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THE LORD JESUS AS FOOD FOR THE BELIEVER (4)

P.M. We have considered the divine provision for the wilderness, but as coming into the land of Canaan, the people of Israel found a new source of supply, the old corn of the land. It was there before they even entered the land. For us, it is really Christ as the centre of the purpose of God, the One who belongs in that heavenly scene. It is a wonderful thing that the fellowship that we were speaking of this morning provides the sphere where the purpose of God can be enjoyed. This flows out of what we have touched already, because God’s provision for His people as they entered into the land was not the manna; it ceased. The passover did not cease; they celebrated that in Egypt and in the wilderness and it went right into the land, but the manna ceased. Now there is a new supply; not that we ever, in our Christian experience while we are here, leave behind the food that is typified by the manna – the perfection of that manhood which was seen in type on the face of the wilderness. But as we come into the land, God gives us a source of food that belongs in another scene altogether. It is Christ in the purpose of God. As partaking of it, we are strengthened for a conflict which belongs to the land. One does not particularly want to go into that, but there is a strengthening for another kind of conflict and another order of life. Colossians speaks of having died with Christ, being raised with Him, seeking the things that are above where the Christ is, having our mind on those things (Col.3:1,2). What a wonderful occupation the believer has as entering into the land and feeding on the produce of the land; “they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan that year”. In this dispensation, it is open to us to feed on the produce of the land of Canaan and unless we do, we shall not rightly take up the conflict or move here in relation to the will of God. What immediately comes in is this man with the drawn sword, who we may speak of as a type of the Holy Spirit. Joshua says, “Art thou for us, or for our enemies?”. This blessed service raises Joshua’s view. The answer was not ‘us’ or ‘them’; it was the “captain of Jehovah’s army”. The conflict is proceeding on a different level altogether. It is not that I am in my view, or others are in my view. It is that the captain of Jehovah’s army is conducting what is in keeping with the will of God for His people in order that they might settle in the heavenly territory in the enjoyment of relationships.

I thought the passage in Ephesians would help. Paul speaks of bowing his knees to “the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. This wonderful title is used in this epistle, bringing out the relationships that exist between divine Persons. When the Lord Jesus came into manhood, He entered into the relationship of Son, and the Father took the relationship of Father. Those relationships had never been known between divine Persons in that way before. If one might speak carefully, the Father rejoiced to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What wonderful relationships are in our view in Ephesians. We are raised up together, and made to sit down together in the heavenlies (Eph.2:6). We are brought into heavenly relationships, and, as enjoying those relationships, it helps us as we come out into the sphere of responsibility. I wondered if that might be something which we could enquire about.

J.C.G. Yes, it is very elevating. It is, as Mr Darby puts it in his hymn, the ‘food of heav’nly life’ (Hymn 50) that you have in mind. I wondered if you could help us about the fact that it says that “they ate of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover”. We know that in the wilderness there were other feasts, the feast of weeks in relation to the Spirit, and the feast of tabernacles. Could you help us as to the quick transfer from the passover to the eating of the old corn of the land?

P.M. Feeding on the passover would remind us of the fact that we have been secured at the cost of one precious Lamb that was sacrificed because God was going to bring His people into the land that He had in His purpose for them. The passover has that in mind. Paul set it before the Corinthians, “For also our passover, Christ, has been sacrificed; so that let us celebrate the feast ... with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”, 1 Cor.5:7,8. We are never to be far from the fact that the place which we have in divine purpose has been secured for us at such a cost, and can only be enjoyed by us as having eaten the passover.

J.C.G. So God has in mind that we should move quickly through the passover aspect of the Lord’s supper into the enjoyment of privilege. We should not linger too much; although we have exercises and responsibilities, we should always desire with the Spirit’s help to move into and enjoy the old corn of the land.

P.M. Yes, we break bread in the wilderness; it has often been said that we break bread in the sphere of responsibility. We spoke about it in our reading this morning. We wish that there were more present to break bread and remember the Lord, but we break bread in the sphere of responsibility. As we break bread, we do so in faith that the Lord will come and manifest Himself; it is Himself that makes the difference. He leads us into the sphere of divine purpose.

J.L. The people had not sowed the seed for the old corn of the land. I was thinking about what has just been said, that we are helped to move from the sphere of responsibility into the enjoyment of divine purpose. Was it God’s provision for them which they had no particular part in other than to enjoy?

P.M. Yes, and even while we are still here, it is open to us, indeed it is normal for us, to live in the sphere of divine privilege. We shall never rightly take up the conflict if we are not living in the sphere of divine privilege.

T.C.M. In the first reading, we spoke about the manna which, if left, deteriorated. We need to understand that properly, but there would be nothing of that character with this old corn of the land. Would it be purely what is of divine provision?

P.M. Yes, it is what Christ is to God in that world. God purposed in Himself to head up everything in Christ. Think of what Christ is to God; the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father. In John’s gospel, through the service of the Spirit and the service of Christ, the Father would bring us to have a view of those relationships that exist between divine Persons and to see that the relationships which we enjoy flow out from these divine relationships.

D.J.W. How do we eat today? Is it contemplation? What would you say?

P.M. Through occupation in prayer and meditation and reading. Reading is essential, it helps our minds. We are to have our minds on the things above (Col.3:2), but in Ephesians, Christ is to dwell through faith in the heart. Now we cannot always have our minds centred on Christ personally. We have work to do and other responsibilities, but characteristically we would desire to have our mind on the things that are above. There should always be a dwelling place by faith for Christ in the heart of the believer. He longs to fill the heart, and it seems to me that through contemplation and prayer He assumes a larger place in our affections. Would you agree with that?

D.J.W. Certainly. Our minds do need feeding, our minds need constant occupation with something and that has to be Himself.

P.M. That is important, because the renewed mind is the result of the believer being indwelt by the Spirit and giving place to the Spirit. I trust all here who are old enough have the gift of the Holy Spirit, because the Father loves to give the Spirit. In each one of us who has the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we receive Him and commune with Him, the renewed mind is formed and it needs the food that you are speaking of, the old corn of the land.

G.B.G. In the typical teaching, the people of Israel were in one place then the other, the wilderness then the land. It is not exactly like that in Christianity, is it? While we are actually in wilderness conditions individually, we can enjoy something of the land. When we are together, we would never think of anything else but being occupied with Christ and what is positive. The greater test is when we are not together, but is it still open to us then to enjoy heavenly food? Although when we are together, we enjoy it collectively, it is still available to us individually.

P.M. What you say is right; it is essential. We need the manna in the wilderness, we feed on it, but in our Christian pathways, we cannot divide these things up – they go on together. We touch something collectively which is outside of all that is here, and in the service of God we leave the wilderness completely behind. We are not occupied with our sins, not occupied with the responsibilities of the testimony; we are occupied with the One who is the centre of God’s purpose. But individually, if I am to move here rightly, in dignity and in power, I must feed on that heavenly food.

M.C. John wrote “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father), full of grace and truth”, John 1:14. Does that bring out the value of contemplation? It would bring a richness into our souls.

P.M. That is helpful. John then went on to write “for of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace” (v.16); that is the result of contemplation. Think of what that means, “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”. It is almost as if John says, ‘We have never seen anything like this before, it is of that character’. It is an affectionate relationship which came into expression and so he wrote, “of his fulness we all have received”.

P.A.G. Why does it add at the end of verse 11 after the unleavened loaves, “and roasted corn on that same day”?

P.M. I thought that while we touch and enjoy and feed on what is entirely of a heavenly character, there is a reference here to the way in which our entrance into it has been secured. The One who was ever in the purpose of God has tasted death for everything (Heb.2:9). Would you agree with that?

P.A.G. Yes; the thought would bear on what we were speaking about in relation to John 6, how Christ has been made available to us. I wondered if there was also a link with the fact that “in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”, Col.2:9. The roasted corn is the very essence of the thing. It is not unleavened bread, but it is the essence of what is there, in a way that is available. As roasted, it can be taken in.

P.M. It is a helpful enquiry as to “in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”. Then Paul wrote “and ye are complete in him”. Christ is made available to us to feed on, and we find that the heavenly food is sufficient in its fulness for all that the saints require. We are filled full in Him!

D.A.B. Following up what has been said about things having to be separated for us for the sake of teaching, we have to learn precept by precept, but we should not think that soul exercise is broken up in that way. I feel that there is no exercise in the soul, however deep and moral it may be, that can be rightly followed through without an impression of the purpose of God. Otherwise I make myself my object and really get nowhere in relation to my possession of the land. Is that right?

P.M. It certainly should be. You get examples of it in Galatians; “because ye are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father”, Gal.4:6. God takes us up because of what we are in His purpose; that makes nothing of me but everything of God. He takes us up and works with us in view of bringing into expression what He had in His purpose. That involves coming to Christ as Head and changing our head, knowing that we have our origin in another Man and not according to flesh. These things have to be worked through, but they are all worked through in soul exercise from the viewpoint of what the believer is in the purpose of God.

D.A.B. There may be young people here who have a lot of inward soul exercise, who think that what you are presenting this afternoon is something that awaits the resolution of those exercises. But we cannot afford to put off entering into this. I was thinking that the Israelites brought unleavened bread out of Egypt. We could say that there was a lot about them that they had to judge, but that was not God’s view. “Let my son go” (Exod.4:23); that was His purpose, was it not?

P.M. Yes, and He never let go of that although they did. They fell from that standing but He never did. However early it may be in our histories, it helps us in our soul exercise to see that God has put in a claim upon us in redemption and that is involved in the passover. He has put in a claim upon us because He has purposed to bring us into a relationship that could only be established through the death of Christ.

D.A.B. So going back to what you said about the heart, God said, I have brought them into the wilderness to speak to their heart (Hos.2:14). That was about His purpose!

P.M. In the wilderness He proved their hearts. They had to come to it that the reproach of Egypt had to be rolled away. It was not reproach in Egypt’s eyes, it was reproach that the people of Israel carried in the sight of God. That had to be rolled away, had to be dealt with in the cutting off of the flesh, because they were His people and they were going to take up the inheritance in His land.

R.T. Thirty-eight years before this, Caleb ate of those fruits of the land. He tasted those grapes and it kept him alive.

P.M. Yes. All the exercises of the wilderness did not alter his view. The murmuring of the people of Israel, their turning aside, the wandering in the wilderness – nothing changed his view. He had the land in his heart, and that really will help us. Young people going through soul exercise, get a view of what Christ is to God, and what you are to God. That will stabilise you in the exercises through which you pass.

R.T. The rest of the people died because they murmured, but Caleb was resting his soul on the place that divine purpose had given him.

P.M. What you are saying is so vital because we are in times of exercise, and young people may get unsettled by them. We have to face the exercises in the light of the purpose of God.

R.T. It has been said that we were saints in purpose before ever we were sinners in practice.

P.M. What a stabilising effect that has on the soul! It makes nothing of me. God took me up long before I had any thought for Him; I was in His purpose long before I turned to Him in repentance. It makes nothing of me; it makes everything of God. Early in Ephesians, Paul says “ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves”, Eph.2:8. May we never forget the way in which God has moved towards us because He had His purpose for us.

J.D. Paul speaks about not being “disobedient to the heavenly vision”, Acts 26:19. That must have helped him greatly and accelerated his progress in these exercises that we have been speaking of.

P.M. That is helpful, because in the heavenly vision he came to know the Man who was the centre of that universe. That is the ground of stability, to come to know the Man!

J.D. The brightness of the heavenly light that appeared to Paul might immediately have given him some impression that he was going to appear before Christ holy and blameless in love (Eph.1:4). Do you think he had these thoughts in his heart, and from that standpoint he was able to work out the exercise?

P.M. Yes indeed, and he traces it right back, when he wrote, “God, who set me apart even from my mother’s womb”, Gal.1:15. Think of Paul taking a backward look, and then a forward look. He could do it because he had seen the One who was the centre of God’s universe. Our blessing does not depend on us; it depends on the Man who is in the presence of God. If it depended on me, I might enjoy it today and lose it tomorrow, but our blessing rests on God’s thoughts as to Christ, and that He has taken me up in Him; a wonderful thing!

R.Gr. Do you think that the old corn of the land includes the revelation of divine relationships? Would the way in which divine Persons work with each other and let us observe their workings be a help to us in our working out of exercises here?

P.M. I think that is very helpful. John 17 would help us to get a view of how the Father and the Son were working together in view of the people of God. It was not only that “the men” were not to be lost, but that they would come right in, as the Lord says, “where I am they also may be with me, that they may behold my glory ... for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (v.24). What a statement that is!

R.Gr. Our relationships with one another may come under pressure, but the line you are on now would help us to feast our minds and fasten them on this One in whom God is going to head up all things.

P.M. Yes; as feasting upon Him, we would come out in the dignity that belongs to those who are associated with that blessed Man in the presence of God.

R.D.P. It says earlier in this book that Jehovah began to magnify Joshua (Josh.3:7). Paul wrote that God had revealed His Son in him (Gal.1:16). In other epistles like Colossians, there is a great expansion in the appreciation of the greatness of Christ. We move beyond Christ in relation to ourselves; it is Christ in relation to God. He revealed His Son, and Paul fed his soul on this. It was Christ not now exactly in relation to this scene where He had been in suffering and reproach, but in relation to the whole of God’s thoughts. The beginning of Colossians is so full of the greatness of Christ! Do you think the old corn of the land is tasted when we move from the work of Christ to the person of Christ and we begin to feed upon that One, and what He is for God?

P.M. That is vital, and it changes our outlook completely. Where was Paul when he was feasting on that? In a Roman prison! We might wonder how he could be enjoying the produce of Canaan, but it was the Man who filled His heart in the place in which Paul was. I might rest in the blessings that are available through the death of Christ, and they are wonderful, but it is a far greater thing to rest in the enjoyment of the Man in whom everything is centred for God.

J.C.G In Revelation, the overcomer in Ephesus was given a promise that he would eat of the “tree of life which is in the paradise of God” (Rev.2:7); that is really Christ. Everything that has been made known of God in divine purpose is seen in Him, and we feed on that.

P.M. It is seen in these wondrous relationships that came into expression in a way that had never been before. Think of divine Persons, Those who we now know as the Father and the Son, moving into these relationships. What was it for, why did They do it? It was not only to deal with the sin question, as vital and necessary as that was, but it was to bring men into the enjoyment of relationships that are outside of this world altogether and centre in divine Persons as the objects of that order of life.

D.J.W. It says Joshua “lifted up his eyes”. Does our view always have to be beyond where our feet are?

P.M. Yes, it has been said that it is the little bit that is beyond you that helps you! “Let thine eyes look right on”, Prov.4:25.

N.J.H. Was the ground of conflict changed at the death of Stephen?

P.M. Yes, when he looked into heaven.

N.J.H. You referred to the man with the drawn sword, which refers to the Spirit. Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. What he said seemed different to what the apostles had stood for earlier. He said to the Jews “ye do always resist the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:51); they had done that in opposition to Christ and also against what came out in testimony in the apostles. But Stephen was on new ground, Christ where He is.

P.M. And at that point the centre of God’s operations was moved from Jerusalem to heaven. We do not have an earthly centre, we have a heavenly one, because our Head is in heaven. Persons might ask when you go to school, ‘Where is the headquarters of your church?’ Well, you can tell them it is in heaven, because the Head of the Church is there! At the stoning of Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit had some sense that God was moving His testimony, centred previously in Jerusalem, to another world altogether. Stephen saw the One who was the object of it. Have I seen Him there? The Spirit would help us to lift up our eyes to see Christ where He is in that scene, beyond the area of conflict. Psalm 2 would help us, “I have anointed my king upon Zion, the hill of my holiness” (v.6). It is outside the reach of man in his violence, but God has set Christ there and established Him, and Stephen got a view of Him.

Q.A.P. It was the Son of man that Stephen saw. The Lord Jesus said “no one has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven”, John 3:13. It is remarkable that the Lord said that when He was here.

P.M. Yes it is, and shows that even in the time of His own service in Jerusalem, He was looking on to the day when He would be in relation to all men in a universal way, not only in relation to Israel. The title Son of man would suggest what He is in a universal sense, and the Lord was looking on to that. Stephen saw it; God was going to move in a wonderful way to take up the Gentiles, those who had no right to the blessing, and that is what has happened. But He is taking us up, not in view of an earthly inheritance, but in view of a heavenly portion with Christ.

D.A.B. Can you explain why this captain is a reference to the Holy Spirit?

P.M. Well, we might view this man as a type of the Spirit, because the power for movement and conflict in the land is dependent on the Holy Spirit. The authority of Moses had led the people of Israel through the wilderness, but when we come to what the land speaks of, there is what is spiritual in view. We are facing spiritual conflict and in order to face it, we need to be dependent on the Spirit of God.

D.A.B. The people had come over the Jordan, which represents what Christ has done to bring us into the land. In the book of the Acts, the work of Christ had been accomplished, but the testimony from then on is in the charge of the Holy Spirit. It has always been a great comfort that at the end of the apostolic phase which we read about in that book, Paul said that the Holy Spirit testified in every city (Acts 20:23). That continues, does it not? It is as if this Captain is still here. He is not an apostle, the Spirit is greater than an apostle, greater than Joshua, and He is still here. The Spirit has nothing less in His mind than that we should sufficiently possess the inheritance to be able to feed on it.

P.M. Do you believe that the Spirit is still here?

D.A.B. Absolutely, yes; I cannot imagine how I would feel if He was not!

R.Gr. Why do you ask that?

P.M. Do we all believe that the Spirit is still here? He is! We could not have a view of the heavenly inheritance were it not for the Spirit. We could not have power for the conflict were it not for the Spirit. The Spirit is still here, and will be here until the saints are taken. As captain of Jehovah’s army, He has it all in control. I need faith in the Spirit and dependence upon Him, but there is no question that the Spirit of God is still here.

D.A.B. We could not have fellowship together without Him.

P.M. No, we could not, nor could we have a part in the service of God. We are dependent on the Spirit for all these wonderful privileges which are open to us. When the saints are raptured and the Spirit leaves this scene, and there will no longer be His restraint of evil, evil will rush like a flood. At the moment, He is bringing demonstration to the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment (John 16:8), but when the church is raptured and the Spirit gone, that demonstration will be removed and evil will rush like a flood.

D.B.R. It is interesting that Joshua is brought to the point of worship. I think it confirms what you are saying that the captain is a type of the Spirit, and the Spirit is God. I think that we need to have some enlightened sense that the Spirit has come from a glorified Christ. What dignity is really involved in the presence of the Spirit in that way.

P.M. Yes, He has come from a glorified Christ and brings a report of all that is proceeding where that glorious Person is. The Spirit is an object of worship because of who He is, and not only because of what He does. We are thankful for what He does in His service, but He is an object of worship because of who He is! That tests me as to how well I know Him personally.

D.B.R. Yes, so Joshua addresses this captain as my lord. We need to learn subjection to the Spirit, and to His leading. He is leading us heavenward, leading us into heavenly regions. How dependent and subject we should be to the Holy Spirit.

P.M. I am sure that is so; we could not do without Him.

T.C.M. The armoury in Ephesians 6 ends up with “the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word” (v.17). The man had the drawn sword in his hand. We must be governed by God’s word in everything we do.

P.M. Governed by it, and dependent on the Spirit for the opening up and understanding of it. If you gave the Bible to an unconverted man, he may regard it the same as any other book; he would look at it as a history book. I trust that it is not a history book to anyone here. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures are to become God’s word to me, and reach right into my soul.

R.Gar. The Lord waited until 1947 before introducing to us the greatness and glory of the person of the Spirit as One to be worshipped. There had been ministry through the previous one hundred and fifty years in relation to the assembly, the service of God, sonship, but then the Lord seemed to indicate that the time had come for the recognition of who the Spirit is in the glory which belongs to Himself as one of the Godhead. Then we could understand more of His service in opening up to us these great truths which belong to the land and take us into it for our enjoyment.

P.M. The exercises that younger persons may go through have been referred to. Many of us would have to say that we have so little understanding of divine things, but we can ask the Spirit to open them up to us, not just once but we can keep speaking to the Spirit about them. He would love to unfold to us the world that centres on Christ. He would love to unfold to us what the assembly is in the divine view, and give us a view of the purpose of God that has never changed. The Spirit would do that, and help us to touch, not only objectively but in reality in our souls, the substantiality of what God is bringing through even in times of breakdown. The Spirit would help us to see it and to prove it in our own souls.

J.B.I. It is interesting that it says that Joshua looked and “behold there stood a man before him”. Do you think our eyes have been opened to apprehend the Spirit in this way?

P.M. Yes, apprehending Him and coming to appreciate Him, not only as an influence but as a Person. He is not only a power, He is a divine Person. The Lord Jesus brings that out emphatically in John’s gospel with the constant references to “He”; “But when he is come”, “He shall glorify me”, “he shall receive of mine” (chap.16:13-15). The Holy Spirit is a divine Person with the feelings of a divine Person. He is easily grieved. May we not grieve Him, but may we keep company with Him.

R.T. It says “he that has raised up Christ from among the dead shall quicken your mortal bodies also on account of his Spirit which dwells in you”, Rom.8:11. That would give us to be careful in His presence.

P.M. Yes, because our bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor.6:19). How do I use my body, what do I do with it? Do I put it into dangerous situations? It is the temple of the Holy Spirit. It would help me to be careful in His presence, because finally God is going to quicken these mortal bodies “on account of his Spirit” which dwells in us (Rom.8:11).

R.T. It is to be formative. I feel very much that we sometimes do not pay very much attention to the Lord’s supper and the formative effect it can have on us if we give ourselves time to think about it.

P.M. We were reminded earlier today that the Lord Jesus, in giving us the Supper, says “Take, eat” (Matt.26:26); it is to build up a constitution in us, to form us in view of the sphere into which He Himself would lead us.

J.A.B. Would that constitution be what Paul described as the “inner man”, “to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man”? Could you explain for us what you understand by the “inner man”?

P.M. Well, you help us.

J.A.B. We have been using words like ‘constitutional’. What you have been bringing before us is to build up something in our affections towards the Lord Jesus, and in what God has done in us, that is real. It is more real than our physical bodies are because it is eternal; the inner man is eternal. I would trust that as a result of our conversation, and what we are enjoying, the inner man in everyone in this room who is a believer has been strengthened with power. Would that be right?

P.M. I think what you say is helpful. It is an individual reference, is it not? The new man is collective, but the inner man is what has been formed in the individual through the operation of the Spirit and the work of Christ. We are in mortal conditions, but the inner man is more real than the outward man that perishes. My exercise would be to seek by the Spirit to build up the constitution of that inner man in relation to the purpose of God. That was what Paul was praying for here.

D.A.B. What is the inner man’s diet? What does he eat?

P.M. Christ!

D.A.B. As has been said, the inner man is just as real as our physical bodies. No one could get through a day without eating, but how long do we sometimes neglect the inner man?

P.M. That takes us back to where we started in these readings as to the daily collecting of the manna. It is essential that we start each day with an impression of the perfection and the order of manhood of Christ, and not only at the start of the day. I know it is easy for those of us who are retired from work to say these things, but we have worked in our time and it is important to take even a few minutes to occupy our minds and affections with the things of Christ. That all helps in building up the constitution of the inner man.

D.A.B. The inner man understands why God took him up and that He is going to suit him for the place which He has purposed for him. God does that by the way He feeds the inner man.

P.M. God has nothing less in mind than that Christ should be formed in the saints. He has no other order of man. He set aside Adam, but He has taken up another order of man altogether and He will only have Christ in His presence. It was quoted in the earlier reading:-

‘Every circle gathered round Thee

Yields of Christ some beauteous ray’. (Hymn 83)

That is what is being formed now. Do I want to hinder that work or go away from it? That work is proceeding in the circle of fellowship, and heavenly things are enjoyed. That circle is for our protection and enjoyment, but it is in view of us being brought into relationships which are eternal.

P.J.W. Do you think Daniel and his three companions would be a good Old Testament example of what we are saying? The world would feed them on the king’s delicate food, but Daniel purposed in his heart; they were given pulse and water and their countenances became fatter and fairer than all the other youths (Dan.1:8-16). Is that like the inner man?

P.M. That is very helpful. A lot could be drawn from the history of Daniel, a man who went through four reigns, and who was told to go and stand in his lot at the end of the days (Dan.12:13). He had the habit of opening his windows towards Jerusalem in prayer (Dan.6:10). He was not looking at the ruin. We might say that the church is in breakdown, and so it is publicly. But let us feed on heaven’s food and in principle have our windows opened towards Jerusalem. Let us get a view of the city which is unassailable and unchanged and will shine in all its glory, having the glory of God in a day to come (Rev.21:10).

D.M.C. Do you think we should be sensitive to the Spirit’s voice; “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”, Rev.22:17? We should be in accord with that, and waiting for that final movement into the land?

P.M. The bride is in accord with that!

D.M.C. The bride is, but am I?

P.M. It does not say the Spirit and the bride should say come or will say come; it says “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. There is complete unison between the Spirit and the assembly; she has the same feelings as the Spirit has in relation to Christ, totally in accord with the perfection and glory of that blessed Man!

D.B.R. I would value your impression as to the Father’s Spirit. We know there is the title of Spirit of God, which is objective, and Spirit of Christ is subjective, but what would you say about the Father’s Spirit?

P.M. I have wondered whether the Father’s Spirit towards us and working in us would form in us something of the delight that the Father has in relation to Christ.

‘In Thy grace Thou now hast brought us

Sharers of Thy joy to be,

And to know the blessèd secret

Of His preciousness to Thee.’ (Hymn 277)

Would that come through the working of the Father’s Spirit?

D.B.R. The reference to the Father would bring before us the source of all blessing. The Spirit’s operations would come from that Source, and it is all centred in a blessed Man in heaven. Mr Taylor said that the Christ of Christianity is the Christ where He is¹.

P.M. Yes, and it is important for us to come through to that. We have been speaking a lot in these meetings as to His death, and we need the bearing of that constantly, but life in its fulness is maintained in the relationship with the Man who is living in the glory. There is no other centre for Christianity than a living Man in the presence of the Father, and that involves relationships. We were speaking this morning as to relationships. While fellowship in the way in which we were speaking of it may cease in the eternal day, relationships will pervade that sphere. We are brought into relationship with divine Persons and with one another.

D.B.R. They are not only heavenly relationships, they are eternal relationships. The Father’s Spirit would bring us into the sphere where these eternal relationships are enjoyed.

P.M. And we can enjoy them now. That is the intent of the service of the Father’s Spirit, that we might touch these relationships now.

R.D.P. In John 16, the Lord says that “In that day”, He would not demand of the Father for the disciples, but that “the Father himself has affection for you, because ye have had affection for me” (v.27). It is as if He would bring them not only under the Father’s care and love, but into the full array of the Father’s affections because they had had affection for Him. Is there something of the Father’s Spirit in that?

P.M. Yes, that is very fine. Affection for Christ in the scene of testimony is answered by the Father’s Spirit bringing us into the enjoyment of relationships in the sphere of privilege. We have at the close of this passage “to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us, to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus”. The assembly in Christ Jesus is what God has in view in His purpose; not only the Man, but “the assembly in Christ Jesus”. It is really one entity. We have been helped to see that it is not Christ and the assembly in this scripture, but “the assembly in Christ Jesus”; a creature vessel taken up in that glorious Man, the object of divine purpose, the subject of divine working, but there in Christ Jesus for the glory of God. What an answer!

Reading at Grangemouth

9 August 2014

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