THE ASSEMBLY AS IN THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

THE ASSEMBLY AS IN THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS

Ephesians 1: 20 - 23; Ephesians 3:8-11; Ephesians 3:20,21; Ephesians 5:23-32; 2 Chronicles 9:3-7

I desire, dear brethren, to speak of the assembly as it is presented in the epistle to the Ephesians. This epistle contemplates the assembly, not in its local aspect, as do the epistles to the Corinthians, but in its universal aspect, comprising all those who, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ have been sealed with the Holy Spirit from the day of Pentecost until the day when the Lord takes His own to be with Himself. The first passage read in chapter 3 is more restricted in the sense that it refers to the whole assembly as it is on earth at the moment; that is, it is a question of what is seen in the assembly now, although, of course, it covers the whole period of the assembly’s history on earth. Obviously it refers to what is seen at any particular time, in the assembly on earth at that moment. I trust all here are interested in the assembly, for it is the greatest conception of divine love and wisdom; it is to be both in the world to come and throughout eternity a vessel of divine glory, and it is the greatest conceivable privilege that you and I should have part in it.

John the baptist, as men would reckon him, was a much greater man than any of us; indeed, he was filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth, and yet the Lord says that he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. That gives us some idea, dear brethren, of the especially privileged place that belongs to us in the sovereignty of God as being privileged to form part of this wonderful vessel, the assembly, which is the body of Christ; hence I would urge on everyone here, old and young alike, to see that what little time remains to us before the Lord takes us is devoted to seeking an increased understanding of what it is we belong to, and seeking help from the Lord to function in it, according to His desire.

The epistle to the Ephesians, and, of course, all the epistles, are written from the standpoint of Christ having risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God, so that certain things are apprehended now as come to pass in Him. It says, for instance, in the early part of chapter 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us ... “, not ‘who is going to bless us’ but “who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” Christ being now in His position in the heavenlies at the right hand of God, having accomplished redemption, and the Holy Spirit having come down, it may be said in that way that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ; because that is what is in God’s mind for us, and all that is in God’s mind for us can be realised at the present time by the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest of the inheritance. When I say all, I mean all. There is, of course, the actual bodily condition, which is future, the bodily condition of conformity to Christ’s own body of glory, and which is proper to heaven; but, subject to that limitation, there is no reason why believers should not enter already in the power of the Holy Spirit into the spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ which God has given us. Then, further, it says that He has made us accepted, or taken us into favour, in the Beloved.

Before I speak of the Scriptures I have read I would specially call attention to what is conveyed by “favour in the Beloved,” because I believe it is of great importance to apprehend the settled place that Christ is filling at the present time in the presence of God, in which He is presented to our hearts as the Beloved in a most absolute way. He is beloved of God, and God would have us understand that Christ is now to be viewed in that position as loved of God in a settled way, the Beloved One commanding all the affections of the Father’s heart. He is to be apprehended in that way, as the One in whom God has taken us into favour. There was no reason why Christ should have become Man if it were not that God had in mind for men the character of blessing which is now set forth in Christ as Man where He is. And therefore, if He is apprehended as He may be apprehended by us, as the Beloved, the Holy Spirit having been given to us, it is intended to convey to us that there has now come to pass in Christ in heaven, for ever beyond death and entirely outside of this world, a settled condition of love having its source in the Father, and its centre in Christ, and with ourselves embraced in it in Him; and all that, too, is according to divine purpose. It is not anything that we have devised, it is nothing we have thought of, it is something that God has purposed of Himself and for His own satisfaction before the foundation of the world. The bringing of the world into existence in due course, and all that has transpired in the history of the world, has just constituted so to speak the platform and surroundings on which and in the midst of which God is steadily carrying out His own purpose.

I would ask all to weigh that over, because I believe the more these things sink into our hearts the more they will develop a spirit of worship God-ward. That is what the Spirit of God is labouring to develop amongst us, that we should worship God not as occupied merely with the way He has blessed us, but rather, so to speak, as losing sight of ourselves and having God Himself in His blessedness before our hearts; that He should have thought of such things! that He should have desired them.

and then the wisdom by which they are effected, involving one divine Person becoming Man. The depths of love, too, in which they are effected, involving redemption through His blood, the blood of the Beloved; and then the power in which they have been effected, involving His being raised again from the dead and set down in the highest place at God’s right hand in heaven. Then the coming in of another divine Person, the Holy Spirit, to bring the testimony of these things to our hearts and make them effective there, and to be in us the Spirit of God’s Son, causing us to respond in sonship’s affection to the blessed God. All these things are wonderful, dear brethren, and as we contemplate them and touch them they are intended to develop in us the spirit of worship, as Paul in introducing these things says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now, coming to the scripture I read in the first chapter of the epistle, what is touched on is the mighty power of God, which the apostle mentions in order that we might understand that the mighty power of God is operating towards us. That is, we are not to think that the great things of God are so great that we cannot enter upon them, because the mighty power of God is operative towards us; and if we would allow its operation, so to speak, there is no limit to what we may touch in the power of the Holy Spirit. Speaking of the mighty power of God leads me to speak of the way that God has not only raised Christ from the dead, but that He has set Him down at His own right hand in the heavenlies “far above all principality and power and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet.” The second chapter of Hebrews says, “We see not yet all things put under him,” but God has already established Christ in that invulnerable position, and having done that He is entitled, so to speak, to regard all things as put under His feet. They are to be so actually very shortly, but Christ is now in an invulnerable position at the right hand of God and therefore faith takes account of all things as already put under His feet. So it says, “And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the assembly, which is his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all.” That is one wonderful conception which we are to have in our minds, that the assembly is Christ’s body. It is a very great vessel because, as I said, it is composed of all those who, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, from the day of Pentecost right on till the moment when the Lord takes us to be with Himself. Who can number them? It is the greatest expression of divine wisdom that such a vessel, composed of those from every nation under the sun should be called out by means of the gospel and attached by the Holy Spirit to Christ, and formed by the Spirit’s work, as one body; coordinated into one body as a vessel in which Christ Himself shall find perfect expression in His moral features in His love, in His wisdom, in everything that marks Him as Man, all is to find perfect expression in His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.

The filling of all things looks on to the coming day when there will not be anything that does not come under the effect of the influence of Christ, and that influence is to be exercised by means of His body. It is, so to speak, the mediatorial position that Christ has established in His place as Head, for He will exert His influence by means of which everything in all is to be filled through His body, the assembly. If that be so, you can understand how much God has to work out in us. The work will be complete in a day very soon to come. It will be understood what God hath wrought. It will be seen. He is working in mystery at the present time. It says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a thing,” Proverbs 25: 2. That is our glory, because it is the saints who are referred to in the passage. It is part of God’s glory that He can work all this out without the world’s having the slightest conception of what is being done. It is no honour to us to be ignorant of divine things, for we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, and it is positively dishonouring to God for us to be ignorant of divine things. If these things are to be our inheritance, it ought to be our greatest concern to be searching them out in dependence on the Lord and the Spirit, and availing ourselves of every help both in the reading of the Scriptures and the reading of the ministry which the Lord provides, and attending the meetings where the Spirit’s voice can be heard, availing ourselves of every help that has been given us, in order to become more intelligent in these great things of God.

Passing on to chapter 3, it speaks there of the assembly as that in which the manifold wisdom of God is now to be known to principalities and powers in heavenly places. Up till now, in speaking of the closing verses of chapter one, I have referred to what is as yet future in the actual display of it, but this passage brings us down to the present, and hence it is of the greatest importance. The apostle says, “To me, less than the least of all saints has this grace been given, to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ; and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery, hidden throughout the ages in God.” “The administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages in God.” It is not hidden now, it is being made known through Paul’s ministry. But what is the administration of the mystery? I hope every believer is interested in the thought of the mystery, because the idea of mystery means that we are initiated into something of which the world knows nothing, something that God has carefully concealed from the wise men of this world; as the Lord says, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” And so, as I said, there is something mysterious which God is working out at the present time.

We should be interested, dear brethren, in the mystery, for it belongs to us, and it says “to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” When Satan first commenced his activities among men he had in mind, I believe, to rob God of His pleasure in men, and to show himself to be greater than God. Satan is very wise to outward appearance, but in the end it is going to be demonstrated that he has no wisdom. It says, “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly”; and God in speaking to the serpent said that the woman’s seed should bruise his head. The head is the seat of wisdom. So it says in the end of the epistle of Romans, “to God only wise,” or as it might read “the God who alone is wise ... . be glory for ever. Amen.” That is going to be shown, and is being shown at the present time in the assembly to principalities and powers in the heavenlies. We are not always aware how much interest there is among created intelligences in the heavenlies as to what is going on among the saints, but they are looking on. We are told in the first epistle of Peter that angels desire to look into certain things. They desire to look into them, and they are looking on, seeing what God is doing. Angels are presented as sympathetic with what God is doing; when He laid the foundations of the earth, they shouted for joy. The word here is “that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the assembly the all-various wisdom of God.” It is being made known in the assembly. How does it work out? I believe that is what is in mind in the idea of administration of the mystery. The idea is simply how it works, so to speak. How do these things take shape? If we consider the constant opposition on the part of Satan to the assembly, I think we shall get some impression of the administration of the mystery.

You will remember how, in the early history of the assembly. Satan tried to blot out what God was doing by persecution; and later, after the decline had come in in the early history of the church the persecution was revived in the ordering of God and for a long period it became very intense. Then by means of that thing, which shows how completely God has the forces of evil under control, fidelity to Christ was revived; so that in the Lord’s address to Smyrna, which contemplates that period in church history when persecution was particularly rampant, we find no word of rebuke, but the saints are viewed there as being faithful unto death. And thus by the very means of Satan’s animosity and opposition God secured in the assembly at that time this quality of faithfulness unto death, a feature of Christ indeed, for He was supremely faithful to God, even unto death. I have no doubt that this was brought to pass actually by means of the faithful service of Christ, His love and sympathy, and by the service of the Holy Spirit; but then these things were unseen, but what is seen is what comes to light in the assembly. What came to light in the assembly at that period was that God is so wise, that He was able to make use of the very means that Satan was employing in his animosity against the saints, to develop that particular feature of correspondence to Christ which forms part of what He has in mind for the assembly. Then as time went on, Satan changed his tactics; and as we know Thyatira contemplates the great system which obtains in the world still, under the name of the church, claiming to be the church, but truly abhorrent to Christ and to God. It is Rome, and Rome maintains a place in the world, claiming to be the church having a recognised status in the world which has cast out Christ. It is Rome who rules the nations; it is she who says in her heart, “I sit a queen, and I am not a widow; and I shall in no wise see grief.” Saints are called upon to rejoice over her overthrow and, dear brethren, it would give tremendous power in testimony in the world if all the saints of God were brought to this judgment now.

Later on God began to work at the time of the Reformation, and He overthrew some of Rome’s power, preparing the way for what was to follow. He established the great principle of justification by faith and, by doing so, undermined the authority of the church of Rome in the souls of many, and established the great ground on which, in subsequent years, recovery to assembly truth has been possible. The Holy Spirit was not availed of by the saints in a collective way for many years, or until within the last 120 years or so, but in these last days, God has been working in a powerful way of recovering the truth of the assembly; that the assembly has a glorious Head in heaven, and that the Spirit of God is here on earth, so that we can be free from all domination of the mind and will of man in the things of God, for no man has authority over the saints in the things of God. Christ is Head of the body, the assembly, and the Spirit is here as indwelling the saints, and as these things have been practically recognised, what is contrary to God has been thrust out and the ground has been brought in upon which the saints are able to move together as governed by the light of the assembly. Many of the saints are not in the gain of this: alas! that it should be so, but the ground is there, and the Lord says to Philadelphia, “I have set before thee an opened door, which no one can shut.” Therefore we are now in a position in which all God’s thoughts regarding the assembly can find an answer, if we ourselves are walking in the truth.

Well now, let us see how these things work. The ground has only been secured through much conflict, conflict for the sake of the Lord and for the sake of the assembly, involving that we have even had to separate from our own brethren. What has that brought to light? Such sorrows here, in the wisdom of God, brought to light true assembly affections; that is to say, the very exercise involved in it has developed, in the hearts of the saints who have responded to the truth, a determination that by the grace of God they will be true to Christ whatever it costs; that even though it should mean separation from their brethren, they will be true to Christ. And thus, by the very means of these exercises the quality of assembly affection for Christ is being developed and has come into evidence, so that principalities and powers in the heavenlies may see in the assembly, through the working out of the mystery, the all-various wisdom of God.

Attacks of one kind and another are made on the position. The enemy seeks to introduce some false principle or false doctrine, but on account of the very fact that the saints are going on subject to the Lord, recognising His headship, recognising the Spirit of God, these things are discerned, and not only are they discerned, but they are dealt with. The saints refuse to go on with error, they come to a judgment about it and express it, they purge themselves from iniquity and all that is unrighteous. It means that in all these things the all-various wisdom of God is shining, whatever Satan may bring in in his insidious devices to nullify the truth. God through Christ, by means of the assembly, meets it and the ground is held. Then too, Satan has built up a great world, a vast system, with everything in it that appeals to men, and as different elements of the world seek to get in among the saints they refuse it and judge it. The devil is seeking to make it impossible for saints to earn their living, but the Lord is enabling them to stand, pledging Himself that He will see them through. As God says, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, ... and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you.” God is pledging Himself to be faithful to those who are faithful to the truth. In all these things, beloved brethren, we are seeing the constant efforts of Satan to nullify what God is doing, and we are seeing the answer to it in the assembly. We know that the Lord is operating on our behalf and we know His love, and we know His sympathy, and we know the Spirit of God and what He is doing, but these things find their answer in what is seen, what takes form in the assembly. Thus in the assembly is being seen the all-various wisdom of God, that whatever move Satan makes wisdom is seen in the assembly to meet it and overcome it, and then there have been conditions in the world during the last few years which have been extremely testing. These have resulted in saints all over the world, who are walking together in the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, being drawn and knit together in holy affection; saints who have never seen one another moving out in love to one another. In all this is the wisdom of God shining out. Conditions are used of God in His wisdom, which can use even evil to further its own ends, so that by means of these things the reality of the body of Christ is becoming apprehended by the saints, as they become conscious of body feelings and affections which have been derived from Christ, knitting them together in love with saints all over the world.

Everyone will recognise that the world, the great system built up by Satan, is becoming increasingly difficult in every sphere, the political sphere, the social sphere, the commercial sphere, and every sphere; it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep it going, all the elements of disintegration are there. Over against that the body of Christ, the assembly, is becoming increasingly knit together, like Joseph’s sheaf in the field. He says, “We were binding sheaves in the field, and lo my sheaf arose, and also stood upright.” The supremacy of Christ’s sheaf comes into evidence, the way saints are being bound together and are remaining standing in the power of the life of Christ. Every association, whether it be religious or any other association, carries with it the elements of disintegration, and will never stand; the only thing that will remain standing is that which is of Christ, the saints held together in one body in love which is the bond of perfectness. All the conditions in the world are only serving to develop His own thoughts regarding the assembly, and in the assembly is being seen by principalities and powers the all-various wisdom of God. I trust that our eyes may be opened to these things, for there are great things moving, and it is for us to spend all our spiritual energies towards the apprehension of what it is we are called to, and to learn how we are to have part in what God is doing at the present time. At the end of chapter 3 the apostle says “unto him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages.” That is to say,

that in the coming day, and to all eternity, the assembly is to be the vessel in which will be ascribed to God the glory due to His name. As we think of that, dear brethren, when and how are we to acquire the spiritual substance needed in order to fill out this wonderful position? It is now that we are to acquire it. Therefore we are to be concerned to acquire by the Spirit impressions of God in His glorious greatness; so that the service God-ward which finds expression in the assembly now should develop and become richer and more and more varied, so to speak, in the scope and extent of what we can say to God about Himself and His own blessedness. For the assembly as immediately in touch with Christ, is capable of responding to the blessed God in a way worthy of His name. How near we are to God as united to Christ the beloved Son! United to Him, in manhood, of course, but brought in with Him into His own place as Man in the immediate centre of divine love and glory! How near we are to God, and how we ought to be concerned to come under the touch of the Lord by the Spirit, in order that the blessedness of the Father’s name and all that is involved in the fulness of God might be apprehended by us! The epistle to the Ephesians is written with that in view that we might be enlarged and enriched in our apprehension of the glory of the blessed God, for we are to be a vessel in which glory is accorded to God throughout all generations of the age of ages.

I pass on to chapter 5, because that speaks of the assembly particularly as the object of the love of Christ in the past and in the present and in the future. It says, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the assembly and has delivered himself up for it.” “Delivered himself up for it.” That is what the Lord would constantly impress upon us, using the Supper which we take week by week to that end, that He has delivered Himself up for the assembly. The Lord would have us understand the distinctiveness of the place the assembly has in His own affections, and so we have been made accustomed in the ways of God to the thought of husband and wife. After Christianity was established on earth it became clear that it was right in the sight of God for a man to have one wife only, that is to say, at one time, of course; whereas before Christianity came in, men were permitted in God’s ways to have more wives than one. It is significant that although Abraham had more wives than one, and also Jacob, Isaac only had one wife. Isaac, who is particularly a type of the heavenly Man, as Christ is the heavenly one, had only one wife; and now we are to take account of that as impressing us with the distinctive place which the assembly has in the affections of Christ. Christ loved the assembly and delivered Himself up for it. It is a question of the personal reciprocal affections existing between Christ and the assembly at the present time, and the Lord is nourishing and cherishing the assembly. Nourishing refers to food and all that is necessary for building up, and cherishing conveys the thought of endearment, so to speak, and Christ is nourishing and cherishing the assembly. It says He delivered Himself up for it in order that He might sanctify it and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, and present it to Himself glorious. That is what is to be before us. That is what is before the heart of Christ, that He will present the assembly to Himself, that He is to find in the assembly no disparity between Himself and her. She is to answer to Him fully in affections and intelligence and moral features, she is to be His counterpart. You know how God formed the woman from the rib taken from the side of Adam and brought her to the man, and as Adam saw her he said, “This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” That is what the assembly is according to Ephesians, she is of Christ. That is what she is, and the Lord takes great pleasure in contemplating the moment when He will present it to Himself glorious, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. His service is going on that He might sanctify it and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word. I have in my mind what the Lord says in John 17, when praying to His Father “Sanctify them by the truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world; and I sanctify myself for them, that they also may be sanctified by truth.” I believe the Lord is continually keeping Himself before our hearts, and giving us to understand that our portion is to be with Him eternally. He is the heavenly One and we are the heavenly ones, and the Lord is bringing to bear upon us continually the glorious truth of the assembly; it is His body, united to Him, and a vessel for the expression of Himself, and so there is this service of the love of Christ. It is as Christ has His own place in our affections and we know what it is to be brought into immediate touch with Him, that He leads us with Himself as we are together at the present time, in assembly, into the presence of His Father and our Father, His God and our God, as in the enjoyment and power of His love for the assembly.

In closing one wishes to refer for a moment to the passage in Chronicles, which, of course, is typical. I wanted to refer to that in connection with what I have been saying as to what is seen in the assembly at the present time. It says the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon. Previous to that she heard the wisdom of Solomon, so she came to him with her question and he told her all that was in her heart. But then she also saw his wisdom.

Where did she see it? She saw it in the regime, so to speak, which he had under his hand. It says, “And when the queen of Sheba saw the wisdom of Solomon, and the house he had built ... “; that is, his own house; for we read later on how he went up from it to the house of God. The house here is his own house, and that is what the Lord has been doing over many years among the saints, building a house for Himself, securing in the affections of the saints a dwelling place for Himself. The apostle prayed to the Father that He would strengthen us with power by His Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts; and that is what the Lord is labouring for still, to secure a dwelling place for Himself in the hearts of the saints, and I think in some measure He has got it. The queen of Sheba saw it. There is something that may be seen on earth. The assembly, with unified affections for Christ, is being maintained. It is for every brother and sister to see that he or she is doing everything possible to maintain it and contribute to it and to allow nothing which is contrary to Christ.

Then it says, the meat of his table. Thank God we know something of that. There is an abundance of spiritual food enjoyed in the fellowship, in which through grace we are moving. Do we appreciate it? Outside the fellowship there is a dearth of spiritual food, but that is not due to any fault on the part of the Lord, for in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. There is no lack of spiritual substance with Christ, but this only becomes available to the saints as there are suitable conditions for it. We thank God there is an abundance of food, the meat of His table. And then there is the deportment of His servants and the order of service of His attendants. There is a deportment that is suitable to Christ’s house and the house of God. The Spirit of God gives dignity to the saints, in so far as they are affected by Him. Then the order of service of His attendants. The Lord has been greatly concerned as to that and helping us in it, the order of service, so that there should be evidenced in every detail the wisdom of Solomon, the wisdom of Christ; and it is divine wisdom available in Christ as Head of the body, working out in the assembly. There is also an apparel suitable to Christ’s house and the house of God; and it speaks of the cupbearers too, that is, those who are able to minister pleasure to the heart of Christ. And then finally the ascent by which he went up to the house of Jehovah, and that too, may be seen, beloved brethren. I say this humbly, and realising that things are in small measure, but as desiring to enlist the interest of the brethren in the reality of what is here in the assembly, if we have our eyes open to see it; and what is possible if we go in for these things, and avail ourselves of the headship of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. There is the ascent by which Christ goes up to the house of God, the ascent by which He leads His saints upward into the full privilege of having part in the blessed service of God. In the light of all this, the queen of Sheba says, “Happy are thy men! and happy are these thy servants, who stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.” What she was impressed with was wisdom, typically divine wisdom, working out as from Christ and seen in the assembly. She was impressed with it, and possibly if our eyes are open we shall see what the principalities and powers are intended to see, the all-various wisdom of God working out in the assembly; the way in which His own thoughts, conceived before the foundation of the world, are being secured and coming to fruition in the very scene where every activity of Satan’s subtlety and wisdom (if wisdom it could be called) is brought to bear to try to nullify God’s pleasure.

May the Lord open our eyes to see what the assembly is; and then not only to see it but to realise that the Lord is working amongst ourselves to secure now an answer to His thoughts. If we have our eyes open, we shall see it all brought before us by God in order that we might contribute to it, and further it more and more. In the presence of these great realities in which we ourselves through grace are called to have part, the great thing is to have recourse to prayer. To listen to an address can at best perhaps add a little to our apprehension of these things and stimulate desires to move into them, so that the Lord should have a real answer to His own thought; that is, that God should be glorified in the assembly, but the great thing is to have recourse to prayer, and so in this epistle to the Ephesians, in chapter one, the apostle prays at considerable length; and then in chapter three again he tells us that he bows his knees to the Father. This is intended to convey to us that these things can be entered upon by us spiritually only through this means, and the service of divine Persons themselves. Turn to God in prayer and God in answer will see that we are brought into His thoughts at the present time. May God greatly encourage us on this line for His name’s sake!