There has never been a time in
the world’s history when the Word of God has been so readily available as
today; yet we know of no other time when unrest, lawlessness, and revolution
have been so widespread. We can attribute this alarming state to the setting
aside of this very Book and its teachings. Men persist, however unknowingly, in
a course leading to self-destruction, being led on by "the wicked one."
This course of things is clearly marked out in the Scriptures and so we are not
surprised to see it.

On the other hand, what is the
cause of the widespread spiritual decline among the Lord’s people, evidenced by
carelessness and indifference in spiritual matters? One sees as a common thing
the letting go of many precious truths which has resulted in many believers
becoming worldly and losing sight of their heavenly hope. A reason for this may
be that believers act against that which they consciously know to be the Lord’s
mind and will as revealed in God’s Word. In so doing a good conscience is set
aside. This causes incalculable damage to the soul, opening the door to
everything that is destructive to a heavenly life and testimony. It relates not
only to conduct but to unsound teaching also.

Let us trace this course of
things from its beginning to its very sad end.

"All the counsel of
God" was the burden of Paul’s ministry to the Ephesians. "For three
years, night and day, I ceased not admonishing each one [of you] with
tears" (Acts 20:27, 31; all references in this article are from the JND
translation). Imagine sitting under such holy ministry godly care as that for
three years! Oh what blessing they must have received! How edifying it must
have been!

In the course of time, Paul
later wrote Timothy at Ephesus to "enjoin some not to teach other
doctrines, nor to turn their minds to fables and interminable
genealogies." (1 Tim. 1:3,4). Why was such a charge necessary if Paul had
previously established them so thoroughly at Ephesus? "The end of what is
enjoined is love out of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned
faith" (1 Tim. 1:5). This describes the proper spiritual condition that is
needed if we are to maintain truth and to practice godliness. The next verse
says, "which [things] some having missed, have turned aside to vain
discourse." This answers our question. If a good conscience is not
maintained as well as love and faith, even the best instruction will not
preserve us from the snares and pitfalls that the enemy is permitted to lay in
our path.

Next we see that the
"some" who "turned aside" became Judaizers and in ignorance
of God’s grace introduced "law." It is not "the law" which
is introduced, but "law"; that is, the principle which is opposed to
grace. Such preaching is described as "vain discourse" (v. 6). This
is not a ministry of love or edification, but is a misuse of law, as the
context of the verses following clearly shows. The law, as a principle, is
properly used as a sword for the conscience in convicting the ungodly of their
sins. The law, as a principle, is not meant to be used for the Lord’s people
for it is not edifying. But these law-teachers, who have missed "love out
of a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith," have
introduced this misuse of law and thereby have displaced edifying ministry.

It is easy to see that this is a
declining pathway and it descends still further. In verse 6 "a good
conscience" was "missed," and now in verse 19 this is "put
away," a much more definite thing with a more serious result:"which
[last] some, having put away, have made shipwreck as to faith." So the
good conscience that is needed for "maintaining faith" is put away
and the door is opened through which Satan can come with wicked and destructive
doctrines. Let it be understood that FAITH IN CHRIST is not lost, nor indeed
can it be; but the power of our Christian lives which is that precious personal
confidence and fellowship that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ can be lost. Such
is the case of the two named in verse 20, Hymenaeus and Alexander. Sad
notoriety indeed!

Continuing in this sad vein, we
read in 2 Timothy 2:17-18 that Hymenaeus along with Philetus are the
instruments of Satan for the introduction of a wicked and destructive doctrine.
"Their word will spread as a gangrene; of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
[men] who as to the truth have gone astray, saying that the resurrection has
taken place already; and overthrow the faith of some." Notice that it is
not a denial of the fact of the resurrection, but a perversion of the truth by
their teaching that it had already taken place. If the resurrection be past we
are robbed of our heavenly hope. The best we have left is this world. Then we
must devote our energies, our abilities, and our wealth to its causes. We must
join all the associations dedicated to self-improvement and world-improvement.
We must cater to the flesh in its seeking of pleasure and comfort. We are then
become as those described in Revelation 3:10 "them that dwelt upon the
earth." Their hopes are earthly for they have no faith. Such cannot rise
above this world. These will face the wrath of God when His judgments are in
the earth, thus losing all that they value, things temporal and earthly. So, if
the resurrection be past then neither do the Lord’s people have anything beyond
this scene. This wickedness is termed "gangrene" which overthrew
"the faith of some," and so it spread in that day. But how much more
it has spread today! Christendom is a vivid picture showing the result of this
destructive doctrine. What a solemn responsibility they have who not only
turned aside themselves but are responsible for others being turned aside.

How necessary it is then that we
maintain "faith and a good conscience"; thus shall our work be made
manifest at the judgment seat of Christ as "gold, silver, precious
stones" (1 Cor. 3:12) to the glory of His name.

In view of all of the foregoing,
some, however, might conclude that one must as the world says, "Let his
conscience be his guide." Now this subtle maxim of worldly wisdom is to be
utterly rejected on the basis of the Word of God itself.

The apostle Paul’s own life
before His conversion is an example of one being guided by one’s conscience.
Paul, in Galatians 1:13-14 says, "I excessively persecuted the assembly of
God, and ravaged it … being exceedingly zealous of the doctrines of my
fathers"; in Philippians 3:6 "As to zeal, persecuting the
assembly"; in 1 Timothy 1:13 "who before was a blasphemer and
persecutor, and an insolent overbearing [man]:but mercy was shown me because 1
did it ignorantly, in unbelief"; and finally in Acts 23:1, " have
walked in all good conscience with God unto this day." Paul, who was Saul
of Tarsus before his conversion, with a fiery zeal and a good conscience wasted
the assembly thus persecuting Christ. This he did as a service to God! But his
conscience could never have led him to the truth that Jesus is the Christ. His
course of action was as contrary to God’s way as it could be, even though he
was going that way in all sincerity. What was it then that changed his course?
On the road to Damascus he was arrested by the vision of the Lord Jesus in His
resurrection glory. He thus received the light of the truth as to Christ and
acted upon this henceforward. Paul thus became the instrument of Christ in
establishing the assembly rather than being its waster. So he found mercy and
grace and became a pattern of the long-suffering of God to those who would afterward
believe (1 Tim. 1:13-16).

In summing up, we believe that
the conscience should be formed not by our own natural thoughts or even
religious ones but by the Word of God. Further, the conscience is to be
maintained in its purity by obedience to the Word of God. This is the secret of
our spiritual growth, of our grasping "even the depths of God," and
of our having a powerful testimony in the face of the abounding wickedness of
this world.

EXTRACT

Letting
go of the truth we become occupied with fables and interminable genealogies
which appeal to reason, and only occupy the mind with questions, but do not
lead to godly edifying which is in faith. "Endless genealogies" are
as pleasing to the natural mind as to religious flesh, for they shut out God
and make much of man. Such genealogies assume that all blessing is a process of
development from one generation to another. For this reason, the religious Jew
made a great deal of his genealogy. So, too, the man of the world, with his
science falsely so-called, seeks to shut out faith in a creator by speculative
theories which view everything in creation as a gradual and evolutionary
development of one thing from another. Human speculation, appealing to reason,
can only raise "questions" which leave the soul in darkness and
doubt. Divine truth, appealing to conscience and faith, can alone give
certainty and godly edification.

It is generally considered
something simple or easy to give out a hymn; therefore it happens that some are
quick in opening their hymn books to suggest a number, as if any number would
do. Should we not rather realize that this is a solemn act that needs much
dependence on the Holy Spirit? To recognize the right hymn for the right moment
we need His guidance. How often it has happened that the course of a meeting
has been disturbed or interrupted by a hymn that was not in line with the
character of the meeting.

We see from the above, that the
giving out of hymns is not as light a matter as it may seem. When we are
gathered together for worship, we should be especially careful that the hymns
selected are definitely those for worship. Whereas, when we come together for
ministry, gospel or prayer meetings, we have a larger selection of hymns that
give expression to our pilgrim journey, our needs, our trials, and the comfort
and help found in our God and Father. These hymns should never be sung at a
worship meeting. (Hymns . . . for the Little Flock are arranged so that hymns
for the gospel and other special occasions are grouped in the Appendix. These
are not generally deemed suitable for use in meetings of the Assembly. See the
hymn book preface for a fuller discussion of this by the compilers.)

To
worship is not to be occupied with our sins or with ourselves, but rather with
the Lord Jesus, Who has put our sins away and has reconciled us to God. To
worship means to for-get self completely and to be filled with God’s thoughts
concerning His Son. If our worship bears this character, the hymns will be
chosen accordingly

"For the preaching of the
cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God…. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom" (1 Cor. 1:18, 22).

To the
natural mind, whether Jew or Gentile, wisdom and signs are displays of the
power of God. But power with God is that which seems weakness or foolishness
with men. There are two signs which God gives in Scripture. "And this
shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12). What could be weaker in man’s eyes than a
babe lying in a manger? Yet there is even a deeper sign of weakness—a dead man.
"A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and a sign shall
not be given to it save the sign of Jonas the prophet. For even as Jonas was in
the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, thus shall the Son of
man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights" (Matt.
12:39, J.N.D. trans.). The expression of absolute weakness is a man in death.
Yet through a Man in death we are saved. He was rejected by everybody, betrayed
by a false friend, denied by a true one, forsaken by God, and on the cross
"crucified through weakness" (2 Cor. 13:4). "Christ crucified
[is] to Jews an offense, and to nations foolishness; but to those that [are]
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ God’s power and God’s wisdom" (1 Cor.
1:23, 24, J. N. D. trans.).

 The Word of God should not
only be a check on our thoughts, but the source of them, which is a far deeper
thing. We see it in Christ, the only perfect One. He, only, could say, "By
the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer"
(Psalm 17:4). "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin
against Thee" (Psalm 119:11).

There is a preserving power in
the Word to keep the feet from sliding, which only those know who receive the
truth in the love of it. Merely having the Word hid in the memory and mind will
not do. There is no preserving power in that. There must be the action of the
truth on the heart and conscience, separating from all defilement, otherwise
its preserving power cannot be experienced.

Whenever there is a surrender
for Christ’s sake of what the flesh holds dear and cleaves to, there is
blessing; and the soul that dares to mortify the flesh and resist its claims is
ever rewarded by a clearer revelation of the Lord Himself. The displacing of
the lower, as it were, makes room for the development of the higher and purer
affection.

The reason that there is often
so much darkness and uncertainty as to God’s will among us,
is that the flesh is allowed to work, and the result is dimness of spiritual
vision. It costs us too much when we cannot say "No" to the clamorous
demands of our fleshly natures. Never, until we see it in the light of the
judgment-seat of Christ, shall we know how much we have suffered in soul, and
how much we have lost of eternal reward by our weakness and cowardice in
resisting the flesh and its claims. People complain of weak faith:they would
speak far more truly if they complained of their weak obedience. "Light is
sown for the righteous" (Psalm 97:11). "If any man will do His will,
he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17).

See in Christ—the perfectly
dependent, perfectly obedient One—our heavenly Pattern, the path of the just, which
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. How
little like Him we are—independent, disobedient, every one turning naturally to
his own way. The Lord help
us!                 

FRAGMENT:
"Behold, I come quickly:hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take
thy crown" (Rev, 3:11).

Then, hold fast! When it is no longer a question if it be the truth, but only of its
consequences. Hold fast though those who have held it with you, or
before you, give it up; though it separate you from all else whomsoever; though
it be worse dishonored by the evil of those who profess it; though it seem
utterly useless to hope of any good from it; in the face of the world, in the
face of the devil, in the face of the saints — "hold that fast which thou
hast, that no man take thy crown"!

"For they all
made us afraid . . . Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands" (Nehemiah
6:9).

It is quite clear the apostle
Jude writes for and contemplates the last state of things:what comes under the
Lord’s eye, and what the saints have to meet. He is showing that the resources
are the same even to the very end when such a state of things arrives as is
depicted in the earlier verses of this epistle. This we see thoroughly
fulfilled in the history and present condition of the Church. But the Spirit of
God gives us a word of cheer to carry us on at this time when things are
outwardly and inwardly so depressing.

Jude addresses the faithful
saying "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Four sweet words—"building,"
"praying," "keeping," "looking."
"Building"—take care you do not pull down. What the Spirit prescribes
here is building; this is beautiful, because Jude is describing decay and
dissolution as the fruit of the corruption all around. Faith is peculiarly
sweet to the eye of the Lord when all is going to ruins. What is the warrant
for saints meeting together? "Building up yourselves."

Jude describes the end here, and
there is a resource which is competent for the state of things and enough to
keep the saints joyful. Joy in the Holy Ghost is the expected and suited state
of the saints always. Is it not to be the same now? Surely. As the history of
God’s people darkens, God ever raises a light; the deeper the darkness, the
brighter the light. This principle is clearly illustrated in the Old Testament,
and I turn to three scriptures which show that the greater the ruin the
brighter the light where faith was operative.

First, (2 Chronicles 30, 31)
things were bad in Hezekiah’s day with doors shut and lamps put out, but he
addresses all the people of God, and they came together and kept the passover
on the fourteenth day of the second month, taking advantage of a privilege God
allowed (see Num. 9:11).

"Great gladness"
prevailed, so they determined to have seven more days, and we read "they
kept other seven days with gladness" (30:23). Hezekiah got before the
Lord, and as a direct and natural consequence, "there was great joy in Jerusalem:for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem" (ver. 26).

The days were very prosperous in
Solomon’s reign, but these were even better. You find, too, that when all were
thoroughly happy before the Lord, they began to be occupied with the Lord’s
interests. The people brought in the tithe of all things
"abundantly," and the priests and Levites were "encouraged"
(31:4, 5). When they began to give, the Lord began to bless. As the joy in the
Lord rose, the interest in and care for His things increased, and
"heaps" meet the eye of the gladdened king (vers. 6-8). The Lord has
given us a brightening up many a time, but alas! how soon we sink down. So was
it also in Judah’s history.

Second, things got very low
indeed until Josiah’s time. Then there was another revival. Evil was judged (2
Chron. 34:3,7). Then "Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the
Lord," and "Shaphan read it before the king" (vers. 14,18). The
Word of God produced repentance and humbling, and thereafter "Josiah kept a
passover unto the Lord in Jerusalem" (2 Chron. 35:1). And the record is
given, "And there was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the
days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep
such a passover as Josiah kept" (ver. 18). It was the most remarkable
passover since the kingdom had been established. Not even Solomon’s could
approach it. What an encouragement for faith!

Third, enjoyed blessing would
not keep the soul since the eye was not single; so deeper failure followed; the
people wandered away again from God, and then were taken into captivity. God’s
grace, however, never gives up His own, and through mercy there was partial
recovery in Ezra’s time. A remarkable revival occurred and many returned from Babylon to God’s earthly center, Jerusalem. This is but a type of what has happened in our
days, in which the Lord has worked blessedly by His Spirit, reviving interest
in His Word and gathering back His saints to divine ground. Nehemiah, following
Ezra, began to build his wall. That was separation. Ezra built the temple,
Nehemiah the wall, and many true helpers had they. Nearly all were in the work,
sisters and all. Some built two bits, notably the Tekoites (Neh. 3:5, 27),
though of them it is said, "but their nobles put not their necks to the work
of their Lord" (ver. 5). But the Lord noticed every mark of devotedness
evidenced by repairing the wall, whether "Shallum … and his
daughters" (ver. 12), or Baruch, who "earnestly repaired’ (ver.
26), or the priests "every one over against his house" (ver. 28), or
Meshullam "over against his chamber" (ver. 30), for I suppose he was
but a lodger.

Again did the Word of the Lord
become precious, and was heeded (Neh. 8:1-8), and what good cheer it brought,
verses 9 and 10 indicate, as "this day is holy unto the Lord" twice
fell on their ears, and "the joy of the Lord is your strength" was
the trumpet call of the Spirit. "The joy of the Lord is your
strength." How beautiful! If our hearts are delighting in Christ there is
always strength and power, and understanding too. Next, they kept the feast of
tabernacles; they anticipated the millennium. In fact, there was more
apprehension of the mind of the Lord at this moment than there had ever been in
their previous history for "all the congregation of them that were come
again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths:for since the
days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done
so. And there was very great gladness" (ver. 17). Never in the brightest
day of kingly power did such a thing happen. I just show this principle in the
history of God’s people, that if there be faith and obedience and a desire to
follow His Word, the darker the day, the brighter will be the blessing. The
further into history you trace the ruin of Israel, the bolder does faith appear
in its action.

In Jude, which speaks of days of
Church ruin and failure, we are encouraged to expect great things, only if
faith be exercised. "Ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your
most holy faith." This evidently is the revelation of God—Christianity as
such—on which we are to build. The trowel is ever to be in the hand;
"building up," not pulling down, is our business. The Christian is
not an iconoclast—a destroyer of idols—but a builder, an unfolder and a living
expositor of the truth.

In Jude the Spirit of God is the
abiding source of power, realized by our having none, and therefore in
dependence we are to be found "praying in the Holy Ghost." Joy in the
Spirit is the result of our yielding ourselves unreservedly to the care and
guidance of this abiding Comforter of our hearts. Thus only shall we be kept to
the end walking in "the comfort of the Spirit"

"Keep yourselves in the
love of God." As born of God and objects of His love, you cannot help
loving. If one is kept in the enjoyment of the Lord’s love, love flows out
without effort; you cannot help it. No apple tree tries to grow apples. Do not
try to be anything; keep yourself in the love of God, and you will be like the
Son of God:you cannot help it. The atmosphere we live in will tell upon us,
just as the ointment of Aaron’s head went down to the skirts of his garments
and diffused an odor wherever he went (see Psa. 133). If we get near to the
Lord we shall carry away some of the savor of His presence. We always become
like the things with which we are occupied.

"Looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ":this is not the Lord’s coming exactly, but the
effect of it. It is connected with our being taken out of this scene, and into
our home—heaven. We know we are welcome there—that it is our home. The Spirit
even now conducts our hearts there. Christ is there, and Paul was always
pressing thither by the pathway of resurrection from among the dead. It was his
goal. When you wake up in His likeness you will say, "Bless the Lord, His
mercy endureth for ever." The deepest desire of the heart will be
gratified when we reach the place to which the Lord is carrying us. It is the
greatest mercy the Lord can bestow upon us. We have to serve here and He is to
be manifested in us. But if every saint here were caught up today, each would
draw a deep breath and say, "Thank God, that is the greatest mercy I have
ever known; I am out of the world for ever, I am with the Lord and like Him and
shall never wander from or be unlike Him again." The Lord, in His grace,
keep us, and encourage our hearts to go on "looking."

How beautifully the epistle
closes with a doxology of triumph:"Now unto Him that is able to keep you
from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen." Is not that thought lovely?
"With exceeding joy"—not ours, but the joy on Christ’s part, when He
presents to Himself that Church He has loved and cherished so faithfully these
hundreds of years. It will be the day of the gladness of His heart.

The Lord enable us to go on
"building" (do not drop the trowel!), "keeping,"
"praying in the Holy Ghost," and then "looking." That fills
up the whole life of the Christian and the next thing is that we find ourselves
gathered home in the cloudless perfection of His own presence.

FRAGMENT What God is, determines
what God does.

What
God does, proves what God is—Light and Love.

"And when He had taken the
book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb,
having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the
prayers of [the] saints" (Rev. 5:8).

That latter clause is very
peculiar, as connected with the grace of God in eternity. There are things His
people suffer from that He never forgets. All their prayers are treasured up
before God; their tears are put in His bottle and treasured up. What! the
sorrow I have forgotten, has God put that down? Is that one of the things that
will shine? He can use all for His glory; but can the prayers and groans of a
saint be kept and have a special place, be an odor of a sweet savor to God? The
sinner does not know this; but a poor broken one can say, "Not only does
God remember my prayer, but He puts it by on His throne, like the pot of manna
which He wanted to be laid up, to be remembered as a trophy of the way He
carried His people through the wilderness."

So will their prayers tell there
what their special need of His presence was here. The prayers of the saints are
likened to "golden vials full of odors." Gold marks the divine
character of that by which they are kept:the odor — a fragrant incense going
up — ever the same. Is that said of the prayers of the saints? Yes, not one of
them is lost. The Lord Jesus knew them all; they are ever before God.

FRAGMENT "Let my prayer be
set before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2).

"No more a stranger"—Can that be

Thou speakest
thus, O God, of me

Whose heart was enmity and strife

Alienated from Thy life?

Thy covenants with Israel

Was I outside, and O, as well

Apart from Christ, apart from
Thee

A worldling, living hopelessly.

An outcast—for there was a bar

Twixt Israel "near," and
Gentiles "far"—

For in her commonwealth no share

Had I; of righteousness was bare

But now, though once far off, am
I

To Thee, O gracious God, brought
nigh

By Christ’s own precious blood
once given

United to the
Lord of Heaven.

Now to Thy household I belong

Though only one amid the throng

Of those that form Thy family

Thou thinkest,
gracious God, on me.

Eternal life do I possess

And, in Thy Spirit have access

Through Thy dear Son, O God, to
Thee

Him
face to face I soon shall see.

In Genesis 19 we read of the
sorrows of a believer who has given up the separate path and walks in
association with a judgment-doomed world. We see, indeed, that Lot is delivered, but so as by fire, and passes out of the story under a cloud, leaving
behind him the memory of a life of shame. Centuries pass before the Apostle
Peter declares him "just Lot."

The opening verses of Genesis 18
and 19 evidently set Abraham and Lot in striking contrast. In chapter 18:1,
Abraham comes before us as sitting in his tent door. In chapter 19:1, Lot is
seen sitting "in the gate of Sodom." One believer is outside the
world in his true pilgrim character with his tent. The other is not only in the
world but actually taking part in its administration, for he sits in the
gate—the place of judgment.

Once Lot was in the outside
place which depicts the call of God, but there only as a follower of others. A
little trouble arose and at once he gave up the path of faith and separation,
chose the well-watered plain, and "pitched his tent toward Sodom" (13:12). Next we learn that he "dwelt in Sodom",14:12). Now at last we
read, "Lot sat in the gate of Sodom."

But the city in which Lot has an honored place as a magistrate is a doomed city, and the time has come when the
city is ripe for judgment. From the Lord’s own words in Luke 17, we know that
the solemn scene of God’s destruction of Sodom is a foreshadowing of the
judgment about to fall on this present evil world. There we read, "As it
was in the days of Lot . . . thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed" (Luke 17:28, 30).

We are living in the days just
before the Son of man is about to be revealed, and we are warned by the Lord
Himself that in these, our days, we shall find a terrible condition similar to
that which existed in the days of Lot. This is of immense practical importance
as presenting the true character of the world around us, and, above all, as
setting forth conditions so hateful to God that at length He has to intervene
in judgment.

What then were the conditions in
Sodom that brought down the judgment of God? Two things characterized the
city. First, the men of Sodom were "wicked and sinners before the Lord
exceedingly" (Gen. 13:13). Secondly, a true believer was holding a place
of honor in the city, associating with sinners in seeking to judge and maintain
order in the world. It was, then, a city characterized by the association of
sinners before the Lord with believers in the Lord. It is this condition, so
hateful to God, that marks the world of today and that will very soon bring the
present period of grace to a close. It is not simply the wickedness of the
world that ends the day of grace. The wickedness of the world may show itself
in different forms at different times, but it cannot be greater today than when
it perpetrated the crowning sin of crucifying the Lord of glory. It is rather
the breakdown of the Christian profession (whereby even true believers are
found in the world, not as witnesses to the grace of God but in closest
association with the world) that God will not tolerate and that makes the
judgment so imminent. When those who were left to be a witness to the grace of
God settle down in the world and cease to be any witness for God, the end is
not far off.

We have the warning challenge of
the apostle in clear and unmistakable words:  “Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers:for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord
hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an
infidel?" (2 Cor. 6:14, 15).

In spite of these plain words,
what do we see on every hand today? Not only a world filled with violence and
corruption— this has ever been—but on every hand we see true believers in
flagrant disregard of the Word of God, associated with unbelievers and those
who mock at divine things. It has been truly said, "Evangelical leaders,
even, can now take their place openly on public platforms with Unitarians and
skeptics of almost every grade; societies, secret or public, can link together
all possible beliefs in the most hearty good fellowship. It is this that marks
the time as so near the limit of divine longsuffering, that the very people who
are orthodox as to Christ can nevertheless be so easily content to leave Him
aside on any utilitarian plea by which they may have fellowship with His
rejecters."

When those who profess to be
ministers of Christianity cease to be witnesses for Christ and, sinking down to
the level of the world, become themselves the leaders in all worldliness, then
indeed the salt has lost its savor, and the Christian profession, having become
nauseous to Christ, will be spewed out of  His mouth, and the judgment will
fall upon the world.

Surely then, the destruction of
Sodom should speak to every conscience and lead us to take heed to that word
which says, "Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).

Our title is taken from Hebrews
12:24, where the blessings of Hebrew Christians are enumerated and contrasted
with those under the first covenant. Verse 18 declares that "ye are not
come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire,"
alluding to Mount Sinai and the first covenant. Verse 22 introduces our verse
as follows:"But ye are come … to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that
of Abel" (Heb. 12:22, 24). In short, we are come "to Jesus" and
"to the blood of sprinkling." But the latter part of our verse,
"that speaketh better things than that of Abel," has given rise to
different interpretations. We propose to examine this verse with the desire of
accepting the most commendable interpretation.

It is of the first order of
importance, when our blessings in Hebrews are couched in the language of the Old
Testament types, to understand just what typical sacrifice is alluded to. In
this verse with the "mediator" and "the blood of
sprinkling" we can not fail to see that the type is of the covenant
sacrifices at the foot of Mount Sinai when "Moses took the blood, and
sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which
the Lord hath made with you" (Exodus 24:8). There "the blood of
sprinkling" was "of calves [bullocks] and of goats" (See Heb. 9:
19 & 12) which typified "the precious blood of Christ" which in
Hebrews is called "the blood of the everlasting covenant" (13:20). In
Exodus, Moses was the mediator and animals were the victims. But the apostle in
Hebrews has labored abundantly to show us that we are come "to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant." The glories of this new covenant are future
and for "the house of Israel and . . . the house of Judah" (Heb. 8:8). But the Christian is already come "to Jesus" and is under the
blood and rejoicing in the blessings of that covenant. But how is it that
"the blood of sprinkling . . . speaketh better things than that of
Abel"?

Many have thought that Abel’s
human blood is referred to here. It is true that Abel, being righteous and slam
by the enmity of his brother, typified our Lord in His rejection and death at
the hands of His brethren. It is further true that God said to Cain "the
voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10).
The voice therefore of Abel’s human blood cried to God for vengeance. At. this
point many have been satisfied that "the blood of sprinkling" alludes
to Abel’s human blood and martyr’s death.

Now we have pondered, however,
whether Abel’s human blood typifies the blood of Christ in any sacrificial
sense. As a martyr it does. But as an offering presented to God we do not see
the type.

We are somewhat helped by the
more literal translation of J. N. Darby, who translates the verse "and to
Jesus, mediator of a new covenant; and to the blood of sprinkling, speaking
better than Abel" (Heb. 12:24). "Speaking better than Abel"
would recall our .attention to Hebrews 11:4 where "Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was
righteous, God testifying of his gifts:and by it he being dead yet speaketh."
Here we find Abel "speaking’ by his sacrifice and its blood —not his own.
Furthermore, Abel’s sacrifice (though not the first animal slain, for God must
have done so to get coats of skins) was the first animal sacrifice presented in
faith to God by man. That sacrifice stands therefore at the head of all such
victims and represents them all. Its acceptance prefigured God’s acceptance of
our Lord Jesus Christ’s finished work as well as declaring man’s approach to
God to be that of shed blood. Abel, by his offering, spoke of good things! But
"the blood of sprinkling" to which we are come, that blood of the new
and everlasting covenant, the blood of Christ, speaketh better than Abel by his
sacrifice!

This is further clarified when
we realize that the "blood of sprinkling" of the covenant sacrifices
in Exodus 24 spoke of good things also. This blood like that of Abel’s
sacrifice, both speaking good things, is far surpassed also by the
"better" blood of Christ.

We also note that
"better" is the comparative of "good," not "bad."
Abel’s human blood crying for vengeance hence cries for "bad." It
speaks of God bringing men into judgment, not dispensing mercy. Hebrews 10:1
declares that the law did foreshadow "good things to come." We do not
believe vengeance, for which Abel’s human blood cried, to be one of the
"good things to come." The blood of Christ is of course far better
than this which cries for vengeance. But the force of our verse (Heb. 12:24) is
that, even though Abel’s sacrifice did typify "good things to come,"
the blood to which we are come "speaketh better than Abel."

Not only are we come "to
the blood of sprinkling that speaketh" but the next verse warns us not to
refuse "Him that speaketh."

The blood speaks. A Person
speaks. Have you heard the message?

Visiting a Christian friend one
day, I noticed that he did not look as bright as usual, and soon learned the
reason. "Do you know," he said, "I sometimes think I am
deceiving myself and that I am not a child of God at all. When I was saved
about ten years ago I felt such a load of sins taken off me, and then I was so
happy, but I have not at all the same feeling now, so perhaps after all I have
been self-deceived."

I saw at once that the fault
here was self-occupation, looking in instead of "looking off unto
Jesus." "I am not surprised," I said then to him, "at what
you say; it is the natural result of basing your acceptance with God on your
experience, and not on what He says in His Word, I have gone through the same
experience, and, therefore, I can feel for you. After I was saved, I had times
of great joy followed by corresponding feelings of depression, during which
times, of course, I was most miserable. But I came to enjoy perfect peace when
I began to rest calmly and quietly upon what God says in His Word about Christ,
and to give up taking into account my own feelings altogether. He ‘was
delivered for [my] offences, and was raised again for [my] justification’
(Romans 4:25). Therefore, I concluded, if Christ has indeed been delivered for
my offenses, there is no need for me to be delivered for them; God is too just
to demand payment over again for a debt already paid. If He has been raised
again for my justification, no one can ever lay anything to my charge, for His
resurrection has set me down righteous in the presence of God. By His death and
resurrection my sins were put away, and I am constituted righteous before God.
I stand before God righteous as He is righteous. I believe this, and,
therefore, however much my feelings may change,  I never doubt that I have
peace with God."

"Well," my friend
replied, "I see what you mean all right, and I am sure it is all right
with you, but how am I to know that He died for me?"

I quoted to him Romans 5:6,
where it says that "Christ died for the ungodly," and then verse 8,
that He died for ”sinners." I told him that Satan never yet could
persuade me that I was neither a "sinner" nor "ungodly,"
and, therefore, I always have the assurance of God’s Word that He died for me;
putting two and two together, if He died for me, I know that God is satisfied,
and, therefore, not a shadow of a doubt as to my acceptance ever crosses my
mind. I am able to "joy in God" by whom I have received this Wondrous
reconciliation.

"I
certainly shouldn’t doubt anymore," said my friend; "I can see that I
ought to enter more into what God has done for me, and what Christ is to me,
and not be occupied with myself."

Lord! who can pay the mighty
debt

Of love so rich as Thine?

Love, which surpasseth finding
out,

Unspeakable, divine!

O rather give us, daily, more—

More every hour- —to see

That such a bounteous Giver
Thou,

We must
Thy debtors be.

I now consider the objectionable
contrary things which are substituted for this path (i.e., the path of
separation and Assembly truth) in the "helps" referred to in the
Scofield Reference Bible.

First and foremost, observe the
endorsement of the sectarian, interdenominational and independent realms and
activities, repeatedly brought before us.

In the "Introduction,"
paragraph V., the "definitions" carry the approval of many leading
"students and teachers of all the evangelical bodies." What is that?
"All the evangelical bodies." How many bodies of Christ are there (1
Cor. 1:13)? Which part of "the whole teaming of Scripture” about the
Assembly provides for "evangelical bodies"? Does their endorsement of
these "definitions" serve to deliver them from the sects and unto
Scripture ground? Not at all; they remain in their various "evangelical
bodies."

The conclusion, then, is that
when we want "definitions" for the "great words" of the
Bible, we should go to the "evangelical bodies" for them; when they
have been defined, the evangelical bodies still exist, and the definers remain
in them. Nothing in the great words of Scripture serves to draw them to
anything that expresses unity:for they are "bodies"—not one body.

A few paragraphs farther on we
read of "the results of the study of God’s Word by learned and spiritual
men in every division of the church," etc. These results the editor
summarizes in the "helps." But he appears without exercise over the
tragedy of "every division of the church." What did these learned and
spiritual men find in their Bible study about divisions of the church under the
apostles? What authority did they find in that Bible for continuing in their
"every division"? The statement is unaccompanied by any expression of
agony that such divisions exist, any acknowledgment that the Word should act
upon the consciences of learned and spiritual men so as to promote unity, any
indication that these men or the editor yearned to see those who studied their
writings delivered from human systems and brought together outside the camp
according to God.

Not with such unconcern does
William Kelly, for instance, write on Luke 11:23, to cite one of many:

“A man might himself; be really
with Christ, but yet in his labors he might build or prop up what is of the
world. Such a person, no matter what the apparent effects may be, may become
the most popular of preachers and produce wide-spread effects, philanthropic
and religious; but "he that gathereth not with Me scattereth," says
the Lord. There is no scattering so real in the sight of God as the gathering
of Christians on false principles. It is worse than if they were not gathered
at all. There is a deeper hindrance to the truth, because there is a spirit of
party and denomination that is necessarily hostile to Christ. A false
gathering-point substitutes another center for Christ and consequently makes
greater confusion. "He that gathereth not with Me scattereth."

In the Scofield introductory
notes to the Third Epistle of John, page 1327, we are told, "Historically,
this letter marks the beginning of that clerical and priestly assumption over
the churches in which the primitive church order disappeared." Mark
that—"the primitive church order disappeared." Well, are we to settle
down to that, accept the substitute, be content? Who can settle such a matter?
On the preceding page, we are told, "The Bible, as the only authority for
doctrine and life, is the believer’s resource in a time of declension and
apostasy."

Does not John, in his first
epistle, chapter two, press upon us "that which ye have heard from the
beginning"? The Scriptures— "the believer’s resource," even when
the primitive church order has disappeared — keep before us that which was from
the beginning, that which God set up. Are we to conclude, then, that He will
give His help and blessing to efforts that aim at the "intelligent use of
the Bible" according to an order that represents something other than
"the primitive church order," but would not do so if we sought that
which was from the beginning.

In the same note (page 1327) we
have presented to us the idea, of the believer as a member of the local
church." Had the editor given better attention to the some 100,000 pages
or more of "brethren’s" writings which had been circulated before his
Reference Bible was issued, he would have found that there are those who disown
membership in the local church and claim that the only membership known to
Scripture is membership in the body of Christ. This note, for example, does not
represent any "summarizing, arranging, and condensing" of their
important contribution to the "mass of material" produced during the
latter half of the nineteenth century — but rather a refusal of it in favor of
that which has taken the place of "the primitive church order."

It might be said that we should
not make a man an offender for a word; that we should understand his use of
word ”member" as simply meaning that one was in the character of local
responsibility. But that is not the way the word is habitually used and
understood in the sphere in which Mr. Scofield spent his life. One is not a
member of those societies until he joins specifically; when one so joins one of
"the evangelical bodies," he is thereby absolutely not a member of
any other "division of the church." We must understand his use of the
word "member" according to the way it was and is understood where
"the primitive church order" has disappeared.

In the note at the bottom of
page 1257 we find that a local church should be "perfected in
organization." Mr. Ridout’s book on The Church does not agree very well
with that language. And where does Scripture agree?

I quote the whole sentence from
Mr. Scofield:"When perfected in organization, a local church, consists of
‘saints, with the bishops [elders] and deacons.’”  These last words are drawn
from Phil. 1:1.

A few observations are in order.
First, the words "organize," "organization," etc., are not
in Scripture. No form of the word "organize" do I find in the
concordance.

Second, "perfected in
organization" is an expression strongly suggestive of human activity
looking towards such a result. The inference is that some local churches may
not be "perfected in organization." Unless God acts directly to
"perfect" its organization, there being no apostles to establish
elders today, what remains—if official elders are to be had— but for the local
church to take things into its own hands and appoint them? And this is
precisely what is done habitually in the realm where the Scofield Bible editors
moved. A business meeting is held; balloting takes place; the person or persons
receiving the required number of votes is (or are) elected; thereafter such are
considered to be what the Bible calls "elders." Not that there is
uniformity, however, among "all the evangelical bodies,"
representative leaders from among which approved the "definitions." A
Methodist "bishop" is over many churches; while an "elder"
is the so-called pastor of a local church. The Scofield "helps,"
however, provide for this action of the local church in "perfecting"
its organization. The note on page 1285 advises that "in Titus and 1
Timothy the qualifications of an elder become part of the Scriptures for the
guidance of the churches in such appointment" (1 Tim. 3:7).

Thus Scripture is read into the
organization arrangement of our day in the midst of which these editors moved;
consciences are quieted which might become concerned about the confusion that
exists over this matter as well as others.

The fact of the matter is that
it is now impossible to establish official elders as a very interesting series
of papers, found in volume No. 4 of Collected Writings of J. N. Darby, makes
clear. The impossibility consists in the fact that no authority now exists
which is competent to constitute them official. It remains, however, that the
unselfish labors of spiritual men who have "elders’" hearts may be,
ought to be, and are found to be, apart from any claim or desire, thought of as
"official" elders in scriptural gatherings. I pray daily for such.

I would add that this
"organization" idea is by no means confined to that which
"perfects" it, according to the Scofield note, in the societies with
which these editors identified themselves. Organized bodies of various kinds
abound among them. And Scripture is appealed to in the expectation of divine
blessing upon them all.

If we endorse the Scofield
Reference Bible, I suppose we could scarcely reject its idea that it presents
"the whole teaching of Scripture" on the Church. That teaching,
accordingly, brings "organization" into the local gathering. We had
thought the Holy Spirit was sufficient.

If we endorse this treatment, we
ought to take it seriously, and let it have its effect upon our consciences. It
might be difficult, indeed, to find an "intelligent use" for
"the whole teaching of Scripture" about the Assembly in a time long
after "the primitive church order disappeared"—especially if that
primitive church order was also according to the teaching of Scripture; but
surely, we ought to "organize"!

Then we must unlearn the things
that have put us where we are. We must build again the things we have
destroyed. We must go back to "the camp." The "helps" seem
to be lacking at Hebrews 13:13 and 2 Timothy 2:22. (To be continued.)

FRAGMENT You may be separated
from loved ones by distance; oceans may roll between you and someone whom you
love much. You wonder whether they are in spiritual, mental, and physical
health. "Is it well with them?" your heart asks. "Let not your
heart be troubled." Remember the words of David in Psalm 139:8-10:
"If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there …. If I take the wings of
the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy
hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." The omnipresent God is
where your loved ones are, and He is a very present help in trouble.

"Many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4).

This verse is very commonly
applied as if present day transportation, cars, fast trains, jet aircraft, and
outer space rocket ships were the answer to running "to and fro." The
great emphasis upon education all over the world and corresponding technological
advances are esteemed as fulfilling the last part of the verse, "knowledge
shall be increased." The two seem to go together as evident signs of
"the last days."

While fully agreeing that we are
living in the closing moments of the day of grace, we are not at all persuaded
that the Spirit of Christ in Daniel was signifying any such thoughts as the
above about running "to and fro" or "knowledge [being]
increased."

The Lord told Jeremiah,
"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem" (Jer. 5:1). Again
in Amos 8:12 we read, "they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the
Lord, and shall not find it." Now these examples suggest not so much a
hurrying and scurrying of human activity but rather give us the thought of a
diligent investigation:Jeremiah was to run "to and fro" or simply to
diligently search Jerusalem to see "if there be any that executeth
judgment, that seeketh the truth." Through Amos, God was speaking of the
days when "I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:and they shall wander
from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro
[diligently investigate] to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find
it" (Amos 8:11, 12). But the angel who was speaking to Daniel said,
"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the
time of the end:many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased" (Dan. 12:4).

Amos was told of the hopeless
condition when God’s sore displeasure was yet upon Israel. Then even by running
to and fro or diligently searching the Scriptures, the meaning would be beyond
their grasp because of the God-sent famine of such knowledge. The book was then
sealed to their understanding. But in Daniel the book was to be sealed
"even to the time of the end." When that end time arrives, which is
yet future for Israel, they "shall diligently investigate" (per
footnote JND trans.) and "knowledge shall be increased." This
increase of knowledge has to do with the righteous of that coming day entering,
at last, into the true meaning of the Scriptures. Running "to and
fro" therefore is referring simply to making a diligent search of the
Scriptures which at the "time of the end" will be rewarded by an
increase in knowledge of the word of the Lord. We are persuaded that it has no
application at all to present day discoveries through research or higher
learning any more than running "to and fro" pertains to our speedy
travel and communications.

The present infatuation with
man’s mental powers and learning is alluded to by the Apostle Paul when he
wrote, "This know, that in the last days difficult times shall be there;
for men shall be … always learning, and never able to come to [the] knowledge
of [the] truth" (2 Tim. 3:1,7 JND). God speaks thus of "the last
days" in which we now live. Perhaps facts are accumulated and volumes of
research are compiled, but all these efforts do not bring men one bit closer to
"the truth" of our Lord Jesus Christ nor increase what our God calls
true "knowledge."

We are in the last days to be
sure. It becomes us all the more to rightly divide the word of truth, avoiding
such fanciful interpretations of Scripture as we have examined. Job was the
Lord’s, but he was still rebuked for "[darkening] counsel by words without
knowledge" (Job 38:2). Let us heed the admonition.

The supremacy and sovereignty of
God in His Assembly is much pressed in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. We read in
verse 28 how "God hath set some in the church." If in verse 4 Paul
talks of "diversities of gifts," then in verse 6 he says, "It is
the same God which worketh all in all." Evidently in Corinth (and I do not
think, beloved brethren, Corinth was the only place where the tendency came
out, if I know the history of the Church of God, whether in days gone by or in
our own) there was the working of the human will and mind, and a desire on the
part of some to have a place of importance. Manifestly there was no desire on
the part of Paul or Apollos to take this place, but there was the endeavor on
the part of some foolish men to put either them or others in such a place. (See
chap. 4:5, 6, 7.) Notice how the apostle slays all this factionary work.
"It is the same God that worketh all in all." He would slay
all schism, and division, and school, and party of every kind. If it is a
question of the Body it is not Paul or Apollos but, "Now hath God set the
members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him" (ver. 18).

If I think of the Church as it
is presented here in Corinth, I see that God has set the members in the Body
according to His own will. Do you know, beloved brother, why you are where you
are? why you are located just where you are? If there be true subjection to God
and subservience to Him, you will feel and own that you are in the spot where
it has pleased God to set you, and that is everything. The moment I see that
God has set that brother in his place, and this one in his, I am content and
say, ‘Thank God for that servant and his ministry!" It is his place, not
mine. So, if I am right I neither emulate nor ape it, being just satisfied with
my own place and niche in the Body (ver. 24). "God has tempered the body
together. . . ." God has arranged all, for we read again, "God hath
set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers" (ver. 28). Here we have not a complete list of gifts, for that
we do not get anywhere in Scripture. We have some gifts mentioned in Romans 12,
others in Ephesians 4, and many here, but not in any case a complete and
detailed list. In each passage the gifts named are seen to be in connection
with the special truth the Spirit of God is bringing before the saints at the
moment.

Here it is striking to observe
that the list includes no evangelist. The reason is not difficult to
understand. The apostle is instructing the saints about their coming together
and the order of the Assembly before the Lord, and it is not there that the gift
of the evangelist is in exercise. I feel strongly that the evangelist is of the
Assembly and belongs to it. No evangelist is working according to the truth
unless he is working in conjunction and, if possible, in whole-hearted
fellowship with the Assembly. Then he naturally helps his converts to gravitate
towards the Assembly. In the apostle’s days that was a natural thing and the
convert was like a fish out of water if he did not get among the saints. In the
Assembly was the power of the Spirit:there the Spirit reigned while outside
darkness and the devil reigned. Today in the divided state of things which
marks Christendom, it is very different and I think an evangelist ought to be
very careful in urging reception of his converts by the Assembly. For myself I
am very careful how I seek to introduce any who profess to have been blessed by
my ministry. I think my brethren are far better able to judge than I am myself
of my work. This is a most important principle and I think I see it in
Scripture, that is, in Acts 8 where Philip went down to Samaria. Philip is the
only man in Scripture called "the evangelist," and a fine
warm-hearted fellow he was, a real fisher of men. He caught a great many fish
in Samaria, and he thought he had caught a great fish when Simon the sorcerer
professed to believe and was baptized. Philip would have brought him into the
Assembly if the Lord in His grace had not sent down Peter and John to detect
him and keep him out.

It is a
great thing for the Assembly to be exercised about the reception of souls who
confess the Lord. I would like to add a little word with regard to the
responsibility of the saints generally in regard to the reception of souls
desiring fellowship in the breaking of bread. This is far too often left to the
two or three who may commend such. It is necessary, and very nice that they
should be commended, but we ought to have in our souls more distinctly the
sense that it is the Assembly that receives, as it is the Assembly who may have
to dismiss or put away. If the saints were more exercised as to this it would
be greatly for the profit of the Assembly, and tend toward practical
fellowship. Let us remember it is God’s Assembly, and may all things be done
"decently and in order," for His name’s sake.

In Ephesians 2:18, Jew and
Gentile are together before the Father in communion. The unity of the Spirit
begins here, but it goes a good deal further.

The three great principles of
the unity of the Spirit are these:first, the new man; second, access by one
Spirit to the Father; third, builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit.

The unity of the Spirit is the
power of the Spirit which keeps saints in the realization of what their
relationship is to all other saints, and when fully carried out, this secures
the realization or manifestation of the one body on earth.

The unity of the Spirit is an
abstract idea, and the difficulty comes from making it an absolute fact. The
unity of the Spirit is shown when your mind and mine go on together with the
mind of the Spirit. When we do not see together, the unity of the Spirit is not
realized, but one would not say it is broken. If you and I are quarreling, we
are not acting in the unity of the Spirit.

But, apart from all
ecclesiastical questions or ideas, I am to go on with you; I am to forbear with
you in love. Then the unity of the Spirit is kept on my part, whatever it is on
yours. (This to no way sets aside assembly discipline and corresponding
shunning by saints when conduct or doctrine may require such action. Love may
be displayed in different ways but, "By this we know that we love the
children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments" (1 John
6:8).) Two godly Baptists might be morally endeavoring to keep the unity of the
Spirit, but they have also broken it by being strict Baptists. Taking the unity
of the Spirit in its completeness, you cannot separate it from "the one
body." The "bond of peace" is the result of walking as Christ
walked.

Unity is the power of the Spirit
down here when God’s mind and yours are all in one. Abstractedly, I understand
the unity of the Spirit to be God’s mind.

Walking according to the Spirit
can be done individually, but for the unity of the Spirit there must be walking
with others.

The unity of the body cannot be
touched, for the Holy Ghost unites to Christ all those who have been baptized
by the Holy Ghost, that is, received Him, and they are members of the one body.
It is the unity of the Spirit we have to keep:that is to walk in that power of
the Spirit which keeps us in unity on the earth, and that needs
"endeavoring.