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Communion with God
Later Ministry by G. R. Cowell
– Part Four

 
Communion with God
Running, Walking, Standing
Anchor of the Soul
The Body, The Kingdom, The House		 Features of First Love
The Beloved
The Beginning and the End
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COMMUNION  WITH  GOD
Genesis 3: 8; Leviticus 26: 2-4, 11-13
Genesis 5: 22; 1 John 1: 3-7; Revelation 22: 1, 2
Reading at South Shields, February 16, 1963
Right Representation of God, Notes of Meetings, 5: 85-86
Very brief notes taken at random.
Mr. G. R. Cowell fell asleep 3 days later on February 19, 1963.


G. R. Cowell, 1898-1963

Each of these Scriptures refers to walking. Walking denotes communion.

Enoch and Noah walked with God. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him”.

David remarked, “Thy condescending gentleness has made me great”.

The damsel arose and walked. The paralyzed man went into the temple “walking and leaping and praising God”, Acts 3:8.

Enoch had fellowship with God. Walking would touch the thought of obedience – Leviticus 26: 3, 12. We form part of the true tabernacle – part of God’s habitation.

The street is in perfect surroundings, but God would walk among us in the scene of opposition and in the wilderness path.

The way of holiness – Isaiah 35: 8 – is connected with our walk with God.

We cannot prove we know God unless we keep His commandments. Be full of joy. God is love, there is no darkness.

We need sustenance in the path – perennial river and tree of life – Revelation 22: 2.

On either side of the river, was there the tree of life.

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RUNNING,  WALKING,  STANDING
Philippians 3: 13-17; 4: 1
Ephesians 2: 10; 4: 1-6; 6: 10-13; 1 Corinthians 16: 13, 14
Revised brief notes of
an address at South Shields, February 16, 1963
Right Representation of God, Notes of Meetings, 5: 87-92


“They that wait upon Jehovah shall renew their strength … they shall run, and not tire; they shall walk, and not faint”, Isaiah 40: 31.

Paul speaks of his own energy in the race in Philippians. The race supposes we are always increasing in our knowledge and apprehension of our calling on high,

The Apostle brings in the link between running and walking.

Ephesians develops the walk a great deal, but says nothing about the race.

Finally, the thing is to stand. The enemy is attacking. The Christian position is like a beleaguered city.

We are surrounded by the enemy, and so he says,

May the Lord help us in these three things, running, walking and standing.

“May we here our strength renew.
Mount with eagle’s wings above,
Run the race with Him in view.
Faint not here, but walk in love”.

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ANCHOR  OF  THE  SOUL
Hebrews 6: 17-20; 10: 19-23; 13: 10-16
Reading at South Shields, February 17, 1963
Right Representation of God, Notes of Meetings, 5: 92-94
Very brief notes taken at random
during the Reading on Lord’s Day afternoon


In Hebrews 6 the expression “anchor of the soul, both secure and firm, and entering into that within the veil”.

God comes out with a view to man going in. The Lord is our forerunner and He secures our place within the veil.

Lay hold of hope which is before us. In Genesis 12 there is the promise; and also in Genesis 22.

The God of peace has no room for agitation, only adoration. The anchor of our souls keeps us stable so that we are not moved by winds of doctrine.

The confession of faith is not enough – we want living hope in our souls.

All our needs are met at the Throne of Grace. But let us not forget the needs of others.

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THE  BODY,
THE  KINGDOM,  THE  HOUSE
Ephesians 2: 22; 4: 4-6
1 Corinthians 1: 9; 10: 16-18; 2 Corinthians 13: 14
Reading at Birmingham, February 11, 1963
Right Representation of God, Notes of Meetings, 5: 58-84


G.R.C. I thought we might consider – for want of a better word, and because it is a word that is often used – the ‘position’ and the question of Christian fellowship, which involves a path.

According to Ephesians 4 the position is a threefold one and it is contingent upon the gift of the Holy Spirit;

1 Timothy develops really that verse “One God and Father of all, who is over all”, because 1 Timothy deals with the house of God.

Now this threefold position in which we are placed sovereignly by God in grace, is the position in which every one who has the Spirit is placed.

E.R.S. Is that the impregnable position, the citadel the Lord Jesus spoke of, “On this rock I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”, Matthew 16: 18?

G.R.C. Quite so. “My assembly” not only involves what the assembly is to Him as His body, but what the assembly is as the house of God, the assembly of the living God.

E.R.S. What you are saying gives us a broader view of the position. It is a word that has been sadly misused has it not? And you are helping us, I think, to see the breadth of the view from the divine side.

G.R.C. That is it.

E.R.S. I wondered too, if I may just ask further, regarding your reference to 1 Timothy 3 which I think you have in mind as to God’s house.

G.R.C. One thing it brings out, I think, is that the manifestation of God in this world was in a Man in Whom piety was perfectly seen.

E.R.S. I am sure it is, thank you. What you are saying is helping us, I am sure, because the apostle says that we are to know how to behave ourselves in that house; and I wondered if the last verse which you are speaking of now is to help in relation to that!

G.R.C. It is only in a path of piety that we can maintain the behaviour suited to God’s house.

E.R.S. Had you in mind then, that though 1 Timothy 3: 16 was primarily and outstandingly the pathway of the blessed Lord Jesus Himself, each one of those things in detail is to be seen, in some measure, in all who follow Him?

G.R.C. Yes – in the principle of it. Of course we are not preached among the nations as He is, but we are to be in accord with the preaching;

C.R.H. One feature of the mystery of piety in that passage is “believed on in the world”. Is that why the Lord could utter the remarkable word, “Ye believe on God, believe also on me”?

G.R.C. Well, I think so. And it is the manifestation of God, in the path of piety of the saints, that makes way for Jesus to be believed on in the world.

M.R.H. Would the matter of piety be involved in the way of holiness of which you spoke in your prayer?

G.R.C. Yes. For Jesus trod the way of holiness – we could not say anything else than that.

E.R.S. He was still separated from sinners.

G.R.C. He was. He was separated from sinners when He was sitting down amongst them.

Now in connection with the fellowship, I regard it as having two aspects – one is walk and the other is sharing in common.

E.R.S. So what was lost in the garden of Eden – God, as it were, coming down and seeking fellowship with men but not finding it – was found in the seventh from Adam, Enoch.

G.R.C. Very good. It was not segregation. Enoch walked with God

C.R.H. Does John’s first epistle, chapter 1: 3, confirm what you say as to that first element of fellowship being with God?

G.R.C. Yes, I think that passage is most important. It brings in the thought of walk.

E.R.S. Could you help us please on the difference between walking and practising? Is it something deeper, that covers, as it were, inward as well as outward behaviour?

G.R.C. It is behaviour that springs out of communion with God, is it not?

E.R.S. Well, I would like help on that. We sometimes use “walk” when we speak of a person walking godlily, meaning that he behaves in a godly way, but I wondered whether there is any suggestion of something deeper than that.

G.R.C. I think so. Walking with God is something very vital and inward, as well as what is outward. It expresses itself in the outward behaviour.

C.R.H. John the Baptist looked on Jesus as He walked. Would that help?

G.R.C. Yes, that does help. Because it is something you can see – there is the outward effect of what is inward –

C.R.H, So the result of that walk was that two of John’s disciples followed Jesus, and then had the wonderful privilege of abiding with Him that day.

G.R.C. So that unless we are following Jesus we cannot properly walk together. He has marked out the path that we tread. We are to walk as He walked.

H.E.C. We walk in the light as He is in the light, and have fellowship with one another.

G.R.C. That is it. That chapter is very important, because it so confirms this idea of walk; and what our brother has said is right –

B.D. So Paul puts it in Romans “the gifts and the calling of God are not subject to repentance”, Romans 11: 29 – they were not recalled.

G.R.C. No. The position stands. You could link it with what it says in 2 Timothy 2, that

But now the next thing is, are we prepared to be faithful to the position? Are we prepared to tread a path consistent with the position?

C.R.H. Does fellowship involve questions of light and darkness, because following the statement that our fellowship is with the Father it says,

G.R.C. Well now, that verse you quote is a very important one. Before it speaks in 1 John 1 of having fellowship with one another, the first thing is,

E.R.S. Is that why we feel increasingly that fellowship stands very closely connected with the Lord’s Supper? It is fellowship with Him.

G.R.C. I am sure that is right. What has impressed me in Romans in that connection is that in chapter 7 the soul says,

K.P. So verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 1 must come before verse 10. The individual matter first before

G.R.C. Yes. That is, we must be committed to these things first. That is why I think Romans 7 is so important.

E.R.S. That is the order, is it not, Romans 8 following Romans 7? I am thinking of what we well know – the continuation – going on to chapter 8, it says,

G.R.C. That is it. There are others.

E.R.S. Would you say that as we may experience, in any measure, walking with God, and having fellowship with God – the normal outcome is that there will be others on that line?

G.R.C. The scripture seems to suppose that. The Lord in Matthew does not seem to suppose that it will come down to less than two or three, because it is His pleasure, no doubt, to maintain something of assembly character which requires two or three.

E.R.S. And Timothy speaks of “with those”.

G.R.C. That is right – “with those” – and that is just as much a commandment as the other. There is the command,

C.R.H. Do you think that sometimes we might be inclined to think that this standard of fellowship is too high? Is that why the verse you were quoting in John’s epistle immediately goes on to speak of the provision of the blood of Jesus Christ His Son – to keep us?

G.R.C. It is. That is a most beautiful verse because “walking in the light” is more than any of us could afford to do

C.R.H. Is that why David in Psalm 32 says, “While I kept silence my bones waxed old”, then he goes on to say, “I acknowledged my sin”. Is it our slowness to confess that results in “waxing old”?

G.R.C. That is it. The principle of maintaining fellowship with God or with one another is that principle of acknowledging.

P.W. So that David, in relation to the prophecy of Nathan, had a traveller call on him there. If he had not entertained the traveller, there would not have been sin conceived – the thoughts and intents of the heart. A thought becomes an intent if it is not immediately judged.

G.R.C. That is very good. You mean you think that the traveller, in that case, was his thought?

P.W. Yes. A thought if it is not judged becomes an intent and the intent becomes sin conceived, in that way.

G.R.C. That is very helpful – so that we must not let these travellers stay. They come into the mind. We cannot help that, because the flesh is the flesh, but do not ask them to stay the night.

E.R.S. I think your reference is helpful as putting back this question of fellowship much earlier in our spiritual history. I never realised before that we could take up this question of fellowship as early as Romans 7.

G.R.C. That is right. So that fellowship, provided we have the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit – these fundamental things – is not a matter of knowledge or doctrine, or growth of apprehension.

P.W. “On this account many among you are weak and infirm, and a good many are fallen asleep”. In respect of David’s sin of pride in numbering the people, God came in, in judgment, on the people themselves. I am referring to your remark that God probably would not go on with the brethren.

G.R.C. No, if they go on with a man who has not acknowledged his sin, how can God go on with the brethren?

P.W. And do you think one has to be careful? Although Moses had the view of the land, the length and the breadth, God says, “Thou shalt not go up hence”.

G.R.C. Well, that is very testing, because we should never lower the level of our thoughts of the people of God, whatever their practical state.

E.R.S. It says of Moses, “yea he loved the people”, that is lovely isn’t it?

G.R.C. Yes.

E.R.S. It is significant there that, while Paul loved them so much, in writing his first letter he says,

G.R.C. I think so. He evidently was not free to go and break bread with them. As an apostle it would have been necessary for him to deal with things before he could have broken bread there. But he kept the right outlook on them and, as you say, with many tears he wrote.

E.R.S. He did not lose contact with them. Is that the difference? He shepherded them and kept in touch with them without condoning them by the outward sign of fellowship. Is that the point?

G.R.C. And you must always remember that in connection with practical enjoyment of privileges and the position we have spoken of.

E.R.S. Although the breaking of bread still continues?

G.R.C. Yes, though all the outward forms continue. We cannot claim the Lord’s Supper – no company can clam it as a matter of right – or because they are in a certain position.

K.P. So in Acts, it says they persevered in the teaching and fellowship – it is a continual matter is it not?

G.R.C. Yes, a persevering matter. The final thing in walking is the golden street. It goes right through scripture. God walks in the garden in the cool of the day, Genesis 3, and

E.R.S. Would you say a word as to the suggestion of God walking with us in 2 Corinthians 6. Is that the other side of it?

G.R.C. That is very affecting. “I will dwell among them and walk among them; and I will be their God”.

The other thought connected with fellowship that was in my mind was sharing in common, but unless you have the walk,

And so you find persons who are not true to Christian fellowship – not walking consistently with the position – know nothing of it.

B.D. Does the fellowship involve a bond? I wondered if you could say something as to that.

G.R.C. It is a sort of partnership. The fellowship is a question of fidelity to this threefold position.

Some of our brethren in the sects may surpass us in the way they carry out every natural institution.

C.R.H. Is that why the verses read in Corinthians which follow the necessity to flee from idolatry speak of communion or fellowship in connection with three matters – one is the blood, another is the body and then the altar. Does fellowship carry with it responsibility as to these matters?

G.R.C. Exactly. You see, it is a cup of blessing. Untold blessing has come to us by way of the cup, the new covenant in Christ’s blood. But it involves responsibility.

E.R.S. Does it also involve that we consider, not just our individual, our local position in the body, and our practical walk in relation to it,

G.R.C. Quite so. Independency is one of the most potent weapons of Satan at all times and especially at the present time.

E.R.S. And that is being refused in some quarters. The element of independency is becoming blatant, and I think what you are saying as to the fellowship is helping all of us.

G.R.C. It is a matter of righteousness to be true to the truth of the one body, “There is one body and one Spirit”.

E.R.S. There is a great danger, I think, of our falling to the level of a sect.

G.R.C. Well that was what I was meaning earlier on, as to the way the use of the word ‘position’ has been abused.

C.R.H. So in connection with the matter of “one body” that has been stressed, and being governed by the principle of one body, does that oneness involve the thought of unity; not merely oneness numerically, and is it based on the thought of one Spirit?

G.R.C. Yes it is.

C.R.H. So that independency really strikes at the root of unity, does it not, and oneness in relation to the Spirit?

G.R.C. It certainly does entirely, and whether we realise it or not, it grieves the Spirit and means that the most precious things will never become available to us.

B.D. So we have to use diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.

G.R.C. Yes we do. There is one body and one Spirit; and

  1. the first reference in Corinthians is to the dignity of the fellowship – the fellowship of God’s Son –

    • it is the enjoyment in common of all that God’s Son has brought in.

  2. The second is to the character of it – the fellowship of His body and blood and fellowship with the altar.

  3. But the third reference in Corinthians, “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit”, 2 Corinthians 13: 14, is the power and vitality of it which we lose if we do not maintain the truth of the one body. We lose the power and vitality of the Spirit in our collective relations.

    • He will still support us as far as He can, if one might use such a word. He will still support us as individual Christians in a path of individual devotedness; but as to collective relations, the power and vitality is gone.

E.R.S. Is that why it is so significant that after those two great epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians that is the final impression the Holy Spirit would leave with us – the maintenance of vitality in Him; and

G.R.C. I think so, it is the only resource. It really is wonderful the place the Holy Spirit has, because

M.R.H. Does recognising our responsibility precede the full enjoyment of the privilege?

G.R.C. That is it. In maintaining the responsibility, we enjoy the privilege of the position and our joy is full and the things work, of course. They interact.

M.R.H. Yes, I am sure it is.

G.R.C. And the Holy Spirit will bring in all the wealth connected with that threefold position.

E.R.S. So that the result, at the end, is that the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, who is Son over God’s house – whose house it is – and the Holy Spirit, who forms and fills that house, Themselves have joy from the saints.

G.R.C. Quite so. So that we become cupbearers, in that way. But that first verse in Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 1: 9, is comprehensive –

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