THE ORE AND THE MOULD
THE ORE AND THE MOULD
The presence of the Lord fashions me. He is the mould; I am changed. Many a man has a great deal of Bible knowledge, like a lot of ore, but he has not a [p. 473] mould and it is no use. Let him see the Lord, that will make all the difference; He will put it into shape, his ore is of use now.
Familiar passages always help much. The better you know a scripture the more it yields you.
The cause of the declension of the church is visible means - that is the hindrance. Where there is the most visible means, there God is showing that there is no power. Nebuchadnezzar and Darius had visible means, but neither the one nor the other had the power. The poor children of the captivity had the power. The one king had the fire, the most powerful of material forces, and the other the lions, the strongest of beasts, but neither the one nor the other could get the mastery of these poor captives.
Patience or endurance is a wonderful quality. I am convinced that the sense of the Lord’s support under a pressure not only attaches us to Him in a peculiar way, but nothing so weans from this place.
Relief makes this place more agreeable, but support detaches us from everything here, and He is increasingly endeared to us.
The parallel between John and Paul is very interesting. John 4 with Paul would be joying in God or the fatted calf. John presents what it is in God’s mind; Paul, what it is as apprehended by us.
Would you be glad to be severed from the old man - to be morally apart from that man in another Man - Christ risen? You will not seek this until you are [p. 474] sick of yourself. Then the Spirit wilt invest you with “the best robe”, and set you in Christ, and in His life you are free. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death”. (Romans 8: 2) It is very blessed that we can be free of the old man - the body of sin.
The Lord values more that one should have one thought in common with Him in the day than that one should do a hard day’s work for Him.
If I were absolutely under the control of Christ, I should do everything in a beautiful way, because a divine way.
Ques Will you explain again the difference between objective and subjective truth?
Objective is - everything is done for me, all is pure grace. Subjective is - the Spirit’s work in me; you must not separate them. The Spirit effects in me what Christ has done for me. The Spirit makes it all good to me, He sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts. No one will be happy till he is clear of the old man in his own eye as he is clear of him in God’s eye. In the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, I am free from the law of sin and death. If you have gone the road you will know what it is.
You must turn Ishmael out. I studied the beautiful traits in man till I found that not a single trait in him would acknowledge Christ.
[p. 475] Merely reading the Bible will not make you like Him. The two disciples going to Emmaus had a wonderful exposition of Scripture; it did not alter their course one bit. But when the Lord made Himself known to them all is changed. They leave their own course and take His. I may behold Him in my own room, and, if I do, I drop my own things by being brought into company with Him. But when I behold Him in the assembly, His things absorb me. Even with those two disciples we see how when they behold Him their own things are secondary; they go back to the hive, and with good honey, too. I am lost in delight of heart in beholding Him. And besides this, I have guidance - I get Scripture to corroborate it - fresh light.
Do you accept His rejection? That is the first step towards the assembly. There are many pious men in system who cannot find the assembly. Why? Because they do not start aright. They do not start with His rejection. The object and purpose of the assembly is to supply a place for Christ on earth where He has been rejected. How little is known of it!
The Lord goes away to the desert where the poor of the flock can find Him, and feeds them there. Then He sends His disciples on the sea, that they may realise the state of things on earth. He Himself goes to the mountain. They are in the midst of the sea, the winds, and the waves - the power of Satan and the world against them. And He goes to them. But He takes now a new position. He is not now, as in Matthew 8, quelling the storm - supreme now, not only superior. He was always superior; now He is supreme, outside of it all; Matthew 14.
[p. 476] The Lord is rejected, disallowed of men. He is declared to be the Son of God with power. He is outside the whole thing. Has He any place on earth? Yes; He has His assembly; He comes into the assembly; He has no other spot here. He is there as Son of God. You come to meet Him there, not as your Saviour, but as the Son of God. He is Son over God’s house. If we meet Him in the assembly it is as Son of God.
Ques Explain the difference between ‘believers’ meetings’ and the assembly.
JBS In ‘believers’ meetings’ believers come together to rejoice in the Saviour and salvation, but in the assembly you go to meet Him as Son over God’s house. In the former you go for yourself; in the latter you go for Him. You form part of a building where He dwells. It is entirely new ground. You find yourself in a new position.