Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

by H. J. Vine.

“Sound in the Faith”

“It’s bad! It tasted nasty, mother!” exclaimed a bright healthy boy, as he hastily threw away an unwholesome nut. The little man was interrogated regarding his action, but, although not able to explain much, his features looked painfully nauseated and he had done wisely. Indeed, it would be well if we all acted similarly in more important matters, by having done with what is unwholesome and unsound.

How commonly it is said today, “So-and-so is unsound as to the inspiration of the Bible,” “He is unsound as to the atonement,” “He denies the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ,” and so on. The very fact that the children of God have the Holy Spirit within them, causes them to shrink from the reaching and teaching of such men, and to reject their God-dishonouring doctrines. Yet, after a while, through becoming familiar with them, there is the awful danger of losing the keen dislike which was once divinely imparted to the soul, and of being consequently robbed in regard to the Truth.

Again and again in the three short epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, the Spirit of God emphasizes the importance of that which is “sound”—“sound doctrine,” “sound words,” “sound speech,” “a sound mind” and “sound in the faith” are all spoken of, in view of believers being preserved from the unwholesome opposites, and of being kept in the healthfulness of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus.

We will concisely consider the verses referred to.

1. “Sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:10; 4:3; Titus 1:9; 2:1). In the very first verse we see where unsoundness in regard to the faith begins, as we read, “contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious Gospel.” Corruption starts as to God’s Gospel. Then it is foretold, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,” for (as it now abounds), “They heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.” But, in healthy contrast, it is good when one is able to hold fast the faithful word, and “be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” speaking the things which become sound doctrine”. To promote the good is the way to keep clear of the evil.

2. “Sound words” (1 Timothy 6:3; 2 Timothy 1:13). “If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing.” Such have forsaken the ground where true knowledge and humility are cherished. Therefore the apostle says to young Timothy, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” The apostles used words “which the Holy Ghost teacheth,” not “the words which man’s wisdom teacheth” (1 Corinthians 2:13). This should be remembered today when we are faced by boasted advance, modern scholarship and the latest expressions, so that more tenaciously than ever we may hold fast to sound and wholesome words.

3. “Sound speech” (Titus 2:8). Then what a fine exhortation is found here for a servant of the Lord! What an antidote to the temptation which ensnares many, when truth is sacrificed for delusive language or vain eloquence. “In doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say against you.”

4. “A sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Granted that the behaviour of a faithful servant of the Lord leaves the enemies of the faith without one evil thing in his practice to condemn, but rather that a feeling of shame consequently takes hold of the opponents, nevertheless he himself is not to be ashamed of the Truth, nor is he to fear, however much they may oppose; so it is written, “God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (or “wise discretion,” for so it should read). “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.” From God’s side the servant is equipped; on his side boldness, love and wise discretion in regard to the Lord’s testimony are to mark him.

5. “Sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13; 2:2). “Rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith … sober, grave, temperate, sound in the faith, in love, in patience.” In view of subversive teachings and corrupt influences, Titus was to forcefully bring home the Truth to believers that they might be found SOUND IN THE FAITH. True believers at the present time need the good—the positive Truth of God! It is not sufficient, though necessary, to be done with the bad—the unsound. Certainly “refuse the evil,” but feed upon “that which is good.”

The epistle of Jude instructs those who are “beloved in God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ” to build themselves up in the Faith, keeping themselves in God’s love, praying in the Holy Ghost—to get on together in “the faith once delivered to the saints,”—to be earnest as to this; not as to latter-day copies or developments of it, but as to that which is “from the beginning.”

God is revealed in Christ, and we are redeemed to God in Christ through His blood. Christ is glorified on high, and we are blessed in Him. The faith centres in the Son of God, and the Spirit enables the children of God to “abide in Him” in faith, affection and intelligence, that our joy may be full, while true edification in love is promoted according to the Word of God.

Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions, and Thanksgivings

In connection with the order of the house of God, we are to remember before God all men; kings and all who are in dignity; for the well-being of His own, and the salvation of men—

We are to make (1) “supplications, (2) prayers, (3) intercessions, and (4) thanksgivings” (1 Timothy 2:1).

The first is an earnest entreaty in the sense of need or indigence; it is once used of the Lord. (See Hebrews 5:7.)

The second is an address or request made with devotion to God; it is most generally used.

The third is a confiding converse or interview with privileged freedom and intimacy. It is only used once more, and there the New Translation translates it “freely addressing God” (1 Timothy 4:5). The verb is used to describe the Lord’s present intercession in heaven (Romans 8:23; Hebrews 7:25).

The fourth is a responsive expression of gratitude to God, and it is to mark us at all times, in all things:

“BE YE THANKFUL.”

Tell My Brethren

John 20:15, 17

“She supposing Him to be the gardener.” It was the mistake of one who loved the Lord with an ardent affection. There was no doubt that Mary was deeply attached to Jesus, and coming at early morn to the tomb in which He had lain and finding it empty, she eagerly sought for His precious body, so that it might be properly and reverently cared for.

Mary had good cause to be devoted to her Lord! Had He not delivered her from the thraldom of seven wicked spirits? In His service therefore she engaged; and when He went from city to city, and from village to village, with the twelve spreading the glad tidings, she, along with the wife of King Herod’s steward, and other ladies, sustained the financial needs, ministering “to Him of their substance.” And now, far beyond the expectations of her eager heart, she had found Him again—not dead, but alive—her risen Lord. The One she had mistaken for the gardener was JESUS HIMSELF risen from among the dead! He was alive, to die no more! Not the gardener, but the Lord of life and glory.

There He stood speaking with her, the risen Man!—the Son of God in resurrection! That spear-rent side, those pierced hands and feet plainly told that He was a real Man still; but He was beyond all question “this same Jesus.” He had raised up others from death during His life on earth, and had by this proved that He was Son of God, but now His own resurrection pre-eminently marked Him out as “Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). This was He who called her by name—“Mary,” and to whom she responded with affection and reverence, saying, “Rabboni!” And, on that glad day of victory and triumph, His thoughts were at once engaged in regard to those He called His brethren. Who could these favoured ones be? Who could have such a place in His love at such a time? Who could be of such value in His eyes that on the very first day of His resurrection, the first day of the week, He so thinks of them?

He had just now returned from the great conflict, when, through death, He had broken Satan’s power, from the scenes of suffering and rejection and crucifixion by man; from the bearing of our sins in His own body on the tree; from the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself; from the three hours of darkness; from the forsaking of God; from doing the stupendous work which glorified God and secured eternal redemption for us; from sustaining the just claims of God’s holy throne and gaining eternal salvation for all those who believe; from that awful time of blood-shedding and death; from the cross and the grave! How much then must He have loved those He was thinking of, those He speaks of to Mary as “My brethren”! Who were they?

They were not the Jews who retained Moses’ seat and the place of Jehovah’s name! They were not the Pharisees who vaunted their orthodoxy! They were not the Saducees who boasted in their sceptical and critical acumen and scholarship! They were not the Greeks or the Romans or any other special nation. Jesus twice designated them in His intercession to His Father as “not of the world even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14, 16). He Himself had been rejected by Israel, and, though the world was made by Him, “the world knew Him not” (1:10). These, however, received Him and He gave them the right to take up a new place and relationship with God, not now of the children of Israel or any other people, but “the children of God” (1:12). This, we are told, is the portion of those “who believe on His name”; and any earthly distinction or otherwise connected with their birth into this world is superseded by the fact that such are “born of God” (1:13). Our Lord Jesus Christ also said, “I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them life eternal, and they shall never perish, and no one shall seize them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one can seize them out of the hand of My Father. I and My Father are one” (John 10:27-30, New Translation). They are also spoken of as “His own,” and as those whom the Father had given to Him “out of the world” (17:6).

But what of their walk and ways? Well, speaking mainly, they followed Jesus and followed Him closely. They “continued” with Him. Truly, they sometimes failed, but who does not? It is to be noted, John does not designate himself or the others as apostles. They are simply Andrew, Peter, John, that disciple whom Jesus loved, the disciples; and then “those who believe … through their word,” “other sheep,” and “one flock, one Shepherd” (10:16, New Translation). Yes, they failed to fully enter into the truth which He unfolded. They were slow to lay hold of the revelation He had come to make. Often they quite misunderstood Him. Under Satan’s special onslaught Peter denied Him, though his faith failed not; and, when the Shepherd was smitten upon the cross, like sheep they were all scattered. Still His love for them was quenchless and eternal; they were His first thought on this resurrection morning, they and the message that He would send them; and, finding in Mary of Magdala a suitable messenger, He entrusts her with His great resurrection message to them. May we say it with the utmost reverence, He was eager that they should know what it was that filled His heart. In Hebrews 2:12 all those who are sanctified by His work upon the cross are called His brethren. They are one with the Sanctifier, “for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

These are the favoured ones. These are the objects of the risen Saviour’s love. To them He sends the new message, instructing Mary to tell it to “My brethren!” He had been alone amidst the sorrows, sufferings, forsakenness and death of the cross, but He is to be no longer alone in risen life. “The corn of wheat” (John 12:24) had fallen into the ground and died, and now risen, it bears much fruit of its own nature, life and order. New life, risen life, is ours in the risen Son of God. A new relationship is ours with His Father and God. A new inheritance is also secured for us in Him as His co-heirs. And a new love—new to us—the eternal love of the Father for the Son becomes ours too (John 17:23-24). He spoke also of His ascension to Mary, bidding her not to touch Him, for He was not now to be known in the old relationships of life, but His ascending to His Father as Man would secure a new place for His brethren, where eventually we shall be with Him according to eternal purpose, and He shall shine as “the Firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

What then is the new resurrection message which Mary is honoured to carry to the disciples? Jesus said to her, “Go to My brethren and say unto them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” His Father theirs! His God theirs! His ascension to His Father and God involving that His place with Him in glory was theirs too, for they were brought in Him into the same relationship, though they were not yet in glorified bodies. What a message! Nothing like it had ever fallen upon the ears of man before. Little wonder that they were found together the same evening of that first resurrection day; the first day of the week. And Jesus came into their midst speaking to them the “peace” He had secured by His finished work at Calvary; and showing them His hands and His side. JOY also was imparted to their adoring hearts as they beheld the Lord!

“That Which is Spiritual”

The true condition of every believer in Christ in the present dispensation is designated by the Spirit in Scripture as “spiritual.” The house of God, too, of which he forms part, is also called spiritual. The food which he assimilates and the drink which he appropriates are likewise termed spiritual. Moreover, the praises which he offers to God, the sacrifices which he gives to Him, the songs which he sings, are all spoken of in the Word of God as spiritual. It is important, therefore, to seek understanding from God as to this, for we live in days when it is despised by some, misunderstood by others, and carried too far by many.

Now, though the true and normal condition of each believer is spiritual, yet we see that brethren in Christ may become fleshly for we read of those who heard the Gospel through Paul at Corinth, and were in the assembly in Christ there, becoming such; therefore, the apostle writes to them thus, “I, brethren, have not been able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babes in Christ, … for ye are yet carnal” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Let this, therefore, weigh well with us. It is not enough to say, “I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and confess His Name.” These brethren at Corinth did that; but the fleshly lusts which war against the soul had hindered their progress in spiritual things, and emulation and strife and dissension among themselves rose high through their exalting special men, boasting in them and their peculiar teachings, and through ordering their walk according to them and not according to the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom all faithful servants point, and whose glory the Spirit of God is here to bring before us.

Natural, Carnal and Spiritual

It is the carnal mind which opposes the spiritual. The natural is not that which is in itself antagonistic so much, but rather is it unable to enter into that which is spiritual. We read, “The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God … he cannot know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” Spiritual things are above him and he is incapable in himself of entering into them. Carnality is altogether against them. The natural mind may be educated, adopting too as its religion Christianity (as it is often termed), yet without the Spirit of God, it may also despise low practices and the failures even of true believers, it may be zealous for human righteousness and honourable behaviour, nevertheless it is still natural. Often it freely admits it does not, and has no disposition to appreciate spiritual things. Natural things and natural affection are rightly and ably appreciated, it may be, but not the spiritual. The latter may not be opposed, but the natural man lacks the necessary ability to discern spiritual things, whereas that which is carnal bitterly wars against that which is spiritual.

Just a word before leaving this. It is important to remember that if the natural is not in itself against the spiritual neither is the spiritual against the natural, but its abilities are supernatural and above it, and when one is truly spiritual he will view that which is natural from a higher standpoint than the other, and bring into his own natural relationships a heavenly grace to which the purely natural man is a stranger. This we see in the closing exhortations of such epistles as Ephesians and Colossians. To be “without affection” is an awful mark of apostasy from that which is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:3). We do not become unnatural by being spiritual, but carnality is to be fled from as a foe to all true progress.

Even the law in itself is not against what is purely natural. It is against the fleshly man. Indeed, the law, being given of God, must itself be spiritual, and its fullness is love. The man in Romans 7 says, “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin” (verse 14).

What it Means to be Spiritual

It may be asked, What is exactly meant by that which is spiritual? Through wrong teaching as to this many sincere souls have been led astray! Often it has been contrasted with that which is material, and a state of mind has consequently been produced of a most harmful nature. Scripture does not so speak, for the Spirit tells, that the body which the saints will have in the resurrection will not only be incorruptible and immortal but also spiritual. When He rose from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “Handle Me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see Me having” (Luke 24:39); nevertheless His body was spiritual although still “flesh and bones,” and the body of the believer will be the same in resurrection; it will be “a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:44).

Some, too, have said, That which is spiritual is neither seen nor heard! but “the house of God” is formed of all true believers, on Christ, the Living Stone rejected by men, and that house is spiritual, and it is seen. Moreover, the praises which they offer to God are spiritual and their songs are called “spiritual songs,” and they are heard. The believer himself in his right condition and character is spoken of as spiritual—“ye which are spiritual”—and he is both seen and heard, and as he behaves himself accordingly even unconverted men are made conscious that he acts and speaks from a standpoint to which they are strangers.

In a bad sense we read of certain forms of evil being spiritual, of “spiritual wickedness” (Ephesians 6:12), and of Jerusalem, when it presently becomes dominated by Antichrist, being “the great city which is called spiritually Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (Revelation 11:8). In both these cases we have that which is characterized by Satan—by the evil spirit.

To be spiritual therefore in the true sense is to be characterized by the Holy Spirit of God who has been given from our ascended Head and Lord. We do not, therefore, find this condition in the Old Testament, Hosea 9:7 being wrongly translated. We read of men doing mighty acts by the power of the Spirit, such as Samson, but their own state could not be described as spiritual. Extraordinary things, too, have been done in later days by men who have not been marked by true spirituality, nor by the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness and self-control. Not simply power but grace and truth will mark those who are truly spiritual, for they will be characterized by the Holy Spirit; and, as we have said, even the believer’s mortal body will be eventually so characterized, for it will be quickened by the Spirit at the coming of Christ and be subject to mortality no more.

The saints in Galatia had fallen under teaching which made them think they were hyper-spiritual, but in reality they were brought into bondage to “beggarly principles,” and the apostle, seeing their danger, has to say, “If ye bite and devour one another beware that ye are not consumed one of another” (5:15). What a state for saints of God to get into even when apostles were on the earth, ill-treating each other through wrongly directed zeal! Again he writes, “Brethren, if even a man be taken in some fault, ye who are spiritual restore such an one in a spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted” (6:1). This restoring grace and lowliness is a mark of spirituality. Is restoration very much in evidence today? It would be, were there more true spirituality.

We are also exhorted to “follow after love and desire spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1). The blessings, too, which are ours in Christ Jesus are spiritual (Eph. 1:3), and as we rightly enter into and possess these blessings they will give character to us. Our discernment, then, will be clearer, for “the spiritual discerns all things and he is discerned of no one” (1 Corinthians 2:15).

The faithful servant of Christ seeks to impart spiritual benefit to those who hear him—“some spiritual gift to establish you” (Rom. 1:11)—that such may participate experimentally in “spiritual things” (15:27), and these things cannot be imparted in a merely natural way; “not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, communicating [or expounding] spiritual things by spiritual means” (1 Corinthians 2:13); and the apostle Paul, who thus served the Lord, could add, “if we have sown to you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” (9:11). Many look at the latter—giving to servants of our Lord Jesus Christ—as the “great thing.” That is a mistake! The giving of spiritual things is what is truly great, and the other but a right and ordinary return. The labourer must be supported, and it is not well for those who benefit by his service to neglect the one who sows spiritual things lest spiritual poverty follows.

In the case of the Colossian saints we find the apostle praying that they may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so as to walk worthily of the Lord unto all well-pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work (Colossians 1:9). This fruitfulness is another mark of true spirituality: evidence is thus borne as to our condition. Bad fruit witnesses to a bad condition. No fruit shows a faulty condition. “Fruit in every good work” evidences a truly spiritual condition, along with a true knowledge of God in Christ.

Spiritual Possessions

When God redeemed Israel He gave them earthly possessions, but to those who have redemption in Christ today are given “spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). These are possessed at the present time in faith in the power of the Spirit, and in them the believer may stand victoriously against all the attacks of the powers of darkness and against spiritual wickedness, strong in the Lord and clad in the panoply of God. Ephesians 6:10-17 shows this.

As we are therefore characterized by the Holy Spirit of God, that is, as we are characteristically spiritual, this triumph and victory will be ours in spite of all the outward failure in the assemblies. Provision has been divinely made that we may stand in our glorious possessions, so that with gladness and praise filling our hearts, like the apostle to the Gentiles we may exclaim, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has thus blessed us.”

But not only do we read in the epistles of spiritual persons possessing spiritual “blessings,” raising spiritual “songs,” offering spiritual “sacrifices”—the sacrifice of praise—in a spiritual “house,” but of such spiritual persons having spiritual “discernment,” receiving and rejoicing in spiritual “things,” increasing in wisdom and spiritual “understanding,” having spiritual “food” to sustain them in divine energy, so as to be well-pleasing to the Lord. As we have said, the faithful servant seeks to impart spiritual gain to the saints, to feed them with spiritual food.

When Israel journeyed onward to the land, we are told that they were types of us, and “all ate the same spiritual food, and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of a spiritual Rock which followed them; and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Here then we find the secret of being kept in vigour on our way to the Father’s house, where we shall see our Lord Jesus Christ face to face Fleeing from fleshly lusts we appropriate the food provided for us, and press onward to our heavenly goal. When here on earth Jesus Himself could say, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live on account of the Father, he also who eats Me shall live also on account of Me”; and, again, “I am the bread of life: he that comes to Me shall never hunger, and he that believes on Me shall never thirst at any time” (John 6:35). He is our food, our drink, our all.

As we thus make this gracious provision our own we shall find strength and spring in our steps heavenward, we shall be renewed day by day in the inner man. Long ago it was said, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God. As Christ is therefore appropriated we shall be encouraged and invigorated on our homeward way!

The body—the outer man—may become less agile, and we may be conscious of increasing feebleness as age tells upon the present tabernacle; the earthly house may prove itself to be as the apostle said a “body of humiliation,” and weakness may be evident in its various chambers and compartments; many testings and trials, snares and temptations, along with ups and downs, may beset the path which we tread, but the end of it will be an “UP.” The last step taken, and we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air! All the besetments of the way will be left behind in the twinkling of an eye and we shall be for ever with the Lord!

Then we shall possess our possessions in bodies of glory; not simply as now in faith, but as glorified with Christ. The mortal body of the saint will have put on immortality, and this corruptible will have put on incorruptibility. No longer earthly it will be heavenly; no longer in dishonour, it will have been raised in glory; and no more in weakness it will have been raised in power; the Lord will then have quickened it, and each saint will possess for ever “a spiritual body.” Conformed fully to the image of God’s beloved Son we shall then surround Him as His brethren in His Father’s house and be to His eternal praise.

“And now Thy love is waiting

Thy saints like Thee to raise.

Firstborn of many brethren,

To Thee be all the praise.”

That Worthy Name

It is a Name which embraces grace and glory, love and holiness, mercy and majesty. The numerous references to it in the Book of inspiration lead us on expectantly, until we at last behold its infinite splendours expressing themselves fully in the Lord Jesus—Jehovah the Saviour. In the last book of the Bible, in that section of it which delineates the decline of the assemblies from first love to indifference as to Christ, we are shown those who are approved of God in the midst of the failure, for they keep His Word and do not deny His Name (see Revelation 3:8). It is important, therefore, to know this Name so that we may be loyal to it, and thus be pleasing to God.

At the very start we found salvation through its gracious merit—“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Did our sins cause us to tremble at the thought of the judgment-day?—With what refreshing and peace-giving joy the assuring words of the Holy Spirit come home to our hearts—“Your sins are forgiven you for His Name’s sake” (1 John 2:12)! Again, our faith was encouraged as we read those wonderful words of 1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the Name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” Moreover, we were led on to make our requests known to God in that precious Name through which salvation, forgiveness and life are ours. And words fail to express the deep rejoicing which filled our hearts when we discovered the truth and experienced the reality of Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together unto My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” We have rich cause to sing:

“As chords of music to the ear

Bring strains of joyful sound,

There is a Name of grace and cheer

To those who Christ have found.”

The servants of our Lord Jesus Christ also have that all-prevailing Name to sustain them in their labours. Like those at the beginning, “for the Name have they gone forth taking nothing of those of the nations” (3 John 7 N.Tr.). Such are to be received and helped, we are told, and to be set on their way worthily of God. They take nothing from the unconverted, for they uphold the honour of “the Name” of Him they serve. They preach in His Name the glad tidings of the grace of God, as, like Peter, they proclaim, “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His Name whosoever believes in Him shall receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). They also baptize in His Name as we further read in verse 48, “He commanded them to be baptized in the Name of the Lord.” Whether it be a mile away or ten thousand miles away, whether surrounded by the wiles of Satan or the ragings of His violence, those who serve for the Name alone—having their headquarters where Christ is at God’s right hand—announce, “Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” And if sufferings beset these faithful servants, they will be “filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost,” for they are serving in the way of the will of God, knowing that the Gospel is sent to take out of the nations “a people for His Name” (Acts 15:14). Therefore, like others they rejoice that they are “counted worthy to be dishonoured for the Name” (Acts 5:41, New Translation)! This path of faith is recompensed even now by the joy of God, even as the Lord’s “Well done!” will richly reward it in the coming day. Nothing which is done in His Name will be overlooked.

All saints may share in the peculiar sweetness of this pathway surely, for is it not written, “Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake”? and if joy unspeakable is found here, what shall be said of that glorious day when those who have served Him on earth, shall see His face, and His Name shalt be in their forehead? Then, indeed, from all the redeemed shall be reflected in Divine radiance the glory of Christ; He shall be seen glorified in them, and His beauty, shining far through the vast realms of reconciliation and majesty, shall be admired in them as they show forth the excellencies of His Name.

Someone may inquire, What is meant by “THE NAME”? Seeing the Holy Spirit makes so much of it in the Sacred Writings, it is indeed well to seek and secure understanding as to this. The Name is that which sets forth Who and What the Lord is. James designates it “the excellent Name which has been called upon You” (2:7, New Translation). Little by little its wealth is shown in the Old Testament, always encouraging the believer with the fact that its vast treasures will eventually be fully disclosed; and so it has come to pass in the Person of our glorious Saviour, named in the first chapter of the New Testament, Jesus—Jehovah the Saviour, and Emmanuel, God with us; and in the last book of the inspired volume, “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” In the Name, then, we have an infinite and unfading inheritance opened out for our faith to possess as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Himself.

If various Names are used in the Word, to instruct us as to Who and What God is, we find all their distinctions blending in Christ, and God fully declared by Him. Does the Bible first give us the name of plural majesty, “Elohim,” the Name of the being of God? Does it speak of Him as “El,” the strong and mighty One? Does it disclose Him to be “El Shaddai,” the all-sufficient God? Does it tell us His memorial to all generations, His wonderful personal Name, “Jehovah,” who was, who is and is to come, and use it more than any other Name, about 7000 times? Does the Word of God speak of Him as “Jah,” sublime One, and “Adon,” the Lord and Master, and “Ehyeh,” along with other generic, official and compound names? Then all their infinite greatness, grace and glory rest in Christ and yield their marvellous disclosures in Him. He is the Word of God, the exact Expression of all that He is, the Effulgence of His glory, and the Image of the invisible God Himself.

The harmonies of His great Name

Are all disclosed in Christ,

And He—from age to age the same—

Our longings has sufficed.”

It should be observed that “name” and “glory” are intimately associated in Scripture, as indeed they are also in common parlance. The mention of such a name as Alexander the Great is at once associated in the mind not only with family distinction, but also with military fame, as well as with certain outstanding traits of character. Now when God came down upon the mount and declared His Name JEHOVAH to Moses in answer to His prayer, “Show me Thy glory,” He gave to Moses a partial revelation of that which distinguished His glorious Name, as He proclaimed, “Jehovah, Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head to the earth, and worshipped” (Exodus 34:6-8).

In passing we should notice that sin, transgression and iniquity are kept distinct. The last and not the first (as is invariably said) was to be visited upon the children. The difference is very important. Today it is exhorted in 2 Timothy 2, “Let every one who names the Name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity” (New Translation). This is a necessity if we are to rightly appreciate the full declaration of the Name and glory now made known in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle had to blame the saints at Corinth because of their unspiritual state, but he also told them the way of improvement by “looking on the glory of the Lord with unveiled face” (2 Corinthians 3:18,New Translation). The reference is to what was shown to Moses. We are changed as we behold the Lord’s glory. Some have made the mistake of the mystic, and said it is beholding the Lord in glory. No, it is His moral glory; not His present position. Having secured eternal redemption for us through His sacrifice and blood-shedding, and having been raised again from among the dead, He is truly in glory—exalted to the throne of God; but it is the marvellous moral perfections which shone out in Him, “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” which we are to behold. As we are apart from the mist and murk of the unrighteousness which is not in accord with His Name, we shall then be able clearly to behold His glory, and that with a very salutary effect upon our own condition. A clear atmosphere and pure air are always beneficial. Over and over again we find this principle illustrated in the old Testament; and of the separate man, who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, the Psalmist sings, “I will set him on high because he has known My Name” (Psalm 91:14).

We find, however, a contrast in Jonah. Sent by Jehovah to the Gentiles, his Jewish exclusiveness got the better of his feelings, and he did not want to go. He knew something of the Lord’s Name and glory, enough to convince him that His mercy was not confined to Israel. When therefore the Ninevites were not punished, because they repented, Jonah was “exceedingly displeased” and complained to the Lord, Was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil.” The fact is, Jonah was more zealous of his own reputation and name than that of his Lord’s in this case, and he therefore found himself beset with trouble and sorrow on all sides, because it led him to act inconsistently with what he knew of the Lord’s Name. Many are in the same position today. Faith, however, shines out in Abraham when he names the place of burnt-offering, “Jehovah-jireh;” and in Moses when he calls the Lord, “Jehovah-ropheka:” and names an altar “Jehovah-nissi;” and in Gideon, too, when he calls another altar, “Jehovah-shalom;” also in the sweet singer of Israel when he writes of “Jehovah-rohj” (Psalm 23:1); likewise in Jeremiah and Ezekiel as they speak of “Jehovah-tsidkenu” and “Jehovah-shamah;” and in others who knew His Name and applied it practically, for they put their trust in Him and acted consistently with it. Indeed in the last book of the Old Testament we read of a faithful remnant finding their all in Him as they “thought upon His Name” (Malachi 3:16), and we are told how pleasing this was to Him whose Name they so prized.

We need not wonder, therefore, if the Spirit of God shows us this Divinely approved remnant fresh and bright through dwelling together upon who and what the Lord is in Himself, amidst the incorrigible corruptions of Judaism at the close of Old Testament days, and if He shows us at the close of the New Testament, when the assemblies have degenerated past recovery, those who are well-pleasing to Christ amidst the general decline and departure from the truth, saying to them, “Thou hast kept My Word and hast not denied My Name.” How cheering are such words to loyal believers. But we need to know that Name better, as we have said, having wisdom and spiritual understanding in regard to what it designates, if we are to be consistent therewith and not deny what it stands for. Children are rightly taught to honour the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, but they are unable naturally to apprehend what it enfolds. Some seeing the holiness of it, however, are apt in their religious zeal to deny by their actions the grace of it, while others, rejoicing in its grace, are often in danger of being inconsistent with its holiness.

The individual is told to withdraw from unrighteousness if he names the Lord’s Name, and in gathering together unto His Name, those who are thus in separation to the Lord Himself may know His presence in the midst of them; and while they call upon the Lord together out of a pure heart, they are also exhorted to “follow righteousness, faith, love, peace,” for these are the things which accord with that worthy Name. The true servant of Christ, too, goes forth “FOR THE NAME,” as we have seen, and upholds its honour in his ways as well as in his words.

“True to Thy Word and loyal to Thy Name,

Would we be found till Thou dost come to claim

Thy blood-bought bride and take th’ assembly home,

Ere strikes ‘the hour of trial’—‘the wrath to come.’

This ends our reading for this session. Until next time, have a great day, and God bless.