THE PRESENT YIELD FOR CHRIST

Ephesians 5: 25-27; 2 Corinthians 8: 16-24; John 17: 9, 10

C.R.B. One of the great services of the Spirit of God is to help us in relation to all that is yielding for Christ at the present time. The Father's decree has ensured that what is for the glory of Christ is going to be displayed very soon, but one of the greatest matters is what is for the glory of Christ now. It was by the determinate counsel of God that Christ was given up, taken by lawless hands, but it is by the same determinate counsel of God that what is for the glory of Christ is being strengthened, enriched and extended. In the very scene where once He was publicly rejected and scorned, the Spirit of God is acting so that there may be the glorifying of Christ. Christ Himself is wonderfully active in this; His Spirit is working within us to alert us to what Christ personally is doing. It is not yet the time for Christ's activities in relation to the putting of things right in the world; at the moment He is working in relation to the assembly, and saints are being deepened in the understanding of the wonder of the love of the Christ. It says where we have read in Ephesians 5, He "also loved the assembly, and has delivered ... himself up for it". So there is what is in view as to the whole assembly being secured in relation to the glory of Christ. The working out of it comes into the scripture in Corinthians; it is not limited to the universal thought of the assembly but is related to the working out of it in local assemblies which come under the touch of Christ in this way. The verses read in John would remind us of how, as the saints move in the liberty and dignity of sonship, there is fulfilled what Christ says: "I am glorified in them". It is a wonderful matter to affect us that in the hearts of those who love Jesus He is glorified.

As we think of the assembly, we would always be caused to wonder at the love of Christ, that He loved the assembly and has delivered Himself up for it. It is not here the giving up by the determinate counsel of God or the betrayal by one of the twelve, but this is Christ's own matter; He has delivered Himself up for it. All of us come into this personally, as it says at the beginning of the chapter, "even as the Christ loved us and delivered himself up for us" (v 2). This would strengthen us to understand the wonder of the love of Christ in all its depth and fulness and inscrutability, that He loved the assembly and has delivered Himself up for it. It is a great appeal to our hearts that we might be in keeping with what Christ has so loved and loves in a constant unchanging way.

G.D.W. Do we need to have a deep sense of the grandeur and greatness of this large thought of the assembly before we can really understand how it applies to the local side?

C.R.B. That is important. These thoughts are so vast and wonderful that we need the Spirit's touch to help us to grasp the way that Christ is operating with a view to the assembly universally. In one sense there is only one assembly, and we need to see that before we can see glory working out in the assemblies.

G.D.W. I was thinking of Mr Darby's apprehension of this at the outset of the recovery, as we speak of it; I think we tend to lose sight of the greatness of this.

C.R.B. It is comforting and assuring to think of the time of display when the assembly will be seen as the holy city. It will not be local assemblies that will come out of heaven, it will be the assembly, but the glory of that is to hold our affections and lives.

C.F.D. The fact that it is presented here in such a way is to focus our attention at this moment exclusively on the assembly - "has delivered himself up for it” - as if the apostle is using leverage on our hearts to understand that in this setting the thought of Christ delivering Himself up was for 'it' as the object. Would this help us to understand how important and great the assembly is in the mind of Christ?

C.R.B. And to govern our interest and our prayers in relation to what is of supreme interest to Christ, which is the "present truth". When Peter speaks of Paul's ministry he says it is "the present truth" (2 Peter 1: 12), that is, the truth as to Christ and the assembly.

G.D.W. Why does it say 'it' - "Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it"? The feminine pronoun is used in Revelation but here it seems to be the quality of the assembly that is in mind.

C.R.B. It is a great vessel of glory, and Christ's love is seen in His delivering Himself up for it. His activities currently in relation to it are with a view to presenting the assembly as a vessel of glory to Himself. It comes into our experience essentially at the Supper when we are abstracted from all that is related to breakdown, and have the impression that Christ is just delighted to present the assembly to Himself glorious, but it is the fruit of His love that led Him to deliver Himself up for it.

E.E.H. You spoke of the determinate counsel. I was wondering if Abraham's desire to find a wife for Isaac would come into this thought. In Genesis 24 we have the Trinity in type - the Father and the Spirit, and then the bride for Christ is looked for.

C.R.B. That is very interesting. Behind all these things we discern the supremacy of the Father. Christ was operating in relation to that. We receive some impression of the delight of the Father in the operations of Christ in the way that the bringing of the assembly into being is related to the power of God when He wrought in the Christ in raising Him from among the dead. In the resurrection of Christ, as far as God was concerned, the assembly was raised and was complete. In our experience the gathering in of persons such as ourselves has continued, but the assembly was viewed by God as complete in relation to the surpassing greatness of His own power.

G.H. You quoted that verse, "That he might present the assembly to himself glorious"; in the word "present" there is a certain dignity, and also in "has delivered himself up".

C.R.B. Yes, a certain dignity and a certain complacency in the delight of Christ in what has been secured for His own heart. It is brought out here in relation to His own wonderful activities which are proceeding all the time, and yet it would be related too to the adorning service of the blessed Spirit, for the Spirit serves in relation to the merging of individuals into this glorious thought of the assembly for Christ.

C.F.D. This thought of the assembly being complete is something that we need to have revived in our minds and in our affections. Do you think that the breaking of bread, the Supper, every week would serve to help us in this regard as viewing the loaf to see that while we are in days of brokenness there is the side that divine Persons are viewing the assembly as complete and it is all there! Just to get a fresh impress of this lifts us above these thoughts that so often occupy us as to the breakdown and the scattering.

C.R.B. We would increasingly feel what it means to God that public breakdown has come in in such a wide way; our own hearts' sorrows and experiences enter into that and that would continue. It is something like Paul's yearning after the people of Israel that they might come into blessing. We would be held rightly in relation to that. But then do not let us fall below the glory of God's own thoughts, what God is securing Himself. The enemy would seek to persuade us that every thing has gone, but if that were so it would be an affront to the Person of the Spirit. The Spirit is here to maintain in power what is for the glory of Christ. Our hearts are thrilled as we think of the time of display; the Spirit and the bride saying "Come" is in relation to the public appearing of Christ. But what is there for the heart of Christ at the present time? Those who are in the light of the assembly would hold all the saints in their hearts, but God has the whole assembly always before Him. God is able to view everything completed as soon as He begins with something.

C.G. In verse 2 of Ephesians 5 it says, "even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour". In verse 25 it says, "even as the Christ also loved the assembly, and has delivered himself up for it in order that he might sanctify it, purifying it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present the assembly to himself glorious". Here we have 'presenting the assembly to Himself' and in verse 2 the offering and sacrifice are linked with a sweetsmelling savour to God. What would you say in relation to that?

C.R.B. The offering was to God. God is always in view in the operations of Christ, and yet it was for us. He loved us and delivered Himself for us, but the offering is to God. In the very work and the sacrifice of Jesus there was going up to God Himself what was a sweet-smelling savour. We understand the love of the Christ that had us in view in the working out of that and we come into the gain of it, but the offering was to God. What is in view in all this is God "all in all", 1 Cor 15: 28.

E.E.H. The assembly eventually is to come down from God.

C.R.B. "Coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God", Rev 21: 10. That confirms what we were saying as to the assembly being a vessel of glory. "Having the glory of God" is something very substantial; it is not that the glory of God has shone upon it, gloriously true as that is, but the assembly is divinely constituted to have the glory of God. And that is the way in which Christ is going to administer in the world to come, so that what is for God is maintained through a thousand years.

J.A.P. Your reference in prayer to the "Saviour of the body" (v 23), and then "even as the assembly is subjected to the Christ " (v 24), would all bring in a moral line underlying this, husbands loving their wives. So that we are not speaking of something abstract but something that is working.

C.R.B. Yes. One of the features of Christianity is that it is not worked out in some secluded compartment but it enters into the very moral fibre and experience of our lives. The glory of Christianity is to bring a dignity and power into every human relationship so that by the Spirit we are helped to move in these relationships according to God's original thought, because they all began with God, and yet we are not governed by what is natural. You referred to the moral power that is entering into these matters - we often use this word 'moral' and it is a very good word. A brother said recently that he thought the word 'moral' conveys the value of things as before God. That would help us to think rightly of moral values, what is of value before God, that character of thing.

J.A.P. That is very good. Adam, according to the light he had, greatly valued what God brought to him.

C.R.B. He could regard the woman as exclusively for himself. He named all the animals and, with the skill of headship, he named them all according to God's own thoughts, but the woman was for the man. That would enter into this reference here, "that he might sanctify it". This is not the detail of separation but the glory of the assembly as being sanctified, set apart exclusively for Christ as His own personal possession.

G.D.P. So the saints are marked by refinement. I was thinking about being without spot or wrinkle or any of such things. This process is going on, is it not?

C.R.B. Yes. We would think of the assembly itself in all its own perfection according to divine thoughts, but the individuals making up the assembly need this service of Christ of purifying by the washing of water by the word so that there may be no spot or wrinkle. There is to be nothing that is contaminated by the world because the assembly has no link with the world, but there is not to be any wrinkle either. Experience with God amongst the beloved brethren does not bring in wrinkles, it brings in power.

G.D.P. That is what we are constantly at, to get free of these worldly things and be in relation to our heavenly calling. Is that not so?

C.R.B. Yes. This is the great positive attraction to see what the heart of Christ is longing for, so that' we would be yearning to be free of everything which might be related to an order of things which has nothing in accord with Christ in His perfect love.

C.S.E. Would you help us as to the appreciation of the assembly in our hearts, not so much the individual side, great as that is - "the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me" (Gal 2: 20) - but "even as the Christ also loved the assembly",

C.R. B. All these things are wonderfully worked together. The more we enter into the sense of the personal love of Christ in all its greatness (and each of us perhaps can say today, "the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me") the more that very love draws us nearer to Christ. And the nearer to Christ we are, the more we begin to realise that His interest at the present time is in relation to the assembly. He is going to deal with the nations in due time but all power in heaven and earth is being used by the Lord at the moment for the prosperity of the assembly.

C.S.E. I like to remember an expression which Mr Maynard loved to use: 'Nor what is next Thy heart can we forget' (hymn 160). It really helped me over the years to see how near the assembly is to the heart of Christ.

C.R.B. It is intimacy with Christ which will hold us in relation to the control of His headship; so that our interests increasingly are bound up with the prospering of the assembly universally. There is the working out of things locally and that proceeds in glory and in power as we hold in our hearts what God has universally for Christ.

G.H. You quoted that verse at the end of Matthew's gospel: "All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth", chap 28: 18. This is the assembly gospel. What the Lord says there as to power would be in relation to the assembly; is that the way you understand it?

C.R.B. Yes. That is what the Lord is doing at the present time by the Spirit. Matters amongst the nations throughout the world are not out of control, they are under the control of the Father. He is the Governor of the universe, everything is under the Father in the public setting. So we pray to God in our prayer meetings in relation to the public order of things. Christ is using His power in relation to the assembly. In the time to come He is going to use it in relation to the nations.

G.H. So that verse is in the assembly gospel.

C.R.B. Yes; and it is very interesting there that He does not say, Well, there are only eleven of you left. There were only eleven disciples there but the Lord is not occupied with that; He is occupied with the power that was going to carry things through to the completion of the age.

B.T. Satan has not committed his power to one man fully yet because of the power of the Spirit being here in the assembly.

C.R.B. Do you mean that the man of sin is going to be the final effort of the enemy to overthrow the greatness of Christ?

B.T. He will try that. What I meant was that Satan is restrained from giving his power to one man.

C.R.B. It is going to be one of the results of the Spirit and His restraining power being taken away that the enemy will move in an unrestrained way, in some sense, although God of course is still supreme. So far in history men have sought after supreme power but they have never arrived at it, but there will come a moment when the man of sin will be displayed, and immediately the Lord Jesus will annul him "by the appearing of his coming", 2 Thess 2: 8. But we can be thankful for the restraining power of the Spirit so that the saints can move in the light of the assembly in a universal way.

G.D.W. Do we not need to be so aligned with the Spirit that what you spoke of as moral would be true of us. A wrinkle, whether in a garment or in our faces or elsewhere, is the result of stress, something is out of balance. Do we not need to be balanced in being under the control of the Spirit so that other things do not come in to cause these things?

C.R.B. We need peculiarly the help of the Spirit to feel things rightly without being unduly burdened by them. Christ is able to delight in the assembly as available for Him in the Spirit's power. The Lord would occcup us with the purifying power of the way He operates by the washing of water by the word. It is a remarkable expression, "washing of water by the word", as though as the Lord brings in the word amongst us there is the washing of water which secures persons who are not marked by any spot or wrinkle; persons are more fresh than yesterday, more living, more quickened, more vital; and then the Spirit of God in an all embracing way says "or any of such things"; as though there is not to be anything which the mind of man can think of which is to be allowed to come in to mar the perfection of the assembly for Christ.

G.D.W. It is not just an improvement, the whole thing is vital; the word adjusts, gets everything lined up.

C.R.B. It is in accord with what will be seen when the assembly after a thousand years is seen adorned as a bride for her husband; there will not be any spot or wrinkle or any of such things; she will be in all her glorious freshness "as a bride adorned for her husband", Rev 21: 2.

C.G. In verse 26 we have purification linked with washing of water by the word. In 2 Timothy 2 purification is linked with separation: "It therefore one shall have purified himself from these, in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour sanctified, serviceable to the Master" (v 21). What i your thought regarding purification linked with washing of water by the word and with separation? There is an interesting note to the word 'purified' in 2 Timothy. The word for 'purified' is only found here and 1 Cor 5: 7, 'Purge out'. There it was to get rid of the old leaven out of the lump; here the one who names the name of the Lord has to purge himself from among the vessels. Hence we have an additional preposition which is rendered by 'separating from'. Lit. 'purified himself away from these'.

C.R.B. The action in 2 Timothy 2 is the result of our understanding of what the Lord in His love for the assembly is seeking to arrive at. He brings in the word and we are conscious in our own souls, whether we say anything to any one else or not, that the Lord is saying a word to us to purify us. As we receive the gain of that word and of the love of Jesus, immediately the urgent desire is wrought in our spirits to purify ourselves from anything that would be out of keeping with the name of the Lord. It is the Lord in His majesty and greatness that comes into 2 Timothy 2 in all His authority: the Lord, the Master, the Despot. Ephesians 5 is the holy intimacy of Christ in headship in relation to the assembly. But as we prove the holy effect of His headship, then we are more concerned as to the authority that is committed to that blessed Person in relation to what is public. The power to move in a public way flows in essentiality from this inward experience with Christ in affection.

E.E.H. There is the work of Christ in the purifying, which of course would be done by the ministry, but on the other hand there is the individual side. So he says in the first verse of the chapter, "Be ye therefore imitators of God". That would take account of us individually so that we are in consonance with what the Lord ministers to purify us, We would take it on, do you think?

C.R.B. And this would help us to realise the value that God places on every beloved brother and sister. There is no distinction in this setting, it is "the assembly" and "us". Every brother and sister is of great value because the infinite love of Christ in giving Himself for us relates to every brother and sister. So not only would all of us feel our vital part and privilege in this great thought of the assembly but this would help us in our love for one another.

C.F.D. While we would not and cannot limit the Lord as to how He would proceed in our own private histories, would not washing of water by the word lay emphasis on what is collective, when the brethren are together? It seems to be a time when the Spirit operates to a greater extent and where the Lord is free to move; so in the collective setting the most help is available. Therefore do you not think that we should value in a greater way the assemblings of the saints?

C.R.B. I think so. If we are righteously detained from being present when the saints are assembled, then God will help us to get gain for example from written ministry; but there is nothing quite like the privilege of being assembled with the saints and experiencing the inward quickening power of the Spirit and the purifying power of the word of the Lord. The privilege of being assembled is increasingly valued by the brethren so that they are overcoming difficulties and distances to be together more and more. It is so much the more as the day approaches (see Heb 10: 25).

B.T. Would the nourishing and cherishing be experienced in the same way collectively? It is a matter that is currently going on and we want to be conscious of it.

C.R.B. Nourishing would relate to the sound words, the building up of the assembly in relation to this positive line of the love of Christ; cherishing would be that we are conscious of the love of Christ and nestle down into it.

L.MacF. In verse 32 of Ephesians 5 it says "This mystery is great", but then there ought to be some intelligence with us, do you think?

C.R.B. We are increasingly thankful for the sovereign love that has brought us into some understanding of this mystery as to Christ and as to the assembly. It is not to be a mystery to those who are in the joy of it; it is to be a wonderful experience of what is being yielded for the heart of Christ.

A.R.S. Would the apostle's desire to secure the assembly "a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Cor 11: 2) be that there should be an answer to this great love of Christ?

C.R.B. That is very helpful. I was thinking of that in relation to what we read in 2 Corinthians 8, that behind the ministrations and the activities in love of the beloved apostle there was his own heart exercise in relation to securing the chaste virgin for Christ in each local assembly. When he was writing to the saints in Ephesus he was bringing before them not only the privilege they had locally but the assembly universally. But when he thinks of the assemblies, I think he thought of the chaste virgin in relation to each assembly. So where we read in 2 Corinthians 8 is a remarkable section because it refers to the "assemblies" four times. It does not say how many brethren there were in each place but it is each place in which there was an assembly functioning – the "assemblies".

G.D.W. What do you think of the qualification of the brother that is referred to in verse 18?

C.R.B. It is very interesting that Titus is named; then we have the brother "whose praise is in the glad tidings", and then "our brother whom we have often proved to be of diligent zeal". The second and third are not named. It helps us to be clear of personalities. We all tend to be marked by prejudice or favour as we think of certain brothers, but Paul puts that all on one side and brings out the moral and spiritual qualities of these men who are devoting their lives to the prospering of the work of God in each local assembly.

G.D.W. Would not these brothers be those who would carry the exercises in their own localities? They would not be interfering brothers but brothers who would be acting in the light of the assembly as we have in Ephesians 5.

C.R.B. Their prime occupation would be to preserve the home front in their own locality. But they carried in their affections the prospering of what was for the heart of Christ and for Christ's glory in each local assembly.

J.A.P. That is very important because Titus was not interfering in Corinth; he was there because God sent him there; and it says he was "full of zeal". I was very thankful you read this passage because it confirms what you read in Ephesians; there must be zeal with the brethren, not only for my own locality but for all the assemblies, at least in my affections if I cannot get there.

C.R.B. And the governing point in that is this reference in verse 23 to "Christ's glory". We might wonder whether it refers to the messengers or to the assemblies, but Mr Taylor said both (see Vol 40, p.296), and we understand that. The local assemblies are to take on this character of being "Christ's glory". This particular section is in relation to the special collection and giving generally. It is a great privilege that every local assembly has, of having a special collection and being thus linked with the saints universally. The glory of Christ comes out; there is perhaps only one brother and one sister, but they have the privilege of being related to Christ's glory and being connected with this great service of giving. But this goes beyond that; the bearing of this is to colour all administration in relation to the assembly, because he refers to abundance. And the whole general bearing of administration is the line of dispensation of blessing. So that this line of "Christ's glory" is to bring in a touch of dignity and power in relation to everything that is done in every local assembly, and everything that is done by individual brothers or sisters in relation to every local assembly. They are all, the assemblies and the brothers and sisters, to move as being related to Christ's glory.

G.D,W. Putting it on the basis of giving is a very high level.

J.A.P. What you are saying is very instructive. This scripture I think is not very well understood amongst us: "deputed messengers of assemblies, Christ's glory". If a brother cares for even the smallest service on behalf of the brethren he is doing that in the light of Christ's glory, and he is promoting that, not in any partisan way but in relation to what you read in Ephesians.

C.R.B. And it extends to every service that we are privileged to take part in; it may be deacon service, as we call it, or it may be preparing a meal for the brethren; all the detail s that enter into the lives of the saints are to have this dignifying touch of being related to Christ's glory; that is, what is for the glory of Christ is to be reflected and enhanced by the very way in which each local assembly does anything, and by the way each brother or sister does anything in relation to the assembly.

A.S.H. Would love promote zeal? I was struck with verse 22, a brother often proved to be of diligent zeal in many things. Then in verse 24 it speaks of the proof of your love.

C.R.B. If love is not the source of zeal, it becomes human energy and that is very dangerous. Christ’s glory is connected with administration in every local assembly, wherever it is, however small or large, but the working out of that must be as we are governed in the Spirit by the spirit of love; that is, love for Christ, love for God and love for the brethren.

C.S.E. Paul in writing to Philemon said, "For we have great thankfulness and encouragement through thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother" (v 7). It would just give a sense of the fragrance that we take around with us and what we disseminate among the brethren. All this would help to enhance the glory of the Head of the assembly, do you think?

C.R.B. Yes. It was "Paul the aged" writing to Philemon in a very sensitive way. He could have directed or commanded, but the way of love was to draw him willingly into this great matter. We are brought into assembly services by way of the attraction of love. It is the glory of Christ that affects every person who loves Jesus. Instinctively we think that, if this is related to the glory of Christ, everything else must take second place, everything in my life must be subordinated to the prospering of what is for Christ's glory and the local assembly. It governs where I work, what I do, where I live; the details of our lives in the working out of piety are all governed, not by rules or regulations which are only too easy to follow and are only too easy to break, but by the love of Christ which is very intimate and very delicate.

G.D.W. It is notable that Paul does not interrogate Philemon as to what he had done to make Onesimus run away; he just works as a brother in relation to the brother.

C.R.B. And brings out that not only is he loved by Paul but he is to be loved by Philemon. Onesimus was to be a link between the apostle Paul in prison in Rome and the saints in Colosse. It is very interesting that God in His ordering had seen to it that one of the Colossian brethren, Epaphras, was in prison with Paul in Rome; he was a man who was a long distance away from his local assembly but he was still combating in prayer for its prosperity.

C.G. The word zeal brings to mind Psalm 69: 9; "For the zeal of thy house hath devoured me, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me". The word zeal used here would suggest spiritual energy, but what would you say about "the zeal of thy house"?

C.R.B. It is interesting in John, chapter 2, when the Spirit of God brings that in as being remembered by the disciples, it says "it is written, The zeal of thy house devours me" (v 17). It is not 'has devoured me', which was the experience of the psalmist, but this is really a touch of the glory of the life of Jesus here that at every moment He could say "the zeal of thy house devours me". We worship as we think of the life of Jesus. The Spirit of God would say, What Jesus did as a Man was a model for you. Can we say "The zeal of thy house devours me"? It is a test, because other things come in and perhaps we miss some of the meetings as a result. But if "the zeal of thy house" were constantly a devouring matter, we should find that everything else takes second place to what is for the heart of Christ.

C.G. Be wholly in it.

C.R.B. Yes just so; young men particularly; older men by experience are held in it, but younger men and younger women need to be wholly in these things that their profiting may appear to all.

J.A.P. Transparency is very instructive in this passage, coming down to piety. It says in verse 21 "for we provide for things honest, not only before the Lord, but also before men". Any brother that is handling money matters on behalf of the saints, and holding them for the saints, must provide things honest before all men. It is a principle with God, is it not?

C.R.B. So that it is good on the principle of witness that two brothers are involved in money matters.

J.A.P. Yes; and if I have funds on behalf of the saints I am accountable to the saints for that.

C.R.B. Yes, and you bring another brother into the matter.

G.D.P. What you say about love is very important because love does not act in an unseemly way; it knows how to act in every circumstance.

C.R.B. We are tested in these things as to whether we are in the gain of headship so that we are doing things in a way which shows that it is Christ's glory that is in view. What is seemly and comely and right, all these other things would have their own part in it for righteousness must always be the leader, but if it is Christ's glory that is governing us, then we are held in the attraction of love in what is exceedingly glorious and infinitely great.

G.D.W. You have spoken about what governs us; what is the aspect of "chosen by the assemblies"?

C.R.B. It brings in the whole question of confidence. It says in verse 22 that this beloved brother had often proved to be of diligent zeal in many things - that was good - but then the apostle adds thankfully, "and now more diligently zealous through the great confidence he has as to you". And it is a question of confidence when brothers take on a matter on behalf of the brethren. Brethren commit a matter to a brother or to two brothers and they leave it to them, they have confidence in them. Confidence is the result of love and needs to be prospered amongst us. One of the ways in which we can use diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit is to seek to be kept on this line of doing things which will increase the confidence of the brethren.

G.D.W. Is that why Peter who had great zeal naturally was asked three times, Art thou attached to me? And certain things were given him to do, following each question.

C.R.B. He had thrice denied the Lord, and the Lord searched him. He did not bring out what He felt as to the denying but He brought out His own love for Peter, The result of it was that Peter was to be found following the Lord.

G.D.W. A brother who is attached to Christ would promote confidence because we are all joined to the same Man.

C.R.B. And providing for things honest is not limited to matters of money. It has a general bearing, that we seek grace that all that we do is obviously right. If we make way for the Spirit we shall do things in a transparent, honest way so that the confidence of the brethren in us is increased.

G.D.W. This would free us from what is political or just trying to gain power, because Christ is the One that we must call attention to.

C.R.B. We do not need to waste time in talking about all these other influences which we know only too well the enemy would seek to bring in; if we are occupied with Christ's glory it necessarily removes every other influence that would come in to divert us.

G.H. I was thinking of Saul on the way to Damascus; there was a voice to him and he said "Who art thou Lord? " And the Lord said "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest", Acts 9: 5. It was the wonderful attractive features of Jesus in the saints.

C.R.B. "Why dost thou persecute me?" That is Christ's glory.

G.H. He did not say, I am the Lord, but "I am Jesus" - wonderful!

C.R.B. We were saying on Thursday that we need to be very careful to keep every feature of the truth connected with Jesus personally. Our brother Mr Linton referred to the scripture, "I am... the truth", John 14: 6. If we are not held as keeping every feature of the truth related to Jesus personally we shall find we are embarking on a course of philosophy which will not help us and will not help the brethren. Every feature of the truth that we can ever speak about is all related to what has come to us in the incarnation - "I am... the truth". "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1: 1), and everything that we shall ever know of God is all related to what shines out in Jesus. That would link with what we read in John 17. The Lord is speaking to the Father as to those that the Father has given Him. Then He says "I am glorified in them". He said earlier in the chapter "I have glorified thee on the earth" (v 4). What a matter that is for our contemplation as to the way in which the Father had been glorified by Jesus! Not only did He complete the work, but "I have glorified thee on the earth", which would relate to the joy that the Father had in every footstep of Jesus. But then the Lord says "I am glorified in them"; that would relate no doubt to the work of the Spirit in the saints so that they are preserved in relation to the Father as moving in the dignity and power of sonship, and the features that were seen in Christ personally are found for the glory of Christ and for the pleasure of the Father formed in the saints. Would that be as you understand it?

E.E.H. I am sure. Christ is the standard for everything, His love, "as the Christ also loved the assembly". His love affects us and there is a response in our hearts in relation to that.

C.R B. Just so. And this brings a certain stable purpose into our lives. So we are not going about as beating the air. We are seeking by the Spirit's power to be moving here in whatever we are occupied with in a way so that Christ can say "I am glorified in them".

E.E.H. That is, His features are manifested in them, shining out in them.

C.R.B. Very good.

B.T. Joseph set five of his brethren before Pharaoh; would that link with this? They would represent him, would they not?

C.R.B. That is interesting because they were instructed to be careful that when they were asked what their occupation was, to make it quite clear they were shepherds. And that was really one of the great glories that attached to Joseph; he was a great administrator, but really what he was doing in his administration was the action of a shepherd. He was gathering the people together, gathering even the Egyptians into cities. The purpose of his whole activity was to gather Jacob and all the brethren together around himself in relation to the prospering of what was for God.

B.T. And it was at a point when something had been arrived at spiritually just shortly before.

C.R.B. Yes, and involving the feature of patience. Because Joseph had come to his position of power some nine years before he sent for Jacob. He could have sent for him as soon as he was brought out of the dungeon but he waited for seven years of plenty and then two more years. In the patience of a shepherd he waited until the time came and then he sent for them.

J.A.P. "I demand concerning them; I do not demand concerning the world": Joseph's special concern secretly would be his brethren. I was interested in what you said before, that the Father is supreme in this world today, there is nothing moving without Him; but the Lord is concerned about the assembly and the Spirit.

C.R.B. In Ephesians 4 there are the three circles, the Spirit as operating in relation to what is inside and the Lord in relation to the dignity and authority of the fellowship; but then, as to other things, we think of one God and Father of all, who is over all as supreme. He has committed all things into the hands of the Son, but the Son is using that power in relation to the assembly. And it is the Lord and the Spirit who are operating so that the Father delights in persons in whom Christ is glorified.

C.G. In verse 5 it says "and now glorify me, thou Father, along with thyself, with the glory which I had along with thee before the world was". The note says, 'Along with, as to presence and place'. He was here on earth but He was to be glorified with the glory He had along with the Father before the world was. What would you say about that?

C.R.B. As we have been instructed, the glory in verse 5 is the inscrutability of deity, which we have no part in and are not even privileged to see. We understand there is an inscrutability in glory in love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit and we rejoice in that. That is what no doubt the Lord is referring to there. But then He refers in verse 22 to "the glory which thou hast given me". That is the glory of sonship which the Father had given to Christ in manhood - not in eternity but in manhood - "the glory which thou hast given me I have given them". That is the love of Christ in bringing the saints into the glory that He had in sonship. "I am glorified in them" I think stands related to what He says: "the glory... I have given them"; and that is extending on beyond the apostles to all those that believe through their word, but it is the glory of Christ in sonship. The third glory, in verse 24, is the distinctive glory of Christ, loved before the foundation of the world, that is the glory that we behold and adore but never share in.

C.G. Verse 22 would be a shared glory, would it not?

C.R.B. Yes, that is what the Lord has brought us into, in sonship.

 

NEW YORK

19 November 1977

Key to initials

C.R.B.- C.R.Byng, London; C.F.D.- C.F.Dadd, Plainfield; C.S.E.- C.S.Elliott, New York; A.S.H.- A.S.Hinkson, New York; E.E.H. - E.E.Hoyte, New York; G.H.- G.Hesterman, Plainfield; C.G.-C.Greenidge, Plainfield; L.MacF.- L.MacFarlane, New York; G.D.P. - G.D.Pfingst, New York; J.A.P.- J.A.Petersen, Plainfield; A.R.S.- A.R.Stevens, New York; B.T.- B.Taylor, New York; G.D.W.- G.D.Ware, New York