Acts 2:42 - 47; Acts 4:32 - 35; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:5 - 7
One's desire is to say a few words about fellowship. This will be a subject well-known, no doubt, to many here, a fundamental subject too, but always of importance to us as Christians, because, if we are enjoying Christianity as we should, we would be enjoying fellowship in some measure. God would have us enjoy a full measure of it in so far as we can enter into it in these closing days of the church's history here.
What the Holy Spirit brought here at Pentecost He still holds for the whole assembly, for all God's people; He has not dropped one feature of it. Like the servant who came to secure Rebecca, He has all the treasure of His Master under His hand (Genesis 24:10). The Holy Spirit came here with all the wealth of heaven behind Him, the wealth of the Father and of the Son, and brought all that fulness down to fill the church and the hearts of God's people until the Lord would come for them again. Nothing of that fulness has gone back to heaven; it is still here in the Spirit's keeping that you and I might have access to it.
One of the great things that the Spirit is in charge of is fellowship, the fellowship of the saints. We have read about it in three connections, first as experienced by the saints at the beginning where it is called the "fellowship of the apostles"; then Paul,
coming on the scene later, opened out the matter further, and he refers to it in writing to Corinth as the fellowship of God's Son. But John, writing for days of breakdown, is very unofficial and he just speaks of how in certain conditions "we have fellowship with one another". That is the real thing. Now the apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians, speaks of this as the fellowship of the Spirit (Philippians 2:1); again, writing to the Corinthians he speaks of the communion (or fellowship) of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). He also speaks of it as the fellowship of Christ's blood and the fellowship of Christ's body (1 Corinthians 10:16). All these give us various aspects of the one thing.
It was never the intention of the blessed God in taking up poor sinners to leave them lonely and isolated. The psalmist could say, "God maketh the solitary into families" (Psalm 68:6). It is very good of God to think of men in that way, that they should have happy, profitable associations down here in the midst of a wicked world, and that there should be a great association of life, not of the world, but in the midst of it, a circle enjoying eternal life and in touch with heaven. That is God's plan for every saint at the present time; they should be enjoying the portion of the saints in light, delivered from the authority of darkness, from Satan's power, from the power of the world, and be brought into the bundle of the living where they can enjoy a heavenly portion. It is the greatest company that you could be found in, the fellowship of the Spirit. It is energised by the Holy
Spirit, maintained by Him and supplied by Him. It is protected by Him and, in the measure in which we walk in the Spirit, we know the power and greatness and wealth of that fellowship.
Now at the beginning of this dispensation it was a very obvious fellowship. Where we read in the Acts there was no church breakdown; there were no sects, there were no divisions and there was no scattering of God's people. All were together and had all things common. "Not one said that anything of what he possessed was his own". All their material resources were available for the good of the whole company, the whole fellowship; and that was quite apart from the world. It was not a heathen organisation; it was not a Jewish organisation. It was completely different from all that men had experienced before, and it was greatly favoured in having Christ's companions serving it. That is an important point. These early converts "persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles". They had been converted through Peter's preaching; he preached repentance and baptism, and they had responded. They were all baptised "and there were added in that day about three thousand souls" (chapter 2: 41). That is, they had accepted death to the world and to the whole sin system; they had committed themselves to a rejected yet glorified Christ and they were added to the assembly; they were added to what God had here, what the Spirit anointed on the day of Pentecost.
There were many forces against them. There was
the pull of Judaism, that ancient tradition they had been born into and brought up with. God had originated what they were identified with, though it had greatly deteriorated in the hands of men. The scribes and Pharisees and the corrupt priesthood had ruined what God originally set up. Nevertheless, the Lord identified Himself with His earthly people, though, at that time, the recovery of Nehemiah's and Ezra's day had long since broken down; it had become an order of things that was all profession, outward rites and rituals, but lacking heart, lacking reality and which eventually rejected the Son of God Himself. So He had to say, "your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38).
But what has encouraged me in looking at the gospels is that the greatest things that ever men saw or heard were brought out in the midst of a ruined revival. That is the background, as to context, of the life of Jesus as seen in the gospels. That recovery from Babylon was effective under Zerubbabel and Ezra and Nehemiah and the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, but it had become corrupted and ruined by man, so that in Malachi's time they would not even shut the doors of the temple without payment (Malachi 1:10). They brought the blind and the lame to offer to God, things they would not give their governor. The law was broken on every hand; unfaithful against the wife of their youth, they broke the covenant that God had made with them. But there was a remnant of the Spirit. "The remnant of the Spirit was his" (Malachi 2:15), and the Spirit
looked after that remnant right till Jesus came in. It appears in the gospels in Anna and Simeon and those who waited for redemption in Jerusalem, Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth, the godly remnant of the Spirit. Jesus appears in the midst of them and as He grows up, and takes up His ministry, He calls others to Him, and there is a little remnant following Him, loyal to Him in the days of His flesh, in the midst of which He brings out the greatest things that earth could ever have known. The full revelation of God came out in the midst of a ruined recovery.
So let us not be discouraged, dear brethren. We live in days when a wonderful recovery has been ruined, broken up, split and fragmented all over the earth. We are not to be discouraged. It was in moral conditions like that that the full revelation of God was brought out. All that man could know was brought out and portrayed in the Son of God, and God's purpose made known that men might be in sonship with Him. The glory His Father gave Him He gave to the men whom the Father had given Him out of the world (John 17:6, 22). So let us be prepared for great things in the day of brokenness in which we live, because the Spirit, as I remarked at the outset, has retained all that He brought from heaven.
Well, these people were part of a fellowship that was distinct from all around in the pagan world and in the religious world, and it was marked out by heavenly character. The whole stream of life was
against them; all the traditions were being cut across. Jerusalem would have been full of their relatives and full of their religion, having many synagogues and the temple; but it says "they persevered". That is what we need, perseverance. There is much against us today too. Are we going to give up and fold our arms like the sluggard in Proverbs? We shall find ourselves impoverished. "So shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and thy penury as an armed man" (Proverbs 6:11). We do not want to be robbed of our inheritance, beloved. Let us persevere, let us hold fast what we have that no one take our crown.
We have known what it was to have had many other burdens laid upon us, unprofitable burdens. The Lord's mind is, "I do not cast upon you any other burden; but what ye have hold fast" (Revelation 2:24, 25) -- and we have much, through grace; much has been recovered to us. We have been blessed with wonderful blessing, wonderful light and truth. Oh! to be true to it, and to be exhibitors of it. The testimony is only preserved in those who are the exponents of it. The testimony is not on the book-shelves or in the libraries; it is in the personnel, the saints, who have God's mind and are walking according to it. So "they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles". That would be no easy matter because the apostles' standards would be very high; they would be no less than Christ's standards. These men would give colour and character to the fellowship that made it the quality that it was.
Then there is the teaching. The teaching and the
fellowship go together. We can have this because the Spirit is still here. We do not have apostles now, but the apostles' fellowship in character would still be here. The youngest brother who preaches the truth will have divine authority behind him because he is speaking God's mind. How else could you preach the gospel if you could not get up with certainty and ask never-dying souls to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved? You speak with divine authority, otherwise your audience may say, 'That is just his opinion'. No, the youngest believer who is preaching Christ and God's gospel is preaching with divine authority.
Well, this was a very wonderful fellowship and what they did in it was governed by this heavenly teaching, and it was a safe fellowship. The apostles were there to protect them from false teaching and false practice. Then Satan sought to infiltrate deception through Ananias and Sapphira. Peter was quick to discern it and to protect the company from that evil. What a solemn event occurred in the death of that couple! God asserted Himself for the protection of the holiness of His house and the integrity of the fellowship into which He had called His people.
It says also, "They persevered ... in breaking of bread and prayers". I think it is a wonderfully balanced situation here; the teaching and fellowship, and then the breaking of bread and prayers. We need to keep on with the breaking of bread. One thing I feel I need more than anything is the breaking of
bread, the Lord's supper, what He has asked us to do. "This do in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). How can any Christian really do without that for very long? Some have had to do without it for quite a while on account of circumstances, but I believe that a true lover of the Lord, truly exercised, would not be left very long without the Lord's supper.
Let us persevere, beloved brethren, and not give it up easily. And the prayers are needful for us to be kept dependent. Pray for ourselves and households, for the saints and all God's interests here. What a wide range of interests there is to go over in our thoughts and prayers! Keep at it. The devil would have us give up. When you give up prayers you are on the danger list. The prayers make way for divine power to maintain us in life and in victory. That is why this company continued in such buoyancy and with such a sense of well-being. What quality and wholesomeness marked them so long as they maintained these features! When they were given up, failure came in, alas.
"Fear was upon every soul". Not that they were afraid of God or afraid of the apostles; that is not the idea. I do not think Peter or John would induce fear in people. No, this is holy fear of God, fear of offending the blessed God. I believe the most happy intimate relations existed between the apostles and the brethren. I do not think the apostles used the rod in their teaching of God's people. If you read the Acts you can see what intimate, affectionate relationships prevailed between the apostles and the
saints. The service was carried on in the most respectful way; the saints were respected and the teachers were respected. There was mutual respect and mutual love amongst the brethren but no mutual fear or mutual antipathy. This was a real fellowship.
"Many wonders and signs took place through the apostles' means. And all that believed were together, and had all things common". I think the Spirit records this for us to show the beautiful state of things in simplicity at the beginning. It speaks of them here receiving "their food with gladness and simplicity of heart". Every day they were "constantly in the temple with one accord"; I do not think that they were in there engaged in Jewish worship. This is in the general temple buildings (see footnote d). They preached there; you find the priests laying hands upon them there for their preaching (Acts 4:3). But they are there "with one accord"; they are inwardly in agreement; their hearts are knit and they are praising God and are in favour with all the people, and the Lord was pleased to add. Now if we could just recover in some measure some of those conditions, do you not think the Lord would be pleased to entrust others to such a company? That is a safe company, the best company on earth to be committed to; and the Lord was pleased to add the subjects of His mercy daily.
I just added those verses in chapter 4 as showing how this thing had been continued for some time; "the heart and soul of the multitude of those that had believed were one". Oh! what unity. The Spirit
maintained this. It was not only an outward unity, an outward compliance; heart and soul were involved in it. The affections and the feelings, the depths of the people were in it in full committal. So they were one, "and not one said that anything of what he possessed was his own". The idea is that all that they have now is available to the Lord and to His people. This is a basis for the great witness of the apostles. "With great power did the apostles give witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus". Those men, as they preached, could point to the company behind them and say, 'Look, here is the evidence of His having risen'. You have a company on earth, elect of God, holy and beloved, full of bowels and compassions, full of those real affections and feelings that the Jewish system was devoid of. The reason for it was that their hearts were filled by a living, glorified Christ. The apostles had that kind of background.
Now we do not have that today; we could not go out and witness as the apostles did because all we can point to publicly is a broken church. We have often said, If a Chinaman came in and got converted, where would you send him? Where would you tell him to go, if he wanted christian company? The only thing you can do (as for yourself also) is to send him to the Lord and say, 'Go to Him; He is the only One who can direct you'. He gives you inward direction, inward leading. When you get that you are safe. If you have not got it you will always be unsteady, uncertain and unstable. The apostles could point to a
great system of oneness and love that gave power to their testimony. They were not just preaching objectively the great facts of what Christ did and what He was, but they could point to the results in the company. "Great grace was upon them all".
Now in Paul we have the wise architect of the church. To him it was given to complete the word of God. The twelve had learned a great deal from Christ; they were a wonderful repository of truth but they did not have it all. Paul was brought in to complete the revelation (Colossians 1:25), to bring in the topstone of all that God would have us understand of His will, His mind and His purpose. Paul brings in the truth of the mystery, and opens up the heavenly calling, the truth of sonship, and the service of God, and he shows the workings of the house of God in the most remarkable manner; he shows what the fellowship of God's Son really ought to be; he gives it this beautiful title. He is writing to a company much beloved of him; he had laboured there for many months and there had been real results, a large number secured for the testimony. The testimony of the Christ was confirmed in them and they came short in no gift; they were awaiting the Lord's coming. But the devil had got to work and brought in sects amongst them, schools of opinion. "Each of you says, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ" (verse 12). They were breaking bread in the same locality. All had chosen favourites whom they followed. Paul says they are ordinary men, and the Corinthians were following men. "Has
Paul been crucified for you? or have ye been baptised unto the name of Paul?" (verse 13). He sought to get their eyes away from men and fixed on the Son of God. Paul brings in Christ here to offset the petty, childish goings-on of the Corinthians.
Eternal Life, pages 187 - 195, Melbourne, 23 April 1977. [1 of 2].
J. Taylor
1 Corinthians 11:23 - 26; Genesis 40:14, 23; Genesis 41:9; Exodus 32:1
Well now, we are told that the cup-bearer forgot Joseph; but the time arrived when it seemed that it might give him an increased favour with his master, and then he remembered Joseph! Now how do you remember the Lord Jesus? Do you remember Him selfishly? Do you speak of Him only before the saints? Well, there is not much reproach in speaking of Him among the saints; the Lord Jesus is held by them in affectionate regard, they love to hear about Him. How do you speak of Him outside? What kind of designation do you use? Does it denote One whom you love, or is it just that of a benefactor, a public benefactor? The apostle spoke of Him as "my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). Mary Magdalene said, He is mine; "they have taken away my Lord" (John 20:13). Did you ever say that publicly? That is what I regard as affectionate remembrance. It is a designation that denotes One that has a place in your heart.
The cup-bearer, as I was noting a moment ago, called to mind his faults; that was not calling Joseph to mind. I would emphasise that, to call to mind your faults is not calling Joseph to mind. It is quite right to judge sin, but calling Joseph to mind would be the remembrance that Joseph told him to keep with him, and that he did not keep; he made not even a note of it, so that he forgot Joseph. He did not forget the event, it was an historical event that he could never have forgotten. Do you think for one moment he forgot he was in prison, and this captive Hebrew revealed to him his dream? But he forgot Joseph in the sense in which Joseph intended him to remember him.
Now that too was the case with the Israelites. The same principle appears in Exodus 32. It was when Moses had left them. You always find it is when God leaves you to yourself, it brings out just where you are. The Israelites were left to themselves for a little while, less than six weeks; it was not very long. See what kind of memories they had! They had seen Moses go up into the mount, but they could not tell where he was. Now let me say to you that if your remembrance of the Lord Jesus is such as theirs was of Moses, simply that he had led them out of the land of Egypt, you will very soon lose all sense of where He is; you can give no account of Him. They say, "this Moses ... we do not know what is become of him!" (verse 1). "This Moses", they say; it was the very opposite of affectionate regard and esteem. Yet they remembered the historical event, he had led
them out of the land of Egypt. He had been their leader, they admitted it, but what account did they give of him? "We do not know what is become of him!" You remember the day of your conversion, but what about every day since that? The second day of your conversion ought to be a brighter day than the first; and it would be if you had the Lord Jesus in affectionate remembrance, for things increase. The affectionate remembrance in which you hold Him, as having converted you, would be brighter, and so on; as the days are multiplied your remembrance increases, and your joy increases.
They said, "We do not know what is become of him!" During those forty or thirty-nine days they had not taken account of the provision Moses made for them, in leaving Aaron and Hur to look after them (Exodus 24:14). If I had been there with the light I have, I should have looked at Aaron as Moses' provision. They had Aaron and Hur. I should have looked at Hur and said, That is Moses' provision for me; but what did they say? "This Moses ... we do not know what is become of him!" Now it is as sure as anything can be that if there is not affectionate remembrance for a person, somebody else will take his place; that is so in the history of Christendom. Presently, some one else is coming in to take the place of the Man who is held in regard only in an historical light. The Lord said, "if another come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43). The way is being prepared for him. The seed was sown long since that has borne
the crop which is preparing for his advent. "This Moses", what did that mean? There might be another equally good if not better. Is it not so with regard to the Lord, that in the minds of men He simply ranks with other men in the present day? That is the situation. I have seen His name put up with other men, with great leaders of thought in this way; we have not got Him, we may as well have another.
Now the Lord's supper saves you from all that. Do not say you have not got Him, and that you do not know where He is. If that is the language of your heart you will look for another. John the baptist said, "Art thou he that is coming, or are we to wait for another?" (Luke 7:19). Christendom is looking for another already. Let us take it to heart. The word has gone forth that Christianity is a failure; they are looking for someone else. The thing is simply a fact in an historical light, the Lord Jesus Christ is not in their hearts. The way is being prepared for another, for they would have another to come.
Well, I do not dwell further on that, but I turn to the Lord's supper. The Supper is brought to us Gentiles from heaven, by one who valued it. The apostle Paul does not use dry doctrinal language. He says, "I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread". This is his own language; the structure of the sentence is his own. We must not assume that he quoted from Luke; Luke quoted from him if anything. The Supper is presented to us couched in the language of one
whose affectionate regard for Christ is conveyed in it. "The Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread". When Paul was amongst them he had delivered it to them. I have no doubt that the first breaking of bread at Corinth was by him; he says, I delivered it to you. One would have loved to have seen Paul break the bread. The Lord Jesus was in his heart; the night on which He was betrayed was in his heart. How all that scene would come in power into the heart of Paul as he broke the bread at Corinth! He says, I also delivered it to you.
We must not think this is the first time they heard of the Supper; he calls attention to what he had delivered to them. And how far they had got away from it! so far that he says that what they were doing was not the Lord's supper: 'the Lord's supper is what I delivered to you; your supper is sectarian, the rich eating before the poor, that is not the supper of the Lord'. One would have loved to have been there when Paul spread the supper table. He would take the loaf and break it and call to mind, using the Lord's exact words, "this do in remembrance of me". Not an historical event, it is the Person; it is "in remembrance of me". It was as if Paul, like Joseph, had left it with the Corinthians so that they might have it by them, a remembrance of Christ. How far away they had got from it! Sectarian views, carnal jealousies and pride, all that in the holy Supper of the Lord Jesus! He says, It is not the Supper. He does not say what it may have been; he could have said much. He says, This is the Supper, what I
delivered to you. It was delivered tangibly by his own hands in their own sight; they had moved away from it. I believe the Lord would lead us back to the simplicity of the Supper, so that it might be with us, as Joseph desired it should be with the cup-bearer, a remembrance of Him. Till when? Till He comes. "In like manner also the cup". That word "manner" is very suggestive; "in like manner also the cup, after having supped, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me".
Now I just want to refer for a moment to the end of the Scriptures. In the last chapter of Revelation the apostle John says, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus" (chapter 22: 20). There is the same affection that he began with, but it had become intensified, if anything. The Lord at the end of the book announces Himself to the assemblies. He says, "I Jesus" (verse 16); not appearing now as the long-robed Personage of the first chapter of the book. It is "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify these things to you in the assemblies"; "to you", not to the angels of the assemblies now. He speaks directly to us now, and what is the regard in which the assembly holds Him? It is triumph to dwell on this, it is the triumph of His care and attention all the way through the dark night. He is now the Morning Star; things are brightening into day. He says, "I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star". What does the assembly think of Him? What do you think of Him? "The Spirit and the bride say, Come". That is the
Man they have come to admire. Antichrist is not admired; antichrist is the opposite of that Man, and he is not admired in the assembly, he is admired elsewhere. The remembrance the Lord Jesus left has been effective. He has not been forgotten, thank God; the assembly has come back to the remembrance of Him, as if to say, You are the Man. It is the Person she wants.
Now just to make the point clear, you will observe in regard to Enoch, that, though he was translated, he did not speak in his prophecy about translation. Enoch was a prophet. We are told in Genesis 5, that he walked with God and that "God took him" (verse 24), and we are told in Hebrews 11:5 that he was translated, but he says nothing about it. What Enoch said was, "Behold, the Lord has come" (Jude 14). Faith looks on to the scene of testimony here that must be occupied. If Enoch goes, the Lord comes. Does He come with Enoch? No, with ten thousands of His saints, with the holy myriads. What joy and strength that would be to the heart of Enoch amid all the terrible corruption that surrounded him! Think of the Lord coming with holy myriads!
The assembly does not speak of her translation, the Lord is coming; that is her witness. Is antichrist to hold sway? Is he to prevail? No, he is not to prevail. The Lord is coming in with holy myriads, they are to occupy the ground. He is to take vengeance on those that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the assembly is not telling us about her translation, she is occupied
with the coming in of the One she loves, the One of whom she has had the remembrance in her heart all the time. Then John, too, to add to the position after all He has said and done, says, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus". It represents the affectionate regard in which the Lord is held on earth through grace.
May the Lord enable us to give Him that place. I believe He is seeking it; as I was saying elsewhere, it is before our translation that He would bring about a state in us that is pleasing to God. "Before his translation he has the testimony that he had pleased God" (Hebrews 11:5). Before it. So that there is the affectionate regard in which John holds the Lord. He does not say, Lord, take us; no, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus".
Now just another word; David says, "let all the people say, Amen" (Psalm 106:48). Well, that is what the Holy Spirit would bring about. If there is anything right and true, and surely the truth of the coming of the Lord is, it is what is needed all around us, "let all the people say, Amen". Let us not be divided about that, "let all the people say, Amen". So John says, "Amen"; he wishes the Lord Jesus to come.
Ministry by J. Taylor, 1915, Volume 8, pages 146 - 152. [2 of 2].
It is scarcely necessary to state that if there are many and blessed privileges known by believers as constituting the house of God, there are at the same time corresponding responsibilities. In our last paper we considered some of the privileges, in this paper the responsibilities will be before us.
The epistle which particularly deals with this side of the subject is 1 Timothy. The behaviour suited to the house of God is there dwelt upon. It is doubtful if we shall answer to the responsibilities attaching to the house of God unless we enjoy something of the privileges. And, on the other hand, if we do not answer to the responsibilities we shall become dull in our spiritual sensibilities and incapable of enjoying our privileges. Both sides must be maintained.
The conduct insisted upon in the first epistle addressed to Timothy supposes the doctrine and the privileges of the epistle to the Ephesians. Ephesians gives us the inward spiritual relationships and privileges more particularly, while 1 Timothy insists upon the maintenance of right behaviour.
The apostle Paul, in writing to his trusted, but apparently young, servant, Timothy, gives certain instructions as to detail, and concludes these remarks by saying that he wrote thus that Timothy might know how one ought to behave oneself in the house of God (1 Timothy 3:15). Hence we may rightly turn to
such an epistle to learn what is the suitable behaviour to those who compose the house of God.
(1) The "end", or desideratum, of what is brought before us is "love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith" (1 Timothy 1:5). Moreover, Timothy is exhorted to maintain "faith, and a good conscience" (verse 19). Some had swerved from this state of soul, even in the early days of Timothy's time, and consequently departure of a more serious kind followed.
The standard by which all has to be judged today is the "sound teaching, according to the glad tidings of the blessed God" (verse 11). God has been revealed, and by this revelation and in the presence of God we answer to His mind and possess these essential qualities -- love, a good conscience and faith.
Love is the divine nature; a good conscience can only be kept as our conduct answers to what we know to be right; faith is that which gives the enjoyment of the light of the revelation of God. In our experience these qualities would possibly come in the reverse order. Faith is the light of revelation in the soul; conscience regulates conduct accordingly; and, our hearts being thus morally purified, we love God who first loved us.
We may rest assured that these qualities are of immense importance. They are the foundation in the soul of all practical Christianity. They are the outcome of what is revealed to us by God and of His work in our souls, and are the moral basis of all right practice.
We feel persuaded that all departure has its beginning in a defect in one or more of these moral qualities. Unless faith is in exercise, the soul is practically in darkness; if our consciences are not kept sensitive and good, we shall fail to answer to the light we have; love is the response in man to God. It is useless to consider anything further if these primary and essential elements are wanting.
(2) In the house of God His attitude towards man is set forth in a practical way. Those who form the dwelling place of God are exhorted to have a prayerful interest in men. Hence the love and grace of God, who is known as Saviour, are manifested. How can we pray for people we do not love? Our hearts will condemn us if we assume to do so. But in the enjoyment of God's love, our hearts are filled with love to men+, and we pray for them.
In the Philippian gaol the apostle and his companion were marked by prayer and praise (Acts 16:25)! Stephen prayed as his murderers battered him with stones (Acts 7:59)! We are exhorted to pray -- to pray for all men; for in this way God's heart and attitude towards man will be manifested. He desires all to be saved. Do we? Are we concerned for every one -- for all men? We stand between the living and the dead! The character of God is to be seen in us, for we are His house. A prayerful interest in man is the first manner in which
+See also Titus 3:4, "love to man", and footnote a.
Moreover, Christ's position is declared. He is the Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). We do not pray unintelligently. We are in the light of what has been accomplished. God and man have met in the Person of the Mediator. Presently the testimony will be of power; now it is of grace.
But not only is prayer to mark God's house in a general way, it is especially to mark men. This is the proper position of man. Men are to be characterised by prayer, by dependence. Men like to be independent. But to be truly dependent on God is the most morally exalted position a man can possibly be in. Women are exhorted to be in due subjection and to be marked by good works.
(3) We next find the two offices in God's assembly alluded to, so that there might be godly care and order. The elder or "overseer" was one who exercised oversight and sought the spiritual good of those in the assembly (1 Timothy 3:1 - 7). It was a simple matter in early days to recognise the elders of an assembly, for the church was one. But it was evidently not the mind of God to continue these offices in a merely formal way. No elder was told to ordain other elders. Apostolic succession is merely a human idea. No such thing is suggested in Scripture, and it was never intended to exist in fact. Titus was to ordain elders as an apostolic delegate (Titus 1:5); and the apostles themselves ordained them (Acts 14:23).
But why, then, are we given such detailed
instructions in 1 Timothy and Titus? The reason is plain. We are told the characteristics so that we may recognise those who possess them and honour such; then, too, those who seek to take care of the assembly should be exercised that these qualities and traits may mark them. God knew that departure would come in almost at once, in the apostles' days, and hence gave the characteristics of those who would truly seek to take care of the church.
The deacon, or minister, was to be occupied with the temporal cares of those in the assembly (1 Timothy 3:8 - 13). Deacons are first alluded to in Acts 6.
It is very interesting to note the comprehensive character of these two offices. They were not "gifts", but offices of a purely local nature. The one sought the spiritual good, and the other ministered to the temporal needs of those in the assembly+.
May God give every one who seeks to serve Him in either of these ways to see that he possesses the qualifications, and may we all be more ready to recognise such and render them honour.
After giving these instructions the apostle states
+It must be carefully observed, that while an elder had the oversight of an assembly, he in no sense assumed a distinctive priestly position. To have done so would have been to have committed the sin of Korah (Numbers 16) - a servant assuming priesthood. Has not this been done? How can any servant, however gifted, assume to arrange or conduct worship? It is a slight on Christ, the great Priest over God’s house.
the object of his epistle (1 Timothy 3:15). It was that Timothy might know how to behave in God's house.
It is thus evident that the first three chapters give to us the formal outline of that which should mark the house of God. The church is the pillar and base of the truth. It is to be the practical witness to the truth, to that which came out in Christ. Chapter 1 brought before us the moral qualities necessary to all who compose God's house; in chapter 2 we have the attitude of God as Saviour set forth in the saints; and chapter 3 gives us what should mark those in the offices which existed (in normal circumstances) for the well-being of an assembly.
"Mysteries" were usually associated with temples and shrines in heathen Ephesus. But the "mystery of piety" (1 Timothy 3:16) was that which was enshrined in God's house. "God has been manifested", etc. We do not understand this to refer to what is essential to Deity. Such, in fact, has not been manifested and still remains inscrutable. What is here referred to and stated is the mystery of piety, or godliness. That is what is of God revealed in a Man here on earth and having its answer in glory.
We shall not be surprised to find that Satan was determined to corrupt, if he could not destroy, such a witness to what is according to God. The Spirit of God expressly taught that departure would take place, and such has come to pass.
But what is to be the reply to this departure? Controversy? Dogma? No! Only that which was to have been the abiding testimony -- godliness. That
which is according to God, maintained in our lives here, is an unanswerable reply and a standing rebuke to all departure. Theological disputes have not the living character about them that is possessed by a life bearing the traits of Christ!
Details of a practical kind are referred to, but the key word of all is piety.
Oh! for piety -- practical, living, daily Christianity. A slave can beautify his pathway in this manner, and none of us have a calling quite like that today. We can, we ought, all to show piety. The name of God and His doctrine are at stake.
Men of the world are after money. Self, in some way or other, is the ruling influence. The believer is called to godliness, and godliness, with contentment, is great gain. Christ is his power, and the life of Jesus that which is to be seen in him daily.
The Believer's Friend, Volume 8 (1916), pages 171 - 178.
F. Ide
Genesis 12; Genesis 13:14 - 18; John 3:35 - 36
I read these scriptures, beloved brethren, with the thought that they might help to steady us, and, maybe, adjust us, in regard to our movements here. I suppose we would all agree that we have been taken up -- called of God -- so that we might find ourselves here in accord with all His thoughts and purposes, available to Him that He might fulfil His eternal desires in regard to us; and, being available to Him as we move through this scene, there is satisfaction
There is a tendency for us to stop short; we may think of being divinely taken up as being merely for ourselves, that we should be freed from all that rested upon us; but the more we look into it, taking into account types from Genesis onwards, we shall find that in all God's dealings in relation to men, every provision made for them, is that they might be available to Him for His satisfaction and joy. Before man had any thoughts at all, God purposed to bring him into being; to set him up on the earth, a scene got ready, suitable for him, that he might be here wholly for the pleasure of God. Man fell; but God was not defeated in His eternal thoughts, but showed that He could secure His desires in relation to men. This involved the death of His beloved Son.
I read this scripture with regard to Abraham, because I think it will exercise us, and adjust us, that we may be kept steady in the path of faith. Abraham stands out as one who had a special place with God; in fact, he is the first one to whom God indicated what His purpose of blessing was for men. In connection with Eve and Noah, God showed that man could be recovered; but to Abraham He disclosed His purpose for men. How necessary it is for us to be established in regard to God's purpose for us. What I mean is, that we should see there is something more needed for us than to be merely moving here as having links with God, on the side of what is pious. We shall see, I trust, that it is necessary for us to have our desires and hearts fixed
in regard to that which is spiritual and eternal.
We find Abraham here as one called of God, told to go out of his country, etc., and to move into that land which God would show him. Abraham moved in faith, he left his country; he made a move in accordance with God's purposes for him; God disclosed His mind with regard to him, gave him light as to the position, and Abraham moved in relation to it. What one was struck with in reading the scripture is that Abraham was impressed, as we often speak, only in an objective way; he followed up in faith what God had presented, he moved into the land and set up an altar -- he committed himself wholly to the position; but what is seen is that Abraham passed on -- it was not a question of abiding in the land, he moved through it. He took account of all God's purposes for him, as far as light was concerned; but what comes after is this, that although he was severed from all that held him previously, he moved on southward -- he was not wholly occupied with that which God had presented to him.
How many of us talk about the purpose of God? The apostle Paul had two prayers on behalf of the Ephesian saints; first it was that they might be brought to view objectively that which was in accord with God's purpose, including the wonderful position which God had purposed for the saints (chapter 1: 15 - 23). But his second prayer (chapter 3: 14 - 19) was that there might be that produced and formed in them which would answer to it, that they might be
able not only to take an objective view, but also to take account of it all -- "the breadth and length and depth and height". It is viewed, I take it, from the One, and in the presence of the One, who was the Centre of it. It was only as they were formed in the love of Christ that they could be equal to the wondrous sphere of blessing which God had purposed, and which they had observed from the objective standpoint; so that everything might be filled out in the assembly, in which the glory of the blessed God is to be eternally.
Now that is what one is endeavouring to show in regard to Abraham. You see the necessity. We often have the things in the way of light and talk about purpose, of things we look forward to, all eternally established on the basis of the blood-shedding of Christ; but how much are we entering into it at the present moment, how much are we formed by it as those who live in it, those that form that wondrous company, that vessel that had been purposed in eternity? How much are we available in regard to it, so that there is going up to the blessed God, even now, that which is for His satisfaction and joy?
The mere knowledge that we are set in heavenly places in Christ Jesus is not sufficient to keep us. God told Abraham all that He had purposed for him, and, in fact, Abraham entered into it in some measure, he put his hand to it and set up an altar twice (Genesis 12:7, 8).
But Abraham passed through the land, and where did he go? He found himself in Egypt, he went down
to Egypt; that is, beloved, he left all the moral height and privilege, that of which he had the light; he had not got his heart sufficiently set upon it. He went down, and found himself in Egypt. What a serious thing it was! We would not disparage Abraham, for God has recorded that He delighted in His servant; but we may see in an example like this, how we may be preserved, that we might not find ourselves like Abraham, with all the light of the purpose of God for him, and yet in Egypt.
Words of Grace and Comfort, Teddington, Volume 8 (1932), pages 263 - 266. [1 of 2] England.
It is earnestly desired to encourage young brothers and sisters who would serve the Lord in any capacity.
Many of the tasks in the Lord's service might be esteemed as commonplace, but it is stimulating to have in mind, in every detail, that "ye serve the Lord Christ" (Colossians 3:24) which implies THE DIGNITY OF SERVICE -- a dignity which, if realised, would stir deeply the spirit of the servant. The title LORD implies His authority over, and His affection for, His servants, involving our subjection to Him in every detail of the work; the title CHRIST tells of the anointed Head of the glorious service of God, all of which is to be rendered in the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God.
The task may be menial in the eyes of men, but it
is glorified by its being a part of that system of glory and it is to be carried through as being rendered to Christ.
Elisha, was content to pour water upon the hands of Elijah (2 Kings 3:11), but the manner in which he carried out that lowly service (usually the task of a menial slave) secured such promotion for him that it could be said of him that "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha" (2 Kings 2:15).
There is also the word, "By love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13), and this is THE SPRING OF SERVICE.
What can be acceptable if it does not spring from love? The Lord Jesus Himself was the Antitype of the Hebrew servant who said "I love" (Exodus 21:5), and this is the secret of every true sacrificial service. "Beloved, if God has so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11). Love finds expression in service. How the Lord Jesus has served His assembly in love!
The voluntary character of any service expresses that you are prepared by love to serve your brethren. Let this encourage you that even if you are called upon to "serve tables" the word says, "he that in this serves the Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men" (Romans 14:18).
There is, however, a spiritual condition essential for acceptable service. Hence the prophet Isaiah says, "be ye clean, that bear the vessels of Jehovah" (chapter 52: 11). It is holy hands that are lifted up and serve. It is sanctified vessels that are needed,
"serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21). The vessels are holy and it requires holiness on the part of those who are called to serve the "holy brethren".
It is the service of God who is holy; sustained by the Lord Jesus, the Holy One empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, and guided by the precepts of the Holy Scriptures. It is THE HOLINESS OF SERVICE which makes it so great, and yet so solemn, to have even the smallest part in such a service. May the Lord help us to be consistent with it!
One thought more, prompted by the word "Whatsoever ye do, labour at it heartily, as doing it to the Lord, and not to men" (Colossians 3:23). This urges THE ENERGY OF SERVICE. You will be called upon to expend much energy if you go forth to serve the Lord, but the exhortation is: "take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3). Not only is willing obedience necessary, but an alacrity, a readiness of mind, a spirit of sacrifice, that the one who serves may not "faint in well-doing" (2 Thessalonians 3:13). Thus will every service go up to God as a sweet savour of Christ -- God's perfect Servant.
Words of Truth, Volume 6 (1938), pages 270 - 272.
R. Gray
Luke 10:33 - 35; 1 Kings 19:9 - 18; Judges 15:18 - 20; Malachi 3:8 - 11, 16 - 18
What is in mind, beloved brethren, is to speak, with the help of the Holy Spirit, of divine reserves, the provision God has made in view of the maintenance of the testimony. But these scriptures speak of what is special; they refer to what is additional in the way of resource that God brings in, in order to meet need as it arises. God has committed Himself to the continuance of the testimony according to the standards that marked it when He set it on, and these scriptures, I trust, will serve to bring that out.
In our first scripture, Luke 10, much was available already. There was the oil and the wine, the Samaritan himself, of course, and his beast, the inn, and the innkeeper, and there were the two pence (denarii). We might say that was a very full and complete provision in view of every need being met. But what I want to dwell on for a moment is what the Samaritan said: "Take care of him, and what-soever thou shalt expend more". Now, I believe that bears very much on the present time. We might say, Is there not sufficient in these resources that we have gone over? Christ is suggested in the Samaritan, and there are suggestions as to the activities of the Holy Spirit in the innkeeper, and the thought of the assembly is implied in the inn. All these things were present. What the Spirit of God would bring out, however, is that always with the blessed God there is
something additional in reserve to meet the special needs of the moment. I believe that should be an encouragement to us.
The idea of holding things in reserve is not a new one with God. He spoke of it to Job, saying, "Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, and hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of battle and war?" (Job 38:22, 23). God has great reserves, held in abeyance at the moment, in view of judgment. But that is not my theme. The thought is that God has in His mind and heart just what is needed to meet the current conditions in the testimony.
I believe that this is important, because there is no doubt that there is a side of things which today might well cause depression and even doubt. Not that we doubt the blessed God -- never! But still, we might be concerned as to how the testimony will work out. How will our children be preserved, what is there for them? Well, there is the fulness of the blessing that is offered in the glad tidings; there is the fulness of God's thoughts in privilege for all His own in the light of what we have and hold as to Christ and the assembly; there is the divine favour of sonship, and so on. God is honoured when persons apprehend these things and take them up, and fill them out in the power of the Holy Spirit. But we should be encouraged as we understand that there are divine provisions that are specially made available to maintain saints in the good of these
I go on now to 1 Kings 19, because here we have Elijah, a great servant of God's. He was one of those who was greatly honoured by appearing on the mount with Christ (Matthew 17:3, etc). But in the pass-age read, he was, we might say, in extremity. Elijah was a remarkable man; he was, to use a simple expression, one we might look on as 'a tower of strength'; one who was well founded in the truth, who served God fearlessly, and was committed entirely to divine interests. But he came to a point when it says, "he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness ... and requested for himself that he might die" (1 Kings 19:4). What he was saying was, I cannot go on. Now we might wonder at such a one as Elijah giving such an impression. But the Spirit of God in His faithfulness and wisdom has recorded it for us, that such a one as he, and with his knowledge of God, and his record of successful service, came to the point when he "requested for himself that he might die". He was not complaining about the testimony; he was not speaking against God in any sense; but he had come, as he thought, to the end of his resources.
Well, God meets that. What a gracious God we have to do with, who would take us up and sustain us in the testimony, passing us through tests as He sees fit, as it is His sovereign right to do, and yet sustaining us. Think of how the blessed God condescended to meet the exercises of this devoted servant: "and behold, at his head was a cake, baked
on hot stones, and a cruse of water" (1 Kings 19:6) -- what a service: God, through His angelic agency, served the needs of His servant! The blessed God calculated in His care exactly what was needed. Elijah, it says, "ate and drank, and lay down again. And the angel of Jehovah came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise, eat; for the journey is too great for thee" (verses 6, 7). How divine love and consideration calculates what we need, and encourages us to take it up! Well, he "went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights ... and went into a cave". You see, God took him up, just as he was, and supplied what was needed.
But there were further lessons to learn. God showed Elijah that the methods that he might have chosen to use were not God's methods. It speaks of the "strong wind", the "earthquake", and the "fire". Now, these might have been considered to be suitable agencies to deal with a rebellious people who were seeking Elijah's life. God passed them all before him, saying, as it were, That is not how I am working. Then it says, "And after the fire, a soft gentle voice". I believe that God would say to Elijah, I am not changing the way I operate in regard of My people, even in the light of their state. This was a speaking of grace. I know Elisha fills that side out more fully. But here it was, the "soft gentle voice", and God says, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" -- why are you here? What a test this would be.
I read an interesting remark recently where the author believed that the standards of judgment at the
judgment-seat (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) were the standards that were set out in the gospels; that is, what was seen here in Christ, the standards that He operated by, were the standards we would meet at the judgment-seat. In a sense, Elijah was at the judgment-seat; God was asking him, "What doest thou here?". Well, sometimes we are asked a question like that; God would speak to us and ask us to give an account of ourselves. That will be so at the judgment-seat. We will then be in our bodies of glory, of course.
I was very interested recently in Paul's remark as to Onesiphorus: "the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that day" (2 Timothy 1:18). What day was that? Another has suggested that will be the day when Onesiphorus has to do with the Lord at the judgment-seat; and he added, it would appear that the matter of mercy goes on as far as the judgment-seat. I am saying these things because I feel that all of us have been searched in recent times by the Lord as to what our real motives are -- all of us. We can look at others and point to others, but there will be no one else to point to at the judgment-seat. And I believe Elijah was going through something like that here; God was testing him, and Elijah answered in an open and manly way, spreading out his exercises before God.
Well, God listened to what Elijah had to say, and then He said, "Go". That would be a word for us, I believe: Go on! Elijah had felt like giving up, and God was saying, as it were, Go on, there is work to
be done. And, in the detail that He gives as to Hazael and Jehu and Elisha, I believe God was reassuring Elijah that there was no detail of the testimony but what He had His eye on; He was in control of it. God in effect said to Elijah, Be at peace; I have My hand on every aspect of the testimony -- nothing has escaped Me, nothing is being overlooked -- and I have made provision for it. He said, "Go". And then God added a very solemn word about the sword of Hazael, Jehu, Elisha. What God was saying, I believe, was, Not only do I have My hand on every aspect of the testimony, but My government is running on unfailingly; nothing is being overlooked. For myself, I fear that, because there may be but a few brethren in my locality, in my mind there might be, almost unconsciously, a lowering of standards. We must not think that God is allowing the testimony to fade out. No such thing. God has His hand on every aspect of the testimony and His government runs on unfailingly, it misses nothing, and it deals with everything in its own time (see Ezekiel 10:12).
God concludes His conversation with Elijah and says, "Yet" -- what a comforting word this is -- "I have left myself seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth that hath not kissed him". What God was saying was, I still have seven thousand true hearts, persons of uncontaminated affection. How many? - seven thousand, not six and a half thousand. A full representation of what would speak to us of the
assembly. God says, I have those for Myself. It was not a question of man's service or man's efforts with the seven thousand, rather that God had reserved them for Himself. God will maintain what is due to Himself and for Himself. Our desire should be to have our part in it, if it be His will.
In Judges 15 we have another resource spoken of. Samson had secured a most remarkable victory with the "fresh jawbone of an ass" (verses 15, 16). We have records on our bookshelves of past conflicts for the truth, but they are completed. What now? Well, we need to be marked by an overcoming spirit today. How can we be if, like Samson, we are thirsty, and if there is not available to us refreshment as it is needed? It says, "God clave the hollow rock which was in Lehi, and water came out of it". I do not suppose any one knew about that before. But what I see in it is this, that God would have us to understand that the Spirit came after Christ had suffered and gone on high.
I believe God would remind us of the preciousness of what Christ has done, and of the preciousness of the gift of the Spirit. He would bring into our souls a fresh impression that is suited to the present phase of the testimony. I think in the light of these things we should be distinctly encouraged, because it says that Samson "drank, and his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore its name was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day". En-hakkore means, 'the caller's spring' (footnote c). Maybe we are needing to learn more and more to
call on the Holy Spirit. As we go through our lives in this world, contaminated as it is, and we meet with difficulties and problems, let us call on Him, the Caller's Spring. What a service divine Persons render to us! Christ was the water Carrier as we have been taught, for the Rock that followed them was the Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). Here we have the Spirit of God as a means of instant succour, of instant help whatever the difficulty. When temptations arise -- who of us does not have them? -- what do you do? Call on the Spirit. What is in view is the continuance of the testimony, and it says that Samson "judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years".
In Malachi 3 we have the thought as to "the whole tithe". What is really in mind in the way of divine reserves here is the blessing which is poured out from the windows of the heavens. It says, "Will a man rob God? But ye rob me. And ye say, Wherein do we rob thee? In tithes and heave-offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse". Well, that is strong language. We might say, Does it apply to me? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves sometimes. I am not suggesting the matter of curse applies to the saints, but would I rob God? Would I give Him short measure? You see there may be the tendency with us, when we get a little older, to take things easier. Well, this question would come up, "Will a man rob God?" You see, when Paul wrote to the Galatians, he evidently had a difficult task, as the scripture would show, and he had to use quite strong language to them. He did not go over the truth with
the Galatians as he did with the Corinthians. To the Corinthians Paul set out the teaching as to the word of the cross in considerable detail. What he said to the Galatians, on the other hand, was very short and very severe: "Cursed is every one hanged upon a tree" (Galatians 3:13). Paul used such language, I believe, to awaken the Galatians to the fact that they were trifling with things that were of infinite value. Well, I am not, as remarked, charging the brethren at all, but just having a desire that we might be stimulated to bring to God all that is due to Him in these difficult days.
But God has something special for these conditions. He says, "prove me now herewith ... if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it". No doubt, God has something special for the present time, but He is ready and willing to pour it out. He not only promises the blessing, but He adds something: "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time".
Well, these are things to be treasured. I will just close with a remark on the final section read: "they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and 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". We have spoken about God's reserves, what He has
specially in reserve to maintain the testimony. What a fine thing it would be if there was something special that the blessed God received from us in return, out of the present circumstances! "They shall be unto me a peculiar treasure, saith Jehovah of hosts, in the day that I prepare; and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him". What else? "And ye shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not". God, along with the blessing that He has promised, would grant this blessing also, that His standards will be maintained amongst the saints at the level at which they were set on in the first place. Discernment and judgment are things to be maintained.
Well, that was all one had in mind. May the Lord encourage us with the sense that there are reserves available to see us through in the light of His thoughts and purpose for us, and may there be a suited answer from each one of us, for His Name's sake.
Acts 2:42 - 47; Acts 4:32 - 35; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:5 - 7
I have often thought of 1 Corinthians as like the woman in Luke 15 who lost the coin and who, when she went to seek it, lit a lamp and swept the house
carefully until she found it. I think that is like Paul in 1 Corinthians. He lights a lamp here in these first nine verses as to their calling, and he brings light to shine on the local situation there. Then chapter after chapter he goes through the house sweeping in every corner, dealing with all their problems. What a lot of dust was removed! When you come to the second epistle you can see that not only was the coin found but the house was cleaned in the process. The coin is found, so, "assure him of your love" (2 Corinthians 2:8); 'Get him back into circulation'. The house is much cleaner, and Paul can open up the great things of Christianity there.
Here Paul draws attention to the fellowship into which they were called by God, and this is true of every Christian. God has called us by the glad tidings into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This Person is the Head and the Centre of it; He gives character and dignity to it. What greater fellowship could there be? And how could we really belong to any other, once we are called into this fellowship? Every fellowship of man is beneath the dignity of the members of the fellowship of God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. How beautiful it is! Every believer, if he has the Holy Spirit, is called into this and belongs to it. Whether he is enjoying it is another question, but it is his in title and it is his by calling. He did not work for it, he did not invite himself into it. Let us hold that in the faith of our souls for all our brethren; all the saints of God are called into this dignified, glorious fellowship. It is
theirs by divine giving and divine calling. How to get the good of it is the exercise. I think that is where John helps us.
Paul later speaks of this as the fellowship of Christ's death and shows how it will be kept pure as we are in line with the death of Christ and disallow those things that Jesus died to put away. Then the fellowship will be kept uncorrupted. It is the fellowship of His body -- "Because we, being many, are one loaf, one body" (1 Corinthians 10:17) -- bringing out the organic character of it, speaking to us of love and life and holy sentiments. Then it is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; He is the One who energises it, gives life and meaning to it, and keeps it in its integrity for our enjoyment. This is a spiritual fellowship. The outward association of saints has been broken up, but the fellowship of God's Son remains, and that is what He calls men into.
In the passage we read in 1 John 1, John shows how we can get the practical realisation of it, and he makes it very simple, too. We have often remarked that John is unofficial; he writes in this epistle as a father to his children. He says, "I write to you, children" (1 John 2:12). "Children, keep yourselves from idols" is how he finishes (1 John 5:21). He addresses a letter to the "elect lady" and another to the "beloved Gaius". He leaves the official side in the background, and yet he was as much an apostle of Christ as any one of the twelve. He says, "And this is the message which we have heard from him, and declare to you". He had a message direct from
the lips of Christ when He told him that "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all". That is the character and nature of God who is light, "in him is no darkness at all". "He that abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). What a word for us in a day of departure! "If what ye have heard from the beginning abides in you, ye also shall abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise which he has promised us, life eternal" (1 John 2:24, 25).
Now John says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practise the truth". John is a most loving man; he was formed in love, he knew what it was to be in the bosom of Jesus (John 13:23); but he uses very direct language to give us a jolt as to the realities that we have to face. John was meeting professors, persons who had been once amongst the saints and went out: "They went out from among us, but they were not of us" (1 John 2:19). They had "got in unnoticed" (Jude 4). Peter speaks of those who brought in destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1).
John says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him" -- that is our profession; people may say that -- "and walk in darkness, we lie". That is strong language. You see, he is comparing things; John would say, 'We must check up'. The Lord said, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:16). Here John says, "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not practise the truth".
In the next chapter John brings out the matter of hating your brother: "he that hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and knows not where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes" (1 John 2:11). That shows how we must judge hatred of any Christian. We cannot possibly hate a Christian and walk in the light. One cannot be marked by hatred for any of God's family and be clear about his pathway, or even about the doctrine, "because the darkness has blinded his eyes". Such will not see things rightly. We will not express the truth if we hate anyone who is of the family of God. Indeed, we should not hate any man. "Love your enemies", the Lord said, "... pray for those who use you despitefully" (Luke 6:27, 28). You have to hate sin, hate evil, hate the garment spotted by the flesh, but do not hate people. No matter what they do to you, do not hate them. Jesus kept on loving, did He not? Looking on the young man who wanted to enjoy eternal life with his wealth, but who was not prepared to sacrifice and become a disciple, Jesus loved him. That man went away sad, for he had large possessions (Mark 10:22).
The apostle Paul was hated. Jesus said, "Ye shall be hated of all on account of my name" (Matthew 10:22). Even Paul was less loved, yet he abundantly loved them (2 Corinthians 12:15). Hatred is a malicious thing, but it is petty. It only brings out the smallness of a person; one who cannot rise above a wrong-doing, an injustice, an injury. One who is enjoying the purpose of God and the love of God
can rise above all these things. Mephibosheth said of Ziba, "Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house" (2 Samuel 19:30). In type, he just wanted Christ to have first place in all things, and nothing that anybody did to him was a worry to him. As long as David was back in full control, Mephibosheth was glad. He was not worried by what Ziba or anyone else did.
That is the way we want to be, beloved brethren. We want to be so happy in the Lord and the things of the Lord that injuries, wrongs and injustices are all put aside; you will not worry about them; you will go on loving people, shining on them. If they turn their backs, you will just shine on their backs. God acts like that to us. If God had hated me after I had gone out of dozens of gospel meetings unbelieving, where would I be today? I would still be on the way to hell. But God kept on and shone on my back; He will shine on your back, dear brother, dear sister. He loved you in spite of your neglect of Him. We often sing,
Now we are to be like that; we are to be children of God, and to "set forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Beloved brethren, if we are in that light, let us walk in the light, practising the truth and not deceiving ourselves. If we say we have no sin, John says, we are only deceiving ourselves; the
truth is not in us. Let the truth into us and it will expose what we really are. I know if we look into our hearts, what a lot of wickedness we see there. They will be that way until we die or until the Lord comes and changes our bodies. Thank God that evil heart does not have to dominate you; that is the flesh. You have the Spirit now in charge. You walk in the Spirit and the old man is suppressed and rendered inactive. You are characterised now by the new man: "having put on the new man, which according to God is created in truthful righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).
So John says, "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another". Is that not beautiful? You do not have to apply for it, you do not have to suppose it is there. If you walk in the light as God is in the light, you have it; it is there right away. You feel an affinity with somebody else who is walking in the light as you are walking in the light; you walk together agreed, you are one. The thing is a divine operation; the Spirit fits you in. I believe that is very much how we find fellowship practically in these last days. Of course, you must be self-judged; you must be clear of selfish motives or anything corrupt in your mind; place-seeking or anything like that must go. You must be really desirous of pleasing the Lord and being for Him, calling on Him out of a pure heart, and I think you will find an affinity with others like-minded. It is largely by a sense of affinities that we find our way in this day of confusion. You can find agreement
with others who are thinking as you do, who are following the same principles under the Lord. Two walk together because they are agreed. "Two are better than one ... For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow ... And if a man overpower the one, the two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:9 - 12). That brings out the value of fellowship.
Well, here we arrive at it through our walk, not through our knowledge or whether we have read so many books of ministry. Many of these books are bought, but are they read? We want to get the truth into our hearts so that we are formed by it, and get clear of mere formality into real unity, dear brethren. We are to walk in the light. God is in the light; He has come out in Christ in full display; His heart has been laid bare; His character has been made known and the holiness, the truth, the grace and the patience that marked Him. What a combination of beautiful features are seen in God in revelation! That is the light in which we are to walk, and we are to walk as Jesus walked.
We need to be characterised by those features which He displayed so beautifully and attractively. Walk in that light, dear brethren, and if you find others doing the same, you immediately have affinity and fellowship with them. If you made a mistake, as you may do, if you sin, as you may do, "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin". The blood is always there. Do not be afraid. Sometimes young people think when they err and do
wrong, giving way to Satan, that all is up, that they have lost their salvation. No, they have only lost their peace and their joy. You never lose your salvation, because it is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is fixed there in the heavens. Your salvation does not depend on you; it is held by Jesus for you. He is our Saviour from the coming wrath. You lose your joy and peace when you sin; Jesus is the Advocate, interceding for you that they might be restored to you again, that you might judge yourself, finding that all-efficacious blood ever available to cleanse you from all sin.
Thus the fellowship is protected; it is kept clean and pure; and, beloved brethren, I think we know a little of this. Even if it has been greatly reduced in latter years as to our experience, nevertheless the reality of it is still there, and a more lovely thing you could not find on earth. Some of us have had our whole being renewed in recent years in recapturing the blessedness of fellowship in the light in the last days. That is what God intended it to be, a holy, happy fellowship where we can walk together in the light of God in revelation, where we can enjoy eternal things as God intends them to be enjoyed, where we can enter into eternal life, and speak about and enjoy heavenly things. We can build up, nourish, edify and comfort one another. Oh! what a real thing fellowship is.
Fellowship with one another means that you value the personnel; every one is precious to you. You are set to be for their good. You would never
think of tripping up or undermining anyone in this fellowship. They are all set for one another because they are in partnership, a going concern in Christianity in the last days. It is a wonderful partnership. Paul said to Philemon, "If therefore thou holdest me to be a partner with thee" (verse 17). That put him on his mettle, did it not? 'Are you a partner with me, Philemon? You know the way I work; you know the way I do things; you will have to adhere to the terms of the partnership, be marked by generosity, liberality and self-sacrifice'. That was Paul's life.
So this is the fellowship that God would have us enjoy in these closing days, beloved brethren. It is a great reality. One would encourage each one of us to look out for it and to walk in the light. You will find you have it; your brother, your sister is doing the same thing. You feel an affinity; you feel a sense of unity there; it is a living order of things.
Well, these are just a few thoughts which came to one's mind. I trust that the Spirit will put them in order in our souls so that we might have a better understanding of what God has called us to, and that we may seek the reality and power of it in these days, for His Name's sake!
Eternal Life, pages 195 - 202. Melbourne, 23 April 1977. [2 of 2]
P. Lyon
Proverbs 30:1 - 4, 18 - 20
I have in mind, dear brethren, to follow up the inquiry of Agur as leading up to four things which he describes as too wonderful for him, for I believe they may be taken to illustrate certain features of the truth discernible in our day.
Agur's name means 'a gatherer', that is to say, he is not a man with mere academic questions; he seeks a divine answer to his inquiries. He has in his search an eye for gold; he is a noble Berean in that way (Acts 17:11). And then he finds others with whom to pursue his inquiries. Ithiel is said to mean 'God is', and Ucal, 'God will prevail'. You can well understand that persons marked by the faith implied in the names of these men will furnish the suited atmosphere for the unfolding of the mind of God through prophetic channels as indicated in 1 Corinthians 14. So that, as in that chapter, the man coming in will own "that God is among you of a truth" (verse 25). Agur is content to unfold what he has gathered to two persons, and God helps him; for we are moving on figuratively towards the crowning issue of all true ministry, namely Christ and the assembly, as suggested in the husband and his wife, the virtuous woman, of the next chapter.
Agur pursues his inquiry in lowly and comely feelings; "Truly I am more stupid than any one; and I have not a man's intelligence. I have neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the
Holy". How wholesome are these sentiments, for if we are lacking in this essential feature of humility we shall be equally bereft of the substance God delights to give to the humble. To such a one taking thus his place in the lowest room, the Lord would say, as in Luke, "Friend, go up higher" (chapter 14: 10). Such a spirit of acknowledged weakness, seen also in Paul as weak among the Corinthians, is calculated to awaken inquiry and support with those who are of the generation of faith, and thus the very lowliness of this speaker but invites the greater attention, on the part of those of kindred mind, to the wealth which he has gathered. Such are not slow to detect the divine credentials found with a true servant of the Lord, who is marked by the meek and lowly spirit of his Master. Thus Agur, and those with him, may be likened to the element of temple inquiry in which alone we get divine help as we look into the truth together.
We come now to verse 4: "Who hath ascended up into the heavens, and descended?" This would refer to the Lord Jesus. He ascended far above all heavens to fill all things. He has gone up in the majesty and dignity of His Person. He has ascended, but He also descended. In what love He went up, but then in what love He went down, even into death and into the lower parts of the earth, in that dignity which alone could be His as He went forth bearing His cross!
Then we read, "Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?" The wind in this scripture no doubt would
refer to the power of the enemy, but then, what power there is with the Lord! The enemy raises storms, but in His fists the Lord holds the winds. This is exemplified on the Lake of Galilee when He said "Peace, be still" (Mark 4:39, Authorised Version), and there was a great calm. Then again how the Lord in His death bound the waters of death in a garment! Also it says, "Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?" You can well see that there is a veiled reference here to God's great operations of divine love and power universally, as given effect to by the Son of His love -- His going up in majesty and dignity, His coming down in infinite love, and the power now that is His in regard to the winds blowing against His people. He has bound the waters in a garment, the garment conveying the thought of the Lord in manhood, having the mastery over death, as binding its waters. How engaging are His movements among us in this character on the first day of the week!
How various are the features in this chapter which come under the thoughtful consideration of this inquirer! He is an observer marked by the knowledge born of reflection, and thus given to spiritual thoughtfulness. His audience may be small numerically, because what is casual and superficial easily catches the popular ear, while the depth of feeling which attaches to spiritual thoughtfulness is at a discount in Christendom. This but adds value to the presence of those two listeners, challenging us as
they do as to whether we are of their company. If there are two of such the Lord may be pleased to add more, and we would covet to be among them. How necessary is this spirit of discernment between good or evil if we are to have our living part, as in the next chapter, in the understanding and pursuit of what is good as seen in the virtuous woman, who, as commanding the confidence of her husband, does him good and not evil all the days of her life!
Think of the value, too, in heaven's sight, of a life devoted to doing good to the Lord Jesus. Perhaps one here may say, 'I set aside the Lord's Day wherein to do the Lord good', but which of our few and brief remaining days can we afford to let pass devoid of this service of love to Him? Let us give Him daily something positive and refreshing to His heart and the heart of the blessed God. Then we shall not lack in serving love to others.
In regard to the second scripture, Agur comes to what is too wonderful for him. He has under-standing, but now he comes to something that is beyond him; and there is a reason for that, for he belongs to an earlier economy, and has not the knowledge of who this wonderful Person is. John, although emphasising the inscrutability of the Person, presents Him in the first chapter of his gospel as the Word become flesh. And then he presents Him as the ascending One in the twentieth chapter, and as the descending One in those wonderful chapters 13 to 18, treading love's glorious way into death.
John's ministry, as that of the other apostles also, would enable us to see that these things are not too wonderful for us; wonderful they are, but not too wonderful; that is, as having the Spirit indwelling us in liberty, we have some understanding of what this means. The Lord would not make things easy to the spiritual inquirer, for He intends to promote with him diligent search as with those of old at Berea, who thus acquired nobility in the view of heaven (Acts 17:11). "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing" (Proverbs 25:2). There is what has come to us in the simplicity of the Gospel, but then love is tested in following up matters in thoughtful and diligent temple inquiry and appropriation.
Auckland, N.Z., 10 July 1943. [1 of 2].
F. Ide
Genesis 12; Genesis 13:14 - 18; John 3:35 - 36
The first thing Abraham did in Egypt was to deny his relation to his wife; she was to be his sister. We are powerless as in the world to render testimony as to the assembly; though we have a great interest in the preaching of the gospel, yet have no room for the assembly, no delight in the great vessel of purpose. Why is this? They can preach the gospel, they have committed themselves up to a point, but they have no room for the assembly. There is no place in Egypt for it. If you are in Egypt, you cannot give any testimony, any expression, in regard to that into
which God has brought us in relation to His purpose.
So it was with Abraham. He found himself in Egypt, and denied his wife. Pharaoh came in -- God in His government overruling things, intervening. God will have His servant preserved according to what He has purposed, so He comes in. How is Abraham recovered? He owns his wife. Pharaoh comes to him and says, What have you been doing, why did you disavow that she was your wife? He admits it; that is the point of recovery. The result is that Pharaoh says, "take her, and go away". What a deliverance! His relation to Sarah meant his preservation, and he found himself back in that which was in accord with the purpose of God.
Do we own our relation in regard to the assembly, that wondrous vessel of purpose? Are we known as those who have living links with it? If so it means preservation from the world, deliverance from it. Pharaoh says, Take your wife, and go away. What a deliverance, as I said, that Abraham might again take up and enter into that which was in accord with God's purpose for him; it goes on to say in the thirteenth chapter that Abraham was back in Canaan. What are your links in regard to the assembly? Every one who has a link with Christ forms part of it. Have you taken up, definitely, your links in relation to it? This includes fellowship. Dear brethren, if you take up your links with that which is in accord with the purpose of the blessed God, there will be no room for you in Egypt.
And so one would speak to young people. You
may not know much about the purpose of God; but He would have you wholly and practically committed to that of which you form part; if you have a link with Christ, He would have you to take up that link here, practically. It would mean salvation to you, preservation from the world's system, and it would enable you to enter into all the thoughts of God. We find here that Abraham goes back to Bethel, and God comes to him again and tells him to take a view of the land "northward and southward and eastward and westward", to walk through the length and breadth of it.
What a blessed joy it is to enter into the purpose of God! And it was to Abraham, he dwelt in it (chapter 13: 18). There is no question of leaving it now. Abraham's moves onwards from this point were generally in accord with the thoughts of God. God could come to him, He could now visit him and unfold His mind to him, preserving him and honouring him. You will observe the great difference in Lot, who was evidently damaged in Egypt; he preferred the plain of the Jordan, he seemed to think this like the garden of Jehovah, linking it with Egypt (chapter 13: 10). How did he know anything of Egypt? Abraham had taken him down there. What serious consequences and effects often occur because we have not got our hearts set in accordance with the purpose of God, not only with ourselves, but to others, as we see Lot here!
You may ask, How may we be helped to come into these things? I read the verses in John 3 to this
end. They convey something of the spiritual feelings and emotions of John. He has been going over, in his gospel, much that transpired with regard to Christ; he has spoken previously of John the Baptist, how he could say, I have heard the Bridegroom's voice, and my joy is full (chapter 3: 29). And, as John the Evangelist goes over it, as he takes account of the movements of that blessed Person, he breaks out, "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand". His soul was enwrapped with the greatness of that Person; he could see how He stood out in all His blessedness and perfection in regard to the Father. With his heart set upon such a Person, you can understand that a man like John would be preserved; you will not find John moving down into Egypt. Why? Because he is satisfied, he has entered into the thoughts of God, how all was going to be established and brought in by this glorious Person.
John is taking account of all that, and his soul overflows in those spiritual emotions, and you can see he would be preserved as to the purpose of God. He is one who brings in those living affections and emotions which would characterise the wondrous vessel of purpose, the assembly. He was sustained and preserved! Would you like to be kept in regard to all that stands in relation to the purpose of God? You may say, you young people, How can I be? Well, John shows you the way of it. As his soul was absorbed with the Person of Christ, do you think he would be deflected or go astray, and forget all that had come to him as light? Never! What God has
purposed in eternal love would be brought into effect through the Person of whom John speaks; "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand"! That is the way of love and wisdom, and John was absorbed in Him who could effect all the mind of God and be the Centre of the whole domain of glory.
In Abraham's history you will find from Genesis 22 that he moved, typically, in the good of resurrection. No turning aside now, for his heart was set upon Isaac, the one who would typify the blessed Person of Christ, the Man out of death, the Man in resurrection, in whom everything was to be established: what was promised to Abraham and established in Isaac. So it is with the Lord Jesus. Our hearts are filled with the knowledge of the love of Christ -- it "surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19). As knowing it, we get some impression of all that He has secured and brought us into it in regard of the purpose of God -- the breadth, length, depth, and height of it -- the expanse of glory you look out upon from the centre. Who is the Centre? That blessed Person, as I said. Have you ever been with Him, known what it is to stand by Him in spirit in His present circumstances, and look out on the expanse of glory, the result of what has been secured according to the purpose of God? If you have, you can speak of the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. That would hold you.
May the Lord help us to enter into these things now, and be formed by them, and have our hearts
overflowing. The more we understand the blessed-ness and eternal joy of all that has been purposed for us by the blessed God, the more we shall understand the glory and the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and apprehend His greatness, His pre-eminence, and know the love that surpasses knowledge. We often find ourselves holding the truth merely objectively, as I said, but knowing what it is to have our life connected with the joy God has set before us, and established in Christ, then we shall be able to break out with spiritual emotions, and speak of that wondrous Person, and our hearts shall go out in praise and adoration to the blessed God.
Words of Grace and Comfort, Teddington, England, Volume 8 (1932), pages 263 - 271 [2 of 2].
I am not aware that this expression, "the judgment-seat of God" or "the judgment-seat of Christ", is found anywhere else than in Romans 14 and 2 Corinthians 5in the first of these two passages with a view to prevent individual judgments; in the second with a view to provoke to do good.
The subject in itself is one of the most solemn and at the same time most blessed, and this so much the
+The best editions read in Romans 14:10, "judgment-seat of God".
more as we understand it rightly. I believe that each act of our lives will be manifested then before the tribunal, according as the grace of God and His ways with us in connection with our own acts will be known then. We read (Romans 14:12) that "each of us shall give an account concerning himself to God"; and the word, in this passage, mentions the tribunal in connection with the exhortation to brethren not to judge one another in respect of days, meats, or any other such thing.
I am disposed to think that the acts alone will be subject to manifestation; but all the private acts of our life depend so intimately upon our inward feelings, that it is, in a certain sense, difficult to distinguish the acts from the simple thoughts. The acts manifest the power of the thought or of the feeling. I believe that the whole of our acts will be detailed there, before the judgment-seat, not for us however, as if we were in the flesh, and thus to our condemnation, but to make evident to our own eyes the grace that occupied itself with us -- regenerate or unregenerate.
In the counsels of God I am elect before the foundation of the world; hence I think that my own history will be detailed before the judgment-seat, and, parallel with it, the history of the grace and of the mercy of God toward me. The why and the how we did this or that will be manifested then. For us the scene will be declarative, not judicial. We are not in the flesh before God; in His eyes by His grace we are dead. But then, if we have walked according to the flesh, we must see how we lost in blessing
thereby, and what loss we have incurred; and, on the other hand, the ways of God towards us, all ways of wisdom, of mercy, and of grace, will be perfectly known and understood by us for the first time. The history of each one will come out in perfect transparency; it will be seen how you yielded and how He preserved you, how your foot slipped and how He raised you up again, how you were drawing near danger and shame and how He by His own arm interposed.
I believe this is the bride making herself ready, and I consider that moment as a wondrous one. There will be no flesh then to be condemned; but the new nature will enter into the full knowledge of the care and of the love, which, in true holiness and in righteousness and even in grace, have followed us step by step all through the running of the race. Some parts of our life, till then entirely unexplained, will be fully disclosed and become altogether plain; some tendencies of our nature, that perhaps we do not judge to be so pernicious and deadly as they are, and for the mortification of which we are perhaps now subjected to a discipline that we may not have interpreted aright, will be then perfectly explained; and, what is more, the very falls that plunge us now into such bitter anguish will be seen then to be that which God used to preserve us from something more terrible. I do not think that until then we shall ever have had a full knowledge of the badness of our flesh.
How blessed for us to know that then it will be not only all over with the flesh in the counsel of
God, but that the flesh will no longer be attached to us! On the other side, I doubt not, the manifestation of God's grace toward us individually will be so magnificent that even the sense of the perversity of the flesh that we had, if it could possibly enter there, would be excluded by the greatness of the sense of divine goodness. Why do we not deny and mortify the flesh when we think of that hour? The Lord grant that we may do so more and more to the glory of His grace. This great subject of the judgment-seat brings the soul to a very full knowledge of our individual standing.
The Collected Writings of J.N.D., Volume 23, pages 369, 370.
The dew prepares a clean place for the manna to fall on; it cannot fall on the earth; there must be a preparation for it; it falls on the refreshed affections of the people of God ...
If we do not gather what He gives we become feeble. And it [the manna] had to be gathered before "the sun became hot" (Exodus 16:21).
The sun represents the influences of the day, and if saints do not get the dew and the manna before the influences of the day come upon them, they will not be provisioned for the day's needs.
It would have been a bad day for an Israelite if he had overslept! Alas! we often do that, and the apostle warns us that "it is already time that we should be aroused out of sleep" (Romans 13:11).
Extract, Ministry by C. A. Coates, Volume 2, pages 88, 90.
Matthew 13:45, 46; 1 Samuel 25:39 - 42; Song of Songs 4:6 - 16; Song of Songs 5:1; Revelation 19:6 - 8; Revelation 21:2, 9 - 11
The Lord Jesus, as a blessed Man, has in the assembly that which is for Himself. My desire is to occupy us with what the assembly is to the Lord Jesus, because I believe she is foremost in His heart's affection, the one for whom He has given Himself.
In Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus is presented as "a merchant seeking beautiful pearls", a Man who knew the value of that for which He was looking, and He finds "one pearl of great value". I would like us to consider the value of the assembly to the Lord Jesus. Value is not a matter of price; it is what an object is to the one who has it, or who desires it. He "found one pearl of great value" -- in type, the assembly -- and He expressed what that value was to Himself by the price that He was prepared to pay for it: "he went and sold all whatever he had and bought it". Do you appreciate that the Lord Jesus has paid a tremendous price to secure the assembly for Himself?
Paul tells us that "the Christ also loved the assembly and has delivered himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25); and he exhorted the elders of Ephesus to "shepherd the assembly of God, which he has purchased with the blood of his own" (Acts 20:28).
The purchase price was the blood of One who before God was perfect and who had fully satisfied His heart. He has bought it; the rights to it belong to Him; it is precious to Him. The assembly should become more precious to us as we appreciate how precious she is to the Lord. It is important that each one of us gets a richer and fuller appreciation of the value that Christ has of His assembly, and that should help us to be more faithful to the Lord Jesus at the present time, and enhance our valuation of one another as those who have part in what Christ has secured for Himself.
Where we read in 1 Samuel 25, the day is very similar to the one in which we live; David was in rejection. Samuel had died, Saul was thinking only of himself, and those that had come under the benefit and influence of David, typically, Christ, did not appreciate him. "Who is David?" Nabal says (verse 10), and yet Nabal's young men could testify to the kindness of David's messengers (verses 14 - 17). We live in a land where much benefit has accrued to men as a result of the Person and the work of the Lord Jesus, and yet it is not much appreciated. Against that background, there was this woman Abigail who was "of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance" (verse 4). She was a woman of discernment, and, in contrast to Nabal, she knew who David was, and she knew God's thoughts in relation to him: "the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God" (verse 29). She knew that David was going to be king.
At the present time, the assembly too is to be marked by discernment, and understanding that Christ is going to reign supreme. So there is to be an answer at the present time among those who are prepared to be associated with Him in His rejection, and to be a present comfort to Him. I would like to encourage each of us to contribute to what is a present comfort to the heart of the Lord Jesus. May there be in our hearts a greater appreciation of what He is in the sight of God, and let us be identified with Him, and separate from this world where He has been rejected.
David appreciated the features that marked Abigail. No doubt her beauty was very attractive, but what was particularly precious to David was that she was prepared to minister to him and to his men. That, I think, is what we are called to do at the present time, beloved: to be prepared to minister to the Lord Jesus and to His people. Maybe we need to sacrifice in order that the saints might be served, to go on in subjection and humility, prepared to be here for the Lord Jesus. This is not just something that is individual; there is to be a united response from the hearts of the saints to the Lord Jesus. It is particularly when the saints are together that they afford this present comfort to the heart of Christ.
So it says very simply as to Abigail that she "went after the messengers of David, and became his wife". What a comfort a wife is! David here, typical of the Lord Jesus, had one in whom he can confide. The assembly today is to be considering for Christ
and His interests, responsibly and intelligently; there is to be nothing haphazard in the way that matters are dealt with amongst the saints; what the "woman of worth" does in Proverbs 31 is regulated and prosperous. Let us be encouraged to consider for the present comfort of the heart of Christ.
In the Song of Songs we come to what is peculiarly precious, "my spouse" suggesting the assembly as the companion of Christ in secret communion. What delight He has in this companion! How precious the assembly is in His sight! You think of the beautiful features that are portrayed here: "Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee". She is of Himself and like Himself and is for Himself, and there is nothing in her that is unsuited to this blessed Man. As typifying the Lord's appreciation of the assembly, that is something that we can enjoy particularly as gathered together at the Supper on the first day of the week. You will remember that it says of Isaac that he led Rebecca "into his mother Sarah's tent ... and she became his wife, and he loved her" (Genesis 24:67), suggesting the enjoyment that Christ has in His assembly, what is for His heart alone. How precious it is to Him!
There are features of the spouse in Song of Songs 4 that suggest to us the delight of the Lord Jesus in His spouse, the assembly. "Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse". You think of the heart of the Lord Jesus as a Man ravished with what He has in the assembly. Those words show the
pleasure that is in His heart; His affection for the assembly is no less now than when He "delivered himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25). It is an active love, and there is something that is responsively for His heart's satisfaction, and He is enjoying it. May we have our part in what He is enjoying! "Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes ... How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse!" How fair it is! He appreciates the responses that flow back to Him, that tell Him of the love that is in the heart of the assembly for Him, the united affections of the saints which have been preserved for Him. "How much better is thy love than wine!" It says that "new wine ... cheers God and man" (Judges 9:13), but the love of the assembly for Christ is better than wine. There is nothing like it to the heart of Christ, so let us give it to Him.
"A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed". How much care is needed that what is for His heart is preserved for Him, "A garden enclosed". Are our affections "enclosed" at this time for Christ, for His satisfaction? Then there is "A fountain in the gardens" and "A well of living waters". I believe the Spirit would strengthen and stimulate us so that what has been wrought by His service in our affections should be released for the refreshment and delight of Christ. "Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat its precious fruits". There is to be no reservation in the affections of the saints as united in
their desire to give pleasure to the heart of Christ. "I am come into my garden ... I have gathered ..." What pleasure the Lord Jesus finds in the responses of the assembly! Do not let this become diminished, beloved. Let this be stimulated amongst us. Let our affections flow out to Him. How much has been gathered up in your heart, and in mine, that, as set together amongst the saints, can be released for the praise of the Lord Jesus, for the satisfaction of His heart? Oh! Let us be stimulated as to it because He is looking for an answer and He would delight to come where love is. May we be preserved in it.
In Revelation 19 we read of "the marriage of the Lamb", and, it says, "his wife has made herself ready". How precious to consider the assembly as suited to Christ, the Lamb, the One who has suffered, and that she has made herself ready. I believe that what we have already been considering is contributing to her preparation. "It was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints". The righteous acts of the saints, in the working out of their daily lives here in faithfulness to Christ, all contribute to that lovely garment of "fine linen, bright and pure".
"The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready". The reference to the "wife", is remarkable, for the assembly is viewed as wife before she is as bride. "Wife" relates to her affectionate, responsible caring for the Lord's interests at the present time, the time of His absence.
In Revelation 21:9, 10 we see the bride, the Lamb's wife, coming out into display as "the holy city ... having the glory of God", representing what she has acquired throughout this dispensation that is suitable and pleasurable to God and the Lord Jesus. What a display of glory there will be in the assembly! What a reflection of the glory of Christ! The assembly comes down "out of the heaven from God ... having the glory of God. Her shining was like a most precious stone, as a crystal-like jasper stone ..." I believe that would be a reflection of what is in Christ. Let us understand that the assembly is to be a reflection of what is seen in Christ testimonially at the present time. The "crystal-like jasper stone", speaks of the absolute transparency that was seen in the Lord Jesus. He was the One who could say that He was "Altogether that which I also say to you" (John 8:25). The transparency that was so pleasurable to the heart of God in Christ here will be seen in the assembly in that glorious day of display.
In Revelation 21:2 we see the assembly "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband". How wonderful, adorned for Christ! I wonder if we have reflected on this matter of adorning. Are we acquiring moral features in our lives at the present time, features that will be for the glory of God eternally? You think of that word as to wives, "whose adorning let it not be that outward one of tressing of hair, and wearing gold, or putting on apparel; but the hidden man of the heart, in the
incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price" (1 Peter 3:3, 4). Such a spirit is not of value in this world, but it is of great value to Christ and to God.
I would just like to leave these thoughts with you, beloved, to consider and to be stimulated in relation to them, as appreciating the value that Christ had of His assembly, so that He gave Himself for it, that He might have the comfort of a present, intelligent and affectionate response to Him. The assembly will be seen in the day of display, the day of Christ's glory, as His bride, one who is suited to be with Him in His glory. The Holy Spirit, I believe, is working to this end, that the features so pleasing to the Lord Jesus might be formed in the saints. We sang at the outset to the Spirit
What a work the Spirit of God is engaged in, that there might be a suited bride for Christ's glory. May we all be stimulated in relation to these things, for His Name's sake.
J. Taylor
Luke 1:39, 40; Philippians 3:20
I wanted to bring out the thought of the "hill country". Scripture speaks of it, as you will observe in the verse in Luke 1; and it speaks of it elsewhere,
as I hope to show. The example set by Mary, the mother of the Lord, in this respect is to be followed. Her movements before the Lord's birth, one might say, are more spiritual than those after His birth, and the example she sets us here is to be noted and to be followed. She "went", we are told, "into the hill country with haste".
The Lord also paid attention to the hill country, and in the epistles we have that which corresponds to the hill country in the gospels; especially the passage I have read from Philippians. It denotes the spiritual hill country, and I want to show that the tendency of the spiritual is to repair to that country. Our citizenship is there. The apostle had been there himself, so he is a competent witness. We have heard of climbers; people who climbed Mt. McKinley+, or the Himalayas. They can give some account of the character of the atmosphere in these high altitudes. Now the apostle had been in this altitude of which he speaks here. You will all remember how in his second letter to the Corinthians he tells us that in Damascus he was let down over the wall in a basket (chapter 11: 33). It is remarkable that he should tell us it was in a basket. There is more in it than the mere historical fact of his being let down in such a manner. He was not caught up to heaven in a basket. In the next chapter, 2 Corinthians 12, he is said to have been caught up into Paradise. Certainly
+Highest mountain in N. America.
the law of gravitation had nothing to do with that! He says; "whether in the body, I know not, or out of the body I know not, God knows" (verse 2). He knew of the basket. It was a humiliating thing to be reminded of the basket, but the humiliating things go before the elevating things. You never could ascend without descending first. The descending is the humbling thing, and all the humiliating circumstances connected with the descent are impressed on the mind. It is of God that they should remain in the mind.
The question is raised more than once in the Old Testament as to who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? (Psalm 24:3). I wonder if that question has ever been raised in your soul? It is most noteworthy how much is taken for granted by young people. In the Old Testament the questions young people were to raise are provided for. The Israelites were fore- armed in regard to the questions of the young people, in Deuteronomy 6:20. I wonder, young people, if you are accustomed to ask questions. Your parents, as Christians, are supposed to be able to answer. It is a very serious matter to have children. Parents must not only feed and clothe them, they must answer their questions; and if the Spirit of God is working with your child he will put questions to you. You must answer them. The book of Deuteronomy prepares the ground for the questions of the children. The difficulty in this country very largely is that there are no children in the true sense. I do not mean by that that there are not babies, and
girls and boys, but the idea of a child, subject to and deriving a character from the parent is greatly lost sight of in this country. Indeed in every country now, but especially here.
But I was speaking of descending. If you are born into a house in which there is no unleavened bread you never think of it; you will not think of going down. You think of going up in this world. You think of acquiring means, and a position in the social world. Happily a child sometimes makes it for himself, but this is exceptional. The right and safe thing for parents is to have the unleavened bread in the house, and the unleavened bread is sure to raise a question in the minds of the children. Why this? Why do you not have something that inflates the bread like other people? Is not that what a child would say? Well, there is a reason for it, and it is the parents' privilege to explain the reason. Look at Lot's children. Do you think they had any relish for that bread he baked for the angels (Genesis 19:3)? Would they go out of Sodom? To his sons-in-law this was mockery. They had been too well accustomed to leavened bread to have any taste for unleavened bread.
Beware, young man, of the food of Sodom! Have respect for that unleavened bread even if your father has only begun to bake it! Have respect to it, and if he explains it aright he will tell you that your baptism does not mean you are to be a man of this world. It means that you are to be a "little one" as in this world; but the other side is, that you are to be
exalted in God's world. That is what it means. Well, now, in order to ascend into the hill of the Lord you have to learn to descend, as I said. You have to give up all those high thoughts of which the natural mind is fruitful. The thoughts of the human heart ascend up to heaven itself. Capernaum was "raised up to heaven" (Matthew 11:23). That was inflation of thought indeed.
Now the first thing, as I said, is to go down; you have to go down in the eyes of your fellow-work-men, your neighbours and your acquaintances, but God will lift you up. Paul says: "I know a man in Christ". It is not merely a historical thing he is referring to. He does refer to the historical incident, but he refers also to what he knows. "I know a man in Christ". Do you know a man like that? That is a very serious question. If I do not know in myself that I am a man in Christ, it is unlikely that I shall discern another. Paul knew one. I think if he had known any in Corinth he would have said so. "I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago ... such a one caught up to the third heaven". He knew that man. Whether caught up in the body, or out of it, he did not know, but he knew what was there. Think of that! Caught up into Paradise! He was truly in the hill country! He heard wonderful things; things that were not lawful for a man to utter. Paul is thus a competent witness as to the character of the "hill country".
Now I wish just to give descriptions of certain eminences in the hill country. I call attention to the
cities of refuge in Canaan, not in Bashan, but in Canaan. There were three cities of refuge on either side of the Jordan (see Joshua 20). The three that were in Canaan were in the hill country; one in the hill country of Naphtali; one in the hill country of Ephraim; and one in the hill country of Judah. They were all in the hill country. Now that is very significant, and I want to come back to it in a moment, because the cities of refuge have reference to those who are under the influence of heaven, who reflect what is in heaven, that is, the assembly. I will dwell on that just in a moment, but I wanted to come to the eminences in the hill country which may be scripturally designated.
The first one in the gospels is what may be regarded as the legislative hill. It is found in Matthew 5. The Lord Jesus is pleased to go up into the mountain, it is said. The Lord was owned by the Father; attention was called to Him; and He attracts disciples. We are told in Matthew 5 that He went up into a mountain and called His disciples and opened His mouth to teach, and we are told what He taught; what He laid down in His teaching had reference to the principles by which the people of God and the kingdom of God were to be governed and regulated.
Now remember, it is not enough to be a disciple. You have to learn to govern. You do not learn it in the plain. The Lord might have spoken on the plain, but He did not. He took the disciples to the mountain to speak. Now, you say, I am not in a position to rule; but you are, and you have to begin with
One of the most important lessons to be learned by a believer is how to rule himself. You do not get the ideas from [the US] Congress, nor even from Moses. Time after time the Lord insists; "I say unto you". Are you listening to what He says? If you do not listen to what He says you will never rule yourself, and if you do not rule yourself you will never rightly rule another. And yet the Christian, in the mind of God, is intended to rule the universe. He is intended, according to Paul, to judge even angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). How serious! Have you learned to rule yourself, to govern your own spirit? You must go to the mount of legislation for that, and you must go up with the Lord. How important to be withdrawn from the influence of the plain! Those friends of yours whose acquaintance you have made in business; the children of your father's neighbours; these are found in the plain. If you stay there you will never learn to rule yourself. You must isolate yourself and ascend with the Lord Jesus, and listen to those wonderful pronouncements of His. "I say unto you". How worthy of attention is such legislation as that!
Ministry by J. Taylor, Indianapolis, Volume 8, pages 437 - 441. [1 of 2] 1916.
P. Lyon
Proverbs 30:1 - 4, 18 - 20
It is to be noticed that there is an allusion to what is inscrutable in these four things (verse 19). Now I wish
to make it clear, dear brethren, that I am seeking only to make an application, and do not assume to interpret the passage, which seems divinely intended to be in measure veiled, but I would suggest that it bears prophetically upon the present dispensation.
The first thing mentioned is "the way of an eagle in the heavens". This thought is set forth in the Lord Jesus. As He says, "no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven" (John 3:13). The eagle in its unrivalled power of flight has, so to speak, the liberty of the heavens; it can go anywhere it will. And so the Lord is presented as the ascending One -- He had in His person that inherent right, a divine right unique to Himself.
But then the ascended One has now opened heaven to us in the Spirit's power. John is in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, he can soar; that is the time to soar, when conditions are divinely favourable. If we do not soar then, shall we do so as found in prayer, or in spiritual inquiry together, or in the meeting for ministry? We are to soar in spiritual power as a bird does in the open heavens. It has the inherent power that assures its liberty in a realm from which others are excluded.
Then we have "the way of a serpent upon a rock". You will understand that I am referring to a rock here not as representing the Lord personally, but rather the situation resulting from the presence of the Lord in manhood here, a situation in which the tactics of Satanic opposition were brought to
"The ruler of the world comes, and in me he has nothing" (John 14:30). The Lord discerned his every move. He detected what was behind Peter's defection and met it with that word of rebuke, "Get away behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23). He knew Judas from the beginning, saying "of you one is a devil" (John 6:70). The descent of the Lord Jesus in grace into manhood, one would say with reverence, gave opportunity for the serpent's attack. His foes in their subtle questions sought to wrest His words, but all to their confusion. Think again of the tremendous power brought to bear against Him in the temptations, and finally at Gethsemane, but then all this has resulted in the serpent's exposure and defeat. The blessed Lord stood His ground here, even to the death of the cross. "That through death he might annul him who has the might of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14).
But then the Lord would set us up individually in spiritual power to detect and resist the enemy's devices and to stand our ground against him -- as the word is "prove the spirits, if they are of God" (1 John 4:1). And again, "every one begotten of God does not sin, but he that has been begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him" (1 John 5:18). How impregnable, also, is the assembly, as of the rock against which the gates of Hades shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18)!
The next thought is "the way of a ship in the midst of the sea". I would suggest that here we have
an allusion to the testimony going through victoriously. We need have no fear as to this, for He who once went through this scene of death in triumph, freighted with all the treasures of divine love, will preserve His own. "Those thou hast given me I have guarded, and not one of them has perished, but the son of perdition" (John 17:12). And then again the word to the disciples is "be of good courage: I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Thus Paul had no fear but that the testimony would go through. He was concerned that Timothy should continue, for many then, as now, were among the deserters. But Luke had stood by. "Luke alone is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11). Deserters here are seldom reinstated, but such is the dispensation of grace that a Mark who fled from Pamphylia is recovered spiritually to acceptable service. "Take Mark, and bring him with thyself, for he is serviceable to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11).
The ship of the testimony is homeward bound. Let us be livingly in it. We cannot be mere passengers on that ship. There is no provision for such. Paul made no secret that there were storms ahead, as indicated in the second epistle to Timothy, and elsewhere. But the ship is going through triumphantly under the hand of the Lord, who is the Defender of the testimony. We are told of many ships starting across the Lake of Gennesaret, but we only hear of one reaching the other side, the one the Lord was in. There are many denominational ships today, but they are not seaworthy; they are
water-logged from the start. How blest and safe to be in the same barque with Christ!
Now, one word as to the last thought, "the way of a man with a maid". We think of the Lord ascending far above all heavens; we see Him descending in love; we see Him in the testimony as Defender of it bringing the church through many a storm into the desired haven, and now we have this thought, "the way of a man with a maid". May this not be viewed as a veiled allusion to the relations of Christ and the assembly? His love so expressed -- "This is my body, which is for you" (1 Corinthians 11:24), and then love's answer -- "I have espoused you unto one man, to present you a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2)!
How different by contrast is the woman in verse twenty, representing as she does the great imitative system marked by marital unfaithfulness, which she would seek to cover in hypocrisy! "Such is the way of an adulterous woman". But she is exposed in her attempted assumption of the feature of inscrutability marking the previous four. The Lord's ascent on high, His descent into death, His passing through in triumph -- all these activities of love converge on His relationships of love with the church.
The man with the maid conveys the thought of the overtures of love in which the man leads -- takes the initiative, as it were (otherwise there must be disaster even in natural relationships). This relationship of love will develop and abide to eternity, where there are no winds to be held in His
fists, when those who are allowed to raise adverse winds here shall have been cast into the lake of fire, and there shall be eternal peace, unruffled by the storms of the foe. What we are here considering will abide eternally -- Christ for the assembly and the assembly for Christ.
In closing I would briefly illustrate these thoughts as seen in Acts. First as to the way of an eagle in the air. The Lord as the ascending One appeared among His disciples for forty days (chapter 1). How He would set forth the liberty of that scene to which He belonged, before His disciples, set up as they were through the gift of the Holy Spirit (chapter 2), in the liberty of heaven! What a favour is ours in having such an outlet Godward! We have thus the power to rise and in the spirit of sonship to cry "Abba Father" (Romans 8:15). "If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free" (John 8:36).
Secondly, how well Peter was able to detect the movements of the enemy in Acts 5! In Ananias and Sapphira the foe has come very near, but Peter foils the enemy's attack.
What a comfort to feel that the subtle movements of Satan, apparently so baffling, will be exposed! The gates of Hades are not going to prevail, and however subtle and skilled the foe may appear to be (as he is described by the prophet, Ezekiel 28:11 - 19) he is but an instrument in the hand of God. He has sinned from the beginning. There is no forgiveness for the tempter -- there is for the tempted; such is the
discriminating fairness of God.
Then in Acts 7 may we not liken Stephen's spirit to a steadfast barque upon a stormy sea ploughing its way through the winds and waves of opposition and eventual martyrdom? What an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom was his! Was there ever such pressure in suffering, save in the unparalleled sufferings of the Lord Himself at Gethsemane and at Calvary? The storm increases round Stephen, but he enters harbour in full sail. He went right through in triumph and at the end he used what strength his enemies had left him to pray for them. Was there ever such a victory, save with his blessed Master Himself? The ship of the testimony is also seen in chapter 8 and thereafter continuing its onward course. All this leads up to the thought of the man with the maid -- the mystery of God regarding Christ and the assembly, as implied in the Lord's utterance from heaven to Saul, "why dost thou persecute me?" (chapter 9: 4).
We have then these four features: first the liberty of heaven afforded the saints in the gift of the Spirit, the power to rise given them at Pentecost; secondly, the ability to detect the foe as seen in Peter when he marked his deadly attempt to enter in amongst the saints; thirdly in Stephen and Philip and others, we see the ship of the testimony making headway though the storms increase; and finally, we come to what introduces us to the great issue of all these, the truth of the mystery as implied in the Lord's use of the word "me" in Acts 9:4. Christ is in heaven and
the assembly here. Paul has of course his part in all these thoughts, but the first three features are all in view of the crowning issue, the man with a maid. How Paul developed that thought in his ministry!
May the Lord in His grace encourage us to move on in all that this suggests, so that we may grace that heavenly vessel, the assembly, in the gain of all these spiritual experiences!
Auckland, N.Z., 10 July 1943. [2 of 2].
Very allied to the truths relating to the responsibility of the house of God are those which refer to the church of God as the candlestick or light-bearer. We have seen in a previous paper that the church occupies this place of light-bearer during the time Israel is cut off as the people of God and while Christ is absent. It holds a position of responsibility, while Christ is in heaven, to maintain the light of God on earth. Hence in Revelation 2 and 3 the church is seen under the figure of seven golden candlesticks (see Revelation 1:20).
It is in no sense the object of the writer of this paper to expound these two chapters in Revelation. All that is desired is to draw attention to the fact that the church is thus presented there and to consider a few practical thoughts in this connection.
The Lord Jesus said to His disciples in view of His rejection, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). And He Himself indeed had occupied this position. He said so, as we may read in John 8:12. But Jesus was going to be rejected. The pure and heavenly light which ever shone in Him was to be extinguished as far as the malice of man and Satan's power could do so. It was indeed to vanish as far as Jesus Himself was concerned. He was going back to heaven and the world would see Him no more. But the power of man and Satan combined are no match against the power of God. And it was God's will to continue the light which had been exhibited in Jesus. The disciples, who afterwards became the church, had the privilege of being the "light of the world".
The seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches, we are told. The idea suggested by the number seven is completeness, or perfection, and therefore we gather that the church is presented in its entirety under the figure here employed. And the church is set in this position to exhibit the light which was seen in Christ. It is not that she is to shine with her own light, as if she were the source of it, but with the light of Christ. Just as the moon reflects the light of the sun in the night time, when that greater orb is hidden from our view, so the church is to reflect the light of Christ during the night of His rejection. And it is only as the church enjoys the light of Christ that she herself is luminous.
What an honour to confer upon any company!
What could be a greater privilege than to be the continuity of the light of Christ?
The light has not been extinguished, for Christ has His own here. The Spirit of Christ has produced Christ-likeness in those who belong to Christ. And through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ the light which shone in Jesus is maintained in His own.
Blessed privilege to be for Christ here! May it be ours to shine more brightly!
But although, through the power of the Spirit of God, the light which shone in Jesus will ever be maintained, yet, as a corporate and responsible witness to the truth, the church as a whole has very seriously failed. We cannot read Revelation 2 and 3 without seeing this. The Lord is there seen as scrutinising that which is the responsible vessel of light and His eyes of flame detect departure.
We need scarcely remark that everything committed to man's responsibility ends in failure. And it is not long before the failure begins. Adam quickly lost Eden. Noah soon failed to govern himself. Israel speedily departed out of the way and made the golden calf. And so we might cite case after case. Failure is always found with responsibility whenever man is concerned. Christ, blessed be His name! is the grand exception. He stands alone!
The failure does not commence with overt signs; the heart is the beginning of the trouble. The works, the labour, the patience and the intolerance of evil seen in Ephesus speak of outward order and a zeal for christian propriety; but the heart was dull, and
out of the heart proceed the issues of life. "First love" (Revelation 2:4) had waned. Objects other than Christ engaged the heart so that He had not the place of ruling supremacy.
Now let us observe that this was so quite early in the church's history. We believe that in the addresses to the seven churches of Asia we have a prophetic view of the history of the decline of the church from the days of the apostles. The declension as it began is set forth in the address to Ephesus, and it culminates in Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea. That which should have exhibited the pure light is rebuked by Christ because of failure. The Lord ever abides the same, and His position in the midst of the seven candlesticks necessitates that He must notice departure. What a solemn reflection this is!
Satan at first tried to put out the light altogether by opposition. Persecution fell upon the followers of the despised Nazarene. But this could not be done. The persecution was rather used by the Lord, who permitted it as discipline, and many saints were encouraged by the words, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give to thee the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).
Extermination proving impossible, the adversary resorted to corruption. This, alas! did succeed only too well, as far as the church as the collective wit-ness to the light was concerned. Where opposition failed, flattery and corruption gained the victory.
History tells us how Christianity began with a despised and persecuted company. But its followers
became popular and worldly, and the profession of Christianity was embraced by emperors and the world. Hence that which bears the name of Christianity today is not what existed at the beginning at all, but is a mixture of heathenism and Judaism with the form and name of Christianity attached.
But has the light gone then? Has God been defeated? If the church as a whole has failed to shed forth the light of Christ, is there no witness now?
Impossible! Although the corporate testimony of the church has been corrupted, God has always had His witnesses on earth.
Individuals in the church have been these witnesses. Hence it is we read of the various promises to those who overcome. This is very encouraging. If the whole church is corrupt there is no reason, dear reader, why you and I may not shine as brightly as ever.
Let us be quite clear as to this. From the very beginning of the departure, individuals have been God's witnesses. It cannot be doubted that the church as a whole has entirely failed to answer to God's mind as the light-bearer. There has never been a wholly true collective witness to the light on the part of the whole church since the earliest days. All testimony depends upon individual faithfulness after the failure of the church as a corporate witness. The responsibility of the whole company remains and God is slow to judge, as we may learn from Revelation 2:21. And, indeed, the testimony itself
remains the same+; it is corporate in its character. But we reach this testimony individually and it is dependent practically upon individual faithfulness.
To be a true witness and to really shine as a light for Christ it is necessary to overcome amidst all the failure which exists in that which bears the name of Christianity -- failure which has resulted from that first departure, "thou hast left thy first love". May the Lord keep our hearts! It is there the trouble always begins. Outward order may be maintained, a true ecclesiastical position rigorously held; but where is the heart? To Ephesus the solemn word comes, "thou hast left thy first love".
It is no wonder that at the end the Lord has to knock at the door from outside (Revelation 3:20). We are not surprised that wickedness like Jezebel's is seen, that doctrine like Balaam's is held, that deathlike formality and cold profession, like that portrayed in Sardis, marks the church. All is the outcome of first love waning; all departure begins at the heart!
Presently the Lord will spue the false witness out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). An insipid lukewarmness marks everything. And along with this there is a religious pride which can boast of riches and feel
+Let the reader seek grace to hold the balance of truth carefully! God’s testimony has not changed and it implies unity. We cannot restore the testimony as it existed in the beginning; but individually we must seek grace to walk according to that which is proper to the whole church of God.
need of nothing. Oh! what a condition for the church to have come to. The Lord says it. He sees it so. It must be true. He cannot lie!
We wish again to remind the reader that we are considering the church as seen in the outward profession of Christ's name. The Lord will soon take His blood-bought people home, and then He will judge the mere profession of His name. There is no wonder at the need to overcome!
We should have been surprised that all could have become what it has, had not the Lord told us beforehand. It would be bold indeed to claim that that which bears the name of Christianity is really setting forth in practice and character that which Jesus exhibited! The church as a whole, as a corporate responsible witness has failed to express the character of Christ and shine for Him. One may with real sincerity inquire, Where are the true followers of the rejected Son of man?
May God give both reader and writer to seek to be such and to be living witnesses to the light which God will maintain to the end in spite of all the failure of man!
The Believer's Friend, Volume 8 (1916), pages 207 - 214.
Acts 6:5, 8; Acts 11:1 - 5; Acts 13:6 - 12; Romans 12:12
Peter says, "I was in the city of Joppa praying", not preaching, nor being entertained by Simon the tanner; but the first thing in his mind was that he was
in the city of Joppa praying, and he became "in an ecstasy". Our service as amongst the brethren, and even those that may contend because they fail to understand what is said, needs to be marked by this precious feature of patience. Peter stresses it; he says, "in your faith have also virtue ... in temperance endurance" -- or patience (2 Peter 1:5, 6). He encourages the saints to be patient in relation to all that they are passing through. Again, Scripture reminds us of the long patience of the husbandman: "having patience", he waits for the early and the latter rain (James 5:7).
Peter was able in moral power to silence the contenders; and we should be ready to serve like that. Much has come before us of late that is of inestimable value, and the ministry has given us a fresh and spiritually enhanced view of the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if it is not understood, shall I contend? If there are contenders, we have need of patience, yet, in that patience, surrendering nothing that has come to us by reason of the operations of God, and the operations of the Holy Spirit. He operates in those that teach and in those that minister, and we must see to it that we take heed to these things.
I now refer briefly to Paul, who was serving, as I have said, in a scene of hostility. He was serving in the glad tidings, and the scripture says that at Salamis "they announced the word of God" (Acts 13:5), but there is no record of any results. Now, I believe the patience of Peter finds expression
in Paul, in relation to this service amongst men. It says, "having passed through the whole island", the whole of it, as if to say they were combing it out. And when they came to Paphos, there was there an intelligent man, Sergius Paulus. The Spirit of God designates him thus -- "an intelligent man". This man called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. Would that there were more like that today!
Paul is in the public sphere; he is serving men along with Barnabas, and as he seeks to serve, the enemy becomes increasingly active. I believe we are surrounded by this kind of thing today. There was a man named Bar-jesus; what a fine name that seemed! How many of the simple and unsuspecting ones have been deceived by names like that -- Bar-jesus -- son of Jesus. He is with the proconsul -- an influential man. The Spirit of God unmasks him, calling him "Elymas the magician", saying, "for so his name is by interpretation". He withstood Barnabas and Saul, "seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith", not now contending about certain things, but here as a direct and definite opposer to the truth, and opposed to the gospel preachers. How is that kind of thing to be met?
We meet this kind of person time after time in our course through this world. There are the sorcerers, there are the spiritists, the scientists who label themselves Christian; there are the millennial dawnists. How are we to meet these deceivers? How did Paul meet them? Would Gamaliel have helped
him here? Anything he had learned at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) would be useless in such a crisis as this. Paul did not attempt to meet him as come from a school of modernism, or from a theological institute, or from the universities of the world; he came from Antioch, where they were ministering to the Lord, and fasting. In that spiritual atmosphere, charged with piety and dependence, the Holy Spirit had said, "Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (verse 2). Then it is said that the brethren "fasted and prayed", not that they prayed and fasted, but "fasted and prayed". The brethren would be careful to fast before they prayed, so that they might ask right things in relation to this unique, this hitherto unknown, service upon which Barnabas and Saul were now to embark.
"Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid their hands on them, they let them go" (verse 3). They did not say, When these men are gone there will be more room for us. I have not the slightest doubt that in their hearts they were sorry to lose these valued servants, but they let them go. They bowed to the sovereignty of a divine Person in His choice, and laid their hands on them and let them go. That is where Saul and Barnabas had come from, and so as this position arises, the Spirit of God, speaking of Saul, says, "But Saul, who also is Paul". Paul the little; see what strength he has, what moral power he has acquired! "filled with the Holy Spirit ... said, O full of all deceit and all craft: son of the devil". He
names this sorcerer according to his right designation. He did not root him up. He left him as he said, "thou shalt be blind ... for a season". Such was Paul's power, and I believe we may have something akin to that in these last and difficult days. We may ask, What was the secret of this great power wielded by the apostle? The secret of it was prayer. He began with it. "Behold he is praying", is what was said to Ananias (Acts 9:11), and he finished up with praying; for in the second epistle to Timothy he reminds him that he prayed "night and day", having in the meantime exhorted the Thessalonian saints to "pray unceasingly" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Do we pray night and day? Paul says, "how unceasingly I have the remembrance of thee in my supplications night and day" (2 Timothy 1:3). That was the kind of servant Paul was. His power in a hostile scene came that way; he was a man of prayer.
I would remind you in closing of that remarkable expression in Romans 12:12 -- "As regards hope, rejoicing". That was seen in Stephen; he was rejoicing in hope. He was soon to be actually taken up, for he could say, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit". What kind of spirit was that? A spirit ready to be transported. Are our spirits like that? We must often feel how much mellowing is needed to take place in our spirits. But Stephen says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). He was rejoicing in hope, and that in regard of "the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).
Then we have "as regards tribulation, enduring". A remarkable and much-needed word in these last
days, when the pressure falls heavily on the saints, as upon men in general. No doubt this is governmental amongst men. But we need patience in serving amongst the brethren. Then finally there is to be perseverance in prayer, so that our service publicly amongst men might be marked by moral courage and power, so that we might rebuke what is unholy and not of God.
We need skill to watch over and guard carefully the work of God, however faintly it may appear; for we are reminded in the two persons, Sergius Paulus and Elymas the magician, of two results from the preaching: the one an "odour from life unto life", and the other an "odour from death unto death" (2 Corinthians 2:16). Sergius Paulus was as a plant which the Father had planted; a prudent man, desiring to hear the word of God. As he saw the effect of Paul's power and teaching, he believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. But alongside of this delicate plant, there is this noxious weed, this deadly poison, and how much skill is needed so that we should secure the good and discover the work of God in souls.
May the Lord help us in these three things, so that we shall be found in our service, "as regards hope rejoicing; as regards tribulation, enduring; as regards prayer, persevering".
The Greatness of Christ, pages 24 - 29. [2 of 2].
J. Taylor
Luke 1:39, 40; Philippians 3:20
Now the next mountain is that in which servants are taught how to serve. Mark gives us that mountain. Matthew, as you all know, is the great administrative gospel; Mark gives us the mountain in which servants, or Levites, are taught how to minister. It says, He "calls whom he himself would" (Mark 3:13). Now mark that. It is not now the disciples simply. Every disciple must learn how to rule. Every one, young and old, must learn how to rule himself. You have no place in the assembly if you have not learned how to rule yourself, no place in the kingdom. But when you come to levitical work the Lord reduces the number. Not now simply a disciple, He "calls whom he himself would". I am referring to Mark 3. You cannot go up if you please in this instance.
We cannot all be preachers or teachers, but we are all disciples. If you are not a disciple you are outside of the pale of Christianity. But when you come to levitical work it is "whom he himself would". So He selects twelve and He takes them up, we are told, to the mountain, in order "that they might be with him". That is a different idea; "that he might send them to preach, and to have power to heal diseases, and to cast out demons" (verses 14, 15). How different from the modern ideas of service acquired by a course in a divinity school! Titles are conferred in religious colleges, but the Lord titles
His servants. I would not accept a title from any one but Christ. He has titles to give, but He gives them to those whom He knows. He selects them deliberately.
In one gospel we read that He prayed all night before He selected them (Luke 6:12, 13), but in Mark it is the sovereignty of His choice; "whom he himself would". He takes them up to the mountain in order that they might be with Him. Do not miss that. He took them with Him up there on the mountain in order that they might be with Him; not now to hear His laws; not even to hear His teaching, but to have His company; that they might learn from Him by seeing how He did things. It is in the hill country of Scripture. It is away from the plain and from the valley. The valleys lie in the mist, you know; lie covered with mist and fog. We all know how the summit of a mountain may be in the clear sunshine, whereas the valley below is in a fog; a description of this world on man's level. The Corinthians walked as men. They walked there on the plain. They did not ascend into the clear atmosphere of the hill country.
These disciples whom the Lord chose were with Him on the mountain and we are told that He gave titles. He called Simon, Peter. He gave him the name of Peter; and James and John, the sons of Zebedee, He called Boanerges, "Sons of thunder". These are simply illustrations. It does not mean that others may not have had names. The point is that the Lord confers the titles; He confers the name that indicates what should be set out in each person who receives
it. So that you come down from the mountain with these impressions and you carry out the service down here where the evil is. You carry it out in the dignity of one who has been in the hill country with Christ.
Now the third hill is, as I said a moment ago, the high one. It is the most exalted altitude, and that is the mount of transfiguration. It is called high. That, I would take the liberty of regarding, as the mount of privilege. It is the mount of contemplation, really. He took three only up there. You see there is reduction as you go on. First there are disciples; then there are certain ones especially selected; taken up, and then a reduced number; three taken up, and they are taken high. Finally it is reduced to one. Paul went higher than all of them, to the third heaven. That is the greatest altitude in the hill country.
Now the "mount of transfiguration" is, from the disciples' point of view, the mount of contemplation. There is little said as to the hearing after all was over. It is true the disciples heard the Father's voice, and they were to hear the Son, but it is not hearing on the mount of contemplation so much as seeing. He was transfigured before them. They were to see this. John says, "we beheld his glory". That is contemplation. Peter says, "having been eye- witnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16). John says, "we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father" (John 1:14). What a sight to behold! To ascend the mountain involved exercise. That is what we lack. The apostle says, "I
keep under my body". He knew how to keep his body under. His body did not hinder him. It was subordinate to his judgment; it never ruled him.
The Lord took the disciples "up into a high mountain apart" (Matthew 17:1); a high one. That required exercise. Young people, in coming into fellowship, often think it is all nice easy sailing. You do not get anything in your soul without exercise. If you want to get hold of things you must be exercised about them. Certainly Peter, James and John could never have reached that altitude without exercise. But they reached it, and they saw wonderful things. Peter says, "having been eye-witnesses of his majesty ... being with him on the holy mountain". Now these are the three mounts that one has taken the liberty of designating. You can easily trace them. They stand out prominently in the range, as we may say. They are the peaks of the range and the highest one is the mount of contemplation.
I just refer one moment in closing to the cities of refuge. You see it is those who have visited these mountains that I have spoken of who, with others, ultimately formed the cities of refuge. This is worth noting. If a man is to flee for his life, we would let him run down hill if possible. He could run easier; run faster, but not so in Scripture. The anxious question, "What shall we do, brethren?" (Acts 2:37) shows there was exercise. The avenger of blood was abroad. The blood of Christ had been shed. The Jews had become the murderers of the Lord Jesus, and the avenger was abroad. "What shall we do, brethren?"
That was the question; they were exercised. The cities of refuge were in the hill country of Naphtali, the hill country of Ephraim and the hill country of Judah (Joshua 20:7). If they were to escape for their lives, so to speak, they had to climb that ascent to get to the city of refuge. Those who say, "What shall we do?" were exercised. The climbing had no terror for them. Exercises are most exhilarating experiences spiritually. The greater the climb, the more the strength, the better the air; where this exercise is, the Lord helps. The Lord helped them. "The Lord added to the assembly daily those that were to be saved" (Acts 2:47). That is an allusion to the city of refuge. Was it on a level with the temple in Jerusalem? No. Morally, it was elevated. To the true Jerusalem the tribes go up. You go up to the house. Solomon is the great leader in that; there was "his ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah" (1 Kings 10:5).
The Lord, in adding the repentant ones in Israel to the assembly, those who were exercised, had placed them in the hill country. Peter and John are in the dignity of it. Mount Zion represents this dignity. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1). That marks the hill country. It is in Zion. There is one high peak, mount Hermon, towering up into the clouds where it catches the dew and throws it off on to Zion. How dignified the expression, "the dew of Hermon that descendeth on the mountains of Zion" (verse 3). Brethren were dwelling together in unity in
that hill country, and the Lord commanded the blessing just there, "life for evermore". So that Peter and John, it says, went up to the temple together at the hour of prayer. They were in the dignity of the hill country. There was unity there, and Peter and John were in it. They were together. They represented in their relation to each other the spirit of the hill country. Hence Peter says to the impotent man, "Look on us" (Acts 3:5). There was something to look at.
Now mark that, He does not say, Look on the Lord. He says, "Look on us". But on whom? Those that were truly together. They were together in the spirit of affection one for another, and in testimony to Christ. They had nothing of that which marks the man in the plain at all. "Silver and gold"he says, "I have not; but what I have, this give I to thee". Where did he get that? In the hill country. He got it in the sphere of unity. He had been on the mountain with the Lord Jesus. "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene", he says, "rise up and walk"; and the man rose, and he walked and leaped and praised God. All this is really connected with the hill country.
I have ventured to say all that in regard to the cities of refuge, because Peter and John represent the spirit of the cities of refuge; they lived, so to speak, in the hill country. As to the man that was healed, do you think he would have any difficulty in going up to mount Ephraim, or to the hill country of Naphtali or Judah? Look at the ability he had now. He was crippled before; but now he can walk and leap and
I have not touched on the two passages read. I only read them to suggest the subject. You see how Mary, the mother of the Lord, had received a wonderful communication from the angel and directly he leaves her, she went in haste to the hill country, and visited Elizabeth. Elizabeth lived there. She was a spiritual woman. She hid herself five months there. The epistle to the Colossians is the great hiding epistle! It is a good thing to be hidden. You do not want to be under the eyes of men; you do not wish to be a public man or a public woman. It is contrary to spirituality. Those whose minds are set on things above, not on things of the earth, are said to be dead, and their life hid with Christ in God. Now that was Elizabeth. She was a good companion to seek.
Where do you seek your companions? If the Spirit of God speaks to you, you seek a spiritual person, and you seek him where he lives, and that is in the hill country. He lives away from the influences of this world, his associations are outside of it. Hence Mary went in haste. She knew where to go. The Lord had touched her heart. A wonderful communication had been made by the angel, and she went in haste, we are told, to the hill country of Judah, where one of the cities of refuge had been, and she found a companion there in Elizabeth, one who honoured her, who recognised the great honour that had been conferred on her by the Lord. And so it will be in your case if you repair to the hill
country, my young brother and sister, you will find some one there who will recognise your true dignity. You have dignity although you may not know it. If you are a believer in Christ, you have dignity, but you do not get any credit for it in the plain. If you go to the hill country, they will recognise you there. They know you, they know how to estimate your dignity, and they honour you.
If you read the verses that follow those which I read you will find how Elizabeth honoured her cousin Mary. What holy and happy communion there was between those two women in the hill country of Judah! And so today, to make it very practical, there are such places. The apostle indicates all this to the Philippians. He says, "our common-wealth has its existence in the heavens" (chapter 3: 20), not on the earth. He had just been speaking about people who "mind earthly things", and he says, "they are the enemies of the cross of Christ". He had been speaking about those people, and it says he spoke about them, weeping. People that mind earthly things caused tears to flow from the apostle, from the man who had been in the third heaven; well they might; he had been up to the highest altitude of all, into Paradise, he says. He uses the word Paradise to show the blessedness of the place and he used the term "third heaven" to show you the altitude of the place (2 Corinthians 12:1 - 4).
Do you wonder he sheds tears over those who grovelled in the plain, in the valley? He says, I speak of them, weeping: "they are the enemies of the cross
of Christ". He does not say they were enemies of Christ. There was not outward opposition to Christ, personally; but man as in the flesh was recognised, and earthly things were fostered. The apostle goes on to say, "our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour". That is the great hill country for Christians. We realise it in some measure as we come together, as we recognise the Holy Spirit. There is a moral elevation where we realise through the Spirit the influence of heaven, and it has a great effect upon us afterwards.
May the Lord grant that, however feebly the subject has been presented, each one may follow it in the Scriptures, and not balk at the exercise. Exercise is needed in order to realise what I have presented. It is easy enough to live in the plain, but there is exercise required to live in the hill country.
Ministry by J. Taylor, Indianapolis, Volume 8, pages 441 - 448. [2 of 2] 1916.
Luke 8:35; Luke 10:38 - 42; 1 Chronicles 17:16 - 27
I wish to call your attention to three persons who are recorded as sitting. In the first two cases sitting at the feet of Jesus, and in the third case sitting before Jehovah. These I believe, present to us certain features that God looks for in those who are of the assembly. First of all, the feature of moral excellence as taking character from Christ, seen in
subjection and being clothed; then secondly, the feature of intelligence, which, I think, is what is in view in Mary; and then thirdly, the feature of the spirit of worship. I think God would look for all this in the assembly.
In each case, as I say, the person is spoken of as sitting -- a spiritual habit which we need to cultivate -- the ability to sit; not listlessly, nor self-indulgently, nor self-complacently, but sitting in subjection, and at the same time, in alertness. That is a thing to be cultivated. Perhaps there never was more need of it than today, because the tendency in present-day conditions, with things moving at a great pace, is for the mind to move continually from one thing to another, and it is often difficult to acquire a quiet mind; a mind that is alert, and at the same time restful. That, I believe, is essential -- a quiet mind and a quiet spirit -- if we are to have our part acceptably in the assembly.
While the Lord Jesus Himself is presented to us as sitting, it is not quite in the same way as it applies to us. In the case of the Lord Jesus, His sitting position speaks of exaltation, and of the completion of what He has done. As it is said, "But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins, sat down in perpetuity at the right hand of God, waiting from henceforth until his enemies be set for the footstool of his feet" (Hebrews 10:12, 13). And then again in Colossians, "seek the things which are above, where the Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God" (chapter 3: 1). We are to have the light in our souls that Christ is sitting at
the right hand of God as indicative of a position of exaltation consequent upon His having completed the work of redemption, and also in order that our minds and affections might be carried to where He is, so as to understand that there is a system of interests connected with Himself where He is, to which we are to devote our attention. He is also presented as sitting as a Refiner (Malachi 3:3). That is intended to convey to us the idea that He has a matter in hand to which He is giving deliberate attention, so He sits down to it and attends to it carefully, and deliberately; He is sitting as a Refiner. That is going on amongst His people in this time, especially amongst those in any degree walking in the truth. The Lord's activities as a Refiner are constantly going on, and wisdom lies in recognising it and submitting ourselves.
Now to come to these three. As I said, we do not want to get the idea of sitting, as applying to ourselves, in any listless or self-indulgent way. We read of Eli grown old, sitting by the wayside, his heart trembling for the ark, but having no power to stem the course of evil that was over-running Israel. Then it says, he fell backward and broke his neck, "for the man was old, and heavy" (1 Samuel 4:18). We do not want to become like that, through lack of spiritual exercise. Then we read of Saul who was sitting under a tree at Gibeah, his spear in his hand (1 Samuel 22:6) -- a man who would gather others around himself, and was marked by motives of self-seeking.
Now the first of the three who are sitting according to God is the demoniac, or rather the man out of whom the legion had departed; he sets forth the first results of the teaching of grace. He had been brought into touch with the Lord Jesus. He is presented as an extreme case -- one possessed of a legion of demons, but an extreme case is presented in order to show what the divine intention is, that each of us should be marked by the features that marked this man. They come and find this man sitting at the feet of Jesus. Obviously in a position of subjection, and now under a new control; he was clothed, and was now possessed of certain positive characteristics that did not previously mark him; for previously he wore no clothes; he was exposed in his nakedness. Finally, he was sensible -- in his right mind.
Now it may be an elementary thing to say, but it is well to understand that none of us is a free agent, nor is it intended that we should be. Apart from the grace of God, whether men know it or not, they are the slaves of sin. In Romans 6 it says, "But thanks be to God, that ye were bondmen of sin, but have obeyed from the heart the form of teaching into which ye were instructed" (verse 17) -- ye were the bondmen of sin. God's way in grace to secure men and women for the assembly, which is the great object of God's operations in this time, is to bring them under the sway of Christ. He has no other way. It is not God's intention that any one of us should be lawless or marked by self-will. His one way of
delivering souls from lawlessness, and securing them for Himself and His own pleasure and the assembly, is to bring each one under the influence and sway of Christ.
Now this man was there; he was sitting at the feet of Jesus. It says in Romans 6 that we were the bondmen of sin, but "have become bondmen to righteousness" (verse 18); not become free agents to do what you will, but you come under the sway of that principle -- righteousness. The world is a great system of sin, where every kind of will and fancy of man is catered for. Now the Lord Jesus has come in and died to sin once, in order that we might understand that God has set us free from the dominion of sin; grace entitles us to reckon ourselves "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus". "He has died to sin once for all; but in that he lives, he lives to God" (Romans 6:10, 11).
God has brought in, in Christ, a Man great enough in His own moral excellence to transform everyone brought into touch with Him. Never was it more seen, I suppose, than in the case of the apostle Paul. He was taken up by God to set forth livingly every feature of the truth. He was a pattern sinner, an insolent overbearing man; the kind of man that you would not find it at all easy to get on with. In addition, a blasphemer and persecutor who breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, but what does he become? We all know what Paul became. "I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1).
He says, "I myself, Paul", as though he would set himself before them. They all knew well what his history had been, but he could now set himself before them and say, "I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ". If Paul had not himself been marked by a spirit of meekness and gentleness, he would not have dared to say that.
I know this is fundamental, but I would urge it upon you, and young believers especially. Do not think, because you have trusted Christ, and received forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, that that is everything. God has indeed forgiven your sins, and you are entitled to rejoice in His favour, for He is holding nothing against you, but has brought you into favour in Christ, the Beloved. You can be in the enjoyment of the love of God, but He intends that you should understand that the One who has redeemed you is the One to whom you are to live.
Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). You notice what it says, "to himself". Henceforth the believer's attitude of mind and spirit is towards Christ. What a subduing and sanctifying effect that has. You begin to discover in you some element of self-seeking, perhaps seeking a reputation even amongst the people of God, for "The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable; who can know it?" but then, "I Jehovah search the heart" (Jeremiah 17:9, 10). Thank God He does! In faithfulness
He discloses what is in our hearts, and at the same time freshly reminds us that He Himself went into death that it might be for ever set aside from before God. Our blessing lies in living to Him. As the element of self-seeking or wanting a reputation arises, the Lord speaks to you. He reminds you that He was in the form of God, that He is God; He did not think it robbery to be equal with 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).
The Lord reminds us of these things, counteracting what comes to light in our hearts by what is resident in Himself. This man was sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed. He had previously been naked -- worn no clothes; all the wretchedness of the flesh was openly manifest in him. They now find him sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed. What kind of clothing would you like to appear in? God has indicated the Man in whom He delights; it is because of the moral excellence that has come to light in Jesus that God has "highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:9, 10): the name of the One who made Himself of no reputation and took a bondman's form. That is the extent to which love would go.
God wants His assembly to be composed of persons who have taken on the features of Christ and of no other -- this is essential. When He had in mind to bring in deliverance for His people Israel in view
of His house, He raised up David, a man after His own heart. Saul was outwardly head, but he was not the man of God's choice; God found David a man after His own heart and set him up over His people, and in result they all came to appreciate David and repudiate the other man.
This man in Luke 8 is found sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and sensible. I do not think that supposes a large measure of intelligence, but that his mind is in the right direction. Previously his mind was entirely wrong, under the influence of evil, and Romans 6 is very much occupied with getting our minds in the right direction. You yield yourself to God, you take account of yourself as "dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (verse 11). Grace having set us in that position -- bondmen of righteousness -- you are wholly yielded to that principle.
A bondman is completely yielded to the person to whom he is bondman. As yielding ourselves, our "members instruments of righteousness to God" (verse 13), we become bondmen of righteousness, and then it says, "bondmen to God" (verse 22). There is nothing to be ashamed of in being bondmen. Each of the five apostles who have been taken up to write to us, Peter, John, James, Jude and Paul, speaks of himself as a bondman, John in the Revelation, and the others in one or other of the epistles. There is nothing to be ashamed of in being a bondman of righteousness, a bondman of God, a bondman of Christ -- "the freeman being called is Christ's
bondman" (1 Corinthians 7:22). To be bondmen is God's way of completely delivering us and securing us for His pleasure.
Sitting, pages 1 - 8. [1 of 2]
Psalm 75:6, 7; Proverbs 22:4; Philippians 2:5 - 11
The thought before me in the above scriptures is that of promotion. The many times in which the Lord Himself makes mention of this subject is, I think, evidence as to the delight it gives to the heart of God to advance those who love Him. By advance, I mean grant them spiritual promotion by the true know-ledge of Himself.
I read the verses in Psalm 75 because I think they afford us help in a negative way to counteract the natural thoughts that so often actuate us.
Promotion in the world comes in the main in one of two ways -- either by dint of one's efforts, or by influence. The former involves a man's activity and industry, while the latter generally savours of favouritism.
These two principles are very apt to cling to us even in divine things, and without perhaps realising our motives, tend to colour our outlook and ways.
It says, "promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south" (Psalm 75:6, Authorised Version). I judge the first two refer to the rising and setting of the sun -- covering, as we may say, the span of man's daily effort and activity. It says, "Man
goeth forth unto his work, and to his labour until the evening" (Psalm 104:23). The south, or pasture land, would perhaps convey the idea of ease and favour.
Now if God points out that promotion comes neither by the one way nor the other, we may depend upon it that there is a natural tendency with us to think that it does -- hence the need of the instruction.
It is to be observed, however, in the verse referred to, that there is no reference made to the north, and I venture to suggest that by inference one might conclude -- though it is implied so gently and tenderly, doubtless so as not to cause fear or discouragement -- that promotion does in fact come from that quarter; so that the omissions of Scripture are as important as its statements.
The thought of the north would carry with it the searching character of discipline -- although, let us never forget, it is even so the product of divine love. As in nature the roots of plant growth are promoted and stimulated by the winter, so the roots of the soul are the more firmly founded in the love of God as we come under His gracious education. He in whose school we are found, through grace, alone knows how to temper the north wind with the south and cause our hearts to delight in both. The bride in Canticles could say, "Awake, north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out" (Song of Songs 4:16).
I should like now to refer to Moses as showing how the thing works out with us, for the second scripture I read says, "The reward of humility and
the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honour, and life".
His position was akin to many of ours. How little we know what the protective hand of God has done for us from our infant days until now, countering on every side the relentless efforts of the destroyer, ceaselessly engaged to submerge us in a thousand ways! Should we not value more deeply the nurture and admonition of the Lord in which we have been brought up (Ephesians 6:4)? It has been rendered through our parents, as indeed it was in the case of Moses (Acts 7:20), but it is God who has been behind it; for He has kept us with an end in view, and that end is that we might grow by the true knowledge of God.
Now there comes a great break in the early years of Moses. Evidently when quite young he is suddenly plunged from the shelter and influence of a godly home into the midst of the court of Egypt. The seeds sown in childhood are there, however, carefully embedded in his heart, and they start to germinate. He has come to years -- forty years actually -- and he goes out to look upon the burdens of his brethren. What searchings and exercises of heart must have preceded that momentous action!
Oh! that God would give us all a desire to go out and regard the brethren. It is one of the first actions of a man according to God.
But Moses had much to learn! Desire is a great thing, and if the Lord has implanted a desire in our hearts, He will assuredly bring us to the realisation of that desire, but in His way, and not in ours.
Moses sees an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew -- one
of his brethren -- and his whole soul is aflame! He looks this way and that way and rises up, smites him and slays him. This I suggest corresponds to "the east" and "the west". Moses must learn that pro-motion does not come from fleshly activity. It says, "he thought that his brethren would understand that God by his hand was giving them deliverance" (Acts 7:25). Looking this way and that way is a dangerous expedient, as Moses himself proved. Looking up is surely the only direction from which divine guidance is likely to come.
As the result of his precipitous action we find him in Midian -- caring for a few sheep and leading them to the back side of the desert. But God is over our mistakes! What a comfort this is! We might think, what a come-down for Moses! So it might be in man's mind; but, dear brethren, "The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honour, and life". So he is content to care for a few sheep, for in this way he is to learn in seclusion with God what meekness and gentleness are. Forty years pass (Acts 7:30), and with his lessons learnt, he has a wonderful appearing -- so wonderful that the sense of it remained with him, and grew in his soul, until in his departing moments he refers to it -- "the good will of him that dwelt in the bush" -- as being the very climax of all blessing (Deuteronomy 33:16).
I would like now to refer for a moment to David, as illustrating this same principle. His introduction to us is as the youngest of eight sons -- in fact, so little thought of that his father hardly considered it
worth while to bring him before Samuel. He too is keeping his father's sheep.
Notwithstanding all this, however, he had been under secret observation, not only by heaven, but by one, at any rate, of Saul's servants. Saul did not know him nor did Abner; but he had undergone some wonderful experiences with God, unknown to the world at large or even to his brethren. Now the moment comes for God to bring him forward as the deliverer of Israel. Apparently he had kept his experiences to himself until forced to disclose what God had wrought through him by the taunts of his brethren and of Saul. It reminds one somewhat of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.
There stands David, in the midst of the trembling hosts of Israel, undaunted and with his soul deeply founded in God. Listen to him as he speaks! "Thy servant fed his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God ... Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:34 - 37).
What words indeed! What confidence and bold-ness in God! How God delights to promote such a
man by using him in the service of His saints!
I say no more as to David except this, that he was pre-eminently a man who learnt God in secret, and in discipline, so that when he comes to the end of his pathway, he can speak of himself as the "sweet psalmist of Israel" (2 Samuel 23:1)
See too, in what terms he can speak prophetically of Christ! No one could speak like that who had been with God. He says, "he shall be as the light of the morning, like the rising of the sun, a morning without clouds; when from the sunshine, after rain, the green grass springing from the earth" (2 Samuel 23:4). What a conception he must have had of coming glory!
More might indeed be said, but this will suffice to bring out the point, that all the discipline through which David passed served but to pave the way for his promotion and enrichment of soul.
In conclusion I would refer to the blessed Lord Himself. He must always be our Pattern and our Guide; so that as the apostle meditates upon the perfect pathway of Jesus, His voluntary downward movements of love, from unsearchable heights to those unfathomable depths, he says, "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus". After detailing His descent, in that pathway which led to "the death of the cross", he adds, "Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and infernal beings, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God the Father's glory".
As we delight to sing,
This, beloved brethren, is the character of the path the Lord would have us take -- "humility and the fear of Jehovah". Let us not aspire to any prominence or publicity, but rather avail ourselves of every open door to serve such an exalted family as the saints of God in however seemingly humble and obscure way, for "The reward of humility and the fear of Jehovah is riches, and honour, and life".
Being the substance of an Address at Sutton. Words of Truth, Volume 3 (1935), pages 8 - 14.
Luke 3:2 - 9, 15 - 17; Acts 1:1 - 5, 21, 22; Hebrews 10:25
The thought of assembling characterises in a very definite way the present dispensation. The very inauguration of it as recorded in Acts is remarkable, in that it speaks of the Lord Jesus assembling with them during the forty days, as if He would indicate to them this great thought of assembling, and how it should be done, as a feature that was going to characterise the whole dispensation. Indeed it has done, and does; so that we can understand the
exhortation of the writer to the Hebrews that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Then at the end of the dispensation, when the Lord Jesus returns from the glory, we read that He will descend from heaven with an "assembling shout" (1 Thessalonians 4:16). We are getting very near to that great final assembling, and so it is important that we should examine the thought and become intelligent as to it, and the way it is done.
It has been impressed upon my mind that the aim of the enemy in what is transpiring at the present moment is to frustrate the assembling of the people of God. He has endeavoured on that line in certain parts of the world, and perhaps, alas, to a great extent succeeded. There are great forces at work in the world of a political character, and we know that behind those forces is the power of the enemy that has not just merely political boundaries in view, but the overthrow of the work of God. We need to be aware of this, and to be definitely on our guard in regard of it.
The first feature of being on guard is prayer. "Persevere in prayer" (Colossians 4:2), the apostle says, and we need to be watching in prayer that there might be preserved to us these privileges of assembling. Secondly, that we should not too readily surrender them. The enemy will attack in a very insidious and subtle way in his suggestions in regard of them, and we need to be on our guard not to surrender them too readily. As long as the way is open, let us pursue it, let us go forward, let us not
have a heart of fear, or look too much at the circumstances, but let us bear in mind that what is behind it is a definite attack of the enemy on this matter of assembling. We have for many years enjoyed great privileges under the Lord's good hand. His people have been together much, and we may little realise what God has done in these gatherings, how His work has been proceeding as His people have been assembled together.
I refer now to the character of this assembling, because coming together in a certain place in a physical way is not sufficient in itself. In order to assemble rightly there must be a previous history with God that has brought about certain features and a right spirit, and I believe that the ministry of John the Baptist is a great help in this regard. We may regard his ministry as the closing up of the old dispensation, and in one way it is, but I believe it also lays the basis for the new. The Lord lays much stress upon it. He refers back to it in Acts 1:4, 5, and it is mentioned again when the question is raised as to one to take part in the ministry of the apostles: it must be one who had assembled with them all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out amongst them, beginning from the baptism of John.
The great feature that marked John the Baptist's ministry was repentance. It had in view the complete and entire disallowance of the flesh -- a ministry that we do not like naturally, and that is not countenanced at all in the great religious world around us. It was not countenanced by the scribes
and the Pharisees; consequently we read in Luke 7 that they refused the counsel of God against themselves, because they had not been baptised by John. They were very great men in their own sight, righteous indeed, and very much so in the sight of men, but the ministry of John would cut out all that pretension, taking the ground from under it all. So in the religious world around us the ministry of John the Baptist has no place, and consequently there is not this feature of assembling. But then we need, each one of us, to be preserved in it, and the only way is by the recognition of what the ministry of John would ensure: complete disallowance of every feature of the flesh. It was a baptism of repentance. It is not that we just repent once and then leave that principle behind us. If we are going to be here as assembling rightly, we must maintain the feature of repentance. We must be alive to every feature of the flesh, and there must be in our souls the spirit of repentance in regard of it. Not only that, but it must go in Jordan's water; the death of Christ must be applied to it.
If we are to get the benefit and the gain of our assembling together, it can only be as the flesh is judged and excluded. What kind of exercise marks me before I assemble with the brethren? Do I examine myself? Do I go over soberly in the presence of God the kind of features that have been marking me? And if there have been features of the flesh, do I repent in regard of them and apply the death of Christ? If so, then I am going on towards
right assembling. So that it says, "every gorge shall be filled". It might be that one brother or sister has the sense that he or she has no importance at all in regard of this assembling. Beloved brother or sister, that gorge should be filled up. You have your part, your place, for we are to think soberly of ourselves. Then that "mountain" or "hill" -- it may be that in a greater or lesser degree one has a sense of importance in relation to the coming together -- that mountain or that hill is to be brought low. Such features cannot be found in the assembly; they are to be dealt with. That crooked way is to be made straight. If my pathway during the week is marked by crookedness, it must be straightened: otherwise I cannot assemble rightly. Then the rough places must be made smooth. If I am marked by a hasty spirit, or an uncontrolled temper or any similar feature, that must be made smooth, or I cannot assemble rightly. In deep exercise of soul before God we need to have these exercises before us in the spirit of repentance.
John goes on to say: "begin not to say in yourselves, We have Abraham for our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham". If we are going to assemble rightly we have to recognise the sovereign rights of God. We cannot say: I have been in the meeting for many years now, and my father before me, and I have a right to a place of prominence. "God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham". He can move sovereignly in raising up whomsoever He will. If we recognise that, we are on
the line of assembling rightly; but if we are going with a sense of our own importance or with any sense of our natural genealogy as giving us a place there, then we need to have the axe laid to the root of the tree. Every feature of the flesh has to be removed, and entirely different features are to be brought into evidence.
John's ministry is not only negative; he goes on to speak of the "mightier than I" that is coming, "the thong of whose sandals I am not fit to unloose". As assembling we are moving towards the place where Christ is supreme. So John the Baptist speaks of His greatness. He had a profound sense of the greatness of Christ. The greater sense we have of the greatness of Christ the more qualified we are to assemble. John says: "he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire". That is necessary in view of assembling and of coming to the place where Christ is supreme, where every action is in the power of the Holy Spirit, and where the fire of holy judgment is in evidence. It is no light matter to face this assembling, and it behoves us indeed to face it with right exercises in a sober way, remembering that His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing-floor. No chaff will be countenanced there.
Assembling, pages 3 - 7. [1 of 2]
Ephesians 3:14 - 21; Revelation 2:4; Revelation 3:7 - 11
I desire to bring before our hearts the exceeding greatness and blessedness of what the Father would bring us into, not only for our joy but for His own joy and satisfaction.
What we get in Ephesians 3 is really the crown of everything; you could not conceive anything beyond it. The apostle prays that the Father would grant them according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Think of that! The riches of the Father's glory! And it is according to that that we are to be strengthened with might by the Father's Spirit. Now do not let us think that these things are mere sentiment. It is a great moment for every one of our hearts when we come to the sense that divine things are real; they are great realities.
In addressing Philadelphia the Lord says, "Thou hast a little power". It is not a reproach. It means that in the midst of a profession where there is absolutely no strength at all, there is a little company who know what it is in some measure to be strengthened according to the riches of the Father's glory and by the Father's Spirit. That is the source of the "little power" of Philadelphia. I think if our hearts were awakened to the great thoughts of divine love, we should find there was illimitable power, measureless power, to bring our hearts into the crown of the blessings. It is a great thing morally for even one
heart to enter into the secret delight and pleasure of the Father's heart. Now it is open for every one of us to go in for it. It is greater than any gift; the Father's glory, the Father's love, the love of Christ, lie behind all gift. The most wonderful privilege lies within the reach of each heart. Are we really awakened by the grace of our God to go in for it?
The apostle prays that He would grant them "to be strengthened" by the Father's Spirit; that is, the very Spirit of Him who is the Source of all the counsels of love, and it is according to the riches of His glory. The Father's Spirit is to be in us, and we are to be strengthened with power in the inner man. And what is it for? It is "that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge; that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God". Oh! what immense things these are. They are the very crown of the blessing. The divine nature, the love of Christ, that is the very crown of the blessing. Cast your little sounding line in and see if you can gather that!
In Revelation 2 we find that this church (Ephesus) has lost the crown. What the apostle set before the Ephesians might have attracted but did not command their hearts, and so the Lord has to say, "I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love". They had lost the very crown. You find how faithful, how diligent they were, but they did not
know these great things -- what it was "to be strengthened with power by his Spirit". Now, beloved brethren, that is just the history of the church; she has lost her crown, she has lost the crown of love.
What is so very interesting in Philadelphia is to see that there is a little company at the end to whom the Lord gives back the crown; they have got the love of Christ. What marks them is that they have a little strength, they are strengthened by the Spirit of the Father, and the result of it is, "thou ... hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name". We find these Philadelphians displayed these things; they kept His word, which is the expression of all that He is in Himself, and His name includes His glory. Now, beloved brethren, think of what a thing it is to have enshrined in our hearts His word and His name! The true distinction of such a company as that is the knowledge of the love of Christ. So He says, "I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee". That is the true distinction of the church, to be loved by Christ. And I say, the knowledge of that love is the very crown of the blessing.
The love of Christ is a secret now, a perfect secret between the heart and Christ; but there is a day coming when it will be made public. What a solemn word we have in verse 11, "hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown". If we know what it is to have that crown given back to us, He
says, 'Hold it fast, do not let any one take it from you'.REMEMBRANCE OF THE LORD JESUS
SHORT PAPERS ON THE CHURCH OF GOD NO. 5 -- THE HOUSE OF GOD -- ITS RESPONSIBILITY
GOD'S PURPOSE AND OUR RESPONSE
A WORD TO THOSE WHO SERVE
DIVINE RESERVES
FELLOWSHIP
'Yet with love unchanged by cold neglect
He is seeking you again' (Hymn 439). AGUR'S REFLECTIONS
GOD'S PURPOSE AND OUR RESPONSE
JUDGMENT-SEAT OF GOD AND OF CHRIST+
THE DEW AND THE MANNA
THE PRECIOUSNESS OF THE ASSEMBLY TO CHRIST
'For in Thy holy keeping
The bride of Christ must be' (Hymn 355). THE HILL COUNTRY
AGUR'S REFLECTIONS
SHORT PAPERS ON THE CHURCH NO. 6 -- THE CANDLESTICK
EDUCATION IN VIEW OF SERVICE
THE HILL COUNTRY
SITTING
PROMOTION
'Gazing on Thee, Lord, in glory,
.
While our hearts in worship bow,
There we read the wondrous story
Of the cross, its shame and woe' (Hymn 302) ASSEMBLING
THE CROWN OF LOVE