appeal to the heart. There is no word in Deuteronomy about Moses' sin; but three times he emphasises this with them, that "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". The first time is in connection with the securing of a generation; the second in connection with divine energy; and the third in connection with the covenant - that they might live. One would like to keep before the heart the death of Christ in these relations. If there was to be a generation that God could bless, then Christ must die. "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". I do not think any believer could read that without being moved in his affections. That is Jesus, the One who as seen in the figure in Moses, offered Himself a sacrifice for the

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people, and God accepted it. We were the objects of that sacrifice; not merely that we might be met on our side, but that there might be a generation that was capable of entering into the thoughts of the blessed God.

In the first chapter it says that God destroyed Sihon and Og. But in chapters 2 and 3 they are spoken of as coming into conflict with them and destroying them. How wonderful the working of God! Yet it needed that Christ must die in order to have a generation capable of appropriating the thoughts of God. Mr Darby in the synopsis, referring to chapter 17 of Matthew's gospel where the Lord comes down from the mount to die and indicates that He must leave the "unbelieving and perverted generation" (verse 17), calls attention to its not being 'evil in the world which puts an end to a particular intervention of God' (page 102) by the Lord's departure through death from this scene but 'another character of man's unbelief, that even of the believer - inability to make use of the power which is, so to say, at his disposal in the Lord' (page 101). But a generation which can use the power is to be secured and thus Moses says, "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". Now that appeal, one would trust, as affecting one's own heart, would cause us to take account of the divine generation indicated in the words, "And your little ones, of whom ye said, They shall be a prey, and your children, who this day know neither good nor

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evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it". Things are beyond us, people say. Nevertheless, it is those that were said to be a prey, "They shall go in", whilst all the men of war were destroyed in the wilderness.

There is nothing more dangerous than to enter into divine conflict on the wrong lines, but if we do so only according to the measure of the divine work in us, God will see us through. The great exercise in the experimental portion of the Roman epistle is to identify ourselves with the work of God. It begins by reckoning. You cannot do anything less than that. "Reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). That is one of the things we have to come to in the beginning of our soul history. There is one thing we can do, reckon ourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus. There is thus an entirely new state and condition. We have to be delivered from what naturally we are confused by. A good deal of this deliverance takes place in chapter 7. I believe a good deal of our weakness lies in the fact that we do not start with a divine reckoning. It is something which is arrived at in the mind. It takes definite shape. It is not floated into. There is no such thing as floating into it. "Reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus". There is no limit, if we start on our side with the understanding of what God has effected in the death and resurrection of Christ. The man in Romans 7 gets into confusion. We often try to

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apply what is of God, that which only could apply to a new generation, to flesh. The man in Romans 7 has to learn to distrust the flesh. Of flesh he says, "It is no longer I", but he discovers there is an "I" which delights in the law of God. How wonderful that there is implanted in the heart that which delights in the law of God and gives place to the Spirit of God! To get the good of the death of Christ, in this respect I have to see that that is henceforth the "I" for me as well as for God. "So then I myself with the mind serve God's law; but with the flesh sin's law". And again, "It is no longer I that do it, but the sin that dwells in me". There is an "I" that God is going to see right through. Christ died to secure that "I".

The generation is secured by the death of Christ and the work of the Spirit. But we have to distinguish in our minds between that which is connected with us after the flesh, and that which is the work of God. "But in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God". Very touching! As far as the children of Israel were concerned, even in Deuteronomy it says, "Oh that there were such a heart in them" (Deuteronomy 5:29). There was not such a heart in them actually though in type we might assume it, but there is with the people of God now as having the Spirit. The smallest work in the heart is going to abide. What the Spirit would bring us to is a divine reckoning, that we need to take account of ourselves not as being in flesh, but in Spirit. I

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have a right to refuse what the death of Christ has removed, on the one hand, but then that means liberty on the other hand. The work of the Spirit of God would be the link between the person and what there is in Christ. Caleb is brought in, I suppose, as indicating that; he is the link between the generation that fell in the wilderness and what typically is the new generation. We are carried over from flesh to Spirit. I attach great importance to that - the complete severance between that which is, and which is not, to be continued; and then the complete identification of the person henceforth and forever with what is of the Spirit.

Now in the second and third chapters you get another thought introduced, the question of our overcoming. It is not what is effected in the death of Christ, every element has been dealt with in His death, thank God, from the divine side; but it is that they overcame Sihon and Og. This is the only scripture which calls attention to the great difficulty which marks the overcoming of Og. He had an iron bedstead, and a large one. It is as if the enemy would put us at rest, having arrived thus far - the work of Christ for us, and the blessedness of knowing we are no longer connected with flesh, no longer having upon us the demands of the system that is dominated by Satan - as if the enemy would at that point have us rest. But it says, "Whom ye utterly destroyed" (Joshua 2:10). Before that they had sung to the well, "Rise up, well! sing unto it:

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Well which princes digged, which the nobles of the people hollowed out at the word of the lawgiver, with their staves" (Numbers 21:17, 18). The word for "staves" there is not the same as that used for Moses' rod. Moses' rod, or staff, represented authority and the word used indicates that. The staves of the princes give more the thought of leadership. They helped, as the word in the Hebrew apparently indicates. Leadership is an immense help in promoting divine energy amongst the saints. One delights to see anyone lead. What a great thing to see a brother or sister who leads in making room for the Spirit! It is not only individual, I take it, but the exercise is to see every soul in the liberty and good of the Holy Spirit. Christ died that that might be so.

Again Moses says, "Jehovah was wroth with me on your account". I have thought sometimes of the woman who found that she was in debt. She was the widow of one of the sons of the prophets - a most extraordinary thing for such to be in debt! Elisha has to ask her, "Tell me, what hast thou in the house?" She says, "Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil". Elisha then says, "Go, borrow for thyself vessels abroad from all thy neighbours, empty vessels; let it not be few" (2 Kings 4:2, 3). But then he would not let anything proceed until every vessel was filled with the oil. The door was to be shut; as if the Spirit would call attention to the importance of being concerned that every vessel available is made use of

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in a spiritual way amongst the people of God. I am sure one goes into many meetings and sees many vessels which are not used. One or two persons, it may be, carry on all the activities or exercises that belong to that particular place; and there is no wonder that a drought comes, and the creditor makes demands. "The creditor is come to take my two children to be bondmen" (verse 1). Nothing creates greater drought than the neglect to see that every member of the body of Christ is in exercise, in service, in order that saints might get the benefit of what is of God in that place. The creditor is a disturbing influence which results from drought. The princes lead in this exercise, they were ready. They digged with their staves. They were leaders in setting free every available element for the Spirit of God. Christ died that it might be so. Christ died that there might be the moving forward in the energy of the Spirit of God of every one of the saints, and that every available vessel might be put into activity in relation to what is of God.

Og would operate to bring in a condition where there are but one or two carrying things, and the rest at ease. "Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? its length was nine cubits, and its breadth four cubits, after the cubit of a man". This is one of the elements which work to exclude the people of God from the land.

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Now in the third case there is another thing of great importance that comes before one's mind; and that is the covenant, not as that which was introduced that God might dwell amongst them as seen in Exodus, but the covenant as a kind of inheritance of the people of God. The point is that everything amongst the people of God henceforth is to be spiritual. It says, "Ye heard the voice of the words, but ye saw no form; only ye heard a voice". The intensity of the love of God was brought to light in the death of Christ that we might have a place secured in divine holiness for His pleasure. So he emphasises, "For ye saw no form on the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire" (verse 15). He goes on to recount how God gave them statutes and judgments, the covenant, and spoke with them. I thought that implied what one has seen the need of in different places; that is, the regulation of everything by what is spiritual amongst the people of God. They were not to make any image. There were to be no rules and regulations amongst the saints. You no sooner make a rule for the saints than you have to break it. It is not that things are not governed; but that all is governed spiritually. I was thinking in connection with the translation into the kingdom of the Son of His love, what a delight it is to be in relation to that.

There is to be no god except God Himself with us - no other one in the heart. There is only one way to bring that about - not by rule, but by love;

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the heart captivated by the love of God in Christ. This will bring about a great nation. "Jehovah was angry with me on your account". The death of Christ is again called attention to in figure as that whereby all might be secured on a spiritual basis. There is not an element in the world not disclosed in the death of Christ. There is not an element in the signs and wonders in Exodus but what has its complete antitype there. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven. The holy love of God was told forth from the place of judgment. The holy love of the blessed God is declared to our hearts - all that is contrary disclosed and thus judged at the cross.

Now it says, "Keep the sabbath day to hallow it". I do not want to dwell on all the features of the covenant, but there is a good deal said about the sabbath in this fifth chapter. He wants us to keep the sabbath. "Keep the sabbath day to hallow it". He connects that with the giving of this covenant, the making known of God to our hearts, that we might be governed, not by law, but by what is of God Himself. This only is to be before us. If we are going to have man before us, let it be that blessed One, who is the Image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation. In these days the enemy would seek to maintain a restlessness with us that we might not keep the sabbath. There is nothing that delights God more than to have us draw aside to sit before Him, to get His thoughts as to Christ

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and to enjoy His love. He wants us for Himself, and love delights to have us live in His company and there to get from our hearts what is precious to His heart, and to commune with us in regard to the One in whom He finds His delight. The fifth chapter ends with the thought of life - that we might live. We thus have in these chapters that firstly Christ died to secure a generation capable of entering into His thoughts; secondly Christ died to give us the spiritual power to go forward; and thirdly Christ died to give to us a divine law and covenant in a spiritual way in which there is life.

Indianapolis, December 1925

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THE PROPHETIC WORD IN RELATION TO THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS