Mark 5: 25-34; Acts 14: 19-20; 20: 1-11; 28: 30-31

WARMTH

A.C.C. It says of Elisha "And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and bent over him;" and it says “the flesh of the child grew warm", 2 Kings 4: 34. That impressed me, "the flesh of the child grew warm": the revival was to come about on that principle, not by a command, not by ministry, but by this process. The impartation of heat came from Elisha. That caused me to think of the heat of the body and I want to propose that for this reading. We will discuss the heat of the body. It is not covered by doctrine. The truth of the body may be covered by doctrine, that is why I have referred to the book of the Acts. The book of Acts is not doctrine, it is what is coming out in the saints. Before you can have a temperature, or heat or warmth proceeding from the body there must be something else. What is the active power that would come through the body?

That is why I read in Mark chapter 5; the woman "knew in her body". The Lord knew and the woman knew; that is very significant. She is being brought to a new motive power acting in her body. The Lord introduces her eventually into a circle of warmth, a circle of relationship - "daughter".

I want to suggest the activity of reconciliation which is a principle. Reconciliation is a principle of warmth. It is not a technical matter, there is warmth about it, whether it is in Colossians, "reconciled to God" - there is warmth about that, it is not a cold position or relationship that we are introduced to there is a certain warmth about it. Or whether it is in Ephesians where it is lateral where it is between ourselves, amongst ourselves, or Jew and Gentile, "reconcile both in one body to God by the cross" (Eph 2: 16), there is warmth in that. That is intended to affect us.

D.E.B. Your thought is that warmth is not exactly automatic but we have to do something to produce it?

A.C.C. I think we have to have a certain experience such as the woman had. The flux of blood stopped, that is the cessation of one line and the beginning of another. I think the man in the chapter was totally out of orbit, he was a lunatic, everything was out of gear, he was bound with fetters and chains, but nobody could subdue him; but he is subdued. Not by the means of the law - the chains and the fetters would refer to the law. You can be sure that it was not the devil that put those on him. He would not in any way want to restrict the man but let him go. Any application of things that God had introduced was broken; nobody could subdue him, but he was subdued. So we come on to the Lordship of Christ - it was lordship that subdued him and he was found "sitting and clothed and sensible", how wonderful, Mark 5: 15. He was brought into orbit at the feet of Jesus.

But the woman is different, she had tried many physicians, none was any good. This is not the legal side of the law but rather the side where there was priestly help and all that was available coming through the priest in view of Israel's betterment. It did not work, she rather grew worse until Jesus comes. It is not now Lord but Head. I want to bring forward this great truth that the body lives in close contact with the head, it lives in the life of the head. There can be no warmth, no body heat, no effectiveness, nothing creditable about the body were it not in contact with the head.

J.W. Does the fact that it says that He knew that power had gone out from Him bear on what you are saying? What comes from the head affects the body. It was not a distant matter, something had come from Him and affected the body of this woman.

A.C.C. She is living now in the life that was coming from Him, the power that had gone out from Him. What it says is very significant; "she knew in her body that she was cured from the scourge. And immediately Jesus, knowing in himself the power that had gone out of him". She knows and He knows. I think there is something very suggestive about that and about the activities that go on between the head and the body.

D.E.B. Could you make it clearer how you are viewing the body? You are speaking of this woman and in relation to her body, but you also have in mind what we speak of as The Body representing the collective position.

A.C.C. That is mainly in mind, but the fact that it all begins individually. We all should be interested in that and have the experience of something proceeding from Christ. But I am thinking of the woman representing the body as the body of Christ and deriving from the Head. That is Colossian doctrine, that the body here in the absence of Christ is derived from Him, it has its existence from Him, it has its life from Him. That is the motive power by which there is going to be effectiveness and credibility about the body.

R.E.T. Immediately a change comes in when she touches Christ.

A.C.C. Everything else was ineffective before but what is going to be effective now is the power that comes from Christ. There was nothing before He came. Immediately He comes into manhood and takes up His position He is here in view of affecting others. I think the woman represents that, that we would be here in His absence as having derived rom Him and able to manifest His life here. That is what the body is for, during His absence to come under the eye of God as manifesting the life of Christ.

J.W. Could you help us as to the reference to his clothes?

A.C.C. I think it is a reference to the priestly garments that he wore, that in the old economy they did not have their full potential. They were worn only once but they were to be given up, but Christ comes in in a priestly way and where there was deficiency and a real feeling of loss, life ebbing out, there is all that in Him and all that characterises Him, which would be the garments. But the woman had something in her soul already, she knew "If I shall touch but his clothes I shall be healed". The work of God was there, she knew that by touching His clothes she would be healed. What characterises Him is seen in His clothes.

V.E.W. Is this transaction necessary on the personal side for us to be in the consciousness that He lives and we live?

A.C.C. Certainly. Everything begins individually, personally. What would the truth of the body be and the working of it if we did not, each of us, have some transaction with the Lord. I was thinking more of the aggregate of it and what there is to be here in His life during His absence and deriving from Him.

M.W. Do you think that even in this meeting there is a great reserve of experience that represents what is in the body? It may have come about by distressing experiences such as this woman had, or sin, or family troubles and all manner of difficulties but we have come to know Jesus and had experience with Him. Does that all contribute to the idea of the body collectively?

A.C.C. Certainly. There is the aggregate of it and the experience that we have had, the Lord's intervention for us, what we have found in Him, what He can provide. I think it is something we should prove bodywise. I am speaking now of the company, what we can prove it to be as deriving from Christ. Nothing else will be effective.

M.W. So that the Lord has endeared Himself to us in a most wonderful way, we are all recovered persons, and grateful that we are here, but it is thanks to His own wondrous grace.

A.C.C. Yes, that we have been in contact with Him as individuals. All that would go to make up what there is collectively.

E.C.B. Would you relate touching His clothes to what has been spoken of as the Christian circle.

A.C.C. Yes. The disciples encircled Paul, that was a life-giving circle.

E.C.B. Is it not the case that in a sense the body may be touched here in the Christian circle?

A.C.C. Yes, and in that circle there is a certain effectiveness. What is the point in such vital truths about which we converse with one another; what is the difference between us and others who do not do it and who may not have the knowledge of them or the light of them? There should be a certain effectiveness, a warmth. That is what I am pleading in this meeting, this warmth, this body heat, this temperature. The temperature of the body is a very important matter in these days of neither cold nor hot. The Lord said that about Laodicea. We should be on the alert about Laodicea these final climate conditions are bound to affect us if we are not watchful. We have to hold fast the head and be watchful that this condition may not settle down on us, neither cold nor hot. The Lord has no interest in it.

G.N. There was one who could say that he was "bound in the bundle of the living", 1 Sam 25: 29. Could you say something as to the warmth that that would suggest?

A.C.C. Abigail said that about David, that he was "bound in the bundle of the living". There is that, thank God, the bundle of the living and there is the body. At any time you can say there is one body, whatever might be the breakdown, but what is the effect of that body? Is that body known amongst us and identified amongst us, not by doctrine but by the characteristics that belong to the life of Christ that is in the body. That is the whole thing.

D.E.B. You spoke earlier of reconciliation which I can see is closely allied to what you have in mind. You cannot generate warmth where reconciliation is lacking.

A.C.C. That is very good. Do you not think it is a warming principle?

E.C.B. Does the word in Ecclesiastes bear on what you have in mind "how can one alone be warm?", Eccl 4: 11? It says two are better than one and "if two lie together, then they have warmth". I was connecting what you were saying about reconciliation with the thought of how can one alone be warm?

A.C.C. I think it is a fine principle. That is why I read in Acts. It is not doctrine in the book of Acts, it is the question of what is coming out. From the very beginning, immediately the Spirit comes in, you are with an entity here that is marked by the life of Christ. Think of how effective it was! I selected certain portions of the book of Acts just to get some impression as to what this body is.

R.E.T. Have you more to say about the daughter? He does not say, 'Woman', He says "daughter".

A.C.C. I suppose if she had gone away home as she wanted to do she might have gone without that, gone away home with the healing in her body, but He had something else in mind. He would introduce her into another circle, into a warm circle, a circle of relationship. Do you not think the Christian circle is a warm circle?

R.E.T. Yes: it is something great, it belongs to Christ. He is bringing her into a new relationship.

A.C.C. It is certainly great. In my experience I have found that it is a great circle. There is no other life in the body but the life of Christ. The line of blood has stopped, a new power is in this body and working. That is the life of Christ.

R.E.T. Mr Taylor dwelt a lot on this sort of teaching and it brings us into the simplicity of obedience. But obedience bringing us into further relationship.

A.C.C. That is the first principle, obedience. What brought the woman was her need. We have all had that, but then we are brought into the circle where everything is warm.

P.M. Could you say a little more as to Jesus knew in Himself the power that had gone out?

A.C.C. That is very remarkable, the more you ponder that. There was this vital thing that was going on proceeding from Him and that is how it always is and always will be. Anything that comes to us from Christ must come that way. Anything that goes into the body to build it up, to characterise it, comes from Him.

J.W. There is what goes on secretly, what the Lord knew Himself, and what the woman knew in herself; then the Lord wants to bring that out so that the thing becomes manifest. He asks the question ''who has touched my clothes".

A.C.C. He knows. He says "Who has touched my clothes? And his disciples said to him, Thou seest the crowd pressing on thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her who had done this". The Lord is aware of it taking place, but His whole interest now is engaged with the woman to bring her, not only from the sense of the blood being stopped and the new power in her, but He introduces her to this circle. She might have gone home without it. That is perhaps the case with many of us, that we stop short of what He has in His mind, to lead us into in this circle.

J.W. Why was it that when she fell down before Him and told Him all the truth, that then He said to her "Daughter, thy faith has healed thee"?

A.C.C. My point was that He would introduce her into this circle where there is no charge, the family circle, a new circle of interest, all proceeding from Himself, characterised by Himself.

J.W. A circle that is completely transparent.

A.C.C. Yes. I fear that we stop short. Many brethren in Christendom stop short at having their need supplied and met, but of being introduced into the circle.

B.E.S. Would you say that this woman represents our present need and present state collectively. What then will bring us to the touch of faith?

A.C.C. Contact with Christ, because He is the Head of it and to get help and relief must come from Him and His direction.

B.E.S. But we need to come to the sense of our need in order to reach out in faith like this.

A.C.C. That is quite true, but He is available and if there is deficiency it is a question of finding out what that deficiency is and applying to Him. Conditions generally and locally will be improved if we have to do with Christ and to do with Him in Headship. Everything is available for the body in Himself and there need be no deficiency in a locality generally if we apply to Him.

E.F.W. That is what started all this off, is it not, "having heard concerning Jesus"? Then she does things. You wonder what she heard about Him; it obviously moved her.

A.C.C. That may be what is general: she had heard about Jesus. We are not told that He would heal her or cure her, but it only proves the point that God had been working in her and that is how we take matters up amongst ourselves, we are the subject of the work of God. That would bring us into contact with Christ where deficiency of any kind can be met. There are deficiencies generally in the fellowship. My appeal is that if there is going to be warmth in the body, if normal conditions are to be found in the body, we must apply to Christ.

E.C.B. Would you say that the Lord still knows that power has gone out of Him into the body?

A.C.C. Is that not wonderful to think of?

E.C.B. Does the body know that power has come from Him into it?

A.C.C. That is the whole thing. Is there this feeling of attachment, that there are these things going on that the head and the body, the normal working of it? Is that known or are we only academics or have we a perfect knowledge of the truth and can talk about things quite clearly and cleverly and all that, but is there this knowledge that we are in contact with Christ as the Head?

E.C.B. For my own part I feel that that is vital at the present time and perhaps the greatest need that there is amongst us. Doctrine can be perfected, but where is the life?

A.C.C. "Of this shall all men know that ye are disciples of mine, if ye have love among yourselves". That is the Christian circle, that is the warm circle, that is the effective circle.

E.C.B. Jesus says in John 10 "I am come that they might have life", v 10. That is not introduced doctrinally.

A.C.C. Quite so. "Might have it abundantly", that is warmth. I think there is something vital about this, and it has come to me this week that we are here representing Christ, and what is corning out? We are well taught (there is not anyone in Christendom as well taught as the brethren) but what is there in the way of warmth, a healing warmth, a healing power amongst the saints. The power that is corning from Christ is a healing power. It is not the law, either by the side of 'thou shalt', and 'thou shalt not', that is Moses, or whether it is the side of Aaron, who was set for the help of the erring and so on; even that is no good, it is a question of what is coming out in Christ. That is a healing power.

P.M. Are you saying that it must come about on an individual line? We cannot exactly come to the Lord as a company can we?

A.C.C. Yes; we can. We prove that, He comes to us as a company, but we get at it really by our individual exercise. I am exercised about it, you too and others, exercised about this matter. That adds up to the reality of what can be proved of the workings of this life that is coming from Christ in the company.

L.B. Is it like having a new husband, a husband that supports and provides the love and comfort that we need? In my own experience, one's need casts us upon the Lord Jesus and we prove His priestly support as a husband in a certain sense.

A.C.C. I think the truth of Romans 6, 7 and 8 comes out. That would help in regard of our individual experience and arriving at the great matter of the Spirit in chapter 8. I think that is vital that each of us has this exercise and experiences and we arrive at the abundance that there is in the Spirit in chapter 8. The new husband to which you refer is chapter 7. There is a certain attachment to Christ and we work things out from that angle.

R.E.T. There is no sensibility with regard to what is happening with the disciples and the crowd.

A.C.C. That goes with this truth that we are speaking about as to what is going on in the body The woman is sensible as to what is taking place she is affected by it. I referred to this scripture only to introduce this thought of what is the active power that brings about the heat. That is a question of what is coming from Christ into the body, the kind of life that was there in Jesus.

J.W. This woman realised that the only solution to her problem was personal contact with Him, and that is not just an initial but a continuous matter with us, is it?

A.C.C. To get the benefit of what is coming from Him you have to maintain contact.

G.B. So is it Christ first and then He would impress us that the saints are essential?

A.C.C. What would they be without Him, without His headship? What would there be if there was nothing preceding from Him? It is vital in our gatherings that we prove what is coming in vitally from Christ.

E.O. Some of us have been impressed with the matter of healing. It says in Acts 10 ''who went through all quarters doing good, and healing all that were under the power of the devil", v 38. The power of healing is with Christ and once that is set on by Him the love circle comes in.

A.C.C. That is carried on during His absence by the power that is coming from Him. There should not be a company that does not know what this healing power is. If there is anything coming in from Christ - and there is nothing sustained in the body but what comes in from Him - it should have that effect. There should be this healing amongst us. There should not be cleavages, divisions, there should not be a disunited condition, if we are all proceeding with what is coming in from Christ it has that reconciliation power to heal things.

P.M. Will I prove His headship in the company if I am not enjoying it individually?

A.C.C. No: it begins with individuals, it must start that way. If I am a hindrance to it, I must judge myself and make sure that I am not in any way interfering with the headship that is working.

P.M. In Acts there were individuals who were expressing the warmth as well.

A.C.C. Very good. Immediately the Spirit comes in from Christ, who is installed above. I think it took the Lord to be above, established in the place of lordship, to bring everything by His lordship power into regulation. It takes Christ above to produce a state and condition where everything is regulated and subdued. In the gain of that you prove what is coming in from Himself in the way of sustaining the body. We have our bookshelves, they are full of books. What keeps the body alive is what is proceeding from Christ moment by moment. The Spirit uses the written ministry, so far, but the body is maintained in vitality by what proceeds from Christ moment by moment.

D.E.B. The disciples in Acts 14 were concerned that Paul appeared to have died. They were not content to leave him, they wanted to see him raised up. It is a question sometimes whether we are content with abnormal conditions and whether we are really exercised about bringing the dead to life.

A.C.C. That is quite true. We get so accustomed to abnormal conditions that we more or less accept them. The Spirit of God never accepts abnormal conditions. He may have to go along with things, but He will never accept it, just as God never accepted the breakdown. We have to accept the breakdown and go along with it. God never accepts the breakdown, He maintains the standard all the time. There are abnormal conditions with no warmth - fancy a meeting, a locality with no warmth! There is no expression of the body at all. That would be very sorrowful, and yet in fellowship.

S.D.K.R. Warmth is the evidence of life.

A.C.C. That is the reading in a nutshell!

S.D.K.R. If you came to someone who was absolutely dead cold, you would feel that they were dead, but if a person has warmth you feel that there is life there. That is what you have in mind for the company.

A.C.C. Evidence of life. Think of these disciples encircling Paul. I suppose the man who had been healed previously at Lystra would take his place in that circle. It is a life-giving circle.

J.W. They encircled Paul because they loved him. You could not get the warmth without that, could you?

A.C.C. That is quite true and their valuation in the work of God, what he was. After all, each of us represents something that should be valued and brought into life. Paul was there and they encircled and without any more to do, he just stood up. It is not a question of command, not a question of ministry, it is a question of something working in this circle, a life-giving circle.

E.C.B. In that chapter the disciples encircled Paul but they neither did or said anything. Would that imply that the disciples individually become, as it were, radiators.

A.C.C. That is the area. The man healed at Lystra in his ankle bones would take his place among the disciples and he represents the Gentiles. The Gentiles understand and appreciate reconciliation more than the Jews because the nations are afar off. Reconciliation is better understood and appreciated by the Gentiles; they are brought into relation with God and with one another.

E.C.B. It would almost appear from the scriptures that the Jew who is bound by the law resents reconciliation.

A.C.C. I believe that to be true. In chapter 3 Peter and John were a very warm couple going up to the temple, and they healed the man and brought him into the temple. But this man is secured for the body. The first man was secured for the temple, and the house. We have the kingdom, we have the house, these are doctrines that we understand, but this man is secured for the body.

J.W. Both the man here and the woman of whom you read had faith to be healed.

A.C.C. You go by that; there must be some working of God, that is His initial work is always there. But there is to be addition to that. He will eventually get the Spirit and he will take his place in the Christian circle and be a channel for what is proceeding from Christ to come in. That is the idea, that there might be no blockage in the circulatory system, that what is proceeding from Christ is coming in. Sisters can be that too. What a company, to be vitally in touch with Christ, what His feelings are, His sensibilities coming into expression. Paul is able to stand up, he rose up.

S.H. I was thinking of what a Head we have. It speaks of it at the beginning of Colossians because they were lacking, they were not holding fast the head. Headship speaks of love too, does it not?

A.C.C. That is a very important point, holding fast the Head, and that is what each of us is to do. It is like John 10, abiding in Christ. We are responsible, each of us to abide in Christ and we are each responsible to maintain our link with Christ. The much exercise that hangs on that is that I might be a channel for what is proceeding from Him to come in, some of the warmth.

S.H. Mr Raven said, abiding in Christ is abiding in the sunshine. That is warmth, is it not?

A.C.C. It is indeed. I think Acts is fine to develop this thought, apart from doctrine and insisting on doctrine. I think when the Lord came to apprehend Saul of Tarsus there was not only the light, there was warmth too. He could not come without being warm, that wondrous living Head. Think of the warmth there would be in Him and it would affect Paul.

E.C.B. It says ''there is nothing hid from the heat", Ps 19: 6.

A.C.C. I thought of that very scripture "there is nothing hid from the heat thereof".

S.D.K.R. You have spoken of abiding in Christ. Would you help us as to how we do that. Is it in the power of the Spirit?

A.C.C. You get divine help for that, by the Spirit. You pray, do you not? And you read your Bible, and you go to the meetings, all these are simple exercises for keeping your link with Christ. Make sure that the vital thing is there, not just what is external or what is duty, that you feel it right to do it. The woman had a sensible link with Christ, she knew in her body. We have not finished with the circle yet, encircling Paul. Is that circle here in Redbridge, could that happen in Redbridge? That is a question.

J.S. The circle did not have gaps in it, it was complete. Do you think it might be this experience which helped Paul to gather together the certain quantity of sticks at the time when heat was needed?

A.C.C. I thought about the next chapter, where there was warm feeling which sprung between Barnabas and Paul over Mark himself. That is the wrong kind of feeling. We do not want that kind of feeling that springs not from the head but from friction and disagreement. Keep in this circle.

E.O. Would this work out in the brethren laying down their lives for the brethren?

A.C.C. All that comes into it. Would I be prepared to take my place like these disciples here? They encircled him, there is something rich about that. They loved him. You feel that there was a certain sort of reconciliation working. They loved him and so they encircled him. Is that how things are? That is how things should be. All these things come in and they are an expression of what belongs to the vital character of the body. It should not be just a theory to us or something we assent to, the thing should work. That is the idea of the body, it works.

L.B. In Paul descending upon Eutychus, he had compassion on the boy and it says that after he said that his life was in him "so he came away". It was the way Paul ministered, not only what he said but what he did.

A.C.C. Yes. And more, he "enfolded him in his arms". What does that mean? Were these cold arms? Are not these warm arms?

L.B. He expresses affection for Eutychus, he received him into his arms. He was in a way like a father to a child.

A.C.C. It is like the father in Luke 15, he enfolded him in his arms. Think of that, that is reconciliation working. That is this truth we speak about and assent to. How often we speak about reconciliation, how little we may know of it!

P.M. Had Paul proved it himself when he recounts his conversion in chapter 22, He speaks of Ananias "standing by me", v 13. Did he not receive warmth through Ananias, "Brother, Saul", v 13.

A.C.C. Very good. There was not only the fact that there were certain disciples in Damascus, but what was there, the body was there. The truth does not come out until chapter 9, but the body was there all the time, right from chapter 2, the heart and soul of the multitude were working as one.

E.O.P.M. The brethren thought that was the end, but this kind of spirit amongst us does not accept what seems to be the inevitable condition.

A.C.C. That is very good. Jesus knowing and the woman knowing, I think that kind of thing admitted and working, we would not accept the inevitable that nothing can be done. I think that if that was understood amongst us, what is proceeding from Christ, and I have an understanding with Him, a working understanding with Him, you would not accept the inevitable. But are your arms available, are they warm? Do you know what reconciliation is in yourself, do you appreciate our reconciliation with God and laterally amongst ourselves. That is what we want in view of Eutychus being raised up.

E.O.P.M. It reminds you of Luke 10; it is no use being a Samaritan if you have not what is necessary to meet the condition. That is where I feel my lack, I may not want to accept the inevitable but I find myself there is a lack on this line of being able to bring in what will enfold and warm.

A.C.C. I trust this meeting will effect something with us all in that respect, that what is normal to the body may be coming into expression and that the saints are kept in a condition that is suitable to answer to what we undertake on Lord's morning. We use terms and we take ground and enter into relationships and it may be that the vital spark is missing.

G.B. In the 14th chapter it is several disciples encircling; in the 20th chapter it is Paul enfolding, but the effect is the same. What would you say about the fact that in the 20th it is just one man who does it.

A.C.C. You mean Paul himself? He did not employ Luke. You might say that is a case for the doctor. There has been an accident, but it is not a case for the doctor, it is a question of what Paul is representing as what is vital in the testimony in Paul and he descending. It says "Paul descending fell upon him and enfolding him in his arms", I think that Paul is representing the truth of what is coming from Christ.

G.B. Would the saints then come into it? They would see how it was done and next time it would have to be just one person doing it, would it?

A.C.C. He was certainly setting on a fine example, especially the descending. We are not very good at that.

E.C.B. Paul says to the Galatians "ye who are spiritual", Gal 6: 1. Not just one but "ye".

A.C.C. That is very good. After all I suppose these seven men who are named were all spiritual, the very fact that there are seven of them is something in itself. They were all there as vital people, all forming the light no doubt in the upper room where they were all assembled. But it is not a question of light. The light is there, the truth is there and all very clear, but it is a question of someone acting in regard of the body and representing the body in its ability to resuscitate and revive.

E.C.B. I think these things are vital at the present time and other things that are held in the letter can even become destructive. The other daughter in Mark 5, Jairus's daughter, was dying and died, but they come to Jesus and say, Lay your hands on her. In cases where we are liable to give up hope, can we not come and tell Jesus about it?

A.C.C. The normal sequence to the man getting right and the woman getting right, one being subdued and the other brought into a living contact with Christ and the normal thing, is that the young people are proceeding normally.

S.D.K.R. Would you say a little more about Paul descending. Is that not essential in relation to reconciliation?

A.C.C. Yes; nobody who appreciates reconciliation would have any difficulty in making the descent. That is a good deal of our troubles: we are not prepared to descend. If you are not prepared to descend there will be no warmth coming from you. That was my point in reading it, he enfolded him in his arms.

M.W. It is the thought of the joints and bands working together. Paul says in relation to the Colossians, "holding fast the head, from whom all the body, ministered to and united together by the joints and bands, increases with the increase of God", Col 2: 19.

A.C.C. That explains it exactly, that is the doctrine of it, that is how it works by the joints and bands. We all form part of that. The doctrine of it is very good, but what we are at, as you know, is the effect of it working and what has been generated by the appreciation of the truth of what is coming in from Christ. We have ministry, there is no ministry like it, but what is there in the way of the expression of what that ministry is intended to convey.

D.J.H. Peter says "what I have, this give I to thee" (Acts 3: 6). It is a question of what we have acquired for ourselves. Otherwise we have nothing to pass on in this way of warmth.

A.C.C. That is wonderful. Peter had to warm himself by a fire once, not now.

J.W. Paul was expressing Christ and that is what the body is for, the expression of Christ.

A.C.C. That is the whole point for the body, being here during His absence it is to express Christ, that the life that belongs to Him may be coming out here and how far do I contribute to that? How far is it seen in my locality? How far and how much is the warmth of the truth found with us? If it is only the setting out of things in clarity, which is all very good, things must be accurate and clear, but then is there the vital thing there in the way of the love and affection and compassion that belongs to the body?

P.M. Why is it in this section that Eutychus does nothing in view of his recovery?

A.C.C. I think the case is such to bring out what is there in Paul, and therefore in the company, in Troas, what was there. You do not accept the inevitable, any case might be met, there is sufficient in the company to meet it. We should not say, well we can do no more; we should keep at it until the matter is finalised.

K.S. The warm feelings in Acts 16 were met by Timothy, "take Mark and bring him with thyself". How did that work out?

A.C.C. I think that only shows the effectiveness of Paul's own service and ministry and the influence that Paul was, '1ake Mark and bring him with thyself". That is where the warm feeling rose up over Mark, not going with them to the work, he abandoned them, that is a serious matter. It seems to me that Paul did not give up and the time came when he could instruct Timothy to bring him with him, because he was serviceable to the ministry. Mark had been recovered.

B.E.S. Timothy was acquainted with all this in Acts 14 although he had not yet been taken up in service and Paul refers to it in writing to him in the second epistle.

A.C.C. I think it was Timothy, I think the man who was healed of his ankle bones was Timothy.

B.E.S. Well, he might have been, the scripture does not tell us.

A.C.C. It might have been Timothy because he belonged to Lystra and the healed man was at Lystra. You could not say it wasn't, but you could not say it was! You carry the thought forward.

B.E.S. He says, Thou hast been fully acquainted with certain things and he mentions the sufferings that happened to him in this place.

A.C.C. I think Timothy was in that circle.

E.C.B. Timothy was in Acts 20.

A.C.C. He was. My thought of Paul as to the last scripture read, was that he received with welcome. That idea runs through the book of Acts, the idea of welcome. You might say you will find the warmth in Paul's service, the warmth of Luke 15, working through in Paul's own hired lodging. Is that not fine?

J.W. You have raised an exercise with us and we have to work it out now.

A.C.C. That is quite true, you have to work it out. But if you keep your lines of communication clear, and know what it is to have the Lord's headship working the thing will work through - but receive with welcome.

P.M. Onesimus was to be received with welcome, "receive as a brother".

A.C.C. He was an outstanding example of how the thing would work. Paul in the prison, and in a sense he is still in prison, although it is his own hired lodging, but the atmosphere outside, neither cold nor hot did not effect the warmth that was seen in Paul's own hired lodging. I am afraid that these conditions that the Lord outlines for us both in Matthew 13 as to the tares, the mustard tree and the leaven, and also the climate of things in Laodicea, will gain power over us and we become affected by them. Whereas I think being in constant touch with Christ and the vitality of it we have the antidote for the climate of things outside in Christendom.

M.W. Eutychus did not resist Paul. Suppose you go to a brother whom you desire to enfold, but he will not have it. How do you go about that?

A.C.C. You do not accept the inevitable, you have sufficient for the recovery. I do not go with this matter. We will leave it until the judgment seat. The judgment seat will not be for that at all, but that is another subject!

E.C.B. Paul says ''we are already manifested".

A.C.C. The judgment seat will be a wonderful place. No sins will come up there, no faults will come up there.

M.W. "All who came to him". Is that quite significant? I take it by this time all Asia had left him, and Paul was a prisoner and anyone who came to Paul would be seeking and he would appreciate that.

A.C.C. I am sure that is true. That is the situation at the end of the dispensation. That is why I referred to it. It is like the end of the dispensation, his own hired lodgings. It is not a sublet, he has complete control of it and it is hired, he is paying his way, he is righteous, it is only a lodging, he is off tomorrow, so to speak. These are the conditions, but this is what is going on, he is receiving with welcome and he is teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ unhinderedly. This is going on, the truth of the vital thing is coming through at the very end. That was my point.

V.E.W. This feature of receptiveness is flowing from Christ?

A.C.C. It is. It is the life coming through which has warmth attached to it. It is not a cold thing, it is not just something that we know we should be doing, but there is the evidence of life in it, the life of Christ.

R.E.T. Is that why he finishes with the kingdom? Is that the warmth of what is in Paul's ministry? He finishes off with the righteousness of God.

A.C.C. It is preaching the kingdom of God. But notice this - teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. That takes you beyond the kingdom. That would bring in the whole truth of His headship and where He is and all that is available in Him for those who come.

R.E.T. I was thinking of the nature of God, righteousness.

A.C.C. Is that his nature? Love is His nature. The very fact that God has put Him in heaven, has established Him as Lord up there, is the guarantee that everything will be righteous, the whole principle of the kingdom will be maintained in righteousness. But that is only one thing, teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, you are coming into all the warmth and wealth of what is there in the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust there will be something in this reading as to the reality of Christianity, that we have a Head and the body is here and may we prove the reality of it and something of vitality being in evidence. I think that is possible. Let us all agree to that.

J.W. That has been indicated earlier in the reading, Paul would never forget the way in which he was received.

A.C.C. That is quite true.

 

REDBRIDGE

11 March 1995

 

Key to initials (local if not specified)

D.E.Burr; E.C.Burr (London); G.Bywater (Buckhurst Hill); L.Burton (Merton); D.J.Hutson (London); S.Hewison(Dorking); E.O.P.Mutton(Walton); P.Martin (Colchester); E.Oliver; S.D.K.Roberts (Croydon); B.E.Surtees (Felixstowe); J.Surtees (Spaldwick); K.Samways (Buckhurst Hill); R.E.Turner (Bexley); E.F.Woodford (Dorking); J.Wright; M.Ward (Bexley); V.E.Wraighte (Gillingham)