Table of Contents

Address 1. - Fellowship - its Breach and its Recovery

Address 2. - The Spiritual Value of Divine Omniscience

Address 3. - The Lord's Words to the Last Three Churches in Asia

Address 4. - The Altar of Worship

Address 5. - The Sin of Achan

Address 6. - The World against Christ and the Christian

WJH - Fellowship, Worship and Worldliness - A Selection of Six Memorial Hall Addresses

W. J. Hocking

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Address 1. - Fellowship - its Breach and its Recovery Address 2. - The Spiritual Value of Divine Omniscience Address 3. - The Lord's Words to the Last Three Churches in Asia Address 4. - The Altar of Worship Address 5. - The Sin of Achan Address 6. - The World against Christ and the Christian

Fellowship — its Breach and its Recovery

An Address on 1 John 1: 5 — 2: 2.

W. J. Hocking.

Memorial Hall, London, 23rd January, 1937.

In these verses, we have the great subject of the fellowship of the family of God, coupled with the possibility of sin, which would be a breach in that fellowship. They also show the provision God has made for the maintenance of this fellowship, and for its restoration, if and when we fail.

The term, fellowship, is often used in respect of ordinary affairs. Men of the world enter into fellowship with one another. With them the word has a meaning from their own point of view, and it signifies a common interest they have in certain things "under the sun."

In Scripture, however, we must remember words employed by the Holy Spirit have their own special meaning. This is evident, seeing they are used from God's, not man's, point of view. Sacred and heavenly matters are the theme. Men in their fellowship leave out God entirely. They consider only how they and their fellows are affected. The result cannot be the same as if God were brought in, and allowed to be the chief Factor and governing Director in that fellowship.

But we are now concerned with divine, not human fellowships, with that which is of God, and which could not be without God. How is the word used in Scripture? There even the term is not always used in precisely the same sense.

Thus, we learn that among Christian believers it is associated with the church of God. The fellowship of the members of the body of Christ is symbolized by the "one loaf," prescribed for use at the Lord's Supper. This fellowship, peculiar to the whole assembly of God, is taught in the New Testament, along with many other privileges and responsibilities attaching to that truth.

But in the passage read from John we have, not the fellowship of the church of God as such, but the fellowship of the family of God. More than this, it will be seen that as well as the fellowship of the family one with another, there is fellowship with God — with the Father and the Son.

Is not this marvellous? I challenge you to produce a more important subject in the Christian life than that of our fellowship with God. Fellowship with one another, apart from fellowship with the Father and the Son, would be but a poor human affair, doomed to disappointment and failure spiritually. But fellowship first of all with the Father and the Son makes fellowship with one another easy and spontaneous, pleasant and joyous.

What is meant by fellowship? Two persons or more in fellowship have common thoughts, common feelings, common purposes, common desires. Briefly, those in fellowship are "at one" in all concerning them that matters. Now think of our fellowship with God from this standpoint. I, a poor worm, a creature of the dust, a mote in life's sunbeam, I am by grace enabled to have common thoughts, feelings, and objects with the Father and the Son. Is not this incredible, apart from Scripture?

Without that revelation, it would be a blasphemous assumption. But, through the Lord Jesus Christ, this privilege of fellowship is guaranteed to all those belonging to the family of God. As believers in the Son of God, it is their own incomparable portion to be made privy to the thoughts, purposes and mind of God, so far as these are made known in the Scriptures.

This fellowship has not always been known to men. In the first four verses of this Epistle, the apostle John shows its origin. This is connected with the appearance of the Word of life. We read nothing of it in the Old Testament. Why? Because the Son of God had not been here.

In New Testament days, the Son came into the world to manifest the Father, to make Him known to men. In former days, God's power and might and majesty and judgment as Jehovah might have been seen. But now One in the bosom of the Father came from heaven. He came into the world that men might see in Him what the Father is, and thus He provided the basis of fellowship.

This manifestation by the Son was simple, yet profound. The woman at Sychar's well might not only look at Him as the Christ, but by faith see the Father in Him. The very child taken up in His arms would feel a warmth in that embrace which was not of earth, a love it had never known in its mother's bosom. This was the love of God, the love of the Father in the Person of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Weary men and women, heavy-laden with the toils and infirmities of this life, found the choicest emotions of heaven brought to them in the compassions of the Saviour. Even publicans and sinners, believing on the Son, proved the welcome of a Father's love.

This fellowship is a great reality in Christian experience. It is not contained in a learned disquisition on some learned subject beyond the reach of most. The apostle says it is based on something seen, heard, looked upon and handled. It depends upon an Object outside of ourselves, upon the Son of the Father's love.

When the blessed Lord Jesus was here, the love of God was manifested in Him. All that was in the Father's heart shone in the face of the "Man of Sorrows." And the twelve apostles who walked with Him in Judea and Galilee saw this glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten with the Father.

Thus the apostles had fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. The Father spoke to them of His Son, Who was derided by the world and rejected by His own people. He testified, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." And the apostles heard that testimony from heaven, that certificate of divine purity, holiness, godliness and love inseparable from Eternal Sonship.

The Father bore witness to the Son; and what did the Son not do for the unfolding of the Father! He did not speak a word other than the words the Father gave Him to speak. He did not perform a single deed or miracle except in direct obedience to the word from on high. Morning by morning He opened His ear to hear as the learned. He Who from the beginning knew all things was pleased to wait for His Father's word. He and His Father were one.

This fellowship between the Father and the Son, John saw and heard, and others too. This knowledge was not acquired after hard study by men of big brains. No. Hardworking men and women could contemplate it in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mary learned it at the feet of Jesus.

You may say, "They did not understand this fellowship of love between the Father and the Son." Don't talk about understanding it! We do not even understand the love one has for another. We recognize the love, but cannot explain it. No one can describe exactly the love a man has for his wife, or the wife for the husband. The mutual love is a positive fact, and it exists unquestionably between the persons. So we believe the Gospel saying, "The Father loveth the Son."

This fellowship of eternal life and eternal love the apostles learned in Christ Himself, and from them it comes to us. So John says, "This is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you." This message, he says, not commandment, is for you, dear children of God. We enjoyed it as we walked with the Lord. Now He has gone on high to the Father, you can have fellowship with the Son there, just as we did.

"But," you say, "there is nothing about fellowship in this verse. The next words are, 'God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.'" Scripture never makes a mistake. There is a reason for these words about light. Before the Spirit of God speaks about fellowship, He points out the nature of the One with Whom we have fellowship God is light.

Observe that it is not said, "The Father is light," but "God is light." Light conveys a different thought from love. Love is the centre and circumference of fellowship, and wherever the love of God is, His light is also. There can be no fellowship apart from the light, for the reason that while God is love, He is also light. And God will not allow one side of His nature to exceed or to eclipse the other.

God is perfect as light as well as love. His love is infinite, and so is His light. And His children must know this. In our own families, children must know their parents thoroughly before they can have a perfect fellowship of understanding. If an important part of the parents' lives is kept dark from the children, there can be no real fellowship. It is a one-sided affair, and the children even misunderstand their parents.

So then, to have fellowship with God, we must know that He is light. Light is the purest element in existence. Its intense purity cannot be defiled. A ray of light shining upon a stagnant pool of corruption remains perfectly pure. It cannot be contaminated in any way. So the light of God resists all that is corruptible and evil, arising out of moral darkness. "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." God is not one part light and one part dark; He is light, absolutely.

This light shines upon everyone who comes into the vicinity of God, revealing the truth. This was seen in the Garden of Eden. Jehovah came there after our first parents had sinned. The serpent had deceived Eve, and Adam had transgressed. Both retreated behind the trees to hide themselves from the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden.

They were afraid, for they were naked. The coming light of the divine presence made them fear its revelation of their disobedience. They sought to put some screen between themselves and the light of God. Fear made them conceal themselves. Fellowship with God was broken by their sin.

If in my heart I fear a person, I cannot have fellowship with him. If I am afraid and tremble in his presence, how can our two hearts be knit together as one? Fear, distrust and suspicion destroy true fellowship.

It is a solemn truth, therefore, that God is light. Ask yourself the question, Is there anything hidden in my heart which makes me tremble at the thought of the presence of God? Am I ready without fear to expose the innermost part of my being to the light of God? Can I go into my closet and cry to God to search me and try me and see if there is any wicked way in me?

Unless your soul has been laid bare to the light of God, you cannot know true fellowship with Him. You may deceive yourself, but you cannot deceive God. He is light. He is holy. He is true. He knows every secret of your soul, and He wants you to look at them with Him in the shadowless light of His presence.

Let us not skip this truth. It is of the utmost practical importance to every child of God, old or young. Young believer, if you have not had everything out before God in the revealing light of His presence, do so immediately. If you have anything covered up in your heart and life, secreted from everyone, never yet exposed to the light of divine holiness, remember God knows it. That defiling thing stands as a dark cloud, between you and God, Who is light.

And yet God is love. Although He knows you are guilty, having done things which others do not suspect you either could or would do, yet He loves you in spite of what you are. Have you proved this? Can you say, Though I were the very chiefest of sinners, still God loves me, and He gave His Son for me? Is this the knowledge of your heart? You may talk in hackneyed phrases about John 3: 16, without knowing its force. You can speak so often about it that its real beauty has gone for you. To feel the love of God when thoroughly searched by the light of God is another experience altogether. But this is God's introduction to the character of the fellowship He has provided for all His children — fellowship in the light.

There is true fellowship, and false. The apostle exposes the kind which is untrue, a mere profession of the lips. It is something which we "say." What we say we utter that others may hear. Our thoughts are crystallized into words. Saying is a step farther than thinking. But even in what we think, there may be something reserved, if the light has not shone into the heart, which is deceitful above all things.

Hence, in what we "say," we may deceive others. We may tell them fifty per cent. of the truth, or seventy, or even ninety per cent., still leaving something concealed, which is of darkness, and not of the light. We are walking in darkness.

John says plainly, "If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." We cannot know this fellowship unless we know the truth about Him and about ourselves. The truth of the gospel is that the Son came down among living men and told those who believed, "The Father Himself loveth you." I am among you as the Good Shepherd. You were lost, and I sought you. I found you, I brought you unto Myself. You know how much I love you. Well, the Father also loves you. I do not love you more than He does.

In His ministry, the Son always showed a jealousy for the Father's honour and the Father's love. This was His constant theme. If He spoke of Himself, it was only to reveal to men thereby the love of the Father's heart. And what did the Father reveal to babes? When He looked down upon the Son, He declared, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." Listen to Him, and you will never go wrong. He is the Truth.

Thus, we have in the Gospels the revelation of perfect unity, concord, fellowship between the Father and the Son. And the person who has received this revelation has learned the first principles of divine fellowship. He has learned it in the Father's thoughts of the Son and in the Son's thoughts of the Father. And He knows it because he is walking in the light. Those walking in darkness are outside the sphere where the light of God's presence continually shines. They are unconverted, and even they can say, "We have fellowship with God." But then they lie and do not the truth.

The apostle warns us against taking words upon our lips which are contradicted by our walk. If we are walking not in darkness but in the light, we shall not have a lie upon our lips, for the light reveals the truth, and condemns the false. John's words are always very searching. He often touches our heart in his Epistles, because he is so plain and downright. He writes in sharp alternatives. There is no via media with him. You are in either the light or the darkness; you are speaking or doing the truth, or you are telling, or acting a lie.

The Spirit of God uses such a keen saying about fellowship as this to set persons in their right category. What a grand discovery it would be if everyone in this audience found himself in the blessed family of God! and if no one here is saying I have fellowship with God, and yet is working the works of darkness, walking in the ways of the prince of darkness, living secretly in what is evil! Such persons are living a lie, and the truth of God is not in their hearts nor in their ways. Fellowship with God demands holiness and purity of walk. The standard is high.

Now in verse 7, we turn from walking in darkness to walking in the light. What the apostle says is applicable to all the family of God. Let it be clearly understood that the phrase, "walking in the light," is descriptive of every person who is a Christian, who belongs to the Lord. It applies to him at all times, from the moment of his believing to the moment of his exit from this world. He is one who walks in the light.

You may say, I do not like that way of putting it. For myself, I cannot think I am always walking in the light. I really believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour. I believe God is my Father, and that He gave His Son for me. I believe my sins are forgiven. But I find in my heart what ought not to be there. Sometimes I find myself doing and saying what is wrong, for which I am sorry. Besides I feel that I do not love the Lord as I ought. Surely, I must be walking in darkness. No. It is because you are in the light that you feel guilty of these things.

Every believer is one who walks in the light as God is in the light. In the presence of God he first confessed his sins and received forgiveness, and from that moment he abides in the light. The light is the sphere of his movement as he walks, and he never walks outside that sphere.

Let me try to illustrate the truth. Supposing an Israelite was able to walk from the entrance to the Tabernacle straight through the courts to the tent, lift the first veil, and then the second, and so come into the Holy of Holies where the Ark was with the Shekinah-glory abiding upon the mercy-seat. He is now in the light of Jehovah's dwelling-place, His habitation in the wilderness. The cubical room which he has reached is filled with light. Once he was away in the camp, he is now in the abode of light.

Now, in the light of His presence is where God puts every believer. If you own that you are not walking according to that holy light, but walking very much like a man of the world, who is in darkness, then on your own confession, you are not walking according to the light. You have fallen below the standard God has given you. You have failed to this extent.

And it is just when you fail in your walk that your consciousness of fellowship is lost. I think you must know this as a matter of experience. You sometimes enjoy communion with God. You like to think of Him and His love. You like to think of the Lord Jesus, of His beauty and excellency, of His wonderful works. Your heart glows as you read the Scriptures; every word seems a mouth speaking to you great things about Christ.

But another time, the Scriptures seem very dull. You find nothing interesting there. Daily reading seems a hard task. What has happened? A cloud is between your heart and the sunbeams of light and love. In your heart and life something has happened to cause this change. You are the naughty child. You have failed, but the Father remains faithful. His light still shines, but you have put up a barrier. Your fellowship with God is broken.

Fellowship or communion (the two words are interchangeable) imply joy and peace in the presence of God. Prayer is a form of communion, or, to speak more correctly, it should be so. In prayer, we come into His presence to ask for grace to help in time of need, while in fellowship, there may be just delight in the Father and the Son, without bringing any petitions. The two may he distinguished, therefore.

The little child we have heard about illustrates this kind of fellowship. She came into the father's study where, with his desk littered with papers, he was knitting his brow over some problem. Looking up, he said, "Well, Mary, what do you want?" "I don't want anything, father." "Then why did you come in here?" "Only to be with you, father."

So the child sat still, and said nothing. She just wanted to be with her dear father. This was communion, the contented union of two loving natures. She had been there before for a penny to buy a toy. But now she only wanted to sit with her father. She loved him, and delighted to be with him.

Is it your practice and mine to sit down quietly in the peace of God's presence? Do you esteem such fellowship more than other experience? To be rapt with wonder and worship in the presence of the Father and the Son — this is communion. And this unique privilege belongs to those who walk in the light, as God is in the light. Moreover, in the exercise of this fellowship with Him, we have "fellowship with one another."

Then we are shown the righteous ground of this association in the light: "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." Let me remind you of the analogy already mentioned of the one in the most holy place in the Tabernacle, where the light shone from the Shekinah-glory enthroned upon the mercy-seat. There we see a smear of blood upon the mercy-seat, and before it there are seven marks of blood, the witness of propitiation, the righteous ground upon which Jehovah could speak favourably to the people among whom He dwelled.

Here in John's Epistle those who walk in the light as He is in the light are shown the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, which cleanseth from all sin. The efficacy of this precious blood maintains the children of God in their standing in the light, even when they sin. The light reveals to them the value of that blood.

If we sin, Satan says, "You cannot now go to God." The devil lies to destroy the believer's peace and joy. If you have sinned, go straight to God and confess that sin. As you bend in penitence before Him, you will see His light shining upon the cleansing blood of Christ. That blood avails to purify you from sin whatever its form may be.

Next, another wrong profession is condemned, "If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves." This is the height of self-deception. We assume, not only that we have not sinned, but that we are without sin, without even the disposition to anything displeasing to God. We fancy we have arrived at that stage of Christian life when sin is altogether absent. This species of pseudo-holiness is a foolish and evil delusion. If we claim it, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The root of sin remains within the child of God. You can never get rid of it. It is like some of the troublesome weeds in the garden which have spreading roots beneath the soil. You pull up what is above the ground, but the roots remain behind and grow again. If the tiniest fibre of root is there, it will grow. Whatever we do, we cannot eradicate sin from our hearts. We may think we have done so because we cannot see any root, but we deceive ourselves, the Scripture says.

But if we cannot get rid of sin, what are we to do when the evil nature becomes active, and we commit sins? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful" — I like that word "faithful." God is faithful. He is not like man. It is man's way to relinquish his side of the bargain when the other fails on his side. But what does God do when we fail? He will never let us go. He shows the remedy. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful . . . to forgive us our sins." If then you have sinned, own it without any qualification or excuse. Say, "I have sinned. I have done this evil in Thy sight." He will forgive and cleanse you.

But observe He is just or righteous as well as faithful in forgiving and cleansing. The reason that He is just in doing so appears in the second chapter. Jesus Christ the righteous is in the presence of the Father. Not only is the blood of Jesus Christ in the light, but Jesus Christ Himself, Who shed that blood is with the Father. Hence when we confess our sins we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.

The cleansing is needful for fellowship. If I have unrighteousness upon me, how can I have fellowship with Jesus Christ the righteous? What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? If it is broken, how can it be restored? He is faithful and just to cleanse me from all unrighteousness by His word. The water of the word removes unrighteousness from me, and then I am able to be in communion once more.

Now, the opening of chapter 2 shows the object of this passage — that we should not sin and so lose our fellowship. "My little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not." There is, therefore, the possibility, the danger of our sinning. Do you believe this danger exists? Or do you cherish the delusion that it does not apply to you?

Let us be plain. Supposing the Lord leaves you here until tomorrow, the Lord's day, is there any danger of your sinning between now and then? Is it possible that some sin may interfere with your communion? The apostle believed there was, and he wrote these things that you might not sin.

But if you should sin in spite of the warning, what happens? Is there any personal help for you? "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." There is comfort in this. I can imagine a man being doubtful of himself because of his liability to be overtaken in a fault. He is afraid of himself because he has a quick temper or the like. He wants someone to keep him from falling, and to restore him should he fall. We have our Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He does this, and much more.

What is an Advocate? A popular idea is that it is the One Who turns the anger of the Father into love and favour towards us. Mary does wrong at home, and the father is inclined to be angry with her. She fears his anger, and she says to her brother, "Thomas, father loves you; go to him for me, will you? Speak for me, so that he may be no longer cross with me" Mary looks upon Thomas as her advocate, when father is angry with her.

But this idea does not represent the truth in this case at all. Jesus Christ, the righteous, does not turn the Father from anger to love when we sin. The Father is righteous too. He will not pass over sin in His children, but judges in His own house. And it is not implied here that the Advocate changes the Father's heart towards His erring children. The words "with the Father," are not rightly understood.

The phrase, "an Advocate with the Father," indicates where the Advocate is. Jesus Christ is no longer in the world; He is with the Father. In John 13 we read of Jesus being about to depart out of this world unto the Father. He was about to ascend out of this world unto His Father and our Father. He also promised to send another Advocate, the Spirit of truth, to be with us here in the world during His absence. And now in the Epistle we learn that, while He is no longer with us here, He is with the Father as our Advocate.

What then does this Advocate do? An Advocate or Paraclete is One Who undertakes the management of all my affairs, even if I sin. He has my cause at heart, and has undertaken to see to everything Himself. This seems to be the simplest and most comprehensive meaning of this beautiful word.

There with the Father, the Lord Jesus in His love is supervising our concerns. This He is doing before we sin that we may not sin. And when we sin, He does not wait until we confess our sins, but uses His word by the Holy Spirit so that we may confess and be cleansed in order that our communion may be resumed.

The eye of Jesus Christ the righteous was upon Simon Peter before his fall. When Satan was after the self-confident disciple, the Lord prayed for him. Before Peter went into the high priest's palace, before he had defiled his lips with oaths and curses, the Advocate on earth had interceded on his behalf. Peter was preserved from such an end as Judas had by the advocacy of his Master. This Advocate is now with the Father, and we have Him there for us.

We need this Advocate in many ways and at all times, but if anyone sin, he needs the Advocate in the character of Jesus Christ the righteous. Sin brings the believer under the charge of unrighteousness from which he must be cleansed to enjoy fellowship (1 John 1: 9). Who undertakes this? Jesus Christ the righteous. It is He Who is made unto us righteousness, and in Him we have a standing of righteousness before God, unvarying and invariable.

If we do not live up to this standing, we fall below it into unrighteousness. All who have been given this standing in the light may not live according to it, but he does not forfeit his standing. A prince of royal blood may do something derogatory to his high rank, but he is still a prince by birth. So the child of God that sins loses his communion but not his relationship by birth. The Advocate undertakes his conviction, confession, forgiveness and cleansing by His faithful and loving service.

The eyes of the soldiers and the servant-maid did not affect Peter's conscience, but the eye of the Lord broke down his hardihood. He fled into the night, naked and ashamed, a repentant soul, suffused with the tears of self-accusation. The Lord did not leave Simon Peter until he was converted and restored. Then Jesus Christ the righteous committed to his care His sheep and His tender lambs — a combined task for which none is suited unless the Advocate has exercised His skill upon them.

This Advocate is now with the Father, there to deal in wisdom and mercy with us, even if anyone sin. His present service is to maintain us in that fellowship which is heavenly in nature. It is this fellowship which fits us to be witnesses for Him while we are here. When we are in communion, He moulds and fashions us to His liking. When we are out of communion He labours for our restoration. If anyone sin, this Advocate is not baffled and beaten. He makes the best out of a very bad job. "O Lord, Thy love's unbounded!"

But a further truth is stated about the Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Though there is the amplest provision for our sins, as we have already seen, we are not to underestimate the grievousness and the guilt of our sins. Sin is always a terrible act, and serious to the utmost degree in the case of a child of God, indwelt by the Spirit of God, and possessed of every heavenly privilege.

Hence we are shown that the One Who is our Advocate is the One Who suffered and died for our sins, Who is the propitiation for our sins. He made propitiation by His atoning sacrifice, and in Himself He is the propitiation, comprehending in His Person all that the work of propitiation signifies and accomplishes.

Who knows more about our sins than our Advocate? He bore our sins, and offered to God what for ever satisfied His holy nature with regard to them. He carried out every iota of this work; to Him belongs all the glory of propitiation; and He is our Advocate, even when we sin.

Jesus Christ was the propitiation for our sins on the cross; He is the propitiation on the throne in glory; He is the propitiation with the Father. He is the same yesterday and today and for ever. And He is our Advocate! In the power of His person and the efficacy of His work upon the cross, He is the Manager of our affairs, our Intercessor when we sin, our Upholder in all that appertains to our fellowship with the Father and the Son, as well as with one another.

I wish we could realize what a blessed Advocate we have, and what is the fullness of His power and His love. We so often forget Him and His unseen ministry on our behalf. How often we make Him serve with our sins! We are so fractious, so wayward, so wilful, so obstinate; yet He never leaves nor forsakes us. His object is that we should have unbroken communion with Himself, with His Father, and with one another.

Fellowship is one of the greatest blessings of the Christian life. Our Advocate is with the Father to enable us to share in it. He wants us while we are here on the earth to share His own fellowship with the Father in heaven. The sunshine of the heaven of heavens is enjoyed on earth by this means.

The Father and Son are united in purpose — in everything, and it is the will of God that we, being of His family, should be admitted to share the secret harmony of divine fellowship. May God grant that we may be led of Him into a deeper comprehension of this communion, and of all that it should mean to us amid the occupations and distractions of daily life.

This fellowship is not for fathers and young men only, but also for babes in Christ, since they too know the Father. And if they know the Father, they must rejoice in Him. What else could they do except rejoice in such a Father?

In Luke 15, we have an illustration of our fellowship with the Father. There was no fellowship between the lost sheep and the shepherd and his friends, and certainly not between the lost coin and the woman and her neighbours. The coin and the sheep did not enter into the joy of finding. But when the lost son comes home, we see him at the table with his father. There, too, we see the ring, the best robe, and the fatted calf. The father and son begin to be merry together. The son says, "Was there ever such a father?" The father says, "This is my boy. He was in the far country, now he is home. He was lost, and is found. He was dead and is alive again." This is the fellowship with the Father to which the Son brings us.

Out in the field, there is the elder son, who is outside the fellowship of the home. He is a son as much as the prodigal. His place is at the table also. But there is no spirit of fellowship in him. His heart is hard and cold. He will not own his penitent brother. "This thy son," he says, not "my brother." There is no desire for fellowship with his father even; "thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends." He prefers his friends to his father.

The elder son was an utter stranger to the sort of fellowship at the table between the father and the son. The parable, however, gives a little picture of the sort of fellowship that is ours — fellowship with the Father and the Son and with one another. Even if sin interrupts this fellowship, we have an Advocate with the Father. And He is the propitiation for our sins. And if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Spiritual Value of Divine Omniscience

An Address on Psalm 139: 1-7; 23, 24; Job 11: 3-5; Job 42: 1-6; John 21: 15-17.

W. J. Hocking.

Memorial Hall, London, 23rd March, 1935.

A subject of scripture, very important in the spiritual life, is the constant necessity of recognising God's omniscience of oneself, personally, individually. This must be of the utmost importance to a life of godliness because it runs throughout the whole of scripture. We may say that the personal knowledge and continual scrutiny of the individual soul by God Himself is a truth inseparable from both his redemption and his communion, and from a walk consistent therewith.

I do not speak now of our own knowledge of God. This is of practical importance also, but I am speaking of God's knowledge of us, of the perfect way in which God investigates the hidden depths within us, laying bare our secret motives, and of our own consciousness that God's eyes in heaven are ever looking upon us, and not only upon our outward appearance, which man also sees, but upon the heart which man does not see. The man whose heart is thus kept right before the heart-knowing God is the man who receives the maximum of blessing from God, and who communicates to others the maximum share of his own blessing.

The soul and the heart and the mind must be right before our Omniscient God, and this audience will surely agree with me that this attitude is necessary for a walk of faith and godliness. How is it with you, my brother, my sister? We all need to know how we each stand before God in the light of His knowledge of us, and how we each stand in our relationships to one another in the assembly of God. Nothing we do can be acceptable to God but that which is first approved of Him, and therefore it is of the utmost importance that each one of us should open our hearts before God to be searched by Him; and this beautiful and well-known Psalm brings before us the subject of divine examination.

The psalmist begins with the confession that Jehovah had already searched him and known him, acknowledging what He had found in him. Jehovah had seen David in the wilderness, facing the lion and the bear with the confidence of a young man, yet relying, not on his own strength and skill, but on Jehovah Who was above him and with him. David went boldly forward to meet the lion and the bear in the full knowledge of what God was to him, a shepherd lad in the wilderness. Then, in that lonely place, Jehovah had searched him and had known him and had found him a stripling who could trust his God with all his heart in the face of great odds when there was no human arm to help nor eye to see.

Afterwards, we may trace the son of Jesse on the mountains of Judea, fleeing from Saul, his enemy; we may trace him in dark passages of his life, as when he feigned to be a madman in the Philistine city; and we may also see him in circumstances not to be mentioned in an audience like this; but in this Psalm David lifts up his eyes, and says, "O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me . . . and art acquainted with all my ways." He is consciously before the Lord, rejoicing in His full knowledge of himself and his ways, and making it the theme of his song to Jehovah. To David, this intimate inspection was a matter for praise to God, the omniscient and the omnipotent One, Who had searched him and known him.

Can we say what David did? We learned, perhaps in the Sunday School, the fact that God has a perfect knowledge of us and of all things, but it is another thing to be alone with God in the darkness of the night, and to be conscious that the eyes of God are upon us, that even then He is searching the heart, dividing asunder the soul and the spirit. There in the stillness of the night-shadows the all-seeing eyes of God are felt to be upon us, and we are consciously unveiled before Him.

The lesson that at such times we learn under God's eyes of our own unworthiness and weakness becomes a secret means of power and peace and joy. Nothing in the world is like learning that our feebleness on earth is yoked with almighty power on high. We know then that God's infinite heart of love is ever round about us, and that if no one but God be for us, we can stand with the fullest courage and confidence in the face of the whole world arrayed against us.

The knowledge of God's omniscience brings us to this full assurance of faith. It is a great gain to the spiritual life to have this experience for oneself, and it is the burden upon my spirit tonight to tell you that the power needed by every one of us, the youngest and the oldest, in order to walk with God lies in being absolutely sure of our communion by the Holy Spirit with God the Father and with His Son; for we walk in the light even as God is in the light, where there is no darkness at all, and where everything is exposed to that light.

The psalmist stated the fact: Jehovah has "searched me and known me." It was to him an event of the past. We know that God does search and know persons everywhere without their asking Him, and He does so unawares to themselves. The thoughtless multitudes that throng our streets are all known to God, individually, just as fully as every believer is known by Him. But the believer knows that God knows him, and this makes all the difference. The child of God welcomes such a knowledge; he knows it is good for him. Therefore, David, at the conclusion of this psalm, desired further heart-searching by God; he had learned the value of it for his soul.

David's earnest outcry to God is "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts." The fact is, of course, that God knows all about me at all times, whether I am sleeping or waking, whether I am conscious that His eyes are upon me or not. But when I apprehend the truth of God's omniscience in the way that the psalmist had done, I shall, like him, desire to walk in the consciousness of it continually. My heart will cry out to God that day by day I may ever walk with the light of His face shining upon me. Then I shall have the happy assurance, in all I do and say, that God Himself is before me and round about me every step of the way I am taking.

Beloved friends, do not let us imagine that the practical importance of this truth of our psalm is now passed away through the lapse of time since David's day, or is even diminished in value. It is still essential for the personal piety of the individual soul. Each one of us must abide in touch with God. Thousands of my brethren on the right hand and the left may fall or fail, but my own personal link with Him remains intact. The blessing of divine inspection and communion is mine, and exists between my own soul and God to be realised by faith.

If the individual soul is right before God in this respect, the effect for good will be found in the assembly also. Assemblies are made up of units, and so far as the units are walking in truth and grace before the Lord, and are guided by the Holy Spirit, so far there will be corporate worship in spirit to God and acceptable personal service to His name.

The theme of this psalm runs throughout scripture, and is distinctly set forth in many places by both example and precept. In the Old Testament, for instance, we read of one man who was selected to be a notable example for all time of God's searching ways; Job was that man. God's searchlight was directed upon him in a special manner for the good of his soul. A whole book of the Bible is occupied with the dealings of God with this one man. Job's history shows the particular interest God takes in one man's piety.

Simon Peter in the New Testament is a case analogous to Job. His history is not, like that of Job, confined to a single book of the Bible; but if you trace the details given in the Gospels, you will observe the personal dealings of God in our Lord Jesus Christ with that man, bringing out most unexpectedly what was in his heart, so that now even the world may know what was concealed there.

As with Job, so with Peter, they both stand in the scripture naked and opened before our eyes. They were men of like passions with ourselves, and God has put them there as examples, so that we may know, not from sad and bitter experiences of our own, but by the recorded experiences of Job and Peter what is in my heart and in yours. Thus we may learn the truth about our nature without enduring a similar course of discipline.

Each of the two narratives has its distinct features. The history of the searching of Job's heart ended with his confession to the Lord, "Behold, I am vile." But the history of Simon Peter revealed not only the sin that was lurking in his heart, unknown and undreamt of by him as by Job, but in the end the deep love that Peter had for the Lord was also revealed under the Master's own questioning.

Let us now look very briefly at one or two points in the histories of these two men. They will teach us what are the definite heart-searchings that we also need for the profit of our souls.

First of all, let me make a remark which may prevent any misunderstanding. Heart-searching may take place in two ways. I may search my own heart, or God may search my heart. If I search my heart myself, I shall end in spiritual failure, and may even become a proud Pharisee. A man who searches his own heart in a light of his own kindling is exposed to the subtle deceitfulness of his own heart.

Your own heart is deceitful above all things. It will deceive you, and cause you to believe everything that is good about yourself, even the very reverse of what is true. Some persons profess to search their own hearts, and are bold enough to say in public, "I have not sinned for (perhaps) three months." They have been searching their hearts for sin without knowing what sin is according to scripture. The light of God is not shining upon their hearts, and they do not know the truth about themselves. The Lord said, "If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matt. 6: 23). "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1: 8).

But let God have to do with my heart, and then I shall learn the real truth about it. Then, too, great blessing will be mine. This was the experience of Job. The patriarch Job did not belong to the chosen people of Israel, the seed of Abraham. He lived, however, in those early days, and was contemporary probably with Isaac. Though he was not in the line of faith and promise marked out in scripture, he was a man who had the knowledge of the true God and who lived a perfect and upright life among men. He sought to do what was right and to please God in the doing of it, and in this task he was successful to an exceptional degree.

Job's character and ways were so exceptional that they were the subject of conversation in heaven. God looked down upon him with approval. Satan also saw the patriarch, and sought to destroy him. The more pious a man is, the more determined the enemy is to overcome him if he possibly can. And Satan's enmity is shown in a striking manner in Job's case.

You know Job's remarkable history. The beginning of it shows that he was overwhelmed with sorrow; all his possessions were torn from him in a day, with the loss of his family also. Yet Satan had to own, and all the angels of heaven, that Job in the face of this flood of calamities exhibited a patience that was marvellous. It is written, "In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." And the patience of Job has passed into a proverb for all time.

Who else would have stood, like Job, unmoved, staunch, amid such fiery trials? The most cherished objects of his heart were snatched from him, he himself became a mass of festering sores, but Job meekly bowed his head before God. The wife of his bosom had no more to say to him than to tell him to curse God and die. He had not a friend in the world. for what sort of friends were those three who came in their critical fashion, sitting before him in silence until they accused him of secret sin?

What an experience this was for a perfect and upright man to endure! What was the object of it? Why did all these troubles come upon him? By means of them God was about to teach Job a most difficult lesson. The very fact of his habitual sincerity and integrity was a stumbling-block in the way of his obtaining real happiness and the deepest of joys before God.

Whilst it was true of Job that he was prepared to trust God though He should slay him, and that he clung to God as the One in Whom he must continue to trust, still Job could not see why all these afflictions had come upon him. According to his own conscience, he had done nothing wrong. With all his heart, he had sought to please God and to do what was right and good. Now all his possessions were suddenly taken from him, even his health; why had such severe trials come? As Job considered his ways, he saw nothing wrong to confess before God, nothing to account for his misery.

But God did not leave the patriarch in this state of self-satisfaction. God had purposes of further blessing for him, even while he was on earth. But before this blessing was bestowed, Job must learn something about himself; what was this? An evil disposition was secreted within him, beyond his own gaze as yet, but open to the eyes of God.

What in his heart was so abominable in the eyes of God? Job was trusting in his own integrity. He said, "I mean to hold fast to my own righteousness, and cling to what I have done and what I have been. Who can find fault with me? I have been a father to the poor, the widows have been made to rejoice by me, and the orphans bless me. I have continually done good to the needy all around me. Now all I have is taken away, and these great troubles have come upon me. Yet I have done nothing wrong." This was pride in self.

But the omniscient God looked into Job's heart, and He saw there also a secret disbelief in Himself. His heart, though outwardly patient, was really doubting the wisdom and goodness of God in sending these sorrowful things upon him. The patriarch, therefore, was inwardly cherishing false thoughts about God and about himself also. He must learn how wrong he was.

Job said, as many persons in the world today are saying, Why is it that so many terrible things are allowed to happen to some men? Why is there so much suffering and misery? and why is it that the best people are often the greatest sufferers? Not merely the "down-and-outs," who have squandered their very lives in riot and pleasure, but good persons, pious people, servants of God, are full of afflictions. Many do not know even a day's freedom from anxiety and pain.

The question arises continually now as then, How and why is there in the world so much grief and sorrow? Such thoughts breed discontent and distrust. Some here tonight perhaps find such misgivings creeping into their souls like poisonous serpents. They think within themselves, Surely God does not know the burdens of the human heart. If God is love, why are the righteous afflicted, and why do the innocent suffer? Such questionings spring from a secret distrust of God.

By the searchings of His discipline, God showed that such doubts were dwelling deep in Job's heart. Eventually God Himself spoke to the afflicted man, not in the soft, tender tones we hear in the New Testament (the time had not yet come for that), but Jehovah spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, not once only, but twice, and with a thunderous voice, telling of His power, His majesty, His providence. He spread out before Job the evidences of His sovereign wisdom and might in creation.

Had Job been thinking that God did not consider his welfare? What little creature was there, or what mighty one, the leviathan of the water-floods, or the sparrow on the housetop, for which Jehovah did not care? He cared for every creature of His in its need; and would not God care for him, the highest creature on earth, who had also a life beyond the grave?

By the words of the Almighty to him, Job's conscience was struck as with a thunderbolt, and he was convicted of his sin. In self-accusation, he said, "I have distrusted Him, the omnipotent One, the omniscient One. I have been arguing with God Who searches the heart, and filling my mouth with idle words in His presence." Job felt his sinfulness in justifying himself and discrediting God. He confessed his sin, saying, "Behold, I am vile." He repented in dust and ashes (Job 42: 6). Of what did he repent? His outward failure, and his inward distrust of God.

I am anxious to make clear this error into which Job fell, because it is easy for us also to slip into unworthy doubts of God. Mistrust creeps unsuspectedly into our hearts, our homes, and our assemblies. Oftentimes we are apt to think that we are impoverished like Job, that spiritually we have lost everything, that the very foundation of truth is undermined, and that the whole edifice of the Christian profession is about to collapse.

It may be that some man whom we have trusted and believed in with all our heart as a pillar in the church has disappointed us and disappeared. We feel, perhaps, that in spiritual matters we cannot trust anyone any more. Our hearts are like Job's full of feelings of doubt and distrust of God. Let each one ask, Is this not true in my case?

There are around us many examples and forms of the prevailing spirit of doubt. Some have their doubts about this Book of God, the Bible. Take a case. Young men in the City offices come out into the streets to look at the bookshops. Many of the books displayed are attractive in appearance and cheap in price. But they are written to suggest that the Bible is but a myth, full of old-world legends, containing nothing really trustworthy in fact, nor of real ethical value to modern man. By this means, doubt is instilled into the minds of the readers, until they, too, lose all trust in their Bible and their Saviour. In this manner doubt in divine things is being rapidly propagated in our day.

It is a serious feature of the times that the element of distrust in the wisdom and love of God is everywhere around us, in the very air, so to speak. All are more or less in danger of contamination, but the person who is wrapped up in himself and his own mental and moral attainments, who thinks himself somebody and fully qualified to judge for himself, even in divine things, is perhaps in the greatest danger of imbibing this scepticism that destroys the soul. Such a one may be just out of the higher schools, come out of his examinations with flying colours, and is at the top of the educational tree. When he is directed to the Bible, he will not receive it as the word of God. He learned the scriptures in his nursery days, but now he refuses it as the voice of God to his soul. He is a victim of the rationalistic unbelief that poisons the faith for so many today, and pride of intellect has caused his destruction.

As we profess belief in God, for us to doubt God is a "vile" thing. Such suspicion is prompted by the devil, tempting our old nature. Doubt of the love and wisdom of God in Christ was the very sin that crucified the Lord of glory. Let us beware of it. I may be outwardly a pious man, loving God, and may be a means of blessing to others; but if there is in my soul a secret want of confidence in God, I have something within me which Job described as filthy and vile.

If then I am in fault like Job, am I prepared like Job to confess my fault? To allow doubt and misgiving to creep into our hearts is an affront to God Who has saved us, sending His Son to die for us. God did not end His dealings with Job until he confessed this sin. But when he acknowledged his sin, he was blessed sevenfold more than he had been at the beginning.

Here then is the highroad to increased blessing from God — confession of sin, of my own sin, not of someone's else's. Are you prepared to do this, owning your sin to God, not to others sinful like yourself? With all frankness, Job said, "Behold I am vile. I take my place in dust and ashes before Thee, not because of my boils, but because of my sin." God had searched and tried Job, and shown him the wicked way that was in him.

Let us now look at Simon Peter for a little. Peter was in a different atmosphere from Job, because then God had come down to earth in the person of His Son, and in the pages of the Gospels is seen that pathway upon which and from which heavenly light shone with never a shadow. Wherever Jesus went on earth, there was the presence of God. And when in that presence, a man confessed himself to be what he truly was. The Light of the world revealed to him his right place.

When a man had wrong thoughts about the Lord Jesus, he was never right about himself; but if he was right about Christ, he was right, or soon became right, about everything else as well as himself. We shall see this exemplified in the history of Simon.

I daresay you have been a little puzzled at that incident in the life of Simon Peter, when the Lord, in His preaching beside the lake of Galilee, asked him for the loan of his boat. Peter pushed out upon the lake, and the Lord, sitting in the boat, taught the people as they were gathered on the seashore. Then, at the close, the Lord said to Peter, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught" (Luke 5: 1-11).

Peter had been listening to the gospel of the coming kingdom, to the Lord's sweet and wonderful words about heavenly love and about God's purposes of blessing for the earth, and about the fulfilment of the prophecies of old. He felt that Jesus knew all about these doctrines, but now He spoke about fishes, a draught of fishes! Who was Jesus to speak about catching fish!

In his surprise and incredulity, he said, "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing! nevertheless at Thy word I will let down the net." Now the Lord had said to him, "Let down your nets, all the nets you have." But Peter was dubious, and thought, "We shall not catch many, if any, fish; I will let down one net only; that will be sufficient." Accordingly, he let down the net, and a great multitude of fishes were enclosed, so many that it broke. They drew the fish into the boat, which soon was filling fast, and sinking.

But Simon forgot the abundance of the fish. Fisherman though he was, he did not first attend to the catch. His uppermost thought was how he had wronged the Lord, and doubted His love and wisdom. It had never crossed his mind that the Lord all the time knew that he had spent the previous night in useless labour. He had never thought that the Lord knew where the fish were and was able to bring them to the side of the boat. In his heart he had doubted and misjudged Him.

Simon fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord." This confession corresponds with the penitent language of Job, "Behold, I am vile." Simon found himself in the presence of the Lord Jesus exercising His authority over the creatures of the sea, and felt in his heart that he had not put his trust in Him. He had not believed that the Lord could do such a marvellous thing.

Have you ever found yourself doubting the Lord as Peter did? Yet the Lord has been good to you, and He has not answered to your need, according to your little faith, but according to the great love of His own heart. He has made His bounty to overflow towards you. Then, when you saw His goodness to you, did you not feel how sinful you were to have doubted such a loving Master?

This experience was the beginning of Simon Peter's training; not exactly the very beginning, because Simon had met the Lord before, when the Lord told him he should have a new name, Cephas or Peter, a stone. But it was the beginning of the moral training, which fitted him to be, as the Lord said, a fisher of men. God sends saved sinners to preach the gospel to unsaved sinners. This is His way. Simon Peter who learned something of the iniquity of his own heart was the one who afterwards magnified the grace of the Saviour before his guilty nation.

Simon Peter had to learn another important lesson on the sea, but first of all the Lord taught him that He, the Lord, could command even the denizens of the deep, and they obeyed His will. How needful that every servant should know the power of his Master!

Another time, when a storm was raging, the disciples were at their wits' end, for everything seemed to be against them. Then they saw Jesus walking on the angry waves, and coming to them. At once Peter's heart went out to the Lord he loved. He thought, "The Lord is coming over the waves to us in our distress. I would like to be the first to meet Him. I cannot wait for Him to come up to the boat. I must go to Him."

Then Peter said, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water." His fellow-disciples may have thought him mad, but Peter trusted himself fully to the One Who had before proved Himself to be the Lord of the sea. The Lord replied, "Come," and Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water, just as if he was on dry land (Matt. 14: 25-33).

For those in the boat this work of faith was a great testimony to the power of the Lord Jesus as Simon Peter walked to Him on the stormy sea. He walked well and firmly so long as his eye was on the Lord. But when he saw the waves furious and threatening, he began to sink; and faith lost its victory.

So the divine searchlight shone once more into Simon Peter's heart to show him what was hidden there. Something there was wrong, or he would not have sunk. In the presence of the Lord on the waves he learned that his faith, strong as it was to bring him out of the boat to walk on the sea, was not strong enough to keep him there, contrary to nature.

Peter was taught that he must believe not only at first, but all the time. True faith is continuous, not intermittent. Simon Peter left the boat and walked on the water well, like his Master, so long as his eye of faith was on Christ, but when he began to consider the waves he began to sink.

Is not our experience similar to that of Peter? We, too, have left our brethren, and gone out upon the sea to the Lord Jesus. The sea has no landmarks, no defined territories; it is not firm and settled and organised by man, which is the character of land. The pathway on the sea is no place for a man in the flesh. Only faith can walk where everything yields to the feet of the natural man.

Some of us have left human organisations and gone out at the bidding of the Lord, to that place and condition of things amongst God's people where simple faith triumphs, but where doubt discourages and destroys. So long as faith looks continuously upon the Lord Jesus Christ, all things are right and happy, and the name of the Lord is magnified in us. We are walking upon the waves, and the Lord is with us.

If, however, we turn from Him and look around upon empty seats, and think of the persons who are not there and the sort of persons who are there, we then feel we are beginning to sink. Yet we know that when we are in our little room with perhaps only two or three gathered there, so long as the eye is upon the Lord Who is in the midst, all is well. The waves are forgotten. The minutes fly while we are looking to the Lord, but directly we begin to think of the poor condition of things, of the persons present and absent, of what they have done or are likely to do, then we begin to sink beneath the waves.

We are, beloved, in the last times, and the searchlight of God's truth is upon us. Christendom is in the wildest confusion, and everything is tossing like the turbulent sea. If we look at the waves, we shall sink beneath them. Let us not look around or within, but at the Lord. Has He left us? He will never leave nor forsake the two or three gathered unto His name.

Is He not sufficient to save us to the uttermost? Is not the presence of the Lord always sufficient? So long as we realise this, His power lifts us above our circumstances, personal and ecclesiastical, and His love warms our hearts and renews our faith. We feel neither sadness nor loneliness, but are filled with joy because of His presence as He takes us by the hand.

So Simon Peter had another lesson upon the sea. He learned the weakness of his own heart in trusting the Lord, and the strength of the Lord's right hand to save him when he began to sink.

Let us now refer to another incident in the life of Simon Peter. When the Lord asked the disciples what the people were saying about Him, they answered, "People vary; some say one thing, some another." Then He said, "What do you say?" Peter speaks, and, out of the fullness of a heart charged with love and devotion towards his Lord, said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He was taught of God, for the Lord answered him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 16: 13-23).

Simon's confession was a remarkable one, was it not? What an honour put upon a Galilean fisherman to receive from the Father in heaven a special revelation of the glory of the Messiah! Then the Lord said further, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church." So the Lord Jesus also gave him a revelation. In a very short time Simon Peter had received two very special revelations. He was thus exceptionally distinguished and honoured among the disciples of the Lord.

Peter was taught, not only that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, but that Christ would build for Himself a church. But then the Lord began to unfold what was needful to bring about this building. First of all, He must go up to Jerusalem, be maltreated at the hands of man, and be slain. At once Peter remonstrated, and in the foolishness of his flesh said, "Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee."

For this utterance, the Lord rebuked him, saying, "Get thee behind Me, Satan . . . for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." Peter was looking in a human fashion upon the sufferings at Jerusalem of which the Lord spoke. He was regarding them purely from the standpoint of a kind man who would wish to screen his friend from the malice and injury of his fellows.

Could we unmoved hear that a dear one of ours would be trodden down by injustice, and abused and crucified? We should naturally, involuntarily, shrink from the very thought. But there was another side, which Peter forgot or overlooked. The coming sufferings of Christ were the will of God. It was fore-ordained that Messiah's sufferings should precede His glories. Knowing this, the Lord Himself said, "Not My will, but Thine be done."

But when Peter heard of the sufferings at Jerusalem, he said to the Lord in effect, "No, Thou shalt not go. I do not want Thee to go." He thus became a stumbling-block in the way of the Lord to the cross, in His pathway of obedience unto death. Simon Peter's saying was after the flesh, and not of faith. Faith always submits to the will of God, but Peter spoke without faith, and showed the unreliability and failure of man in the flesh, even though such marvellous revelations had been made to him.

Next, we find that the Lord takes Peter up into the high mountain, and shows him His own glory and the glory of the kingdom. There in the midnight the wonderful glory and majesty of the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ shone out before the three apostles. Was it worth while that such a grand display should be given to these three, Peter, James, and John? We perhaps might not have thought it was, but God did, and the Lord Jesus did.

And blundering Peter was one of the three privileged witnesses who went up and saw that great sight. It was but a few days after Satan had spoken through him to cast a stumbling-block in the way of the Lord. But the Lord Himself had searched His servant, and had known what was in him. Down beneath the rags of self, behind the hasty tongue, was a disciple's heart of love, beating true to his Master. In the bottom of his soul, Peter was prepared to lay down his life for his Master, and this the Lord knew. He had searched Simon Peter, discerning in him what was of the new nature, and what was of the old.

The Lord then took his erring apostle up into the mount with the two sons of Zebedee, but there the old Simon again spoke out. Moses and Elias were there with the transfigured Christ, and, not knowing truly what he said, Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us to be here . . . let us make here three tabernacles; one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."

Here was failure again. A great revelation concerning Jesus had been entrusted to him, but this was a complete breakdown in the application of it. Peter had been taught by the Father that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, yet he puts Him on a level with Moses the mediator and Elijah the restorer of the law.

Though the chosen recipient of the Father's favour, Simon Peter degrades His beloved Son. Such is man! Such is your heart and mine. Such is the heart of some about us today who, in a flagrant way, bring down God's Son to the level of a leader and prophet, regarding Him as One entrusted with the official dignity of Mediator. When Peter sought to class the Eternal Son with the servants of God, the voice from the Shekinah of God vindicated the personal glory of Him Who was about to suffer, and afterwards to enter into the glories of His kingdom. The Father declared, "This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him."

If time permitted, it would be interesting and helpful to consider Peter's denials of his Master as another episode in the discipline of his soul. But we must pass on to the concluding scene of which we read in John 21, though the public restoration of Peter recounted there is closely connected with those denials.

It is very sad to reflect that Peter, that great and honoured apostle, should have so demeaned himself on that eventful night, but the Spirit of God does not leave us ignorant of the cause of his sinful failure.

The Lord told Peter what he would do that very night — that he would deny Him three times — and He bade him, in view of this coming temptation, to watch and pray. The Lord led Peter to the prayer-meeting, to the place where prayer was wont to be made. And there in Gethsemane the Lord bade him watch with Him in the spirit of prayer, while He Himself went and prayed alone.

Alas, Peter did not watch nor pray. "Peter, do you not remember how the Lord spoke of the immediate fulfilment of the prophecy, 'I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered'? Do you not remember how He spoke to you of His imminent suffering, and of your denial of Him"? But Peter did not remember, did not watch, did not pray; he went to sleep.

The Lord came and roused him from his untimely sleep, telling him emphatically to watch and pray lest he entered into temptation. Then his Master went away to pray again, while Peter fell asleep again. And so the third time. Thus the apostle came into the place of his temptation, not having by prayer sought that grace and strength which his oft-proved infirmities so sorely needed.

Do you wonder Peter failed in his confession of Christ? And if you track your own failures to their source, you will find the same underlying cause. As you remember your faults, ask yourself in the presence of the Lord, Why did I do this or that last week or this week or today? Was it not because you did not pray, nor seek strength from on high?

When challenged as a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth, Peter kept on denying his Master, adding oaths and curses in sinful confirmation, until he remembered the prophetic word of the Lord about himself. Then the word of truth pierced his conscience, and he went out and wept bitterly. He was sinking lower and lower as a confessor of Christ, but the Lord looked at him, and he broke down. His self-confidence was dissolved into tearful penitence.

What a contrast Peter by his unfaithfulness was to his Master! The Lord Jesus was the perfect One, and when He was challenged, "Art Thou the Son of God?" He answered, "Thou sayest it." The Lord alone is the Faithful and True Witness. Peter, in the same building, was with oaths and curses denying the Master Whom he loved, and Whom he had blessedly confessed as the Christ, the Son of the living God!

Alas, such shameful words may, apart from prayer and help from God, fall from our lips also. Peter was searched most surely in the high priest's palace, and the wicked way in him was brought to the surface. He had rushed unprepared into that place, the assembly of the wicked, where the light of God was shining upon His own Son, and revealing Him as the spotless and unblemished Son of man. Peter came into that light, and it revealed what a reptile he was! It is a terrible thing for any man to lie; but how much worse for a disciple of Him Who is the Truth to keep on lying! and to seek to bolster up his lies with oaths and curses, taking the name of God in vain!

But, oh, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ! Who can measure it, or tell it? When He rose from the dead, He came early in the day to Peter; "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." The interview was private, and over it the curtain of silence is thrown. What the Lord said to Peter then, and what Peter said to the Lord, we do not know. But if Peter wept bitterly that night when he went out of the palace after seeing the look of the Lord, what did he do at the feet of the risen Lord Who had come to him in tender love to restore his soul?

But here, in John, is the account of Simon's public restoration, the point from which the Lord sends him out on a new mission (John 21).

They are together on the shore of the lake, in the locality of former incidents in the life of Peter, some also connected with the sea and fishes. The Lord treats Peter like an honoured guest. Food is provided, and they have a meal together. There is communion between them. They had eaten together in the upper room; now they are eating together by the lake. There is a season of peace and joy before the examination and manifestation commence.

Then, before his fellow-disciples, the Lord speaks to Peter, not of power but of love, not of faith but of love, not of hope but of love, not of service but of love. He says, "Simon, son of Jonas." He does not address him as Peter, the rock-man; for he had not shown himself a rock in the palace, but sinking sand.

"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?" The question was a simple one, but it had a dagger point. "More than these!" What had Peter said to the Lord when He forewarned him? Trusting in his own love and fidelity, Peter had boasted, "Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee;" "Though all shall be offended, because of Thee, yet will I never be offended." Now the Lord asks him, "Lovest thou Me more than these?" The boastful one had denied the Lord; they had not!

The Lord did not forget Peter's boastful words, lifting himself above his brethren. He brought them back to his remembrance, very gently, with consummate skill and power, with such loving tenderness. Yet the keen knife entered, searching the reins, dividing between soul and spirit "Lovest thou Me more than these?"

Peter boasts of a superior fidelity no more, and he has not a word to say about "these." He answers, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." Thou hast searched me and known me, my down-sitting and up-rising, and all my past ways, the things I have said and done, the denials of that awful night. Thou knowest all these things; and in spite of them all Thou knowest that I love Thee." He feels himself without excuse, yet affirms his love for the Lord.

Again, the Lord said to him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?" But this time the Lord did not say, "more than these." One reminder of his empty boast was sufficient. Peter responds again, reasserting his love in the presence of Him Who knew his heart so thoroughly.

We must not overlook that by this dialogue Peter was gaining inward experience of the Lord's searching power. He had known all about him when He was warning him of what he would do before the cock crew. Like the psalmist, and like Job, Peter was realising that he was naked and opened before the eyes of the Lord with Whom he had to do, and that He had known beforehand the wicked way that was in

Now the Lord was probing Peter's heart to get to the very bottom and expose what was there. "Simon, after those denials, is thine a real love for Me? canst thou say without boasting foolishly that thine is a true love, not to be set aside by any foe? Supposing the high priest took thee, wilt thou now go with Me to prison and to death? Lovest thou Me? "Peter's reply was not, I will go; I do indeed love Thee," but "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee."

Then the Lord put the same question the third time. Peter was grieved that the Lord asked three times. Why three? The enemies of the Lord had asked Peter three times if he was a follower of Jesus, and three times he had denied the truth. So Simon knew that the Lord was searching and trying him. He felt the point of the knife in his heart, and that he deserved its exposure. His only resource was in the omniscience of the Lord: "Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee." Now the restoration of the fallen apostle was completed, and Peter was given his new commission, "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep."

It is very necessary for us to bear in mind these experiences of Simon Peter. Are we not likely to boast of our attainment beyond others in love to our Lord? But the Lord measures our love by our faith, by our works, by our ways. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." "If ye love Me, keep My word." Do what I say, what I will. In that way we must display our love for the Lord, and not in boastful talk.

If the Lord questioned us as He did Simon, son of Jonas, what should we say? If you were shut up alone with the Lord, and if He said, "Do you really love Me in these days?" what would you say? When you are in your little meeting-room, at the prayer-meeting and the Bible reading, at the worship-meeting and the breaking of bread„ what would you say if the Lord should ask, "Why are you here? Is it because you really love Me? "Are you sure that you are giving the Lord all your heart? or do you try to love the Lord a little, and the world a little as well?

Beloved friends, we ought to feel continually that we have to do with One Who knows us altogether. And if we really feel that this is so, we shall take up the language of the last two verses of this psalm, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me." Is there anything within that would grieve Thee, anything contrary to Thee? Perhaps I am hugging something selfish, something may be deceiving me, I may have wrong thoughts about myself, therefore I need that God should search me and try me, "and lead me in the way everlasting".

I am sure that as a matter of abstract knowledge you are all familiar with the subject of God's omniscience, but I do feel that we are living in such difficult times that nothing but real communion between ourselves and the heart-knowing God and His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit will keep us faithful to His word and our hearts true to His love.

Things in the world about us are getting worse and worse day by day. Things of Christian association with which we are more intimately connected are in a state of corruption and decay. But One abides faithful, and He is the One Who is in the midst of the assemblies, and Who searches the reins and the hearts (Rev. 2: 23). To those who confess their sins and whom He has cleansed from all unrighteousness, He will say, as He did to Peter, "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep." Tend them, care for them. If you love Me, love also those that I love.

May God give us to feel the necessity of being continually and consciously under the scrutiny of His omniscient eye. He searches our hearts and tries our ways, and we cannot deceive Him. Let our hearts and consciences be right with Him and in accord with His will, Who said, "I will guide thee with Mine eye "(Psalms 32: 8).

The Lord's Words to the Last Three Churches in Asia

Revelation 3.

W. J. Hocking.

London Conference, 1st June, 1936.

I desire to draw your attention to the manner in which the Lord presents Himself to these three assemblies, and to the reward which He promises to those who overcome in spite of the general declension around them.

Our Lord's appeals and warnings to all the seven churches are of a special character, suited to the condition of each assembly as His witness. Under the figures of stars and candlesticks, allusion is made to the fact that the Lord has set them to be lights in the world, reflecting His truth and His grace.

This is the manward aspect of the assembly, and should not be confused with the Godward aspect. In the latter view, the church is the edifice which the Lord is building according to His own declaration, "Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

In the Acts, there is the historical record of this building process through the preaching of the gospel. Believers were brought together into the new institution, the church of God, formed and inhabited by the Holy Spirit. This church Christ loved, and gave Himself for it, and will present it in glory and perfection to Himself. We may call this view the divine side, and the body and the bride are Scriptural figures used of this aspect.

But the stars and the candlesticks apply to the function given to the church to be a means of light to the world. How urgently this witness is needed! The world, lying in the wicked one, is a sporting-ground for the powers of darkness. How little there is for God in it! And is not this because the assemblies have failed in showing forth light and truth?

God means, however, to purify the whole world. And the fulfilment of this purpose is depicted in the visions of this Book. At the beginning of it the church in its sevenfold diversity is seen mingled with failure and evil, amenable to reproof and judgment.

The Lord is seen walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, displaying His judicial attributes as Son of man. He comes, clothed in the white robe of purity, with a sword in His mouth, and with eyes of flame to search the hearts of those in the assemblies. As the Judge, He perceives every secret thought and evil disposition.

What had been the behaviour of the Lord's public witnesses? In these chapters we have a sorrowful portrait of religious declension. The churches slide down a slippery slope from purity and perfection to a loathsome corruption, which the Lord rejects utterly. Most know that these seven epistles present a sketch of ecclesiastical history from Pentecost to the end of church profession.

Sardis.

We have read tonight of Sardis. This assembly represents a state of outward profession, of active works, of diligent behaviour, but of real death. Sardis was spiritually dead at the core, having a name to live but being dead. Historically, Sardis refers to the rise of Protestantism in the days of Luther. Human intellect then awoke from sleep, a benefit for man, a menace to divine testimony. For intellect without faith leads man on to blaspheme the name of God and His Son, to deny the Bible and the truths of revelation. The witness of the church to divine truth is utterly quenched by it.

Significantly, the Lord comes in a different character to each of the seven churches. To Sardis, the Lord introduces Himself as "He that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars." All the stars are in His possession. He is the One Who meets and makes up for the deficiencies of His church. If Sardis with all its lapses only looked at Him walking in the midst, it would find all failure and weakness provided for in Him, and by Him; and its light would shine more and more.

The Lord comes to the assembly bearing His name, but languishing in its care for that name; much is ready to die and more is without a spark of life, already dead. But He addresses Sardis as One having the seven Spirits, and concludes His address with the words, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches."

In this description of the Lord having the seven Spirits, we may trace an analogy with Isaiah's prophecy of the Messiah Who will come to judge in righteousness and reprove with equity in the earth (Isa. 11). The Spirit of Jehovah then rests upon Him, giving Him a sevenfold competency in wisdom, understanding, and judgment (vers. 2, 3), for the introduction of righteousness and peace in the earth.

In this character, the Lord reveals Himself to Sardis as having a sevenfold competency to judge the evil and develop the good. "Seven" signifies the fullness of perfection and power for living energy. The Spirit is life, but Sardis is like the unfaithful widow, of whom it is said, "She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth" (1 Tim. 5: 6). Sardis had a name to live but was counted to be dead.

Even so, the Lord shows the dead assembly that He has the seven Spirits of God. He is able to raise it from among the dead, to revive it, to make it wise, to fill it with faithfulness, fervour and zeal. Let us not forget this resourceful attitude of the Lord. There is no need for despair because of prevailing weakness, dullness and deadness. The Lord is walking in the midst of the assemblies in the fullness of His grace and power to supply all that we lack for faithful living testimony.

But the Lord also has the seven stars. The assemblies are His property. He has bought them, redeemed them, and set them here to shine for Him in the world of darkness before the great day of His own appearing, when He will shine forth upon the earth as the Sun of righteousness. Then, too, the righteous will also shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

But now, in spite of declension in the church, the Lord possesses governmental authority over the seven stars. They are His, and it is a comfort to the faithful soul to know His interest in the shining of His stars. Ephesus was told they were in His right hand (Rev. 2: 1). He directs and overrules to the end the testimony to His name, even in the midst of the corporate failure of His witnesses.

The Lord's solemn word for Sardis was, "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." This was their state in His sight. We must not think we can escape the edge of that word, saying we are not in Sardis. It has an application individually as well as collectively. It may be true of some of us that we have a name to live but are dead.

If so, our works will be but the work of the dead. All religious works apart from the life of Christ are "dead works." Not so many years ago, slumming was regarded as a fashionable pursuit by society folk. With no knowledge of the Saviour for themselves, they counted it a meritorious act to live in the slums, and help the poor as much as possible.

Their works of mercy gave them a name to live, but they were dead. They helped the poor, and gave them useful instruction. But this was only their hobby, and not the fruit of the Spirit unto eternal life. So the Lord judged surely, as He judged the deeds of Sardis.

Whatever work of the Lord you may undertake, let it be in the power of the new life, that is, the life of Christ. The apostle says for us, The life which I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Christ lives in me, and this is the life that God accepts, the life that is life indeed. Whatever I say, whatever I do, wherever I go, all should be in the name of Christ, lest it be true of me also that I have a name to live, but am dead.

Remember the Lord is the Judge of our works: "I know thy works." We are not reliable judges of them. A person may be competing for a prize, and, looking at his own work, may regard it as excellent, and that he is certain to win. But it is the judge who decides, and he may even throw it aside as of no real worth. And so, only the Lord, Who knows our heart and motive, can rightly value our works.

The Lord next says, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die." What is it to be watchful? Some say, "It means that I must watch for the Lord's coming; if not, He will come as a thief, and I shall be left behind, since He is coming for those who are watching for Him." This, however, is not the meaning of the Lord's injunction.

Watching may mean looking for the Lord's return, but it may have other meanings. When our Lord said to sleeping Peter, "Watch and pray," He was not calling Peter to watch for His coming from heaven. No, He called him to be vigilant at that moment of agonized wrestling in prayer.

The Lord says to Sardis, "Be watchful." Be observant of the solemnity of the times. Do not sleep as do others. Be active, not drowsy. What you do, do under My eye. Thus the watchful servant will keep in living touch with his Master, Who says, "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee" (ver. 3).

Now the Lord commends those that were undefiled in Sardis. This assembly was in a terrible condition; it was in the place of spiritual death. Scripture everywhere teaches that contact with death defiles a person before God. This is specially shown in the economy of Moses. The Israelites were enjoined not to touch a dead body, or even the bone of a man, because of the religious defilement incurred (Num. 19). Even their garments would be defiled by such contact.

There was serious risk of defilement in Sardis, seeing the Lord pronounced it "dead." They must be watchful lest their garments came in contact with what was a lifeless copy of the living, and they should partake of its defilement. How easily, and even unconsciously, we may drift into the imitation of the activities of those who seek their own aggrandisement, and not the glory of God and the honour of the name of the Lord Jesus. If we copy the "things without life, giving sound," we shall become infected with their corruption and death — as the Lord views them.

But there were bright spots in Sardis. The Lord said, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments." These had been walking circumspectly. They noted what was dead, and gathered up their robes lest by any means they should touch the dead and be defiled. They had been watchful, and had kept their garments unspotted. We, too, must beware of our associations, that we may escape contact with the pollutions of death, which abound in Christendom.

In view of their exceptional faithfulness, the Lord says, "They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy." When will this be? It is true that at the marriage supper of the Lamb, the saints will be seen clothed in fine linen, clean and white (Rev. 19). All present at that supper will have white robes, not a part only of the company.

But the Lord here speaks of a "few" only, and these are given the special privilege of walking with Him in white, and seems to apply to the present, and not to the future. The reward for overcoming, which is mentioned next, will be at the end of the conflict. When the struggle is past, "he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment."

But walking with the Lord is surely an experience enjoyed in this world. He does not walk with one wearing defiled garments. The defilement would be visible to every passer-by. And the Lord's presence will not accompany one who is unclean in his ways. He will, however, walk with those who are pure in heart and unblemished in conduct.

What a testimony such a walk would be in dead Sardis! The Lord is known to be with the few undefiled ones. They are clad in white. The world that said of the Master, "I find no fault in this Man" can find no fault in these white-robed disciples of His. Is this the world's verdict of you and me? Are we so free from spots and blemishes that the world and the professing church know that we are walking with Christ, being seen to be like Him.

It is remarkable that the Lord says of those who walk with Him in white that "they are worthy." This term should be considered carefully. Can it be true that I may become worthy to be the companion of my blessed Lord? The Lord declares it to be true of the few in Sardis who had not defiled their garments. They were worthy to walk with Him!

This worthiness arises from a faithful and consistent walk. Those counted worthy are those who "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing" (Col, 3: 10). Their Christian behaviour in the pathways of life is uniformly in character with the life of Christ, and the two walk together because they are agreed.

With those who have sinned and defiled their garments. the Lord will not walk. Even when sin is confessed and forgiven, the stain, though removed from the conscience, still appears to the eyes of the world, and the Lord does not walk openly with such. Has not His name been compromised and dishonoured? He walks, not with the unworthy, but with the worthy ones. In like manner, those who eat and drink unworthily at the Lord's Supper forfeit His fellowship and incur His judgment.

The overcomer in Sardis will also have his special reward. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." There is to be a correspondence between the character of his testimony and the character of his reward. As he had kept his garments unsoiled, so in the day of manifestation he will be clothed in white raiment. The nature of his testimony in the day of the church's failure will, in the day of Christ's glory, be permanently displayed.

The overcomer had trodden an unpolluted path through the cemetery of the dead in Sardis. He had kept his garments unspotted from the world and from the mass of lifeless religious profession. The Lord, the righteous Judge, does not forget the faithful endurance of the overcomer, but awards him the white robes of victory to wear in the coming day of glory.

But the Lord has reserved something further for the overcomer. He says, "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." His name shall be preserved in the divine records, and be publicly owned before the Father and His angels.

The overcomer is thus permanently distinguished from those in Sardis that had a name to live but were dead. These names were written only in the earthly register of those who profess allegiance to the name of the Lord. But their works showed that they lacked the life of the Spirit, and that their names were not written in heaven in the book of life.

This was a negative promise, but the Lord adds a positive one: "I will confess his name before My Father." The Lord with Whom he walked on earth owns him as His in the presence of His Father on high. After the resurrection, He said, "Behold, I and the children God hath given Me." Concerning the overcomer, He will confess to His Father, "Here is one who lived in defiled and defiling Sardis, but who kept himself pure from every stain. He stood true for Me, and I walked with him, Thou, O Father, gavest Me him, and I have kept him in Thy name."

What a day of rejoicing for the overcomers! One by one the Lord will utter their names in that august Presence, and before the angels too, confessing before them those that confessed Him before men (Luke 12: 8). And the holy angels will behold with celestial astonishment this company of saved sinners exalted to privileges greater than their own. Does not this prospect move us to take greater heed to our associations lest we touch the unclean thing? Do we not covet to be confessed as overcomers before the Father Himself?

Philadelphia

The Lord presents Himself to the angel of the next assembly in the series under quite a different title. He speaks to Philadelphia as the One Who is holy and Who is true.

The name, Philadelphia, signifies "brotherly love." There is no doubt that, historically, this assembly represents that movement which began in Protestantism a little more than a century ago, bearing this character.

At that time, the Scriptural teaching concerning the children of God, their membership of the body of Christ, and the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit, was revived. It was vividly realized that those belonging to Christ were brethren in the Lord. Accordingly, the spirit of brotherly love (Philadelphia) became widely spread in all parts of the world.

Externally, the church was in ruins, but internally, the potency of the Philadelphian feeling of love was unaffected. Many saints learned this fact, and have acted upon it. They found that brotherly behaviour is independent of ecclesiastical organization, being founded upon their common life, each being born of the Spirit and indwelt by Him.

Clearly, the non-existence, through departure from the truth, of any assembly fashioned and furnished in full agreement with New Testament doctrine, was the cause of the brethren meeting without any visible framework of liturgy, clergy, or creed, but with entire dependence upon the Lord and upon His Spirit and His word. Externally, therefore, the assembly in Philadelphia was, in man's judgment, a spectacle of utter weakness and inefficiency.

Now the Lord comes to this weak assembly as the Strong One. She is without resources, but what she lacks He is abundantly able to supply. The Lord mentions three features of His relationship to her: — (1) He is holy and He is true; (2) He hath the key of David; and (3) He opens and no one shuts, He shuts and no one opens. There is no word about the seven stars, nothing about the seven Spirits of God, nor the seven golden lampstands. But the Lord presents those of His own qualities especially suitable to individual believers in Philadelphia.

(1) The Lord speaks to them as "He that is holy, He that is true." Holiness and truth each believer must have. This is the inward character given to the new man (Eph. 4: 24), and all must put on these qualities. In no other way can a company of believers be holy and true. When holiness and truth are seen in the units, there will be unity in the assembly in this respect.

Now when Philadelphia looks to the Lord, she sees that He is holy and true, and realizes that in Him are the qualities she needs for herself. It is sad to reflect that if we consider the assemblies of brethren in the Lord, we are not always able to discern that they are holy and true. And what shall we find as we look at ourselves personally? Like failure, I am sure. But He is perfect, and His blessed eyes search our spirits, exposing our shortcomings, but encourage us to confide in Himself, Who is waiting to provide what we lack.

(2) "He that hath the key of David." The key is a symbol of authority, of administrative rule. You may inquire, "What has the key of David to do with the assembly?" Prophetically, David, that is, the seed of David, is the appointed executor of justice in the kingdom of Israel, and indeed among the Gentile nations also. By Him, all evil will eventually be subdued in the earth by the exercise of His power and His might.

Christ has that key of David now in connection with the assembly, only He exercises His powers over evil secretly, and not openly before the eyes of all. Now, the assembly is the sphere of His government; by-and-by, the world will be the sphere.

The saints are now the light of the world to shine upon evil and make it manifest, but not to pluck up the tares. Still the Lord by His Spirit restrains the evil and keeps it within bounds. All power is given Him in heaven and in earth, though it is not openly exercised either in the assembly or in the world. The Lord reminded the weak saints in Philadelphia of the authority over evil which is His right.

(3) Further, the Lord encourages those living in a day of weakness by assuring them of His power to open and to shut. He has the key of David upon His shoulder (Isa. 22: 22). In assembly affairs and in personal service, it is "He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth."

David had absolute authority in his own palace. There was no door there but was opened or closed at his will. And Philadelphia is told that the Lord has absolute power to open or close every door in the great house of Christendom. The State may claim political and even doctrinal control of the church. But the Lord still walks among the golden lamp-stands, and when His little flock is too weak to withstand the oppression of secular rule, it must remember that the Lord is taking charge of the doors.

There is amazing comfort in this fact for feeble saints and for feeble companies of saints. Think of an infant at a closed door. It has indeed "little strength," but the master of the house unlocks the door, and the child goes forward. Another closed door the master will not open, for in this case it would be dangerous for the child to go through. Wisdom and love are in charge of the doors for Philadelphia. Those opened lead to blessing, those closed screen from danger. This is the Lord's doing.

The Lord opens doors for service. Paul wrote of a "great door and effectual" being opened for him at Ephesus. There were many adversaries, but the apostle desired to go there, and tarry till Pentecost (1 Cor. 16: 8, 9). Persecution did not deter him, when he knew that the door was opened unto him by the Lord (2 Cor. 2: 12). In such a case, the Lord's name would be magnified, for no one could close that door.

Not so, however, when the Lord's servants are governed by self-will. Some, coming to a closed door, will even force the locks. But no one, save the Lord, can open a closed door for blessing. He prepares the way for His servants, and does not delegate this control to others.

In Philadelphia, the Lord set open a door, and no one could shut it; for, He says, "thou hast little strength." The Lord did not reproach them for their lack of strength., Neither was it a reason for idleness. The Lord opened a door suited to their limited abilities.

The Lord knew exactly the measure of their strength, and He would have them admit that it was little. Their success would depend upon their keeping within their measure. It would be useless for them to pretend to be giants when they were dwarfs, and foolish for them to seek to add to their stature. The Lord knew their feebleness, and He never expects a little child to do the work of a grown man.

But the Lord also says to this feeble one, "Thou hast kept My word." He values this fidelity to Himself and to His love. Before leaving His disciples, He said to them, "If any one love Me, he will keep My word" (John 14: 23). Here in Philadelphia some had kept His word, and He had opened a door for them.

The Israelites had to keep the word of Moses, the ten words of the law; the assembly has to keep the word of Christ. In the New Testament we have His word spoken on earth and from heaven. On earth, He said to the Father, referring to His disciples, "I have given them Thy word." From heaven, the Holy Spirit came to take of the things of Christ and to show them unto us. In the Gospels and the Epistles, we have, therefore, His word; do we keep it?

During His absence, the Lord signified what importance He attaches to our obedience to His word. He writes to Philadelphia, "I know thy works . . . thou hast kept My word." The mark of my faithfulness is that I am keeping His word. Whatever ecclesiastical confusion has come upon the assemblies, I myself must keep His word.

Observe how in this assembly personal contact between the saint and his Lord is assumed. He says, "Thou has kept My word." Keeping that word is inseparable from communion with Himself. Here Philadelphia finds her strength. Fellowship with Christ is the special privilege offered to us in our day of utter weakness.

This personal communion is needed by young and old who desire to find and enter the opened door. What clear, distinct guidance by Christ and His word is needed, particularly by the young, lest in the labyrinth of pathways in the religious world they miss the opened door the Lord has set before them.

Young believer, do not take a step without the Lord. A wrong turn may lead you to the dungeon of despair. You know that when seeking a new way in the country, though you go only a little off the direct road, you may have to travel many miles before you recover the right track. So it is easy but disastrous to turn aside from the narrow way of obedience to the will of the Lord. Therefore, be much upon your knees before Him until you have His word of direction for your way and having received that, you need never go astray.

Another commendation comes from the Lord: "Thou hast not denied My name." There is fidelity to the glory of Christ's Person. Though a matter of the highest importance, little can be said about it tonight. There were those in early days who denied the Lord that bought them (2 Peter 2: 1). There are such still.

It is sad to reflect that the spirit that denied the Holy One and the Just should be active still after nearly two thousand years of grace. The Father and the Son are denied. Men will not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The name stands in Scripture for what a person is, and to deny the name is to refuse to acknowledge the truth concerning the person. Many professing Christianity deny the name of the Lord, and there is no place for such in Philadelphia before Him Who is holy and Him Who is true.

In verse 10, we have a special promise offered to this assembly. The Lord's promise is bestowed because "thou hast kept the word of My patience." Previously, the Lord had said, "thou . . . hast kept My word," but this is more specific — "the word of My patience."

What does the phrase mean? You may say it means to exhibit the gentle, lowly, submissive disposition seen in our Lord. He was long-suffering, obedient, enduring in silence, the lamb dumb before her shearers, and all, being naturally impatient, should wish to be like him.

But the reference here is not to the mind of Christ. The patience is the patience of hope in the Lord (1 Thess. 1: 3), Who is speaking not of our patience, but of His own. He is, waiting in patience on high, and those who wait here for the same moment are keeping the word of His patience. The Lord has directed their hearts into the patience of Christ (2 Thess. 3: 5).

Think of the patience of the Son of man on high, Who is waiting for the day of His manifestation. He is already invested with glory and honour. All the glories of the coming kingdom are centred in Him. And He is waiting for the hour when He will assume His great power and reign in glory. We also wait for it, for if we now suffer with Him, we shall then reign with Him. Thus we keep the word of His patience.

Now the Lord's promise to such a one is that He will keep him out of the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the habitable world to try them that dwell upon the earth. This promise the Lord will fulfil by removing, from earth to heaven, His waiting church, which will thus escape the terrors of the predicted hour of trial.

The Lord preserved His own disciples from the sorrows and sufferings which came upon Himself between Gethsemane and the cross. He said to those who came to take Him, Let these go their way. They had continued with Him in His temptations, but when His hour and the hour of the prince of darkness had come, they were kept out of it. The Good Shepherd turned His hand upon those little ones.

This coming trial will fall upon those who dwell upon the earth. The earth-dwellers are those who are earthly-minded. This apocalyptic class abandon the heavenly calling of the church and will be abandoned by the Lord at His coming. Instead of keeping the word of Christ's patience, they choose the pleasures and pursuits of this evil world, and tribulation and wrath will fall upon them. Further; the Lord offers a reward to the overcomer: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God." The one overcoming, yet with "little strength" will be made a pillar, which is an emblem of strength. Moreover, it is in the temple of God, a permanent part of its structure. Out of weakness he is made strong in glory.

The temple of God is the place for His worship, where everything is forgotten save His presence, and where the soul is engrossed with His power and His majesty. This is the Lord's award to the overcomer who has kept His word and not denied His name. He gives him a special place in the Father's house, where the continual occupation will be the praise and worship of God and the Lamb.

Further, the Lord says, "I will write upon him . . . My new name." Observe the recurrence of the personal pronoun in the promise: "My God" (four times); "My new name." The Lord meets the heart's desire of the overcomer. What is of Himself is more precious than anything else to those who love Him.

Those faithful ones in Philadelphia had wholly followed the Lord. Their hearts were set upon doing His word and His will. They had left the organizations of Christendom to be occupied only with the Lord, depending entirely upon His faithful love, serving Him, and waiting for His return.

As a reward, the Lord says, the whole universe shall know you are Mine. We write our name upon our property, a book perhaps. The written name is a guarantee of ownership, a mark of identification, to all who see the inscription. In the day of glory, all shall see Christ's new name written upon those in Philadelphia who overcome.

Laodicea

There will not be time to say more than a word upon the unhappy subject of the Laodicean assembly. It is the close of the series, and marks the lowest point of spiritual declension in church history. The final condition of Christendom is so contrary to the mind of the Lord that He must remove it from Himself. It is offensive to Him, and He spews it out of His mouth as a loathsome and disgusting thing.

To this apostate company, the Lord presents Himself as "the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God." He is what they are not. Every promise of God is ratified and confirmed in Him. In every moment of His ministry He was the faithful and true Witness; as He said "I am . . . the Truth."

But even in Laodicea there are faithful ones. The Lord addresses the company individually, coming to each heart, and saying, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." In Philadelphia, He has opened a door, but here is a closed door which He does not open Himself. The door is closed and held fast. He knocks and knocks, for He wishes to enter in and sup with him, but He is hindered and forbidden.

How hardened the heart that would shut out the Lord! Let us ask ourselves, Is it possible that I may close the door when my Lord seeks admittance? Could I refuse to open the door to my Beloved? Such is the word of the Lord Who knows our hearts. Oh, the grace of the Lord to seek admittance! Oh, the callousness of the heart that refuses Him entrance!

The overcomer in Laodicea is encouraged: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne." It is a distinction of power. To sit with Christ in His throne as a reward has a grand, glorious, majestic, dignified character. But it lacks the share of Christ's personal affection that is promised to the Philadelphian overcomer.

The Lord knows the works of each overcomer, and the reward is proportionate to the victory gained. In Philadelphia, he is given the name of Christ and of what is Christ's. This satisfies the heart of one who had loved that name, gathered to that name, and had not denied that name. In the blissful regions of eternal glory, He will be seen and known as one bearing the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In each of the seven epistles, the Lord holds out a reward to the overcomer. Victory, not defeat, should be the aim of all. The Lord Himself overcame the world, and so should those born of God (1 John 5: 4, 5). The young men in the family of God overcome the wicked one (1 John 2: 13). And in the midst of ecclesiastical evil, the victory is, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.

Victory is attached by the Lord to the individual: he that overcometh. It is possible, therefore, for us to be defeated and to miss the overcomer's reward. The opposition to the truth, and the powers of evil are today seeking in every possible way to secure your defeat and mine. Though there is no present danger of our exile to a Siberia or of imprisonment for the faith, the enemy is not asleep in the British Isles.

Satan is more active than ever, as the astonishing progress of evil shows. In ten thousand ways, he is setting snares for the people of God, and raising barriers to their faithful testimony. His object is to sap their strength, so that they shall not be overcomers, but shall lose their crown. The Lord says to us all, "Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no one take thy crown."

Perhaps you are saying, "Will you not tell us how to be overcomers?" I can only tell you one thing, which perhaps may be sufficient. The Lord overcame, and is set down with His Father on His throne. If we follow Him, we, too, shall overcome. Let us not be concerned about others, but for ourselves, let us set our eyes upon the Lord, and follow to the end Him Who is the Leader and Completer of faith.

What a company of victors there would be, if every one in this hall even should in the day of reward stand before the Lord as those that had overcome by the word of testimony, by the power of Christ, by a pure and faithful discipleship! Let it be our aim to become "more than conquerors through Him that loved us," and to be among those overcomers who shall inherit all things (Rev. 21: 7).

The Altar of Worship

An Address on Leviticus 6: 8-13; John 4: 23, 24; 1 Cor. 11: 23-26; Hebrews 13: 11.

W. J. Hocking.

The scriptures read deal, for the most part, with the subject of the worship of God. The worship of God is an occupation of the highest character for the believer. A man who is a true worshipper of God in this world rises to the loftiest point of excellence to which his nature can go. It is a remarkable thing that in spiritual worship we should be able to be before God, consciously in His presence, realising His presence by faith, and that our hearts should go out to Him with all freedom, without outward restriction, without inward restraint, going out in adoration and praise to God because He is God, and above all, because He is our Father.

Worship, I say, is the highest and most sublime occupation in which we can engage here below. Moreover, worship comes within the province of the simplest and the youngest believer, as well as of those who are older and more acquainted with the love of God through His grace. Perhaps, the simpler the heart and the soul, the purer, and shall I say, the more acceptable is the worship that rises to God. "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise."

We find that worship was laid upon the hearts of the saints all through the scriptural history. From the beginning to the end, those who pleased God on earth were those who worshipped Him. While in heaven above, the worship of God and of the Lamb will be developed to its fullest degree in the redeemed.

Worship on Mount Moriah

One of the earliest examples of worship, and a very instructive one, is found in the well-known chapter (Gen. 22), relating the experience of Abraham. This incident, which is presented there in full detail, is really an incident of worship to God. Abraham was called to go to the land of Moriah and there, upon one of the mountains of which God told him, to offer Isaac his son, his only son, as a burnt offering to God. It was a supreme test of his faith in God and of his love for God; but he was obedient, and was prompt and unquestioning in his obedience. He did not say, "I will not go," and then change his mind and go, but he obeyed at once, rising early in the morning.

Abraham knew what he was doing, as we find from his words to the servants with him. He said to them, "Abide ye here with the ass, while I and the lad go yonder and worship, and return again to you." There we have the act of worship before him actually mentioned.

Abraham and his son proceeded to that mountain, and there, upon the altar that was erected, Isaac was bound by his father to be the burnt offering. At God's bidding Abraham emptied his heart and soul upon that altar, surrendering all to Him. Everything that made Abraham what he was as a depositary of divine promise to the whole world and a wanderer in Canaan, was found in Isaac, and now Isaac, the seed of promise, was upon the altar, and the father's hand was uplifted with the knife to slay his son.

It was not the piteous vision of the boy upon the altar, and the tense features of the father as he was about to slay his son, that was so well-pleasing in heaven. It was the patriarch's act of worship; it was the act telling God that, to Abraham, God and His word were everything, that Abraham adored and trusted the One Who told him to take his only son and offer him as a burnt offering.

There upon the altar was the victim bound. There, too, near by was the substitute, the ram caught in the thicket, provided to be the substitute for the human life. It came about that the ram took the place of Isaac, but in God's estimation Abraham had fully performed the act of worship in the presence of His name; there at the altar he learned the name of Jehovah — in the mount of the Lord it was seen. Jehovah was the great Provider, the One Who was everything to Abraham, and this significance was expressed in his act of surrender, the act of worship.

The patriarch's example lays it upon us that worship, in order to be acceptable to God, must be of the nature of a sacrifice. Worship must cost us something. In a measure, we are poorer, in some way or the other, because we worship God. We give something to Him, i.e., not something of ourselves, but something of Him Who lives in us, of Him Who is ever acceptable to God.

God expects our worship, the Father seeks worshippers. It is incumbent upon every believer to remember the claim God has upon this supreme act of our spiritual lives to worship and to adore Him. And let it be, not occasionally, not seasonally, but constantly, continually. Worship must be as a stream flowing incessantly, springing from God, if you will, but rising again to God, without a break. The heart of the true worshipper is ever in tune by the Holy Spirit, and engaged with praising and blessing God.

Worship and the Burnt Offering

In Leviticus 6, we have what is called the law of the burnt offering. Of all the classes of sacrifice, the burnt offering is the one that speaks most vividly of worship.

Why does it speak most vividly of worship? Because of its contrast with other offerings in this respect that the whole of the burnt offering, whether it was a sheep or a goat, or a bull, whatever animal was offered, the whole of it went up to Jehovah. The entire carcase was placed on the altar, consumed by fire, and ascended up in fumes to heaven. Figuratively, it was to God as a sweet-smelling savour of Christ in His absolute devotion to the divine will, even so far as the death on the cross.

But the worshipper brought the offering, and the worshipper laid his hand upon the sacrifice. The priest took it and offered it, but the worshipper beheld in the ascending column of smoke the acceptance, so to speak, of the worship of his heart. "Oh, Jehovah, Thou hast blessed me. Thou hast done wonderful things for Thy people! What can I render to Thee? What can I give to show how I esteem and love Thee, and desire to serve Thee? I will give Thee my best. I have searched my flocks, and my herds, and I give Thee the best of them. I can give no more. I give my best, and I give it all to Thee." This spirit of devotional worship was the essence of the burnt offering.

In the first chapter of this priest's guide book, details are prescribed of what was due to Jehovah, but in chapter 6 you have the law of the burnt offering. In the first chapter, the words spoken were for the common people, for every worshipper in the convocation; but the law of the offering in chapter 6 was for Aaron and his sons, the priests. The priests were admitted into closer secrets, if I may so express it, in connection with the nature of this worship.

One feature that comes out in this law of the burnt offering is that a permanent character was given to it. There was to be a continual token of activity at the altar with regard to burnt sacrifice.

It was part of the ritual of the people of Israel to offer the burnt offering every morning and every evening. In the tabernacle, as well as in the temple, there was this expressive form of worship at the commencement and at the close of each day.

But we have here that in the night seasons, when no worshippers were going to the temple, when the services of the priesthood had ceased, still there was to be evidence of worship upon the altar of the burnt offering. A flame was to be seen upon the altar continually throughout the night. There the flame flickered, and there the burnt offering of the day was still being consumed to ashes. The night watches passed, but the burnt offering sent up its sweet savour. The worshippers were asleep, but the flame still rose from the altar. They might be oblivious of this silent worship, but Jehovah was refreshing Himself with the sweetness, the excellence, the glory, the grace of His blessed Son, to whom the burnt sacrifice pointed.

The sacrifice was ever smoking upon the brazen altar, and the God Who never sleeps, day or night, found His pleasure there, even in the darkness of the night. That burnt offering was always welcome to Him. Why do I refer to this feature of continuity? Does not this regulation speak to us plainly, if it speaks at all, of the value that God sets upon the worship of His people? According to His arrangement, worship must be a continuous thing; sleeping or waking, the hearts of His people must be in touch with Him, enjoying what His Son is, feeling how gracious and good the Lord is in His perfect devotion. This answers to the fire consuming the sacrifice, and causing it to ascend; and it must never be extinguished.

You must have observed, as I read these few verses, how this continuity is emphasised and reiterated. "It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning" (verse 9). "It shall not be put out" (verse 12). "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out "(verse 13). Why do these words occur over and over again? God repeats nothing in His word, save to impress it more deeply upon our forgetful hearts.

God demands the worship of our hearts continually. The worship of our hearts can never go out to Him apart from the altar, apart from the place where the sacrifice was offered, apart from the excellence and value and glories that were exhibited when the sacrifice was offered upon the cross. All this we find in Christ, the offering of a sweet-smelling savour to God.

The Altar and the Divine Name

In connection with the altar of burnt offering, there is something else that does not appear here, but in Exodus, for instance. Wherever the altar was built, even though it were of earth, there God put His name. This was the place where He recorded His name; and His name and the altar are always linked together because it spoke of Christ. God was glorified and manifested at the cross of Calvary. God found everything that His loving heart sought and that His holy nature demanded there — at the cross. If this is so, if God found His all there, why cannot I find mine there? Is this altar not enough as my satisfying portion? Must I have the world besides? Must I have the temporal and trivial things of time and sense besides the name and sacrifice of His Son? I cannot have the world and be a true worshipper of God.

Worship in spirit and truth is to be engrossed with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When I think how good, and kind and gracious and loving He is, how can I help my heart and my whole being rising in thankfulness and praise to Him? Such praise and worship I cannot formulate in words, but occupation with Christ is the basis of worshipping God in spirit and in truth.

It is not the spirit that speaks, though it should permeate our singing and our praying (1 Cor. 14). Our spirit feels and thinks, and God looks for it in our worship. Do not overlook our responsibility as His children, as members of the body of Christ, to give unto God His due in worship and adoration, both individually and collectively.

The Ashes of the Burnt Offering

Then the ashes even of the burnt offering were to be cared for by the priests. They were to be removed from the altar in the morning to make room for the new burnt offering; and they were to be put beside the altar, in a spirit of holiness, for the priest was to be clad with spotless linen. They were to be put at the side of the altar first of all.

Then the priest was to put off his garments and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp of the tabernacle into a clean place, into the place reserved for the ashes. The ashes were thus to be carefully handled and preserved. Why? Because they were a memorial of that sacrifice in the holy place. Beside the altar, the ashes were a witness to the priests themselves, to those whose habitat was in the court of the tabernacle, but outside, the ashes were a witness for the whole camp. So the death of Christ has its place in the life of the family of God, and in the worship of the people of God, while it has its place also as a witness to the whole world.

I do not dwell further upon this point, except to remind you that the burnt offering was inseparably connected with the brazen altar, the altar where the judgment of God fell upon the offering, where the sacrifice was made for sin. There it was at the door of the tabernacle, and God's holy name was there too. To this place, the worshipper was to come with his burnt offering. The altar was the place where God's name was, and there he must present his offering of praise.

But a third thing in the law of the burnt offering was that it must be perpetual, not occasional, a continual offering throughout their generations. This permanence is emphasised in scripture. This continual burnt offering, morning and night and all through the night, was a prominent feature of Jewish worship. When Solomon set up his temple, a continual burnt offering was provided, and when Ezra set up his temple, there again the continual burnt offering was offered, even before the building again. Why? Because of Jehovah's claim that this should be the main feature of the worship of His people.

A Book of Praise Prepared

Now in the Book of Psalms we have a kind of transition from the Mosaic system of sacrificial worship. In a veiled way there is a reference to the fact that God was not well-pleased with the offering of bulls and goats. He did not find His pleasure in the sacrifice of an animal that had horns and hoofs. God was looking for something else; He desired what was in the heart. "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire . . . burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required." Jehovah's delight was in the language of the heart that said "Lo, I come . . . I delight to do Thy will." There God in His Beloved and Blessed Son found His full satisfaction.

But the law made nothing perfect, and there are intimations of something which would change the character of worship from formality to spirituality. You find such passages for instance in the Psalms (I commend the subject to your study). Something would take the place of the outward acts of worship which God had instituted under Moses. These material sacrifices were only temporal. God was pleased and would be pleased only with offerings of the heart and spirit.

Another feature of worship is made prominent in the Psalms. They do not speak so much of the continual burnt offering or of the daily offering of lambs, but of a continual attitude of praise on the part of His saints. "I will bless the Lord at all times — His praise shall be continually in my mouth — I will praise the name of Jehovah for ever and ever." A constant stream of praise flows from the worshippers to Him. Throughout the Psalms, this spirit continues, and towards the end comes the recurrence of "Hallelujah," "Praise the Lord." Over and over it is reiterated so that the Book of Psalms closes as the book of Hallelujahs. It is expressive of the spontaneous praise Jehovah will receive from His earthly people during the millennial kingdom.

Worship in the Present Hour

Coming now to the New Testament, we have our Lord speaking about the new order of worship (John 4) and revealing its essential nature. He is speaking not to a learned man of the Jews, not to a teacher in Israel, but to a Samaritan sinner. To Nicodemus, He speaks of the necessity of the new birth, but to this fallen woman He speaks of worship, and shows her that the great heart of God, if I may so say, was hungering and thirsting for the worship of souls here in this world. And who but God could change a sinner into a worshipper to provide praises to His name?

In John's Gospel, as in the Levitical economy, we see that worship is connected with the altar, at least I think this is so. In chapter 3 you find a reference to the cross, do you not? "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." There is the cross, which is the righteous basis of all worship. It was the basis of worship for Nicodemus when he was born again. When the Son of man is lifted up, He will draw all unto Him, but He must be lifted up. So you cannot divorce worship from the altar, from the place of sacrifice. The death of Christ is the foundation of life and worship. All our worship must also be permeated with the thought of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit of life and truth.

To the woman of Samaria, the Lord showed that the question of locality no longer came into the question of worship to the Father. God did not seek for worship in "this" mountain, nor in Jerusalem. God had certainly put His name in Jerusalem, and Mount Zion was the centre for Israel and the nations because Jehovah's name was there. But now the time had come, the hour was even present, when the question of an authorised locality for worship entirely disappeared.

Once a local centre for worship was needful. If you have a bullock and you want to sacrifice it, you must go somewhere to do it. If you have a material offering to bring, geography is a consideration; you must go to a place of worship. But when worship is restricted to the heart and spirit, does the place matter? We think sometimes that a special place for worship is essential, but we do not find it so in John 4. The Lord spoke of the necessity that worship should be "in spirit and in truth."

Worship in Spirit and in Truth

The spirit is that part of our being which is altogether independent of locality. Our bodies may be here in the Memorial Hall, but our spirits may be in the heaven of heavens. The spirit that God has given us cannot be confined to one place or to another. This important feature of worship the Lord was showing to this poor woman. Sunken for so long in sinful ways, yet she had a spirit, and He would redeem it and make it His own, would cleanse her by water and by blood, and make her fit to offer praise and thanksgiving to His Father and God.

Our Lord Jesus was in Samaria seeking someone to receive the love which was bubbling up in His heart, overflowing in the sands of the desert. He sought that this love might return again upwards whence it came, in the power of a life eternal. He could give this woman water, which would be in her a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.

This is true worship. It is the outcome of a power within towards an object without. It springs upward from the heart to God. It is independent of all outward circumstances. The Holy Spirit plants the capacity within us, and by His working it rises to the source from whence it came, to the God and Father of love and grace. Oh, beloved friends, how marvellous it is that we should be made vessels of the Holy Spirit in this way, to praise and worship God acceptably and continuously!

And God is seeking this worship from the redeemed sons of men. "The Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." "That which is born of the [Holy] Spirit is spirit," and so we have a new nature given us. When with this spirit we have truth in us also, we have the two elements of worship to God.

We may sing a hymn of praise tunefully with our lips, but if our spirit is not with it, it is not acceptable worship to God. I must sing with the spirit and with the understanding. My heart must be right before my lips. Why? Because I am worshipping the Father, and He is seeking worship in spirit.

Worship must be "in truth" too, and if it is in Christ and of Christ, it will be in truth, because He is the truth, as well as the way and the life, in coming to the Father. By His Spirit Christ is the One Who clothes our words and thoughts with acceptance to God. He, as it were, takes of His own fragrance and beauty to attach to our poor thoughts and words and make them acceptable. All this service is independent of ourselves, and the Holy Spirit does what is needful for the simplest and youngest of saints who seeks to worship God. The fragrance of worship is not in what we say or think, but in what Christ is before the heart. The Holy Spirit does His part, and the whole is acceptable to God.

"The Father seeketh such to worship Him." The Son of God, the Good Shepherd, went out on the mountains to seek the lost sheep. He brings it home on His shoulders rejoicing; but the Father seeks worshippers. The Good Shepherd seeks sinners; the Father seeks worshippers. Shall He be denied? God the Father is seeking now. He is seeking in the City of London, in the world, for worshippers to worship Him. There are great public buildings and secluded cloisters, there is the ritual of aesthetic service and gorgeous vestments with all the outward show that the nature of man loves, but all the while the Father in heaven is seeking worshippers in spirit and in truth. It is possible for you and me to give God the Father what He seeks.

"God is a spirit." He is the Being Who is spirit in essence. It is not merely that this is His character, as would be expressed if the phrase were "God is spirit." But God is a spirit. It refers to His being, to the Person. He has no bodily shape. He is not circumscribed like ourselves, and He is an omnipresent spirit, and therefore though in heaven, He is here, and we being spirit are in His presence.

"God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." This is not a matter of choice, but of necessity. But apart from the action of the Spirit within us, and apart from that truth which Christ has expressed in His life, and in His death, we cannot worship Him thus. How simple, yet how solemn!

Worship and the Lord's Supper

Now let us turn to the well-known scripture in 1 Corinthians 11 to show that some of the elements and essentials of worship are found in connection with the Lord's supper. You certainly have the name of the Lord here. Israel had the name of Jehovah in connection with the altar of burnt offering. He recorded His name there, as He did in Zion afterwards. And so, we have the name of the Lord in connection with the great Christian observance.

We gather together to His name, and the Lord has affixed His name to His supper. It is the Lord's table, and it is the Lord's supper in a special way. The original expression is such that it shows the supper belongs peculiarly to Him. His name is upon it as being His own supper, just as the first of the week is distinguished as the Lord's day.

There is a distinction made in the passage (1 Cor. 11) between a brother taking his own supper instead of the Lord's supper. So that the name of the Lord is attached to this memorial supper as Jehovah's name was to the altar. The Lord's supper at His table is the great gathering point for the collective worship of the saints of God, particularly on the Lord's day.

Moreover, you find that the sacrifice of Christ is also expressed there. There is the loaf and there is also the cup. The loaf is the emblem of the body of Christ, and the cup of His blood. They are separate emblems, but both show that Christ's death is set forth in the supper. We show forth the Lord's death. This, under the Spirit's guidance, is the great motive power in connection with the worship of believers on this occasion. The Lord's death awakens the keenest emotions of thanksgiving and praise in His name to our Lord Jesus Christ, and the God Who gave Him.

What a subject! How can we rightly comprehend that He Who was ever God, He Who created all and was the sustainer of all, even when here in this world, that He should offer Himself a propitiatory sacrifice for sins! We think about it, we sit together in silence under the influence of the Holy Spirit when we take the Lord's supper; and, above all things, we desire that the Holy Spirit may enlarge our hearts and give us greater views, grander thoughts, more correct ideas concerning the death of the Lord Jesus in its baffling beauty.

There before us, the subject of the obedience of Christ in His death looms in its grandeur and power. I am sure it touches every emotion of our being to think that He loved us to death and to such a death, glorifying God even at that point in respect of our sins. And this is God's way that our cold and unresponsive natures may not become callous and indifferent to the sufferings of our Lord. We meditate upon them over and over again. They never lose their power, though they do not stir us as they should. Still, it is God's way to awaken our worship by setting before us again and again the Lord's death, He the risen and ascended One being in our midst.

Is it not because we often fail to apprehend the reason of our assembling that our worship becomes so strained and difficult, so formal, empty, and dead? In such a case, we have lost sight of the great object for which the Lord instituted His supper. It was to be a memorial of Him. It was to be the ashes of the sacrifice, set beside the altar bearing His name to speak to us, the company of priests, of Himself and of what He had done, of what had been undergone upon the altar of sacrifice. It is when we observe the true object of our gathering that suitable worship rises to the Father and to the Son in all the fragrance of His person, Who became dead and is alive again.

Moreover, you remember, the burnt offering was to be perpetual. There was to be a continual flame upon the altar, never to be put out, never allowed to die down. So we are to show the Lord's death "till He come." The supper is a constant occupation in the body of Christ, a continual observance. How many times have you remembered the Lord in His death? A great many times, some of us, but it is ever new to us; and the will of the Lord is that it should be so. It is the will of the Lord that the fire upon the altar should never go out, that it should be continued week after week, and oftener if possible, until the Lord comes.

"Oh," you say, "we all eat the Lord's supper when we gather together." Exactly, it is the collective remembrance and worship that is spoken of in 1 Cor. 11, the act of those assembled for that purpose; so I turn to Hebrews 13: 15, for what is more general, and also individual.

Our Continual Offering of Praise

"By Him" — that is, by the Lord Jesus, Who has sanctified us by His blood, and suffered without the gate — "by Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips" — or calves, as we have in the margin, referring to the burnt offering — "giving thanks to" (or confessing) "His name." This injunction I take to be general, and it includes those who are unable to attend the commemoration of the Lord's death at His supper on the first of the week. It applies to believers singly, and it applies to all seven days a week and twenty-four hours a day. Every believer must offer a continual sacrifice of praise by Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. Worship must be an unbroken daily habit.

The Lord Jesus is the Sacrifice and the Priest. As a great Priest over the house of God, He is ever active and ready. He is a continual medium, and wherever I may be, whatever the circumstances, however doleful or difficult, there I can sing a song of praise to Him, my God and Father, through Jesus Christ His Son. Is this not so?

An Israelite was debarred for the most part from attending the tabernacle daily, but the appointed things were done for him, morning and evening. The priest was there, and he saw that the flame never went out. We have our priest, our minister of the sanctuary. He is ever there, waiting to take the little expressions of our hearts, even as we acknowledge with thankfulness God's grace and goodness and care, making them burnt offerings of praise, acceptable to God, through Christ Jesus.

Perhaps you are doubting the possibility of fulfilling this Christian precept. You may think it is impossible. You may say to me, "You do not know my circumstances, or else you would never think that I could offer a sacrifice of praise to God continually." What I am certain of is that God in His word never enjoins us to do what we cannot do. If He lays upon us a duty or a responsibility, we must not say, "I have no power to do it." God sees to the means. The point is, do you want to do it? Satan would take the sacrifice of praise out of our mouths and fill them with words of complaint, or bitterness, or reviling: but we must see that God's name is praised first of all, as He enjoins.

We shall always find a subject of praise. There is One Who is a perennial object of praise, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you say I have nothing to give thanks for? God has given me His Son and with Him He has freely given me all things, so at once my mouth is filled with praise. This is true not only today, but yesterday, and the day before, and will be in the days to come too.

It is God's will that we should offer the sacrifice of praise continually. "The fruit of our lips" is to tell God what beauty and satisfaction we have found in Christ according to the scriptures. This delight in the Lord is bound to be acceptable. God never refuses to receive such words. They are well pleasing to Him, Who delights in His well-beloved Son.

"Confessing His name." He has attached His name to His supper and He has also attached it to ourselves. We are called by His name. We bear the name of the Lord. We are not our own, we belong to Him. The Son has made known to us the name of the Father, that it may be embodied in our worship to the Father and the Son.

We are known in this world as those that are Christ's, as those who bear His name, and we ourselves become, as it were, an altar of thanksgiving. His love, His grace have kindled a fire within our hearts. He has kindled it there, and His Spirit will keep it burning; it will never go out.

But the flame of devotion might burn more brightly than it does. It would be more acceptable to Him, perhaps, if our hearts were fuller of Christ, if we read more about Him, and sought to live more like Him, reproducing Him here in this world. Then our lives, and so our lips, would habitually bear the name of Jesus, and so they would be ever acceptable to God our Father in a living sacrifice of praise. May it be so, for His name's sake. W. J. Hocking.

The Sin of Achan

The Substance of an Address on Joshua 7: 1-13, 22-26.

W. J. Hocking.

Memorial Hall, London, 23rd October, 1937.

The incident of Achan's sin and its unexpected consequences is of a very instructive nature, while at the same time it is of a very solemn character. But solemn events such as this are needful for us to consider now and again, because by them we may learn, strange as it may seem, what is the right method of taking possession of the choicest of God's blessing for His people. We learn, also, that sin may hinder the accomplishment of God's purpose in this respect, though it cannot frustrate it altogether.

This chapter is a moral reflection upon the conduct of the children of Israel, and particularly, as we shall see, upon the sin of one man and its widespread consequences. Achan's sin changed Israel's victory at Jericho into shameful disaster at Ai. One person's failure was sufficient to intercept the flow of blessing and favour and power, and we may even say glory, towards himself and those with whom he was linked nationally.

I suppose there could scarcely have been at this juncture anything more humiliating to the children of Israel than their experience before this little town of Ai, especially when it is compared with their very recent experience when they paraded round the walls of Jericho. Then, at the given moment, the walls crumbled down before them, and the whole city was delivered into their hands. Then, through their astonishing victory, God's name was honoured in the eyes of all the Canaanites.

During the previous forty years, Egypt and the adjacent nations had witnessed much of the glory of Jehovah's name in connection with His redeemed people. They beheld His might and His glory when He brought Israel so marvellously through the Red Sea, while their enemies were overwhelmed in its depths. Then again, the flooded Jordan was held up, as the white-robed priests bearing the ark stood in its bed, and a dry pathway was made for Jehovah's nation — for the men, women, children, cattle, and all belonging to them.

These mighty deeds were so astoundingly impressive that the hearts of the Amorites and the Canaanites and all the indigenous peoples of the promised land were filled with fear and dread. Their hearts melted to water within them because God was so evidently working in an irresistible way for the progress of a nation of slaves. These victories glorified the name of Jehovah before the eyes of the heathen, and His glory was plainly associated with the nation of Israel. At all times, God's glory may be seen in the heavens, but when His glory is suddenly displayed in a nation of emancipated slaves, the fact strikes the hearts of the nations who know not God with feelings of terror and awe.

The Defeat at Ai

But now an entire change had come upon the Israelites. An unmistakable contrast was seen. At Jericho, they were magnificently victorious; at Ai, they were ignominiously defeated. God had promised His people that they should overcome their enemies, that one of them should chase a thousand; but at Ai, the reverse was the case; they were chased by their enemies, and more than ten in every thousand were slain.

Such a defeat was shameful, not so much for its magnitude, as for its morale. Why had Israel suffered the defeat? Let us ask. What had been their secret of victory? Without considering the answer very fully, two significant facts may be mentioned; first, the people had honoured God's word, and secondly, the ark of Jehovah was with them.

First then, the children of Israel, before their victory over the stronghold of Jericho, had submitted to that ordinance of God which marked them out as the seed of Abraham and the heirs of promise. They were all circumcised at Gilgal, and the reproach of Egypt was rolled away. The act was a public testimony that they had no confidence in the flesh. By that rite, they were rendered impotent. They thereby owned their entire dependence upon God. The reproach of Egypt disappeared. Their confession was, "We are a people who trust only in Jehovah for victory, and not in ourselves." Circumcision expressed this attitude towards God, and was for His eye alone.

The second fact was also expressive of Israel's attitude before God, but this came prominently before the eye of their enemies. The ark in their midst was a visible token of their faith in Jehovah. In their daily processions for a week round the walls of Jericho, the ark was a conspicuous feature. The ark of God was behind the advance guard, and before the rearguard. It was the very centre of their daily parade before their foes. It was evident to all in Jericho that Israel looked to the ark for guidance, and depended upon it for victory.

What was the significance of the presence of the ark? The ark of God is a plain type of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His grace and glory. The shittim wood in its structure spoke of His incarnation; God was here, manifest in flesh. But those looking upon the ark saw the golden surface. The shittim wood was enveloped with gold; the divine, incorruptible righteousness of God was displayed in Christ.

The precious little coffer was of comparatively small dimensions — just a little box, so to speak — but how great its significance! The Christ of God here below! There, too, upon the ark were the golden cherubim, overshadowing the mercy-seat, the emblems of power, of judgment, and of glory. But all this detail was concealed during the procession by a blue curtain or covering, so that the eyes of Jericho saw only what was the type of the heavenly glory of Christ, and indeed the Israelites who followed it saw the same.

The ark, then, the symbol of Jehovah's presence, made that procession unique. Match it, if you can. There was but one ark in the world, and it was in the midst of the children of Israel who carried it round Jericho. Here lay the secret of their victory. In their hearts they had absolute faith in the word of Jehovah. They were confident that this great stronghold, blocking their entrance into Canaan, would, in God's way, and by some means or other, be overthrown. And the ark in their midst was outward evidence of their faith in Jehovah.

The faith of the people was well proved. Each succeeding day of the week, the procession took place punctually. Their faith was maintained, and it reached maturity. For seven days the city walls saw their faith. God saw it, too. God does not commend an intermittent faith, that is, a faith bright on the Lord's day, for instance, but fading away from the first day to the seventh of the week.

God is not well pleased with a faith which is active only when the sun shines. He wants our faith in times of wind and tempest, fog and obscurity. Faith, like patience, must have its perfect, unbroken exercise. When the seven days' trial of the people's faith had proved its preciousness, then the victory came, the walls fell, and Jericho was in the hands of the children of Israel.

Now let us pause for a moment, and think of ourselves and of our Jericho. What is the secret of Christian victory over what the New Testament calls "this world"? The world is the enemy's great stronghold which prevents us from entering into our spiritual possessions in Christ Jesus. The world hinders us from taking full advantage of our spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The power of the world in which Satan rules is the great obstacle before our progress. The prince of the power of the air and the wicked spirits with him in the heavenlies are the foes that oppose our dwelling there by faith.

How then are we to gain the victory and go forward? When we own our weakness, we become strong, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. When we are in communion with Him, and are walking by faith with Him, like Israel with the ark, then we can gain the victory. Our strength is in Him, Who said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The apostle John, writing to the family of God, also spoke of this subject and revealed the secret of victory. He said, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Faith follows the ark and conquers. By faith, we see Jesus, the Captain of our salvation. So we read in the context, "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" By seeing Jesus with us in His full power and risen glory, by believing that the Son of God is with us and for us, we overcome the world. Faith was the secret of Israel's first and typical victory in Palestine, and faith is the secret of victory in our heavenly relationships today. We know the continual presence of the Lord Jesus, we follow Him by faith, trusting in His omnipotence and omniscience as the Son of God.

The Cause of Defeat

But why was the striking victory at Jericho followed by the ignominious defeat at Ai? In the narrative, we read of no reference to Jehovah by the people, there was no recorded prayer, there was no seeking of wisdom and direction from God for the enterprise. True, they sent out spies, keen observant men to take stock of the enemy and his resources, just as any military force would do before an attack.

The people had become self-confident. Trusting in their own prowess, they said, "There are only a few inhabitants in Ai. It is a little place. Just a few of our best men can overcome it. It is an easy task. There is no need for all the people to go against it." They under-estimated the valour of the men of Ai, and they over-estimated their own strength without the ark of God, without the power and blessing of God. Hence the men of Israel were defeated. They ran before their enemies, and returned to the camp at Gilgal in shame and confusion.

Need I dwell further upon this failure of the ancient people? Has it not an obvious lesson for ourselves? Is it not a fact that sometimes, instead of our overcoming the world, the world overcomes us? Victory gives place to defeat. We offer occasion to the enemy to mock us. Men sneer and laugh, and say, "There is your Christian. There is one who pretends to have an inheritance on high, and to be much better than other persons on earth. He who trusts God is no better than we." Thus the name of God is blasphemed because the world has been too much for us.

But why did you fail at all? Did you not exaggerate your own strength, and did you not forget that the power you needed for victory was in the Lord Jesus, the Captain of your salvation? Your eye turned from Christ. You viewed the world, its pursuits and attractions, from the standpoint of a worldly man. Then, not having a single eye to follow Christ, you yielded to the world's resistance and dishonoured His name. Let us learn this lesson at Ai.

But now let us turn from the causes of individual failure, and consider the cause of collective failure, as it is here exemplified. One unhappy man in the camp of Israel had secretly sinned, and thereby he had brought disaster upon his brethren. Achan was not an obscure person in Israel; he was of the royal tribe of Judah. He was the great-great-grandson of Judah himself, from whose tribe Messiah Himself would spring in due time.

Achan was a prince of his tribe, and therefore he must have been well acquainted with all that God had spoken to the people by Moses before they crossed the Jordan. He knew how strictly they were charged to have nothing to do with the abominable ways of the Amorites. They were to avoid defilement by their filthy idolatrous practices. They must have nothing to do even with the goods and possessions of the people of the land.

These restrictions were laid before them by Moses, speaking with the authority of God, while they were still in the wilderness. And then in the camp at Gilgal, Joshua was instructed to remind the people of these stringent prohibitions. Joshua told them that Jericho and everything in it was accursed. All was devoted to God exclusively. The city must be destroyed utterly, and its defilement purged by fire. Such things as withstood the fire, the silver and the gold, were to be brought into the treasury of Jehovah, because He had said, "The silver and the gold are Mine." He claimed the imperishable metals as His own perquisite (Joshua 6: 17-19).

These commandments of Jehovah were recited in the ears of the people before the downfall of Jericho, and Achan must have heard and known them fully. But he sinned in respect of them. He flatly disobeyed them. Led away by the lust of his eyes, he did the very thing he was forbidden to do. He took of the spoils of Jericho, and hid them in his tent. And the expedition to Ai proved a disaster for his people.

Joshua's Concern

Leaving Achan for the moment, let us see what effect the national calamity had upon Joshua and the elders of Israel. At the sight of their fugitive brethren, pursued by their enemies almost to the camp itself, they were all ashamed. They felt that all Israel was humiliated, as indeed they were, before the inhabitants of the land.

What did Joshua do? He did the right thing. He went to Jehovah about it. He cast himself down before the ark until eventide. There with the elders of Israel, he put dust on his head, and lamented before the Lord. I use that word deliberately, because it is often said that Joshua confessed before the Lord. I do not think he did confess. He did not, like Daniel, say, "We have sinned."

No; Joshua was most concerned that the nation for which he was responsible as its leader should have come back from Ai like beaten dogs. He said, as it were, "All our prestige is gone. The victory at Jericho was glorious, but this defeat at Ai is shameful. Why has the Lord God humbled us in the eyes of the Canaanites?"

But, though Joshua took the right attitude, he said the wrong thing. He put the blame of the defeat upon Jehovah! He said, "Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us?" What language! The Lord had done nothing of the sort. He did not bring the people over Jordan to destroy them. Destruction of the seed of Abraham was not His work. Neither was it His will that Ai should triumph over His redeemed people.

But Joshua, good man as he was and faithful, had his eye for the moment solely upon the confusion in the camp, and he came to a hasty and wrong conclusion about it. We often do the same, when we get into difficulties with the world. The world gains the upper hand in our private affairs, in our homes perhaps, or maybe in the assembly. Our shame cannot be hid, and then we go before the Lord, and speak to the Lord about the matter.

How do we put the case? Do we pray as if the Lord had done it? Or do we take the blame to ourselves? Joshua did not take a particle of blame to himself for Ai. Yet he was the responsible chief in Israel. He made the mistake of blaming God for what had taken place. He was at first far from viewing the defeat as God viewed it, and had to learn the truth.

Do we not sometimes go astray in a similar manner? In the circumstances of daily life, trials and sorrows and insurmountable obstacles recur again and again. At such times, the heart may whisper, like Joshua, Why has the Lord done this? Why does He permit this? Why do I appear among men as one stricken and smitten of God? Why is His hand so heavy upon me? Secretly, in the heart, even in the sanctuary, our deepest thought may be that God is a hard Master, and is not doing His best for us.

Let us examine ourselves very carefully when we are before the Lord in moments of defeat. He is the God of truth. Let His word of truth correct us, and teach us to speak according to His mind. You may say, This is difficult to do. So it is, but not impossible. However, it is delightful to observe that Joshua got right in the end. He was a sound man whose heart was right before the Lord. If he was wrong in assuming that the defeat was the will of Jehovah, he was right in asking Him to take care of the glory of His own great name.

What Joshua said last, he perhaps ought to have said first. He said, If the Canaanites "cut off our name from the earth, what wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?" He turned from the plight of his people to the honour of Jehovah's name. He looked no longer upon the discomfiture of Israel as they fled from the warriors of Ai, but upon the effect of this overthrow in the eyes of the Canaanites. Jehovah's name was dishonoured before their enemies. When the fortified city of Jericho fell, the fame of Jehovah spread all over the land. But at Ai His name was humbled to the dust. So Joshua asked, "What wilt Thou do unto Thy great name?"

Then Jehovah answered, as He always does when His name is set in the first place. True prayer is when self is forgotten, and the glory of the Lord fills the desires. Do we always say, "O Lord, do what Thou wilt to establish the glory of Thine own name in Thy beloved Son"? The man that says this is on the sure road to receive blessing from His hand, for God always answers the desire after the glory of the name of His Son.

Jehovah spoke, and set Joshua right. His name had been dishonoured at Ai, but this was because it had been previously dishonoured at Gilgal. The cause was in the camp itself. His solemn words to Joshua, were, "Israel hath sinned." The light of the glory of Jehovah's presence revealed the truth. The Shekinah flashed, as it were, throughout the camp, shining even into Achan's tent, where the defiling treasure was hidden. Here was the secret of failure. Sin was in the camp, and how could Jehovah give victory to the people when sin was in their midst?

The incident shows us the serious nature of Achan's sin in the sight of the Lord. Its heinous character was not according to the value of his theft in pounds, shillings, and pence. After all, what had he taken? A Babylonish garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, valuable but not priceless.

Why, then, had the anger of Jehovah fallen upon the nation? Where was the enormity of this sin? Achan had disobeyed God, and transgressed His express covenant. The command was that all the perishable goods in Jericho should be burned with fire, and the silver and the gold devoted to Him in His treasury, but Achan had disregarded this command. No doubt there was a vast amount of valuable treasure in Jericho, and Achan took but a small fraction of the whole. But this act of disobedience occurred at the conquest of the very first of the many cities of Canaan, and was the act of a responsible man in Israel. All must now learn the gravity of ignoring the word of Jehovah their Saviour, and that the sin of one man may leaven a community.

Secret Sin Brought to Light

Achan had yielded to the temptation of the moment. He regarded "iniquity in his heart." Seeing the articles of beauty and value, he coveted them. The Babylonish garment attracted him. He felt how well the garment would suit him as a prince of his people, what a distinction it would add to his appearance among the elders of his tribe. He took it to himself secretly, burying it in his tent that none might know, except perhaps his family.

Achan's case is an illustration of the origin and progress of evil in departing from the living God. The last of the ten commandments is, "Thou shalt not covet." It is by the greedy desire to possess, the covetous wish arising in the heart, that the act of sin begins. The effect of these evil desires in a converted man is vividly described in Romans 7. And there is a period in the life of most Christians when they learn by practical experience, the sinfulness of their irrepressible desires, not so much desires after what is positively evil in itself, but after what God in His wisdom has prohibited.

In Achan's case, what harm was there in the garment, or in the silver and gold? The harm was not in the articles, but in Achan's desire to possess what God had withholden from him. From the wrong desire the sinful act springs. The desire must be stifled and crushed. Recall the will of God, take delight in His word, turn away the eyes from beholding the attractions of the world. Paul said, "I had not known sin . . . except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Let us watch when the germ of covetousness sends up its first shoots, and judge it then and there, looking to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Achan then failed through seeking something for his personal adornment in the garment (literally, one from Shinar Gen. 11: 2), and for some addition to his wealth in the silver and gold. Self came first, and not the word of the Lord, nor the treasury of the Lord. The "wedge" of gold is in the margin called a "tongue" of gold, meaning a small ingot shaped something like a tongue. Molten gold is frequently poured into a mould roughly conical in shape, for ease in removal from the mould when solid. Such an ingot would be described in commerce as a tongue of gold.

Now, as Achan's theft is a warning lesson to us, so also is his subsequent conduct. After he had successfully appropriated this treasure and concealed it in his tent, there occurred the expedition to Ai, and its defeat. And there would be a great outcry in the camp when the fighting men returned. Everyone was wondering why this disaster had happened.

But what did Achan think? Did not his conscience speak to him of his secret sin? Did God usually allow the enemies of His people to triumph over them? I think Achan's conscience must have accused him when he saw his brethren coming into the camp with downcast faces and torn garments, and bearing all the marks of a stampede from Ai. Did it not say, "Achan, Achan, you have sinned. You stole the treasure, now hidden in your tent. Though none in the camp knows, God knows"?

Then, too, Achan knew that Joshua, whom all the tribes loved and respected as their leader, was lying upon his face before the ark of Jehovah, with dust upon his head, remaining there hour after hour. Did not his conscience say, "Achan, it is your fault that Joshua is mourning before the Lord, and lamenting over the defeat of His people. You are the cause of it all"?

But Achan steeled his heart, and refused to admit even to himself that he was responsible for the catastrophe at Ai. The night passed, and Achan did not confess his sin. Jehovah had ordered that on the morrow lots should be cast, and by His own disposing of the lots, the secret sinner would be discovered. Accordingly, the twelve tribes assembled before the Lord in the morning. Surely Achan is now trembling in his shoes. Surely, he knows he will be soon detected, that the lot will fall upon him. "Oh, Achan, why not even now confess thy sin? why not acknowledge thy guilt? why not own before Jehovah thou hast broken His command, and that the stolen goods are in thy tent?" But his heart was obdurate. He had resisted the first whisperings of his conscience, and now he would not listen to its shouts. He hardened his heart, and his lips refused to confess his sin.

But look, Achan's tribe, the tribe of Judah, is taken by lot. Will he not confess now? No, his mouth is closed. Then, his family is taken; and then his household; but he still refuses to come forward. Then the lot falls upon him. His opportunity for confession is lost. All Israel knows that he is the offender. His was the sin that brought disaster upon the nation.

The World Under the Tent Floor

Beloved friends, surely this solemn event has its lesson for us at this present juncture. I do not speak of the series of striking defeats suffered by the Christian profession in early days, but I refer to recent overthrows of which most must be aware. In countries, not so far from us, we know what those who name the name of the Lord are enduring for their faith. Testimony to the truth is being attacked by "the powers that be." In our own country, rationalism and superstition are sapping the vitals of Christianity. The name of the Lord is trampled in the dust. The shame of Ai is in our Gilgal.

Why is the world thus triumphant? Is it not because there is sin in the camp? The power of the world puts to flight the stalwarts of the faith because the lust of the world is secretly working in some hearts. Buried in some tents are stores of avarice and greed. Wealth and fashion have supplanted the word and will of the Lord in the soul. These unconfessed personal sins blight the testimony of the Lord, and lamentable failure spreads through the ranks of the witnesses for Christ.

What are we doing in the face of this widespread failure and disorder? We see the sad results plainly enough; do we seek the cause? The love of worldly gain, the love of ostentatious display must be somewhere at work in the homes, in the families, in the lives of those that profess the name of the Lord, and forget the honour due to it. By such indulgences of the lust of the flesh hidden perhaps from the assembly of God, the strength to overcome the world is paralysed.

Is it not time to humble ourselves before the Lord? to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?" "Is it in my family? in my tent?" Do not say you are not responsible for your family. Achan's whole family, his sons and his daughters, were brought into the valley of Achor, but one man, the head of the family, was stoned. Achan was held accountable. His sin wrought shame upon his family, upon his tribe, upon his nation, and above all upon the name of Jehovah. His sin had changed his associations from holy privilege into sinful defilement and national dishonour.

Jehovah made manifest Achan's secret sin. What had been done in secret was proclaimed upon the house-tops. The lot fell upon the guilty person in sight of all Israel. By the lot, the truth was made manifest morally, as later Jehovah, by the casting of lots at Shiloh, made known His will regarding the partition of the land among the twelve tribes. Today the lot is superseded because God works by the Holy Spirit through the written word. The living word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and makes everything naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do (Heb. 4: 12, 13). If we judge ourselves by that word, we shall not be judged publicly by the Lord.

But the light of the word should be allowed to shine upon our motives, not only upon our acts. God watches our desires, our purposes. These we can conceal even from our dearest. And because we can lock them up so securely, we may forget the eye of God. He knows our inmost intentions. How terrible if within the privacy of our own breasts there should be, as in Achan's tent, the treasures of the world hidden for our personal gratification!

The truths involved in this chapter need practical application by us. Let us not disguise the fact that at this present time there may be in me, in you, something which is a positive hindrance to the spiritual well-being of our brethren. Something, not yet manifested, which prevents the power of God working effectually in our testimony to our fellow-saints and to the world, needs to be brought to light. May God reveal the cause of our present failure and our shame, and may our secret sins be confessed in the light of His countenance.

There are those who blame God for the spiritual disasters that have overtaken the assemblies in our day. They echo the language of Joshua, Why hast Thou brought us over Jordan to destroy us? Why hast Thou brought us into the place of witness against an apostate Christendom that our gatherings should crumble to pieces and our light be extinguished? God, they say, in His providence and government, has allowed scattering and division and disorder to eclipse the endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What a shameful attitude! Joshua was prostrate upon his face, yet blaming the Lord. The word was, "Get thee up . . . Israel hath sinned." Neither can we blame God for our broken and shattered condition. We are wrong, we have failed, we have sinned. Let due confession be made by us before disaster spread still farther.

It must be carefully observed that the disgraceful rout at Ai is traced to the secret sin of one man at Jericho. Had Achan confessed his sin earlier and made reparation to the Lord, the public shame of his people would have been averted. Let us then begin with the person whose inner history we know best, and freely own before the Lord, "In this and in that, O Lord, I have sinned."

Achan's Memorial Stones

Achan confessed too late. After the lot had exposed him to his brethren, he said, "I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus have I done." He stood publicly convicted before his brethren, and he could do no less than admit his guilt. Had he confessed before, he would have been forgiven and cleansed, but now his confession could not screen him from the judgment of the Lord. If he had judged himself in his tent, he would not have been judged in the valley of Achor.

Let us beware of hidden things of deceit and dishonesty in our lives. Let the light of life shine into the inner recesses of our heart that we may confess all selfishness and pride and the work of the Lord be not hindered. Remember that the secret thoughts of the heart will be judged by Jesus Christ at last. We all shall be manifested at the judgment seat of Christ, and everyone will receive of the things done in the body. If we confess our sins now, we shall not be exposed then. If we are cleansed now day by day, our radiating influence upon our brethren will be for their good and blessing, and not for their downfall and shame, like that of Achan.

Achan's secret sin found him out, and brought its penalty. His days were short in the land of promise, and he lost his inheritance there. His name was cut off from Israel, and he perished as a witness for Jehovah against the iniquity of the Amorites. He might have had his allotment in the territory of the tribe of Judah, but all he had was a heap of stones over him in the valley of Achor. He sowed to his flesh, and of the flesh he reaped corruption.

What a woeful ending for a man who had shared in the crossing of Jordan and in the downfall of Jericho! Achan was a troubler in Israel, and the memorial of stones in the valley of Achor proclaimed his folly and his sin to succeeding generations. He might have played a useful part as an elder of his people in Immanuel's land, but he perished on the very threshold of the blessings of divine promise. His burial-place remains as the valley of Achor, of trouble, unto this day, and will do until God in restoring mercy to His scattered people makes it a door of hope for their establishment in the land, and they will sing there as in the days of their youth (Hosea 2: 15; Isa. 65: 10).

Achan should have been a witness for God in his life, but he only became a witness in his death. Lot's wife might have been the salt of the earth in corrupt Sodom, but it was in her death she became a pillar of salt, a terrible witness of warning amid the desolations of the smoking plain. Witness rendered in the life of a believer is witness to the love of God, to the grace of Christ Jesus, and to the power of the Holy Spirit; such is the life lived in the flesh by faith in the Son of God Who loved us and gave Himself for us. Witness in death after a misspent life is witness to the righteous judgment of God. Ananias and Sapphira because they lied to God in the sale of their land, keeping to themselves part of the price, both died under His hand. Their names stand on the earliest page of the church's history as a solemn warning to the gatherings today that God is not mocked, and that He Who walks in the midst of the candlesticks is He that is Holy and He that is True.

Let us take heed to these solemn examples, and beware of hidden sin. Sin concealed in the tent means blessing withheld in the camp. But sin confessed and judged before the Lord means victory throughout the tribes. After the discipline in the valley of Achor, the children of Israel utterly destroyed the wicked inhabitants of Ai (Joshua 8). A cairn of stones at the gate of the city was raised as a monument of their victory. It marked the burial-place of the king of Ai, who perished upon a tree of cursing. Like the memorial heap in the valley of Achor, it silently spoke of the sure judgment of evil. While the first was a witness that judgment begins in the house of God, the second testified that the ungodly and the sinner shall not escape (see 1 Peter 4: 17, 18). But Achan was of the seed of Abraham, the blessed of God, while the king of Ai was of the seed of Canaan, cursed of old (Gen. 12: 2, 3; Gen. 9: 25).

Let us humble ourselves, therefore, in the valley of Achor, and profit by the sin of Achan, who took of the accursed thing, and made the camp of Israel a curse, and troubled it (Joshua 6: 18). A secret hoard of the silver and gold of Jericho and of the garments of Babylon leads to the curse of God upon our blessings, because we fail to give glory to His name (Mal. 2: 2). The wealth of Canaan and the fashion factories of Shinar were associated with the worship of idols, and they must be anathema to those that call upon the name of the Lord, the one and only God. But Achan defiled himself with the accursed things, and, though he acted privily, he defiled his people also. Again, I say, let us heed the lesson.

But let us look at home. When Israel turned their backs at Ai, Achan was not expected to search the tents of his brethren for the cause; it was under his feet in his own tent, where he himself had put it. Depend upon it, the cause of the blight upon the gatherings of believers at home and abroad is locked up in your heart and mine. There can be no revival of assembly, vitality and power until the secret sins of morality and spirituality are brought to the light and judged individually before the Lord. Let him who is guilty of the sin of worldliness like Achan confess it in his own tent and forsake it lest he be publicly exposed and judged in the valley of Achor.

The World against Christ and the Christian

An Address on John 12: 23-33; John 15: 18-24; 1 John 2: 15-17; 1 John 4: 1-6.

W. J. Hocking.

Memorial Hall, London, 15th January, 1938.

It would be impossible in the time available to speak in detail upon the passages we have read together. It may be possible, however, to draw your attention particularly to what the word of God in them says regarding the world and its relations to Christ and the children of God.

The subject of the world constitutes a real practical difficulty to most believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, because a great variety of solemn utterances about the world are found in the scriptures. They can hardly fail to realise their importance, but they become confused with regard to their exact meaning and application. For instance, reading the injunction, "Love not the world," they are puzzled in deciding what the world is, where it begins, and where it ends.

Instead of pursuing the scripture teaching of the subject, they set it aside as something beyond them and of very little importance for daily living. But this neglect is a great mistake. They are damaging their own souls. The difficulty they discover really lies with themselves. They approach the subject of the world in a wrong manner.

There is, without doubt, great difficulty in defining or describing in so many words the scriptural meaning of this term, but without a definition it is an easy matter for even the babe in Christ to decide for himself what the world is, if he regards it from the scriptural point of view. The scripture brings into prominence the world's essential feature, which is an attitude of hostility to God and His Son. And this spirit of hostility was shown very bitterly towards the Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God. For the child of God, therefore, the world is made up of whatever is opposed to God and Christ.

This character of enmity to divine Persons by the world is very evident in the Gospel and Epistles of John, where it appears side by side with the wonderful revelations of the Father by the Son, and with those made by the Holy Spirit of the adorable Person of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The true nature of the world is taught there by contrast, like the blackness of darkness made known by the brilliance of light.

This vivid contrast between God and the world is of immense practical value to the believer. The world's boundaries are easily determined. If I am walking with the Lord, imbibing His thoughts and His teaching, I know that what is not of Him is of the world. All that I have as a child of God is not of the world. The blessings of grace that are mine as a vessel of the Holy Spirit are in sharp contrast with the things of the world, as things of darkness are opposed to things of light. Is it not easy for those who are of the day to distinguish between light and darkness?

The "World" is Moral not Material

John at the beginning of his Gospel makes the distinction between the world in a material sense and in a moral sense. He opens with the Lord Jesus as the Word made flesh, the Maker of all things that were made. He came into the world that He Himself had made, but the world that man had made knew Him not. In the material world, He found a moral world, a world of spiritual darkness.

The Light shone in this darkness, but contrary to the law of the material world, the darkness in the moral world did not comprehend the Light, and was not dispersed (John 1: 5). The presence of Him Who is the Light of the world revealed without removing the density of the world's darkness and blindness. And throughout this Gospel, it is emphasised in a variety of ways that the Son of God was in the world, but the world knew Him not.

Thus, the evangelist John uses the term, "world," to describe the moral condition of that vast organisation, which man built up for himself after he was driven out of the Garden of Eden. By his skill and his learning, man gradually formed a great system for managing all the affairs of this life without the help or the recognition of God. Sinful indulgence and selfish ease became the primary elements of man's world, and when the Son of God came into it, He was despised, hated, and crucified.

There is an analogy between John 1 and Genesis 1. In Genesis, we read of a state of chaos in the world of creation. The earth was without form and void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. After its original creation, it had fallen into this condition of disorder and confusion, and then it was that the Spirit of God brooded upon the face of the waters.

In John, we are shown a moral waste, a moral confusion. Darkness covers the face of the world. And we also see the most astonishing fact of all; when the light shines upon this darkness, the darkness resists its approach. Such a thing was unknown before. When the sun rises daily in the heavens, the darkness flees away, but when the Lord Jesus came into the world as its Light, the darkness of the world remained, and even deepened. The utter obduracy of man's heart in the individual and in the community was made manifest once for all. And the inveterate enmity of the world-system to God and His Son was finally established at the cross of Calvary.

The Son's Testimony to the Father

The Son's presentation of Himself to the world as the Revealer of the Father is set out with divine fullness in the Gospel of John. Therein the Spirit of God selects a few of the heavenly marvels of His mercy and kindness, isolating each one and attaching to it the conversational discourse of our Lord. The teacher in Israel and the Samaritan at the well, a sinful woman, a cripple and a blind man, all are made occasions for the Son to pour out upon this weary, thirsty earth, the fountains of grace in God the Father.

But the Gospel shows this display of heavenly light shining upon the dark background of human sin. Chapter after chapter witnesses that men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. The world knew not its Creator; the world did not recognise the Son Who is in the bosom of the Father, when He came into the world. Always and everywhere the Son testified of the Father, but the world did not receive His testimony. On leaving the world, the Son confessed to the Father, "The world hath not known Thee." His perfect testimony had only aroused the world's deep-seated anger against the Father and the Son, as the Lord Himself said, "They have both seen and hated both Me and My Father."

The Father's Testimony to the Son

Because the Son was doing the will of Him that sent Him, His service was accompanied by the Father's testimony to the Son. Without considering this testimony throughout the Gospel at length, we think of the beautiful and striking instance in John 11 and 12. Death had come into the family where the Son had revealed the love of the Father, and where it was enjoyed. The bereaved sisters were stricken with sorrow, but the dead Lazarus was soon called forth from the tomb at the bidding of the Son. By that act of resurrection, the name of the Son was glorified, but the Holy Spirit shows in the chapters that the Father's hand was throughout directing the movements of the Son with this end in view.

When the Lord received the urgent message from the sisters of their brother's sickness, He tarried where He was beyond Jordan. He knew what was before Him to do, and what was before Lazarus and Martha and Mary to suffer, and that all was planned for the glory of God. At the appointed moment, He proceeded with the dignity inseparable from the obedient Son of God to the house of mourning in Bethany.

The Lord knew that He was about to be declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection of dead Lazarus, nevertheless, His sympathies were in fullest exercise towards the sorrowing sisters. They did not understand His slowness in responding to their appeal. They were dull in believing that the delay was part of the Father's plan to glorify His Son, not at the bedside of Lazarus, but at the graveside.

But the knowledge of the Father's purpose to raise Lazarus in no wise diminished the exquisite sympathy of our Lord for the mourners. His tears flowed spontaneously, if I may with reverence say so. He wept, not mechanically as part of a plan, but because His loving heart was moved with compassion for the sorrows of bereavement.

His tears told the Jews how Jesus loved Lazarus, and they, like the sisters, could not understand why He had not prevented him from dying. In a human fashion and in a worldly way, they reasoned that the love that showed such sympathy might have shown its power at the first by healing the sick man. But unerring wisdom and unfathomable love had ordered the circumstances. The Father was directing, the Son was obeying, and all was working together for good, that is, for the glory of God.

At the graveside, the Son bore testimony to the Father's guidance and His own dependence. "Father," He said, "I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me, and . . . hearest Me always." This He said that the people might know He was the Sent One of the Father. He had come to the tomb at the very moment the Father would have Him there. Obediently to the Father's will, He raised Lazarus, and delivered him to his sisters. And by the act of resurrection, the Father glorified the Son in Bethany, having heard His prayer.

In John 12: 27, we again find witness that the Father in heaven heard the Son on earth. When the Son said, "Father, save Me from this hour . . . Father glorify Thy name," there was an audible voice from heaven, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." This august communion was another testimony by the Father to the eternal Sonship of the Son of man, as blessedly significant then as when previously the Father spoke to Him by the waters of Jordan and upon the Mount of Transfiguration.

The Character of the World Elicited

At this juncture, the Lord's solemn utterance is introduced: "Now is the judgment of this world." Its hostility to the Son was implacable. The world would not receive the witness of the Father. "This voice came not because of Me," the Lord said, "but for your sakes." No weightier evidence to the Son's claims could be given them. Earlier the Lord had said, "The Father Himself, Who hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape" (John 5: 37).

The Gospel records the Father's testimony, and also the Son's. The Son of God Himself is shown, speaking words that are spirit and life, doing works that no other had done. These the world had heard and seen, and could not deny their truth. But the world refused to accept the Son or to receive His ministry. With the Father's voice from heaven, the Son's presentation to the world was completed. And with this refusal of the Father's witness, the omniscient Son declared, "Now is the judgment of this world."

Historically, the Lord was speaking immediately before His apprehension by the officers of the Jews in the garden. So that the world's testing-time had now expired, and the world had displayed its true character. It was not merely passively blind to the beauty of Christ, but actively hostile to Him and His claims, hating Him and thirsting for His blood. The plans for His arrest and crucifixion had been made, and accordingly, the Lord said, "Now is the judgment of this world."

He had not come to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Nevertheless it had been judged, not by the Son of man sitting upon a throne, but by the Son of God walking through the world in grace and truth. Thereby, its moral and spiritual condition was revealed, and its hatred is recorded in the scripture for the guidance of the children of God, who are to walk through it even as He walked.

Having passed sentence on the world for its rejection of Himself and His Father, the Lord said further, "Now shall the prince of this world be judged." The world that knew not God was under the dominion of a rival ruler. And with the judgment of the world, there was the virtual expulsion of Satan, its prince, who had sinned from the beginning. Every doer of sin in the world is of the devil, and the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3: 8).

Now, speaking from the divine standpoint, the Son sees the ruler of the world cast out of it. Historically, Satan was not then expelled. But as the death of Christ was the hour of the world's judgment, so that death nullified the power of Satan and ended his dominion in the world (Heb. 2: 14). The basis for delivering the world from the presence and power of the devil for a thousand years was laid at the cross when the Son of man was "lifted up."

In the Apocalypse, we have a further testimony to the ejection of the prince of this world. First, John sees him as the great red dragon cast down from heaven to earth by Michael and his angels (Rev. 12). The devil is filled with great wrath, knowing his time is short.

Next, the prophet, beholding the coming of the Son of man as the Warrior King, sees the ruler of this world cast out of the earth into the bottomless pit (Rev. 20). An angel binds him with a great chain, and he is imprisoned for a thousand years. The world-kingdom of our Lord and His Christ is established. The Son of man reigns in glory over the world, which is freed from the power and subtlety of the old serpent, the devil, whose end John sees also, for he is eventually cast into the lake of fire, prepared for him and his angels.

This hour of triumph the Son of God saw in the hour of His rejection by the world, and announced it before He departed out of this world, as a warning to His foes and a comfort to His own. We need not fear the power of the great adversary, nor the world in which he rules. The Lord assures our hearts by these words. He tells us that the world which will hate and persecute us is judged, and that the great prince who governs and guides its affairs is deposed. His power is already broken and neutralised, and he himself doomed to everlasting punishment.

The Son's Lifting Up

We come now to the Lord's third solemn statement. He spoke concerning the death He should die. "And I, if be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Three times in this Gospel, reference is made to His "lifting up." As Son of man He was to be lifted up, even as the serpent was lifted up in wilderness. Thus He would become the object of faith to men everywhere (John 3: 14, 15).

Again, the Lord, speaking to the disbelieving Jews, said, "When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am He" (John 8: 28). After they had crucified Him, they would know, not immediately, but eventually, the glory of His Person, and that He had come to them as the Spokesman of the Father.

In passing, I may mention that Isaiah twice uses this expression of Christ in the sense of exaltation in glory. He saw the Lord on a throne, "high and lifted up," His train filled the temple, and the whole earth was full of His glory (Isa. 6). It was a vision of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the same chapter Isaiah foretold the gross darkness and blindness that should come upon the people through their unbelief in the Messiah. Reference to this prophecy occurs in the chapter before us (John 12: 39-41).

Isaiah also uses the term when speaking of Christ as the Servant of Jehovah (Isa. 52: 13). Speaking of the glory God will give Him, the prophet said, "He shall be exalted and extolled," that is, "exalted and lifted up." This was fulfilled when God raised up the crucified Jesus, and made Him Lord and Christ at His right hand. As such, the Jews will believe on Him, and acknowledge Him as the great "I am." Seeing Him lifted up in glory, they will confess their sin in lifting Him up on the tree, and will mourn in the touching language of the next chapter (Isa. 53).

The Lord here speaks for the third time of His being lifted up to die, and says that this will be the centre of attraction for all men. As the crucified Son of man, He will draw to Himself, not merely the Jews, not only the Greeks, like those who had just desired to see Him, but all men in the widest and fullest sense. Now the gospel is preached in all the world, and whosoever believes is saved, but the Lord's words look to the future time when the whole world will bow beneath the sway of His sceptre.

The World and Christ's Own

Let us pass to the second part of our subject — the world and believers. We have seen that when our Lord came into the world, He was received with unmitigated hatred and with a resolute determination to end His unwelcome testimony by His death. Now we are to consider what is the attitude of the world towards His disciples. Would the world be content with the death of the Master, and adopt a policy of liberty and toleration towards His followers?

The Lord Himself before His departure made it perfectly clear to His own what would be the future relation of the world. During His own presence in the world, His disciples had been immune from the attacks of the Jews. But He was going to the Father, and the little company of believers in Him would remain in the world. What would be their experience? As we read in the verses from John 15, the Lord showed them that the world would in His absence oppose them as it had opposed Him.

The radical moral principles of the world-system do not change. The antipathy of evil to good is seen from the beginning. Cain's malicious hatred of righteous Abel appears in the deadly enmity of the Jews against Christ. The same spirit of animosity would remain in the world against those that bore the name of Christ. As the world hated God and His Son and His Holy Spirit, so the world would hate that which belonged to Christ.

It is important to observe that in these verses, the Lord attributes the world's hatred of His disciples to the fact that they belonged to Him. They were His servants, and the servant is not greater than his Lord. "If they have persecuted Me," He said, "they will also persecute you." The world would not hate them because they were law-breakers, or because of objectionable features in their moral character, but because the Lord had chosen them out of the world to be His own.

The resemblance of their demeanour to Christ's would rouse the world's ire. The Lord had spoken to them of this resemblance to Himself in the allegory of the Vine, found earlier in this chapter. He was the True Vine, bearing fruit for the Father. "Ye are the branches," He said, and the branches of the Vine were to be fruitful even as He was. Their fruit would show they belonged to the Vine. Grapes could not be borne by the thorn or the thistle, or even by the fig tree or the olive tree.

A special feature of the fruit of the Vine was that it was appreciated and valued by the Husbandman. The life of our Lord was a continual source of enjoyment to the Father. All that He desired was in the Vine. Even during the hours of darkness upon the cross, the Father found what was in His own heart fully expressed and reciprocated in the heart of the Son.

Now the disciples, as branches of the Vine, were admitted into close communion with the Son. The fruit He bore for the Father they must bear for the Father also. As the living branches abode in the Vine and were inseparable from it, so the fruit of the branches would be indistinguishable from the fruit of the Vine. They were to keep His commandments and abide in His love, as He kept His Father's commandments and abode in His love.

Moreover, as His disciples they were to bear much fruit, and His joy would abide in them, and that joy would be full, giving the fruit an attractive appearance and beauty for the eye of the Father. And just as such fruit in them would awaken the good pleasure of the Husbandman, so it would awaken the bitter enmity of the world against them.

They themselves were to love one another. The world would hate them and persecute them for seeking to please the Father and for loving Christ, following Him, and bearing fruit in His name as branches of the True Vine. Such conduct proved they were not of the world. "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own," the Lord told them. Apart from the Vine, the world has its associations, societies, and brotherhoods, for which it cares. Those that stand aloof from its social activities are misjudged, despised, and persecuted.

The disciples of the Lord, immediately after His departure, experienced this persecution. The forces of the world arrayed themselves against them for their extermination, as they had done against the Lord Himself. He had warned them of what was before them. Was not the world's persecution part of the Father's purging that the branches of the Vine might bring forth more fruit?

But the Lord would not have His own fear the power of the world. They had His example of submission before them. He would not ask them to endure more than He had endured. Do not be alarmed, He says, as it were; what they did to Me, they will do to you. "If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you also." "All these things will they do unto you for My name's sake because they know not Him that sent Me."

Could we count it a hardship today, if we had to pass through persecution? By the mercy of God, Christians in this country have been immune from persecution for two or three centuries. But the world has not lost its persecuting spirit. And violent persecution by "the powers that be," may spring up again. We may have to face it because we belong to Christ, and endure its hatred because we bear a likeness to our departed Lord. Should such fiery trial arise, may we be found faithful.

The World Not to be Loved

But the relation between the world and believers has another aspect, which appears in the verses read from 1 John 2. There we find the converse of what we have been considering. As in the Gospel we saw the attitude of the world to the followers of Christ, so in the Epistle we see the attitude of God's children to the world. They are not to love the world nor its things.

This exhortation is there addressed particularly to those in the family of God whom the apostle calls the "young men." Of this class, he says, "ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." The last of these three clauses is repeated from the previous verse, showing that overcoming the wicked one, the ruler of this world, is the outstanding feature of the young men.

This class had grown up from the state of spiritual infancy. They had acquired spiritual strength and spiritual intelligence. Moreover, they had withstood the persecuting power of the wicked prince of this world, and they were overcomers. They had resisted the terrifying agencies of Satan, and were victorious in the onslaught.

Had these young men, who had resisted the devil, and from whom he had fled, nothing further to fear? In seeking to overthrow the faith of those that are Christ's, has Satan no other tactics to employ than those of persecution? We ought not to be ignorant of his devices. If, as the roaring lion, he fails to devour the saints, he will, as the deceitful serpent, seek to lure them to destruction. If his terrors are met in the strength of the Lord and the power of His might, he will endeavour to mislead and deceive and ensnare.

The young men are to beware of the seductive influences of the world. Satan will bring before them its many pleasant and attractive things. By such means, the old serpent beguiled Eve in the garden. He pointed out the attractive qualities of the forbidden fruit. His persuasive speeches deceived the woman, and she took of the fruit herself, and also gave of it to her husband. They both were overcome by the wicked one, not by force, but by fraud.

Hence, those who had overcome the power of the wicked one are warned against his earliest artifice. The enemy would set before the young men worldly objects cunningly designed to excite the affections of the heart and the desires of the mind. Therefore John's exhortation is, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." The love of the world is the service of Satan, its prince.

The apostle's prohibition is most comprehensive in its terms. The entire world-system and its various component parts must be excluded from the range of the believer's affections. The love of money, for example, is a root of every evil. The love of gain is a canker to the soul. The advantages of the well-watered plains of Jordan led Lot to the gate of Sodom. The young men were not to love the world in this respect, nor in any of its things.

Is this admonition as weighty with us as it should be? Have we heard it so often that it has lost much of its force? It may be that we take care not to allow our hearts to run after the world as a human organisation, and that we avoid those things in it that do not directly appeal to our particular tastes. But, forgetting that the injunction covers all that is in the world, we permit ourselves a little indulgence in what we consider a minor matter. Reversing the practice of the scribes, we get rid of the camel, but swallow the gnat. For instance, we read in private what we would not listen to in public. We love that little indulgence, for it seems to us but a little thing. Yet our relish for it proves our love of the worldly thing.

The apostle is emphatic that the love of the world and the love of the Father are incompatible. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Only here, I think, do we read of the love of the Father, that is, of our love of the Father. We read of the love the Father has bestowed upon us, and also of our love of God and of Christ. But in this passage our love of the Father is set in contrast with our love for the world. They are mutually exclusive.

The love of the Father is the height of Christian privilege. In the Son the Father is seen and known. In Christ the love of the Father's heart for us is revealed, and in Him our love of the Father is consolidated. This revelation of the Father is concealed from the world. "O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee," the Lord said at the close of His ministry. But to His own He had manifested the Father's name, having chosen them out of the world. For any of His own, therefore, to love the world was to quench the love of the Father in them. They would be loving what hated the Beloved of the Father.

Nothing in the world is "of the Father." The things of the world, the desires of the flesh within, the desires of the eyes without, and the pride or vainglory of life are "of the world;" all exclude God and exalt self. The Father's object is the glory of the Son, and the world's object is the gratification of selfish lust. No heart can love and serve both God and mammon. But while the world and its lust is passing away like a vain show, "he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

The World's Recent Encroachments

The discernment of the world by believers is a simple process, and presents no difficulty to us as long as we use the criterion given us in scripture. What is not of the Father is of the world. For our undoing, Satan seeks to mystify us about the nature of this distinction. Many argue the vague question how far a believer may go in the direction of the world without endangering his soul. Some have been induced to take up worldly associations and occupations, and settle the question by actual experiment.

There is, alas, no doubt that the world and its things have encroached upon the lives of brethren in the Lord in a marked degree during the last few years. Without attributing this departure from the love of the Father to any particular persons, those who can look back, say, forty years know perfectly well that the world has gained a decided foothold among us. The world has influenced our words, our actions, our habits; it has come into our gatherings, our worship, our service, our homes, our occupations. Worldliness is even now eating like a canker into the spiritual life of many who belong to Christ.

The result has been disastrous. Fruit for God has withered. Weakness cripples the gatherings. There is no power to recover some who have drifted openly into the world. Pious families have been broken up by the love of the world and its things. I need not continue this harrowing recital.

Why is this widespread ruination? Is it not due to love of the world? Have not the brethren succumbed to the deceitfulness of Satan? The great world-ruler had his eye upon them as a company of brave witnesses for the truth of Christ. He sought to destroy their testimony — not by violent persecution, at first, but by deceit and flattery, by the pride of life. And by introducing the things of the world, he has caused the love of the Father in many to wax cold.

You know how spiritual weakness prevails, not only in your immediate association, but widely throughout Christendom. You know it best perhaps in your own heart and life. Where is fidelity to the truth? Where is the spirit of true piety? Where is the holy life that appeals to those that know not God or Christ? The Holy Spirit is grieved, and is hindered in His working through the ministry of the word and the preaching of the gospel. Why is this? is it not because of the defiling and paralysing influences of worldliness among the children of God?

The World's False Teaching

Let me now say only a little on the verses read from 1 John 4. They also are of practical importance to us. Those in chapter 2 related to conduct, these in chapter 4 to teaching or doctrine. The former deal with our love, the latter with our faith.

John writes, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God." And he goes on to show how those that are of God may protect themselves from the effects of false doctrine, the teaching of the spirit of antichrist which is already in the world.

He says that many false prophets have gone out into the world, that is, men who pretended that their words were uttered with the authority of God, but who were liars and deceivers, and therefore, emissaries of Satan. It is generally thought that because they went out into the world, the reference must be to teachers of evil doctrine who leave the assemblies for the world.

No doubt the description includes this class, but it surely applies also to those who do their deadly work in the gathering itself, where the children of God are, and are liable to be misled. "World" in John has, as we have already seen, a moral meaning more often than a local one. Going into the world may not mean moving from one place to another, but the adoption of worldly principles and ways of acting and thinking. The false prophet is guided by worldly habits of thought, and not by the Spirit of truth.

For example, the teacher of evil doctrine approaches the scriptures from a worldly standpoint, regarding them as merely human documents. The result is that he misreads and misunderstands the revelation of God, and he, consequently, teaches what is false, not true, evil, not good. By such doctrine the children of God are led astray from the truth. Thus, the world can, by religious teaching, not only turn away the affections from the Father to itself, but also turn away the mind from the truth of God to the lie of Satan.

Because of this danger, John warns the children of God, and bids them try or prove the spirits before believing them. Do these men speak according to God or to the world? Because the false prophet has a worldly mind, he has a worldly voice; he therefore speaks against Christ, not for Him. He is not loyal and true to the Son of God. Hence I know he is a deceiver and an anti-christ, though I may not be able to confute his arguments. By using this test, even the babes in the family of God will be preserved from error, their hearts being full of love and reverence for Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

False doctrine invariably affects the spiritual life and communion of those who imbibe it. The worship of God is affected. How can I rightly worship God in spirit and in truth, if I hold a doctrine which is false? Evil teaching poisons the mind and heart of the one who believes it. In prayer and worship, the introduction of the elements of the world destroys the sense of dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Prayer is no longer a power with God; it loses its intimacy and fervency, and becomes formal and idle.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

Plainly, we must avoid error in divine teaching — that error which is one of the things of the world. We are not to confuse the spirits that are not of God with the Spirit of God. And the apostle gives us the mark whereby we may distinguish the one from the other. The teaching of the Spirit of God is marked by the confession of Jesus Christ come in the flesh; while the spirit of anti-christ which is in the world lacks this confession. "Hereby know ye," John says, "the Spirit of God." We are to test every spirit and all teaching by its fidelity to Jesus Christ, come in flesh.

It is well to mark the exact rendering of this important passage, which should be, "Every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ come in flesh is of God." The omission of the little word, "is," gives fresh force and significance to the test. The confession that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh might imply no more than the acknowledgement of the historical advent of Jesus Christ, which an infidel or heretic might do. But the confession of Him come in flesh is another matter; this is owning Jesus Christ, come in flesh in all the majesty of what He is in Himself, the Eternal Son of God.

This distinction is most helpful in understanding the truth involved in the verse. We are not to look merely for the confession of the historical event, as the ordinary translation implies, but for the confession of the Deity of Jesus Christ in His incarnation. The Man Jesus Christ must be acknowledged as God manifest in flesh, the Word made flesh. In Him, come in flesh, was and is the full Godhead. This mark is inseparable from the teaching of the Spirit of God. The absence of this hall-mark in any doctrine proves it to be of the spirit of anti-christ, and not of God.

But the apostle would not alarm his little children; they were of God, and had overcome the false prophets, because the Spirit of God was in them, and He is greater than the spirit of anti-christ which is in the world. False teachers are of the world and speak of what is worldly in order to please the ear of the world. We have the apostolic teaching which is of God, by which we may discern what is the spirit of truth and what is the spirit of error.

In closing, let me remind you of what our brief reference to these passages has taught us about the world. In the Gospel we saw the world's rejection of the testimony of the Father and the Son, and its bitter hostility to Christ Himself and those that are His. In the Epistle, there was, first, the warning against the attractive things of the world and making them the object of our affections. Then, we were exhorted to take heed what we hear and to prove all things we hear by the infallible test, that is, the confession of Jesus Christ, come in flesh.

Let us walk with Christ, and not with the world. Let us keep our garments unspotted from the world. Let us love the truth which is in Christ Jesus that we may be preserved from the errors which are in the world. Let us seek to be counted friends of the Lord Jesus, and avoid the friendship of the world which is enmity against God.