THE WORK OF GOD IN THE SAINTS (1)

THE WORK OF GOD IN THE SAINTS (1)

Ezekiel 37:1-10; Ezekiel 37:15-20; Ezekiel 37:24-28; Ezekiel 40:1-4; Ezekiel 43:1-6; Ezekiel 43:10-17

SMcC The passages that we have read are somewhat extensive and it will be apparent to the brethren that we cannot dwell on all the detail in the time that we have. What is in mind in this closing section of Ezekiel which forms a great part of the teaching, beginning with chapter 36, is the work of God in the saints, especially keeping in mind all the way through two thoughts as linked with the work of God - spirituality and mutuality. It will be apparent, as we proceed, how these thoughts enter into what is suggested in our present enquiry into the truth.

The earlier part of Ezekiel is full of judgment, and very severe judgment, but when we come to chapter 34, we get Jehovah coming in, in regard to the matter of the flock. A new day is brought to our notice and stress is laid on God’s personal care for the flock, and especially bringing up in chapter 34, as it does, the great end in mind in divine operations, namely, the whole scope of the truth; their own land, and David - wonderful type of Christ in relation to the service of God. Then in chapter 35 we have the full exposure and judgment of Edom, the inveterate opposer and hater of the people of God. Then in chapter 36, we have the introduction of the principle of the new birth, where things are established, effecting a great national change in Israel. The cleansing service of the water, as it is referred to, and the operation of the new birth suggested, all pave a way for what we now have before us in regard to the introduction of a state of life amongst the people of God. As we know, dispensationally, Israel nationally is before us in the teaching here, in the great thought of national resurrection; but as we go back into the Scripture with the help of the Spirit, it has a bearing on ourselves as we read it. One thought we might consider how this matter of life, a state of life, is brought in through the service of prophetic ministry; then the matter of unity suggested in the middle portion that we read; and the full result in mind in the end of the chapter (for the service of God is in mind all the way through in this closing section of Ezekiel); then in chapter 40 the reference at the beginning of this section to the divine standard of measure. The ministry has in mind that we should be brought to the divine standard of measure, “the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ.” In the gospels we have in the manhood of Jesus, the full thought of the standard of measure; what God is toward man in Christ and what man is towards God in Christ; and the ministry has in mind our being brought to it, so that much is made of measure.

Much is made of the divine standard in this closing section, so that in chapter 43 we should see the importance of it as brought to our attention. God coming into the matter personally in chapter 43, so that the ministry is to have a moral effect on us. That is, God is not accommodating any of our minds naturally in these times that we are together, nor in any other times like these; He is not catering to our minds academically. He has in mind that there should be a moral effect in regard to the truth, so that as a right state is arrived at as helped through the truth, more of the truth will be unfolded to us, as God said in chapter 43: 10, 11, “Thou, son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be confounded at their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. And if they be confounded at all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house and its fashion, and its goings out, and its comings in, and all its forms, and all its statutes, yea, all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof,” meaning that additional light is furnished as the ministry has a moral effect with us.

What one had in mind in the matter of spirituality in regard to this closing section - and indeed it enters into other parts of the book - is the stress on the Spirit. I am sure, if we are going to understand the work of God and to value it and appreciate it rightly among the saints, spirituality is needed, that is, a state habituated to making room for the Spirit.

WJB There is something in that, that produces restfulness; the sense that we can lean on the Spirit. We do not have to be resorting to a great deal of mental activity, but we can rely on the Spirit. Is that right?

SMcC It is a great help in a gathering like this, and a means of strengthening, that such a divine Person is amongst us, and we can rely on Him. There is a certain kind of safety in a position like this where He is amongst us and where we can make room for Him; constantly, at every turn, relying on Him and making room for Him; for how shall we reach the truth rightly, or the work of God rightly, except as making room for the Spirit?

WJH Is not the line you have indicated wonderfully confirmed in John being in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and then becoming in the Spirit to take account of divine activities, ending in the same kind of way as you have indicated in the holy city?

SMcC So that Ezekiel is the John of the Old Testament. There is a great analogy between the two ministries; the more we consider Ezekiel the more we shall see the resemblance to John’s ministry, and John’s ministry makes much of the work of God in the saints.

HJM So that in 1 Corinthians 2, both for ministry and understanding, everything is made of the Spirit and what He brings forward in the spiritual means of communication.

SMcC Paul seems to be greatly concerned in approaching the position at Corinth as to the refusal of everything that would be linked with the human mind - human intrusion into the things of God. He is determined to discredit it and to make room for the Spirit, so that his word and preaching are not in persuasive words of wisdom, but “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” 1 Corinthians 2: 4.

LF You were speaking as to the great matter of the work of God coming to light; that is very beautifully exemplified in the book of Ezekiel, is it not, when you take account of the state of the people in the earlier chapters and then think of what we have read together in these later chapters and the very end of the book?

SMcC Well it is. God is going to impress our minds with the greatness of His work because as we have been taught, in the closing section of Ezekiel it is not just something that is going to come in, it is something that exists. God is measuring what exists, and what exists, as we would say now, in the work of God in the saints.

PB You would say that spirituality and mutuality would lead the saints to take account of the pattern as being one whole as to the truth and how the form would be worked out amongst the saints?

SMcC Exactly. The first part of the chapter in relation to prophetic service stresses this matter of spirituality, in that it is being carried out in the Spirit. The middle part is to stress unity and mutuality and that makes way for the princeliness seen in David, a wonderful figure of Christ.

GHW-n Is the ministry in Ezekiel to make way for the coming in of the Lord Jesus into the midst? It ends with, “the name of the city from that day, Jehovah is there,” Ezekiel 48: 35.

SMcC Yes, God’s place is in mind as we shall see,

and the great end of the ministry in Ezekiel, as in Revelation, is that God is there. I think we should be impressed in our localities that the working out of the truth and the appreciation of the divine standard of measure has in mind that God should be amongst us of a truth.

LBG Are we in the time of the captivity?

SMcC Publicly, of course. The book opens with Ezekiel amongst the captives, but we find here that “the hand of Jehovah was upon me, and Jehovah carried me out in the Spirit, and set me down in the midst of a valley; and it was full of bones.” That is, a certain position is before us here, in which the people of God are to be served; and this extraordinary movement comes into view suggesting to our minds what involves spirituality.

JP Do the bones represent the work of God basically?

SMcC There would be a link with it. It is the basic side, as you say; but then you have the sinews, the flesh, and the skin. All that would be a part of the whole matter in the final result.

AC Would this answer to the quickening as in Ephesians? They all stand upon their feet and they are all clothed, and then Jehovah says, “I will put my Spirit in you,” verse 14.

SMcC I suppose the principle of it would enter in there. Romans would be more correct to allude to, in regard to the working out of life potentially; life in the way of power in exercises through which we pass and the great results in Romans 8; but the principle of Ephesians underlies and enters into it too.

CEJ Is that what is in mind in verse 5, “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live”? There is life, culminating in the exceeding great army in verse 10.

SMcC That is an interesting reference showing us that it is life on the higher side that would be in mind. That would be the link with Ephesians in the matter of life; but I think the work of God as it is contemplated in Ephesians 2 involves the totality of it from Pentecost to the rapture, whilst Romans is dealing with the working out of it experimentally in the saints.

NBS Would this word, “Come from the four winds, O breath,” draw our attention to the unlimited supply of the Spirit that is available and brought in through prophetic ministry?

SMcC Yes, it would point to the great range of interest in this matter; the extent and the scope of it.

JGC Do the dry bones indicate that death having come in, every moral matter has been finalised to divine satisfaction so that there is liberty for the Spirit to move?

SMcC Well, the question is as to whether that is so. It says, “And he caused me to pass by them round about; and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry.” If it says they were very dry, it does not mean that every moral matter has been finalised. I should think there is room for inquiry as to whether that is so. Why are they very dry?

PB Do we get an answer to your question in chapter 33: 30 - 31? Apparently things outwardly looked all right. “And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people keep talking of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah. And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not.” That is the answer there, is it not?

SMcC And it goes on to say, “for with their mouth they shew much love” - with their mouth - “but their heart goeth after dishonest gain. And behold, thou are unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not.” The great point in the ministry is that we should see how it bears upon us morally. It is not just a lovely song, a wonderful train of thoughts and suggestions linked together by which the mind might be enamoured, but there is a moral reaction to the ministry. What is in mind in chapter 37 is that there is a moral state to be met here in the dry bones through the avenue of prophetic ministry.

WJB So the dryness of the bones indicates a state of moral deadness. Is that so?

SMcC That is what would be in mind; something that the prophetic word has to come in in relation to. It says, “And he caused me to pass by them round about.” Why all this? This word “causing” is a very interesting word in Ezekiel, as if divine Persons are helping us on this principle, not exactly by force, though it involves a measure of authority. “He caused me to pass by them round about.” That is, we have to get a full view of the situation.

SEE So that the extent of the ruin and the deadness is not minimised, though at the same time it would magnify the work of God, as a result of which recovery is brought about.

SMcC So that all around us in the profession we are reminded of conditions like this, and it may be that they may enter in amongst us at times in our local gatherings; but what the hand of Jehovah being upon us and helping us through the Spirit would have in mind, is that we should see this matter of the work of God and the state of life that is the result of the prophetic service.

JHH I was wondering whether the psalmist went through some of these exercises when he says, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my groaning all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer. Selah.” Psalm 32: 3, 4.

SMcC Yes, it is the language of the remnant in the conditions in which they are, feeling the conditions in which they are suffering under the government of God. God has in mind here that a state of life is to be brought about.

EAK Is there instruction in that they are alluded to lower down as slain, and then as an army, bringing in the thought of what is militant?

SMcC Yes, it involves the saints as victorious. Romans is filled with military expressions: “in all these things we more than conquer.” The thought is that, as reaching a state of life in Romans 8, the believer is victorious, the saints are victorious; that is the thought in an exceeding great army. It is a matter of victory over the circumstances, causing him “to pass by them round about.” He “set me down in the midst of a valley” - it is not on the mountain here; we shall come to the mountain - we have to understand this thought of the valley to get a full view of the position and the circumstances and to see how a state of life is brought about through prophetic ministry.

FRG Does the Lord’s dealing with the woman in John 4, touching the moral matters but reaching an end with her, illustrate it?

SMcC Yes, for she says, “Sir, I see that thou art a prophet.” Immediately she says that, the Lord regards her as a subject of the work of God and enters into the great subject of the worship of God with her. She is a remarkable illustration, bringing out the Lord’s skill in prophetic service to her.

HJM I wondered if the early chapters of Acts would illustrate this in some degree, following Peter’s word? “And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a rustling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone”; life is coming in. In Acts they were found together, having all things common; but there was a great mysterious movement, was there not, following the word of Peter and the opening up of the position?

SMcC What a testimony there was in the opening chapters of the Acts in what was there substantially in these men! Peter could say to the man, “Look on us,” referring to himself and John, and the man was affected by what Peter said and held Peter and John. That is, it is a matter of contact now. We have to see this great idea of contact in relation to this matter of the work of God and the state of life. It is not just that we are set together physically, but the matter of what is organic enters into this position, as it says, “bone to its bone.” “And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. And he said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” A wonderful result in regard to this prophetic service!

RMY Do you think there is anything today that corresponds with prophesying to the wind? Is seems just a little different from the prophesying over the bones, does it not?

SMcC Yes, it is a question of divine resource coming in in the second relation. “He said unto me. Prophesy unto the wind ... Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain.” It is not a question of water here, it is a question of wind, of breath.

WHF What would the slain represent? Under what influence had these persons who were dry and required handling come as the result of moral conditions?

SMcC The history of the book would help us as to that; the teaching and all that has preceded; what has come into Israel’s history; what has come in the ways of God; and the wonderful way that God goes over matters in detail in the prophets as to Israel’s moral state. All that would enter into this as we think of its dispensational bearing.

PB Would you say more as to what you have said as to that side of the truth being connected with the wind?

SMcC Just that it is not the water side, but it is what is linked with the breath and the wind. What the Lord Jesus did in John 20 links on with it, “he breathed into them.” It is life on that pattern, life on that level.

WJH Would what the Lord says, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” touch spirituality?

SMcC Yes, it is the positive side. The Lord refers to the two things, that which is born of water and that which is born of the Spirit. The water is the negative side; the Spirit is the positive side, laying the great basis for what we have in the work of God in this setting.

WLJ Would what took place several years ago when the matter of speaking to the Spirit came up, link on with this?

SMcC Well, it might. We do not want to put more into it than is there. It says, “He said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind ... Come from the four winds, O breath.” The breath would particularly link on with the matter of the Spirit. The Lord “breathed into them, and says to them, Receive [the] Holy Spirit,” - that is, it is that kind of life.

CPP Does it link in that way with what is inward as preceding outward activities and mutuality?

SMcC Yes. You have the thought of the prophetic service bearing on the bones coming together, bone to its bone. That is a great service in prophetic ministry that things should come together in that vital way, and then “sinews and flesh came up upon them.” Notice that it is as he prophesied that the bones came together, but it is as he looked that the sinews and flesh came up upon them. That is, the adorning side of life operating in the teaching in this passage, involves the working out of things as the result of another thing; that is, the bones coming together, and then as he looked, the sinews and flesh came up upon them. We have to make room for that side.

AWG Why does the prophet say in verse 11 “these bones are the whole house of Israel”?

SMcC He is illuminating Ezekiel’s mind with what is in God’s mind in this matter, that the bones are symbolical of persons, people, the house of Israel.

RHG Does the breath involve the feelings and affections?

SMcC It is that side that is particularly stressed in John’s ministry. It is more the higher side of life, as we might refer to it, life affecting us as breath does.

FW Are the flesh and the sinews a reference to what it formative as a result of the breath having come in?

SMcC Verse 7 says, “And I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a rustling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them over.” The first result is the bones coming together, bone to its bone, as a result of prophesying. Then there is another result as he looks, not exactly as he prophesied; he says, “And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up upon them ... .” Then we have another move, “And he said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man,” and the breath comes in from that viewpoint.

WJH Does not all this line touch what you referred to at Newcastle, that most matters which arise can be met with patience by ministry?

SMcC Yes, the prophetic ministry here would have in mind this kind of condition that arises amongst the saints; dry bones, “very dry” they are called. The position is met first of all by the activity of prophetic ministry and service, and then as he looks the sinews and flesh came up upon them and the skin covered them over, as if it is a natural outcome of what happened in the first matter in verse 7.

FW Having in view the development of spirituality?

SMcC That is it. The breath brings us to the matter of the Spirit.

WJB Bone coming to its bone would refer to divine order established, would it not?

SMcC It is a structural thought, “bone to its bone.” It is essential that the prophetic ministry should have to do with that side, the structural side of the truth in regard to the saints. But then the sinews and flesh and the skin bring up another side bearing upon that.

GH Is there any suggestion of personality in the expression, “O breath”?

SMcC Well, the breath is personalised here, just as the glory is personalised. Oftentimes in the Old Testament we find things personalised. Divine Persons are involved in this great matter. As in John 20, it is the last Adam, a quickening Spirit, that breathed into them saying, “Receive [the] Holy Spirit,” a pattern of what was to come in in the Acts. A divine Person was involved in that great transaction.

DJM Would Romans 12 come in, “thus, we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other,” and the chapter finishes with “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”? Would that be the great army?

SMcC Romans lays the basis for the collective side. The truth of the body is not developed in Romans; its status is referred to as in Christ, but our attention is drawn to the links in the body between the members so that we are preserved from independency. So this state of life and what the chapter proceeds to speak about, is to preserve us from independency.

ENJ “And stood up upon their feet,” would really be the result of the Romans exercises, would it not?

SMcC That is, it is what they do here. The breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet, not on someone else’s feet, but their feet, “they stood up upon their feet.” We have in verse 8, “Sinews and flesh came up upon them,” not dry bones now. It is not mere structure and framework new. It is sinews and flesh coming up upon them, “and the skin covered them over,” showing that we come to a flexible side in the sinews and the flesh; and then “they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army,” showing how the complete position as to the valley of dry bones is overcome.

HJM Taking the general bearing and completion of the chapter, does it find an answer in the last chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, in what is wrought in the saints: “But the God of peace, who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, in the power of the blood of the eternal covenant, perfect you in every good work to the doing of his will, doing in you what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for the ages of ages”?

SMcC Ezekiel alludes to the everlasting covenant. It is a great fixed matter with God, going through all dispensations, and God is operating in relation to His own fixed thoughts of blessing in relation to His people, the resurrection of Christ standing in that relation.

FW Are you really helping us on to the thought of conditions being brought about in which the Spirit is free to operate so that there is power by the Spirit?

SMcC That is it; that is just exactly what one is trying to get at, because the great line of demarcation between us and the profession lies in a state of life amongst the saints, and that is what this chapter is dealing with. We look around and we can see the valley of dry bones, but we can see what has come in in the way of revival and recovery, prophetic ministry setting up, as it were, the saints in this state of life, so that they are victorious over these conditions which are holding so many ensnared.

FW So you change the position from a valley of dry bones to a living army in spiritual power?

SMcC That is it; energised by breath; this feature of life; the Spirit of God, as we would look at it, in them.

HJM Would you say something as to the putting together of the sticks and the making one stick? The bones came together and there was the building up and life, and then there is the putting together of the sticks and the writing on them.

SMcC That is a very interesting matter, how this putting together comes into this chapter where prophetic ministry has such a place. It is important that, on the side of “bone to its bone,” the saints should be right in their relations with one another structurally, in relation to the truth. That is a foundational matter, before the other things come about. But now we come to persons who are particularly alluded to, in Judah, and the children of Israel, his companions. “And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel, his companions. And take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions. And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thy hand.” It is a question now of unity arrived at, I take it; not so much stressing the idea of life, although life is there; but stressing the idea of love, love between the brethren, as John’s ministry stresses it from this viewpoint.

HJM Does the Philippian epistle bear upon it, in their being set together structurally, and love operating?

SMcC Exactly, so that the truth as to our Lord’s Person is not brought into Philippians to accommodate the academic mind. It is brought in with a moral result in view, a refined result in view in the saints, “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 2: 5.

JB Would the bundle of sticks being gathered together in Acts 28, come into it, the activities there of Paul in love?

SMcC That is a material matter, it is just a matter of mercies by the way, and what Paul was in an unofficial way in gathering the sticks. Here it is a moral idea, a spiritual suggestion in this matter of Judah and Joseph being brought together, Judah and the children of Israel, Joseph and Ephraim, being all brought together; that is, that Ephraim does not envy Judah, and Judah does not envy Ephraim. We have holy conditions of love in unity and in mutuality through this operation.

LGS Is that why the prophetic word is not prominent in this section? In the earlier section which has occupied us, the stress has been upon the prophetic word coming in; whereas here that is not so, is it?

SMcC No. The stress on Ezekiel’s hand is interesting. It is one thing to give a word in a meeting for ministry to promote conditions of life and to help the brethren structurally in regard to the truth; but it is another thing to be personally identified with this matter of promoting unity in love among the brethren. “In thy hand,” would mean that the matter is intensified in Ezekiel. It is not just that he is giving a word, but the sticks are in his hand, brought together, as it were, in his hand.

NBS They were to become one. Does that involve a definite change, that whereas there had been disunity, there is now to be unity?

SMcC Exactly. “They shall become one in thy hand.” Notice the stress on Ezekiel’s hand.

FRG Had Abigail that in mind in relation to helping David? When he was in danger of doing what would be destructive, she helps him and goes on to say, “the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with Jehovah thy God,” 1 Samuel 25: 29.

SMcC That allusion is very interesting. It links on with what we have here, this matter of joining these persons together. It is a real hand matter, you might say. It is not a mouth matter here, it is a hand matter. It is in Ezekiel’s hand that they are joined, as it says in verse 17, “they shall become one in thy hand.” This is a great matter; Ezekiel is a great minister, a great servant; he is a priestly man and this bringing together is particularly linked with “in thy hand.”

LF It is almost as if the Lord Jehovah identifies Himself with it, in verse 19; the word is, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah ... and they shall be one in my hand.”

SMcC Very good. That is to show us the importance and authority of the ministry in Ezekiel here, involving that, first of all, on the prophetic side the conditions of the valley of dry bones is completely met. But now it is another matter, how the brethren are going to be brought together vitally in the bonds of unity and love, and the hand is stressed and God’s hand, in principle, identified with it.

RMY Would Paul’s word beseeching Euodias and Syntyche to be of one mind in the Lord, bear on this?

SMcC That is a good reference, showing how it enters into how Paul personally takes a hand in the matter, as to bringing the brethren together. So that you might say the ministry does not involve all platform work, there is this hand work. Think of Paul in Acts 20 - “these hands” - the greatness of the minister, but what the minister was substantially! Think of what Eutychus could say about “these hands”; these arms by which he was enfolded! They enter into this matter of promoting unity amongst the brethren.

GHW-n All are affected at the same time.

SMcC Yes, that is the point in mind, that Israel, Joseph and Ephraim, Israel and Judah are brought together. That is a wonderful triumph as we think of the prophets and what they say about Ephraim! But how they are brought together is not by a prophetic word, but in Ezekiel’s hand.

HJM What had the writing in view?

SMcC That is another interesting thought. Divine Persons are serving us in these matters. In 2 Corinthians 3 the ministry of the gospel takes the place of the new covenant. Divine Persons are serving us in view of righteousness, of life, of liberty, of love and right conditions amongst us.

HJM And the servant, that is, the prophet, writes on the sticks with his hand. Does it mean that we would leave on one another permanent impressions of what the saints are in the mind and heart of God?

SMcC That is what is in one’s mind. It is not that we are dazzling the minds of the saints by great novelties in the truth. If such a real impression is left upon the saints through this kind of service, it is authoritative service because divine Persons are in this matter, as our brother was alluding to in verse 19, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions, and will put them with this, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.” So that Ezekiel’s hand is God’s hand, a wonderful allusion to Christ in a supreme way; but then in ministry how serious it is to discredit authoritative ministry as it comes from God, for God is in it.

PB The prophet says twice that he prophesied as he was commanded. Is that not important?

SMcC It is. Ezekiel is entirely amenable to the divine will in this great matter of bringing the saints together on these organic lines in life and love.

ENJ The apostle Paul at the end of the epistle to the Colossians says, “And when the letter has been read among you, cause that it be read also in the assembly of Laodiceans, and that ye also read that from Laodicea,” Colossians 4: 16. Is that on the line of joining the saints together?

SMcC It would all enter into it, but this involves more; it involves that peculiar personal identification with the matter as we have in Acts 20 set out peculiarly in Paul. He was a means, as it were, to bringing the saints together. The love that was in Christ is extended through Paul, and the love that was in Paul is extended through the saints, so that they are brought together and held together, so that the thought of “embrace” covers the chapter.

AWG Is that service divinely supported according to verse 20? “And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.” Is that the mark of divine approval and support?

SMcC It says, “the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes,” immediately after God had said, “they shall be one in my hand.” It shows the great link between divine Persons and a servant like Paul, as Paul said, “If any one thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him recognise the things that I write to you, that it is the Lord’s commandment.” 1 Corinthians 14: 37.

RLP Did you have something further in mind as to discrediting authoritative ministry?

SMcC I think it is very important. One has heard more than one allusion in this country to the ministry of our beloved brother, Mr. Taylor, entitled, ‘Paul’s Militant Ministry.’ The tendency is to discredit it. That has to be rejected entirely, because it is an intimation that the servant was not serving in the power of the Spirit of God; it has to be rejected completely in our minds!

JHH Do we see both the hand and the authority in Paul at the end of the epistle to the Galatians, “See how long a letter I have written to you with my own hand,” chapter 6: 11? Is he putting the authoritative touch on it?

SMcC Very good; showing how intimately bound up he was with the matter that he was writing about. Now the chapter goes on to David, and that should be a great thing in our minds, that “David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd.” That is, the spirituality in the conditions of life in the first part of the chapter; the conditions of mutuality and love in the body of the chapter; and now this matter of the headship of Christ, “David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: and they shall walk in mine ordinances, and keep my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt ... and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.” Now notice that mutuality does not militate against personality. Immediately we get the references to mutuality and the brethren joined together in unity and in love in the body of the chapter, God projects on to our view this wonderful idea of distinctive personality in David, seen uniquely in Christ of whom he is a type.

DJM Is the thought of a prince, personality?

SMcC Personality in the public position in the testimony. That is what the princely side peculiarly stands related to. As we know, later in the book, the prince could only go a certain length. He did not go inside. The priest could go inside, but the prince can only go a certain length, he is linked with the gate.

HJM The prince largely gives colour, does he not, to the habits and fashions and gatherings of the kingdom? They take account of the prince in the life of the kingdom, do they not?

SMcC Yes, and especially bears upon the gates and the administrative side of things, the working out of government, the regal side of things in that light. And it says, “David my servant shall be their prince for ever.” What thoughts David brings into our minds as we think of the New Testament, the Lord Jesus in the book of the Revelation as the root and offspring of David; what thoughts it brings into our minds of that kind of influence among the saints!

PB There is a wonderful touch at the end of chapter 37: 26 - 27, “I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. And my tabernacle shall be over them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” What a wonderful climax to what you have been saying!

SMcC It is indeed! “My tabernacle shall be over them,” God’s tabernacle over us! What protection there is in that! How it saves us from other tabernacles. Peter had more than one tabernacle in mind when he did not know what to say on the mount, but God would impress us with the end of all the ministry here, that “my tabernacle shall be over them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I Jehovah do hallow Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.”

AWG Does the reiteration of the word “for ever” indicate that it is a fixed matter, and inviolate; it will remain?

SMcC Yes, it is a permanent matter, and I think that is what we should have before us, permanent conditions among the saints. We are just about to enter them at any moment now, permanent conditions at the rapture; but we should be concerned about enjoying them now, as it were, among the brethren; fixed permanent conditions where life, light and love are known and enjoyed.

JWH Does this link on with Revelation 21 in relation to what is eternal? It is in the light of eternity, is it?

SMcC Yes. It is in the light of eternity, and God is bringing on to our minds David as His prince. We shall see later in Ezekiel that other princes are referred to, that have to judge their ways; but what God would bring into our minds is David, His prince, His servant; a peculiar reference to Christ and the spirit of Christ working out in every one of us as representing Christ.

CPP Would it be an Ephesian touch; the beloved introduced as linking with David, forming in Himself the two into one new man, and the service of God and a dwelling place for God in the Spirit?

SMcC Well, all that would be the great end in mind. Ephesians 2 is a remarkable illustration of the chapter that we have read. Our brother was referring to it earlier; the principle of life was there in Ephesians 2 at the beginning; and then reconciliation involving Jew and Gentile together in unity of affection, “and ... reconcile both in one body to God by the cross.” Then the happy felicitous conditions among the saints as fellow citizens of the saints and of the household of God, and then the greatness of what you referred to, God dwelling Spirit-wise in His house. It fits in remarkably with this section.