THE SPIRIT OF THE LITTLE CHILD

Matthew 18: 1–7; Mark 9: 33–37; Luke 9: 43–48

WMcK I thought we might consider together the spirit of the little child. We should both feel the need of it among us and also understand its value better. These passages are similar, but they have their own distinction. As Mr. Taylor told us more than once, we need to compare scripture with scripture in order to arrive at the truth. We would all understand, I suppose, that Matthew has the assembly in mind. We have often heard it said that Matthew is the assembly gospel, and we can understand the need for the spirit of the little child characterising us as assembly persons. So the Lord in this section speaks about conversion and becoming as little children, and then also, “Whoever therefore shall humble himself .as this little child”. So, conversion and becoming as little children and humbling ourselves seems to have an important bearing, especially on the thought of the administration of the kingdom of the heavens and of the assembly. Mark, as we know, is the servant’s gospel and that passage would have especial bearing on levitical service among us, which would include what goes on in our localities as well as in meetings like these. Here the Lord brings up the question; in Matthew they come to Him, but here He asks them what they were reasoning of by the way, and they remained silent. So the grace of the Lord comes out here, “And sitting down he called the twelve”. It would bring out the Lord’s affection for the twelve, and for ourselves. In Matthew it says, “having called a little child to him, set it in their midst” and Mark adds, “and having taken it in his arms”. So clearly the Lord’s affections are involved in this great matter. Luke, I think, would have in mind that what is priestly should be increased among us on the line of making way for the spirit of the little child. Luke shows that the Lord was going deeper saying, “Do ye let these words sink into your ears”. Then it says, “Jesus, seeing the reasoning of their heart”; so He takes the little child and sets it by Himself and the question here is not becoming converted and humbling ourselves but receiving this little child, this particular one. I thought perhaps we could profit one another by conversing about this for a while.

JS You have referred to how He set it in their midst. What would be the point in that do you think?

WMcK To draw our attention to what He has peculiar pleasure in. We might say we could apply “in their midst” to our own localities, that the Lord would set somebody among us who sets out these features. He set it in their midst. Clearly they had been occupied with other things which would not be spiritually connected with their midst, whoever is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens, and so the Lord presents them with an object lesson.

JS It was more than just the teaching of it, there was the tangible example set before them.

WMcK Yes, they could see the thing itself in this little child.

JSp What is your thought of receiving such?

WMcK Well that comes into Luke, it is a question of persons who are to be received because they exemplify the spirit of the little child. It is clear that although the Lord actually took a little child physically, in what He has to say He is thinking about a little child spiritually; so Matthew in writing stresses “Unless ye are converted and become as little children”, that is, there must be such persons. It is not just one, although the Lord took one, yet the word is “Unless ye are converted and become as little children”. That would bring out no doubt that they are dependent and defenceless and need to be protected, so we can be assured of the Lord sustaining persons who are exemplifying this spirit.

JTB(Gr) Would that spirit be necessary then in view of having a part in assembly administration which comes in later in the chapter?

WMcK Exactly. Matthew would emphasise that. Although He called the little child (the Lord had a right to do that sovereignly). He called the little child to Him, and the little child is responsive. Then the Lord speaks about the kingdom of the heavens which really would involve the administration of what is heavenly and heavenly influence.

NJH Did Paul draw this example of the Lord in sending Timothy to Corinth?

WMcK Yes, he would .illustrate the thought. He sent Timothy to put them in mind of his ways as they were in Christ, not so much what he was saying but rather that personally he would exhibit Pauline features.

GBG Would it involve moral exercises on our side to be marked by the spirit of the little child?

WMcK Yes, it would. So that this word “Unless ye are converted”; we know what conversion means, it is that you change. Whatever you may have been, you change; as He goes on to say, “and become as little children”, and the additional thought, “Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little, child”. I suppose the humbling was that the child had no will of its own. When the Lord called it, it came. The bearing on administration would be whether, we are ready to hear what the Lord is saying, and whether we are affected by what is seen in persons who clearly have the heavenly character about them in their administration and in their assembly activities.

CKR This comes in so soon after the mount of transfiguration in each of the three gospels. Do you see something significant in that?

WMcK Yes, very much. It would indicate to me that the Lord would expect us to begin to develop after each Lord’s day because, as you point out, they saw His glory on the mount and they come to the liberty of sonship towards the end of the chapter; and in between there is the healing power of the Lord, “the boy was healed from that hour” it says in chapter 17: 18. So it should be something that becomes more prominent, I would think, every Monday after we have had Lord’s day together.

GCMcK It is remarkable how much the heavenly side, is in correspondence with this feature down below, humility and meekness. There is the thought of sonship and then

there is the thought of the little child. In Ephesians Paul speaks about himself as “less than the least of all saints”, Ephesians 3: 8.

WMcK Yes, showing that he knew really how to humble himself and he says that once he was an insolent and overbearing man. Well, that was as far as could be morally from the spirit of the little child. I think the Lord would test us as to whether, in what we are doing in our localities; we are insolent and overbearing in insisting in our own thoughts, or whether we understand the need to humble ourselves, and become usable by Him in the expression of the spirit of the little child.

ALMcK Paul spoke to the Philippians about being harmless and simple and irreproachable children of God, just after he speaks about the example of the Lord in chapter 2.

WMcK Yes, so that the greatest example is before us in Philippians 2 of humility; “having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself” (Philippians 2: 8). That ought to affect us because the Supper really carries that thought with it, not that we exactly enlarge on it in thanksgiving, but it is there before us in the bread and the cup. He “humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death”. Therefore the effect on us would be that we are simple, we are not devious persons, we are straightforward, and we are irreproachable, there is no charge that can be brought against us, and blameless would be what we are in God’s sight.

DD Timothy was given a charge. It is set out by way of teaching but also by way of example because Paul says, “be a model of the believers, in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity”, 1 Timothy 4: 12. It is the manner of his life that is to be drawn attention to, is that right?

WMcK That is what I thought. So this little child is not saying anything; other than coming to the Lord when called, he is not doing anything, but there he is, an example of submission, of dependence, of needing protection, of needing care, bringing out features that obviously were affecting the Lord, because in Mark He took him in His arms.

RT There is an entirely new generation implied in these children.

WMcK Yes, there is, so that they are really those who were born of God, and they are characterised by the features that belong to those who are born of God, which would be obedience and love.

RT It speaks in Matthew about your heavenly Father, being sons of your Father who is in the heavens. We are all taking character from that heavenly line of things that we have been brought into, are we?

WMcK Yes, and so it is important to notice that at the end of Matthew 5 He says that “ye may be the sons of your Father who is in the heavens” (verse 45), that would be that the moral character of the Father is coming out in persons. It is not the enjoyment of sonship in that sense, but it is rather what these persons are as down here, so the Lord adds, “Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5: 48). That is, the moral standard is to be before us in our heavenly Father and we are to measure up to that. The way to it, I think, is to be “converted and become as little children” and to “humble himself as this little child”.

JS Is the impression left with us that the spirit of the little child is retained through all that follows in this chapter in the way of assembly administration?

WMcK That is clearly what is in view, so that as matters are taken up, if they need to be, then this spirit would mark us, and the section verses 15–20 would show that, I think.

JS Do you think there would be something for us to learn in that way from verse 14, “So it is not the will of your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should perish”?

WMcK Well exactly, and we need to see that when the Lord is speaking about these little ones in verse 6, He is not thinking just of little children physically. It is really the saints viewed as children and in that sense we are little ones. We need to be divinely protected, divinely cared for, and Matthew presents in the strongest way the

seriousness of someone who sets the fall-trap for one of these little ones, “whosoever shall offend” (or set a fall-trap) “for one of these little ones who believe in me”; the Lord speaks about what would be better for him. Therefore we would have great care in our minds that we regard the saints as these little ones, and everything we do would be protective, and would have in mind that they should be preserved.

DTP As to the Lord’s words “who believe in me”, does that bring in the simplicity of faith? Is it that groundwork which we all are on and need to be maintained in? Following up what our brother has referred to as found in Timothy, a young man, but it was there. He was not seeking, for a place, was he? It is that humble side but it goes back to simple faith.

WMcK Yes, so I hope the brethren see that when the Lord says, “one of these little ones who believe in me” He is clearly thinking about the saints. He started with the little child physically, but now He comes to the saints, “these little ones who believe in me”.

GBG Time and time again the Psalms speak of a trap or a fall-trap, it will not be prospered. You see that in relation to David, that God is over all these things and He can cause what is a source in the mind of man to falter, do you think?

WMcK Well, exactly, so if someone sets the fall-trap for one of these little ones he is really inviting the government of God. So when the Lord says “it were profitable for him that a great millstone had been hanged upon his neck and he be sunk in the depths of the sea”, it is really an allusion to the government of God.

JS Is it not the “little ones who believe in me” who go through this moral process of being converted and humbling themselves? That would flow from believing in Him, do you think?

WMcK Well, clearly it would, and that these little ones “who believe in me” would mean that we have some appreciation of what marked the Lord Himself according to what is said in the epistles. We had reference to Philippians 2, He humbled Himself, and in other scriptures we find that He “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth”, 1 Peter 2: 22. All these features relate to the spirit of the little child and should be coming out in us as current believers because this word “believe in me” is current.

JAG The little child is free from self-consideration and enjoys its links with the Lord in the liberty of love. Do you think John’s epistle bears upon this?

WMcK Yes, I thought so. In what Mr. R. Taylor referred to as to a new generation, you get in John’s epistle that persons who are born of God are marked by believing on Jesus Christ come in flesh, and that He is the Son of God, and they have love for one another.

JAG Purification was always proceeding amongst them because they had the hope of the Lord’s coming in their hearts.

WMcK Yes, so might well raise with ourselves the question, Are we really expecting the Lord to come? One evidence would be that we are purifying ourselves. It shows we have this hope in ourselves and our hope is in Christ, “every one that has this hope in him”, that would be the Lord Jesus, “purifies himself, even as he is pure”, 1 John 3: 3.

RG Was the Lord Himself the example of this, “even as he is pure”, right from the beginning of this gospel; “take to thee the little child” (Matthew 2: 13), the word was to Joseph, and then “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (v.15), and then on the mount, “This is my beloved Son ... hear him”, Matthew 17: 5? The example of humility went alongside the authority, do you think, of the Son?

WMcK Yes, and so Matthew begins with “the little child”. Luke gives us “the babe”, but in Matthew it is “the little child and its mother”. It is very touching to think of that, that the Lord Jesus was there in all His personal glory and greatness although it was veiled, but He was there as requiring care and protection so that Joseph acted protectively. That is a great matter, I think, that the main line in which we are acting in our localities is protectively, not just to keep out what is wrong, but to protect the work of God in the saints.

JAG The influence of the kingdom of the heavens would be very blessed in that way, would it not?

WMcK It would be. It would carry forward the things that are said in Matthew 5, “Blessed the pure in heart, for they shalt see God” (Matthew 5:8), and “Blessed the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God” (Matthew 5: 9).

JAG The teaching in these chapters finishes with the prudent man who digs deep and builds his house upon the rock, which this would be.

WMcK It would be. You can hardly understand the disciples, coming to the Lord with such a question. Well now in Mark’s gospel they do not come to Him with it. It says, “he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them”. It is the inside position where the Lord would be free with us.

AMcK I was wondering if that atmosphere would have permeated the household of Moses’ parents.

WMcK I am sure it would have, and his mother acted protectively, and his sister, showing that young believers can act protectively about those who are younger still, or even about the local position in a general sense; that we are protective in our outlook and in what we say.

JS Do you think that if we really value what there is for Christ and for God in the local position, it would lead us to seek to be protective?

WMcK I think it would, so as the Lord came to Capernaum in Mark, “being in the house, he asked them, Of what were ye reasoning by the way?” No doubt He could tell by their demeanour that they were having a fruitless and unprofitable conversation, and so He asked them and they remained silent. Well it is not protective to remain silent. It is better when the Lord raises the matter to speak freely and fully and truthfully about it. It says, “they remained silent, for by the way they had been reasoning with one another who was greatest”. Think of ministering brothers travelling together and getting into this kind of conversation.

NJH Have you more in mind as to His arms? They certainly were not embracing one another by their reasoning, were they? They were really in envy and jealousy, were they not?

WMcK Exactly. So you see what the Lord did, “And sitting down he called the twelve”. That is the twelve would allude to the mutuality of love.

RT We would be affected by how the Lord feels this.

WMcK We should be and what I think is so touching here is that the Lord is not angry. Elsewhere in Mark it says, “And looking round upon them with anger, distressed at the hardening of their heart” (Mark 3: 5); not the twelve but the others. Here “sitting down he called the twelve”. He is reminding them of how He took them up. He took them up one by one, and according to an earlier chapter in this gospel, He had in mind to set them together, so He called the twelve that they might be with Him.

JAB You really referred to what I was thinking, that this line of reasoning would have merited some severity, but I wondered if you had more in mind as to the effectiveness of the Lord’s response as really seen in all three of these passages? What would you say about that?

WMcK Yes, it is very touching that, sitting down. You might say the Lord is being somewhat judicial in sitting down, but really He is restful and He calls the twelve. We can understand that it might have been said that He called the reasoners, but He called the twelve. He is calling them in the light of how He took them up originally, and I believe that in all the Lord’s dealing with us in our localities. He would remind us that He is calling us in the light of how He took us up originally and what He had in mind.

GCMcK You get an extra touch here as to the one who would be first, not only he would be last of all but also it says, “and minister of all”. Is that of weight with us? I was thinking Paul was like that, he was a debtor to all, he would preach to all; is that the spirit of the thing?

WMcK Exactly, so in this position it is rather a function or work.

GCMcK Yes, that is what they had been called to really.

WMcK That is right, that they might be with Him and they might do certain things it says in Mark 3, and so “he shall be last of all”. Well, that is a great matter you know. Can we be restful? We might be last of all but he is a minister of all. Paul certainly was that. He came in after the twelve but he was minister of all.

TDB Would you say something about this thought of the spirit of a little child. I wonder if you could say something about the word ‘spirit’; I was thinking of the spirits of the brethren.

WMcK The spirit of the little child would mean there is the expression of the features that characterise the little child; he was called up and he was responsive, he was dependent, he needs to be protected and where the Lord places him he can be; “he set it in their midst”. He did not scamper off, there he was, an object lesson of someone who is just in the Lord’s hands, and not saying anything but expressing the thing in himself.

RG Would it be all the more important that it was Mark who wrote this, do you think?

WMcK Surely, you mean that he began to serve and then he wandered off and he was recovered, for which we can be thankful. So recovery is always cause for rejoicing and, as recovered persons, we are to be serviceable.

RG There was no preferment with him now. He left Paul and his company because he preferred something else but, now he is at Paul’s feet, I suppose, in a certain sense and bringing the greatness of the work of Christ as the Son of God to bear on the saints as a little child, you might say, do you think?

WMcK Yes, so that he begins immediately in his gospel with “the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God”. Mark 1: 1.

JS I was just wondering if this thought of the twelve would imply the ability to work together. Mark has been referred to at the end of 2 Timothy, and Paul speaks of Luke and Timothy and being profitable for ministry. It is a very important thing for brethren and especially servants to work together, do you think?

WMcK Exactly, that is a prime thought of the twelve and there is no pre-eminence of one over the other in the twelve. They are viewed really as the handiwork of Christ, and He has set them together, and what you see is what the Lord in His love can manipulate for the blessing of the saints in a general sense.

JSp They were able to entreat the brethren, were they not, they were able to appeal to them? I was thinking of 2 Corinthians, “I myself, Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ” (2 Corinthians 10: 1). In a sense he states his authority in the first epistle, but he brings in a spirit of entreatment in the second epistle. Would that be right?

WMcK Exactly, and so in the second epistle he says, “we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus Lord, and ourselves your bondmen for Jesus’ sake”, 2 Corinthians 4: 5. That is the idea of the twelve, “we” and “your bondmen”. Those who were with Paul would carry forward this thought of the twelve.

NJH So Peter standing up with the eleven showed that they got the gain of this teaching.

WMcK It does.

NJH And one or any of them could have been addressed at any time, is that right?

WMcK That is right. Peter stood up first and we can understand that because he had the first place among the apostles, as it says “first Peter”. That is a matter of sovereignty, but then the twelve is a matter of mutuality. The older brethren will remember that there were meetings in this area many years ago on ‘sovereignty and mutuality’. Well that is what we want, to recognise sovereignty and then to work mutually.

GBG As to the “minister of all” Paul says to Timothy, “serviceable to the Master”, 2 Timothy 2: 21. Is that a state?

WMcK Surely it is, that he is sanctified, having purified himself, and he is therefore serviceable. Of course, what would enter into effective service levitically would be what the Lord gives sovereignly to persons in the way of gift, not to distinguish them, but to help the assembly. It is really as it says in Ephesians, “for the perfecting of the saints” (Ephesians 4: 12), that is, that we might all arrive at full growth.

CKR Would it be right to say that we should be exercised that this principle of the twelve is maintained?

WMcK It should be.

CKR Because has the enemy not been very successful in bringing in comparisons between servants, as to who is the greatest, over a long period in the recovery, and yet the principle here still ought to be the maintenance of the twelve in operation in our exercise before the Lord to be committed to that?

WMcK Exactly. That is what we have seen, or read of in earlier times, in the revival as to rivalry, and persons who were once serviceable losing their way in the testimony for the rest of their lives because they were resisting the Lord’s sovereignty. How much simpler to be subject to the Lord’s sovereignty, and then find that we can be very mutual together, because the twelve means that everyone has something from the Lord that is useful. In fact in this gospel the Lord names them all according to where they are going to fit in the system of His service.

GBG So what I notice over a number of years is that after meetings persons speak .about the minister and the way he served. Do you not think it would be more profitable if we spoke of the truth and what was ministered rather than the minister?

WMcK Well surely, because we are apt to err in either making too much of him or belittling him. It is a greater danger for a servant to be made too much of than to be belittled.

Somebody says unkind things about you, well, that does not trouble you much, because if you have a thorough judgment of yourself you have said more severe things to the Lord about yourself. But the danger, especially for younger men, is that they are apt to believe, what the brethren say when they are adulatory. As Mr. Taylor said a long time ago, undue praise is not very far from undue criticism. So I might be very complimentary about somebody this month, and next month there is ministry that affects me and I do not like it so I change my mind. It says that about the barbarians. They watched Paul when the viper seized his hand, but when he did not drop down dead, it says, “changing their opinion, they said he was a god”, Acts 28: 6. We ought to be free of these unspiritual thoughts.

JS I was just wondering how the Lord takes this little child in His arms and says to them “Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receives me”, Do you think the Lord would make us feel conscious of the kind of features that He appreciates?

WMcK It would be a priestly thing, would it not? Elsewhere, as to the children it says, “having laid his hands on them, he blessed them”; Mark 10: 16. It would have in mind that there is to be blessing; but now “Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receives me”. And then the Lord goes on and says also “him who sent me”. That should encourage our younger brethren to be free to take part in meetings like these, and in local ministry meetings, and to go perhaps to other nearby localities to their city readings and find out if you are being received like this, as He says, “in my name”. That is one of such little children being, received “in my name”. As we receive maybe a younger brother who comes and gives us a word, we begin to understand that there is some expression of Christ there. Here also the Lord is speaking of Himself as the sent One.

JTB(Gr) I was impressed with the fact that in the previous section the Lord has been speaking about His sufferings, the violence of His sufferings and of His death. The occupation with that order of things would preserve us from any feeling of rivalry, or anything like that coming to light in our spirits?

WMcK It would. I was noting before the meeting in verse 32 it says, “But they understood not the saying”; that was because this reasoning was among them. If we do not understand what the Lord is saying currently, had better look to ourselves and see what is occupying our minds.

JAG They understood not the saying and feared to ask Him; they were not at liberty with the Lord. It goes back perhaps to what you said earlier to the Lord’s day and the service of God; it would confirm to us if we are receiving Him, and He is the centre and then what happens in the week.

WMcK Exactly, so if the Lord comes with us to other meetings—I hope we all have faith as to that—that He comes with us to the prayer meeting, the ministry meeting and the reading meeting, and in effect He sits down with us and begins to instruct us. If we are at liberty with Him we are not going to be afraid to ask Him things. How could we be afraid to ask Him when He has given Himself for us?

GCMcK It is very remarkable that in John 13 and later the disciples are quite free to ask questions, even you might say unintelligent questions, but the Lord uses it to open up the truth in a special way, does He?

WMcK Yes, so we need not fear to ask the Lord things. Luke does not record that they were saying anything particular. When the Lord said, “the Son of man is about to be delivered into men’s hands”, it says, “But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them that they should not perceive it”. That is to say it was hidden because of their state.

What the Lord was looking for was that they were humbling themselves and then things would be clear to them. But again “they feared to ask him concerning this saying”, and in this state of not understanding and of being afraid to ask, a reasoning came in amongst them.

Think of how the devil would slip something in, a reasoning came in amongst them. It does not imply in Luke that they were the source of the reasoning, but a reasoning came in amongst them. So if we are not watchful, and we are not free with the Lord and free to ask Him concerning matters, something will be slipped in by Satan that will make the thing worse. But here the Lord is acting, “And Jesus, seeing the reasoning of their heart, having taken a little child set it by him”. The note says, ‘Or ‘alongside

of’ Himself’.

JAB The divine objective in both Mark and Luke seems to be that there is an action of the Father. Could your open that up as to what the Lord had in mind for the disciples? It seems a very blessed and exalted thing.

WMcK Yes, it is, so that Mark says as to “whosoever shall receive me, does not receive me, but him who sent me”. But Luke does not put it that way. He says, “Whosoever shall receive—me receives him that sent me”. He links it up with the Lord and with the Father Himself which is a very blessed thought.

JS I was thinking of what it says, “Jesus, seeing the reasoning of their heart”. Do you think the Lord can see deeper than what may appear on the surface?

WMcK Exactly, and to be truly priestly, the Lord would deal with what He sees in our hearts, I think, through speaking to us through ministry. He will say something because He sees what is there; it may not have shown itself yet but He sees what it is, and clearly it is a feature of the priest that he should be upright and pure in heart. Luke would have that in mind, do you not think?

JS I think so, and in this case he takes this little child and “set it by him”.

WMcK Yes. That is, it is near to Himself; that would bring out another feature which should characterise the saints as little children is nearness to Christ.

RG Is that the secret in the heart matter here; their affections obviously had been diverted from Christ Himself, and their hearts then in that condition allow the enemy to get in so that there is this kind of reasoning, do you think?

WMcK Yes, so I think His saying, “Whosoever shall receive this little child in my name receives me, and whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me”, would lead up to the Father being before us in an Ephesian sense, so we get “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1: 3), and then “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory”, Ephesians 1: 17.

GCMcK Do you think as the disciples looked on the little child beside Jesus there would be some comparison? They would see that really there were features of Christ in the little child.

WMcK Surely. You might say that in a certain sense we saw this when Paul went up to Jerusalem and made acquaintance with Peter, and when Peter, John and James gave him the right hand of fellowship. They had never seen anyone like this before, here he is in the presence of apostolic greatness in the twelve, and we should be clear that those men were morally great men. In fact their names are on the twelve foundations and all the foundations are adorned with every precious stone. The twelve are very great men, and here is this Paul, who was Saul earlier, and he appears among them, and he is exhibiting features of Christ perhaps in greater measure than any of them.

JS It would be like what the Lord said at the end here, “he who is the least among you all, he is great”. Paul takes that line of being “less than the least of all saints”, Ephesians 3: 8.

WMcK Yes, that is what was referred to earlier. Paul said that of himself and no doubt it was his sober priestly judgment of himself as before the Lord; it was not just some remark that he would make casually, just as in another passage, he refers to himself as the first of sinners. So you might see how far he had humbled himself from being the first of sinners to

“less than the least of all saints”.

JAG The product of his ministry is seen in Titus, he takes Titus up to Jerusalem and does not compel him to be circumcised; quite an eye-opener you might say for the twelve.

WMcK I am sure it was because, while it is true as I said these were great men, yet you do not find any persons named exactly as companying with them, such as Timothy and Titus and Luke. There was something distinctive that came out in Paul as the one who was least among them all.

JAG Could you say something about the Lord’s name attached to this little child, who “shall receive this little child in my name”?

WMcK Well it might seem incongruous to think of the Lord’s authority being connected with a little child, but the Lord does not hesitate to make the connection. But then the reception has to be in His name too, so that there is the recognition of what the Lord is conveying in this little child.

JS You spoke earlier about this having a priestly bearing in Luke. Had you something further in mind about that?

WMcK Well Luke really has in mind that there should be a priestly company, does he not? Although it was not the full thought, yet they “were continually in the temple praising and blessing God” (Luke 24: 53), so that the priestly company was there. The thought of the twelve was there, and Luke would have in mind that what he wrote should lead on to increase in service Godward in spiritual freshness and power and fulness.

JAG The glory of Christ would be involved in the little child, of course, in the Lord’s name; the one who receives that person would be able to discern that that was the case.

Somebody might preach another Jesus and they might receive it.

WMcK Yes, so that the apostle speaks to the Galatians about how they received him earlier. They were, you might say, extravagant in the way they received him. Then he says, “I wonder that ye thus quickly change”, Galatians 1: 6. It shows what was being said earlier, that we may be very enthusiastic about someone, and a short time later we are not ready to receive him. What eliminates that sort of thing is to receive someone in the Lord’s name.

RT It is very striking the way that the Lord should speak of the Father as “him that sent me”. Would that bring up the need for being in touch with the source which would preserve us from these extravagances that you speak about?

WMcK Yes, it would indeed. So the Lord takes the place of being sent and “whosoever shall receive me receives him that sent me”. I suppose to understand the fulness of what the Lord is saying here, we would have to go to John’s gospel where you have the Father and the Son viewed as working together, and the Son declaring the Father’s name and making known the Father’s love. How wonderful that this line of things reaches to such a glorious matter!

RT So a little child is one who enjoys an undisturbed relationship, would it, and activities flow from that enjoyment?

WMcK I think that is right so that he would be restful because there is no question of need, and he is assured of divine protection, but he is free for what is spiritual and heavenly.

Reading at Dundee
23 August 2003

KEY TO INITIALS

T. D. Beveridge

G. B. Grant

D. T. Pye

J. A. Brown

N. J. Henry

C. K. Robinson

J. T. Brown (Gr)

A. McKay

J. Spinks

D. Duthie

A. L. McKay

J. Strachan

J. A. Gardiner

G. C. McKay

R. Taylor

R. Gardiner

W. McKillop