Genesis 22: 1-14; 1 Timothy 4: 11-16; Acts 23: 16-22

MATURITY

J.R.S. I suggest that we consider these scriptures together in relation to maturity. I think God has in mind that we should be in our respective places and stages in the testimony as mature persons, those whom God can trust, those who will rightly represent God and those too who can exemplify something of the features and spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. I suggest this scripture in Genesis as being, as we know, a wonderful type of the Father and the Son, but Abraham is equal in his links with God to being given to go this way; indeed it specifically says "after these things, that God tried Abraham", that is after dealing with the matter of Ishmael with all its trials and very deep temptations and after the covenant with Abimelech. And there were other things earlier, as though God would say, My work in Abraham is very deep and it is to bring to light the maturity in that man's soul. The detail affords us a great deal of help as to how real and practical was the fatherhood in Abraham, a word to us all.

In Timothy, Paul is exhorting him as to his place among the brethren. I suppose it would have been in Ephesus - certainly Timothy was left behind in Ephesus - but wherever it was this was to be how he would be, such that no one would despise his youth. He was not to pretend to be an old man, he was not to pretend anything: he was to be what he was in God's workmanship and that there should be nothing about his demeanour or teaching or practice or example or a model among the saints that would cause anyone to despise him: he speaks of many things.

In the case of Paul's sister's son we have one of the children of Scripture who were used in the testimony. Miriam, Moses' sister, is another and there are others who are able to be used by God, while they are still children in the testimony. The way this very young man, or child, is led by the hand, the way that he moves about and the way he is able to counsel the chiliarch and so on - what is it if it is not youthful maturity operating for the preservation of Paul and his company? I would like to attract the brethren into this thought of maturity and see whether we could help one another into it.

W.L. What would you say maturity is?

J.R.S. I suppose it is the expression of the work of God. It is normal for anything God establishes, be it a plant, a tree, a person, an animal, to grow into maturity. There is a certain delight for God in every stage of its growth.

W.L. I was thinking of the expression in Ephesians 4 "until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ; in order that we may be no longer babes" (vv 13,14).

J.R.S. That is a helpful scripture. It is not that we leave others behind but that we all do it. That is my exercise that we should encourage one another into it and not be satisfied with anything less.

M.W. Would definite resolve to be occupied with Christ lead to this maturity?

J.R.S. Yes, purpose of heart. Mr Raven has an interesting remark in the notes on John's gospel that when God takes account of purpose in a man's heart He says, so to speak, I will bring in the state that he should be formed by the things about which he is purposed. It begins, as it did with Daniel, in purpose of heart.

M.W. The apostle brings forward a very positive ministry of Christ, but he discloses the burden of his heart. He says to the Corinthians, I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babes in Christ (1 Cor 3: 1). Was that the apostle's burden, but he brings this ministry of Christ to bear upon them?

J.R.S. So that there should not be distraction with other things; we should be simple and clear, undefiled in our thoughts.

Rem. In chapter 18 Jehovah says of Abraham, 'I know him' (v 19). He knew the work of God was there and he tested it to bring out its purity and beauty, a man who had accepted responsibility.

J.R.S. It is remarkable how God is able to commit himself to Abraham there, and after that he intercedes; he is marked by intercession in the teeth of the great and imminent judgment upon Sodom.

Rem. He comes into the gain of his own intercession in chapter 22. He is able to go through this tremendous test.

J.R.S. So that the detail of this chapter is very interesting. From the start God does not diminish the very purpose He is to set about. Isaac had been born after a great deal of exercise and waiting, patience upon patience. Ishmael had to go and there was God's promise still standing as to Isaac. Now he was called upon to go to an unknown place where nobody would see, know or hear anything about what was to proceed and offer him up for a burnt-offering.

J.D.G. He would understand the power of God in resurrection moving in exercise.

J.R.S. You are referring to Hebrews (Heb 11: 19), "and we will come" in this Scripture linking with "counting that God was able to raise him even from among the dead”.

J.D.G. That brought out his knowledge of God in relation to His power.

J.R.S. That is something that had been wrought in Abraham's soul through communion. Would that help us in the development of mature links with God?

J.S. It says "After these things ... God tried Abraham". He had light from God, and the word of God; do you think the exercises that he faced in response to that would bring about the maturity that God would bring out in this chapter?

J.R.S. Maturity is not reached by putting things off. The time comes when he has to face the casting out of Ishmael: it was a great pressure on his heart, but unless he overcame in that matter with God, things would come to a stop.

J.S. Do you think every bit of light we have is intended to produce exercise with us so that there should be an answer to it. We may have to face what is involved, but that leads us on in the knowledge of God.

J.R.S. I feel sure that that is right. Abraham responded to the light that God had given him even though it involved great pressure, such as the light as to God's covenant in circumcision, and Ishmael, and then this covenant with the Philistine, Abimelech. All these things involved exercise, but in it was displayed the Spirit of Christ.

Ques. Do you think his reference to worship would be a mark of maturity? He is thinking beyond the immediate sacrifice for which he is called upon but of what is for God.

J.R.S. He says "I and the lad will go yonder and worship". In all the detail he is thinking of what is for God. That would be a key point in relation to maturity. What is the real purpose of any exercise through which I pass or see the saints passing?

Rem. I thought it would be very fine for God to hear him speaking in this way: he was so formed that his first thought was for what was for the heart of God Himself.

Ques. Do you think that Abraham was characteristically obedient? He obeyed God in the first place in chapter 12 and here it says, "he went to the place that God had told him of". Do you think obedience is a feature of maturity?

J.R.S. I am sure it is. Certainly disobedience never fits in to the line of the work of God. The spirit of Christ, according to Philippians, shows itself manifestly in the matter of obedience.

D.S. Communion is in obedience. Communion and maturity would go together, would they not? They would not be unrelated, neither ahead nor behind as being with God.

J.R.S. So that it is part of the daily exercise of all of us, in spite of the pressures under which we are from various sources, to make time for communion. It is not a question of saying I cannot fit it in today, somehow we have to make it work.

D.S. It has been helpfully remarked that communion is state. We had a word on Tuesday on state in Philadelphia; it all speaks of maturity.

J.R.S. That is very good and a challenge to us.

J.R.C. Have you something to say about the two or three references to the burnt-offering in this section?

J.R.S. The burnt-offering is my appreciation of Christ. It is offered by anyone whose heart is toward Him. It would involve some impression of Christ formed in the soul. The offering had to be without blemish.

J.R.C. That would be a matter into which every one of us should be capable of entering. We have spoken about youthful maturity - a young person should have some appreciation of what Christ is to God and in those of us who are older it should be growing all the time.

J.R.S. Yes. Sometimes we are impressed with what a young person says. They may be quite young and at times there might be a good deal of rebuke in some of the things they say, but it would all be from some knowledge of God.

Rem. The fact that Isaac does not murmur or complain would itself be a feature of maturity in him.

J.R.S. It would, as would the relations that existed between them, "My father! And he said, Here am I, my son". Abraham was not so overcome by the pressure of what was before him that normal father and son relations came under strain.

Rem. What you said earlier as to the Spirit of Christ would come into that. The character of the seven ewe lambs is carried into this chapter. While God tried him it must have been a time of great pleasure for God.

J.D.G. The burnt-offering would have the pleasure of God in mind, the sweet savour through the fire. Abraham was in the light of that, something was going to come out of the exercise that would be for the divine nostrils.

J.R.S. Very good. The priest was involved in actually offering the burnt-offering. The Lord Jesus was both the priest and the offering and the altar.

W.L. Do you think Isaac's question ''where is the sheep for a burnt-offering?", showed some measure of intelligence and maturity. He obviously discerned what was required for the divine pleasure.

J.R.S. So that he was under no doubt that what Abraham was engaged on was something for God. They went so far with the young men, and then it comes to the point when only the father and the son can go together. These things are very deeply affecting when we think of the Lord and the Father together. "Both of them together": it is a sort of a double emphasis on their being one.

Ques. Do you think the fact that Abraham laid the wood on Isaac (verse 6) would imply that he was seeking to develop some feature of maturity with this young man? It says "it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lam 3: 17).

J.R.S. It is good for him, indeed. Then there is the further matter, "and piled the wood; and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood". The Spirit of Christ in submission was in expression there. In Mark's gospel, they bound Him (see 15: 1); they did not need to do that. Isaac was bound here.

J.M. The scripture also presents a woman whom Satan had bound (see Luke 13: 16).1 was thinking of the Lord Jesus being bound in order that we might be released from being bound by Satan.

J.R.S. He came to undo the works of the devil. He did it for that woman, and if there is anyone amongst us who feels in any sense bound, the Lord is the great deliverer. He used the very circumstances of the temple to free that woman.

J.M. She was also a daughter of Abraham.

J.R.S. So He brought her into what was really her true position.

R.J.C. I wondered whether this chapter links with the presentation of the Lord in John's gospel. At the end there are one hundred and fifty three great fishes. I wondered whether that was the result of the movement of the Father and the Son. It secures maturity, and there are mature persons such as the woman in chapter 4, and the man in chapter 9.

J.R.S. Nicodemus too comes forward at the Lord's burial in a remarkable way. I suppose we can think of him as progressing to maturity. What you say is right, this section of the chapter, the father and the son together, would be answered to in John's gospel. Your reference to the great fishes is interesting; the Lord brings Peter into the experience of what he was going to find in the assembly.

J.T. Does the building of the altar suggest something that is done experimentally and sacrificially with God, culminating in the building of the altar? There was no command to build the altar. The burnt-offering might imply it, but Abraham did it here deliberately.

J.R.S. That is very good. What was the instinct in him that led him to build the altar? The altars in the history of these patriarchs suggest a point reached in experience. This would be a time point to be reached in experience with God, that to appreciate fully what was in the heart of God in Christ being offered spotless to God, would involve an altar.

J.T.B. Laying him on the altar suggests something measured and deliberate and calculated.

J.R.S. That is right. We are tested as to what we can say as to these things, but I think we can see in it the attractiveness of what mature relations with God reach. I would like to attract the brethren into that, something that is definite and experienced and for the pleasure of God in our relations with Him.

G.McK. Do we grow therefore in and through our appreciation of Christ? The section ends with the ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Would there be something there in Abraham and his appreciation of Christ?

J.R.S. So that he says "where is the sheep for a burnt-offering?", and what they found was "a ram caught in the thicket". It was remarkable that the Lord gave Himself up into the hands of sinners, became our substitute. We cannot really enter into these things or touch on them without a worshipful spirit.

J.R.C. Does the spirit of God help us in our appreciation growing in the line of maturity for what is for God?

J.R.S. I believe that is where the whole matter turns around. We cease to think of ourselves, even if we are thinking of our own growth. A child does not think of its own growth. In saying what we do as to maturity, it may be that in a subtle way we have ourselves before us. That is not sufficient.

J.R.C. I was thinking of what is referred to in the Hebrews "Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God" (ch 9: 14). That is the fulness of maturity of what was for God.

J.R.S. It is a wonderful contemplation just to rest in the glory of that. There was One who could say "I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it", John 17: 4. His spirit was fully in accord with all that He was practically, and His body always fully in accord with what He was in His spirit.

M.W. Would God's pleasure in Abraham here therefore be on account of his mature self-sacrificing devotion that has brought him into line with what it says elsewhere - "He who, yea, has not spared his own Son, but delivered him up for us all", Rom 8: 32. One hardly knows what to say about Scriptures like that.

J.R.S. Sometimes we are better to say nothing and just listen, but I know what you mean. What can we say, what are we able to say? The Spirit of God would quicken us in relation to speaking to God rightly.

D.R. There is no reference to wicked hands in this section; it is the father and the son. The son carries the wood, the father carries the knife and the fire. It suggests death in a love setting. I wondered if some of us may be held up at thinking of the death of Christ as having met our need, but do we need to have some understanding of the death of Christ as having accomplished God's pleasure and brought in an abiding result that will remain for God eternally.

J.R.S. That is all very helpful and regulating. I feel measured, I am sure we all do, by just thinking of what the death of Christ was in the purpose of God.

J.D.G. Do you think it enters into Abraham's conclusion as to the name of the place, "on the mount of Jehovah will be provided”? God had provided everything from His own side.

J.R.S. There must have been something by way of a result of this exercise with Abraham in that he names the altar in that way.

J.D.G. Do you think it is the conclusion of the exercise in his soul that something is arrived at that is substantial?

J.R.S. You would encourage us then to go through every exercise, although we do not feel equal to it, and we would rather most often avoid it, and try and escape from it perhaps - to go through, in order to reach a result with God.

W.L. I am not sure we understand much about the death of Christ according to the purpose of God.

J.R.S. I wish I knew more about it myself. I think we can take account of the fact that divine love is only made known in its fulness in the death of Christ. That would be one aspect of the death of Christ in relation to the purpose of God.

W.L. I was thinking of John's gospel, the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying (see John 12: 24). It abides alone otherwise, but if it dies it brings forth much fruit. That is a mature thought.

J.R.S. So that every redeemed saint is of the same order as Christ - the much fruit. Adam was not that. Wonderful pleasure to God that Adam was as created in His image and after His likeness, he was not of the same order as Christ. Is that the truth?

W.L. I think so. What would the 'much fruit' involve?

J.R.S. It would take all the saints to answer to Christ, formed in His features, something of that order, that character, out of death.

Ques. Would it be right to say that there is no moral issue in this incident?

J.R.S. I think that is the truth; it is not dealing with the sin of the world. That is another aspect of the death of Christ. This brought out the love of Abraham or the pleasure of God, the love of God for His own pleasure, and prepared to go to whatever lengths could possibly be devised in order to show that divine love was paramount.

Ques. Is it the fullest thought that God "will provide"? He has provided for His own pleasure and His own glory.

J.R.S. That is good, He provides for Himself. I think it is attributed to Mr Stoney that he once said to a brother, God does what He does because He is what He is, and, in doing what He does, He displays what He is.

J.M. It says of the ram that he was caught in the thicket. Is that like the Hebrew bondman, "I love my master, my wife, my children, I will not go free"?

J.R.S. That is good. He accepted the limitation, he accepted the being caught, the restriction.

K.M. I wondered if the thicket would be the will of God. I feel touched that the ram was caught, and with the Hebrew bondman, it was a matter of love - "I love my master".

J.R.S. The Lord Jesus in manhood loved the will of God. We have been instructed, that there is one will of God, but there are three willings in relation to it. The Lord Jesus expressed His willingness; if it involved suffering, he would embrace it because of His love for the will of God.

Ques. Does that come out beautifully in the garden of Gethsemane, where it says "My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me; but not as I will, but as thou wilt", Matt. 26: 39.

J.R.S. It says He pleased not himself (see Rom 15: 3). The proper use of the body is for the will of God, that is what we have our bodies for. I speak to my shame in saying that, because we are all self-willed, but the Lord Jesus in the days of His flesh filled out the will of God. He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

Ques. Is this a mark of maturity that is available to us all - "here am I"?

J.R.S. I am sure that is the way of it. It is not that he was choosing the way in which He would seek to serve God, He was subject to what God put upon him. I believe that the beginning of the course of maturity is subjection and readiness.

D.S. The ram of consecration is consecration to God - you commit yourself, consecrate yourself. That is the way of maturity.

J.R.S. The ram exemplifies that maturity. It is caught in the thicket by its horns, that is its strength. It says He gave His strength into captivity (see Ps 78: 61), but that is not quite the setting here. The setting here is more that His strength was given m relation to being subject to the will of God.

Ques. Could you say further as to in this place in which they were alone, there was no one to see them, they were alone in an unknown place. Did you have something behind saying that?

J.R.S. Only in the sense that God called Abraham to offer up his son and there would be nobody else to see that but God. He could not receive anybody's approval or otherwise, he was not in any sense before men, the whole matter was to be judged and assessed by God. That is a wonderful blessing and we would touch it in our circumstances.

Rem. We need to seek these things out and work them out alone with God. It is not attendance at the meeting (of course there is nothing wrong in attending meetings) but there is something that you work out alone with God and perhaps the resulting growth is seen as we attend the meeting.

J.R.S. The meetings are what they are because the saints are what they are. As we come from our closets alone with God to the meeting, the saints will be greatly helped together.

J.S. Was it God's assessment of what was in Abraham 's soul that comes out in what God says, "now I know that thou fearest God"?

J.R.S. It was not that there was any doubt about it before, but God was proving His own work. He tried Abraham, He was seeing that what He had formed in Abraham was equal to this test that was put upon him.

J.S. It brought out just what Abraham was to God. Would maturity be developed in the fear of God?

J.R.S. I am sure that is right, the fear of God is a very necessary, wholesome matter and it is one of the things that is becoming so absent from the world, the fear of God.

J.B. Maturity of affection, love, has been referred to. With us, what you are speaking of is the result of development in experience with God, and in affection for God in response to His love to us. We see these things in Christ. Would it be right however to say that we see maturity in the Lord Jesus, because we think of maturity as the result of a process and we could not exactly say that of the Lord Jesus Himself? We see in Him in perfection the things that we reach for in maturity, and love predominantly.

J.R.S. What is formed in the saints is features of Christ and when they are formed that is what we speak of as maturity.

W.L. James tells us that it is the result of this incident that Abraham was called friend of God (see ch 2: 23). Would that be a feature of maturity?

J.R.S. That is in the sense of confidant. What a fine thought to reach, not from the point of Abraham being able to say, I am a friend of God, but that God spoke of him as His friend.

W.L. That it says in verse 14 "as it is said at the present day", would show the far-reaching effect of this incident. It affected God and it is affecting us today. The Holy Spirit would use it to affect our souls, and perhaps bring about a resolve of heart.

J.R.S. I trust it would, but then in whatever circumstance we are and however unable we may feel, we would be able to take on this word, "on the mount of Jehovah will be provided".

J.M. It says of Abraham that he lifted up his eyes and looked. I was thinking of what the Lord Jesus says in regard to Abraham, that he rejoiced to see my day and was glad (see John8: 55). Would there be a connection with that?

J.R.S. I think that is a good touch as to it. He saw the place on which he was going to offer up Isaac, he would see something of what God had in mind as to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

J.M. I often feel that I need to lift up my eyes as Abraham did.

J.R.S. More than once in his history he lifted up his eyes. God told him to look at the stars. I suppose in Ur of the Chaldees they would look at the stars in a very superstitious sort of way (astrology and the like), and no doubt that caused him to be dubious about looking at the stars, but God says, You look at the stars in a right way; he would be helped in his outlook.

Paul is speaking to Timothy in relation to his example and service amongst the saints - "enjoin and teach these things". He is speaking of what is of God in a right way, and he had spoken before of the mystery of piety. He had spoken of other things in the epistle and he speaks of what he is to teach, observe and enjoy and he goes on to speak of Timothy as a model "in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity". That is a fairly full matter.

Ques. In Genesis 22 it is father and son. Could you view Timothy here as Paul's spiritual son? He refers in the beginning to "my child" (ch 1: 18). It is a wonderful relationship between Paul and Timothy.

J.R.S. The first epistle to Timothy, especially, is the exhortation of the father to a son. We would do well to fit ourselves in to this line of exhortation from such a one as Paul.

G.McK. Is it remarkable that he is not told to be the model of a young person, "a model of the believers". Does that support what you are saying that what a believer ought to be can be set forth in a younger person?

J.R.S. That is what I was thinking. He is not asked to step out of his youth, or something like that; he is to be what he is according to the work of God as a model amongst the believers. Every one of us could fit into that.

Rem. It has been said that Timothy was a timid sort of person, but I do not think he would be intimidated, I think he would show maturity.

J.R.S. If he was to enjoin and teach, it may well have involved a considerable exercise with him; it would not have been easy. But he is to do it and not in a way that will cause anyone to despise him as a result.

P.B. "Occupy thyself with these things; be wholly in them". Is it an appeal to do it now?

J.R.S. That is right. It is as being occupied with them and practising them that he saves both himself and those that hear him. It is the actual doing of it, that is the example.

J.D.G. The thought of a model is not something that he is to show without reality; it must be what was there with himself. Would the exercise be to display the features of Christ in relation to the work of God in my soul?

J.R.S. That is what I thought. It was not the idea that this is to be drawn attention to, follow it, so much as that what he did he would do as displaying Christ in it.

J.D.G. It is what is there in the man that would come out. It would not be something put on like a garment. The exercise would be to guard himself so that scope was made to illustrate what he is.

J.R.S. In following that up he would have to be careful what he engaged himself in and read, in order that the growth should not be impaired or corrupted.

J.D.G. At times when exercises come up, sometimes we feel like expressing ourselves in a certain manner, but would that be a model of how Christ would have me to express myself? You might restrain yourself so as to display Christ and not the flesh.

J.R.S. That is a very real exercise for some of us. Paul says of Timothy to the saints in Philippi that he had genuine feeling, how they got on; he was not so much interested in putting them right, as he was in making sure that they got on.

W.L. Mr Darby helpfully links it with Luke 2 as to the Lord Himself.

J.R.S. That is what our brother was saying, what he was in himself would come out in expression, and what we are, like it or not, mostly does come out in what we say and do. That is where we are tested. Paul was exhorting Timothy to use the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body; by the Spirit we have to do that.

W.L. What does he mean by "thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee"?

J.R.S. I suppose it is that they might be lost to the testimony. There are those in second Timothy who were lost to the testimony, and some of them are named. We look around this room, and would say to ourselves are any going to be lost or are they all going to be saved? We think of the little ones, and those that may have difficulties; are we going to ensure that they are saved, or are we going to allow to be lost through our lack of care?

W.L. It would apply to older ones too. There have been a lot of losses.

J.R.S. It would, and Paul is exhorting Timothy to be as much of an example to the old ones as to the young ones; the old ones need that sometimes.

J.S. Do you have in mind that a man of this kind would be an influence for good. Paul refers to him later as "O man of God" (ch 6: 11). Do you think such would exert the right influence?

J.R.S. That is a big matter. A person's influence is beyond what they say or do; it extends in a hidden way, either for good or not so good.

J.S. I am sure that is right. The way that Paul is guiding Timothy in what he is to be occupied with and aiming at would have in mind that he should be an influence in the right direction.

J.R.S. The matter of influence is very much bound up with the thought of our place in the body. Would you say that is right?

J.S. Yes, because there is going to be someone in close proximity to me in the body, who will probably be the first one whom I will influence. I want to influence that brother or sister in the right direction.

J.R.S. I feel the importance of what you say and to ensure that I am on the line of encouraging the brethren into the truth, and that involves example.

D.S. Is that why he stresses "give heed to thyself and to the teaching". That is what has been attacked all through the dispensation, particularly Paul's teaching, and salvation in this day is in Paul's teaching.

J.R.S. That is right.

D.R. The best influence is to go on yourself. I was affected by a remark of Mr Stoney’s about Mr Darby; Mr Darby told him that he was not interested in influencing people, and that may seem a strange thing, but Mr Stoney said, but he influenced people by going on himself. It is not by argument that we influence one another, or by ability to reason with one another but by going on positively as believers.

J.R.S. I do feel that and that brings out, as has already been said, what we are. In Acts we have this young man - I suppose it is right to refer to him as a child, the scripture speaks of him as a youth - he was taken by the hand. There would be something leadable about him. He does not dither about, he hears of this awful plot and its determination to exterminate Paul by any means whatever. He comes in and speaks to Paul and even stands before the chiliarch and counsels him as to what to do. That is a remarkable thing for a child. He is not stuttering - he might well have done so before such an important man – but for the moment he is enjoying youthful maturity in his preservation of the testimony.

J.B. Do you think that in principle he is showing that he has the spirit of power and of love and of wise discretion? (2 Tim 1: 7).

J.R.S. Those three things are put together. So that one does not have to be of great years or of outstanding history or anything like that; it would appear he is just a child.

J.B. Paul in writing to Titus exhorts through Titus that the elder men be discreet and the younger women be discreet and the younger man be discreet (see Titus 2: 2,4,6). Discretion would be an important component of what you have been bringing before us. Do you think that we get it with the Holy Spirit's help? We have not spoken much of the Holy Spirit in this reading but do you think that His influence and power would be essential in reaching towards what you have had before us?

J.R.S. I am glad you say that: there will not be any progress in the things of God unless we draw upon the Spirit.

J.B. It was not a rebuke, but I just feel the need of it for myself and He is the great source of this.

G.A.B. In Mark's gospel the Lord speaks about growth. He refers to first the blade, then an ear and then full corn in the ear. Would these three scriptures that you have brought before us, perhaps in reverse, bring out these three features of normal growth?

J.R.S. This young man here was not able to do any more. He had heard something; it was against the testimony, it was against the truth, it was against Paul and against the government, against t e ordering of God. He heard these things and he thought l must do something about that.

Rem. He was an example of one who was delivered: he was not thinking about self at all, he was thinking only about the Lord and His testimony and the preciousness of that "elect vessel."

J.R.S. The section where we read finishes with him being able to keep things secret. That would be a very difficult thing for a boy to do. He had stood before the chiliarch, he had been into the fortress he had told them all about what he had heard and now he had to keep it to himself. That was going to grow into something mature in his soul.

 

 

EDINBURGH

25 November 1995

 

Key to initials

Edinburgh unless otherwise stated (Not all speakers were identifiable from the tapes - any omissions or mis-identifications are regretted)

G.A.Brown; J.Brown (Grangemouth); J.T.Brown; P Buchan (Dundee); J.R.Cumming; R.J.Campbell (Glasgow), J.D.Gray; W.Lamont (Cumnock); J Marshall; K.Marshall (Rotherham); G.McKay (Glasgow), D.Robertson (Cumnock); D.Scougall; J.R.Surtees (Spaldwick); J.Strachan (Dundee); M.Wood (Dundee)