EXTRACT

Geo.C. If you come across an assembly or district where the saints are positively non-plussed by the condition of things that have come in, what then?

JT As local troubles arise that seem to be inextricable, and the saints cannot extricate themselves, what we should bear in mind is that the truth of the mystery is the solution of them. If you can bring in the feast of unleavened bread, I think that will make room for the feast of Pentecost, and the feast of Pentecost implies the mystery, it makes room for the Spirit. It is quite impossible if the working of will is going on, but if there is room for the Spirit, there is room for the Head.

Geo.C. I see it is a practical difficulty in many districts. I have thought that the only resource was in Christ Himself, in heart submission to Him.

JT I think a good thing to impress the saints with is this, that the way out of every difficulty is suffering. The secret is that people will not suffer. It very likely arises from difficulties of feeling between brethren, and the way out is to suffer. If one brother suffers, the Lord will stand by him. Self-judgment is the feast of unleavened bread; Christ is our passover, He has gone into death. He has supplied that, but we must eat the unleavened bread through self-judgment.

Rem. It is the bread of affliction?

JT It means that one surrenders. You see that will has been at work, and you give it up. Now, if you have the feast of unleavened bread, you will have the feast of Pentecost.

There will be room for the Spirit, and if there is room for the Spirit, there will be room for the Head. If you can get a brother to see that one man has to die for the people on every occasion, and it is his privilege to do it, that will be the solution of the difficulty.

Rem. Not that he is wrong and the other right?

JT Not at all. The Lord was not wrong, but He died for the people. There is not a brother who under certain circumstances, will not say, ‘The Lord knows my heart’. You have to leave your justification for the future, and to be quite content with that. As a matter of fact, it says, “He bringeth forth his judgments morning by morning”. The morning will come, but you wait on the Lord, for it is on the calendar. Then the one who suffers becomes a leader.

God’s way is to deliver through some one, and then that one is a true leader morally.

DLH I have often thought that the very first elements of Christianity are utterly lost sight of on these occasions, and people have forgotten that the way to go up is to go down.

J. Taylor (Vol.6, pp.356, 357)

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