1. FOREWORD

This book does not present a consecutive series of addresses, but a few unrelated messages – fragments of a rich spoken ministry. As the title of the book suggests, they are reminiscent of the fragments collected after our Lord had fed the multitude. These messages are translated from Chinese and are slightly abridged.

Chapters 1 and 2 can be obtained in booklet form under the title “The Body of Christ,” with a section on “Living in the Body of Christ” added. Chapters 10 and 11 may be obtained in booklet form under the title “Selections from the Normal Christian Life.”

CHAPTER ONE  – THE BODY OF CHRIST

Scripture Reading: Romans 12.1-5

Before actually coming to the twelfth chapter of Romans, let us remind ourselves of the first eight chapters of that letter. I think we all know that chapters nine to eleven are illustrative or parenthetic; they could be put into brackets, making the twelfth chapter immediately follow upon the eighth. If we remember that these chapters are only a kind of parenthesis, and go on from chapter 8 straight to 12, we find a direct connection.

The first eight chapters of Romans deal with two phases of the Christian life. We have the first four chapters and say ten or eleven verses of the fifth chapter as one section; and say from the twelfth verse of the fifth chapter to the end of the eighth as another.  In these two sections the Apostle is trying to lead Christians to see how they were brought unto God. This is followed by the exhortation to the consecration and presenting of the body to do the will of God, as we find it at the beginning of chapter 12;

and then the Body of Christ is taken up. What does it mean?

This is something in the very heart and counsel of God, and the Christ of God was anointed to bring it about. It is called a “mystery,” a secret of God, which was hid from ages and only made known in this age (Romans 16.25-26). So we have to look to find the difference between our conception of salvation and the Divine conception of salvation; our thought about the Cross and God’s thought about the Cross; our thought about the Holy Spirit and God’s thought about the Holy Spirit; our thought about spiritual experiences, and God’s thought about spiritual experiences.

We believe that the Cross is the central and most important work of God. Praise the Lord, that is true! But we must remember that the cross is a means to an end; the Cross is not an end in itself. The Divine means is the Cross, but the Divine end is the Body. If you know the Cross in the way in which God means it to be known, you will inevitably find yourself in the Body. When the Cross has done something quite specific in your life, you will simply find yourself in the Body. It cannot be otherwise. If you are not there, it is quite sure that the Cross has not done its work, or at least has not completed its work. What does it mean?

Now, personal holiness, as stressed and sought by many believers, is really precious. Victory in living is really precious. Salvation is really precious. Praise the Lord for salvation! Praise the Lord for forgiveness of sins, for justification before Him, for deliverance from the power of sin. But remember that God did not set Himself to save us,

and to give us spiritual experiences like deliverance and victory in life, personal holiness, and so on, just so that we could be hundreds and thousands and myriads of individual Christians, all separate units dotted over this earth for God. That is not what God is after. It may be that the children of Abraham are as the sand on the seashore, but they are not Christians! The Lord never meant that Christians should be single units.

I do not know whether you have seen it or not. It is very easy to talk. I could talk once. I am almost ashamed to confess that for years I thought I knew what is the doctrine of the Body and even tried to apply the doctrine, without seeing the thing, the reality. Reading a guide about London could never take the place of a visit to London. Knowing a book on cookery could never take the place of being in a kitchen. Knowing the doctrine of the Body of Christ can never take the place of seeing it.

The whole trouble today is this. We think of Christians in terms of so many persons, individuals. We think of salvation as an individual thing; we think of holiness in terms of individuals; we think of victory and deliverance in terms of individuals. We are quite happy, as Christian workers, if our flock are going on with the Lord, reading their Bibles, knowing how to pray, living upright and righteous lives, knowing something of deliverance from the power of sin. But that is not the Body. One day something else comes along, and that day is for you a most blessed day – a terrific day. The Lord opens your eyes to see that salvation is in terms of the Body. Having personal holiness is in terms of the Body, having the power of the Spirit is in terms of the Body, having an experience of the Cross is in terms of the Body. You see that the Divine thought is one Man – not a host of small men. It is one Man: the Lord Jesus Himself and His people making up one Man before God. The whole thought of God is centered in the Christ, and we are in Him. It is not only a question of the Head, but of the Body. Praise the Lord, individual sinners are saved. You begin as an individual, but you must end as a member in the Body. That is the Divine thought. God is working toward that, and He will take nothing less than that. The Cross is for that – for that corporate Body, that corporate Christ; for that new Man comprising all who are in the Lord. That is what God is after. We become part of Christ, we become partakers of Christ.

You know that I come from China. I have to preach in villages, meeting simple saints, and I have the habit of using simple illustrations. I was once in a simple meeting of believers in a village. I tried to tell them something about the oneness of the Body, that what God is after is the one Body. I found it was very difficult for them to understand. If the whole thing as to new birth is beyond Nicodemus, the question of one Body is altogether beyond any Chinese person! They did not know what it was. “We are not one, we are individuals. How can we be one?” I prayed much about it. “Lord, you must give me something to show these people how they are one.”

One Lord’s Day morning we were breaking bread. I said, “Brothers, before we go on breaking bread, I want you to look carefully at this bread.” They did not know what I meant, but they looked quite carefully. After the bread was broken, I turned to 1Corinthians, chapter 10. We came to verse 17: “We, who are many, are one loaf.” Then I said: “Are we one loaf? That loaf is one – at least it was one; but is it one now? It is still one, only that one is scattered in different ones. If you could pull it all together, it would still be one, for it comes from that one loaf. You cannot say it is two loaves. You can break it into a thousand parts, but still it is one loaf. You cannot deny the fact of one loaf because it was one. It is impossible to make this break in fact one, because it is material. But, please remember, as regards the part of the Lord Jesus that is in you, that part has in a sense never been parted, it has never been broken. That is the basis on which you are all one. It is because you are partakers of the one Lord. Every one is partaking of the one Lord; and that Lord can never be broken. He is still in the Spirit today. You can break the bread but you cannot break the Lord. Therefore you are one.” Praise the Lord, light dawned upon many of them.

God is not satisfied that we should simply be individual Christians. When you believe the Lord and partake of Him, it means that something has happened. You have been made a member of the one Body, which God is trying to build up. He is not satisfied with anything individual.

We come now to the practical side. God has first to give us the revelation, so that we see what He is after. But what am I after? Do I seek spiritual experiences – so-called – for myself? Do I seek to make converts for my society, for my denomination? Do I try to make converts for the sake of their being saved from hell, so that they can enjoy heaven? Or have I seen the vision of the heavenly thing, the heavenly Man, and am I working toward that? Oh, it is a different thing. Everything changes – even the question of deliverance from sin, of sanctification, of victory. Everything takes on a different viewpoint. I become a part of the whole.

It is not just a matter of the doctrine of the Body. Even in Rome, you will find the Vatican is teaching that. They believe in one church, because they say the Body is one; but they have their own head. That is the trouble. They have not seen it. You cannot just practise it as a principle – you cannot simply try to take it on. You have to see it. But when once it is seen, then it makes a mighty difference in everything.

LIVING IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

Scripture Reading:  Colossians 1.18; 1Corinthians 12.12-27; 14.26

There are many members in the Body of Christ and these members are united together, each with its several functions. God has not ordered all members to be of the same function. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office [function]” (Romans 12.4). How then can these members with different functions be linked and fitted together harmoniously in one body? There are basic principles essential for the harmonious functioning of the Body of Christ. The first defines the relationship between the Head and myself, the second the relationship between the Body and myself and the third my position as a member. All three are indispensable.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HEAD (CHRIST) AND MYSELF – OBEDIENCE

The meaning of a Christian’s absolute surrender is in the words, “I will be obedient to the Lord; I will renounce my freedom and will not disobey authority.” The first principle of living in the Body of Christ is to obey the authority of the Head. Both the existence of the Body and the function and activity of this Body depend on authority.

Any time authority has no place in us, the Body is paralyzed. Any part that is disobedient is paralyzed. A paralyzed body does not follow the directions of the head, for where there is life, there is authority. If we want to have life, it is impossible not to accept authority. Those who are full of life must obey authority. If my hand has life, it cannot resist the direction of the head. To be alive implies that we are being directed by the head. Therefore, the first principle of living in the Body of Christ is to obey the Head. If you have not yet been dealt with in such a way as to be rendered obedient, what you know of the Body is only a matter of theory, not reality. God must deal with your life of flesh and blood that you may see how blessed it is to be obedient to the Head. We must aim at obedience. We long to make good progress, to become holy and to become righteous, yet we must still endeavor to be obedient.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BODY (THE CHURCH) AND MYSELF – FELLOWSHIP

Our relationship with the Head is that of obedience, while our relationship with the Body is that of fellowship. Among the children of God, fellowship is a matter of reality and necessity. The life of the Body of Christ needs fellowship, without which there is but stagnation. Fellowship implies the receiving of assistance from other members of the body. For instance, I am the mouth; I can speak. But I need the fellowship of the ears in order to hear. I need the fellowship of the eyes to see. I need the fellowship of the hands to take things. I also need the fellowship of the feet to walk. Therefore, fellowship means that I receive the special features of others. I benefit from what others can do for me.

Some Christians do not understand the principle of fellowship. They want to grow spiritually as individuals, to pray by themselves, to do everything by themselves, to be the mouth, the ear, the hand and the foot at the same time. But those who know the Lord are not so; they need fellowship. Fellowship implies the fact that I am limited and am willing to accept what comes from others.

Fellowship is not a mere doctrine, but a reality. In the 365 days of a year, we cannot pray well each day, we cannot study the Bible well each day. Experience tells us that occasionally on account of poor health or for other reasons we cannot pray and read the Bible well. Then need I fail? No. Within a week, I have fellowship with God on Monday and do reasonably well Tuesday through Friday. Then on Saturday, I feel tired and cannot read the Bible or pray well. Yet I am not doomed to fail on Saturday. There is an inexplicable strength supporting me. What is the reason? It is the supply from the life of the Body.

Many children of God have a similar experience, not once or twice, but many times. Though we are weak ourselves, God carries us through. How? It is because the members of the Body can mutually supply the needs of each other. Some one is praying, “May God be gracious to all His children.” As life from another member of the Body flows into you, you are sustained. The life from the Body flows into you and carries you through. So we must perceive that we live not merely by our own life, but through the life that comes from the Body.

MY POSITION AS A MEMBER IN THE BODY – SERVICE

If we see that the life of the Body is communicative and mutually supplying, we will not like to be one who consumes this life energy, but one who supplies it. If in the Body of Christ more members need the supply of life and few can afford to give such supply, the strength of the Body will fail. That is why we must pray for the others. God wills that you, through such prayer, supply life to other members. Thus, when they need the power of life, such supply will be forthcoming.

1Corinthians 12:26 says, “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” It does not say that when one member suffers, all the members “ought to” suffer with it, or if one member be honored, all the members “ought to” rejoice with it. God’s Word says that when one member suffers, it is an actual fact that all the members suffer with it. When one member is honored, it is an actual fact that all the members rejoice with it. This explains why there are times when for no apparent reason you feel very good. At other times, you feel heavy within. There is no other reason for this but the communicative feeling of the members of the one Body.

At the time of the great spiritual revival in Wales, there was a sister living in another place. One day while she was with two or three others praying, there was a great spiritual power overflowing in her, an experience she had never had before. It continued for four or five months. She could quite effortlessly get in touch with God, as if heaven was near at hand. Then one day she read the newspapers and realized that it was the Welsh spiritual revival which had supplied her with this life power. When one member rejoices, other members rejoice also. The Body of Christ is a living body with organic life. Paul says, “I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24). Because we are in one Body, we can fill up the need of other members.

It is not only a question of suffering or rejoicing, it is a matter of life. Some members can supply the body with life power, while others must receive life from the body. We should have both aspects. We truly need the supply of life from the Body, and we should also supply life to the Body. Through fellowship we receive life from the Body and we also supply life to other members. When we talk of the church as the Body, it is not a mere doctrine or teaching, but an absolute fact. The children of God joined together as members of the Body is also an absolute fact. So we must gladly receive help from others, and we should also endeavor to help other brothers and sisters.

To sum up, we should yield obedience to the authority of the Lord, enjoy the life of the Body and at the same time supply life to other members. These are the three main principles of our living in the Body of Christ.

CHAPTER TWO – CHRIST IN ME

Scripture Reading: 1Corinthians 12.12-31; Galatians 2.20

Now, as to the practical side. What constitutes me as a member of the Body? If the Lord gives me a revelation concerning the Body, what will be the effect on me? Is it simply that I have seen something which I have never seen before, that I have the knowledge of certain truths which I never had before? – or is that revelation going to be revolutionary? Will that revelation be treated by me as a teaching, as a doctrine? – or will it become something really subjective in me, producing some real change in me? Let me assure you that, when you have seen it, it is going to be a revolution. Something is bound to happen.

What constitutes me a member of the Body? It is not something I can do, it is not something I can experience. The thing that constitutes me a member of the Body of Christ is Christ in me. That entitles me to be, and that actually makes me, a member of the Body. If you do not mind getting down to material illustrations, remember again that loaf of bread. It is not anything of you, it is not some part of you, as a man, which is a member of the Body of Christ. It is, in figure, that piece of bread in you that constitutes you a member of the Body. The Body of Christ is Christ. Paul did not say anything wrong grammatically or spiritually when he said: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is the Christ” (1Corinthians 12.12). I think some of us would like to correct him. Grammatically, or logically, it is wrong. He ought to have said, “so also is the Christ and the Church.” He only says, “Members … body … so also is the Christ.” So the Head is the Christ and the Body is the Christ. Both are the Christ – the Head and the Body.

So the Body is the Christ. Everything that comes from Christ constitutes that Body. Then anything that does not come from Christ can never get into the Body, and must be ruled out. It is not a question of “plus,” it is a question of “minus.”  That is all the difficulty. It is not a question of what you must be, or must experience, in order to make you a member. No, you are a member, but because you are one, therefore many things have to go. If you see the spiritual constitution of that Body, the heavenliness of that Body, the divineness of that Body, you will see that nothing from you can be attached to it. Anything that is not Christ can never be in the Body.

THE PLACE OF THE CROSS

That is where the Cross comes in; that is the reason why we emphasize the Cross. The Cross is the practical outworking, and the principle of the Cross is the only Divine means of ruling out anything that is of ourselves – anything that can never stay in the Body. So we find the Lord dealing with us in many things. I do not mean to say sins; I think that would be too low a level. I hope we have, in a sense, got through that. But the point is that we can never bring into the Body the things of ourselves – our temperament, our make-up, for instance. You will find that God will touch you there.

Some of us have very keen brains. We think that, by the keenness of our brains, we can have a better mastery of the Word of God, and that so we can be better ministers. But no. You will find that what you have is only dead knowledge, whereas some old lady maybe, sitting at the back of the meeting, without much of worldly education, knows something of the Lord. You may be pastor or minister, but you find, when standing before her, that there is something more of Christ in that old lady than there is in you. You find that what you have got is altogether outside the Body.

May the Lord save us from ministering simply because we have a keen brain! How many of us need salvation from our head – salvation with a helmet! We need it. Your ability, your natural power, has nothing to do with the Body; it has to go out. God wants us to see that the strength of nature, the backbone of the strength of our own nature, must be broken. It has nothing to do with the Body. When you see that, spontaneously you will see that it cannot go on; that thing has no place there, it has to go out.

I would like to ask you to go through Ephesians once more, asking the Lord to show it to you. “Lord, what is Thy thought concerning this age?” Do you think you will be able to find anything other than the Body? You will find that that is the thing God is building today. So whatever is of me must go. The Cross points me straight on to the Body, and the Cross keeps the Body cleansed from anything that is natural, anything that is from Adam. Praise the Lord, nothing that is of me has a part in Him. How good it is to see that I am out altogether! We have nothing to be proud of. If we are proud, we have got to be humbled. Nothing that is in us or of us has any place there. We may think much of ourselves; we may be self-confident, self-conceited, assuming and presuming a great deal; but remember, nothing of us has any place there. The Cross has to work. It is very costly, because it is going to touch the very spring of your life. It may touch something you are holding on to very dearly, and then you find it has to go. That is the Body.

NO “FREE-LANCING”

And then you find that the whole question of your movement as an individual member, just by yourself, has to cease. There cannot be “free-lancing” in the Body. The Body will not allow it. If I move my finger, the muscle of my hand cannot refuse to move, it has to follow. If I move my arm, my finger cannot stay where it is, or take an individual course. The whole body has to respond to the movement of the head. I have to come to a place where I can see I am an integral part of the Body. I cannot move as by myself. It is a question of the Body. You will find that every movement has to take its shape on the ground of the Body. Individual things have to go; you have to wait for others; you have to move with others. You have to go on with God and with your brethren.

That settles the question of all other headships. The question of other headships in the Body of Christ is doing damage to the Body. It is upsetting the Lordship of Jesus. It is the Anointed One being put off the Throne and someone else put on it. It is Saul as over against David.

SAUL VERSUS DAVID

What Saul stands for is simply this – an organized thing, a system of things, among the people of God, as set over against the Anointed One of God. You have two enemies of David. On the one hand, you have Goliath, and the Philistines under him – the enemy coming from outside. On the other hand, you have Saul – the one coming from within. It may be true that Saul has been engaged in fighting Goliath, but please remember that both are keeping David from the throne. The characteristic of Saul is that he stands head and shoulders above all the Israelites. He is a man of exceptional standing; he represents the human brain, human notions, human ideas, as over against the Divine; what men think to be good, to be right, as over against God. That is Saul. That is keeping the Anointed One from the Throne.

But the day came when David, with a sling, sent a stone into the head of Goliath. He did not send a stone into Saul but from the day when Goliath’s head was hit the head of Saul was hit to all intents and purposes. The power of Saul waned. The reign of Saul failed on the very day when Goliath was killed. The stone which hit Goliath dealt a death blow to the head of Saul. There is no need for us to make a direct hit against the present system of things. We are not dealing with flesh and blood; but if, by the mercy of God, a death blow could be dealt to our enemy, the unseen one, the spiritual one, the outside one, we should find that, when he has been dealt with, Saul’s reign is already numbered. All other headships have to go, all other kings have to go. The Throne must be given to David. That is what God is doing today.

What I have in my heart is just this. If you really know the Cross, it will lead you into the Body. One thing puzzles me when I meet Christians. So many profess to know the Lord, so many profess to have given up everything for the Lord, so many profess to know what is the deeper meaning of the Cross, but nothing happens. They are still where they were – nothing happens. They profess to believe in the Body, they profess that all are one in Christ. They stress that the old man has to go, the man after nature has to go; nothing of that can be left, can be kept: but nothing happens. You never find the outworking of the thing.

It is not talking. May the Lord save us if we are only talking. The Lord has to give us something spiritually, so that we really see it. Then we shall see that all we have been going through, all the Lord’s dealings with us, are with a view of the Body. He is taking pains to eliminate all that is of us, and make us functioning members of the Body. May He lead us to see clearly what He is after, and to see that nothing that is of us can have any part in His body.

CHAPTER THREE – THE HISTORY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Scripture Reading: Revelation 20.6; Hebrews 7.3 R.V.

There is in the Bible an office called the priest’s office. This office denotes a group of people who have been separated from the world and are devoted solely to ministry to God. They have no other profession or vocation besides that of serving God. Such people are known in the Bible as priests.

God has had His priests from the time of Genesis. The first priest was Melchizedek, priest of the most high God, who dispensed bread and wine to Abraham. He was a priest who separated himself for the service of God.

From Genesis to the Lord’s Ascension. From the time of Genesis up to the nationhood of Israel, there were priests. From the time the Lord Jesus came to earth to His departure from the world, the office of the priest continued on. The Bible also tells us that after His ascension, the Lord Jesus ministers as a priest before God. In other words, the Lord Jesus is devoted entirely to serving God.

In the Age of the Church and the Millennium. In the age of the Church, the ministry of the priest continues on. At the beginning of the millennium, those who share in the first resurrection shall be “priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20.6). In other words, during those one thousand years, the children of God continue to serve as “priests of God and of Christ.” To the world, they are kings, while to God, they are priests. The ministry of the priests is unchanged, they serve God.

Unto the Time of the New Heaven and the New Earth. The term “Priest” ceases to exist when the new heaven and the new earth is ushered in. At that time, all the children of God and His servants do nothing else but serve God. In the city of New Jerusalem, all His servants serve Him, and the children of God still serve Him.

So here we perceive a wonderful thing. That is, the office of the priest started from Melchizedek who was without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest continually (Hebrews 7.3 R.V.).

From the first book of the Bible, it seems that only Melchizedek is a priest. But the purpose of God is not to have one or two persons as priests. His aim is that all His people should become priests.

A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS

God Selected the Israelites. When the Israelites came out of Egypt and reached Mount Sinai, God told Moses to say to the people, ‘You shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” God told the Israelites that they were a kingdom of priests. This is a sentence which seems difficult to understand. Why did God say so? Its meaning is that the whole nation should be priests. In other words, there were no ordinary people in that nation, but all were priests. I can tell you, this is the purpose of God.

The Aim of Building a Kingdom of Priests. When God chose the people of Israel to be His people, He had only one sole aim placed before the people. That is, this kingdom is different from the kingdoms of the earth, this kingdom is to be a kingdom of priests. Every one in this kingdom is a priest. Every one has the one and only vocation of serving God. God likes to choose people on earth to serve Him; God likes to have a people on the earth to live solely in His service. God wishes all His children to be priests and serve Him.

When the people of Israel reached Sinai, God told them that He would establish them into a kingdom of priests. This is a very fine thing indeed. Britain is well known as a naval country, the United States as a strong financial nation, China for having an ancient civilization, and India for its philosophy. Here is a kingdom known as a kingdom of priests. In this kingdom, all men and women serve in the priesthood. Young and old alike are priests. Whatever profession one may be engaged in, it must contribute to the service of God.

God Gave the People of Israel Ten Commandments. After telling the people that He would establish them to be a kingdom of priests, God then told Moses to go to Him on the mountain. There He would write the ten commandments on two tables of stone, to be given to the people of Israel. Moses was on the mount forty days, and God wrote on the tables of stone His ten commandments.

The People of Israel Made a Golden Calf. While Moses was on the mount, the people were at the foot of the mountain. Seeing he was delayed and without knowing what had happened to him, the people told Aaron, “Up, make us gods, which shall go before us.” Aaron listened to their words and collected much gold which he fashioned into a golden calf. They worshipped the golden calf and said, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”

Then they worshipped the idol; the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. They rejoiced greatly. On that day, they were able to see with their own eyes a god made of molten gold. The God in which Moses led them to believe is inconvenient in that He cannot be seen and sought for easily. Even Moses also disappeared. They became happy with the golden calf which they worshipped. Now, though God had ordered them to be His priests, before they assumed the priesthood of God, they first served as priests of the golden calf. God wished them to be a kingdom of priests, but before they served God, they first served the idol, the golden calf. They had gods besides God and they also worshipped them.

The human concept of God is such that one always wants to create a god of his own and to worship in his own way. Man likes to worship a god made by his own hands; he is unwilling to accede to the authority of God in creation. Man is not happy with his position as a creature of God.

THE TRIBE OF PRIESTS

While Moses was yet up on the mountain, God told him to go down. Moses turned to go down the mount with the two tables of the testimony in his hands, on which were written the ten commandments. When he drew near the camp and saw the situation there, his anger waxed hot and he broke the tables of stone to pieces. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Let them come unto me.” Then all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. He said to them, “Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.” No matter who he may be, just slay the person. It is because they worshipped the idols and they worshipped the golden calf. No matter what your individual relationship is with him, you must slay him.

The Price Paid by the Levites. Many people feel that this was indeed too cruel; who could have slain their own brothers and friends? Out of the twelve tribes, eleven would not move. They felt the price too heavy. Only the Levites obeyed. With his sword by his side, each of them went in and out from gate to gate. About three thousand men were thus killed and they were the relatives and friends of the Levites.

The Priest’s Office was Given to the Levites. Since the incident of the golden calf, only the household of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had the priest’s office and the Israelites as a whole could not be a nation of priests.

The Distinction Between God’s People and God’s Priests.From that time onwards, there were two distinctly different classes of men in Israel. They were God’s people and God’s priests. The original intention of God was that each and every one of God’s people should be God’s priest. No one should be part of God’s people without being God’s priest at the same time. Yet, because many people loved the world and human relationship, being unfaithful and idolatrous, the priest’s office was separated from the ordinary people. If a person does not love the Lord more than his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, he is not worthy to be the Lord’s disciple. Many could not pay the price. From that day onwards, in Israel, the priests were separated from the people.

The Priesthood Belonged to One Family. The nation of priests became the tribe of priests, then the family of priests. Within the tribe of Levi, God’s people were also God’s priests. Within the other eleven tribes, God’s people could not be God’s priests. This is a serious matter. It is a very serious matter if a person belongs to the people of God yet is not in His priestly ministry.

CHAPTER FOUR – THE CONTINUITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD THROUGH THE CHURCH

Scripture Reading: 1Peter 2.5; Revelation 1.6

From the time of Exodus until the Lord Jesus came to earth, there were no priests from other tribes besides the Levites. They could not make offerings to God, and must do so through the priests. They could not confess their sins directly before God. They could not consecrate themselves. Everything spiritual must be done for them by the priests.

There Was a Middleman Between God and Man. In the Old Testament, to the Israelites God was far away and not readily approachable. The system of middleman came into existence. God came to man through priests and man approached God through priests. The relationship between God and man became indirect.

For about one thousand and five hundred years, from the time of Moses to the coming of the Lord Jesus, God’s people could not approach God directly. One family only served as priests, and only through them could the people approach God. Whoever approached God directly would surely die. During this period, the priest’s office was very important. Without priests, man could not approach God. Under the New Covenant man has been redeemed, and man can be saved and become God’s priests. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” (1Peter 2.5).

All Who Are Under Grace Are Priests. Peter told us that the foundation of the Church is Christ. He was the stone rejected by the builder, yet has become the headstone. We are all lively stones, being built into a spiritual house. We are become the holy priests of God. The voice from heaven told us that all who are saved by grace are God’s priests. All lively stones related to the spiritual house are God’s priests. We see here God made a promise which was set aside for one thousand five hundred years and was taken up now. What the Israelites lost the Church has gained. The priesthood lost by the Israelites has now been given to all who are saved by grace.

The Church is Also the Kingdom of Priests.  Revelation 1.6 states, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.” What the Israelites lost because of the golden calf, the Church has regained through the Lord Jesus. Now the whole church are priests. The kingdom of priests ordained of God has been restored.

God gets in the Church what He could not get from the people of Israel. What is the significance that the Church has become the kingdom of priests? It means that all who are saved by the grace of God have only one profession, that is to serve God. Before a person believes in God, he may be a doctor, a nurse, a teacher or a merchant. After being saved, such a person has only one principal vocation of serving God though he may continue to carry on in his own profession. Formerly, one wishes to distinguish himself in his career, to be an outstanding person in his profession. Now, such ambitions are shattered and the only avowed vocation is to serve the Lord and all other activities must be submitted to this end.

CHAPTER FIVE – THE MINISTRY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

Scripture Reading: 1Peter 2.5; Revelation 20.6; Hebrews 7.3 R.V.

Soon after my conversion I was under the impression that to ask a new convert to serve God requires a lot of effort, as if I were to beseech him on God’s behalf. It is quite different from God’s point of view. God’s attitude is not to ask man to do Him any favor. It is man’s glory to serve God. So, any one who is not a priest would die if he violates the sanctuary or the Ark of the Covenant. The foolish would think that they are doing God a favor by serving Him. They think that, through giving up a portion of their time, money, position or what not, they honor God. This only shows how ignorant they are. Indeed, to serve God is man’s honor and glory. The fact that God consents to have man serve Him is man’s glory. This is grace indeed. Unworthy as I am, I can serve God. What good news, what a glorious gospel!

In the church today, there is no longer the service of restricted priests but the priestly service in general. Israel failed once when they separated the priests from God’s people. So we should not have this separation again today. Every child of God is a priest, offering spiritual offerings and praises before God. When you see an intermediary class in the church, this is the sect of the Nicolaitanes.

The Intermediary Class Must Be Abolished. To abolish the intermediary class, we must all serve God directly as His priests. If all God’s people served Him as priests, then there would be only God and His people who are also His priests. The idea of an intermediary class comes from the flesh, from idolatry and from the love of this world. If each and every one of us will serve God directly as His priests, there would not be an intermediary class any more.

To Be a Christian Means to Be a Priest. Thus, you can observe that through failure and self will, there came up an intermediary class. A group of people will serve God; they will take care of the spiritual things. Another group of people will only care about worldly things; they work as merchants, teachers, doctors or in other careers. It seems that serving God is none of their business. If a person is a Christian, he should also serve God as a priest.

THE RECOVERY OF THE PRIESTHOOD

From the time the Lord Jesus departed from the world until the time the Book of Revelation was written and the time after that, all God’s children are His priests. There was little difficulty, on the whole, during the first three centuries of the Christian era.

The History of the Failure of the Church. With the acceptance of Christianity by Rome, many outsiders came into the Church. To be a Christian put one in favor with the Roman Emperor. The original commandment was to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render unto God the things that are God’s. Now, the things of Caesar and God all belong to God. It was indeed a great victory for Christianity that Constantine became a Christian. From that time onwards, however, the Church degenerated. During the time of the Roman persecution, thousands of martyrs died. At that time it was difficult to pretend to be a Christian. But later it became a popular thing to be a Christian and many entered into the Church. The number of God’s people increased but the number that served God did not increase. It is possible to mingle in the crowd as a Christian but it is not possible to mingle in as a priest.

The Separation Between Men of Spirit and Men of the World. So there was a great change in the fourth century. There came into the Church people who were partial believers and with worldly power. They had no intention of serving God. So there came up those who handled the spiritual service. Thus, many in the Church would say, “We are the seculars. You will please take care of the spiritual service.” So many did not take part in serving God.

Some of God’s People Do Not Serve as Priests. In the first century, at the time of the apostles, every believer served God. Now in the fourth century, some would say, “We are God’s people, but we will continue to be in the world. We will only contribute some money. Let others who are spiritual take care of the spiritual service.” Then the Church was like unto Israel after the worship of the golden calf; most of the people no longer served as priests.

We Should Walk the Way of Recovery Today. I wish that all brothers and sisters could see this. It is God’s will at this latter time to restore His things. He wants to restore the position of His people to be His priests. You are His people, so you are His priests. There are priests today, and in His Kingdom there will continue to be priests, and all God’s people will be His priests.

THE SERVICE OF THE PRIEST

So I want all brothers and sisters to appreciate that as Christians, you are all priests. Do not expect others to be your priest. There is no intermediary class in our midst; you must serve God directly.

The Church Should Have Service from All. If God is gracious to us, all brothers and sisters will work together in serving God. The more brothers and sisters there are that serve God, the stronger will be the testimony of the Church. Without such service, we fail.

It is a Glorious Thing to Serve God. It is our glory when God accepts us to serve Him, seeing how weak and poor we are. In the time of the Old Testament, all who were maimed or in anywise afflicted with diseases could not serve God. Yet now, vile as we are, God has called us to serve Him. So even on our knees, let us climb our way to God to serve Him. In fact, to be God’s priests means to be near Him, with direct access to Him without going through any intermediary.

God’s Kingdom Will Come If We All Serve Him. If one day, in all local churches, all brothers and sisters serve God, there we have in our midst the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Priests. This is a very glorious thing indeed. May this thought lead us to sacrifice all and to be faithful to God.

The Basis of Priesthood is Acceptance by God. The basis of the priesthood in the Old Testament is that God commanded the priests to draw near without the fear of death. This is a great thing. The shewbread could only be partaken by the priests. Only priests can enter the sanctuary and offer offerings. Any one else entering in would die. So God’s acceptance is the basis of priesthood. God says to us today, “Come!” Shouldn’t we come near to Him?

It is God’s Mercy to Accept Our Service. We should realize that it is of God’s mercy that we can come near to Him and serve Him. To be saved by grace and to receive forgiveness is indeed wonderful, but to be acceptable to serve God is even greater. In the Church today, every one that has been saved can serve God.

The Principle of Not Accepting Any Intermediary.  In Christianity today, where it is accepted that there is an intermediary class, they separate God’s priests from God’s people. It is my earnest hope that among us there is no such intermediary in the Church. May the Lord save us and preserve us from the failure of the Israelites!

CHAPTER SIX – THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY

Scripture Reading: Exodus 25.16, 22; 38.21;   Leviticus 24.3;   Hebrews 9.10;   Revelation 11.19

The ark of the Old Testament is known both as the “Ark of the Covenant” and the “Ark of Testimony.” The word “testimony” is well known in the New Testament sense. However, in the Old Testament it is used quite differently. We are accustomed to hearing “the testimony of God,”  “the testimony of the Lord,”  “the testimony of Christ,” “the testimony of Jesus.” In the Old Testament the “testimony” is given in connection with the ark.

The two tables of stone are the testimony (Exodus 31.18; 32.15; 34.29). The tables of the testimony were placed in the ark, and the ark became the ark of testimony (Exodus 25.16; 25.22; 26.33-34; 30.6; 31.7; Revelation 11.19.

The ark was set behind the vail, and thus the vail became the vail of testimony (Leviticus 24.3). Because of the tables, the ark, and the vail, the tabernacle as a whole became the tabernacle of testimony (Exodus 38.21; Numbers 1.50; 9.15; 10.11).

The testimony is the “law.” We are accustomed to associating the word “testimony” with witnessing and testifying and have forgotten something about the testimony which is purely God’s. In Psalms 119, David the Psalmist said that he rejoiced to obey God in His command, His law, His precepts, His statutes, but he also said he rejoiced to do the testimony of God. This testimony is a testimony of the nature of God. In one place the testimony is associated with the holiness of God. It is, first of all, the testimony to what God desires of His people; that is, absolute holiness. No one can come to God producing something less than absolute holiness.

The testimony of God cannot be contained in anything or anyone other than Christ. The two tables of stone could not be found anywhere except in the ark. No man can do the will of God out of his own heart; it is in Christ Jesus that you find the perfect will of God fulfilled. He is the only One who could say, “My delight is in the will of God.”

The tables in the ark were God’s testimony, not my testimony. How is it possible for me to enter into this testimony? We say we are going to be witnesses for Christ. We can be witnesses by being joined in Christ, by being united with Christ, and by having His will fully working in and through us. We enter into the testimony in an experimental way and that testimony becomes our testimony.

Note that two things entered into the ark besides the tables of testimony, i.e., the pot of manna (Exodus 16.34) and Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17.4, 10) (cf. Hebrews 9.4). It is distinctly said of both the manna and the rod that they were put “before the testimony” (Exodus 16.34 and Numbers 17.10). These are the only two things associated with the testimony. It is as though God would say to His people, “Without these My testimony cannot become Your testimony.” Here we have the subjective working of the Cross to enable us to bear testimony. This testimony is not what we say forHim but what we are in Him.

MANNA

In John 6, our Lord refers to the manna as a type of His flesh and blood, which is the food of His people secured through His death. Our testimony is not merely the declaration of what we know about Him. Without participation “in Christ” there can be no true testimony to Him.

AARON’S ROD

This, unlike the manna, speaks not of our own experience of Christ, not of our personal participation in Him, but of our ministry – a ministry springing out of resurrection life. The rod of Aaron was a dead thing when it was put before the testimony, but in resurrection life it budded and blossomed and bore fruit. The manna speaks of life out of death. The rod speaks of ministry issuing from life out of death. This is the basis of all testimony for God. Without entering into the death of Christ we have no life for ourselves, and without a practical experience of His resurrection life there can be no true ministry. The manna speaking of life out of death, and the rod speaking of ministry based on life out of death – these two things are put into the ark of testimony, and without these two there can be no true testimony. The manna and the rod make us what God requires us to be. “In Christ” what He is becomes ours. With such a life as in the manna and such a ministry as in the rod, we have a testimony.

When we see a man of keen intellect, with good organizing ability, eloquent and energetic, we say, “How grand if that man could become a preacher! He would be a great asset to the cause of Christ.” We think, if only these powers could be directed into the right channel what a gain it would be for the Kingdom of God. But God will never use human powers even if they be directed into spiritual channels. If it is to be a testimony of the Lord, then the whole thing must be of Him. Everything that man has and is by nature must be set aside, and all must be on resurrection ground – and resurrection presupposes death. What is the trouble with organized Christianity today? Human power is used to do divine work. If this testimony is to be the Lord’s testimony, then we must die not only to self, but to the energies of nature. All that is carnal must be utterly repudiated, for the spiritual life is life out of death. No earthly power could have made Aaron’s rod bud, for it was a piece of dry wood, of dead wood. Aaron in himself was just as dead as any other man. It was God’s good pleasure to call him, and God’s call was the only thing that distinguished him from any other man. The calling was of God; therefore the life and beauty and fruit had all to be of God too. There was no contribution whatever from the human side.

Man as such has to be done away with if there is to be any real testimony for God. Only that which is from God is of value to Him. God must be the Originator and Cause of all spiritual work. His will must govern the initiation of all such work, but He is not only the Originator, He is the Worker too, and where He is both Originator and Cause, all will issue in His glory. The trouble with us is that while we know that the beginning must be of God and the end for Him, we forget that in the middle all must be of Him too. God’s will governs the beginning, God’s power governs the cause, and God’s glory governs the end. The one who works must naturally get the glory; therefore if any of our power enters into the work we must get some of the glory. The question of glory is settled, not at the end, but in the middle. Where you begin to use energy there you begin to get glory. When we see the worthlessness of all that is natural, then we look for life and power from above, and spontaneously we lift our eyes and say “To Thee be all the glory.”

The testimony of the Lord is based on the power of life which issues out of death. N.B. If there is to be a clear experience of resurrection life there must be that “night” before the testimony (Numbers 17.7,8). This is intensely experimental! Many workers for God have never been willing to wait over that “night.” They want to keep going, but without death there can be no ministry in resurrection power. It is only by our union with Christ in resurrection – in death and resurrection; i.e., by our being “in Christ,” that we share His testimony. The testimony of God is the testimony of Jesus. Not what we say about Him, but what He is. He is that testimony.

The testimony of God is the whole ark. In Exodus 25 we find rings in both sides of the testimony, and the staves in all the time, so that the testimony was always ready to be borne. Our testimony is not something we quickly prepare when need arises, but it is an ever-ready testimony based on the fulfilled will of God. It is what we know of Christ in continual experience, not something which is made up for the occasion which is our testimony. Praise God we have nothing to do with this testimony; it is wholly of God. All we have to do is to carry Him along. In connection with the tabernacle no mention is made of the floor, because it was just the desert sand. It is here throughout our pilgrimage that we bear testimony. We must know the Lord in daily experience so that any moment we have a ready testimony.

CHAPTER SEVEN – THE TESTIMONY OF GOD AS SEEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE ARK

Scripture Reading: Numbers 14.44; 2Corinthians 4.10, 12

In the Book of Numbers we see that God gave full instructions as to how the ark was to be carried. Only the Levites were to bear it, and we need to recall here that the Levites represented the firstborn of all the tribes of Israel. They were chosen of God for this special ministry because of their utter disinterestedness in seeking the Lord’s glory. They stood with God in His judgment of all that was of the flesh even when it involved slaying their own brethren. Only those who are willing to repudiate all that is of the flesh can bear the ark of testimony. God regards these as the firstborn ones, the overcomers. (The Levites represented the firstborn of all Israel.)

The last mention of the ark in Numbers is in chapter 14 when the Israelites reached Kadesh-Barnea. There they rebelled against the Lord and refused to enter into the promised land. When God condemned them of their own choice they rebelled against His judgment and insisted on going into the land; “nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp” (v.44). The people ignored Moses and the ark and were completely routed by their foes.

Up to this point the ark had gone ahead of the Israelites in all their journeyings, but here it stopped, and there is no history of the ark in scripture for the next thirty-eight years. Israel had no testimony. In Deuteronomy the ark is mentioned at the close of the wilderness journey, but that is only a reference to the ark; there is no actual history of the ark there. Apart from the above reference, the next mention of the ark is in Joshua 3, when the people enter the land of promise.

As we have seen, God gave explicit directions as to how the ark was to be borne along. All had to be according to a definite divine order. The testimony of the Lord is something appointed by God to be borne entirely according to His purpose. In Numbers we have God’s instructions concerning the ark, and in Joshua we have the outworking. We see how the ark was carried in regard to God’s people and also in regard to the enemy; how it was carried in order to bring the people into the land and how it was carried to gain victory over their foes.

We must remember that the ark is both the “ark of the covenant” and the “ark of testimony.” It is Christ seen in two aspects –  as the covenant of God and as the testimony of His people. When seen in relation to God, then it is the ark of the covenant, but when seen in relation to His people or in relation to the enemy, then it is the ark of testimony.

At the close of their wilderness wanderings the promised land stretched right before the people, so near that they could look over into it. Yet they could not pass over, for Jordan flowed between, and Jordan typifies death. If they were ever to enter into that glorious land of promise, then they must have a strong foundation over which to pass. The basis upon which they entered the land was of God’s providing entirely – the ark of the covenant. It is only on the strength of God’s covenant that we can pass over Jordan. Many Christians do not differentiate clearly between the promises of God, the facts (or works) of God and the covenant of God. Promises are given to encourage faith, but sometimes we cannot rise to God’s promises. At times we cannot even lay hold of His facts, but then we still have His covenant, and the covenant means more than the promises, more even than the facts. The covenant is something God has committed Himself to do. The covenant is a handle given us by God on which faith can lay hold. We have no claim on God really, but He has been pleased to bind Himself to a covenant, so that in a sense He is no longer free. A covenant is something signed and made over to another. God’s covenant is typified by the ark. In Christ the demands of God have become the covenant of God; the demands of the law upon us have become the satisfaction of the law for us. Thus faith has a handle, something to hold onto. If it pleases God, He will do as He has covenanted to do, and even should it not please Him –  we speak reverently – He must still do it, for He has limited Himself by His covenant, This is the preciousness of the covenant and its strength to faith.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE TESTIMONY

God’s people must have a solid basis on which to pass over Jordan into the promised land. If we are to go over at all we must go over on the ground of the covenant. This entering into the land must be by way of death, for the covenant is not given to the old creation; it is altogether new. We have to leave Egypt and leave the wilderness in order to get into the land. The Red Sea represents one aspect of the Cross and Jordan the other. By the vicarious death of Christ as Pascal Lamb, God passed over us; by our identification with Christ in death we pass over into the inheritance.

But how could a whole nation be brought into the land? A few priests, bearing the ark on their shoulders, stepped into the water first. They went to the bottom of Jordan, and they stood there. They knew the death of Christ in an experimental way; they bore that death in their own bodies. And by their standing in the place of death, others passed into abundant life (2Corinthians 4.7-15). Yet it was not the priests that opened the way through death to the other side; it was the ark of the covenant. But the priests held the ark there. They had the testimony in themselves, and because they really stood in the place of death, others could pass over into life.

God is seeking a few who will stand on that ground to bring the people over. “So then death worketh in us, but life in you” (2Corinthians 4.12). “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (4.10). That is the principle of testimony. That testimony is not a mere teaching; it is Christ. And in order to bear that testimony, death is absolutely necessary. There must be some who are willing to stand on the ground of death if others are to be brought into fulness of life. As we die, life works in other souls.

Nothing less than real death to us will bring people to the other side. It is not just a matter of bearing the ark in a procession. Bearing the testimony in truth will cost us nothing short of life, for Jordan typifies death.

CHAPTER EIGHT – THE TESTIMONY OF GOD IN RELATION TO THE CHURCH

Scripture Reading: Joshua 3.14-17;  Revelation 12.11

How can the Church be brought into the full thought of God? We must have faith to believe that all God’s people will be brought into the inheritance. That is God’s purpose and it will carry, but for the realization of His purpose God must have a group of people willing to step into death and to stand there till all the people are safely over on the other side. Because of that little group of priests that stood bearing the ark in the place of death the whole nation of Israel passed clean over ultimately, but who are going to step first into the waters of death? May we step in gladly and refuse to step out of that position until all God’s people have reached the promised land. Often we will be tempted to yield to the appeal of open doors, great opportunities, etc. Are we going to stand with God for the thing upon which His heart is set, the bringing of His people into the inheritance? Do we experience travail and birth-pangs that souls may be brought through to the other side? To those who passed over Jordan easily, Jordan meant little, but the full meaning of Jordan had to be wrought out in the experience of the priests who bore the ark.

All God’s people will get over Jordan ultimately, but God is looking for a few who will bear the ark, and they cannot just walk into the inheritance. They will have to stand in the place of death holding the situation for the Lord until His purpose is realized in all His people. We have learned the secret of the purpose of God for this age, and we may be willing for death to work to the full extent, so that, bearing God’s testimony in the place of death, others may pass into life! We are living, praise God, but are we life-giving? There was need of implicit obedience, a strong faith and patience on the part of those priests. They were willing to taste the full meaning of death to bring all God’s people into life. They are the overcomers who hold the situation for God in the place of death. Who will have this honor?

THE ARK OF GOD IN RELATION TO THE ENEMIES OF GOD

In Joshua 3 we see the ark in relation to the people of God, and in Joshua 6 we see the ark in relation to the enemies of God. The Children of Israel do not fight their enemies; they simply go round the walls of Jericho. But we may walk around the walls of Jericho 1,000 times and nothing will happen. The point is here – the ark of the covenant was in the midst. It was the ark that compassed the city, and it was the ark that counted. In 6.11 Joshua ignores the whole company that marched round the city, and it was the ark that he mentioned, i.e., the covenant as the basis of their faith.

The inheritance IS ours, for according to covenant God has already given us the land. It is not on the ground of what we will do that we approach the enemy, but on the ground of what He has done. The covenant of God is the basis of our testimony. God’s testimony is what He has in His Son for us. We simply show that to the people, and we simply display that to the enemy. That is the full testimony. We do nothing to Jericho. We merely stand on the ground of the covenant of God and testify to Jericho: “You are going to fall, for God has given Jericho to us.” The testimony is simply standing on the ground of the covenant and declaring the covenant to be true. “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12.11). We do not try to do anything; we simply stand on the ground of what has already been done – of what God has done. We stand on the ground of God’s covenant and proclaim victory an accomplished fact. (If we wrestle over personal matters we lose the basis of victory.) The ark went round the walls of Jericho seven times – the full number. When we have fully realized what the covenant is, then we can shout the shout of triumph, and with one shout the enemy is overcome.

THE TESTIMONY OF GOD AS SEEN IN THE ARK

After the children of Israel reached the promised land, the tabernacle with the ark was brought to rest in Shiloh, and for a considerable period Shiloh, not Jerusalem, was the center of all activity in the land (Joshua 18.1, 8-10).

During the time of the Judges, the ark was still there – in Shiloh (Judges 18.31). After the Judges, when Samuel came on the scene, it still remained there. (1Samuel 1.24) The Tabernacle was in the midst of God’s people and the ark was in the tabernacle. Everything in the tabernacle depended on the ark. It was the center and soul of the tabernacle, the only thing in the Holy of Holies. The altar, the lampstand, etc., were truly precious, but they only represented the work of the Lord Jesus, while the ark represented His Person. Without that there could be no testimony. The Lord Himself is our testimony. It was just when Samuel came on the scene that the ark became dissociated from the tabernacle, and when the ark departed then the glory departed. The tabernacle could only exist as a testimony for God as long as the ark of the testimony remained in the Holiest of all.

But how did the ark become separated from the tabernacle? In the time of the Judges, Israel sinned against God. They did not drive out their enemies and they served false gods. “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” is the concluding statement in the divine record, and it summarizes the condition of things at that time. At the close of the period of the Judges, Eli was high priest in Shiloh – a man with a certain amount of faith but not much life, a type of dead orthodoxy. His two sons were called “sons of Belial” – “sons of worthlessness.” They were worthless to the Lord and worthless to His people. They not only committed iniquity in the ministry, they committed sin in a general way. So the people were all out of line with God’s purpose.

That was the background when Samuel was called of God. The Philistines warred against the Israelites and sorely defeated them, and the latter, instead of humbling themselves before the Lord and seeking to know the cause of their defeat, brought the ark of God out of the tabernacle onto the battlefield, hoping by such a measure to overcome their foes. To them the ark of God was the ark of the covenant, and they fancied God would fulfil His covenant by protecting them from their enemies, however untrue they might be to His covenant. But after the ark was taken from the tabernacle at Shiloh and brought into battle with the Philistines, the Israelites lost 30,000 men as compared with 4,000 before the ark was brought in, and worse than all they lost the ark. It was carried into the land of the Philistines (1Samuel 4.3, 11, 22).

The glory departed from Israel when the ark departed, but the ark did something to the Philistines that the Israelites could not do. God seeks instruments for His glory, but when He cannot find them He does something Himself, and in so doing He takes care of His own testimony. When the children of God turn from Him, when there is a divided heart, strange gods somewhere, then God hands His people over to defeat and the enemy gets them at every turn. Then they think that God for His own glory’s sake must deliver them, but God is keener to vindicate His holiness than to uphold His glory before men. When a servant of God fails badly we want the matter covered up, and we pray along that line, expecting God for His glory to save His servant from open defeat, even though there is secret defeat.

But God’s way is exactly the opposite. He will let His people be defeated in the eyes of the world to show that He has nothing to do with unholiness. His glory is always associated with holiness, and He will never cover up unholiness. His glory can be better maintained by the defeat of His people than by their victory in a state of unholiness. So He was willing to let His ark be taken in order to show to the Philistines and to all the world that He will not associate Himself with the cause of His people while there is unholiness with them. The ark of God is taken, but the ark can defend itself. The five lords of the Philistines, their five capital cities and their god, Dagon, were all judged by the presence of the ark. Here we have a divine principle. If needs be, God will let His people down to vindicate His holiness and in the very act of vindicating His holiness He will maintain His glory. The ark of God is a testimony, and it is firstly a testimony to His own nature, which cannot be associated with unholiness even in His own covenant people.

CHAPTER NINE – GOD’S TESTIMONY ETERNALLY THE SAME

Scripture Reading: 2Samuel 6.10-11; Psalms 78.56-60; Jeremiah 26.6;  1Chronicles 16.39, 40; 2Chronicles 1.3,4; 1Kings 3.15; John 1.29, 36

THE ARK OF JEHOVAH

After the ark of God left the tabernacle in Shiloh it never returned there. Once it left it had left for ever. The tragic thing about Shiloh is this – the tabernacle of God was still there, but it was a tabernacle without the ark. The glory had departed from the tabernacle. The tabernacle might be hallowed by many years of the presence of God, but that did not constitute it the tabernacle of testimony. The testimony did not reside in the tabernacle as such, but in the ark.

The arkless tabernacle at Shiloh has its counterpart in the earthly church today. It is no longer the Church after God’s thought, no longer a heavenly Church, but a system of religious faith. The church as an organized system has lost its testimony; it is arkless. There exists still an impressive organization, but God does not recognize it as the Church, because there is no ark in it. Its heavenly character has been lost sight of. That does not mean that God has forsaken the organized church so that there is no blessing there now. If everything in the tabernacle had stopped, then the people of God would leave it, but this very thing constitutes a test – souls are still being saved in Shiloh, for the altar is still there; but the ark, which represents God’s full thought concerning His Son, that is lacking.

There is something even higher than the altar, higher than the laver, higher than the lampstand, etc., precious as all these are, the ark. Those speak of the works of Christ, but the ark of Christ Himself. In the tabernacle there is still much in the outer court and in the holy place that speaks of what the Lord has done for us, but the Holy of Holies is empty.

Where did the ark go after it left the land of the Philistines? It went to individual houses – first to the house of Abinadab. For twenty years the testimony of the Lord was in that man’s house, then it was taken to the house of Obed-edom (2Samuel 6). These houses were insignificant places as compared with the tabernacle.

If you want a big thing you must go to the tabernacle at Shiloh, but if you want the ark you must go elsewhere; and the place of the testimony is not the place of the tabernacle but the place of the ark. Do you want to go to an arkless tabernacle? In the tabernacle the whole system of worship is grand and impressive, but the glory is departed, for the ark is departed. The saints today have to choose between a big arkless tabernacle and a little house with the ark there.

In Psalms 78.56-60, God declares explicitly He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh. The tabernacle was useless to God without the ark, and the church system is useless to Him without His testimony.

Later God prophesied through Jeremiah that He would forsake the temple as He had forsaken the tabernacle (Jeremiah 7.12-14). He said in effect, “What I have done in Shiloh will show you what I will do in Jerusalem if the same condition arises. Go to Shiloh and you will see that I have forsaken it.” It is clear from scripture that Shiloh for many years was a warning to the people against the sin of a divided heart (Jeremiah 26.6).

In Shiloh the priesthood still continued and offerings were still offered on the altar. Though organized Christianity has lost the full testimony of God, forgiveness of sins is still found there for the altar is there and there are those who not only know the forgiveness of sins but also personal holiness. For the laver is still there too, and the lampstand is still there, and the table of shewbread, and the altar of incense. There is still light there, and still food there for individuals, and many know what prayer is; but the vital thing is gone – the ark is not there. The works of Christ are seen there, but the Lord Himself in His own person has no longer His rightful place.

If you can be satisfied with a knowledge of the Lord along the line of forgiveness, personal holiness, some spiritual truths, prayer, food for your soul, etc., then you can remain happily in the tabernacle. But if you know the real meaning of the ark of testimony – Christ Himself – then you will say, “Lord, I am willing to follow the ark even though I have to forsake the tabernacle.”

In Solomon’s temple everything was built anew except the ark. There was a new altar, a new molten sea (answering to the laver), etc. What in type was the difference between Solomon’s temple and the tabernacle? The former typified the presence of God in the midst of His people in the millennium the latter during their wilderness journeys. In the wilderness the tabernacle was moveable but the temple was immovable, and the temple was at Jerusalem. Everything in Solomon’s temple was on a grander scale than in the tabernacle. The altar, the laver, etc., were of greater dimensions than before; but the ark was still the same.

In the millennium we shall have a greater appreciation of the Spirit’s fulness – but God’s testimony concerning His Son is eternally the same; it can never be enlarged upon. Our appreciation of Christ’s work can grow, but the very essence of God’s testimony in His Son, that cannot increase.

God’s eyes are now towards the millennial kingdom where the ark will have the central place in the temple. But for us the question is, “What are we going to do with the ark today?” David discovered the value of the ark, so he brought it out of the house of Obed-edom and put it in a tent in Jerusalem, “the city of David,” and he removed the tabernacle from Shiloh to Gibeon (1Chronicles 16.39). What was going on there? The offering of burnt offering was going on continually (v.40). The tabernacle at Gibeon was arkless, the glory of God had departed from it, yet we read that burnt offerings were offered there “continually morning and evening,” and everything in the tabernacle was done “according to all that was written in the law of the Lord.”

Worship still goes on in full force in organized Christianity, and in some places it is “according to all that is written in the law of the Lord.” But there is a fundamental lack – the testimony of God is gone.

While the ark was at Jerusalem, Solomon went to Gibeon to worship God in the tabernacle (2Chronicles 1.3,4). The tabernacle was certainly arkless, but it was “the tabernacle of the congregation of God which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness.” It had a marvelous history and an elaborate and imposing system of worship. And God met Solomon there. Praise God, He meets many a one in Gibeon, for there is still much there that speaks of the work of His Son. Solomon got something there, and many others have been blessed there too. But what did Solomon do when his request for wisdom was granted? He returned back to Jerusalem (v.13) and he offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings “before the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (1Kings 3.15).

When a soul is really taught of God, the message of forgiveness of sins is not enough, even light and food and a life of prayer is not enough. Those who have wisdom from above will not be satisfied with anything less than the ark. The vital question is not, “What can I get from the Lord?” but this – “What place is He getting?” What place is given to God’s testimony concerning His Son? It is one thing to say “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1.29, 36). If we are still taken up with the works of the Lord we are still living in the tabernacle; whether it be in Shiloh or Gibeon is of little moment. The question is “Where is the ark?”

What was the significance of bringing the ark up to Jerusalem? And why have a tent for the ark? The Lord has decreed that the ark shall be in the temple in Jerusalem in the kingdom; but it is the work of every true David, every overcomer, to anticipate that day and bring the ark in now. We must give Christ His rightful place today. We cannot put the ark in the temple now but we can pitch a tent for it and bring it to Jerusalem. The whole thing has to be carried out by us in principle and in spirit. All the material for the temple was prepared by David, though he did not build it himself.

We are the ones who should be preparing the material, and in principal and in spirit we set the ark in its rightful place now.

The difference between the kingdom of God now and the kingdom of God in the millennium is not one of quality but of quantity. The scope is more limited now than then, the sphere is smaller, but its nature is the same. It is in individual lives now, then it will extend to the whole world. If I live under the sovereignty of God now, then I am in the kingdom now. In the millennium everyone has to live under the sovereignty of God, under the Lordship of Christ. This is the meaning of the ark – that Christ should be all in all.

The heart of God is set on the day when “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” The millennial kingdom and the eternal kingdom are one, for the millennial kingdom is the introduction to the eternal kingdom. God’s heart is set on the kingdom. On what are our hearts set? The kingdom will not come automatically. We can do something to bring it in. Are we pitching a tent now for the ark in Jerusalem and so preparing the way for it to be set in the temple in the millennial kingdom?

CHAPTER TEN – THE LIFE OF CHRIST

Scripture Reading:  1Corinthians 1.30; 15.45-47;  Galatians 2.20; Romans 5.12, 19;  6.3; 2Corinthians 5.17

SINS AND SIN

Let us take the first eight chapters of Romans as the basis of our study of the Christian life. In chapters 1 to 4, though sin is mentioned several times, the subject, speaking generally, is sins. In chapters 5 to 8 this is reversed, for, while sins are mentioned, the question dealt with is sin. In the first it is a question of sins I have committed before God: in the second it is a discovery of the principle of sin working in me. I need forgiveness for my sins, but I need deliverance from the power of sin. The teaching of Romans is not that we are sinners because we commit sins, but that we sin because we are sinners. We are sinners by constitution rather than by action. As Romans 5.19 expresses it: “Through the one man’s disobedience the many were made [lit.,  constituted] sinners.” When God’s light first shines into my heart, my one cry is for forgiveness, for I realize that I have committed sins before Him; but once I have known forgiveness of sins I make a new discovery – the discovery of sin, and I realize that I have the nature of a sinner. There is an inward inclination to sin. There is a power within that draws me to sin, and when that power breaks out I commit sins. I may seek and receive forgiveness, but then I sin again; and life goes on in a vicious circle – sinning and being forgiven, but then sinning again. I appreciate God’s forgiveness, but I want something more than that – I want deliverance. We need forgiveness for what we have done, but we need deliverance from what we are.

In Romans 1 to 8 two aspects of salvation are presented to us. Chapters 1 to 4 of the epistle deal with forgiveness of sins and justification – and the basis of forgiveness is the Blood. The Blood is for atonement, and has to do with our standing before God and our consciousness of sin. It shows a misunderstanding of the sphere in which the Blood operates to pray, “Lord, cleanse my heart from sin by Thy Blood.” The Blood is for God and is objective, and cleanses the conscience, not the heart. When we sin our conscience condemns us, but because of the shed Blood conscience is set at ease. God said; “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12.13). The Blood was on the outside for God to see; it was not seen by those inside. Objectively, therefore, the Blood delivers us from the power of the enemy, because it deals with sins, and so removes the ground of his accusations against us; while subjectively the Cross delivers us by dealing with the flesh, which is the ground of the enemy’s activity in us. The Blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my “old man”; I need the Cross to crucify me – the sinner.

What is a sinner? One who commits sin? Yes, but before God men are sinners apart from sinful acts. We think, if only we had not done certain things, all would be well; but the trouble lies far deeper than what we do: it lies in what we are. The root trouble is the sinner himself; he must be dealt with. Our sins are dealt with by the Blood: we ourselves are dealt with by the Cross. The Blood procures our pardon; the Cross procures our deliverance from what we are in Adam.

“IN ADAM” AND “IN CHRIST”

The terms “in Adam” and “in Christ” are very little understood by Christians. We are all born “in Adam,” and Romans 5.12-21 reveals to us what we are “in Adam.” We are constituted sinners, not by the sins we commit, but simply by being in Adam. All of us sinned before we were born, because we were “in Adam” when he sinned. If your great-grandfather had died when he was three years old, where would you be? You would have died in him! Your experience was bound up with his. We are involved in Adam’s sin, and by being born “in Adam” we receive all that is of Adam, that is, the Adam nature which is the nature of a sinner. The vital question then is, “How can I get out of Adam?” We came in by birth, therefore we can only get out by death; and it is just this way of escape that God has provided. “All we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6.3). To be “in Christ” is to have been identified with Him in His death and resurrection. The Cross is the power of God which translates us from Adam into Christ.

In 1Corinthians 15.45 and 47, the Lord Jesus Christ is called by two names – “the last Adam,” and “the second man.” The Scripture does not refer to Him as the second Adam, or as the last Man: for as the last Adam He is the sum total of Humanity, and as the second Man He is the Head of a new race of men. As the last Adam He gathers up into Himself all that was in Adam; as the second Man, having by His Cross done away with the first man in whom God’s purpose was frustrated, He brings in another Man in whom that purpose is fully realized. “Wherefore if any man is in christ, there is a new creation; the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new” (2Corinthians 5.17, A.R.V. mg.). By the Cross, God wiped out the whole of the old creation, and out of death a new creation is brought in, in Christ, the second Man. If we are “in Adam,” all that is “in Adam” necessarily devolves upon us. Likewise if we are “in Christ” all that is in Him comes to us by free grace without effort on our part, on the ground of simple faith.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST

The Christian life is nothing short of the life of Christ. It is Christ’s own life reproduced in us. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1Corinthians 1.30). The common conception of sanctification is that every item of our life should be holy; but that is not holiness – it is the fruit of holiness. Holiness is Christ. When we are conscious of pride, we fancy that humility will meet our need; but the answer to pride is not humility – it is Christ, and Christ is the answer to every need. God will not give you humility or patience or love as separate gifts of His grace; He has given you Christ, and if you simply trust Him to live out His life in you, He will be humble, patient, loving and everything else that you need, in your stead. God is not a retailer: He does not deal out grace to us in doses. He gives us His Son to be our life, and we only need to be “in Christ” for all that is Christ’s to become ours. There is only one “Christian life” – and that is the life of Christ. I am never asked to imitate that Life, but only to allow Christ to live out His life in me. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2.20).

How then are we to get out of Adam into Christ? Praise God, He has not left us either to devise a way, or to work it out, for God has already put me “in Christ.” “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus” (1Corinthians 1.30). We are in: therefore we need not to try to get in! It was a Divine act, and it is an accomplished fact. For instance, I put a treasury note in my Bible. Of me is the note in this Bible. Now I mail the Bible to Shanghai. Can the Bible get to Shanghai and the note remain here? No; where the Bible goes the note goes, and whatever the Bible goes through, the note goes through too, for it is in the Bible. “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus.” God has put us in Christ, and in dealing with Christ, God has dealt with the whole race. Our destiny is bound up with His. What He has gone through we have gone through.

Thus, He was crucified. Very well, then; what about us? Must we ask God to crucify us? Never! When Christ was crucified, we were crucified; and His crucifixion is past, therefore ours cannot be future. You cannot find one text in the New Testament showing that crucifixion is in the future. All the references to our crucifixion are in the aorist tense, which is the “once-for-all” tense, the “eternal past” tense – e.g. Romans 6.6; Galatians 2.20; 5.24; 6.14. No man could ever commit suicide by crucifixion, for no man could crucify himself. We were crucified when He was crucified, for God put us in Him. That we have died in Christ is not a mere doctrinal position; it is a fact, an eternal fact, and God calls upon us to reckon it so.

RECKONING AND KNOWING

Whenever the truth concerning our union with Christ is presented, the emphasis is generally on “reckoning ourselves to be dead.” But God’s Word tells us that knowing is to precede reckoning. “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him” (Romans 6.6). “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead . . . “ (Romans 6.11). Our reckoning must be based on knowledge, otherwise faith has no foundation on which to rest. Our death with Christ is a fact – a fact as surely established as Christ’s death. Have you ever doubted the fact of His death? Then do you ever question the fact of your own death? I believe in the death of the Lord Jesus, and I believe in my own death just as surely as I believe in His. Why do you believe the Lord Jesus died? Because you feel He has died? No, you believe He has died because God has declared it to be a fact. Now what about your own death? Have you died? How can you know?

You can know for the simple reason that God has said so. Our old man has been crucified once for all, and he can never be uncrucified. This is what we need to know; when we know this we shall spontaneously reckon ourselves to be dead. God tells us to reckon ourselves dead, not that by the process of reckoning we may become dead, but because we are dead. He could never have told us to count on what was not a fact. If I believe that I am dead, then to count myself dead is no effort – it is spontaneous; but if I am not persuaded that I have really died and hope by the mental process of reckoning to produce death, then reckoning is a strenuous job!

Suppose I were to try to pose as “Miss D.” I should have to keep saying to myself all the time, “You are Miss D. Now be sure and remember, you are Miss D.” Despite much reckoning, the likelihood would be that when I was off my guard, and someone called “Mr. N.!,” I should answer to my own name. All my reckoning would break down at the crucial moment. I am Mr.N.; therefore I have no difficulty whatever in reckoning myself to be Mr. N. I can go to sleep and forget all about it, but that does not alter the fact. It is as sure when I forget it as when I think about it: it is not dependent upon my memory or my reckoning. I know I am Mr.N.; therefore I naturally reckon it so. Romans 6.6 precedes Romans 6.11, not only in the Scriptures, but in Christian experience too. Unless we have a revelation by the Holy Ghost of the fact of our death with Christ, our reckoning will be mere dead works. For years I sought to reckon myself dead; then one day God revealed to me my death with Christ as an eternally established fact. I longed to go through the streets shouting aloud the news of my glad discovery – “Do you know I am dead? – so dead that I could never be more dead!” Unless we know for a fact that we are dead, the more we reckon, the more intense will become the struggle, and the issue will be sure defeat.

YIELDING

Knowing and reckoning is then followed by yielding. Paul says: “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” (Romans 6.12,13 A.R.V.). We are dead and are risen; now, on the basis of death and resurrection, we must yield (present). The yielding here referred to is not the consecration of anything belonging to the old creation, but of that which has passed through death into resurrection. Knowing, reckoning, yielding – that is the Divine order. When I really know I am already crucified, then I spontaneously reckon myself dead, and when I truly reckon myself one with the Lord in death and resurrection, it follows that I will yield to Him. He is the source of my life – He is my life – so I cannot but yield everything to Him, for all is His, not mine. Without passing through death I have nothing to consecrate, and there is nothing God can accept, for He has condemned to the Cross all that is of the old creation. I have no longer any self-will, and am ready for Him to work out His will in me. I consider my whole life as belonging to the Lord.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – WE “CANNOT PLEASE GOD”

Scripture Reading:  Romans 5.20; 6.14; 7.24;  Galatians 3.24;  Hebrews 11.1; John 15.4,5;  Colossians 2.10

The “wretched man” of Romans 7.24 was trying to please God on the ground of the old creation, where man is dead in sin. The result was utter failure. Why? If because of sin man was crucified with Christ, how can that man please God? If we are dead to sin, we are likewise dead to pleasing God. We do not realize that the death which emancipates us from the bondage of sin also emancipates us from the law. The moment we seek of ourselves to please God, we are placing ourselves under the law – a realm where grace does not operate (Romans 6.14). Grace implies that God does something for us: law implies that we do something for God. Deliverance from the law does not mean that we are free from doing the will of God, but from henceforth Another does it in us and through us. God knew we could not keep His law, but the trouble is we do not know it, and we need to have it proved to us beyond dispute that we are hopelessly weak. “The law came in . . . that the trespass might abound” (Romans 5.20).

But at last we see it, and confess, “I am a sinner through and through, and I can do nothing whatever to please God.” When we are convinced that we cannot keep God’s law, or please Him at all, then the law has served its purpose. It has been our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that He might keep it in us (Galatians 3.24). Praise God! He is law-giver on the Throne, and He is the law-keeper in my heart. He who gave the law Himself keeps it. As long as we try to do anything He can do nothing. It is because of our trying that we fail, and fail, and fail. God wants to demonstrate to us that we can do nothing at all, and until that is fully recognized our disappointments and disillusionments will never cease. We all need to come to the place where we say, “Lord, I am going to do nothing for Thee, either in the matter of my salvation, or of my sanctification; but I trust Thee to do everything in me.”

THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT

Romans 5 reveals man “in Adam”; Romans 6 “in Christ”; Romans 7 “in the flesh”; Romans 8 “in the Spirit.” Once we accept the revelation of Romans 5 concerning our state by nature, we naturally welcome the truth concerning God’s provision in grace presented in Romans 6. We reckon ourselves dead to sin and immediately set out to please God; then to our utter amazement we find ourselves in Romans 7. By our effort to please God we have put ourselves “in the flesh,” and in that realm there is only defeat. The way of escape is shown in Romans 8 – that is, “in the Spirit.” As soon as we come on to natural ground, all that we have by nature “in Adam” is seen in our experience; but as we live “in the Spirit” all that is true “in Christ” is made effective in us. When we see the utter corruption of our natural life, then we shall repudiate it altogether, reckoning ourselves not only dead to sin, but dead also to the law, that is, dead to pleasing God by our own effort. When we refuse to live “in the flesh” – that is, when we not only repudiate sin, but even cease to think that in ourselves we can please God – then, and not till then, shall we know what it means to live “in the Spirit”; and as we live “in the Spirit” we shall find the facts of the Cross made real in our experience.

GOD’S WORD SUBSTANTIATED BY FAITH

The two biggest facts in history are these: all our sins were dealt with by the Blood, and we ourselves were dealt with by the Cross. But what if, after I accept these facts, I lose my temper? The crucial test is just here! Are we going to believe the tangible facts of the natural realm which are clearly before our eyes, or the intangible facts of the spiritual realm, which are neither seen nor proved? “Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11.1, Darby’s translation). By means of our senses we substantiate facts in the natural realm. For instance, by the sense of hearing I substantiate music. If I lack the faculty of hearing, then I lack the enjoyment of music, but the reality of music is unaffected by my ability or inability to hear it. A blind man cannot distinguish color: to him it is as though color did not exist. It is there, but his experience is unaffected by it, simply because he lacks the faculty needed for its substantiation.

We do not differentiate sufficiently between promises and facts. The promises of God must be revealed by His Spirit, and must be applied and appropriated by us; but facts are facts whether we believe them or not. If we do not believe the facts of the Cross, they still remain as real as ever, only they are valueless to us. Faith does not make these things real – they are real; but faith substantiates them and so makes them real in our experience. Whatever contradicts the truth of God’s Word we must regard as the Devil’s lies; and he not only tells lies, he also acts lies – he deceives us not only with lying statements, but by lying signs and feelings and experiences. As soon as we have accepted our death with Christ as a fact, Satan will try to prove that we are not dead at all, but very much alive, and he will seek to demonstrate it by our experience. If we resort to our senses to discover the truth, we shall find Satan’s lies true to our experience; but if we refuse to believe anything that contradicts God’s Word and stand by faith on that alone, we shall find that Satan’s lies will vanish and our experience will tally with God’s Word.

“ABIDE IN ME”

God’s Word declares that we are “dead indeed,” but nowhere does it say that we are dead in ourselves. We shall look in vain to find death there. We are dead, not in ourselves, but “in Christ,” and since we died in Him it is impossible for His death to be certain and ours uncertain: our death with Christ is as sure as His death. We were crucified with Him because we were in Him. We are familiar with the words, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15.4). We are not told to get into Christ, but simply to abode in Him, for we are in. It was God’s act that put us in Christ. The all-inclusive death and the all-inclusive resurrection of God’s Son is accomplished, fully, finally, apart from us. We are raised in Him (Ephesians 2.6); we are complete in Him (Colossians 2.10); we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Him (Ephesians 1.3). The entire work regarding us is done not in us but in Christ; God has done all in His Son. If you stand on the ground of what Christ is you will find that all that is true of Him is true of you; but if you come on to the ground of what you are in yourself, you will find that all that is true of the old nature is true of you.

“Abide in me, and I in you.” The “I in you” is the outcome of abiding in Him. We need to guard against being too anxious about the subjective side of things, and so becoming turned in on ourselves; we need to dwell upon the objective – “abide in me”– and the subjective will take care of itself.  “Abide in me, and I in you” is the Divine order. Faith in the objective facts makes those facts true subjectively. “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15.5). We are not to try to produce fruit, but simply to focus our attention on what we are and have in Him. “Abide in ME.” Do not try to get in, for you are in: simply stay there, and rest in the fact that God has put you in His Son, and all the rest will adjust itself.

GOD’S SOLUTION OF THE SIN QUESTION

In Romans 6.6 we see how God dealt with the whole sin question – “our old man,”  “the body of sin,” and “sin.” “Our old man” was crucified with Him, and because our old man is dead, therefore the “body of sin” is “made of none effect,” with the result that “henceforth we should not serve sin.” God’s way of dealing with the situation was not by dealing directly either with the “body of sin,” or with “sin,” but only with our “old man”; and since he has died, the “body of sin” is now “made of none effect.” (The word rendered “destroyed” in the original does not bear the sense of “annihilated,” but merely “put out of operation.”)

We need to remember that, in solving the sin question, God did not deal with sin direct, but with the sinner; therefore Scripture speaks of deliverance from sin rather than victory over it. The terms “freed from sin” and “dead unto sin” show that sin is still there, but we are delivered from it. The deliverance is so complete that John writes: “Whosoever is begotten of God doeth no sin . . . he cannot sin” (1John 3.9, A.R.V.). John is not telling us that sin is not in history, but that it is not the nature of that which is begotten of God. Wood cannot sink – that is, in nature it cannot – but in history it will if a hand holds it under water. What is “in Christ” cannot sin; what is “in Adam” can sin and always will: therefore the whole matter rests on substantiating, and as by faith I abide in Him my experience will be that I am being delivered from sin.

“We walk by faith, not by sight” (2Corinthians 5.7). The illustration is given of Fact, Faith and Experience walking along the top of a wall. Fact walked steadily on, turning neither to right nor left, and never looking behind. Faith followed, and all went well while he kept his eyes focused on Fact. But as soon as he became concerned about Experience and turned to see how he was getting on, he lost his balance and tumbled off the wall, and poor old Experience fell down after him.

THE WORK OF THE CROSS

No one can really live the normal Christian life until he has begun to recognize the fulness of the work of the Lord Jesus on the Cross. We have touched on four aspects of that work: let us mention them again.

(1) Our sins. No one can be a Christian whose sins have not been dealt with and cleansed in the Blood.

(2) Ourselves. Not only have our sins been dealt with by His death, but our old man has been crucified with Him. It is possible to be a Christian without seeing this fact, but it is only possible to be a very miserable Christian!

(3) Our wills. The will has also been dealt with by the Cross, and once we definitely accept this, in an act of unqualified yielding to the Lord, we are no longer governed by self-will, and are ready for Him to work out His will in us.

(4) Our natural life. When the Cross has delivered us from the law, we see that the Lord has dealt with our carnal powers, and we reach a point where we dare not trust ourselves at all, but acknowledge that of ourselves we can do nothing whatever to please God.

These four points are fundamental and we cannot live the normal Christian life without seeing them, and seeing them experimentally. “Who shall deliver me?” is the cry of Romans 7, but Romans 8 gives us the answer. Paul’s shout of praise is: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7.25). So we learn that the life we live is the life of Jesus Christ alone. The Christian life is not our living a life like Christ, or our trying to be Christ-like, nor is it Christ giving usthe power to live a life like His. It is Christ Himself living His own life through us: “no longer I, but Christ” (Galatians 2.20).

CHAPTER TWELVE – THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT IN CHURCH MEETINGS

Scripture Reading:  1Corinthians 14.26-33

THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S LIGHT IN THE CHURCH

Ephesians 2.22 shows us that the church is built together for an habitation of God through the Holy Spirit. So we believe that, when the whole church gathers together, it is to serve as an habitation of God. One characteristic of an habitation of God is the presence of the light of God. We are aware that in the Jewish temple, there was sunlight for the outer court, light from the candlesticks for the sanctuary, but in the Holy of Holies, God manifested His own glory and He Himself was the light there. So we believe that, when we serve as an habitation of God, there must be light, because God at such times would manifest His own glory. If the conditions of our meeting are normal and proper, we can look to God to shine forth His light and we can look to Him to speak to us.

THE ACCUMULATION OF “HAVE” IN ORDINARY DAYS

1Corinthians 14 teaches us how we should meet together. Verse 26 reads, “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” It means that, during the meeting, some will have a hymn, some will have a revelation, some will have words of encouragement, some will speak in tongues and some will have interpretation of tongues. They all use what they have to edify the church. Therefore, we must understand clearly before God the meaning of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will not guide those without words to speak, those with hymns to speak words of comfort or those with revelations to interpret the tongues. The Holy Spirit simply does not do things in such a disorderly fashion. The abundant supply at the meeting comes not at the time of the meeting, but right in our own house. What I have while at home I will have at the meeting. What I do not have while at home I will not have at the meeting. What is referred to here as “have” is not due to personal likes, nor products of personal thoughts or emotional impulses at the time. It is that which one receives as he exercises daily before God and that which is constituted in the spirit. Such spiritual accumulation is what we “have,” which can be employed to supply the need of the church in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

So, one who has a hymn supplies the need of a hymn in the church. One with a revelation supplies the need of a revelation in the church. One with words of admonition supplies the need of admonition in the church. Every one supplies the need in the church with what he has, not with what he has not. What you have you minister to the need of it in the church. For instance, today you have a hymn which all along you wish to sing. You could not help remembering this hymn. That is to say, there is music in your heart. There is a hymn in your heart. This is your hymn. It is not that you look for a hymn during the meeting, but that, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you supply the hymn you have for the admonition of the church. Or during these days there have been a few sentences you consider precious. These are your words. Similarly, you may have a revelation or admonition; you just supply the church with what you have.

Brothers and sisters, what has the Lord done or said to you these days?

TO OBEY THE SPIRIT’S GUIDANCE IN THE MEETING

1Corinthians 14.26 tells us how the Holy Spirit guides us by means of what we have, while verses 27 to 33 tell us that the guidance of the Holy Spirit is also in accord with the circumstances. For instance, the evening meeting in the church ends at 9 o’clock. The Holy Spirit will not guide you to stand up and give a long talk when it is nearly nine. On the other hand, you will be conscious that time is running out. There could not be any long period of singing or talking. While you supply the church with what you have, you learn also the lesson that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” If you “have,” you can bring it in, but still you must observe about others. Suppose in the meeting every one of more than twenty brothers each has a hymn and you also have one. You observe how two or three have taken their turns, so yours need not be taken up. It is not that each of more than twenty brothers must take his turn and singing goes on until midnight. If you do that, you disobey the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to do all things decently and in order (1Corinthians 14.40). So, to have enables me to provide a supply, the circumstances enable me to learn how to be guided by the Spirit. In our meetings we should observe the principle of when two or three are gathered together. The Spirit will not guide us to supply what we do not possess, nor will the principle of two or three gathered together be contravened. Before God, I can be guided to stand up and speak if I have. However, if other brothers have been communicating what they have, I should hold my peace.

TWO DIFFICULTIES IN THE CHURCH MEETING

There are two difficulties in the church, one of which is that those who have not are apt to think they have. Oftentimes, a child of God is not that sort of person but he insists on speaking like one. Basically, God has not said anything to him, and has not worked in him, but he likes to talk – yet the church is not edified. The other difficulty is that there are people who are unwilling to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To many brothers and sisters the Lord has spoken, yet he or she would wait and refrain from speaking and the church is deprived of the edification it should have. In a word, if you find you are empty inside, you should keep silent. If you have, you should provide the supply for the church’s edification. Through what you have, the Holy Spirit will pulsate life into the meeting, making it possible for the children of God to be in touch with life. God puts His words in you. The same sentence is in you whether at work or walking on the street. You realize God has spoken to you. You should know that the sentence is not for you only; it is also for the church. When you have, you should then supply the church with what you have.

At the time the tabernacle was erected in the Old Testament times, the people dedicated to God their gold and silver. The same is true with us today. We should give what we have. Some one has a revelation, some one has words of admonition, some one has a hymn. Let every one bring what he has. At the erection of the tabernacle, the Spirit of God gave wisdom and understanding to men to convert gold and silver into utensils fit for use, to convert various materials into a tabernacle. All materials were dedicated by the Israelites and made into a tabernacle through the working of the Holy Spirit. Today, if we all bring what we have, the church can be edified through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

CONSTANT COMMUNION WITH GOD

In ordinary days, we should have constant communion with God, look unto God to work in us to enable us to have something to give, then we can edify the church with what we have. We should remember that God is able to guide us in the meeting because we have a hymn or a revelation, something that we can share with others. Because we have learned and have stored something up during the ordinary days, we can be guided to edify the church. What you can give to the church is not what you think of on impulse, nor what you take to be meaningful, but what you have in the ordinary days, that is, what you have been given by God these days. God has in these days brought you to such a pass, molded you into such a person, so that you have something from the Lord to share with others. Ideas do not count, doctrines are of no avail; what is of value is that which you really have from God. If you supply the church with what you have, then the church is edified and the brothers and sisters are helped.  If everyone supplies the church with what he or she has, it is then living and abundant.

We must remember that the Holy Spirit will not guide a person to give what he does not have, when the condition of the church is normal. God used the speaking ass only to deal with Balaam (Numbers 22). If each one of us really live the life as befitting the children of God, then the meeting place is the sanctuary. Let us pray that we may “have” and may use what we “have” to edify the church.