Call Thy people back, O Lord,
As in the early days,
When love was warm, and fresh, and bright,
When first we knew Thy grace;
When first Thy light broke through our night,
And set our hearts ablaze.
Lord, call us back!

Call Thy people back, O Lord,
To that simplicity
Which marked Thy servants long ago;
Our yearning hearts would be
Full satisfied with Thee, although
The world against us be.
Lord, call us back!

From the many paths unmeet
Our wayward feet have trod,
From foolish words, and willful ways,
Yea, turn us back, O God,
Afresh to taste Thy love and grace,
Else Thou must use Thy rod.
Lord, turn us back!

Call Thy loved ones back, O Lord,
From toilsome paths and steep;
From bearing burdens, all Thine own,
Which only makes us weep,
The while we moan, and toil alone,
And only sorrow reap.
Lord, call us back!

Call us back from hearts cast down,
And, oh, afresh inspire
Our souls to seek Thee more and more;
To burn with deep desire,
Till hearts o’erflow, and faces glow
With holy, ardent fire.
Lord, call us back!

Call us back to those sweet days
When hearts were knit as one,
When prayer was as the breath of life;
Ere we were so undone,
Ere souls were rife with endless strife;
For Jesus’ sake, Thy Son,
Lord, call us back!

Broken is the remnant, Lord,
And difficult the day;
What shame and sorrow cover us,
Our tears oft dim the way;
The tide runs high, Thy coming’s nigh,
Our hearts are loath to stay;
Lord, take us home!

It has often been noticed that the First Epistle to Timothy instructs the man of God as to
the conduct that becomes him as belonging to the house of God; the second epistle, on
the other hand, is instruction that is to govern him in respect to the confusion and
disorder in the house of God that have resulted from not heeding the apostle’s
exhortation. This Second Epistle to Timothy has special importance in connection with
the times in which we live. Let us consider a few thoughts as to this epistle.

First, I think we need to get a clearer understanding of what the apostle means when he
says, "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder,
I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon" (1 Cor. 3:10). Was his
thought that he, in the first century of the Christian era, had laid the foundation; that
the second-century builders would add a story to it; and that in each succeeding century
another story would be built, until now we are building the twentieth-century story? If
such has been our conception, we have wholly missed his idea, or rather, the idea of
the Spirit in him. What the apostle really expressed is this:"I have given form to the
Church fundamentally. I have, by the truth given me to administer, formed the Church
in its internal character and its external order. I have ordained its government and
discipline; I have appointed its internal arrangements. The form and character which I
have given to it by the entire range of the truth, of which I have been made minister,
abides. No man can lay a different foundation. Others are to carry it on in the form I
have given it. They are not to modify either its internal character or external order.
They are not to make any change in any of its arrangements. To do this is to add
excrescences* to it. I have formed it to be ‘the epistle of Christ’ (2 Cor. 3:3). Any
addition to my foundation_to that character and form I have given to the Church_will
be a display of man, not of Christ. It will be work that will be in vain, for only what is
of Christ will abide. Let those, then, who are charged with the responsibility of
carrying on my foundation take heed how they build in connection with it." This is
plainly the apostle’s meaning.

(*This graphic word_rarely used today_means, "an abnormal or disfiguring
outgrowth or addition.” Ed.)

In this understanding of the statement, "I have laid the foundation," I affirm that the
truth of God with respect to the Church abides; and when we speak of "ruins," we are
not to be understood as meaning that the Church, either in its internal character or
external order, has passed away. What we mean is this:the not minding the exhortation
to take heed to build in connection with the apostle’s foundation has brought in results
which make it difficult to recognize the Church amid all the excrescences that have
been built onto it. Paul’s ecclesiastical system abides; it has not broken down.
Additions have been built onto it. These additions have made confusion. They are
disorder. This disorder is what we mean when we speak of "ruins."

We hear it said sometimes that the one body of Christ is a fact subsisting all the time,

no matter what human confusion there may be as to it. So, too, it is said that the house
of God as built by the Spirit is ever a subsisting fact, in spite of the human confusion.
Both statements are true, but it is not all the truth. It is equally true, and necessary to
affirm, that the Church’s external order_that order given to it by the apostle under
divine guidance and sanction_is ever a subsisting fact. Its divine government and
discipline are ever a subsisting fact. This is true even though it is not always
recognized.

Let us now turn to 2 Timothy 2:19-22. In this epistle we find the wisdom of the Spirit
for our guidance in circumstances which are the result of failure in building in
connection with Paul’s foundation. Innumerable excrescences have been built onto it.
There is difficulty in recognizing the original pattern and form; yet we are told that the
foundation of God is "firm," and "stands." The house of God abides, is a subsisting
fact. It exists, and can have no other internal character and external form than God
gave to it at the beginning. Its government_its discipline_abides. All the human
additions to it have not altered this, although the difficulty of recognizing it is great.

What a comfort to be assured that the foundation of God is firm, and that the Lord
knows His own, and sees them not only as in Christ, but in the collective relationship
He has given to them as His Church. Now we must ask, does that fact make any
demands upon us? If it does, what are they? The apostle must tell us. He says, "Let
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." If the foundation of
God remains, its claim on us is that we should be still carrying it on. But to do this we
must depart from iniquity. We must turn away from all the human excrescences that
have been added to the original foundation. We must "cease to do evil" and "learn to
do well." Let us seek to realize what is here pressed upon us. If apostolic truth assures
us of the faithfulness of the Lord, it demands faithfulness from us. Are we, then,
prepared to be faithful to the truth God gave at the beginning? Are we ready to carry
out that truth practically? Let us own it as our responsibility. May God give us the
purpose of heart to honestly respond to the claims the truth has upon us.

But suppose now we start to put into practice the truth of God as it was revealed at the
first. We are resolved to own the Church in its internal character and external order as
this was delivered to the saints by the apostle. We have formed the purpose to maintain
the government and discipline the apostle ordained for the Church. Well, will we find
any peculiar difficulties_difficulties special to the circumstances in which we are? We
surely will. Alas, how much has come in since apostolic times! Not only have
unregenerate men been recognized as belonging to Paul’s foundation, not only has
worldliness been allowed, but clerisy, legality, formalism, ecclesiasticism,
individualism, sectarianism, and a host of similar things. In the great house_the house
as man has built it_there is a great mixture:the saved and the unsaved are associated
together; scripture doctrines and the doctrines of men commingle. There are in it, both
in persons and things, vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor. "Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity" demands of me to separate myself
from things as well as persons. It is not alone from unsaved persons I must separate,

but also from sectarianism, formalism, ecclesiasticism, individualism, and the like, that
are not of the Spirit of God, are not a part of Paul’s foundation.

Suppose, then, I start in to separate myself from clerisy; shall I find any beside
unregenerate persons identified with it? Are there any real saints connected with it?
Alas, how many! But must I separate myself from them? Here is a difficulty peculiar to
the circumstances in which we are. Here is an excrescence that has been added onto
Paul’s foundation, and there are not only unsaved persons but real saints involved in it.
It has been asked, Where is there any scripture for separation from saints? There is no
scripture for separation from saints simply as saints; but if saints are involved in evils,
separation from these evils involves separation from them. If this is not so, then one’s
hands are hopelessly tied to what is evil, to iniquity; and here is a scripture, which the
Spirit of God has given us for our guidance, that is impossible for us to obey. If then
there are iniquities that saints are linked with, I must separate from them if I obey, "Let
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

But we are told that the word "purge" in the expression, "If a man therefore purge
himself from these," and in the one other case of its use elsewhere in this form (1 Cor.
5:7), is a divine call to self-judgment, not to judge others. An assertion is not proof. All
the facts are against this assertion. In 1 Cor. 5:7 the word is in the plural, not singular.
Then too, the apostle is not addressing saints as individuals, but he is writing to a
company. He is addressing them in then-collective capacity. Again, the word "lump"
refers to the company, not the individual. The leaven is to be purged out of the
company. The lump, looked at according to what it has been divinely constituted, is
holy; therefore it is responsible to see to it that its practical fellowship be holy. The
company, divinely constituted holy, in order to preserve itself in its holy character,
must not allow unholy ways in those who form the company. Hence they are told to
purge out the leaven, to put away the wicked person from among themselves. However
necessary self-judgment is, that is not putting away from among ourselves the wicked
person.

Let us look now at the use of the term "purge" in 2 Tim. 2:19-22. It is clear that the
thought of association is in the apostle’s mind. Vessels to honor and vessels to dishonor
are associated together in the great house; and this is true whether we speak of persons
or things, as we have already seen. Now he says, "Let every one that nameth the name
of Christ depart from iniquity." We are gravely told that we must not make iniquity
mean the children of God. Who does? Who ever did? Is it denied that any children of
God are involved in iniquity? If they are, how can I depart from iniquity in such cases
unless I purge myself from them? Are they then vessels to dishonor? According to what
they have been divinely constituted, they are vessels to honor, but according to their
practice they are vessels to dishonor. Their participation in iniquity makes them
practically vessels to dishonor. Obedience to "Let every one that nameth the name of
Christ depart from iniquity" requires that we should purge ourselves from them. And
only so is it possible to preserve the foundation, laid by the apostle, from human
excrescences.

If now I have submitted to "depart from iniquity," if I have purged myself from the
vessels to dishonor, have I met my full responsibility? Is my path now to be an
individual one? No. Individualism is a vessel to dishonor. If I am to be a vessel
serviceable to the Master, I must separate from this also, I must look for and find those
who "call on the Lord out of a pure heart." I must return to apostolic associations. I
must assemble with those who hold to and practice apostolic truth.

But two questions are asked us. First, Are only separated brethren used in ministry?
The question is thought to be unanswerable, but the answer to it is simple. Those
brethren who have separated themselves from all false systems of teaching on
justification, and who teach only the doctrine of Scripture on that subject, are
serviceable to the Master in ministry as regards that doctrine; but if they have not
separated themselves from all false systems of teaching on church government and
discipline, they cannot be serviceable to the Master in ministry on this subject. Do we
not want to be serviceable to the Master in ministry on every truth? Ought we not to be
ready to minister the whole truth _all that God has revealed? To be at the Master’s
disposal in this way, we need to get back to the foundation laid in apostolic times. We
need to free ourselves from all the human excrescences that have been added to it.

Again, it has been asked, "Do not all saints equally call on the name of the Lord out of
a pure heart?" As is well known, the word is "unmixed," or, "unadulterated." We
should read then, "unmixed," or, "undivided" heart. How many hearts are divided
between Christianity and some ecclesiastical system! how many between Scripture and
theology! No, it is not true that all saints equally call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
The human additions to the apostle’s foundation have a large place in the hearts of
many. It is this that constitutes them in practice "vessels to dishonor." It is this that
makes it necessary to separate from them, if we desire to own and practice only
apostolic truth.

May God teach us to value His truth. May He work in our hearts the sense of the
claims which the truth He has given us has upon our obedience. May it displace in our
hearts every other object, every other interest, so that we shall indeed call upon the
Lord with single, undivided hearts!

There are few terms in such common use and so little understood as "fellowship." In
numberless cases, it merely indicates the fact of a nominal membership in some
religious denomination_a fact which furnishes no guarantee of living communion with
Christ, or personal devotedness to His cause. If all who are nominally "in fellowship"
were acquitting themselves thoroughly as men of God, what a very different condition
of things we should be privileged to witness!

But what is fellowship? It is, in its very highest expression, having one common object
with God, and taking part in the same portion; and that object, that portion, is Christ
_Christ known and enjoyed through the Holy Spirit. This is fellowship with God.
What a privilege! To be allowed to have a common object and portion with God
Himself! To delight in the One in whom He delights! There can be nothing more
precious than this. Not even in heaven itself shall we reach a higher level than this.

It is only as we walk in the light, that we can have fellowship one with another. We
read, "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
We can only have fellowship one with another as we walk in the immediate presence of
God. There may be a vast amount of mere sociability without one particle of divine
fellowship. A great deal of what passes for Christian fellowship is nothing more than
the merest religious gossip. True Christian fellowship can only be enjoyed in the light.
It is when we are individually walking with God, in the power of personal communion,
that we really have fellowship one with another; and this fellowship consists in real
heart enjoyment of Christ as our one object, our common portion. It is not heartless
traffic in certain favorite doctrines which we receive to hold in common. It is not
merely sympathy with those who feel as we do about some favorite theory or dogma. It
is something quite different from all this. It is delighting in Christ, in common with all
those who are walking in the light. It is attachment to Him, to His Person, His Name,
His Word, His cause, His people. It is joint consecration of heart and soul to that
blessed One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and brought
us into the light of God’s presence, there to walk with Him and with one another. This,
and nothing less, is Christian fellowship; and where this is really understood, it will
lead us to pause and consider what we say when we declare, in any given case, "such
an one is in fellowship."

(From "The Man of God" in Miscellaneous Writings, Volume 3.)

"Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the
saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers" (Eph.
1:15,16). This is a very important word in judging of our love. We are all apt to form a
circle even among the saints of God_to have those whom we prefer, those who suit us
best, whose thoughts, feelings, habits, are more or less the same as our own, or, at
least, are no great trial to us. But, then, this is not love to the saints. There is more love
to ourselves in it than love to them. The flesh likes what is agreeable to us_what does
not cause us pain, what is, perhaps, a gratification to the amiabilities of nature. All that
may exist where there is really no exercise of the new nature, no mighty power of the
Spirit of God working in our hearts. We have always to test our souls and ask how we
stand in this. Is the prominent motive and object of our hearts the Lord Jesus? Is it with
Him and for Him that we think of and feel toward all the saints?

I fully admit that love toward the saints cannot, and ought not, to take the same shape
toward all. It must be in the energy and intelligence of the Spirit, varied according to
the call upon love. While one ought to love even a person who is under discipline, it
would be a very great mistake to suppose that your love must be shown in the same
way as if he were not. You do not cease to love him; indeed you never are in a position
and spirit to exercise discipline with the Lord where there is not love. There may be
righteous hatred of the sin, but real love to the person. It would be better to wait upon
God if it be not so in our hearts, till we can take it up in the spirit of divine grace.
There must be, of course, a dealing in righteousness; but even in dealing with one’s
child there ought not to be such a thing as chastening it in a passion. Anything that
merely arises out of a sudden impulse is not a feeling that glorifies God about evil.
Therefore, in cases of discipline there ought to be self-judgment, and great patience
too, unless it be something so flagrant that to hesitate about it would be culpable
weakness, or want of decision and jealousy for God; for there are some sins so
offensive to God and to man that they ought, if we are sensitive to His holiness, to be
met with grave energy on the very spot. God would have the arena of the sin to be the
scene of its judgment according to His will.

Suppose something is done in the public assembly, say, flagrantly false doctrine
propounded in the midst of God’s people. If there were the power of God, and a heart
for His rights, it might be due to His majesty to deal with it without delay. This is
sufficiently plain from the Word of God. In Acts 5, where we read of a case of direct
hypocrisy and lying against God, we find the promptness of the Holy Spirit, through
the apostle, in the very presence of the Church, in judging those who attempted to
practice fraud. I deny there was want of love in this; rather it was the necessary
accompaniment of divine love acting through the might of the Holy Spirit in the
assembly, or at least by Peter as the special instrument of His power in the assembly. It
was a stern judgment, doubtless; but it was the fruit of intense desire for the saints of
God, and of horror that such a sin should get a footing and shelter among them, and the
Holy Spirit be thus grossly dishonored and grieved.

But in ordinary cases the same love would wait, and let time be given for the fault to be
owned and repented of. In nine cases out of ten, mistakes arise from precipitancy,
because we are apt to be jealous for our own reputation. O how little have we realized
that we are crucified and dead with Christ! We feel the scandal, or something that
affects the public mind:this is not the power of the Holy Spirit, but the selfish egoism
that is at work in our hearts. We do not like to lose our character, or to share the
sorrow and shame of Christ in those who bear His name. Not, of course, that one
would make light of what is wrong:that never could be right about anything either
great or small. We ought never to justify the least wrong, whether in ourselves or in
others, but accustom our souls to the habitual clearing of the name of the Lord, even if
it be about a hasty word. If we begin to be careless about little offences, there is
nothing to preserve us from great sins but the mere mercy of God. If love unto all the
saints were working in our hearts, there would be less haste.

We easily perceive different measures of attainment, both in knowledge and grace, in
the churches of old. For example, the elevation of the church at Ephesus was much
above that at Corinth. At Corinth the apostle Paul had to occupy himself with the
corruption of various errors and abuses, and was thus hindered from bringing out to the
disciples the strong and rich meat of the Word. He kept from them that "hidden
wisdom" which he had in store for the "perfect," because they were "carnal . . . babes
in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1). But at Ephesus his course was free. He had not to stop in order
to correct abuses and errors, but could go on to feed the church with wisdom and
knowledge, and reveal to them "the mystery" or "hidden wisdom" which he had to
keep back from the saints at Corinth (Eph. 3). At Corinth, the Holy Spirit, by the
apostle, had to take care of their own things, and show them to them for correction; but
at Ephesus He could do His more blessed work of taking of the things of Christ and
showing them to them for edification and comfort.

Thus, in distinguishing the condition of these two churches, I might say that the priest
was trimming the lamp at Corinth, using the golden snuffers there for correction of
evil; while at Ephesus he was feeding the lamp, pouring in fresh oil for the filling and
brightening of it with increase of light and grace.

The other churches under the care of Paul occupied, I judge, certain standings between
Corinth and Ephesus; that is, they did not call for the same measure of rebuke as
Corinth, nor did they stand so much beyond the necessity of all personal notice as
Ephesus. In the epistles to the other churches we discern a mixed action of feeding and
trimming the lamps. Indeed, I might class the churches in Galatia with that at Corinth,
for there such error had entered that the apostle had little to do but to correct and
rebuke it. But in the epistles to Rome, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica, we see the
apostle applying himself both to the evil and the good that was among the saints there.

Thus we clearly discern different conditions in the grace and knowledge of the different
churches. And all these things happened unto them for examples, and are written for
our admonition and our learning (1 Cor. 10:11, Rom. 15:4). We may thank God that
we have His own inspired answer to so many anxieties and questions that might arise in
our hearts while walking one with another.

We have already noticed that the apostle withheld from the Corinthians the revelation
of the mystery which he so fully makes known to the Ephesians. This shows how
unwarranted the requirement is that the minds of all the disciples should be found
exactly according to one measure and standing before the fellowship of the church can
be allowed or administered. I can imagine that if a member of the church at Ephesus
had visited Corinth, he would have found them so concerned with questions and strifes
which had never troubled him or his brethren at home as might have left him in doubt
respecting them. And one going from Corinth to Ephesus would have found them so
occupied with such truth which he had never heard of at home that he might have

suspected, in modern language, that they were all in the clouds at Ephesus. I can thus
suppose, from measures of light and attainment in Christ, that they well might have not
known what to do.

I believe we see among the saints at present what we thus might have seen among the
churches of old. We have our Ephesian and Corinthian difficulties still. The truths
received by some disciples are treated as mere speculation by others, and the condition
of some is low and doubtful. The large and blessed mind of God, which filled the
apostle, could of old survey them all and provide for them all; could feed them at
Ephesus and trim them at Corinth. But we are weak and narrow hearted; and the only
result commonly is to walk in mutual distance and suspicion. Thus we do not
understand one another’s speech and we are scattered. On the other hand, it is better to
be scattered than to be brought together on the terms of any bond short of God’s own
bond in the Holy Spirit. Whereto we have already attained, in that let us walk by the
same rule, hoping for more. But let us not force beyond that by any fleshly compacts.
The fear of God must not be taught by the commandment of men.

In connection with this, I would notice the state of Job and his three friends, for I
believe that it illustrates the same thing which this state of the churches does. Job could
not understand the truth which was in their thoughts, nor could they allow that which
he had of God’s mind in his. They were all but partially in the light, and, through the
remainder of darkness that was in them, they mistook the way and jostled each other.
The correction lay only in God, and in the end He applied it. They were all
accepted_God proved Himself the adequate Healer of all their divisions, as He will,
by-and-by, join the whole of the heavenly family in one body in the mansions on high,
and unite the two sticks of Ephraim and Judah in the earth below.

The largeness of the mind of God contains the remedy, but nothing else does. That
mind may express itself forth from the whirlwind, or by the ministry of an apostle; but
however that be, it bears the remedy with it. The Lord who can with one hand separate
the chaff from the wheat, with the other can gather up all the scattered grains that are
now strewing His field in shameful disorder, and find room in His garner for them all.

And this comforts while it admonishes. It is not that we are to confound the chaff with
the wheat. It is as much of the Spirit of God to say, "If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema," as to say, "Grace be with all them that love our
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." It is as much of the testimony of God to say, "He that
hath not the Son of God hath not life," as to say, "He that hath the Son hath Me"_"If
any man preach any other gospel . . . let him be accursed."

But still let us know there have been different measures of attainment among the saints,
and let our personal and individual care be so to walk in light and grace ourselves as
not to give occasion either to the enemy to speak reproachfully or to our brethren to
speak doubtfully of us. Let us have our hearts and consciences in lively exercise before
God with a purpose to follow our light, lead us where it may, in the grace and fear of

the Lord. When these are the springs of the personal movement and course of each of
us, we have, though in many things differently minded, the materials of both safe and
blessed communion.

Jonathan is usually thought of in connection with his friendship with David; in fact, the
names David and Jona-used together have become synonymous with close friends.

David may have been still a teenager when he killed Goliath, since he was not a part of
Saul’s army. (An Israelite man was considered eligible for military service at age
twenty, Num. 1:3.) Jonathan was older than David since he had been active in the
service of his father for some time.

Jonathan initiated the friendship with David. It would not have been in order for David,
a young shepherd, to make overtures to the king’s eldest son. What characteristics in id
attracted Jonathan and caused his soul to be "knit the soul of David"? (1 Sam. 18:1).
He saw a hand-e, strong, courageous young man. These attributes made David popular
with the people; but Jonathan saw more than that in David. He saw a young man who
trusted Jehovah completely and who was willing to put his life in His hands. Jonathan
also had this kind of faith, which he had displayed when he went up to the camp of the
Philistines (1 Sam. 14). It was this shared trust in God and willingness to accept His
will which bound Jonathan and David so closely together.

True friendship can occur only between people who share the same basic philosophy of
life and the same moral convictions. For the Christian this means that he can only have
true friendship with other Christians. If a person desires to commit every aspect of his
life to the Lord, then he will find true friendship only with other people whose
desires are the same. “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and
what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?" (2 6:14, 15). Many a Christian has
suffered spiritual loss and sometimes spiritual disaster because of a poor choice of
friends.

I am not saying that we should refuse all social contact with the unsaved. But to spend a
great deal of time in company with the unsaved is profitless unless much of that time
can be spent in presenting Christ to them; and to enter into worldly amusements and
activities with the unsaved is dangerous for both the Christian and the non-Christian.
Such activities tend to divert the Christian’s mind and affections from Christ and they
divert the non-Christian’s mind from his need of salvation. Besides this, when a
Christian joins with an unsaved person in worldly activities, this gives the latter a false
sense of security.

The devoted Christian will value friendship and communion with others of like mind,
but he will never let these relationships overshadow his friendship with the Lord Jesus.
He is the only perfect Friend. He is always interested in us. He is never "too busy" to
listen to us. He wants us to tell Him our joys and sorrows, our victories and defeats.
We can tell Him things we would not want any of our earthly friends to know. (We
cannot hide anything from Him anyway.)

He wants only our blessing and He alone has the wisdom and power to arrange every
detail of our lives in order to give us blessing. May each of us accept His will for us in
order to partake of that blessing.