In the second reading we considered the truth of reconcili-ation, called atonement in the Old Testament, also based upon the righteousness of God as revealed in the gospel, but setting out the work of Christ as it affects God Himself;

• the way Christ, by His sacrifice and going in to God, has met all the claims of the throne, His blood covering everything that was offensive under the eye of God.

• So that God dwells in the midst of a system where the blood is at the centre, on the mercy-seat, “And the tabernacle too and all the vessels of service he sprinkled in like manner with blood; and almost all things are purified with blood according to the law”; so God looks out upon a system purified from the standpoint of the blood.

• That is, all that is offensive to Him is covered, indeed removed judicially, from before His eye, by the blood, although not actually removed yet.

• Thus God has a complacent outlook on the whole system of which He is the centre. At the present time, this is represented in the assembly as the tabernacle of witness.

• Soon He will have a complacent outlook on all things; indeed it is so at the present time in the sense that the world stands provisionally in reconciliation.

• So that to consider the sacrificial work of Christ from a standpoint of the way it affects God is a matter of very, very great scope. God would help us to understand more and more what it means to Him.

• It is not only the question of meeting the need of men, but of meeting the requirements of God's throne and the requirements of His heart. That is what reconciliation has done.

• It has met the requirements of God's throne but it has also met the requirements of His heart in that He has a Man before Him now who has gone in, to use the type, in the cloud of fragrant incense, brought out fully in the very sufferings of atonement.

So that God's presence is filled with fragrance, for the satisfaction of His heart, in Christ and in those whom Christ brings with Him.

• We are received into the presence of God in the cloud of fragrant incense in which Christ has gone in. Instead of the stench of corruption of the old man, God's presence is filled with the fragrance of Christ.

• It is wonderful to think of the sacrificial work of Christ as meeting both the requirements of His throne and the requirements of His love, because His love required that man should be near Him in the very closest relationship.

• And Man has gone in; Christ has gone in and He has taken us in with Him, as it were, into the very presence of God. We are not actually there yet, but we have liberty to enter at any time in our spirits, because that is our place – “that where I am, ye also may be.”

It is proposed now that we should consider the truth of sanctification and what is connected with it, the service of God.

• The word "sanctification" means a setting apart. The work of Christ has set us apart for divine service.

• Our privilege of entering the presence of God is not a question of our service: it is Christ's service, and His entering in, that has opened the way for us. We can go straight in.

• But He has provided, not only for our going in to the place of greatest privilege, but also for God to be served. By His very work He has set us apart to God and for God's service.

• God will be served by His sons, but He would be served by His sons as fully equipped priests; and therefore, at the beginning of Exodus, chapter 29, it says, "And this is the thing which thou shalt do to hallow them, that they may serve me as priests".

• That is the point, to hallow (or sanctify – the words have the same force) "that they may serve me as priests"; and it is very affecting that Christ is called in Hebrews, the One who sanctifies. He has sanctified us at all cost to Himself.

• What is set out in this chapter in type shows the way He has sanctified us. And what is connected with sanctification is consecration. Consecration means filling of the hands (see note on Leviticus 8: 28).

• In setting us apart to God, Christ has brought us before God on the same basis as He is Himself, by way of sacrifice so that, not only as being kindred, but also on a sacrificial basis, we are all of one with Him.

• And, not only so, but He fills our hands. He has died as the ram of consecration to fill our hands as priests, so that we might never lack having that which we can, delightedly and freely, wave before God.

• And then the chapter shows, as it proceeds, that the priests, having been sanctified and consecrated for service, are to serve every day.

• It immediately goes on to speak of the daily service, the morning and the evening burnt-offering, and the morning and the evening incense, the continual burnt-offering and the continual incense, both altars functioning every day.

In Hebrews 2: 12 we get the assembly side of the matter. We are sanctified to serve assembly-wise also – "I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises".

• There is the daily priestly service, and there is service in the assembly. As priests it is our privilege and responsibility thoroughly to carry out both.

Then the word in John 17 shows how concerned the Lord is that we should be in practical and intelligent sanctification, "sanctified by truth".

• The more intelligent we are as to the truth, the more efficient we shall be in service. So He prays to the Father about us, "Sanctify them by the truth: thy word is truth".

• And then He says "I sanctify myself for them”. He, as the Sanctifier, has sanctified Himself, that we might be sanctified by truth.

B.H.T. Are you regarding this as one of the fundamental features of the truth? I think you said yesterday morning that it was in mind to consider foundational truths.

G.R.C. Yes. The righteousness of God is the great foundation. And then,

• the foundation from the standpoint of our need is justification;
• the foundation from the standpoint of the divine requirements, both as to the throne and as to love, is reconciliation; and
• the foundation from the standpoint of the service of God is sanctification.

• While these are all fundamental, they go to the very top. We must not think that fundamental truths remain at the bottom. They are the truths on which everything rests, but they take us from the bottom to the top.

• Even the line of justification ends with "that we might become God's righteousness in him".

C. de K.F. Is the service of Moses, in the 29th chapter, priestly service? I was thinking of our approach to God.

G.R.C. I think we have to distinguish between approach and service; although, of course, they are very closely allied.

• Our approach is right into the holiest. If we stop short of that, we have stopped short of the Christian portion and position; we are on Jewish ground.

• So the word in Hebrews 10: 22 as to "let us approach", means going right into the holiest, without a pause, as one might say.

• We may need to pause to receive mercy and find grace for seasonable help; but the mercy and grace is always there in abundant supply to ensure that, whatever the pressure of the way, we shall always be able to go right into the holiest.

• That is God's thought. It is His pleasure. He loves to see us come into the holiest. It gives Him great joy.

• We are depriving Him of His joy if we do not continually come into His presence. He loves to see us come and loves to have us there.

• All the grace needed is, therefore, always available, so that we should always be free to approach in to the very presence of God.

F.L. Would it be helpful to refer to the first ram? There seems to be a distinct connection between the first and the second. There is the act of the hands being placed on the head of each.

G.R.C. All three offerings – the bullock and the two rams – are connected with the sanctification of the priestly company.

• The first item of sanctification is in verse 4, "Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring near the entrance of the tent of meeting, and shalt bathe them with water". They are washed all over.

• We can have no links with Christ after the flesh. The whole basis of our relationship with Christ is on the ground of resurrection, and ascension. Therefore the bathing with water is the initial thing.

• Our links with Christ are on the basis of our having put off the old man and put on the new; and that we have been buried with Him in baptism, and raised with Him through faith of the working of God.

Then Aaron is clothed and anointed by himself. If we take the antitype, we know the Lord was anointed by Himself after His baptism. His baptism was figurative of His death.

Then there are the sons of Aaron. There is a new beginning, as it were, in that the sons of Aaron are now brought in with him. They are with him in verse 4 in the bathing; but then Aaron is treated alone in verses 5 to 7.

• But in verse 8 it says. "And thou shalt bring his sons near, and clothe them with the vests. And thou shalt gird them with the girdle – Aaron and his sons"; and from that time you have Aaron and his sons.

• And the scripture sets out the way in which the sons can be fully identified with Aaron in the service, as all of one with him. They are all of one with him in the sense that they are his sons. There is the relationship.

• But it is also a question of being all of one with him on the sacrificial basis on which they are before God; and the sacrificial basis on which they are before God is on the ground of the sin-offering, and the burnt-offering, and the ram of consecration, the three offerings.

• It is very affecting when you think of Christ as the Sanctifier; what it has cost Him! He could have gone in to God alone. He was anointed by Himself;
  • but to bring us in with Him, as all of one with Him, meant that He had to become the sin-offering, and to go in to God on the basis of the sin-offering and the burnt-offering and the ram of consecration.

• Surely we ought to love Christ dearly as the Sanctifier; "he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one" – what it has cost Him to sanctify us!

• Instead of going in without passing through the article of death, He has gone into death as the sacrifice for sin, and as the burnt-offering and as the ram of consecration, in order that we might, in the presence of God, be all of one with him;
  • be with Him on the same basis as He is as Man now before God.

• He has gone in on a basis on which He can link us with Himself. What wondrous grace!

• So as regards each of these offerings it says that Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the offering. Aaron and his sons were all to be before God on the basis of these offerings.

C.G.G. Why is it a ram?

G.R.C. Does it not refer to the fact that Christ's affections were peculiarly engaged in this service? It refers to the strength and energy of His affections.

• And there is the generative thought in it, that He would bring about similar affections in the priestly company.

C.G.G. I wondered if it was linked with the idea of the ram in Genesis 22 also.

G.R.C. I think so. And there you get the seed introduced – Abraham's seed – the heavenly and the earthly.

• But all is based on the devotedness of Christ even unto death, and the energy of His devoted love which is continued in the seed that is secured.

M.S.V. Is it the thought that "having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end"?

G.R.C. That would be included in it. He loved them through everything, is what that word means. He went through all this. It says knowing "that he came out from God and was going to God". He is the Sanctifier.

• He came from God on a mission. He would not go back alone. His mission, in that respect, was that He would bring others to God with Him.

F.J.F. So would you say there is no disparity between Aaron and his sons?

G.R.C. That is just what I would say.

C. de K.F. Would you say more as to the laying on of their hands? There is such an identification with the offering.

G.R.C. Well I think the literal meaning, as the note indicates, is to "lean on or with ". Aaron and his sons leaned on the head of the bullock of the sin-offering, as also the other offerings.

A.A.H. That man in the gospel with the withered hand; the Lord restored his hand, that he might have both hands full, that he might put both hands on the ram?

G.R.C. Yes. The hands filled come later in this chapter; but that would be in mind – that he should serve God with both hands filled.

• Here there is full identification, Aaron and his sons leaned with their hands on the bullock of the sin-offering.

• That is, it is the only footing on which we can be before God. We have to have full and complete reliance on Christ as the sin-offering.

L.D.V. When we were looking at the matter of righteous-ness, the blood was upon the mercy-seat;

• but the blood of the bullock here is put upon the horns of the altar; and the blood of the burnt-offering is upon the altar round about, and so also, of the ram of consecration.

G.R.C. I think it is because the service is in view here. The blood on the mercy-seat is what the work of Christ has done for God, meeting His requirements.

• The blood here is to sanctify and set apart a priestly company to serve God and the main place of their service is the altar.

• So the blood of the sin-offering is put on the horns of the altar, and all the blood is poured out at the bottom of the altar.

C.M.M. So when you distinguish between approach and service, is the thought that we go into the holiest in approach, but service would be at the altar?

G.R.C. Exactly. Service is at the two altars. It is true now, that when we are serving at the altars, we are serving in the full light of the holiest. And our spirits are still, as it were, in the holiest.

• But the first thing is to be sure we enter the holiest. We cannot serve aright unless we have been there; and un-less our spirits are still in the sense of our place there.

F.J.F. It is very interesting that when Paul is describing the outer part of the first tabernacle, that is the holy place, he just says there was a table and a candlestick. He does not say they were made of gold.

• But as soon as he speaks of inside the holiest he says there was gold. He mentions the gold on everything. As if he did not want to detain them in the outer tabernacle.

G.R.C. Our part is to go inside; otherwise we are serving on Jewish ground. We are not on real Christian ground unless we are in the power and joy of our place within the veil. Then we are qualified to serve at the altars.

W.G. Is there any service in the holiest?

G.R.C. It is not exactly the place of service. The whole being, if we are really there, must be absorbed with God.

• We are in the immediate presence of God and you could not be in His presence without being absorbed in every faculty of your being with God Himself, and the Man of His pleasure.

L.D.V. Would it be correct to say that the approach is greater than service?

G.R.C. The service should be in keeping with the approach. Our service should be on an entirely different level from the service of Israel or any other family, because of the level of our approach.

• But the approach is equal to the revelation. That has always been held, because the approach is in the same Person.

• But then I think the response is in keeping with the revelation and the approach, because He says "in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises".

L.D.V. We also have the verse in Psalm 48. "According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise".

M.S.V. If we have been inside, I suppose it would give character to our service outside. As to Peter and John – the world could take account of them that they were with Jesus.

G.R.C. That is like the kingly priesthood. Peter speaks of the holy priesthood, "to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ".

• But then he speaks of "a chosen race, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a people for a possession".
  • The priest not only went in to God and served God, but he came out to bless the people.

• And the priest's lips should keep knowledge. It is a priestly function to represent God in testimony. No one who is not an active functioning priest can truly represent God here in testimony.

W.E.G. We go into the holiest and there we worship and now we come out in service. It is a wonderful thought.

G.R.C. What is engaging us should draw our affections out to the Sanctifier. Moses represents the Sanctifier.

• It says in Hebrews 10, “by which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body" as the sin-offering, as the burnt-offering and as the ram of consecration, to sanctify us once for all.

• That should greatly affect us. He could have gone in, but, if He was to take in with Him a sanctified company, He had to go in on the basis of sacrifice which would bring us alongside Him.

• The fact that Aaron laid his hands on these offerings shows that Christ has gone in on that basis. He is before God now on the basis of having offered Himself.

• There is the sin-offering and the burnt-offering and the ram of consecration, and we are with Him before God on that basis. Aaron and his sons were together on a sacrificial basis before God, leaning on these offerings.

• We have to rely entirely on the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all; from this standpoint we lean on Him as the One who has thus offered Himself.

D.M.S. The sense of what transpired at the cross should be poured very deeply into our souls, because God goes into great detail in this chapter in the bullock and in the two rams; as if to impress us with what was needed for our sanctification.

G.R.C. So the sin-offering here is a bullock. It is the fullest presentation of Christ as a sacrifice for sin;

• and then the burnt-offering is a ram, signifying the energy of His devoted love for God,

• and then the ram of consecration, the devoted energy of love which would go into death in order to fill our hands.

• The ram of consecration was to fill the hands. The sin-offering and the burnt-offering laid the basis of things – sin put away, the burnt-offering our acceptance. But what is going to fill our hands?

• The ram of consecration is a type of Christ, going into death to fill our hands with what is pleasurable to God, so that we should never lack substance to offer to God.

R.S. The reference to the second ram, "And thou shalt take the second ram", would have a very special appeal to our hearts.

G.R.C. The way it is to affect us is indicated. The second ram is to affect our ears and our hands and our feet.

• We are to become dominated by love of the same character which led Christ thus to devote Himself to God to secure a priestly company.

N.C.J.C. Is that seen in Hebrews 10, the devotion of Christ – "Lo, I come to do thy will" and then it goes on to say "by which will we have been sanctified"?

G.R.C. That is right. You get His devoted love – "Lo, I come to do thy will" – full devotion, like the ram.

F.J.F. Would you connect full sanctification with what is said in 1 Thessalonians 5: 23, "sanctify you wholly: and your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless"?

G.R.C. I would. And in the second epistle it speaks of "in sanctification of the Spirit". There are four things mentioned in the New Testament as to sanctification –

1. "sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all";

2. "that he might sanctify the people by his own blood"; Hebrews 13: 12;

3. "sanctification of the Spirit" see 2 Thessalonians 2: 13 and 1 Peter 1: 2;

4. and sanctification by truth.

• We are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ; and then there is the sanctification of the Spirit, involving power, and sanctified by truth involving intelligence.

• So the person sanctified in these ways is fully equipped for priestly service.

F.J.F. That is wonderful.

L.D.V. Would the sanctification in the power of the Spirit be seen in the wafers and the loaf of bread and the cake of oiled bread which are offered?

G.R.C. Sanctification of the Spirit links with the anointing. It says in verse 21,

• "And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons' garments with him".

• The completion of the sanctifying work was the anointing. That is confirmed in Exodus 40, verse 15:
  • "And thou shalt anoint them, as thou didst anoint their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall be to them an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations".

• The anointing completed the sanctifying process and was to them an everlasting priesthood. The sacrificial side is the basis, but the power is the anointing. No one is a priest who is not anointed.

R.S. Would you say something as to the close link between the blood and the anointing? Firstly, the blood was put on the tip of the right ear, and so on, but then there is the blood that is upon the altar taken, and the anointing oil, and sprinkled.

G.R.C. I think that is what Peter refers to. When Peter refers to the sprinkling of the blood in the first verse of his epistle,

• he is not referring to the sprinkling of the blood which purifies our hearts from a wicked conscience; but to the blood of the ram of consecration.

• Peter has in mind the priesthood. So he says "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father". That would link on with the fact that we are sons of Aaron typically.

• Then "by sanctification of the Spirit", that is the anointing oil, and then "unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ".

• As I understand it, that is the sprinkling of the blood of the ram of consecration which commits us to a devotion of obedience that marked Jesus Christ. We are to be in keeping with the ram of consecration in our devoted obedience.

R.S. Is that why it is on the persons and the garments?

G.R.C. Say what you mean as to the garments, please.

R.S. We are to be in keeping with this devotion. The garments would be what we are outwardly as viewed among men. They are to be in keeping with what we are inwardly in a priestly state.

G.R.C. That is helpful. It is not only that I am affected inwardly by the anointing and by the blood of the ram of consecration, but all my habits and associations are affected.

• All my habits and associations are to be marked by the obedience of Jesus Christ. And His obedience was an obedience in the energy of devoted love.

C.M.P. In verse 9, it says "And thou shalt gird them with the girdle". In all else there is a distinction between Aaron's garments and the garments of his sons.

• But there is only one girdle. I wondered whether we are to be committed wholly to the one service – whether it is not linked with "all of one". It is no doubt the girdle of the ephod.

G.R.C. It may mean that our minds are all on the same thing, as held in the current of the mind of Christ. The girdle links with the mind.

• Peter says "having girded up the loins of your mind, be sober" – the sobriety is like the linen vests –

• "and hope with perfect steadfastness in the grace which will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ", that is like the high caps. You lift up your head with a sure and certain hope. All three things are needed in the service of God.

• But I think the girdle is interesting. The priests should have their minds concentrated on what the mind of Christ is concentrated on. Gird up the loins of your mind.

C.M.M. In the cleansing of the leper, blood and oil are placed on the ear, the thumb and the toe. Would one who is truly a priest be able to help as having himself learned something of the meaning of the blood applied?

G.R.C. I would think so. The cleansing of the leper is a remarkable thing. The anointing oil is not used there, however. It is just a log of oil. And the remainder of the oil is put upon the head of the leper.

• But it is not the holy anointing oil. It is more the Spirit viewed as the power and energy to fulfil responsibility here; so that we are set up in dignity, according to the eighth of Romans.

• But this is the holy anointing oil which was a perfume after the work of the perfumer, and fits the priest for his office.

• The idea of the anointing from this standpoint is that everything a person does, who is in the power of the anointing, has a peculiar fragrance about it which any spiritual person can sense at once. They know at once whether anyone is acting in the power of the anointing or not.

• And that odour is very precious to God. Paul said he manifested the odour of God's knowledge in every place; whatever he did was in the power of the anointing as a priest.

W.E.G. So coming out into service, we have got everything in our favour. We have got the power, the Holy Spirit, the intelligence and the truth".

G.R.C. Therefore it becomes a question of whether we are all functioning priests. Every provision has been made, and if we have received the Spirit we are priests, but are we functioning as priests?

• And a priest does not need a vestry. He does not take his priestly garments off when he leaves the sanctuary. Aaron had to take off his garments. But in Christianity we, as priests, do not change our garments.

• We do not have special garments when we are serving God, and other garments when we are amongst men. We are a kingly priesthood. We move amongst men in the dignity of royalty and priesthood.

R.L. "Grace to you and peace be multiplied”, 1 Peter 1: 2. That would be the spirit in which we would move in sanctification of the Spirit. There is no putting of that off in the vestry.

F.J.F. And then, Paul, when he preached said "we are a sweet odour of Christ to God, in the saved and in those that perish".

G.R.C. So that he carries on the gospel service as a sacri-ficial service, that is, as a priest, that the offering up of the nations might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

• If you heard Paul preach you would hear a priest preaching. You would hear a son preaching, and you would hear a priest in full function.

M.S.V. Do you mean there would be a spiritual dignity about the service if we are marked by the anointing?

G.R.C. Yes, and God will get a portion from it. There will be the sweet savour of Christ to God, whatever the effect may be upon men.

C.M.M. This chapter would give us what is daily, morning and evening?

G.R.C. Yes. And first of all what is continuous in the way of the ear and the hand and the foot being held for God.

• It is a wonderful thing, the obedience of Jesus Christ. His ear, His hand, His feet were ever engaged in the service of God, in a priestly way, whether He was speaking to God or speaking to men;

• and we are to be marked by the devoted energy of love which would bring us into that path of happy obedience; the ear ever available to divine communications, the hand available in divine service, the feet also.

C. de K.F. Even the use of material things can be on this line. In Philippians the apostle refers to what had been brought to him by Epaphroditus, being a sweet odour, a sacrifice acceptable to God.

G.R.C. I am glad you have mentioned that. It bears on the daily service. There was the continual burnt-offering, and the continual incense. That was prescribed.

• But in the New Testament it says, "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise continually to God, that is, the fruit of the lips confessing his name. But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased”, Hebrews 13: 15-16.

• The latter are like the peace-offerings, which, except in two cases, were not prescribed. They were left to love to furnish, and
  • the wealth of the fellowship depended on how many peace-offerings were brought, because the peace-offering is for the brethren.

• The inwards were for God, that is, God is the object in what is done, but every clean person could feed upon the peace-offering, and the priests had a special portion.

• I believe that is all part of the daily service of God. There should be the sacrifice of praise to Him, but there should also be the doing good every day of our lives.

C.M.M. Is that why the word "sacrifice" is particularly connected with the peace-offering?

G.R.C. Yes. It is a practical sacrifice. It is communicating of your substance. You have given up something.

W.E.G. It is open to everyone of us daily to be whole-heartedly for the Lord. We are so half-hearted. We do things when we come together, perhaps, but when the meetings are over, what then?

G.R.C. I think there is a danger of limiting Christian life to assembly life; limiting it to meetings, in other words;

• as though our meeting life is one thing and the rest of our life is quite another.

• That is utterly foreign to Christianity. A priest is a priest all the time, and his functions are daily.

Ques. Does the box on the table link with the communicating of our substance.

G.R.C. Yes. But it is not the whole matter. The doing good goes on every day.

• If we hold our bodies for God's will as He held His, both service Godward and service manward will be maintained.

R.S. So that the ram of consecration secures persons like Christ, and the service flows from that.

G.R.C. The blood was placed on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the great toe of the right foot. The whole man is secured.

F.J.F. So we ought to be very careful what we allow into our minds by reading.

G.R.C. That would be girding up the loins of your mind. We need to use the girdle and to see that our minds are concentrating on what Christ is engaged with.

F.J.F. There is such a wealth of truth in those that have gone before, and what they have left behind. It is a library of wondrous things.

G.R.C. And so we must make time for priestly service; it is not a question of giving God what is left over. It is giving God the first place.

• Priestly service is our highest responsibility. So we must see that this is not neglected.

• We must see we make time for the continual burnt-offering and the continual incense.

Ques. What is that practically?

G.R.C. Before we go on to that I would like to refer again to the importance of our minds; and the using of our minds for reading the scriptures and the ministry.

• It is especially important to follow up diligently every exercise raised in our souls and every impression received in the meetings;

• following the lines of thought through scripture and availing ourselves of the help past ministry affords. The Bereans searched the scriptures daily.

C.M.M. We are to love God with all our strength and with all our mind.

G.R.C. We are glad to see young ones enjoying necessary recreation, for bodily exercise profits a little; but, as we get older, we do not want to go back to the sports of youth.

• That is a very poor thing to do. It does not please God at all. "When I was a child", Paul says, "I spoke as a child, I felt as a child".

• But let us give up childish things, and go in for things that belong to spiritual manhood: If you need exercise and go for a walk, you can think, and walk with God.

• But do not indulge in things that leave God out and which God has no pleasure in. Is that right, Mr. M?

C.M.M. I am very glad you tell us that. It weighs on me a good deal.

R.B. You spoke of the service of God as though it were something that we as individuals could enter into. We usually speak of the service of God in a collective way.

G.R.C. The service of God in its highest; aspect is in the assembly.

• But it is to be maintained every day by the priesthood. Daily praise and prayer is to be maintained constantly.

• On Monday evening we engage in assembly prayer. But things happen daily in the sphere of testimony and the sphere of government.

• We cannot leave the saints, nor men, nor those in authority unprayed for from one Monday to another.

• The priesthood makes supplication and intercession before God daily.

E.S. We know that a certain amount of bodily exercise is needed for youth. Now what about the mind? I was thinking of books dealing with discoveries by science and such things.

G.R.C. I expect most of us have read the newspaper more than we ought to. J.T. said that the more you read it, the more muddy it is.

• It is like a glass of muddy water. The nearer you get to the bottom, the more the mud.

• We need to have some knowledge of what is happening in the world in order to pray intelligently, and to do our duty as down here amongst men;
  • but I think the girdle bears very much on reading of that kind. I wish I had used it more.

• In reading the newspaper we need to have the girdle on, so that we look only at what is necessary for us as servants of God, and to fulfil our obligations in business and so on.

• Scripture speaks of shutting the ears from hearing of blood and the eyes from seeing evil. I think that needs to be in our minds when we look at a newspaper.

E.S. And what about other books?

G.R.C. We may think many kinds of books are necessary now to help the minds of the young, but the printing press is a fairly modem thing and universal education more modem still.

• And furthermore, we have the Lord as the great example. At the age of twelve He said "did ye not know that I ought to be occupied in my Father's business?"

• And you have in the Psalms "and in his law doth he meditate day and night".

F.J.F. Of Mr. Raven, J.N.D. said, "Take care of that young man, because his mind is formed by scripture".

• J.N.D. also said that the heart always follows the mind in a creature like ourselves.

• If our minds are set upon a thing or engaged with it, our hearts will follow instinctively. The heart follows the mind in the creature.

G.R.C. I think we prove that by experience. The more we let our minds dwell on a thing that appeals to us naturally, the more our hearts become set upon it, and it becomes an idol.

C.W.C. Is that not why Paul says to the Colossians “Have your mind…”

G.R.C. Yes, and that word implies the bent of mind.

C.G.G. So would the idea of consecration help in these matters, the hands being filled with what is so precious to God?

G.R.C. Yes. Because the hands are filled and you are waving it, which means your mind and heart are engaged with it.

• You are waving it for God to take account of, but as a priest you are feeling with God and appreciating what God appreciates. Your mind and heart are engaged with what you are waving.

C.W.C. Is what was waved before God priestly food?

G.R.C. It became priestly food. It strengthened the constitution of the priest. And we experience that, in practice, in the assembly.

• A brother gives thanks to God and what he says becomes priestly food for the whole company.

• Primarily it is for God, and the whole company respond to it Godward, and God gets a portion from the hearts of the whole company; but then it is food for the company.

E.S. This reading should not be enjoyed and then forgotten, but searched out and assimilated.

G.R.C. There is no kind of reading that I have found more enjoyable and profitable than the following up of impressions.

• You receive something from God, and you would like to see all round the subject and get the thing thoroughly from scripture; and so you look up all the scriptures that bear on it. That is a very happy way of pursuing the truth.

• It says, "cutting in a straight line the word of truth". So when we get a fresh impression the thing is to get the whole line of it through scripture and then we really have it.

M.S.V. Would the morning and evening lamb bring before us an aspect of Christ's death?

G.R.C. It is the burnt-offering. We can bring our peace-offerings too. You are always at liberty to do that;

• but the burnt-offering is the continual sweet odour of Christ to God, maintained by the priesthood in their appreciation of it and in the outgoings of their hearts toward God.

• We come before God with a fresh appreciation of Christ and with praise in our hearts. Then there is also the incense at the golden altar.

• Therefore both sides, praise and prayer, are maintained, both morning and evening, before God.

• There are cases in scripture, like Daniel, who three times a day was before God. So we do not limit it to morning and evening but this is the minimum of the requirements of divine love.

M.S.V. Do we therefore serve at both altars?

G.R.C. I think we should serve at both God's altars – not at our household altar to begin with. The great privilege is to enter the holiest and then to serve at God's altars.

• That is, to serve at the incense altar, because that would be the order, if you look at verse 20. In the actual service they went into the tent of meeting first.
  • "When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water" and "when they come near to the altar to serve, to burn an offering by fire to Jehovah".

• So that the order of service in the actual working out of it was that the priest went to the golden altar first, and the incense ascended.

• And then he came out to serve at the altar of burnt-offering.

• We go into the holiest, we serve at the altar of incense, we serve at the altar of burnt-offering.

B.H.T. If Christ is a living Person to us, our lives will be consecrated, will they not? And everything else will fall into its own place.

G.R.C. Yes. We are married to another to bring I forth fruit to God. And this is the fruit to God.

D.J.P. Would you say something about the bearing of all this on the supper? I was thinking of the hands being full.

G.R.C. It has a very special bearing on the supper, because the service of God in its most full and elevated character proceeds then.

• I think if we take up the service daily, it will greatly help us at the supper.

• If we take up the service of prayer daily, at the altars of God, it will greatly help us at the prayer-meeting.

• Things are greater in the assembly than they can be in our personal devotions or in our household devotions.

• But I think in our daily devotions the great thing is to start in the presence of God, and then to serve at the altars of God before we go to our family altar.

• We thus pray and praise in relation to the whole sphere of God's universal interests first, then we come to our matters.

M.S.V. I used to think the family altar came first.

G.R.C. You have to work from the top. We belong to the top; and the thing is to begin at the top and to work down,

• and then you find the family altar is a very simple matter. You will not need to spend long there. If you begin at the family altar, you may never get any further.

F.J.F. So Paul did that in Ephesus, did he not? He began at the top.

Exodus gives the supplying of the material and then the formation of the tabernacle and God coming down to dwell; and Leviticus deals with our approach to God and service in that tabernacle.

• But Numbers treats of the wilderness position, the position we are in as in circumstances of responsibility, but set in relation to God and His habitation.

• We are in a scene of defilement and, therefore, practical purification becomes essential. The issues are very great because
  • we have spoken of justification and what goes with it – joy in the Holy Spirit;

  • and we have spoken of reconciliation and the blessedness of drawing near to God;

  • and we have spoken of sanctification and the privilege of serving God.

• All these blessings and privileges have been secured for us freely from the divine side; but in practice,
  • while we are down here in a scene of responsi-bility, we can forfeit them all, as to the present enjoyment of them, by failing to avail ourselves of the water of separation, which is called "a purification for sin", Numbers 19: 9.

• Paul, in other writings than Hebrews, when he refers to purification, has this kind of purification in mind, as far as I remember.

And so we have in Numbers 19 a type of the death of Christ which has not been introduced earlier.

• It stands related to our responsible position in the wilderness, as having been set in array around the tabernacle, and the chapter, coming as it does after the great rebellion of chapter 16, shows that it has a special bearing on us in our day.

• The great rebellion of chapter 16 links on with the time when the church publicly became a department of the world. That happened in the early days of church history.

• The church publicly succumbed to the world, accepted recognition and became a department of the world and the clerical system was set up.

• It did not matter whether a man had the Spirit or not, he was made a priest. An official priesthood was established, irrespective of the anointing, which denies the authority of God and the authority of Christ as Lord and as High Priest.

• Men who have not the Spirit, and thus have not the anointing, are called priests; whereas the anointing was to be to Aaron's sons an everlasting priesthood.
  • Therefore in our day, in a special way, we need the water of separation.

• They say "for all the assembly, all of them, are holy", Numbers 16: 3. Men talk like that today. And so we have this remarkable type of the death of Christ.

It helps much to contrast this with the day of atonement.

• It says, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke", showing that the idea of a yoke is in mind.

• Christ was never under yoke to the world or anything in it. It is a beautiful presentation of Christ, "a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke".

• But from that point on the passage ceases to bring before us the excellence of Christ.

• On the day of atonement the excellence of Christ is before us all the time. There is the bullock of the sin-offering and the ram of the burnt-offering, and Aaron going in in a cloud of fragrant incense.

• What is stressed on the day of atonement is the perfection of Christ, the perfection of the One who took our place.

• The burning comes at the end, the body of the victim burnt outside the camp; that is brought in at the close, because the work of atonement is founded on that, that the man that was offensive has been ended in judgment.

• But the main stress on the day of atonement is on the perfection and glory of the One who took our place and bore the judgment.

• But in this type, after the first affecting reference to the beauty and perfection of Christ, the emphasis is not, from that point, on the beauty and perfection of Christ, but on the awfulness of the man whose place He took.

• What is stressed on the day of atonement is the perfection and beauty of the One who took our place.
  • What is stressed in this type is the awfulness and corruption of the man whose place He took. And we are to arrive at a true judgment of the man whose place He took.

L.F.J. It is the female type here. God has in mind that men shall arrive at this, I suppose, so that the emphasis is on our side here.

G.R.C. It is a contrast here to the male, the bullock and the ram. Here with the female, the stress is on state. In Christ we see a perfect state, absolute perfection.

• But then He took our place, and what is stressed here is the awfulness of the state of the man whose place He took.

• But then, as you say, it would mean that He has laid the basis for a right and purified state with us.

L.F.J. Samuel was told to take a heifer at the anointing of David, as if God had in mind an answer to David from the very outset.

R.S. Does the red heifer suggest the distinctiveness of this type of the death of Christ?

G.R.C. How distinctive His manhood is. What other man has ever been here without blemish and with no defect and upon whom never came yoke.

A.A.G. Why is it given to Eleazar and not to Aaron?

G.R.C. Because Eleazar represents us. Eleazar was one of the sons of Aaron, and he is representative of the saints in their capacity as priests.

N.C.J.C. Taking up this exercise would promote a state of holiness with us. Is not holiness really shrinking from sin in this awful character?

G.R.C. So much so that we would not readily occupy ourselves even with the ashes.

• Our conversation so easily turns on defects amongst the brethren, even if it is with a desire that they might be remedied.

• Yet even the man who sprinkled the water of separation became unclean himself until the evening, and even to touch the water made a man unclean.

• We have to be very careful, therefore, about being occupied with him unless it is absolutely essential.

M.S.V. Did you say that this is the greatest burning we have in the Old Testament?

G.R.C. In the way of sacrifice, I do not know of any burning so complete as this.

A.A.G. So it says "one shall burn the heifer before his eyes": that is, Eleazar's eyes. If he represents us we are to contemplate that dreadful burning.

G.R.C. That is where the contrast between this and the day of atonement is so instructive. In the day of atonement, the victim was presented before God.

• Although the bullock of the sin-offering was to be burned outside the camp afterwards, it was presented before God at the entrance of the tent of meeting and its blood, as with all sin-offerings (see Lev. 4) poured out at the bottom of the altar; and its inwards burnt on the altar.

• So that it stood related to God. It was under His eyes. And what He was engaged with primarily was the perfection of the Person.

• But this is very different. It is not presented before Jehovah.

• It says "ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him". It is slaughtered before Eleazar.

• "And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall sprinkle of its blood directly before the tent of meeting seven times".

• On the day of atonement the blood was taken in to the mercy-seat, and sprinkled on the mercy-seat. What a tremendous contrast! This blood did not even go inside the tent of meeting!

• And then "And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes", so this is what is before our eyes. The day of atonement particularly refers to what is before God's eyes, but this is all to be before our eyes.

L.D.V. So it tells us of certain persons who stood by the cross of Jesus. We have to take account of where He went. Would it remind us of 2 Corinthians 5: 21, "Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us"?

G.R.C. That verse also applies to the sin-offering on the day of atonement, because it was burnt outside the camp; but here that side of things is stressed for our benefit.

C.M.M. Had not Paul sought to bring this before the Galatians – "before your very eyes, Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified among you", Galatians 3: 1?

G.R.C. That scripture was on my mind. "One shall burn the heifer before his eyes", and, as Paul went about, it is evident that he put this side of the truth before the saints' eyes.

• "O senseless Galatians, who has bewitched you; to whom, as before your very eyes, Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified among you?"

• It is not a question of the altar or what is before God, but crucified among you, before their very eyes; just as this was before Eleazar's eyes.

• Ministers of Christ should seek everywhere to portray this type of the death of Christ before the very eyes of the saints, as among them.

F.J.F. They saw, as it were, the crucifixion, right among them?

G.R.C. Vividly portrayed in a man who was in the gain of it.

J.W.B. Paul speaks of not knowing anything among them "save Jesus Christ; and him crucified", 1 Corinthians 2: 2. Is the apostle in effect standing by the cross there in relation to Corinth?

G.R.C. That scripture again shows that he portrayed Christ crucified everywhere.

J.W.B. So that this thought of purification is very wide if we take in the epistles to the Corinthians, Galatians and Colossians.

G.R.C. It is very wide indeed. It begins in Romans with the idea of purification from myself, as after the flesh; that is Romans 7. If we do not begin there we have got nowhere.

• It is useless to talk about what you might call external purification if we have not begun with the internal, as the Lord said in the gospel:
  • "Make clean first the inside of the cup and of the dish, that their outside also may become clean", Matthew 23: 26.

• We must begin with ourselves, and that is Romans 7 – "this body of death". That is the dead body of a man that we are all up against initially in ourselves.

R.S. Does "before his eyes" bring the priest to the sixth verse, "shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet". Is that committal to this truth of the death of Christ as affecting me inwardly?

G.R.C. I am glad you have pointed that out. It is very interesting because it says "one shall burn the heifer before his eyes". That is like Paul in Galatia.

• He was, as it were, burning the heifer before the eyes of the Galatians, in the completeness of the burning, "its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn".

• Then it affects the priest, as you say; and that is the effect it should have had on the Galatians. "The priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer".

• It is a great thing if we arrive at that in our priestly judgment. That is what God intends us to arrive at.

• We should cast all that we could boast in after the flesh into the burning. We do not boast in the dung, we all know that is no use.

• But what we are apt to boast in is the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the scarlet, the false and fancied glory of sinful man away from God.

• It is a wonderful thing when the burning so affects the priestly sensibilities of the saints that they are prepared to cast the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the scarlet into the burning. When you get to that point, the battle is won.

• We would all judge a drunkard, and base things that even men judge as not fit for society,

• but the measure of our true judgment of man in the flesh is the way we judge the refined things, the things men are boasting in,
  • the cedar-wood, the hyssop, the scarlet; false greatness, false humility, false glory.

R.S. It includes the whole clerical system, the philosophical system and the educational system.

G.R.C. We have to use the educational system, but we would use it soberly; we use the world, but we do not dispose of it as our own. We do not deck ourselves or take any credit or glory.

• If God has given us ability, we can use the educational system, we thank God for it. We do not make capital out of it, in the way of cedar-wood, nor do we put on a false humility, nor do we put on scarlet.

L.D.V. Is it the religious aspect of man in the epistle to the Galatians?

G.R.C. The religious aspect of cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet is the most obnoxious.

• For men to vaunt themselves, and their false greatness, false humility and false glory in the very sphere of Christian profession, is a most outrageous thing.

• It is most outrageous that a man should set himself up as "his holiness", and wear the triple crown, and call himself the vicar of Christ on earth, and seek to rule over the nations.

• I am only quoting that as the outstanding example. Christendom is full of that kind of thing in different degrees.

• And God is going to judge it with a judgment that has never been seen in the universe before. There has never been and probably never will be seen again, a judgment like that of Babylon.

L.D.V. In Galatia they were seeking to be perfect in the flesh, and we might be on that line. If so, the man we are trying to perfect is the man that has been burnt as you were speaking of here.

G.R.C. We can make a religious world out of the brethren. These things are in all of our hearts.

• We may give up the profane world, and yet want to bring the cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet of human glory into the meetings. If we are seeking to be made perfect in flesh, that is just what we are doing.

M.S.V. So the apostle says to the Corinthians, "Who then is Apollos, and who Paul?" It is like putting all that into the fire.

G.R.C. While the flesh took another form in Corinth, it was a similar thing, human greatness. They were boasting in their local leaders and he transfers the application to himself and Apollos for their sakes. He would not name the local leaders but he shows the folly of what they were doing.

A.A.G. How does the washing follow on the casting into the burning, in verse 7?

G.R.C. It is the only thing that could be consistent with what the priest has seen. He washed his garments and bathed his flesh in water.

• He would see that there was nothing attaching to him that belonged to the man whose place Christ took.

F.J.F. He disappears. It was the religious man that said "We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die", John 19: 7.

G.R.C. Quite so. But then the cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet refer not only to the religious side of things.

• In the list of things that are mentioned in 2 Corinthians, the religious is put last, "what agreement of God's temple with idols?" The religious aspect is the most obnoxious, but that is not the only aspect of man in the flesh.

• It is a wonderful thing when the priestly element amongst the saints – and we should all be in it because all are priests who have the Spirit – is prepared to throw the cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet into the midst of the burning.

• The gross things do not deceive us; but these are the things that deceive us, and have deceived us, and which have led us to enter into associations which are contrary to the injunctions of 2 Corinthians 6.

• These are the things that have deceived us, the cedar-wood, the hyssop and the scarlet.

E.S. Is that why you read verses 11-13, as preceding the section in 2 Corinthians 6 relating to separation. Verses 11-13 refer to the heart expanding itself?

G.R.C. It is very interesting that those verses precede. "Let your heart also expand itself". That is the way we are going to get clear on these questions, by letting our hearts expand themselves.

• What has preceded in the epistle is the ministry of the New Covenant (chapter 3); that is, the ministry of righteousness and the ministry of the Spirit from the glory to fit men for the glory. That links with what we had: yesterday morning.

• But then there is the ministry of reconciliation, which links with what we had yesterday afternoon; the way Christ has met everything for God; and the desires of the heart of God to have us in the nearest place to Himself, "God as it were beseeching by us", 2 Corinthians 5: 20.

• Now in the light of all that, what are we going to do? Paul says "for an answering recompense". It is a question of an answering recompense to all that we have had before us in the previous three readings.

• There is justification, the gift of the Spirit, reconcili-ation, sanctification, all freely given to us from the divine side.

• Now he says "for an answering recompense, let your heart also expand itself". Purification is the answering recompense on our side.

R.S. Would the three references to water in verses 7-10 bear on that?

G.R.C. I think so. It was the mouth of the ambassadors which was opened to them, "We are ambassadors therefore for Christ, God as it were beseeching by us, we entreat for Christ".

• Think of God taking the attitude of entreaty, like the father who went out to the elder brother and entreated him; "we entreat for Christ, Be reconciled to God".

• Be in the matter practically! And we can be in the matter practically, so that God has His present joy in us, only by way of purification.

• So he says "for an answering recompense … let your heart also expand itself". Let your heart expand itself in the love of God.

• Think of all that He has done – justifying, reconciling, sanctifying; what more could God do?

• Well, now, for an answering recompense, let your heart expand itself and be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.

• Come out of all that would hinder our being in the gain of those great blessings, so that God might have His present portion.

F.J.F. You might be regarded as a fool for Christ's sake if you did that. But that is our glory, is it not?

G.R.C. That is just what we are faced with. That is the present position. We have got to accept the fact that we are going to be fools for Christ's sake, in the eyes of men.

L.D.V. Would the apostle Paul himself be like the clean man who dealt with the ashes? The ashes were put outside the camp by the clean man so that they should be available.

G.R.C. I think that is a good application. Paul made them available to every local company.

S.P.S. How do the ashes bear on purification?

G.R.C. The ashes are the evidence that the awful man whose place Christ took, has been consumed to ashes vicariously before God.

F.J.F. Paul in Philippians says "and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh … if any other think to trust in flesh, I rather …" Then he gives a list of all that went into the burning.

G.R.C. Very good. "What things were gain to me", he says, "I counted, on account of Christ, loss". The cedar-wood and the hyssop and the scarlet all went into the burning as far as Paul was concerned, and he had more to give up than anyone here.

D.M.S. What is the clean place?

G.R.C. It is outside the camp. It is the place of the reproach of Christ.

C.M.M. One can be thankful there is a clean place in wilderness surroundings.

• Would this reference to death in such a complete way show the abhorrence we should have for anything of this character.

• It speaks of touching a dead person "the dead body of a man that is dead", v. 13, as though to bring home to us the awfulness of it.

• Perhaps we have not been sufficiently conscious that we are surrounded by such awful corpses, and perhaps we try to decorate them. But it is death.

• In some cases we may not have a direct contact; but even an indirect contact would be defiling.

G.R.C. The list given in 2 Corinthians 6 is very compre-hensive. What have you in mind as to an indirect contact?

C.M.M. Entering into a tent in which is a dead person. You may not even touch the dead person.

G.R.C. Quite so. It says "Be not diversely yoked with unbelievers". Now that is a yoke. That would be touching, there is the yoke.

• "For what participation is there between righteousness and lawlessness?" There you get participation. That would also be a definite link, you participate in shareholding or whatever else it may be.

• Then "what fellowship of light with darkness?" Men have their fellowships. You say, 'I cannot see anything wrong with this fellowship'. But it is darkness; the light of God is not there.

• And then "what consent of Christ with Beliar?" Now that is only consent, a lesser thing. People just want your consent to something, they want to put your name on the list. They do not ask you to do anything active, it is just consent. But how can we consent with Beliar?

• Then you come down to what may be merely companionship, "what part for a believer along with an unbeliever?" That might apply to what you have said, being in someone's tent, just companionship. What would you say?

C.M.M. I do feel we need to face this matter of defilement. We have moral corpses all round us, men and bodies of men, and we are to be truly purified people.

• The assembly family is not to be below the level of those who will follow during the tribulation and who will suffer martyrdom, because they do not accept the mark of the beast. We are being tested by that kind of thing to-day, are we not?

G.R.C. Quite so. We can see clearly that the world is being prepared in its links and associations for the advent of the beast.

• Every grade of society is becoming organised by the forming of bodies and it will be a simple matter for the mark of the beast to be enforced upon all these bodies of men.

• The reason it is not enforced now is because "only there is he who restrains now until he be gone", and because God is also restraining through government.

• Are we going to take advantage of God's kindness and care, in restraining and preventing the ultimate issue for a time by saying 'It is permissible to be in all these things'?

• What example shall we be to those who follow after, whose only outlet will be to die in the Lord? There will be those who will be unable to live in the Lord. The only way to remain faithful in the Lord will be to die.

• We have the opportunity still to live in the Lord, as well as to die in the Lord.

W.E.G. How the apostle must have felt it, when he wrote to the Corinthians, "ye are straitened in your affections", and how much the blessed Lord must feel it to-day when we do not want to come out, but to remain linked with these things.

G.R.C. The open principle is regarded by many as giving expansion and liberty, but the only result of it is the loss of the sense of God's presence amongst His people, and thus a great contraction in outlook and affection.

• Expansion of outlook lies in being entirely free with God, individually and collectively, so that the presence of God is known at all times.

• We enter the holiest at all times, and thus we are in the centre of the system and become greatly expanded.

• A sister who was bedridden for 40 years said, 'I am in the very centre of things'. She was habitually entering the presence of God, and looking out with God on the whole domain of His interests.

• But the moment you link up with what is unholy you lose, in a practical way, the presence of God, and you become exceedingly straitened. You may have big numbers, but you are very narrowed up.

J.E.M. In the interval the question was asked, ‘Why is it that it is of such recent date that these matters relating to associations have come to the notice of brethren in a definite way, as naming them?’ Could you help us as to that?

• Certain associations of men have been named during the year. Before that it was men's unions and masters' unions, but now it is other named associations that have come before the brethren in such a definite way.

G.R.C. What would you say?

J.E.M. I have thought that the matter of timing is to be recognised amongst us, and the present voice of the Spirit would be credited with bringing these things to bear upon us at this time, as we are able to bear it.

G.R.C. I think that is right, and it magnifies the grace and patience of God. It is a wonderful thing that He has borne with us for so long.

C.M.M. Do we see progression in this. There is coming out, and then being separated, and then not touching. In Ezekiel, if a bone was found they had to set a mark against it. If we see something and mark it and name it, we are to be on our guard, are we not?

G.R.C. That is very interesting. Once a thing is marked and named, then there is no excuse for touching.

C.M.M. The verse is Ezekiel 39: 15. "And the passers-by shall pass through the land, and when any seeth a man's bone, he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-Gog".

• There had been a lot of bodies put out of sight at this point, but there is still the searching to be made, and here is a mark put against it.

H.J.R. The word says “be separated’. It does not say "be separate". It is a finished matter.

G.R.C. Yes it is a question of being separated to God. We often talk about being in separation. But it is a question of being separated to God.

D.N. Is that an attitude?

G.R.C. Yes. And it is good to see the word "come". In the case of Abraham, that is the initial call, it is "go out ", and I suppose that call comes to us all.

• But here it is the setting of the camp, and God dwelling in the midst of His people. "I will dwell among them, and walk among them".

• Our God the centre is, and our houses, our tents are encamped around the tabernacle, for God is there. And so He says "come out”.

• He is calling us to Himself, as though to say: Come out from the midst of them, and be separated, so that you can be free with Me and free in My habitation, free to serve Me as a priest, and in other ways.

R.S. Would this reference "for ye are the living God's temple" indicate that the bearing of this exercise is the maintenance of the glory that is shining in the assembly?

• We say there is wonderful light that is coming from the Lord and from the Spirit, but if that is going to be preserved, it requires these conditions.

G.R.C. The living God's temple is a wonderful thought. It refers here to the assembly in the wilderness. The tabernacle had a temple as well as the house that Solomon built.

• The first mention of the temple in Scriptures is the temple of the tabernacle – 1 Samuel 1: 9 and 3: 3 – and one of the last mentions is the temple of the tabernacle of witness in Revelation 15: 5, the temple of the tabernacle of witness in heaven.

• The most holy place is the temple, the shrine where God is; and the saints of this dispensation form the shrine of God.

• How essential therefore, purification is. "Ye are the living God's temple" is an expression that touches the heart.

• The living God is dwelling amongst us, with living affections, living desires, the One who has reconciled us to Himself at such a cost, the One who has sanctified us that we might serve Him as priests.

• Are we going to forfeit it all for ourselves and for Him by a link with the world? That is the point here.

• He is among us. It is God here, dwelling amongst us. What wonderful grace that He should be dwelling amongst us!

• And the whole temple service is in mind. The temple is the place where we get light, but the greatest aspect of the temple is seen when the service of God is proceeding and every whit utters glory.

G.B. How would we come out of these associations? Would the way out be through the red heifer?

G.R.C. That is the way to get cleansed. As regards the ashes it says, "put running water thereon", so that it involves the Spirit, the death of Christ brought home to the soul in the power of the Spirit;

• but the death of Christ from the standpoint that the man whose place He took has been reduced to ashes in the sight of God. That is the thing to keep in mind.

• Whatever we think about it, the truth is that the man whose place Christ took, in the sight of God, is nothing but ashes. All his glory is but ashes.

• The cedar-wood and hyssop and scarlet are all just ashes in the sight of God, and the sprinkling of the ashes is to bring that home to the conscience and heart,
  • so that the person on whom they are sprinkled is brought into accord with the divine judgment of himself and of everything around him.

• The sprinkling is on the third day and again on the seventh, and then he acts himself. Someone else does the sprinkling. The Lord will see that that is done, by whatever means He may use.

• But then, on the seventh day, the man acts himself. It says in verse 19 that "on the seventh day; he shall wash his garments, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even".

• There is the sprinkling first, bringing home the truth to his soul, but then he acts himself.

• He washes his garments which refers to habits and associations that are unclean; and then he washes himself. He judges himself as the awful man whose place Christ took.

L.D.V. In Revelation 22: 14, it says "Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life". You were referring to "separated" as a completed matter. Is "wash their robes" a continuing process?

G.R.C. We can take account of a man's robes or garments, what he is outwardly linked with and his outward habits, but in addition, here he is to wash himself.

• Sometimes a man appears to have washed his garments but we may find he has not washed himself.

• Romans 7 is the basic exercise underneath it all. "This body of death" is myself. I am the worst man I have got to deal with, and if I really dealt with myself, the matter of associations should not be difficult.

J.v.N. The compensation is great, for it says "and I will receive you; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to me for sons and daughters", 2 Corinthians 6: 17-18.

G.R.C. In what a tender way God will take us under his wing, as sons and daughters.

• He knows what this means to a brother and He knows what it means to a sister, to be faithful in these ways, so He says "sons and daughters". We have His almighty care in our circumstances, which so many have proved.

• Then it follows, "Having therefore these promises, beloved", and that would include both; the earlier promise, "I will dwell among them, and walk among them", which is the greatest, and then the care in circumstances.

• But the greatest thing is God dwelling among us. What could be greater?

F.J.F. Is that the clean place?

G.R.C. That is the holy place.

F.J.F. It is clean, too.

G.R.C. It is clean, but we have to distinguish between what is clean and what is holy. The court was holy, and the holy place was holy, and then there was the holy of holies.

• But all the houses of the saints should be clean places, in fact the whole camp. They were to put lepers out of the camp.

• The whole camp should be clean, but the habitation of God, in all three parts of it, was holy.

• but when we come to the seventh day, it says, "let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit".

G.R.C. I think in principle the apostle was sprinkling the water on them.

• But he is exhorting them to arrive fully at the seventh day. "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us purify ourselves".

• I think that would be accepting the sprinkling on the third and seventh days and, in the power of the truth brought home to the soul, taking action on the seventh day in washing one's garments and washing oneself so that one is clean at even.

M.S.V. There have been several brethren in this country who have acted on this scripture, and they have become fools for Christ's sake, but have also found that God has been a Father to them.

G.R.C. That is, I think, the general experience. But the compensations spiritually are immense,

• because it means that the joys of justification, the gift of the Spirit, reconciliation, liberty of approach to God in the holiest, sanctification and priestly service, are unhindered.

L.V. As the service has expanded – as it has in recent years – the need for purification has become so much greater.

G.R.C. As God becomes better known to us, so He looks for a greater measure of purification.

A.A.G. Does the holiness intensify in Numbers 19? It begins with the assembly of the children of Israel and then speaks of the tabernacle of Jehovah.

• Then, when you come to what the man does himself, it refers to the sanctuary of Jehovah.

G.R.C. It shows the seriousness of not purifying oneself and thus defiling the tabernacle and the sanctuary.

D.M.S. What is your thought about God's fear, "perfecting holiness in God's fear"?

G.R.C. The fear of God should always mark us, "For also our God is a consuming fire".

• He is very patient. In that which represents God there is the ox, which suggests patience, but that is not the whole matter.

• There is also the lion, and the prophet speaks about the lion roaring. Then there is the eagle. The face of a man is the most prominent thing, and that is very precious,

• but we are to fear God all the time, and to fear Christ. It says in Ephesians 5: 21, "submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ".

D.M.S. So that one end in view in the exercise the Spirit is raising with us, is that there should be in our hearts the fear of God. It is not a legal enactment, it is the fear of love that would give God His right place?

G.R.C. Quite so. But then we must fear God. "for Jehovah – Jealous is his name – is a jealous God", Exodus 34: 14.

• And it says, "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?", 1 Corinthians 10: 22.

• Is there something claiming our hearts which is conflicting with His rights? We do well to fear God.

A.A.G. So that there is no option as regards purification. If it is not done, the soul is cut off.

G.R.C. Quite so. That is the Old Testament passage, showing the seriousness of it. We have to apply it, of course, in the spirit of the New Covenant, and that is how Paul is doing it.

• Paul says "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us purify ourselves from every pollution of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God's fear". How Paul would enfold them in the arms of love.

A.A.G. We want living conditions amongst the saints.

G.R.C. We have been slow to come to things and God has been patient with us. Abraham waited till his father died, he was slow to fully answer to the truth of separation.

• How patient God is, but then God's patience is not the only feature of His character, so we do well to fear.

J.E.M. We are very thankful that many of us have received mercy.

J.R. As to associations, you spoke about the religious one coming last. I am not clear why you do not associate most of them with what is religious.

G.R.C. I think if you go back forty or fifty years, many thought that separation involved only separating from sects and denominations of christendom where the truth of one body is denied.

• We are all clear about that. Some used to say that it does not refer to business yokes and other things. But I think now it is clear that it does apply to other things. A trade union is not a religious thing.

W.D.McK. Ever since we have had liberty with the Spirit this matter of associations has come forward. I believe myself the Spirit is emphasising His presence among us.

G.R.C. You can understand how the Spirit is grieved and hindered if we are not in the gain of purification.

J.R. It says "or what part for a believer along with an unbeliever?". Now that would cover things like shares, would it not? It is a question of participating in a thing, having things in common and getting gain from them together.

G.R.C. Quite so. I believe if you examine the different statements they cover every facet of separation. They cover every facet of links with what is dead, morally dead towards God.

J.R. The question of university degrees has been raised. I personally thought of that long ago and came to the conclusion it was a matter of form, not a vital matter, but one would like help because it can be unsettling to young ones.

G.R.C. I think if any particular matter is looked into, in dependence on God, the thing will become clear.

• I do not think anyone, so far, has regarded a university degree in itself as a yoke or a participation.

• But let things be looked into so, so that we can get through without compromising the fellowship of God's Son, to which all Christians are called.

J.R. But we must be clear about the matter, what is meant, and what the obligations are.

G.R.C. We can only be clear by looking at all the facts, as before God.

As regards the last passage read, the Levites, apart from any specific touching of a dead body, were to have the water of purification sprinkled upon them, and also to pass the razor over all their flesh and wash their garments and be clean.

• No evidence of cedar-wood, hyssop, scarlet, or other features of the flesh were to remain.

• You could not think of the Levites being offered as a wave-offering to Jehovah unless they had submitted to that process.