THE WARS OF THE LORD (3)
THE WARS OF THE LORD (3)
JT We noted this afternoon that in Numbers 1 such as “go forth to military service” were to be numbered, meaning that there were those in Israel known in that way; they already had part in the wars of the Lord. The second reference in chapter 1 is to “all that went forth to military service”, which is historic; but the first reference is to what was characteristic; so that at the numbering that took place thirteen months after they left Egypt they had acquired the character of warriors, and are numbered accordingly.
AP The position is still Horeb.
JT Yes, in Numbers 1 to 10 the people are at Horeb.
ANW Would you please say a word about the males being especially mentioned? That is not intended to exclude the sisters, you would say?
JT No. It is important to include them, because it should be made clear that the sisters are warriors also.
JTJr It says that Deborah went with Barak against Sisera; and she spoke of those who did not go to the battle; Judges 4:9 and 5:23.
JT Which shows that the sisters are brought into the divine wars. Miriam and all the women of Israel are said to have joined in the song of celebration of Jehovah’s victory; (Exodus 15).
JWC The women are also included in Romans 16, the New Testament book of the wars of the Lord.
JT The age given in Numbers 1 — “twenty years and upward” — is an allusion to spiritual age; that is, to those that have the Spirit. The chapter we have already considered contemplates the presence [p. 271] of the Spirit. The Spirit is seen typically in the smiting of the rock in Exodus 17, so that the calling into the war depends upon those called having the Spirit. There could be no spiritual discernment of what Joshua, Moses, Aaron, and Hur meant in that chapter, aside from the presence of the Spirit.
AFM Normally speaking, there would be much encouragement given to those spiritually twenty, by being in the company of those more spiritually advanced. It says, “from twenty years old and upward”. Those “upward”would have more experience of God than those who were twenty years old.
CAM This numbering is based upon previous spiritual experience or status that has already been acquired.
JT That is the setting of it. There is a numbering in Exodus 30, too, having the foundations or bases of the tabernacle in view. All those who were numbered on that occasion offered a heave offering to Jehovah of half a shekel; that is, the people were to be represented in the divine dwelling, in the silver sockets. They are there on the ground of redemption. The same persons evidently are in view in Exodus 30 as are numbered in Numbers 1. The heave offering of Exodus 30 would bring the saints in as having affection, God being before them.
CAM But here the numbering is in a military setting?
JT Exactly, and they are referred to as persons known to be military.
FL The actual conflict with Amalek would be by all those who go forth. This numbering comes after, so they start with a certain measure of practical experience before they get their full status. Is that the idea?
JT Yes. A young believer unfurls his standard as on the side of Christ in confessing the Lord with his mouth. Amalek will attack him. Will he haul [p. 272] down his colours, or will he stand his ground? If he stands his ground, he is regarded as characteristically a military man; he has been to war. The attack of Amalek brought to light those who had failed to maintain the standard and were lagging behind. According to Deuteronomy, a certain weakness is disclosed, and God brings out these weaknesses in an attack. On the other hand, as we have had it before us, an attack also brings out the wonderful resources of God amongst His people, as represented in Moses, Aaron, Hur, and Joshua. These men were a divine provision, and they came to light as the need existed.
AP With regard to soul history, do I learn to overcome Amalek by myself — to personally stand the attack? Whereas, in Numbers, I am called upon to fight the enemy with others.
JT You are enrolled in Numbers. At the battle of Rephidim, the warriors were chosen by Joshua rather than enrolled; that is to say, a trustworthy spiritual state is contemplated. Every conflict brings out a certain state of things, and Joshua represents the spiritual element that knows where the persons are who can be relied upon. It is left to Joshua to choose them. It is not a question of age there; but of Joshua’s choice.
FL “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth” — is that characteristic of those likely to be chosen?
JT That is the idea; they stand their ground. They are characteristically men that go forth. It is not one incident merely.
ANW Will you explain how the military spirit blends with the “son of peace” feature that is desirable for us all?
JT The “son of peace” has to do with internal assembly conditions; but when there is an attack the order of the day is war. Luke 10 is the instructive chapter as to a son of peace. It alludes to a person [p. 273] who becomes, or whose house becomes, a nucleus for divine operations; a son of peace is there; and you stay there, you do not move away. It is, as it were, headquarters for divine operations, and it works out in assembly conditions as seen in Luke 11.
FL So external war would be with such elements as Moab, Sihon, and Og.
JT That is the thought; and if one unfurls his standard in confessing Christ and then runs away, he is not a man that “goes forth to war”. It is the man that goes forth to war that is numbered; not one that simply says, I was converted two years ago. That is of no value in this matter. The point is, what you are now. As a person that goes forth you are known. Then Numbers 1 says, “that went forth”. Historically you have had part in conflicts while others held back.
AP Are those that have taken up the responsibility of fellowship marked out as those who go forth?
JT That is right. It is a defensive position in the wilderness.
Numbers 1 shows that there are persons who are known as those that go forth to war. It is in Israel; that is, you belong to that class of people and you go forth to war; and then, “that went forth to war”. These persons who are so numbered in relation to the standards of their fathers’ houses are seen in certain positions in relation to the tabernacle. That is the next thing. Now the testimony of God is involved, and each takes up his position in regard to that. It is the fellowship, really.
ARS Numbering the people means that God is taking account of me, so that makes me responsible to go forth to war. We have to see that we are fulfilling our responsibilities.
JT Yes. Heaven specially regards those who take part in the conflicts. They are the warriors of [p. 274] God.
CAM Does not this encampment correspond with the stones on the breastplate, as to the setting of it?
JT Yes, the position of the tribes round the tabernacle corresponded with their positions in the breastplate.
APT Acts 16 says that Paul would have Timothy go forth with him. I was wondering whether he represented one about twenty years old.
JT That is a good illustration of the type. What a conflict they had at Philippi following upon that! Paul made a good selection in Timothy!
JS Is the great object in the wars of the Lord that there might be more for the Lord? Wars among men are destructive all round, but in the wars of the Lord you are thinking of what accrues to God, are you not?
JT We shall reach that in Numbers. All that had been appropriated in the great falling away in Christendom during the centuries is recovered on the principle of the wars of the Lord, as seen in chapter 31. For the moment, we are getting the young believers to see that they are taken account of by the Lord when they go forth to war. They are not dragged into it; they are known to be persons that go forth in all weathers. They do not say, There is a lion in the way; or, It is a cold or stormy night, and I shall not go to the meeting. They are military men, under orders, and hence go forth.
CAM The reference to Timothy is very good. After a certain point, he had a place to fill as of divine ordering.
JT He was a young man commended by the apostle, and later enjoined to take his “share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”.
RWS Would a contrast be John Mark, who went not forward with them to the [p. 275] work?
JT Quite so; he did not go forth. He went back from the conflict.
GA Yet John Mark made a good start. Would you say there may be a time when we should heed the exhortation: “take to you the panoply of God ...”?
JT Yes. There is always danger with the most advanced of us of drawing back. Demas had been warring; but the apostle says, he “has forsaken me, having loved the present age”. The young men in John’s epistle are enjoined as to this: “I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you”. They were military men, but the apostle further says, “Love not the world, nor the things in the world”. The world is the danger to which the young men are exposed; (1 John 2:14,15).
Rem Paul had in himself the scars of war.
JT Yes; he says, “I bear in my body the brands of the Lord Jesus”, (Galatians 6:17).
AR Numbers 1:4 says, “with you there shall be a man for every tribe, a man who is the head of his father’s house”; later he is said to be a prince. That would be like Paul’s relation to Timothy; the young man is under the influence of a prince.
JT Quite so; the princes are men habitually summoned, already known to be reliable. The idea of reliability is of immense importance in all these matters.
WB-w 1 Samuel 19:8 says, “And there was war again; and David went forth and fought with the Philistines”.
JT “David went forth” is a characteristic expression. It refers to his “warlike raids”, see note to 1 Samuel 18:5 (N.T.).
JJJ Is there any suggestion that Moses commissioned these heads of the tribes?
JT Yes; that is the idea; they were known to [p. 276] be reliable; Moses could put his hand on these men at any time. They were summoned as needed.
FL In the divine military system, are there not two elements — the “voluntary” and the “compulsory”?
JT Quite so. The divine war levy is on the principle of conscription. But in the conscription there is interest and readiness to serve.
ARS Did David not volunteer to meet Goliath?
JT He had said before to Eliab, “Was it not laid upon me?” evidently meaning that his father had sent him, with perhaps a deeper meaning involving his sense of responsibility to God. That was the principle! He was on the battlefield as a sent one.
GMacP Peter had a sword and energy, too, but he misused both; would he represent those unfit to be numbered?
JT Quite so. He was ready to fight, but was not under proper military direction. The Lord had said, “let him sell his garment and buy a sword”, and they said to Him, “Lord, behold here are two swords”. He says, “It is enough”, (Luke 22:36,38). They did not apprehend His meaning. It is of all importance in warfare to get the thought of the leader correctly; taking an order erroneously is most disastrous in military operations.
ARS Peter was not subject to the command, was he?
JT He did not get the Lord’s thought. He was just literal. But we have to learn that divine utterances are to be understood spiritually.
ANW We do not cut off men’s ears in this warfare!
JT We want to keep their ears on so they can hear. This is particularly the case in Luke, who had the priestly side of the service of the gospel especially in view.
JEH Would these military men have [p. 277] the effectual sword — the word of God — girded on themselves?
JT That is what is meant. “Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword”. Typically this is the word of God.
FL There is much of importance in what has been said as to Peter’s acting without orders, because in military service an individual soldier in the presence of his commander doing what he pleases is a disastrous thing; in Christendom, there is the idea generally of, I will do what I think will be of service, when at the same time there is a lack of being under the spiritual control of the commander-in-chief.
ABP In connection with what has been said, would it be right to say that in each of these three conflicts — particularly in the last two — there seems to be an increased recognition of the Holy Spirit? The well is springing up now. In the first case, it would scarcely seem as if the Christian, in type, has the Spirit characteristically.
JT That is right. One would enlarge on what has been said about Exodus 17, that the conflict brings out latent conditions — firstly, the latent conditions as seen in Moses. There is no word of such conditions in the early part of the battle; it is then just what Moses said; then Joshua is mentioned for the first time and entrusted with the selection and command of the army; and then Aaron and Hur, who are not mentioned in the beginning of the matter, but appear later, as if to meet the exigency that had not been foreseen.
In Deuteronomy 25 we are let into the secret of the other side; that is, a decline had taken place amongst the people. When they came out of Egypt; the Psalmist tells us “there was not one feeble among their tribes” (Psalm 105:37); but Deuteronomy 25:18 speaks of “all the feeble that lagged behind thee”; although it was only three [p. 278] months since they came out of Egypt. That is what the conflict brought to light in Exodus 17; the Spirit, however, is there, in answer to the sufferings of Christ. Jehovah says to Moses, Take thy staff with which thou smotest the river. Behold I will stand before thee upon the rock on Horeb: and thou shalt strike the rock. It is not said that the water actually flowed or that the people drank; but there is the statement that water should come out of the rock, “that the people may drink”. Thus typically the Spirit was there. That is the position, but now here in Numbers 21 we have the conflict with Sihon. This is after they sang to the well: “Spring up, O well”. It is now an upward movement of the Spirit. The Spirit is known to be there, and is recognised by the people as being there, in the sense that they sang to it, and the movement alluded to is upward. We are now moving toward Canaan; hence the Amorite immediately comes into view. So that we have the Holy Spirit now typically, not only in an abstract way but in a concrete way, as known and enjoyed. Rephidim means, “plain”, as we have seen, but when they came to Beer, they were going up, and they reached the top of Pisgah; it was an upward movement. It suggests that we are going out of the world now, as no longer of it, but as having a heavenly portion. As soon as we move in that direction we meet the Amorite, Sihon and Og; indeed the Canaanites are seen in Numbers 21 from the outset.
FL The conflict increases as they near the land, but the power is equal to it.
JT The springing well, as we saw, alludes to the believer as in Romans 8. At the end of Romans 7 he takes up a definite position individually: “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. In Romans 8 it is God coming in with almighty power to support the believer in that position. The land is now in [p. 279] prospect. Hence in Numbers 21 the well springs up and the Amorite is at once in view.
FL So the singing is connected with exultation in the saints; they are triumphant in the sense of power. Is that the thought of singing to it?
JT Yes; it is a beautiful song. The whole chapter is buoyant; the book of the wars of the Lord is mentioned and what the poets say; but as to Beer, it is what Israel’s poets say. That is the thing; Israel sang this song, “Rise up, well! sing unto it!”
AFM It is noticeable, in the reference to these enemies, that Israel does not take the initiative in attacking them, but when the enemy comes against them they meet the attack and overcome them.
JT The thing to observe is, they took territory. There is nothing like this earlier. It says of Sihon that “Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon”.
FL Pisgah would suggest, so to speak, a backward look at territory that had been traversed in soul history, while pressing onward to the inheritance.
JT I think so; what is said of Pisgah here implies that you get a retrospective view; you are thus reminded of what God has been to you. It “looks over the surface of the waste”. It is all over now, but there is no regret as to the experience gone through. We remember what God was to us in that waste, and now we are going on into Canaan. I think as soon as you acquire territory spiritually, you are in principle in another world. The indwelling Spirit is the earnest of the inheritance.
JHE Paul says, “I pursue”.
JT “I pursue, looking towards the goal, for the prize of the calling on high of God in Christ Jesus”, (Philippians 3:14). That is now my outlook.
WGT Would you bring in Paul and Barnabas [p. 280] going to Jerusalem in view of the conflict they faced in regard to Judaism?
JT Quite so; it all works out in Paul’s ministry, particularly what we are speaking of now. It is the believer taking up the inheritance.
AC On previous occasions we have had the murmuring of the people, but in this section the word of Jehovah is, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water”; then the springing up of the well comes in.
JT The springing up is in John 4; Romans 8 scarcely gives us that, but suggests looking towards the wilderness, which is the Deuteronomy side of it. It is the righteous requirement of the law fulfilled in us; compare Deuteronomy 10:12,13. John 4 is the water that Christ gives springing up into everlasting life. Romans 8, however, speaks of those led of the Spirit being sons of God, and this corresponds somewhat with John 4.
AFM How do you regard this territory acquired. It is not Canaan, but is near it. Is it requisite for us to occupy so long as we are here?
JT Certainly; it is the territory acquired, answering to Romans 8.
ANW Is not the serpent of brass an important point in this chapter?
JT It is. It is typically the condemnation of sin in the flesh. The man in Romans 7 says “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. He has found his feet; he is standing up like a board in the tabernacle. God says, as it were, I am with you in that; hence the next chapter is God coming in in power, the Holy Spirit supporting me in that position, which leads on to Canaan as stated; it says, “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. The sons of God are going to glory. Notice in the beginning of this chapter that “the Canaanite king of Arad, who dwelt in the [p. 281] south, heard that Israel came by the way of Atharim, and he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners”. Arad had an advantageous position as against the people, and “Israel vowed a vow to Jehovah, and said, If thou give this people wholly into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. And Jehovah listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them, and their cities”, (verses 1 - 3). That is the result. One of the finest things that can come into our beings is the principle of resolution; they made this resolution, asking God to help them, and there was complete victory. But, alas they “spoke against God, and against Moses”. They had not yet discovered what the flesh is. God met this in the serpent of brass, answering to Romans 8, which says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, having sent his own Son, in likeness of flesh of sin, and for sin, has condemned sin in the flesh”. That is what God has done.
ARS Amalek stands for the flesh. What does Sihon, king of the Amorites, stand for?
JT It is something you discover after you recognise that God has condemned sin in the flesh; not simply that the flesh is bad, that no good dwells in it, but that God has disposed of it and you need not take any account of it; it is to have no voice to us at all. The next enemy to overcome is this man Sihon. The point is, he is an Amorite; and is related to the inhabitants of the land. He is not actually in the land, but belongs to the seven nations of Canaan, and is typical of the natural man in divine territory — that is, in the setting seen in this chapter. He may appear in one who is a believer, but who thinks much of himself, who is big in his own eyes.
FL This territory once acquired is permanent, it [p. 282] is not surrendered, but links on to the environment of the Jordan.
JT That is right; it is never given up, but is essential to our heavenly position, although not Canaan.
AFM The two and one-half tribes settled down there.
JT They did, but this territory should be held from Canaan. When Ammon attacked this territory later it was pointed out by Jephthah that it was divinely given to Israel, and must not be given up.
NMacC Is the Amorite as an enemy more dangerous than the flesh?
JT Yes; he is another kind of opponent; he belongs to the seven nations of Canaan.
NMacC This warfare is typically not against flesh and blood?
JT It is not yet heavenly warfare, but leading to it. The conflict in this chapter (Numbers 21) is largely with Satan as occupying the believer with himself, his own bigness. This is especially seen in Og. It says, “And they turned and went up by the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he and all his people, for battle to Edrei. And Jehovah said to Moses, Fear him not! for into thy hand I have given him, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon. And they smote him, and his sons and all his people, so that they left him none remaining, and took possession of his land”. There is thus further acquired territory in Bashan.
AES Would you say that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were good soldiers, prepared to lose even their own lives to maintain the territory?
JT That is very beautiful — their steady fidelity to the truth and how the Lord identifies Himself with them in the heat of the furnace. Nebuchadnezzar says, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire ... and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of God”, (Daniel 3:25). That is the companionship and support we come into in suffering for the truth. You might say they were really sons of God; they were in liberty in the conflict, and were there supported by the Spirit of God.
WGT Does it appear that these two kings, Sihon and Og, occupied strategic positions obviously needed to go into the land — not the land itself, but the positions that are needful?
JT Yes. Deuteronomy helps us and gives us information which Numbers does not cite; it also gives us the wilderness as Christ entered it. The Lord takes Deuteronomy ground as soon as He is anointed by the Spirit. Deuteronomy also tells us the size of Og’s bed; you get in that an indication of what is meant. It means one’s big self as in the believer, which has to be overthrown — one’s idea of one’s importance, which is apt to come up at this juncture in spiritual history, and is a hard enemy to overthrow.
JS Why do you think he comes up at this point?
JT At the end of Romans 7, you are standing on your own feet and acknowledging God’s rights in your soul; then you gain a few victories in preaching, teaching, and the like, and may acquire a place in the minds of the brethren; so that you are apt to become a greater man in your own mind than you have hitherto been. This presents a most difficult man to overcome.
FL Like Sihon and Og, would you say?
JT Yes; Sihon is an Amorite. That is what is stressed in him. I think he alludes to a man assuming heavenly clothing, although not according to it inwardly. He is big in his own eyes, but it is Satan working and hindering in that way. If [p. 284] I do not overcome these two men, I will not make any headway.
AP We were distinguishing between the flesh and what is natural. Is not the test as to what is natural seen more in this area than at the beginning? Here it was a question of children, cattle, and ease that surrounded them legitimately and became a test to them. The two and one-half tribes were overcome by this later.
JT There is a point reached in the progress we normally make; we may acquire a place in our own minds because of what we are spiritually. We may have made great headway, and be known as militant men, as having gained victories. I may be successful in preaching and in other distinguishing services, but I may be clothing myself with all this. I believe that is the application of this to ourselves. As to himself, Paul says, “no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but in that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me”, (Galatians 2:20). It is a complete displacement of myself for Christ. It is not simply the throne of Jah as in Exodus 17, that is, God’s rights in me, but I come to see that I am gone as to what I have been as a man in this world; that is to say, I am not living in my fancied greatness; that is all over. The instruction as to Sihon and Og refers, I believe, to the way I may be regarding myself at this stage of my spiritual course.
AGD David stayed at home from the battle at Rabbah. Would that be the Og feature?
JT Yes. Og’s bed being mentioned would point to selfish indolence, and this marked David at the time referred to. It was “when kings go forth”; he did not go, and therefore failed.
JWCB We are to be “strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”, (Ephesians 3:16,17). The big man goes and Christ takes his place.
JT Og is displaced in that way. The book of Deuteronomy furnishes deeper spiritual instruction as to what we may see in Exodus and Numbers. As on Deuteronomy ground I see things differently from what I saw them earlier. In Deuteronomy I see what kind of man Jesus was in the wilderness, and how He met the devil. I abandon myself for Him. I learn thus how to fight when attacked by the devil.
WGT In Deuteronomy, the matter of Og and Sihon comes in early as compared with Numbers. Do you think that it is a matter of experience with us?
JT I think so; the Spirit as you give Him place would take you on to Deuteronomy ground; that is, if you recognise Him as seen in the springing well. You are thus prepared for heavenly ground.
FL There is nothing more subtle than what you have referred to in speaking of Og. I suppose one of the hardest things to discover in ourselves, and probably some of our brethren discover it before we do, is the elements that have their application in Sihon and Og.
JT I think it is a most searching thing: one may clothe oneself with Christianity as seen typically up to Numbers 21, adding it to what one is as a man of this world. One is thus bigger than ever in one’s own estimation.
AR If I do not judge these features of Og in myself they will hinder me in taking divine territory. I may also stand in the way of the saints in my locality.
JT It takes a good while to see that one has to be displaced altogether as to what he may be according to his own reckoning. Thus Og comes in at the end of the wilderness journey. Adding my Christianity to what I am in this world will prevent my entrance into Canaan. It was “a man in Christ” that was taken into the third heaven. In Philippians Paul pours contempt on what he was as a man in this world.
AFM That was the outcome in Paul of the truth of Ephesians, the appreciation he had of the heavenly calling.
JT It is peculiarly hard to get clear of Og. It is more difficult than sin in the flesh. It is not simply the flesh in me, but myself. I learn to deal with myself, which is the most difficult of all. “Of myself”, says Paul, “I will not boast, unless in my weaknesses”. (2 Corinthians 12:5).
CAM It seems to come home to us in a solemn way, because it is not only a hindrance to oneself, but it hinders the saints because Christ will be hindered in coming in through us until Og is gone.
RDG Is there anything in the fact that Og’s sons are mentioned?
JT I think that in these circumstances a man’s family adds to him; he is apt to think much of his sons. Haman had ten sons, and their names are mentioned; (Esther 9). Sons add to their father. A man who thinks of himself and his importance will not leave any asset out.
WGT Haman’s sons were all hanged with him.
CAM Jair (Judges 10), had thirty sons who rode on thirty ass colts; he was not much distinguished otherwise.
JT Ibzan and Abdon (Judges 12), were also distinguished in this way. In Numbers 21, we are where children and cattle are specially considered, as we see in the two and one-half tribes later. What I possess in this way is employed to add to me in this territory. We are all susceptible to this; not one of us is exempt. We know well enough how it works; it may cause one to say, I am a godly man and have some gift; God has used me in the Lord’s [p. 287] service and has prospered me in my business, and I have creditable children. These things are very subtle in their influence, and they occasion the conflict we are now considering. It is striking that this is the territory where these things acquired too much place. They kept the two and one-half tribes out of Canaan.
JHE They are never thoroughly judged unless we cross Jordan.
JT Quite so; there is nothing said about children or cattle as Israel were going over Jordan, not that they did not go over, but the point is what I am spiritually; for children and cattle do not add to me there; nor do I wish them to. But the territory we are now considering enables me to shine in them.
JS How are we going to rightly hold on to this territory?
JT It has to be held from Canaan. It is territory that we need. Romans and Corinthians are essential in holding Ephesian ground. I must keep this territory clear, and that is the point Jephthah makes. It had been Israel’s for three hundred years, and it must be held. But it does not afford our living associations; they are over Jordan.
JS Rightly held, this territory adds a certain kind of spirituality to us. We thus go into the land as spiritually wealthy.
JT Quite so; you acquire wealth there.
JHE The Colossians were exhorted, “If therefore ye have been raised with the Christ, seek the things which are above”, (Colossians 3:1).
JT That is beyond the Jordan; hence we seek the things that are above — not our cattle or name, or hereditary importance. If we seek the things that are above, we leave these behind.
APT Peter and John said, “Look on us”; later Peter said, “Silver and gold I have not”, (Acts 3). I was wondering if he had arrived at this point. He was shorn of everything that would add [p. 288] distinction to him in this world. He was a heavenly man, and could say, “what I have, this give I to thee: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean rise up and walk”, (Acts 3:6). Would that be on the line you are suggesting?
JT That is right — “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean” — the despised Man. It is a heavenly testimony in Peter there in principle.