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Selected Addresses - Volume 2

THE TRUE ISRAEL

E J McBRIDE

Acts 2:30 - 36; Genesis 3:9 - 14; Genesis 5:21 - 24; Genesis 18:1 - 6; Genesis 32:22 - 24; Isaiah 63:7, 8

I desire to draw attention to the Lord's own words in the address to Smyrna, when He said, "I know ... the railing of those who say that they themselves are Jews, and are not, but a synagogue of Satan" (Revelation 2:9), and to show how the Lord secures now the whole house of Israel in those who know what it is to be Jews in truth. My object in reading these scriptures is to make clear what it is to be a Jew inwardly, as the apostle speaks.

It is often said of the saints, and no doubt it is true, that as to the truth, their eyes are in advance of their feet. It is a true saying that 'the eyes see farther than the feet go', but the divine intent is that our spiritual understanding should be commensurate with our intelligence. We have much light as to God's thoughts, but we often lack in being the expression of this light in ourselves, hence our public movements are oftentimes not in accord with the light. So in discipline the Lord sees fit betimes to restrain our activities in moving outwardly, by allowing circumstances to come in which hinder.

Now as to the subject before us, some may say we are not Jews, but I claim to speak of it in relation to ourselves on account of what we get in Galatians and in Romans: "Know then that they that are on the principle of faith,

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these are Abraham's sons" (Galatians 3:7), and again, "And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace upon them and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is so inwardly; and circumcision, of the heart, in spirit, not in letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God" (Romans 2:28, 29).

Now I desire to refer to four men, as giving us, I believe, the features of the true Jew - Adam, Enoch, Abraham and Jacob. In the two former you have the divine side, seen objectively, and in the two latter the practical side, seen subjectively. The voice to Adam revealed his failure in headship. God said, "Where art thou"? He had failed to control the woman - to keep his wife near him - thus she came under the influence of Satan. In spite of his wonderful intelligence in naming all the animals, he allowed her to go astray, and not only failed to maintain his influence over her, but came himself through weakness by his affections under her influence in eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. What a contrast this presents to Christ as Head of the assembly. There is no sign of this in the assembly, as under Christ, the last Adam, who "loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it, in order that he might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present the assembly to himself glorious, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things; but that it might be holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:25 - 27). Christ has died for the assembly; He nourishes and cherishes it, and thus on the divine side she bears no trace of having come under contrary influences, so that in her

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you have the features of the true Israel of God. Mere knowledge of Scripture is of no avail if we have not come under Christ and been formed after Him. Thus Adam's failure in headship demonstrates the great necessity for the coming in of Christ.

Then in Enoch another thought comes in as illustrating another feature which is characteristic of the true Jew. He walked with God. Now this is the effect of Christ being known; it is the normal effect of receiving Christ. In this man we have one whose heart and mind were under the influence of God for three hundred years. The proof of this is seen in his naming his son Methushelah. There was no flood while Methushelah lived. While the influence of Enoch remained in his son there was no flood, his name indicating that it would not come till the one whose father had walked with God had passed away. The date of Methushelah's death and the start of the flood were the same. What a voice to us! Can we stay the judgment? After we have received Christ, God is to be our only outlook, and our life is to be marked by walking in communion with Him. Methushelah lived to be nine hundred and sixty-nine years old; such was the measure of his father's influence. "Enoch walked with God", we read, and "he was not, for God took him". Yet before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. We read also of him that he, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord has come amidst his holy myriads, to execute judgment against all" (Jude 14, 15). If in type he had had influence in his son as the result of walking with God, so that the flood was stayed, yet he had also recognised the

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need for coming judgment. Thus we see in Enoch not only another feature of the true Israel walking with God, but also the effect of it. In Adam and Enoch, as I have said, we get the objective side.

Now in Abraham and Jacob we have subjective types of how this will be worked out in the actual history of the Jews in the latter days, but which is now found in those who are Jews, not in the letter, but in the spirit. Abram presents the faith side; he had answered to the call of God, had broken away from the great barriers to faith, and had moved toward great realities. He left country, and kindred, and father's house, to inherit a land that was unknown to him. What Abram left in these three elements - country, kindred and father's house - hinder each one of us, I believe, more or less. Later, the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent, in the heat of the day. He found time for communion, even at such a time - the heat of the day. Do we find time in the history of our souls for an interview of this kind? Are we free and at leisure for divine visitations? Our leisure is our own; we may be tired and oppressed in our occupation, but do we find freedom for communion and intercourse with God in our times of leisure? In Abraham's case three men came to him, and he instantly recognised One of those three as a divine Person, and said as he ran to meet Him, "Lord". We are not told who the other two were: perhaps Abraham did not know, but he was able to recognise the Lord. Then he provided refreshment, rest and comfort for them. Sarah his wife, in sympathy with his movements, made cakes quickly, while Abraham ran to the herd to fetch a calf and

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gave it to a young man who "hasted to dress it. And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate". How sweet is this communion in the heat of the day! Some propose to themselves to work till toward the close of their life, then to retire and enjoy communion, but that is not the way; here we have one in communion on the journey through life, and in the heat of the day.

Nehemiah found occasion, even at the king's feast - the greatest monarch of his day - to enjoy intercourse with his God. As the king's cupbearer, with the cup of wine in his hand to give to the king, we read that immediately the king's question was put he "prayed to the God of the heavens" (Nehemiah 2:4). This feature of the true Jew was seen in him even in captivity. That is worthy of note.

Now in Jacob we have things worked out, and the actual name of the man changed to Israel. In Abraham, as we have said, we have the faith side, but in Jacob the experimental. He counted upon God and prayed to Him for blessing, and God gave him the discipline to bring him to it. One incident in that discipline is recorded in the scripture we read: "He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok; and he took them and led them over the river ... And Jacob remained alone". Then God drew near enough to him to touch him, and he to touch God. God will come near enough to be touched and to touch you. Have you ever been alone with God in the sense of this? Have you ever appreciated this when you were alone? Well, it was so with Jacob. God drew near to Jacob and

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touched him. We read, "A man wrestled with him ... and the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him". But Jacob prevailed, to the delight of God. He said, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me". How God delights when we have power with Him! What a day for Israel when this is true! It is not terms or doctrine, but a Person, and Jacob held on and prevailed; therefore "he is not a Jew who is one outwardly". This experience was much to Jacob, the joint of his thigh was dislocated. God brought him low naturally, but enlarged him spiritually. His name was changed; "Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel", meaning that as a prince he had power with God and with men, and had prevailed. What is your name, beloved - Jacob or Israel? Under the Lord's discipline Jacob became Israel, and through grace as Christians that is now our name - "the Israel of God".

So Isaiah the prophet says, "I will record the loving-kindnesses of Jehovah, the praises of Jehovah, according to all that Jehovah hath bestowed upon us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel which he hath bestowed upon them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses. And he said, They are indeed my people, children that will not lie; and he became their Saviour". May the Lord grant that in His grace there may be with us the features of the Israel of God - not only the possession of the truth, but the expression of it, so that there may be a testimony for God here now, as there will be from the whole house of Israel in the day to come, and that all may see that we are His

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people, children that will not lie: so that He may be our Saviour.

Croydon, June 1926

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AFFECTION KEEPING PACE WITH LIGHT

A NEWLANDS

Psalm 8:1 - 9; Matthew 20:28 - 34; Matthew 21:1 - 16; Hebrews 2:8 - 12

What I had before me tonight was that our affections might keep pace with the light which we have as to Christ. It is possible for our minds to grasp certain things about Him, but it is only as the affections are in movement that we can be preserved: we are preserved in the measure in which we love Christ. That is the test. Whether we love Christ is a test which is always applied to our state. All of us, young and old, have had to face temptations and matters calling for decisions, and difficulties have arisen as to how to act in these. Such questions would not be so full of difficulty if we were more governed by the desire to please the Lord. I believe that a great many of our difficulties would disappear if we had but that one desire and purpose before us, to please Him. We may be faced with some question which has to be decided, something in connection with our pathway, and we may say: 'I know what I would love best naturally'. But the point is, we are not to be regulated by that, but, as I have said, by what is pleasing to the Lord. We are to be governed by what is pleasing to Him, and do you not think it is a very wonderful opportunity that you and I have on this earth - that of giving pleasure to the Lord? Why, think of the honour of it,

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think of the dignity of it, that we should have the opportunity of solving questions in relation to that which is for His pleasure! I think that heaven must take great interest in what is going on in that regard on this earth. Many a time we have questions to be decided, and, alas, many a time we give way and yield to what is natural to us; there is nothing pleasing to the Lord in that.

I remember very early in my own life - I do not intend to say very much about that - but I can remember how the Lord taught me a lesson just on that point. I was very tried by what a brother said to me on the occasion of my asking a question at a meeting. He said it publicly, before everyone, and I was greatly tried about it and I recall saying to myself, 'Well, I shall not take any more part in this meeting; I am not going to be treated like this', for my question and what I had to say was perfectly honest. But afterwards the Lord seemed to say to me, 'Take no notice of it; just go on; you have Me to please'. I can remember too, as if it were but yesterday, how the Lord gave me a sense then that while I had done violence to my own feelings, He was pleased with what I had done. I only mention this to show the opportunities you and I have at the present moment. It is an honour which might be coveted, to be regulated on this earth by what is pleasing to the Lord. In Psalm 69:31, we read, "It shall please Jehovah more than an ox, - a bullock with horns and cloven hoofs", which proves that the spirit of Christ is better than the ways of flesh. It turns too for a testimony, for the next verse in the psalm is, "The meek shall see it, they shall be glad". If you and I could get a look into heaven, we should find that

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all heaven is bowing down and owning His worth - not a discordant note there. Every one obeys His command; but, think of it, down here in this world such as we have the opportunity of doing Him honour in seeking to be here for His pleasure.

Turning now to the passages I read, my reason for referring to Psalm 8 and coupling it with Matthew 20 and 21 and Hebrews 2 was to show that Psalm 8 is carried forward into the New Testament and that the Lord Jesus gives it a present application. He does so in Matthew 21, and the Spirit of God gives it a very definite present application in Hebrews, so I thought that perhaps we might profit by looking a little at the different ways in which Christ's present position is spoken of in these scriptures. Psalm 8 is a very remarkable one. From the first Psalm onward you will find that there are those on earth who have light about the present position of Christ. I have no doubt that those referred to in Psalm 8 are those who will be here in the way of testimony after the assembly is gone; and the one point which they have got clear about, as in Psalm 2, is the present position of Christ. "Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation, and why do the peoples meditate a vain thing?" (Psalm 2:1); and it adds, "I have anointed my king upon Zion, the hill of my holiness" (verse 6). That is to say, that the remnant in that day will have the light of the present position of Christ, just as the assembly has it today. Through grace we have no doubt at all about it. I can well remember the effect upon my own spirit when our brother Mr Raven said, 'I would like you to think of what it would mean if you and I were taken off this earth straight up into

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those courts above, and had a look round as to all that is transpiring up there'. We would be greatly affected by the fact that the Lord Jesus is there in supremacy. He is absolutely supreme in heaven. There is nowhere there that we could look but the Lord Jesus would be acknowledged, and the effect on coming back to earth would be that we should each say, 'I am going to carry out on earth what they do in heaven'. That is the idea.

Well, that is the position in this section of the Psalms; there are those who have light about the position of Christ. It would not be possible to think of anything greater than that - to have light about Christ. We dwelt a little upon it this afternoon. It is wonderful that we in this world, in the day of the rejection of Christ, have light as to how great He is, have light as to His personal glory and His greatness, and it is wonderful too to have the opportunity down here of adjusting ourselves in relation to it. Now, that is what the people of God will have in the day to come. Then following upon Psalm 2, in the next few Psalms, Psalm 3 - Psalm 7, we get a great deal of sorrow and trouble coming in. The people of God come into reproach. None of us can disguise the fact that the present supremacy of Christ is not owned on this earth. The world has no sense of it, and we are left in this scene, in this place of contrariety, where everything is against Him, to be here in lowliness and under the control of the One who sits on high.

But then Psalm 8 ushers in the day of glory of the Son of man. It says, "Jehovah our Lord". Is it, 'How fully Thou hast met our need'? No. You may say, 'I thought He had met all our need'. Yes, fully; there is not a single question,

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no matter how intricate or difficult, but what will and does find its solution in Christ. They say, "Jehovah our Lord", and mark the possessive pronoun there: not, 'Jehovah the Lord;' better than that - "Jehovah our Lord". I put it to every young Christian in this meeting tonight: Can you say that? I do not ask, Can you repeat the words? I do not mean that. Nor do I ask, Do you know it as an article of creed? but, Are you such an one down here in this world as can say, 'My Lord'? "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" - note, all the earth, not merely a little corner of it. Think of how wonderful it is to be identified with the circle of saints on earth who own Christ! I think I value it more every day I live, to be found in company with those who love to honour Christ. We could not compare it with any company in this world, however great it might be, politically or socially, and nothing can be compared with the opportunity that we have of being linked with the circle on earth where Christ is held supreme in the affections. That is an honour indeed! I wonder whether we all value it. I wonder whether we all value the favour of being linked up and identified with those who love to honour Christ. I am quite sure that heaven looks down with the greatest interest upon such, looks down upon those who treasure the light of heaven above, and who can say, "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" The apostle in Philippians 3:8, having learned the worth of Christ personally, had become greatly attached to Him, and says, "I count also all things to be loss". 'But, Paul', you say, 'all things?' 'Yes, all things to be loss'.

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Paul, beloved friends, had not miscalculated. It was a very great thing for him to say, "I count also all things to be loss;" but, mark, it goes on to say, "On account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all, and count them to be filth, that I may gain Christ;" or, as it reads in footnote c, may 'have Christ for my gain'. Note, it was not because they were bad things in themselves that he counted them but loss. Many a thing might be very good in itself, but the apostle puts it alongside this excellency. Oh, I would desire that the word might get better hold of my own heart - "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord!"

I take it that that is the same line that we get here - "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" Do you not love to contemplate it? Do you not like to take a look forward into a day yet to come? We are going to be with the Lord then, in the day when the honour of Christ will be owned and recognised universally. I love to think of how people will speak in that day. We read, "His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall bless themselves in him; all nations shall call him blessed" (Psalm 72:17). The common topic of converse upon the street then will be the worth of Christ. This is what ought to mark us now in our relations with one another. We were speaking a little this afternoon about the difference between what was natural and what was spiritual; and we have now an eternal link, a spiritual link, a living bond, by which we are all bound together. That bond is that we love Christ and are interested in all

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that is connected with His name. What they will do actually in that day to come, you and I do now. When I was in a street car in Toronto, I was struck by seeing an advertisement on the side of it. It was a very simple one; it was this: 'Know your city and speak of it'. Now, we belong to the holy city, but do we speak about it? I think it would be well for us to 'know our city and speak of it' We have cause to speak of it. It is that which God is effecting, that which will be eternally for His pleasure.

I pass on now to the next clause in the psalm: "Who hast set thy majesty". Is it in the heavens? No, dear friends, higher than that. We were hearing today about the way in which God is known in creation, that God has brought into existence things that can be seen, His works of creation by which may be known "his eternal power and divinity" (Romans 1:20), but I find here it says, "Hast set thy majesty above the heavens". It is not merely connected with this earth, but it is that which is universally and eternally secured; that upon which eternity hangs is all secured there. Now we come to another very remarkable statement: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise because of thine adversaries". When the Lord quotes this in Matthew 21 you will find He says, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise". I want you to notice out of whose mouth the praise comes. We might be inclined to say we are a wonderful people on this earth; we delight in Christ and we see Him exalted, and not many people on this earth know it. Beloved friends, that will not do. We shall never make any progress on those lines. Every bit of light about Christ brings with it that

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which corresponds on our side to going down; and then we take our right place in relation to Him. Note the way in which John comes down, when he says, "The thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose" (John 1:27). Do you not love John for saying that? I think I do. He got such a sense of his own littleness, his own smallness, that he is prepared to do the most menial thing for Christ, and he says, 'I am not worthy to even do that'. Lowliness in our hearts, coupled with the apprehension of the exaltation of Christ, maintains the balance in our souls. Oh, dear friends, spiritual health and prosperity are open to us, but the moment we get an exalted idea about ourselves the Lord takes us down. He always works on those lines. He will allow certain circumstances to come in to expose us, and we get humbled about it. I believe the Lord works consistently along those lines, so here it says, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings".

What are you and I? Are we "babes and sucklings" - that which is the expression of weakness? Babes and sucklings derive all their strength from another, but it is out of mouths like these that God has established praise. He would bring praise out of your heart and mine. For what purpose? That He might still the enemy and the avenger. Let me tell you this, Satan has used his power consistently and continuously so that man might never have any good to say about God, nor any good to say about Christ. He instilled into the heart of man at the beginning that God was not good, and he has kept along those lines. He does not care how long he keeps you occupied with your own unworthiness if only he can keep you away from the worth

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of Christ. The object that he determinedly blocks and seeks to obscure in every way is our having good to say about Christ, but nevertheless God has secured it. He has those who can say, "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" It comes too out of the mouth of babes and sucklings. But what has God effected by it? He can, so to speak, turn to Satan and say, 'Satan, what do you think of that? I have secured it and you have not been able to hinder Me'. God has effected it in the end, and the way in which He has effected it results in His getting a response, a deep, eternal response from the heart of man to the worth of Christ. Man has been reached in grace, his eyes have been opened and his affections have been attached to Christ.

I only make one more remark about the Psalms, and that in a general way, before we pass on. The Psalms are very interesting. I do not know how many psalms you have made. A psalm is a record of experience you have had with God, an actual experience that you have had - not one learned out of books, not something acquired, not one read out of the Bible even, but a personal experience with God. This psalm begins with Him and closes up with the same: "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" The psalmist calls attention to the heavens, which, he says, are "the work of thy fingers". Think of the greatness of God working in the creation of the heavens - the work of His fingers. God brought the moon and the stars into existence; how great He must be! Then it says, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" It has often been a wonder to me, in reading the Lord's prayer to the Father in John 17, to

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find two Divine Persons speaking about what is happening in one of those worlds which belong to Them. What do you think occupies Their attention? Something in Mars? No, oh no, dear friends. Something in those worlds away back far into space that it has taken thousands of years for light to reach? No, something greater than that. His fingers made those things. But what does engage Them is men. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" We have been brought into a circle of divine affections, and in John 17 we find that what the Lord Jesus spoke to the Father about was the men whom the Father had given Him. He is greatly concerned about those whom He loves being down here in this world. Do you not appreciate that, dear friends? Do you not think that there is something very great about it, that we who are but creatures of dust, as far as our natural origin is concerned, should have such a place? Oh, the dignity of it!

I turn now to Matthew 20. I read a verse or two before the incident as to the two blind men in order that we might take account of the greatness of Christ. Chapter 21 is a marvellous opening up of His dignity and glory, but before that comes into view, it says in this chapter, in connection with the strife that there was amongst the disciples as to who should be greatest, "As indeed the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many". I mention this, as I believe it is food for our affections. We have to see that our affections are nourished, and there you get that by which our affections are nourished that "the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for

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many". Shall you and I ever forget that? Never. Through eternity we shall never forget that; it will be eternally in the hearts of the redeemed through the ages to come - that He gave His life a ransom for many. I daresay we are intelligent about the fact, but I appeal to my own heart as I do also to yours. Have we taken in the greatness of it, that "the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve"? He took the place of a servant; He was the true Hebrew bondman who could say, "I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free" (Exodus 21:5). O, beloved friends, does it not move your heart, does it not touch your heart, that the Lord (how great He is!) takes the place of the bondman, to serve? And more than that, He gives His life a ransom for many. Think of the blessedness of being included in that little word "many"! It is not enough that you are clear about what is called the plan of salvation, but is your heart profoundly moved in the contemplation of this, that He gave His life a ransom for you?

Let us ponder over it, and consider it in all its blessedness. We are probably as clear as possible about the truth of it; we are orthodox about the doctrine of it, but think of the sweetness, the blessedness of it, what it means - He gave His life a ransom for me, for me. Ere long we shall be with Him forever, but think of it and dwell upon it now, in order that there may be awakened a response in our affections to Him. He is worthy of it and He counts upon it, and that is how He works in order that responsive affections might be maintained in our hearts. There was the desire in the two sons of Zebedee to be great in His kingdom, and the ten were filled with indignation, but the

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Lord meets it by putting Himself in all His unfathomable love before their hearts, in order that there might be an answering response in their hearts to Him.

Following upon that, two blind men get their eyes opened. I do not think anything has done us more damage than to make these incidents recorded in the gospels merely illustrations of the gospel as received at the beginning of our spiritual history. I find no fault with using any of these incidents as illustrative of the gospel, but we have to take the moral bearing of them and learn why they are grouped together and come in a certain sequence. The gospel is so great that one values every opportunity for setting forth such good news for men. I refer now to the incident in connection with the blind men getting their eyes opened, and I see it as illustrating the way in which we get light about Christ. Some of us received a little fresh light as to Christ this afternoon; some of us got a little further impression about Him; that is, our eyes were opened to see what we never saw before as to Him.

It is well when we move on in that way. The Lord counts upon our getting vision. He counts upon us having vision, not only to have those things as doctrine in our minds, but to have vision in our souls. So these two blind men got their eyes opened and they followed Him in the way. What they saw is in the next chapter. They saw wonderful things when they got their eyes opened; they got a sight of the dignity and glory of Christ. The Lord was moving toward Jerusalem. He had sent two of His disciples into the village, saying, "Ye will find an ass tied, and a colt with it; loose them and lead them to me". I love that, dear

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friends. It is the exercise of the rights of Christ - a little bit of an indication of a day yet to come. The rights of Christ! Why, He has a right over you and me. It says, "Do ye not know ... ye are not your own? for ye have been bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). That is to say, as plainly as words can convey it, that we are the property of Another, we belong to Another. So the Lord exercised His kingly rights here. For all I know, there may be here some tied colt. There may be someone in this meeting who has been tied; that is, they may have been tied by their parents. They have been tied for many a year, and perhaps they are feeling it irksome. They are feeling that, being tied up, they cannot go to those places that other young people go to, and they think they ought to have liberty to go to them. Ah, you have been tied, and it was affection that tied you, but the Lord has a voice for you and He says to the disciples, "Loose them". He is going to untie that cord. He may untie the cord tonight in some young heart here, and He says, "If any one say anything to you, ye shall say, The Lord has need of them". I would like to say to any young person in this room to whom it is irksome to be tied, 'The Lord has need of you'. Are you going to recognise His right? He has rights over you. Ere long He will assert those rights. In the day to come He will do so, but He would have that cord that has bound you so long unloosed now.

"The Lord has need of them, and straightway he will send them". They came in for service that day when He was about to move into Jerusalem. It was an indication of coming glory. There was His right, the assertion of His rights, and the acknowledgment of His rights. God so

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ordered it that that testimony was borne. It was a colt upon which man had never sat. The Lord Jesus sits on it, and the Lord Jesus can break you into His service. I wonder whether you have ever sought to serve the Lord? I would like, if I could, to show you the blessedness of being here in the service of the One to whom universal rights belong. So they brought them and He sat upon them. He rode in His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and the multitude cry out, "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord". It was an indication, as I have said, of coming glory; but there were those there that day whose affections were in movement, those who loved the Lord, and it was an honour, an opportunity which they valued and which they prized because they loved Him, and well they might.

Then He went into the temple. I take it that the first section is more connected with kingdom glory - with the display of His rights as King. The next section is more connected with the temple. The Lord went into the temple and He found what He described as a "den of robbers" - men were using for their own enrichment that which ought to have been for the pleasure of God. They bought and sold, using means for getting gain, so the Lord comes in and cleanses the temple. On the one hand, we get the Lord anticipating the display of His kingdom, and, on the other hand, His competency in the temple to cleanse out what was unsuitable to God.

It has struck me much of late that, in speaking of the holy city it says, "And nothing common, nor that maketh an abomination and a lie, shall at all enter into it" (Revelation 21:27).

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God has a circle on this earth just as exclusive as that; nothing that was put away and set aside in the death of Christ has any right in that holy circle. The death of Christ tests and tries everything in connection with our state, and that which is of the flesh and unsuitable to God has no place in God's house, and so the Lord comes in to cleanse it. That brings in the hatred and opposition of the chief priests and scribes toward those who had lifted up their voices for Christ, but the Lord vindicated them. He says, "Have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" The babes and sucklings were there, the house of God was the place where praise should be heard, and it was heard there that day, but it was heard as being under the control of Christ and where He was held in affection. There was that which was not only for the blessing of man, but for the pleasure of God.

In closing I refer now to Hebrews 2. I read those verses because of the touching appeal that is made in them to the affections. It says in verse 9, "We see Jesus, who was made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death" - the suffering of death. Then it goes on to say, "that by the grace of God he should taste death" - taste death - and further in verse 10 we read, "It became him ... to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings" - through sufferings. Now, I commend those three statements to you: "the suffering of death", "taste death", and "through sufferings". They are connected with the entrance into privilege. You get those who are spoken of as "sons", and you get those who are spoken of as "brethren", but in connection with the two you get what

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speaks of the sufferings of Christ three times over. As I understand it, there can be no movement into privilege, into the blessedness of sonship, into the consciousness of being of the brethren of Christ, apart from some measure of appreciation of what underlay it all. Before we can touch such blessings as are unfolded and spoken of there, there is the setting forth of that which would have the greatest effect upon our hearts. Think of it, beloved friends! It says, "We see Jesus, who was made some little inferior to angels on account of the suffering of death".

I remember a time in our history, as those recovered to the truth, when we used to dwell a great deal upon the sufferings of Christ at the Supper, and it was pointed out, and rightly so, that in the Supper it is the expression of the Lord's love in death. It is that which speaks of the intensity of His love. He died for us, but I put it to you, and I put it to myself: Have we any habit of soul of dwelling upon the sufferings of Christ - "the suffering of death"? It is a blessed theme for private meditation. Perhaps someone says, 'My sins are all forgiven; I am going to heaven, and I come to the breaking of bread every Sunday morning, come to the readings, and attend all the meetings'. Beloved friends, let me ask, do you want to have your heart in movement toward Christ? You will be deeply touched in the contemplation of what underlies the grace which has reached you - the suffering of death. It is not merely that He died, but He tasted death. He knows what it means. He entered into the reality of it. Then again, we find: "For it became him ... to make perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings". You would almost think that

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"sufferings" was the characteristic word of this section, but it is a word which brings before us that which is intended to feed our affections.

Many a person would say (I know it myself; I used to say it), 'I find my heart very cold; I wish I loved the Lord more'. I do not think you will make progress on those lines. The question is, are your affections being fed, do you love the Lord as one who contemplates all that it meant for Him before you could have a place and portion with Himself both now and eternally? Do you remember that woman in Luke 7? She loved the Lord; she had qualified to be in the circle of affection here on this earth. How? She loved much. Did she attain to it? Did it come by trying? No, even Simon, the Pharisee, understood this - the one to whom much is forgiven, the same loves much. So the deeper the sense we have of what we owe to Christ, the more intense will be our affections, and the more our affections will grow; and the more we feed upon those sufferings, the more the affections are developed. What it cost Him in order that we might occupy eternally that place and portion with Himself will be an eternal theme for our hearts.

So I commend it to you in closing. See to it that, while we get a little more light about all that Christ is, we keep pace with it in affection. We shall find that the Spirit of God will help us along that line. The Spirit of God loves to promote spiritual affections. He would engage us with all that Christ is in order that there might be an answering response in all our hearts to Him who loves us. You find it working out in the apostle. The apostle was a most inveterate hater of Christ before he was converted, and you

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might have expected that the Lord with power in His hand would have swept him off the scene. No, He says, 'I will make that man as ardent a lover of Me as he was a hater', and, beloved friends, He succeeded, and He always succeeds when He gets the opportunity. Listen to what the apostle says: "The Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Indianapolis, December 1926

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GENESIS AS INDICATING THE MINISTRIES OF JOHN AND PAUL

C C ELLIOT

Genesis 22:2; Genesis 24:67; Genesis 25:28; Genesis 44:30, 31; Genesis 45:1, 2, 4, 14, 15

I have to say first, in regard to this wonderful book out of which I have read a few passages, that it is the beginning of the revelation of God to us. Now it seems to me of immense importance that we should recognise that God has begun to speak to us, and has thrown a flood of light on the situation. Man naturally has no light of God, outside the revelation of God - there is no doubt of that. You cannot find any light of God outside the revelation of God, and so God has been pleased to introduce a whole flood of light in order to reveal what He is, and what His thoughts as to man are.

There is a vast circle of light to which we have no access, and never shall have access. There is an infinite sphere of light in which God dwells, which is for ever hidden from us. God is such, having lived from eternal ages, and living to eternal ages, that He must be, in the nature of things, hidden from the knowledge of man. That is to say - and it is well for us to remember it, because I think it tends to a greater reverence than we sometimes show in respect of divine Persons - the greatness of God is such, that it never does for us, however intimate we may be with Him as revealed, to forgot the fact and bearing of His

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greatness as God Himself. But besides that, there is also a vast system of revelation in which God has been pleased to make Himself known to man.

Now this book begins with, "In the beginning;" it is the book of the beginning. God has been pleased to come out and make Himself known to man in the activities of His love. You can well understand that God, having everything before Him from beginning to end, brings out, even at the earliest stage of the revelation, matters concerning that which was nearest to His heart. I refer, of course, to what comes out in Christ, and what comes out in regard to that which is dear to Christ - the assembly - and what comes out in regard to the family of God; although, of course, you do not get the full light until the blessed Lord comes. As it says, "No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). Thank God, that is so, yet God, having the whole revelation before Him at the moment He began to speak to man, brings out what was nearest and dearest to His heart - what His thought was - and what He intended revealing fully in His Son. I say this, because I think we must all be very much struck, in the book of Genesis, with the number of strands of which its beautiful pattern is composed. We find, running through the book, numerous strands, so to speak; and I only propose to follow a few of them, out of the vast number which compose the book as a whole.

When you come to think of it, the book is vast in its scope; it takes up, for example, the creation of the universe, and the flight of a poor fugitive slave. God takes up such

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things in this book. He takes up the position of the heavenly man - I refer to Isaac; He takes up, on the other hand, the depravity of man and its just judgment - I refer, of course, to Sodom. He takes up the story of a man like Jacob; and in the same book He takes up the whole millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, in figure. And so we could pass the whole book under review, and see how many sided it is. God is pleased in it to take up threads and show their beginning, which carry on in a continuous pattern right through the Scriptures; so you find these threads left, as it were, so that you can pick them up and follow them right through God's book. That is a very wonderful thing, and I would just like to say one word to the young people here in connection with this. Every one of you is acquainted now, as you go to schools and colleges, with the attacks on Scripture, and more especially, on this book. No one can pass through the world nowadays without his ears or mind being defiled by hearing the attacks of the enemy on this book, because if the enemy can do away with this book he will do away with the whole superstructure - the whole revelation of God. What I want to say is this, 'Do seek to get the real spiritual meaning of the book, because if you get the real spiritual meaning, you will laugh at these attacks. There is nothing in them at all, but you will not see that if you do not get the spiritual meaning of the book'. So when its marvellous character comes before you, and you see that every incident and every verse has a spiritual meaning, and when you come to grasp even the one-hundredth part of that spiritual meaning, your souls will be established in the truth of God's word. I find that with

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many young people there is very great and grave danger, leading to many unhappy moments in their souls, if they are not established in this way.

The main subject I had before me was to bring to your notice the remarkable fact that even in this book, so early, you get a hint of John's ministry; and not only so, but of Paul's. What I feel is that we should lay ourselves open for the reception of truth, and the enjoyment of what these beloved apostles say to us. I do not mean - for the moment - the detail of it, but the grand outlines of their doctrine. You will wonder, perhaps, what I meant by saying that John's truth is hinted at, and I will explain. "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and there offer him up for a burnt-offering". Now, that is just a little window, so to speak, letting us see what was in the heart of God in making known what He intended to bring out through His servant John; that is, that "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things to be in his hand" (John 3:35). You will find that it says, "Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac" (Genesis 25:5); so putting these two scriptures together, you see that God brings out at a very early stage what was in His mind. I think it is understandable that if you have a thing very much on your mind, you let it out. Well, God had these thoughts very much on His mind, and He has let them out to us.

There is a wonderful system of divine affections existing, first of all between divine Persons, and we are allowed to know what the relations of these divine Persons are to one another in affection. As to their essence, that we

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leave, but as to their affections, here we have it that there is a divine reciprocity of affection existing between the Father and the Son. But how does that apply to us? Just in this way - the blessed Lord said, "That the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them" (John 17:26); that is, that the same sort of affection is to be in us. So that you have the same kind of affection showered down upon those who are His, as upon the Son. Therefore you have the foundation of what the apostle John brings before us, because you have the essence of it; whatever the details may be, you have the thing there in its primitive origin.

It is an immense thing for our hearts to be established in the very essence of the revelation that God has made to us through the apostle John. It is for our help and encouragement and enjoyment, and it seems to me that it gives a stability to us and a happiness to us to know that our souls can resort to the Father's love - to the inner region. Despite anything that happens here, we touch eternal realities; whatever the sorrow and trial in the assembly, or in our own circumstances, you cannot imagine any change in the blessedness of these affectionate relations. You cannot imagine any change between the Father and the Son, neither can you imagine any change existing between the Father, the Son, and us. It seems to me that this is the greatest strength and comfort to the soul; and what I feel is that it should be more our habit to resort to that bright scene connected with what is eternal, and then we can take up difficulties as stabilised by that which never moves. Now, I would challenge myself - and surely, in doing so, you too - as to how far our souls are established

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in the happy enjoyment of this relationship and love? It is not that we do not know love, but the thing is, how far do we bask in it? I know, of course, that we enter into it more fully in the company of His own. It must be so. But what I would seek to inquire is, how much do our habits of mind lend themselves to the enjoyment of this blessed relationship, which neither time nor chance can change?

I should like to commend to you the subject of meditation. We know the trend of modern life; the rush to make a living, the demands that family and business, and even meetings make upon us, but at the same time, I do not think we ever get real strength of soul unless we cultivate the habit of meditation. In Psalm 119, it is mentioned numbers of times: "I will meditate upon thy precepts" (verse 15), or "thy statutes", or "thy word". It is not that you meditate upon nothing; you do not sit in a dreamy sort of way and think of nothing. That is what an Indian fakir might consider the height of happiness. That is not what I am speaking of. It is in regard to what God has been pleased to make known to us; His work, His words, and the blessed Person of our Lord Jesus Christ; in fact, all that is connected with Him in whom the whole revelation of God has been made. What I would like to impress upon each one is the importance of cultivating this habit, because, I think, there we get strength of soul. We allow the gracious rays of the love of God to shine into our hearts. It is not that we study the Scriptures in a natural way; I am speaking of the happy habit of meditation, which can be encouraged and cultivated. So in regard to this subject - the revelation of the love of the Father - I feel that we need to be in the

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sunshine and enjoyment of it continually. Now, that very briefly indicates to you that we have the truth, as brought out by John, before us.

In the next passage I read we find that Isaac took Rebecca into the tent, and it says, "Isaac led her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother". There, of course, we touch the doctrine of Paul, which made an immense impression on his whole course and ministry. Isaac took Rebecca to the tent, and "he loved her". There we see in figure the love of Christ for the assembly. I am not now referring to the dispensational thought in the "tent", but the seat of divine love. That is, that the love of Christ for the assembly is, and must be, hidden from the world. It is a private affair; it is a "tent" where the outpourings of Christ's love are poured forth on His assembly. All the intimacies of Christ's love are poured out inside a "tent;" they are hidden from the world. Who can describe them, dear friends? only the recipients! As the hymn says:

The love of Jesus, what it is,
None but His loved ones know. (Hymn 279)

Who can tell, who can measure, the greatness of Christ's love to the assembly? It is our portion; it is the portion of all composing the assembly. When one thinks of the time that has elapsed since Christ ascended, and the care and love He has shown to His assembly, the solicitude of love, the washing of water by the word, to prevent spots and

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wrinkles and every such thing, the intense care of the Lord - how can one measure the greatness of His love? Divine love is not just a sentiment or expressed in words of love, but there has been - both in regard to the Father's love who sent the Son, and in the love of Christ for the assembly - the exhibition of it in that wonderful act, the death of Christ. That is where our hearts find it; that is where we begin to learn it, but it is now made known in present fulness to our hearts. I do not dwell now on the failure side, but I am thinking of the wonderful attentions of divine love, in secret, in the "tent" - the love of Christ made known to His assembly.

Perhaps you might wonder why I took up the other passages - what the connection was? Well, I am profoundly impressed with the fact that only souls who are really in the enjoyment of what I spoke about can face things; and God is pleased to help us to face difficulties, because He works things out in detail with us. How often have we been impressed with the wonderful life of the Lord Jesus! How His life was taken up, not only with public utterances and teaching, but with wonderful incidents in His attention to individuals. If you read the gospels you find numbers of persons coming into contact with Him, and the immense care given by the Spirit of God to the delineation of the marvellous manner in which He dealt with individual souls. Here was One - God Himself come down here, the Word made flesh - and you might have thought He would set up a school of doctrine to display the greatness of God. No! He exemplified what God was in His life; in all He did and said He displayed God, and the touches in His life are so

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beautiful that the more you read the incidents in the gospels, the more you find they reward detailed study. Every act of that Person fills our hearts with admiration. See how He could come down to the details of the difficulties that met Him; come down from the mount to the lunatic at the foot of it!

That is why I read those passages, because they contain, I think, a warning and an encouragement for us. Here we find Isaac; he loved Esau, but he loved him because of his venison. It was not a disinterested love - it was a love for what it could get - based on an old man's taste for food. It was love which had partiality; and that is where, I think, sometimes our difficulties lie. Is it not so? we love for what we can get. We may love a man because he is of the same calling, or the same family, or, wider still, of the same nation, or because he has similar tastes; is not such love partial? Do we love people because they are Christ's? We love people surely because they are Christ's; it is the mark of a converted soul to seek the company of God's people. Anything else is a contrast to the divine love I have been speaking of. But may we not be partial in our affections for those that are Christ's? You say, 'Some do not walk with us'. Does that change our love? I do not think so. They may erect barriers, but I think there is, and ought to be, love in each of our hearts ready to flow out to every one who is the Lord's.

Brotherly love is not love in its full height, but it is most valuable in the relations of the people of God towards one another. It was brought about in Jacob's sons by discipline. What did Judah think of what his brethren did to

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Joseph? Did he think of his father's sorrow and tears? did Judah mind at all? Not that we know of. We hear of no word of sympathy with that father, no word of pity for him. There was the absence of family affection. There was jealousy at the bottom of all the trouble. Jealousy, I have no doubt, is at the bottom of a great many troubles in the family of God. If we find any trace of it in ourselves, let us judge it unsparingly. That spirit is a terrible thing, and has done more harm in the assembly of God than anything else. That was the cause of the hardness of their hearts. I refer to this to show the change; the rough dealings of Joseph with them aroused their consciences and brought to pass real repentance. There is no doubt about it, their sin came to their remembrance. And now, what do we find in Judah? We find a contrast. He says, If the lad be not with us "thy servants will bring down the grey hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to Sheol". He had sensibilities of family affection; he thought of his father. He says, 'I will do anything now to save my father sorrow; I will do anything for my brother, I will sacrifice myself for my brother'. Is not that the brotherly spirit? Oh! that we might have more and more of this brotherly spirit!

I just want to point out what happened. Joseph had to give vent to his affection, and he put all the Egyptians out. The unfolding of these family affections is also a private matter. Think of all this weeping, all this display of brotherly repentance and brotherly love, and kissing! all done in private. Certainly the Egyptians heard, and in one sense it was public. "By this shall all know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love amongst yourselves"

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(John 13:35), that is certainly public; but all the display of affection and love is private, that is not for the Egyptians. So its beauties are seen by God, who is the originator of it. Is that not the great principle in regard to matters that come up amongst us, that whatever has to be done should be done in the spirit of brotherly love? How happy when brotherly affection is so much in exercise that difficulties do not occur at all! That is what I am sure God desires. I only point these things out as being really, I believe, the result of the enjoyment of what I spoke of at the start.

In conclusion, I would say to you, how happy and blessed it is to be so in the good of the divine affections of the Father and the Son, and the divine affections of Christ to the assembly, as to be answering in affection to Him! With regard to our response to the love of the Father and the love of Christ, it says, "We love because he has first loved us" (1 John 4:19); and our love to Him largely consists in the apprehension of His love. It is love that begets love, and it is the sensitivity of our souls to His love that leads to response. It is in the profound sense of being loved, whether by the Father, or by the Son, and being of that assembly which Christ loves, that our response to love lies. May the Lord bless the word!

Belfast, April 1928

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THE HOUSE OF GOD

H D'A CHAMPNEY

Romans 8:18 - 24, 29; 1 Timothy 2:1 - 10; 1 Timothy 3:14 - 16

I want to say a few words this evening upon the house of God, because of its great importance at the present moment. Dear brethren, the house of God is here, for God is here in His sons. All who have the Spirit dwelling in them are amongst the sons of God who make a dwelling-place for God here where He can put Himself in touch with men; where what He is can be expressed and an immense service be carried on, because His representatives are here. The day we live in is a day of small things outwardly; we Christians are only a little handful compared to the vast number of unbelievers in Christendom today, even counting all saints wherever they may be - we know not where they are, He knows them, He knows every one that belongs to God. There is not a son unknown to Him, and it is a pity when a man has been taken up in this way and yet does not enter into the character of blessing God has given him. We must help such, and to help them, we must pray.

I read that passage in Timothy to show you one great characteristic of the house of God: it is the house of prayer, and the house of prayer for all nations. We are meant to think of every one. God works where He pleases, He is not tied to this place or that, and as long as we are here God

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would have us make it manifest that God is not the enemy of man, but the very reverse, that He would have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That is what is in His mind for all men. The Lord Jesus could not have a different mind from that, and so He gave Himself a ransom for all. It is a wonderful thought: He gave Himself as 'a propitiatory ransom' (Greek antilutron) in behalf of all. Any one may have it, and, when he has it, he finds he has a substitute; he finds that what the Lord Jesus did was actually to take his cause up before God and clear him for ever. But as a propitiatory ransom, He has given Himself in behalf of (Greek huper) all. Scripture does not say 'instead of all'. As to the actual result, the ransom was instead of (Greek anti) many. When you come to the substitutionary side, another thought is expressed by the Spirit - He came "to give his life a ransom for [instead of] many;" but when you think of the other side, the universal side, this grand propitiatory ransom has been so given that any one may come and take advantage of it, and whoever does so will find himself in the blessing.

Do not let us have too limited thoughts, therefore, in preaching the gospel, and in moving amongst men. We have nothing whatever to do with God's election in the way of settling whom He has chosen and whom He has not. Nor has He so chosen as to make it useless for us to evangelise universally. He has kept these secrets in His own bosom - how the two dovetail He only knows, but they do. So there is no one, however rough, however unlikely, that you may not evangelise and encourage. You are here for that purpose.

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Now what is a son? We never can solve that question without looking at Christ. Christ came here and set forth in His own Person in becoming man, what it is to God to have a Son. But He did not remain alone. God had thoughts in eternity which He intended to work out in time, and carry through into the future eternity. He had the thought of this One becoming man, and being found here in manhood, and that blessed Man in the most holy conceivable liberty with God - and far more than simple liberty, with the holy privilege of constant approach to God. But along with that is the thought of being His delight, for God has in Him His delight. In the whole creation He could not find such delight, but He found it in His Son. But His thoughts could not stop there. He had to be made perfect; that is, reach the full thought of God as to man through sufferings. Why had He to suffer? So that God might bring many sons to glory. He would only have that one Son otherwise; but that He might bring many sons to glory, He made the Leader of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Untold sufferings! No one could gauge those sufferings but God Himself; and He so constituted the holy body which He prepared for Him, that He could die. He is the same Person now, but in a new condition; in the condition which He now is in, death is impossible. But He was once here in flesh - God's dear Son was in touch with this groaning creation; and you may be sure nobody ever groaned like Christ. You may be sure He had His own wonderful way of expressing the groans of this poor unhappy world to God. You know what the answer will be - we will look at that presently, perhaps - but of course the first thought was the pleasure

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of God found in Him; and then that God should make Him perfect through sufferings, in order that He might have many like Him.

Now that is our study - dear brethren, young and old - Christ is our study. What is He really like? What was He like? What kind of life did He live? What were His thoughts? What were His ways? What was His spirit? Thank God, we have the four gospels that we may learn these things, and the Holy Spirit to open them out. Of course, at the time God alone saw His true beauty, and He did so fully and perfectly. What satisfaction He brought to God! How wonderful to think of Him in the poorest circumstances, and yet always content; not a murmur ever escaping His lips from first to last. Blessed Lord! What a Son God had in Him, had He not? Then how trustworthy He was! There was nothing unreal or false in Him like we find in ourselves.

I might have turned to the story of Jacob for the thought of the house of God, because that side is needful. It was long before he really came to Bethel so as to enjoy the thought of God's dwelling. He got the light of it the first night he slept away from home, and said, "How dreadful is this place" (Genesis 28:17). He was not then at home in it, but he determined that, if God did this and that, then his father's God and his grandfather's God should be his God; but it does not speak of God being his God at that time. Then he would build an altar in that spot and so on. It was many a long year before he came to it, and he only came to it after great disgrace had come upon his house, but he did come to it after the idols were put away. Then when he did

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come to it, oh! how God blessed him, and how grandly he came out for God as Israel, a prince of God!

Now that history is more or less true of all of us, in regard to our arriving at the thought of God for us, as to our being His house. We have to learn in Jacob that we need the same God, the God of Jacob, for our refuge. Shifty, deceitful man as he was, going his own way to get things, there was nothing very much in his life at that time to admire, and many of us would say, 'Nor is there in mine'. The dear younger brethren may think the older brethren can look back with great satisfaction on their lives. I am afraid many of us can look back and can see Jacob pretty clearly, when we consider our past lives; but yet not without hope, for we know that God's thought for us is Bethel, the house of God. He would have us find ourselves at home where God dwells amongst His sons, and realise that we are His sons. Oh, it is very fine to arrive at the thoughts of God! Think now, God had these thoughts, about having many sons, before the world was; then time came in and the fall of man, and then the entry of Jesus into the world: "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, come of woman, come under law, that he might redeem those under law, that we might receive sonship" (Galatians 4:4, 5). Now you see what God had in His mind, that there should be many like His dear Son - that is what He came for. Is it possible that anyone could be a pleasure to God, as Jesus was? Yes, thank God, in our measure we may be - there was no measure with Him, of course.

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But God is moving today, and the present moment, the present earth, is the grand ground for God's work. All over the world God is working, doing a magnificent work in the soul of every believer, not only preparing this one and that one so that he can have the Spirit, but when the Spirit has come, moving their hearts in regard to Christ. The Holy Spirit knows that He is the Spirit of sonship, and nothing in me that is not the spirit of a son will ever do for the Holy Spirit. He must reduce all that is contrary in me, He must break it down. He must make me refuse this and that; He will not have me in any way different from what a son should be; that is surely the work of the Spirit of God at the present moment - a most important work. Many of us wish we had given more attention early in life to that word, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which ye have been sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). The Spirit is very easily grieved - our foolish ways, our devoting ourselves to pleasure when others are devoting themselves to the Lord, and our allowing what is false and unreal - all that is a grief to the Spirit, and it results in the lengthening out of the time before we really come out as the sons of God. The sons of God, if they really come out in truthfulness here, come out in the likeness of Christ. That is why I spoke of prayer; I go back to it again now.

The house of God is the house of prayer, and men are encouraged to pray everywhere. A man may pray publicly everywhere. The woman is to be more quiet in that way. The brother can pray publicly in the meeting; the sister can follow the prayer, make it her own, and be in the spirit of prayer the whole time. No one can say what an immense

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advantage a silent sister is when she is in the spirit of prayer, when the ministry is given or when the gospel is being preached, yea, and when we are together in a prayer meeting. Brothers little know the help they get from prayerful sisters, though no sound is heard, except the 'Amen' they are encouraged to say to the brothers' prayers. Now, seeing things are so, do let us be more earnest in prayer. Think of the vast numbers of young people there are on the way to fellowship. What prevents them seeking fellowship? They feel their own weakness and sinfulness; many of them say, 'Fellowship is not for me; I am such a poor feeble creature'. They need our prayers. Suppose we took to heart more the great temptations that the youthful amongst us are exposed to specially: who knows what victories might be the result for these dear young ones! How they would get delivered earlier, and how gladly they would come to us and say, 'I too would like to break bread! I feel the Lord would have me so to do'. Because, when you are free in spirit, you very soon find out that the Lord wants you to be with others who are free, and to remember Him in His death.

So the thought of prayer is a very far-reaching one, is it not, brethren? We may pray for the gospel and for the saints in all lands, the vast majority of whom, not walking with us, are greatly hindered by their surroundings and associations. Yet the Lord has them where we might not expect to find them. It was delightful to me to find the other day a Catholic, to whom I spoke of how well known every true Catholic was in heaven - every Catholic that truly trusts Jesus and believes in Him and answers to His love,

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all such, I said, are well known in heaven. His reply was, 'Yes, there is only Christ'. Thus, whatever the darkness of his surroundings, he had this light, that there was no one for him really like Christ, and evidently he knew Him. Yes, and you may be sure there are many such hidden away, and we ought to find them. Is it not partly through our negligence that we do not find them? I know how negligent I have been, and it is sad, because, you see, I cannot begin life over again. Dear younger ones, beware of negligence! You little know what opportunities you have, and if the sons of God are in a place, it is to make God known there. God dwells in His house.

The sisters have a wonderful influence by their quiet demeanour, so different from the women of the world; by their quiet way of dressing, and so on, such a contrast to the world. It is not that they wish to dress so as to call attention to themselves, but they are suitably attired, and their quiet spirit has a great influence amongst the neighbours around, but, above all, in their own house. The Lord can use such in the home in a wonderful way. What a help such are to their husbands, to their children! How remarkably the Lord has given to the woman a special influence over the children; so that they are early taught the things of Christ. Almost the first thing they hear is the name 'Jesus', as the mother, with the child in her arms, constantly turns to the Lord Jesus. That affects a child very early, and in that way the children get the immense advantage of those who are in the love of God, who are the sons of God, who are in the house of God.

Then I would speak of the goodness of His house - oh, how wide the subject is, is it not? May the Lord guide me

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as to what He would specially call attention to. The kindest people ever known have been the sons of God. I learn that in Christ Himself, nobody ever was so kind as Christ. He brought kindness here amongst men in a way never known before in a man, and then He left it here in the Spirit, so that you and I might be kind to the most miserable objects, kind to anyone, but specially so to the household of faith. "Let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:10). Many a poor miserable house has opened to the gospel, owing to the thoughtful act of some kind saint who, as a true son of God, entered that house and let them know that God is good, in a practical way, and that God is kind. Now this extension, so to speak, of God in the world is most important. I do hope that my brethren in this country - I would like to encourage you, we all would - will see the immense advantage of God's sons being set here, but we must be careful that we do not belie God. We do not learn in Jesus anything that belies God - the very opposite; His beautiful transparent spirit was most evident - "Altogether that which I also say to you" (John 8:25).

Now nothing but that will do for you or me. The Holy Spirit is as transparent as Christ, and, if He has His way with me, He will allow nothing that is shady, nothing that is not truly transparent, because now is the time when not only the sons are being prepared for glory, but the holy city is being built. You know how transparency marks specially that holy city - transparent men and women, transparent young people even. How one knows one can trust the work of God even a youth who is governed by the Spirit, you know he will not tell a lie, you know he will not deceive

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you. You can trust even a child like that when the Spirit is there, and that is really what brings out what the child is; you find that, though brought up first of all under the holy influence of others, he has gone further than that, he himself becomes like that blessed One, and there is a holiness, a separation, marking him, there is a reality manifest, even in a child. How blessed it is that the work of God is going on in that way!

Now, God will do nothing in heaven in the way of fitting us to be His sons; all the fitting morally for sonship is done here, for He has taken us up in grace because we are sons in the purpose and gift of God. He has given us His Spirit, but then He moves, breaking down everything that is contrary to Christ and putting Christ in instead. There was one dear man in whom the full work of God was seen more quickly than in others. I refer to the apostle Paul: "God ... was pleased to reveal his Son in me, that I may announce him as glad tidings among the nations" (Galatians 1:15, 16) - a man came amongst the nations who was in a most remarkable way the reflex of Christ Himself. His ways, his demeanour, everything about him, commanded confidence, and men listened to him when they would not listen to others. It was the marvellous power of the Spirit in which he lived and moved amongst men; he was a very son; nobody ought to have been astonished if in one moment he had been clothed with the glory of Christ, his body changed - at any moment he was ready for it. Are we? Is the work of God complete in us? Well, you may think it strange, but I am glad I am not dead, for I do feel the Lord will do more in me than He has done yet. I desire that - you do too.

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The Holy Spirit will finish the work, but this earth is the place for the work of God. It is very fine what He is doing, and in that way we become representative of God. "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5), and we learn to answer to that love. We love Him and we learn to love one another, and when we do, I think we get to that thought, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there" (Genesis 35:1). We know the house of God as we never knew it before. God dwells in us, and we in God.

Is that not a lovely house aspect? When love has its way, how different we are in all our ways with one another; when we dwell in love, God can dwell in us, and does. In that way, though "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18), God becomes manifest through the dear brethren who walk in love. So, dear brethren, get the thought that God must have blessed beings on earth at this present time, His sons. He must be able to delight in us, He must find us delighting in Him. He would find us near Him every morning, and then going out from His presence to express God in the world. Think of all the sons of God in Ireland going in to God every morning, and then coming out to tell poor Ireland what God is! Who can tell what the result of that would be here, or in any country over the world? That is what God would encourage us to do, because His house is here, and we are learning what characterises it; what righteousness is; what holiness is; and what love is. We learn to be right, we get delivered from the confusion and we come into a house of peace. Wonderful peace belongs to God's house! The peace of God is there, the sons of God

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learn to walk in peace, to live in peace, and that is a wonderful testimony to the world around.

You may wonder why I read all that in Romans 8, but it is because of what is coming in. The day is coming when the sons of God will be revealed; yes, the sons of God are to be revealed. What will be the effect of the revelation? Every groan will be hushed, creation will groan no more. It "expects the revelation of the sons of God". Could not some of those groans be hushed now? Yes, if we were more truly sons. If we were in great power here as sons of God, what comfort we should bring to those around! Many a groan would be hushed, many a sigh would get its answer in the beautiful way in which a son of God moves and acts here amongst men. But this world is the sphere of operations; God is preparing you and me for that grand future when we shall come out of heaven to hush the groans of this troubled world. We shall soon come to it. When the world has come to it that it can live no more, when the state of things after the rapture of the saints is so bad that there seems to be no hope, no doubt many will be awakened to groan to God to do for them what men cannot. Then will come out the holy city, for then will come Christ out of heaven, and very soon the misery of this world will go, and instead of a groaning creation will be a creation delighting through and through in God. What a change it will be!

Now if that is so, and it is, you see the importance of what God does in us now. Suppose there is confusion amongst us believers now, how are we going to remove the confusion in the future day? The assembly, as the holy city, is coming out of heaven to remove confusion, and it will do

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it. The world is a system of confusion - Babel. Do we add to the confusion by our naughty ways? May God deliver us if anything like that is amongst us. May God come in for every saint, so as to produce the blessed result that He has really got a son. "Israel is my son, my firstborn ... . Let my son go, that he may serve me" (Exodus 4:22, 23) was the word God told Moses to say to Pharaoh. God's Son is here in us - the many sons. What does He want of us? He wants us to be free from every bit of bondage that might produce fear, to serve Him. No one ever served like a son. There is something very fine in seeing a business where a man has his sons with him in the business, and he has got to old age, and people are saying, 'Oh, that does not matter; his sons are like him! He was trustworthy, so are his sons'. If God's Son is no longer here, yet God has many sons here, and He loves to have trustworthy sons who can serve Him and be ready for any kind of work that He may give.

Then, too, there is a worshipping spirit about a son, and also the spirit of prayer. We learn that in Christ. We have been hearing during these meetings how Jesus was a Man of prayer, how constantly He was in prayer. That is what God looks for with us all, prayer in secret, and prayer in public. I am reminded of an incident. Two boys, cousins, were together for the holidays, and one day one of them suddenly opened the drawing-room door and finding his cousin there said, 'Whatever are you doing here?' 'Oh', was the reply, 'I was only having a little time with God'. The influence of that word told its tale, till the cousin himself delighted also in God and in the service of God. Those moments of private prayer - you can take them

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anywhere, in the fields, or anywhere that you can be alone - they are absolutely necessary if we are going to come into the thoughts of God in regard to a son. A son who does not pray! Is that your thought of a son? Why, it is one of the first thoughts of a son, that he prays. You learn it in Jesus.

Then think of the wonderful way in which Jesus delighted in God from moment to moment! Not only that God delighted in Him, but whatever the sorrow here, He had His delight in God. Nobody ever passed through pressure like Christ, but all through the pressure up to Calvary, and even when forsaken of God, He never gave up His delight in God, even when He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me" (Psalm 22:1). If you read the psalm, you will find that the prophecy goes on to other thoughts that are not expressed in the New Testament. "And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel" (verse 3). He, so to speak, appealed to God publicly to find any reason in Him for forsaking Him. Of course there was none. And it was uttered with a loud voice, in order that we might learn how holy that blessed One was. It was for us He suffered and was forsaken and drank to the last drop the cup of the wrath of God. It was all for us, that we might never know the wrath of God, but only enjoy His love.

May God help us to consider this great thought of the house of God here on earth and all the advantages of it. It is a house of piety. Pious people are not so very numerous, it may be; pious people bring God into everything; piety makes room for God. Nobody was so pious as Christ. No wonder He was received up in glory, for He was the

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embodiment of piety. God was in that blessed One, God was in all His thoughts. Now that is open for us; whatever our thoughts may be, there should be no thought which is unsuitable to God or which will leave Him out. The Lord will help us, and I believe the result will be a greater and brighter testimony all over the world in this closing moment, if we only rise up in the moral dignity that belongs to sons, all of us, as Gideon's brethren, like "the sons of a king" (Judges 8:18). There never has been royalty like that which is found in Christ, and in the sons that God is bringing to glory. Oh, the nobility that attaches to the poorest man if he is a son of God and walks accordingly! He may be breaking stones on the road, and aged (I have personally known such), and one has felt that if ever there was nobility in England, it was in those stonebreakers. They knew how to go in to God with an intimacy that astonished me, and they knew how to come out from God and express Him in the villages they lived in. May God help every one of us in these things, for Jesus Christ's sake.

Belfast, April 1929

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MINISTERING COMFORT TO ONE ANOTHER

J H TREVVETT

Isaiah 40:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4

We have already had before us today the thought of service, and it is on my heart to speak of a service which lies open to every believer. You will have gathered doubtless from the scriptures I have read that the word 'comfort' is in my mind. Every one of us must feel the increasing need amongst God's people for a ministry which brings in comfort, a ministry which will establish and which will comfort their hearts. Indeed, one of the earliest desires of the apostle Paul in writing to the Thessalonian believers was that they might "encourage one another, and build up each one the other, even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

This need for comfort found early expression amongst the people of God. It will, I believe, find greater expression as the days become darker and increasingly difficult. It is said of Lemech that at the birth of Noah he said, "This one shall comfort us concerning our work and concerning the toil of our hands" (Genesis 5:29). The saints in that early day, feeling the pressure of what was around, the curse being heavy upon the earth, looked on in the fervent longings of their souls to the coming of One who should bring in rest and comfort. Need I remind you of the time in which Noah lived - this early comforter of the saints - how he moved and how he built in times and under conditions similar to our own? In his day there were abnormal men; it is said, "In

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those days were the giants on the earth" (Genesis 6:4). A giant spirit, alas! is abroad today in the earth; there is hero-worship on every hand and men of renown. People of the world speak of their great ones, whether politically, or socially, or religiously. They are not ashamed to use superlative language in the description of earth's great ones or their activities. The unholy climax of all those activities, the apex of man's greatness as on that plane will be, as we know, the man of sin.

What are we to do in the presence of all that speaks of this giant spirit abroad? We should reserve our superlative language for Christ, the One who was marked, as it is said, by the mind to go down. Let us refuse in this day of man's greatness to employ any such language in the description of that man. Let us be like the one spoken of in the Song of Songs who, when challenged as to her lover, describes Him in befitting language; she is concerned to speak, as one may say, in the superlative degree. She says, "His head is as the finest gold; ... His mouth is most sweet: Yea, he is altogether lovely" (Song of Songs 5:11 - 16).

So Noah, this early comforter of the saints, is marked by one outstanding feature: that he walked with God. It says "This is the history of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect amongst his generations: Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:9). He was not obsessed with what was around; he was not deterred from pursuing a path of righteousness because of the influx of man's greatness, but he was perfect. He stands forth distinctively perfect in his generations; and it is said, he "walked with God". I wish to emphasise at this time that the measure in which we

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comfort one another in these last days is the measure in which we are each prepared to walk with God, for behind this ministry of comfort there lies a wealth of divine experience - experience with divine Persons, as walking in secret with God. Noah, thank God, was not the only comforter of the old dispensation; there were many of them, and they were concerned to speak to the heart of others.

It is said in Isaiah 40, "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem". May I plead for that in relation to our intercourse one with another, in relation to any service with which the Lord in His goodness may entrust us? Do we make an appeal to the heart? Do we speak to the hearts of God's people? Do we appeal to that which is the seat, so to speak, of every emotion, or are we content to address the minds by imparting information about divine things or divine Persons? I make bold to say that if we are concerned to appeal to the hearts of God's people, there will be response; if we merely appeal to the minds there will be no response.

I pass on to Joseph, who was another great comforter. It is said of him that when suspicion came into the hearts of his brethren, when they doubted him after Jacob their father's death, he spoke consolingly to them; he spoke words of kindness to them. He would disarm them as to the path that lay before them; he would pour into their hearts a precious ministry of comfort so that they might know how to confide in him, and to go forward with every suspicion eliminated from their minds and hearts.

I refer also to Hezekiah in relation to this ministry of comfort. It is said of him in that day of wondrous

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recovery, that he "spoke consolingly to all the Levites" (2 Chronicles 30:22). Have we had such on our hearts - the Levites? Have we been so pre-occupied in our service that we have forgotten the Levites? I well remember one of the earliest longings that I had in regard of divine service. It was that one might have part in that very privileged service by constantly praying for those who serve. I commend that to you, dear young brother or sister. I believe promotion lies on that line, the line of being enabled to speak comfortingly, consolingly, to the Levites, a service that is greatly needed amongst us, and a service that is to be coveted by us. Who knows what lies behind all the precious ministry, all the activities, and all the exercises that are given through the Levites? Shall we be, as it were, the beneficiaries at their hands, receiving of their spiritual wealth, and never be concerned about speaking words of comfort and words of encouragement to them?

It is said that the result of Hezekiah's speaking consolingly to the Levites was that they held a feast seven days, and such was the joy and greatness of that feast that they decided to hold another feast for another period of seven days. Then when Hezekiah, this great comforter of the Levites, recognised what joy there was in Israel, we are told that he gave a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep. He was not too great, though he was a king, to think of the Levites who served in relation to the heart of God. It is said in 2 Chronicles 32:6 that he also spoke consolingly to the captains of war. He is concerned now, having secured the praise and the service of God, as to the conflict, as to this impious enemy who would come within the gates; and

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it is said he assembled the captains of war to him at the gate of the city and spoke consolingly to them. Have we had such in our minds? Have we wept with them? Have we sorrowed with those who have been concerned as to the maintenance of what is due to God, those who have had, as it were, the first hand in the conflict? Have we been near them in spirit? Have we prayed for them?

I remember an aged sister saying that one of her most privileged sights was to walk into a room where our beloved brother F.E.R. was, and to see him weeping - tears, priestly tears - the God-given outlet, in times of conflict for the truth. Such tears are put into God's bottle. Are we concerned as to this, that we support and speak consolingly to those who serve in the conflict? It is said the result of those words of consolation was that the people depended upon the words of Hezekiah the king.

Following upon that I want to show what a ministry of comfort may bring in among us in the last days. It is said that Isaiah the prophet and Hezekiah the king joined in prayer. What a sight for God! to see the prophet and the king praying together and crying to heaven in priestly intercession in relation to the people of God - the people to whom Isaiah was instructed to say, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem". What is this ministry of comfort that Isaiah the prophet would bring in? It is the introduction of the true Noah, the One upon whom Israel will lean, the One for whom the earth and the heavens wait during the time of the groaning creation, the advent of the true Noah who shall bring in rest, repose and comfort. "Every valley shall be

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raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low ... And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed" (Isaiah 40:4, 5). What will mark that day, thank God, will be the feature that will delight the heart of every lover of Jesus that "Jehovah alone shall be exalted" (Isaiah 2:11).

I desire now to refer to the way this ministry of comfort has come down to us in our day. I need not remind you of the way in which the Lord Jesus came into the synagogue at Nazareth. He reads, and as He reads He would leave the impression upon all that He had come in at a suited moment with a ministry of comfort. He said He had come to bind up the broken-hearted. Is there not need for such a word today? Is there not room amongst men, amongst the saints of God, for these words - the gospel preached to the poor, the broken-hearted healed, the captives set at liberty? And as He moves here and there He is concerned as to bringing rest and comfort into the hearts of those to whom He draws near. He would have us restful. He says, "Learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). That is the kind of Person who is able to administer comfort, who is able to bring in, in times of pressure, sorrow, and tribulation, just the word of comfort that is needed.

One loves to think of Paul, that great comforter of the saints, standing in relation to the whole assembly. He is concerned that the saints should be comforted. Pardon the repetition of the word, but I feel how essential this feature is in the closing days. We have abundant light; we have among us, as few other Christians have, the most treasured things; we are privileged to hear the most profound and

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blessed truths, but are we to be content to hear and never to pass on to others who compose part of Christ's assembly that which we have received? Paul himself stands in relation to all men. He had the desire to present every man perfect in Christ. What bowels of compassion he had, just like his Master. He passes on, having the care of all the assemblies, daily concerned that the saints be greatly comforted. He himself had in that early day of his conversion recognised comfort in a most marvellous way, and when he is subdued, he, who had once been the destroyer of God's people, so ministers comfort that we read, "The assemblies then throughout the whole of Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and were increased through the comfort of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 9:31). From that point his concern is, as it were, deepened. He had persecuted the assembly of God, he had been the destroyer of the saints; now he would fill up the time that was left - every moment of it, for it was night-and-day work with Paul - in holy endeavour to comfort the saints.

So, too, the Thessalonians in their early freshness needed the constant attention of a nursing father and a nursing mother, and he would send Timotheus to them. The very presence of Timotheus in a local gathering would ensure comfort for the saints. They had no room for him at Corinth. Paul says, "Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear" (1 Corinthians 16:10), indicating that the tendency at Corinth would be to quench what had been divinely entrusted to Timothy. But at Thessalonica he is entrusted with the work, and Paul says he sent him there

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in order that the saints might be comforted. Then it is said that he also hoped to send Timotheus to the Philippian saints. It is not now a question of early freshness; it is not now a juvenile company, but a company of believers well on the way to maturity - Philippian saints. Do we ever get beyond the need of comfort? What kind of vessel, what kind of keeper of the sheep is this to whom Paul would entrust the work of comforting those Philippian believers? He says, "For I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on" (Philippians 2:20). Oh! for more genuine feeling as to how the saints get on, not as to how much they may know, but a genuine concern for their soul-health.

Then this great comforter Paul is equally concerned about the Ephesians. He has in reserve Tychicus and he would send him in order that he might comfort their hearts, that the Ephesians might be acquainted with all that was happening to Paul, and that their own hearts might be greatly comforted. Likewise as to Colosse, Paul is concerned to know their state, and that he might comfort their hearts. It is not now the great apostle himself coming; it is not an official movement; it is Paul representatively; he sends this representative - Tychicus. He is to go to that local gathering, and find out their state and also to comfort their hearts.

One of the last acts of Paul, in relation to his line of service in comforting others, stood in relation to the comfort of those who were gathered around on that island after the shipwreck. That is one of the last recorded acts of this devoted servant of Christ. It is said that Paul himself gathered sticks. I know we have often read it, and that we

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are acquainted with the scripture, but I make an appeal to every heart to reflect for one moment on the down-stooping of Christ that marked the beloved apostle, and the grace reflected in him, that he had seen in Christ. He himself is greatly concerned about the comfort of those who stood round during the time of the cold and rain, and it is said he gathered sticks. His objective was a fire that would comfort and warm the saints, and he knew that every effort of the enemy to frustrate it would find its full and final answer in the very fire that he himself would provide to warm the saints. He shakes off a viper, for the viper would destroy this minister of comfort among the saints. It is not said he killed it, but he shook it off into the fire.

I refer now to John, for the thought of comfort links up with John's ministry. He treats of the divine nature, and shows that we have wealth and power to deal with every difficulty, every problem that can arise in these difficult days. Jude speaks of certain men having crept in unawares. John says, "They went out from among us, but they were not of us" (1 John 2:19); they went out. The exposing power of John's ministry is such that evil cannot dwell where love is. The viper that would destroy those affections, that would militate against the warmth and comfort of the saints, can never exist in the presence of divine love amongst the saints. We have in John's ministry the most precious bulwark against all the unholy inroads of antichristian men today as they move about in this earth, and if John himself is confined to Patmos he moves out in an endeavour to comfort the saints, and says, "I John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation" (Revelation 1:9).

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If he himself is restricted as to his movements, he refers to one whose movements are unrestricted, for he is like Paul, he leaves behind a keeper of the sheep. Paul leaves a Timothy to keep the sheep, to protect them on church lines and to comfort them in relation to the assembly and the affections proper to it. John, too, is concerned about his keeper, and in that connection he refers in the most touching way to Gaius. Gaius is found as one who has a house, and a house that is a home. What marks him, having the spirit of John, is that he is greatly concerned, not so much how the brethren come into his house, but the manner in which they go out. I commend that to you in all simplicity, that we should have deeper concern about the way in which the saints leave our houses. Are they, as those who have visited the house of Gaius, the better for having been in? Are they comforted? Have they received all this spiritual warmth which is contained in John's ministry? Are they sent forward in a manner worthy of God? John is greatly concerned about the family life of the saints. He would comfort the saints in that relation - that is, as the family of God. The family of God is left down here in a hostile world, and if the world loves its own, let us see to it on our part that we love our own, that in those family affections we should be concerned as to the outgoings of divine love.

One of the earliest, and certainly one of the sweetest impressions that one had of the saints in the path of separation, as first moving amongst them apart from the systems of men, was to go into a meeting where they were singing, 'Whom have we, Lord, but Thee?' (Hymn 427). I confess that it left upon my spirit an indelible impression. It

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was no appeal made to the senses, no disorder, but waiting in simple dependence upon the movements of divine Persons. Another impression of which one would speak was that one had found a company where the Holy Spirit was free. May it be so to the end! Let us be preserved from the intrusions of man's mind, from the mere assertion of things as light, or the mere passing on of information. Let us see to it that we are content to wait upon the Lord Himself for guidance, and that in our deliberations together over the Holy Scriptures, and on every occasion when we are found together, we may leave room for the Holy Spirit. There is that left to us today, the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and one speaks of it with intense joy.

In closing I refer to Peter. Peter's great concern is to comfort the saints in relation to their kingdom sufferings. He leaves to Paul the line of the assembly, the one who was filling up that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body's sake - the line of suffering, which, one feels ashamed to say, we touch so little. Peter's suffering stands in relation to the kingdom. We are to arm ourselves against every unholy intrusion of the flesh, forasmuch as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh. John's sufferings, I believe, stand in relation to the spirits of believers, as being found still in a hostile and antichristian system of things, but Peter is concerned about the souls of the saints. He says, "Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11). He is concerned about soul-health. He would have the saints prospering in their souls, and so he brings in a word of comfort in relation to any who may be suffering, suffering on the line of the kingdom, and his greatest and

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deepest concern in view of his departure is that the saints might be greatly comforted. Would he leave the sheep without a keeper? Would he pass off without leaving the saints a precious legacy? I believe he leaves the legacy to us in the one whose salutation he speaks of when he says, "She that is elected with you in Babylon salutes you, and Marcus my son" (1 Peter 5:13). One has derived comfort from that thought, that in a place like Babylon you have Peter, shortly to put off his tabernacle, as he says, and you have Mark. Ah! we cannot do without the kingdom; we need to be maintained in the exercises relative to it; we need to be maintained in the joy and power of it. Let us never assume, God forbid! to rise so high that we forget the line of Peter's ministry relative to the kingdom, and so he speaks of "Marcus my son".

I would refer briefly for a moment to the legacy that Mark has left behind in the ordering of the Lord in his gospel. It has sometimes occurred to me that in Mark's gospel we have portrayed, more deeply than in any other, the feelings and sensibilities of Jesus. I believe that Mark was a man of deep feeling, and that, consequent upon his early failure, he would be in direct touch with divine Persons. When he is restored and strengthened, he is spoken of as being profitable for the ministry, and his gospel is a precious legacy handed on to us, a gospel in which the feelings and sensibilities of Jesus are treated of in a most delicate way by divine inspiration through "Marcus my son".

These were the thoughts that were on my heart, suggesting how the line of comfort may be continued by us

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in a difficult and a dark day, and that one of our greatest concerns may be to "speak to the heart of Jerusalem". I leave one word with you in closing. "But our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us, and given us eternal consolation and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts, and establish you in every good work and word" (2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17).

Barnet, June 1929

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"I JESUS"

A E MYLES

Luke 1:30 - 32; Luke 2:19, 21, 27, 30; Revelation 1:17; 22: 16

The simple thoughts that are in my mind centre around the name of Jesus. While they are simple, as becomes one's measure, one recognises and desires that the Spirit of God might give enlargement both to the speaker as he speaks, and to the hearers as they listen. What should mark speaking about divine things is not only that God furnishes what is to be spoken, but that those who speak enter into what is spoken in true affection and sympathy. Psalm 45 opens with, "My heart is welling forth with a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer". I feel sure that when the heart is full, God will provide the words. I would rather have a full heart than a mind stocked with facts or information, or even the ability to quote scripture, for it is out of a full heart that the tongue becomes as the pen of a ready writer - not a ready speaker, but a ready writer, for all man's thoughts have to be controlled in order to be kept within the range of what is written. Our minds are never given liberty to travel outside of that, but within that region the tongue becomes as the pen of a ready writer, and what subject is more precious, or more blessed, than that of Jesus. No measure is too simple or too small to compose something about Him. It

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is not what we have learned from another, but what we have composed as touching the king.

We have been considering together the supreme blessedness of the thought that God has come down to man, that He has brought Himself within man's compass or range. God is very great, and man compared with Him is very small, and if God in His greatness is going to bring Himself thus before the notice of man in his smallness, what down-stooping it involves. There was no other but Jesus who could travel that way; no other who could set God forth, for He not only represented God and declared God, but He was God. What a subject for contemplation, to consider the way He travelled and the point to which He stooped in order to bring to us the knowledge of God!

I have turned to Luke's gospel for two reasons. One is that that gospel presents the moral order in which we apprehend things; the other is that the gospels, in general, furnish us with the most intimate thoughts about the person of Jesus. The epistles speak much of His official glories. They unfold to us the varied and glorious offices He has taken up in order to make the will of God effective in us, and in order to meet the need of His people and to support them in the presence of God. But the gospels produce the spirit of adoration, for we are brought close to Jesus as He moves and speaks to men. Luke presents Him as beginning at the lowest point and being carried to the highest point; for in his second discourse - the Acts - where he continues to compose as touching the king, he tells us the disciples "were gazing into heaven, as he was going" (Acts 1:10), showing not only that the Lord had gone to the highest

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point, but that the gaze of His people had been directed to that spot. Just think what a range of contemplation there is for our souls between these two points - a Babe lying in a manger, and a blessed Man having passed through death in triumph, carried up into heaven! I understand that the thought of carrying is that there is support; that is, the affections are intelligently engaged as loving the Person, and as apprehending where His pathway leads.

I begin at the point in the scripture where the angel appears to Mary with the salutation, "Hail, thou favoured one! the Lord is with thee" (Luke 1:28). The Lord was with her to support her in receiving a marvellous communication, a communication so great indeed that without support she would have been overwhelmed. She was to bear a son and call His name Jesus; that is the first name indicated by the angel; the second name is that He should be called the Son of the Highest. There is nothing more lowly than Jesus, and nothing greater than the Son of the Highest, so that, as reading Luke's account, we are to carry these two suggestions of surpassing lowliness and surpassing greatness combined in one Person. In down-stooping grace He who was, and is, God, came into manhood at the lowest point, at the point, shall I say, where there is the least likelihood that anyone should be dismayed, bearing no external evidences of official glory and dignity - a babe lying in a manger. That was the sign to the shepherds (chapter 2: 12); they should find the babe lying in a manger.

The suggestion carries two thoughts, as I see it: one that the manger represents a lower point in down-stooping

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grace than is seen in the mother. The mother would suggest the reality of His humanity, born of a woman, a holy yet real humanity, but the manger is descent in grace below man's ordinary circumstances altogether. The other thought is that whatever distinction attaching to Mary as favoured above women, it was not to be confused or merged with the distinction attaching to the Babe, called the Son of the Highest. When Mary and Joseph are referred to at the same time as is the Babe, the Babe is said to be "lying in the manger". We do not get the thought of the Babe being carried by a mother; that would have been what is natural, and God is developing here what is spiritual. The first person recorded as receiving the Babe in his arms is Simeon. He carried the Babe. Think of it! What a subject for contemplation! He had been waiting long for Him; the waiting would suggest the preparation, for no one could have such a holy privilege without moral preparation. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel; those arms, so to speak, had been prepared, they had been strengthened by God that he might carry the child Jesus, so he said, "Lord, now thou lettest thy bondman go, according to thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation". There was nothing more in life for Simeon; he had reached the consummation, the goal, the end for which he had been waiting. He could now depart in peace, without an anxious thought, for he had seen God's salvation.

The next point I wish to notice is that while the name of Jesus had been indicated to Mary in this gospel, and to Joseph in Matthew's gospel, there was a period of eight days elapsing before the name was given. You will notice

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they were to call His name Jesus. While it came from God by means of the angel, they were to call His name Jesus. In that period we are told Mary kept these things in her mind and pondered them in her heart. Eight days of keeping in mind; eight days of pondering in heart, ere that holy name can be called. How it suggests the necessity of meditation, and the prayerful consideration of these divine blessed realities, before the name of Jesus can be spoken! It cannot be taken up on unsanctified lips, it cannot be taken where the heart is untouched and the mind unfilled; it is too precious, too holy, too marvellously great; so the period of pondering comes in before the name of Jesus is given by men.

I now refer to another name called over Him, in chapter 3, where the heaven was opened and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight" (verse 22). Only God could give Him that name; only God could say, My beloved Son. He does not stand in that relation to any other but God. That is His great distinction in manhood; He is called the beloved Son. No angel could give Him that name; only the voice of God coming out of an opened heaven could declare a name so sacred and so marvellous as the "beloved Son". It represents, I understand, what that Person is to God in manhood; but the name of Jesus represents what He is to every one of His people, in that down-stooping, lowly, but blessed pathway that His feet marked out in the movements of His love. It is as Jesus that He has come into our hearts, as Jesus that He has made Himself indispensable and precious to every one of us.

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The name Jesus is not so much what is official, although that underlies it, but rather what is personal; and every one of His saints is marked by a personal link with Him as Jesus. Even little children take that name upon their lips; it does not dismay. It stands for the way that blessed divine Person has taken that He might secure possession of our hearts. I will give you an illustration of how it works in the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. You will recall that as he was journeying to Damascus, a light shone out of heaven and a voice was heard saying, "Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?" and Saul said, "Who art thou, Lord?" Lord is a title of authority; it represents what is official and great, but the answer that came back was, "I am Jesus" (Acts 9:4, 5). He would not overwhelm that man, lying with his face on the ground, by speaking of titles of dignity and glory, though every title of eminence belongs to Him, but Oh! the comfort poured into that wounded heart by that name, Jesus: "I am Jesus". What could we do without Him? How could we walk a single day without that Person? How could we ever come into the presence of God in all His greatness, without Jesus? We should be overwhelmed, we could not stand it, we could not support it apart from Jesus. The blessedness of the presence of God, and indeed heaven itself, is only possible for creatures such as we are because of Him - the One who came into manhood, marked by this lowly grace, who drew near to sinners, who did not overwhelm them, but attracted the lowly and the outcast - Jesus, our precious, adorable Saviour.

Before I pass on, I should just like to make this remark, that Scripture emphasises, in regard to every

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critical moment of our history, that we are to be with Jesus. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read of many sons being brought to glory; have you ever thought how we are going to remain in the presence of the glory, in the effulgence, in the shining out of all that God is? You could not support it apart from Jesus; and so we read, "We see Jesus;" we see Him "crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:9). What makes it possible to contemplate being in the glory is that Jesus is there; He is there, and we shall never, never be apart from Him. When God ushers us into these eternal conditions, we shall never lose sight of Him, we shall never lose the sense of His presence, support, and nearness. There will never be a moment when we could lose that, for we shall always need Him. We shall need Him in heaven, we shall need Him in glory, even as we need Him here and now; in a different way perhaps, for now we need all the condescending gentleness of His grace to deal with us and to help us through this scene. But we shall need Him then, for Oh! how great is God, how marvellously great! The greatness of God has been much impressed upon my soul of late. What a real thing, what a solemn thing it is for men to be taken into the immediate presence of God! I could not contemplate such a possibility without the deepest dismay, apart from the thought that Jesus is there - the One whom we have learnt and known in our condition of weakness and need. He is there, and He is there to support us. In His face the glory of God shines, and apart from His support we could never remain in the presence of God.

Now I pass on to what is presented in the passages I read from the Revelation, for there, in a different setting

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and through another writer, we get the same thoughts that I have tried very briefly to suggest from the gospel by Luke. In the opening verse which I read we find the writer falling at His feet as dead. I want to ask everyone in this room, every believer, Have you ever fallen at His feet as dead? You will never get a true conception of the greatness of Christ apart from that experience. Had we known such an experience in reality, there would be less familiarity with us when we speak to the Lord, less formal repetition, and less activity when we are out of communion. The passage suggests how great the Lord is; only God could give us at once the thought of supreme greatness and supreme lowliness and gentleness in one Person; only God could do that. The one who saw Him in His official dignity and glory standing in the midst of the seven lamps, prepared to move amongst the assemblies to use His discerning eye, to look underneath the surface and to expose what was there, was affected so deeply that he fell at His feet as dead. Such is the greatness of Christ! And then the book goes on to unfold how God is going to take things up in a day to come. One gathers from such a book marvellous impressions of the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is going to intervene in the world and bring great things to pass, such things as have never happened in the world's history before. We read of events that make the heart of man tremble and fear, for they are marvellous indeed, and as we read through the book we get this conception, that that blessed Person is able to deal with everything in the world. As we look at the world today, we may get the impression that it is a conquering system, for it goes on from one step of

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progress to another, from one invention to another, and there seems to be, as men think, no limit to what the mind of man will eventually accomplish. But as we read this book we get an impression of the greatness of Christ, and that He is able to deal with it all.

It is possible that as we read it there might perhaps unconsciously come into our souls a sense of distance, because He is so great, and fills such high offices, and is marked by such dignity, and power, and distinction. But the book closes with that precious word, "I Jesus". To those who read He is still that same Person; to hearts that adoringly would follow Him through the great movements recorded in the book, He is still "Jesus". He will not allow any sense of distance to come between Himself and those who love Him; and so He presents Himself in that blessed way, bringing in that wonderful word, "I Jesus". Oh! what does that recall? It recalls all that He is to our hearts as known in the wonders of His grace; it recalls One well-known through all life's history - "I Jesus". And then He adds further what is well worth noting, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify". There are angelic activities at this moment in the assemblies to testify to Him. He is the same Jesus; it is in that character that He has sent His angel that our hearts might be comforted and our souls supported by the sweet and blessed sense that He who, in the greatness of His person, is God, has become a Man. It is in manhood He has gained our affections, and He is going to remain in manhood for ever. He came out of eternity, out of conditions into which we cannot look or penetrate or understand, but He has come into time. He came as a Babe;

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He came into our hearts in this precious way and He remains a Man; He goes back into eternity a Man - "I Jesus".

Well, as I said at the beginning, I had on my mind the simple desire to speak of Jesus. I hope everyone in this company has a link with Him; and that there has been in your life that period of pondering, of contemplation, giving the sense that what is in Him is so great that it can fill your mind and heart for time and eternity, so that in some measure you are taking your part in the carrying and maintaining of the testimony of God, for things have to be supported today. God is working through His people and by His people. He is not seen in any other way; He is working morally and has confined His activities in this dispensation to His people. What is of Christ needs support: it needs arms, like those of Simeon, that have been waiting, it needs that readiness to go, to depart, to make way for Him, so that, as John the baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). It needs all that. As we contemplate the great events of one's life, possibly going into death (what a solemn moment that is to one; even for the believer it is an intensely solemn thing to die), our comfort is that Jesus died. He went that way; and we could not go that way without being overwhelmed, had He not gone, and did He not take us by the hand as we go. And again if we take the thought of weeping, for the life of a man of God today is marked by much weeping, well, Jesus wept. What a contemplation! Jesus weeping. Think of who He is, and what He is, and what He has come to do and how He is going to fill all things! The One who is going to fill all

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things is the One who wept - "Jesus wept". If we think of going into the glory, for God is going to take us there, how could we contemplate such supreme blessedness as being near to God in all the shining out of His glory, apart from Jesus? We cannot do without Him; He has come into our hearts and into our lives, and we cannot let Him go.

I trust that every heart here is detaining Him; He loves to be detained, He loves to be constrained, for to detain one is an evidence of true desire. May our hearts be filled with true desire towards that blessed Person, for God has His own marvellous way of working in us, and with us, so that when He has finished His work we shall pass into heaven, absolutely satisfied with Christ. We shall be in correspondence then with that precious word that I have quoted, "In thee I have found my delight". God is working to bring every one of us to that, and He is going to fill heaven with persons who have found their delight in Jesus.

Barnet, June 1929

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SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATIONS

C C ELLIOTT

Genesis 17:1, 8; Genesis 18:1, 6 - 8; Exodus 34:5 - 7; 1 Kings 3:5, 9; Isaiah 6:1 - 3; Acts 26:14 - 18; John 14:21

I desire to speak of the reality and necessity of real spiritual experiences. It is well that we should have knowledge; it is well, too, that we should have spiritual intelligence; but what I would like to put before you is the reality of what I should name real spiritual experiences in our souls.

In all the passages I have read we find examples of this, and I refer to them in order to bring out what is latent in them. First of all, if you take Abraham, he was marked by faith, that was one of his great characteristics; but he was also marked by the number of the appearings of the Lord to him. Now, I take it none of us here is without faith. We go on in faith, if I may use the expression, with a steady tread. Day in and day out, from week to week, month to month and year to year we tread our path, I trust, in faith. To walk by faith and not by sight, is normal, surely, to all believers; and that goes on, just in a steady way daily. But what I am speaking about is something more special. I need not emphasise how important it is that we should go on day by day in this steady tread of faith, but God gives us other things; He gives us what I may speak of as appearings or manifestations, not only to confirm our faith, which is true, but to enlarge our spiritual experience. He gives us not only

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communications, but manifestations of Himself, and that is what we find referred to in all the passages I have read.

Abraham was a very remarkable figure in the history of God's saints and it is said (Genesis 12:7) that the Lord appeared to him and said that He would give him the land. That was a remarkable appearing; the Lord confirmed Abram in leaving his country, and opened out to him His promises and, though Abram had opportunity, he never returned to the land which he had left. He accepted the result of the communication that God made to him as final, and though he may have failed at various points, yet, as the epistle to the Hebrews tells us, though he might have had opportunity to return, he did not. Abram, therefore, was confirmed in his path by this first appearing.

I read of two further appearings, one in which the name of God is declared to him: "I am the Almighty God" (Genesis 17:1). In that appearing he received great accession in regard of the name and character of God, and it was a real spiritual experience. If he got an accession to his spiritual capital by this declaration of the name of God, his name also was changed; for that, I take it, would be a principle, that where there is a fuller revelation of the name of God, the name of the recipient of that revelation would also have a corresponding change. Thus he is now called Abraham, a change of name, corresponding to the name of God who was thus revealed to him, and vaster prospects were opened to him; he would not only have the land, but far greater blessing would accrue. What a moment for his soul to receive a revelation of that kind! God was revealed in this wonderful way, and Abram accepted it.

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Then again in the other appearing of which I read (Genesis 18) there was even a higher privilege conferred upon Abraham, for he was placed in the position of ministering to the Holy One, of ministering refreshment to God. That is a most wonderful state of things, that Abraham should be so privileged that he should prepare a meal and minister to this blessed Visitor! Thus, in his case, there is a progression in the character, nature and extent of the intimacy of the appearings, and so it is with us. I believe that in these divine manifestations which are made to our hearts, there is a progression and increase in the character of the manifestations enjoyed. How wonderful to think that we, too, can have such manifestations of God and of the Lord Jesus to our hearts, so that we can minister to Them. How this bows our spirits in adoration and reverence before the One who so reveals Himself!

Now I come to Moses in Exodus 34. Moses, who was often in touch with the Lord, here desires to see His glory, and the Lord graciously responded, and declared His name before him, and, in the light of that appearing, Moses can go through the wilderness in the knowledge of God's wonderful character: "Merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth". God was declared in such a light as to enable Moses to carry out his heavy responsibilities, and to conduct the people of God through the wilderness under the impulse of that manifestation. I believe that every servant, in order to do any work which is entrusted to him, has to have a manifestation of the character of God or of the Lord, which will fit him for the conduct of that spiritual enterprise,

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however small or however great the service. If he is to serve the saints rightly, the servant must have an apprehension of the character of God which will fit him for the carrying out of what is laid upon him; and that held good with Moses. The manifestation of God in this manner just suited the character of the moment and exactly brought out what Moses required to know of God, and of the character in which he should represent God to the people. With this manifestation of God to Moses he gets also a great sense of his own insignificance, so that he could say, "Alas, this people has sinned a great sin ... And now, if thou wilt forgive their sin ... but if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book" (Exodus 32:31, 32); as much as to say, I do not mind about myself, let the people of God be blessed, and if my extinction will help their blessing, let my extinction take place. That would be quite in keeping with the manifestation of God, and would be the right spirit surely of a servant. So God confirms His servant in his service. He recognises him, and Moses goes forth to that arduous service in the light of that particular manifestation of God to his soul.

Now, as to the next incident that I read (1 Kings 3), that of Solomon, and the Lord appearing to him in a dream, I would point out that it was a very great thing for Solomon to recognise that the source of wisdom was in God, and that God was prepared to give it to him. I think that has a very practical bearing on our souls; for there are occasions in which the greatest spiritual wisdom is needed. There are difficulties arising constantly amongst and regarding the Lord's people, and where are we to go? Whom are we to

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address for the solution of those difficulties? Solomon at the outset of his career addressed the right Person and found the right source; he found in a manifest way that the wisdom he needed for ruling so great and numerous a people was to be found in God alone, and so must we. We may take all sorts of measures and investigate all avenues, so to speak, in order to find the wisdom to meet a certain difficulty, but we are brought to the fact that wisdom comes only from God. In regard of the assembly it comes from her exalted Head, and all of us should have the strong impression from the Lord Himself, and from God Himself, that that is where the source of wisdom lies. So we do not act restlessly, wandering about, so to say, for guidance, much as we value the advice of our brethren through whom wisdom is often ministered to our souls; for, through whomsoever the wisdom comes, the source of it is the assembly's Head! What rest it gives to the spirit to know that there is no difficulty the solution of which does not lie in the mind of God, and that it is possible for us to get it! It was surely the humble spirit in Solomon that got that answer; it was the lowly spirit that did not seek his own greatness. If there is any spirit of desiring to be great the Lord will not give us wisdom; but in the absence of that and having a pure desire to serve the Lord's people, God will give the answer.

Now there is another great effect of the manifestation of the Lord, and that would very rightly be found in a prophetic book. Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord ... high and lifted up". What he discovered there was the holiness of God. The impression of that appearing was the extreme

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holiness of God; and I do verily believe that is what every one of us has to learn in a deeper way, the holiness of God and His presence which, while it attracts us, is profoundly real in its searching character. The invariable effect of the presence of God on us is to induce an acknowledgment of the holiness that is His, and thus it banishes from us all that lightness that naturally characterises us. Lightness and the want of depth in us are banished in such measure as we are in the presence of God and have the sense of His holiness. That holiness came out in the cross is obvious; that it came out in all its deep and wonderful character there is surely known to all of us; but its realisation is one of the great points in our spiritual history, and one which has not only to be attained, but maintained.

I pass on now to the instances in the New Testament. I shall first say a word about the first great appearing of the Lord to the apostle Paul. It is one of many appearings, as the Lord said, "For this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee ... a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in". So there were many appearings to the apostle during his life, but this was the first, the great initial appearing. I suppose it was the greatest and it had a profound effect upon him. I have no doubt that with any servant of the Lord who seeks to serve Him, an analogous experience takes place. That is, there is a real spiritual appearing of the Lord (not in vision like this, of course) which marks the character of the ministry. I think there is that with each of us who are servants of the Lord, and surely we all here are servants of the Lord, bondmen of Jesus Christ, and whether the work is small or

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great, the Lord will give us, as He gave Paul, a distinct impression of His commission. You cannot run without a commission; you cannot engage in service without a distinct impression of the Lord. It may be feeble - I do not think it was feeble with Paul - but it must be there, and that appearing will characterise the whole of the ministry of the servant.

It is very important to notice that the germ of the whole of the double ministry of Paul is contained in what the Lord said to him here. I refer to the ministry of the assembly, and the ministry of the gospel. The ministry of the assembly is obviously contained in germ in the wonderful and beautiful expression, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ... I am Jesus whom thou persecutest". We know it well. It contains the germ of the whole ministry of the assembly which was developed in fuller measure in Paul as he went on his course, and was the secret of all his devoted labour. If he knew and acknowledged that the assembly which he had persecuted was really Christ, he was prepared to prove Christ's love to the assembly in himself to the utmost, whether he were loved or not: "If even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved" (2 Corinthians 12:15). He loved and served the assembly which Christ loved. That is the real motive of service to the assembly; we are so impressed with Christ's love to the assembly, and what it is to the heart of Christ, that we love to serve it. It will prepare us for acting in the meanest capacity, and though we may know but little about it, it will bring suffering to us.

Now there is another feature in this appearing which I would point out; that is, the close connection and

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intertwining of the two ministries. The Lord immediately goes on to give Paul his evangelical ministry, how he should go to the nations to open their eyes, "that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God". That is the evangelical side, though without the slightest doubt it was in view of the assembly, so that those of the nations thus reached should become part of that wonderful vessel of which I have spoken. You see how the two ministries are intertwined there; they are not divorced; "What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate" (Matthew 19:6). That is, there is to be no divorce between the ministry of the gospel and the ministry of the assembly; they would be mutually conducive to each other's progress, and they are both impressed upon the apostle at this wonderful appearing.

I have already referred to the many appearings that were made to Paul, and of some we have a record. For instance, when he came to Jerusalem and wanted to stay there and preach, the Lord appeared to him in an ecstasy and said, "Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem" (Acts 22:18). He pleaded with the Lord, and said he would like to stay: "Lord, they themselves know that I was imprisoning and beating in every synagogue those that believe on thee; and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was shed, I also myself was standing by and consenting, and kept the clothes of those who killed him" (verses 19, 20). But the Lord became insistent and said, 'You are to go'. The Lord is able to appear to His servants to give them directions for service, and while we may have to gather much as to His will, there is such a thing as the Lord giving

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peremptory instruction, and I suppose every servant knows what that is; you cannot argue; you must do it.

That was the result of one appearing of the Lord to Paul; and, again, when the apostle was in some distress because he had made an error before the council, that very night the gracious Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good courage; for as thou hast testified the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness at Rome also" (Acts 23:11). He would fulfil his service, and he would go to Rome and testify for the Lord there. The Lord is so gracious; He knew that the heart and the motive were right, and He would comfort His servant. Then again, we read that after he had been caught up to the third heaven, which was indeed more than an appearing, when he came down he was given the thorn for the flesh, and found it very trying for himself, a man of so impetuous and active a character. He besought the Lord thrice to take it from him, but the Lord said, "My grace suffices thee; for my power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). So he was called to suffer this, that he might find the power of Christ resting upon him. That was a gracious, comforting word of the Lord to him, and showed what a deep interest the Lord took in His servant, and how His grace was sufficient for this and everything of that kind.

When again at the end of his arduous life of service he stands before that inhuman monster whom he calls "the lion", and all the saints at Rome, who seem to have been very timid, deserted him, and no man stood by him, the Lord again manifested Himself to him, as he says, "The Lord stood with me" (2 Timothy 4:17). Do you think the Lord

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would desert His servant though all deserted him? Never; He made Himself known in full support to His servant. Oh! do we not feel it, that it is only as He supports us that we have courage? It is only as He supports us that service is at all effectual, so that, as he says, "through me the proclamation might be fully made". But He does support us, as He supported His aged servant at that moment. We see thus how Paul was well acquainted with these wonderful manifestations and communications from the Lord.

Now in the last passage I read (John 14) we have a different note. We should expect the apostle John to present things to us in a character corresponding to his ministry, and thus we find here the character of the manifestations of the Lord from John's aspect. "He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me; but he that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him". This then is a manifestation of affection. I do not mean that the others were not given in affection, but the stress here is laid upon affection, so that the manifestation is really one of pure affection. It is not a manifestation here for service, but a manifestation for affection: "He that loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him". Now that is a real spiritual experience. Would to God we knew more about it! And I may say that it is not a bit of use reading this beautiful passage of Scripture and never experiencing the truth of it. I believe there are many believers who constantly admire and find comfort in this chapter, but who have not really experienced

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what this verse speaks about. But it is open to us. You say, 'How is it open to us?' Love obeys, and that is how it is opened to us: "He that has my commandments and keeps them". So it is by the simple way of obedience. I do not know what you find, but I find in myself there is a great danger of not being simply obedient to the Lord. We may not be distinctly, directly and completely obedient to what the Lord tells us, and that is why we do not get these manifestations, for do you mean to tell me for one moment that love does not desire to bestow this favour? Of course it does. Do you mean to say that the Lord does not wish to manifest Himself to each of us? Of course He does, and the only thing that prevents Him, I believe, is our lack of obedience; but if obedience is there, and we love Him, He will certainly manifest Himself to us.

Now we may know a little about it or may know a great deal about it, but one feels we should all be exercised as to our experience of these things. Opposers say there is nothing in it but mere imagination; but manifestations of the Lord are real; and what is the effect in the soul? It is that the love of Christ is very near to us, very warm in our hearts, and we greatly appreciate it and enjoy it. I cannot explain its effects better than that. There is a realisation of His love in a deeper sense than ever. If I may refer to the collective thought, I believe the same holds good. We should never be content with a mere description of things, but we should realise when He comes to us. Not that we can claim it in a public way, but nevertheless the reality remains, and it should be our happy privilege, not only that we should read about it, but that we should experience it. I

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do believe it is of the utmost importance that such spiritual experiences as I have referred to should be known by every one of us, and, if what I have said tends to send us to the Lord in prayer to see what it is that prevents them being ours, I shall be glad indeed. As this chapter (John 14) shows us, faith, however great, is not enough. It says, "Ye believe on God, believe also on me", and that, I understand, we all do. We all do believe on Him, there is faith, and that gets us over our difficulties and makes us go on so that we do not lose heart. As I said before, it keeps us going on steadily; but the Lord would have us enjoy more than that, namely the manifestations of Himself to our hearts, whether in love, or in any other of the aspects presented in these scriptures, for I have touched but the fringe of the subject. Let us then earnestly seek them in the power of the Spirit given to us, with the knowledge that all these experiences are possible for us, if we are exercised. May they become the real experience of our souls for His name's sake.

Bristol, July 1931

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SUBJECTION

W J HOUSE

2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8; Luke 1:38; Luke 2:1 - 7; 1 Corinthians 15:24 - 28

What I want to suggest, beloved brethren, is the importance of subjection; and, with the Lord's help, I would desire to indicate that, if we are to be in accord with the mind of God in any relationship or position in which God has set us, or if we are to be prepared for that eternity that lies ahead into which we are about to enter, subjection is imperative as a state that is wrought in our souls; not simply that as to certain actions, we obey, but that the spring of those actions, is a state of subjection that exists in our souls. One feels the importance of it more because of the intensely solemn moment in which our lot is cast in this world. Without doubt we are rapidly drawing near to the moment that I read of in the epistle to the Thessalonians, when one will be revealed whom the Spirit of God calls by name - "the lawless one", or, as the AV gives it, "that Wicked". There is about to appear the great leader, whose characteristic feature and name is lawlessness, and the darkening influences that will reach a climax with his presence on earth are already here. The smoke of the pit out of which he comes - for it says that he ascends out of the bottomless pit - is already filling the earth, darkening every right influence that has hitherto governed the minds of men, affecting every relationship where subjection is proper.

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In the wisdom of God, from our very birth, we are brought into a position in which subjection is the first feature. As children, the mind of God for children is subjection. The influence of the lawless one is being felt intensely in that relationship. Those of us who have children feel intensely the darkening there. Then, if I refer just for a moment to women, the mind of God for the woman is subjection to the man; but the influence of the lawless one from the pit is breaking that down. Again, as to the wife, her place according to the mind of God is subjection to her own husband; that too is being destroyed. The principle of subjection to the higher powers, is the mind of God in respect of government; it is being undermined everywhere. The principle of subjection of the servant to his master is being abandoned everywhere. I need not say that that which professes to be the church is manifestly abandoning that subjection. The awful influences of lawlessness are darkening this scene, and God, I am sure, would save us from it, by conveying to our hearts the blessedness of subjection, not that we accept it as inevitable, but that we accept it as loving it.

Hence I would desire to speak of Christ - the blessed One in whom every thought of God for men finds perfect expression. As the Lord said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me" (Matthew 11:29). Whatever we may consider, everything is expressed perfectly, and can only be learnt perfectly from Christ. Thus I desire, with the Lord's help, to seek to present subjection, as it is seen in its blessed perfection in Christ, so that, as seeing it in Him, we may learn to love it, and thus get the gain that it brings. I know

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that certain features of subjection were expressed here, in measure, before He came; but one loves to think that everything that has been right and of God was but the backward glow of the rising sun. As the sun comes up and we get the present shining of it, there still remain the beams of light that go backward, and every feature that was of God, from Abel onward, was really the beaming of that blessed light, that great light that the Lord speaks of: "The people sitting in darkness has seen a great light" (Matthew 4:16). The apostle Peter speaks of it, "The Spirit of Christ which was in them" (1 Peter 1:11), not that we imply it was there, or read it into it, but it was there; the Spirit of Christ was there "in them". So, if Abel was marked by subjection, which lies behind the Lord calling him "righteous Abel", it was that which he derived from Christ. If Abraham was subject to the divine command, "Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house" (Genesis 12:1), he went out as subject. Of Moses God said, "my servant Moses" (Numbers 12:7); and of David He said, "I have found David my servant" (Psalm 89:20). These were men who were subject to God as having the Spirit of Christ. But I wanted just to indicate, as the Lord may give grace, some sense of the perfection of subjection as seen in Christ Himself.

So, if we come to the outset of His entrance into time, it is as One who was "from eternity" (Psalm 93:2), of whom the Spirit of God speaks as "subsisting in the form of God" (Philippians 2:6). What infinite greatness! Subjection does not apply to the form of God, I need not say; it is for God to command. Innumerable hosts of angels are before Him, as it says, "hearkening unto the voice of his word" (Psalm 103:20),

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bending their ears, awaiting the divine command. Of Gabriel it says, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God" (Luke 1:19), but the form of God has never been seen, and never will be seen, by a creature: "Dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor is able to see; to whom be honour and eternal might. Amen" (1 Timothy 6:16). But the One who was in the form of God took a bondman's form. Our hearts cannot take that in. "Subsisting in the form of God", it says He took - it was a deliberate, definite act - "a bondman's form". He took a condition in which subjection could be perfectly expressed. The setting of the passage in Philippians is primarily, that the mind was there to do it, before the act was consummated. The apostle says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Chapter 2, verse 5). It was firstly an act of mind, to take a bondman's form, to come into a condition where subjection could be expressed, to accept the absolute will of God - for that is the idea of a bondman. A bondman is not at liberty to act for himself; he is bound by the will of his master. The word "master" in some places means despot; it means one who will not brook, who will not tolerate another will. The Lord Jesus took a bondman's form and was found in fashion as a Man.

Who is there that is suited for the coming in of Christ? What vessel is there that God will use, as prepared under His own mighty hand of power, for the entrance of such a One into the world? One indeed, of whom it is said, "Lo, I come ... to do, O God, thy will" (Hebrews 10:7). The Spirit of God selects a certain vessel for this supremely great act, when He should take a "bondman's form" and be "found in

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figure as a man". Who is it? The verse I read indicates the suitability of Mary to be such a vessel. She says, "Behold the bondmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to thy word". She corresponded subjectively with the mind that had decided to take a bondman's form, the bondmaid corresponding with the Bondman. There was in that beloved woman's soul, wrought in it subjectively, subjection to the will of God.

Then the Lord Jesus Himself is born as Joseph and Mary are in the very act of expressing subjection, according to the mind of God. The decree as to the census had gone forth from Caesar Augustus, the alien power that then was, a decree naturally irritant to the heart of any Jew, but recognising the power God had ordained, Joseph and Mary, at cost to themselves that we cannot fully understand, carried out in subjection God's mind in relation to the higher powers; and at that very moment the Lord Jesus is found here in this scene, in the very atmosphere and conditions of subjection.

He moves from that point, and we next see Him at twelve years of age, a solemn age - an age that is testing perhaps more than most. The Lord says to Mary consequent upon those twelve years in secret, "Did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49). He assumes that she would have understood in those twelve years how imperative it was for Him to be subject to the will of God, that His Father's business should control and govern Him. Nevertheless, at that very moment it says that He went down to Nazareth and was "in subjection to them", expressing perfectly, from twelve years

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and onward, the mind of God during that period. What days they were - the eye and heart of God alone can put an estimate upon them!

Then He "was beginning to be about thirty years old" (Luke 3:23), indicating what those days of subjection were to God, for He says, at the close of them, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight" (verse 22), not 'I do find', though that would be true, but "I have". God had looked upon every one of those days, and the divine estimate is expressed of what that subjection in secret and obscurity was to Him: "In thee I have found my delight".

But then we follow Him during those three and a half years, and it is indicated that they are taken account of in days. The Spirit of God suggests in the book of Daniel, a period like them, in which every one of them is remembered: "Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days!" (Daniel 12:12). The days are taken account of, every one of them, and all were days of subjection. They were begun in a way that makes one feel intensely humbled when we compare our days with His. How many of us must feel like Jacob, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life" (Genesis 47:9), but that does not in any wise represent those blessed days of His! They may have been few, as men count days - but they were infinitely blessed! They were begun each morning in subjection, as it says, "He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the instructed" (Isaiah 50:4). Think of that, beloved brethren; every single day, morning by morning, His ear was opened for instruction. It is the Bondman waiting upon His Master

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whom He loved for instructions for the day. Every single day was like that! No wonder the memorial of them is laid up before God; no wonder that the Lord said that the time would come when men would look to see one of those days - just one! If it be that the instruction for one day was that "He must needs pass through Samaria" (John 4:4) - albeit that the journey brings weariness to Him - there is no question of His subjection, so that at that very moment He says, "My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me" (verse 34).

What shall we say of the closing day of those days? One can only remind you of what it says in Hymn 190:

O day of greatest sorrow,
Day of unfathomed grief!
When Thou didst taste the horror
Of wrath without relief.

That was the last day of the sojourn of Christ here. See Him at the commencement of it, in prayer for instruction, knowing perfectly what that day contained in His own spirit - shrinking from it in a holiness that we adore, yet nevertheless asking for instructions: "My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me; but not as I will, but as thou wilt" Matthew 26:39). What subjection! We cannot view it save "a stone's throw" away; not even Peter, or James, or John could go all the way to contemplate it. He went a stone's throw beyond any point that they could go. But we see subjection in perfection there, as always. And so He dies: He lays down His life in subjection. One point of view of the death

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of Christ, beyond and outside of the instruments that caused it, is that He laid down His life in subjection: "I have received this commandment of my Father" (John 10:18). His death was the supreme act of subjection.

One used to think that that act was the end of subjection in Christ, and that ever after it would be rule, it would be command. But, dear brethren, that is not so. Having entered into manhood, He retains manhood in subjection. One view of the resurrection, of His taking His life again in manhood, is that it is done in subjection: "I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment of my Father". The commandment covers both the laying it down and the taking it again. Commanded to take it again in resurrection, obedience to that command is expressed in His resurrection. I do not of course refer to that point we love to take account of, that it was the surpassing greatness of the power of God that wrought in Christ in raising Him from the dead, but there is also this view in John 10:18, that He took it again in subjection to a divine command.

Our thoughts and our hearts would go to the passage we read in 1 Corinthians 15. His present position is, "Sit at my right hand until I have put thine enemies to be the footstool of thy feet" (Acts 2:34, 35); sit there till every single thing is subject to Christ. That is the mind of God for Christ at the present moment. As Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh" (Genesis 41:44), "only concerning the throne will I be greater than thou" (verse 40), but otherwise no one was to lift their hand or foot without Joseph. That is the

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position of Christ, and it will continue until everything is subject to Him. God is going to put everything in subjection to Christ, and when everything is subdued, when there is nothing unsubdued in the universe of God, what then? It is beyond us to express, but the Spirit of God says when everything shall have been brought into subjection to Him, then "the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection". We are now in our thoughts touching a little on what we have had before us - "from eternity to eternity". The passage in 1 Corinthians 15 brings us, as it were, to the door of eternity. What place will the Son have in eternity? One would not dare to say it, if the Spirit of God in the Scripture did not say it, but the Son will be placed, not exactly He will become subject, as by His own act, though that would be true, but He is placed by God in subjection. The Son, the One whom the Father loves, for "the Father loves the Son" (John 3:35) - that One who has made God known to our hearts, is placed in subjection by God. The One whom we all love to kiss even today - for it says, "Kiss the Son" (Psalm 2:12) - the One towards whom the holy affections of the liberated universe will yet express themselves, of Him it says, "The Son also himself shall be placed in subjection". The underlying condition of all eternity is subjection to God: "From eternity to eternity thou art God" (Psalm 90:2). Subjection will be the basic condition of the universe eternally. There is an aspect of God's kingdom that is eternal, as the apostle says, "Now to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God, honour and glory to the ages of ages. Amen" (1 Timothy 1:17).

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That will be secured to God for ever, as the Son remains for ever in manhood, in subjection to God.

Now, if we are to get the gain of what is in the mind of God for us, there must be subjection. You can see that in the gospel of John, where the Lord comes into the time condition and scene out of eternity. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Then further, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us" (verse 14). What will He not bring in? What will not such a One bring in as available to men? Who could measure it? No one. The apostle says, "For of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace" (verse 16), because of Who had come in. But who got the gain of what He brought in? Those who were subject. Take the good wine - the joy that is never deficient, joy that will continue for ever - who got it? Those who were subject. Mary, for the moment, beloved woman whom all generations call blessed, stepped out of the place of subjection, and said to Him, "They have no wine" (John 2:3). She undertook to direct Him, but the Lord will not allow that, and she accepts the adjustment. She is a woman who can be adjusted, and she says, "Whatever he may say to you, do" (verse 5). That is subjection. The Lord says, "Fill the water-vessels with water" (verse 7), and they filled them. "Draw out now", and they drew out. The lawless mind would have said, 'Why fill them with water?' and, 'What is the use of drawing out?' But there was subjection, and the good wine was there. Beloved brethren, we only know what the good wine is, as we are subject. And so in chapter 4, the courtier's son is ill and about to die, and he comes to the

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Lord knowing by faith that because of who He was, He could bring in what was needed, and the Lord says, "Go, thy son lives" (verse 50); and we read that he went his way. There was subjection, and healing flows from subjection. If there are conditions that require healing, and there are such everywhere, healing comes in where there is subjection. In chapter 6, where it is a question of food, you have the same principle coming to light. Five thousand men are there, and what does the Lord say? "Make the men sit down". There is acceptance in subjection of what the Lord says, and the food comes; it comes where there is subjection. In chapter 9 you have the same principle. There is a man born blind and in darkness, but the Lord makes mud and puts it on his eyes, and says to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which is interpreted, Sent", and the man went, and washed, and came seeing. Does that not touch the question why some of us do not see? Someone recently said, 'As long as I live I will not accept that' - speaking in regard to light the Lord had given. Could he ever see? Never; till there is subjection, but where there is that, the light will come. It involves subjection not only to the Lord, but as Peter says, "Likewise ye younger, be subject to the elder" (1 Peter 5:5). That does not refer merely to years, but to those who have known God longer and better than we. The word is, to be subject, and light comes where there is subjection. Peter goes on to say, "All of you bind on humility towards one another", and that is a basic condition for light to come. The Lord said, "Go", and the man went; the Lord said, "Wash", and the man says, "Having gone and washed, I saw;" there was subjection.

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Again just one more word. The Lord Jesus appears at the grave of Lazarus. Mary and Martha, with a right sense of what such a One as John's gospel presents could do, sent for Him, but the Lord remained where He was two days, deliberately allowing the condition to manifest itself fully, and then He went. He comes to the grave, and there was a stone upon it, and the Lord says, "Take away the stone" (John 11:39). Martha says, 'No, do not allow the awful condition there to be manifest; hide it'. But the Lord says, "Take away the stone", and it says, "They took therefore the stone away" (verse 41). Where darkness and corruption have been, life and incorruptibility are brought to light. It is life out of death, only known where there is subjection. We cannot have living conditions without subjection. How often we are like Martha, we shrink from allowing the Lord to uncover, or have uncovered, the condition which exists, and which He knows better than we do, but if He uncovers the conditions, it is but to manifest His power when there is subjection.

May the Lord help us all, not only to accept the principle of subjection as ordained of God for us, but that we may love it, as seeing its beauty and perfection in Christ, and as knowing it is to continue through all eternity - the eternity that is before us. Subjection to God will remain unbroken throughout all eternity, but we will get the gain of what is eternal now, in the measure in which we are prepared to be subject. May the Lord thus help us.

Bristol, July 1931

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SURPASSING EXCELLENCE

R BESLEY

Psalm 8:1; Hebrews 1:1 - 4; Philippians 3:7 - 9; Psalm 16:1 - 3; 2 Corinthians 4:6, 7; 1 Corinthians 12:31

The serious depression in value of material things, beloved brethren, awakes an inquiry in our hearts as to whether we have rightly valued divine things. God Himself, and all that stands related to the realm of blessedness which God has opened up to us, may be regarded as excellent; and I want to show you the excellency of what we have, for all we have in God and in Christ excels in value everything that this world can bestow. I ask the attention of those who are younger, particularly, for I do not wish you to follow up anything except what is excellent. It appears to me that it will be to our lasting discredit if we pursue things that are not excellent; and I raise the challenge here with you all, as to whether we are really following what is excellent. God has not changed! Christ has not depreciated! All that God has to bestow is marked by abiding excellency; so that in pursuing divine things, we are choosing the best, and if any of you are choosing the world, your foolishness is apparent to all. Do not despise or discredit the people of God, for they are seeking the things that excel, whereas you are following the things that are rapidly depreciating.

The psalmist has evidently been greatly impressed with his knowledge of God, for he says, "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1). God's

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name excels every other name, not only locally, but universally, as it says, "in all the earth". Whatever part of the earth you care to bring up for comparison, God's name excels every other name there. There are illustrious names, some of which are universally valued and honoured; but mainly they are local or national - not excellent in all the earth, for in other parts of the earth they are unknown. But with God, His name is excellent in all the earth! There are, as I said, great names, but I do no one a dishonour if I remind you that no earthly name is excellent in all the earth, for if you were to examine them, you would find something there which is discreditable. But not so with God - no one could discover anything to discredit God. The whole history of time may pass under critical examination, but His name is excellent in all the earth, whose majesty is set "above the heavens;" so there is nothing to be ashamed of in being here for God. Indeed, there is something to be ashamed of if you are not here for Him, if you have not yet learned what is truly excellent.

First of all, let us consider God's name in relation to His word. Many a man has given his word, and has been compelled to retire from it, but not so with God. You remember the wicked Balaam said, "God is not a man, that he should lie ... Shall he say and not do?" (Numbers 23:19). What a word for the king of Moab to hear, who desired to curse the people of God. Surely His name is excellent in all the earth! You recall that after the flood, God gave His word that He would never overthrow the earth by water again. He said, "I set my bow in the clouds" (Genesis 9:13) - not in the firmament, but in the clouds. God said that

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advisedly. When we were passing over the Atlantic recently, the sky was lowering, and it looked tempestuous, but in the eastern sky there stretched a rainbow with an arc dipping each end into the sea. As I looked on that, I thought of God's name - it is excellent in all the earth! Will He ever break His word? Never. You may trust Him. You may trust a brother, and he may fail you because he is incapable, but it is never thus with God. Never! Throughout all generations, to the last hour in time, that word will stand; God can be trusted, and you may rely upon Him. Beloved, what stability does this give us! We are not trusting in things that are today, and tomorrow are gone; our trust is in the living God, and we have a foundation in Him that is immutable - for His name is excellent in all the earth. Whether north or south, east or west, God is to be trusted, and would have us rely on Him who is invisible. Think of man's intruding into God's domain. Men laugh to scorn those words, "Seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27). What a paradox they are to puny man! But not to the person who knows God, for although He is invisible to the natural eye, even Job could say, "Lo, he goeth by me, and I see him not" (Job 9:11) - he knew it. We have known seasons when God has been very near to us, which have enhanced Him to us; such seasons give us a status on the earth, but not of it. I would remind you also of the word God spoke to Noah, after He had smelled that savour of rest: "Henceforth, all the days of the earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22). God has always been true to His word, and ever will be.

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We may speak of God's name in relation to what He does. I venture to say that God has never done a single thing that could be amended. I am somewhat amused, at times, when I hear of scientists who imagine they could amend the acts of God, and so make a better world than He. Forsooth, what nonsense! His name is excellent in all the earth, and there we stand. We know but very little of the creation; but when we sit down and meditate upon God's works therein, how magnificent they are! The tiniest insect that hums in the summer breeze has a place in God's creation, for He never created anything aimlessly. The mountain that towers in the clouds - has that been put there for nothing? No. Whether it be the heavens above or the earth beneath or the waters that cover the sea, they alike proclaim forever the transcendent wisdom of our God, and we stand by this. Are we going to be driven from our foundation by all the foolish cavilling of man? No, not for one minute! We say with a calm resolution, "Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" and stand by that.

God's name is excellent with regard to what He gives. He has given the best. Think of what He has given to us! Take the earth for example; think of the resources of it! We touch only the very fringe of what there is to know of it. Inventors are crowned with laurels, but the Creator of the things that they discover is forgotten. Do we speak of the marvels of radiography and other discoveries, but forget to render homage to Him who brought the whole universe into existence by His word? What God has given is great, and we can praise Him for all His works. Every morning, the

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light of which breaks on our lives, is only a reminder of the innumerable gifts He has given. Where should we be without them? - and yet we often rejoice in the gifts, and, alas! forget the Giver. Is this right? We know it is not. May God grant that there may be found in our souls a greater sense of the excellence that there is in Him, and in His greatest gift, His Son. The world has turned away from Him; it took all that He gave, and misused it. God gave His Son to die in woe unspeakable, in anguish indescribable; He was scorned, despised, spit upon, and hated by the world that has turned away from God and from His grace. But His name is excellent in all the earth, and will yet be made known through Him who in death has declared that name. There shall be glory to God "in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages" (Ephesians 3:21). I do feel that we need to understand the immense value of what we have in God. His name, as revealed, sets forth what He is, and so excels everything in all the earth.

Well, I now desire to say a word with regard to Christ and His name. The writer of Hebrews was laying out before believers that God had spoken in His Son, "whom he has established heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2). He refers to this great and glorious Person as having a name more excellent than angels. Now, angels have a name, they have renown; Psalm 103:20 speaks of them as "mighty in strength;" and Job 38:7 speaks of the sons of God shouting for joy when the earth's foundations were laid - a wonderful intimation of what took place in view of God's counsels in grace. But think of Christ - He inherits a name more excellent than angels.

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Angels were named sons of God, they were created beings who derived their origin from God; but think of the moment when Jesus became Man and could respond to God as His Son. He occupied that place on the earth as God's Son, not merely as a son, but the Son! And He inherited a name more excellent than angels, for no person ever appeared before or since who could fill out that name: neither Michael nor Gabriel, nor any other angel could fill out that unique place which was His. Yet the proud world despised Him, scorned and crucified Him. We shall yet be acquainted with the greatness of angels, for Michael and Gabriel are great personages. Think of Gabriel saying, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God" (Luke 1:19); and yet the religious leaders of today dare to place this lowly Man on a platform of equality with other men. It is blasphemous sacrilege, and our souls revolt against it. We have in Him a Person whom we know, and we are sitting at His feet learning heavenly wisdom from Him; never was there a teacher like Him at whose feet we may sit without fear. You do not require to graduate at the universities; it will damage you, for there is the awful danger that you trust in your own mind, and he who does that quenches the Spirit; let us sit at the feet of Christ, and learn heavenly wisdom from Him. We know men who have done this, and their wisdom is apparent to all. Let us follow their example, and so become wise. A man counts it a great day when he can bring forward his son and say, 'This is my son'. God has said, "This is my beloved Son: hear him" (Mark 9:7). He only whose name is excellent is to be heard.

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Let us now examine the thing worked out in a man's soul. Saul of Tarsus, although no ordinary man, attached no value to himself at all, yet he was highborn, and was educated at the feet of Gamaliel. He was also free-born. When the captain of the military guard in Jerusalem said to Paul, "I, for a great sum, bought this citizenship", Paul could say, "But I was also free born" (Acts 22:28). Paul had a great status on the earth under the providence of God; and we must take care that we recognise and respect God's providence. There is a Satanic effort in the world to break it down, but providence must be respected among us. Paul had seen a glory in Christ that surpassed all other glory, and he gave up everything for Him; he was content to suffer the loss of everything for Him, and, as he writes, to "count also all things to be loss on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). Here was a man who had much on this earth in the way of status and masterly ability, but he laid it all down at the feet of Jesus - that anointed, blessed Man whom God had exalted. Now I ask: Has Christ a like place in your heart? You may hold the doctrine of it, but have you got the thing? You may be as sound as possible in doctrine, but what is that without the thing? You can very soon tell whether a person has counted things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, for in such a case He is the dearest and the most treasured Object of the heart. Do you dress as though you belonged to a Person so illustrious, or do you adopt the fashions of the world to adorn the body that belongs to the anointed Man? Do you want to speak like persons who are in darkness and at a distance from God? What language do

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you speak - that of Wall Street, or the language of heaven, the most dignified that the universe will ever know? Beloved brethren, we want to be like Christ, to be suitable in our bearing, in our deportment and speech and dress, so that we can be taken up and put down on that golden street! Let me ask you, dear young brethren: Has Christ got the supreme place in your hearts? Oh, it is a lovely thing to know Christ. How it refines one to meditate on His glory, and to commune with Him! We thus become morally great, even as Paul could speak of "the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord". That holy, anointed Man dominated his whole life, and everything else was as filth to him. I do urge the younger ones to stand out nobly from this world, to set themselves to know Christ, and to give Him the first place in their hearts, even as Paul did. Remember, that if you are trafficking with this world, you have not got Christ as the hidden Man of the heart. May God give it to us to know Him thus increasingly, so that we shall stand out in this world as those alluded to in Psalm 16 as "the saints that are on the earth ... the excellent" (verse 3). There are none to equal them. They are royal and ennobled people marked by a peculiar glory. Some may think that this country is the most excellent nation, but that is wrong! - the saints of God are the most excellent in the earth. Have you seen the light of the glory of heaven in the face of a little crippled woman in a cottage? Have you ever seen the very joy of the golden street coming into the soul of a dying brother? Oh, how wonderful it is thus to know the saints! They are indeed the excellent on the earth. My dear young people, set yourselves to be identified with the people of

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God. You boys and girls at school, choose your companions among those who belong to Christ. You children of Christian parents, let me affectionately entreat you to choose your companions among God's people. They are the excellent on the earth. Love them, serve them. I am not concerned about their failures, but about the moral glory that I have seen in them, day by day, and in every land that I visit. I am glad to know the saints, without regard to class or colour, as the excellent on the earth!

Now, we have to remember that we can trust in nothing as inherited by us. Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 4:4 of the "radiancy of the glad tidings of the glory of the Christ". He had in mind the glory of Christ shining from him. Whilst the apostles had a place of precedence among the saints, they had only a place, really, in the enjoyment of the thing, which is proper to all Christians. Paul spoke of the excellency of the power, that it might be of God and not from us; he alludes to the radiance of the glory that should shine in the body of the ordinary Christian. That is a wonderful thing; our first qualification is that our bodies should be transparent vessels, so that the glory may shine forth, not only by what we say, but by what we are. I could point to people who have never said a word to me, yet I have seen the radiancy of the glory of Christ there. No doubt, the reference is to Gideon's men, whose pitchers were broken in order that the light might shine forth, but the apostle has in mind the greatness of divine power on our behalf, so that the light may shine forth, not by breaking the vessels, but by their transparency, which is a greater thing; and we have the excellency of the power of God on our

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behalf in view of this. I know by experience that there is great power in the evil influences of the world, but I know a power that excels; it is the power of God. So he says that the excellency of the power may be of God, upon which we may count. You can always have that power demonstrated to you from the Lord on high - I commend it to you; I beg you to put it to the test. When you feel the power of the world against you, say, 'Lord, help me'. I would like you to leave tonight with a sense that the power is available for you, and that you know how to apply it, a power that excels all other. Now, we have to be on our guard, because we occupy a position of excellent greatness; we have a power that excels on our side.

I turn for a moment, before I close, to speak of love's way in relation to gift. Gift is really an expression here, in man, of Christ on high. Whatever form the gift may take, that is what it is. The apostle often alludes to the matter of gift. He says, "Desire earnestly the greater gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:31). Showing that gift is open to desire. It is a great thing to have gift as power from the ascended Man, but we must ever remember that there is something greater than gift, and that is love; and love, the divine nature, is open to us all, it is "a way of more surpassing excellence", as Paul says. Now, what is needed among us to hold us together, and to help us in relation to Christ Jesus and to God, is love, love that "has long patience, is kind, ... is not insolent and rash, is not puffed up, ... does not impute evil" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5). Do we know this more excellent way of love? Without it, my dear brother, I am nothing! One may ask, 'Here is a brother who has given his body to be burned.

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Has he love?' Without it, he is nothing. 'Here is a sister who is well off, and gives everything for the poor. Has she love?' Without it, she is nothing. 'Here is a brother that can preach with the eloquence of an archangel; everybody is flocking to hear him. Has he love?' Without love, he is nothing; he is no more than "sounding brass or a clanging cymbal" (verse 1). Love is of God - it is the way of surpassing excellence. Love will suffer; love will die. The One who set forth love in all its greatness did not stand for His rights, much less fight for them. Love in Christ suffered, died, gave all! This is the way of surpassing excellence, of which this world knows nothing. The world is full of lust and hatred and envy, but I know a place where divine love is, even among God's people. It is a way of surpassing excellence.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1932

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SPEAKING AS SENT

A E MYLES

John 1:6, 7, 19 - 28; 2 Kings 5:1 - 4; Daniel 1:3, 4; Daniel 3:13 - 18

I have a definite impression, dear brethren, that before this dispensation is closed by the translation of the assembly, we shall witness a revival of activity, both in the gospel and in the assembly. One observes that the Lord is graciously gathering in the young people, and they are coming under the sound of the ministry that expresses the true dignity of the christian position. The Lord finds pleasure not only in blessing His people, but in using them, and what I have in mind is that the ministry of the moment should help us to reach out in service under the Lord's guidance. The scriptures read cover a wide field of instruction and example, and I wish to show from them certain persons who took up the true dignity of speaking for God: a man, grown to full manhood, a little maid, and three youths. Their speaking was effective; it was such as made God and Christ great to those who heard; it was such as left room for divine support without which the speaking cannot be effective.

I begin with John the baptist because he stands before us, in John's gospel, as a speaker who was perfectly in accord with the thoughts of God for whom he spoke. He is called, "a man sent from God". I would challenge every one here, as I would challenge myself, as to whether we bear the

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marks of persons who have been "sent". I may be living in a certain city because I was born there, or because my parents moved there, or because it suits my health or pleasure - all these are accidental or incidental causes - but wherever I may be, or in what circumstances I may be found, I am privileged to be there for God, as "sent", and to have the features of one who does not belong to the scene in which he serves. There was nothing about John the baptist that indicated that he was a man of the world; everything about John suggested that he belonged to another place. He spoke of things that were not within the range of the greatest men of the world; he had eyes to see that which no one else had seen, for he saw the Spirit descending on Jesus, and abiding. His sensibilities, his tastes, even his dress and manners, all indicated that he was in accord with another world. I need hardly say, dear brethren, that no service and no speaking for God can be effective unless that service is a primary object and purpose in our lives; natural things and material things are incidental. This is the mark of a "sent" one.

Now, John spoke to religious people. My impression is that the Lord may open the way for us to speak to religious people. It is much harder to speak to such people as Pharisees represent; they not only require explanation (which John gave) but it is necessary to speak in exclamation, and in witness; for the religious world is hard and cold, and those who speak for Christ and of Christ must not only speak accurately and forcefully of Him, in describing who He is and what He has done, but they must be able to speak feelingly when the atmosphere is not

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sympathetic. It was when John spoke in exclamation, disclosing the depths of his soul, that his two disciples followed Jesus.

When these messengers came to John, they, like all religious people, challenged him as to who he was. The moment you speak of Christ to people who are what is called 'religious', they want to know who you are and to what you belong. I believe it is essential that we should be able to give an answer to such a challenge. We often avoid such a question, but John does not avoid it though challenged four times. I would commend to you John's final description of what he was and who he was; he says, "I am the voice". There was nothing about that voice to obscure any feature of the glory of Christ, or to hinder anyone. John lifted up his voice in that cold, religious atmosphere, and proclaimed the worthiness of the One whose path he had come to make straight. How worthily he speaks of Jesus! One covets, I am sure we all do, to be able to speak well of Jesus; to convey two impressions in speaking: one, a sense of our own unworthiness; the other, a true sense of His great worthiness. John was not like the popular preachers of the present day; they require much paraphernalia as a background to their speaking - music, gorgeous ceremonial, fine buildings and so forth - but the background that John had was water. John served near the water indeed, "a great deal of water" (John 3:23). A disciple of John the baptist would learn that he had to go into the water; you could not remain long in John's company without that.

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John stands before what might well be described as a perishing system; everything was perishing. The wine was running out; the well was deep; men were labouring for that which yielded nothing; and John stands at the gateway to that system, and says, as it were, 'All that you see must run out, it can only come to an end - but I will show you the only way out of it all', and in doing so he would point to the water. There is only one way out of a perishing scene; the death of Christ has opened a way out of the scene where all is perishing, and by baptism, in the faith of my soul, I accept that way. John stands at the door, and he proclaims that there is a way out of the scene in which men are perishing, but that there is everything in that glorious system that centres in the Son of God who baptises with the Holy Spirit. In that passage is indicated the way into, and the power of, another order of things, in which the joy is never-ending.

Now John calls attention to the shoes of the Lord. There is something very interesting in this. When he proclaims His worthiness he draws attention to His feet, saying that he is not worthy to unloose the thong of His sandal. The feet of Jesus are one of the themes running through this gospel, from the point where John calls attention to it, right on to the tomb. Mary of Bethany, in chapter 12, understands this theme, so she anoints His feet. John's word calls attention to the feet as shod, it is not the thought of intimacy, but Mary's anointing involves intimacy; that is, the thong is unloosed and the service of love in intimacy is seen. In chapter 20 we see two angels in the tomb, sitting one at the head and the other at the feet

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where the body of Jesus had lain. That is to say, heaven is drawing attention now, not only to the feet, but to the head of the Lord Jesus. John would, so to speak, show us what is connected with those blessed feet, the feet of the One who came here by His own voluntary act - "The Word became flesh" (John 1:14) - the One by whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made that was made; the One of whom it can be said, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). John would say, so to speak, 'Just think of that glorious Person standing before you, shod for walking, shod for working!' John later saw Him walking and exclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God" (verse 36). In chapter 4 we read about Him being weary with the way. How precious to contemplate those blessed feet shod for labour, come here in order that God might be declared, come here in order that the works of God might be made manifest; come here in order to seek His sheep, gather them together into one flock and teach them to move under the sound of His own blessed voice. Well may John say that he is not worthy to unloose the thong of His sandal! One would covet to speak of Jesus in this way, as being able to draw attention to features of His glory and dignity that would make Him attractive in the eyes of men.

"My Father worketh hitherto and I work" (John 5:17). What glorious results we may expect when divine Persons work together. They work as in the sphere of affection. Some of us were noticing that chapter 5: 1 - 4 of this gospel is a portrayal of the public position of the religion of today. We read about a pool, obviously a small idea, and about a multitude of impotent folk who lay there; we read about

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great competition - one man getting in front of another and no man to help - and then attention is drawn to a man who had lain for thirty and eight years on his couch, awaiting an opportunity for healing. How many there are of the Lord's people involved in public religion in which there is no spiritual vitality! How many there are that are lying on a couch, placidly accepting the position, not seeing how it can be altered or improved and not having the faith to rise up and leave it and follow the Lord into an outcast position! But after thirty-eight years of this kind of history, the Lord came in and He said, "Arise, take up thy couch and walk" (John 5:8). Perhaps the Lord will come in near the end - for forty years is the full period of man's testing - and say, "Arise, take up thy couch and walk;" and perhaps He will do it through the speaking, the service of His people. I commend these features of John the baptist to you; he is a model speaker, one who brought in true thoughts of the worthiness and greatness of Christ.

I might refer to other speakers in this gospel briefly before passing on to the consideration of the Old Testament passages. The Samaritan woman in chapter 4 became a most effective speaker; she went to the men of the city. Doubtless she was accustomed to speaking to men - it may have been in an unholy and light way, but she goes to the men of the city now with the element of holiness in her, for she had been in the presence of One who had told her all things that ever she did. So far as we know, the Lord had only told her of one chapter of her history; we are not to suppose that was all; for she had a sense that she had been in the presence of One by whom she was entirely exposed

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and yet that He was the giving God. The woman goes to the men of the city, and, wonderful to relate, the men of the city, at her word, go to Jesus!

Then in chapter 9 we see a man who is forced to speak for himself. Many young people have to be forced to speak for themselves. The Lord allows the circumstances to teach him and to force him to speak; indeed, his parents step aside. They say, "He is of age: ask him" (verse 21). He is made to speak for himself, and the result of his speaking is that all the Jews are confounded, and he finds himself without a home, without a family and without a synagogue; but he finds in the presence of the Son of God far more than that out of which he had been cast. His eyes have been opened for another world.

I turn now to the second book of Kings with the intention of showing you another kind of speaking. Perhaps some will say that John the baptist was a very special vessel, and indeed he was; but now I will show you a vessel whose speaking should greatly encourage all the young people, and especially the young women, to speak for Christ. I find that there are very few women who are prepared to speak about Christ unless the atmosphere is sympathetic. This little maid is a captive. Perhaps she spoke in the kitchen, going about the duties of the house. What is suggested in this little maid is how the world system would make the people of God captive in connection with the drudgery of the world. But although the maid is a captive, and waits on Naaman's wife, she does not speak like a captive; she speaks in all the dignity of a "sent" person. It was no accident, nor even an incident, that she

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was in that country, and in that place - though it may have been so inscribed in the history of Syria. God is over all these happenings by the way, behind the scenes He is 'sending' representative persons, and wherever His people are found, in whatever circumstances, He would have them to bear the marks of those who have been "sent" - those who belong to another place, but are where they are as "sent" there. I feel sure that if you could have looked on that little maid you would have seen Israel in her dress, her manners, her speech and her heart. She is spoken of as a maid of the land of Israel. She is in another country, in circumstances that were not agreeable, but she is there in all the dignity of the people of God; she is a maid of Israel, a "sent" person, and so she speaks. Look at what she says! Some women like to talk over their work, and it is sometimes light talk, but look how this little maid talks. She brings God in as having a prophet in Samaria and she brings in God in an appealing way, for what could appeal to a leper like the story of one who could heal him? We should be able to speak in such circumstances of Jesus! We should be able to present Him in an appealing way as able to meet every kind and character of the need so prevalent today. She brought God in. How it changed the whole situation! What a speaker she was! I would like to ask the young girls who are believers: Have you ever spoken about Christ? Have you thought that this was a kind of service out of your reach? Do you think that this is reserved for men whom the Lord may have gifted? This is not that kind of speaking; this is the speaking that can go on in the kitchen, in the factory, in the office, or anywhere. It is a

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speaking that is great enough and dignified enough to reach up to the great military commander of that country; it is a speaking that is great enough to reach the ears of a king. How far-reaching was the word of this captive maid! I would commend to the young women the idea of speaking about Christ, but as maintaining the dignity of the position. Before you do it, and as you do it, see that you carry the marks and the dress and the manners of a "maid that is of the land of Israel;" for if you want to be effective for God, if you want to speak in this manner, you must bear these marks.

In the other reference, in the book of Daniel, we get the thought of "youths" - young men. What we see in this story is how the world system would bid for the most comely and beautiful amongst the people of God to adorn its own system. These young men were part of a company of young persons who were taken to adorn the kingdom of this heathen monarch - this despot, whose word could go out to all peoples and languages and nations - this man who would even make a god, an idol of gold, and call upon all people to worship it - this man who made things pleasant by music. If the world is bidding for you and attracting you, I speak to young believers, before you are charmed by the music of the cornets and the psaltery and the harp, I would like you to lay hold of this fact that behind it is a strange god - not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ - another god. The sound, doubtless, was pleasing, for in every place this music was to be made, but behind the music is another god, an idol. That is what is behind the world. Whatever it uses to attract the people of God, there

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is behind it another god; its object is to take you away from the God who loves you, and the Christ who died for you.

Now, although these young men were captives they were being loaded with favours; they were being taught the learning of the Chaldeans. Every young person who has to pass through the world comes under this kind of influence. The world will be glad to have you; it will be quite ready to teach you "the learning and the language of the Chaldeans" - to add that to the wisdom you have learned from God; but behind it all is another god. These circumstances call for speaking. What are you going to do? We are called upon to speak. We may be prone to think that speaking is the weakest thing that we can do. When Paul went to Ephesus (Acts 19) he did not go with carnal weapons, but he brought down all the strongholds of the enemy; he spoke for God. He spoke in all the dignity of one who would bring God in, and he brought that stronghold down. Look at these three young men. The moment that they stand out for God the favour turns to fury. Ah, the music does not sound pleasant now. That which, perhaps, in other circumstances seemed so attractive, now becomes manifest in its true character. If you are not conformed to this world, to its fashions, to its manners, to its ways, and to its prince and god, you will find that favour may turn to fury; and then we see the worst that man can do. A furnace is the greatest destructive agency in man's control. A furnace heated seven times represents the worst that the world can do to you if you are faithful to Christ. Make no mistake about it, my dear young friend; that is what the world will do to you if it is allowed; but what we learn is this, that 'sent persons',

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those who are faithful and speak for God, are supported by God. A furnace heated sevenfold means nothing to God! It is the merest trifle compared with the power of God; and we do well to note the result of the bold speaking of these young men, of the faithfulness that was prepared to say, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us ... But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods". The result of their speaking is that it was made known to all people, nations and languages - that the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego was a God that could deliver, that He was greater than any other god. I think I have indicated, dear brethren, in a very simple way what is on my mind. I trust it has been within the reach of even the youngest person. I cannot help feeling what possibilities for God there are in His people. If there were but a thousand devoted hearts, a thousand faithful persons - men and women, youths and maidens - a thousand faithful speakers - what it would be for God! I am sure the earnest prayer of each of us is that we may be united in this devotion and in this kind of faithfulness; that, having spent three days in holy surroundings shut off from the world, subject to the influence of heaven, and under the gracious service of divine Persons, we should go back to the daily duties of life spiritually invigorated, with a little added dignity, a little added intelligence, and with a deeper sense of the worthiness and the greatness of the One whom we serve.

Birmingham, May 1932

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LIVING STONES

R BESLEY

1 Peter 2:3 - 5; Zechariah 7:11, 12; 1 Chronicles 29:1, 2; 1 Kings 5:17; 1 Samuel 17:39, 40

Peter alludes to the grace of the Lord Jesus in writing to these believers, saying, "If indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good". I suppose everyone here has tasted the grace of the Lord Jesus. What kind of impression has it left upon your soul? I am sure that He must have attracted you. And so Peter goes on to say, "To whom coming, a living stone". It is wonderful that the Lord should be alluded to under such a figure! But then it says, "Cast away indeed as worthless by men". I trust that you have not cast Him away. Is there anyone here who has done that? But He has been chosen of God: "But with God chosen, precious". And then he goes on to say, "Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ". So I am sure this scripture justifies allusion to the people of God as stones, and I want to speak thus to you, considering you thus as the result of divine handiwork, as stones, God having wrought by His Spirit so that you may have part and place in a structure of glory which is eternal.

I do not believe that the great place believers have as stones according to God is rightly valued by many. Grovelling instincts would not mark so many of the people of God if the great place we have been given were better

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understood. Many believers are seeking after temporal, material things and even overstepping the bounds of righteousness to acquire them. Would to God we were wiser! We have part in an edifice which God is building which is eternal. It is seen, in type, in the earthly house which Solomon built. Any who are acquainted with the varied glories of the earthly house must be greatly impressed by its magnificence. Utterly destroyed now, under the government of God, it was magnifical, but the latter glory of the house will yet exceed the former glory. And Peter has all this in mind when he writes to impress the saints that they are part - they are stones - of this spiritual house. We are stones in it and God would have us rise to a sense of the greatness of it.

In 1 Kings 5 we are told that "the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones". Now, I would suggest that every believer is a great stone. The smaller we are in our own estimation the greater we are morally. In the sense that every believer is the handiwork of God, nothing could be greater. Train your mind to think of believers as being great. None are to be despised for all are great in this regard. They are great stones. You, young believer, young as you may be, are a great stone in a great building that is going to shine with the lustre of the glory of God. Could anything be greater than that? And the passage we have read speaks of costly stones, meaning that they are rare. And every believer is a costly stone. I beg of you, for a moment, to think of the cost at which every one who loves the Lord has been acquired. You cannot match a believer anywhere in the creation. He is costly; he is rare! The blood

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of Jesus Christ, God's Son has been shed to acquire him, and we should learn to think of this. Have you risen to the thought that you are precious, costly, rare? If so should we wrap our bodies in the adornment of the world that spat upon the face of Jesus? I charge you in the presence of God, take care of your bodies for they are "The temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). We live in a day when people lightly sin against their bodies and I am not sure that those who take the name of the Lord Jesus upon them are wholly clear in this respect. Remember - your bodies belong to the Lord! He has bought them! I ask you, beloved brethren, have you presented your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God? It is your intelligent service, but you cannot present your bodies holy unless they are holy, practically holy.

And then there are hewn stones. We are stones that have been hewn out. It may have been some word of special power in the gospel that reached you. God knows. It must have been the sovereign work of God in new birth in your soul that brought you out. To be hewn implies that there has been actual work to make the stone what it is. We hold things in a different way when we see that. Why has sudden illness fallen upon a brother? Why such distress? God is producing a hewn stone. And having secured you, God never intends to let you go. I have felt the power of that for many years. I earnestly beg of you, if you are conscious of the hand of God being upon you, do not frustrate it. I tell you frankly, I fear God. I know that He loves me. I know what it is to bow down and say, "Abba, Father", but I fear God. I fear His government. It is an awful thing to have to

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do with God. May that hand have freedom to do what it will! But we also have the word that there are glistering stones (1 Chronicles 29:2). That is a wonderful thought; stones that are radiant with a light that is not resident in themselves. Are you glistering? You should be full of spiritual animation! Certain believers seem to have no animation. Why should we not be full of joy with our spirits rising up in response to God? We can sit and sing that all will be well, but do we get a bit down when we go to business? Why not sing? Are we a poor setting forth as believers in the eyes of the world? Ours is the real joy of what is spiritual, and we, as glistering stones, are furnished for the house of God. It is a lovely idea; God's dwelling-place! It is a spiritual edifice built of spiritual living stones that are great and costly and hewn and glistering. This is the work that God is doing!

Well, Peter says, "Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up". We have come to the One who was cast away indeed of men. Do you know Him as such, belonging to what God is building outside of this world altogether? We have come to know the Lord Jesus in connection with that with which decay is impossible, where death is not known. We have come to the One cast away indeed of men but with God chosen, precious. So it says, "Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ". The idea of a sacrifice is different from an offering. Offering speaks of what it is to God, sacrifice is what it is to me. What does it cost me to offer up a spiritual sacrifice? Had you been able to bring a

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bullock in the days of the material sacrifices, how happy you would have been! But what spiritual sacrifices are you bringing? What a thing it is to get alone with God and to be moved in our affections towards Him. Your morning reading of the Scriptures would take on a different character, and when you come to the meetings the brethren would notice that something has happened. You would be a changed man. We must have spiritual sacrifices! It is only worthy that God should have them.

And now I wish to allude to ourselves as stones in another setting and I would ask the brethren if they have known what it is to be stones in a valley or brook. In the face of the great giant, Goliath, David went down into a valley, or brook, because there were smooth stones there. Now I want to ask the dear brethren, Have we gone down into the valley, accepting the cross of the Lord Jesus? As accepting this the work of the Spirit - the water passing over us - will smooth us. And He can use smooth stones. Have you ever felt hurt in your spirit that the Lord has had to pass you by because you were too big? Let us come down into the valley. Would you not like to be a smooth stone? David, who is a type of Christ, went down into the valley and chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and they were put into the shepherd's bag. That is where David put the stones. But, as there, we may have to wait to be used. Are you prepared to wait? You must wait until David puts his hand upon you. David took one stone. It was enough to do the work in hand. Are you and I prepared to wait for that? David had five stones in his bag, and it is not without significance that we read later that there were four

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relatives of Goliath of whom it is said that they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. I do not think that I have ever had a harder lesson to learn than to wait. But the Lord's time is a time of absolute triumph. Why? He waits only on God. That is the secret. The preparation in the valley, in the brook, is that we may be used by Him. That is the side to see here. The other side is that of our place in the house offering up spiritual sacrifices to God. May the Lord help us, beloved brethren, in these things.

Westfield, New Jersey, May 1932

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POSSIBILITIES

E J McBRIDE

Genesis 18:13, 14; Genesis 40:9 - 11; Genesis 41:9; Exodus 35:20 - 22; 2 Kings 4:2; 2 Corinthians 8:1 - 9

I wish, beloved brethren, to say a few words on possibilities, hoping that the Lord may awaken in us individually the sense of the possibility of response Godward that exists in a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. If God awakens affections in us, and gives us to realise the tremendous possibilities for Him of lovers of Jesus in a scene like this, we should all be prepared to commit ourselves more wholly and entirely to divine things. Our beloved Lord is set before us as One who "being rich" - and who can say the riches that belong to that blessed Person? - all things were His both in heaven and on earth; yet such an One "became poor", and for the definite objective that we might be enriched. The intention of God for His people is that they should be in the possession of spiritual wealth by the blessed knowledge of Himself; and in that wealth be able to meet any situation, no matter how dark, or appalling, or difficult, for the glory of God. The knowledge of God is calculated to make believers entirely superior to the whole course of this age, and to the whole power of evil, and to all their own infirmities.

I have taken a few examples from Scripture which draw attention to this subject; the first passage as opening to us a region of great possibilities. It is the point on which

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we all need to be strengthened. The picture is a very happy one. God has made a proposal, and who is like God in making proposals? He made a proposal which humanly speaking was unthinkable - that Sarah should have a son. You can understand the intense feelings of joy and delight that such a thought would raise in the mind of a holy woman; for, beloved, think of the possibility of it - the possibility of life out of death, as it says: "Wherefore also there have been born of one, and that of one become dead, even as the stars of heaven" (Hebrews 11:12). Sarah laughed, but God had spoken; God had proposed it, and would carry it out. Think, beloved, of what God has proposed for us in Christ. He has proposed that we should dwell with Him for ever, that we who were dead in sins should know Him in life, and that we should be able to respond suitably to His holy love. The proposal is a divine one. It comes from God, and, if it comes from God, with God all things are possible. You may say, I am so weak (I was going to say, I would that you were weaker!). Weakness is no barrier to God, for we read of some who "became strong out of weakness" (Hebrews 11:34). Well, you say, I am not devoted. Well, devotedness is the result of being governed by things worthy of your devotion. Devotedness springs from an object. The really devoted person is hardly conscious he is devoted; he is absorbed with something that unconsciously takes up all his time, and all his affection. Then behind the subject of possibilities lies this great outstanding fact: that we believe in a living God, with whom all things are possible. That is God's side; and on our side, "all things are possible to him that believes" (Mark 9:23). Oh, you say, I

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have believed for years. Is God before your soul as a living God who has made Himself known, with whom all things are possible? For the real knowledge of the living God would produce a living responsive state in us, in which there are the greatest possibilities for the glory of God.

I come now to Pharaoh's cup-bearer and baker. They found themselves in prison, due to their offences. I am sorry for the person that has never found himself there. I would say it, not unkindly, but the person that has never found himself in prison on earth is in danger of being in prison in eternity. Prison represents the sense of judgment coming upon you for unrighteousness. They were in prison because they had brought on themselves the wrath of the king, which represents the position of every person on this earth; for we were all "children, by nature, of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3). But to their amazement these men found in the prison a person who is typical of One far greater than Joseph personally. They found one there who was righteous. He was not there because he had done wrong; he sets forth the Lord Jesus, the One of whom it is said, "In very deed this man was just" (Luke 23:47). He was there - transferring the type now to Christ Himself - that we might be enriched. God intended to enrich the whole world by Joseph, who was in that prison. These two men find themselves there on account of the just judgment on their own guilt; but in that place through the goodness of God they are brought into touch with one who could enrich them with the knowledge of God. The apostle says, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich,

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became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

There are two lines in the history of men, the line of man's effort, and the line of God's grace. There is the first, which always ends in destruction, as did the baker and his baked meats. There is also the line of God's movements in grace, which found its full expression in the Lord Jesus here. It says of Him, "He shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground" (Isaiah 53:2) - a beautiful figure of Christ, typified also in the cup-bearer's dream. He dreamt that a vine came up, and that he had the privilege of plucking the grapes, and ministering to the heart of Pharaoh. He did not understand it, but Joseph was able to expound it. He had intelligence and wisdom - the wisdom of God - and he was able to unfold to the cup-bearer what it meant, and to give him the joy of anticipating the possibilities. He says, "In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head and restore thee to thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his cup-bearer" (Genesis 40:13).

From the youngest to the oldest, I suppose we shall never forget the day when the sense of such joy and liberation came to us, when we learned what we had gained through Christ becoming poor. Think of His poverty, as He was crucified and forsaken of God. What about Christ Himself? We are often so full of our own enjoyment that we realise little of what it meant to Him. The cup-bearer forgot Joseph. Now Pharaoh's dream, setting out the great problem of good and evil, is brought up to make way for the recognition of Joseph. There are great questions in the

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world, but all are intended by God to bring Christ into prominence. The cup-bearer in the face of this says, "I remember mine offences this day". What possibilities lie in our making room for Christ, the One in whom is the wisdom of God in regard of everything. It was this great problem of Pharaoh's that caused Joseph to be remembered; and how often God allows disturbing elements in the world to awaken our hearts to the greatness of His own intervention in Christ. Famine, destitution, need, sorrow, and death, God would use all these things to direct us to Christ, so that the spirit of praise might mark us. If our link with Christ were held in power in our souls, we should have the answer to every problem, for "in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). There it is; that as having a personal link with Him who has solved every problem for God and men, we are brought through Him to the possibility of enjoying the liberty of holy access to God for His joy and praise.

Well now, I come to the possibilities which lie in full committal. "And they came, every one whose heart moved him, and every one whose spirit prompted him". Personal need is not in view here. You have living persons in their places in holy liberty and enjoyment before God; personal need is met. The tabernacle suggests the great system of things in which God finds His pleasure, and of which Christ is the centre, upon which God can look down with delight, and pleasure, as that which indicates an answer to His holy love. Having been brought to live to God, and set at liberty there is the possibility in us of answering to God Himself. As the result of God's work in our souls we have something

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that belongs to this heavenly system. These beautiful offerings are indicative of impressions of Christ in the souls of God's people, impressions definitely placed there by God, which, if rendered heartily and willingly in mind and spirit, would be contributive to this heavenly system which is for the delight of God. You will remember, when the tabernacle was reared up, it says that "the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle" (Exodus 40:34), and Moses was not able to enter in. God had claimed it as His own dwelling. It was not to be the place of sorrow, but of holy delight and service; the place of divine love here on earth, and of divine communications; for God would delight to communicate His thoughts to us. Think of being able to contribute to that place, and of the possibilities of being there! Oh! that we were like the Macedonians who "gave themselves first to the Lord". It is such persons, wholly committed, who are needed now. The possibilities of whole-hearted committal were seen there in Israel, and when the offerings were gathered up, there was much more than was needed (see Exodus 36:5). Oh! that the Lord in His great goodness may stir us up. We have had our need met, we have liberty before God, and what ministry we have had to liberate us! Let us commit ourselves unreservedly! Let us bring out what we have. How many a meeting would be spiritually wealthy, if what was there of Christ came out, every brother and sister whole-heartedly bringing it. It is only a little that any of us can do, but it is of great value in the eyes of God; this rendering up of what we have, in holy devotedness for the Lord. How delightful it is to the heart of God!

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Now I come to the passage in 2 Kings. There are some who excuse themselves in saying that it was all very well when things were right and in the apostolic days, but we are now in the last days of the history of God's people on earth. I admit that outwardly these are dark days, but man's darkest day was God's greatest opportunity. Think of the resurrection morning if you want a proof of that! So the final close of the history of the assembly will be the greatest morning, the morning of a never-ending day. Christ will appear Himself. When things are darkest of all He will appear. It was a dark day in Israel, and I suppose this widow represents typically the moral conditions with which we are surrounded today. The prophet comes along, but he does not alter the moral conditions. Things around are going to get worse and worse outside. You want to know what is inside. The prophet raises the first question, "What shall I do for thee?" Oh! beloved, think of the Lord coming to you with a word like that. As having committed yourself, whole-heartedly, the Lord would ask you, "What shall I do for thee?" What is the dearest object of your heart on earth? Perhaps you say, the welfare of the people of God for the pleasure of God. Well, if that is so, what is to be done for you? How is that to be promoted? Now the prophet does not bring in something very remarkable, but he draws attention to what is there, typically, to what is the consequence of Christ becoming poor that we might be enriched. What was that? The outpouring of the Spirit. I wish I knew more of the marvellous possibilities of the Holy Spirit being down here. This woman had the oil in the house, for the prophet says, "Tell me, what hast thou in the

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house?" And she said, "Thy handmaid has not anything at all in the house but a pot of oil". Let us not speak so poorly of the Spirit; do not say we only have the Spirit. Let us take account of the greatness of the Holy Spirit who has come here to abide with us; and to dwell in us. How marvellous to take that in, to enter into its meaning, to be concerned about the Spirit to let Him have room in us. You want room for the Spirit. The believer has something thus that is intended to fill the vessel. The world would fill you with human thoughts, human ideas, creeds, doctrine and all kinds of things but what is needed is vessels that are available for the Spirit of God. The Spirit would fill every vessel, He would take possession of "your whole spirit, and soul, and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

As you give yourself to the Lord, the Spirit will fill you. When all the vessels were filled the oil stayed. There is no waste, beloved, in the actions of the Spirit. He is here that all the vessels might be filled and filled continually. But that is not enough. It is not enough to make room for the Spirit, but we are to make use of the wealth that is here in the Spirit, of the riches that came from Christ in glory. In the woman's case you have a remarkable result typically. You have what is representative of a meeting, and the result of bringing the Spirit is that the meeting has got rid of all its difficulties. There are no more differences, no moral debts unpaid between the brethren; all the bills are out of hand. Is that all? No, that is only a means to an end, the Spirit would come in to make the whole situation suitable to God. If things are unsuitable, they can only be made suitable by the Spirit having liberty of action in the hearts of the people

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of God. The obligations are met, and then it says, "And live thou and thy sons on the rest". Just one thought as to this: "Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy sons on the rest". As living in such wealth how simply we would be able to take up that peculiarly precious service of distribution that the apostle dwells on in 2 Corinthians 8. He says, "The abundance of their joy and their deep poverty has abounded to the riches of their free-hearted liberality". They were poor materially, but they had liberality. Do we in our minds connect poverty with liberality? God does: "Blessed are ye poor" (Luke 6:20), they can afford to be liberal. Why? Because as spiritually enriched by Christ, they are no longer poor, they have divine wealth, and spiritual resources and riches that are abiding. When we come into the good of what is here in the Spirit, poor people are marked by the liberality of God, and the wealth of God comes out; such have got the means. It surprises us at times the wealth that comes from God.

Now just one more word before we close, on the passage in 2 Corinthians 8. The apostle writes, "That in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty has abounded to the riches of their free-hearted liberality. For according to their power, I bear witness, and beyond their power, they were willing of their own accord, begging of us with much entreaty to give effect to the grace and fellowship of the service which was to be rendered to the saints. And not according as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord". I would like, beloved, to express a desire that the result of our being together in holy fellowship and privilege might be that we

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all give ourselves unreservedly to the service of God, young and old, and that some even who may have but lightly touched divine things in an outward way, might be stimulated to put their hands definitely to the work. Who can say what possibilities would come to light if with unreserved, whole-hearted devotedness we committed ourselves to the service of God, remembering the One who was rich beyond words yet for our sakes became poor. He knew poverty as you and I could never know it; He had not where to lay His head. You can find a brother or sister on whom to lay your head, but He had not where to lay His head. He was alone, forsaken, but through His poverty we have been enriched in the blessed knowledge of God, brought to know the possibilities of what is living, so that as in liberty we might be committed to the service of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord give us grace to commit ourselves to the possibilities which lie in faith and liberty and committal in the power of the Holy Spirit for the service of God, for His name's sake.

Edinburgh, June 1933

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REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SERVICE OF PRAISE

M W BIGGS

Psalm 22:1 - 3, 22; Psalm 48:10; Psalm 133:1 - 3; Psalm 134:1 - 3; Psalm 66:13 - 15; Psalm 100:1 - 5

The Lord helping me, I wish to speak this evening on the subject that has been engaging us during the past few days, namely, "The praises of Israel". In order to make the subject simple and defined, I shall speak of it under four headings: firstly in connection with light, secondly as to conditions, thirdly in relation to substance and lastly in regard of feelings, spiritual feelings. The assembly is the vessel that maintains these praises at the present time. We read in the Psalms that praise waits for God in Zion (Psalm 65:1); it is silent there; but in this remarkable interval the praises of God are maintained in the assembly. It is a great privilege to form part of the assembly.

It is clear that if we are to praise God, He must first speak to us; there can be no move from man to God unless there first be a move from God to man. That is why I have selected the thought of light to speak of first, for it is that which governs the situation. We know that even creation called forth a response; for when God acted in creatorial power, the "morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). Obviously that was an answer to the activity of God creatorially. The verse in Psalm 48 which I read enunciates a principle as well as stating a fact. According to the way God speaks or makes

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Himself known - "according to thy name", in other words - so is His praise. Unless God speaks, there can of course be no reply on our part; for had God remained in His essential, or absolute conditions, we should have had no knowledge of Him; indeed, we should not have existed. But when it pleased God to come forth from His essential fulness and manifest Himself, making Himself known, we could then be enabled to speak to Him, though there are necessarily the other considerations to which I have referred. But first of all there must be light.

We see the same principle in the case of Abraham. God made Himself known to Abraham, and then Abraham built his altar; in that way he could reply, could speak to God. It was very suitable that Abraham should do so. God delighted in the answer that he gave to His speaking; but the speaking had to come first. According to His name so was His praise. Later on, when God spoke to Israel, a fresh name was disclosed by God, the name of Jehovah: and if He spoke from out of the tabernacle and gave commandment to Israel, then Israel could approach Him according to that revelation, according to that light. Of course, if man had no light from God, if he remained in the darkness of his own heart, there could be no response. The Lord said to the woman of Samaria, "Ye worship ye know not what; we worship what we know" (John 4:22). There had been a revelation of God by the name Jehovah in regard of Israel, and they knew God according to that Name. "We worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews". Paul could speak to the dark Athenians with all their learning and refer to their altar to the "unknown God" (Acts 17:23). They

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were in the darkness of heathendom; how could they suitably speak to God and respond to Him? They had no light; they were in darkness, they knew not God.

Today a wonderful privilege is ours. What name is richer and more full than that of Father? Christ speaks in Spirit in Psalm 22 and says, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren". We shall see it is also necessary that there should be suitable conditions if there is to be response. But the first essential is that God be declared; without this there could be no response. We should be in darkness and ignorance, worshipping we know not what. But since God has declared Himself we can now know Him as revealed. Oh! what an immense fact is the incarnation. We have increasingly enjoyed the consideration of it lately, the immense fact of One who was God becoming Man. In the precious detail afforded us in the gospel of Luke, we feel how near God comes to us. How wonderful that that Babe should have been the Eternal, the One "whose goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2). Despised by man, no room for Him in the inn, there was nevertheless this immense fact that it could be written of that Babe that His goings forth had been from eternity. Our hearts may well gaze adoringly on that scene; that Babe in Bethlehem's manger was none other than the eternal God, whose goings forth had been from eternity!

It was essential that God should speak to us, and He has spoken to us in the tenderest way. The gospel of Luke presents the Lord in this manner. What is more tender, what nearer to us than a Babe? Those who were "attendants on the Word" (Luke 1:2) spoke of Him. From what is spoken

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of the Lord by one and another as recorded in the gospel of Luke we can see the meaning of "The Word". Simeon could say of Him, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation" (Luke 2:30); Anna could speak of Him in another way; and others also spoke of Him. "The Word" was there in that Babe. He was "The Word". But there was something more necessary than the life of Jesus, wonderful as it was, if God were to be fully declared. That wonderful pathway, amidst the desert sand, the gracious words that flowed from the lips of Jesus, and His wonderful ways, blessed as they were, were not enough. It needed His death for the full declaration of what God was; and for that reason among others, I turned to Psalm 22. The sorrows of Calvary were necessary if the heart of God was to be known. Oh! who can utter what is set out in the wonderful fact of the cross! The cross is the foundation of every note of praise that shall be in eternity and every note in time. The feelings of the myriads of hearts that respond to God shall find their source and movements on account of Jesus' sorrows on the cross and God's wonderful speaking there. At the cross was the perfect glorifying of God in Jesus; at the cross was the exhibition of all His moral attributes, and their vindication too at the cross was the declaration of God's love.

It is in resurrection, however, that the Lord hastens to declare the name of Father; it was then that He sent the message to His brethren: "Go to my brethren" (John 20:17), He said to Mary. What wonderful light we have in Christianity, the full declaration of God! What a blessed name, the name of Father! "According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise". Therefore our hearts are to respond in the

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suited affections, feelings and intelligence that should mark those who are in relationship with God known as Father.

If that is to be the case, there must be suited conditions, and that brings me to my second thought. Whatever the declaration of God may be, if we are to respond, if there is to be praise, there must be suitable moral conditions on our part. Abraham had no altar when he was in Egypt; the children of Israel could not sing in Babylon; they had no redemption song in Egypt. Israel could groan and cry in Egypt, they could weep in Babylon, but if they are to have a song, there must be the suited conditions for praise and the service of God. Hence they must come out of Egypt, as later they must be recovered from Babylon. If Abraham is to have his altar he must get back from Egypt to the place where he was at the first. We read of no altar with Lot, conditions were not suitable. There must be right conditions if there are to be the praises; whatever the revelation, there must be the conditions suited to the revelation of God. Let us remember, it is not only that there should be right conduct outwardly: we have recently been reminded of this in the case of Zacharias. He was orderly, yet there was an underlying state that was not suitable; conditions were not right, for right conditions can only be in faith. If there be the revelation of God, what can take it in but faith? Without faith it is impossible to please God. Mere religious formalities may go on, but in such a state there may be no faith. There must be faith if there is to be real response to the revelation of God. So the first essential condition is faith.

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Then, God being a spirit, if we are suitably to respond to God, we must have received the Holy Spirit. We must have a new state and a power that will enable us to respond to God in suited utterance and intelligence. In Old Testament days the response was expressed in a material manner; but in New Testament days the response must be of a spiritual nature. "God is a spirit; and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Truth would imply the knowledge of God as revealed, the light. "In spirit" would imply a vessel of the Spirit and a state answering to it, the response being expressed in keeping therewith. But not only must there be faith and the Spirit, there must also be moral conditions that flow from those two essentials. We are to walk according to faith. What fruit would there be if we were merely boasting in the light of God and in our practice were denying the very moral attributes of God - righteousness, holiness, and the like? We must not only walk in the light, our conduct must be in keeping with it; there must be a moral answer to what God is. Faith and moral correspondence in the power of the Spirit are essential conditions to everyone that has to do with the praises of God. Then again this must apply not only to us individually, we must also be right as to our households. We have been reminded of that in our recent consideration. There may be entertaining and hospitality, as in the case of Martha, but are we right in our households in relation to the Lord? The Lord must be given His place and the household relations must be right in this respect; otherwise conditions are not suitable to the praises of God. Then, we must be right as set together in our local relations

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as brethren, for the assembly of God has its local setting. We must be neighbourly, as Luke 10 reminds us; we must regard our brother and our neighbour. Conditions must be right in local settings, as the epistle to the Corinthians reminds us. Things must be in order, they must be morally pleasing to God, local conditions must be regarded.

A further matter must be thought of if conditions are to be suitable to the praises of God. We must recognise what is universal. This brings me to Psalm 133. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" The Corinthian epistle stresses the thought of unity, not only locally but universally. In chapter 12 the apostle, under the guidance of the Spirit, uses the figure of the human body, and applies the illustration to the body of Christ - the "one body". "So also is the Christ", he says (verse 12). The unity that marks the human body is used by the Spirit to illustrate the unity that should mark us as moving together, not only locally but universally. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" There can be no "one voice" (2 Chronicles 5:13), if there is discord amongst us locally, or discord in relation to those we are set near to, or universally. We must have a universal outlook; we must be moving in the width of Christian fellowship if we are to have the suited conditions for the praises of God.

The next psalm, Psalm 134, shows how we should move from that which is merely formal and outward, a gathering together of persons, into that which is spiritual - the sanctuary. We must move under the leading of the Lord, the great Priest over the house of God, the One who alone can

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rightly conduct the service of God. If our hearts move apart from Him there cannot be conditions suited to the praise of God. He is the One who alone knows what is suitable, and if our praise is to be in order and comely, we must be near to the great Priest and move at His direction. Our song must be led by Him, so to speak. Does He not say, "In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises" (Hebrews 2:12)? What wonderful service is going on today! The heart of God is refreshed by the praises sung in the assembly, for the service of God is maintained today in the assembly. The movement, so to speak, in Psalm 133 is downward; the movement is Psalm 134 is upward. There has been a remarkable move from Psalm 130. We could not get lower than the depths, and what could be higher, according to a Jewish mind, than the sanctuary? It is there that suitable praises may be rendered unto God.

Now let us turn to the next thought - substance. If we are to praise, if we are to offer, we must have that wherewith we may offer. Psalm 66 refers to this; the psalmist refers to burnt-offerings and incense. We know, of course, in the Old Testament times the service of God was connected with material sacrifices - oxen, sheep, and incense. But today we are to offer spiritual sacrifices. The question arises, from whence do we get our sacrifices? We are to be men of substance. Not only are there to be conditions; there must also be wealth. What enormous sacrifice there was in the days of Solomon! - thousands and thousands of victims were offered. How it speaks typically of immense spiritual wealth; doubtless looking on to that day when the service of God shall be rendered on earth with

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suitability, when praise shall no longer be silent in Zion, but when the earth shall answer to the very mind of heaven, and Christ shall have response from His earthly people, such as there never has yet been. The days of Solomon speak of a day of peace yet to come. We are not in that today. But we are in a day when we may offer spiritual sacrifices and thus maintain the service of God; and it becomes a question of what we have to offer. We must have substance. I press that thought; we do need substance in our worship, our praise. One feels if we pondered more upon the Lord, if we were more in His company, if we dwelt more upon His excellencies, if we pondered on His pathway and dwelt more upon that wonderful life of Jesus, His life from childhood onwards, when there was fruit in season at every moment - that pathway of unique devotedness - what substance we should have, what power to offer to God! Then, above all, the contemplation of His death! The very roots, so to speak, of "the praises of Israel" are found there, the very foundation of all praise. Who can contemplate the death of Christ and not become enriched with sacrificial material suitable to offer to God? Do you not desire to be like the priest who could take the parts of the victim and lay them in order upon the altar?

How weak we feel at times in speaking of the Lord, as we seek to offer Him in praise to God! How weak and empty relatively do we feel, because we have not been contemplating, have not been dwelling upon, the wondrous cross of Jesus. His every movement was full of deepest import; His every utterance full of profound meaning; His every action full of richest instruction. We may well,

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beloved, ponder on the cross, and get our hearts enriched with what will be suitable to offer to God. We must remember that there is not only the impulse of the Spirit, as we have been reminded, there is not only that which is responsive in the way of spiritual sensibility to a presentation of Christ by another believer, as in the case of Elizabeth (see Luke 1:41); there is also that which is marked by intelligence. We should be able to speak intelligently of the Lord with calculated utterances, not only in general terms, but to take up the details of His life and His wondrous sacrifice, those details presented to us in fact in the gospels and in feelings in the Psalms. We were reminded how Mary, the Lord's mother, acted thus with wonderful capability. She spoke as if from her own substance and with intelligence. Yet there is encouragement for the youngest, because whenever Christ comes before the heart the very sensibilities of the believer respond with impulse. As filled by the Spirit we respond, and hence the youngest believer can respond. If Christ is dear to you, well, to say so to God is praise; to mention that precious name is fragrant to the heart of God; and if I may only be able to bring a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons, so to speak, it nevertheless provides a sweet savour as equally as if I were to bring a bullock and with intelligence lay it in order on the altar. What encouragement to us all, whatever our spiritual state may be! If Christ is presented to God it is a "sweet savour". Yet our measure of substance will be commensurate with the way we have dwelt upon the beauties and blessedness of Jesus. How our hearts would like to hold Him! Oh! for hearts to contemplate Him. If we

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do so, we shall become wealthy, we shall have substance wherewith we may offer in suited praise to God.

There is another source of enrichment; this very psalm, Psalm 66, refers to it. Discipline, the pressure under which we may go, may yield us substance. The present is a time of very distinct pressure. Are we to be losers through it, or are we to be gainers? The psalmist can speak of very intense pressure (verses 10 - 12); but the issue of the pressure is that he comes into a wealthy place enriched with sacrificial capability and presents to God the fruits of devotedness, which the vows suggest (verse 13).

The last thought to which I will refer is feelings, and to that end I read Psalm 100. You will recall that not only was the service of God connected with sacrifices, as in Mosaic law, but later, in the development of God's ways, we find the idea of music introduced by David. David was the sweet psalmist of Israel. You will recall, too, that in the days of Hezekiah, when the priests offered the burnt-offering, it is said that "the song of Jehovah began" (2 Chronicles 29:27) with the burnt-offering. So in praise or worship there are to be the two component parts or elements. There is to be the sacrifice or, in our case, what is typified by the sacrifice; and there is to be the music or what is typified by the music. The sacrifice implies a substantive knowledge of Christ, that which I have enjoyed and can speak of to God from genuine appreciation. It is not a mere utterance of words, but that which I really have of Christ, and can present to God; it has become mine and I can offer it. But along with this appreciation of Christ there are feelings. There is that which is the experience of the heart, either of

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sorrow or of joy, as the case may be. We could not think of offering a sin-offering without an element of sober consideration as to what our failure has been. Yet what a deep appreciation we would have of Christ as we present to God the fresh and deepened sense of what Christ is as the great sin-offering! So too, with the burnt-offering, and in a particular way. The burnt-offering presents the Lord as offering Himself to God and glorifying Him. It is not so much the immediate and direct dealing with sin in the way of removing it, but that which, while removing it, glorified God in the removal; it is the excellence of the One who did it, and the vindicating and glorifying of God in doing it. The burnt-offering is an immense thought. Hence the song of Jehovah is associated with the burnt-offering, because in addition to substance there would be the feelings appropriate to the presentation to God of that which is so exceedingly precious to His heart. If it gives God joy, does it not give us joy? Have we no feelings as we present these things to God? As we utter the wonderful words of praise, are there no feelings in our heart? Are there no chords struck there? Is there no melody, no harmony? Ah! indeed, we know that there is! Scripture speaks of it: "Singing and chanting with your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). There are joys indeed and feelings.

Oh! beloved brethren, one feels how we need to contemplate the cross more, the depths of the sorrows of Christ - that deep, deep, unfathomably deep foundation of all the praise that will ever be uttered to God in the universe! What God is, is revealed to us in those depths, the sorrows of Christ on the cross. What a wonder it is! He

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went down deeper than we can ever know. We see Him going down in that descending path, not falling, but descending, with measure and dignity; each movement full of moral glory and excellence as He takes those steps downward; and He goes down deeper than we can ever follow Him. None can follow Him there! He was alone! But then equally He goes up higher than we can ever follow Him. The heights are equal to the depths, and the depths are answered in the heights. And those depths shall also find in measure an answer in the hearts of those who learn, according to their measure, what those depths were. Oh! how little we have learnt them! How little have our feelings been moved as we have thought of Jesus! Oh that we might feel more what the path of Jesus was! What substance it would give to our hearts if we contemplated Him more, and all His excellence! What feelings were those of His heart when He went forth, as we read in John 18:4, "Jesus therefore, knowing all things that were coming upon him, went forth". How it must touch our hearts, how truly we must be moved with spiritual emotion, as we present to God the preciousness of Christ, the Antitype of every sacrifice! These feelings are the antitype of the playing on musical instruments. What a poor thing a mere musical instrument is in comparison with the feelings of the human heart as moved by the Spirit of God! Who would think of going back to instrumental music when once they had known the music of the human heart, the feelings produced there by the Spirit of God in answer to the wonderful work of our Lord Jesus Christ! Hence it says, in this psalm, "Shout aloud unto Jehovah, ... Serve Jehovah with joy". There is

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joy in the heart, Christianity is marked by joy. Whilst conditions, as I have said, are to be suitable, circumstances (I use the word in contradistinction to conditions) may be most uncongenial, and yet the heart may rise up in praise to God. Witness the Philippian jail. What circumstances those were, what conditions! The jailor could put the feet of Paul and Silas in the stocks, but the chains and stocks could never fetter their spirits. Their hearts were free and they lifted up their spirits to God with suited joy.

The Lord give us to understand these wonderful things. The service of God is very precious; it is a great privilege to have any part in it. May the Lord give us to be governed by the light, to be found in suited conditions, to be a people of spiritual substance and deep feelings that may suitably respond to the very heart of God. We are living in a very superficial age. We see people professing conversion who have never even cried over their sins. One would like to see depth of feeling promoted amongst us which would be a reply to this lukewarm, superficial age. The Lord give us to be a people of deep feelings, for His blessed name's sake!

Edinburgh, June 1933

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THE WORK OF GOD

C A MARKHAM

Job 2:3, 4; Job 26:13, 14; Job 40:3 - 5; Job 42:1 - 6

It is evident from the book of Job that the blessed God is working with individual souls, and with a perfect understanding of every one of them. When God works, He works to reach a most glorious end; but it is necessary to note that Satan is working as the enemy of the blessed God, as is seen in Job himself. How strikingly those deep soul exercises of his are brought before us at the outset of the book! Little did Job know that he was of such great interest to God, or to Satan in view of his malignant ends. To realise this, I think, helps us when passing through those exercises that go on in our souls - those indescribable exercises that we cannot always understand. But in all this, God is arriving at His own end. He who has begun the good work will as surely finish it. How often we have to fall back on what Job said to God: "I know that thou canst do everything, and that thou canst be hindered in no thought of thine" (chapter 42: 2).

One might make further allusion to Satan: He is a very subtle foe. At the very outset of the Bible we are told that he "was more crafty than any animal of the field" (Genesis 3:1). At the beginning of this book we learn that God had a conversation with him; and Satan shows that he, to the best of his calculations, had taken Job's measure. To put it in a word, he says to God that what there was of God about Job

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was there for a selfish reason. It is as if the conflict over the welfare of this man had commenced. But when Satan is in conflict with God, he invariably miscalculates and is defeated in the end. To see that is a very great help. Indeed, it is a most interesting thing that when Satan starts to calculate how to arrive at victory, the very thing that seems a successful and a great achievement invariably results in his most crushing defeat. How fully this was exemplified in the death of Christ! At the outset of man's history the conflict between God and Satan comes to light, and the waging of that conflict is seen in the conversation between the serpent and Eve in the garden; but what concerns us at the moment is the waging of that conflict in our own souls. It is of immense comfort to know that when God commences a work, He finishes it, that it will result in a perfect work, and will be displayed through the unending, perfect day in glory. That is what Job reached eventually.

As a result of Satan's suggestion, what questions arose in Job's mind, what occupation with self! Indeed, you feel that self is an immense trial. The great cure for self-occupation is occupation with the work of God! I believe we should be benefited greatly if we were increasingly occupied with the work of God. One evidence of that is brought before us at the end of chapter 26, which is a most interesting chapter. There Job touches on many wonderful things in connection with God's creation, mighty things from Sheol up to the heavens; and all have a voice. Psalm 19 tells us that the heavens have no speech nor words, yet their voice is heard. That voice reached Job. He thinks of the vast expanse above and the earth beneath as "the

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borders of his ways", and says, "What a whisper of a word do we hear of him!" That seems, to my mind, to be a very remarkable expression, for in the same verse he speaks of the thunder of God's power; what a contrast to this whisper of a word! Job could not, nor can we, do more than touch the border of His ways; yet it is blessed to know that all God's ways will be consummated in Christ.

God has much to say to Job at the end of this book. As you turn page after page and read the remarkable utterances they contain, and it comes home to you that Job's trouble was self-occupation, you can well conceive of Satan looking on and saying, 'As long as I can keep him occupied with himself, he will never get ahead'. But God was going to complete His work and bless Job in spite of himself. So at length Job says, "Behold, I am nought: what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth". He had talked about himself long enough, now he was through. Earlier he had said, "Oh would that my words were written! oh that they were inscribed in a book!" (chapter 19: 23). It is extraordinary what self-occupation does for us. We actually think it would be a good thing to have a record of it! Job's words were inscribed in a book, but not for the object he desired; he had no idea that his words were going to be put in a book to show the end of Job. But he did arrive at that end, and in doing so he arrived at glory.

God intends, for every true believer, that the glory of the Lord shall fill the whole vision of his soul - a most supreme occupation (2 Corinthians 3:18). Job, according to the light vouchsafed, reached it. He says, "Now mine eye seeth thee", and he repents in dust and ashes. God completes His

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work, but Satan, as always, defeats himself. Job's captivity is turned and he is blessed.

I want to make one other remark in connection with the place the senses are given in this book. Satan is fully active and will make an appeal to our senses. We have God-given senses. What would Job have done without them? He would not even have heard the "whisper" if he had not had the sense of hearing; so I believe we would do well to ask ourselves why God has given us our senses. This is a day of voices, innumerable voices, and by them Satan seems to be making a particular bid for men. I suppose nothing in the world conveys more definitely its utter confusion than the babel of voices that comes over the air, and Satan is behind that. The question for us is, For what are we using our senses? How are we using them? A doctor said to me the other day, 'Think of the human body - such a perfect piece of mechanism - it is so wonderful that only God could have formed it'. If we thought of our senses, of the marvellous way in which they show God's immense power, we should exercise more care as to how we use them. For what are we using our eyes and our ears? Evidently God gained Job's ear, and his eyes too! May He gain ours also! Indeed, may all our senses be wholly given over to God. Satan had kept Job occupied with himself, through his three friends, for a long time, but finally God speaks to him in a "whisper", yet in a marvellous way, about His own handiwork in the creation of the world. And as God describes what He does in the animal world, Job becomes less and less, until he says, "Behold, I am nought". Henceforth God and His work become everything to him.

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May we all reach God's end regarding us, so that the revelation of Himself and His work in Christ becomes everything to us.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1933

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DAILY NEED

A E MYLES

Luke 12:22 - 34; Proverbs 30:1 - 9

You will notice, dear brethren, that in both of these passages there is a reference to circumstances of daily need. We might have been only casually interested in what the Scriptures have to say about daily need; but the Lord has been pleased to put His governmental hand on this world, and to bring about a very great change of circumstances for many of His people. The result is that our attention has been drawn to scriptures such as these, which now become of intense practical value to us.

I do not doubt that God will get much out of what is commonly called the 'famine'. Famine time is a time of peculiar exercise; but where God is pleased, in His wisdom, to put special exercises upon us, He also provides special grace in relation to those exercises. One thing that I discern as being much lacking in my own soul, and perhaps it is in the souls of others, is the element of confidence in God - a most valuable feature of piety, one that becomes very real to us in a time of poverty and distress. If we do not have confidence in God, we shall be in anxiety when men of the world are in anxiety; in other words, the waves of feeling that pass over the world that knows not God are not to move the people of God as men of the world are moved. In times such as these, saints are to be preserved in quietness

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of spirit and in freedom from anxiety, and thus to be marked off as different and apart from the world.

You will notice in Luke's gospel that the matter of daily need is connected with the kingdom; whereas in Proverbs 30 it is related to sonship. I would speak first of the kingdom in Luke 12, where things are presented in a comforting kind of way. Special attention is drawn to the knowledge which the Father has of our daily need, and to His care and His pleasure, all of which is most comforting. It has in view that the people of God are to be entirely different from the men of the world. Our dignity is that of having to do with God in the matter of daily maintenance. Men generally look to their own resources, but we recognise that God is the giver of all good. Perhaps one of the greatest thoughts as to God as known to men is that He is the Giver, and in His kingdom God would set up His people so that they shall be marked by the same feature - that of giving. To give like God it is not only material wealth that is needed. A man of the world might give out of His abundance, but he would not give as God does. To give like God involves some sacrifice, for God's giving was based on sacrifice - He gave His only-begotten Son, in which connection there would be deep feelings in the heart of God. That was a mighty transaction that deeply moved the heart of God; and He would set His people up here in the kingdom in the dignity of givers - not only givers of interest and of income, but givers of capital. Saints are exhorted to, "Sell what ye possess and give alms". The dignity of divine giving even as it is expressed in the saints is to be on the basis of sacrifice. We are to hold what we

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have in this dignity and to be marked as men and women who are prepared to sell in order to give, in view of which, the element of confidence in God has to be formed in us.

The passage in Luke draws attention to two spheres of man's labour. One is the agricultural sphere, where men sow and reap and have storehouses and barns; the other is the manufacturing sphere, where men toil and spin. In contrast to that, our attention is drawn to God's achievements in creation; we are invited to consider the ravens and the lilies, to take note that although they have been in existence for a long time, they are not extinct. In the history of Scripture both the ravens and the lilies go back a long way, but they are still here with us. The ravens have neither sown nor reaped, nor have they had storehouses or barns, but God has fed them. The lilies have neither toiled nor spun, but God has clothed them. What a faithful God! And if He is faithful to that which is small, how much more should we be able to count upon Him to be faithful to that which is most valuable in His eyes - His people! I am bold to say that God's people are the most valuable of the divine possessions today; they are of immense value to God. Not only have they been bought by the blood of Christ, but they have been the subjects of divine care; and the Spirit of God is carrying on in them a divine work that has eternity in view. These are valuable things of great moment to God, and yet they are joined up with a mortal body - with a frail condition of manhood absolutely dependent upon God - needing food and clothing.

The care of God, though expressed in the lower creation, is in Christianity expressed to us by that most

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precious name of Father! While the ravens and the lilies have a Creator God, the saints have a Father, "and your Father knows that ye have need of these things". There is much comfort in that, and I think the present circumstances in the world would be used by the Spirit to draw our attention to these scriptures in order that we might learn something about God which we could not learn in any other circumstances. The idea is that we should be free from anxiety with regard to material things in order to seek the kingdom - the kingdom that it is the Father's good pleasure to give to the little flock. Now, dear brethren, let me speak simply and practically. If we look back over the past years, do we not have to confess how little we have sought the kingdom? We have sought land, and houses, and money; and, like the man referred to in this same chapter as "Fool", some have acquired certain possessions. But that man was not rich toward God; not only was there no treasure for him in heaven, but even what he left behind was in a muddle, so that at the end the question was raised: "And whose shall be what thou hast prepared?" (verse 20). Nothing to further the Lord's interests was left behind; nothing had gone before, and nothing had been left behind that would help the saints. Now, the Lord would free us from that. He would give us grace to return thanks for the famine, and for His movements in bringing to nought this great system which some of us were diligently building - a system of storehouses and barns, in pulling down to build greater. God has blown upon all that, and He would have His people to be in all the happy security of confidence in His care as the Father.

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You all will notice the different setting in the passage in Proverbs which is the book of sonship. In that passage there are two prophetic words, and the fact that they are prophetic is to be noted as indicating that a day would come in the history of the testimony when these words would take on a definite meaning. Here, the question is raised, "What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?" The Spirit of God has thus prophetically indicated that in the last days - in the days when the truth of sonship would be definitely before the saints - a question would be raised as to divine names, and I hope to show you, I trust on the authority of Scripture, that this matter of daily need is interwoven with this prophetic utterance, it is there in the wisdom and forethought of God. The man Agur in the passage in Proverbs himself expresses the desire to have his circumstances regulated. Agur desires it - a notable matter; for, generally speaking, we view our circumstances in a loose, indefinite way as something which God Himself orders apart from us, and without much regard to our prayers and our feelings. But this man, in the middle of this prophetic utterance which is of the deepest import at the present moment, turns to prayer - a most remarkable prayer. He says, "Two things do I ask of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread of my daily need: lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? or lest I be poor and steal, and outrage the name of my God".

I believe, dear brethren, that we stand today at a parting of the ways. On the one hand the Lord is giving us

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the most precious unfolding of divine light - the last touches, I believe, of divine grace before the assembly is translated. He is giving us to understand the truth as to His Person, as a result of which God has become very great to us, and the Father too. But, if I interpret this prophetic utterance rightly, there is to be from our side some answer - some definite desire for regulation, given expression to by prayer. It ought to be clear that we are not to go in for houses and lands and possessions, we are not to be on the line of acquiring and of making ourselves great, and independent of God. But we are to be prepared to pray that we might have neither poverty nor riches. Now, can we pray that? It is a testing question. Some of us are sitting amidst the wreckage of years of effort and labour. If the way were opened, would we start to rebuild, would we go on the same lines as in the past? or are we prepared to be content with the dignity and the joy that attaches to the saints of God, and to say, "Give me neither poverty nor riches"? That is a very searching question and I think I am not straining the scripture in pointing out that it is interwoven with the understanding of the great movements of the Lord in the present day.

Before I speak of these movements, let me also point out that Agur prays that vanity and lies are to be far removed from him. If our histories were examined at this moment in the presence of God, I wonder how much there would be of vanity and lies. They are to be put far away. What a divine balance there is in that word "neither poverty nor riches", for poverty brings in anxiety, and always the terrible danger that we should steal and outrage the name of

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our God; whereas riches bring in the dreadful danger of saying, "Who is Jehovah?"

I would refer now, briefly, to the great features of this dispensation, indicated in Proverbs 30:4, "Who hath ascended up into the heavens, and descended?" The point where Christ disappeared from man's sight was in His death and burial. He disappeared out of the sight of man, and His further movements are entirely unknown to the world. The death and burial of Christ form the last bit of history in relation to Him that could be taken account of by the world. Believers are to understand that through His ascension a glorious era has been opened up, in which divine movements are to be marked by these two directions, ascending and descending, which are the first features of God's house (Genesis 28:12). We should be conscious of these movements up and down. In the day to come the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, but at the present moment there are movements ascending and descending - marvellous divine movements in which divine Persons are engaged. It is in this way that saints are to be conscious of what is connected with the glorious dispensation in which they live.

Other features that are worth noting are indicated here. It says, "Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?" That, I believe, is a reference to the activities of the Spirit of God, at the present moment, that are not taking a general form. The work of God is going on in certain places according to the pleasure of the Lord. It is not everywhere, for it is sovereign. It is conveyed in the idea of being gathered in His fists - a concentrated, controlled activity. How we

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prove that! The Lord is pleased to work in certain places and in certain cases, and if you lose your way or get out of touch with the Lord, you will miss these great divine operations; you will not be conscious of them. There is plenty of power, and it is the same power that was there at the beginning of the dispensation, but it is concentrated today, like the wind gathered in His fists. And then the binding of "the waters in a mantle" clearly has reference to ministry - ministry that is controlled, for the mantle is suggestive of leadership. I take that from the history of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah was the distinctive vessel of the moment in connection with what pertained to heaven. He was taken up in a whirlwind, and the mantle descended to another distinctive vessel, Elisha, whose mission was connected with what was on earth. It had become known that Elijah was going up, and it was a matter of common knowledge that he had to do with heaven; but later it was learned that Elisha had to do with the maintenance of things down here, for the mantle of Elijah had fallen on Elisha. Now, today, the Lord is giving the most precious ministry - living ministry; but it is not found everywhere, it is not found with all companies that profess to call on His name. It is bound in a mantle. The Lord Himself is controlling and regulating the channels through which this precious ministry flows.

The understanding of all this is wrapped up in the question, "What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?" This clearly shows that there will be questions and doubts about the matter. There would be some who could not tell. The understanding of divine names -

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the names of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit - is all bound up with these marvellous movements, about which we know but little. Some think of Christianity as looking back to the death of Christ, and then looking on to the coming of Christ, but they miss the teaching and value of the present interval. The present dispensation is a most glorious one in which those blessed movements referred to are going on and can be understood, and it is in connection with this that the test seems to come.

Well, what are we going in for? Are we going to rebuild as soon as we can the things that the Lord has brought down, or are we prepared to go on on the basis of being neither poor nor rich - content to get through, as long as these precious spiritual realities can be known to our hearts? I think, dear brethren - and I suggest it as something for consideration - that when we are prepared to pray this prayer of Agur's the famine may cease. God's end in it will be accomplished, for we must have His saints in view first. It may be that He is weakening the nations of this world as He is preparing for other things, but I am sure that His first thought is for the saints. Having that in view, His people are adjusted when they are prepared to be no more than He would have them to be down here, prepared to go on day by day having to do with God about their daily need - their daily bread. Then, too, some fresh touch is put into the soul each day that gives an added confidence in God. When we reach that, I think the famine may cease.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1933

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THE SOFT GENTLE VOICE

P LYON

1 Kings 19:11 - 13; 2 Corinthians 6:1 - 6; 2 Timothy 4:11 - 22

I had in mind, dear brethren, to refer to the soft gentle voice of Jehovah as suggesting the voice of the Lord Jesus. If the testimony of God is to be continued here in a living way it is dependent, on our side, on the continuance of the condition among us of having ears to hear. Those who have such ears can be assured, even as John in Patmos, that the personal voice will be directed to them, however trying the circumstances of the testimony may become. As having ears to hear we are to be like John, and turn to see the voice, being assured by our personal acquaintance with Christ that it is no ordinary voice, but that the Lord personally is speaking. Attention on our part will result in further acquaintance with Himself and His mind as to the assembly and the testimony of God. As I have said, the continuance of the testimony depends upon His voice being heard, and so Paul, in whom this continuance in the testimony is pre-eminently seen, was chosen "to see the just one, and to hear a voice out of his mouth" (Acts 22:14). It was personally to Paul, for he says, "They that were with me beheld the light, and were filled with fear, but heard not the voice of him that was speaking to me" (Acts 22:9).

That soft gentle voice will effect what no earthquake or fire could, and it would call us into the Lord's presence to

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receive communications there, in relation to the assembly, the dwelling of God. And so here you find Elijah coming out now in his mantle; he has got down to his right size, for the voice would reduce us to what we really are as before God. Only in the presence of God is that secured, and hence it is wholesome to be there. The Lord speaks to him, and what a melting voice is His! Elijah was surely at home on the holy mount with the One who spoke to him here at Horeb! With Moses he appeared in glory, and what glory was that, as they spoke with Him of His decease. In the freshness of their appreciation of Christ, their voices were perfectly in concert with His voice, for they spoke "with him". They had never met before on the earth, but they would be perfectly at home together in His presence, and their theme was one: they spoke of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Elijah would realise how much greater was that glory than that of Carmel's mount, for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ abides. They appeared in it, and it is as in the presence of that glory we are summoned to "hear him", to pay great heed to that voice. What servant of the Lord would want to shine in any glory other than the glory surrounding Jesus! Every other glory will be withered up, but that glory abides, and beholding Christ in it we "are transformed" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Luke loves to treat of the voice in his gospel; in fact, he informs us that he had kept the company of those who were "eye-witnesses of and attendants on the Word" (Luke 1:2). How they would wait upon His every utterance - good models there for every believer throughout the dispensation! As Luke, with Paul, would mingle among the five hundred

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or more brethren to whom Christ had appeared, he would love to engage with them over the voice of Christ, for the Lord as appearing to His people ever speaks to them. Luke presents that blessed One speaking and he says they "wondered at the words of grace which were coming out of his mouth" (Luke 4:22). "Never man spoke thus, as this man speaks" (John 7:46). Luke tells of the utterances of that voice, giving, in many instances, His words of comfort to stricken hearts, and how He caused others to speak responsively even as the young man of Nain who speaks, as raised from the dead.

The voice of Christ, in its holy tones of love, is to be our model for all speaking. We are to speak indeed as the oracles of God with divine authority and in the Spirit's power, but in the soft gentle tones of that voice of Jesus. I am not overlooking the prophetic word of Elijah's ministry. The fire and the hammer breaking the rocks (Jeremiah 23:29), are needed for the extrication of the saints from unholy associations, foreign to the dwelling of God amongst His people. Luke, as engaging us with the great thought of the house of God, dwells upon the precious intimacy of the voice of Christ, the intimate character of it. The daughter of Jairus, a little girl of twelve years old, hears it. He speaks to her - what does that mean? If there is one girl of twelve years old, or younger indeed, who has not heard that voice, may she challenge her heart as to whether she has an ear for it. It says in Luke He touched the little ones. What a touch! - "Suffer little children to come to me" (Luke 18:16). What an appeal that would have made to those little ones who heard His voice! I am not belittling the necessity of

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speaking roughly where insensibility is present, but it is all to make way for this gentle voice. If Joseph spoke roughly to his brethren, it was that he might be able finally to speak softly, as he weeps upon the necks of his brethren - "I am Joseph" (Genesis 45:3). And so, dear brethren, throughout Luke's gospel, he, by the Spirit, loves to dwell upon the voice of God's Anointed, in view of those who hear it being found in the company praising God with a loud voice.

Think of those in the upper chamber (Acts 1:13). Each one had doubtless learnt the melody of His soft and gentle voice; they owed all to Him whose voice it was, and their voices would rise in holy, spiritual, refined tones to God as sweet incense as they were found in prayer in that upper room. That voice opens up great spiritual possibilities in relation to the house of God. In fact, we cannot be suitably in the house save in the spiritual emotions which that voice awakens.

As we follow Elijah in his last journey may we not assume that his ministry to Elisha was the living continuation of that gentle voice which had so moved him? As recommissioned by the Lord after the searching at Horeb, Elijah takes up the service in a fresh and living way, and Elisha apprehends the great import of the voice that comes to him through the one he addresses as "my father", so that to every other speaker he would say, "Be silent!" (2 Kings 2:3). Think of the conversation on that memorable journey when Elijah used his last day on earth under the Lord to instruct his successor. "Be silent", says Elisha to the intruding sons of the prophets; for Elisha will not miss a word of that loving gentle voice, as he instructs him as to

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the spiritual significance attached to the divine landmarks - Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and Jordan.

In Luke's gospel as the Lord passes on with His Elisha-like disciples, how intimate becomes the language! There are some sorrowful intrusions on their part. James and John say, 'Lord shall we bring fire down upon this Samaritan village?' They are, so to speak, in the wrong chapter: James and his brother John are in the environment of the early part of 2 Kings 1. The Lord is filling out in His instructions what we have in chapter 2. The Lord meets the intrusion by dwelling on the cross and in calling for those who would follow Him. What a study does the dying of Jesus afford. From chapter 9 of Luke onwards, we have every stage of that last journey filled out by the utterances of that soft gentle voice that we might learn it. It has to be learnt, dear brethren, for nature's voice at best is but harsh and rude.

When Elijah comes back he is moving on another line. The exploits of Carmel serve well, but one cannot live on them. It is well to clear the forest of trees, so to speak, but that is only to make way for the agriculturalist; a man like Elisha with a plough is wanted. We can move negatively perhaps in meeting evil in some measure, but our spiritual stature is put to the test in moving positively; that is in bringing in food. The Lord had taken great pains with Elijah in his education. He served him with a hot meal, for He knows when we have got cold and He supplies what will warm our hearts, and nourish us. Those hot stones tell of His sufferings. Peter, in John 21, had been warming himself at the world's fire and is only the colder for it; but the Lord

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served him and his brethren with a hot meal and warmed their affections. That is the model, dear brethren. Peter recalled the Voice that had warned him so tenderly; he "remembered the word of the Lord" (Luke 22:61). Elisha moves with a soft and gentle voice. He is a man of tender feelings; he kisses his father and mother. Elijah did not pass on to his successor the thunders of Horeb, or even the service at Carmel as he defended the rights of God, but the most blessed thing - the soft and gentle voice. So Elisha called him "my father;" what a relationship of tender affection such an expression suggests! He knows the tenderness of his father's love.

Now I refer to the voice in relation to Paul. Hearing is important. As I have said, the apostle was to hear that voice. The apostle's commission was based, so to speak, upon the voice of Christ. Luke refers to the Lord's voice on the cross, the voice that inaugurated the present dispensation of grace - "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). This very voice reached Paul as the spirit and power of it came through Stephen. It reached that young man Saul, only to be enforced by the voice of the Just One from heaven. How different from the roar of Bashan's bulls, the Jewish leaders, or the barking of the dogs, the Roman soldiery. The dying thief would surely be melted by that voice.

If the clerics at Corinth assume human wisdom to accredit themselves in what is professedly of God, one finds the apostle and his fellow-workers basing their credentials, and their commission, upon the cry of Christ. He was heard by God in an acceptable time and in a day of salvation; the

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hearing of that cry assured the grace of the dispensation whether to men away from God, or to the refractory Corinthians, and Paul would continue his service to them in that grace. May the tones of that voice never die in our hearts! Paul carried in his body the dying of Jesus. The tones of that voice continued in the voice of Paul, so to speak, taking all their preciousness and substance from the dying of the One who uttered them. "I have listened to thee in an accepted time, and I have helped thee in a day of salvation: behold, now is the well-accepted time; behold, now the day of salvation". And then he goes on, "Giving no manner of offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed". Earlier, in verse 1, he says, "As fellow-workmen, we also beseech that ye receive not the grace of God in vain". "Fellow-workmen", the still small voice beseeching that we receive not the grace of God in vain. As we understand it, can we do otherwise than work together in the service of grace?

So Luke presents the great thought of recovery in a broken day. He was the beloved physician! No university of medicine gave him his credentials; they are given by the Lord or the brethren. The brethren gave Luke that name - the beloved physician, and how important it is that the voice should gain confidence - "a soft answer turneth away fury" (Proverbs 15:1), and how appealing is the voice of the Beloved. How it stimulates the affections of the saints! It is a poor meeting, dear brethren, where we have not such in daily practice, may I say? - those who "watch over your souls" (Hebrews 13:17). Oh, to be engaged truly in the care of souls, without assuming a name. What a field for spiritual

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healing this scene of sickness and woe affords. How skilfully Luke serves Theophilus. Oh, the tenderness and skill of a doctor; he aims at strengthening the heart. Luke is on that line to maintain the dispensation of grace. The solution of moral issues in the souls of the saints individually calls for this skilled holy service of love. And so Luke, with Paul, is greeting the Colossian brethren. There is heart weakness there; their head is not between their knees as Elijah's on Carmel's mount. Luke would send his salutations; he would strengthen the heart, for all through his gospel he presents the Lord as the bread that strengthens man's heart: Christ as the satisfying expression of God's goodness and love.

Luke is also the fellow-worker, he is with Paul. In the salutation to Philemon, Luke is thus introduced; there is plenty of work to do to help brethren into the grace of the dispensation. Is there so much forgiveness abroad that the greetings of a Luke at this point are unnecessary? Look how Paul gives himself to this work, that relations between brethren may be consolidated in love. In writing to Philemon, you see the skill with which he enters into the right feelings Philemon might have as an injured master, but which are to give place to the holy spiritual feelings of grace, that become the dispensation. Philemon heard the soft and gentle voice of Christ through His beloved apostle. "Put this to my account" (Philemon 18). What feelings! And then Luke sends his greetings. One might have said, 'It will suffice for Paul to write', but Luke is needed and others, as fellow-workers in the dispensation.

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Luke is seen again in 2 Timothy. Yes, death is to be faced, and Luke is there as a sympathetic comforting companion to speak tenderly in the presence of death and every crisis of sorrow. Paul is about to die and the deserters are many. It is beautiful to see Luke. When the Lord turned His face to go down to die, many walked no more with Him. I must not think that I may evade an assembly sorrow without loss; one's assembly record is kept in heaven. If the records of the faithful in Malachi's day called for a special book on the part of God, how much does every assembly sorrow, every crisis locally and universally, call for assembly records in relation to those who go through them with God. Thank God, they are kept eternally for His pleasure, where such records refer to Christ and His beloved people! Paul says, "Luke alone is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11) - that speaks volumes as to the element of comfort that he was to Paul, serving with that soft gentle voice. Paul is at the Roman bar, a prisoner, but think how Paul would find comfort in the service which Luke would render.

Then what companionship was afforded in that service, as Paul says, "The Lord stood with me" (2 Timothy 4:17). In that felon's dock, the Lord had been before him. He had been alone as a lamb dumb before His shearers. What was the fury of the Emperor and all his pomp, alongside the company which Paul had in the Lord? The Lord allowed Nero to sit on that throne. He was there by the permission of Him who had gone up into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being subject to Him, and that blessed One stood by Paul - Oh the grace of it! As if the Lord would travel afresh that never-to-be-forgotten-journey - travel it

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now, no longer personally, of course, for its efficacy abides, culminating, as it did in His precious death, but He travelled it with Paul as He travels it in love with everyone who will go that way. The apostle sees the winter coming. Comfort, you know, is needed in winter; how serviceable may a physician prove in winter. Who could say what the soothing hand of a Luke was over those forty stripes save one of which the apostle speaks. Dear brethren, let us see to it that this work of the beloved physician goes on to the end. Luke stands by Paul, he stands by assembly features. To secure the assembly has cost Christ His sufferings beyond conception. Are we going to be indifferent to His sufferings? Can we manifest indifference to the vessel for which He suffered; are we not rather ready to merge with our brethren - His body - stripped of all our fancied status in the flesh as earth-dwellers. It is a lovely word which the Lord uses, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you" (Luke 22:15). As He introduced the thought of the Supper, He used this word, "My body which is given for you" (verse 19).

The position thus continues to this day, Luke is there with Paul. Thank God there is no break-up of the ranks, there is even an accession to the ranks; it is to take place before winter; that is, the worst is at the end as you might call it - yet it is the best. Winter conditions are to accentuate to us the precious sufferings of Christ, and they are to provide, in that way, the spirit with us to hear that soft, gentle voice. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come" (Revelation 22:17). The Lord Jesus says, "Behold, I come quickly" (Revelation 22:12). The assembly is going up in the

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fruit of what she has learnt of Him in that soft and gentle voice. She has been formed after it, and she goes to a scene where the thunders and earthquakes and fire will be unknown, but where heaven's praises amidst the holy myriads shall blend in sweetness, in response to His soft gentle voice that first drew them to Him, in relation to the precious thoughts of His assembly here, and holds them together, true to the dearest object of His heart until they pass into His presence for ever. May the Lord bless the word.

Blest Lord, Thou spakest! 'twas Thy voice
That led our hearts to Thee;
That drew us to that better choice,
Where grace has set us free. (Hymn 47)

Belfast, April 1934

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THE SERVICE OF GOD

A E MYLES

Hebrews 12:28, 29; Hebrews 13:15; Exodus 3:2 - 6;

1 Kings 18:20 - 24, 27 - 39

It is before me, dear brethren, to speak about the service of God. The subject is a large one, so large that it is not possible to refer to more than a few features. In these I have more what is elementary in mind, hoping that the Lord may use the occasion to secure some of the young people here definitely for the service of God. There are certain stipulations in the passages before us connected with the service of God that we should note. The first is that He is to be served acceptably, the second that He is to be served continually, and the third feature - which I particularly wish to emphasise - that He is to be served with reverence and godly fear. It is to produce these feelings in us - feelings that are proper to the presence of God - that we are told that "our God is a consuming fire". We are told in another place that "God is love" (1 John 4:8); that is most attractive and is intended to set us in movement in answer to the love of God. We are also told that "God is light" (1 John 1:5); that is intended to regulate us in the presence of God, so that we may serve Him acceptably according to the light. But this feature before us, that of a consuming fire, is of immense importance, especially to young people.

In order to emphasise this and open it up a little, I will refer to the book of Genesis. You remember that when

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Adam sinned he was driven out of the garden, and the Lord God "set the Cherubim, and the flame of the flashing sword ... to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24). The flashing sword indicated that God was active. Something had occurred that aroused Him to intense activity, but coupled with the flashing sword we get the thought of a flame, indicating that it is what God is that has aroused Him to this activity. The flashing sword, one that turned every way, indicates that the way to the tree of life is being guarded by what God is in this relation, until the great moral question of good and evil has been worked out by the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection, and the way to the tree of life made open.

Then I will refer to the last mention of fire in the Scriptures. We are told in Revelation 20 that the sea gave up its dead, and that death and hades gave up the dead that were in them, and that each was judged according to his works, and anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. The sea, death, and hades have all been used in the government of God with men to hold the wicked dead, awaiting the great day of judgment. They serve for a time - perhaps for thousands of years in some cases, but still only for a time. When God deals with evil in a final way, it is in the form of a lake of fire, meaning that what God is as a consuming fire is definitely brought into the matter of this final dealing with evil. We are told that these persons - the wicked dead - are judged according to their works, so that the fire comes in punitively. We are also told that anyone whose name is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire;

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there has been no response in their hearts toward Christ, no movement of life toward God, and they pass under the final and unchanging judgment of God in all His holy abhorrence against sin and evil. You will notice that a lake is mentioned, the condensed idea of fire, not moving, or active in a general way, but confined within a certain area; but nevertheless bringing out the great thought that God is a consuming fire, and as such He deals with evil finally. We are to understand, dear brethren, that in taking up the service of God to which we are called, this feature is to have due weight with us as promoting reverence and godly fear. It is not only the thought of the greatness of God - that cannot be compassed by any creature - but it is the thought of how He has dealt with evil by the disclosure of what He is in Himself against sin that causes us to fear. Now turning back to the thought of being called to this blessed service, I would draw your attention to the combination of two ideas suggested in the words "acceptably" and "continually". In the great profession of religion around us, the idea of continuity is maintained by formality and by the constant repetition of things, without the evidence of life. The idea of serving God acceptably has been well-nigh dropped in the public profession. Indeed, it is a question of what is acceptable to the congregations, what is acceptable to the itching ears of unregenerate men, that governs the situation. But we, as having faith in Christ, and as belonging to the people of God, are called to this great and holy service, to maintain it according to revealed standards. Those who have no link with Christ may order their lives as they think well, and pursue pleasure as they

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are moved, but the people of God have been claimed for Himself; they are for Him and especially for His service of praise.

You will notice that, linked up with the verses I read in Hebrews 12 and 13, we are encouraged to pursue certain things. They are things that the fire will not consume, the fire will not have to say to them - brotherly love, hospitality, honourable marriage, conversation without the love of money, boldness in the face of man as counting on God as our helper. All these things go along with the thought of serving God acceptably, with reverence and with godly fear, and continually by the offering of the fruit of the lips confessing His name. Our God loves to hear His people confessing His name, and the name of the Lord Jesus. He Himself would energise and maintain the service by the Holy Spirit so that it may be maintained according to the divine standards and go on in continuity - beginning down here on earth in the midst of a scene of confusion and opposition, but continued in heaven in favourable circumstances, the same service to the same God. There it will be our holy and happy privilege to praise God with the fruit of the lips.

I have referred to the case of Moses in the Old Testament to show you how a man is educated for the service of God. You will remember that Moses had already spent two days in what he thought was the service of God. He had come, so to speak, from the university of Egypt, and was versed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and no doubt it was in the exercise of that kind of wisdom that he occupied those two days of service. On the first day he slew

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an Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. On the second day, he saw two Hebrew men striving together, and when he intervened, one turned upon him in derision. On the first day we are told that "he turned this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he smote the Egyptian" (Exodus 2:12). On the second day, when one of his brethren derided him, he feared and then fled. Two days of service, but not acceptable, nor with reverence and godly fear, nor with the feature of continuity. Moses fled. After forty years in the desert, years which would eliminate the teaching of Egypt and make him observant of the features of divine teaching, he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. As he passed by, he saw a sight that attracted his attention, a thorn-bush that burned with fire and was not consumed. Moses said, "Let me now turn aside and see this great sight". Notice, he calls it a great sight. Moses, as a man of faith and as having been in the school of God for forty years, calls it a great sight, and he turns aside to see. It was a critical moment in his history when he turned aside to see, for we are told that Jehovah "saw that he turned aside to see".

I want to apply this, dear brethren, in a practical way, asking if all here have seen this great sight and if in answer to it you have turned aside. Some of you young people have passed through the schools and colleges of Egypt - the world - and you have learned certain standards of greatness and wisdom, but God is calling upon His people to look at a sight which outwardly is small and obscure, and yet is one of the great marvels in God's universe - that a bush should burn with fire and not be consumed. The bush evidently

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alludes to the lowly circumstances into which the Lord Jesus came, typified in the wilderness. The bush actually burned, according to the scripture, and this would point to what God was amongst His people as seen in the wilderness. Let me ask you, have you turned aside to see this? Has this sight deflected the course of your life, so that you have turned aside from that which you were pursuing, in order to look at this great sight? God is attracting this man, as He would attract you; He wants you for His service, and He must educate you for it Himself. God must be the Teacher, but how He delights to call attention to what He is in Christ among His people. When this man turned aside, God called to him out of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" Twice that name is repeated, meaning that he is intimately known and that God is claiming him for His service. You will remember in the case of Samuel, a boy, that Jehovah called him. Three times He called him by his name of Samuel, but the fourth time He said, "Samuel, Samuel!" as though He would assert His right to claim that lad for His service.

There are many young people here; I want to challenge you as to whether you have made a start on this line. No doubt most of you have faith in Christ, and have received the forgiveness of sins, but are you marking out your life for yourself and leaving God out, or only giving Him part of it? He would invite you to turn aside to see a great sight, and when He notes that you turn aside, He will give you a distinctive part in this happy service of praise. He will call you by name, as showing His knowledge of you, His interest in you, His claim to you. Now Moses has first to

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learn the principle of reverence. Jehovah said to him, "Draw not nigh hither". There is first what is attractive, intensely interesting, full of precious meaning, and then this sharp touch of divine majesty and authority. He has to learn what it is to have to do with God. The second feature we can in a sense regard in the light of dress. He is told to put off his sandals, for he is standing on holy ground. Notice that the ground is holy, that is to say, God is working in relation to what He is morally and to the death of Christ, and to all that He Himself is to bring to pass. Moses is told to put off his sandals. The danger with man is that he will walk about and investigate, analyse, and look into things. A man feels strong and able in mind and body to take things up, but Moses is brought up sharply by this feature of what is suitable to the presence of God. I take up the thought of dress only from the reference to sandals here, whilst I fully recognise that a man in discarding them, as required of Moses, acknowledges that he has in himself no standing before God.

The danger with a woman is adornment, as we read 1 Timothy 2:10, where the women who profess the fear of God are exhorted to give heed to their dress. It may be that many of us have not given much thought to this question of dress in the presence of God. Many young people dress to please themselves, or go a stage further and dress so as not to come under the censure of the brethren. But I invite the attention of the women here who profess the fear of God to the idea of what is suitable to God's presence. Does He notice it? He does. He notices the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit; He notices the adornment of good works, and it

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pleases Him, but any other kind of adornment is not suited to those who are called to this great service.

I will now pass on to the passage I read in 1 Kings 18. The setting here is quite different. A lot of history has run its course since God furnished light typically as to how He was to be served acceptably. The people referred to here have been in a known relationship with God, and they have given up things, so that the activity of the fire, to which I wish to draw your attention, is in view of turning their heart back to Jehovah (verse 37). In a preceding chapter we are told that Ahab "did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Kings 16:33). We are also told that in his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. It is important to understand the bearing of this, for it means that on the line of giving up, things had reached a climax when Jericho was rebuilt. It means that all that had been won by Joshua had been publicly given up. God is going to intervene, and the manner of His intervention is to be by fire. Elijah the prophet is before us as the man of God for the moment; he is the chosen instrument. He bids all Israel come together to Carmel; and the prophets of Baal are also bidden to come together. Now Elijah proposes a test. I want to draw your attention to his skill in this matter, a skill which, I believe, comes from the knowledge of the true God. He proposes a test by fire. There are many false gods served in the world of men. I do not know that there is even a suggestion with one of them of a hatred and abhorrence of evil. Only the true God is marked by this feature, and only the true God can deal with evil by a manifestation of what He is Himself -

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a consuming fire. Elijah bids the prophets of Baal to choose a bullock, and to sacrifice first. There are two bullocks: one represents a matured, large appreciation of Christ; the other represents an idolatrous imitation. They take their bullock and sacrifice it, and then they call upon the name of their god. I would specially ask you to notice the skill of Elijah in the way he mocked them. Elijah knew the true God; he knew that if the true God moved on a journey He would come down to His people, that He does not go on a journey which takes Him away from them. He knew that when God took a journey, it was to express His interests and concern in His people. Many times God came down to comfort and establish faith, and to show His pleasure in those that were engaged in His service. Elijah knew that "He that keepeth Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4), and so he mocks them, suggesting to them that their god is meditating, or that he is gone on a journey, or perchance he is asleep. There is no answer, neither by voice nor by fire. Only Jehovah the God of Israel can answer by fire.

Then I would call your attention to what Elijah does. He turns to the people and says, "Draw near to me". They are to be educated in view of recovery, as to the features of divine light that were given in an earlier day, in connection with approach to God. They had given it all up, as it were, but Elijah had not given it up. The features of divine light are treasured in his heart, he not only puts the bullock on the altar, but they pour water on it; again and again they pour water on it. The volume of water here indicates the power of death into which Christ entered, while the fire

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expresses the judgment of God. There is also involved, according to the New Testament teaching, the power that raised Christ from the dead. This must be added to complete what enters into this great scene. The position of 2 Timothy involves all this and clearly indicates that the ground can only be occupied by departing from iniquity, and pursuing "righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart" (chapter 2: 22). He is stressing typically the teaching of 2 Timothy, that we can only reach the service of God according to what it was at the beginning by withdrawing from iniquity and calling on the Lord out of a pure heart. This is a most important matter for the young people. You may think that you understand the altar and the offering; you may even understand the reference to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, but you must understand the trench of water round about the altar. As representing the intensity of death, it was completely abolished; but then death is said to be yours in 1 Corinthians 3:22 and is to be used in the power of the Spirit against the flesh and the world.

The bullock on the altar - a matured appreciation of what is in Christ as going into death for the will and pleasure of God - will give you matter for the continual praise with the fruit of the lips. There will be no need of repetition, no need of formality, no need of reading or referring to books, if you have the thought of the bullock before you. How acceptable it is to God to speak to Him about Jesus! Not only about what Jesus has done for you, but what He has done for God! What He was to God! Did He not die to secure this service of praise from the lips of

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His people, filling their hearts with that which can be offered continually - the fruit of the lips confessing His name? Oh! dear brethren, this is the secret of serving acceptably and continually, but when failure and departure are being dealt with, the feature of the fire is to be emphasised, for in reminding the people of what He is, God has in view that their heart should be turned back to Himself. The fire came down. God would challenge every heart by this feature of Himself. Are we going on - any of us - with what the fire will consume? The fire is to test every bit of work. It is to burn everything combustible. God is a consuming fire, and anything that cannot stand the scrutiny of the fire will not do for God.

Now, one more feature and I will close. Elijah bade them take the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and slay them - four hundred and fifty organised, matured principles of error, perhaps typically four hundred and fifty different features of organised religion. They are all to be slain; not one must escape. If you want to reach God in the place where He has set His name, in the place where there is ample material upon the lips wherewith to praise Him, you must slay in yourself those terrible principles of evil; they must all be slain. Many of the younger brethren may say, I have never been in any other association, I have been brought up in the meeting. Even so, if you do not slay the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, one day you may find that there is a certain weakness in your spiritual make-up, and when some issue of truth arises, you may miss your way. Your only safety is to withdraw from iniquity. Even if you have never been in it, you can withdraw from it as

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before the Lord, and you can have a definite judgment about it, and that judgment is, that it is iniquity. It is nothing less than iniquity, and there is no feature of the four hundred and fifty principles of error that is anything less than iniquity. We have to do with God, the God who is a consuming fire. He wants us to serve Him, and we want to serve Him; every heart that loves God and loves Christ wants to serve Him. We are called to this service, and if we do not definitely take up this service of praise, God will have something to say to us, for He is a jealous God. He loves His people and He is going to have them for Himself, but though we approach Him with reverence and with godly fear, remembering that He is a consuming fire, we are attracted by the blessedness of His love, and as we learn to value Jesus, what He was for God, and what He has secured for God, we shall find no lack of fruit upon our lips wherewith to praise and confess His name.

London, June 1934

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BLESSED QUESTIONS - TREASURED ANSWERS

B T FAWCETT

John 14:4 - 6, 8, 9, 22, 23

Beloved brethren, I would touch on the subject which came before us at the commencement of our meetings this morning - the application of the relationship of father to the households of the children of Israel in the land of Egypt; indicating, as our brother brought before us, a foreshadowing of what should mark the Christian household in the way of divine affections. We were speaking in the afternoon of the triumph that the blessed Lord Jesus has brought us into; and not alone of the triumph, beloved brethren, but also of the depths of sorrow that He descended into, the depths of suffering, and the wrath of God which fell upon Him that we might be brought into liberty, that by the Spirit's power there might be happy households formed under the control of the blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

In John 14 we come to another scene, which appeals in solemnity to the affections of the heart of the believer. The Lord Jesus is on His way to death; the supper table has been passed, and He is going on that last journey. The torrent Cedron is about to be crossed, and Gethsemane to be entered; and in that solemn moment He speaks to His own in blessed, holy, appealing intimacy, and yet in words so simple that they cannot be misunderstood. My idea was to allude, just for a moment or two, to three questions asked

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of the Lord by His disciples. He says to them, "Ye know where I go, and ye know the way". The Lord Jesus had told them that He was going to prepare a place for them, and that He was coming again to receive them to Himself. Then Thomas says to Him, "Lord, we know not where thou goest, and how can we know the way?" How blessed of Thomas thus to inquire of Jesus! Let us all remember that, notwithstanding his failure at a crucial moment, Thomas stands out before us on the occasion of the sickness and death of Lazarus, as an example of self-sacrificing love. You will recall that Jesus said, "Let us go into Judaea again" (John 11:7); and His disciples said, "Even but now the Jews sought to stone thee" (verse 8); upon which Thomas said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (verse 16). The Lord Jesus took note, beloved brethren, of these breathings of affection that came from the disciples' hearts, and so in response to Thomas's question in chapter 14 Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father unless by me". He sweetly opens up to Thomas what I believe is involved in Matthew 11:28 - 30, "Come to me, all ye who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". The point, to my mind is this - the rest was only to be found as they came to the Father. And the Lord was bringing them to that blessed knowledge of the Father.

At one of our meetings recently, we were speaking together regarding the Father and the yoke. How those words of the Lord Jesus so sweetly appeal to every

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believer's heart here! "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart". It was asked, what the yoke indicated. The precious answer was this: 'It indicated the Father's love'. Another brother, now with Christ, a few minutes afterward added, 'Might it not be said in connection with that answer, it indicated doing the Father's will?' There may be other applications of that scripture, but, oh, beloved brethren, Thomas's question brings out from the Lord the thought of coming to the Father by Him and, I might add, bearing the yoke that He bore. We would not only delight in the Father's love and bask in it, but we would delight in His will. That is the point we are brought to.

Then another question is put, or desire expressed. How blessed are these questions! They have brought forth answers that have been treasured in the hearts of believers ever since they were asked! And so Philip says, "Lord, shew us the Father and it suffices us". They had been walking with the Lord, they had known His blessed presence, and hence He appeals to Philip and says, "Am I so long a time with you, and thou hast not known me, Philip?" Oh, beloved brethren, what a voice to us as exercising us, in view of our gathering together, if the Lord will, tomorrow morning! The Lord Himself, precious to every heart! His love will come before us, that love of which we were speaking this afternoon, which holds the assembly in His hand as His delight and treasure. We have in Him the setting forth and manifestation to us of all that is in the Father's heart. The Son of God in love declares what

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the Father's heart is as the present precious portion of the believer.

One word more: The other question asked was by Judas, not the Iscariote. How we can think of the Lord there on that occasion in all humility stooping down as one with His own, inviting their company, and freely speaking to them of the Father and the place He had won for them! Judas then asked this pertinent question, "Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us and not to the world?" The Lord in reply said, "If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him". This is the precious portion of the believer now, the consciousness of the abiding of the Father and the Son, as in response to keeping the Son's word. How like these divine Persons thus to make their abode with us! Thus we can bow our hearts in thankfulness that the Lord Jesus has brought to light the Father's love in such a way that we can be conscious of it, and know the support of divine Persons - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit - in relation to the divine system. May God bless the word.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1934

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ONE HEART - ONE VOICE

A ROBERTSON

1 Chronicles 12:1 - 8, 23 - 40

Following what we have had before us, one read these scriptures with the idea of speaking of David as a type of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even in the day of his rejection, David became the centre of attraction. We heard earlier that while Saul was king, the people discerned moral features in David which caused them to come to him. This chapter refers to days in which he was rejected and chased by Saul, the man of the flesh; but there were those who loved David and came to him. One might say that Ziklag, in principle, represents David acquiring a place in our hearts, not by what he is officially, but morally. Ziklag represents the epistle to the Romans, in which the Lord Jesus, dear brethren, is presented in His moral features and greatness as One who has recovered everything for God; so that we are attracted to Him and come to Him. The Lord Jesus stands out in such a distinct way, morally, that we feel we are not only safe as with Him, but we want to help Him by taking on responsibility. One would suggest to every one of us the importance of not only coming to our David, but of being His helpers. It is a precious thing to be identified with Christ even in rejection, but the tendency is to go only so far and not be helpers. Instead of being a help in connection with the truth, we often hinder it. I put the question to everyone here: Are we furthering or hindering the work of God in our local meeting? We may be opposing those who are standing for

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Christ, instead of being with those who are fighting for Him. It says here, "Mighty men who helped him in the conflict; armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left". How skilful they were, being as effective with one hand as with the other in fighting, typically, for Christ.

There were also those who came to him in the wilderness. We might say that position follows the first suggestion made of having power to reject the man after the flesh and to break links with everything in the world, so that it becomes a wilderness to us. The more we are in the company of the Lord Jesus, the more the world will become a wilderness to us, and the more definitely we come to Him as in the wilderness: "And of the Gadites, there separated themselves to David in the stronghold in the wilderness mighty men of valour". We are well content to be inside the circle of the Lord's people, and blessed that position is! But we are not of much value to the Lord unless He becomes so attractive to us that everything else around becomes a wilderness. We often sing:

This world is a wilderness wide;
We have nothing to seek nor to choose. (Hymn 139)

But we have to challenge ourselves as to whether we sing that hymn honestly.

Now I pass on to those who assembled to Hebron, even all Israel. They came to David to transfer the kingdom of Saul to him. They say to David: "Jehovah thy God said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel ... and they anointed David king over Israel according to the word of Jehovah through Samuel" (1 Chronicles 11:2, 3). It is very encouraging to see that the word

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of God had such an effect upon their hearts that they were prepared to move as in accord with God about David, to give him the kingdom. We also see what the mind of God is regarding Christ, and are prepared to give Him His rightful place as Head over all things to the assembly. In the light of Ephesians we may ask ourselves whether we are learning to move intelligently and unitedly in relation to the Lord Jesus. This is what characterises persons in the Ephesian position, they are moving in unity with regard to what God is doing about His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then there are others who came to David with a perfect heart: "All of them men of war, keeping rank in battle array, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel". One, in reading this chapter, had this verse particularly in mind - as to whether we are keeping rank. It is a military position suggested here and our position is a military one, for the truth of Hebron has to be guarded. Are we keeping rank with a perfect heart, in our local meeting, or are we making trouble? Is our eye single, or have we a motive behind what we do? It may not be that we are displacing Christ personally, but we may be displacing those in the meeting who are standing for Him. The verses read speak of keeping rank in battle array; they are very suggestive, and so full of meaning. As we recognise the supremacy of our Lord Jesus Christ we are of one heart and so want Him to be King over all Israel, or, in authority in the assembly. We want to see His greatness displayed, as King over all the earth. That is the position the Lord Jesus will finally acquire. Those of Israel named here discerned David's kingly qualifications and greatness, and came to Hebron not only with a perfect heart, but with one

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heart. One cannot stress too strongly the importance of unity in our meetings; where unity prevails, instead of two or three hearts, or two or three opinions, there would be one heart and one voice. We may be assured that what the Lord could effect in those days of which we are speaking, He can do today. It says, "Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God" (Ephesians 4:13). In result, our spirits are united; we think and do the same thing.

The chapter goes on to say that "they were with David three days, eating and drinking; for their brethren had prepared for them". It is a fitting climax to this beautiful scene; this is what the Lord wants to effect in us, and amongst us, so that we can be in communion with our Lord Jesus Christ, eating and drinking what the brethren have prepared for us. It finally says, "For there was joy in Israel". Not only are they marked, dear brethren, by love for David, but are eating and drinking what their brethren had prepared for them. It is a matter of great importance as to how we move relatively; as we are free from the world and the man of flesh, the Lord would bring us together in the holy circle, with holy feelings and affections, not only as loving one another but as providing for one another. May it be so, for His name's sake!

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1934

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SERVICE AND SUFFERING

F MURCHIE

Luke 5:11; John 21:18 - 22

One would like to encourage the young people who have been brought to the Lord and who have a desire to serve Him, by saying that the Lord will not send you out without your having experienced what is in your own heart, as well as your knowing the One whom you would serve. I suppose some time may have passed since the Lord first met Peter in John 1 and this experience in Luke 5. Peter had been going on with his usual business, but the time came when the Lord would secure him for service. With this in view the Lord put Himself in touch with Peter in circumstances in which He would require his boat, and from this He taught the crowds. Then when He ceased speaking, He says to Peter, "Draw out into the deep" (verse 4). They draw out, and the Lord gives them the wonderful draught of fishes, which so affects Peter that he falls down at Jesus' knees and says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord" (verse 8). Peter was being prepared for service, but the Lord would not take him up apart from a real knowledge of himself, yea, not until he had learned his own heart, otherwise he could not rightly serve the Lord. How needful it is to learn our own hearts in this way, in order to serve. The Lord desires to make use of every one of us, but He would have us learn that we are sinful. So immediately Peter comes to the consciousness of his own sinfulness and confesses it, the Lord says to him, "Fear not; henceforth thou shalt be catching

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men"(verse 10). In like manner the Lord has a special call and a special way of educating each one called to His service.

The scripture at the end of John's gospel gives the public restoration of Peter. He had passed through a good deal of bitter experience, in which he had learned more of the deceitfulness and sinfulness of his own heart, in that he failed very seriously, even to the extent of denying the Lord. But the Lord comes in and fully restores him, and thus gives a fresh touch of His love to Peter's heart. He then indicates to him a new sphere of service - shepherding the sheep, feeding the lambs. But the Lord also brings in another thing, and that is the path of suffering. I do not know if we are all prepared to accept this. This is a time when the saints are being tested more than ever. We see the saints in many places and in many countries subjected to suffering. It is a path that has been marked out for us by the Lord Himself, as Peter in his first epistle says, "Wherefore also let them who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing to a faithful Creator" (chapter 4: 19). It is not a path of our own choosing, but one into which we are divinely called. The Lord indicates it to Peter when He says, "When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst where thou desiredst; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and bring thee where thou dost not desire. But he said this signifying by what death he should glorify God".

There is to be glory to God in the path of suffering into which we are called. John's gospel is full of it, and one would like to have the power now in one's soul, and also to see that what we have been called into at the very beginning of our soul's history is what we shall be proved and tested in, up to

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the very end. The Lord's work will stand in the most severe kind of testing, and God shall be glorified. Peter goes through the fire, and many of the saints have passed through the fire of suffering also, but it only brings out what is truly of God in us, and so what will glorify God. Look how much is said of the glory of God in John's gospel. A man is born blind and the question is raised, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be manifested in him" (John 9:2, 3). It was for the glory of God. Lazarus was allowed to die, but it was to work out for the glory of God. Jesus said to Martha, "Did I not say to thee, that if thou shouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (John 11:40). Peter is brought in to follow on in this line as one who has part with Christ; and the saints, even as Peter, are privileged to share in this way of suffering, recognising that however adverse the circumstances may be, they are to be for the glory of God. Peter is called into the path of suffering that he may go even to death, but it is to be the way in which he would glorify God, as in the case of Lazarus. Then the Lord, having said this, adds, "Follow me".

One delights in the thought of being found, in any measure, for the glory of God. We can thank Him when the saints are conscious of the peculiar place that this calling has set us in - the place of testimony here, as sustaining that which is to glorify God. Are we all prepared to take it up? I think the last few words the Lord addressed to Peter here should greatly encourage us as to personality in service. Peter was a failing man, and the Lord seems to use most of his history for our instruction. It says, "Peter, turning round, sees the disciple

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whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned at supper on his breast ... Peter, seeing him, says to Jesus, Lord, and what of this man?" Why did Peter thus enquire concerning John, who had that peculiar place of nearness in the bosom of Jesus, and whose feet are now following Jesus? Later, his lips bore the sweetest testimony to the blessedness and greatness of Jesus. Whose lips, or whose pen even, unfolded such glories of the Son of God as did John's? So the Lord answers Peter, "If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me". The Lord would thus encourage us to become followers of Himself as answering to His call. We have been greatly helped in seeing how the Lord set both of these apostles, Peter and John, together in service, but here they are seen as individually following the Lord.

It is of great encouragement to us to know that the Lord has called us to serve and to suffer, as seen in Peter, also to know that He would bring us into the light of the glory of His Person as seen in John, whose ministry is to abide until the Lord come, remembering that if there is suffering there is also glory to God secured through it. May the Lord encourage us all to take this path.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1934

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PHINEHAS - THE WARRIOR, THE BROTHER AND THE PRIEST

P LYON

Numbers 25:10 - 13; Joshua 22:29 - 31; Joshua 24:33;

Judges 20:27, 28; 1 Chronicles 9:19, 20; 2 Timothy 2:3, 7, 8

I desire to touch upon this first reference to Phinehas as displaying a love that considers for the glory and will of God, without which indeed we cannot have His presence and blessing. Phinehas will go in zeal and devotion to the uttermost bounds to assure to God what is due to Him in holiness amongst His people in a dark and difficult day, and in this connection Phinehas is seen as a warrior. Later, in relation to the two and a half tribes, he is seen as a brother; then, in Judges, in his priestly service enquiring before God. In connection with the hill in which his father was buried, I would refer to him as a son, and finally in Chronicles as a ruler.

This military question is of supreme importance; he was not delegated so to act: the crisis brought him to light. Every succeeding crisis which the enemy in malice is allowed to promote, God converts into gain, as He joins issue with the enemy through vessels He has spiritually prepared for the crises as they arise. When Israel were numbered at twenty years of age, Moses and Aaron both had part in the numbering; Moses illustrating the responsible and authoritative side, suggesting that we are

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conscripted, that we have no option. Indeed, love could not bear the thought of an alternative to the authority of Him who died and who lives to control us absolutely and eternally, for the pleasure of God. But Aaron came into the numbering, too, suggesting this lovely blend of authority and priesthood: a blend of God's own making. Aaron thus had part in this numbering, indicating that in the military defence of the testimony we need the support of our Priest; never will our spirits be right otherwise. Moses would indicate that the testimony is to be fought for, but Aaron would show how we are to fight, that all military operations are to be under the influence of priestly sensibilities; otherwise we are not contending lawfully, and a full yield in victory is not assured to God. While military operations have in view primarily the clearing of the ground of the enemy, the priestly side would emphasise that spoil is to be acquired for God, and blessing for His people. David, the great warrior, is ever priestly in his movements in warfare. In his early days he went to battle for the living God, having in mind no doubt the thought of the sanctuary, and that what God would have as the living God, was a living people here. For David, life lay in the thought of God's dwelling and His service. So as claimed by the love that cannot tolerate a rival, we would own no other authority.

Then Aaron typically lays priestly claims upon us, and would have his part, so to speak, in our numbering. So that while the urgency of the battle would bring us into submission under divine authority, and we are to defend to the death, in the footsteps of our great Leader, the precious will and testimony of God in this world, on the other hand,

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if we are to endure the conflict to the end, we must be sustained in our spirits by holy priestly feelings. In other words, the ideal must be cherished by us responsively as in the presence of God in the contemplation of Christ there, if ever we are to stand for the Lord and His name and testimony in this world. If we forgo what is priestly in the stress of battle, or if we depart from the spirit in which, in meekness, we are to instruct those who oppose, we can rest assured that our spirits are not being sustained within by our great Priest. The great Conqueror is there in heaven, in the presence of God, in priestly service, to sustain our spirits that we may go on unswervingly and devotedly in the defence of divine principles, and of that great heritage which has come down to us. We little know at what a cost to our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom we owe everything, have we been left so great a heritage. Thank God, there have been defenders of it down to this day, and the Lord would enrol us all in His service. He has room for us - the soldiers at best are few! Timothy is called to be a "good soldier of Jesus Christ", for in the crises of 2 Timothy, the day in which we live, opposition is intensified. Our words are to be sound words, the heart is to be a pure heart, the men are faithful men, the soldier is to be a good one, all suggesting that in the presence of imitation, that which has excellence, which is in the way of love - the way of surpassing excellence - which takes its tone and glory from the surpassing glory, that alone will hold the field against the rivalries of our wily foe. Imitation was never pursued as it is today, to the destruction, alas, of many who, were they

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only whole-heartedly committed to the Lord in the power of divine love, could be counted among His warriors.

Now Phinehas rose to the occasion in Numbers 25. We hear little of him before, save that his birth is referred to in Exodus 6, and in being thus referred to before he was born, we are to understand the importance of what is said of him. Moses of course is writing after Phinehas was born, and if Caleb and Joshua are the only two of the first generation who survived the wilderness, it is evident that Phinehas was born in the wilderness. We have a similar allusion in John anticipatively to "the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair" (chapter 11: 2). This was before she did it, suggesting that the Lord has in reserve what He needs for every crisis. What a crisis was this in Israel, coming after such a time of blessing! We may well watch at this present moment, and in the days that follow, especially in times when we may be afforded leisure. Love would know or seek no respite in relation to the testimony and its conflict. Phinehas knew none; the enemy knows none; indeed, supremely, our blessed Lord knew none: "I must needs walk today and to-morrow and the day following" (Luke 13:33). Such were His blest days on earth. What others but these would He have for us according to our measure?

God had Phinehas in reserve. You may say that Moses was there. He was. It says in regard of this great sorrow that this sin was committed "in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of the whole assembly of the children of Israel" (verse 6). Then it says, "And Phinehas" - his genealogy is given, to stress the purity of it - "the son of Eleazar, the son of

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Aaron the priest, saw it and rose up from among the assembly, and took a javelin in his hand". Will he come down to this unholy level of self-gratification in lustful will? No. In the exercise of his priestly service he has become steeped in the blessedness of the presence of God, and his arm is strong for the battle. His foot is steadfast, and the javelin is in his hand, ready to deal unsparingly with this evil, though it be in one who was an Israelite. In this Israelite and the Midianitish princess you see a combination of religious antecedents and social dignity: this Israelite defying God and His people, in the very place God had marked off as His own - in the camp of Israel. We are constantly being confronted with such elements that defy, elements that would challenge us, and would say, 'What will you do with me now? I am in the camp, I am in fellowship!' They would, so to speak, baffle the saints if they could, the enemy is behind it.

Phinehas represents the element of spiritual wisdom and resource that is not baffled; he rose up from among the assembly. Who could defend God's name in the assembly who did not rise up from it? He was not reigning on a throne in it as were the lords at Corinth; he rose up from it, as of it in power and dignity. And he pursued these wicked people into their entrenchment, into their very tent, single-handed, but God was with him. What was the result? He secured the presence and support of God amongst His people. In maintaining the principles, he saved the brethren; he saved for them what alone is blessing and life - the presence of God in holiness amongst His people. Did he thus secure general approval? Ah! the One who spoke out

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His delight was God Himself immediately, for did not God see in this deed the foreshadowing of the spirit of His own beloved Son, who would make a scourge of cords and drive intruders out of the temple (John 2:15)? He did not carry the whip about with Him, nor do His servants who learn from Him. That is not part of their equipment; they rely on the anointing; their reserves, their strength, and dignity lie in the spirit of their blessed Master. He made a scourge for the occasion. How lovely He was to God in the making of that scourge of cords! But He made it. In like manner Phinehas "took a javelin in his hand". We never hear of him using one again, but we can be sure that he could be trusted to make good use of one when occasion arose. His name means a 'man with a bold countenance'. "The righteous are bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1). The word also suggests a man with a confiding and winning countenance. The Lord says prophetically, "I set my face like a flint" (Isaiah 50:7) - a bold countenance indeed! Who is like Him in that? But oh! how winning! If His countenance in boldness could look round in anger upon His opponents, Mary could sit at His feet and hear His word, as one who could look up confidingly into that countenance radiant with the glory of God, a countenance assuring protection to her against the charges of her sister.

So, dear brethren, here is Phinehas. God has something to say to us about him. He does not advertise his own exploits; quietly he goes out of sight. Say little, serve all, pass on - would be true of this man, a "good soldier", but God in the most remarkable way commits Himself unreservedly to him: "Behold, I give unto him my covenant

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of peace!" We do not war for war's sake, we war for peace according to God. Who can handle a javelin like a son of peace? Such would go forth not to secure peace at any price, but peace according to God, and he will not spare the javelin in regard of a disturbing fleshly element. Such an element would keep the saints in a ferment and continual distress, assuming a place amongst them while setting aside the rights of God in righteousness and holiness among His people. So, it is a wonderful word, "my covenant of peace", he shall have it. Not indeed a priesthood acquired by compromise, but spiritually acquired, but above all divinely given, in the love that delights to trust and reward those who will face anything and everything to keep a clean place for God, and for the Lord Jesus Christ, in this day of universal declension and general ecclesiastical defilement around.

This conduct of the Israelite in Numbers 25 was the enemy's challenge to Balaam's parables. He had sought to silence wicked Balaam, but God's determination to bless had carried the day, and now, after such an expression of blessing, as Balaam's prophecy suggests, the enemy sets out to defile God's people. Thus are we tested. We are about to disperse from these meetings where we have sat down together as in gardens well watered, spread forth in the valleys; we have been in such a wealthy place, so to speak, and now, what is to follow? Is the enemy to spoil all? Is he to rob God and His people too? Well, here is one man, just one - he was not looking for another. No good soldier does that! In the watchful instincts of holy jealousy for the glory and name of his God, he rises up, and as he

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rises, the enemy goes down before him and Phinehas carries the day in the name of Israel's God. What an inspiration this would be to the warriors of God in subsequent periods of Israel's history, right down to this day! How little would Phinehas know that his act of devoted zeal for God should serve the saints of this dispensation! - rebuking them, indeed, as it tests every one of us, and yet love's rebuke affords encouragement. As we were saying this afternoon, to sacrifice principles for persons, is to lose both. As truly having our place in the circle of love among the brethren, we are secured in subjection to the commandments of God and to the principles and law of the house of God.

I would add a word as to Phinehas in his subsequent history. The Spirit of God loves to bring him in, you might say, unofficially. He provides the golden thread illustrative of the spiritual generation that goes down through the ages of the testimony; he represents the man of God. He is not called that - indeed, Moses is called that in the Pentateuch - but if he is not formally called so, is it not for those who understand him as there with God so to view him? There is much that is unnamed in Scripture, left to the saints in this day to name by the Spirit. So if he is not formally called a man of God, in the letter of Scripture, he has all the lovely marks of such a man.

I would refer to him as a brother in Joshua 22:30. This man who knows how to wield the sword, knows how to sheathe it. He has to do here with brethren who want appearances. The altar of Ed (see note b., Joshua 22:34), was an altar of "grand appearance" a most testing exercise to a man who lived in the presence of God - one who went

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in, as of Aaron's seed, to the sanctuary, and whose eyes gazed lovingly and adoringly on the ark of the covenant, small indeed as it was in external appearance. How he would linger there, seeing divine greatness blended with spiritual perfection in that which would be small to man's eyes! And then to have to go on with brethren who build an altar of Ed, of grand appearance! What is he going to do? The brethren over in the land have a wrong impression about these brethren, but, thank God, they send along a man like Phinehas, with other princes, to hear what they have to say - and they were good listeners. Of course it was a sorry tale at best, but it was not the sin of the son of a prince in Israel, which called for Phinehas' sword. No; it was a tale that will be heard to the end of the chapter. They said, 'God has put Jordan between us and you'. How Phinehas must have felt that! He might have joined issue with them on that, but how will they stand it? Moses had deplored their decision; he knew they had much cattle; it was the observation of a spiritual man, who although read of none, can read all. There they are and they say, 'God has put this river between us!' God never put death between the brethren! He would put the river Jordan between the brethren and this scene, but never Jordan between brother and brother. No. Are the brethren divided in the heart of Christ? Is there a point of separation in the breastplate, or on the shoulders of the priest in the presence of God? One wrote, 'Nor what is next Thy heart Can we forget'. Such would be a Phinehas - all the tribes in his heart, no division there. But here are these brethren saying, 'God has divided us and has put this Jordan between us'. What strange

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perversion! Distance from God, begetting in our poor unbelieving hearts distrust of the thoughts of His love!

Well, Phinehas has to listen to all this. He did not interrupt them. It must have brought anguish to his soul to hear their sorry tale! But the brethren indicate that they did not intend to be idolators, they brought in this altar as a kind of testimony to their children that they really belonged to the land - only proving thus that they stood on the wrong side of the Jordan. If they needed an altar on the wrong side how much more did they need one on the right side, and why not give up the altar on the wrong side for the altar where God dwells, and where He is ready to welcome His people in all the eternal thoughts of His love? What a brother is Phinehas! He leads in this matter as a son of peace; it manifests that he has the covenant of peace in his soul. God had promised it to him, and now he is the embodiment of it, for it says the brethren were pleased. There was some point of contact, they would make the most of it. The husbandman has to wait a long time for the precious fruit.

Phinehas sowed the seed then that came up in David's day, when the Gadites went over the Jordan and joined David in the conflicts of the testimony (1 Chronicles 12:8 - 15), and in the wealth of the inheritance. This is not a warrior's part, it is a husbandman's part. He sows his seed in soil that does not appear very promising, and yet years after he is gone there is a crop for David. Would any true servant of the Lord love to do otherwise than sow a seed in patience - content to wait, to pass off the scene, if need be, with nothing much to show for his sowing, but content in the

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assurance that God's David, His beloved Son, shall yet have the crop? How many husbandmen, the servants of God, have sown seed, the crop of which they have never seen, but which has yielded for their David in His own time. This indeed would be all their delight, as it is surely ours.

I refer now to Phinehas in relation to the hill in Joshua 24:33. We know what he has done in the wilderness; we know what he has been in the land, pleading with the brethren. What is he in the mount? He has a hill, and he is occupying it, and no one can challenge him in it. You remember how Caleb, the man of spiritual taste, said to Joshua, "give me this mountain" (Joshua 14:12). The lowlands are general; the mountains are special. The general trend would be to accept the line of least resistance, the lowlands - what is generally accepted. But a Caleb and a Phinehas are men of the hill country. "Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which had been given him in mount Ephraim". The Levites were to have no inheritance, but this hill was given to him. You find Paul, the great Levite, on the hill in 2 Corinthians. Down in the low-lying marshes of fleshly culture are the Corinthians, stooping to the meanness of the human heart in an endeavour to silence that servant of the Lord - but there he is in Christ, moving in the elevation of the hill. He is in possession of it, he has a point of advantage which he uses, not against them, but in their favour. We know that in military operations a hill is a point of advantage to be used effectively. Paul uses this point of advantage, the holy anointing oil, to spiritual advantage in forbearing, forgiving grace to his brethren. The man in the

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second epistle to the Corinthians holds the field. In the first, he is the man of the valley; he comes among the Corinthians preaching Christ and Him crucified. How he handles in priestly sensibilities the holy and precious death of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 10 and 11)! He is at home in the valley. The Corinthians may reign as kings; but the way of the cross is the way of the valley, and Paul is the man of the hill in the second epistle, for his elevation is according to the thought of the Son of God (2 Corinthians 1:19). He is also caught up to the third heaven, and if spiritual elevation is with us in suffering and reproach in our service in the dignity of the anointing, who knows but the Lord may say to us, "Friend, go up higher" (Luke 14:10)? Such was the word to Paul, who was caught up to the third heaven.

Eleazar, the father of Phinehas, is buried in the hill. How the faithful Phinehas must have felt his father's death, not just naturally, though he would do that, but spiritually. How much he had learned from his father and from his grandfather. Eleazar was a leader who led with Joshua, and who divided the land to the brethren and had given a piece of land to his son. Was he moved by party feelings? Did he try and find a special place in the service, or in the assembly, for his son? Was there anything of that kind? He had it, no doubt, in the unanimous spiritual feelings of the brethren. He had reached a point of spiritual elevation by way of the unsheathed sword of the wilderness, and the sheathed sword of the land of Moab; that is how he had reached the hill, and there he was in it. Now, what will he do with it? Will he spread himself out upon it? No, he will provide a grave for his father in that hill. His father had an

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elevated burial. How we love to attend a hill-burial. Stephen had such, not a burial on the low level of the world's mausoleum. Not an abbey burial - that is a very low burial, but a burial on the hill, for the hill suggests what remains in spiritual stability and devotion.

There is much in the plain, as of old, that is calling for God's destruction in judgment (Genesis 19:17, 25, 28, 29); but the hill tells of His own handiwork. "Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1). Timothy, like Phinehas, is to be a man of the hill, for the Spirit's power in spiritual elevation is the power of resurrection. He who pervaded this scene in grace, with the fragrance of heaven's elevation and heaven's spirit in His wonderful sojourn here, was raised from the dead by the Father's glory, according to the Spirit of holiness. So, if we bury our brethren in the dignity of the anointing, we are assured that by that same Spirit even their mortal bodies will be quickened, and they will be raised incorruptible. You do not find that a man who divides the inheritance amongst the brethren wants a grand burial. No, there is a simplicity about a hill burial; it is the burial of a man of the hill country, a spiritual man. There is a wonderful affinity between these two - not simply in flesh and blood, for they were father and son, but an elevated affinity marked by an atmosphere of reciprocity and spiritual affections. So when he departs, it is in the hill of Phinehas that he is buried. What does it mean? That Phinehas is to continue on the holy elevation of Eleazar. A man who with Joshua will spend his life dividing the inheritance among the brethren, is a man who leaves a spiritual seed behind him, and things are going to be

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maintained on the same high holy level. If Eleazar has gone - if men who have led in the testimony have been taken home - thank God the hill remains! That is, the point of spiritual elevation and dignity in the anointing, and there are to this day, and will be to the end, men of God, men of the hill, who will not come down to the low level of human diplomacy in the affairs of the assembly of God, but will maintain everything on the high and holy level of the holy anointing oil.

Now, I would like to refer for a moment to Phinehas in the book of Judges. Things had been getting lower and lower. Joshua had passed off the scene, and we know from this book that, as long as the elders who had been with Joshua survived, Israel was externally preserved. But the judges lose power, and they are going down hill all the time, till you come to a character that is apostate in Dan at the end of the book. But then we get this touch as to Phinehas (chapter 20: 27). You wonder what had become of him; you might think he had passed off the scene. He has disappeared where none of us can afford to do other than disappear. What a spot! He has disappeared into the presence of God. Did he not feel things? The very sorrows have taken him there no doubt. Is he intervening publicly to repair the situation as a reformer? No, he has retired with all the holy feelings that consoled his heart on another occasion and retained the hill amidst the general declension. Such is this man, and God has His answer for Israel in a crisis, when they do not deserve it, because there is a man who has secured His ear. There he is before the ark, an overcomer! One loves to think of him carrying on the best and the

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highest service, standing by the ark. What follows shows what they went in for in Judges, culminating in that Abimelech spirit of pride, and finally in the unholy exposure and surrender of the ark to the enemy by the sons of Eli. Yet, when things were at their worst, this Phinehas is at his best, and the overcomer knows that there is nothing to meet man's worst but God's best, and he stands by it. I think he never valued the ark more than in those days. So Paul, the Eleazar of a later day, addressing the Phinehas of that day, says to him, "Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, of the seed of David, according to my glad tidings" (2 Timothy 2:8). The ark is the power in which all is secured and carried through triumphantly for God, in the presence of the utter public breakdown.

In the Chronicles he is presented as a keeper. The Chronicles are marked by spiritual taste and selection. It is assumed that Ezra wrote them very largely, or edited them considerably, but any way we have a writer of spiritual taste. Of course, that would apply to all Scripture, but to the Chronicles peculiarly. There are lovely records of mercy in the Chronicles - the sons of Korah, the sons of Pherez, and others whose histories once were dark, but who had a good finish; histories replete with the spirit of Christ, and therefore imperishable to God in His holy records, and true of the saints through all dispensations. So Phinehas is introduced here; the Spirit never forgets this kind of man; he represents the man who goes through, to whom God has committed Himself. So, he is a ruler, and what kind of ruler? Over doorkeepers. This great thought of doorkeeping, which was developed spiritually by David as

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head, finds much of its initial thought in relation apparently to Phinehas, who "was the ruler over them formerly; Jehovah was with him".

So, dear brethren, we have the varied movements of a man of God with spiritual resource. We have him as the skilful warrior of the wilderness, as they are about to go into the land. We have him in Gilead as a brother going along with his brethren, exposing themselves as they do in their earthly sentiments. One who belongs to heaven can go along with what is weak. How the Lord went along thus - what a model He is! - carrying with Him that little company whose horizon was largely bounded by the earth. If they made enquiry about the future, limiting themselves to a coming scene of display and glory in Israel after the flesh, He would tell them that their names were written in heaven. If Peter's utterance could only belittle his Master in testimony (Matthew 17:25), He could say to Peter, "me and thee". But their poor dull hearts, like ours, only come to earth. Did He bear with them? He carried them, and told His Father at the end that He had lost none of them. He had to carry them all the way. Only love can afford to carry, and how well love carries! Love does not complain of the load; love is alone to be trusted with the load. Indeed, we are either burdens to be carried, or burden-bearers. So Phinehas goes through. What a warrior he is! - and what a brother; Yea, what a priest!

We have his acts with the sword; we have the grace that marked him with the slow, earth-clinging brethren, the two and a half tribes; and we have the elevation and dignity that marked him in the inheritance. He graces his part and

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place in it in the dignity of a son, and he is referred to particularly there as the son of Eleazar. Then we find him holding fast to all that is precious to God on earth in a day of declension. He stands before the ark, and he has the mind of God for the moment in a crisis. Then, how the Spirit lingers over him when his pathway is over, for the Spirit had not forgotten. If God has committed Himself to that through all generations, the spirit that marks him pervades right down through the ages, and what was brought to spiritual completion under David's headship finds its initial movements, apparently, in the devotion and skill of Phinehas.

Well, dear young people, I plead with you. Many older ones, and those of us of middle age are passing off the scene, but there is a great heritage of divine principles. They have been challenged of late in a marked way and they will be to the end. The enemy is unrelenting. It is easy to surrender all that has cost the precious death of Christ, and all the labours in serving, suffering love of His servants through this past century. What a battle there has been, and will be to the end! Surrender is the word from the enemy; make terms, evade the suffering. But Phinehas suggests a generation that abides to the end, because God has committed Himself unreservedly to that order of man. The order of man seen in Christ continues to the end. What are we going to do now? Are we going to stand sufferingly, devotedly, ceaselessly? God will commit Himself to us. "Jehovah was with him", it says. Could there be anything greater? All else is vanity. Then, not only is there that wonderful heritage in divine principles of holiness

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pertaining to the house of God which is ours collectively, but there is a heritage in relation to spiritual and eternal blessing, our destiny and inheritance above. The field of the inheritance is so vast, that it is called the "unsearchable riches of the Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). Then there are brethren to hold in the inheritance. They are part of it, and as they are held in it in truth and love together, they afford heaven's best. The days of heaven upon the earth are ours indeed! We have proved them the last two days, and may we do so till the end, and may we not fail to be the warrior, or the brother, or the son, or the one who keeps and holds things, whatever we are called to. Let us humbly, in the wisdom of our Head, rise to the occasion, and in spiritual suffering feelings stand up in the spirit and power of these things for God and for Christ and for His people to the end! May the Lord grant it.

Harrogate, July 1934

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ETERNAL CONDITIONS

G A van SOMMEREN

Malachi 2:4 - 7; Exodus 24:9 - 11; Isaiah 65:17 - 19; Zephaniah 3:14 - 17; Zechariah 8:1 - 5; Esther 10:1 - 3; 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25, 28; Revelation 21:1 - 7

It is a privilege which God has graciously bestowed on us, beloved brethren, in the last few days, to have been directed to the consideration of the various aspects of the covenants established on the part of God with men, whereby He indicated His desires for the introduction into the hearts and minds of His beloved people, by His Holy Spirit, of the features which were in accordance with Himself. In view of the references made to the Eternal God, and to Beer-sheba, as suggesting for us that the Eternal God is bringing forth eternal conditions, I felt that we might look at these various passages which bring before us that eternal day, and the proper conditions distinctive of the eternal state; so that we might be before the Eternal God, in view of His thoughts for His own purpose and love, and for His glory in relation to all the families embraced in the redemptive work of His beloved Son.

The passage in Malachi indicates the thoughts of God when He made that covenant of life and peace with Levi. We might begin with that passage as constituting for us a very definite link between what we have been speaking of together, and what I desire, with the help of God, to suggest to you. One would stress God's thoughts about the relations

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with Himself of a priestly company, of a people in priestly function, indicating purity, life and joy, and rest and peace in all their varied and wonderful features according to what was in His heart and for His satisfaction.

Turning now to Exodus 24 it will be remembered that the young men, those who, though not officially priests, were exercising priestly functions, were presenting sacrifices to God which pointed to the basis, according to God, of all that God will effect in relation to man. The full fruits of this will only come to us as the eternal day comes into full accomplishment. In the verses we read, we find set forth, typically, the characteristics of that eternal day where God Himself will be apprehended, although no man can ever see God in His essential Being, no man can ever intrude within the environment of unapproachable light, yet we must remember that He puts Himself into relation with His people, as indicated in what is said: that they saw God. What I want to stress is that there was under His feet as a sapphire stone, emphasising the heavenly features of brightness, fulness and value which are the foundation and basis of the conditions in which God sets Himself before His beloved people. So they ate and drank in His presence. It is a wonderful scene, as indicating for us features which are eternal. How wonderful for our souls to take account of such a scene, and what I wish to press upon our hearts is that the scene in Exodus 24 is depicted as taking place when the people of God were in the wilderness. That being the case it becomes a very blessed exercise for us that, as going through the wilderness scene, as belonging to the assembly in the wilderness, typically shown in that 24th

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chapter, we have vouchsafed to us - what is presented in those seventy elders and Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu - this wonderful experience of what it is to be in relation with God.

In the passage in Isaiah, we read that God creates new heavens and a new earth, and Isaiah, who is in the land, gets that wonderful outlook bestowed upon him. That land into which God had brought them by the hand of Joshua, overcoming all their enemies, had become marred in their hands. They had broken down, so God vouchsafed this light through Isaiah to those who were truly concerned as to that. He draws aside the veil, and displays a prospect of wondrous significance and encouragement to them, and indicates how He will wipe away all tears from their eyes. He brings before them features of that great day in its purity and intrinsic blessedness, He shows that it is to be a day in which there will be no enemy or evil occurrent in very reality. It had been so for a brief moment in Solomon's day, but He now speaks of new heavens and a new earth. Things were to be established upon another basis and under very different conditions from those with which they were familiar. So we find that He must cause the old to pass away.

We come to what is stated in Zephaniah. We find it is a later day than that of Hezekiah. He speaks in the days of Josiah, when the passover had been again revived in conditions promising wonderful brightness and prosperity for the people of God. But once more things had broken down. So we find Zephaniah indicates that, in spite of all the outward weakness, departure and moral failure, what

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was in prospect was a scene in which God Himself would be known as in the midst, where He would rest in His love, where He would open out a vista of eternal blessedness and joy. God will not depart from the thoughts of His heart, and He proposes that His people should look ahead to what He will yet accomplish, in the midst of His people. He will be known there, He will rejoice in His love there, He will rest in the accomplishment of all that is to satisfy Himself, so that every effort of the enemy to thwart His purpose will be defeated.

Coming to Zechariah, we find the very same considerations are presented for the attention of those in that day. It was a day when they returned from the captivity, a day which was bright with a fresh beginning, when God was once more moving on behalf of His people. They had been brought back from Babylon, and the temple had been rebuilt, the altar had been set up, and yet God indicates, through Zechariah, that He has another proposition before Him. Though God's intervention had been so signally displayed on their behalf, though there was so much that their souls could rest upon, and which would necessarily encourage them, yet we find them breaking down in those conditions, even when Ezra and Nehemiah were among them. God tells us these things so that the light and joy of them should support and sustain us under the adverse conditions that exist, so that the knees of the people of God need never wax feeble, the hearts of the people of God need never be discouraged. While, on the one hand, confidence in outward conditions had been irretrievably broken, yet confidence in God can never be touched. So we

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find, in those verses in Zechariah, the holy mountain, the city of truth, and much of great encouragement. We must read the Scriptures in the light of their spiritual significance. Here we see what is wrought in the hearts of God's people by the Holy Spirit Himself in fulness and power, and it indicates what the people of God are to move in accord with at the present moment. It was for the people in those days to move in accord with what was thus brought before them of the thoughts of God, and it is for us and all the people of God to move onward in absolute confidence in God, tasting in anticipation, by the power of the Spirit of God, all those wonderful spiritual features and moral characteristics that are displayed in the passages we have read.

In the book of Esther we find a very beautiful, though a humbling, picture of the conditions among God's people. Ahasuerus, representing the absolute authority of God, lays a tribute upon the whole land and upon the isles of the sea, indicating how God will bring all under His direct control. The scripture goes on to say in chapter 10, speaking of Mordecai, "All the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him" - they are all written down. Well, beloved brethren, do we take account of this that there are things written down in the chronicles which are available for us - all His mighty acts, all the works of His power, the declaration of His greatness - how God has unfolded for the hearts and for the minds of His people all the greatness of Christ. He has advanced Him, He has set Him there on high. In 1 Corinthians 15 we read of the greatness and

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glory of Christ. Everything is to be put under His feet, and the result will be that God will be all in all. With what delight has God exalted His beloved Son so that He has become great among His own. It is for our souls to contemplate, it is for our hearts, in faith, to see Christ exalted now in spite of the humbling circumstances such as are outlined in the book of Esther, which could never outwardly be to the pleasure of God.

Then there is another part in this glorious picture, and that is the place Mordecai is holding in the hearts of his beloved people, and the place his beloved people hold in his heart, for Mordecai was great among the Jews. He held a place in the love of his people, the Jews; he was great in that position, and like Isaac, so to speak, he becomes greater and greater. As you and I see Christ more fully, more clearly, more blessedly, as our souls advance in the apprehension of God's thoughts of Him, and delight in those thoughts, we come to be greatly enlarged in our apprehension of His greatness, the greatness of the Lord Jesus among "the Jews". And then it says, "Accepted of the multitude of his brethren". Ah, that is another matter; not that he was merely great among his beloved people, but he was accepted of the multitude of his brethren; that is, there was not another who could by any possibility dispute the place he filled in the affections of those who were near and dear to his heart. All this suggests how Christ is accepted of the multitude of His brethren. So we carry in our hearts a Person, beloved brethren, and if that blessed Person is carried in our hearts as we move through this scene anticipating the glories of that coming day, how, in that

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light, our hearts delight to say Amen to all His glory. Again we read, "Seeking the welfare of his people". The Lord said, ere He departed from this earth to His Father, that He would send the Holy Spirit. He had declared the Father's name to His own. He made such a declaration as to who the Father was to His brethren, and, in doing so, He brought wealth to them. He has sent the Holy Spirit, and the Father sent Him; that divine Person, in order to unfold to us, and to enlarge our apprehension, of the infinite wealth that is laid up for the enrichment of the people of God; taking of the things of Christ and showing them to us. What wealth is awaiting the people of God, what abundance of divine communications in ministry are going forth in the power of the Spirit of God, so that He is increasing the wealth of His people. And so it says, "Seeking the welfare [or wealth] of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed".

I trust, beloved brethren, that, as we take account of these various features, each one will find an echo in his heart, as well as a recognition in his mind. As we think of the various features of the truth which have engaged the attention of our hearts in the past few days, can we not see how in the several things which have been mentioned in these passages, we find that the features of purity, of serenity, of the city, are all to be gathered up in a coming day, and to be finding their display in a scene suited to them, and they suited to that scene. It is a vast subject, it opens up a wonderful vista, and it behoves us to see how these things have been carried into effect, because in ministry there has been brought to us how all these things lie hid in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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As we turn to Revelation 21, we find in a very blessed way that many of the features that have been referred to in the scriptures we have read are distinctly and definitely spoken of in the first few verses of that chapter to convey to us all the accomplishment of God's purpose. The Lord says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end". There we find the various things we have read of in the different parts coming into perfect accomplishment. Whilst the last two scriptures we have read allude directly and definitely to the eternal state, we find in the other scriptures we have read those spiritual representations which correspond with the features which will come into evidence in that eternal day, and they are presented to us in those scriptures as what is taking effect by the Spirit's work in relation to the apprehension of Christ's and God's assembly in the present day, so that the Lord Himself is getting His due place in the hearts of His beloved people.

I trust that what we have had thus brought before us may indeed be a matter of serious exercise and consideration, so that, while we are face to face with the conditions that exist around, we are at the same time, moving in the full light of what has been brought before us spiritually, exercised by it that we may be true to those features, till the day we come into the full fruition of God's thoughts.

Belfast, April 1935

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FEATURES OF THE LAST DAYS

J H TREVVETT

2 Timothy 3:1 - 4; 2 Timothy 4:1 - 5; 1 Peter 4:7 - 10;

Revelation 22:10 - 12, 17, 20, 21

I have in mind, beloved brethren, to speak of some of the features of the last days; having before me that we should not merely avoid the unsavoury features which are delineated in such detail in the holy Scriptures, but that we should avoid them feelingly, feeling about them as God does, and as Christ does; and then also that we should take account of the positive features of these last days.

No one will deny, surely, that we are in the last days. Conditions around, the increasing corruption in the social circles of men, the increasing darkness religiously, and the state of things politically, are in themselves evidence that we are in the last days; but there are other evidences of a positive character, as we see what corresponds with our Lord's statement: "But learn the parable from the fig-tree: When already its branch becomes tender and produces leaves, ye know that the summer is near" (Matthew 24:32). The increasing affections seen amongst the people of God are in themselves very powerful evidence that we stand in the last days. It would seem that the last days - whether of one's life, or of a period in the ways of God, or of a dispensation - are peculiarly challenging. They are not only challenging, but as showing forth some features that

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commend themselves and are delightful to divine Persons, they become evidence that "the summer is near".

One would refer in passing to the last days of Isaac. He had had unique and marvellous opportunities; he had become exceedingly great, waxing greater and greater until he became very great. But his closing days were days that the Spirit of God speaks of in a most solemn way, for you remember how he said to his son Esau, "I am become old; I know not the day of my death" (Genesis 27:2), and instead of preparing for the day of his death, he requested that he might have venison. Indeed, the word says that he "loved Esau, because venison was to his taste" (Genesis 25:28). Think of Isaac, a man in his closing days, marked by blindness, having tastes which we may soberly speak of as vitiated, as longing for something from an Esau! For the last part of his life he was blind. You remember, too, how the last of the judges (in the book of Judges) was marked by blindness, Samson having his eyes put out. And again, the last of the kings, Zedekiah, was marked by blindness. Then you remember that in the post-captivity days, the priests were said to despise Jehovah's name - what a serious state is disclosed in those last days of the dispensation under law, when the priests despised Jehovah's name and men robbed God, without feeling. Again, it is said of Laodicea, one of the last phases of the assembly's history upon earth, that she is wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, and knows it not - the most solemn feature of all is that she knows it not; she is indeed heartless as to Christ, and He is said to be outside the door knocking.

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Over against these features, we have a Jacob, a man of whom the Spirit of God says that his eyes were dim so that he could not see. If his natural eyes were dim that he could not see, his spiritual sensibilities were alert. He was never greater in his life than at that peculiar juncture, as he worshipped on the top of his staff, and blessed both the sons of Joseph. He was greater in spiritual stature and power than he had ever been, for he was with God; and his eyes were closed to all things here. He made no request for venison; though his eyes were dim and set, he was marked by spiritual sensibilities and knew what was suitable to God. Again, as against the blindness of Samson, and the failure of the people in the days of the judges, we have a Boaz, we have the reapers, we have a Ruth, and the most marvellous activities in the days when the judges ruled. Over against the failure of the kings, and peculiarly in the last days of the kingdom, we have a Jeremiah. Thank God for men and women who feel things with God, and are like God in the last days. Jeremiah was a man of intense feeling; he was a weeper, and his weeping was but the external evidence of the deepest internal emotion. Again, we have an Ezekiel, one who saw visions of God, one who could tell much about the glory, the remarkable feature about Ezekiel being this, that he always knew the whereabouts of divine glory. Again, in contrast to the failure of the priests and Levites, and the common persons in the main, we have this remarkably sweet passage: "Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard" (Malachi 3:16). I believe that corresponds to these last days: "Then they that feared Jehovah spoke often one to

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another". If I understood that, would I ever say that there were too many meetings? If I understood the precious volume of the Lord's speaking to us in the last days, would I ever complain that there is too much ministry - either orally or written? Never: "They that feared Jehovah spoke often one to another; and Jehovah observed it, and heard". Then, over against the heartlessness, the blindness and wretchedness of Laodicea we have the precious features of Philadelphia. These things stand in sharp contrast; for if Laodicea is heartless, if she has need of nothing, not even of Christ - for that is the inference - Philadelphia has a little strength; she has kept His word and not denied His name, and moreover she has an opened door. I believe we have that in these last days, an opened door, and the Lord has promised that if He opens, no one shall shut.

Hence my desire and exercise is that we should take account of the features that mark these last days. Paul speaks of them, and in the first scripture that I read we have a long list of the most sordid things which characterise men in the last days. "Difficult times", indeed, but, thank God, not too difficult to go on as "lovers of God". I believe sometimes we read Scripture too quickly. This list in 2 Timothy 3 is a list which ought to be read slowly and carefully and with deep feeling, for it represents a state of things we have to meet and pass through, and we need great strength and grace for it. We need to be much with God if we are to pass through such a scene for His pleasure. Men are said to be "lovers of self" - that is the first thing, for above everything else a man will be a lover of himself - lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, three things which

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abound in these last days. There are other things stated in this solemn list which remind us of Romans 1, where all the depravity of the human heart is depicted in such graphic language by the Spirit of God. If the list is not the same in actual detail, it is the same morally, and with this terrible added feature, that with all the sordid things men do, they have a "form of piety". It is cloaked over with the profession of Christianity; many of these vile things, coming from the pit, clothe themselves with the very name of Christ - a thing we ought to feel. But over against that list, we have this remarkable expression, "lovers of God". I believe if the features of which I have spoken abound in these last days, there are also, thank God, features which belong to those who are described by this exquisite designation, "lovers of God". I covet, beloved brethren, to see the number of the lovers of God increased in these last days, not merely persons whom God loves, but persons who love God. In Romans 8:28 we read, "All things work together for good to those who love God". I believe that is the line upon which we should encourage one another, and upon which we should encourage believers in the systems of men with whom we come in contact, that the features belonging to lovers of God should be found multiplying and greatly increasing, in these last moments before our Lord Jesus returns.

I desire to refer to three special features which should mark "lovers of God", and for these I turn to the beloved apostles Peter, Paul, and John. I am aware that I am saying nothing new or novel. Were I addressing a company of Athenians I should have to strive to say something new, for

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you remember that they "spent their time in nothing else than to tell and to hear the news" (Acts 17:21). Let us guard against that. But I have the happy precedent set up by the apostle Peter in striving to put you in mind of things that you already know. Four times in his second epistle he speaks of "putting you in remembrance", or similar language, and once he says, "I will be careful to put you always in mind of these things, although knowing them" (chapter 1: 12). We need to have our affections stirred, our pure minds stirred, and Peter, the aged apostle, speaks in the most tender way possible, almost apologetically, in addressing the true believers of his day, desiring that after his departure these things should be always in their remembrance.

The first feature that Peter would impress upon the lovers of God stands in relation to their walk, for in the last days we shall be tested as to how we walk. His first word, after telling us that "the end of all things is drawn nigh", is that we should be sober. That surely becomes a lover of God. There is great need for sobriety in these last days. Then he says, "Be watchful unto prayers". I believe as we pray more, as we persevere in prayer, as it says in Colossians, and give ourselves to it, we shall be saved and preserved from the unholy features which are found in the last days. Then Peter says, "Having fervent love among yourselves". That surely is a most precious feature of the lovers of God. Think of a Theophilus, a man, not only loved by God, as his name indicates, but a true lover of God. "Having fervent love among yourselves". Let us examine our own hearts; let us challenge our motives; let

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our minds go back now to our several localities and see whether this feature marks us. Have we fervent love among ourselves? Then he says, "Hospitable one to another, without murmuring". We know that the world loves its own, and we believe that the world, in a certain sense, will care for its own, but how one loves to dwell upon the increasing hospitality amongst the people of God in these last days! Fathers, mothers, houses, lands, brothers, sisters, indeed a hundredfold more - that is the position in the last days. Thank God there is this abundant hospitality, and shown without murmuring. The last thing that Peter would lay upon the consciences and hearts of the lovers of God is this, that they should do all things to the glory of God: "That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the might for the ages of ages".

But if Peter would address the lovers of God in relation to their walk, Paul would address them in relation to their service and the ministry. Hence we have that remarkably solemn word, "I testify before God and Christ Jesus, who is about to judge living and dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, proclaim the word" - a valuable word to young believers - "proclaim the word", and may I say in affection, be concerned about the condition in which men are; not so much about subjects finely rounded off, but proclaim the word, for men are perishing. Men are in the state described in chapter 3, lovers of self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God: so "proclaim the word; be urgent". It is a time of urgency. I believe we ought to feel that; we must waste no time. Hence one is

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comforted and greatly encouraged by the increasing number of gospel preachings among us. But we need more than that: we need the personal touch; we need the compulsion of grace, so that we might get into touch with men privately and individually. "Be urgent in season and out of season". Then he says, "Fill up the full measure of thy ministry", a word which should challenge and yet encourage every one who seeks to serve. One feels in regard of oneself how inherently lazy one may be, and I believe with many of us there is great need for the word to Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, to the end that thou fulfil it" (Colossians 4:17). "Fill up the full measure of thy ministry". Thank God for the ministers and for the ministry, but let us not slack off in the slightest degree. Some may say, 'You do too much', and there may be many exhortations as to the body, and it is something to reflect over that the conversations among us lie so often in relation to the body. I believe - and I speak soberly - that where we have one enquiry as to soul-health, we have a hundred as to the health of our bodies! I am not belittling the fact that the body is the Lord's, but like Epaphroditus we have to regard the work as urgent, to be urgent and fill up the full measure of our ministry, for the apostolic energy has ceased. Marvellous energy had the apostles - marvellous energy had the men of God a century ago, without the comfortable conditions of travelling and the rapid means of transit we enjoy. One marvels at what they must have passed through in their desires to serve so great a people. Let us then be urgent and let us not think too much of comfort; let us be concerned about the work and about the ministry.

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I have only one word further, and that stands in relation to John's exhortation and ministry, for I believe that John would be concerned about our affections - not now our walk, or our service, the preaching or the ministry, but our affections, a most touching matter. So we are reminded in the last chapter in the Bible that "The time is near. Let him that does unrighteously do unrighteously still; and let the filthy make himself filthy still; and let him that is righteous practise righteousness still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still". So a divine fixity is about to be established. Then John hears a remarkable word, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward with me, to render to every one as his work shall be". Then we have: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come". If there is urgency in the preaching, there is urgency in the affections of the saints: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come". Nor is that all, for we are not to forget divine compassions; we are not to forget that many of our brethren (with sorrow we say it) are in the systems of men, in places where little or nothing is known of the Lord's coming. Hence we have that word: "And let him that hears say, Come", a word to believers who need stirring up in this matter of bridal affections for Christ. Then, in the compassions which are marking us as preaching the word and being urgent in season and out of season, we have again, "He that will, let him take the water of life freely". Thank God for that! It is as if to the very last moment of our stay here on earth we are to be charged with divine compassions and the sense of the divine hunger after men. Then we have this word, "Yea, I come quickly", and the exceedingly precious response from the hearts

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characterised by incorruptible affections for Christ is, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus".

We were motoring some few months ago from the south of England to the north, and ran into a dense fog which became so trying that we were inclined to give up, and just as we were about to do so, a lad of about nine years of age cried out and said, 'Keep going, sir, the sun is shining at the top of the hill!' That is the word, dear brethren, we are to keep going. Whatever the last days may be characterised by, in the evil disposition and depravity of the human heart, we are to keep going. Not only is the sun shining in John's ministry, but we should seek that pure atmosphere in the elevation that John speaks of: "Come up here" (Revelation 4:1), then we shall pass through the murky fogs of earth, through all that is transpiring in this present evil world, having this unique and blessed feature - this blessed hope in our hearts, which Peter says is, "until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19). The One for whom we look has told us that He Himself is "the bright and morning star" (Revelation 22:16).

May the Lord greatly help us, so that in our walk, and in our service and ministry, and in our affections, we may set forth the features that belong to the lovers of God in these last days. There is every reason why we should love God. He has appeared to us at the time of our direst need: "For we being still without strength, in the due time Christ has died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). And again, "God commends his love to us, in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us" (verse 8). And yet again, even more blessed, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by

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the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (verse 5). We have every reason to be lovers of God, and may the features that belong to such be a remarkable and striking offset to the sordid, unholy, sinful features which mark the last days, for His name's sake.

Bournemouth, May 1935

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THE GLORY

C C ELLIOTT

Exodus 33:18; Exodus 34:5 - 7; Psalm 19:1; Psalm 45:13, 14;

Romans 8:17 - 19; Revelation 21:10, 11, 26

I desire to say a few words on the subject of glory, not that one could compass it, but to bring some thoughts before you which I trust may be for profit. In view of the present condition of things, surrounded as we are by various adverse circumstances, sufferings and sorrows, and the like, we may forget that we are connected with a vast system of glory, and it gives great elevation to the spirit when we catch sight of this system. The references to it in various forms in the Scriptures are many, and one can only just select a few that may illustrate and enforce what I have to say. In view of the present state of things, I feel there is great need of a present view of glory as well as the hope of glory. The Christian has both a present view and he also rejoices in hope of future glory.

The thought of the glory of God in some form or another appears very early in Scripture, and I may say that one of the main thoughts in regard of the term is that it may be described as the shining out of what is characteristic of a person, a condition, or a thing. What is characteristic - generally, of course, in excellence, but sometimes the opposite - is the glory of the thing, and so we find this thought confirmed in the scriptures I have read. Now, though we are brought to see special aspects of it in

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Christianity, we may also gather up in our experience and see all the aspects in which this subject is presented in Scripture. For instance, "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). That is, all the attributes of God in connection with order and light are exemplified in the heavens, and they declare the glory of God to anybody who can see them. All those special characteristics of God come out in the movement and the light of the heavenly bodies. Because we have further light, it does not mean that we should not consider this question. I think those who compose the assembly should observe, better than others, the glory of God in creation, and more especially in the heavens. In regard of the earth, of course, the glory of God still appears in the creation, but there is so much that has obscured it, yet not only do we know that the knowledge of God will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea, (Isaiah 11:9), but we learn from Habakkuk 2:14 that "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea". So that, though we know that now "the whole creation groans together and travails in pain together" (Romans 8:22), we recognise that not only will the physical universe be blessed, but the moral universe of men will have the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the glory of God. That is, men will know what is characteristic of God, and I may say that the greatest glory of man on earth is to know God. You could not have a greater glory or distinction attached to man than the knowledge of God. In fact, Jeremiah tells us so; he says, "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me" (chapter 9: 24). God takes the spirit of man and so forms and

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influences it by His blessed Spirit that the knowledge of Himself comes into man's view; and what an honour that we should know God.

In Exodus we learn that Moses desired to see God's glory, but he could not see God's face, he could only see the back parts, but in the declaration that was made to him, the glory of God came out morally. In connection with that I would say that the greatest glory is what we perceive spiritually. No doubt there is in certain cases the accompaniment of an outward public sign of glory, as for instance when Moses' face shone, or when the face of the blessed Lord shone as the sun, and His shining garments were white and effulgent. Though there is thus sometimes recorded a physical shining forth that accompanies a manifestation of the glory of God, as impressing our mortal vision, yet the greatest glory is the spiritual or moral, as, in this passage, the declaration of what God is in His attributes. In this wonderful passage, Exodus 34, you get the glory of God declared, as far as then revealed; that is, His essential characteristic attributes in regard to the revelation which He then made. In regard to that, it seems remarkable that the first thing said is, "Jehovah, Jehovah God merciful and gracious". Other qualities are mentioned but He begins with that, no doubt in view of the condition of the people; God insists that His great glory is that He is merciful and gracious. It does say that He will not clear the guilty, which is surely right, for no one would believe in a God who would ignore sin; no one would respect or reverence Him, and it says that retribution follows to the third and fourth generation, but in describing the other side,

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not only does it say that He shows, "mercy unto thousands" of those that love Him (Exodus 20:6), but in Deuteronomy 7:9 it says, "to a thousand generations" of those that love Him. It indicates the greatness of God's mercy that when it speaks of evil and the retribution of evil, it is on three or four generations, but when it speaks of those that love Him, it remarkably says, "to a thousand generations". I believe that to be one great glory of God, and so with His other attributes.

I proceed for a moment to the glory of the future kingdom - for it is well at times to dwell upon that, when God will be known here in this world as well as in heaven, and when the peculiar character of His distinctive glory will be known by men, when "they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them" (Jeremiah 31:34). What a day that will be, when God is known and loved by the inhabitants of this world! When we see men's ignorance and hatred of God, to think that that will be displaced by the universal prevalence of the knowledge of God! The distinctive character of God will come out in that way, and the glory of God as then known will be seen; men will see it, and will believe and love it. It seems to me a wonderful thing, and so you get those beautiful Psalms which tell us of the glory of the kingdom. They all breathe the character of God. The King who then reigns will be the Lord Jesus Christ, and He reigns until He has shown the blessed characteristics of God, so that God's glory is known even on earth.

In connection with that, I read that verse in Revelation which says that the nations shall walk in the light of the

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heavenly city, and it says also, "They shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations to it". That, to me, is a very interesting statement, because the nations have honour and glory now. Certain nations are distinguished by certain kinds of glory, some by military glory, others by literary and artistic glory, and such like, and all those so-called glories are used for their own exaltation and adornment, but in that day, though there will be still the nations in the world, they will bring the distinctive honour and glory (because the distinction between nations will be maintained) which distinguish them rightly, not wrongly, to the holy city; that is, where God dwells in the assembly. All that will be laid down, so to speak, before the God whose glory fills that wonderful vessel. Man seeks glory and honour for himself, or for his nation or race, and it is not brought to God; the distinctive glories which God has given him even in nature are not used to distinguish God. They are not used for the glory of God, but in that day all the particular characteristics of the nations will be devoted to God and brought to the holy city. It will be a wonderful scene where man's glory is completely subordinate to God.

Now I want to draw your attention to the connection between sufferings and glory. Peter tells us in his epistle, which is full of the thought of the sufferings and glory of Christ, that we exult "with joy unspeakable and filled with the glory" (1 Peter 1:8). So our minds are filled with the glory while suffering, and, however great the suffering, the glory is what fills our souls, so that we can endure it. When we think of all the conflicts, and the sufferings that the assembly has gone through since the time Christ ascended

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to heaven, that great weight of suffering, we know perfectly well, has a compensating glory, and not only a compensating glory because of those sufferings, but a glory even beyond the sufferings. Paul speaks of the sufferings working "an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). The sufferings actually work a weight of glory; that is, each suffering is rewarded by a partaking of glory in greater or lesser degree.

That is one thing, but beside that, there is an admission in spirit to a vast scene of glory which is not necessarily connected with the reward of suffering, and that is most comforting. When we think of the present state of things in the world there is so much which would depress, but while we suffer in those things, there is always the sense that there is this glory system which is soon to burst upon our vision. It is not only most consoling, but elevating to know that just beyond us, so to speak, the next step may bring us into the manifestation of this glory, a glory to which morally we can become accustomed even now. So, too, in Romans 8:18 we have that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us". If you have your eyes on that, I am perfectly certain that the sufferings are not worthy to be compared - they are small compared with that glory which shall be revealed to us, when the manifestation of the sons of God takes place. The glory of the children of God issues in the fulness of sonship and that which is connected with it.

Now, quite a different kind of glory, in a sense, from what had ever been seen in the world came in when the

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Lord Jesus was here. That is, "a glory as of an only-begotten with a father" (John 1:14). As seen in a divine Person, that is a glory that is new; this was never seen before. It was not accompanied by outward manifestations, that is, of visual appearances. It was found in a wonderful, perfect, humble Man. It was "a glory as of an only-begotten with a father". What a glory that is! Think of the affections of "an only-begotten with a father", the bright and peculiar glories or excellencies that belong to such a position! John says, "We have contemplated his glory". The apostles contemplated it, and handed on the report to us, and we see there the most wonderful thing ever known in this world, the glory of an only-begotten presented in a divine Person in manhood. The peculiar affections that exist between the Father and the Son are made known to us, and by means of what the apostles have told us, we are able to contemplate it. And what a blessed occupation that is! The excellencies that belong to that wonderful relationship.

Then further, excellencies that belong to that blessed Person engage our attention. We know that a special glory has been given to Him which is given to us; as He says, "And the glory which thou hast given me I have given them" (John 17:22). To think that the distinctive excellencies which belong to the position of Christ, now exalted, are ours! It shows the wonderful character of Man that God has introduced in Christ, and that He has associated men with Him, so that they share His glory. What a privilege! There are glories which we shall see. It says, "That they may behold my glory which thou hast given me" (John 17:24). There is that which we shall see,

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but besides that - and here our hearts bow down in holy reverence to Him - there is a glory which is incommunicable, and which is not to be seen by mortal eye. This the Lord speaks of in saying to the Father, "The glory which I had along with thee before the world was" (John 17:5). Perhaps someone will say, 'If that is so, how can you speak of glory being a shining forth of anything, if we are unable to see it?' Well, we know it is there, yet we must remember that there are untold depths in the Deity, and, while unknowable to us, this glory is known to divine Persons Themselves. Is it not manifest, as it were, to them? Of course it is, so that the description I gave of glory still holds, that while we may not see it, while it is not shown to us, while there are these glories into which we cannot penetrate, they are known to divine Persons between Themselves, for the Son, who is One of the Persons, speaking to the Father, who is Another of the Persons, speaks of this glory. It is, however, well to note that there is something beyond us, because it induces in us a most holy sense of reverence for these divine Persons, and if the blessed Son of God has come out and is known as He is, and if the blessed Spirit of God has come out and speaks to us of the glories of Christ, it is for revelation, that we might know them; but then, there is that which is beyond.

Now, I just want to say a word about the condition of sonship, in that it underlies the complete moral transformation of a person spiritually. That is one thing; there is a moral transformation which goes on now, which I have no doubt is helped on by sufferings, and the dealings of God with us. What we think to be most untoward and

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distressing is no doubt meant to make us lose our hold of that which is after the flesh and what is natural, and to see that God has before Him a divine ideal, and that ideal is His Son, and that we are to share in that place of sonship. So that, first of all, you see there is moral transformation in the spirit, so that we assimilate, so to speak, the character which pertains to sonship. That is one thing, and is most important. God will see to it eventually that every saint is morally like His Son, but there is a corollary to that which is of the utmost importance, and which fills our hearts with joy, that we are going to have glorified bodies like to His Son's body. There is a future state which we can only dimly envisage, but which is our hope and joy, when He "shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory" (Philippians 3:21). Now, while that is beyond us, because we are not told exactly what it is, I can only say what a wonderful thing it is, that we shall have bodies of glory, bodies suited to the present glorified condition of Christ. When the Lord Jesus was down here, as I said, He showed forth the moral glories of God and of His own Person in a flesh-and-blood condition of body. Then He showed further features in His resurrection body. There were features of a glorious nature, connected with His resurrection body, which, of course, were very different from those which He showed in His flesh-and-blood condition. The resurrection body indeed showed glories of a kind, and had properties, which the flesh-and-blood body did not. When He was glorified a fresh accession of glory was added. It says Jesus "had not yet been glorified" (John 7:39), and when He was glorified, I have no doubt it was

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not just the resurrection body, but there were added to it glories on account of which it could be described as a body of glory. Now the features of that we cannot tell, for they have not yet been told us, but does it not fill our hearts with joy to know that at any moment we may put off these bodies and be granted bodies like to His body of glory, suited to that glorious scene? How wonderful those bodies will be! Do we understand that may happen soon? - that at any time the holy scene of glory, which our souls have known in part now in these mortal bodies, is to be known by us in full enjoyment in our glorious body. It is a most sublime thought, to think that men should have that destiny, that God should have that before Him - of course, because of His Son, but that He should have it before Him in view of men who are to be with and like His Son. Every believer is to have that body of glory. Oh! how I respect you! How I respect my brethren! I feel they are worthy of the utmost respect, not only the respect that I give to other men, for Peter says, "Shew honour to all" (1 Peter 2:17), but the respect I give to one who is now morally being formed like Christ, and is to have a body like to that blessed Person's. All I can say is that I have the greatest respect for them. I feel that you are worthy, dear brethren, of all respect. It is God's holy, wondrous destiny for His own.

There is just one other matter I desire to bring before you, and that is in connection with the assembly, which is said to have the glory of God. This is not only individually but collectively, and the assembly is "coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God". She is such a vessel that she is adequate to set forth what God is, in so

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far as can be known by men, in all His attributes, such as love, righteousness, goodness, faithfulness, truth, mercy - whatever attribute may be known of God. Not His almighty power in the Deity, of course, but nevertheless, she has the glory of God. The assembly is to have that which characterises God in the distinctive way He can be known and displayed. What do I respect now? I not only respect my individual fellow believers, but I respect that wonderful assembly of God which is to have such a distinguished destiny - think of it having the glory of God! "To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages" (Ephesians 3:21).

Now, Psalm 45 applies, as we know, primarily to the earthly bride; it says, "All glorious is the king's daughter within". Now, that does not mean within herself, but within the royal palace; she is not outside, but is all glorious within, and then it describes her gold and embroidered garments. I only want to draw attention to it, because I am sure it applies also to the assembly, for there is a glory of the assembly, given of course, which is within - what is for the King's eye. So, beyond the fact that He is coming "to be glorified in his saints, and wondered at in all that have believed" (2 Thessalonians 1:10) - that is true, so that all can see it - there is for the heart of Christ a private glory which He alone is going to see. This glory is within, that is, in the royal palace, where He is, and He will rejoice in seeing in the assembly the glories which, of course, are His own, and which the work of the Spirit has brought about. That is why I think that passage in Ephesians, so well known, is so beautiful when it speaks of the assembly as glorious. All

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that distinguishes her in His eye will be there for Him to see. There will be much that will be seen by men at large, as quoted in that verse, "glorified in his saints", but for the eye of Christ there will be that which is peculiarly precious to Him. Now, I think, that has a present application to us, that Christ desires to find moral and spiritual glories in us which are for His eye alone. Putting it in another figure from the Song of Songs, it says, she is a "fountain sealed" (chapter 4:12). In other words, she cannot be opened by anybody; the seal is to be broken by the owner of the fountain. So there are beauties in the assembly which the Lord delights to find and to see, which are open only to His inspection: beauties connected with intimacy and affection, beauties connected with a close view of those beauties and affections. You cannot describe a person as persons are described in that wonderful book - either the bride or the bridegroom - by a cursory view in the street, but you need intimate knowledge and close attention to be able to draw such pictures as are drawn there. So, for the eye of Christ, there is that which He sees and which He can describe, and which He loves to see. And the obverse of that is the intimacy that leads to such a knowledge of Christ in which we can rejoice.

I end on that note, except for just one word, which, if I may, I will speak to the young believers here, and that is this. What is the glory of the world compared to this? Satan showed the blessed Lord all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. Are we going to be deceived by that glory? Are we going to sacrifice spiritual welfare and spiritual progress and knowledge for the glory of the world?

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Is it worth it? I just make that appeal. It is not worth it. I believe the more we are occupied with the glory of Christ, and with all the special features that come out in divine Persons as made known to us in their excellence, the less the world and its prospects will allure us. Instead of it being a great luminary which Satan would have it be for us, to attract us by its false glitter, we see the thing shrink to a mite. Does it attract us in one form of ambition or another? I would say this to young believers, Get acquainted with the glory of Christ, and the world will have no attraction for you, and then you will be devoted to the will of God. I have felt it much that this great system of glory connected with the excellencies of divine Persons and the excellences of those whom divine Persons have blessed should be more before us, for we are soon to step into it in our glorified bodies, and in connection with this holy and beautiful assembly which Christ will present to Himself "glorious, having no spot, or wrinkle, or any of such things" (Ephesians 5:27).

I just wanted to indicate these matters to you, so that you might be on the tip-toe of expectation, and meanwhile we are to do all things to the glory of God, that is, to exalt God. So the time that remains is extremely important in every action of our lives. Whether in domestic service, or in shops, or wherever we work, we can do everything to the glory of God. Do not let anyone take that thought away from us. So may the Lord keep us on this tip-toe of expectation, till we find the whole system here disappear from our vision, and we are with and like our beloved Lord.

Bournemouth, May 1935

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"NEW WITH YOU IN THE KINGDOM OF MY FATHER"

M W BIGGS

Matthew 26:29

The three expressions quoted above were uttered by the Lord when He would not drink of the fruit of the vine on the night of His betrayal. Joy, which the fruit of the vine so fittingly illustrates, was not to be His then. Sorrows and sufferings deeper than any other sorrow or suffering were to be His portion - that cup of bitterest woe. A crown of thorns - not one of glory - was that with which He was to be crowned. He had title to every joy; but if He is to accomplish the mighty work of atonement and glorify God in regard of sin, the unutterable woe and sorrow of the cross must be His. Then, too, since His earthly people had refused their God, Jehovah, as presented in Jesus - Emmanuel - God rejected them, and since Jesus was their Messiah, He, too, was cut off and had nothing. He died for that nation. The joys of the kingdom must be deferred until He comes again and they shall say, "Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord" (Matthew 23:39). The Lord will not take these joys until He shall have them in a new manner. He shall taste them first in a new manner; for earthly scenes shall have joy brought to them from heaven.

The word "new" here means in a new way, differently. The pleasures were not for the moment to be earthly ones. The Lord's path of life here, according to Psalm 16, is to

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find an answer, a continuation, we may say, in pleasures for evermore at the right hand of God. Fulness of joy is to be His, but not the joy of Messiah in an earthly kingdom. The Lord would have us to share His joys with Him. Therefore they are to be taken up in an entirely different manner. Instead of material blessings, they are to be spiritual ones; instead of earthly, heavenly. We cannot separate these expressions - "new with you in the kingdom of my Father". The Lord wishes us to share His joy with Him. He would not take it alone. Did He not say as He was about to leave His own and go to the Father, "I have spoken these things to you that my joy may be in you, and your joy be full" (John 15:11)? Hence not only does the Lord say that He would not take of the fruit of the vine until the day that He would drink it new (i.e., in a new way) in the Father's kingdom; but says, "New with you".

He took the sorrow alone; He would share the joys with us. As we sometimes sing: -

Thine the cost and Thine the suff'ring,

Thine the cross and shame;

Ours the never-ending blessing

Through Thy precious Name.

The words 'with Christ' or 'with Him' describe one of the most precious features of the assembly's blessing. The Lord, in Matthew 26, was surrendering the joy attached to His place as Messiah on earth; but on the ground of His death and resurrection He would take His joys in a different manner, and share them with us - "New with you". We are

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blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, and the distinctive character of that blessing is that it is "with Christ". He "died for us, that ... we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10). His words to the thief on the cross describe such a joy: "With me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). This reminds us of the third expression: "In the kingdom of my Father". The kingdom of the Son of man describes rather the earthly view of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is the moral sway of God which one day will mark earth as well as heaven. (Now, alas, it is merely professed by some. ) But the kingdom of the Father presents the heavenly side of the kingdom - a heavenly part which is already spiritually enjoyed by those who are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, and to whom the earnest of the inheritance has been given, before the inheritance itself is actually taken up. Christ shares His joy in a new way with us in the Father's kingdom.

How our hearts are drawn to Christ when we see Him giving up all, refusing the joys to which He was entitled, so that He might take them up in a new way with us! But, let us note, it is in the Father's kingdom that He shares them with us. What joys indeed are ours as thus associated with Christ. The tears of a weeping Mary Magdalene are to be wiped away by One who gives her the marvellous message: "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (John 20:17). What amazing grace! Have we believed it? We have been marked out for the place of sons to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said, "I ascend". Earth is no longer to have the One who is the centre of joy; the circumference of joy will reach and

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include it; but it begins in heaven; its centre is there. The loud hallelujahs begin there. Earth will owe its joy to One who suffered here and who will bring its joys to it from heaven.

It is similar with the believer today. His joys are heavenly - "new ... in the kingdom of my Father" - but every sphere of earth that a heavenly man influences has a touch of joy imparted to it from the happiness of the place where he lives and where are his true joys. Let us remember that the Lord Jesus would not drink of the fruit of the vine "until that day", as He said, "when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father".

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1935

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SUITABILITY FOR THE MOUNTAIN

T HANSON

Exodus 2:6, 11 - 14; Exodus 15:17 - 21; Deuteronomy 34:1 - 4, 7, 8

The thought of the exercises of Moses has impressed me. I would call attention, as desiring to help, to what transpired with this beloved man before he became suitable to go to the mountain of God. We read, in Exodus 2:6, "the boy wept". He was but a child, but evidently there were feelings there in relation to God! We are told that when Pharaoh's daughter opened the ark and saw him, the boy wept. Those eyes that were undimmed at the age of one hundred and twenty years were dimmed by tears as a little boy!

Then we should notice that he was a long time in training; but how necessary for every one of us to do as Moses did at forty years old, to absorb the blessing of the inheritance of God; it is what God has in mind for every one of us - to bring us out, to bring us in, and to plant us in the mountain of His inheritance. How well it is that we should be in training, and arrive at an age when we make a very definite choice as to whom we belong to, and as to the relations in which we stand to all this marvellous scheme of blessing. You may say, 'The blessing of which you speak is linked up with a despised people, and I cannot make such a definite choice'. I desire to encourage each one of us to take special account of Moses' choice - it was deliberate. It was no light matter with him to decide, but he had weighed and

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calculated the exchange. It was a marvellous choice he made - that of suffering affliction along with the people of God, rather than to have the temporary pleasure of sin. Then later on in relation to the sin of the golden calf, he prays that God would forgive Israel's sin, "But if not", he says, "blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book" (Exodus 32:32). What love to the people he evidenced! Upon making his decision he sees trouble, not between two Egyptians, but between two of his brethren, with whom he had made up his mind to suffer affliction, and therefore he interferes. You and I possibly would have kept our hands off that quarrel, but Moses acts and suffers accordingly (Exodus 2:13, 14). Think of the marvellous ways of God in helping that man, for now he flees from Pharaoh to the land of Midian and becomes a keeper of sheep for forty years. What grace it was on the part of God to so discipline Moses, and now ourselves, that we can become keepers of sheep! One feels that we lack that blessed characteristic at the present moment. One is not saying that as throwing stones at others, but as seeing how sadly we lack the ability to visit our brethren, and so be keepers of them as God's sheep. Yet how great the privilege to care for them! Now Moses tended Jethro's flock and at length led it to the mountain of God. Here the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the thorn-bush. This was at his first arriving at the mountain, and is an example for us that we might go up. We are to have the ability to go up in all the dignity of our calling. He lived morally in the mountains, as a mountaineer - in an atmosphere conducive to spiritual blessing.

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In contrast to this, we may grope below because we have not set our minds on things above. Paul was caught up to the third heaven in order that he might be spiritually confirmed in his ministry. He heard unspeakable things not allowed to man to utter. "Whether in the body I know not, or out of the body I know not" (2 Corinthians 12:2). He would be spiritually enlarged by this experience as caught up. Think of the grace of the blessed God in so ordering our circumstances that in them, through spiritual exercise, we can rise up into the mountain region, and not hide our face, or be afraid, but have great delight in being there. You will remember the incident recorded in the gospels where two men, both mountain men - Moses, of whom we are speaking, and Elias - appeared to the disciples who were with Jesus on the mountain. This circumstance is recorded in order that we also might in principle be there.

One thought we might be helped in seeing how Moses was encouraged to go up, as in Exodus 19:3, 8. Then, again, in chapter 24: 1 the invitation to go up to Jehovah and worship is to Moses, as mediator, Aaron, and others, as illustrating what God intended for His people generally; then in verse 12 Jehovah gives to Moses a special privilege to go up higher into the mountain to be with God, to make His mind known to him respecting the tabernacle, in which case, he is typical of Christ as our Apostle. Jehovah distinguishes Moses in his going up to the mountains of Sinai and Horeb, and finally to the heights of Pisgah, where God gave him an extensive view of Canaan, and from which he was taken out of this world. Moses commenced his path of service on a mountain in Exodus 3, and ends it

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on a mountain. In the government of God he was not permitted to go into the land, but in the favour of God he was shown the whole of it, to which land Jehovah was about to bring His people and plant them, as there, in the mountain of His inheritance. It was a wonderful sight for Moses; with undimmed eye he sees the land to be occupied by the tribes in their respective positions, according to God's purpose. What a marvellous privilege for every one of us in our Christian pathway, especially if we have set out to serve the Lord, to have this same glorious view of the people of God. Moses dies on a high plane. It is said of the unbelieving people of Israel that their carcasses fell in the wilderness; but this man goes up on high to die in power and he sees the land.

In the previous chapter, Deuteronomy 33, he blesses the tribes in relation to many things, including the everlasting hills and the ancient mountains; what solidity and glory of purpose they signified! Thus Moses, at one hundred and twenty years, pronounced his blessing of the tribes. One would encourage everyone to revel in the mountain region, and to take character from our blessed Leader and Lover, who is spoken of as being like a gazelle or a young hart leaping upon the mountains and skipping upon the hills. May we be encouraged to follow Him in spiritual agility.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1935

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PURCHASING A GOOD DEGREE

C A MARKHAM

2 Samuel 22:1, 31; 2 Samuel 23:1 - 4, 8 - 12, 17, 39; Esther 4:13, 14; Esther 10:3

Although conscious of the seriousness of speaking on such an occasion as this, I feel impelled to say a word as to the purchase of a good degree. There is such a thing as purchasing. I ask you to note the word. We read that those ministering well would purchase, or "obtain for themselves a good degree" (1 Timothy 3:13). College courses are pretty expensive things, they involve outlay and much self-denial; but it was available to a deacon to obtain a good degree, and it is within our reach to do this also. There is a far greater world than the present one, and there is such a thing as getting one's name on God's honour roll, but it is a very costly matter. You may be aware of this from what I have read; you can note it also by seeing what great men and women of God have gone through in past history, and are going through at the present time; for the purchasing of a good degree applies equally to sisters as to brothers. The cost involved is very great; it is nothing less than our lives. It is well to recognise this, for there are no half measures in God's things.

Scripture prohibits, as food, such a thing as an animal which dies of itself in the wilderness; such does not afford food to sustain life for a saint. It is a poor matter to be living - if you can call it living - spending one's years in

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this world, tossed around by every current, using up our faculties for ourselves, and then to die! That illustrates a thing dying of itself. Not so with the Christian; he is a living being in this world, but he has the privilege accorded him of being on the honour roll in the world to come; and that honour roll will be a very large one!

The close of David's history is presented at the end of 2 Samuel. It was so eventful, so full of meaning; and is extremely interesting to everyone that values the things of God. David had learnt that God's way is perfect, an immense thing to learn. God sets out to teach us that. David says, "He maketh my way perfectly smooth" (2 Samuel 22:33). It greatly enhances the value of a life, such as David's, when we realise what God's great objective is. His way is perfect throughout, and eventually, marvellous as this may seem, God makes our way perfect. It is at this stage of the history of David that God names the mighty men. I just want to call your attention to them. He records their names in 2 Samuel 23.

Certain very impressive things had happened. All that had been dishonouring God, such as the matter of Saul, was buried. That is a great end to arrive at, for he represents the man after the flesh religiously. All that history was closed for ever. Then God records the mighty men; they are the kind of men He needs. God has His own way of appraising power, and you cannot read about these men without feeling that God has His own way of appraising persons too. If you and I had been asked to say which of these men was the greatest we should not have known; but it is very definite in God's mind. There are thirty-seven in all. God

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says there were three great men, and that there were another three great men; the second three were not as great as the first three, and so on. We read this and marvel at God's wonderful knowledge of what everyone is doing, and His estimate of what is done, but God is a God of measure. There will be no mistake made about anything and everything we do for God; depend upon it, all will be judged by a proper standard.

As you read about these men a spiritual thrill comes over your soul! Here is an honour list that far surpasses any roll of names this world affords. I am sure no one here would dispute that. We read of a man standing singly against the enemy, and of God noting just what it cost that man to purchase his degree. It cost him utter weariness of hand. We grow weary, but I ask you to note this, that Eleazar smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave to the sword! How impressed we are with the marvellous way in which such a man stands for God! He has power, superhuman power, if you will, and he goes on smiting until his sword cleaves to his hand. I believe men have stood for God in this world until this precious book became a very part of their hand - of their wielding power. They were thus governed entirely by the word of God - their only weapon to stand against the advancing wave of evil. Oh, how much we owe to men of God who thus stand! We are so frail, so weak, so unbelieving. But somebody is standing and is going to stand. I do not go into the details of these mighty men; there are others recorded here, all of whom were prepared to give up their lives for David. I wonder if there is something that we cherish, something that

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we hold in reserve, in connection with life here? If so, we could hardly be classed with such a company of men as this, who gave up their lives for one they loved.

The last verse of this chapter is very interesting in more ways than one. It refers to Uriah the Hittite, a striking character as you know. The government of God in a marvellous way is attached to that name. There was a history attached to it, also, of wrong-doings in high quarters. But so marvellous is the Spirit of Christ that no matter what happenings take place, no matter from where the inroads of evil may come, it is perfectly able to meet everything! These things may be inscrutable to us, yet God's way is perfect, as in this case of Uriah. There was terrible wrong-doing, some of the most awful things you could read of in Scripture, and yet they form a unique occasion to show the marvellous perfection of the ways of God and the unshakeable character of His work. So at the end of this list, remarkably enough, the Spirit records the name of Uriah the Hittite! Apparently he made the thirty-seventh. If we had been adding up the list we might have felt that the names would have been completed at thirty-six. God says there were thirty-seven, and He must be right. Think of that man Uriah! We do not hear much about him but we know this, that he was put in front of the battle - and lost his life. We do not get what the commander-in-chief said about him, but God enrolled him amongst these celebrated men.

I turn for a moment to the book of Esther. What I refer to has reference to sisters. This also is a matter of giving up your life. Oh, that we might be energised by what came

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before us this afternoon, to see that the only thing worth living for is the glory of Christ! Think of those glories that are so shortly to shine; they connect with the precious things that God is securing at the present time! Who would not be energised to keep them before us, that in view of the coming glory there may be seen in us day by day features of the suffering character of the Spirit of Christ. Well, Esther's time came - a critical time which comes to us all. It is a critical time when called upon to give up one's life. Esther was a sister who was in her right place; she had found the place where God willed she should be, in His ordering and ways; and she was in the habit of doing what she was told. These precious traits mark this woman who was queen of one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived; such were the ways of God. But a time was coming when she was to be put to the test as to what she was living for!

God may have prospered you in this world - He may have given you all kinds of benefits; but a time may come when He will say to you, 'Are you willing to give them up - your temporal gains - for Christ?' Great men have gone and left this for our instruction, that the only value in possessing anything is to give it up for Christ. I ask you to think of Esther; Mordecai said to her, "Imagine not in thy heart that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews". That was a straight word, and at times we need a similar one. Oh, what preparations some of us may make for our careers! But what will such careers amount to? The only value in possessing them is to give them up for Christ! Esther's time came, and note this: Mordecai says, "If thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall

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there arise relief and deliverance to the Jews from another place". God could employ some other means. I like that. The testimony is not going to be defeated. No indeed! You need not think for a moment that because you possess something you are proud of, you can treat the people of God in a patronising way; for the testimony is going to be maintained regardless of any of us. But now is Esther's opportunity: Mordecai says, "Who knows?" I ask your attention to this. "Who knows whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" I commend that sentence to all of us. What a key that is to the position you are in! While you are there, you are under the ordering of God. There will come a time when you will get an opportunity to give up what you have for Christ. Then why miss it? It will come home to you at the same time, that this opportunity is given for the very reason that you are in the position in which you can be serviceable to God and to His people. Such is the marvellous way in which God overrulingly orders things. We are slow to understand the emphasis that is laid on locations, as to where we are and why we are there. God is emphasising these things amongst us, I feel assured. One great desire should be present in every one of us, to be exactly where God wants us now and until we hear that assembling shout. Esther did not miss the opportunity; she acted in accord with the Spirit of Christ and was honoured.

Mordecai presents the other side of the picture. He was a very interesting character - one that was marked by the Spirit of Christ. He stood for everything that was of God in the kingdom of Ahasuerus, but refused to bow to "Haman

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the son of Hammedatha the Agagite". On account of this, Haman plots the destruction of the Jews, and prepared the gallows for Mordecai. There is nothing stronger than the Spirit of Christ in Mordecai or in Esther, and so God triumphs. The book ends with Mordecai being great among the Jews. If a man is great among the people of God, it has cost him something, you may depend upon it. Mordecai was "accepted of the multitude of his brethren". Oh, what a thing to covet! So this wonderful record closes, transacted in that dark place of Persia, but every precious ray of the Spirit of Christ manifest then will reappear ere long in the adorning of God's coming world.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1935

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RESPONSE TO GOD IN DAYS OF APOSTASY

W J HOUSE

Jude 1 - 25

I am confident, beloved brethren, that we can be assured that the end of the present dispensation will not be inferior, in a spiritual sense, to the beginning. It is evident that the beginning and the end of what is of God always correspond. He Himself is said to be the "beginning and the end" (Revelation 21:6), a thought that could not, of course, allow for any deterioration. The Lord Jesus says, of Himself, "I am ... the beginning and the end" (Revelation 22:13) and He is "the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come" (Hebrews 13:8). The work of God always secures a blessed end. The work of the Spirit of God here in the saints will have a magnificent end spiritually; though the day be dark publicly, yet the closing period is going to be wonderful according to God.

We see that in Jacob, who I believe is a figure of the work of the Spirit. He stands as representative of the work of the Spirit of God, and it says of him, "By faith Jacob when dying blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshipped" (Hebrews 11:21). Can we conceive a more wonderful setting to the life of Jacob, for when he was dying he was intelligent as to the man that should be first. He acted wittingly; he put the second man, Ephraim, before Manasseh deliberately. One of the great ends of the work of the Spirit in our hearts is to secure that the second Man

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who is out of heaven should be first. It says, "He takes away the first that he may establish the second" (Hebrews 10:9). That is God's way, and Jacob reached it. Then it says that he worshipped. Think of a man such as Jacob had been, when dying, worshipping. I believe that the closing period of the assembly's history is to be marked increasingly by worship, and I had that in my heart to speak about.

How beautifully the Lord Jesus illustrates what we have been saying. The beginning of His pathway here was marked by the acclamation of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men" (Luke 2:14). Then, in the closing scene ere He vanished out of their sight, it is said that they worshipped Him. His coming in was marked by the acclamation of the heavenly host; His going out was marked by the worship of His own. So that seems to me to be in keeping with what God does. How frequently we find in the precious Scriptures that at the end of a section or a book we are brought to a doxology. Think of the books of the Psalms - each one of them closes with worship. Whatever may have been the experiences, many inexpressibly painful, each closes with a doxology in which, on one occasion at least, the psalmist calls on all the people of God to say Amen: "Let all the people say, Amen!" (Psalm 106:48). The Spirit of God is active to bring us consciously into that Amen. Even the closing scene of Nebuchadnezzar's life is like that. What a man he had been, but how wondrous the end; he disappears from view as a worshipper. He says, "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and

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extol and honour the King of the heavens, all whose works are truth, and his paths judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase" (Daniel 4:37). Thus he disappears; that is his end. I cannot refer to many doxologies in detail; for there are many of them, but as taken account of intelligently they give substance to our worship; they increase the volume of worship from the hearts of the saints. The great book that illustrates this is Romans. The apostle touches theme after theme, evidently with one thing in his heart - to bring before the saints in Rome that which will make them worshippers.

Paul speaks of the Creator, so infinitely great, and there is a doxology which is not simply a statement of what is true, but is the worship of Paul's own heart. He says, "Who is blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 1:25). Let us be in that Amen always; let our hearts never be silent as to the blessedness and greatness of God, the Creator. Then, when He speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ personally, he says, "come of David's seed according to flesh" (Romans 1:3), and there rises in the apostle's soul a vision of the inexpressible greatness of Christ, as to who He is, and he says later, "who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 9:5). What a theme to awaken the worship of our hearts: "Jesus Christ ... come of David's seed according to flesh" - not only that He was, but that He is over all, God. Though in glorious manhood, it says that He is over all, that is, over the whole universe, not confined in any way to one section, but over all; that blessed One whom we know in manhood is "over all, God blessed for ever. Amen". We are to have part in that Amen; God is helping the saints to say it. Then

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he thinks of the wisdom of God in His ways and he says, "O depth of riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable his judgments, and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? or who has first given to him, and it shall be rendered to him? For of him, and through him, and for him are all things: to him be the glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:33 - 36). Finally there appears before the apostle's heart a glimpse of the assembly, the mystery up to which he is leading. He is preparing the Roman saints for God for His service, and, as nearing his end, he says, "Now to him that is able to establish you, according to my glad tidings and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, as to which silence has been kept in the times of the ages, but which has now been made manifest, and by prophetic scriptures, according to commandment of the eternal God, made known for obedience of faith to all the nations - the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 16:25 - 27). Thus he closes his epistle, and others, with a doxology - so in keeping with the way of God.

I want to touch a little now on this profoundly encouraging epistle of Jude. It was specially written for our day. The greater part of the epistle presents an awful picture, yea, more than a picture, a reality plainly evident before the eyes of anyone who can see according to God. He fain would have spoken of Christ personally, or as he said, written of "our common salvation", but conditions were already developing that caused him to write otherwise. He saw men already creeping unawares into that which

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bore the name of Christ, ungodly men who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ. Alas! we are surrounded by these ungodly men in christendom, men who in no way express anything of God. He speaks of them as dreamers who defile the flesh, men whose minds are entirely out of control, who bring in the imaginations of their unclean minds, thus defiling everything they touch. He says, "They have gone in the way of Cain", he saw the way of Cain reappearing. We need to remember that evil never dies out of itself; if it disappears, it disappears as judged, by God or by the saints, but it never dies out of itself. The way of Cain goes right back to the beginning, but Jude says, 'There it is - the refusal of the sacrificial work of Christ as the basis of approach to God'. Is it not widespread at this moment? He says, too, that they have "given themselves up to the error of Balaam": they are speaking of what is of God, but for reward, and they have "perished in the gainsaying of Core". He saw already the rebellious uprising against Christ as the great Priest. The usurpation of the place of Christ in the church had already begun; Jude saw it and felt it. He speaks of them as "wandering stars", men who are no longer - if ever they were - under the control of Christ; they have broken away even from outward control.

Then he also refers to Sodom and Gomorrha. He saw the features of Sodom reappearing, the spiritual Sodom as well as the carnal one - both evident even in Jude's day. The Scripture speaks of a place that is "spiritually Sodom" (Revelation 11:8). Think of the awful spiritual corruption that has developed! Then he tells us something that is terribly true of men and women today, that even in that which they

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know naturally, they corrupt themselves. He saw that beginning in his day. How blatant it is in the world around us - in the religious world, in christendom today! Scripture says that nature teaches the distinction in appearance between a man and a woman: in christendom that is being given up. Nature teaches that it is a glory to a woman to have long hair, but in what nature teaches they corrupt themselves. Nature teaches what is true beauty in a woman, but how dreadful is the condition that has developed in the abandonment of what even nature teaches - and that in christendom!

I must not refer more to that side, but how dark it is! It is the setting in which Jude closes his epistle, the darkness of Egypt coming into the professing church. But then he says, "But ye, beloved". Thank God for the difference, in contrast to what he has been presenting. Let every one of us, the dear young brothers and sisters and children, stand by that "But". Never allow the distance between the world - be it the religious world or the social world - and what is proper to the believer to be reduced by a hair's breadth. "But ye, beloved". Jude saw living affections operating in the hearts of the saints; what a blessed, holy thing, recovered and maintained in the face of the darkness and the hatred that abounds! "But ye, beloved, building yourselves up". How blessed is the development of what is mutual; the self-building up of the body in love, what is provided by each member contributing a living part. Think of a local gathering, say of fifty saints, brothers and sisters, old and young, every one contributing a living part! Jude says, 'That is still here'. "Building yourselves up on your

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most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit" - holy desires operating in the heart and expressed in prayer - "keep yourselves in the love of God".

Then, finally, he begins a note of worship; he closes his solemn epistle with worship. The dark scene that he has portrayed has not removed from his heart what God is maintaining to the end: that which is precious to Him and responsive to Him; that indeed, which considers for Him and His desires. Think of God having desires! Think of our holy privilege in responding to them! As to Himself, as Paul says, God is not "served by men's hands as needing something" (Acts 17:25). There is a sense, of course, in which He is wholly sufficient in Himself; it must be so, and yet He has desires. What does He desire? "Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). He desires worship, and He desires worshippers. You cannot separate the worshippers from the worship according to God. That is what is attempted, alas! Much is made of formal worship in christendom, the music, the mere words, the vestments - all these things have a great place as part of the worship that men have established. But what God is seeking, and what He would measure, is not the worship but the worshippers. Let us put His standard alongside the worshippers, and what have we?

Jude in closing his epistle with a doxology says, "But to him that is able to keep you without stumbling", who is able to see the saints through, whatever may be without. He is able to do it, Jude says, and he worships Him as the One who is able to do it "and to set you with exultation blameless before his glory". Jude has in his heart the

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inheritance that God has in the saints, that He is going to present them to Himself before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Then he says, "To the only God". Whatever may be the position outside, this is to be maintained - "to the only God". There is not an idol in the hearts of the saints in this closing doxology. That is what Jude has in mind, and then he gives expression to one of the most wonderful utterances from a human heart in Scripture. He says, "To him ... be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from before the whole age, and now, and to all the ages. Amen". Think of such thoughts, beloved. Jude has looked at the awful features of that which bore the name of Christ, but this is what is in his heart.

He says, "To him ... be glory ... from before the whole age". You might ask Jude what he knew of what was "before the whole age". How did he come to have an apprehension of God in that relation, that he could worship Him in regard to it? He says, "To him ... be glory;" that is, there is present in Jude's soul a sense of worship to God in relation to what was from "before the whole age". Think of the vastness of such a thought in his heart! It refers to his apprehension of God as beyond the period of time. He thought of God in that way, as the One that inhabited eternity, before time existed! The sense of the greatness of God thus in the soul of Jude leads him to worship the "eternal God". How little we know or are able to say as to that, but we know that unapproachable light was there, that love was there, and glory was there, before the world was. As Jude thought thus of God in all His inscrutable

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greatness, he says, "To him ... be glory ... from before the whole age".

Then I am sure that Jude had attended to the words of the apostles. He speaks of "the words spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ". He adhered to them, and his soul was filled with worship in relation to what was purposed from "before the whole age;" the eternal thoughts and purpose of God before time, before the world, in relation to us. That also would fill his soul. One cannot speak much of it, but Peter touches one theme. He says, "knowing that ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible things, as silver or gold, ... but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ, foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:18 - 20). Peter lays hold of that, and I have no doubt Jude had it in his heart, that the One through whom we are redeemed, and the means of our redemption, was in the mind of God as foreknown before the foundation of the world. The natural mind would inquire why God should permit a condition of things that would need redemption, but it is not permissible for the thing formed to question what is done by the One who formed it; for the clay to question the Potter. It says of the One who is the Redeemer that He was "foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world". I am sure Jude would have that in his heart when he says, "To him ... be glory ... from before the whole age".

The apostle Paul speaks of "the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages of time" (Titus 1:2). He has in his soul the maintenance of life according to the promise of God before time was. How

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wonderful that is! The question of good and evil, which belongs to time, appears so great to us that even before sin came in, Eve speaks of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as being in the midst of the garden, whereas the Spirit of God says, "the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:9). It was evidently near, but it does not actually say that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the midst, but it does say that the tree of life was in the midst. Thus the central thought of God was that there would be one blessed Man, for trees in Scripture refer to men, who would support the character of life that was according to the eternal thoughts of God. The apostle Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, says, "According as he has chosen us in him before the world's foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love" (chapter 1: 4) - a thing that is wonderful to our hearts - He chose us before time was to be before Him as taken into favour in the Beloved, marking us out beforehand for sonship according to the good pleasure of His will. Jude would have all that in mind, as heeding the words of the apostles, and as he looked over that vast range before the ages of time, he says, "To him ... through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory". The great and blessed Person who secures worship from the heart of men is Jesus Christ our Lord.

Then he says, "And now". What a vista would open up before Jude's soul as he thinks of "now", what there is now that would provide substance to the worship of Jude's soul. What is there now? What we are in the light of now, is the revelation of God. Could there be anything more blessed

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and glorious with which to fill our hearts? "No one has seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him" (John 1:18). That is part of what is now, and the blessedness of it was in Jude's heart as he uttered this doxology. How much is in the "now!" The apostle John says, "And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should know him that is true; and we are in him that is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20). What is also "now" is this, the Spirit of God has come. He is here in the believer, and in the assembly. "Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). "Do ye not know that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). He is here also as the Comforter to attend to the interests of Christ, to form us according to that purpose before time, and to fit us for Christ's day. All this is part of the "now". And the assembly of God is here; the true tabernacle has been pitched, and the service of God is going on. Jude has this in his heart, and more, when he says, "To him ... be glory ... now". What a wondrous day we are in, beloved! - the closing day. Some sense of the greatness of God in relation to what was before time has come into the hearts of the saints, and some sense of the wonder of the "now" is with us, so that we worship.

Then Jude looks forward, and he says, "And to all the ages". He looks right into eternity, and sees such a scene that he worships. He looks into the coming age, the "administration of the fulness of times" (Ephesians 1:10), and he

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sees everything in heaven under the headship of Christ, angels and authorities and powers, the assembly, every family in heaven - all under the influence, direction and impulse of Christ. He also sees everything on earth headed up in Christ and - and how our hearts long for it - not a movement on earth in the coming age but is effected by Christ. He looks further; as Peter says, "We wait for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). By the Spirit Jude looks into eternity, the ages of ages, and what does he see? New heavens, with families in them, all in the blessed consciousness, in various degrees, of sonship, being named of the Father, all enjoying what is heavenly, and held there in the power of love to all eternity. Think of being brought to the altitude of the divine thought, that we should be heavenly! "Such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones" (1 Corinthians 15:48). Think of having a place in what is heavenly and, indeed, in the new heavens, and never a possibility of falling or of leaving them. Then also a new earth, inhabited. Scripture speaks of the "habitable part of his earth" (Proverbs 8:31). How little, alas! there is that is habitable today. Think of the whole earth - what is there habitable according to God? But Jude had before his mind a new earth, every part of which would be habitable, and every part conscious that there are exalted spheres above them, yet eternally content to be where God has put them. Never will the word be heard, "I will ascend" (Isaiah 14:13); never will the heavenly fall; never will the earthly attempt to mount up, but all, knowing God, will be eternally satisfied to be where He has set them.

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The Scripture says, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall not exist any more, nor grief, nor cry, nor distress shall exist any more, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3, 4). As Jude looks into the ages of ages, his soul is filled with worship, and he utters at the close of this solemn and deeply affecting epistle this wondrous doxology: "To him ... through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory". One loves to think of how we shall ever hold all as having come by Jesus Christ, the great and glorious instrument for the securing of the thoughts of God. "To us there is ... one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (1 Corinthians 8:6). How He will stand out thus for ever! Thus Jude closes, "But to him ... the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory" - a vista that bows our hearts in worship; though little indeed can we view the immensity of it! - "... from before the whole age, and now" - thank God for the "now" - "and to all the ages". Then he says, "Amen". The psalmist would speak to us there; he would say, "Let all the people say, Amen!" Let every heart come into this. Dear brethren, the end is at hand, and the only thing that counts now is to come into this "Amen", to come into this response to God, known in this wondrous way, even in the presence of the day of apostasy and darkness that is spreading over christendom. The one thing that really matters is that our hearts should be secured for this "Amen", to have part in this blessed closing doxology. May the Lord deepen it. I am

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sure He has it, but may it increase and deepen in volume and intensity in all our souls. One loves to think of the extent of the ultimate doxology that will be heard. John says that he heard it. "And every creature which is in the heaven and upon the earth and under the earth, and those that are upon the sea, and all things in them, heard I saying, To him that sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, blessing, and honour, and glory, and might, to the ages of ages" (Revelation 5:13). One is conscious of the intense feebleness of one's own part in these great things, but I am assured that they are being secured, and the great thing for us all is to set our hearts more earnestly and definitely to have a part in them to the end.

Glasgow, May 1936

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THE SERVICE OF CHRIST IN VIEW OF ASSEMBLY FEATURES

A J GARDINER

Revelation 2:7, 17; Revelation 3:7 - 11; Isaiah 28:5, 6;

Revelation 22:16, 17, 20

I desire to speak, dear brethren, of what the Lord is, and is ready to be, to His people as they cherish the thoughts of God in regard of the assembly. God intends that that which was set up at the outset by the work of the apostles should find a counterpart, at least in moral features and quality, in the last days, and I believe the Lord intends that we should have this definitely before us, as the end to which the Spirit of God is now working. The book of Revelation helps greatly in that connection, and in chapters 2 and 3 it shows us the history of the assembly in its public character, in its departure from the divine thought at the outset, but it also brings in light as to recovery, and closes with evidence of that recovery secured.

Now if divine thoughts are to be realised among the saints, they are realised by virtue of the presence of overcomers. It is of the utmost importance to lay hold of the thought of an overcomer. I understand that an overcomer is one who, in the presence of general departure from the truth, refuses to lower the standard or to give up divine thoughts. The history of Scripture shows us that, not alone as regards the assembly, but all down the ages, the truth of God has been carried through on the principle of an

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overcomer, or overcomers, coming into evidence. Indeed, one might say that the book of Revelation, and in fact the whole of John's ministry - this book, his gospel, and his epistles - has in view, among other things, the formation and testimony of overcomers. All through chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation there is a constant word to the overcomer. In the addresses to the first three assemblies, the word to the overcomer follows the injunction, "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies", but in the last four the word to the overcomer precedes the injunction, suggesting that it is only the overcomer who actually pays attention to the Spirit's voice to the assemblies.

The importance of this address to Ephesus, in its application to us, is that it shows the beginning of departure, which consisted in the leaving of first love. That is to say, that while what was proper to the assembly was continued so far as outward appearance was concerned, the Lord detected that the spring of it in undivided affection for Himself and appreciation of Himself had gone; it had been surrendered. To the overcomer there the Lord says, "I will give to him to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God". We know that the tree of life is said to bring forth twelve fruits, in each month yielding fruit. It speaks of Jesus as the One who, in every changing circumstance, continually presented under the eye of God some fresh feature of fruitfulness for the pleasure of God, life showing itself in ever-varied features which each succeeding circumstance brought to light in the life of Jesus. He is not now down here; He is above, as it says, "The tree of life which is in the paradise of God". It is a wonderful thought

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that there is the paradise of God, a scene of divine pleasure and rest, and Jesus is the centre of it. He is presented here, so as to be apprehended in that light, as affording in Himself in all the features of life, the varied fruitfulness which is adequate, in its blessedness and variety, to afford rest and pleasure to the heart of God. He is presented as food for the one who will not allow that the assembly can afford to go on as divorced in thought and affection from Him who is her Head.

The gospels afford us much instruction as to this as we take account of the varied features of fruitfulness coming to light in Jesus for the pleasure of God. As I said, He is not now here, but, as our hymn expressed it:

No trait is lost, each beauteous grace is found,
All brought through death to resurrection ground. (Hymn 229)

And not only to resurrection ground, but where He is, "the tree of life which is in the paradise of God". Every feature of the all-varied fruitfulness which delighted the heart of God is there carried through, and is to be apprehended and fed upon in the power of the Spirit. I think as we contemplate Christ as He is presented in the gospels, and especially in the gospel of Luke, we become impressed with the sense that every succeeding circumstance brought to light its own feature of fruitfulness for the pleasure of God. The tree was always yielding its fruit, so to speak, month by month. If we think of the introduction of Jesus into this world, there was a Babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, lying in a manger, and immediately the angel had

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announced to the shepherds what had come to pass, it says, "Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men" (Luke 2:13, 14). The idea of good pleasure in men had now taken shape in that lowly Babe. There was expressed there in Jesus, as soon as He had come into this world, the feature of supreme lowliness and complete dependence upon God, which yielded pleasure - there is no question about it - to the heart of God.

Then, if we trace the growing up of Jesus, as it says, advancing "in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men" (Luke 2:52), we find Him, as Luke records, at the age of twelve, and He presents there these features of fruitfulness. Not that the others had lapsed by any means, but there at that age He presents features of fruitfulness suitable to that particular phase. There is on the one hand His Father's business cherished in His heart, and there is the sitting in the temple among the teachers hearing them and asking them questions - all that is suitable to that phase of His holy life here presented under the eye of God - and, coupled with that, there was the most complete subjection to the position which God had ordered for Him, so that it says He went down with His parents to Nazareth and was subject to them. Not that there had ever been any trace of insubjection, but the Spirit of God loves to bring before us that combination of fruitfulness at that stage, the combination of intelligent delight in His Father's business with the most perfect subjection to God's ordering for Him as set out in His circumstances at Nazareth.

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Then we hear but little more of the detail of the life of Jesus for eighteen years, but we may be sure that those years, characterised by patient continuance in those features that marked Him at the age of twelve, were delightful to the heart of God. We get an impression of that delight when, at the conclusion of those eighteen years, the heaven was opened upon Him, and the Father's voice was heard saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight" (Luke 3:22). Up to that moment there had not been any movement in public service. Think of the importance of this principle of subjection to the ordering of God for us, while cherishing the will of God, and of continuing in it until the moment comes to move out in service; think of the importance of those eighteen years of which we have no detail, save that we understand by the Spirit that they were filled up with the most complete obedience and subjection to the will of God in the humble circumstances appointed for Him, while at the same time He was cherishing in His heart the carrying through, to its completion, of His Father's business!

Luke's presentation of Christ shows Him as continually marked by the attitude and spirit of prayer, but in His praying there is no formality, no sameness. On one occasion we read that He withdrew into a desert place and prayed; on another He went up into a mountain to pray, as if different circumstances brought to light different features of intelligent movement which were delightful to the heart of God. It is for us to discern why on one occasion He went into the wilderness to pray, whereas on another He would go up into a mountain, but all I am drawing attention to is

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that all the varied circumstances of the life of Jesus brought out, each in its place, some fresh feature of life and fruitfulness.

So we may move on, and, as I said, the gospels afford contemplation for our hearts. We think of the scene in Gethsemane, a holy scene indeed; each writer that records it contributes some feature that marked that occasion. Luke tells us that He knelt down, and "being in conflict he prayed more intently" (Luke 22:44). Matthew tells us that He prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me; but not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matthew 26:39). That is to say, there was a holy shrinking from all that the will of God would involve for Him, and the liberty to ask that, if it were possible, the cup might pass from Him, but "not as I will, but as thou wilt". Then Matthew again records that on the second occasion He prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass from me unless I drink it, thy will be done" (verse 42). Each prayer brings into evidence some fresh precious feature under the eye of God, the holy shrinking from what was involved, the liberty to pray that, if it were possible, it might be removed, but with the most complete desire that no will but God's should have place. And then, on the other hand, may I say reverently, the arriving at the point that there was no way out save His drinking the cup, and, arriving at it, He says, "Thy will be done". We may well understand that there was infinite pleasure for God in all those movements and expressions of Jesus. Then Mark records further that He said, "Abba, Father" (Mark 14:36), that holy expression of confident and dependent affection, so delightful to the Father's ear,

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which the Holy Spirit is intent on producing in living power now in the hearts of the saints.

One would allude to one more incident. According to Luke's gospel, as Jesus was taken by His enemies, His misguided disciple struck off the ear of the servant of the high priest, and at that moment Jesus said, "Suffer thus far" (Luke 22:51) and He touched his ear and healed him. Think of such a circumstance bringing to light such a movement of love on the part of Jesus, that He would not allow that the grace of God toward men should be misrepresented in any way. He would rather suffer whatever happened in order that God might be rightly represented before men. I think I have said enough to indicate that as we feed on the "tree of life which is in the paradise of God", we become imbued with a sense of the moral excellence that resides in Jesus, and the effect of it is that He becomes practically held as Head in the affections of the saints. I believe that is the effect of it, that the Lord rises more and more in the spiritual esteem of His people, so that they recognise Him as the One in whom every moral excellence resides, and it becomes their desire to come under His influence alone. It is only in that way that the divine thoughts in regard of the assembly can be realised, whether in its service Godward or in its testimony manward. It can only fulfil the divine intent regarding it as it is held livingly under the personal influence of Christ. I believe feeding on the tree of life brings about an appreciation of the One who is in the paradise of God as great enough in His own moral excellence to afford unbounded satisfaction to the heart of God.

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You remember how when the tribes came to David to Hebron, they said, "Even aforetime, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel" (2 Samuel 5:2). That is to say, that even when another man was outwardly and positionally their head, they all discerned a moral excellence in David that completely eclipsed Saul. The moment came when David was actually accorded his place as head to them, but it came about as the result of their having appreciated in David an excellence that eclipsed Saul; so it is with ourselves. The Lord graciously recovered, a hundred years ago, the truth that the assembly has a living Head in heaven, but He is practically given His place as Head in the hearts of the saints as we become impressed with the all-varied features of moral excellence that are found alone in Jesus. Before I leave this subject, may I just refer to the close of John's gospel? I suppose it is generally believed that John's gospel was the last of the inspired writings, and, if so, it is all the more remarkable that it closes with this word: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself would contain the books written" (John 21:25). It is as if the Spirit of God intends that that should rest as a final impression upon the minds and hearts of the saints, that there is an inexhaustible fulness in Jesus, and the assembly is intended to be the vessel, as having a living, adoring appreciation of Christ, in which all the varied features of life as seen in Jesus have practical expression. I believe all the movements of the saints, in so far as they are the result of their being in living touch with Christ, become the

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expansion, so to speak, of all the things that Jesus did. They present under the eye of God that which is morally and supremely excellent as derived from Christ and Him alone.

I refer now to the assembly at Pergamos, as it represents the phase in the history of the assembly in which worldliness began to come in, and hence what is presented to the overcomer is that which is calculated to counteract that element. I am sure, if we think it over, we would not desire that any element of worldliness should have place with us. We remember the words which the Lord Jesus spoke to the Father about His own, how He said, "They are not of the world, as I am not of the world" (John 17:16), and again, the prophetic word given through Balaam in regard of God's people that they should dwell alone and not be reckoned among the nations. In Pergamos, the feature of worldliness was coming in. There were those who held the doctrine of Balaam. They were not as yet teaching it, but they held it. It was a question of what was being secretly held in the heart, the idea that it was permissible and perhaps even advantageous for the saints to be friendly with the world, but that idea cannot be held if the word of God has its place with us. We may remind ourselves of what the Spirit of God says through James, that "friendship with the world is enmity with God" (James 4:4), and that "whoever therefore is minded to be the friend of the world is constituted enemy of God". We do not want to be enemies of God, beloved; we want to be among the thousands who love God. We need to come with the Spirit of God to a spiritual judgment of the world. As it is said, "The whole world lies in the wicked one" (1 John 5:19), and again, that

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it is "called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified" (Revelation 11:8).

There is an overcomer in Pergamos, and it is said, "To him will I give of the hidden manna". It is not now so much the presentation of Christ in His varied fruitfulness in every circumstance for the pleasure of God, but rather the presentation of Christ in the grace in which He has moved through the very same world in which we are found. He has moved in the same circumstances in which we have to move in the government of God, and He went through it in separation of heart to God, the will of God being that by which He lived, and "by every word of God". There is nothing more touching, as having to go through this world, than to see the way that Jesus went through it, and to understand that He is available as food to everyone who is prepared to appropriate Him thus. This is a hidden matter. Christendom, alas! despises the manna, and the overcomer has to learn to cherish Christ in a hidden way in his affections; he has to learn to live by that which is hidden and secret. May I say that there can be no prosperity publicly if we do not learn to cultivate that which is secret; that is, the heart learning to withdraw itself from all that obtains in the world and the thoughts that are current amongst men, and to appreciate Christ and feed upon Him. The Lord Himself sought to cultivate with His own what is secret and hidden, what is secret between the soul and Christ, or between the soul and God.

In the instructions given to His disciples in Matthew 6, He emphasises the idea of cultivating what is secret. Whether it be in our giving of alms, or in our praying or

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fasting, we are to learn to cultivate that which is secret between our souls and God. He says particularly in regard of prayer, "When thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret" (verse 6). That is to say, there is to be nothing casual about our praying, there is to be that which is deliberate, seeking the presence of God, joying in the sense that the Father sees in secret, and the readiness to place ourselves under the eye of God in secret, so that all our thoughts and desires may be laid bare before the eye of Him who sees in secret, and it says, "Thy Father who sees in secret will render it to thee". I only mention that in order to emphasise this idea of what is hidden as being an important factor in developing the power to overcome that which is around us.

In the record of Gideon we learn that he was threshing wheat to hide it from the Midianites. He had grasped the idea of hiding that which was most precious, and the angel of the Lord came to him and said, "Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour" (Judges 6:12). There was no outward appearance of might or valour in threshing wheat to hide it from the Midianites, but the angel said to him, "Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty man of valour", and Gideon said, "Ah my Lord, if Jehovah be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" (verse 13) and he referred to what their fathers had told them about what God had done for His people, and the angel said, "Go in this thy might". In what did his might consist? I believe it consisted in this, that he was exercised to go on with the true food and to hide it from the Midianites; and coupled with this, that in spite of the outward conditions, he was cherishing in his heart

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God's thoughts concerning His people. The angel says, Now you have might. If we are marked by these conditions, if we are feeding upon Christ in spite of the outward difficulties, if we embraced the idea of what is hidden and are cherishing divine thoughts, then these are the constituent elements by which the world will be overthrown.

In the word to Philadelphia I wish to speak only of one feature of what the Lord is to His people, which comes to light there, and that is, the faithfulness of His love for the assembly. To this assembly He presents Himself as "the holy, the true". He does not present Himself in any official or judicial way, but according to certain moral features of holiness and truth; holiness having reference to what is suitable to God, what is Godward, and truth having reference to fidelity in testimony manward, and perhaps having reference to the inner motives governing us in our movements. The Lord said of Himself in John's gospel, "He that speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but he that seeks the glory of him that has sent him, he is true, and unrighteousness is not in him" (chapter 7: 18). What a great salvation it would be to us in all our assembly matters as well as in individual matters, if we embraced the idea of seeking the glory of God. That is what the assembly is here for, that God may be glorified, and the Lord presents Himself in that light, as the One who is holy and the One who is true. Philadelphia represents the great feature of assembly recovery; and the Lord is working definitely in these days to secure the recovery of every feature that is proper to the assembly for His own heart and for the pleasure and glory of God. Having secured it in

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Philadelphia, He says, "Behold, I make them of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie; behold, I will cause that they shall come and shall do homage before thy feet, and shall know that I have loved thee". He could not say it before. His love for the assembly has proved true through all the vicissitudes that have marked its history, but now a point has been reached when He can afresh disclose His love for the assembly. That is an outstanding feature of this our day. The Lord has graciously recovered in these last days the true setting of the Supper, and He maintains it for us in living freshness week by week, Lord's day after Lord's day, and as it is taken by us in simplicity of affection for Christ, He loves to confirm to the souls of His people that He has something down here in the assembly as to which He can say, "I have loved thee", and He will make it known. It is to be cherished above everything else, that we should be consciously in that which is the present object of the love of Christ. There is nothing to exceed it, nothing more blessed than to belong consciously to the assembly, of which Christ is the living Head: and which is the object of His constant living ministrations now, to the end that every thought of the blessed God should find an answer in the assembly.

I do not say more in regard to Philadelphia, having in mind only to call attention to the outstanding feature of this present day, the fidelity of the love of Christ for the assembly, which is a known reality among the saints. It is that which is to be cherished, and the Supper is that by which our souls become nourished in it. Let no one despise the Supper; let it never enter the minds of the saints, young

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or old, to go for their holidays to a place where they cannot break bread. You cannot afford to miss the Supper, the present sense of the love of Christ for the assembly, the growing sense of all that He is to it, and how He has given Himself for it. How He reminds us of it Lord's day after Lord's day: "This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). He would maintain the assembly in living touch with Himself, whether it is in the consciousness of a love that is unchanging, or in the light of the moral excellence that shines in Him who took a bondman's form for the will of God. He has served His saints and serves them still in love, and not only does He serve us in relation to His own love for the assembly, but He serves us in connection with the cup of the new covenant in His blood, in order that we may be continually and increasingly liberated in the joy of the love of God, as that by which every moral question has been solved, so as to be available under His hand for the holy service of God which is so dear to His heart. Let us seek help from the Lord to understand increasingly the value of the present moment, and the immense possibilities for the heart of Christ and for the pleasure of God that lie in the fact, on the one hand of the faithfulness of the love of Christ to the assembly, and on the other of the presence here of the Holy Spirit.

That leads me to the passage in Isaiah. You will notice that it commences with the words, "In that day". It is an expression which occurs many times in this particular section of the book of Isaiah. "That day" refers to a day when God brings about recovery amongst His people, and

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hence it has a practical bearing upon ourselves. That its immediate interpretation is to God's earthly people is of course fully recognised, but at the same time I think we can see that it has a definite bearing upon the present day, the outstanding feature of which is that God is working in recovery. It says, "In that day will Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the remnant of his people". The "remnant of his people" today are those in whom divine thoughts are cherished and in whom the features proper to the assembly are secured in a living way, so that the whole assembly can be accredited with them, for there is nothing less than the whole assembly in the mind and heart of Christ and in the minds and hearts of those who are near to Him; and it says, "In that day will Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty". I believe that the assembly has no greater crown than the consciousness of the love of Christ. The fact that Christ loves us, that He loves the assembly, that we have a living Head in heaven who is unceasing in His love to the assembly, is her crown and glory. He becomes a diadem of beauty, for the more the saints are held in their affections in living touch with their Head in heaven, the more does the beauty that is inherent in Himself, every feature of moral excellence, come into evidence as characterising His people.

Then He becomes more than that. It says, "And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment". This is an important matter, that the assembly at the present time is a place where judgment according to God comes into evidence. As it says in the psalm in relation to Jerusalem, "There are set thrones for judgment" (Psalm 122:5). If the

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Lord allows difficulties to arise in local assemblies, it is in order that judgment according to God should come into expression, and the Lord is prepared to be "a spirit of judgment" to those who sit in judgment. Sitting in judgment means that the judgment is to be a deliberate and dignified matter. It is not to be brought down or lowered by petty jealousies and paltry things - there is nothing suggestive of a throne of judgment in such things. The idea of a throne of judgment is that in the judgment there is that which is expressive of God, and if the Lord allows difficulties or questions to arise among the saints, the intention is that it should bring into evidence a judgment that is according to God, so that God is expressed; and God, as it says, "in all things may be glorified" (1 Peter 4:11). The Lord says, "Judge not according to sight, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24). How can we judge righteous judgment save as applying divine principles, and how can we apply divine principles rightly save as the Lord becomes to us the "spirit of judgment"? It says, "They that seek Jehovah understand everything" (Proverbs 28:5). There is no matter that can arise in the history of the assembly which cannot be solved according to God by those who seek the Lord; and He is "a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment", that is, to those who embrace the idea that things are not to be settled according to human expediency or human thoughts, but that every matter is to become an occasion for a judgment to be given that expresses things according to God.

Then it says, "And for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate". What is the gate, beloved? The place

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where judgment is given, where things are judged according to divine principles. That is the gate, and we well know that when there is a conflict of any kind, one of the most frequent tactics of the enemy is to seek to becloud the real issue by bringing in all sorts of secondary and irrelevant matters so that the real issue is confused. In those circumstances no one can render a greater service to the saints than to turn the battle to the gate. That is to say, the real issue is made clear, and the great divine principles governing it are brought clearly into the light, and the Lord will be strength to those who do it. They may be attacked by the enemy, but the Lord will be "strength to them that turn the battle to the gate". It is an assurance of victory. Every conflict that arises amongst the people of God is an effort of the enemy to bring in some corrupting influence so that the glory of God may be obscured, and what is essential is that the battle should be turned to the gate, whatever anyone may say, and the Lord will be strength to such.

I refer in closing to the last chapter of Revelation. The Lord has traced the history of the assembly, and now at the close, He says, "I Jesus have sent mine angel" - what a sense that gives us of the greatness of Christ - "to testify these things to you in the assemblies. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star", and as He thus speaks to our hearts, "the Spirit and the bride say, Come". What is characteristic of the bride? She adorns herself for her husband. She is the exact opposite of the false system that adorns itself with every kind of false ornamentation and says, "I sit a queen, and I am not a

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widow" (Revelation 18:7). The bride is the entire opposite of that; she adorns herself solely for her husband. She understands that true adornment, true beauty, is just that which is according to the heart of Christ, indeed it is that which morally corresponds with the beauty which shines in Himself. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come". Beloved, we want to be in every way in accord with Christ. If I have any other judgment than that which He has about a matter, there is evident discrepancy between myself and Christ. We want to make it our great aspiration to be in every way in correspondence with Christ. It says, "The Spirit and the bride say, Come". "He that testifies these things says, Yea, I come quickly". If He says quickly, let us have no other thought; let us see to it that the things that are unsuitable to Him are judged at once in order that there may be no delay on our part. On His part, He says, "Yea, I come quickly".

May the Lord grant, beloved, that we may be able, as found here cherishing all that is pleasing to the Lord, to say, "Amen; come, Lord Jesus". That is what the Lord is looking for. May He enable us to say it in truth of heart!

Glasgow, May 1936

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THE FAITHFUL GOD

A N WALKER

1 Corinthians 1:7 - 9; 1 Corinthians 10:12 - 14; Hebrews 10:23, 24

Moses in the book of Deuteronomy gives to God a wonderful name. In chapter 7 he tells the people that they shall know that Jehovah their God is "the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy to a thousand generations with them that love him" (verse 9). We learn, too, that He will repay to the face those that hate Him (verse 10). God is therefore not to be trifled with. But to those who love Him and keep His commandments He is faithful to a thousand generations. Thus He is called "the faithful God". I wanted to say a word about that. We have to bow our heads in shame as the unfaithfulness of men is brought home to us. You cannot walk the streets of any city in the land without having a sense of shame, as you realise it. But I do want to refer to the support we have in the face of all that, in the knowledge of the fact that God is faithful. That is how Moses knew Him as unswerving in faithfulness, for He never fails to keep a promise. I would commend that to each one of us.

The apostle in speaking of the Lord uses the same reference in connection with failure on our part. He suggests that the Lord may deny us. There might be someone here who has had a work of God in his soul but who has been denying the Lord. The apostle says, "If we deny, he also will deny us; if we are unfaithful, he abides faithful, for he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:12, 13).

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I commend that to the brethren; the Lord might, on account of our unfaithfulness, deny us, but He will never deny Himself. "He abides faithful".

These references, you will note, are in the elementary epistles. I do not think the idea of God's faithfulness is developed in the advanced epistles. If we knew what it was to stand practically on Colossian and Ephesian ground we should not need to be told that God is faithful. But when we are starting, when we are on elementary ground, such as in Romans, we find that one great section of that epistle is taken up with proving that God is faithful, and that He is righteous, and this touches one's heart. I do not know of anything that will bring us back from swerving from faithfulness like the fact that God remains faithful. If I am His and He has made a promise, I may be sure that He will keep it. You could not exactly say that the Corinthians were an exemplary company of Christians; they were not models. One can see much today with which fault could be found, but I commend these verses in 1 Corinthians to you. Referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says, "Who shall also confirm you to the end, unimpeachable". Let us consider that. Our brethren might have to feel that we are impeachable; we have to prove true to the trust committed to us, but in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be confirmed unimpeachable. The reason is that "God is faithful" who has called us. We may not have made much of that call with which God has called us, but we have moved. We may have to say that we have not made a success of it, but God is faithful who has called us into the fellowship of His Son. People sometimes want to know

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about the fellowship; we can say this is the fellowship into which God has called us; and He is faithful. In spite of all the fellowships that men have made in unfaithfulness we can say, "God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord". In the strength and gain of that, we can be assured that the Lord Jesus Christ shall confirm us unimpeachable in His day.

Then in chapter 10, if any of us have had any success, or if we have failed less publicly than some others, that is no occasion for haughtiness on our part. One may say, I have stood thirty years; another, I have remained in fellowship for sixty years. The apostle says, "Let him that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall". No success in the past or maintenance in the path is a guarantee that we shall continue to the end. I might think that since I have remained faithful for so long a time I shall go on for the rest of my days. "Let him that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall". Beloved brethren, let us take this to heart, those who are young, and we who are older also, for we cannot afford to boast in any successes. There is always the possibility of falling. Let us remember that, and take heed lest we fall. It may be, in that moment of pride, when our self-sufficiency is tested, that we will be allowed to fall. We should ever remember that "no temptation has taken you but such as is according to man's nature; and God is faithful". We blame our failures on the temptations, or on the extremity of the situation, but whatever the cause, do not let us put the blame for these things on God. He is too faithful for that! Every temptation that comes is according to man's nature, and God is faithful. Do not let me blame

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the failure on the extreme conditions under which I fell, because "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able to bear". If I am found in self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction I shall find myself exposed and liable to fall. No man shall ever be able at the end of the journey to pride himself in his faithfulness. He will boast only in the faithfulness of God. Moses, who had to suffer for failure, himself bears testimony to the faithfulness of God. He calls Him "the faithful God" (Deuteronomy 7:9).

And then we come to the verse in Hebrews 10, still bearing in mind that these epistles are on elementary lines. They should confirm our souls, so that the liability of failure and falling is less. There is failure with us, but not with God. We can say together, as the beloved writer of this epistle said, "Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering". That is a word here that is anticipative of the thought of the faithfulness of God. The vacillating character of human nature is offset by the unwavering, unchanging character of the blessed God; and the exhortation is in view of that. He is faithful. We shall be less wavering if we are held by the constancy of the faithfulness of God. "Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering, (for he is faithful who has promised;) and let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works". Finally, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together". Let us do what the writer urges upon us, so that the body shall be built up in love, that we might seek to stand in relation to the one body and go on together. It says, "Two are better than one; ... For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow" (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10). Do not isolate yourself, dear young brother

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or young sister, seek to link on with your brethren, for many of us here have proved that we have been often saved from failure by the fact of having our brethren next to us. Let me exhort you to get to the meetings. It is a helpful and healthy custom to attend the meetings. Some here perhaps come to the special meetings and we are glad to see them here today, but let us follow the spiritual instinct of assembling ourselves together at all times: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another, and by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near". May the Lord bless the word.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1936

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UPPER-ROOM FEATURES

A ROBERTSON

Luke 22:8 - 14; Acts 20:7 - 12

It occurred to me that we may be profitably reminded, dear brethren, of certain features which marked Christianity at the outset, as seen in the upper room in the beginning of the Acts, not only that we may learn how to continue as Christians individually, but, as being brought into such a circle in which we each have a responsibility to move, that we may function in relation to the body as set up in the upper room. That is what I should like to bring before you, that the features of the upper room may be clearly understood by each of us.

You will notice that Luke calls our attention to the Lord's instructions to His disciples. He sent Peter and John into the city, which in itself is a matter for our consideration. They were competent to prepare the passover in the upper room. "There make ready", was the Lord's word to them. But in coming to the city the first thing they see is a man, as the Lord had said, "as ye enter into the city". One would seek that we might take this to heart, that the first thing we look for in any city is a man carrying a pitcher of water. If we are to come into the upper room intelligently, we must first learn to follow that man. In Acts we read, "They returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the mount of Olives" (Acts 1:12), suggesting that what characterises this large upper room is that the Spirit

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of God prevails there. One would emphasise this, for we all must learn it, that if the Lord is to have His rightful place amongst us, what is spiritual must prevail. They came to Jerusalem from the mount of Olives. Their souls would be bathed in the influence of that place and they would enter the upper room under that divine influence.

Now, these two disciples come into the city and follow the man with the pitcher of water to "the house where he goes in". Then they were to say to the master of the house, "The Teacher says to thee, Where is the guest-chamber?" This suggests to me that as coming into the upper room, we must learn that the Lord Jesus Christ as the Teacher has a right to the upper room. He is the Teacher and the Lord, and in coming into that room we must learn that we are there, not to do as we please, but as guests. As consciously there we are to follow the lead and instruction of the Teacher. Then Luke tells us that "when the hour was come, he placed himself at table, and the twelve apostles with him". They were with Him; all were present; not one was missing! All sat down together; none were late. This is an added feature of the upper room: that we do not disregard the Lord's rights amongst us even in the matter of attendance and punctuality.

Now the list of names in Acts begins with Peter and John and James; they abode in the upper room and were subject to the rights of Christ in respect to it. Then it says, "Peter, standing up" (Acts 1:15). I am sure there was no question in the minds of any there as to who should speak on that occasion. They all recognised that Peter should speak. Now these features were found in the upper room at

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the beginning of Christianity; there was a recognition of the rights and sovereignty of God amongst them, and we too should look for that on every occasion that we come together, otherwise we will not be continuing in what was established at the outset. If Peter is given place, he will see that the Lord has His place amongst us in authority, with this result, that the flesh in us will be kept in subjection. We will not be together as simply accumulating knowledge - precious as the ministry is - but will be making room for the authority of the Lord amongst us. Peter will assert that authority, so that if we do not have Peter's features amongst us, we will lack something of the furnishings set up at the beginning.

I wish to link Luke 22 with Acts 20. We get the idea of the upper room in both passages. It says, "We being assembled to break bread, Paul discoursed to them, about to depart on the morrow. And he prolonged the discourse till midnight. And there were many lights in the upper room where we were assembled". Now, to continue the thought of recognising Peter, the "being assembled" contains the same idea as "with one accord" in Acts 2:46. They were together characteristically, relatively right one with the other, and the many lights were shining brightly; "There were many lights in the upper room". The question might arise with a brother, is it my turn to speak tonight? But it is important to make room for the Spirit of God, as suggested in the earthen pitcher of water, and in the return to Jerusalem from the mount of Olives. They were there in the full recognition of the dignity and the features of the upper room. Think of that position! Again room is made for the

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apostle - not now Peter, but Paul - and he discourses, it says, "till midnight". This raises the inquiry as to one's ability to listen; how long can we listen? I am not speaking of the chapter historically, but as to how long we can listen to Paul. He has been fitted by the Lord Jesus Himself, to bring to us the truth of the assembly in all its dignity and greatness as only he can rightly speak. Without Paul amongst us we would be greatly lacking, as also without Peter. We need Peter as representative of the furnishings at the beginning, but we also need Paul amongst us. Let us all consider the importance of that. We must have Paul. The truth of the assembly is at stake unless Paul is amongst us; one of the things we greatly lack is the understanding of the truth of the assembly according to Paul. Paul tells us how to sit down in dignity as of the body. When Paul spoke at such length we might be sure that he spoke about the body, even as he wrote to the Corinthians, saying, "In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13). This is of great and present value to apprehend, so that we are to sit down amongst our brethren, not as independent units, but as members of the one body. Paul further says, "God has set the members, each one of them in the body" (1 Corinthians 12:18). He also says, "God has set certain in the assembly" (verse 28), which applies to gifts; and if we listen to Paul he will set us right relatively so that, dear brethren, we learn how to continue until daybreak.

The young man who was sitting at the window fell asleep listening to Paul. How serious to fall asleep when Paul speaks! We have been receiving valuable ministry of late, worthy of our close attention. May we heed it and

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continue in what has been ministered so as to move in relation to the saints, learning how to function as in the body. These things are not new, but are important for us all. One feels the Lord would lay these suggestions on our spirits, that we might be under the guidance of the Lord Jesus, and of the Holy Spirit. The young man was recovered; he was brought back to the third story. It says, "Paul descending fell upon him, and enfolding him in his arms, said, Be not troubled, for his life is in him". What we need is the continuity of life in the assembly; this great vessel is to be thus characterised at the end. What an asset this youth would be as in Paul's embrace! He would take on the features of the apostle, so that as in the upper room now, he would become a great asset. Hence the features of the last days are to be marked by life; features that the Lord would promote amongst us as a result of coming under the embrace of the beloved apostle.

One's desire is that these holy features characterising the upper room of Luke 22, the upper room of Acts 1, and the upper room of Acts 20, might mark us in our localities whether present for the Lord's supper, for prayer, or for reading of the Scriptures; that the Lord's rights should be asserted amongst us, whether as represented in Peter or in Paul, to the end that we continue in what was set up at the beginning.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1936

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IDEALS

C C ELLIOTT

Galatians 2:18 - 20; Philippians 3:8 - 11; 1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27; Colossians 1:24, 29; Colossians 2:1 - 4

I have before me to speak about ideals, ideals that are not imaginary, but which can be realised. If we have no true ideals before our souls, we fall into depression, and things come between us and Christ. It is a sad thing to see Christians going on without any definite object or aim, lacking steadfastness in their lives. Let us ask ourselves, what definite object have we in our lives? We can go on in a careless sort of way, doing our business, not transgressing the moral code, going to meetings and enjoying them to a certain extent, nevertheless not in the realisation of what I am speaking of as Christian ideals. We may thus go through life with an undefined path because Christ is not before us as our object. I think that one of the great benefits of meetings like this is to stir us up so that we may review our motives and our object in life, that we may see where we are and be preserved from going through the short time that remains, until the Lord comes, in an aimless way. This is the object with which I speak.

Paul is the great exemplar of what is in mind. He says, "Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). What has he before him? From the moment he was converted, what had he before him personally? After all, we must begin with it personally. He said, "For if the things I

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have thrown down, these I build again, I constitute myself a transgressor". He did not go back on the course he had adopted. He said he would not go back. Paul had but one object - he said, "I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me". That was his individual ideal, that is what he was actually living for. It was not an unattainable ideal, but an ideal constantly before his soul as an individual experience. Nothing else but that would do for him. He did not want to allow anything else but Christ in him, and therefore all that was of the flesh he regarded as having been crucified with Christ, and he would allow no quarter to that which he regarded as crucified. Our trouble, I am sure, is because we allow something in one form or another, which we profess has been crucified. Consequently Christ as our object becomes dim and hazy before our eyes, and much of us, as it were, lives practically. Paul said, "No longer live, I, but Christ lives in me;" that is the subjective form which his ideal took.

In Philippians you get a further thought, not only that Christ is subjectively in him, and that he has Christ in his heart, but that he has Christ as his object. He has a glorious Christ before him, and he presses towards the goal for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus. I trust that we will also press on. He says, That is my ideal - Christ in glory, and knowing Him, being found in Him, and being conformed to His death. That was his ideal, and he kept to it. There is no one I know who kept this ideal before him so wonderfully as the apostle did from day to day, from

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month to month, from year to year, till he arrived in prison in his old age. He never swerved from Christ as his ideal, and Christ as his object. We have to admit that is where we fail; we may have had this ideal before us objectively and the result subjectively, but I desire that the result of what I say may be to revive this great ideal in our hearts: that Christ indeed may be our life practically, and nothing else be allowed.

Take Thou our hearts and let them be

For ever closed to all but Thee.

We may desire to have that undistracted devotion to Him which allows no other object and no other aim to intrude, but how does that affect me in my business and in my daily life? It will affect us in this way: we shall be faithful in the duties we undertake, but we shall not make them our object; we shall not allow any occupation whatever, in any sphere of life, to become our object. In the assembly you will not let your self intrude. That is what the apostle sets before us, and we desire indeed that we may follow on those lines. He takes up the subject in various ways. He says, I am running to obtain the prize; and he will not be diverted by anything - he goes on. He keeps his body under, he does not allow it to dominate him, and presses towards the goal before him. Again he likens it to conflict. In 2 Timothy 2:3, 4 he says, "Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one going as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life, that he may please him who has enlisted him as a soldier". He is called to be a

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soldier, regarded from a military point of view, and an athlete from a games point of view. It is definite, unswerving obedience that is required. What should we think of a soldier who dared to question the commands of his officer? It would put the whole company into confusion. There should be one command, one movement, one action, and it is to this that Paul likens it. Running the race you do not allow hindrances; you do not put on weights or wear heavy overcoats when you are running; all that must go. There is but one object before him, so he is commandable.

How far do we take that up in our souls? There is One to command, one Person's will to be done. That makes our lives wholly for Christ, otherwise they are patchy. Alas, how often they are! What Paul desires is consistency. We must examine our motives in life. Make up our minds to it. Examine the position carefully, and do not be diverted. Go on, the Lord will support you. This is very important as being the individual line of things - what the individual has to learn and to do. But what was Paul's object in his service? Paul never lost the great idea of the assembly, he always had it before him. Alas, the idea of the assembly has, to a large extent, been lost in christendom, but Paul never lost the idea, and he, as it were, piles one simile on another to illustrate what he has before him. His service was for the assembly. There was his service for the gospel, but the service for the gospel was to bring into the assembly what Christ had before Him. He was a greater evangelist than any, but his object was that the converts should be for Christ's pleasure in His assembly. He agonises, as we have read, so that the Colossians and other saints might know

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and understand what he is aiming at. In Ephesians 4:13 he says, "Until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ". That is what he had before him. He had in view the assembly for which Christ died, for which Christ gave Himself.

Oh that we might have the building up of the body of Christ before us as he did! He had before him the idea of the body, that there should be mutuality. Each member of the body should work for the good of the whole. That delivers you from mere individualism. You have to learn that we are members one of another. We learn, too, to bear with one another, to pray for one another, to promote Christ in one another, learn the unity of the body of Christ, actuated by one Spirit, "one body and one Spirit" (Ephesians 4:4), and if you learn that, you learn your place, you do not think too much of yourself. You know that you are only one member of many, and all your efforts are directed to the benefit of the whole body, not your own self-advancement, not your own profit only. You will seek your own spiritual profit, but you will seek the general good of the body, and therefore you will learn to know your measure and to know what the Lord has called you to do. You learn to function properly. You do not try to make the hand do the work of the foot, nor try to be an eye when you are another member of the body. You learn to act in your own place, and there you always act best, there is no doubt of that. You act best in the place where you are meant to be. You will be clumsy at other things - a hand cannot see. Consideration of the different functions of the body leads us to a sober estimate

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of ourselves, and on the other hand leads to a great desire to be of benefit to the whole body of Christ here on earth. What a wonderful thing it is! The same holds true in regard to the temple of God, another view of the corporate position of Christians. If you are of the temple you are only one of the many who compose the temple. The others are all there, and all are built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit now; and, further, are being built together for the final temple, which "increases to a holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:21). What a wonderful thought that God should dwell here among His people! God's light should shine there in fullest brightness, and so the assembly comes out having the glory of God. He can be served there, and spiritual sacrifices can go up to Him. If we never meet one another, and live as hermits and ascetics, how can we show forth Christianity at all? We might deny ourselves and torture our bodies, but the Lord deprecates that. We might have some thought of Christ and the love of God, but we should not be realising that we are of the body of Christ. Where the difficulty comes in is to realise that we are of the one body, and as we meet together to see, too, the education that we get from one another. I get great benefit from a brother, and he gets benefit from me. The weakest member of the body is necessary, and how we find it so! You may go and see a Christian, whom you have perhaps in your pride and self-sufficiency thought ignorant. You go to instruct him. You say, I am going to help that person. What happens is that you get something from him. Perhaps he is nearer the Lord than you are, but not so intelligent. You get distinct help from the person that perhaps you thought you

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would help. It is good for us to recognise that. The weakest member is necessary, and no one can be dispensed with. Paul had these great thoughts before him, and of course we add to them from other parts of the Scripture. For instance, the pearl of Matthew 13 illustrates the beauty and unity of the assembly. You do not chip a pearl, you do not colour a pearl, you do not apply any tool to it, it is one beautiful whole. The pearl is the assembly looked at in its beauty to the eye of Christ, it is beautiful to Him. His work will come out all glorious and beautiful. We should learn to look on our brethren not only as the objects of Christ's educational work now on earth, but as belonging to that beautiful entity. We do not pay attention to what a man's natural status is, or his nationality, or his colour, or anything of that kind - that is not Christ, that is not the beauty of Christ in the pearl. We look upon all the saints as forming that beautiful object - the pearl - that will for ever be pleasing to Christ.

What a state we see around us, the nations divided in selfish pride, each seeking its own advantage. You do not see unselfishness at all in the world. Each man in the commercial world seeks to outstrip the other, seeks to be top, and does not like to take an inferior position. It is the spirit of the world. The Christian spirit, the spirit of the body of Christ, wherever it is seen, is beautiful. However young you may be in the faith, and however you may feel your insignificance, you are a part of that which is beautiful to Christ. The knowledge of this should give dignity to your position. You are part of this marvellous body, part of that which will be for Christ's eternal joy. Paul never lost sight of it, and ever worked with the assembly in view. That was

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his ideal, how far is it ours? We may be faithful to the Lord in our daily business, but what about having this before us? What is the assembly to us? Is it a mere name, or is it really what our souls are set upon? Paul knew what it was, and agonised that the Colossians and others should understand his ministry. He had it before him in all its glory, and he did not swerve from it. Where did it not lead him? Though he had to tell the Corinthians that the more he loved them the less he was loved - did that stop him? No, he devoted his whole life to the assembly, whether he was appreciated or not. His efforts were directed so that Christ might have the assembly to be His eternal companion and joy. Christ desires a perfect companion, one whose mind corresponds to His, as well as the affections. You might have a person very affectionate and yet mentally defective: that is not a suitable companion to an intelligent man. You might have a person very clever and intellectual, and yet cold as ice, not responding to affection at all. The perfect thought as to union is that there is the fullest response in affection and also in intelligence, so that Christ can speak to us about everything. Paul says, "We have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), the faculty of thinking as He thinks. He can tell us about Himself, about what is going to happen, about His coming, yea, of the coming glory - how wonderful! We would like to see Him glorified, and to see Him honoured. Just as a husband will tell his wife all his plans and make her his confidant, in that way Christ deals with the assembly. Christ will have His pleasure in the full response of the assembly to Himself - a full response of love and intelligence. He will be satisfied with that response and with

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such companionship for eternal ages. Think of that consistent affection and that consistent entering into His mind as eternity goes on! What a destiny is ours, and so how we should labour for the furtherance of this purpose even now. As we are introduced to the knowledge of it, as we see how precious the assembly is to Him, we shall seek to work with Him and not against Him, seek to further all His desires in the saints. Our hearts would be tender and susceptible to His commands and influence, we should know our place and accept our place in His body. We should know our place in God's house, and know, too, how pleasurable it is to Him when we are assembled. He will delight over us.

How stimulating it is to see the descriptions of the blessed Lord in the Song of Songs. Primarily, that song refers to the Jewish bride, but if to her, how much more so to the assembly, so much more privileged! When we see the blessed descriptions she gives of the Beloved and also His description of her, and the mutual pleasure and satisfaction they have in each other and in their love, it gives a little idea of what the position is of Christ and the assembly. That is Paul's ideal for which he laboured and suffered and died, and may God grant it may be ours. May there be the unswerving devotion to Christ personally, refusing any other object and all the terrible thoughts of disloyalty to Him, terrible thoughts of indifference and indolence. The nearer we are to Him the brighter He will shine before our eyes in all His beauty, and we shall have Him before our gaze. Oh that we may know Him and have Him before our gaze! As Hymn 51 says:

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Still sweet 'tis to discover,
If clouds have dimmed my sight,
When passed, eternal Lover,
Towards me, as e'er, Thou'rt bright.

He never changes His devoted love to the assembly. Think of the sufferings of the Lord, think of what He went through on the cross, think where His love took Him! The love that could do what Christ has done will never fail the assembly. When we fail, He does not. His love remains the same. It is humiliating, but preciously humiliating, when we do turn back and find His love unchanged - a delightful thing! He does not upbraid us if we judge ourselves. He takes us again in the embrace of His love. He is delighted to have us, as He will delight to take the assembly to Himself. What a joy that will be! Even when a saint goes to be with the Lord, think of the saint's joy! But think of the Lord's joy, how He welcomes each pilgrim from the world to His presence! How great will be His joy at the day of the rapture when He takes His own to Himself! Our joy is His joy. What a mutual scene of joy that will be! While we are living down here we find how easy it is to break down, but the Lord keeps us with affection, fresh and bright, that we may give Him pleasure and keep these individual and collective ideals before us, so that we do not fail Him in the day of His rejection. It is sad to fail Him and to get worldly and indifferent in the day when He is rejected; it is our loss. On the other hand, may there be unstinted devotion and love to Him, and the suffering of loss for Him.

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I just wanted to say these few words of exhortation. I feel how far short we come. We have to stir up our poor hearts, and have Christ's blessed Person brought before us. As He becomes more precious to our hearts, the true object of our lives is revived, and we follow on with quickened footsteps, waiting for Him. We desire above all things to be for Him where He is not, to be faithful to Him in the place where He was crucified, and to pursue these blessed ideals for His pleasure.

Capetown, June 1936

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STABILITY

C C ELLIOTT

Psalm 90:2; Psalm 119:89 - 91; Matthew 16:18; John 14:21; 1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 2:17, 18

I desire to speak of stability as seen in divine Persons and things, in the first instance; then of how spiritual experiences lead to the establishment of stability in our own souls, and finally to say a few words upon what overthrows this stability.

In the first place I should like to say a few words about God Himself, because with all the changes in this changing world He ever remains stable. "From eternity to eternity thou art God". Times may change and things may change, but God remains. So I draw attention to this great and wonderful God with whom we have to do. Let us think of the stability of God, and that from eternity to eternity He is God, that there never was a time when He was not. Think, too, of what has come to pass on this earth all under His eye; He knows the end of it - the great conflict between good and evil - He knows the issue of it all, and from eternity to eternity He is God. It conduces to a great sense of stability in our souls if we contemplate such divine permanence. When we speak of the Lord Jesus Christ specifically, we read that He is the Same and His years have no end. We are lifted above the pettiness and personalities that mark men generally, if our souls are

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occupied with divine Persons who never change. That wonderful Being who has been revealed to us through our Lord Jesus Christ surveys this scene, the whole scene of time, and knows what He is doing. He has been pleased to work out the conflict between good and evil in this little planet, the earth. Man objects to the idea that such an insignificant planet should play a part of so great importance, but there it is and each of us has a part in it. As I address my fellow-believers here, I say that every one of us has a part in the great conflict between good and evil that is going on at the present time.

One feels that it is very useful and healthy to get a view of things thus, in a general way, in regard to our great God and the variety and extent of His operations, of which the issue will be the triumph of good over evil. The question that faces us as we think thus is, Why should God take notice of persons like you and me? Well, it has been His pleasure to choose us. On the one hand, this makes us feel how small we are, and on the other, it gives us a dignity which nothing can exceed. Mere human beings on the one hand, and sons of God on the other, standing in military array, opposed to all the forces of evil. So in this great city where these forces are in violent conflict, we have to learn how to stand in testimony to these wonderful operations of divine Persons. It gives us dignity and stability as nothing else does.

Now, not only are the Persons Themselves stable, but we read, "For ever, O Jehovah, thy word is settled in the heavens". I want to speak about the stability of the Scriptures. We do well to reflect upon the history of this

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world, and the preservation of these wonderful books of Scripture, how God has brought them to us and that nothing has overthrown them. The puny efforts of men have expended their utmost, both physically, as in the persecutions of the Roman Empire, and spiritually, in the attacks of infidels of all kinds and sorts; but what stability it gives to see the way in which the word of God has been established in spite of all! So we have this marvellous Book which no infidel in this world has been able to overthrow. It is indeed, as another has said of it, the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture. As I bring these great stable matters before you, I feel that we shall be established in the truth. Again, in regard to the work of God at the present time, it gives comfort to the soul to know that Christ has said in regard to His assembly that "on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades' gates shall not prevail against it". The assembly is the great protagonist at this time in the conflict between good and evil; and the gates of hades, all the authority of that region and power, will not prevail against it. We are connected with that, we form part of this wonderful structure! You may say, 'With the numerous sects of all kinds, how can you say where the assembly is and what it is?' Dear friend, the Son of the living God said, "On this rock I will build". What rock is it founded upon? The Son of the living God. There it is. You may not have eyes to see it, but it is there. It exists here in its stability, and is such that it will resist the attacks of hades' gates till the end. It is a wonderful comfort to the soul to get established in these things.

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Now I want to say a few words about the necessity of spiritual experiences in stabilising our own souls. It is not only a matter of faith, there are necessary spiritual experiences which stabilise us. Just to make clear what I mean, there is a passage in Romans 8 which says, "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God" (verse 16). Now, if we have not had that experience, we shall not be stable. If we have only faith, there is danger, but if there is experience, and the Spirit witnessing is experience, then we are not easily shaken, because we have the consciousness that we are really of the divine family. It stabilises our minds against all doubt; it is not only resting on the letter of the word of God. I want to make clear that in everything connected with spiritual life there must be spiritual experience, which greatly helps to stabilise our souls, and we should all ask ourselves whether we have had this. Perhaps you know what they are from the Scriptures, but if you have not had the experience, you will be talking of what you do not know. As an example take such a thing as prayer. You approach God in prayer: have your prayers been answered? Well if they have not, you might discourse on prayer, but you do not know anything about it. It is a great thing to have the experience of answer to prayer.

Take another example - spiritual manifestations, whether individual or collective. Have we had the experience of a spiritual manifestation of Christ to our souls? If we have we shall know, and our souls will be established in the truth of it. "I will love him and will manifest myself to him". I am not sure that this is not a rare

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experience in the case of many of us, but at the same time the Lord would encourage us in it, and if you want to know how to get it, it is by obedience and dependence. Keep His word. It rests with Him to give, and with you to obey. Then the Lord Jesus also makes Himself known to us in a collective way. If such a great Person as He came visibly into this room, should we not know it? If He comes spiritually, should we not likewise know it? I would urge upon us the importance that when we come together we should be conscious of the fact that He comes to us. If we have not had that experience we ought to pray to the Lord about it. He can be amongst us without our recognising it, but what one seeks is to realise His presence. Another instance of experience is that of support. "The Lord stood with me", the apostle Paul said (2 Timothy 4:17). That is a spiritual experience, to know that the Lord is supporting you. All these things tend to fortify our souls and to bring us into reality.

It is so in regard to a higher subject, the worship of God, which I suppose is one of the highest functions of the spiritual mind and heart. I am not now speaking about what is currently spoken of as 'worship'. We have the highest thought as to worship in John 4, where the Father seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Have we had that holy experience - to be so taken up in our souls with divine Persons who have been revealed to us, with the Father mentioned specifically there - that our souls are bowed down in a sense of adoration? The Holy Spirit gives us power in our souls by which we are able to worship God in His greatness. It is our great privilege to worship the

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Father and the Son, and it should be a matter of concern to us all whether we have entered into this spiritual experience.

How real everything becomes when we know these things experimentally! You remember perhaps the incident of the Christian martyr who was brought before a Roman governor, who tried to persuade him to sacrifice to the Emperor and to give up Christ. He said, 'How can I give Him up when He is in me?' It is of no use for anyone to argue with a Christian, who is in the reality of things, against the presence of God and the Holy Spirit. It is a fact to his soul. If you have only a traditional faith in Christianity and a formal belief in the word of God you will be overcome. I am very concerned about young men and women going into places and into companies where human theories are launched against their souls, against the truth of Christianity in any form. If, along with a real faith, you have an experience of Christ, a known link with Christ and with God, that is reality that will save you from being overcome. So I would desire that every Christian might seek these spiritual experiences, in order that stability may be secured.

Now I would just speak for a moment of a wonderful passage in the Old Testament where one says: "Whom have I in the heavens? and there is none upon earth I desire beside thee" (Psalm 73:25). What a spiritual experience if a man can say that to God! There was none he desired beside Him. I would say, I would covet that experience, that I might say such a thing truly. It seems to me that it makes everything pale into insignificance compared with the

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knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is really very small. Take any of the so-called big events in the world - not moral events, but the mere events of history - they are very petty compared with the work of God going on. Everything in this world sinks into insignificance. The pursuit of gain, for instance, men labouring night and day, incessantly labouring and planning in their efforts to accumulate wealth. Is it worth the efforts of a believer? God will provide for us. That is another experience we have in a simple way: God provides. He makes a way for us through circumstances. What an experience to know God like that. You say, 'I know God; He made a way through difficulties that I could not have surmounted'. Why then devote all our time to accumulating wealth?

Everything in this world is small as we have a vision of God and a vision of what He is doing here, the conflict between good and evil, and the wonderful, wonderful structure which Christ builds. Oh that we might have a greater interest in that wonderful assembly which Christ builds, which resists the gates of hades! That we might not be content just to be secure, but might have the eyes, His eyes, so to speak, to look upon that which He loves and has given Himself for! This idea of a structure may appear rather cold to some of you, but it is a divine structure, and it is meant to resist the gates of hades. It has other, more intimate and blessed functions. It is an object of the love of Christ and of His care and compassion. What a thing it is, not only to know that Christ loves the assembly, because it says so, but to have the experience in our souls of that love! No wonder Paul could say he would readily spend and be

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spent in that service, in the interests of that which Christ loved so deeply, and had secured at such infinite cost to Himself.

Now I read one or two verses in Timothy to show what overthrows stability - a very important consideration. What is held before us in the first epistle - faith and a good conscience - was given up by these two men and it says they made shipwreck. That is not stability. What was it that overthrew them? Not having a good conscience. That is a great obstacle to stability. Shipwreck comes when you give up a good conscience. Constant self-judgment is needed in our own soul, and if that is given up we do not know where we may get. How often have we seen it! People have not been in a self-judged state, and where have they finished? If you give up a good conscience, any kind of evil thought and doctrine may come in and you will make shipwreck. The apostle Paul says, "I also exercise myself to have in everything a conscience without offence towards God and men" (Acts 24:16). It is an exercise, it does not come by itself. If we judge ourselves, then are we not judged.

The next thing was that these people of whom Paul writes said that the resurrection was past already and overthrew the faith of some. Stability is gone; that is, bad doctrine upsets you. In Corinth they said there was no resurrection, but these people said it was past already. Both statements were equally wrong. 'What does it matter?' you say. It is only a question of opinion. No one can tell what the bad effects of evil doctrine may be. It comes in and eats as a canker. Why? Because there is a propensity to wrong thought, and an evil doctrine comes along, and people

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accept it. Nothing marks this evil day like the spread of these pernicious doctrines. You may say, 'What does it matter, a little thing wrong in teaching?' Well, it undermines the whole structure of the truth of Christianity. You cannot afford to allow any bit of wrong doctrine. I do not mean that we know everything; we may not be able to understand everything in Scripture, but wrong doctrine should be discerned, for it upsets the whole structure of the truth.

There are other things. There is no doubt that legality is a great overthrower of souls. Stand fast, says the apostle. Stability again. "Stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). Legality saps that liberty. It takes away the real heritage of the Christian. Every one is of course to be lawfully subject to Christ, but a legal person is most unstable, always finding fault - not with himself, but with others. The whole system has crept into christendom, and we find it upsetting the stability of those who ought to be in the joy of the love of God. There is all the difference in the world between acting by the compulsion of a holy love and acting in a legal way. In Ephesians we read, "Having accomplished all things, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13). Standing again, and in the presence of opposition. The matter of the armour is very important; there are several items of it. Whether it is the breastplate of righteousness, or the shield of faith, or the sword of the Spirit - have the armour on, that you may be fully equipped, and so fully equipped that you stand. Otherwise you will be overthrown. You correspond to your heavenly position, for we are said to be sitting in the heavenly places:

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"made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). That in itself is a stable position. You are established there in the heavenly position, and if you know that in the experience of your soul - not just as a verse in Ephesians - then you can stand against the enemy. You will not be overthrown. All the opposition of Satan which is brought to bear upon you will be counteracted by reason of your having had real spiritual experience of what that heavenly position is. It is then not just a theory, not just a beautiful thought that passed through your mind, but it has become a spiritual experience in your own soul; you know what it is to be seated there. Then you have to come down and face the lawless and opposing influences that are brought to bear upon you, the spiritual powers of wickedness that are in heavenly places, but you can stand. You have the armour on, all of it. If you leave off the breastplate of righteousness, where will you be? If you are unrighteous you are a disabled warrior. Of what use are you? Of what use is your preaching? People will say, 'That man is unrighteous in his business dealings, or in his dealings with his brother. What power has he?' You will have to be taken to the hospital, so to speak, to be attended to, because you have been wounded. If you leave off the shield of faith the fiery darts of the enemy will get at you, and so with all other portions of the armour.

If we have been wounded through not having on the armour, we need to be healed before we can put it on again. You cannot put on the armour if you are not whole. You cannot put it on at your own will. The spiritual state must first be dealt with. You see, all these are hindrances to our

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standing firmly. God gives us various tests, otherwise we might fall asleep; but He wakes us up to real stability of soul, so that we contemplate on the one hand the wonderful Persons revealed to us, and the wonderful structure Christ is building, and on the other, we go on in the strength of spiritual experience in our souls. We know that these things are true, and we are protected from all the evil influences that tend to overthrow us and our faith in Christ.

Having said these things, I would commend you to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who can establish us indeed, so that we be not like babes tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, but established in the truth and standing firmly. Paul said to Agrippa, "I have stood firm unto this day" (Acts 26:22). He never gave up as a cowardly warrior. What spiritual experiences he had! Who could overthrow a man who had been to paradise? Who could overthrow the apostles who had seen the Lord transfigured before them? They had not followed cunningly devised fables.

May the Lord grant that every one of us may continue in humble dependence on Himself and go on to the end. It is inexpressibly sad to see a Christian fall out of the ranks through allowing something, perhaps a little thing at first, that has disabled him. May God preserve us from that! If there is anyone here who has dropped out, thank God that you are still alive and that there is still a way back. May He keep us in the sense of the reality of the things we are talking about, assured that we are not speaking about fables, but that we know the Persons who have been

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revealed to us and have the consciousness that we have eternal life. May the Lord bless these words to our souls.

Johannesburg, July 1936

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MOVEMENTS OF DIVINE PERSONS

C C ELLIOTT

Genesis 1:1, 2; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 19:18; John 1:14; Ephesians 4:9, 10

I want to speak about the movements of divine Persons. It is a wonderful thing that God has been pleased to take account of man, when you think of who God is in the greatness and blessedness of His being: self-contained and absolute. That He should have moved out to man should fill us with feelings of wonder and adoration. I want to trace some of the movements of divine Persons from the time the world began; that is, as They are known to us in revelation. Their essential Godhead we cannot know, but They have moved in various ways, and marvellously so.

I desire to draw your attention to this first great movement of God, when He came from what I may call the isolation of Deity into creatorial activity. It says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". It was at a word! As the disorder and chaos came in, we read that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, and this extraordinary scene which we see around us was brought into being. God spake and it was done; so that even the material side of it is indeed wondrous. In it we see God's eternal power and divinity, but it was all made and framed for a purpose; and we, by faith, apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God: not merely were they brought into being, but they were framed - put

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together in a certain definite way according to divine purpose. The whole scene was one which was not to be merely material in its import, but one in which the glory of God could be seen, and where the great question of good and evil could be wrought out. All the material side of things that we see around us, wonderful as it is (although sin has come in and spoiled the earth), is but a platform on which God has been pleased to work. I cannot sufficiently impress you with the importance of the moral bearing of what God has done in coming out in creation. He moved out to create, and having settled the question of good and evil, to bring about eventually a scene which will be for His eternal glory. Let me observe here, that no being has any right to glory except God, but the nature of God is such that He could, and does, get glory for Himself. It is not for man to get glory for himself, it is not for the creature, however exalted. Satan was an exalted creature, but he sought glory himself, and he fell. God alone has the right to seek glory for Himself, and He is going to have it eternally. Everything created will be for His glory, and that is what He is working for.

Now He has come out in these great movements, and I want to show you how, when sin came in, God continued to move. He moved in a wonderful way when Adam sinned. We read, "They heard the voice of Jehovah Elohim, walking in the garden" (Genesis 3:8). It was a movement toward man, a movement of inquiry. Why should the blessed God walk in the garden? Why should He move in that direction? Because of His intense interest in man. His Son was to become Man, and it was for the glory of His

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Son as well as for His own. Now God did not retreat into His ineffable glory when man sinned, He still continued to take interest in man. In the book of Genesis we find He shows great care in investigating; for example at the time of the building of the tower of Babel, it says, "Jehovah came down to see" (Genesis 11:5). It was a divine movement. And then again, in regard of Sodom, He said, "I will go down ... and see" (Genesis 18:21). Not that He could not know from heaven of course. He could, but it was for our sake, to demonstrate His infinite patience and care. God's visits were for that purpose, put in that way in these two incidents. Then again He came down and visited His friend Abraham. He appeared to him at Mamre; it was a visit of God, not only to investigate the guilt of Sodom, but to convey to Abraham what He was about to do. How wonderful that God should visit man to acquaint him with His mind. That is what God did, and He continues to do it.

Then in the passage in Exodus 3 He says, "I am come down to deliver them". Could He not see the whole state from heaven? He could, but He expressed His sympathy, and came down to deliver. It was God's interest in man. I say that because the modern idea is that God is so distant, and that He takes little interest in man. The truth is that God, in mercy as well as in judgment, intervenes in man's affairs, and here He had come down to deliver them. The appearing of God to Moses in the burning bush was a powerful testimony to God's feelings toward men. He said to Moses, "I have seen assuredly the affliction of my people ... I know their sorrows ... I am come down to deliver them ... and to bring them up out of that land".

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Now these movements I speak of were but visits - divine movements, but of that nature. After the formation of the tabernacle, God moved to fill it with His glory. So too, in the construction of the temple, God moved in a similar manner, and filled the temple with His glory. In Exodus 40, Moses could not go in because of the glory; and in 1 Kings 8:11 the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah. He came to dwell with men; it was a divine movement of a permanent character, as we might say; He came to dwell amongst His people. What a wonderful thing that God should have a dwelling-place with men, bearing with their hard-heartedness and stiff-neckedness. In Ezekiel we read how the glory lingered over Jerusalem, slowly departing till it disappeared in the east, and the temple was left without the glory of God. It will return in full measure in the day to come, as Ezekiel tells us later on in his book. That was the wonderful consummation that God had before Him. He would say, 'I am not only going to visit you, but to dwell with you'. Marvellous movements! With what veneration and worship we observe what God has said He will yet do!

The next great movement of God of which I want to speak is the incarnation. That is a marvellous movement! A divine Person came into manhood! What a movement! "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us". God Himself came down here and dwelt among men. That is a movement of supreme importance; there was never a more important movement of divine Persons than that. Things were coming to a climax; how deeply we should meditate on the truth of

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the incarnation, with all that it meant. Not that we can ever compass it; we cannot understand the mystery of it, nevertheless we can and do understand that God has been revealed here in a Man, who dwelt and lived and moved about here - every movement of that blessed Person down here filling us with the deepest interest and calling for our worship. One cannot now trace them in detail, but every step of His is worthy of the most intimate and delicate attention. There is not a word He spoke, nor an action or work He did, that is not worthy of our closest attention.

The gospels are so full, it will take us all our time to study them. I think as we grow older, we study the gospels more closely and exhaustively, not in an ordinary student's way, but in a worshipping spirit. Every step of the Lord as seen in them, and every incident in which He meets sinners, and speaks to His own; every step of His path demands our serious attention. The divine movements down here were wonderful, as He moved from the manger to the cross, every movement calls for our devout and worshipping study.

How can we speak of the next movement - the descent! He descended, but that wonderful descent is a movement in manhood. He descended to the cross, for all was to be founded there. We worship as we think of it - as we follow that divine movement! We cannot follow beyond a certain point. We can follow the details of His trial, and the steps of that last journey to the cross. We see His attitude towards the various elements congregated there, and can listen to the gracious words He spoke, but when the pall of darkness fell, we can follow no further; we could not

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penetrate the depth of that descent, when that divine Person went into darkness, and wrath, and judgment for us. It serves to subdue our spirits. There is nothing, I believe, more powerful in subduing our spirits and bringing us into accord with His death than the contemplation of His sufferings and death. As we see what He went through, as far as we may, it has the deepest effect upon our hearts, and we are attracted to that blessed One and attached to Him for ever.

Now there was a moral answer to that descent, and it is put in many ways in the Scripture. In Philippians 2:9 it says, "Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and granted him a name, that which is above every name". In Colossians 3:1 He is said to be "sitting at the right hand of God", an expression which demands our attention. Then in Hebrews 1:3 He has "set himself down on the right hand of the greatness on high" - a similar expression. These expressions indicate an exalted and high position, a place of favour, and a place of power. I take it that to be seated on the right hand of God means that it is the first place, the place of power and favour. He is said in Ephesians 1:20 to be set down at God's right hand in the heavenlies. There are also several other expressions in the Scriptures indicating an even higher position than that. In Hebrews 4:14 it says that He "has passed through the heavens", in connection with His priesthood, and "become higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26); and in Ephesians 4:10 has "ascended up above all the heavens". That is, His place of exaltation is even above what I have already mentioned, that is, it is beyond the flight of our knowledge, it is "above all the

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heavens;" for the heavens themselves, though they are described as the abode of God, are created. They are a created sphere, but He has gone far above them all. He has passed through the heavens, it does not tell us how many, but it is through them, for the word is plural; and He has gone far above all heavens. Think of the exaltation of this wonderful Person who came so low for us! He has gone into a glory beyond our comprehension, beyond all created things.

Now I want to go from that to ask this important question, What is His relation to us there? We have seen how He came from infinite glory down to this scene of woe, and how wonderful His descent was - is He going to leave us as having Himself ascended so high, to the very highest point? - beyond any creature thought? No, there is a divine movement from heaven; it is described in several ways, but He is not going to leave the beloved objects of His love here unvisited. I do not refer to the rapture, I refer to His present movements towards and amongst His own. You might think that having gone up far beyond our comprehension, He remains there, and that we adore Him there, and that is all we can do. Not at all. He will not leave us orphans; He says, "I am coming to you" (John 14:18). Coming, obviously, entails movement towards us. It is a movement of this wonderful Person to us. Of course it is spiritual, for corporeally He is in heaven. But there is a spiritual movement in which He comes to us - wonderful fact! I desire to know more of this. He says, "I am coming to you" - a plural word - and how we long to welcome Him when He does move in our direction. To be orphans means that

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you miss your parents who have gone; it is thus we miss Christ, and He would comfort us. Does He comfort us by sending great gifts? Does He comfort us by sending the Spirit? He does, but He also comforts us by coming Himself. "I am coming to you". These are wonderful divine visitations. No one can explain it; these visits cannot be explained in formulae. Oh, that we might pay attention to such comings, that we might recognise Him when He comes! Think of that blessed One deigning to come to us, that we may be comforted. Some in a company may recognise Him, and some might not. Alas, that we might miss Him, be unable to recognise Him! It is heaven on earth when He comes, for it is Himself, and He brings all the atmosphere of heaven with Him, revealing Himself in all the affections of His heart. So divine movements have not ceased.

There is also a divine movement in the way of life: I refer to the very remarkable passages in the writings of both Paul and John. Paul says, "No longer live, I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20), and again in another connection in Romans 8:10, "If Christ be in you, the body is dead on account of sin, but the Spirit life on account of righteousness". And even to the Corinthians, badly as they were going on, he says, "Do ye not recognise yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?" (2 Corinthians 13:5) - a very remarkable expression. You say, 'How is that divine movement brought about?' Well, without attempting to analyse it I would say, it is because the Spirit is here, and if one divine Person can be here, so to speak, Another can; that is, in the power of the Spirit. It is because God is here,

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inasmuch as the Spirit is here, that it is possible that Christ should be our life, and Christ should live in us. What a wonderful thing it is! What a wonderful movement it is of that divine Person when He becomes our life, when He lives in us. Christ is in us in that sense. I see that it can be so, because of His Spirit that dwells in us. If His love is such, that He could go into the depths for us, and ascend on high to be for us there, is it more wonderful that He should be our life, that He should take up His place in our hearts, and live in us? It is not only that we love Him, the effect of His living in us is that love is accentuated. If He is thus in us, then He is in us in love, and the result of His being in us is that our affections are warmed and stirred, and we love Him because He has loved us. God's purpose is that all things are to be for His glory, and Christ is to be supreme; that is, in our hearts. It is a remarkable divine movement which brings to pass such wonderful realities in our hearts. John refers to His being "in us" more than once. That is in connection with affection, but I believe it to be more than that, it is because of the Spirit being here. John says, "He that abides in love abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16), and, "Hereby we know that we abide in him and he in us, that he has given to us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13).

Before I go on to the final movement of the Lord Jesus, I want to refer to the movement of the blessed Spirit of God. That He moved in creation, we all know. He moved, too, in men of God. We know how the Spirit came on the judges, how the Spirit of God enabled them to do exploits; they were, in a way, visits, it was not to dwell. He would come down and enable them to do things or, as with David,

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to compose the most wonderful psalms, and to have the most wonderful spiritual experiences, but He was not a permanent resident, wonderful as His movements were in relation to Israel, as they will be again when the Spirit will be poured out upon them. What I want to direct your attention to is the divine movement at Pentecost. There, the materials have been carefully selected and carefully provided by the Lord Himself. Though the disciples did not understand all His teaching in those wonderful three and a half years, when His influence in words and works was being daily impressed upon them, nevertheless they were greatly affected by them. Then in the forty days, we know how greatly He instructed them. The Lord's teaching was most wonderful; and when all this material had been carefully selected and that which was evil - Judas - had been cast aside, then there was a wonderful company fit to receive the Holy Spirit. Upon the Lord Jesus, as we know, the Spirit came bodily, not as a Visitor. Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and He was full of the Spirit. He came upon Him; it was one divine Person identifying Himself with another divine Person here in manhood. There was no leaving Him, the Spirit came down and abode upon Him; it was a permanent residence. So the Spirit came down at Pentecost - marvellous divine movement. The whole material was welded together, so to speak, and it was like the glory coming down into the tabernacle, or into the temple. It was the glory of God coming down and filling the house. The Spirit is spoken of in that way. You remember Peter speaks of "the Spirit of glory" (1 Peter 4:14), so that evidently the thought of glory is connected with the Spirit,

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and not only the whole company, but each individual composing it, each believer is thus filled. Paul says, "Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). It is not a visitation, but a divine movement that has resulted in the Holy Spirit becoming a permanent resident in our hearts. How it solemnises the whole of our lives. How could such bodies be given over to sin? Or be controlled by our own wills? What an amazing effect it should have upon us - what a subduing effect as we pass along! It is the most wonderful thing that has happened to us. The only thing which is greater is the incarnation of the blessed Lord. Not that the Spirit is incarnate in us, but He is in us, a divine Person in each of our hearts. Oh, that we could remember this, moment by moment, in our lives; in our daily walk, in our assembly exercises, and in all matters of wisdom, and all matters requiring adjustment - that we might remember that there is this wonderful Person who will lead us into all truth, and will teach us. I cannot think of anything more calculated to have a spiritual and subduing effect upon us than this wonderful movement of God - this movement of the Holy Spirit.

I pass on now to the next great movement of the Lord Jesus. It is distinct from His continual movements. It is that He is coming for us. What a movement that will be when He descends from heaven for us! How can we picture the joy of that moment - the blessed joy of the rapture, when we shall meet our blessed Lord in the air, and so be for ever with the Lord? The heights to which He can take us, who can tell? It is said, we are seated in Him in the heavenlies; not merely that because He is there, we are to be there in

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the future, but we are now seated together in Him in the heavenlies; it is now; it is a restful position, and gives us now the joys of the present heavenly position. Not only does He visit us, but we are in Him there, and we are there because He is there, as far as cause is concerned; but we have access by the Spirit to that heavenly scene where He is. In fact, not only does He move towards us and visit us, but He dwells in us too, and in the Spirit moves us to that scene where He is, and that is no imagination, but a spiritual experience. A great many things are said to be "in Christ", and they are real, and one desires greatly to be more in the enjoyment of our heavenly position. It is in the power of the Spirit, but it is the love of Christ that would give us now a present entrance into what is in heaven. Paul says, "The Lord himself, with an assembling shout ... shall descend from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 4:16) - that is the next great movement; we are waiting for that. What a wonderful thing it would be if it were to take place now! We know not when He will descend.

Now there is one other movement to which I would refer briefly, and it is found in John 14:23. It not only gives us the manifestation to the individual who keeps His words, but it gives us the great fact that if we keep His word "my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him". Notice the plural - "We will come to him". If there is obedience and subjection, We will come to him; that includes not only one divine Person, but the Father will come to us too. It is a remarkable statement. The secret of it lies in the Spirit; because the Spirit is in us, these things are possible; not only in the power of

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the Spirit, but because there is a divine Person in us, therefore the Father and the Son can make their abode with us. You must remember these things are spiritual, and must be taken up in a spiritual way. You cannot speak about divine Persons as you can about human beings, and when it says, "We will come", it means a divine movement, and the Father and the Son make their abode with the one who keeps His word; "my word" implying the whole testimony. It shows how we are bound up in the affections of divine Persons, and that divine Persons love us so much that They desire to give us Their company, and that we should be with Them, as They with us.

I pass on to the time when the visits and movements of which I have spoken are over, when God will be "all in all", when the Son shall have given over the kingdom, and shall Himself be placed in subjection; then there is perfection of rest. Whatever spiritual movements there may be in the eternal state, we cannot say, but it is not a time of change or movement in the sense in which we have been speaking, but it is God "all in all". He has come now to a final conclusion; the Son actually taking this place of subjection for ever. You may have thought He came and took the place of subjection for a few brief years until the eternal state. Not at all! He has taken this place of subjection for all eternity. The One who has been here to make His love known to us, the objects of the Father's counsel, has been pleased to remain on our side for ever. He never ceases to be towards us; but the Son shall be subject to Him who puts all things under Him, that God may be all in all. The wonderful fact remains that He takes up that position and is

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identified with His own for all eternity. Blessed, wonderful Person!

Thus the whole history unfolds before us, and we see God coming out from His isolation, if I may use the expression, into His creatorial activities; and down the long stream of time moving in regard to man for His own glory; and when God is all in all, will it not be that supreme worship will be given to Him? Supreme appreciation of God will be there; we shall appreciate God fully, as far as He can be known as revealed. He will have His glory in that scene of wonderful glory and worship, and at the same time our hearts, without any let or hindrance, without any sense of distance, will enjoy the company of that blessed Person, who has made the love of God known to our hearts in time. How it fills one's heart with joy and thankfulness, that God should have come so near to us; and that Christ should have descended where He did, and ascended where He did, that He should be for us now and for ever! What a dignity it puts upon us! I say to the young people - Where is the world in the face of all this? What place does it hold in such a scheme? Can anything equal the prospect before us? There is nothing that the world can offer to a soul established in the love of God - nothing! As these things are being gradually worked out in our experience, God is so dealing with us as to make things more and more real and precious to our hearts. One prays that the Lord may use this occasion to make the Lord more precious to us, and that we may pay attention to all these divine movements and divine visitations, and have sufficient spiritual discernment to recognise them when they occur, until that

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bright and blessed moment arrives when He will take us to be with Himself for ever!

Croydon, May 1937

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THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD

A J GARDINER

1 Corinthians 2:6, 7; Hebrews 2:11, 12; 1 Peter 2:1 - 5; 1 Timothy 5:5 - 16; 2 Corinthians 9:6 - 8, 11 - 15

I desire, dear brethren, to speak of the assembly of God, the masterpiece of divine wisdom, in which we have been called to have part, so as to enlist the interest of everyone, from the youngest upward, brother and sister alike, in this great thought that we belong to the assembly of God; having also in view that God's thoughts concerning it are to come into practical expression now. It is of special value to God. He has purchased it, as we read, "with the blood of his own" (Acts 20:28). God esteems it thus highly, and would have us to do so also. 1 Timothy 3:15 speaks of it as "the assembly of the living God", showing that it is that in which God is known in living affections.

I want to speak, in the first place, about that aspect of it in which it is seen as the great vessel in which God at the present time, as well as in eternity, is praised worthily of Himself, in affection and intelligence. Then secondly, as that in which God is expressed in His nature, that expression itself resulting in glory to God. The great thought of God at the present time is that the features proper to the assembly should come into expression now. I have no doubt that is what was in view in the recovery that the Lord has brought to pass during this last century, that a way should be made for the expression of the truth of the

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assembly, and this, not only in the way of teaching, although there has been the liberation of the teaching as to it - but that there should be the expression of it livingly, in those who have availed themselves of the teaching.

So in the address to Philadelphia which deals, as we know, with the great line of recovery which is characteristic of our day, we find the Lord says to the overcomer - the one who appreciates the opened door and avails himself of it, and continues on that line to the end - "Him will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more at all out; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven, from my God, and my new name" (Revelation 3:12). That is to say, that things are not merely expressed in the teaching, but in persons, and the overcomer has all these features of the truth written upon him, so that they are seen in living expression for the pleasure and glory of God.

Now the apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians, referring to the truth of the assembly, speaks of "that hidden wisdom", which he says "God had predetermined before the ages for our glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7), and he contemplates that we will glory in this great thought, that God has taken us up in His grace, with a view to connecting us with what was in His mind before the world was. It is therefore intended to eclipse the world for us, and to displace it in our thoughts, by substituting for it in our minds this great thought of the assembly of God. That will involve testing and suffering; because if God is set to attain any end, we may rest assured that Satan will oppose it. In

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Genesis, after we get presented the great thought of God regarding Christ and the assembly, before sin came in, we immediately get the activities of Satan to frustrate it. We find him bringing in a man - in Cain - who commenced a line of definite opposition to all that is of God, setting up a world which Satan intended should eclipse what God had in mind for His people; and the line of Cain continues to this day. Religiously it continues, and goes on to the perishing of Core; that is to say, it eventuates in the great apostasy, but there are other ways also, in which Cain and his line show themselves in murderous opposition to every feature of righteousness. We read in 1 John 3:12, "Not as Cain was of the wicked one, and slew his brother; and on account of what slew he him? because his works were wicked, and those of his brother righteous". The saints of God have to contend with that in the world today. They have to contend with the spirit of Cain in the business world, in all kinds of unions and associations through which men, energised by the spirit of Cain, seek to make it impossible for a man to live who maintains righteousness in the sight of God, and keeps himself from these unholy associations. The spirit of Cain shows itself, in that way, in the attempt to deprive of the means of livelihood a man who fears God and seeks to maintain righteousness.

Now, the resource of the people of God is in understanding that God intends that His thoughts should be carried through to completion, and that though they may have to suffer, they can count upon the support of the Lord in continuing on the line of righteousness, without which no thought of God will ever be realised. So it says, that in the

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days of Enosh - whose name means 'mortal' - "Then people began to call on the name of Jehovah" (Genesis 4:26). The idea is that God is set upon continuance. He had brought in Seth, whose name means 'appointed', for God had given "another seed instead of Abel, because Cain has slain him". The murderous opposition to what is of God is recognised, but in the face of it the saints understand that God intends to go through with His thought, and in pursuing it they find their strong tower in calling on the name of the Lord.

Romans 10 gives us two thoughts. It speaks of calling on the Lord (verse 12), and of calling on the name of the Lord (verse 13). Calling on the Lord is the secret thing, it is what goes on between your soul and the Lord. You call upon One whom you know and trust, but calling on the name of the Lord is the public thing: you are calling upon One who is not here; you call upon His name, and that becomes a testimony. It says in verse 12, "For the same Lord of all is rich towards all that call upon him", and then it says, "For every one whosoever, who shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved". We have the promise of the support of the kingdom as we call upon the name of the Lord, but the object of calling upon the name of the Lord is that the thoughts of God may go through in spite of opposition, and be realised for His pleasure and glory.

Now in the well-known scripture in Hebrews 2 we have, I suppose, one of the greatest thoughts connected with the assembly of God. The writer says, "For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will

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declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises". A marvellous conception, beloved brethren, of the assembly as a vessel - a company - with which the Lord Jesus delights to identify Himself, and whom He is not ashamed to call brethren, saying, "I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises". He Himself is singing the praises, but the assembly is the vessel in which that singing is given expression to. It is the singing of Christ, the singing of God's Son, but it is voiced through the assembly. How can we adequately measure what it is to God to be praised in such a vessel? Of what affection, of what intelligence is such a vessel capable, as identified with Christ! That is the divine conception, that in the midst of the assembly, Christ Himself praises God. Well now the writer says, "For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one" - that brings in what will appeal to every one of us. It is taking account of us down here, as set apart for the service and pleasure of God. How much it has involved in order that we might be set apart, dear brethren! It has involved the coming in of Christ, the incarnation, that great expression of divine wisdom, the incoming of a divine Person into manhood, in order that through His death we might be set apart at the present time for the pleasure of God, so as to form this wondrous vessel.

If we may speak for a moment of the point in our spiritual history when we first got our link with Christ, we were touched by the expression of His love in His death, for there divine love has come into perfect expression, on the basis of accomplished righteousness. These great things

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have come into expression in the death of Christ, and form a moral basis in our souls, as having received the testimony of God as to what was effected at the cross. The Lord can take account of that basis; He says, 'There is something there that is not of the flesh, there is something there that is of God'. It is of course entirely the work of God, but the Lord takes account of you - I am taking account of the youngest believer here as one who has begun to love what is right, and to hate what is evil. You have begun to be affected by the love of God. A response to that love, however small it may be, has sprung up in your soul and has marked you out as of God. You bear features that are of God, and the Lord takes account of you in that light; the Sanctifier, and the sanctified, are "all of one". You are morally akin to Christ Himself, and He takes account of you as one of whom He is not ashamed. Whether you apprehend it or not, God has laid hold of you in relation to this great thought of the assembly of God, this masterpiece of divine wisdom, "predetermined before the ages for our glory". It is contemplated that you and I should glory in it, and that, as doing so, we should entirely repudiate the world as unworthy of our attention, or of our being in any way characterised by it.

I read the passage in 1 Peter in order to say a word that may be of service to the younger ones, as to our growing up into these things practically, that we might see the importance of recognising that each one of us has an essential part in it. The apostle speaks of a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, and he speaks of living stones. Now we all understand that the stones forming part of a structure

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are, as we may say, an integral and necessary part of the structure; and the apostle would bring it home to us that each one is a necessary part of this spiritual house in which are to be offered up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. It is composed of "living stones;" that is, of persons who have living affections capable of being moved Godward, by our Lord Jesus Christ; we are to grow up to that. The Lord would encourage everyone to understand that he is to be available, as a living part of this living structure in which the blessed God is to be served.

Now with a view to that, the apostle exhorts us to lay aside certain things; not to expect that they will drop off, but to lay them aside, as judging them to be entirely incompatible with this great thought of the assembly of God to which we, through grace, belong. He says, "Laying aside therefore all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envyings and all evil speakings" - they are to be laid aside. You will remember that in Luke 12:1, the Lord said to His disciples, first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy". Hypocrisy is more innate in us than many of us realise - the desire to appear something that we are not - and the apostle calls upon us to lay it aside. Then he says, "Desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation, if indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good". He would stress the necessity of desiring earnestly this "pure mental milk of the word". It is an important and practical thing to consider what we feed our minds upon in these days. Let us bear in mind that God has called us to a great system of glory and wisdom, great enough to displace and eclipse all

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that this world can afford, and if we will only go in for it, and give our minds to Scripture and the ministry which the Lord so richly affords, we shall not be disappointed, but shall find a sufficiency to satisfy both heart and mind. The Spirit searches all things, yea, the depths of God; there is nothing within the realm of revelation which the Spirit does not search, and He is capable of making it all known to us as we, on our part, are ready to receive it.

Then the apostle adds, "If indeed ye have tasted that the Lord is good;" that is, he would encourage every one of us to put the Lord to the test in our own individual exercises, to make Him our Confidant, to draw near to Him continually, to prove that He is good. It says, "To whom coming" - that is to be habitually characteristic of us. The intent of our mind is to be near Him, "To whom coming, a living stone". He is the One around whom the whole company is gathered. The more we get near to the Lord, the more He will impress upon us the blessedness of God, and that causes to spring up spiritual affections characteristic of the assembly of God. Even in the very early days of our conversion, how the Lord would draw near and teach us that in His own death God was commending His love towards us, "in that, we being still sinners, Christ has died for us" (Romans 5:8). It is as though when we come to appreciate Christ, He would take us in hand and say, 'Yes, but I want you to appreciate God'. "God commends his love to us". Then later on we begin to take account of the greatness of Christ as a divine Person who became Man, in order to bring to light and carry into effect all the blessed purposes of divine love, and as coming to Him we

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apprehend them as all secured in Him. The Lord loves to turn us in worship to God, who is the Source of all, and to give us to understand that we have been apprehended in order that we may form part of this structure in which the blessed God is to be served.

The apostle Peter speaks most touchingly to us of the Lord Jesus: he says, "Cast away indeed as worthless by men" - that is man's estimate of Jesus, but with God He is chosen and precious. Are we going to range ourselves alongside of the world that has cast away as worthless our Lord Jesus? Or shall we keep our hearts in the sense that He is chosen of God and precious? If we do the latter, we shall be greatly helped in the refusal of features that are inconsistent with the Man that God so highly delights in. There is a tendency with most of us to carry over certain features of the man that God has judged, perhaps in the form of worldly ways and expressions in speech; behind all which is the desire to evade the reproach of being identified with the Man that the world has cast away as worthless, but who is chosen of God and precious. God would have us grow in the positive appreciation of that Man, and to understand that if we are to have part acceptably in the assembly of God it is essential that we should take on the features that are suited to it, features that have been set out in perfection in Jesus.

To refer back to Hebrews 2, we have there the greatest conception of the assembly of God as a vessel down here, in the very presence of Satan's influence and power, in which God is praised, not according to the smallness of the thoughts of men, but in the spirit and intelligence of God's

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Son. It is a marvellous conception. God has not only set us in the position of sonship for His own pleasure, and has given us the Spirit of His Son, so that we become capable of the same character of affections Godward as marked Jesus Himself, but it is also true as we have it in Ephesians 1:7 - 9, "According to the riches of his grace; which he has caused to abound towards us in all wisdom and intelligence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure". God delights in the intelligence of His people, not only in their being formed in the affections of sons, but also in their being intelligent, so that they may be sympathetic with Himself, and able to praise Him in a way that is worthy of His great name. What vessel other than the assembly could be capable of such wondrous response to the blessed God? A company of which Christ Himself is not ashamed, and in the midst of which He takes His place, in order that praise may find adequate expression.

Now in closing, I want to refer to the scriptures read in Timothy and in Corinthians, in order to draw attention to another feature of glory connected with the assembly of God which is to come into practical expression. Thank God it is already seen thus. In 1 Timothy 5:5, the apostle describes one who is "a widow indeed". It reads, "She who is a widow indeed, and is left alone, has put her hope in God, and continues in supplications and prayers night and day". God allows such persons to be found among His saints. We might say, 'Why should God allow a poor lonely woman to be desolate? Why should she be left without any natural support or resource?' I think it is, on the one hand, to draw forth from her that trust in God which so greatly

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glorifies Him, and, on the other hand, as she thus trusts in God, from whence comes the answer to her trust? It is, of course, from God Himself as Source that she gets her answer, but it is expressed through the assembly, which thus becomes to her the expression of the glory of God. In verse 16, we read that a believing man or woman having widows depending on them is to care for them, that the assembly be not charged, so that it may come to the relief of those who are "really widows" (verse 3). One who is really a widow trusts in God, and He causes her to find the answer to her trust in the assembly, which thus becomes the expression of the glory of God to her. He proves, in this way, that He can be trusted by the one who is desolate, He will not fail to succour and support her. Whatever responsibility the assembly assumes in charging itself with what she needs, that is to be welcomed by us, not as a mere matter of charity, as with the world, but as an occasion for the expression of what God is, in a vessel in which confidence in God shall find its answer.

When we come to the passage in 2 Corinthians, we find the apostle dealing with need outside the immediate circle of the assembly concerned, and it is an occasion for the saints to move out, even to brethren they do not know, in an expression of love and care that glorifies God. The apostle is seeking to develop this feature of the assembly, he is greatly concerned that this feature, proper to the assembly of God, should be developed and expressed. Hence, dear brethren, God may allow things to arise among His people in one part of the world which are intended to bring into expression in saints in another part, whether near

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or far, this feature of the assembly as the vessel in which the divine glory is resident. In order to encourage the saints to be on this line of giving, the apostle says, "He that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that sows in the spirit of blessing shall reap also in blessing". The spirit of blessing - what a beautiful thought that is! God is the Blesser, and He loves to bless, as we see in the priests of old, who were to bless in Jehovah's name. So we are to be representative of God in His character of Blesser. We are to give in the spirit of blessing, because in so doing we are expressing the blessed God, and what could be greater than that? The apostle adds, "God is able to make every gracious gift abound towards you, that, having in every way always all-sufficiency, ye may abound to every good work". As though he would say, 'If only the saints show themselves ready to come out like God in this feature of giving in the spirit of blessing, God on His part will see that they do not lack what is necessary for it'. He is concerned that this feature of divine glory should come into expression.

Then finally he says, "Enriched in every way unto all free-hearted liberality, which works through us thanksgiving to God", and in the next verse he says, "The ministration of this service ... also abounding by many thanksgivings to God; they glorifying God through the proof of this ministration ... and in their supplication for you, full of ardent desire for you, on account of the exceeding grace of God which is upon you". Then he closes on this note, "Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift". The very giving of the saints to other saints causes

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thanksgivings to God, and then causes both the hearts of the givers and the hearts of the recipients to join together in the sense that the source of it all is the blessed God Himself. May the Lord enable every one of us to lay hold of the fact that we have been apprehended for this great conception of the assembly of God.

Croydon, May 1937

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THE RECOVERY OF THE LAST DAYS

D L HIGGINS

Ephesians 1:15 - 23; Ephesians 3:14 - 21; Colossians 2:1 - 3; Proverbs 1:20 - 23; Proverbs 8:1 - 4, 17 - 21; Proverbs 9:1 - 6

I want to bring before you the amazing character of the recovery which God has given to the assembly in these closing days. I do not think anyone could possibly exaggerate the favour which has been given to us in these things which God has recovered for us; things with which the assembly started at the outset; truths which affected thousands of souls at the beginning and brought them out from the world and set them in living relation to a Man in glory. Believers then were under the immediate power and influence of the Holy Spirit who had come from heaven at Pentecost, consequent on a Man having gone into heaven. The effect was wonderful, as we know, if we have read the book of the Acts.

It was extraordinary in result as the truth spread abroad wherever the apostles went, particularly Paul; they were results characterised by the power of the Spirit of God. The apostle Paul, who was a most able man with great natural powers and learning, tells us that when he went to Corinth he was careful to present nothing but "Jesus Christ, and him crucified", and that his word and preaching were not with words of human wisdom, but "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:2 - 5); that their faith might stand, not in wisdom of men, but in

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the power of God. Great effects thus followed at Corinth, for it was the Spirit of God who was working in souls. Alas! it was not very long before evil came in, and corruption, as Scripture itself makes clear. The truth was attacked by the enemy, and it came to pass that the immense truth that God brought out, as to a heavenly people on this earth, was rapidly lost. If it be asked how this came about, the answer would be simple, namely, that the mind of man was given a place in the assembly and took the place of the Spirit of God, the consequence being that, before very long, things with which the assembly started were practically lost. The writings of the 'fathers', so-called, who lived in the early centuries of Christianity, from the second to the fourth, show that they had lost the heavenly character of the gospel, and the assembly had become swallowed up in the world. In the beginning of the fourth century, the assembly was, to outward appearance, actually absorbed by the world, and Christianity, in place of heathenism, became the religion of the world. It is so to this very day. But God has graciously come in in the face of all this terrible departure, and revived for us the very things with which the assembly started at the beginning.

The truth of the presence and power of the Spirit of God has been recovered; the truth of the heavenly calling, and the fact that we are a heavenly people, and that our citizenship - this applies to all Christians - is in heaven; that we are united to a Man in glory and have received His Spirit, and consequently we are members of one body; all this has been most graciously recovered. I would speak a little with regard to these things, that we, in our day, may

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be warned against the particular dangers that led to the departure at the outset. In the address to the assembly at Philadelphia, there is one word of warning given - only one - amid words of most wonderful encouragement: "Hold fast what thou hast, that no one take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11). We need to weigh that word, so that as valuing what has been recovered we might hold fast that which we have received, that no man take our crown. We are in danger of the world creeping in, and influences which indicate that man's mind is again at work. It comes into divine things. All this we have to watch; and another thing is, that we may profess a great deal which is most admirable, and yet not have it in power in our souls. We have to attend to it, that what God has graciously recovered to us may become effective in the Spirit's power in our souls. It is in Scripture, but is it in you and in me?

I want to develop this line a little from the book of Proverbs. There are three statements by Wisdom; three times she speaks, and I have no doubt that those three voices have their counterpart, firstly, in the ministry of John the baptist; secondly, in that of the Lord Himself; and thirdly, in the testimony of the Spirit.

In the first chapter Wisdom speaks appealingly and impressively to all, on the line of rebuke: "Turn you at my reproof;" together with that, there is a promise held out, "I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words". That gives the line of John's ministry, a ministry largely of rebuke, calling people to repentance, but with promise of blessing close at hand. There is something very solemn about John's appeal. He told people that the

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axe was laid to the root of the tree, and if it did not bring forth good fruit it would be hewn down and cast into the fire. The Lord Himself refers to John the baptist and to His own ministry in Luke 7. He speaks of it under two forms, illustrating it by "children sitting in the market-place, and calling one to another and saying, We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, He has a demon. The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and ye say, Behold an eater and wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners; and wisdom has been justified of all her children" (verses 32 - 35). This leads to the conclusion that Wisdom's voice was first of all sounded by John the baptist when he called the people to repent. It was a very solemn ministry. It affected the poor, the guilty, the miserable, the sinful. John said, "I indeed baptise you with water, but the mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not fit to unloose; he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire; whose winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing-floor" (Luke 3:16, 17). He led them to recognise that there was, close upon his heels, another most wonderful Person, whose ministry was beyond his own, a very different ministry! In Proverbs there was the suggestion, "I will pour forth my spirit unto you". Who indeed was able to do that? It was the blessed Lord. He filled up what John the baptist indicated, and He was the One who was going to pour out the Spirit upon them. That was on the line of piping. "We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not

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wept". If I could only sound a few notes of that piping in your hearts, you would dance, it would produce immense spiritual results. The piping is covered not only by the Lord's ministry when He was here, but what followed upon it, the marvellous ministry of the Holy Spirit.

When, in the synagogue of Nazareth, the Lord opened the book of Isaiah, He read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor; he has sent me to preach to captives deliverance, and to the blind sight, to send forth the crushed delivered, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18, 19). Wonderful piping was heard then! The congregation in the synagogue could not help bearing witness to the words of grace that proceeded out of His mouth, but then they say, "Is not this the son of Joseph?" (verse 22) - as though to say, 'Why listen to Him?' I think there has been a great recovery on the line of piping in this our day. If only our ears were more open to it, there would be a great deal of spiritual dancing; there would be a greater response from people who would then come out in character like the One who at first gave the testimony; the meek and lowly One. It is a great thing to learn of Him and to come out in His character here. It would be a great testimony if our hearts were more moved by the wonderful nature of the blessing which is ours now, consequent on the death, resurrection and glory of God's beloved Son!

In Proverbs 9 we have Wisdom speaking again universally. She has built her house, hewn out her pillars, slaughtered her cattle, and mingled her wine. Think of Wisdom taking that way with us, and saying, "Eat ye of my

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bread, and drink of the wine that I have mingled". What is her bread? It means satisfaction; that is a fine thing to have. "And drink of the wine;" that is joy. Take the epistle to the Philippians, where I do not doubt we get the results of the piping in a very striking way. The apostle says, "For our commonwealth has its existence in the heavens, from which also we await the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, who shall transform our body of humiliation into conformity to his body of glory" (Philippians 3:20, 21). That was piping indeed! These Philippians were in the good and blessing of it. They knew what the wine was, and they got satisfaction, too. The apostle Paul had Christ for gain, and he was well satisfied; though himself a prisoner under very trying circumstances, he says, "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4).

I desire to follow up a little what Wisdom says in chapter 8: 17. "I love those that love me". Love is a preparation for immense blessing. In Colossians, as well as in Ephesians, the apostle speaks of hearing of their faith in the Lord Jesus and love to all the saints, and now, he says, 'I can pray for you'. He says, "I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is in you, and the love which ye have towards all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:15 - 17). "I love those that love me". A practical point is whether we set ourselves to receive divine communications. Do we love God so as to set ourselves to learn what He has to give us, like Mary of old?

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Mary loved the Lord so well, that she was intent on listening to what He had to say, and accordingly she received divine communications. It is His voice, "I love those that love me; and they that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honour are with me; durable wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than fine gold, yea, than pure gold; and my revenue than choice silver". Was ever such piping heard as that? It is indeed something better than gold, or choice silver, or rubies. If such is offered, there is every reason that we should lend our ears to it attentively. Wisdom says, "I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasuries".

I want to speak first a little about righteousness - "I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment;" then about inheriting substance; and then about our treasuries. These are matters of great importance. If we turn to the New Testament, to the epistle to the Romans, we get developed the thought of righteousness. This is a point of immense importance; very elementary, but it is here, you begin to get on that line. Then in Colossians and Ephesians you have substance - solid things that are never lost, but which stand by you at all times, for in those epistles God unfolds His purpose towards us in Christ, which can never change. Then what about treasuries? I believe the treasuries of every one of us are our hearts and minds. We sing sometimes, 'Jesus! Thou art enough The mind and heart to fill' (Hymn 174) - these are our treasuries. I want to leave with us all the thought of what treasures the Spirit of God is ready to pour into our

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hearts and minds. In Colossians and Ephesians we get both the heart and the mind referred to, and divine treasures are unfolded with which God is prepared to fill our minds and hearts that they may be "filled even to all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:19).

Now let me say a word about righteousness, for we must begin there. Romans is of immense importance to us in that way. It makes a great point of righteousness, but it begins by showing how utterly guilty we are. "There is not a righteous man, not even one; there is not the man that understands, there is not one that seeks after God. All have gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable; there is not one that practises goodness, there is not so much as one" - not even one. "Asps' poison is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; swift their feet to shed blood; ruin and misery are in their ways, and way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:10 - 18). Thus we are all brought in guilty. We get in that same chapter the unfolding of how God has provided for Himself a foundation on which He can show mercy without surrendering in the least degree His justice. It is by the blood, the testimony of death. He has set forth the Lord Jesus as a mercy-seat, "through faith in his blood, for the shewing forth of his righteousness, ... that he should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus" (verses 25, 26). God has cleared the ground for Himself. That is the seat He is on - the mercy-seat.

While in chapter 3 we are shown how God can be righteous, in chapter 4 we learn how we are reckoned to be

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righteous, namely, as "believing on him who has raised from among the dead Jesus our Lord, who has been delivered for our offences and has been raised for our justification, it will be reckoned. Therefore having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God" (Romans 4:24 - 5: 1). We are brought into righteousness, and so into the kingdom of God. We come under the blessed rule - the rule of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus practical righteousness is brought about. The epistle goes on to speak about sin, not what we have done, but what we are. God has brought in a new Head for us. The development of that is in chapter 5, where we learn that one man - Adam - brought in sin and death, and another Man, Jesus Christ, brought in just the opposite - righteousness and life for all, in view of justification of life. Then further on we get the Spirit given, and that the Spirit of Christ, so that in chapter 8, the apostle Paul is able to say, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and of death" (verse 2). The effect of this is that righteous conduct is brought to pass on our part, and the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. One would like to stop there for a moment, and enquire whether we are up to this? Do we come short on this elementary line? - "I walk in the path of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment". Is love now the ruling power in our life? If it is, then the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, "who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit". I feel the importance of it, though you may say it is very elementary,

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but though it is elementary, we must not only begin, but continue on that line. Let us be careful to maintain it. It has been said, 'We learn the alphabet but once, but we are always using it'. This is Christianity - practical Christianity, but only so far as our responsible life here is concerned. As men in the flesh, we have utterly broken down, but we are set up in another Man - Christ - with the practical result that we fulfil the righteous requirement of the law by the Spirit. Many believers have made shipwreck, because they have forgotten that elementary path of righteousness where Wisdom walks.

I want now to speak of substance; "That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance". God speaks now from His own side, and as we listen to these wonderful unfoldings it makes us wonder - it fills us with amazement and praise! Take Ephesians 1 - the blessing: "Blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies" (verse 3). Is that visionary? Is it not substance? Then God has chosen us in Christ before the world's foundation; are we going to lose that? It is out of our keeping. Is that not substance? It is, indeed! Then, He has predestinated us - marked us out beforehand for adoption; we are accepted in the Beloved. How He loves to open it all out to us! In this wonderful epistle we hear of things that are, so to speak, piped to us. Are we going to respond? He has "Marked us out beforehand for adoption through Jesus Christ to himself" (verse 5) - as if He would say, 'I want to have you as sons near me'. To think that He desires to have us near Himself in such a wonderful relationship as sons and this, "according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of

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the glory of his grace, wherein he has taken us into favour in the Beloved". Then, we have "redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of offences" (verses 5 - 7). God has removed everything in the way, so as to carry out His wonderful thoughts of love towards us. Then, further, we have an inheritance, a thing of very great substance. "Marked out beforehand according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his own will" (verse 11). He is going to gather up all things in Christ, and we are going to have our place in it. He is the Head of the body, the assembly. God "has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all" (verses 22, 23). What substance there is here!

Then the apostle turns to prayer, because these things have to be made good in the Spirit's power. Do not let any of us miss them. He says, "I ... do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you at my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart, so that ye should know what is the hope of his calling" (verses 15 - 18). What do you take to be "the hope of his calling"? I believe it is the full thought of sonship, of which we already have the Spirit. We are to be put in that place. That is a different thought from being children. Children supposes generation, but sonship, in the full thought of God as to it, is to be like Christ, actually, with bodies made like to His body of glory.

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In Ephesians 3, we have the apostle down on his knees again: "I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 14). God has come out in all the fulness of His blessed nature, making Himself known as Father, and we are brought into the good of all that. The truth of it has been recovered largely in the last hundred years. The apostle bowed his knees "to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom every family in the heavens and on earth is named". Every family in the universe of bliss is to be grouped round that new name of God. Let us quote the very words: "In order that he may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, 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" (verses 16 - 19). Does Christ indeed dwell in our hearts by faith? What a blessing it would be, if as the result of such a meeting as this, Christ should take His place as supreme in our hearts by faith - dwelling there!

Wisdom says, "I love those that love me". Oh, that we might be able to apprehend these things! It does not say, 'comprehend', though so rendered in the Authorised Version. 'Comprehend' means that you are able to compass it all in your mind, but 'apprehend' means that you can see the thought, you have the conception of it. You never could compass the "breadth and length and depth and height" - it does not say of what! It is a vast universe of bliss that is in

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view. The apostle is on his knees that we might apprehend, and should "know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge; that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God". These are treasures indeed! It is the fulness of what has been revealed of God. One is lost in it in a way, but it is there for us all to enjoy.

In Colossians 2 the apostle speaks in most exuberant language, saying, "That their hearts may be encouraged, being united together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the mystery of God; in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge" (verses 2, 3). Here we have treasures for our treasuries indeed! I have been puzzled as to the meaning of "the mystery of God", but I got light as to it from a very dear servant of God, now gone home to Him. He put it in this way: the mystery of God is how God is able to bring to pass a moral universe out of chaos and confusion, and you and I are privileged to know all about it, and we treasure it up in our minds and hearts. I look around and see most perplexing things in this world; evil rampant, the power of Satan terrible; men swift to shed blood, destruction and misery in their way. Who will bring order out of all this? God has found a way. It is all by His dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Colossians it is all set forth most wonderfully. It is by a Man, who is at the same time the Creator. The apostle speaks of the Deity under the title of the "fulness" in chapter 1, and shows that It has done great things: "By him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross - by him, whether the things on the earth

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or the things in the heavens. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in mind by wicked works, yet now has it reconciled in the body of his flesh through death; to present you holy and unblamable and irreproachable before it" (verses 20 - 22). How wonderful it all is! We are thus given to understand the mystery of God; how He could do it all, and how blessedly He has provided a foundation, even the precious work and Person of Christ, on which everything rests in the way of reconciliation. We are going to see a universe of bliss where everything from end to end will have nothing but what is of Christ in it, and the assembly will form the most wonderful portion of that universe, Christ, the hope of glory being already in us.

May the Lord graciously use these few words to make us understand better the character of the present moment, and what God has recovered for us in the way of piping, so that we may do a little more than we have ever done, in dancing to that piping, to use the Lord's own illustration.

Croydon, May 1937

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"YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN"

A E MYLES

Exodus 21:1 - 6; Mark 10:17 - 21; Luke 2:42 - 49; Hebrews 11:23 - 26

I have a very simple line of things before me, and desire to make an appeal to the young people in this company. Those of us who are older rejoice to see so many young people sitting in a meeting like this; your presence here is an indication that you have some interest in Christ, and I shall assume in what I have to say that you have some acquaintance with Christ, a link with Himself that gives you a sense of attachment to Him. Where such a link is known and recognised, the possibilities for God are very great indeed. I began by reading the passage in Exodus 21 that we might carry forward the keynote of this series of meetings. What has been in view is that we should all enter into the joy and gain of being bondmen of God. The passage in Exodus gives us a type of Christ; everything that God would work in His people has been seen in Christ in blessed perfection, and He asks none of us to be or do anything that has not been thus exemplified.

I refer to the passage, having in mind to apply it to ourselves, and wish to speak of the words, "If thou buy a Hebrew bondman", that is to say, the basis of the six years in which he was to serve was that he had been bought, the ownership of the servant was vested in another, not in himself. Now the application of this thought, especially to

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the young, would do away with what marks many, the sense that the things of God are optional with them. The world would give you such an idea, it would give you to think that you are a free agent, that you can do what you please. This thought is often in the minds of Christians, and nothing is more destructive, nothing will hinder your progress more than that. If such a thought be in your mind, you will be casual, you will be occasional in the things of God; you will not be definite, and God wants definiteness in young as well as in old. The thought of the bondman purchased is before us, and I say to the young men and the maidens, that this is the position as between the Lord Jesus and yourself. In 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20 we read, "Do ye not know that ... ye are not your own? for ye have been bought with a price". Do you understand that the Lord Jesus has paid a price for you? God might claim you on creatorial grounds, He has never given up His creatorial right to man, but God would claim you on the ground of redemption, He would show you that a price has been paid, that you are no longer your own, you are His by a title that is indisputable. "Ye have been redeemed, not by corruptible things, as silver or gold ... but by precious blood, ... the blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18, 19).

Now the scripture before us supposes that we accept these conditions and we take up bond-service. There is no option about it, it is what might be called conscription, but not an arbitrary conscription - a conscription that has a moral basis, for the Lord Jesus has paid the price in His own precious blood. The answer to a presentation of truth of this kind is subjection; no progress can be made apart from subjection to God. He has made you His own. Are

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you rebellious about it? There is great happiness in subjection. I want to show you, in a moment, what it leads to - it leads to the understanding of affection. But we must begin, in our relations with God, by the acceptance of His blessed will and being subject to it. Now the Hebrew bondman serves for six years under these conditions. If it were a worldly history you would probably find that, when the time of release came, he would go out as a man would go out of prison, thankful to shake off all the shackles that had bound him to his master; but this is a kind of history that has its origin in the Lord Jesus, and which is repeated, in some measure, in believers, and it has an entirely different conclusion from that; for when we come to the time of release we find that he does not want to go out at all. What has he learnt during those six years of bond-service? He has learnt the heart of his Master, he has gained such a knowledge of God that he is prepared now to be a bondman for ever. God cannot be satisfied until He gets you on this basis, on the basis that you have learnt to love in such a manner that you will be a bondman for ever.

This love is not only love for Christ, it is love for the assembly - for the wife, and it is love for the children - for the saints viewed in their dependence and in their need of service and care. This love, which of course has its origin in God Himself, flows out in different ways so as to embrace the whole sphere of the Lord's interests down here. I challenge every heart in this room, Do you love Christ? And, Do you love the assembly? Are you prepared to accept bond-service because of love? Have you learnt the heart of the Master? Have you learnt how dear the

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assembly is to His heart? Have you learnt how, in His love, He would serve His saints? Then, you will be prepared to say something plainly or distinctly, and what the bondman says is, "I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go free". Dear fellow-believer, are you saying that? You sometimes meet Christians who are saying nothing, and you meet others who are not speaking plainly and distinctly. What an answer this would be for one who would seek to turn you aside from the path of bond-service. Sometimes a young person is invited to go to a worldly place, perhaps a theatre - perhaps something a little less distasteful than that - and sometimes they will say, I am sorry, I am busy tonight, I cannot go. But oh, how much better to speak plainly and distinctly, to say, 'No, I have a Master, I am not a free agent, I am subject to the control of this Master'. And that person might say to you, 'Oh, but we have no Master, we like to be free, we like to be able to do what we please and to go where we please'. And you would have to answer, 'But I have no such liberty, I am a bondman'. And if they said to you, 'Well, we are sorry for you', you would have to say, 'Oh, but I love my Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. I would not go free even if I had opportunity - and I am a bondman for ever'. I think, dear brethren, that that is a kind of keynote and I would just appeal to you to come into the happiness and the joy of being a bondman of Christ.

Now in the passage in Mark the person who came to the Lord with this inquiry was evidently a young man, and, in the course of his conversation with Jesus, we are told that Jesus, looking on him, loved him - He loved him. I

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suppose what was in the Lord's mind might be described as the possibilities of youth. God could not be satisfied only with the service of old age. I grant you that old age with experience and spiritual maturity is very delightful to God, but He loves youthfulness, He delights in what has energy and vigour when it is employed under His direction. If youthfulness is lacking in any meeting, then there is something absent from the service of God, that is very pleasing to Him. Now, Jesus called upon this young man to make a surrender, to sell whatsoever he had and give to the poor and come and follow Him. The thought of surrender hinders many young people from becoming definite in the things of the Lord, they think unduly of what they will have to give up. You may be assured that there is much that you may have to give up, for you cannot acquire wealth in the things of God if you hold on to all that marks the people around you. Surrender is called for, and I would put it to you how much better it is to surrender in youth than in old age. In old age, vigour is weakened, the sight becomes feeble, the ears become dull, but the more that is surrendered, the more valuable one is to God, and if you want to be a bondman in reality, that is, in character as well as in name, it involves surrender. The tennis court may attract you, the literature of the world may attract you, the learning of the world may hold you. There are many things which are connected with youth that only youth can take up in vigour; but the Lord wants that vigour, He wants that youthfulness for Himself, and it is in the setting of the love of Jesus that this call is made for surrender. I commend that to you - the setting of the love of Jesus. What can you do

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for One who loves you as Jesus loves you? What are you prepared to give up when you are in the heart of Jesus? I think the thought that Jesus loves you makes the pathway possible, it would be impossible in any other setting; but under the mighty influence of love that went all the way to death for you, surrender is possible.

I will turn now to the passage in Luke 2. It is a passage that has often come under our notice, never failing to fill our hearts with adoration for Christ, to find Him, at twelve years of age, going about His Father's business. Now I would speak to the boys and girls here. I suppose that all of you - most of you at all events - come here because you are brought here by your parents; but what would you do if you were left to yourselves? The parents in this case were not up to the situation; sometimes parents are like that. They had in their minds that the Boy Jesus could be found amongst their kinsfolk and their acquaintances, and when He was not there, they thought He was lost. But where was He? Ah, He had taken up in His heart, even at that early age, the thought of being about His Father's business; and there is a rebuke to the parents in what He said, "Why is it that ye have sought me?" - as though they had not understood that His heart was set upon God - and in this connection He stands as a model for all. So I would ask you again, Would you come here of your own choice? Would you find your joy and happiness in hearing and asking questions? Do you not know that God loves you to ask questions? Questions bring out answers, and I am sure the Lord would encourage all the young ones to take up His business, His matters, definitely, and to begin to make

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inquiry about God. Do not let the circle of the family, and of your school acquaintances, be the only scenes in which you are found. Let there be something secret between God and you, seek His business, seek His matters, ask these questions; follow what is set out so perfectly in Jesus, and you will find that there is a happiness in the Father's business that is not found even in the family circle or in the school - you will find your joy there. I would like to see your heart so definitely attached to God that you will begin to do something by yourself.

Now in Hebrews 11 we come to the development of youth. It is a most important moment in our lives when we are, as it says of Moses, come to years (AV). There are many such in this hall tonight, young people who stand on the verge of manhood or womanhood. Perhaps some of them as yet have made no definite choice, they have not considered what their lives are going to be. Moses is most interesting, because in his youth he came under the protection of faith as it was in his mother. It was not the choice of his parents to put him, as it were, in Egypt's university. I grant you that he was there, and that he became versed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, but his parents did not put him there. Sometimes parents put their children in positions of the greatest danger, where they are exposed to the full power of the enemy, and then they pray that God will save them out of it. But the mother of Moses was not one such, she did not tempt God, as it were; she put her child under the protection that God had provided as an act of faith; she went as far in the matter as faith could go. Now God had respect to that in the working out of His own

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ways. Moses was to come under Egypt's power, but there came a time when he had to make a choice. I wonder if some of the young people here now are standing at this point - you have not yet made a choice. I am speaking now of what is left to your choice. What are you going to choose? You may look towards the brethren - as we speak of the people of God - and, as you look there, you see reproach, you see nothing that would appeal naturally, that would commend itself, in the light of all that you have learnt from the world. Remember this, that the world educates people for itself, not for God. God has His own schools. I feel for those that are standing at such a point, and if God should take my feeble words and clothe them with His mighty power, we should all be thankful indeed, that it might bring you to the point to which Moses came, the point of a choice, a right choice. Until you make this choice, you will drift about; as long as you are drifting about, indefinite and uncertain, you will be exposed to the power of the enemy.

The matter stands thus, that God has shown you something of His grace and something of His love; the Lord Jesus has shown you something of His devotion, something of His service for you, He has shown you that He has served and He has suffered to serve: now you stand at this point, are you prepared to make this choice; to take up the reproach of the Christ, to suffer affliction along with the people of God? Are you prepared for this? Remember that Moses stands before us as the bondman of God - that is what he was. I would like to encourage you; not that one would multiply words in the matter, but I would like to

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encourage you to make such a choice. No doubt many here have come under the faith of parents; you are, as it were, covered by their prayers. They may have held you in parental control, and now you stand at the verge of manhood and it is no longer a question of what your parents will do, but what you will do! Young men and young women, I appeal to you. I would show you that the choosing of the reproach of the Christ is a better choice than that of Egypt with its pleasures. I grant you there are pleasures in sin, indeed the Scripture tells us so, but they are only for a season; and God would stimulate every bit of His work in you at such a time as this that you might be impressed with the urgency of the matter, the urgency of making this choice. If not, you will find that, almost before you know it, your youth has passed, your early manhood has passed, and, even if you become definite in the things of God in later life, there will be something lacking in your moral make-up, something that is possible in youth, some feature of life that is expressed in youth in which God has His pleasure. So I am free to appeal to you to make this choice. Let all that you have learnt in the school or the university go; let faith's voice be heard, act in faith. Moses did this by faith, he did not do it by reason, he did not do it intellectually, he did it by faith. Faith means that you are in touch with God, the unseen God, it means that God is great in your eyes, that He is the living God; that, though men see nothing, you see something, you have God before your soul. That is how faith acts, faith would recognise God and repudiate every other voice.

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I appeal to you to make this choice. It will begin an era of your life that will be definite, and it will open up a way for you to find much happiness amongst the people of God. How can you think well of the brethren, how can you be happy amongst them, unless you have chosen to take up the afflictions and the sufferings of the testimony? How can you be really happy otherwise? Remember that these people, these believers, so despised in the world, have all been chosen by God. He could have chosen others - nobles, and princes, and kings, for He has power to reach out to whomsoever He will - but what marks the present position publicly is that God has chosen the poor, He has chosen those that are despicable in the eyes of a cultured world - but these are the people of God. Now are you prepared - not to come down to them, I do not put it as a condescension - are you prepared to move up to them? To move out of all that belongs to Egypt, its corruption and all that appeals to the flesh. Are you prepared to move out of that and to move up to the company of an afflicted people, the people of God, and to take up the reproach of the Christ?

May the Lord grant to such as stand at the parting of the ways, to make this choice, for His name's sake.

Belfast, April 1938

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GOD'S WAY AND GOD'S END

A J GARDINER

Proverbs 8:22 - 24; Luke 2:12 - 14; John 13:31, 32; Ephesians 1:19 - 21; Romans 8:14, 15; 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14

I wish, dear brethren, to speak of God's way and God's end. The Lord is bringing the end much before us, not so much the end which will be reached in the eternal day, but rather the end which is to be reached in the service of God in the assembly now. If we get some sense of the end that is before God, and we are helped to contemplate the way by which that end is reached, it will greatly promote the spirit of worship, and add enrichment to it. I suppose we might say that the end that God has in view is that He should find pleasure in having the sons of men before Him in an order of manhood wholly according to His own desire, and with intelligent appreciation of His own glory and blessedness, with the ability and liberty in known nearness and relationship to respond to that glory. That, I believe, is the end which is before the heart of the blessed God. He desires to be surrounded with an innumerable company of those able to appreciate fully what He is, in so far as He may be known by the creature, and who find their happiness in responding to Him in appreciation of all the varied lights in which divine glory is to be known.

Now Proverbs 8 speaks of the beginning of God's way. Wisdom says, "Jehovah possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old", the idea being, I

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understand, that God, having a definite end before His mind, committed Himself to wisdom, in the reaching of that end, before He began any operations. Before He commenced any works, the whole matter, so to speak, was thought out in wisdom; and then, having committed Himself to wisdom, He begins to operate to reach the end that He has in mind. "His way", I believe, suggests a divinely ordered sequence of operations by which God reaches the end that He has in mind. If we contemplate God's way, and see how undiverted He has been in it, working in wisdom and with method from beginning to end, it will greatly enhance our appreciation of divine glory. So one desires help from the Lord to touch on certain outstanding features of God's way, bearing in mind that His way subserves the end that He has in view.

The first feature in His way would be creation. It says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1); that is to say, He brought into existence by almighty power the sphere in which He would work out His thoughts. We know that disaster came in between the time spoken of in the first verse of the book of Genesis and that of the second verse, but that only provided occasion for God to show in His subsequent operations, by way of testimony, how He would operate in the moral and spiritual sphere to bring order out of chaos, and life out of death, and so on; but the first great feature that I see in the divine way is creation.

One would pass on then to the great fact of the incarnation. There was much that came in between the creation and the incoming of Christ which would well repay

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consideration, as to what part it plays in the way of God, but one desires to speak for a moment on the incarnation and all that results from it for the blessed God. You remember how the angels spoke to the shepherds, announcing the incoming of Christ, and said, "This is the sign to you: ye shall find", not "the babe", as in the Authorised Version - that is, he was not exactly calling attention at the moment to the Person of Jesus, but "ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger". But then immediately the multitude of the heavenly host was suddenly heard, saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men", as though all was assured in the coming in of Christ. The glory of God was assured; God's good pleasure in men was assured; but in divine wisdom the sign given to the shepherds was "a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger", as though God would intimate at the outset that His mode of operation was intended to set aside completely all that the natural mind of man would boast in. His people were to accustom themselves to the idea that God would work in outward smallness, in outward weakness, and, indeed, in conditions which would suggest what would be contemptible in the eyes of men - "lying in a manger". It is indeed part of the divine glory that God can entirely conceal the greatest things He is effecting from the natural mind of man.

So the sign given to the shepherds was that they should find a Babe. What is so small and insignificant as a Babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes and lying in a manger? He was not in outward honour at all, but at the same time the

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heavenly messengers, as understanding the mind of heaven, say, "Glory to God in the highest" - all was assured - "and on earth peace, good pleasure in men". There is much involved in the incarnation, but one thing I see in it among others, and that is that there was then introduced into this scene the order of manhood that God intended to have before Him eternally for His pleasure, and in which alone His thoughts can be realised. So, as we well know, the gospel of Luke engages us with the manhood of Jesus, the unique character of it, the holy character of it, and how Jesus grew up before God through every stage of human life, till at last, at the age of thirty, the heavens were opened upon Him, and there was a voice out of heaven, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight" (chapter 3: 22). That voice expressed the delight of God in the moral excellencies that were now under His eye in Jesus, and expressed at the same time that now there was a Man before God in the relationship of Son and owned as Son, ministering pleasure to the Father's heart as a Son. Beloved, in that there was the guarantee that God would secure all that upon which His heart was set.

So for a moment we might go on to contemplate the scene on the mount of transfiguration, as we have it in Luke's gospel, where we have the One who was saluted out of heaven at His baptism, now for a moment, so to speak, in His own scene. It says in Luke 9:28, 29, "Taking Peter and John and James he went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed the fashion of his countenance became different and his raiment white and effulgent". But He was not alone. "Two men talked with him, who were Moses and

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Elias, who, appearing in glory", as though God was intimating to Peter, John and James that His thought was to have men before Him after the pattern of Jesus; that He might have His pleasure in men. How fitting, how in accord with the scene Moses and Elias were! Moses, the meekest man in all the earth, who had taken on, by God's work in him before Jesus appeared, the features of Jesus. Moses, a man who stood like a lion for the rights of God, as Jesus did; and Elijah similarly, standing alone for the rights of God on Mount Carmel, before four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets of the Asherah; how in keeping they were with the scene of God's pleasure where Jesus is!

Then, the temptation by the devil in the wilderness, only brought into greater display that now at last in Jesus God had a Man who was incorruptible. He could be tested with "every temptation;" for it says, "The devil, having completed every temptation, departed from him" (Luke 4:13), as though every influence of evil that had been brought to bear on the first man was brought to bear on Jesus in those forty days, only to bring into relief that one great result of the incarnation, the coming into manhood of a divine Person, was that now there was a Man before God who was wholly incorruptible; a Man whose motives could be brought into the light and were seen to be wholly in accord with the blessed God. God is securing, and is going to secure, man after that order for His pleasure. We can see these steps in succession in the divine way, the second one to which I have referred being this great matter of the incarnation.

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Then one desires to speak for a moment on the scripture read in John 13 which has in view the death of Christ. If creation was one great feature in the way of God, if the incarnation is another great feature in that way, there is also the great feature of redemption, and all that came to light in redemption; how God was glorified there. You notice the setting: it says, just before, that Satan entered into Judas, and he went out, the Lord having said to him, "What thou doest, do quickly". That is, Satan now had an instrument in Judas Iscariot by which what Satan is was fully set forth. By means of that man, Judas Iscariot, there was expressed the most absolute moral depravity conceivable, and the most absolute hatred of absolute good. The nature of Satan came into expression at that moment in that man Judas Iscariote. Now in contrast to that Jesus says, "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him". The Lord is not there speaking, I understand, of Himself being glorified at the right hand of God. He is rather speaking of His being morally glorified in going down into death. It was His glory that in His death He would bring the glory of God into full display. What a contrast to the expression of evil, having its origin in Satan and its expression in Judas! There was now a Man in Jesus in whom, in death, God would be absolutely glorified. When Jesus died there was the most complete vindication of God's holiness; His absolute abhorrence and unsparing judgment of evil; there was the assertion, the establishment, of God's rights. There was the bringing into glorious display of divine love. It was a question of the depths to which divine love could go. Wisdom says, "When there

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were no depths;" she refers to a time before depths were in existence; but surely the depths came into full expression in the cross of Jesus. It is a question of the depths to which divine love could go, and the wonderful conciliation at that point of every attribute of God, and divine love shining out in its triumph through it all.

Then, dear brethren, not only was God glorified there, but the Son of man was glorified too, for it brought into display features of moral excellence in Christ; wonderful devotion to God's holy will, wondrous love to those who were in the purpose of God. All this and much more came into expression. Not only was God glorified, but the Son of man was glorified. In a way, features that had not come fully into expression in His pathway here - though ever there - came now fully into expression when Jesus died: obedience unto death, and that the death of the cross; devotedness to God's will at all cost to Himself; every feature of moral glory shone out at that time, both as the expression of what Jesus is, and also as the outshining of the glory of God.

Let me now pass on to the scripture in Ephesians, to speak of two more features of the divine way which I think we must take account of. One is the resurrection of Christ, which brings into evidence divine glory in a remarkable way, for it entirely shuts out man, and it entirely shuts out Satan. One has been encouraged in remembering what the Lord Himself said: "Fear not those who kill the body and after this have no more that they can do" (Luke 12:4). Death is the limit of Satan's power: once he has slain a saint there is no more he can do. What a comfort that is, for

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we know the God of resurrection, and when resurrection is before our souls we have before us a platform where the glory is entirely of God, where man is entirely excluded, for man cannot raise the dead, and Satan is entirely overcome. That is a great thing to lay hold of, that in resurrection God has brought in a power by which He will establish all His thoughts on a platform exclusive of all evil, of all that which is of the first man, a platform on which divine glory is displayed marvellously. That has come to pass before our eyes in Christ, and the same mighty power in which God wrought in Christ in raising Him from among the dead is operating towards us in order to bring us into our portion according to the mind of God.

There is yet another item in the divine way of which I would speak, and that is the exaltation of Christ, or, what goes along with it on another line, the ascension of Christ. The exaltation of Christ is spoken of in the first chapter of Ephesians. It is a question of what God has done, that He has not only raised up Christ from among the dead, but He has set Him down as a Man in the highest glory conceivable, and in setting Him down in the highest place God sets forth what He intends to do for the saints. It is said in Ephesians 2:5 - 7 that He "has quickened us with the Christ ... and has raised us up together, and has made us sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus". That is, the place of Christ in heaven sets forth the exceeding riches of God's grace in regard to what He will do for the saints, that He will have men in a most elevated, exalted position

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before Him in complete suitability, in another Man, "in Christ Jesus;" but He will have them there in order not only that He might have His own satisfaction, but in order that He might display what He is capable of doing, "the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus".

Along with that goes also the thought of ascension, which is Christ's own act. "I ascend" (John 20:17), He says, speaking in His own right, and of His own power, "to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God". It is, as it were, the final act in that great service of Christ in bringing in for the Father's pleasure what His heart would delight in. So He says, "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", as bringing His brethren into the most favoured position in which God delights to have the sons of men, in order that the Father's heart might be fully gratified according to the greatness of His own thoughts.

Well, dear brethren, these things, I believe, will repay consideration, these definite outstanding steps in the divine way: creation, incarnation, redemption, resurrection, exaltation or ascension - all these are outstanding features of the divine way by which God is reaching His end. But then, so far, all that one has been speaking of is outside of ourselves; that is to say, it is all objective. But there is another outstanding feature in the divine way, and that is the incoming of the Holy Spirit - a marvellous thing to take account of! The incarnation is a wonderful expression of divine wisdom, an expression of marvellous grace; but the incoming of the Holy Spirit is also marvellous - the coming

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in of another divine Person, content to serve absolutely unselfishly, coming in as power in the saints in order that we might take up in consciousness and power all that divine love has purposed for us. What could there be on our side apart from the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit enables us to delight in Christ; He enables us to repudiate the man that God has entirely rejected, and to delight in the Man who is before God; and as the Spirit's work proceeds, we ourselves are formed by the power of God after that Man. The Spirit of God gives us understanding, and becomes in us the "Spirit of adoption;" the power for the consciousness of the relationship into which we are brought, to respond to the Father in the holy liberty of sons, as He so delights. So even now, by the Spirit, we learn from Christ how to say, "Abba, Father", partaking in the same holy affections in confident movement Godward, and expressing ourselves in the same holy way toward the Father as that in which Christ Himself speaks as a Man. What could be more delightful to the heart of God? And all this is produced by the coming in of the Holy Spirit - a remarkable, essential part of the divine way by which God reaches His end.

And, dear brethren, the Spirit remains with us to the end. The Spirit will not cease His service until the divine end is fully reached. It says, that He is here as the Spirit of truth - a most comforting thought in the presence of all the untruth there is in the world, in the presence of all Satan's activities to corrupt and nullify the truth. We have with us the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who will guide us, it says, into all the truth. Just as the saints embrace the light that God gives, so the Spirit will lead on to something

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further, for He will not cease His service till the divine end is fully reached: He will guide us into all the truth. I know of nothing more encouraging in days of apostasy, in days when we are conscious of the power of evil against the truth, than to realise that we have with us the Comforter, a divine Person, the Spirit of truth; and in His service in this capacity to the beloved saints the Lord says of Him, "He shall not speak from himself" - a marvellous truth! - "but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak" (John 16:13). The Spirit is here in that wonderful dependent attitude, never speaking from Himself, dependent on the Lord on high for the words He shall speak - a marvellous thing to contemplate; the power by which, surely, the Lord would operate in any who serve in whatever small degree. But if the Spirit is here in that attitude, not speaking from Himself, but speaking what He hears, how it becomes all who would desire to take up the work of the ministry in any degree to see that they are moving on the same lines. Only on these lines can we be assured of divine support to further the divine end. If we are content, dear brethren, to move on those lines we may in our measure be fellow-workers with God.

One cannot enlarge on these things; one can only bring them before you, dear brethren, suggestively, as indicating a line of thought which will tend to enrich us in our appreciation of the blessed God. When we come on to the line of divine purpose, we know that that is entirely apart from any question of sin. But in the wisdom of the divine way God has permitted that sin should come in, that moral questions should be involved, and that we should be

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involved in them, in order that in our extrication we might learn features of the divine glory which we could never have known otherwise: the feature of divine wisdom in the incarnation of Christ, the feature of divine love in the death of Christ - the depths to which love could go - and the feature of divine power in the resurrection of Christ. All these and much more are elements in the divine glory which we learn by reason of the fact that, in divine wisdom, evil has been allowed to come in, and we ourselves to be involved in it. Even thus have we become enriched with depth of feeling in the knowledge of the blessed God, as learning the way He has come in, extricating us from the position in which we were; accomplishing His own purpose, and giving us a place in Christ according to His eternal thoughts.

In the scripture in Chronicles we read that "it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one". That is, I believe, what God would bring us to in assembly, that we should be as one. The Spirit has a great part in that. "In the power of one Spirit we have all been baptised into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13) - a thing, I am sure, we all need help upon, to learn how to merge in the power of the Spirit in one body, so that we move together as one. But here in this scripture it is contemplated that that is fully known and understood, and as the divine glory, as apprehended in Christ, is before the hearts of the saints, they move as one, with one voice, to celebrate God, and He reaches His end. It says that when that took place, "Then the house, the house of Jehovah, was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not stand to do their service because of the cloud; for the

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glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God". God, so to speak, has reached His end. He takes possession, as has often been said, of the whole scene as delightful to Him. He has the sons of men before Him in unity of heart in appreciation, in a spirit of worship of the blessed God; and God, having secured that, graces the whole scene with His presence, so that there is a realisation of what it means for God to be all in all.

One has often thought, dear brethren, in this connection, of the throne that Solomon made - the throne of ivory overlaid with pure gold, the ivory suggesting to us what is permanent, and the pure gold the expression of divine glory. It is, I believe, a suggestion of God Himself as supreme in the outshining of His glory, the throne dominating, so to speak, the whole scene. It says, there were six steps to the throne. I do not think that means there are literally six steps: it is to suggest an ordered, complete way, by which the divine end is reached; but there were six steps, and on each step there were two lions, reminding us that as the lion turneth not away for any, so God has pursued His way, not turning away, so to speak, for any. Rather the efforts of the enemy to thwart have only brought to light that God could not be turned away for any. There was apparently the activity of an enemy after God created the heavens and the earth; there came in chaos and darkness, but it only served, as one said before, to give opportunity for God to show typically, by way of testimony, how He would move in the moral and spiritual sphere to glorify Himself, in bringing order out of chaos, and life out of death.

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Then we know how Satan sought, when Christ was born, to slay the man-child; but God saw to it that the child was protected. God went on with His way. He could not be turned away for any. Satan might seek to mar in the temptation, but it only brought to light that he was a defeated enemy, and God was going right through with His way. We know how Satan, as having failed to turn aside the Lord Jesus, sought to overcome Him by all that He brought to bear upon Him in Gethsemane, and by the hands of man at the cross, but it only brought to light that God was there, not turning away for any - that there was in Jesus One who would go right through. So at every point we may see the efforts of the enemy to thwart God in His way, but they have only brought to light that God is going on with His way. Perhaps nowhere is it more seen than in the history of christendom, in which, in a deliberate, organised way, the Spirit of God has been set aside, but we are living in days when God has wrought wondrously to recover His saints in the practical recognition of the Holy Spirit; and in that recognition every thought God has in His mind is being reached among His saints. Thus we can see that from the beginning God has been pursuing one ordered way to one definite end, and has been turned aside by no one. So Solomon's throne had a footstool, suggesting to us that the only attitude that befits us in the presence of such an outshining of the divine glory is to bow down in worship in the presence of such a God. "Let us worship at his footstool" (Psalm 132:7). What God is looking for is that the hearts of the saints may be filled with worship in the sense of His own blessedness, and I believe a contemplation of

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His end and the way by which He is reaching it will serve to promote this. God grant it may be so!

Birmingham, June 1938

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WALKING IN LIGHT

A F MOORE

1 John 1:5 - 7

There are two thoughts in this epistle as to God: "God is light", and "God is love". The desire on my heart is that we might be able to pursue these thoughts as the Spirit would unfold them to us, and so come out characteristically as walking in the light and as to love, responding to it. I suppose we could have no proper knowledge of God as light except as that light has shone out through our Lord Jesus Christ. The words of John's gospel help in this respect. We read of Christ that, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men" (chapter 1: 4). There came under the eye of God, in Christ here, One who lived in the fullest possible way; who abidingly lived in the presence of God; who delighted in all that God is; and as He thus lived here His life was light, was light for men, and as He is seen in this way we have brought near to us for the first time what light truly is and what divine love is. It is beautiful thus to see these great qualities presented to us in a living way in Christ. His life is light for us, so that we might live through Him, who has brought God near.

I have no doubt, beloved brethren, that is the way by which we come into these things; first, by seeing what life is, and then by seeing that the life was the light of men; and so in 1 John 1 we have the introductory and favoured message of the epistle: "This is the message which we have

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heard from him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all". Wonderful thoughts are brought near to us by the apostle John, thus we are privileged to enjoy the revelation of God as light, and to be found in the light in which God is, where no element of darkness exists. Darkness is what beclouds and holds us away from God, but as we are brought into the light, to walk in it, we are privileged to regard Him in a very precious and beautiful way, as in attractive light. What a wonderful purifying thought it is thus to know God, that darkness is not in Him.

Then it is said in verse 7, "If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin". So that it has become possible for us to walk in the light as God is in the light, in the purity, blessedness, and preciousness of what God is. The great standard for us is, "As he is in the light". God is now disclosed to us - He is in the light. He was hidden by the darkness on account of Israel's condition and God's relations with them, but He has come out in Christ in this wonderful way - He is now manifested to us in light. There is now the full revelation of God in Christ, and we are privileged to walk in the light as God is in the light, and in so doing to have fellowship one with another. This thought of fellowship is very beautiful and precious. It does not mean merely that we agree with one another on certain points, and so are united, or that we have certain ideas that are similar to those of our brethren, but the walk is in the light, and in doing this we have fellowship with one another; thus we are common sharers with one another as walking with God in the light.

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It is our privilege, beloved brethren, to be found thus in this holy bond of fellowship, this bond of light, and thus to live according to God's pleasure and for the pleasure of our Lord Jesus Christ. It has a very practical bearing upon us and regulates our relations with one another. God, having established these relations for us, would encourage us to take on higher and more blessed thoughts. Although the fellowship to which we are called is in the light, and on righteous grounds - and we only have this fellowship as we walk in the light - yet there is more, there is the other side - love; we are to love one another as knowing that "God is love".

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1938

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RESPONDING TO LOVE

A F MOORE

1 John 4:7 - 9

We have previously had the thought of walking in light before us; an answer to "God is Light". I have in mind now the expression, "God is Love". The word here is, "Beloved, let us love one another". What a word to us! We are addressed as beloved, and we are exhorted to love one another. Now, let us not love at the expense of righteousness, for the love is to be enjoyed as the result of walking in the light. This is very practical and important, beloved brethren, and we do well to heed it. So that, as walking in the light, we are exhorted to love one another, for we only live as we love, and we only love as we walk in the light as God is in the light. Thus light, and fellowship connected with it, must come first, and then the loving one another follows; that is the order. I feel this very much for myself - the need of loving my brethren, and would heed the word, "Let us love one another". If love is thus in operation, we shall go on together in unity, exemplifying it in a practical way. It says, for example, "Love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

If I look upon my brethren, and say of one of them, 'He may be all right, but I question if his walk is orderly' - well, that is not love; the 'but' would not be there if I am carrying out the injunction in connection with light, because light produces transparency in me and in my brethren. It

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also says, "If we confess our sins" (1 John 1:9). To whom would you limit that? You say that applies to an individual brother or sister. I do not think we should individualise that verse. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". If we are walking in the light, we are walking in self-judgment; confessing is a constant thing. Therefore my brother becomes lovable to me, because he is walking in the light - he is living in transparency, and the blood cleanses; that is its quality and its abiding value. And so it says in chapter 4, "Let us love one another; because love is of God". You do not find it outside the proper Christian circle.

One has been surprised in passing by observing people in leaving the different churches of this city - are they together? No! Are they around the doors of their churches and chapels conversing together because they seize an opportunity of embracing one another in love and conversing about the things of God? No! There is an individual or sectional action instead; they go to their own houses, and so are isolated from one another. There is no divine love active, because it is not there. What is of God will always find its own company, and always find its answer in those who are of God in that sphere; they are bound to come together. So love is of God. Therefore we can work out this principle of loving one another in this way: for as loving one another we prove we are born of God, and know God.

But it is well to ever remember that we did not originate this love, it says, "Herein is love, not that we

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loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son a propitiation for our sins" (verse 10). We know God, as we see Him displayed in Christ here, but He is also known as displayed in one another and especially when seen in a sacrificial spirit in us, having been developed among us by the Spirit. We know these things consciously and thus we live, as it says; "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14).

Then it says, "He that loves not has not known God; for God is love". I would just add a word or two as to that expression; it is very pronounced and blessed. I think this chapter provides the only place in Scripture where that short saying is found. We learn in verse 7 why we should love one another, even because love is of God; and then in verse 8, "He that loves not has not known God; for God is love". But in verse 16 we have brought before us what God is essentially - He is love.

It is instructive to our hearts to reflect on this passage; the great truth of which is seen intimated in many scriptures, but it was reserved to John to give us in such brevity and fulness the stupendous thought that God is love! We need, beloved brethren, to be in exercise of soul that we carry in our spirits and in our manner and ways toward one another, this blessed, precious fact, that God is love, for all our outgoings toward one another are to be based upon it. Our God, whom we know, is love, and our actions are to be the result of that fact in our souls; the practice of love amongst ourselves.

My desire in speaking thus, beloved, is that we might be on a right footing towards one another; that we may

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walk together in fellowship in the light, and that in our relations of love to one another we may prove that we know and love God.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1938

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ADHERENCE TO DIVINE COMMAND

A N WALKER

Deuteronomy 4:1 - 9; Deuteronomy 6:4 - 12

If we, dear brethren, have in any way neglected these scriptures, as I think many of us would confess we have done, it would not be because they are obscure. One hardly needs to say anything upon them except to call your attention to them, they are so plain and yet one feels the tendency to neglect the profound injunctions that are here set before us. They are written for us. We are told that these are written for us "upon whom the ends of the ages are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). We are all conscious of having our part in the end of the age, and these things were never more pertinent than today; in view of all the accumulated light that has come to us, and the disclosures of the heart of God and the heart of Christ.

So one feels free to call attention to certain phrases in what is said. Firstly, there is the need for hearkening. The great apostle Moses emphasises the need of hearkening. "And now, Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you". There is that which we are to hear. Writing may also be needed; although writing may be more prominent in Exodus, but what is said is emphasised in the book of Deuteronomy, and I believe, dear brethren, we need to be more alert to hear what is currently indicated to us by divine Persons today. One may well emphasise the word of Moses to hearken to what he teaches

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us in regard to the statutes and judgments. We are told to hold in sanctity the words that are committed to us; we are not to add one word - "Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye take from it", showing that what is committed to us in these divine commands is sacred. But then it says in verse 3, in addition to what we hear, "Your eyes have seen". I believe that God calls attention to what our eyes have seen in the way of His moving in judgment on account of diversion and declension regarding things we have seen. We have not only heard what is committed to us in ministry, but if we are at all observant as we should be, we shall see enough to warn and sober us of the terrible effects of Baal-Peor. We have seen it! I commend that to the brethren, that whilst paying attention to what is heard, we should also be more attentive and alert to what is seen. "Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-Peor; for all the men that followed Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from among you; but ye that did cleave to Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day". We may have to bow our heads in shame for the little we have cleaved to the Lord, but if we are alive today, it is because in some measure we have cleaved to the Lord.

Then he says, "Keep and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding". The wisdom and the understanding of the people of God are not seen in brilliant human innovations, wonderful modern ideas, but in their adherence to the divine commandment. "That will be your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples". We should be held in respect; a right kind of

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regard by those outside, not because of the higher wisdom and intelligence which is ours innately, but because we obey the commandment. Thus we are more wise and understanding than those in christendom, as having heeded these apostolic commands and statutes. "Keep and do them" - not only hear them and observe God's hand moving where evil would intrude, but keep them and do them. How it comes home to every one of us! We have ministry so freely! But we are to "Keep and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding before the eyes of the peoples that shall hear all these statutes, and say, Verily this great nation is a wise and understanding people". How true it was, they were not great in number; but great in that God was with them, and that they were a wise and understanding people, "For what great nation is there that hath God near to them?" We are conscious that God is near us, and in what greater dignity or respect could we be viewed than in this? "And what great nation is there that hath righteous statutes and ordinances" - you cannot improve upon them; no one can improve on that which is so righteous "as all this law, which I set before you this day. Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things that thine eyes have seen". Bear with me when I press that word, "Lest thou forget the things that thine eyes have seen;" where God has come to meet declension or departure from the path of the testimony; "Lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but thou shalt make them known to thy sons and to thy sons' sons". Are we not, dear brethren, delinquent there? We are not only to hear the statutes and judgments and observe

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what God has done, and to keep them and do them, but to make them known to our sons - "Make them known to thy sons and to thy sons' sons". We are looking for our households to come into the path of the testimony where God in grace has set and kept us, and it can only be as the things are in our hearts, that we can make them known to our sons and our sons' sons.

I only refer to chapter 6 to emphasise what I am saying - a scripture which itself is singled out by the Lord as having a right to special attention. He puts this scripture outstandingly as the first of all commandments - may it remain thus with us - may we recognise the Lord's wisdom in giving it! "Hear Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart". Beloved brethren, one yearns that the ministry which we hear, and the truth that is freshly brought to our attention, while coming to us as with sound minds, we might treasure it in our hearts. We must have it in our hearts; it begins there. We are to have it in outward evidence, too - on the doorposts and the gates of our houses. It comes to the gates, but it must begin in the heart. If we have it in the heart, we will not neglect the gate. It says, "Shall be in thy heart; and thou shalt impress them on thy sons, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house". What a word for us! Is it not often found that our own family circle is the hardest place in which to speak of these things? Do we find that? Why is it that we find the family circle the hardest place in the world in which thus to

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speak? This is where we are enjoined to speak of them together; not only at the meeting, but in our households. Thou "shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house". They are worthy to be talked about in our houses. Also, "And when thou goest on the way". There is enough to distract us surely in business and in the world, but in these things there is far more to engage us as we walk by the way. "When thou liest down". That is, they are to be the last thing that is in our hearts as we lie down at night; "and when thou risest up". And then, "Thou shalt bind them for a sign on thy hand". Would it not guard and control our hands if we bound these things there? Do not our hands touch and handle much that we should be preserved from? If these precious commands, statutes, and ordinances were bound on our hands we should be preserved in separation from every evil. You say, 'Does this apply to my working hands?' Yes, wherever my hands are used through the day. It would hold them in right relation to everything. "And they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes". It seems to be a consequence. Then the command, "Shall be as frontlets between thine eyes". Why do we oftentimes have the strained looks on our brow? One is humbled by the furrows, the appearance of strain between the eyes. Would not these things show themselves on our brow and reflect the presence of peace and joy between the eyes? How much is expressed by the eyes! The whole heart indeed comes out on our brow. Further, "And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates". Nothing gets past divine scrutiny under those conditions, so that it is not merely a set of rules that man has given to us, but holy,

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divine commands. Hence all that comes in and goes out of our houses is challenged. Think of what has gone in and out of your house and mine this very day. Let us inquire whether it has been in accord with these holy things of which we are speaking? This is not to put us under law, but to bring us into light; so as to live in the land that the Lord our God has given us.

I do not speak further, but what has been suggested just throws the door right open; so that these things being maintained, all the wealth of God's world is ours. The land, as we know, is not merely a matter of going to heaven when we die - great as that prospect is; the wealth of heaven is freely bestowed upon us here on earth! The Lord would say, I am not going to reserve heaven for you by and by merely; it is open for you, in pursuing these things here upon earth, that ye may live and go in and possess the land which Jehovah gives you.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1938

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THE POINTS OF THE COMPASS

P LYON

Numbers 10:1 - 7, 35, 36; 2 Timothy 4:9 - 11, 21, 22

I have in mind, dear brethren, to suggest to you the spiritual import of the cardinal points of the compass as bearing on the present position of the assembly here in testimony. Numbers 10 introduces the tabernacle in the wilderness and contemplates the tribes in their position round it. From thence the marching order proceeds, commencing with the tribes on the east, followed by the sons of Gershon and Merari bearing the tabernacle; then came those on the south side; as they set forward, the sanctuary as carried by the Kohathites followed; then came the tribes on the west; those on the north bringing up the rear. We can readily see how the universal position is thus in the divine mind, and so is it to be in our hearts and minds if we are to move rightly in relation to the Lord and to the assembly as the vessel of testimony.

The book of Genesis introduces these thoughts initially; the garden being placed by God in Eden eastward, from whence the river flowed divided into four heads. Isaac also in his quest of love is said to have come from the south country; such thoughts testifying to the intent of divine Persons to come into and operate in love within the compass which God has defined. But whilst deigning in grace so to do, it is the glory of such Persons to operate sovereignly outside all limitations as set forth in the

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movements of the ark at the end of Numbers 10. How appreciated were such movements by the spiritual mind of one such as Moses! The sphere of divinely given limitations as regards men affords the plane for the wondrous operations of divine and limitless love; working for its own satisfaction as for our blessing. Then the generation of faith, as seen in Shem in moving toward the eastern mountain, was surely inspired by hope as in the knowledge of the Lord God of Shem. Abraham of that generation is called out by the God of glory, and we find that he moved toward the mountain on the east of Bethel. In this spiritual prospect he would cherish all the divine appearings and communications. The maintenance of this in his soul necessitated his separation from the darkening influence of Lot's company; so that as separate with God, Abraham hears Jehovah's voice, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward" (Genesis 13:14). Thus while the filling out of these thoughts of God awaited the redemption of His people and their location round the tabernacle, yet God loved at the outset to confide to Abraham His friend the complete range of His operations in blessing here on earth, so that Abraham might in faith look out toward every point of the compass in the confidence of God's love and power to give effect to His promises. Jehovah's word to him is, "I will give it to thee" (verse 17). The Canaanites were then in the land, but in faith Abraham would hold it for God and His people - Abraham's seed. Jacob too, as searched and blessed at Peniel, moved eastward in the light of the rising sun.

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When we come to the tabernacle and the position of the tribes in relation to it, what is presented initially and informally in Genesis now takes definite form. The east comes first, standing for hope and glory, the rising sun bringing into view faith's domain. The south indicates divine favour, genial and warm. Job's clothes were warmed by the south wind (Job 37:17). In Numbers 10 the tribes in the east and south are set forward as preceding the sanctuary; according to these thoughts we are to proceed. If we are to move forward with God, how much we need the energising prospect of the east, followed up by the positive enjoyment of divine love as suggested in the south. What light and warmth would thus be assured to us in all our assembly movements. As blessed and encouraged thus together in the light of that morning without clouds, we can go forward in hope. What a prospect thus was Paul's in 2 Timothy, as looking on to the appearing of the Lord.

Then as to the south, as imbued and warmed with the sense of divine love, we are made peculiarly conscious of the divine presence in love amongst us. How confirming would all this be in the Kohathites now setting forward, bearing the sanctuary, thus testifying to God's presence as walking and dwelling among His people. Then the west, as marked by sunset, would bear upon the tendency to decline, calling for that spiritual energy and trustworthiness in the holy manhood alone equal to such a situation. What strength typically would the tribes in the west draw from their nearness to the ark, both in the tabernacle as pitched and as setting forward. Thus are we to be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus, the One in whom every

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divine thought has been preserved here sufferingly amidst universal declension, and carried through death triumphantly into resurrection and exaltation. The psalmist, in Psalm 80:18, calls on God to move in revival, and presents the power for it as resident in the ark where Jehovah dwelt, and the response to it in the presence and movements of the three tribes - Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh - whose setting round the tabernacle was westward (verses 1, 2).

The north would suggest the need for suffering and endurance against relentless opposition. The Assyrian power against Israel came from that quarter. Such a position tests us constitutionally as to inward reserves of love, affording alone the spiritual vitality with which to resist the wintry blasts of the enemy's fury against the testimony. How manhood vigour stands out in such a setting, as in Benaiah, a man great in exploits, who went down and smote a lion in the midst of a pit on a snowy day (2 Samuel 23:20). Paul, too, who, after the Lord, is the great warrior of the New Testament, alludes in his closing days to winter as called to face the crowning efforts of the foe. Thus the saints are to stand here, characterised by these features of faith, hope, and love, combined with spiritual energy amidst decline, and patient endurance in suffering, and so spiritually equipped to occupy their place around the tent of testimony in relation to the cardinal points of the compass.

Let us now turn to the Lord Jesus to see these thoughts perfectly verified and filled out in Him we love. John the evangelist in that intimacy with Jesus, which he so

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cherished, was peculiarly qualified in discerning in the One who loved him all the wondrous thoughts of God. He having come in, John presents Him as bringing in a new day, a realm of glory, the truly Rising Sun to those to whom all Israel's hopes were fast sinking westward. How John thus presents Him as filling the vision of the baptist, with results so blessed in those who heard him, as they followed Jesus to His abode. Everything emanates from Himself; be it the eastern shining or the southern dwelling. What a day that was as they abode with him! They had said, "Where abidest thou?" and following His appeal to "Come and see", "they abode with him" (John 1:38, 39) in the warmth of His home, a southern clime indeed! One of the two may have been John himself, who tells us that "we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father" (verse 14). Then how blessedly He serves amidst the declining west of Israel's decadent history, when on the last day of the feast He appeals to the thirsty to come to Him and drink; and, too, as walking in Solomon's porch of judgment in winter, as One who would finally move northward in the love in which alone He would bear and exhaust divine judgment. As found also amongst those He so loved, He is in tender sympathy accompanying the sorrowing sisters to the grave of every earthly hope regarding their brother, only finally to shine upon them all as the life-giving One, bringing in a new day.

Then in chapters 13 - 17, as having washed the disciples' feet, He makes them at home in the realm of the Father's love and His own. How they expanded, so to speak, in that southern atmosphere of holy affections! The

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western position is also before Him as He moves with His own toward the scene of His betrayal, pausing ere doing so to demand of the Father the preservation of the men He had received from Him (the Father) and kept in His name. They are to face westward. "The world has hated them", He says, but He "sent them into the world" (John 17:14, 18). The Lord is departing, but He has the men the Father has given to Him. What a call there is for men generally and locally, who can hold the west for God; men who can in spiritual energy and trustworthiness overcome the depressing atmosphere due to the sorrowful decline around. As to the north, John tells us that "He went out, bearing his cross" (John 19:17). The north in its extremity is His matter. Who else could face it in testimony had He not first been there? He says to Peter, "Thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me after" (John 13:36). He alone could face all that Gethsemane, Calvary and the grave involved.

When we come to our side, Simon Peter sets forth this in Matthew as potential assembly material under divine education. He is first in Matthew 10:2, where the thought of sovereignty in the matter of light is emphasised in that assembly gospel; the sun arising, so to speak, in its own right apart from all intervention. If we are in the light of the Rising Sun it is pure sovereign mercy, and in that spirit alone can we take advantage of it with our brethren, and but bless the God to whom we owe it all. In accordance with this principle, the Lord is at this point moving in relation to His own, having in mind their education. He is the Sower in Matthew 13; the nation has rejected Him: its sun has set in so doing. So in chapter 14 He is on the water

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and Peter joins Him on it. Peter is now breaking away from Jewish traditions, he leaves the boat, and then his soul is illuminated by the Father's revelation. We are here in an eastern domain so to speak, in the realm of divine sovereign operations, but as learning. In chapter 17 Peter is found in the realm of love. He would have hindered this part of his education by his impetuous utterance as to "three tabernacles" but the Father's voice is heard saying, "This is my beloved Son" (verses 4, 5), and it is now for Peter to learn in this southern setting. Light alone will not avail, love is needed, and the Father's voice brings in the adjustment. Then at the end of chapter 17, Peter has again to be reminded in the Lord's utterance, "For me and thee" (verse 27) as to the character of divine love and favour in which he has been set. Then in chapter 18, where the Lord alludes to the two or three as available to Him in a period of assembly decline, Peter is in no way to belie the glory of the dispensation by a spirit lacking in forgiveness. The very weakness prevailing in the western setting but calls for an excess of grace in the overcomer. As to the testing north, Peter's assumption of the sword in the garden, and his denial of the Lord in the palace of the high priest, but disclosed how unequal any of us are to the northern position unless we have been formed through appreciation of the suffering love of Christ.

Mention is made in Numbers 7 of princely leadership among the tribes. What a lead they gave! There is lack in a gathering that is without this element in it, sympathetic with divine movement in largeness of heart and wealth of spirit. There is no tribe without one. The names of such are well

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known in heaven and are so regarded by their brethren. We are confronted in the world today with self-imposed greatness, spreading misery all around, but those whom God makes great are great indeed. It is manifest that such have not made themselves great in an unholy way as many had at Corinth. They are princes, they are persons who, like Paul the little one, are characterised by the "meekness and gentleness of the Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1). What an example of a true prince Stephen furnishes! As full of faith, what a prospect is his eastward; whilst as full of the Holy Spirit is he not a dweller in love's southern realm? How effectively too, as of the seven, does he serve tables in the western outlook where Gentile murmurings already suggested spiritual decline, and finally he suffered martyrdom northward as sustained eastward in the light of the glory of God and Jesus, praying too for his murderers as himself in the warmth of the favoured south.

As faced with the public assembly decline so manifest in 2 Timothy, how encouraging is Paul's word to "Remember Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, of the seed of David, according to my glad tidings" (2 Timothy 2:8). How full of hope is this eastern prospect to the overcomer in the assembly! The apostle's soul was ever reposing, in spite of all, in the sunshine of unchanging divine love and favour. What a welcome companion would he thus find in Luke who alone was with him! What a comfort would the beloved physician afford in gracious sympathy and constancy in that public setting in which the closing history of the assembly here is portrayed! It is Luke who enlarges in his gospel upon the extent and

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completeness of the Lord's service in healing grace as the sun went down. "And when the sun went down, all, as many as had persons sick with divers diseases, brought them to him, and having laid his hands on every one of them, he healed them" (Luke 4:40). Cases of spiritual sickness so frequent and varied stand peculiarly connected with our day of outward assembly decline, but how sufficient is divine grace as operating in suited vessels to fill out the close of this day in relation to kingdom power and assembly recovery. What a field locally and generally is assured to any thus serving, as the need for it increases! With what holy vigour does Paul, as the prisoner of the Lord, face the persecution which was to issue in his martyrdom. How braced was he in suffering love to face this northern prospect!

He requests Timothy to use diligence to come before winter; presumably Paul's last winter as also is this one the assembly's. Timothy, and Mark as coming with him, were of those serving in youthfulness, and this claim of Paul's to them in this closing phase of the testimony abides as a challenge to the available younger generation of today, so favoured in divine love and mercy. Mark had not always been imbued with the strength of a winter evergreen, so to speak; he had rather resembled a fading hot-house plant in his early departure from Paul and his company. However, his once feeble constitution had, in the work of God, been replaced by one of moral and spiritual fibre so essential to us all if we are to have part both in the sufferings and in the joys of the testimony.

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All this reminds us of another faithful remnant in Hezekiah's day, exposed as they were to the northern blast of Assyrian fury, and this humbly accepted by such, as the just government of God against Judah. Rab-shakeh stood by the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field (Isaiah 36:2). The foe would thus assume a footing in territory so foreign to the enemies of God. In contrast to this, how suggestive to faith is such a spot, so expressive of the boundless resources of so faithful a God in an evil day. What a divine combination in spiritual supply is that of the aqueduct of the upper pool, on the highway of the fuller's field! We are told in 2 Kings 20:20 of Hezekiah having made the pool and the aqueduct and having brought the water into the city. What do we not owe to men of God who, as gifted servants of the Lord, both in the past and present, have laboured in prayer and toil to assure continuously that heavenly and living ministry so vital to the assembly; for the upper aqueduct would point to an elevated character of ministry. How intimately is all the appreciation of that heavenly ministry bound up in our souls with the moral side of things as suggested in the fuller's field and the highway that leads there. A liberal use of the cleansing character of ministry in the Holy Spirit, such as for instance was afforded by the apostle Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians, alone will promote with us that self-judgment which will find us keeping rank upon that divine and essential highway where alone the self-judged can walk together as keeping the feast of unleavened bread. How otherwise could the more elevated character of

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ministry in the second epistle be assured to us in spiritual refreshment?

The foe cannot get past such a people to overthrow Jerusalem, ever the objective of his relentless malice, as it is said, "The virgin-daughter of Zion despiseth thee" (Isaiah 37:22). She is in that character viewed as unconquerable, as answering to the work of God. This all makes way for God to deal in His own time and way with His enemy and with that of His people; and the destruction by an angel of one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians in one night (Isaiah 37:36) is God's own answer, not only to the foe's blasphemous threat, but to the prayer and language of faith in the humble remnant as called to face and answer the foe.

Many of our young brethren may shortly be allowed of God to face wintry conditions of a peculiarly trying character. May the northern winds, whatever character of testing they involve, find us in the gain of Christ's living ministry to the assembly, and of the accompanying operations of the Holy Spirit in us, assuring thus from us an answer to Him who so bountifully furnishes such living refreshment. May we prove the Lord's grace, dear brethren, to be formed together in that order of manhood in which every divine principle and feature proper to the assembly, as God's habitation, will be defended and cherished in the varied settings suggested in the cardinal points of the compass. May the Lord bless His word.

Manchester, May 1939

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PRAYER, AS PROVIDING THE SOLUTION OF EVERY MATTER

W J HOUSE

John 11:38 - 44; Genesis 18:23 - 33; Deuteronomy 9:12 - 19; 1 Samuel 7:5 - 10; James 5:16 - 18; Daniel 2:14 - 23

I have read these scriptures just to bring out this thought that there is no situation so dreadful but it can be met if only we get the divine ear. I speak first, and rightly so, of our blessed Lord. What a situation confronted Him! One that He loved was in the grave; had been dead four days, and the stone was at the mouth of the grave. How is a situation like that to be met? I know, of course, that the Lord meets it by the power that is in Himself inherently as "the resurrection;" for He says, "I am the resurrection" (John 11:25). But the other side is that He is heard. He stands in the presence of that situation, and He lifts up His eyes to heaven and says, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me; but I knew that thou always hearest me". No one else could say that - "I knew that thou always hearest me; but on account of the crowd who stand around I have said it". He says this that we might get the gain of what He is doing; that we may understand that the situation, however dreadful, can be met if only we get the divine ear. Martha says, "Lord, he stinks already, for he is four days there". However dreadful the conditions may be in any town, it can be met if we can get the divine ear. The word to us is, "I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

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What is it, dear brethren, that makes it possible that we should be heard? Well, firstly, it is as we are entirely committed to the will of God in any matter. If we will accept that in our measure, He will hear us. The Lord Jesus said personally, "My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work" (John 4:34). The Lord approached this matter in relation to the will of God, and He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God" (John 11:4). He is committed to the will and glory of God at all costs. I would like to say this to you, that there is nothing impossible in any locality if we will commit ourselves solely to the will of God and His glory. If that is really and truly governing us, God will listen to us and give us what we ask. John says, "And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him" (1 John 5:15). The Lord says, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me", then He says, "Lazarus, come forth". The position seemed utterly impossible, but it was met by One who was heard.

Now let us consider men of like passions with us, whom heaven heard. If God was prepared to hear them, is He not prepared to hear us? Surely, if God was prepared to hear Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Daniel, then He is prepared to hear us. Indeed, the situation that exists today, the privilege, the blessing, and the food, is the consequence of someone being heard. There are those, one says humbly, to whom heaven listens; and we all want to come into the ranks, in every locality, of those who have the divine ear. So we have Abraham. God is standing there listening to

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Abraham, and communing with him; Abraham making requests and God listening from point to point, as Abraham travels downward from fifty to ten. The conversation is only stopped when Abraham stops. God did not break it off. Abraham went as far as he felt he could go, and then he ceased; and God was ready to grant him every request. Now let us enquire, What is there in Abraham that thus secured the ear of God? - for he was a man like us. The position was that a whole city was threatened with destruction; and in that city there were brethren. There was Lot - Abraham's brother - and his household; and that city was facing imminent destruction, and Abraham prays. He is not part of Sodom; he dwelt in Mamre. He is entirely outside, and free from the atmosphere of Sodom. He has judged in himself what is in Sodom; so that as he draws near to God who is about to turn those cities into ashes, he says, "I, who am dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27), which means that I have judged in myself what Thou art going to look into in Sodom. Now God will listen to that man. Abraham spoke to God in his prayer, as much as to say, I have been in the fire and reduced to ashes in myself what Thou art going to judge in Sodom. God listened and He will listen to us if we are apart from what is evil in any place, as having judged the thing in ourselves. Now I commend that word to everyone. We may pray and pray and pray, and God will not hear us if we pray as superior to the persons or the place involved. But if we pray as having judged in ourselves what God abhors, then God will listen to us and give us what we ask.

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Now we come to Moses. What was imminent in his day was that a whole nation was to be destroyed; not only a city but a nation. God says to Moses, "And now let me alone, that my anger may burn" (Exodus 32:10). "Let me alone". Did it not suggest that Moses might not let God alone? - that Moses might intervene between God and the judgment? God says to him, "And I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation". What an appeal, dear brethren, to the human heart that was! But Moses does not let God alone; he says to God, "Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For misfortune he has brought them out, to slay them on the mountains, and to annihilate them from the face of the earth?" (Exodus 32:12). And in another place he says, "Lest the land whence thou broughtest us out say, Because Jehovah was not able to bring them into the land which he had promised them, and because he hated them, he hath brought them out to kill them in the wilderness" (Deuteronomy 9:28). Again he tells the people, "I stood upon the mountain according to the former days, forty days and forty nights; and Jehovah listened unto me also at that time" (Deuteronomy 10:10). What a wonderful sight that is! - a man intervening between God and the judgment of the whole nation. God had said, "Let me alone", but Moses pleaded the name and glory of God. He was free from any self-interest, God had offered him personal glory, but Moses said, 'No; Thy name will be affected, Thy glory will be tarnished;' and he tells us that "Jehovah listened to me also at that time". What we may learn, dear brethren, is that if we are free from self-interest,

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self-glory, self-seeking, and have God before us and His glory, God will listen to us in any matter.

Samuel is another man whom God heard many times. His very birth was on that principle: "asked for of God" is the meaning of his name. What was imminent in Samuel's case was that the Philistines would get control of Israel; that what is natural - man's mind - would supersede what is spiritual. The Philistine represents the natural mind dominating and controlling the realm of what is spiritual, and it was imminent that the people would fall into their power. Israel were greatly afraid, and they come to Samuel and say, "Cease not to cry to Jehovah our God for us" (1 Samuel 7:8). In another place Samuel says, "Far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you" (chapter 12: 23). He said this even in spite of what they did in rejecting him. Now, with the Philistines at the door - and how many times the Philistines stand at the door, dear brethren, in our day - and it looks as if the power of the natural mind would sweep through the land, and what is really spiritual, emanating from the Spirit of God, would be set aside. But Samuel prayed, and how does he pray? He prays, dear brethren, as wholly dependent. There is the Philistine with his giants, and his great head and his mighty weapons and his coat of mail, and Samuel is praying with a little sucking-lamb in his hands, presenting it to God - a sucking-lamb that could not live without a supply from another, the very personification of dependence. If there is a truly dependent man, consciously needing resources from Another, from God, from Christ, God will listen to that man. Jehovah answered Samuel, "And Jehovah thundered

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with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were routed before Israel" (verse 10). We have seen it in our day, thank God! - some great thunderings in the Philistines' camp, consequent upon a Samuel drawing near to God in true dependence in the spirit of a sucking-lamb, pouring water out before God in the acknowledgment of absolute weakness, and God in heaven listens and answers. I suggest these thoughts that they may serve to stimulate our hearts to prayer and to conditions that God may hear us.

Of Elijah, James says that he was a man of like passions to us, so it is intended to be a word of encouragement for us. James tells us that Elias "prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months". He saw conditions in which it was imminent that the whole nation would pass over to idolatry and apostasy. That is what was threatening, and Elijah discerned that the only thing that would save them would be a period of intense discipline. So he prays earnestly and the heavens were shut up, and a period of great privation came upon Israel. It was to save them from apostasy, that is what Elijah prayed for, and he himself was prepared to suffer with them. He did not go about blaming the people, complaining, and comparing that area with another area. He suffered with the people, thankful to accept what there was by divine ordering - day by day, morning and evening, dependent on the ravens. Then the widow with a little meal and a little oil maintains him, but Elijah suffered without murmuring. If it meant a period of

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leanness for Israel, he was with them in the suffering, in order that they might be brought back to God.

Then he prayed on another occasion. He was now in a little meeting, so to speak, where there was only a little, maybe, but it did not waste. The meal did not fail or the oil either till the Lord gave rain. They may not have had wonderfully good times, as we speak, but they had enough; and there is always enough if Christ and the Spirit are recognised without any complaints. In that locality, the widow's son dies, and the child is laid on Elijah's bed; and he goes up and prays. Just think of that! Here is a dead child. What can anyone do? It says, Elijah prayed. What did he say? He asked God to send back that child's spirit, and his spirit did come again, but before that blessed result was reached, the mother owns her sin. The root, dear brethren, of death coming into a place is the sin of those responsible. The mother says, "Art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?" (1 Kings 17:18). The loss, too, of families is due to the sin of the parents, and there is no hope. You cannot pray until that is owned. Unless those responsible in any situation are honestly prepared to come right into the open and own their sin, it is impossible to really pray. When she acknowledges it, then this man of prayer kneels down and asks God to send life, and He does it. I believe, dear brethren, in every locality where we mourn the loss of families, if the parents particularly will take on the shame of the sin as their own sin, then we have a basis on which the saints can pray. God will send back the spirit into the dead body and make the

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child to live. But while we put off the responsibility, or ignore it, prayer is hindered.

"Again he prayed", James says, "and the heaven gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to spring forth". He prayed at the sacrifice, "Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again" (1 Kings 18:37). And the fire comes down from heaven and consumes the sacrifice. And then he goes up again and prays with his head between his knees for a season of bounty and prosperity, and the heavens gave their rain; first in a very small way - a cloud as big as a man's hand to begin with, but it is heaven operating consequent upon the prayer of Elijah. The secret of all this with Elijah is that though entirely unknown as to his previous history, it was known to God as being right. If we want God to listen to us, then what is secret, known only to God, must be right or else we cannot get the divine ear.

Well, Daniel also was a man accustomed to pray. When threatened with being cast into the lions' den, he opened his window towards Jerusalem three times a day and "prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime" (Daniel 6:10). He gave thanks as well as prayed. Such a man was Daniel! In this scripture (Daniel 2:1 - 16), the trouble that is imminent is that all wisdom is to disappear. All the wise men are to be slain. What a terrible thing if in New Jersey there was not a wise man left. That is what the devil would do, dispose of every trace of wisdom. Daniel speaks to his three friends, and they ask God for something that humanly is utterly impossible.

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Nebuchadnezzar had had a dream, and he asked them to do the impossible, or he would slay them. How often an impossible situation presents itself, but Daniel and his friends go to their houses and pray, and the language of Daniel afterwards is magnificent. "I thank thee, and I praise thee, O God of my fathers, Who hast given me wisdom and might, And hast made known unto me already what we desired of thee; For thou hast made known unto us the king's matter". What they had prayed for was granted to him.

Such a man is listened to in heaven. Why, dear brethren? Well, there are many reasons, no doubt, but one thing that is said of Daniel is that they could not find any fault with him except in relation to his God. Those presidents who were jealous of him, they had looked into his matters, they had gone to his office, they had gone to his home, and they had been through his ledger. They had been through his public matters in relation to the government, and they admitted that all was faultless. There was no hope of getting a charge that way. And, dear brethren, we want to take that home. If we want to be heard, our public responsibilities must be right; as our business and family matters are gone into, things are found to be right, for God sees everything. Daniel was faultless on all these matters. He and his friends were separate from the course of the world around them, living on pulse and water; that is to say, finding Christ sufficient for their food. If we are not satisfied with the pulse and water, and want the king's meat, and prefer the food and joys of this world, we may have them; but heaven will not hear us. I commend Daniel

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to everyone here. If we want heaven's ear, we must have the pulse and water for food and drink; that is, Christ and the Spirit sufficient to build constitutions fairer and fatter than the king's meat ever can. And then, things that others can investigate publicly must be right, as they were with Daniel.

You will see, dear brethren, that all these situations represent conditions that are impossible to men, but there is nothing that God will not do for His people in any place, in any locality, or for any brother or sister, there is nothing that God is not ready to do, if we pray. But on our side, Can He listen to us? Have we conditions to entitle us to the divine ear? John says, "And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him" (1 John 5:15).

May the Lord help the brethren to get the divine ear as to matters, and provide a moral basis for God to listen.

Chatham, New Jersey, June 1939

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COLLECTIVE TRUTH AS HELD BY A REMNANT

C C ELLIOTT

1 Corinthians 12:13, 20 - 22; Ephesians 1:5, 22, 23;

Ephesians 5:30, 32; 1 John 3:1

I have in mind this evening to review some of the characteristics of believers in their collective position; and to inquire how far this collective position can be realised in the present day. On the one hand, there is a tendency to say that it is a beautiful idea, but it cannot be realised today, because of the ruin of the church; and on the other hand, there is the opposite tendency in assuming that we can erect little perfect churches, so to speak, everywhere, after the ancient model of the apostles, without any modification at all. Both these extremes are mistakes, but I want to show, if I can, that all the essential features in the collective position of believers not only can be held in the affections of those who seek to walk in separation from evil, however small in number they may be, but can be maintained and put into practice.

You will remember that in Exodus 24 we are told that Moses erected twelve pillars; and that on mount Carmel Elijah erected twelve stones for an altar, showing that, not only in the heyday of Israel's spiritual prosperity were the twelve pillars set up, but that when apostasy had set in, and Elijah had to stand against it, he recognised the significance of this matter, so that he erected the twelve stones according to the twelve tribes of Israel. So now, though we

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have fallen on evil days, as far as professing Christianity goes, yet we can still erect, so to speak, the twelve stones for the altar. We can recognise collective truths and act upon them.

Now the first collective truth I desire to speak to you about is building. It is connected with several aspects of the truth. Christ said, "On this rock I will build my assembly" (Matthew 16:18), that is, on the confession of His being the Son of God. It is referred to also in Ephesians and frequently elsewhere. It is an immense comfort in a tottering world, as it is at present, to know that He has said, "I will build my assembly, and hades' gates shall not prevail against it". I want that to sink deeply into our hearts. Whatever the condition of things is, what Christ builds cannot be prevailed against. We need not hang down our hands or our heads in depression. What He builds will stand, whatever happens. You may say the outward thing has failed and broken down - but not what Christ builds. It is "on this rock", and who can move that Rock? The Rock speaks of stability and durability - indestructibility. It is used in connection with the name of God about thirty times in the Old Testament, referring to the stability and indestructibility connected with Him. In Isaiah 33:6 it says, "He [that is, Jehovah] shall be the stability of thy times". We can take that to ourselves - that whatever the times may be, He is the stability of our times. Things may change down here, as they do, and who shall tell what is going to happen next in the world? But God is the stability of our times. So the assembly takes character from that, and from this wonderful Builder, the Lord Jesus Christ; and it is

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indestructible; nothing can move it. We can take great comfort from that, dear brethren.

Now in regard to that wonderful assembly which He says He is going to build, the aspect is universal; that is, there is but one; yet it is not convened as one. I suppose the only time in its history when it was really convened as one was at Pentecost; and the next time it is to be so, will be in the time of which Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, "our gathering together to him". That will be the whole assembly. Now, it has another aspect, a local aspect, and we do get assemblies in localities: so that this truth has a general and a local aspect. The point for us is, whether that local aspect can still be maintained? Not that any body of Christians should claim to be it, but can they stand, or act according to the light of it? I think we can all recognise that it is quite possible to act in the light of it. We have proved many a time that in local assemblies, however small, we can act in the light of what the assembly is to Christ and find needed direction and comfort in so doing.

The building is also likened to a house. The house of God is always a general idea. You do not get, so to speak, little houses of God scattered about in various places: that is not the idea when the house of God is spoken of. It is spoken of as a great idea, a great dwelling-place, in which the main thought is that God dwells there. A house is for somebody to dwell in, and the house of God is where God dwells. Christians are the house of God, and God does dwell among them, and walk among them. Again I ask: Can we apply that now? Can we get the benefit of it now in spite of the ruin and failure? We can indeed, and we can have the

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realisation of that great and wonderful fact that God dwells amongst His people. We - that is, believers having the Holy Spirit - are always the house of God, not only when the assembly is convened. We cannot convene the house of God universally, but we can enjoy the privileges, and exercise the discipline of the house of God. Timothy was told how to behave in the house of God - the assembly of the living God - and we can carry that thought through now, and act as in a place where God dwells. It is the habitation of God in the Spirit - what a remarkable thing! One is filled with wonder and admiration at God's great thoughts in regard to man, man in connection with Christ. Why should God want to dwell with men? It shows that God delights in men, and the fact that His Son has taken up manhood shows His delight in the human race as under Christ. Here we are in our little planet - it is said to be very small as compared with other heavenly bodies, but to this planet He who is God came and lived as a Man, the Son of God. The great problems of good and evil have been worked out, and are being worked out here, and now God is pleased to have a house on earth.

There is another form which building takes, and that is the temple. The temple and the house are sometimes spoken of interchangeably. For example, Solomon speaks of the temple he built as the house; it, too, is a dwelling-place. But the additional thoughts in regard to the temple are many. In the first place, it is a sacred shrine which is shut off for sacred purposes from profane or common use. That is the essence of the temple - it was a sacred enclosure. It is being built now. There are two aspects of it: one, universal, as in the

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passage in Ephesians 2:21, the other local, as spoken of in 1 Corinthians 3:16: "Ye are the temple of God". The first great characteristic of the temple is that it is holy. Holiness pervades that dwelling of God, and the next great feature of it is, everything there says, Glory! It is filled with glory, for the glory of God initiated it, and the glory of God shines there, everything speaks of the God of glory. Then, God being there, the next great thought is that light is there; it is a place where we can come and enquire. I pause to say, 'Can such an idea be realised now?' Thank God, it can! Without our claiming to be anything, we have found it so. We have found the holiness of God's temple, and that it speaks of His glory, and that the light is there - how light streams out from thence. It is not theoretical, it is intensely practical. We find the light as we assemble in temple character, and that is borne out by hundreds of God's saints; we delight in the temple. These are only some of the thoughts connected with the temple. In the holy city there is no temple, for God is its temple, and that bears out what I have been saying: there is no need for a separate enclosure in that city, because the whole place is filled with the presence of God. God and the Lamb are the temple thereof - they fill that scene. What a wonderful thing it is!

Then there is another thought, that of the body, according to the passages in Corinthians and Ephesians. It would be an immense subject if I tried to go over it in detail, but what I want to emphasise is its unity. Some have said the body is split up into innumerable fragments: not at all; it is still one, it is indivisible; it cannot be divided. There is one Spirit and one body. Each time we see the loaf

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before us at the Lord's supper, we recognise there is still one body: we have to keep that in our souls. Then there are the functions of the body. See how flexible and adaptable it is! All the different members work together for the common good and the common end. Perhaps you say, 'Things are so disappointing, can we live in the light and truth of that?' We can indeed. The apostle points out that even those members which seem less honourable are absolutely necessary in the body. Of late years, as you know, men have found out that certain organs in the human body, which they thought to be of little use, are absolutely essential to life and health, and if you remove them, ill health or even death occurs. Applying this spiritually, how many members there are of the one body which function out of sight, which yet are absolutely essential! How much indeed do we owe to some poor, bedridden saint who, by prayer and supplication to God, effects what the world could never credit! They may be hidden, but they are all essential to the life of the body. It is an organism. In modern language, we speak of a body of Christians, or a body of this or that; but that does not give the true scriptural sense of the body. It is a real organism, having one Spirit. There cannot be two diverse warring elements in the body of Christ. We must resolutely refuse anything that denies that unity. This is what has led many of us out from the great organisations of christendom, for their existence denies the unity of the body. Do not think for a moment that any body of Christians, here or elsewhere, could claim to be the body; not at all; but we can refuse any imitation of the body, or anything that denies its unity.

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Now the body is a general idea, but it is also local. Paul says to the Corinthians, "Now ye are Christ's body" (1 Corinthians 12:27); in other words, there is a local representation of the body in any particular place, suited to the place. It is sufficient for the place - another thought we have to keep in mind. Then there is the Ephesian aspect of which I want to say a few words. There are two thoughts in connection with it, which I confess to you have been the stay and comfort of my heart for many long years. The first is, that the assembly, which is Christ's body, is the fulness of Him who fills all in all. The fulness means the complement. It needs the idea of the assembly to fill out the great thought of the Christ. What a remarkable conception! that the assembly is necessary to complete God's thought of the Christ - it is His body. And the second great thought is, union, not individual union, like "he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17), but this other great thought of God, that just as the husband is joined to the wife, so the assembly is to Christ. That is the idea of union - union as between a wife and her husband. It is a general thought connected with the whole body and the whole assembly, but each of us has to apprehend it individually. The one who apprehends this individually finds in his heart that if he is in union with Christ, there is no interest for him apart from Christ and His interests. We do not reserve anything from Him. If you have certain interests, and you can make them Christ's interest, well, but if not, drop them. It is like a wife merging herself in the interests of her husband. If you knew union you would be not only wrapped in the love of Christ, which is one great thought; but

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because of it, no interest of yours would be diverse from His. You cannot imagine anything more wonderful than that such a state should exist here on earth! In the future it will exist in all its fulness, but we can each of us enter into it now, and, keeping it in our minds, we can behold the whole assembly.

There is another set of ideas connected with what is collective, and that is the family. It is a collective idea, and I want to speak of it in three sections. The first is the thought of children, as I read in 1 John 3"See what love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God". Reflect on that for a moment and see what it suggests: that God has been pleased to beget after His own moral likeness those whom He admits to His family. Can you think of anything more wonderful? That in you, and in me, there is that which is begotten of God - that which God begets. What a dignity and intimacy it gives us! What do children do? First of all, they love their begetter - that is obvious; and secondly, they partake of his moral character. Then again, as children, they are heirs. The idea of children is indestructible; there is that in us which is of God, and it can never be destroyed. We are said to be "heirs of God, and Christ's joint heirs" (Romans 8:17), and who can ever deprive us of that? If we ceased to be children of God, we should cease to be heirs - it is a family idea, and indestructible. How great a thing it is to recognise that we have this divine work in our souls.

Then another idea connected with the family is that we are sons. We are said to be sons by adoption. There are five references to adoption in the New Testament. In four of

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them the word is translated "adoption", but in Galatians 4:5 it is "sonship". The original word contains the idea of adoption; that is, it is by adoption that God admits us to this privilege of being sons. Sons conveys a dignified idea, but is not in contrast to John's word for children. Sons is used in contrast to infants, as in Galatians 4:1. "When I was a child" (1 Corinthians 13:11), means when he was an infant; not a child of God, but an infant. It is a different word from that used by John for "children of God". So the word "sons" implies dignity; not that we do not need discipline as sons. We do, for "who is the son that the father chastens not" (Hebrews 12:7). However dignified the sons may be, they have to go through discipline. But then think of the future, when we shall be conformed to the image of God's Son! What more glorious or wonderful prospect! In regard to children it says, "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). John is referring to children; the two thoughts are related but different. Think of what sonship leads to through the redemption of the body, because sonship is called that - it is complete conformity to Christ in glory. So it is said, "Bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10); that is our blessed future position. Now, indeed, we enjoy it in spirit, but it leads up to that wonderful position in which we shall ever remain. I point out to you that this is indestructible. You cannot destroy the relation in which you stand to God. You address Him, in correspondence to it, as Father, and nothing shall destroy it. It is a general family thought, to be entered into now, it is not lost by the defection in christendom.

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Then there is a third way in which the family thought comes in in connection with Ephesians 2, and that is as the 'household of God'. In searching the Scriptures, you will find that the idea of households is largely connected with food; so the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 gives food to her household. We find that Solomon sent Hiram food for his household. Joseph, too, sent food for Jacob's household, and there are many other instances in the Old Testament connecting the thought of food with the household. In the New Testament, the servant who is set over his lord's household is blessed, if he gives them meat or food in due season. So I think it may be safely said that one of the main ideas connected with the household is this supply of food. There are other thoughts connected with the household. Proverbs speaks of the household of the virtuous woman as being clothed in scarlet; and then again, she looks well to the ways of her household. So that we have not only the thought of food, but of clothing and order connected with the idea of the household. It is a great collective idea, but to be enjoyed now in these three features. I need not say to you how abundant has been the supply of spiritual food given to us! How bountifully God has provided for us week by week and year by year. All these blessings of the household are indeed ours.

Another aspect of the assembly I would touch upon is the bride; this also is a collective idea for the future. We read, "His wife has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7) - referring to the marriage of the Lamb. That is the public announcement of what already exists, because if union exists there has been marriage. "The marriage of the Lamb

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is come, and his wife has made herself ready;" that is the public display, when all shall know that the assembly is the bride of Christ; when she comes forth in the clothing Christ has granted her to wear. The robes she has woven in her sojourn here are allowed to deck her for the day of public glory.

There is a still further thought I desire to bring before you, and that is contained in the passage in Ephesians 2:19, "Fellow-citizens of the saints". There is the political or citizen aspect of the assembly, and if you want to know the details of it you will find them beautifully described in Revelation 21. Every department found necessary for the government of a good city is found there. First, there is authority, for the throne of God is there; there is provision for divine service, too, for God is the temple of it. Every human city makes provision for the religious side, and so here, God and the Lamb are its temple. There is the idea of protection too, walls great and high, and sentries at the gates. There are no police in that city, its protection is from the outside. It is a city with foundations, and the names of the twelve apostles are built into them, and it is garnished with precious stones; in other words, the ministry of the twelve apostles is there shining in its beautiful spiritual value. Then, further, there is a street of gold - there is nothing unclean there. Then think of the greatness of the food supply - the tree of life - it is in the city itself, it is not imported; and the water supply, that also comes from within, not from a reservoir far away. It is the water of life. Then there is the glorious lighting system: "The glory of God has enlightened it, and the lamp thereof is the Lamb"

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(verse 23). Every department is represented; but there is no drainage system needed - no dung-gate as we find in Nehemiah. That is a brief outline of the glorious character of the city. Again I ask, 'Can these things be found now in the assembly?' Indeed they can; morally and spiritually we can already live in these things, and without pretension can enjoy them.

There is one other corporate aspect which I desire to bring before you, and that is the military aspect. It is a united thought. In Numbers, when all the tribes were round the tabernacle, and when they marched off in beautiful order and precision under their standards, one great army provided for every eventuality. So now, the assembly has always been militant and always will be while here on earth. It is a host of which there is only one Captain - the Captain of Jehovah's host. There may be rebellious soldiers, but the army goes on to victory. You ask, 'What is their uniform?' You will find their armour described in Ephesians 6, and every member of that army should have that uniform. We are told to take the panoply of God and, in keeping with the Ephesian epistle, each soldier forms part of a vast system. When it comes to the time that the armies of heaven emerge, following the One on a white horse, they are not said to be clothed in that armour, for the days of trial are over; they are sitting on white horses clothed in white linen. All the armies of heaven are there, for there are other armies, and other saints, who will come out with Christ, but the assembly army - if I may so speak - is not then clothed in the armour of Ephesians, but in white linen, pure and fine. She comes out with Christ as a

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spectator and participator in the great victory, but it is as an army, and we do well to remember it. We cannot rest on our oars now; if we are soldiers we must attend to our business, as Paul says to Timothy, "No one going as a soldier entangles himself with the affairs of life" (2 Timothy 2:4). It does not mean that you are not to be a carpenter, or a shopkeeper, but you must not engage in anything that would prevent military service in this spiritual conflict. If there are rebels or disorders, let us stand by our colours and go on, because we shall surely be victorious.

That is in substance what I wanted to bring before you, but I will just add that there will be a wonderful dissolving view at the end; the holy city comes down from heaven, but the next time you look at it, it is a tabernacle. John says, "I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2), and then the loud voice out of heaven says, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall tabernacle with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God" (verse 3). That is a more intimate thought; it is the final aspect of the assembly as the tabernacle of God. What a wonderful eternal thought that is, heaven and earth in perfect accord, and God tabernacling with men.

I would just add that the whole thing is instinct with life. I have omitted some aspects which were touched on yesterday, in regard to the flock, and the children of God gathered into one. These are necessary to complete the subject, but the point is that they are all living - these thoughts are all living. Christ is the Son of the living God;

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and the sons in the house are all living sons. Then in regard to the flock, life permeates it; Christ gives them life, and gives it very abundantly. So the whole is characterised by life; the body is an organism, not an organisation; it is full of life - living in every part of it. Then another great feature connected with this corporate idea is love; you find love everywhere; it permeates the whole system; it is connected with the body, with the flock, and with the children; there is nothing that I have mentioned where love is not present - even in the military aspect. All this beautiful collection of ideas is permeated by these two features - love and life. They are not mere abstract ideas to be cherished in our minds, and not carried out; on the contrary, they are very concrete thoughts, and as far as possible, without attempting to set up anything - any human organisation - we may be true to these ideas and live in them and by them. It is a wonderful region of life and love. May the Lord bless His word!

Sydney, October 1939

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PROCURING TREASURE

C A MARKHAM

Job 28:1 - 6, 10, 11

I have in mind to speak about becoming wealthy, or accumulating spiritual riches. We would like, every one of us, to leave this world as having acquired spiritual wealth. Mining, of which Job speaks, illustrates one of the means by which we acquire these abiding riches. It has to do with the precious things that are underground.

Where we began to read it says: "Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold which they refine; Iron is taken out of the dust, and copper is molten out of the stone. Man putteth an end to the darkness, and exploreth to the utmost limit, the stones of darkness and of the shadow of death. He openeth a shaft far from the inhabitants of the earth: forgotten of the foot, they hang suspended; away below men they hover". These are the observations of Job, a very observant man, and one who was well to do so far as this world's goods were concerned. He observed the occupation of the miners; those employed in a most hazardous undertaking to procure treasure.

We always get the best impression in any matter by learning it from divine Persons. The Lord Jesus Christ came from that glorious place on high into this world, and as He moved about in that blessed life of love amidst the sorrows, He found "a treasure hid in the field" (Matthew 13:44). The preciousness of it was such to His heart that He

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gave everything He had to secure it. That, perhaps, better than anything else, gives a sense of the preciousness of what lies underneath the ground. Just think, that the Lord of glory has gone down into death and has been buried, in order to secure the treasure! It remains for us to give it an application to ourselves.

We read of Christians such as Priscilla and Aquila, who hazarded their lives, laid down their necks. How many such could be enumerated! Risking one's life is a very different thing from sitting down in an arm chair and reading the ministry, and possibly giving addresses on it. That is not how riches are acquired. It is through saying 'no' to self, and coming under the influence of that blessed love that brought the Lord into the depths in order to secure His own. As we think of the preciousness of that treasure to Christ, of what the assembly means to Him, we may well say, 'I would like to secure such material as that'. How much of that material is in your moral make-up, dear fellow believer, and in mine?

Is it not worth while to go to all kinds of trouble and hazard to secure something precious to the heart of Christ? That is a service! It is so like divine love, it must be greatly valued by the Lord. Epaphras was "always combating earnestly" for the saints (Colossians 4:12). Very little is said about that beloved servant otherwise; but what an immensity there is in just that!

The apostle Paul, after hearing Epaphras speak about the saints in Colosse, wrote a very valuable letter to them. It was the result of the devoted, agonising, prayerful service of Epaphras. The prayers of saints, in their local settings,

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agonising with God that some precious thing might be discovered in their localities, contribute to those imperishable results.

From Notes of Readings in New York and Other Ministry, 1940