In Psalm 40, the language of the One who won the mightiest victory, is that of utter dependence and
meekness. "I waited patiently .for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Me brought
me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings." This was the spirit of Jesus_"I waited on Jehovah, and He inclined unto me, and heard
my cry." No claim_perfect lowliness. And so the psalm ends as an example to us:"But I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer." It ends in this way
because His own are still in this world, in suffering. We have been called to the fellowship of God’s
Son. May we feel that we are poor and needy. Let it be sufficient that "the Lord thinketh upon us."
If the Lord of glory was poor and needy, let all pride be put to shame.

FRAGMENT. O to be but emptier, lowlier, mean, unnoticed, and unknown, And to God a vessel
holier, filled with Christ and Christ alone.

In our meditations in our last article we were leading up to the principal truths that we had before
us at the last conference at Queen. We saw that the times in which we are now living, in connection
with the Church’s history, are similar in character to those regarding Jerusalem at the time when
Nehemiah was in Shush an the palace .

The tidings brought to him by one of his brethren told of a condition that existed then and which we
now see all around us today_RUIN. This saddened Nehemiah as he could go back in his thoughts
to better things in connection with the place he loved, the place where God had set His Name and
the place that was dear to every sober-minded Israelite. As with Nehemiah, so it is with every truly
born again child of God. As we look around us we see the havoc that has been made and is still being
made by Satan himself, the arch enemy of our blessed Lord. We, like Nehemiah, are thus brought
to the place where we realize the absolute necessity of turning to our God for the much needed
wisdom to act in the right way, the way which will bring honor and glory to His precious Name.

The right way is our second thought_HUMILIATION. In chapters 1-3 the RUIN is mentioned. "The
wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire." Now
HUMILIATION is brought out in chapter one, verse four, "I sat down and wept, and mourned certain
days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven". This should search our hearts as we view
the condition around us now. They are heartrending indeed. One can only say that this is so because
of the lack of a sense of personal interest and responsibility in those things which are vital to the
bearing of a good testimony for Him and of Him "who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good
confession".

Such laxity being verily true, brings us to our next thought which is a must if we are to be faithful
and that is_CONFESSION. We read in verses six and seven of chapter one, I "confess the sins of
the children of Israel (the Fellowship), which we have sinned against thee:both I (personal) and my
father’s house (collective) have sinned". We need to be wholly cast upon Him in these days of sad
failure and departure in order that He might grant us "a little reviving" as He did in this case. In
chapter two, verse eight, we have_ "the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God
upon me". Then in verse eighteen of the same chapter we have _ "I told them of the hand of my
God which was good upon me . . .". In verse twenty "we his servants will arise and build:but ye have
no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem".

All these things working together gives us our next thought_RESTORATION, which should be an
encouragement to us all in times like these. How good of Himself to show us these things from His
word and to allow us to share them one with the other. May it be ours to be fellow-workers together
along these lines while we are left here. As we go on with our musings arid exercises in this
wonderful book we get many precious thoughts. If these thoughts are practical in our lives,
wonderful indeed would be their effect upon us individually and upon those we may be privileged
to have fellowship with in our sojourn here below. We have at all times to be on the watchtower as
the enemy is never asleep.

As we come over to the last chapter we read of some awful things that were allowed to come in.

Verses fifteen to twenty-six give us our next thought and truly we are made more and more
conscious each day of the CORRUPTION * that is all around us.

* God is ever seeking to"take forth the precious from the vile" (see Jer.15:19)

May we be more alert and faithful in seeking, like Nehemiah of old, to exercise the spirit and the
right of our next thought_CORRECTION. Nehemiah says in verse twenty -eight "therefore I chased
him from me".

Thus when in faithfulness to Him we act according to His word we will certainly have for our own
comfort and consolation the next and last thought _ the SATISFACTION of knowing that in some
measure we have done something for Him who has done so much for us. See what Nehemiah says
in the last two verses. Because he had endeavored to be faithful, and saw some fruit of his labors,
he could add "Remember me, O my God, for good". Yes, let us by His grace humble ourselves in
His presence, remembering the exhortation of Paul when he says to the believer "not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think", and "not he that commendeth himself is approved, but
whom the Lord commendeth".

Going back over the thoughts that we have been considering they are respectively RUIN,
HUMILIATION, CONFESSION, RESTORATION, CORRUPTION, CORRECTION, AND
SATISFACTION.

There is another principle, which crowns and governs and gives character to all others:it is charity,
love properly so called. This, in its root, is the nature of God Himself, the source and perfection of
every other quality that adorns Christian life. The distinction between love and brotherly love is of
deep importance; the former is indeed, as we have just said, the source whence the latter flows; but
as this brotherly love exists in mortal men, it may be mingled in its exercise with sentiments that are
merely human, with individual affection, with the effect of personal attractions, or that of habit, or
suitability in natural character. Nothing is sweeter than brotherly affections; their maintenance is of
the highest importance in the assembly, but they may degenerate, as they may grow cool; and if love,
if God, does not hold the chief place, they may displace Him_set Him aside_shut Him out. Divine
love, which is the very nature of God, directs, rules, and gives character to brotherly love; otherwise
it is that which pleases us_that is, our own heart_that governs us. If divine love governs me, I love
all my brethren; I love them because they belong to Christ; there is no partiality. I shall have greater
enjoyment in a spiritual brother; but I shall occupy myself about my weak brother with a love that
rises above his weakness and has tender consideration for it. I shall concern myself with my brother’s
sin, from love to God, in order to restore my brother, rebuking him, if needful; nor, if divine love be
in exercise, can brotherly love, or its name, be associated with disobedience. In a word, God will
have His place in all my relationships. To exact brotherly love in such a manner as to shut out the
requirements of that which God is, and of His claims upon us, is to shut out God in the most
plausible way, in order to gratify our hearts. Divine love, then, which acts according to the nature,
character, and will of God, is that which ought to direct and characterize our whole Christian walk,
and have authority over every movement of our hearts. Without this, all that brotherly love can do
is to substitute man for God. Divine love is the bond of perfectness. for it is God, who is love,
working in us .and making Himself the governing object of all that passes in the heart.

FRAGMENT. A friend love that all times, and a brother is born for adversity, Prov. 17:17.

FRAGMENT. The child may throw its arms about the father’s neck, but its clasp is weak and it
might fall, but around about and underneath the little one are clasped the father’s stronger arms, and
the child is safe.

FRAGMENT. "Behold, He that keepeth thee shall neither slumber nor sleep." As the shepherd
watches his flock by day and night, so the Almighty Keeper watches over His wayward ones.

A letter has been received raising the question "Which assembly or church is more scriptural, the
Independent Fundamental Church, or the Assembly of brethren" (so called)? The writer then
proceeds to prove that the former is the more scriptural, by laying down a number of charges as to
the assemblies of brethren, and drawing a comparison in each case with what he believes to be the
more scriptural character of the independent fundamental church.

More than a hundred years ago God recovered for His people truth that had been hidden since the
days of the apostles. This recovered truth consisted primarily of the doctrine of the "one body of
Christ", the church, united by the Spirit to the living Head in heaven; the abiding presence of the
Spirit of God in the church from the day of Pentecost; and that blessed hope, the coming of the Lord
for all His own_and related truth. In addition much light was thrown on all of scripture. Many have
rejoiced in this truth, some of which is now being challenged. With the Lord’s help I will proceed
to test these assertions by "what saith the scripture."

The writer states, first:"The assembly of brethren do not have a written constitution, but are
nevertheless bound by certain rules set forth in the Bible and each must adhere to these rules, or be
out of fellowship with the assembly."

It is true, we have no human constitution, but we do have a divine one_the Bible. It is not true,
however, that we are bound by "certain rules set forth in the Bible"; we are bound by the entire Word
of God. Neither are those put out of fellowship who do not "adhere to these rules." The amount of
light one has is not made a test of fellowship, because the scripture does not make it so. Virtually all
of Paul’s epistles were written to impart truth that was unknown and to correct error that had come
in. Paul says in Philippians, "Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:and if in. any
thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have
already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing" (Phil. 3:15,16).

Now as to the question of discipline, it would take us beyond the scope of our paper to treat this
subject in detail. However, it is clear from scripture that the church is not to permit evil men in its
midst_whether they be mere professors or children of God acting in the flesh. "Them that are
without, God judgeth," but the saints are distinctly told to "put away from among yourselves that
wicked person" (1 Cor. 5:12,13).

Putting away from among ourselves is not simply to put one out of fellowship with the assembly,
for "truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:3). The church
(assembly) is the habitation of God through the Spirit. It is the body of Christ linked by the Spirit to
its glorious Head in heaven. We owe it to the Lord Himself to preserve the holiness of His table. The
primary object before us therefore, in discipline, is the glory of God.

Secondly, the church is to approve itself "to be clear in this matter" (2 Cor. 7:11). In 1 Cor. 5:6 in
connection with moral wickedness, and Gal. 5:9 in connection with doctrinal evil, it is written "A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." We are told to "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor.5:7,8).

Thirdly, discipline is in view of recovery of the one who has erred; that by faithfully dealing with
him, he might be led to true repentance before God (2 Cor. 2:6-8).

Scriptural authority for church discipline is given in Matt. 18:18-20. "Verily I say unto you,
whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching
any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where
two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them."

Scripture teaches also that discipline does not always take the form of excommunication. Such action
is indeed the extreme measure employed when all else fails. In 1 Tim.5:20 it is said:"Them that sin
rebuke before all, that others also may fear." "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which
are spiritual, restore such an .one in the spirit of meekness" (Gal.6:1). "If any man obey not our word
by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count
him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother" (2 Thess. 3:14,15). See also Matt. 18:15-17.

Another important consideration is the spirit in which discipline is to be carried out. It is not to be
done in a spirit of pride or harshness, but is an occasion of deep sorrow and humiliation to all, and
should be carried out in a spirit of meekness "considering thyself".

The writer proceeds:"it seems easier to write out what we believe are the teachings of the Bible so
each believer can give assent to them and that will cause less confusion than if each believer in the
assembly is to interpret the Bible as he sees fit."

Although each believer is individually responsible to God, no believer has the right "to interpret the
Bible as he sees fit". This is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit who indwells each believer; He only
can guide us into all the truth_can take the things of Christ and show them to us. "Ye have an
unction from the Holy One and ye know all things." "But the anointing which ye have received of
Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you:but as the same anointing teacheth you
of all things, and is the truth, and is no lie" (1 John 2:20,27). The believer is not dependent on man
for written or oral truth, though God may use these as His instruments. Every believer, by virtue of
the new nature, has a capacity for the knowledge of the truth and a power to know it by the Spirit
which has anointed him. Written or oral ministry can call attention to the truth but not give authority
to truth. Here the Word and Spirit have their supremacy with the soul. "They, and they alone, are the
guarantee of truth," one has said. Even as to the apostles ministry, it says of the Bereans, "they
searched the scriptures daily, whether these things were so." Paul did not commend the elders at
Ephesus to a "constitution," but "to God and to the Word of His grace," and this in view of his
departure, after which grievous wolves would enter among them, and of their own selves men would

arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Depend upon it, my brethren, it
is not a "constitution" but God and the Word of His grace that can "build you up, and give you an
inheritance among all them which are sanctified" (Acts 20:27-35).

It is claimed that a "constitution" is easier, less confusing. Is God’s Word less clear, less plain-
speaking than man’s word? Does He not speak even to babes_to the unlearned? Is He our Father
and hides His mind from us? To supplement His Word with a constitution, an authoritative creed
(it is said "so each believer can give assent to them"), is in fact to supplant it. It is to say, God has
not done for us what man can do. Can any constitution written by man claim what all scripture can
claim, that it "is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16,17)? Are we not to live by every word which proceedeth out of
the mouth of God? Is it not a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path? We gather together as
members of the body of Christ, unto His Name, in the recognition of the presence and power of the
Spirit of God, and not as giving assent to certain views of truth. We endeavor to keep the unity of
the Spirit already formed, not form a new unity bound by written rules. (To be continued, D.V.)

Why should the prominent church-meeting of the New Testament (aside from the Lord’s supper)
have so little place among us? We may, call it by way of designation the "Open Meeting," as it has
often been called; open for what we may be led to _ prayer, praise, ministry, and worship. Ministry
being prominent as in 1 Cor. 14 where one had "a psalm," another "a doctrine," another "an
interpretation," and "two or three were to speak and the others to judge;" and all things were to be
done "decently and in order." But does not the necessity of giving a name of this kind to this meeting
arise from a lack of simplicity and obedience to Scripture? With simplicity and habitual yielding of
ourselves to the Spirit’s guidance would it not be a common meeting, and need no special
designation.

FRAGMENT. The importance of this meeting is that it tests us as to those principles which we
avow, as gathered to the Lord’s name.

FRAGMENT. Suggested reference material on the various meetings:The Assembly Meeting of 1
Cor. 14, E.S. Lyman, Help and Food, 1901.

The Open Meeting (l Cor.14), C. Crain, Field and Work, #35.

The Open Meeting at our Conferences, J Bloore, Help and Food, 1921.

A Divine Movement etc., F.W. Grant, pages 87-105.

Despise not Prophesyings, in Leaves from the Book, F.W. Grant.

Conferences as to the Assembly 1896, pages 20-23.

Papers on Evangelization (Letters #4-7 ), C.H. Mackintosh.

Special Meetings, Help and Food, 1927, pages 180-181.

General Meetings, E. S. Lyman, Help and Food, 1898, pages 163-167.

Sweet to look back, and see my name
In life’s fair book set down!
Sweet to look forward, and behold
Eternal Joys my own!

Sweet to reflect how grace divine
My sins on Jesus laid!
Sweet to remember how His blood
My debt of suffering paid!

Sweet to look upward to the place
Where Jesus pleads above!
Sweet to behold Him, and attend
The whispers of His love!

Sweet on His faithfulness to rest,
Whose love can never end!
Sweet on His covenant of grace
For all things to depend!

Sweet, in the confidence of faith,
To trust His firm decrees!
Sweet to lie passive in His hands,
And know no will but His!

FRAGMENT. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:I will guide thee
with Mine eye.

For some years I had felt there was something wrong. Indeed, though at times earth’s ambitions
occupied heart and hands, yet there was an aching void_a spot within_which nothing had yet
reached. The crisis had come at last. The awful truth had dawned upon me that all my past efforts
had been in vain:after all, I was only u poor, helpless, incorrigible sinner. But at the same time a
light, glorious. as it was sweet, had shined into me. It was the revelation that Jesus had done the work
which was necessary to save such a sinner. If Jesus had made propitiation for my sins I was free. And
indeed I was free, and praised God for it from the depths of my soul. Worship was no longer a form,
confined to a place or a time_it was "in spirit and in truth."

But sorrow was soon renewed. The company of God, my Father_the fellowship of Christ, my
Saviour and Lord_were the sweetest part of life now. To read the Scriptures, to sing, to pray, to
meet with them who enjoyed what I did was a hundredfold more than I had ever found in anything
in the world before. But, all of a sudden, while engaged in prayer perhaps, or reading the Scriptures,
or other holy exercises, some unholy thought, unbidden and hateful, would pass through my heart.
This startled me. The sight of Christ on the cross suffering the judgment of sin had been so vivid that
nothing now could shake the assurance of the redemption which was mine through it, but how could
I stay close to the God whose Presence I loved, with such unholy thoughts passing through me? I
could not, for I knew His holiness too well to think that He could allow that. If in prayer, I could only
leap from my knees and flee, as a poor leper would have done had he suddenly found himself in the.
Temple of Jerusalem.

What could I do now? Nature perhaps was too well fed and cared for. Starve and subdue it then, and
comfort will return. For one whole year that was tried, and with such austerity were its claims
repressed that bones once well covered now stuck out. But all was of no effect:the sin was there at
the end as at the beginning.

At the time when the case seemed hopeless I was reading the Epistle to the Colossians. Chapter three
had been reached, and the first clause of its third verse had arrested my attention. It said, "For ye are
dead." I answered "O Lord, that I might be dead, and not be distressed any more by the sin that is in
me!"

I returned to my verse, and it still said "For ye are dead." And again I uttered the same prayer to God.

Once more, and with a strange emphasis, the verse said "For ye are dead." And now the sweet light
which had broken in a year before broke in afresh. I had thought that to be "dead" was by some
special experience:now it broke upon me that it was a fact. God had put me to death in the death of
Christ, and in that death I had died once and forever. So now He could say to me "For ye are dead,"
_ not ye ought to be, as I had thought. And if I had indeed thus been put to death in and with Christ,
then had I also been raised up in and with Christ. So the first verse of my chapter spoke.

As the blessed truth of all this broke upon me, and illumined at once a vast portion of the Scriptures
_indeed their great underlying mystery_I could but exclaim, What a fool I have been! Here have
I been this long time trying to kill a man who was already dead. . Now I could stay on my knees,
keep on peacefully in all intercourse with God despite the consciousness of sin within. That sin is
the very nature of the man that God put to death on the cross of Christ _ the "old man." The painful
experience I had gone through had taught me to hate it, and made me thankful beyond expression
at such a deliverance from it. Now, free from that dreadful self, I could "serve in newness of spirit,"
and "bring forth fruit unto God.”

(From Help and Food.)

In the two wondrous gifts of His Son and His Spirit, God has given us all we need to enable us to
live on the highest plane. The Holy Spirit works to help the Christian to refuse the further reign of
self and to allow Christ to have full sway over his life by yielding to Him as Lord.

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey?" (Rom. 6:16).

THE YIELDED LIFE_WHY? To yield the life unconditionally to Christ is the first step needed for
a walk in the Spirit. Self is reluctant to relinquish anything except under compulsion. Many of us
may think that God wants things from us. God is a Person, and what He desires most is fellowship
with a person, so He wants us. He asks first that we yield ourselves.

"And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves unto the Lord." (2 Cor. 8:5)

THE YIELDED LIFE_WHAT? "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?" On
the cross through His shed blood, Christ paid the price for the possession of your life. It is His by
right of purchase. Have you delivered unto Him that which is His? Oh, how He appeals to you!

"I beseech you, therefore . . . that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto
God" (Rom. 12:1).

A noble act on the part of Daniel’s three friends was:

"They yielded their bodies, that they might not serve any God, except their own God." (Dan. 3:28)

But God goes still further; for He leaves no loop hole in the matter of yielding. He knows full well
how the beauty of a life may be marred by the unyieldedness of even one member of the body.

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:but yield yourselves unto
God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God" (Rom. 6:13.).

"Yourselves"_"Your bodies"_"Your members".

It is all inclusive. Our yielding to Christ then includes everything within:intellect, heart, will; and
everything without:home, children, business, possessions, pleasures, friendships, time, and money.
Let it be clearly understood that there should be no reservations. We may not set apart any part of
our lives and earmark it"reserved."If Christ is to be Lord, He must be Lord of all.

Yielding to Christ is a voluntary act. The Lord Jesus stands at the door of every unyielded room in
your life seeking entrance (Rev. 3:20). Oh, friends, have you allowed Christ to come into every
department of your life?

Shall we, with joy and reverence
Say, "Come in, Thou Honored Guest,
Take myself and my possessions,
I do yield to Thee my best."

"But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes which I also hate" (to Ephesus;
Rev. 2:6). "So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes which thing I hate" (to
Pergamos; Rev. 2:15).

I believe that the practical activity of the people, or Nicolaitanism, is set before us in the underlined
words above. Taking notice of the first verse quoted above, which we find addressed to the Church
at Ephesus, and comparing it with the other verse quoted in the third address to the Church at
Pergamos, let us record some special features perhaps gone unnoticed.

Nicolaitanism has two distinct sides which by careful examination we shall find are set before us;
namely, the active side and then the passive side.

The active side (see underlining) in both verses is condemned with vehement language, "which thing
I also hate.” How good to see in the first mentioned verse the commendation, "but this thou hast, that
thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes".

The Church at Ephesus was commended for unalterable opposition to this evil. This plain opposition
brings to mind such verses as:"striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27); or,
"earnestly contend for the faith" (Jude 3). Do not these verses call upon us "for the obedience of
faith?"(Rom. 16:26).

As we have examined the active side of Nicolaitanism, let us now study the passive side as seen in
Pergamos:"So hast thou also them". Upon examination we find the active practitioners of
Nicolaitanism, and also those who have submitted themselves to such, and these necessarily subject
to them. Does not the Apostle Paul set forth this thought quite plainly in .his 1st Epistle to the
Corinthians:"I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ". I would apprehend
it thus. Therefore it would appear that_"so hast thou also them"_would set before us the passive
side. The Lord’s reproof is spoken directly to the passive class.

Another has well said:"Here (Rev. 2:15, Pergamos) it is more than the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.
There are now not merely deeds, but doctrine. And the Church, instead of repudiating it, was holding
with it. In the Ephesian days, they hated the deeds of the Nicolaitanes; but in Pergamos they hod, and
did not reprobate, those who held the doctrine."

I would add but one thought in closing, yet this thought is perhaps for the individual to think on. The
condemnation in both verses is practically the same:"which thing I hate". The question arises, is the
passive less guilty than the active? Nay, could it not be more guilty?

FRAGMENT. Discipline and Godly care exercised in the local assembly, when done in communion
with the Lord, will draw the hearts of all closer to each other in all their exercises and trials.

The word rendered "revelation," and sometimes "apocalypse," means literally an unveiling, or
manifestation. So this book is the unveiling, of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is its one great theme. It
presents Him as the Son of Man in the midst of the churches during the present dispensation; and
as the Judge and the King in the dispensations to come. If you would learn to appreciate Christ more,
read this book, frequently and prayerfully. It reveals Him as the Lamb rejected, soon to reign in glory
_ the Lamb on the throne!

And observe the tide is not in the plural. People often speak of the book of Revelations. There is no
such book in the Bible. It is the Revelation _ one blessed, continuous manifestation of God’s unique
Son, the anointed Prophet, Priest and King. Revelation is the crowning book of the Bible. It is like
the Headstone of Zech. 4:7 that completes and crowns the whole wondrous pyramid of truth. Have
you read it lately?

1. Own God’s ministry, in evangelists, pastors, and teachers raised up by God, and approving
themselves as such. (Eph. 4; 1 Tim 4:14-16).

2. Own the God given guides in the local assemblies who seek to bear oversight. (1 Thess. 5:12, 14;
Heb. 13:7,17,24). (Compare 1 Cor. 16:15-18).