"To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you" (2 Cor. 10:16). These words, while they set forth the largeheartedness of the self-denying and devoted apostle, do also furnish a fine model for the evangelist in every age. The divinely-qualified and divinely-sent evangelist will fix his eye upon "the world." From house to house, from street to street, from city to city, from province to province, from kingdom to kingdom, from continent to continent, from pole to pole_such is the range of the "good news" and the publisher thereof. "The regions beyond" must ever be the grand gospel motto. No sooner has the gospel lamp cast its cheering beams over a district than the bearer of that lamp must think of the regions beyond. Thus the work goes on. Thus the mighty tide of grace rolls, in enlightening and saving power, over a dark world which lies in "the valley of the shadow of death."

Christian reader, are you thinking of "the regions beyond you"? This expression may, in your case, mean the next house, the next street, the next village, the next city, the next country, or the next continent. The application is for your own heart to ponder. Now I am not saying that you should abandon your present post, at least not until you are fully persuaded that your work at the post is done. But remember, the gospel plow should never stand still. "Onward" is the motto of every true evangelist. Let the shepherds abide by the flocks; but let the evangelists go here and there to gather the sheep. This is the design of the gospel. This should be the object of the evangelist as he sighs after "the regions beyond." When Caesar beheld, from the coast of Gaul, the white cliffs of Britain, he earnestly longed to carry his arms there. The evangelist, on the other hand, as he casts his eye over the map of the world, longs to carry the gospel of peace into regions which have heretofore been wrapped in midnight gloom, covered with the dark mantle of superstition, or blasted beneath the withering influences of "a form of godliness without the power."

It would be a profitable question for many of us to put to ourselves, how far are we discharging our holy responsibilities to "the regions beyond." I believe the Christian who is not cultivating and manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a truly deplorable condition. I believe, too, that the assembly which is not cultivating and manifesting an evangelistic spirit is in a dead state. One of the truest marks of spiritual growth and prosperity, whether in an individual or in an assembly, is earnest anxiety after the conversion of souls. It is hard to believe that "the word of Christ" is "dwelling richly" in anyone who is not making some effort to impart that word to his fellow-sinners. It matters not what may be the amount of the effort; it may be to drop a few words in the ear of a friend, to give a tract, to pen a note, to breathe a prayer. But one thing is certain, namely, that a healthy, vigorous Christian will be |an evangelistic Christian_a teller of good news_one whose sympathies, desires, and energies are ever going forth toward "the regions beyond."

Whether the reader be an evangelist or not, I would earnestly entreat him to examine how far he is seeking to further the gospel of Christ. We must not stand idle. Time is short! Eternity is rapidly approaching! The Master is most worthy! Souls are most precious! The season for work will soon close! Let us, then, in the name of the Lord, be up and doing. And when we have done what we can in the regions around, let us carry the precious seed into "the regions beyond."

(From "Papers on Evangelization" in Miscellaneous Writings, Vol. 3.)

There are groups of Christians in many different locales which seek to gather simply on New Testament principles and recognize no order of clergy or other man-appointed ministers. Their meetings are conducted "decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40) as the Holy Spirit leads to the praise and honor of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The "Lord’s supper" or "remembrance meeting" is celebrated each Lord’s day, with each brother in fellowship being free to participate in expressing the praise and worship of the gathered saints in remembrance of the Lord’s death. Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, different brothers pray, give out a hymn to be sung by the congregation, read and comment on a passage of Scripture relevant to the death of Christ, and administer the bread and the wine. While the sisters in Christ are quiet in the meeting (except for joining in the singing of hymns) according to the teaching of 1 Cor. 14:34, their role in the assembly’s worship is no less important than that of the brothers. The prayerful, worshipful attitudes and meditations of the sisters as well as the brothers are translated by the Holy Spirit_working with the willing spirits and minds of different brothers_into verbal expressions of praise and worship for the benefit of the entire assembly. As an example of how this works, a sister remarked to me following a recent remembrance meeting that during the meeting a particular hymn came to her mind as being beautifully appropriate, given the hymns, prayers, and scriptures that had preceded, and that she felt a bit frustrated not being at liberty to request the singing of the hymn. Then she went on to tell me that five minutes later I announced the precise hymn that was on her mind. This was by no means a rare and isolated incident. And so it is that the entire assembly praises and worships together_each member sharing in that worship_rather than listening to one man worship for the whole congregation.

In these gatherings of believers, the truth that God has given gifts to all members of the Church (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4), and has a role for all to play, is emphasized. I know of no evidence in Scripture that God ever intended a local assembly of believers to be run by one man or even by a small subset of the believers in that assembly. It is true that bishops (or overseers or elders) were appointed by the apostles and apostolic delegates (such as Timothy and Titus) in the early Church period. But these were given to assure the carrying out of responsibilities of "taking care of the church" (1 Tim. 3:5; see also 1 Thess. 5:12,13), that is, nurturing new converts, instructing those exposed to false teachers, warning the unruly (1 Thess. 5:14), leading backsliders back to Christ, counselling those going through trials and tribulations, and so forth. These overseers were, no doubt, very spiritual and spiritually gifted men, but their gifts were not necessarily in the realm of public ministry. They were not necessarily gifted as evangelists, pastors, or teachers, although they had to be "apt to teach" (1 Tim. 3:2). The credentials of the overseer (1 Tim. 3:1-7) had to do primarily with his personal character and reputation, such as his ability to have his own household in order, and not his spiritual gift.

On the other side of the coin, it may have been that some in the assembly who were greatly gifted of the Lord, say as evangelists or teachers, did not qualify as bishops because of their chronological or spiritual age (bishops or overseers are often referred to in Scripture as "elders"), having been divorced and remarried (1 Tim. 3:2; compare 5:9), having a poor record with regard to ruling his own household, having a poor reputation due to past sins or indiscretions (though now restored to the Lord), etc. Such men, if truly restored to the Lord and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and control them, would surely have much to contribute to the assembly ministry even though not holding the office of a bishop/overseer/elder. Thus it is clear that the assembly overseers did not have a corner on spiritual gift and that others in the assembly who were not appointed overseers had equal privilege and responsibility to exercise their gifts in the assembly.

With a one-man ministry, if the one man is especially gifted as an evangelist there will probably be an emphasis on evangelistic ministries in that gathering, while teaching and shepherding, and discipling of new converts may be minimal. Similarly, if the leader is gifted as a teacher, the congregation may be blessed with much truth concerning the doctrines of Scripture, but may not hear much about applying these doctrines to their every day lives, and may also find that there is not much in the way of a gospel testimony. Or suppose the leader has the gift of faith (1 Cor. 12:9) (like George Muller, Hudson Taylor, and others). He may be capable by faith of starting and carrying out very bold and seemingly impossible projects, but he may not be capable of providing the needful ministry that leads to "the perfecting of the saints, . . . the edifying of the body of Christ . . . unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. 4:12,13).

A properly functioning assembly is one in which all of the members are assuming their God-given role and serving and ministering by means of their Spirit-imparted gift. "The body is not one member, but many. … If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him" (1 Cor. 12:14-25).

In an assembly where leadership is granted to the Holy Spirit alone, there is liberty for all of the gifts to be manifested in appropriate, Spirit-directed balance. In the assembly Bible studies, there is liberty for those gifted in knowledge and teaching to bring out the doctrinal aspects of the passage, and those gifted in wisdom, shepherding, and exhorting to point out the practical applications to people’s lives. Those with other gifts are likewise free to share lessons from the passage that may have impressed them and that others with different gifts, different sensitivities, may have failed to notice. This liberty is not thwarted but is often enhanced in instances where a brother may take the responsibility to open the discussion, keep bringing it back on the track of the particular passage or topic under study, keep the group from bogging down on one verse or part of a verse, and draw out the participation of others by asking various questions concerning the passage or topic.

In most of the assemblies there are meetings set aside for different brothers in the assembly to give lectures on various scriptural topics. Again, these may include lectures on doctrines of Scripture, practical applications of Scripture and exhortations, meditations on the Person and work of Christ, presentation of the gospel of salvation, etc., according as the Lord may lead the brother.

Yet another type of ministry meeting is patterned after 1 Cor. 14:23-34. Instead of a Bible study with a particular passage or topic decided on beforehand, or a lecture prepared in advance by a brother, the assembly gathers to wait upon the Holy Spirit to lead as in the remembrance meeting. One or two or three brothers may be used as the Lord’s mouthpiece (1 Pet. 4:11) to bring messages from the Lord (through the Holy Scriptures) that are suited to the present needs of the assembly. These need not be long, involved, erudite messages. Often, the most penetrating, helpful, convicting, memorable messages are those consisting of a few well-chosen, Spirit-guided words that draw our hearts closer to the Lord. "In the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others" (1 Cor. 14:19).

Other typical activities and duties of a so-called "pastor" or "chief elder" of a local church, such as visiting the sick, exhorting backsliders, baptizing converts, conducting weddings and funerals, etc., are likewise carried out by different ones in the assembly who, by virtue of spiritual gift and desire to be of service to the Lord, will take responsibility to see that these needful activities are carried out.

The sisters clearly have a role to play in the assembly, perhaps less public than that of the brothers, but equally if not more important. "The aged [or older] women likewise . . . [exhort] that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands" (Tit. 2:3-5). "I thank God . . . when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. . . . From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:3,5; 3:15). "I commend unto you Phebe our sister … for she hath been a [helper] of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life laid down their own necks. . . . Salute the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord" (Rom. 16:1-4,12).

It is beyond the scope of this article to go much into the scriptural reasons why the clergy-laity distinction is wrong. This is covered to a large extent in the preceding article by Stan Thompson and perhaps can be covered in greater detail and specificity in a later issue of Words of Truth, if the Lord be not come. It is also beyond the scope of this article to discuss other aspects of those assemblies that seek to be true to the principles of the New Testament, such as the scriptural notion of a unity of assemblies (as opposed to "independent Bible churches") and the exercise of scriptural discipline upon those brothers and sisters in the assembly who give evidence of holding and spreading false doctrine concerning the Person and work of Christ or of living in a wicked, ungodly manner. It has been my desire here mainly to bring to the attention of any of our readers who may be used to a one-man ministry that there are alternative approaches that work, and also, I believe, are more in keeping with the teaching of the Word of God.

If any reader would like to learn more about gatherings of believers which do not have clergy-laity distinctions, and where they might find such a gathering in their locale, please write either the editor in Baltimore or the publisher in Minneapolis at the addresses given on the inside front cover of this issue.

FRAGMENT The main qualification for service for the Lord is a deeper acquaintance with the heart of Christ.

FRAGMENT The more you honor God by keeping man in the background the more blessing you will have in the work.

My dear brother:

Thank you for your recent letter. Once again this past Lord’s day, ____________ and I were the only men present for the remembrance meeting. I have given some thought this past week to the importance of the Lord’s Supper and the privilege that we have to be able to show forth our Lord’s death as He has asked us to do. How important it is, indeed, to be gathered together for the express purpose of remembering the Lord in His death. For it is in this manner that we collectively worship Him. "The cup of blessing which we bless" and "the bread which we break" (1 Cor. 10:16) speak of that collective worship. How blessed it is for the Lord to see His "body" respond to His request of remembrance.

When we consider the privilege of partaking of the emblems, I think we are drawn to consider the responsibility also. Our Lord requires and deserves our worship. He has requested that we remember His death_how small a request from One who has done so much for us_so we should, with grateful hearts, honor that request. When one is absent from the Lord’s supper, both that person and the rest of the assembly suffer. We lose out on that close communion and fellowship with our blessed Saviour that comes from worshiping Him. Also, our Saviour has been denied that which He has requested.

This is why I am somewhat discouraged. More so, I think, I am amazed. It would seem that those who have taken a stand for the correct principles of gathering would desire to enter into a closeness to their Saviour that many believers will never encounter while in this scene. Should not their hearts desire greatly to worship our precious Saviour?

J. N. Darby defines worship this way:"It is the honor and adoration which are rendered to God by reason of what He is in Himself, and what He is for those who render it" (Collected Writings, Vol. 7, p. 88). What, then, is He to those who can skip the remembrance meetings often and seem to have no regrets. It would seem natural (to the Christian) that after a week of studying the Word and serving the Lord our hearts would be filled with praise and adoration for Him who is our joy and strength.

I agree, dear brother, that at times our brethren fail us. But more importantly, when they repeatedly miss the meetings, they fail their blessed Lord and Saviour. Also, we must ask whether we ourselves are above such behavior? Certainly not! I think it is very important, even necessary, to keep before us the Person of the Christ, His glory, His love, so that we might not lose track of the fact that He deserves our simple praise and worship. Surely, we have often been discouraged. Let us be very careful that we are not a discouragement to others.

What to do then? I could not agree with you more. We must strive to maintain the ground of gathering that our blessed Lord has shown us through His Word. We must seek to encourage our dear brothers and sisters, even those who may be older than we, to "consider [their] ways" (Hag. 1:5). We must each seek to learn, and to grow, that we may be an asset to the assembly. We must seek to show forth the preciousness of Christ to our brethren (1 Peter 2:7). If we succeed in thus encouraging one another, our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be glorified.

If it is true that "TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE" (1 Sam. 15:22)_and indeed it is_let us then be obedient to the Lord. We are accountable to Him alone. I am encouraged to know that you share my concerns and problems and I thank you for your words of comfort, encouragement, and cheer. Believe me, dear brother, they have not fallen on deaf ears. May we be before the Lord about these things, casting our cares upon Him.

Love in Christ,__________

The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, perhaps more than any other New Testament epistle, describes the spiritual blessings that God has given to the believers in His Son.

He has "blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (1:3).

"He hath chosen us in Him [that is, Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love (1:4).

He has "predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself" (1:5).

"He hath made us accepted in the beloved" (1:6).

In Him "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (1:7).

"He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence" (1:8).

He has "made known unto us the mystery of His will" (1:9).

In Him "we have obtained an inheritance" (1:11).

He has "put all things under His feet, and gave [Christ] to be the head over all things to the Church" (1:22).

He "hath quickened us together with Christ. . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (2:5,6).

"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (2:10).

"He is our peace" (2:14).

In Christ we "are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit (2:22).

He has given "gifts unto men . . . apostles . . . prophets . . . evangelists . . . pastors and teachers" (4:8,11).

He has sealed us by the Holy Spirit "unto the day of redemption" (4:30).

"Christ . . . loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (5:25-27).

We are not to take these blessings lightly, or for granted. God intended that we should appreciate them, meditate upon them, enjoy them, use them for His glory, and worship Him because of them. As we grow spiritually, we will find ourselves spending more time meditating upon Christ, seeking to understand and lay hold of our blessings in Christ, seeking to discern God’s perfect will for every aspect of our lives, and attempting to serve God through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Correspondingly, as we grow spiritually we more and more will be reckoning ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11), not allowing sin to reign in our mortal bodies (Rom. 6:12), fleeing youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22), and gaining victory over the world through faith (1 John 5:4). As we become increasingly victorious in our conflicts with fleshly lusts and worldly pleasures, and as we focus our attention more on the Lord and those things that are pleasing in His sight, we increasingly will be brought face to face with another foe_Satan and His demons.

As long as we are content to live our Christian lives in a lukewarm fashion, on a plane of mediocrity, bestirring ourselves only occasionally to engage in any activity that brings us face to face with God, the presence of Satan and/or his henchmen will not be very evident to us. If we are content to conform outwardly to the customs of Christianity_attending worship, prayer, or Bible study meetings once or twice a week, mindlessly reading a Bible chapter occasionally, saying prayers by rote each night, etc._we are not likely to experience very much of the combat described in Eph. 6. Rather, I suggest, Satan’s activity in our lives will take the form primarily of (1) keeping us content with our lukewarm involvement in the Christian life and keeping us from even beginning any serious meditation upon Christ, His will for us, etc.; or (2) tempting us to sin in such a way as to cause upset among and/or estrangement from our brothers and sisters in Christ; or (3) leading us to behave in ways that will tend to hinder our unsaved friends and neighbors from responding to the gospel. Each of us_even as true believers in Christ_has such a native ability to sin, to be self-willed and self-centered, that Satan and his demons often do not have to exert much effort to keep our hearts on self and off of Christ.

However, once a believer starts taking positive steps to learn more about his God and his Saviour, to know and to do His will, and to be of service to Him, Satan’s cohorts are immediately stirred into a new kind of action_action aimed at putting a quick end to such exercises and activities. In Eph. 6 we find instruction for combatting Satan’s attacks in such instances. This is spiritual warfare of the highest kind. It does not so much have to do with resisting temptations aimed at stirring sinful flesh into activity, but with defending against attacks designed to discourage us from pursuing our course of seeking to honor, obey, serve, and worship God.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand" (Eph. 6:10-13). God does not leave us to our own strength in defending against the host of spiritual enemies arrayed against us (6:12). Every spiritual weapon and piece of armor is provided by God. All He asks of us is to use this armor faithfully and entirely_"Put on the whole armor of God" (6:11); "Take unto you the whole armor of God" (6:13).

Our enemy is wily, shrewd, cunning. He knows the weak nesses of each one of us and exploits these weaknesses to the fullest. And He attacks when we least expect it_often right on the heels of a great victory over sin or Satan (compare Judg. 7:19-22 with 8:24-27; compare 1 Kings 18:40 with 19:1-4). Clad with the whole armor of God, our areas of weakness will be protected and we will be ready to stand against the devil "in the evil day," that is, the moment of special attack.

Our combatants include a whole host of spiritual powers of wickedness. Satan himself, unlike Christ, does not possess the divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, self-existence from past eternity, and the like. He is, indeed, extremely powerful, highly knowledgeable, intelligent, and wise, and moves very rapidly. But he does not have the power to be all places at all times. Therefore, he has set up a vast system of under-devils, with different ranks (such as "principalities" or arch-demons, 6:12) and different charges, such as the responsibility to watch over a specific person to keep him from setting his mind too much on spiritual things and from being obedient to God (compare Dan. 10:12,13).

"Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against authorities, against the universal lords of this darkness, against spiritual power [or powers] of wickedness in the heavenlies" (6:12 JND). Note that the battle takes place, at least in part, "in the heavenlies." We have been blessed "with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ" (1:3 JND). God has raised up Christ and "set Him down at His right hand in the heavenlies" (1:20 JND). God "has raised us up together, and made us sit down together in the heavenlies" (2:6 JND). As we find ourselves more and more led by the Spirit to enter into the heavenlies to meditate upon Christ and upon our blessings, we will find our enemies_"spiritual powers of wickedness"_also there in the heavenlies, arrayed against us to keep us from the enjoyment of our Lord and Saviour and the blessings He has imparted to us.

Some of the specific schemes and stratagems used by these satanic powers to attack God’s children, and the specific pieces of armor provided by God to protect His children against these attacks, will be discussed in the next issue, God willing.

In the comments to follow, it is assumed that the saints meet together in accordance with 1 Cor. 14 on ground which leaves scope for the Holy Spirit to lead to a hymn by one, prayer by another, or a word of exhortation or doctrine by a third. Now it is obvious that if room is left for the Spirit to use whomever He will for the edifying of the body, this cannot be done without affording opportunity for forwardness and self-sufficiency to act without any guidance of the Spirit at all. Hence it is important to know how to distinguish between that which is of the flesh and that which is of the Spirit.

I would now suggest some of the broad and principal landmarks by which we may distinguish the guidance of the Spirit from fleshly counterfeits and pretensions. First, let us consider several things which are not a warrant for our taking part in conducting the meetings of the saints.

Negative Marks

The mere circumstance of there being liberty to act is no warrant for acting. The fact that there is no formal hindrance to anyone taking part in the meeting renders it possible for those whose only qualification is that they can read to take up a principal part of the time in reading chapter after chapter, and hymn after hymn. But while it is easy enough to read a chapter, to know which is the right one to read, and which is the right time to read it, is quite another matter. And to give out a hymn which really embodies and expresses the worship of the saints is what only can be done by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

That no one else is doing anything at the time is not sufficient warrant for taking part in the meeting. On the one hand, silence for its own sake cannot be too much deprecated. It may become as complete a form as anything else. But on the other hand, silence is better than what is said or done merely to break the silence. I know well what it is to think of a good many persons present who are not in communion, perhaps not believers, and to feel uneasy at the silence on their account. Where this commonly occurs, it may be a call from God for an entirely different kind of meeting; but it can never authorize anyone to speak, or pray, or give out a hymn, for the mere sake of something being done.

Again, one’s individual state and experiences are no certain guides as to any part we may take in meetings of the saints. A hymn may have been very sweet to my own soul, or I may have been present where it has been sung with great enjoyment of the Lord’s presence. I am not to conclude from this that it is my place to give out the hymn at the next meeting I attend. There may be no suitability in it to the present state of the assembly. The hymn must be expressive of what those assembled feel, or there will be no sincerity in their joining to sing it. And who but He who knows the actual state of the assembly can guide to a hymn expressive of that state?

Then as to prayer:when one prays in the assembly, it is as the vehicle for the expression of its wants and its requests. I may have burdens of my own to cast on the Lord in prayer, which it would be very improper for me to name in the assembly. If I am led by the Spirit to pray in the assembly, I shall be enabled to offer such prayers, and make such confessions, and present such thanksgivings as are suited to the actual state of those whose mouth I become in thus addressing God.

Similarly, a portion of Scripture may have interested my own soul greatly, and I may have profited by it; however, it does not follow that I am to read it at the Lord’s table, or in other meetings of the saints. Some particular subject may be occupying my own attention greatly, and it may be well for my own soul that it should do so; but it may not be at all the subject to which God would have the attention of the saints generally drawn.

Positive Marks

Scripture gives us ample instruction as to what are the marks of true ministry. I wish now to draw your attention to some of the plainer and more obvious of these marks.

The guidance of the Spirit is not by blind impulses and unintelligent impressions, but by filling the spiritual understanding with God’s thoughts as revealed in the written Word, and by acting on the renewed affections. In early days there were indeed God’s gifts which might be in their use unconnected with spiritual intelligence. I refer to the gift of tongues where there was no interpreter. And it would appear that because this gift seemed more marvelous in men’s eyes than the others, the Corinthians were fond of using and displaying it. For this the apostle rebukes them:"I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all; yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Brethren, be not children in understanding; howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men" (1 Cor. 14:18-20).

The least that can be looked for in those who minister is acquaintance with the Scripture, the understanding of God’s mind as revealed in the Word. Observe that there may be this without any gift of utterance, without any capacity to communicate it to others. But without this, what have we to communicate? God’s saints are surely not assembled from time to time in the name of Jesus to have crude and undigested human thoughts presented to them, or to have retold to them what others have spoken or written. Personal acquaintance with God’s Word, familiarity with Scripture, understanding of its contents, is surely essential to the ministry of the Word. When our Lord was about to send out His disciples as His witnesses, it is said, "Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45).

How often we read of Paul, when preaching to the Jews, reasoning with them out of the Scriptures (Acts 18:4,19). If the apostle addresses the Romans as able to admonish one another, it is because he can say of them, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another" (Rom. 15:14). If you look at the armor to be put on by the believer, you will find truth as a girdle for the loins, and "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Eph. 6:14-17). If you consider the qualifications of the bishop or overseer you will find:."Holding fast the faithful Word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:9).

From all this it is evident, my brethren, that it is not merely by little scraps of truth, brought out whenever some impulse to that end visits us, that the church is to be edified. No, they by whom the Holy Spirit acts to feed and nourish and guide the saints of God are they whose souls are exercised habitually in the Word of God_they "who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:14).

However, knowledge of God’s Word is not sufficient. There must be its present application to the consciences of the saints to meet their present need. For this there must be either acquaintance with their state (and this could never be very perfect or accurate), or else direct guidance from God. This is true of those who are in the fullest sense, and most manifestly, the gifts of Christ to His Church, as evangelists, pastors, or teachers. It is God only who can guide them to those portions of truth which will reach the conscience and meet the need of souls. It is He only who can enable them to present the truth in such a way as to secure these ends. God the Holy Spirit knows the need of each and all in the assembly; and He can guide those who speak to speak the suited, needed truth, whether they have the knowledge of the state of those addressed or not. How important, then, is implicit and unfeigned subjection to Him.

One thing that always marks ministry in the Spirit is the prompting of personal affection for Christ. "Lovest thou Me?" was the thrice repeated question to Peter, connected with the injunction to feed Christ’s flock. "For the love of Christ constraineth us," Paul says. How different is this from the many motives that might influence us naturally. How important that we should be able each time we minister to say with a good conscience, "My motive for speaking was not a love of prominence, or force of habit, or a restlessness which could not be content unless something was being done, but love to Christ and to His flock."

Further, ministry and worship in the Spirit is always marked by a deep sense of responsibility to Christ. Suppose we were questioned after the close of a meeting, "Why did you give out such a hymn, or read such a chapter, or offer such a prayer, or speak such a word?" Could we with a clear, good conscience reply, "My only reason for doing so was the solemn conviction that it was my Master’s will"? My brethren, is there not often the taking this part or that without any sense of responsibility to Christ?

"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God" (1 Peter 4:11). This is not an exhortation for one to speak according to the Scriptures, though all should, of course, do this. It says rather that they who speak are to speak as God’s mouthpiece. If I cannot say in speaking, "This is what I believe I have been taught of God, and what God has given me to speak at this time," I ought to be silent. Of course a man may be mistaken in saying this; but nothing less ought to induce anyone to take part in the meetings than the solemn conviction before God that God has given him something to say. If our consciences were exercised to act under such responsibility as this, it would doubtless prevent a great deal which does take place; but at the same time it would make way for God to manifest His presence as we are not accustomed to witness it.

One other point I would mention. A man may have little or no human learning, he may be unable to express himself in any elegant diction, or even with grammatical propriety. All this he may lack, and yet be a good minister of Jesus Christ if he is acquainted with the Word and subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

May the Lord in His mercy, beloved brethren, grant us to walk humbly with Himself, and thus may no hindrance be presented to the working of His blessed Spirit among us.

(Condensed from Five Letters on Worship and Ministry in the Spirit.)

We often lose a great deal of the practical value of the teaching that is given us in the Book of Joshua from thoughts that we have probably received from the days of childhood. Thus the crossing of the Jordan is often thought to mean passing the boundary that divides between earth and heaven when we die_that is, entering into the heavenly Canaan through death. I do not doubt that we have in the Book of Joshua a picture of passing over the boundary of death and entering into Canaan; but it is not when we leave this world, but while we are still in the body. It is that which God has given us in the resurrection of Christ, and in His present taking possession of the heavenly places for us. And what will make this plain to all is that when we get to heaven, we do not have to fight with the Canaanites, nor with anything answering to them. Fighting is not the business of heaven; but it was the special business of the people who passed over Jordan. It was more their business than any other thing. It was not so much the work before them in the wilderness. There, the great lesson was dependence upon the living God and the learning of self. There, God was proving what the hearts of His people were; and, what was infinitely better, the people were proving, or ought to have been proving, what the living God was who had taken His place in their midst.

The wars that Israel had in the wilderness were comparatively few, whereas when they crossed the Jordan, for a time there was nothing but war. The crossing of the Jordan, therefore, does not mean the literal death of the body, but the death of Christ and our union with Him. We are even now planted in heavenly places, and that for the purpose of our wrestling "not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [or heavenly] places" (Eph. 6:12).

Now there is a good deal of the meaning and power of this lost by the children of God from the idea that the main part of our conflict is with ourselves. That is not at all the case. Self-judgment is a different thing from conflict. Daily self-judgment is most right and needful_the constant review of our ways and judgment of self and of the flesh. But there is a
restless, indefatigable, subtle enemy that makes it his main business, not merely to entice the Christian into sin through the flesh, but, by darkening the truth, to hinder souls from enjoying the fulness of the blessings of God’s grace and God’s glory in His beloved Son. That is the main work of the devil as far as the Church is concerned, and that is the special thing which we have to watch against. We may examine and judge ourselves day by day, and it is a very right thing. But if the soul is ever so careful about that, it is not enough. It may, at the same time, be hindered from the full enjoyment of the Lord Jesus. The main reason is this:the Lord has put before us an inheritance of blessing_"all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3). But we are slow to take advantage of it. We think, perhaps, that it is presumption, or that it would be more practical to be dwelling upon our ordinary duties in life. But this would not be enough, because it is not Christianity. It is not the measure of what the Lord has called us to now.

There are certain things that all saints from the beginning of the world have walked in. It never was right at any time for a saint to lie, or to be dishonest, or to do anything immoral. In all dispensations there are certain moral duties that necessarily are inseparable from life in God. But this is not Christianity. A saint may do all that, and yet not enjoy what I call Christianity. To be thoroughly Christian is to enter into the calling that is now ours through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what is represented by the crossing of the Jordan by the children of Israel. It presents the same death and resurrection of Christ that had been previously depicted in the crossing of the Red Sea, though from a different point of view. The death and resurrection of Christ as seen there is Christ separating us from the world_Christ bringing us out of Egypt. But all that may be, yet we may not have the least enjoyment of our heavenly blessings.

We may thank God that we are delivered_that we are not going to be cast into hell. But is that enough? It is not. If we stop short there, if we do not enter further into our blessings, Satan will be sure, at one time or another, to gain a complete victory over us, as he did over the Israelites. For instead of their conquering and driving out their enemies, we read of Canaanites, Perizzites, Jebusites, etc., who kept their possessions in peace in spite of Israel. And so it is with many a child of God. They are kept in evil that does not appear to be such, and is not considered so because it is not moral evil. There are many so-called religious practices that are sins, and these are what the Christian ought to have his eyes open to. The Lord works this in us by giving us to know that we have a heavenly inheritance.

The Lord Jesus, by His death and resurrection, not only has brought us out of Egypt and into the wilderness, but into heaven itself in spirit. We are even now seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We have now the stamp of heaven upon us, and God desires that we may walk in the sense of this great privilege, making advances, gaining victories, and wrestling what Christ has given us out of the hands of the enemy. We ought to be seeing what the inheritance is that the Lord has assigned to us, and whether our worship and our walk are really according to God and suitable to the place in which He has set us. If you make morality your standard, you will be sure to fall below what you propose. Whatever we put before us as our criterion, there will always be a falling short. If we have Christ risen and Christ in heaven as our object, we shall prove the power of His resurrection, not only in lifting us up when we are conscious of our exceeding shortcoming, but in strengthening us "to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:14).

In the beautiful scene in Joshua 3, we find that the people passed dry-shod over Jordan. And what made it so remarkable was its being the very time when the river was overflowing its banks; it was fuller then than at any other season. So in the death of Christ there was the fullest possible outpouring of God’s wrath; and upon His beloved Son, sin_our sin_has been judged to the uttermost. And, as in the type, they passed over as if there had been no Jordan at all, so, in the reality for us, there remains no judgment, but fulness of blessing. We are passed from death unto life, and are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

And now, when they have entered the land, what do we find? The manna ceases_they must eat of the old corn of the land. The food that had sustained them in the wilderness does not any longer suffice. And what is the old corn of the land? It is Christ, as the manna also was; but Christ in another way:it is the food of resurrection. The corn of the land was the fruit of the seed that had been sown in the land, and that had died and sprung up again. It was Christ in resurrection. The Lord grant that our souls may feed upon Him thus! To say that Christ thus known is too high for us_to be content without enjoying Him thus_is to be content without Christ.

(From The Bible Treasury, Vol. 3.)

FRAGMENT
Canaan-possessors, safe in the land,
Victors, confessors, banner in hand;
Jordan’s deep waters evermore behind,
Cares of the desert no longer in mind.

God has revealed Himself to us as the "God of all grace" (1 Peter 5:10), and He has set us in the position of "having tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:3). How hard it is for us to believe that the Lord is gracious! The natural feeling of our hearts is, "I know that thou art an austere man" (see Luke 19:21). There is in all of us naturally a lack of understanding of the grace of God.

There is sometimes the thought that grace implies God’s passing over sin. To the contrary! The thought of grace supposes sin to be such a horribly bad thing that God cannot tolerate it. If it were in the power of unrighteous, evil man to patch up his ways and mend himself so that he could stand before God, there would be no need of grace. The very fact that the Lord is gracious shows man’s state as a sinner so utterly ruined and hopeless that nothing but free grace can meet his need. The moment I understand that I am a sinful man, and that the Lord came to me because He knew the full extent and hatefulness of my sin, I understand what grace is. Faith makes me see that God is greater than my sin, and not that my sin is greater than God.

Now it is good to realize that the Lord who laid down His life for me is the same Lord with whom I have to do every day of my life. All His dealings with me are on the same principles of grace. The great secret of growth is the looking up to the Lord as gracious. How precious, how strengthening it is to know that Jesus is at this moment feeling and exercising the same love toward me as when He died on the cross for me.

This is a truth that should be applied by us in the most common everyday circumstances of life. Suppose, for instance, I have a bad temper which I find difficult to overcome. If I bring it to Jesus as my Friend, virtue goes out of Him for my need. My faith should thus be ever in exercise against temptations, and not simply my own effort. My own effort will never be sufficient. The source of real strength is in the sense of the Lord’s being gracious.

The natural man in us always disbelieves Christ as the only source of strength and of every blessing. Suppose my soul is out of communion and the natural heart says, "I must correct the cause of this before I can come to Christ." But He is gracious! And knowing this, we should return to Him at once, just as we are, and then humble ourselves deeply before Him. It is only in Him and from Him that we shall find that which will restore our souls. Humbleness in His presence is the only real humbleness. If we own ourselves in His presence to be just what we are, we shall find that He will show us nothing but grace.

It is Jesus who gives abiding rest to our souls, and not what our thoughts about ourselves may be. Faith never thinks about that which is in ourselves as its ground of rest. Rather, it receives and loves what God has revealed, and what are God’s thoughts about Jesus, in whom is His rest. In knowing Jesus to be precious to our souls, and having our eyes and our hearts occupied with Hun, we will be effectually prevented from being taken up with the vanity and sin around. And this, too, will be our strength against the sin and corruption of our own hearts.

WHATEVER I SEE IN MYSELF THAT IS NOT IN HIM, IS SIN. But it is not thinking of my own sins and my own vileness that will humble me, but thinking of the Lord Jesus_dwelling upon the excellency in Him. It is well to be done with ourselves, and to be taken up with Jesus. We are entitled to forget ourselves; we are entitled to forget our sins; we are entitled to forget all but Jesus.

There is nothing so difficult for our hearts as to abide in the sense of grace, to continue practically conscious that we are not under law, but under grace. There is nothing more difficult for us to comprehend than the fulness of that "grace of God wherein [we] stand," and to walk in the power and consciousness of it. It is only in the presence of God that we can know it. The moment we get away from the presence of God there will always be certain workings of our own thoughts within us, and our own thoughts can never reach up to the thoughts of God about us, to the "grace of God."

The having very simple thoughts of grace is the source of our strength as Christians. The abiding in the sense of grace, in the presence of God, is the secret of all holiness, peace, and quietness of spirit.

In Romans 7 we find a description of a person born again, but whose whole set of reasonings centers in himself. He stops short of grace. He stops short of the simple fact that, however bad he may be, God is love, and only love towards him. Instead of looking at God, it is all I, I, I. Faith looks at God as He has revealed Himself in grace.

Grace has reference to what God is, and not to what we are, except indeed that the very greatness of our sins magnifies the extent of the "grace of God." At the same time we must remember that the object of grace is to bring our souls into communion with God_to sanctify us by bringing our souls to know God and to love Hun. Therefore the knowledge of grace is the true source of sanctification.

It is better to be thinking of what God is than of what we are. The looking at ourselves is really pride, a want of the thorough consciousness that we are good for nothing. Until we see this we never quite look away from self to God. In looking to Christ, it is our privilege to forget ourselves. True humility does not so much consist in thinking badly of ourselves, as in not thinking of ourselves at all. I am too bad to be worth thinking about. What I want is to forget myself and look to God, who is indeed worth all my thoughts.

Beloved, if we can say as in Romans 7, "In me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," we have thought quite long enough about ourselves. Let us then think about Him who thought about us with thoughts of good and not of evil, long before we had thought of ourselves at all. Let us see what His thoughts of grace about us are, and take up the words of faith, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31).

FRAGMENT
Grace is the sweetest sound that ever reached our ears;
When conscience charged and justice frowned, ’twas grace
removed our fears.

Grace is a mine of wealth laid open to the poor;
Grace is the sov’reign spring of health; ’tis life
for evermore.

Let us look a little at this scripture as showing what our joy in the glory will consist of. We have the warrant of 2 Pet. 1:16 for saying that the scene represents to us the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what we wait for. Our souls are not in a healthy state unless we are waiting for God’s Son from heaven. The Church is not regulated in its hopes by the Word and Spirit of God unless it is looking for Him as Saviour from heaven (Phil. 3:20,21). This passage in Luke, as disclosing to us especially what will be our portion when He comes, is important to us in this respect.

"And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering" (9:28,29). It was when Jesus was in the acknowledgment of dependence_"as He prayed"_that this change took place. This, then, is the first thing we have here_a change such as will pass upon the living saints when Jesus comes.

"And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias" (9:30). They were with Him. And this will be our joy_we shall be with Jesus. "So shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:17). But in this passage there is not only the being with Christ, but there is also familiar conversation with Him. "There talked with Him two men." It is not that He talked with them, though that was no doubt true; but that might have been, and they be at a distance. But when we read that they talked with Him, we get the idea of the most free and familiar conversation. Peter and the others knew what it was to have such communication with Jesus in humiliation; and what joy must it have been to have this proof that such communication with Him would be enjoyed in glory as well!

Then we are told that Moses, Elias, and Christ "appeared in glory" (9:31). Moses and Elias shared in the same glory as that in which Christ was manifested. And so as to us:"When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). "The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one:I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me" (John 17:22,23).

But there is another thing still. We are not only told that they were with Him, that they talked with Him, and appeared in glory with Him, but we are also privileged to know the subject of their conversation. They "spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem" (9:31). It was the cross which was the theme of their conversation in the glory_ the sufferings of Christ which He had to accomplish at Jerusalem. And surely this will be our joy throughout eternity, when in glory with Christ_to dwell upon this theme of His decease accomplished at Jerusalem.

"While He thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them; and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son:hear Him" (9:34,35). Peter tells us that this voice came "from the excellent glory" (2 Pet. 1:17). Now Peter and the others had entered into the cloud; and thus we get this wonderful fact that in the glory, from which the voice comes, saints are privileged to stand, and there, in that glory, share the delight of the Father in His beloved Son. Not only are we called to the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ; we are called to have fellowship with the Father. We are admitted of God the Father to partake of His satisfaction in His beloved Son.

"And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone" (9:36). The vision was all gone_the cloud, the voice, the glory, Moses and Elias_but Jesus was left, and they were left to go on their way with Jesus, knowing Him now in the light of those scenes of glory which they had beheld. And this is the use to us of those vivid apprehensions of spiritual things which we may sometimes realize. It is not that we can be always enjoying them and nothing else. But when for the season they have passed away, like this vision on the holy mount, they leave us alone with Jesus, to pursue the path of our pilgrimage with Him in spirit now, and with Him in the light and power of that deepened acquaintance with Him, and fellowship of the Father’s joy in Him, that we have got on the mount. Thus we wait for the moment of His return when all this, and more than our hearts can think of, shall be fulfilled to us for ever.

(From Help and Food, Vol. 26.)

FRAGMENT
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us" (Heb. 12:1,2). The way the apostle encourages us to disentangle ourselves from every hindrance, whether sin or difficulty, is remarkable_as though we had nothing to do but cast them off as useless weights. But in fact, when we look at Jesus, nothing is easier; when we are not looking at Him, nothing is more impossible.

(Part II)

In the first part of this article, we considered the following questions concerning the conduct of assembly meetings:(1) Who is permitted to participate in such a meeting? (2) How can each brother and sister prepare for such a meeting?

(3) Is there to be a specific theme for the meeting? (4) Is a particular order to be followed? and (5) What can be done about long periods of silence during such a meeting? Three types of assembly meetings were particularly focused upon:the remembrance meeting (or Lord’s supper), prayer meeting, and meeting for ministry of the Word of God.

In this second and concluding part, three additional questions are discussed:(6) What if a particular brother does not edify the assembly by his ministry? (7) How long should a message be? and (8) How is such a meeting brought to a close?

What If There Is No Edification ?

As noted previously, according to 1 Cor. 14 the purpose of the assembly meeting is edification of the saints. But suppose a particular brother who participates rather frequently in the assembly meeting repeatedly fails to edify. Let me suggest a few things to consider in this regard.

First, the problem may be in me and not in the speaker. I may be harboring some unjudged ill feelings toward that brother that effectively blocks my spirit from receiving any ministry that the brother may give.

Second, it is well to keep in mind that the people attending an assembly meeting often cover a wide range of ages and of spiritual maturity. A brother’s ministry may be unprofitable to me because it typically covers lessons I learned long ago; but the lessons may be just what are needed by some of the younger ones present. And rather than be bored by it all, I should be praying that those to whom the message is directed will receive it and live it. Further, it will not do me any harm to challenge myself whether the truths that are being presented are as fresh, and real, and living in me as they once were. (If I find them boring, perhaps they are not as real to me as they ought to be!) And finally, if I pay close attention, I may get some pointers as to how better to present simple truths to young believers.

Third, it may be that the person is acting in the flesh and not in the Spirit, and is truly edifying nobody. If, after talking with several other brothers and sisters of all ages, I find that all are agreed that they are not edified by the brother’s ministry, it is scriptural for other brothers to go to him, in a spirit of meekness (Gal. 6:1), and tell him the problem and seek to help him to become more attuned to the leading of the Holy Spirit. "Let the prophets speak . . . and let the others judge" (1 Cor. 14:29).

How Long Should a Message Be?

The apostle Paul said, "In the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue" (1 Cor. 14:19). It is generally found that the shorter and more succinct a message is, the higher the likelihood the main points will be remembered by the hearers. The unknown tongue, while referring to a foreign, unintelligible language in the case of the Corinthians, could apply to speakers who try to cover Genesis to Revelation and all major (and some minor) doctrines in one message. In general, the messages should have one or two key themes or points to impress upon the audience, and care should be taken not to ramble all over and get off on many different tangents while trying to make those main points. Dependence on the Holy Spirit does not end with standing up to speak. There should be equal_if not greater_dependence on the Spirit while giving the message in order to stick to the main point the Spirit wants you to bring out and in order to know when to stop and sit down. Verse 30 of 1 Cor. 14 seems relevant in this regard, though it is difficult to know exactly how to carry it out in practice:"If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace." I would suggest that if the brother who is speaking continues to look to the Holy Spirit for guidance while he speaks, the Spirit will make it plain to him when he should conclude and "hold his peace" so that another brother can minister what the Spirit has given to him.

How Is an Assembly Meeting Brought to a Close?

This is perhaps the most difficult of our questions to answer. I can easily tell you from personal experience how such meetings traditionally are ended. The weekly remembrance and prayer meetings generally are announced for a specific time period (say, one hour). At the appointed time, Bibles and hymn books are put away and the Holy Spirit is dismissed, as it were.

No doubt it would be more in keeping with the character of these meetings_that is, assembly meetings with the Holy Spirit in full control_to allow more flexibility to go over the appointed hour if the Spirit so leads. If another meeting, such as Sunday school, is scheduled to start immediately after the remembrance meeting is scheduled to end, this severely limits the flexibility of letting the Spirit_rather than the clock_ bring the meeting to a close. So it would be wise to schedule a break between the two meetings if the remembrance meeting is first.

On the other hand, if several families are missing (due to bad weather, vacations, etc.) and there are only one or two brothers left, there is no reason a remembrance meeting need necessarily last a whole hour. It need not be more than the giving of thanks for the bread and wine and perhaps a hymn or two_of course, all according to the Spirit’s leading. Even when several brothers are present, allowance must be given to the Spirit to close the meeting early, perhaps to allow the assembly the final few minutes to silently meditate upon the thoughts already expressed.

In the case of an assembly meeting for ministry of the Word, the length of the meeting is defined in part by the number of prophets_that is, those who read and/or expound the Scriptures_who have spoken. "Let the prophets speak two or three" (1 Cor. 14:29). No doubt this restriction, imposed by the all-wise God, takes account of man’s inability to take in and retain more than a few main ideas in a single sitting. Even after the third speaker has sat down, allowance should still be given to the Holy Spirit to lead in additional hymns, prayers, and worship.

Conclusion

To conclude this topic, I would say that the brothers have an awesome responsibility to carry out with regard to the assembly meetings. It is not an easy thing to wait upon the Holy Spirit to lead in an assembly meeting. It is often difficult to discern the voice or prompting of the Spirit and to distinguish it from the prompting of Satan or the flesh. It is difficult to sit through long silences without doing something_anything! The sisters should not be envious of the public place given to the brothers, and should gladly support the brothers with their prayers and encouragement.

On the other hand, let us not allow the sense of this awesome responsibility, and the intense spiritual exercise required by it, to hinder us from conducting assembly meetings. A great deal of blessing and spiritual edification awaits those who desire to gather together as an assembly to wait upon the Spirit alone, letting Him draw out our prayers and praises and allowing the omniscient, all-wise God to minister to current spiritual needs of the assembly as He sees them.

In recent issues, we have been studying the goodness, grace, mercy, and love of God. The attribute of longsuffering certainly stems from and is closely associated with these attributes.

The word in the Greek New Testament for "long-suffering" is macrothumia or literally, "long-tempered." It is the quality of not avenging oneself, or retaliating hastily against an offence, slight, or provocation. It is the opposite of anger.

As we have seen earlier in our studies of the attributes of God, God is holy and abhors sin. If He were not longsuffering He no doubt would have wiped rebellious, sinful mankind off the face of the earth many centuries, or millenia, ago. Let us consider the testimony given by the Scriptures to the long-suffering of God.

In three Old Testament passages we find a close connection between the longsuffering of God and His grace, mercy, and goodness:"And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exod. 34:6; similarly, Num. 14:18). "But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth" (Psa. 86:15).

God’s longsuffering with man’s wickedness in the days of Noah, during the 120 years of the building of the ark, is mentioned by the apostle Peter (1 Pet. 3:20). His longsuffering toward sinful man in the present era is likewise proclaimed by Peter:"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. . . . The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Pet. 3:9,15).

God’s longsuffering is evident even toward those whom He knew would not accept the offer of free salvation through the substitutionary death of Christ. "God . . . endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction" (Rom. 9:22). William Kelly, in Notes on Romans, makes the following comments on this verse:"He bore long with the corruption and violence of guilty man. Could man then justly tax God either with lack of compassion for himself or with haste to mark his iniquities? Impossible that a holy God could have fellowship with evil or be indifferent to it! But instead of promptly blotting out of this life the rebellious creatures who make the world a field for incessant warfare against what they know of God, or who at least live negligent of His will though He has revealed it fully, the history of the world since nations began is the fullest proof of endurance on God’s part. He never made them as they are; but the sin of man now fallen He endured spite of countless and constant provocation. They sinned, they transgressed, they despised His mercy, they braved His wrath; but He endured with much longsuffering."

Those who persist in rejecting God’s free gift are said to despise "the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth them to repentance" (Rom. 2:4).

In addition to these references by the apostle Paul to the longsuffering of God toward sinners in general, he makes mention of the longsuffering of Jesus Christ toward himself:"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting" (1 Tim. 1:15,16).

Well might we meditate upon the longsuffering of God toward ourselves in not promptly slaying us because of our sin and rebellion against Him, but sticking with us, repeatedly convicting us by the Holy Spirit until we finally broke down and acknowledged His estimation of us and accepted His free gift of salvation. Such meditations surely lead us to worship the Lord, just as Paul’s thoughts of Christ’s longsuffering toward himself inspired the doxology, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Tim. 1:17).

Such meditations should, additionally, lead us to manifest this attribute of longsuffering toward one another. If we are filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, longsuffering will be one of the products of such control (Gal. 5:22). If we are motivated by that divine love which God has so wonderfully shown to us, one of the evidences will be, "Love suffereth long" (1 Cor. 13:4).

In the New Testament, several exhortations are given to believers to be longsuffering. In order "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" the attitudes of lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance must be manifested (Eph. 4:2,3). Also, Timothy was encouraged to "preach the Word" and to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2). In other words, he was not to lose temper and patience with those who might not respond immediately to his words of reproof. Other passages include more or less general exhortations to longsuffering along with other godly attitudes and attributes (Col. 1:9-11; 3:12,13).

A word closely related to "longsuffering" is "patience." While the Greek word, macrothumia, for "longsuffering" expresses patience with regard to antagonistic persons, the Greek word hupomone, usually translated "patience," indicates a bearing up under adverse things or circumstances. Patience is never mentioned in Scripture as an attribute of God; since He is in control of all circumstances, there is no question of His being patient and bearing up under them. On the other hand, as we have already noted, God is longsuffering toward the antagonistic, rebellious people of this world. There are a couple of New Testament references to the patience of Christ which no doubt relate more to His total submission, as perfect Man, to His Father than to His deity. In conclusion, may we grow in the appreciation of God’s longsuffering toward us in so many areas of our lives. May we recognize more fully how often we have brought grief to our Father and how slow we have been and continue to be to learn many of God’s lessons for us, and how longsuffering He has been toward us all the while. Then, in turn, let us seek God’s grace to display the same spirit of longsuffering toward others who are equally apt to grieve and offend us and equally slow to learn their lessons.

There is nothing that comes before the eyes of men that strikes them more than the meek, lowly, thankful spirit that endures a wrong. The natural man resents, and, if he can, avenges everything of the sort. But to the disciple such grace is a principle of his new life. It is what in its perfection he has beheld in Christ, and what suits his Father who is in the heavens and looks for the reproduction of His own character in His sons. Retaliation is here reversed and uprooted.

Hear the instruction Christ gave to His disciples:"Resist not evil:but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. . . . Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:39-48).

It may be personal lawlessness, an unjust suit, or a hard law; but the disciple of Christ is taught by the Master to bow. What is a brutal insult compared with truly representing Him? Consistency with Him is far more than one’s coat and cloak. Instead of begrudging the service pressed for one mile, add another to please Him who would have us walk by faith, not by sight, still less selfishly. We are also to give habitually to him that asks; for what have not we ourselves received from the divine Giver beyond all we have asked? Are we who are the objects of countless and rich mercies to turn away from one that would ask or borrow?

But the Lord goes farther in His next utterance. Whatever was said of loving one’s neighbor and hating one’s enemy, His word to His disciples was and is, "Love your enemies, . . . and pray for them which . . . persecute you." Such love and piety, to be of value, must be no mere form but a living reality, that they might be sons of their Father in the heavens; for such is their place of dignity. And what a pattern He sets! He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. What rich grace in the first comparison, and what faithful goodness in the second!

Nor was the Lord content with the pointed reference to His Father and our Father, to His God and our God. He would make them ashamed, as His disciples, of not rising above the practice of Jews and Gentiles. If they loved those that loved them, did not the odious tax-gatherers the same? If they greeted their brethren only, the scorned Gentiles did also the same. This was altogether beneath the Christian according to Christ. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." A lower standard of feeling and conduct was to the Saviour intolerable.

Have we such confidence by grace toward God? Assuredly we have no competency as of ourselves; but our competency is of God, according to the spirit of the new covenant, not of the old. The grace of Christ alone suffices the believer.

(From The Bible Treasury, Volume 4, New Series.)

It is of interest to observe how the apostle Paul closes all his Epistles with this desire of his heart_"Grace be with you." And indeed, what can be more in keeping with the "grace and truth" that came by Jesus Christ, whose followers we are, that we should desire such grace for ourselves and others in a world like this?

It is not standing on our rights, for what rights have we? If our due deserts are rendered to us, what can the result be but the lake of fire? But sovereign, unmerited grace to those who deserved it not in the least has been manifested, and from first to last we are debtors to mercy. Where there is the due sense of this in the soul, we shall not be exactors but benefactors. We shall not demand, but be glad to serve, even as "the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28).

(From The Bible Treasury, Volume 6, New Series.)

God has graciously given us a complete, divine revelation of Himself in His Word. But how little have we studied and searched it! How little we understand of its fullness! The distinct object of the Spirit in each book of the Scriptures is very little understood by many. Passages are often quoted which, if examined, would be found to refer to totally different subjects.

Let us consider an important illustration of this_the righteousness of God. How commonly this is quoted from such scriptures as Rom. 3:21-26 as if it meant the righteousness of Christ. Is not this great and serious confusion? Is it not as clear as words can express, the righteousness of God in justifying the believer, whether before Christ came or after_ the righteousness of God without law, or apart from law altogether? "Being justified freely by His [God’s] grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His [God’s] righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time His [God’s] righteousness, that He [God] might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." This great foundation truth, how God is righteous in justifying, is scarcely ever heard, even in evangelical preaching.

I have read carefully the teachings of many in defense of the gospel which is being attacked by hosts of infidel ministers, and I thank God for the zeal of many of these teachers. Yet we are compelled to say on this most important truth_"the righteousness of God"_the trumpet often gives a most uncertain sound. In many of the writings it is difficult to tell what "the righteousness of God" means_it is so confused with the righteousness of Christ.

What then is the righteousness of God? and what is the righteousness of Christ? Righteousness is perfect consistency of character and actions according to the relation of one being to others, or with himself. Thus the righteousness of God is the perfect harmony of His attributes in His dealings with all created beings_perfect consistency with Himself, and that in justifying the ungodly sinner. How could His perfect love to me a sinner and His infinite hatred of my sins be in absolute harmony? The redemption work and infinite propitiation for my sins, and substitution on the cross, is God’s only possible answer to this crucial question. Blessed be God, He is righteous, and is my Justifier! Let a man place himself honestly before God as a guilty sinner, and then he will find in the gospel the only possible revelation of the righteousness of God in justifying him. Now the way God is righteous in justifying the sinner is "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The Scripture does not say through the righteousness of Christ imputed to the sinner to restore him before God, just as if he had kept the law and never failed to keep it. It is quite a different gospel to seek to reinstate man as a fallen child of the first Adam.

Bearing in mind that the righteousness of God is God’s whole purpose of salvation for guilty man, and that purpose has been accomplished by Christ in redemption, let us then inquire, What is the righteousness of Christ? and what is the redemption that He has wrought? The reader may not be aware that there is not exactly such an expression in Scripture as "the righteousness of Christ." 2 Pet. 1:1 is the nearest to it, but there His Godhead is spoken of. We may say, however, that the Gospels present the only perfect righteous Man that ever trod this earth:perfect, and in absolute harmony with the mind and will of God, consistent with every relationship in which He stood. But that obedience must go up to the death of the cross. He must die, or remain alone. That one obedience must meet all the sinner’s need in order that the many may be made righteous (Rom. 5:18,19). He must be a spotless victim, without sin, to do this, as it is written, "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"
(II Cor. 5:21).

Thus "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). Every type and shadow, every sacrifice, the utmost demand and curse of the law on the guilty has found its very end in Christ. Is it Christ’s law-keeping that is placed to man’s account to restore him, and make good his standing before God? Does righteousness come in this way by law? If so, there is no meaning in redemption.

What is redemption? Let us take God’s own type for illustration_the redemption of Israel from Egypt. It would require quite a different story to illustrate the different or false gospel. Take just one point in Exodus 5. The Israelites are in bitter bondage as slaves; they have no straw, and they cannot make the count of bricks. They are in sore distress. Does Moses, as a figure of Christ, make up the count of bricks for them? Are the bricks that Moses made imputed to them so as to make up the full legal count? There is no such thought in a single figure of the Old Testament, or a verse in the New. Redemption is not the amelioration or improvement of man as the slave of sin and Satan; but, as in Egypt, it is the bringing man out of the place of slavery altogether into an entirely new place and condition. And this could only be by the blood of the Lamb, whether we speak of the present redemption of our souls by His precious blood, or the still future redemption of our bodies at the resurrection. When Israel had passed through the water, figure of death, they were dead to the law of brick-making in Egypt. They passed out of that state altogether. Is not this the very secret of the believer’s power for a holy, righteous life even here? Being dead to sin (Rom. 6:2), is he not to reckon this to be so (verse 11)? Is he not also as dead to law? "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (7:4).

This is God’s way. Man’s way is just the opposite. He would say, "If you are born of God, now you must be married to the law to bring forth fruit by keeping it; and where you fail, the law-keeping of Christ will be imputed to you to make up.” Can any soul have peace or deliverance in that way? Read the whole of this chapter before us (Rom. 7). Here is the very case:a man born again, but still under law, trying to find some good in the flesh, in the utmost distress as we have all found_he cannot make his count of bricks. It is not something to make up a deficiency, or a helper he needs. He finds there is not a bit of good in the flesh. As born of God he delights in the law of God; but, oh, that other law in his members! He needs, and in Christ he finds, full deliverance.

Do you say, I want this old sinful nature to be unproved and made fit for heaven? Ah, there is no such thought in Scripture. No, on the cross the Holy One of God was sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom, 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21). No, the righteousness of God is seen condemning our sinful nature on the cross, as well as in Jesus bearing our sins; and thus, by the cross, He set aside forever the old man with his deeds, and gives the believer a new place in Christ, the second or last Man.

Oh, think what it is to be in Christ. This was the purpose of God before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; but all this "in Him" (Eph. 1:3-7). And mark what God has given us in Him, according to His eternal purpose. No, it is not the lost man restored and made a good Jew under law. It is not Moses making up the bricks under law; but, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [or creation]:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God" (2 Cor. 5:16-18).
What can the believer need or even desire more, except grace to walk worthy of this high calling in Christ Jesus. He is thus our righteousness, but not to make good the old man under law. It is what He is now, made unto us, as risen from the dead. As He is, so are we, and all of God. Oh what a difference is felt and enjoyed when we come to the end of all hope of the flesh under law, and find all in Christ in resurrection! Not I, but Christ. O God, our Father, bless these few remarks to the deliverance of many souls; and to Thy name be all praise!

Now the scribes and Pharisees, mentioned in John 8, were very moral and religious people, and were greatly shocked when they found out a wretched woman taken in open sin, and very indignant against her. Justice and the law of Moses, thought they, demand that she should be made an example of_it is not fit that such a sinner should live. It comforts and quiets the depraved heart of man if he can only find a person worse than himself. He thinks the greater sin of another excuses himself, and while accusing and vehemently blaming another he forgets his own evil. He thus rejoices in iniquity.
But this is not all; for not only do men thus glory and exult in the fall and ruin of another, but they cannot bear to see, or think of, God exhibiting grace. Grace_which means the full and free forgiveness of every sin, of every evil, without God demanding or expecting anything from the one so forgiven_ is a principle so opposed to all man’s thoughts and ways, so far above man, that he dislikes it; his own heart often secretly calls it injustice. He does not himself deal in this way, and does not like to think of God doing so. It is very humbling to be obliged to own that we are dependent upon grace entirely for salvation, and that nothing we have done or can do will make us fit subjects even for grace. Our misery and sin and ruin are the only claim we have upon grace. The scribes and Pharisees could not understand this; and not liking to own that they were themselves sinners, they wished to perplex Jesus. If He acquitted the woman they would say He was unjust; or if He condemned her, they would say He was not merciful. "Such should be stoned," say they, "but what sayest Thou?"

Such is still the gracious message to the ruined sinner, pronounced by the very Judge Himself. But it is only to the ruined sinner, standing consciously convicted before the Judge, that it is spoken. The righteous Pharisees heard it not. They were indeed convicted; but they had no desire to confess their sin, and they sought to get rid of their convictions, to bury them in some good works of their own. They would not put themselves in the same condemnation with the wretched woman, who got this blessed word of peace. And so it is still. If you desire to have God’s full and free pardon, it must be your place to stand first as the guilty sinner; to be alone with Jesus, consciously self-condemned; to have no one else to trust, no one else to compare yourself with; not to try to get better first before you come to Him, but to be brought to Him by your very sins, to stand in the very place of condemnation, and before the very Person who has the power to condemn; to make your very guilt the reason of being alone with Him.
Notice that the Lord gave her no conditional pardon. He did not say, "Neither will I condemn you if you will not sin anymore." No, He gives her full and complete forgiveness first, and that He knew would enable her to avoid the sin in the future. If you desire to have power over your sins, you must first know them all pardoned by God through Christ. But if you try to master your evil before you know the forgiveness of God, you will obtain neither the one nor the other. Through faith in Jesus you must be justified freely from all things before you will ever be cleared as before God.

The Human Family
But who can share in this? Again we are turned to Abraham’s history for an answer, which should effectually silence the cavillings of those who would Judaize. Now, there were two articles in the creed of such in Paul’s day, to which they clung tenaciously and pressed most persistently:(1) a Gentile must keep the law of Moses to be justified (Gal. 5:4); and (2) they must be circumcised if they would be saved (Acts 15:1). Both these contentions were refuted by the history of the patriarch. Abraham was justified by faith, centuries before the law was given by Moses. And since he was justified by faith, he was certainly saved years before he was circumcised (Gen. 15:6; 17:26). Thus, neither the keeping of the law nor the submission to the rite of circumcision are needful for any one to be justified by faith. Hence it was plain that Gentiles could share in the grace of justification just as much as Jews. And if the latter could boast of having Abraham for their father, so could the former. Abraham was the "father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised" as well as "the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised" (verses 11,12). Did this shock Jewish prejudices? Careful study of the Word would settle it all beyond the possibility of dispute (verses 13-17). Indeed, keeping to the ground of the law, or putting people under it for Christian blessing, was, as far as they were concerned, the way to lose all. Faith in that case would become void, and the promise be made of none effect (verse 14). So little perception had those people of the baneful effect of such teaching.

"But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you" (Acts 3:14).
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day" (2 Tim. 4:8).

God has denounced an emphatic "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isa. 5:20). There must be no blurring of the moral boundary lines. We may not put "faith" before "righteousness." We may not argue, "We believe this is of God and therefore it must be good." We must argue the other way:"We know from Scripture this is good, and therefore we know it is of God." "God is light," and light is that which "doth make manifest" (Eph. 5:13). Thus, only as walking in the light, and with our eye single to take it in, can we walk without stumbling.
But alas! how common it is to allow ourselves to participate in something the character of which is uncertain to us! How many think it enough to stop where they are convicted of evil, rather than first making sure before they act that what they do is good!