The Lord then introduces the assembly as the trustworthy vessel in which He confides, the vessel, indeed, which heaven confides in to such an extent that He says,

• “Verily I say to you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in heaven”.

• Prior to this He says, “Tell it to the assembly”.

• All this indicates what the assembly is to Christ, and what it is to heaven, regarded as a trustworthy vessel down here.

• The verses in chapter 19 were suggested, because, flowing out of the truth of the assembly, both as the great vessel of praise in chapter 16, and also as the vessel of administration in chapter 18,
  • the Lord shows that we must have a right outlook on marriage, on children and upon young people, an elevated outlook, such as was never known under the old economy.

• We are to be governed by God’s primary thoughts, and that is most important, because otherwise the personnel become disqualified.

• For instance, Paul makes it clear in writing to Timothy that no one who has a lower standard of marriage than this is qualified to care for the assembly of God.

Ques. Is it significant that while we have the son of David and the son of Abraham, the Christ, Jesus, and Emmanuel in chapter 1 of the gospel,

• in chapter 2 we have the little child mentioned eight times?

• It seems to be a governing feature of the gospel, and links with what you have quoted from Isaiah.

• The great administrator is presented as the little child; in Revelation He is a little lamb. Is that thought always linked up with what is administrative?

• I think the Lord is referred to as the ‘Lamb’ twenty-eight times in Revelation, the diminutive word, “lambkin” being used.

G.R.C. It may be there is an allusion in the early part of Matthew to the need of the mother, the maternal element to protect this feature among the saints, so that it may be preserved.

• True maternal affections, which appreciate the spirit of a little child and foster it, are much needed, because it can so easily be crushed out.

• The question immediately preceding in chapter 18 is:
  • “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of the heavens?”

Rem. Saul’s name was changed to Paul.

G.R.C. Quite so; Paul meaning ‘little’. He is a great example of a little one who believed in the Lord Jesus. He always took the place of a little one.

Rem. At the time he is first called Paul, it immediately says,

• “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

G.R.C. I think one makes way for the other. Paul speak of himself as

• “less than the least of all saints”,

• and he always remembered that he was the chief of sinners.

• Do you not think that if persons are maintained in that outlook as to themselves, the Holy Spirit has scope with them, and He will fill them?

Rem. Herod calls Jesus “the child”, but the Spirit of God calls Him “the little child” eight times.

Ques. Is it noteworthy that the little child in Matthew 2 is always mentioned before His mother?

• It concentrates our thoughts on the greatness of the Person Who was there, although in this form, outwardly, of the little child.

G.R.C. The Lord indicates in chapter 18 the importance of this matter as applied to the saints,

• “Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he” – it is the emphatic he – “is the greatest in the kingdom of the heavens”.

Ques. Do you mean that the spirit of the little child makes way for the Holy Spirit?

G.R.C. And for the Lord. It makes way for the Spirit, because, in our dispensation, our immediate relations are with the Spirit.

• So that the attitude of a little child makes way for the Spirit, but the Spirit makes way for Christ.

• At the beginning of the chapter Jesus called a little child to Him, and set it in their midst; but in verse 20 He says,
  • “where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them”.

• I think we have to read those two verses together, because two or three truly gathered together unto His name would be marked by this spirit;
  • otherwise they would not be gathered together unto His name.

• His name is so great that those truly gathered unto it would be there as little ones who believe on Him and count on Him, and He would be in their midst.

• Also, the Father’s ear is open to such, for earlier He says,
  • “if two of you” – that is two people of this kind – “shall agree on the earth concerning any matter, whatsoever it may be that they shall ask, it shall come to them from my Father who is in the heavens”.

• So that, if the spirit of the little child marks us, God will be with us in the full sense of the word.

Ques. Is there a link between sonship in the close of chapter 17, and the spirit of the little child?

• I was thinking of Isaiah 9: 6,
  • “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”.

G.R.C. Yes. We ought not to pass by the end of chapter 17, because I think the greatness and dignity of the place grace has given us here in testimony would be a lever in our souls,

• enabling us to take the place of little ones in matters of administration.

• The Lord’s word brings out the liberty of the sons of God. What marvellous grace that He should say
  • “me and thee”!

• The sons of God are under tribute to no one; we are both sons and heirs of God; all things are ours; Paul says,
  • “as having nothing, and possessing all things”.

• We are to move in the consciousness of this, and it will give a dignity to our bearing.

• We are under tribute to no one; but then we can, in liberty and magnanimity, render to all their dues, lest we offend.

• We should not offend anyone; we are to be great enough and wealthy enough to meet every claim.

Ques. Peter failed to confess who Jesus is, did he not?

G.R.C. Peter was not equal to it. We cannot help having affection for Peter, because we learn so much from him and his failures.

• Here he fails to say what he might have said about the Lord. This was temple tribute.

• What an opportunity it was to confess that the One present was the One whose house it was!

Ques. Would the spirit of the little child always meet a challenge or question like this, by referring the matter to the God who is “with us”?

• Does this passage illustrate the danger of answering such a question without reference to God?

G.R.C. It does.

Ques. Is not the appreciation of our calling our salvation?

• It has been said, “our thoughts seldom rise above service; God’s thoughts never fall below sonship”.

G.R.C. And our thoughts should not fall below sonship. We are sons on the mount, in glory; but we are still sons down here, in testimony.

• The Lord says, “me and thee”.

• If we go through this world with a sense in our souls that we are sons and heirs of God, what a dignity it will give us in meeting questions which arise in the testimonial sphere, particularly questions about Christ.

Ques. Do you think the question in chapter 17 was answered in the way it was because of the question among the disciples themselves –

• “Who then is greatest?”

• Was there personal feeling and rivalry existent among the disciples which brought in weakness?

G.R.C. It is remarkable that it says, “in that hour”.

Ques. I was just going to remark on that very thing. And would the expression the Lord uses in verse 4,

• “this little child”,

• bring something substantial before us? It says in verse 3,
  • “Unless ye are converted and become as little children”,

• as if that were a simile the Lord was using to express what He means. Then in verse 4,
  • “this little child”,

• becomes more personal. Does it allow for a certain formation in our own souls?

G.R.C. It is a great thing for someone in a locality to exemplify the truth, so that the Lord can say, “this little child”.

Ques. Paul sent Timothy to Corinth. Would there be delineated in him the features of a little child?

G.R.C. The difficulty at Corinth was this very question – who should be the greatest.

• There were rival leaders, great ones, who were really putting a snare before the true little ones in Corinth;
  • and such were in danger of having a mill-stone hanged about their necks, and being sunk in the midst of the sea.

• But Timothy would alter the balance of the whole situation, because he would be one who, in a special degree, was formed in this feature, one whom the Lord could point to,
  • “Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child”.

• Paul was a little one, and Timothy was his child.

Ques. Would Solomon be another example of that? He is in the place of sonship, but he says,

• “I am but a little child”;

• and then he asks for an understanding heart,
  • “to judge thy people, to discern between good and bad”?

G.R.C. Solomon is another excellent example.

• It was this very matter which he was thinking about – administration relative to so great a people; and he says, “I am but a little child”.

• It was just what God was seeking. He was just the man to whom God could supply wisdom.

• If we are in any other spirit, we are not prepared to accept the wisdom from above; we think we know
  • but a little child does not think he knows anything, he is dependent entirely on another, the One in whom he believes.

Ques. May I ask about Corinth again? The leaders, to whom you have referred, were placing a snare;

• but, in addition, were there not other persons who were supporting the leaders, and who even had put Paul in such a position? Some were saying, “I am of Paul”.

• He had to say later,
  • “that ye may not be puffed up one for such a one against another”.

• Is that not also a feature which we have to guard against?

G.R.C. Wherever this principle of greatness comes in, it leads to party spirit. It is the great snare of christendom; man is in evidence.

• Leaders, with eloquent words, moving in the power of their own wisdom, have cast snares and brought in offences affecting the whole of christendom;
  • and judgment is about to overtake such and the system they have built up.

• But I do not think anyone in Corinth was actually making a party of Paul. He says in chapter 4: 6,
  • “Now these things, brethren, I have transferred, in their application, to myself and Apollos, for your sakes”.

• He did not want to name the local leaders. My own impression is that there were few at Corinth prepared to range themselves behind Paul;
  • and any such would not be party men, for Paul never was a party man.

• The Corinthians were governed by local leaders; but Paul, in his wisdom, did not want to name them. And so he says,
  • “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ”, 1 Corinthians 1: 12.

• He names persons who could never be charged with partisanship; and then he refers to Christ Himself, all to show the utter folly of their ways.

• Paul never formed a party; Cephas never formed a party; Apollos never formed a party.

• The true greatness of the apostles was manifest in that none of them ever formed a party, but always led disciples after Christ.

Rem. So we shall always be safe in receiving one such little child.

G.R.C. Such an one is not a party man, so that in receiving him you receive Christ.

Ques. Did not J.N.D. say that he would never be one of a party, not even to support the truth, because the truth needs no party support?

G.R.C. He would have nothing to do with a party.

• As you say, the truth needs no party; in fact the moment you form a party you fail to support the truth.

• The only thing we recognise is the one body – no party, no inner circle, no outer circle, but one body.

Ques. Does what you were saying last night about feeding on the shew-bread bear on this,

• and does it account for the distinction which came to light between David and those with him, and Saul?

• David’s, men collected round him because of his moral worth. Saul offers promotion to people, and appeals as to whether anybody is sorry for him, 1 Samuel 22: 8.

• Those who eat the shewbread, and thus view the saints according to God, would always be with the Lord in the conflict,
  • as over against the kind of man who is puffed up and gathers round him those who are sorry for him.

G.R.C. Quite so. Saul, head and shoulders above his brethren, was the antithesis of David, and also of Solomon, who said he was a little one.

• If we fed on the shew-bread we could never be party men, because the shew-bread today is
  • “we being many are one bread, one body”.

Ques. Do the early chapters of the Acts provide an example of the way administration was carried on in simple dependence on the Lord? The introduction: of Paul caused no rivalry.

G.R.C. How smoothly administration proceeded because of the simplicity of the apostles as little ones who believed in Christ! They had a great position given by God;

• but they did not stand on their dignity, because they recognised that they were entirely dependent on the Spirit and on the Lord.

Ques. What would you say as to eldership? Certain brothers with that spirit might act in confidence, but would they have to take care that there is no party or sectional feeling?

G.R.C. Eldership implies experience with God. Not everybody has that experience. But even so,

• the more real experience a man has with God, the more he will be marked by the spirit of the little child.

Rem. Immediately before David invites Jehovah to enter into His rest, he speaks of his soul being as a weaned child – Psalm 131: 2.

G.R.C. Very good. A weaned child is referred to in Isaiah 11 – a weaned child and a sucking child.

Ques. Does the party line tend to rob God of the glory of sonship, so that He says in Isaiah 45,

• “Ask me … concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands”?

G.R.C. Party spirit is a dreadful thing. It is the opposite of recognising the baptism of the Spirit, and His presence and authority.

• It means that men lead disciples after them, on factional lines; and the truth of the assembly, practically, is lost.

• Therefore Christ’s portion is lost, and God’s portion is lost.

Ques. Would this childlike spirit have a uniting effect?

G.R.C. It would, because a little one who believes in Christ directs attention to the One he believes in. and not to himself.

Ques. Is Paul’s attitude towards the Galatian brethren very affecting? Having rebuked Peter, he appeals to the saints in a motherly spirit, saying

• “my children of whom I again travail in birth, until Christ shall have been formed in you”.

G.R.C. It would encourage that motherly element amongst us.

Ques. Do we see this illustrated in Solomon in the two women who were brought before him?

• The true mother shows how she appreciated the little child, and then it says,
  • “her bowels yearned over her son”.

• Would those maternal feelings, and the appreciation of sonship, all help in regard to administration?

G.R.C. Paul really brought to light the true mother in the assembly at Corinth, and that would involve the little child being reinstated in the midst; and, coupled with that, of course, the truth of sonship would be enjoyed.

Ques. Is it to be noted that Paul speaks openly of the house of Chloe as the source of his information as to the divisions at Corinth?

• Does not the party spirit thrive where there is secretiveness instead of transparency?

G.R.C. Party principles involve secrecy and underground movements which are to be greatly deplored: they destroy fellowship.

• Underground methods were used at Plymouth in disseminating Mr. Newton’s teaching among people who were thought to be sympathetic, in order to extend the party.

• Such methods should be unsparingly judged.

Ques. 1 Corinthians 11: 19 says,

• “For there must also be sects among you, that the approved may become manifest among you”.

• Why was that?

G.R.C. I think that was because of their state. It should not be necessary, in a normal meeting, to have sects and divisions;

• but, in a meeting like Corinth, these were necessary that the approved might become manifest.

• The approved would be those marked by the spirit of a little child, and Timothy would greatly help by his example.

Rem. A little child would have a great appreciation of the assembly. A weaned child has been referred to. Psalm 131: 2.

G.R.C. In Isaiah 11: 8, it says,

• “the sucking child shall play on the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall put forth its hand to the viper’s den”.

• On the line of what is spiritual we should maintain the idea of the sucking child, and derive everything from Christ;
  • on the line of nature, we are weaned, we are independent of natural resources.

Rem. The appreciation of the assembly in its “mother” character would mark anyone who has this spirit. He would abhor all party activities.

G.R.C. A party man is never weaned, he relies on the party.

Rem. So that a weaned child, Paul, put forth his hand to the viper’s den in regard to the deadly thrust, of the foe, so poisonous, in regard to Galatia.

• He did not take counsel with flesh and blood; he was a weaned child; and what a warrior he was in the presence of the viper!

G.R.C. He was a thoroughly weaned child, able to go alone if necessary.

• He said, “no man stood with me, but all deserted me … But the Lord stood with me”, 2 Timothy 4: 16-17.

• There was a weaned child –
  • “The Lord stood with me, and gave me power”.

• Paul was not dependent on a party; on the other hand he was always a sucking child, because he was always dependent on the Lord; all his resources came from the Lord, by the Spirit.

Ques. How might we be in danger of offending a little child?

G.R.C. By bringing in the idea of bigness. As to actual children, few are willing to accept that they are little. The idea of bigness starts early.

Ques. Why does it say, “humble himself”? It seems to be a definite attitude and action to be taken.

G.R.C. Quite so. It is an important word. We are to be definite and energetic in humbling ourselves, because the moment we think we are big we become a snare and an offence.

Ques. Does Philippians 2 help in that connection,

• “each esteeming the other as more excellent than themselves”,

• and then the presentation of the Lord Jesus, who eclipsed every other in His downward movement?

G.R.C. I think so. They were to be

• “harmless and simple, irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation”.

Ques. In verse 16 of Matthew 18 you have three working together to save a brother; that would not be a party?

G.R.C. In matters of sin against one another, our outlook is to be governed by “thy brother”.

• Tender affections enter into it. It is not police court procedure, it is not a question of seeking to get a conviction; it is “thy brother”, and you want to save him, as the Lord says in the previous verse,
  • “So it is not the will of your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should perish”.

Ques. Is not that seen at the end of Judges in the terrible sin of Benjamin? After two failures to meet the situation, they come before God at Bethel, and they say,

• “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother”.

• They seek God, and the honour of God about it.

G.R.C. Quite so. We are not to allow sin upon our brother, as it says in Leviticus 19: 17. We are, in any case, to rebuke him.

• “God with us” involves that we cannot pass by sin; but there is to be no personal feeling allowed, even though he has trespassed against us.

Ques. Is the thought of reproving to bring out the matter, and declare it as it is in the presence of God?

G.R.C. I think so, provided we are governed by “God with us”.

Rem. The “thy brother” attitude would enable us to do it frankly and affectionately, but faithfully.

Ques. Would that be why you get the apostle and the brother linked together in the two epistles to the Corinthians?

Ques. And was that why Paul refrained from going to Corinth immediately? “To spare you”, he says.

G.R.C. It was on account of love’s calculation that he did not go at once; he gave them time to get right first.

Ques. Would you answer the question about the two or three who go to see the brother, as to whether that would be forming a party?

G.R.C. I think you can answer that.

Rem. I should say it was love’s way – not a party at all. They would really go in the spirit of little children, would they not?

G.R.C. I am sure. I think we need to see, if I may use the phrase again, that this is not police court procedure; we are not trying to get a conviction.

Ques. “Thou hast gained thy brother” is never found in a police court, is it?

G.R.C. No, exactly! I cannot see anything here to suggest that the person concerned is seeking a conviction; it is the last thing he wants.

• But, if the brother will not judge the matter before God, there has to be a conviction, for the thing must be settled.

Ques. Is the approach made with the objective in mind that the one approached shall not be lost, but find his part in liberty?

G.R.C. Exactly. It is not the will of your Father who is in the heavens that one of these little ones should perish.

• On this account the Son of man would leave the ninety and nine on the mountains, and go and seek the one that had gone astray.

• That is the Divine attitude to the person; that is how the Lord is regarding the matter; and so also is the Father;
  • but then, how am I regarding it? He is my brother.

Ques. Does, “my Father who is in the heavens”, bear on the matter?

• Judah became conscious of the face of the father toward Benjamin, and when it came to the great issue he was affected to move rightly.

G.R.C. It was in that setting that Judah prevailed among his brethren, and of him was the Prince.

Ques. Is it not rather striking that it does not say, “my Father”, in verse 14, but “your Father”?

G.R.C. Very good. Our Father’s outlook should be our outlook.

Ques. Is this consistent with the principle of first seeking to cover?

G.R.C. “If thy brother sin against thee, go, reprove him between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother”.

• Nobody else hears anything about it; the matter is covered.
• There is no question of a party; it is a question of evidence; but then there is the opportunity given to listen to them.

• If he listens to them, those three will not speak about the matter any more.
  • “But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the assembly”.

• The Lord trusts the assembly in the final issue to do what is right.

Rem. And when it does come to the assembly, adequate witness brings it there.

G.R.C. Yes. “And if also he will not listen to the assembly, let him be to thee”, that is to the one he has sinned against, “as one of the nations and a tax-gatherer”.

• So that that section deals primarily with individual trespass or sin one against another, and how it is met.

• But then the Lord takes the opportunity, in verse 18, to give a general statement as to the assembly.

• The procedure in verses 15-17 cannot be applied in every case, because they deal with a case of sin against a brother.

• If, for instance, a brother has sinned in the holy things of God, and the sin is generally known, we should not adopt this procedure.

• The gathering would take the matter up as a meeting, and the person would be visited from that standpoint.

Rem. In John 20, which is similar, yet with a difference, the Lord is stressing His confidence in the persons, and they go forth, so to speak, as representing Him.

• Is that the way in which the Lord reckons that things would normally be done by persons who are here in trustworthy representation of Himself?

G.R.C. Yes, so that John provides for our day. What is set out as to the assembly in Matthew is carried out today by

• persons walking in the light of the assembly, and the Lord commits Himself to them.

• It has often been said that John 20: 23 is like a blank cheque;
  • “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted” – there is no limit; and

  • “whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained”.

• It shows the folly of anyone who is not right saying, ‘I have been to the Lord – about the matter and He has forgiven me’. It is not put that way at all.

• The Lord does not say, Whomsoever I forgive ye forgive. He says,
  • “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted”.

Ques. And does the expression “two of you” here, emphasise the dignity of the persons who come into the ‘you’, namely that they are two of the assembly characteristically?

G.R.C. So that they are not a party; it is two of you.

Ques. Would “my name” in chapter 18: 20 involve Emmanuel – the greatness of the Person, and the glory and moral features which attach to Him?

G.R.C. I would say it is a comprehensive expression.

• “Where two or three are gathered together unto my name”.

• “They shall call his name Emmanuel”.

• We are in the presence of El, the mighty God.

Ques. Why does the Lord say, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on the earth” and not ‘Whosoever’?

G.R.C. It may be the idea of the sins being bound on the person. I do not know.

• Later the Lord gives an instance of binding in chapter 22: 13, when the King says to the servants,
  • “Bind him feet and hands, and take him away”.

• Literally that is future, unquestionably. But the King comes in now, sometimes, to see the guests, and
  • the wedding garment would indicate whether we are really fit for fellowship or not. That would have a present application.

Ques. Does not what has been said about the brother make more arresting still Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 5: 11,

• “If anyone called brother be” such?

• The attitude set out in that verse is to be adopted in faithfulness towards such?

G.R.C. Quite so. If sin is not judged it ends brotherly relations.

Ques. May I ask further as to the question of binding? Does scripture contemplate the possibility of the matter being fixed in relation to a particular person?

G.R.C. Fixed for the time being. But in chapter 22 it is fixed permanently; that is the final thing.

• Nevertheless it should be a present exercise to have on the wedding garment.

• In the East all the guests wore a garment provided by the host, so that the bridegroom alone was distinctive.

• It was not so at Corinth, where men were in evidence, and Christ was in the background. Men were displaying their fancied glories, instead of glorying in the Lord.

• If we all wear the wedding garment, the Lord alone will be exalted in the assembly.

• If the King comes in, He has to say to those who are out of accord with that; He says, “Bind him feet and hands”. Of course in the parable it is final.

Ques. Then the way back, by way of repentance, would always be open?

G.R.C. It would; and in John that is put first,

• “Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted”.

Ques. May I refer further about that? Did not J. T., Sr. speak of ‘capital sins’, and is not sin of that character contemplated in 1 Corinthians 5 where the apostle makes no reference to any possibility of repentance with the man for the moment?

G.R.C. The saints at Corinth had no option. It was the Lord’s commandment through Paul that they should withdraw from that man. The Lord’s name required it.

Ques. You mean that even had he been repentant at the time of the assembly meeting, the public position and the Lord’s name required withdrawal?

G.R.C. Yes, the question of repentance is not referred to. Something had arisen which necessitated putting away, or, as we should say, in the light of 2 Timothy 2, withdrawal.

Rem. There is a very interesting letter of C.A.C’.s bearing on that matter, where he says that if there is repentance the assembly would thankfully take note of it;

• and yet the person, as repentant, would own the rightness of the assembly withdrawal, and it would pave the way for a speedy restoration. [Letters: pages 268-69]

G.R.C. I am sure it would. And now, just a word as to chapter 19. After all that has come out in chapters 16 and 18 as to the assembly,

The setting is important, both as to where the passage in Matthew 28 takes place,

• and also as to the state of homage which marks the disciples, in spite of the fact that there was hesitation with some.

• We also have to note the Lord’s statement that all power had been given to Him in heaven and on earth; for it was in that setting He declared the Name, bringing it in in relation to baptism,
  • “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

• This great Name – the greatest of the names of God – implies the Fulness. The idea of fulness enters into this Gospel.

• At the Lord’s own baptism there was a manifestation of the Trinity, the Fulness coming into view as He identified Himself with the repentant remnant;
  • and now, in relation to Christian baptism it is baptising persons to, or into, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

• J.N.D. says as to this expression that Christians are, “brought into distinct known relationship with or in the unfolded fulness of the Godhead”, C.W. 32: 376.
  • He goes on to say that the Name of Matthew 28: 19 “is the most formal statement of the Christian revelation as replacing Judaism”.

• “God with us”, in the full meaning of it, involves the Fulness; and this equips us to serve in the presence of the Greatness.

• The fact that God has revealed Himself in a Name implying such love and nearness in no wise detracts from His greatness.

• Indeed those who enter into the gain of the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit appreciate His greatness more than any.

• We have thus, in our minds, to bring forward the great names of God, such as Jah and El, into the Name of Matthew 28: 19, remembering that
  • this is that God, to Whom belong those names which express the greatness and majesty of Deity.

• But as we understand and get the gain of the fulness expressed in the Name of Matthew 28: 19, we are equipped to serve in the presence of the Greatness.

• Hebrews uses the term “greatness”, and Colossians “fulness”, both expressions being undefined, because they are beyond definition in creature language.

• Great names, as we have noticed, are used in the beginning of this Gospel – Jah the Saviour, and Emmanuel – but at the close we have the greatest of all names involving the Fulness.

• The word in Isaiah 12: 6 is,
  • “Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee”.

• This gospel indicates how conditions are brought about suited to the Holy One, and I believe that is why the word Holy is attached to the Spirit in this great Name.

• We might have thought that it should have been left out, as being a relative expression, but the stress is on the fact that
  • the God, who is in the midst of His people, is the Holy One, and our immediate contact with God is in the Holy Spirit.

• Then the Lord refers to teaching, for teaching is essential if we are to be in keeping with this great Name, and thus to get the gain of it.

• That links with Ezekiel, where they were to be shown the pattern of the house. In Matthew the Lord has shown us,
  • “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 law thereof”, Ezekiel 43: 11.

Ques. Had you anything in mind as to the mountains in Matthew in relation to what you are saying?

• Psalm 125: 2 says as to Jerusalem,
  • “Mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about His people”.

• The scriptures we have read mention mountains, and in Isaiah 2: 2 it says,
  • “And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow unto it”, and then,

  • “Come, and let us go up into the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths”.

G.R.C. That is excellent, because the suggestion is that the mountain of Jehovah’s house is the most elevated of all.

• There are mountains round about, but the most elevated of all is the mountain of Jehovah’s house itself; and so in Ezekiel 43: 12 it says,
  • “This is the law of the house; upon the top of the mountain all its border round about is most holy”.

Ques. Could we say that in the first mountain in chapter 5 we have the teacher and the teaching, and in this passage the taught; and they are to continue that kind of teaching till He comes again?

G.R.C. Quite so.

Ques. When you refer to serving in the presence of the Greatness, have you in mind the expression in the Hebrew epistle,

• “the right hand of the greatness”, chapter 1,

• and “the throne of the greatness”, chapter 8?

G.R.C. Yes. The service of God proceeds in the presence of the Greatness, as Hebrews indicates.

Ques. I should be glad if you would give some further help on the word “fulness”. It is used in relation to the Godhead; but also in other connections, such as the fulness of the earth, the fulness of the law, the fulness of the nations.

G.R.C. The expression, “fulness of the earth” helps us to its meaning, because the earth, in itself, is inscrutable. I suppose that is realised more now by man than it ever has been.

• But we can appreciate and appropriate the fulness of the earth; not that we can compass even that, for there is much that is inscrutable.

• For example, we cannot understand how the earth brings forth; yet we can see, admire, appropriate and, in so far as we are able, get the gain of its fulness.

• As regards the Godhead, Godhead, as such, is completely beyond our range as creatures; but then scripture speaks of the fulness of the Godhead.

• It speaks of the Fulness by itself in Colossians 1: 19; but in Colossians 2: 9 it says,
  • “In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily”,

• referring, I suppose, to what has come within our range in Christ.

• Although we cannot compass it, it has come within our range, and is thus for our appreciation and appropriation as far as we are able.

Rem. I have enjoyed that thought of the fulness of the earth. It is intended by the Spirit to help us into these deeper thoughts as to the fulness of the Godhead.

• Does it come within our range in the sense that there is something which is expressed, and which we, by the Spirit, can take account of. Are we intended to understand it, as far as the creature can by the Spirit?

G.R.C. I think so.

Rem. It is not the thing essentially, but the outshining of it.

Ques. In that connection is it important that there is no break between the fulness and what is inscrutable?

• God, who has come within our range so far as the creature can know Him, is the same God who stretches out beyond us in His greatness.

G.R.C. Exactly. J. T. Sr. wrote a letter [Letters 2: 311] in 1943 in which he said that the fulness of the Godhead would include what is inscrutable;

• but that there is no hard and fast line between what is revealed, and thus available for appropriation, and what is inscrutable.

• There must always be a creature limit, but one has noticed that scripture, in using these expressions, does not put a ceiling on them.

• It is, as it were, left open, because it is a question of how far we can go, how far we are marked by spirituality.

• In the power of the Spirit who dwells in us, and in company with Christ, Who is also a Person of the Godhead, how far can we go?

• We have to admit that there always must be a creature limit, but does scripture definitely give us what that limit is?

• Are not expressions such as “the fulness”, “the greatness”, and “the expression of His substance” purposely left undefined?

• Also, in Ephesians 3: 12, the “access” which we have is undefined.

Ques. The word, “absolute” has been used among us for a long time, and I wonder if you would say something about it.

• I am referring particularly to the footnote to Genesis 1: 1, ‘Elohim, the plural of Eloah, the Supreme. It is Deity, God in the absolute’.

• I believe I am right in saying that several years ago we used this term, as helped by J.T. Sr.; but then he gave us further help by pointing out that
  • God in the absolute was God relative to nothing but Himself.

• So that in no sense can we reach God in the absolute. Is that right?

G.R.C. As I understand it, while the name “Elohim” is near the absolute, it cannot be called absolute because it refers to God relative to creation.

• It is not God simply relative to Himself, but as the supreme Object of worship in His creation.

• Possibly the nearest name to the absolute in scripture is “Jah”, which implies self-existence.

• Jehovah is the same word, enlarged to bring in the idea of time; that is, He who is and who was and who is to come; but Jah seems to relate to God in His self-existence.

• Close to that is “El”, which seems to refer to God in His essence – the One Who stands in His own strength.

• There is a difference between self-existence, and essence or essential being.

• Self-existence must mark the Supreme Being, though it is beyond the power of the creature to apprehend.

• But essence, or essential being, though it includes more, must include what God is in His nature and character.

• So the Lord is said to be the expression of the substance, or essential being of God.

• God’s essential being is beyond us in itself, but His nature and character have come into display in the Son.

Rem. While that is so, it is still true,

• “who only has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen, nor is able to see”, 1 Timothy 6: 16.

G.R.C. That ever remains true; so that God is not only inscrutable, but invisible.

• He is, “the King of the Ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God”, 1 Timothy 1: 17,

• and that emphasises our complete dependence on the Son. All the fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily. “Bodily” involves visibility.

Ques. Does it mean that in all that applies to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

• we are introduced into the realm of Divine revelation?

G.R.C. Quite so.

Ques. Does Psalm 48 link this up when it says,

• “Great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised”,

• and then later,
  “According to Thy name, O God, so is thy praise”?

G.R.C. Exactly. And those who know this Name, which involves fulness, nearness, love and intimacy,

• can give God the glory due to Him in greatness and majesty, as can no other company.

• This is that God: this is Jah and El. That is the marvel of it, that great self-existent God, the God who in His mightiness can stand in His own strength,
  • He has come out in this way, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

• in order to be intimately known by men, and to dwell with them eternally.

Rem. So that the Psalm ends, “This God is our God”.

Ques. Does it enhance the mediatorship of Christ, and the whole mediatorial system, that we can come, in any sense, into such knowledge?

G.R.C. It does. The invisibility of God greatly enhances the mediatorship of Christ. He is so entirely essential to us in order that we may come to the full knowledge of the truth.

• God’s will is that men should be saved – this links with Matthew 1: 21 – and come to the full knowledge of the truth – see footnote to 1 Timothy 2: 4; and that involves that,
  • “God is one, and the mediator of God and men one, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all”, 1 Timothy 2: 5.

• “God is One” is a magnificent expression which belongs to Christianity.

• It implies equal honours to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, as I understand it.

Ques. Does, “the name” in Matthew 28: 19 emphasise that “God is One”?

G.R.C. I think that. It is one Name –

• “baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

• So that in the final phase of the service it is a question of equal honours, for “God is One”.

Ques. Is it a comfort to us that, before the word “fulness” is used in Colossians 1, we have the expression,

• “image of the invisible God” Colossians 1: 15;

• and, before the word “greatness” is used in Hebrews 1, we have,
  • “the effulgence of his glory and the expression of his substance” Hebrews 1: 3?

• Does the mediatorial setting of the Lord Jesus enable us to appreciate better these words “fulness” and “greatness”?

G.R.C. I am sure that is right. It is in the Son that God is expressed. Revelation 21: 5 and 22: 12-13 show than even the greatness and majesty of God find expression in the Son.

• In so far as the majesty of the King of the Ages is seen, it is seen in the Son.

Rem. There is a double reference in this chapter to the fact that they did Him homage – Matthew 28: 9 and 17.

• The Person of Christ was there as an Object of worship, and that comes before the revelation of the Name.

G.R.C. That is an important point. It is as in the spirit of worship to Christ, and as subject to Him as the One to whom all power has been given in heaven and on earth,

• that we are in a state to get the gain of the Name which is declared.

Ques. It says that the disciples were to go into Galilee,

• “and there”, He says, “they shall see Me”.

• Does that have a bearing on this?

G.R.C. The importance of seeing the Lord cannot be too much emphasised, because everything which has come into expression relative to God, and to His mind, is set out in Christ. Thus, for us, everything depends on seeing Him.

Ques. When the Greeks came and said,

• “Sir, we desire to see Jesus”, His reply was,

• “The hour is come that the Son of man shall be glorified”.

• Does this imply that, if we are to see Christ as the expression of God, His ascension and the gift of the Spirit are essential?

G.R.C. The accomplishment of redemption, the glorification of Christ and the gift of the Spirit are involved in this commission which the Lord gives at the end of Matthew.

• It is on that ground that persons can be baptised to – or into – the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Ques. Could you say a word as to “fulness” in Ephesians 3 –

• “that ye may be filled even to all the fulness of God”; and then,

• “to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus”?

G.R.C. I believe what J.N.D. said is right, that this Name is “the unfolded fulness of the Godhead”.

• We are to be filled into all that is involved in this Name.

• It will lead to an ascription of glory to God in the assembly in Christ Jesus.

Ques. Would you say that “fulness” always implies what comes out of it?

• Just as the fulness of the earth, the crops and so on, which we can take account of, come out of the earth,
  • so we may, in this holy way, speak of what comes out of Christ – the fulness of Christ – and, equally reverently, what comes out of God?

G.R.C. We thus come to know what God is in His nature and character.

Ques. “Having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which ye behold and hear”, Acts 2: 33.

• Have you a manifestation of the Trinity there? And would the pouring out be an initiation into the Fulness?

G.R.C. I think it is remarkable that Peter presents the Trinity in an administrative way in his first gospel address. Undoubtedly his converts were baptised to this Name.

Rem. They were to take on the truth by immersion into the very best.

G.R.C. They were. It is a great point that, at the outset, we are brought into the very best.

Ques. When you said what you did about Peter’s converts being baptised, are you wanting us to understand that,

• “to the Name”,

• would be in addition to what he said in Acts 2: 38.
  • “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ”?

G.R.C. Quite so. Some seem to have had difficulties about this name being used in worship, because it has been said that it is a testimonial name.

• But it is not primarily a testimonial name.

• The primary testimonial name is the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarean. That stands at the beginning of Acts.
  • “For neither is there another name under heaven”, Peter says, “which is given among men by which we must be saved”.

• The primary testimonial name is Jesus Christ – the Ark, carried in testimony –
  • but, the moment persons submit to that Name, they are baptised to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Ques. Is that why at the end of Luke, it is “in his name”? You do not get there the bringing out of the Father’s Name, or of the Trinity, as we say, but the name of Jesus.

G.R.C. Yes. “In his name” implies His authority. All authority is given to Him in heaven and on earth.

• The only authority I have to baptise anybody to the great Name of Matthew 28: 19 is the authority of Christ.

Ques. Do you not have in Acts three occasions where we are baptised ‘to’?

• In Acts 19 they were baptised ‘to’ the name of the Lord Jesus, and in Acts 10 they were baptised ‘in’ the name of the Lord.

G.R.C. You can understand the authority of the Lord being stressed in Acts 10, because the Gentile was coming in. What right had Peter got to bring the Gentile in? It was, ‘in the name of the Lord’.

Ques. Whereas in chapter 19 would it be to the name of the Lord Jesus in the full light of the mystery?

G.R.C. I think so. Christians are therefore baptised to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and to the name of the Lord Jesus.

Ques. Would there be some suggestion of it in the cloud? They were all baptised to Moses in the cloud and in the sea – 1 Corinthians 10: 2?

G.R.C. Quite so. The cloud would imply “God with us”, would it not?

Rem. J.N.D. makes it quite clear that we can always draw near to God in worship by the way He has come out to us in revelation in the three Persons.

G.R.C. Quite so. We can only approach the Father thorough the Son and by the Spirit.

• And then, when we are addressing God as God, we still need the Son and the Spirit on our side, although we are not occupied with Them as on our side.

• I think this passage helps, because the Lord says,
  • “I am with you all the days”,

• that is, He is with us in support; but, coupled with that, He presents Himself in Deity, in referring to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

• Occupation with Himself, along with the Father and the Spirit, in Deity, does not alter the fact that He is with us in support, and sustaining us in the position.

Rem. The more we are in the good of a thing the less it need be referred to.

G.R.C. We approach the Father through the Son and by the Spirit. But then, as in the gain of the support of the Son and of the Spirit,

• we are also free to take an objective view of the Godhead as such, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

• I suggested the passage in Ezekiel 43, because it seems to help as to this. It says,
  • “And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east … And the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard one speaking to me out of the house; and a man was standing by me”.

• The Spirit lifted him up, and a Man was standing by him; but, as thus supported, he is occupied with the glory of the God of Israel.

• For us, this would mean the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, viewed objectively.

Ques. Such scriptures help us to understand much, do they not? In John 20, the Lord Jesus, the Son, is speaking, and yet says,

• “my God, and your God”.

• To the mind instructed by the Spirit that presents no difficulty; for, as you say, in Matthew 28, the Lord Jesus was there speaking as a Man visibly before them,
  • and yet, at the same time, presenting Himself as having part in Deity.

• It helps to resolve matters, and open our minds, so that we apprehend this great objective view, involving the Trinity.

G.R.C. Exactly. The Lord was there as a risen Man, standing with them, and He said,

• “Behold, I am with you all the days”;

• that is, He would always be with them as a Man supporting them.

• But, at the very same time, He drew attention to Himself in Deity, presenting to them an objective view of the Godhead.

• He does not says, ‘the name of the Father, and of Myself and of the Holy Spirit’. It is an objective view –
  • “the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”.

• While, in grace, the Son and the Spirit are always available on our side to help us,
  • yet the help is such that we are given power to take an objective view of the Godhead, and to worship accordingly.

Rem. So at the close,

• “the Son also himself shall be placed in subjection to him who put all things in subjection to him, that God may be all in all”.

G.R.C. Exactly. We must not limit the Son to the place of subjection, because He is included in the term ‘God’ –

• “that God may be all in all”.

Ques. And is not that the meaning of Peter’s word,

• “a new heaven and a new earth in which dwells righteousness”?

• Is not everything fully adjusted in regard to God?

G.R.C. Quite so. God has His place as Head above all. That is righteousness.

Ques. Is there some significance in the fact that the glory came from the way of the East? – Ezekiel 43.

• I wondered whether we should carry in our minds at all times, in the objective view of God, the way that the Fulness has been pleased to reconcile all things to Itself.

G.R.C. We need to keep that always in mind, because it touches our affections. Colossians 1: 19 is a most remarkable passage.

• “In him all the fulness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to itself, having made peace by the blood of his cross”.

• Think of that in relation to Psalm 22 – a Man on the cross, saying,
  • “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”

• It is a remarkable contemplation!

Rem. It would provide substance to be drawn upon in praise and thanksgiving.

G.R.C. Yes. We need much help, because the relationships into which we have been brought – union with Christ, and sons in the presence of the Father –

• are to qualify us for our part in the great hallel – i.e. praise – to God;

• because that is where the greatest scope is – in praising God.

• We should not spend the whole time speaking of the blessedness of our relationships, but rather so be in the gain of them, that the Blesser – God Himself – engages our hearts.

• J.N.D. points out that in Psalm 150 it does not even say ‘our God’; it is “Praise El in His sanctuary”.

• We do not bring ourselves in at all; God in His blessedness, greatness and majesty fills the vision.

Rem. The saints are being helped to be sustained in the praise of God in the final phase of the service, more and more.

G.R.C. One rejoices in it. In every locality the saints are finding more and more liberty in that which is, in the fullest sense, the service of God. I believe that saints, in all nations where they are, are developing in this feature.

Ques. Is the last reference to God in Revelation important –

• “The Lord God shall shine upon them”?

G.R.C. That is Jehovah Elohim, a title connected with the making of man in the beginning. That blessed One Who formed man in the beginning has achieved His purpose.

Ques. Would you say a word about the Father’s portion, because the Father as such, is supreme in the economy, is He not?

• What is your thought about the balance, as I might call it, in service – the portion to the Father, and the portion to God?

G.R.C. One has noticed that, in the epistles, there are approximately twice as many doxologies to the Father as to the Lord Jesus, and approximately twice as many to God as God as there are to the Father. Does that help?

Ques. That would confirm the way the Spirit is helping the saints to be sustained before God?

G.R.C. I think so.

Ques. Would you say that if we are sustained in worship to the Beloved, we shall find no difficulty in moving forward into the worship of God Himself?

G.R.C. I think the great truth of union underlies the whole of the subsequent service.

Ques. In regard to the privilege of addressing God in the service,

• while there is the fullest liberty to mention the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

• I suppose it would not be obligatory; there would be liberty to address God as such?

G.R.C. I think it is well that the Name should be brought in, but it is certainly not obligatory upon every brother taking part in the final phase of the service to use it.

Rem. I was thinking, while fully allowing for the use of the Name, of the possibility of mere formality.

G.R.C. I do not mean that it must be used in every thanksgiving, because there ought to be many thanksgivings to God. But it would surely not be happy to leave it out altogether?

Ques. Is there not such a lustre about that Name, that, if it laid hold of us, we should delight to use it, and never desire to find a reason for not using it?

G.R.C. I think we have experienced that it thrills our hearts and stimulates our worship.

Ques. Would you not connect it with the reference to the glory of Jehovah in Ezekiel 43?

G.R.C. I would.

Ques. Is it interesting the number of times David mentions the name of God in his worship, using a different name each time?

G.R.C. Yes. I think it shows the variety there should be in thanksgiving.

• It may not be that we should use actual Old Testament names, but what is conveyed in those names should come into our thanksgivings.

• There are many hymns which incorporate some of the meanings of those great names of old, all of which attach to this glorious God
  • now known under the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – the greatest of names.

Ques. Do you not feel that the fruit of the ministry ought to remove any remaining doubt?

• It helps much to see the fruit of the ministry in greater reverence for God, and greater appreciation of the incarnation.

G.R.C. I am sure that is true. It says in Matthew 28 that some hesitated, or doubted, or were at a loss what to think, but that state should not last long.

• It should not go on for years. And, if hesitant, why spread doubt and hinder others?

Ques. Do we not want more of the glory of Psalm 68?

• The mountain of God, as supreme, is there; the exalted Man; the teaching, the Lord giving the word;

• and then the nations, great ones coming out of Egypt; Ethiopia stretching out her hand to God; and then that wonderful statement,
  • “Blessed be God”.

• Would that fit in?

G.R.C. Quite so. And,

• “the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary”.

Rem. That Psalm also takes character from the first reference to Jah in the Psalms.

• Jah, meaning the existing One objectively, occurs 43 times from Psalm 68 to 150, and 7 times elsewhere.

G.R.C. Very good. What scope there is in the service for worship to God in His majesty and greatness!

• How good it is to rise to a doxology such as 1 Timothy 1: 17!

• I suppose one of the greatest in scripture, because it ascribes glory to God in the majesty of His eternal Being,
  • “the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God”.

• In the light of God known according to the Name of Matthew 28: 19, Paul was rendering to Him the glory due on account of His eternal majesty.

Ques. Is he not worshipping as an individual? Do you not think we need more of that in secret?

G.R.C. I think if there were more of it in secret, we would be more ready worshippers in the assembly.

• I have no doubt Paul’s doxologies give us an idea of the way he did praise God in the assembly.

• The doxologies in Timothy were written to him by Paul while Timothy was at Ephesus. They would help the Ephesians in filling out Ephesians 3: 21,
  • “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus”.

Ques. I wanted to ask about the individual side, because it would seem that when David went in, and sat before Jehovah, he got into a very freshly flowing current in the Spirit, and said some marvellous things, reaching eventually,

• “And now Jehovah, Thou art that God”.

• He was not at a meeting.

G.R.C. That is very important. In our private devotions, do we make time to move on to the worship of God? If we do it will greatly enrich the service of God in the assembly.

Ques. Shall we not receive impressions which are really preparatory to our part in assembly service?

G.R.C. That is what I would say – what is preparatory.

Ques. Does Isaiah 12 help in that connection, in the fact that El, Jehovah and Jah are brought in?

G.R.C. Those great names are brought in at the beginning of Isaiah 12,

• “El is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid; for Jah, Jehovah, is my strength and song”.

• Similarly, at the beginning of the song in Exodus 15 those names are brought in,
  • showing that Christian baptism, of which this is a type, taken up in faith, brings us into touch with the greatest of things;

• and in that initial song, it is made clear that the God, to Whom they had been baptised, was going to dwell amongst them.
  • “Thou has guided them by thy strength to the abode of thy holiness”.

• Also He would bring them in to the mountain of His inheritance, the fixed place of His dwelling, the sanctuary which His hands had prepared.

Ques. Does not the last phrase of Ezekiel indicate that the glory of that Name, far from being a formality, is woven into the warp and woof of the saints individually and collectively?

• “The name of the city from that day, Jehovah is there”.

G.R.C. What a marvellous name for a city!

Ques. Would you just say more about the doxologies.

• The name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is not referred to, but just God.

• Are they a pattern for us, or are we to read into the word, “God”, the name of Matthew 28: 19?

G.R.C. I do not think we must be legal or formal in uttering this great name of Matthew 28: 19; it would spoil it.

• But I think if we love God, and love His Name as declared, it surely will come into the service. We need the conditions.

• We have been speaking about the moral conditions suitable to “God with us”, so that the Holy One is free in our midst, which involves the Holy Spirit having complete liberty.

• If that is so, we shall soon arrive at the truth of union, and, having arrived at the truth of union, we shall be like the hind of the morning in company with our Beloved;
  • and He will soon lead us on into the presence of His Father, and into the presence of His God.

Ques. Do you think we also need to make room for the Lord’s own unique part in the service? I was thinking of Hebrews 2,

• “In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”.

G.R.C. The truth of union makes us sensitive to His impulse and direction, so that the assembly becomes available to Him in the service of God.

• We need to maintain an objective view of Christ all through the service.

• We must not think that, “in the midst of the assembly”, means that He is lost sight of, as though He were one of us. He must ever be before us objectively.

• If we see the Father’s glories, they shine in Him; and if He is singing in the midst of the assembly, He is nevertheless the Head of the body, the assembly, the One in Whom the fulness of the Godhead dwells.

• We shall see Him shine, and God shining in Him, all through eternity.

Ques. Has John 20,

• “My Father and your Father, my God and your God”,

• a bearing on what you have been saying?

G.R.C. Very much so. “My Father” is unique to Christ; He has His own special place;

• but your Father involves the manifestation of the Holy Trinity, for we know the Father only in and through the Son, and by the Spirit.

• But then He says, “my God”, that would be God in the absolute; Christ, being God, knows God in the absolute;
  • but then He says, “your God”, which surely involves the worship of the Trinity.