To begin with one would refer to these words as on the lips of the Lord Jesus. The viewpoint in Matthew and John is different. The word in Matthew is,

• "go bring word to my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me".

• So that Matthew had the position of testimony in mind. Matthew would link in this respect with "the generation of Jesus Christ". The book opens with,
  • "Book of the generation of Jesus Christ",

• and at the end of the book there were those whom the Lord Jesus could own as His generation. The word in Isaiah is,
  • "who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living", Isaiah 53: 8.

• The book of Matthew shows how His life was taken from the earth. It gives us a good deal of detail as to the cruel circumstances that surrounded the death of Christ, and the sufferings into which He went;

• but in resurrection the "generation of Jesus Christ" were there; He could own them. He says,
  • "Go, bring word to my brethren".

• It reminds one of what was said to Gideon in answer to his enquiry that all those slain were like him,
  • "each one resembled the sons of a king", Judges 8: 18, and Gideon says "they were my brethren".

• I think that is the idea in Matthew. The Lord had those who were like Him, and think of Who He is – Who Jesus is! Peter had confessed Him,
  • "thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", Matthew 16: 16.

• Now He has those of whom He can say, "go, bring word to my brethren".

• Seven weeks later they shone out truly as the "generation of Jesus Christ" in Jerusalem.

• He had been cut off from the land of the living, but in the very city where He was cut off, the "generation of Jesus Christ" came to light,
  • and as He was, so were they in their measure, each one of them resembled the son of a king, no one could withstand them.

Of Stephen, coming into the testimony later, it says,

• "And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke", Acts 6: 10,

• truly the son of a king, and that is what Matthew has in view to produce, dear brethren.

• We are all, through grace, of the "generation of Jesus Christ" as believers here. Jesus Christ is in us unless we "are reprobates".

• Let us be true to our generation, let Jesus Christ be manifest in us, let us accept the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified which Matthew brings before us in such a powerful and affecting way.
  • "I am crucified with Christ", Paul said.

• Let us not be occupied with our old man or cater for him in ourselves or in anyone else. Let us not feed upon that man, let us look upon the brethren as the generation of Jesus Christ.

• The word to Peter was "Rise, Peter, slay and eat", Acts 10: 14. That meant that he would not be feeding on those creatures according to their natural uncleanness, but as those whom God had cleansed, and that involves what I am saying,
  • "the generation of Jesus Christ".

• In these persons that the Lord own as "my brethren", there is a work of God and that is the thing to discover, and that is the thing to feed upon in one another.

• If we discover it we shall find plenty of food. All the creatures in that vessel became food for Peter, he would not be hungry any more.

May the Lord help us all to answer to the truth as Paul did. Jesus Christ was portrayed crucified among the Galatians, for He was expressed in Paul.

• They saw a man who, as to all that marked him by nature, was crucified with Christ, and no longer did he live, but Christ lived in him.

• They saw Jesus Christ in that man. It is a wonderful thing when we see Jesus Christ livingly in a man because he is in the gain of
  • "Jesus Christ and him crucified".

• Would to God there were more persons in whom Jesus Christ were portrayed crucified!

• It affected the Galatians so much that they were willing to pluck out their eyes and give them to the Apostle; and it was in a man like that that they saw the truth of sonship in all its liberty.

• God's Son was revealed in that man. How could God's Son be revealed in a man who was not in keeping with Jesus Christ, because God's Son is Jesus Christ.

• If God's Son is to be seen in others, the true expression of sonship, it can only be as Jesus Christ is manifested in that person, and so God's Son was revealed in Paul
  • – they saw the truth of sonship livingly expressed in a man amongst them, but on this principle that I have spoken about,

  • "Jesus Christ has been portrayed, crucified".

• All that would bring us into bondage has gone in the cross of Christ, the hand-writing in ordinances that stood out against us.

• Let us beware of making ordinances for ourselves that are not of God; let us beware of anything that tends to going back to law and law-keeping.

• Let us keep to the truth of christianity, the liberty of sonship; all legal regulations belong to the man that was crucified, we are called into liberty, and they saw it in Paul.

We have referred today to the boards of the tabernacle of acacia wood.

• Acacia wood is typical of Jesus Christ, that order of man.

• The whole tabernacle system was based on acacia wood, and therefore the assembly is based on that, and Matthew is the assembly gospel.

• Matthew links on with Corinthians, the assembly here in the place of testimony.

• What is the basis of the assembly in the place of testimony? Typically the acacia wood, Jesus Christ.
  • "For I did not judge it well" the Apostle says, "to know anything among you save Jesus Christ, and him crucified", 1 Corinthians 2: 2.

• If we accept that, all those things which cause friction and hinder our moving together bodywise in unity are eliminated.

• On the one hand if we accept the truth of "Jesus Christ and him crucified" all that would hinder family relationships is eliminated.

• We shall have brethren dwelling together in unity and sons of God in liberty.

But then there is what we spoke of today as the more testing relations, body relations.

• You may say, I do not think they have ever tested me. That is because you have never taken them up.

• There are ever so many christians who have never attempted to take up body relationships yet in any practical way; so, of course, they have never been tested by them.

You may have been tested on family lines to move in a brotherly way, we all have been.

• The elder brother of Luke 15 is in all of us, who still attached past history to the one who had been forgiven, refusing to be brotherly, as much as saying to his father, if you kiss him you shall not kiss me.

• What a pity to take that attitude! If you refuse to be a brother to your brethren you miss the father's kiss. How can He kiss someone who will not kiss his brethren?

But then you may be right in family relations, and yet not in body relations. I hope you will begin to take up these matters.

• If you have not begun to take up body relations you have not started yet as to the mystery of God's will –
  • you have not started on the road which leads to finality as to that purpose which was hidden in God through ages and generations.

• You have not started on that wonderful path which requires all wisdom and intelligence, which God is prepared to give you;
  • a path which will tax your highest spiritual faculties as given by God;

  • a path which is worthy of manhood according to God. Why not make a start?

Relations body-wise test us because the sovereignty of God enters into them. He has dealt to each a measure of faith.

• He does not ask us what we would like to be in the body; He sets for Himself the members in the body as it pleases Him. That tests us.

• It is a question of what pleases God, and He has a right to do what He likes; we have no rights, we are taken up in mercy. If we understand that we shall never quarrel with God and His rights.

• He has secured rights in mercy at enormous cost in order to have us available for His eternal plan, and as to that plan, it is of Him and through Him and for Him.

• He takes counsel with no one but Himself, He does all according to the counsel of His own will, and He is forming the assembly.

• It is time we were all alive to it and were exercised in the liberty of sonship to find our place in this great vessel and to function in it.

• Let me ask you to take this matter up in a vital way, every brother and sister. Do not think it is a brother's matter, it is a sister's matter too.

The gifts set out in Romans 12 where it says, He "has dealt to each a measure of faith" refers to things in the widest way, and the order in which they are put shows that

• it is not in an order of priority, it is the order of mutuality, the order of mutual respect.

• It speaks of "service" as a gift. Phoebe is the example in Romans of a servant of the assembly, she had a function in the body – every sister has a function in the body, as well as every brother.

• It goes on in that list, "he that shews mercy, with cheerfulness", verse 8. A sister can shew mercy!

• God fits certain ones especially and gives them faith to go and show mercy to people who are needing mercy. How much scope there is for that kind of service!

• Then "he that gives, with simplicity" and leadership is put near the end of the list. It shows that it is the list of mutual respect, that we are not saying that this gift is more important than that,
  • although in another setting you might say, first apostles, and second prophets and third teachers, but that is not the point in Romans 12.

• The point in Romans 12 is mutual respect, that we are "each one members one of the other", and we cannot afford to do without anybody.

• I would gladly take the lead in paying honour to a person who can go and show mercy to somebody, because I am conscious of my own inability.

• I am conscious that I am a left-handed man in so many things, that I am thankful when I find the person who can do it properly according to God, a person that God has equipped to do it,
  • a person that can give with simplicity, a person that can show mercy with cheerfulness, a person that can go and serve, wash a floor it may be, or do something which edifies a member of the body.

• You may do a simple act, but in helping a soul according to the faith God has dealt to you, you have nourished a member of Christ's body, you have added to the warmth of the whole company;
  • you have stimulated indirectly the whole company by what you have done to that one.

• As we serve one another in these ways each member would function to the best of its capacity, so that all would get the benefit. This is the elementary side of the truth.

Our relations with one another make way for our relations with the Spirit and these make way for our relations with our living Head, and these for the Assembly's service to God.

• What a lot of things there are to go in for! If we have not made a start it is time we began on this road, and in moving along it we do not leave Romans 12 behind, our relations with one another continue all through; things are cumulative.

• And we need the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified so that the man who causes all the discord is excluded and Jesus Christ alone seen.

• Think of what the Lord was prepared to do. He would go down and wash the feet of the disciples. He the greatest Person of all. If we are in accord with Jesus Christ nothing will be regarded as too menial.

• He commanded that as He had done to them they should do for one another. Have we been as low as that yet?

• Paul delighted to be called a slave of Jesus Christ, that is how he addresses the Philippians
  • "Paul and Timotheus" he says "bondmen of Jesus Christ", Philippians 1: 1.

• We ought to love the idea of being slaves of Jesus Christ, and if we are like Him nothing will be too menial or too much trouble to do for the saints. There will be no difficulty in each one of us filling our part in the body.

• No one need be unemployed, because that is not the thought of God. No member of your human body is unemployed, every member is always functioning, and that is God's thought of the body, it is a functioning vessel.

• The highest idea of its functioning is that it is
  • "the fulness of him who fills all in all".

• That is the top note. It is a vessel entirely descriptive of Christ, towards God and towards the universe.

• But if it is to be that there must be the functioning towards one another first.

These are great matters, but "the generation of Jesus Christ" has a great place in all this as you can see,

• and when the Lord says, "my brethren" at the end of Matthew, it is this kind of thing which is in His mind.

• We are like the boards of acacia wood, standing up, ten cubits high, higher than any natural man could ever be; and a cubit and a half wide as ready to be set together.

• That is what His brethren were at the end of Matthew, they were ready to be set together assemblywise. Earlier in the gospel He speaks of the features of His brethren in this aspect, He says,
  • "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens", Matthew 5: 3.

• A person who is poor in spirit will never sow discord in the family, nor upset the working of the body.
  • "Blessed they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed the merciful, for they shall find mercy. Blessed the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed the peace-makers, for they shall be called sons of God".

• It is what you are called. We are all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus, but you are not fit to be called that until you become a peace-maker; you must travel a certain road and then you are worthy to be called it.

• It is one thing to be it and another thing to be called it. Not every son in this world is worthy to be called the son of his father.

• The Lord had in mind in the early part of Matthew those who were fit to be called the sons of God, and so He goes on to say,
  • "Let your light thus shine before men, so that they may see your upright works, and glorify your Father who is in the heavens", 5: 16.

• It is the public position of the sons of God. They are the sons of the Great King; the Lord refers in that same discourse to "the city of the great King", 5: 35.

• Who is the great King? God Himself. The assembly is the city of God. He is delineating the features of the citizens of that city,
  • "As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the sons of a king".

  • "Go, bring word to my brethren that they go into Galilee", He says –

• He is not ashamed to call persons like that brethren.

But now I pass on to the gospel of John, and I would say at this point that it is most interesting that

• in Matthew the message is conveyed by women and in John it is conveyed by a woman.

• I believe that the Lord used women in these connections to indicate that the assembly was in His mind.

• I have already referred to the fact that the assembly was in His mind in Matthew, "go, to my brethren".

• They were those who, as "the generation of Jesus Christ" were ready to receive assembly truths, and to be incorporated in that vessel.

• John has in view the heavenly levels of the truth. We come out from these heavenly levels into the sphere of testimony.

• It has been said that you can arrive at Corinthians which views the assembly here in testimony in the wilderness by way of Romans, or by way of Ephesians.

• The fact is we are intended to arrive at it both ways. We must arrive at it by way of Romans and Matthew, but on the other hand,
  • as we are privileged to touch the heavenly side of our relationships, we can bring heavenly influence and glory to bear on the testimonial position,

• and so in John 20 after the Lord has manifested Himself, He says,
  • "as the Father sent me forth, I also send you", 20: 21.

• It is a wonderful thing that we can approach the testimonial position from both standpoints,
  • one as having been secured by the gospel, having faced moral issues and having been formed after Jesus Christ, but

  • on the other hand as bringing the grace of heaven as those who know what it is to be up there, as it were, and have come down into the position,

• and that is what the Lord has in mind in what He says to Mary. He says,
  • "go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend".

• How much was in the Lord's heart when He used the words, "my brethren", in this connection!

• It is true it is still the same persons, it is "the generation of Jesus Christ",
  • but He is thinking now of what they are according to divine purpose, what they are according to heavenly origin and destiny.

He has spoken of them to His Father in chapter 17 as the men that the Father had given Him out of the world, and

• He says, "They were thine, and thou gavest them me", verse 6. He makes no reference to their sinful origin.

• If you read the Lord's prayer in John 17, and had nothing else to read, you would not know that these persons ever had a sinful origin, unless by inference, in that the Lord says,
  • "I have glorified thee on the earth, I have completed the work which thou gavest me that I should do it", verse 4.

• That refers, among other things, to the work of redemption, in which all the earthly and sinful history was dealt with.

• But apart from that reference the Lord is speaking of His own according to their heavenly origin and destiny,
  • and their origin according to that prayer, is – "They were thine, and thou gavest them me".

• That links with Ephesians 1, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, marked out beforehand for sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself.

• Further down He says, "they are thine". In virtue of redemption accomplished He can say,
  • "they are thine and all that is mine is thine and all that is thine mine", and He goes on to say,

  • "they are not of the world, as I am not of the world", and He says,

  • "I desire that where I am they also may be with me", verses, 10, 14, 24.

• From the standpoint from which we are speaking, it is their proper place to be with Him where He is, and so we can think of the words "my brethren" in John 20 as linking up with the cedars of Lebanon.

• They take character from the Lord Jesus as the heavenly one,
  • "such as the heavenly one, such also the heavenly ones", 1 Corinthians 15: 48.

• The idea of the cedars of Lebanon is the grace, glory and dignity of the relationship as belonging to heaven. As we have said already today as to the Lord,
  • "His bearing as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars", Song of Songs 5: 15.

• See Him there speaking to Mary; He says, "I ascend". Think of the bearing of the Lord! One Who could say such a thing! –
  • "touch me not" He says, "for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father; and your Father, and to my God and your God".

• Ascending to His own place, and yet, as ascending, not ashamed to call them brethren.
  • "For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren", Hebrews 2: 11.

In saying "my brethren" in John 20 the Lord has the highest levels and relationships of the assembly in mind; that is why the message was sent by such a person as Mary of Magdala,

• representative as she is of the hind of the morning, representative of what the assembly is as a vessel that can move with the Lord in high places,

• the vessel that can say to Him at the close of the Song of Songs, 8: 14,
  • "Haste, my beloved, And be thou like a gazelle or a young hart upon the mountains of spices".

• She is so with Him in mind and affection that He has not any longer to urge her to come away and move upward, but, as the hind of the morning, she urges Him to move up on those mountains of spices.

• The message, sent by Mary, has in view that we should be free to merge in the assembly in its highest aspects; first of all as in union with Himself. So that when He comes amongst them He immediately shows them His hands and His side.

• In the light of the message they were ready immediately for the further disclosure of what the assembly is as the vessel which is wholly of Him, the vessel of which it could be said,
  • "this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man", Genesis 2: 23.

Union is with an ascended Christ, so He says, "go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend". Ephesians 5 says,

• "because of this a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall be united to his wife"; that is a horizontal movement.

• Those to whom he is moving are already
  • "raised up together and made to sit down together in the heavenlies",

• they form a vessel adequate for the ascended Man;

• and so this message prepares us for these heavenly relations between Christ and the assembly which belong to the sphere of ascension, and which lead on to all that the assembly is to God in the greatest sense.

• We need the Spirit's power in a peculiar way to enter into what relates to ascension.

• We are only creatures, we cannot ascend to a higher level than a creature can go, but at the same time,
  • we have not yet experienced how far a creature can go as indwelt by the Spirit of God.

• We need to be available to go as far as the creature can possibly go. Who of us could say we have gone all the way? The Lord says,
  • "I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God, and your God".

• He is not speaking here of ascending to a place, but to a Person.

• How much lies open to us, dear brethren, in this realm, and yet, of course, if we are not right on the Matthew side, if we are not truly here as "the generation of Jesus Christ",
  • there will be discordant elements, hindering things which prevent us moving over to these high levels of the truth which are in mind in John 20, the liberty and glory of the ascended sphere.

• So, as I said, the Lord is speaking to His own as the cedars of Lebanon which Jehovah has planted,
  • and all that would flow out of our apprehending the liberty and glory and dignity of the highest levels to which any creatures will ever be called upon to go,

• because as has been said, we are not united to God, but we are united to the Man Who is God.

I would add a word now as to Paul. He says, "my brethren", as I said at the beginning I would like to be among those who can be called Paul's brethren.

• I believe Paul would use this word "my brethren" to those he was completely free with in the consciousness that they were fully with him in relation to the whole of his ministry.

• What we have had before us today is all included in Paul's ministry, and I would raise the question with us,
  • as to whether we are wholly committed to Paul's ministry, whether it is in our minds to go the whole way in relation to it, and not to fall short of any part of it.

• He uses this expression to the Roman christians, most of whom he had not seen, bearing out what I have already said, the respect with which he approached the brethren.

• He is giving them credit for this. We do not help one another unless we give one another credit.

• I would not put anyone out of the company of Paul's brethren until it was absolutely proved that he was out of it. Until then I would give him credit for being in it.

• See how Paul approached these brethren that he had never seen.
  • "But I am persuaded, my brethren, I myself also, concerning you, that yourselves also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge".

• He was hoping to come to Rome, but this was how he was going to approach the brethren when he came to Rome.

• He was not going to say, I am an Apostle, you are nobody compared with me. He was not going to treat them like school children who knew nothing.

• He says, "I am persuaded … I myself also, concerning you". He is persuaded because of his own experiences, "I myself also".
  • He is persuaded that other believers' experiences, if they have really gone on with God, would be like his.

• They had not the gift he had, but their experiences would be like his. God has in mind that we should all have experiences which would yield the same result, that we should all be full of goodness, and
  • "filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another".

• So Paul would come and sit down in that company as having great respect for them.

• He would not be amongst them as a know-all, he would give them credit for being filled with all knowledge,
  • and how it would draw out their affections to him; how it would make way for what he had to say to them.

And he would get benefit from them too. Paul never had the idea that it was a one-sided matter, that he was the only one to give, and the others were only receivers.

• He said, "to have mutual comfort among you", Romans 1: 12,

• and in this chapter he speaks of being refreshed by them all. He was going to get comfort, he was going to get refreshment.

• Even in our small day, those who minister the word, I am sure, would say that they get more from the brethren than they ever give
  • because they are ministering to those who are filled with goodness, "filled with all knowledge", and who are able to admonish one another.

• Of course, alas, there are those who turn aside, there are those at the present time who are turning aside. We could not exactly number them amongst Paul's brethren.

• We would not shut them out from being Christ's brethren, but we could hardly number them amongst Paul's brethren, they have left Paul.
  • What about those in Asia? "all who are in Asia … have turned away from me", 2 Timothy 1: 15.

• Are you going to leave Paul? I hope nobody here is going to leave Paul. I hope the result of being together today will be that we shall value Paul more than we have ever done, and leave this room with the idea that
  • we are going to make the following up to its full conclusion of Paul's ministry, our life's matter; that compared with it nothing else is of importance.

• Thus we will be numbered amongst Paul's brethren, like the Philippians, who had gone all the way. All in Asia had turned away from Paul he says to Timothy, but not the Philippian brethren.

• They had him in their hearts – let us have Paul in our hearts and his ministry. He speaks of the joy he had to think of their
  • "fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now", 1: 15.

• You may say, that is just the gospel. It is not just the gospel, it is the whole of Paul's ministry.

• Paul does not always distinguish between the two parts of his ministry, but his ministry was one whole. At the end of Ephesians he asks them to pray that boldness might be given Him to speak
  • "the mystery of the glad tidings", 6: 20.

• That expression, "the mystery of the glad tidings", I believe, is the whole of Paul's ministry. In the end of Romans he says,
  • "now to him that is able to establish you, according to my glad tidings, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery", 16: 25, it is all one thing.

• One is according to the other, and in Ephesians he says,
  • "to announce among the nations the glad tidings of the unsearchable riches of the Christ, and to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery", 3: 8-9.

These Philippian brethren, I am sure had followed up Paul's ministry in its completeness, from the first day until then. From that very day when the Lord opened Lydia's heart

• "to attend to the things spoken by Paul", Acts 16: 14,

• they had never given up attending to them. So he says,
  • "so that, my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and crown".

• If you are among Paul's brethren, specially those who are "beloved and longed for" the truth lies open to you, you will come into the gain of what we have been saying, and think of the joy the Lord will have in you.

• If Paul could have such joy in the Philippian saints, who can measure the joy that was in the heart of Christ.

• Here were saints who were truly worthy of His own words, "my brethren", whether we view it in the Matthew aspect or in the John aspect, here was a company who had followed the truth fully.

• May the Lord help us all to be like it for His Name's sake.

Similarly, in reading the book of Revelation, in whatever way the Lord may be presented, we must never overlook one of His final assertions in the book. He says,

• "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end", 22: 13.

• The One who said it is the One who said,
  • "Behold, I come quickly", 22: 12.

• If we hold this truth in our minds we shall be preserved worshipfully in relation to the Person of Christ.

• It will not detract from the reality of His manhood, because, if such a Person is found in figure as a Man, He must be absolutely perfect in the condition into which He came.

• He could not be other than absolutely perfect in any position or relationship He might be pleased to take up.

• Thus, if the Word became flesh, as He has done, and if He became dead, as He has done, and if He is now living to the ages of ages, as He is, we see in Him manhood in absolute perfection, without a flaw in any way;
  • and we delight in Him as Man because all our blessing depends upon His having become flesh, His having become dead, and His living again to the ages of ages.

• But, while we delight in every feature and every glory that attaches to Him in manhood, if we remember who He is, we shall be preserved from ever bringing Him down in our minds to our level.

• We shall be preserved from taking advantage of the condition into which He has been pleased to come
  • – and I do not refer only to His condition when here in humiliation, but also to His glorified condition –

  • to deprive Him of the honour and glory due to Him in Deity.

• If we fail to give Him the homage that is due to Him in His Person, which involves prostration before Him, we shall surely make shipwreck.

So, if we consider the way He is presented to us –

• "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father)"

• we see sonship in Him in perfection and uniqueness. He is the Son, and He is referred to as
  • "the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father".

• He has been pleased to raise us up, as it were, to the level of association with Him, but never to the level of equality with Him. Impossible!

• We are brought into the relation of sons, but never to be on equality with Him, dear brethren. He is the Son, and the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father.

• He says at the close of the gospel, "I ascend". Who else could say that?
  • "I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God".

• Marvellous thing that He should say, "go to my brethren". He is pleased to raise us to that status, to acknowledge us as His brethren. Through divine grace we are men of His order, born of God, born of the Spirit.

• So He says, "go to my brethren", but let us not bring Him down to our level. He is the Firstborn; He is the One who can say,
  • "I ascend to my Father" that is unique to Himself "and your Father, and to my God" unique to Himself "and your God".

• If we think of Him as singing praise in the midst of the assembly, let us not in our minds, bring Him in any way down to our level.

• If He is singing praise in the midst of the assembly, He is doing so as the One who is Head of the assembly, and Head over all things to it.

• Even the persons who are types, David and Solomon, had their own distinction. It was David who said in the first instance,
  • "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee", Psalm 22: 22.

• But was there equality between David and the people? Not at all. David was outstanding in kingship, in headship, and in directing the whole service as in the midst of the assembly of Israel: and so was Solomon.

• Think of Solomon the King! There was no comparison, even in the type, between the King and the assembly of Israel; and we must keep this in our minds and hearts.

• The Lord is pleased to say, "I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises", but He is not on our level.

• Far greater is He than David, far greater than Solomon; we cannot measure His greatness.

Scripture is careful in referring to His manhood; and we need to be careful, not in any way to limit Him to manhood.

• Scripture speaks freely of His manhood; for Jesus is truly Man. He Himself says,
  • "but now ye seek to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you", John 8: 40.

• Scripture also speaks of "the man, Christ Jesus", and yet the Spirit of God guards the truth of His Person with care.

• The Lord Jesus delights to call Himself the Son of man, as we know, but in the description in the first of Revelation it says,
  • "one like the Son of man",

  • and so in Ezekiel "a likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it", 1: 26, that is, upon the throne.

• I am not wanting to weaken the truth of the manhood of Christ at all, only that we need care not to bring Him down to a mere human level.

• Though we are men of His order through grace, we shall never be more than men. But the Lord Jesus is unique because of who He is. We shall never be more than men, the most blessed of men, glorified men, nearest of all creatures to Him.

• But let us not take advantage of that nearness to belittle the unique glory that is His, or, in any way, to speak in uncomely familiarity to Him or about Him. In Philippians 2 it says that Christ Jesus
  • "did not esteem it an object of rapine to be on an equality with God".

• In the gospel of John He made statements which implied equality with God. In fact He says to His enemies,
  • "Before Abraham was, I am", John 8: 58.

• We are free to speak of Him as Man because He is the true Man, but, in a passage which is stressing His Person, it says,
  • "taking his place in the likeness of men; and having been found in figure as a man",

• this because His Person never changed.

• The condition is changed; He was here in flesh in humiliation, He is now in glorious manhood in another condition, but His Person is unchanged all the way through and that is what we have to hold in our minds and hearts.
  • "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come", Hebrews 13: 8.

• However highly we are raised up by God and ennobled, we are still men and only men. He is the Man Christ Jesus, but who is He? He is the great I AM.

• Thank God He has taken His place in the likeness of men in humiliation here, and now as Man in glory. We can never thank God enough for it, but let us render to Him at all times the honours that are His.

Now I go on to speak of the witness of John. He is not called the baptist because this gospel is not stressing his service but the person.

• John is brought forward as a sample minister, though he does not belong to this dispensation. He becomes an example for us of the features of a true minister of Christ.

• The Word had become flesh. What was required in a minister of such a One? It is set out in John, a man sent from God.

• That is the first requirement in the minister – that he should be sent from – or "from with" – God.
  • "The Word was with God, and the Word was God".

• If a man is sent from God, he will have an understanding – in so far as the creature is able – of the greatness of the Person to whom he is bearing witness.

So John, when they come to him, makes nothing of himself at all; and, dear brethren, that is the point for us in these days. This is not the time to make anything of men, as men.

• We are reaching the end of the dispensation. John's gospel was written for the end, and the great thing is to make everything of Christ; that is the point for the moment,
  • so that He might shine in all His radiance before the hearts of the saints.

• Let no one get in the way to prevent the shining of Christ undimmed upon the saints:
  • "his countenance as the sun shines in its power", Revelation 1: 16.

They come to John and say, "Thou, who art thou?" He could have said quite truly, I am a man sent from God, but he "acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged".

• How definite he was about it! There was no hesitation, not a little bit of reserve that would claim just a little recognition, just a little flattery, a little place. Nothing of that kind at all!
  • He "acknowledged and denied not, and acknowledged, I am not the Christ".

• As if to say, Do not look at me: I am only here to point you to Someone else.
  • "And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he says, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No. They said therefore to him, Who art thou?"

  • The answer literally is, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness".

• That is all he was; just a voice. The voice would not get in the way of the glory of Christ's shining; it is persons who get in the way.

• John was just a voice, and the Lord would help us to be like that, dear brethren: to be voices to point to Christ, so that there might be nothing to obscure His shining;
  • that the saints might not be occupied with the vessel, but with the One to whom the vessel bears witness.

So he says, "I baptise with water. In the midst of you stands, whom ye do not know, he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to unloose".

• He was not worthy to be a slave of such a Person! It was the slave's duty to unloose the sandal, and here is a man who said, I am not even worthy to be a slave to the Person I am bearing witness to.

• If we have an appreciation of who Jesus is, this will be the language of our hearts. We are not even worthy to be slaves!

• Think of who the Person is! Who am I to be the slave of One like that?
  • "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … and the Word became flesh".

• John would have counted it the greatest honour to be allowed to stoop down and unloose the Lord's sandal. That is the spirit in which we are called upon to take up our witness.

• This is the witness of John. Are we going to be behind John? We are more favoured than he: we know the Lord better than he did; are we going to be behind him in our witness? Are we to obtrude into the picture?

• Or are we taking the view that we are not even worthy to be slaves? Thank God we may be slaves! The Lord will accept us as His slaves, but we could not say that we are worthy of it.

• If we think of the Lord as the great Warrior, coming forth riding upon a white horse, and
  • "upon his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords",

• who would not count it an honour to unloose the thong of His sandal? What a mercy it is that we are allowed to be His slaves! What an honour! What a privilege!

So John's witness goes on. He says, "Behold the Lamb of God". He knows how to present the Person effectively in a way that would be most calculated to reach the heart and meet the need.

• "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".

• Who else could do it? Who else but the One who is the I AM become flesh for this great sacrificial work? John says,
  • "He it is of whom I said, A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he was before me".

  • Colossians says, "He is before all, and all things subsist together by him. And he is the head of the body, the assembly", 1: 17-18.

• Who would not worship Him? Then,
  • "John bore witness saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God".

• Now you have another title; John's witness is that He is the Son of God and that He baptises with the Holy Spirit.

• He brings in life for men, but as for Himself, the Spirit descends as a dove and abides upon Him, indicating the Spirit's delight in this blessed Person.

• I love to think of what it means to the Father and to the Spirit that the Word has become flesh, and that Jesus is now a glorified Man.

• I delight to think of what it means to the Father to have One, who in manhood is the Son of His love, the delight of His heart, the image of the invisible God; the glorious Centre of God's universe!

• And then what it meant to the Spirit, and what it still means to the Spirit; the affections of the Spirit so drawn out that He descended and abode upon Him!

What a witness this was on the part of John! A witness to the greatness of the Person and to men coming into the greatest possible blessing through Him;

• the sin of the world to be taken away, and men to be baptised with the Holy Spirit.

Then, in chapter 3: 28, he says, "Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him. He that has the bride is the bridegroom"; he brings out another great title, the Bridegroom.

• How wonderful that a divine Person should in manhood be the Bridegroom! How attractive to our hearts!

• How did John know about the bride and the Bridegroom? He was let into the secret: he was the friend of the Bridegroom. Bondmanship leads to friendship.

• He did not count himself worthy to be a bondman, but the Lord, the Bridegroom, made him His friend, and John, I suppose, knew about the bride and the Bridegroom before any other human being. He says,
  • "He that has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices in heart because of the voice of the bridegroom; this my joy then is fulfilled".

• His whole heart's satisfaction lay in the fact that the Bridegroom had come and that He had the bride. He, the friend, had heard His voice, and he says,
  • "He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all".

That is the word for us, dear brethren, "He must increase". That is the word for the close of the dispensation.

• The Lord is about to come, and the Spirit's concern in present ministry is surely to cause His glory to shine in its radiance before the brethren, and that nothing should obstruct the shining.
  • "He must increase, but I must decrease".

• It is a question of the Christ shining directly into, and capturing, every heart in view of the rapture, in view of the appearing, in view of the Bridegroom having the bride.

• Are we going to distract attention from the Bridegroom? John the baptist did not. Think of obtruding ourselves between the bride and the Bridegroom, and thus robbing the Bridegroom of His portion!

• Who could think of such a thing? It would be abhorrent to John the baptist. How much more so should it be with us who form part of the bride.

• We should not only emulate John the baptist, but go beyond him in self-effacement, in our concern that the Bridegroom should have the bride without any obstruction or distraction whatever.

• We want every eye and every heart to be fixed on Him, "He must increase". Let Him do so, dear brethren, until He comes and fills us for all eternity.

Now I pass on to the other John, the disciple that Jesus loved. We have been occupied with him as the bondman in Revelation, as it says at the beginning of the book,

• "he signified it, sending by his angel, to his bondman John".

• What a favour it would be if the Lord could speak of any one of us like that! John wanted no other place. He never calls himself an apostle.

• I am not suggesting that either Peter or Paul called themselves apostles for any selfish reason. They certainly did not;
  • they both called themselves bondmen and put the word 'bondman' in front of 'apostle' when using both;

• but John never speaks of apostleship. He is just
  • "his bondman John",

• and because he was Christ's bondman he was, in a peculiar way, His friend.

• The John we have spoken about already was the friend of the Bridegroom, but the John we are speaking about now, was, in a special way, the friend of Christ. That is what is implied in the passage we have read.
  • "Peter, turning round, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned at supper on his breast, and said, Lord, who is it that delivers thee up?"

• In chapter 13 it is also said that he was in the bosom of Jesus. That is the place of friendship.

• Friendship with divine Persons is a wonderful thing; it is altogether on a different level from friendship as commonly spoken of amongst men.

• Friendship, in the divine sense, means a bosom friend; the secrets of the bosom are confided to such. How is it the Lord can confide secrets to persons? Because they are truly bondmen: He can trust His bondmen, He makes them His friends.

So here it says, "the disciple whom Jesus loved". That is how John refers to himself.

• Jesus loved all the disciples, but this one knew His love in a surpassing way. As a matter of time, this was written after the Revelation.

• He is the bondman in Revelation, but in writing the gospel he says,
  • "the disciple whom Jesus loved".

• It is referred to four times. Three times he uses the basic word for love as here, 'the settled disposition', but on one occasion he uses the love of friendship – "the disciple to whom Jesus was attached".

• The remarkable thing is that, at the end, Peter turns round and sees this one following. What a remarkable thing! John had been following all the way and Peter looks round and sees him following.

• It was so evident that he was following that Peter took account of it. Here was one who was following. The Lord Jesus had said to Peter, "Follow me", and Peter looks round and sees someone doing it: John was doing it. So Peter says to the Lord,
  • "Lord, and what of this man? Jesus says to him, If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me".

• Those are the last words of the Lord in this gospel That would be the Lord's command to each one of us here, "Follow thou me". Who could think of disobeying a command like this when we think of who He is!

• Think of those first three verses of the gospel again, and of whom it is saying, "Follow thou me". Do not look at other people: do not be concerned with what others do: "Follow thou me".

• But John was already doing it, and the Lord said,
  • "if I will that he abides until I come, what is that to thee?"

• Now John is the one who abides till the Lord comes; not personally, of course. John has gone to be with the Lord. He abides in his ministry, but that is not the only point here.

• The main point is that persons of this character are going to abide until the Lord comes, and the question is, Are we in this matter?

• There will be persons until the Lord comes who are like John; there will be such until the end. The point for you and me is, Are we this character
  • – persons who assume no official position or place, but love to be His bondmen –

• persons who are conscious of His love, disciples whom Jesus loves, following all the way?

That kind of person will be here when the Lord comes, and the word to each one of us at a time like this is, Am I among those who are marked by such features?

• So, at the end of Revelation when the Lord speaks His last word,
  • "He that testifies these things says, Yea, I come quickly",

• there is the bondman, the one who tarries till He comes. He is there and says,
  • "Amen; come, Lord Jesus".

• That is the language of the heart of every bondman.

I earnestly desire that the word shall remain with us, dear brethren;

1. firstly as to the minister and what is incumbent on the minister in these last days.

   I do not wish to limit that to a class; but let each of us, in anything we seek to do for the Lord, do it in such a manner that He shall shine before the affections of the saints, that He shall have the bride undividedly for Himself.

2. Then, secondly, as regards our personal exercises and relations with the Lord, let us each be a John, one who claims nothing and desires nothing but the place of a bondman,

   and, therefore, one that enters in a peculiar way into the love of Christ, and into the secrets of His heart, and who is ever looking up and saying, in response to his Lord and Master who says,

   • "Yea, I come quickly", "Amen; come, Lord Jesus".

May it be so for His Name's sake!

It is often overlooked that the proclamation of the mystery has the same authority behind it and has the same scope as the glad tidings.

• The glad tidings are preached for the obedience of faith to all the nations. In connection with those God commands all men everywhere to repent.

• But the mystery was to be made known just as widely as the gospel, and this by commandment of the eternal God.

• In other words, God did not intend that those who receive the gospel should remain ignorant of the mystery.

• His intention is that men should obey the gospel and that they should equally obey the truth of the mystery. Satan's effort is always to separate the two.

• Many believers are prepared to go on with the gospel but they ignore the commandment of the eternal God as to the mystery.

• The mystery in its fulness was revealed to Paul. Therefore we need to give heed to Paul's ministry.

• We were speaking of leadership last night. A true leader according to God will always draw attention to Paul's ministry. He will have in mind that the saints should work out the truth of the mystery.
  • It needs to be the first concern in all our lives.

• We shall not help the saints if we make our business or other private matters our first concern.

• If the saints are to be brought into the truth of the mystery it requires full committal to the truth, as Paul says to Timothy,
  • "Occupy thyself with these things, be wholly in them",

• and God would look to us all to be wholly in the truth of the mystery.

Now I wish to refer to three great branches of the truth.

1. The first is the declaration of God. There is only One Declarer of God. No apostle could declare God.
   • "The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared (him)".

   The declaration of God is the work of the Lord Jesus Himself. It stands in all its grandeur.

2. The next great line of truth is the glad tidings, and particularly Paul's glad tidings.

   The glad tidings is to bring us into the gain of the declaration of God, that man might know God, and it is to bring us into the blessing which is in the heart of God for us.

   So that Paul's glad tidings brings out the truth of sonship and makes it clear that those blessed at the present time are the first of all the families. They are the assembly of the firstborn.

   We have a place in the Father's house more blessed than that of any other family. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. All that enters into the ministry of the gospel.

3. The third line of truth is the ministry of the mystery. The mystery refers to the truth of the assembly which is Christ's body.

   The assembly is necessary if there is to be an adequate response to the blessed Person who came out from God, and to the God from whom He came out.

I would like those three lines of the truth to be in our minds:

1. The declaration of God, which was the Lord's own work,
2. the ministry of the gospel to bring us into the blessing which is in the heart of God for us, and
3. the ministry of the mystery to secure a vessel in which there is adequate response to the heart of Christ and in which the worship and praise of God proceeds in a manner worthy of the way God has declared Himself.

I think we can see how very important the third line of truth is.

• Of course, the declaration of God is the greatest thing, but our hearts being so selfish we readily stop at the truth of the gospel, satisfied with our blessings, forgetting the needs and desires of the Blesser.

• The third line of truth is essential if the Blesser is to get His portion. It is essential if Christ is to have His portion, it is essential if God is to get His portion.

• Therefore we need leadership in relation to the truth of Paul's ministry.

A man who has the ministry of the mystery before him is not beating the air. He knows what he is aiming at. Paul knew what he was aiming at.

• He was a wise architect. He had the whole plan of the assembly before him. He was the minister of the assembly.

• He filled up that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ for His body's sake, which is the assembly.

Now God would have us all understand the truth of the mystery. It was hidden throughout the ages in God.

• You can understand, now God has come out in revelation, that what was hidden in Him should also be revealed.

• This mystery hid in God relates to the vessel in which there would be a full answer to the God who has come out. How wonderful that we should be let into this great secret which was hid in God!
  • God had in mind from a past eternity that He should secure the assembly.

• I would like to leave an impression of the greatness of this vessel. It is a great vessel of service.

• The assembly is the bride of Christ. What delight Christ has in her! The assembly is spoken of as the Lamb's wife! She is His helpmate, His like. Think of God forming a vessel which would be of such service to Christ.

• His helpmate, His like, one He can trust. One who always acts as He acts, the fulness of Him who fills all in all. He will trust the administration of the world to come to His wife.

• But the assembly is also the tabernacle of God, the vessel in which Christ is enshrined. The ark was enshrined in the tabernacle of old, and so Christ is enshrined in the heart of the assembly.

• And the assembly is entirely of Him, even as the tabernacle was made of the same material as the ark and the veil. And so the assembly is the suitable dwelling place of God.

• It is also the city of Christ's God, where God is praised according to the greatness of His Name – Psalm 48 – and the city sheds her influence and light over the whole universe. What a vessel the assembly is!

Now Paul's ministry is to bring us all vitally into our place in the Assembly. All who compose it have been blessed through the gospel, so that all are sons.

• Sons desire to serve. Where can we serve? We serve in the assembly. God said,
  • "Let my son go that he may serve me".

• But where was the son to serve? The son was to serve in the tabernacle, thus we are to serve in the assembly. The assembly is a vessel of service.

• We have to distinguish between the family and the assembly.

• The family is the place of blessing and privilege. There is no thought of service in the 15th of Luke. It depicts the joy of the House in which the Father takes the lead.

• But the assembly is the place where the sons serve. Everyone of us is given a place in the assembly which is Christ's body. We are all members of Christ's body.

• There is no thought of a member being inactive. No member of our human body is inactive. The idea of a body is that every member has its own function and is acting.

In the liberty of sonship we can all accept the place given to us in the body. As many as are led by the Spirit of God they are sons of God. That is Romans 8.

• If we are led by the Spirit of God we shall answer to the truth of Romans 12. In the liberty of sonship we shall present our bodies a living sacrifice with a view to filling out our place in the assembly.

• The first element of God's will is that we should find our place in the assembly and fill it out. So that after speaking of the good and perfect and acceptable will of God in the 12th of Romans the apostle exhorts the brethren not to be high minded
  • "but to think so as to be wise as God has dealt to each a measure of faith", and he goes on to say,

  • "we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one members one of the other".

• God has dealt a measure of faith to each one of us to enable us to be efficient in our place in the body.

• It is a measure of faith given to us to enable us to be active in the body in the place God has given us in it.

• And we look round on the brethren and we see that God has dealt to each a measure of faith, and we merge together as one body encouraging each to fill out his place in the body.

• What a wonderful living and active thing the body is! If only we were all acting according to the measure of faith God has given us!

• As I said a moment ago the assembly is a vessel of service.
  • It is a vessel of service to one another,
  • it is a vessel of service to Christ,
  • it is a vessel of service to God.

• God has given to each of us a measure of faith that we should be active in service in our place in the body.
  • And the first thing is to learn to be right in our relationships with each other.

• That is how Paul begins this great subject in Romans 12. We are each one members one of another. That links up with John 13.

• If we understand it we shall love one another as Christ has loved us, and we shall be at one another's feet seeking always to set one another free to fill our place in the body.

• Let us encourage one another, dear brethren. Let us serve one another in love, so that we all realise our place in the body, and we all function every brother and every sister,
  • whether we are together or whether we are apart; because the body is working all the time not only when we are together in the meeting, but in all our contacts with each other.

In 1 Corinthians Paul develops the truth further. He shows that we need to learn to give the Spirit His place in the body.