Books by T. Austin-Sparks

[Shammu]

(2) Bondage to Sin

Then note they were in bondage to sin. They said: "We... were never in bondage to any man." He said: ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin." Only a little while before, they had been unable to stand up to that, to face that: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone...." These very people have walked out, and in walking out had admitted they were not without sin. Now He says: "Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin." So that they were self-confessed slaves of sin. Oh! they would not have said it in word, but it had come home to their consciences.

Now, leaving these Pharisees aside, that does not want a great deal of enforcing, so far as we are concerned. I do not think we would be in the place of religious Pharisees, who would in word repudiate any bondage to sin, that is, by nature. None of us would say that we were sinless. But I ask you; Have you ever tried to stop sinning? Have you tried never to sin? Have you started a day, and in starting it said: I will not sin today? How have you got on? You know quite well that you are in bondage to sin, and there is no option about it. It is not something concerning which you, if you are not saved and in Christ, have the mastery; it is your master. We know quite well that out of Christ sin has dominion over us, and we are in bondage to sin. That is what the Lord Jesus makes quite clear, and brings home here.

(3) Bondage to Satan

The third thing which comes in, is that they were in bondage to the devil. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do." That is an awful thing to say, but He proved His case. And has it not proved that He was right? These religious Pharisees slew the Lord of Glory, and two thousand years have proved that they did the devil's work; that the devil was behind it; that it was not the work of God; and that what He said, as recorded here, was perfectly true, that they were of their father the devil, and the works of their father they did. They were, therefore, blindly in bondage to the devil.

This is a still deeper fact lying behind the state of every man and woman born into this world. They are under the tyranny of God's law, they are in the bondage of sin, but back of that is the tyranny of the devil. What we have to recognize is that we are not merely dealing with sin, powerful as sin is in itself, but it is Satan himself back of the sin with whom we have to reckon. You cannot outwit the devil! You may try to take precautions against sinning, but you will find that you are up against, not some abstract thing, but a sinister, cunning intelligence, which can trip you up just when you do not want to be tripped up; can get you at the time when you are off your guard, when you are tired, and unable to stand up. It is all plotted, all thought out, all worked to a scheme. The devil is back of this sin business, with his great intelligence as well as with his great power, and every man and woman outside of Christ is not only in bondage to sin, but in bondage to the devil. It is all very well for people to say they are not going to sin again, that they are going to give up sinning. They cannot give up the devil like that, he is not going to be put off so easily. They are not dealing merely with some habit, something into which they slip from time to time. They are in the toils, and grip, and dominion of the devil, and they have not only to be saved from sin, they have to be saved from him. Even religious Pharisees were there, in bondage to Satan.

(4) Bondage to Judgment

Then the fourth thing is brought to light here by the Lord Jesus, and that is they were in bondage to judgment. Because of this other threefold bondage, judgment rested upon them, the judgment of God. "Ye shall die in your sins," but that is not merely going out, ceasing to be. "...It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement," and there is no escaping that. In bondage to judgment; that is, judgment stands as master of the situation for every sinner. So you see, what He said about being in bondage is a very, very great thing, a thing which is true in all directions. When He said: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," and the whole question of being in bondage came up, instantly they repudiated the suggestion, the insinuation. He proved His case, and showed that they were very much more in bondage than they had ever thought.

Christ - the Truth Making Free

That is how we are, but He added: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.... If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." We have seen the one side, the bondage; now we look at the other side, freedom by the truth. What truth makes free? There are several sections to this Gospel by John. The first section has to do with life, and the second section has to do with light. Each of these sections circles round the Person of the Lord Jesus. When he is dealing with life, the central declaration is: "I am the life," and when he is dealing with light and truth, the central declaration is: "I am the light." So all that is being said focuses upon Him. "Ye shall know the truth." "I am the truth"! And it simply amounts to this: Ye shall know Me, and you will be set free. What does it mean in this respect to know Him as the truth, and be made free? It is not just knowing the fact of the existence of the Lord Jesus. It is not just believing that there is such a Person. It is knowing what He stands for, what He means.

The Law Fulfilled, God Satisfied

What is the truth in the Lord Jesus which stands over against the bondage of the law, by which we are made free from that bondage? It is this, that while God never reduced His law by one fragment, one iota, the whole law was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus for us. Everyone has been beaten by that law, but God has never said: "Well, you cannot fulfill that law; I will let you off." Never! He said: "You have to face that!" Impossible! Well, what is the way of escape? God will have His law fulfilled! The Lord Jesus came and said: "I will fulfill it, and when once it has been fulfilled, it can be taken out of the way." It could never be set aside until it was utterly fulfilled, and so He fulfilled the law to God's perfect satisfaction, on our behalf. "Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God." And He did it perfectly, and, having fulfilled the law and made it honorable, He put it out of the way, and introduced the dispensation of grace, so that we sing now:
Free from the law, oh, happy condition!
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission
Cursed by the law, and bruised by the Fall,
Grace hath redeemed us once for all.

The truth in Jesus, by which we are made free, is that He has satisfied God in the matter of the law. But we must remember it all hangs upon Who Jesus Christ was. No ordinary man could do this universal, heaven-and-earth, time-and-eternity work. Only one who had been placed in a unique position of universal representation could effect this.

[Shammu]

Sin Atoned for, Man Justified

The next point is sin. It is the truth in Jesus over against bondage to sin. "Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf...." His soul was made an offering for sin. "A full atonement he hath made." "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." The truth in Jesus, by which we are set free from sin, is that He has dealt with the whole sin question on our behalf, and that deliverance from the bondage of sin is a full deliverance in the Lord Jesus, as the Sin-bearer.

Satan Overthrown, Man Delivered

The same thing is true in relation to the bondage of Satan. "Now," said He, as He went to the Cross, "shall the prince of this world be cast out." "...The prince of this world hath been judged." And, reflecting, with Divine illumination, upon what took place in the unseen at Calvary, the Apostle says: "He stripped off from himself principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in his cross." And as the outcome of that the Apostle says: "But thanks be to God, who leads me on from place to place in the train of his triumph, to celebrate his victory over the enemies of Christ" (Conybeare). Calvary was Christ's victory over the Devil on our behalf, and because of what He did there, we are set free from the bondage of Satan.

Judgment Suffered, Man at Rest

Then the bondage to judgment. If He, of His own free will, without being personally involved by birth or nature, took our place in regard to sin, and as under the law, and under the power of Satan, and then destroyed them all, He has destroyed the consequences which follow them - judgment. In His Cross He received our judgment, and the judgment due to us was exhausted upon Him. The Psalmist, prophesying of that, put prophetically these words into His mouth: "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." That was the judgment of God going over His soul as He represented us. Blessed be God, you and I in Christ are not to face judgment. It is past for us, but all these things remain for those outside of Christ.

The Family of the Free

There is one other thing which must be noted. "If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." "If the Son...." It is very impressive how often that title is used in "John." And, alongside of it, "the Father." The name "Father" occurs one hundred and eleven times in John's Gospel. "The Father," and "The Son," are familiar terms. Then it is impressive, recognizing those familiar terms, that you have at the beginning of "John" so much about being born again. "But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the flesh..." and to Nicodemus: "Ye must be born again." That is a family thought. There is the Father; there is the Son; but to be in that family, you have to be born into it; and "if the Son shall make you free," that means you are in the family. He said: "The bondservant abideth not in the house... the son abideth...." If you are in bondage to the law, you have no place in this family. This is a family of the free ones, of the free born. How are we to be set free from the bondage of sin, to Satan, to judgment? By being born again. The Son makes free. It is given to the Son to give eternal life to as many as He will, and we receive eternal life when we are born again. It is the gift which Christ, the Son, gives us. It is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. How are we set free? By being born again and brought into the family. We become members of a family of those who are free from all these things which speak of bondage.

If we are rejoicing in that great liberty which is ours in Christ, our great desire is that should be the joy of all. If you do not understand those terms, we will put it this way: You should know the Lord Jesus in a saving way, and then you will be set free from the law, free from sin, free from Satan, free from judgment.

A Curious Feature

We have noted in chapter 7 that the general character of this Gospel takes a turn, and a new aspect of the Person and work of Christ is introduced. With that chapter the matter of light is brought in, but when we reach the section which is marked by chapter 8, this "light" assumes definite form, and that form runs through to the end of chapter 9. The first eleven verses of chapter 8, as it will be noticed, are something in the nature of a parenthesis. They seem almost like a curiosity. This will be recognized by the absence of any sense of continuity between verses 11 and 12. Verse 12 seems to throw back to verse 52 of chapter 7. Why is this? What is the explanation of this curious feature? Whether John himself knew why or not, there is here one more remarkable instance of a progressive spiritual history being followed. We shall see this as we proceed.

[Shammu]

The Person of Christ Before the Doctrine

There are two sides from which this parenthetical fragment can be viewed, the natural and the spiritual. The natural is that which relates to the trap which was set for Christ. These Jewish leaders, seeking to ensnare Him, brought this woman, as they said, taken in sin, and presented to Him this query: "Moses commanded... what sayest thou?" When all the factors are taken into account, it would seem to be a trap from which escape would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. In laying it they would consider, if He set Moses aside, there would be a clear case against Him before the whole Jewish world, and especially before the Jewish Sanhedrin. Such an attitude would also involve Him in a charge of Himself being a party to sin. If, on the other hand, He stood with Moses, and agreed to, or demanded the stoning of this woman according to the law, two things would happen. He would come into collision with the Roman authorities, who for the time being had superseded Jewish law, and then also He would bring a very large social feeling against Himself, for morality had become very lax, and it would be difficult to be popular, if such extreme measures were applied in such directions. There may have been other features, but, on the face of it, this seems to be a reasonable interpretation of what was going on. The probability is that the latter alternative is the weaker surmise, and that, inasmuch as so often He had taken a place of superseding Moses with His: "...but I say unto you..." they would be content to get Him into moral implications of seeming to condone this sin, against which Moses had so severely prescribed.

With this trap before us, and - as they who laid it might think it to be - one from which there is no escape, we are able to see why the Spirit of God has placed this incident where it is, when to the human mind it appears to be so unconnected with the narrative. In three ways it serves the main purpose of bringing out the glory and greatness of Christ. Before we consider those three ways, let us notice, first of all, that it does stand at the threshold of a new section, and it is not so much a mere incident that becomes the focal point of attention, but the Person. This reminds us that it is the Person Who is always presented first, before the doctrine, and that all that which follows emanates from and works back to Him. This is a law which governs everything in the Scriptures. Teaching is never something in itself, and we are not to be governed by a system of doctrine, however high and good. What is essential is that everything shall be related to the Person, for it is the Person Who makes the doctrine live, and Who governs it. Apart from the living presence of the Lord in our lives, the teaching resolves itself into something merely theoretical.

Now, as to the above-mentioned trap, and the three ways in which the main object of John's Gospel is served by it.

The Superiority of Christ

Firstly, there is the escape from the trap. This escape is magnificent. It is not merely cleverness. Mere cleverness would simply resolve itself into extrication from a difficulty, but here the issue is so much more far-reaching, and leaves standing tremendous moral and spiritual factors, which challenge the world, and especially this religious world. It is not merely that those who sought to capture Him have been frustrated in their purpose, or disappointed of their object; they are left with something to think about, and that something for them raises the ultimate issues between themselves and God.

Then secondly, as being a part of those issues, something has been done, which no one but Christ could have brought about. Meet any of these Jewish leaders in the course of daily life, and seek by argument or by accusation to bring home to them conviction of sin, and to precipitate the effect of such conviction, that is, a slinking away under condemnation - such a thing would have been impossible. They were so utterly satisfied with their own righteousness. Were they not the people, God's chosen, possessing the oracles, within the covenant? Were they not always thankful that they were not as other men were? No! nothing could have been a more thankless task, than to try to bring sin home to their consciousness. But here it is done, and they themselves have provided the very ground for it. No one but the Lord Jesus could bring home to Jewish hearts condemnation because of sin. Here we see, what we have said above, to be so true; that it is not doctrine, the philosophy of Christianity, the morality of the Christian religion. Such would utterly fail in cases like these, but the whole question of sin and condemnation is related to the Person; "and this is the condemnation, that light is come": "I am the light...."

A Change from Law to Grace

The third thing which inheres in this parenthetical fragment, is that of the change of the dispensation. From time to time as we have moved through the chapters of this Gospel, we have remarked upon the fact that chapter 1 is the seed-plot of the whole Gospel, and that what is there in fragment, is developed subsequently. This is true with regard to the passage under consideration. In chapter 1, verse 57, we have: "The law was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." What an example of that is here. They said: "Moses commanded...." That was the law, and by that law this woman ought to die. But how magnificently through Jesus Christ grace and truth came in. But for this there would have been no escape for the woman, so far as the law was concerned. But while grace does not condone sin or make it less sinful, grace provides a way of forgiveness and salvation. The law was turned back upon the heads of these Jewish leaders themselves, and smote them in condemnation; grace found a way of escape for this one, whom they had sought to destroy on the ground of having violated the law, and yet concerning which law they themselves are proved not guiltless.

Proceeding further into chapter 8 we find that, with this which we have mentioned standing at its threshold, it contains an emphasis upon the fact that Christ is the Light, that man by nature is in darkness, that darkness means bondage, and that liberty comes through knowledge of, and obedience to the truth. Christ is here set forth as the revelation of God, and as such He is the Truth; therefore the knowledge of Him, and obedience to Him, is the way of liberty and of light.

Christ Writes on the Ground. God Writes in the Dust.

Various interpretations have been given to Christ's act of stooping down and writing on the ground. Some have thought that He was writing the sins of the Jews. Others have been content with the simple explanation, that He was merely showing contempt for the accusers of this woman in their contemptible conduct; or, at best, indifference to their attempt to catch Him.

May it not be there is something deeper and richer than this in His conduct? His actions were always so full of meaning, and seeing that He was the perfect embodiment of the Gospel, may we not expect to be led by this act - seeing that it was so deliberate and repeated - to some larger eternal reality? God has written His mind in dust more than once in this world's history. Indeed, this has been His deliberate and chosen way. In Adam He wrote an expression of Himself. In Moses the finger of God wrote Divine thoughts on tables of stone. These were objective expressions of the mind of God; that is, they were something outside of and apart from God Himself. In His full and final expression He, in grace, stoops right down to men to associate Himself with them, and in humanity gives an expression of Himself for their salvation first, before judgment. This stooping down is revealed in the letter to the Philippians, chapter two. From God-equality to man-likeness, and deeper yet He has stooped to deliver from the curse of the Law and the death of sin. He has written in the dust of this earth, for all - this woman taken in sin, and all others - that "There is... no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus... the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made... free from the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:1,2). "God... hath... spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things..." (Hebrews 1:1).

What an inscription! What dust! What grace and truth! "...He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14: 9).

He could well afford to seem indifferent to the Law and its exponents, to have no interest in their case (as some have interpreted His act) when He well knew that with Himself had come, securing on the one hand a perfect satisfying of God in man representatively, the Law fulfilled and its regime ended, and on the other hand a dispensation of grace: a transition from the outward to the inward, from the transient to the permanent, from the earthly type to the heavenly reality. It is all in the deepest meaning of Sonship.

Chapter 9 following is really a part of this one thing, and while it introduces several extra factors, it becomes a grand object-lesson of the truth enunciated in chapter 8. We shall, therefore, pass immediately into the next chapter.

[Shammu]

Chapter 9 - Spiritual Enlightenment

When we come to this point in the Gospel we mark a further step in the apprehension of Christ. You will see how, in what seems to be a very matter-of-fact way, the narrative goes on - "And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth." We have frequently observed, that the things which occurred in the life of our Lord were not just happenings, mere incidents, the details of which go to make up a story, but that they come within the compass of a sovereign purpose. Just as there was a spiritual link between the multitude being fed in the wilderness, and the Lord Jesus being given as the Bread of Life, so the principle operates in this event.

This case of a man born blind is marked by features which carry us well out of our depth. Undoubtedly there were a great many blind men in that part of the country at that same time, but this one, with special purposes in relation to a Divine thought, was brought just then into the path of the Lord Jesus. The mystery encircling his case is far too profound for us. The question of the disciples brought out an almost stunning disclosure. "Rabbi, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind?" Whether they were the victims of superstition, or whether they were thinking of that part of the Mosaic law which spoke of sins being visited upon children unto the third and fourth generation, the question drew out this statement which we cannot fathom, but which leads to a tremendous issue in spiritual value.

"Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." Thus you see there was an object in this man's condition, and that object governed a sovereign movement by which he came in the path of Christ at that moment. The whole context bears that out and throws a tremendous amount of light upon it.

The Mystery of Israel's Blindness

We note the significant fact which goes to the root of the whole subject, that amongst all those who were blind in those parts at that time, this man was born blind. Probably a more rare thing than the other. It is not without significance that this particular instance was one of blindness from birth. That represents in principle the whole truth of Christ's coming as the Light. It is taken by the Word of God as settled, never argued but taken for granted, that the race is by nature in blindness, in darkness, that, at best, the natural man cannot see the Kingdom nor the things of the Spirit. We saw that with Nicodemus; with all his natural and religious enlightenment, all his intellectual equipment, all that he was in himself by nature, the Lord said to him: "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." So that the old birth is a birth without sight, and the new birth is a birth with sight. Man by nature at best is unable to see that which relates to the Kingdom of God; man is born blind. Let us remember that this as a spiritual birth was meant, in the first place, to be brought home to Israel or Judaism. It is one of those germ truths which are so much more fully developed in the letter to the Romans. Israel's blindness is proverbial. A whole tragic history is wrapped up in that blindness. There came One Who could and would have given them sight, but they believed not that they were blind, and proved their blindness by crucifying the Lord of Glory.

From the specific application to Israel the truth is expanded to the race, and becomes of universal application. This universal fact is referred to many times in later New Testament writings. But as we proceed with the story we are made aware that this blindness, though surely not in the directive will of God, but the relative, is connected with the works of God. "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day." "...That the works of God should be made manifest in him." The works of God, then, are related to the natural state of man in his blindness. God's works are to bring him into the place of spiritual enlightenment and understanding.

Christ and the Sabbath Again

There are two other elements here to be noticed. This thing was done on the Sabbath day. Because it was done on the Sabbath day, it roused this fury amongst the Jewish elders. All the trouble which followed was largely related to that, or at least that was the pretext, it was done on the Sabbath day. The works of God bring those who by nature are blind and in the dark into spiritual enlightenment and understanding, and are connected by the Lord Jesus with the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is seen all the way through to be a matter of Christ Himself. That is the heart of this chapter; we shall come to that presently. Christ is God's Sabbath: that is, all the works of God are completed in Christ. God comes to His rest in His Son, and looks upon all things in Christ with good pleasure, saying: It is very good. The "It is finished" of Calvary was the establishment of the spiritual truth of the Sabbath rest in the Lord Jesus; and coming into spiritual enlightenment and understanding, is a matter of coming into the finished work of God in Christ. Or to put that another way, a coming into an apprehension of Christ as the One Who has finished the works of God.

The Works of God

The other thing is this remarkable statement in the correct translation, which is not in the Authorized Version - "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day." That is undoubtedly the correct translation. It is not "I must," it is "we must," and that, being the accurate translation, carries with it something of great importance and value. The Lord links with Himself His Own in the works of God for the enlightenment of those who are blinded and in the dark. He is saying in effect: We, these who are My co-workers, co-partners, must work these works in relation to that blindness and darkness, to bring into spiritual enlightenment and understanding. Paul entered into those works of God under commission. You remember he tells us what the Lord said to him, as to his commission: that he was to go, and that he should stand before rulers, kings, Gentiles, and that the object was: "...to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God...." He was one of the workers together with God in opening eyes, that they might turn from darkness to light, and he did it by the Spirit. In our spiritual life we are enjoying the good of all that. You will remember his words in the Ephesian letter 1:18: "...that... the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know...." And then he tabulates some of the things they might know by way of having their eyes enlightened with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. We, beloved, are called into the fellowship of God's Son in this ministry, and we come right into that little fragment of John 9:4: "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day," and the works of God are: "...to open their eyes." Thus they are connected with man's state by nature, of his being born blind.

[Shammu]

What the Knowledge of God Is

Now, in connection with the truth of spiritual enlightenment and understanding, it does not come by the presentation of truth. We may have heard much of the truth, and may be well informed in the doctrine, but we may yet be without spiritual understanding. Understanding does not come by a presentation of the truth. Understanding comes by a definite act of Christ in our hearts. It is a work which is done. An apprehension of Christ is not merely along the lines of formulated doctrine. An apprehension of Christ is by reason of a living touch. He touched, He anointed his eyes. It is a living touch. It is an anointing of those inner eyes. There are deeper depths here to which we might go, and these may be touched as we proceed. But recognize what has been said. I want to emphasize, because of Israel's history which comes to its culmination in this chapter; the end of this chapter is the culmination of Israel's history as a blind people, because there was no inward faculty of spiritual understanding, and yet they had all the oracles of God. You look at such a tremendous passage as Deut. 29:4: "But Jehovah hath not given you an heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." You know that all the Law had been given; a tremendous presentation of Divine things had been handed to Israel at this point. They had come by a way of wonderful manifestations of God; the very full, rich history of God manifesting Himself in word and in deed, making Himself known to them. Now Moses was closing his career; in a very little while he would sing his song, as in the later chapters of this book (Deuteronomy), and would be buried by God. Gathering all that up, all that history of God's manifestation to them, He said this remarkable thing in chapter 29 verse 4. Leaving the question of God's responsibility in the matter, Moses was simply taking account of the fact that after all they were not seeing, after all they were not hearing. Hearing they did not hear, seeing they did not perceive; having had presented, they did not know in their hearts. Now that history went on and on and on, centuries after Moses, and culminates here in John 9. With all that followed Moses, all the centuries of the monarchy, all the ministry of the prophets, in John 9 they are still blind; they have all this mass of truth but no understanding, no eyes to see, ears to hear, nor hearts to understand. Well might the book of Proverbs put understanding at a high price. Understanding is put above the price of rubies. It is a tremendous thing is spiritual understanding. It comes in, note, at length, by a living touch with the Lord Jesus, and is a priceless thing. Israel had to obey commands; they did not have understanding. The feature of the new covenant is not obeying commands given us from without, it is having inward revelation of the Lord. "But this is the covenant that I will make... I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it." The revelation of God is Christ within. "For God... hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." That is the new covenant, which is no longer for the believer a matter of: Thou shalt, and, Thou shalt not. The Christian is not put under law in the sense that he is bound to do this and that, or may not do this, and may not do that. No, the believer is, if truly a child of God, governed, not by an outward system of permissions or prohibitions, but by an inward law of Divine understanding of the Lord's will on the basis of a living fellowship with Him. It is a blessed thing to see believers giving a manifestation of the fact of their having in their own hearts a knowledge of the Lord, of knowing what the Lord would have them do. That they do not do things because it is expected of them by others, and do not refrain from doing certain things because of what others would say, they are knowing the Lord in their own hearts. That is the proof that they have come into living fellowship with the Lord Jesus, that they are no longer under the Mosaic economy but under the regime of the Holy Spirit indwelling. Israel blindly - that is, so far as their spiritual sight was concerned - followed the commandments and laws. The child of God intelligently follows the known will of God. This light is connected with Christ as the Life. That means it is a living thing. It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which brings life and peace, and that is the way in which we know the mind of the Lord about any proposed thing. Life and peace, if our fellowship with Him is right; life and peace in our hearts. That is our light. If in any proposed course, before the Lord, we have neither life nor peace, we may suspend that course for the time being, and we shall find that our so doing will be justified. The Lord no longer says to us directly on matters: Yes, you should do so-and-so; and: No, you should not do so-and-so. He now speaks by spiritual laws, not always by verbal phrases, and His speech, the speech of the Spirit, is to spirit first, interpreted afterward by the mind. He speaks in our hearts, and the language of the Spirit is life, peace, rest, or to the contrary.

Now what is needed at this point, is a recognition of what it is that comes to us by a vital touch of Christ upon our spiritual eyes; that is, the content of the light that comes to us. Well, so comprehensive is the answer to that, that, without exaggeration, it would keep us here for a very long time because it embodies everything that will ever come to us in our relationship to the Lord.

Christ - The Answer to Every Problem

One matter that will come is God's eternal thought concerning man; our place in the original intention of God. That is not a small subject in itself. The answer to the question: "Why am I?" "What have I a being for?" "Why the human race?" That is revealed in the person of Christ. If you apprehend Christ, you have apprehended that. The Incarnation is the answer to the enquiry as to the reason of man's existence. See Christ the Son of Man, and you see what God's thought was for man, and what God's intention is to have concerning man. That is an apprehension of Christ that answers the deepest question of the human heart: "Why am I?" "Why the race?" Christ the answer! But that original thought of God was interfered with as first projected, and we see anything but Christ in the race. We see an awful distortion, an awful misrepresentation; but God has not abandoned His thought.

And the second revelation comes in, how? Not now out of nothing but out of a ruin will God get His intention; and we are introduced to the great theme of redemption. How? The answer to that second question How? is, Christ. He is made unto us redemption. The apprehension of Christ is the answer to the question - How? in all this wreck, this ruin of the race. A living apprehension and understanding of Christ answers that. How will God do this thing? Look at Him, apprehend Him by faith, and it is done in you, God has done it. "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation" (R.V. margin). The seed of the creation wholly conformed to Christ is planted in new birth.

Then the further question arises. Having apprehended Christ as the answer to the How? we are still up against the problem of the imperfection of our lives. We are not already perfect, neither have we already attained. By what means shall we attain and be made perfect? Christ is the answer. "...Christ in you, the hope of Glory." Christ in you, apprehended by faith, is the basis of your conformity to His image. "...until Christ be formed in you." How are we conformed to the image of His Son? The answer is Christ as a living reality within by His Spirit.

And so we could go on and on seeing what Christ is, and what enlightenment concerning Christ brings by way of answering all questions. This is what I mean by the content of spiritual sight, spiritual enlightenment and understanding. It is no small thing to have your eyes opened, and there is a progressiveness about this which has no end. We shall go on seeing more and more in Christ, not only to the end of this short span, but yonder where vision is perfect, we shall be exploring the meaning of Christ throughout the eternal ages, ever coming upon some fresh meaning of Christ. That is my hope in my present despair. I come to a fragment of the whole Scriptures such as "John"; I do not know how many times I have read it, sought to explain it; I begin again and I find I know nothing about it. Coming into a realm like this you say: Oh, that someone would give us some light about this! I know I shall have to start "John" all over again, and every time there will be a fuller unveiling of the Lord Jesus, and I know, if I have my three score years and ten here, it will still seem so at the end. Our hope is we shall understand the Scriptures up there. We shall see Him as He is; but now, through a glass darkly. There are many things I want to know, but it is a great thing to have the beginning. It is a precious thing to have our eyes opened. To be here in this very small way, with a little measure of spiritual sight, looking into the Lord Jesus, is a great thing to our hearts. It is a blessed thing for the enrichment of our lives. You know how much stronger you feel, when the Lord has given you a little bit of light you did not possess before. Spiritual sight is a very real thing, enlightenment and understanding. It is a blessed gift of God in the Lord Jesus, and it comes by this vital touch of His upon the inner faculty.

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The Law of Spiritual Enlightenment

Now I must hasten on to touch the law of spiritual enlightenment and understanding. I do see that there are the deep things here, which might not yield a great deal of profit, even were we to stay with them. Such matters as this clay which the Lord made, and with which He anointed the eyes of this man. There seems to me to be a suggestion in that in keeping with the meaning of the body of Christ. The Father prepared Him a body in which to do His work, and all Christ's Calvary work was done in a physical body; and our taking by faith, in the Spirit, of the body of Christ symbolized in the loaf, is meant to be to us a spiritual ministration of what that body represents as a humanity triumphant; bringing us into fellowship with His triumphant humanity, making a link between us, in spirit, and His humanity which has gone through in victory. The apprehension of the absolute triumphant humanity of the Lord Jesus by faith is something for our hearts. And this clay seems to carry that same significance; that it is the touch, as it were, of the humanity of the Lord Jesus upon us. It is a vital link between Him, and what He is as the Meal Offering, the fine flour giving virtue to our spiritual man.

You will remember the Meal Offering of Leviticus represented the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus. This had to be presented to God as an offering. It represents the spiritual apprehension of the human perfections of the Lord Jesus in His body while here on earth, and a link with God is formed by that means, and spiritual values result to the offerer. Do you follow that? Well now, there is something in a spiritual touch of the perfect humanity of Christ in truth, in spirit, upon our lives; a living touch with Him in what He is as Man triumphant over death. I said that there were deeper matters that needed a good deal more exploring, but I suggest that to you, as something that may perhaps be enlarged with your enlarging spiritual understanding. I see something very precious. I am thrown back upon the initial question: Why eat the flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of Man? Why? "This is my body which is given for you." Why? This is not the body now with sin resting upon it, as when He was made sin, and bore our sins in His Own body on the tree. It is the body which has triumphed over sin through death. He gives us that, and says: "Take, eat"; "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves." Why? Why, if it is not to bring us in spirit in our human life into fellowship with Him in the triumph of His humanity; to make possible a human life here triumphant; to make His triumphant humanity a living principle for us in our human lives? Is not that the principle? And so the virtues of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus are made vital factors for our spiritual growth, development, and a touch of that upon our hearts carries with it the value of life and light. Now if I have got you out of your depth forgive me, but ask the Lord that, if there is anything there for you, He will show you.

The Living Christ or Dead Tradition

I come now, briefly, to the law of spiritual understanding, and it will not take very long to point it out and deal with it. What does this chapter, or the general context, show to be the law of spiritual enlightenment and understanding? Well, you need to read the whole story through again; the start in the opening of this man's eyes, and all that was subsequent to it, or issued from it, and you will see that one thing governs this whole matter; because Christ was doing this thing as a sign; remember that; a sign in the midst of blindness, spiritual blindness, the blindness of Israel all round. This man received his sight. It was a sign. It was meant to relate to that situation. What was the issue raised for this man in the terrific conflict which followed. Oh, what a battle arose over this man! Why, his parents were very soon dragged into it. They had the scare of their lives and compromised, and would not say what they knew, would not be frank and honest, because afraid of the consequences. At length this man was put out of the synagogue, excommunicated. Why? It was Christ or tradition. That was the issue. The whole question was as to whether Christ was going to be the Lord, or whether He was going to be lorded over, and dominated by dead tradition. Here, as we have seen, were all the oracles of God. Here was all the form of doctrine, here the tradition of the elders, here those set, fixed, ecclesiastical rulers in relation to it, holding it to themselves and giving their own interpretation; without life, without light, and yet holding the truth. And then Christ, on the other hand, Who had it all, but also that which they did not have, the life and the light. Hear Him: "It was said... but I say." In no instance was it a contradiction of Moses, but an interpretation of Moses. You look at the context, and you will see that what Christ said was getting at the inner principle and not merely the outward phraseology. Moses said: "Thou shalt not kill... But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment...." Not a contradiction, but an interpretation. That is getting at the principle. The principle of murder is anger. And if you have got the principle, you are just as guilty of the issue as though you had committed it. It is there in principle. It is the living authority of Christ which is in question, and the law of spiritual enlightenment and understanding is the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ as over mere tradition; it may be religious heredity, training, upbringing. If these two things clash, and if our traditions, and our acceptances, and our religious systems, are not in fellowship with Christ as life and light, or for one moment get in the way of a living walk with God; if going on with the Lord Jesus means that these things should be left behind, well, our spiritual understanding and enlightenment hang upon that issue. Many a person has not gone on into the fuller revelation, and come to an inward rich knowledge of the Lord, because they have stuck to the old traditional life, and will not break with it; because they have allowed man to dominate their conscience and understanding, instead of coming direct to the Lord. It is not now, What saith the Rabbi, tradition, or Moses? It is: What saith the Lord to my own heart? And the whole issue in this chapter for this man was whether the Lord Jesus was going to be his Master, or whether he was going to break with the Lord Jesus, and turn back to the Pharisees, to the old school again. The law of his enlightenment was there. You may say he was enlightened before that issue arose. Yes, but it is the sign. You have to see the Lord was doing something more. The end of verse 34: "And they cast him out," would be chapter 10, verse 1: ''Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out." How? Because they hear His voice! The whole question of the Lord's sheep comes in, when they thrust this man out. Those whom men cast out, the Lord takes up, and forms of them His Own flock on the basis of knowing, hearing, understanding His voice. That from which they have come out does not hear, see, or know; that is the realm of darkness. This man was cast out, and it was not until he was cast out, that the Lord sought him and started leading him, in principle. Now you have to have the Lord's application of the truth. Do not begin to apply it in any mechanical way. I am emphasizing the principle of this, not how you are to apply it. The principle is this, that there are two lordships. There is the lordship of lifeless tradition, a religious order and system of things, which may have had a right and proper origin in God, but has now been taken up by man, possessed by man, used by man, interpreted and applied by man, and that dominates. On the other hand there is the living, personal Christ for the individual life, to be the Governor of the heart in all questions of spiritual life. Which of these two is going to be Lord? I say, if such a position does hold, that these two things are two different things. We may well thank God when these two things are found to be as one. That is, Christ may be livingly Lord within an ordered arrangement here; but if things are as they were in this case, Christ as One Lord, and religious tradition as another, then there is an issue, there is a crisis. I see, in applying the principle, that so much of our knowledge of the Lord depends upon our willingness to go on with Him, when such a course means very often a break with, or, departure from some old tyrannizing religious tradition. While we remain in bondage to that, we are kept in a limitation of spiritual knowledge. The law of revelation and of growing in revelation is a personal, close, spiritual walk with the Lord.

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The Cost of Spiritual Sight

But many will not pay the price that is involved in that. It was a price for this man. His parents, they come under a shadow. His own family were not all too pleased that this man's way had involved them in this issue. Undoubtedly they would be glad that he got his sight, but they wished it had not been quite in this way, and on this particular day, and in this particular relationship; that he could have had the blessing in some other way that would not have involved so much difficulty with the authorities.

There is the beautiful simplicity of this man that strikes you all the way through. They argue with him, and talk about the Lord Jesus as not being true, etc. He says: Why, here is a strange thing, a man opens the eyes of the blind, a thing never known since the creation of the world, and you say that one who does a thing like that is wrong, is evil, is bad. The man has got a beautiful knowledge of the Lord, and he cannot understand that point of view. And when you have light, you cannot understand the point of view of people who take that attitude. But it cost him much.

There are few more costly things than spiritual revelation. Spiritual revelation will at once begin to cut off certain relationships. A good many people will not go on with you, when you get spiritual revelation; they cannot, they have not got it. A good many people will take the attitude, that you think you have got more light, and are something superior, that you know better. You will, perhaps lose open doors, spheres of old-time acceptance. You come under suspicion. You will meet the open assault of the powers of darkness and blindness. Your possession of revelation in the apprehension of Christ will be challenged from every quarter. It is a costly thing, and sometimes you will feel like this man, that you have been cast out, and are alone. Take heart if ever that comes your way. It is at that point the Lord begins to look for the man. "Jesus findeth him." Yes, put out, but then led out, and the leading out is because: "My sheep hear my voice." Led out and led in.

Now the great note, of course, to strike in closing is this; that it was when the man came to the fullness of the meaning of Christ, the crisis arose for him, and all that followed came about. He has gone through shadows, he has gone to a Man, a Prophet, and at last, cast out, the Lord said to him: "Dost thou believe on the Son of God?" "and who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?" "Thou hast both seen him, and he it is that speaketh with thee." The man capitulated to that absolutely, and then he discovered the meaning of his being outside. He was in the way of a wonderful fullness. It is the great climax of revelation, when we really get the spiritual apprehension of Who Christ is. Not a great, good, wonderful Man Who works miracles, not even the Great Prophet, but the Son of God. Everything hangs upon that. That is the end the Lord has in view, that we should know Him in the fullness of His Being. We shall come to that through His humanity. We shall know Him as Son of Man in the touch of the clay, but when we have come by that way we shall come to know that He is more than that, He is the Son of God.

I feel that in such a range, and in so much detail, I may not have been as clear as I would wish in bringing this truth before you. Do not be worried about all the detail, but take two single thoughts. The fact of the truth of spiritual enlightenment and understanding as the Lord's will for all His Own; inward, personal knowledge that relates to the Lord Jesus, an apprehension of Him. The other thing is the law, that we come out to the Lord Himself. We do not allow anything to come between us and the Lord by way of governing our spiritual lives; but go on with the Lord Himself whatever the cost may be. To know Him in fullness demands a personal walk with the Lord Himself, where He is Lord, He dominates in all things, however hoary may be the tradition. It is the Lord Himself Who must govern, and thus we shall grow in understanding.

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Chapter 10 - From the Individual to the Corporate

READING: John 10.

At this point in the Gospel of John we find ourselves in the presence of a distinct transition. Up to this point, everything has been individual; a long series of individuals or individual cases have been in view. At this point a change takes place: we pass from what is individual to what is collective and corporate. Henceforth what will be in view will be a company. It will be collective, in the sense that all the parts represented in the first half of the Gospel will be brought together and found gathered into this company. It will be corporate, because a common life is the basis of everything.

We make a distinction between what is collective and what is corporate. Note this distinction. A congregation is not necessarily a body. It is collective, because a lot of units are brought together into one place; but a body presupposes an organic oneness, on the basis of life. Life is here clearly seen to be the basis of what is corporate: as in the case of the flock, where the members share a common life; or as in the case of the vine, which is an organism where all the many parts are made a unity by the one life. And so we find that, from this point onward, all that has hitherto been said about life as related to individuals, is now reproduced in principle in a corporate company, a corporate body, in the sense of many being one because of one life.

Chapter 10 introduces the characteristics of what is corporate, and specifically the characteristics of this corporate body or company which is in view.

Let us underline the fact of the transition. If the Holy Spirit is to be true to the Divine mind, there is bound to come a point in the history of any local company when if He is allowed to have a free way quite spontaneously things pass from what is just individual to what is corporate. It is a spontaneous and inevitable movement, because it is perfectly clear from all the Scriptures that God has purposed to realize His full design, not in separate, unrelated parts, but in a corporate whole, on the basis of life. So I repeat, if the Spirit of God is in charge, He will be consistent with the Divine mind, and, sooner or later, where He is really in charge of a company, things must inevitably pass from mere individualism to the corporate. It is not announced at this point in the Gospel that that is the nature of the change, but it is perfectly clear, and it is something that we should take account of for ourselves.

We are very fond of this chapter; we should be very sorry to lose John 10. We should also be very sorry to lose John 15. These chapters on the sheep and the vine are very precious portions of God's Word. But let us take note that the values contained in these chapters are corporate values, and can only be enjoyed by the individual in a corporate relationship. That will be borne out as we go on.

What I am trying to emphasize and make clear at this point is that this matter is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, who is so consistent with the thought of God as to bring about quite naturally a spontaneous transition from the individual to the corporate at some point in our spiritual course. To fail to recognize that, and to fail to be in that movement of the Spirit, means to be left with just the spiritual measure that an individual can have, which is far short of what the Body can have; and I think this explains a very great deal of the limitation in literally multitudes of very devoted and earnest Christians, who are just individual Christians, living individual lives, trying to be individuals devoted to the Lord. There is limitation in that, and so, noting the movement of the Spirit of God in this matter, we should be intent upon knowing what the characteristics of that corporate life and Body are.

Another thing about the matter presented in chapter 10 is that, in common with all new beginnings of God, it contains the germs of all future development. I think you are aware of the principle that, when God takes a fresh step, in that fresh step there is inherent, in principle and in germ form, all that will eventually develop. We will not stay to illustrate this from other passages, but it can be seen here, and you will be able to follow it as we go on. Suffice it to say that all that is going to come out later on, not only in John's Gospel but in the whole revelation of the New Testament, will be found in a few basic principles in this very chapter.

The Rightful Shepherd

The first characteristic, then, of this corporate company, now introduced, is Christ, the authoritative Shepherd. It is a question of who is the rightful shepherd, who has the right to be the shepherd, who stands in that position and relationship by God's own appointment, approval and seal. Whom has the Father sealed? You notice that word. "Him the Father, even God, hath sealed" (John 6:27). "Sanctified" (John 10:36) and "sealed." It is the question of the authority and right to be the shepherd. His own words about Himself are not just that He is good, in the sense of moral goodness. They go further than that. They declare that, on the basis of that goodness of character, He is the true Shepherd.

We could very much enlarge upon Christ's right on the basis of His character, His nature, to be the shepherd. For the present we must note that, before there can be a real spiritual company, in the good of God's blessing in fulness, Christ must be in His place as rightful Shepherd, rightful Lord, the One in whom there must be reposed absolute confidence, about whose position there must be no question.

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Antagonism to the Shepherd and His Flock

That stands so strikingly in contrast to the atmosphere surrounding Him in the chapter which we have read. We note the steadily intensifying atmosphere of question as to His right, antagonism to His claims, refusal to acknowledge Him. In the end of the chapter is a company who "believed on him there," who repudiated the repudiators, who stood against the whole atmosphere charged with questions about Him. You see, this antagonism is a very strong thing. It is something malicious, malignant, very strongly evil, as to the place of the Lord Jesus, His title, His rights; and it is over against this that such a company will have to stand. If you and I are to be found in all that it means to be really members of that elect Body, we are going to be in a relatedness which has the whole malignant force of hell set against it, because it is standing for the rights of the Lord Jesus.

From the beginning, Satan and his whole company have been set against the rights of the Lord Jesus. Satan is not against us as Christians, he is not against us in ourselves. We do not meet this antagonism simply because we have become members of the Christian fold. You can be that - you can be Christians in name, in title, in profession, and never meet the fury of hell; but stand in this relatedness of one life on the ground of the absolute sovereign Lordship, authority and right of Jesus Christ, and you are involved in that which He found Himself. There will be plenty of stones taken up; there will be plenty done to bring to an end that testimony. This corporate company will meet much more even than the individuals as such. The individuals will find that they have to encounter very much more when they stand on the ground of the oneness of the Body of Christ than they would if they stood on an independent, individualistic ground. So that the very first characteristic of this corporate expression of Christ and His life is the testimony that the rights are all His, that He alone occupies this place of Shepherd.

An Elect Company

The next thing which becomes so clear in this chapter, which I hinted at just now, is that this is an elect company. We are now, of course, able to read this chapter in the light of the fullest revelation of the truth, brought us later in the New Testament particularly through Paul, although not through him alone, that the Church is an elect Body. While the Lord Jesus speaks of Himself as having been sanctified and sealed by the Father, He speaks in similar language of the sheep. How often it is from this point onward that the Lord Jesus is found to be speaking of "those whom the Father hath given me," "those whom thou gavest me"; and here in this chapter we read: "I know mine own," "I know them," "mine own know me." There is something about them that marks them off as known of God, foreknown of God, and He distinctly says to these other people that the reason they do not believe, they do not hear and they do not know His voice, is because they are not of His sheep. If they were His sheep, they would know His voice, but they are not, and that by their own exercise of will. "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life."

Two Folds

The next thing here is the division which immediately appears and broadens when He is in His place, and when He is securing that elect company. There are here in this chapter, mentioned or implied, two folds, and He says quite clearly that He came to lead His flock out of one fold and that He is making another fold. It does not require a great deal of insight to recognize what the two folds are. There is a little fragment which is the key to it. "God sent forth his Son... born under the law... that he might redeem them which were under the law" (Gal. 4:4,5). That is only saying, in other words, "that He might get them out of that fold, that legalistic fold." The whole atmosphere of this chapter speaks of the legalistic fold the fold of Judaism, where it is law. This is in keeping with the introduction to this Gospel: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). The Lord saw a fold - and what a fold it was, and what shepherds they were! Firstly, they had made the sheep that were really His their own. They therefore regarded Him as a "sheepstealer." Then the effect of their relationship to the sheep was to bring them into spiritual bondage, to limit their spiritual growth, and to make them servants of a tradition, an earthly and man-controlled system, rather than the Lord's free people. It would not be a bit helpful to pursue that thought, but it is very like some forms of Christianity as we know them. That is the kind of fold - hard, legalistic, selfish. Christ came to lead His sheep out from that fold, and to bring them into another - the fold of grace, liberty, life, life more abundant, and all the full heavenly purpose for the Church.

So the two folds are, clearly, the fold of merely traditional religion, and the fold of spiritual truth, reality and life in Christ.

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The Way from the Fold of Law to the Fold of Grace

What is the way out and the way in? The way out and the way in is Christ's death. "I lay down my life for the sheep." Here it is not so much the sin question that is to the fore, although that lies, of course, at the root of everything. He was "born under the law." His death was to extricate from that fold, that system, that deadly thing that was against them "the bond written in ordinances that was against us" (Col. 2:14). He laid down His life for the sheep. His death was the way out. The whole of the New Testament afterward bears down upon this, that it is by the death of the Lord Jesus that we are delivered from the bondage of the law - that law which is constantly and eternally battering us with our own sin, breaking and shattering us with our own state. His death is the way out; His resurrection is the way in. "Who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible" (1 Pet. 1:3,4). So deliverance by the death of Christ is one of the characteristics of the company. They have come into the good and value of the delivering death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, with all its blessing and enlargement. They stand on that ground.

Let me return to something I said a little earlier, that while individuals, of course, come that way and they must so come - we must recognize that death with the Lord Jesus, and resurrection in union with Him, sees the end of all individualism. God's intention is to bring to an end what is merely individual. There must be an individual entering in, but for it to remain an individual thing is contrary to the meaning of the death of Christ. Right from this time onward, it is seen in this Gospel that the full blessing lies on the far side of Jordan. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were a much more integrated people on the other side of the Jordan than they were before; and when you get on the far side of the death of Christ you are immediately found as a part of a people, and not just as individuals.

So it is in the New Testament. You come to Colossians and Ephesians, or to what is represented by those letters. You find immediately that you are "raised together with him." It is the Church that is in view; you have left merely individual ground, you are now on corporate ground. Christ's death is intended to bring that about. If we have not apprehended that, we are still in the limitation which a merely individual life must know. It is very important for us to recognize that.

It is all a matter of God's purpose. What is God's purpose? What is revealed to be "the eternal purpose... purposed in Christ Jesus"? You will find always that the Scriptures demand the Church for the eternal purpose; the whole Body which gives Christ the vessel for His collective and corporate expression. That is the way of the eternal purpose, and it is on resurrection ground that we come into it. Therefore that which is only individualistic goes out with the death of Christ, and in the resurrection of Christ it is found no more in the thought of God. Christ's death is the way out; Christ's resurrection is the way in. That is the principle here enunciated.

"They Know My Voice"

The next thing is that, because of the relationship which we have set forth Christ in unquestioned and undisputed authority; because they have been brought out through His death and resurrection from the realm of law to the realm of grace, that is, from mere profession to the realm of life ("I give unto them eternal life"; "I came that they may have life and may have it abundantly"); because of their life-relationship with Him, through His death and resurrection, there is an inward "something" about this company, an inward correspondence with Him. "My sheep hear my voice"; "they know my voice." You cannot explain that in language. It is something that goes beyond language, it is something that can only be known in fact. It is one of those mysteries of John. ("How can a man be born when he is old?" - 3:4. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" - 6:52.) But it is fact.

I have often recounted an experience I had once at a place in the Near East, where, from various directions, shepherds were coming to a well with their mixture of sheep and goats following them. As they came to the well, all the sheep and goats got mixed up. I stood a little way off, watching this. I saw them all merge, and saw the shepherds get together and have a talk. I thought, "This is a glorious mix-up! What is going to happen? how will they be able to get their flocks sorted out?" So I waited until the shepherds had finished their talk and had decided it was time to move off. One shepherd simply walked right away. He got right away up on the hill and turned round and started calling a strange note - I could not reproduce the sound. And those sheep began to open up, and his own flock just went up there to him, and all the rest were left. Each shepherd had his own note and call. The sheep knew the voice of their shepherd. I thought it was marvelous how those sheep should know. Well, they had learned to know. "The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow." If I had tried to imitate that shepherd, I should have got no response at all; but they knew him.

There is something of an inward correspondence which we know by the Spirit. We know when the Holy Spirit speaks to us. And we usually know when the stranger speaks; we detect something strange, something foreign, about it; it does not answer nor correspond to the Lord in us; we are not happy about it. It is a mystical something, but very real. That is the basis of spiritual intelligence, and it is the point I am stressing. Those who are of this company, of this corporate Body, have an inward correspondence with the Lord, a basic spiritual intelligence whereby they know Him. They do not always have to be told by others, "This is what the Lord wants," or "That is not what the Lord wants." They may be helped by counsel; but there is a place, a position, of walking with the Lord where we do not have to be told, where we know, even if it is by making mistakes - we know by the reaction of the Spirit of the Lord in us. The point is that there is a spiritual intelligence which is essential to the purpose of God in the company He is securing in relation to His Son.

These are principles; they are not expounded, but they are there in this tenth chapter of John's Gospel. It is a wonderful chapter, and what we have said is only a very small part of its content. But let us seek to grasp these tremendous basic laws of God's eternal purpose into which we are called in Christ, and to lay them to heart and ask the Lord to work them into us, so that they are not merely things in the Scripture or in an address; they are realities in our spiritual life.

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Chapter 11

READING: John 11 and 12.

"Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" (John 11:40).

"And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified" (John 12:23).

Chapters eleven and twelve have to be taken together, for they are part and counterpart. From the above citations from each it will be seen that, once again, the governing factor is the glory of the Son of Man as the Son of God.

Before we can rightly understand the subject-matter of the chapters we need to understand the meaning of glory.

What the Glory of God Is

The glory of God is the expression of the satisfaction of His nature. When and where God's nature - His very being - is satisfied, that satisfaction emanates, and there is a spirit of inexpressible joy, peace, rest, beauty, wonder, harmony, and life. All these elements are the components or constituents of what is called "Glory." When any person is filled with this spirit and experiences something of these elements, almost the only suitable and adequate exclamation is "Glory!"

"O, what a foretaste of glory Divine!"

If our whole life was gathered up into one particular object and concern, so that we had nothing else to justify our existence, and that object was a consuming passion, so that for it we lived, thought, planned, sacrificed, suffered, worked, and longed with an unutterable longing; and then that object was realized, reached, possessed: if that happened, we should be quite unable to shut it all in to ourselves it would break out and affect all around us. In its realm it would be what we would call "Glory" we should exclaim, "Isn't it glorious?!"

Well, lift it all into the so much greater and higher realm of Infinite God; make it eternal and not of time; spiritual and not merely temporal; immortal and not corruptible; and that - where it exists - is Divine glory, and it is affecting and wonderfully satisfying.

God's nature craves for that which corresponds to it. God's nature contains the elements of His purpose and desire. Out of His very being He has projected His purpose. To that purpose He has committed Himself; has planned, laboured, thought, sacrificed, suffered, longed; and for its sake He is never resting. When He sees it, in its beginning or increase, in its principle or growth, His "good pleasure," satisfaction and joy are ministered to, so that those concerned register and share His satisfaction; and that is "Glory."

This, then, is the key to John's "Gospel," and to these two chapters in particular. Let us use the key.

Death - the Counter to Glory

Here is Lazarus. It is a fair and beautiful human scene. Strong affection between sisters and brother; a lovely home, to which Jesus turned when He could, knowing of a warm welcome, a deep understanding and appreciation - even if sometimes, under peculiar stress, there may have been a little domestic tension. This scene is broken into by sickness and - death!

Death is the enemy of all that is beautiful. Death is always death, whether it be our death or the Lord's death. When it says of Him that "He tasted death," it means that it was the bitterest and most devastating cup that He drank. Death is always the breakdown of Divine purpose, the contradiction to God's will; the veil over the Divine glory. Death - if it remains - is a closed door.

But more - death is no mere hap, chance, accident; the natural termination of a tenure of life! If the Bible is clear on anything, it is certainly clear on this, that death was not intended, but is the result of a wrongful exercise of choice - the exercise of choice in a manner contrary to the will of God. That exercise is called Sin, and its wages are not the grateful emoluments of services rendered, but judgment upon a state and position altogether contrary to the Creator's mind.

Death declares that there is something that does not, and never can, bring satisfaction to God's nature. There is that which declares a Divine halt, not a Divine purpose. There is no glory in death! Some people may labor to sublimate death; others declare, "There is no death"; but the Bible just stands by its own definition and declaration: "the last enemy... death," and it is for "abolition," not bowing out or sublimating.

Such then is the setting of John 11.

We must next see the immediate implication of the Bethany scene and event; for there is something of deliberateness, both in what Jesus said about it, and in His strange behavior over it.

"This sickness is... for the glory of God."
"Jesus... abode... where he was."
"Lazarus is dead."

That is the death side. It had a twofold significance: the first is in chapter 11, and the second in chapter 12.

(1) Lazarus as Representing Israel

It is significant that this "Gospel" stands so largely in relation to a Jewish background. See, for example, the references to Jewish Feasts. Then see how everything is in contention with - or by - Jewish Rulers and Teachers. We saw this in our last chapter, in relation to the Shepherd and the flocks and folds. It is not possible to separate the "signs" (miracles) of John's Gospel from the spiritual state of Israel at the time. Hence Lazarus speaks of Israel's condition, need, and only hope.

We have to remember the affectional side. It is clearly stated that "Jesus loved... Lazarus." Lazarus was called "he whom thou lovest," and when Jesus wept the comment of the bystanders was: "Behold how he loved him." Whatever may have been the stem and angry attitude of Jesus toward the "blind leaders," and toward the cold and deadly system which Judaism had become, there is no question as to His love for Israel. See, for example, His tears and hear His lament over Jerusalem. If His way over Lazarus seems strange, it is not lack of love, but rather love's clear discernment of the only way of hope. Lazarus "is sick," and who will say that Israel was not desperately sick in those days? So desperately sick, and of such a sickness, that there is no remedy, no cure, no healing, no patching up. There will be no intervention to preserve and prolong that Israel. Israel must die; that is the only way of any hope or glory at all.

So Lazarus dies. But more - he is left in death until the verdict of nature is: "he stinketh." There is an Old Testament word which says that a consequence of disobedience in Israel - if persisted in - would be that they would become a byword among nations - metaphorically they would stink in their nostrils. How true that has become! So Lazarus sets forth God's estimate of, and verdict upon, Israel. "The wound has become incurable."

We leave that for the moment, and go to the second aspect.

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(2) Lazarus as Representing Mankind

Throughout the "Gospel," and with Israel as an illustration, the state and need of mankind as a whole is revealed. There is a very significant change of title from chapter 11 to chapter 12. In 11 it is "Son of God" several times. In 12 that title is not used, but "Son of Man" is. There is a sense in which the former title was peculiarly the challenge and test to Israel at that time. Of course it is always so, in every realm, but Israel's day was closing and it would close on this issue peculiarly. The world's day is not yet at its close - although it may very nearly be. But it will be governed by the same issue as was Israel's.

The point here is that the transition from the immediate emphasis upon Son of God to Son of Man is just the widening of the circle to the whole race, for Son of Man is a racial designation, not only a national. What was true of Lazarus as representing the state and need of Israel is true of the whole human race. Incurable, sick unto death; dead, and stinking. That is the true verdict; that is God's attitude. The only hope is in resurrection, a new beginning, and that by and with Jesus Christ. That natural state of man can never bring satisfaction to God, therefore there can never be any glory there. It is a nature utterly different from God's.

So the events of Bethany pass by swift and direct transition to 12:24: the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying, in order that a new organism may appear with a propagating life. Connected with this are the explicit statements concerning the Cross (verses 31-34).

The Cross Is an End

What was it, and is it, that necessitated the holding back of Jesus until Lazarus had been in the grave four days? Why should it be a part of the drama that, when there is true description and admission made, the expression "he stinketh" should be the only appropriate one? The answer is that man at some time (we know when) became infected by a fatal virus called "self," and the essence of self is pride.

"God beholdeth the proud afar off."
"Jesus... abode... in the place where he was."
"Pride is an abomination unto God."

It is the selfhood of man, his self-sufficiency, self-importance, self-will, self-occupation, etc., which will not allow Jesus to be absolute Lord and God, that makes it necessary for the Cross to engulf him. There is no hope for him until he sees himself crucified with Christ and buried with Him! When Paul followed the infinite descent of Christ from the glory of equality with God as His right, down through incarnation and emptying, he concluded the emptying course with "Yea, the death of the Cross," as though nothing could so completely demonstrate the meaning of Christ's death; not a vestige of honor or pride, or respect, or glory. "My God... thou hast forsaken me."

It requires a true apprehension of the meaning of Christ's death to come to the place where it is not only a sentiment uttered, but a course taken -
"When I survey the wondrous Cross On which the Prince of Glory died,
*****
pour contempt on all my pride."

This nature governed by the self principle is in the way of corruption, and is ineligible for glory. Let it go where God has put it, and let us look to and hope alone in Jesus - "the resurrection and the life." There must be just as real a crisis in our lives as there was in Bethany. The state was incurable. Death was a terrible reality. Jesus met it at its uttermost point and, through the power of His own other and different life, completely overthrew it. These are the truths represented in Bethany and Lazarus - truths which are the substance of the Gospel, both for the saved and the unsaved, and borne out by all the subsequent New Testament teaching.

Resurrection - The Ground of Glory

In resurrection God starts all over again with a New Creation; and in a spiritual and real way that New Creation will receive the same verdict as that which was originally given concerning the material and illustrative old creation. "God saw that it was good." "God rested." "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." God, finding His nature satisfied, expresses that satisfaction. And then there follows the inclusive verdict: "We beheld his glory."

This can be put to the test in the simplest ways. When one, knowing himself or herself to be a sinner, hopeless and brokenhearted, with God afar off, turns and, seeing in Jesus God's way, says, "Lord, I believe!" - the issue is that the heart is filled with such a sense of rest, satisfaction, and joy, that the only suitable word to describe it is "Glory."

The same is true when a controversy has arisen between a child or servant of God and his or her Lord. The glory goes out. But let that whole matter be brought to the Cross and acknowledged to be what it is - a reasserting of the natural life or self - let that be put where God has put it, in the grave of Jesus, and once more rest and unspeakable relief fill the heart, and the glory returns.

So we note some other features of the glory.

There is the quick transition from the individual and personal to the collective and corporate. The next scene after the raising of Lazarus is the feast at Bethany. The feast is made for Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. They are eating and drinking together with Him on the ground of a new life. His glory is manifested, not only in the one, but in the many. This leads to a new act of worship. Worship is always the very essence of glory.

From one corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying there comes the "much fruit," many corns and ears of corn; at length a mighty harvest, of which Jesus was the "Firstfruits."

In relation to the corn of wheat He said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified," and it was so! From Calvary - the Passover - came Pentecost, and who will say that Pentecost was not glory?

But - and there is always someone lurking in the shadows to spoil - it was not long before reactions set in and Judas and all his ilk set a counter-movement going. How the Devil hates to see Jesus glorified! How his jealousy and envy are stirred to overflowing hatred when he sees a company bound together in one life, feasting with Christ in worshipping love! Bitter, bitter is his spite at that, and he will ruin it if he can! So it was, and so it will ever be.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 133:1). But Satan hates it, and sees in it the undoing of all his work to rob Christ of His inheritance. After the feast, Judas and the Pharisees. After Pentecost, Herod and the world.

But the far end of all is the glory - God's nature satisfied, and that satisfaction displayed in the New Jerusalem - "having the glory of God."

[Shammu]

Chapter 12

READING: John 13:1-17; Leviticus 8:24; Exodus 30:18-21; Romans 6:4, 8:1,2,4; 1 Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 4:1,2, 5:2; 1 John 2:6.

There are several preliminary observations to be made in approaching the message in John 13.

Firstly, the end of John chapter 12 sees the close of the Lord's public ministry. From then onward, He is with His own; and so it is with them that we find Him when we come to chapter 13.

Secondly, chapters 11 and 12 having brought right to the fore the whole matter of death and resurrection, as seen in Lazarus and the grain of wheat, chapter 13 indicates what is to obtain on resurrection and ascension ground, because everything is being dealt with here and onward from that standpoint - Christ risen and returning to the Father (vs. 1).

Thirdly, everything is now inward and not outward. So far, it has all been objective; every incident through all these chapters has been in an outward way. From now on it is inward, it is subjective.

Fourthly, it is no longer only individual; it is now corporate.

These four things must be recognized in order to arrive at the full meaning and value of what follows. Thus it is a matter of what the Church is in itself, as on resurrection and ascension ground, for it is the Church which is now represented. Judas is going; Christ is being left alone with those who are to be the nucleus of the Church, and it all becomes a matter of what the Church is in itself, as viewed from the standpoint of Christ's resurrection and ascension, and its union with Him.

He is about to depart out of the world. All things have been given into His hands, and He is seeking to secure the inward ground which will lead to the fulfillment of the Church's one comprehensive purpose - the continuation of Himself in representation on this earth, the expression of Himself here. He is going, but He is seeking to secure the continuity, the continuation, of Himself here as in His Church. And so, about to depart, He says that He leaves them an example, and when we come to analyze the example, we find that it is something which reaches right down into the innermost motives of the heart - Christ cannot be followed in just an outward way; that is proved. He has to be followed in an inward way.

So, having laid that foundation, we can come to the inclusive message of chapter 13.

The Immense Importance and Power of Meekness

That which arises is the immense importance and power of meekness. Perhaps it has not been sufficiently recognized that the fulfillment by the Church of its great vocation rests and depends upon its meekness. It has a tremendous business on hand, and it has immense forces against it. There is no doubt that the calling of the Church is a very great thing indeed, fraught with unspeakably great issues, and opposed by terrific forces; and to meet all that - the purpose, the vocation, and all the forces of evil - the one basic essential is meekness: because, in the first place, before the Church can get on with its work here in this world it must be in a position where Satan has no ground. Resurrection and ascension imply that; they just carry that with them. Resurrection and ascension mean that the entire ground of Satan has been set aside. The Lord Jesus has gone up on high because He has triumphed. So I repeat that resurrection and ascension just imply that Satan's power and authority have been destroyed and all things are in Christ's hands, not Satan's.

Meekness Destroys the Ground of Satan's Authority

The Church must come on to that ground, and we find so impressively - and it is most impressive - that the very first thing introduced on that ground is perhaps the last thing that we would have thought we should meet. When we come on to resurrection and ascension ground, on to the ground of Christ's great triumph and exaltation, we meet meekness, and meekness means that Satan's ground is destroyed, for Satan's fall was due to pride being found in his heart, and man's fall was because he let in that same pride. Pride - to have everything in himself, to be as God, to be himself the seat of knowledge. "Ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). Wherever there is pride, Satan has the ground that he wants for destroying and wrecking, and the risen Lord is providing ground against that by this tremendous object-lesson as to meekness. Yes, Satan, sinister, powerful and terrible as he is, can often be completely nullified by a spirit of meekness, his whole ground can be taken from him by a spirit of meekness. The importance and power of meekness is seen, then, firstly in that it destroys the very ground of Satan's authority.

Meekness the Great Unifying Factor

Then it is seen as the great unifying factor. Judas, the disintegrating factor, has been compelled to withdraw. Satan is going to do his utmost to scatter, divide and disintegrate this band. In view of all that, the Lord, by His example, His acted sermon, is saying, "For the unifying of the Church, the integrating of the Church, the establishing of the Church as something which cannot be broken up or divided spiritually, the one essential is meekness." "I beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness" (Eph. 4:1,2). The message to the Church at Philippi was because of disunity, and the Lord's meekness in self-emptying and humiliation and bond-servant form, His great condescension, is introduced by the Apostle as the ground of the Church's salvation at Philippi. The unifying factor is meekness. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5).

If we did but know it, a very great deal of the strain that is known by the Lord's people collectively, the postponement of full blessing, the delay in fulfillment of essential purpose, the distress and the heartbreak and the bewilderment, is due to secret pride. The Lord sees it - unwillingness to let go somewhere, unwillingness to acknowledge somewhere, unwillingness to come down from some position taken as to our rightness. Yes, there is a lot of painful history of that kind, if we did but know it; it can be traced to pride, hidden pride; and the Lord says that the counter to that - to all that delay and postponement, to that arrest, to that threat of the complete disintegration of the Lord's people - is meekness. If that is true, we are right in saying that it is of immense importance and power. None would say that, during the three years with the Master, the Twelve, or even the Eleven, were a unity, and so much was due to rivalry, jealousy, personal interests. These are features of pride.

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Meekness the Hallmark of Love

But then there is another thing which comes out here. It is that meekness is the hallmark of love. You know that John's Gospel can be divided into three sections, under three words - Life, Light and Love, and the love section begins at verse 34 of the thirteenth chapter. "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." But meekness is the hallmark of love. Pride and love can never go together. Love and meekness will always be found together if the love is genuine. If the example is to be taken account of - if the Lord Jesus is the great example of love - the argument is just overwhelming. "Having loved his own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end [or: unto the uttermost].... And... he took a towel" (vs. 1,13).

He loved; we have no doubt about His love, and that He is the supreme example of love. He is equally the supreme example of meekness. These two go together. "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt understand hereafter." What an afterward! This Gospel is being written in the afterward. How does it begin? "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made." "And he took a towel, and girded himself."

These disciples really had not grasped the magnitude of the Person who was in their midst. From time to time it came home to them with some force, and they felt that He was more than man. But it had not yet come home to them in fullness who He was, and it never did until after His resurrection and ascension. When, forty days after His resurrection, He was received up into heaven, and the mighty Holy Spirit came forth into them, then, and then only - but then - they knew in fullness who He was. It overwhelmed them.

And then they had a retrospective contemplation. "God, very God, who made all things, the Creator of the universe, has been down here and washed our feet!" That is tremendous, is it not? They knew afterward what had happened, they knew afterward the greatness of the condescension of God in the Person of Jesus Christ, and that did have an effect; it was a mighty power in their lives. They may not see eye to eye on all matters. The work in them was not immediately perfected, so that they were in perfect agreement in all interpretations. Peter and Paul may represent different standpoints, and at one time they may clash. Ah, but there is something deeper than that. Peter will say: "our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you" (2 Pet. 3:15). Something deep down has been wrought, and you find them very meek men, and, by their meekness, pillars of the Church. It is significant that when Paul wrote to the Corinthians, dealing with divisions, he said: "The trouble is with your feet" - "ye... walk after the manner of men" (1 Cor. 3:3). John says, "You must walk as He walked": "he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked" (1 John 2:6); not walk as men. It is all here symbolized in the feet being cleansed.

The Walk of the Believer

We can pass now from that to the next thing. The Church's walk in this world is the link. We have read all those passages about the feet and the walk. We are able to see what a large place the walk has in the spiritual life. The Lord Jesus says something very strong about this. "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me"; "that depends upon your walk, upon your feet." What does He mean? Well, after all, this washing of feet was the neutralizing of the "earth touch," the contact with the earth - that which lies under the curse, which God can never accept, that which is completely contrary to God's mind. We have to be here, we have to walk here; but we have to have a great sensitiveness to the dust, a great sensitiveness to dirt.

Some people can bear a lot of dirt without being bothered by it! They are not very sensitive in this matter, and so they are not found washing very much. There are other people who are very sensitive to the slightest touch of dirt, because they know the danger of contamination. The surgeon is extremely sensitive to dirt; you will constantly see him laboriously "washing up." The ordinary person would ask whether all this is quite necessary: is this not overdoing it a bit? There he stands; he goes on scrubbing and washing, rinsing and washing again and scrubbing. But he knows the infinite peril of dirt, of contact with a world that is impregnated with dangerous elements, with another life that is harmful; and he is sensitive to that. The Lord Jesus was extremely sensitive, and He must have suffered terribly, walking, in His sinlessness, on this earth. Here in this chapter He is only saying in a pictorial way, "You must have a great sensitiveness to the death touch, to the earth touch."

That will work out in many ways. It will work out as to our conversation. If you and I are really spiritual, really growing in the spiritual life, we shall have violent reactions to our own talk. It will touch us, too, in what we read. It will touch us in all sorts of ways. The point is that there has to be sensitiveness to that which belongs to the realm on the other side of that Cross, the realm to which we are supposed to have died, and which has nothing in common with this realm of "walking in newness of life"; yes, a growing sensitiveness, that means pain when there is anything present which the Lord does not accept or agree with. If the Church is going to fulfill its vocation, if the Church is going to be here with the impact of the risen, ascended Lord, it has to be very, very sensitive to what is against the Spirit. And, of course, this has to be true of the individuals who make up the Church.

We have, therefore, little difficulty in seeing why the Church has so little influence and power and effect. It has become so contaminated, and it has lost its sensitiveness to spiritual things. It can allow so much that, from God's standpoint, was put out when the Lord Jesus died. Go back to Aaron and his sons, the priests, and the laver between the altar and the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. "Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat... THAT THEY DIE NOT" (Ex. 30:19). They have to get rid of the death touch - of the earth touch which is the death touch. So the blood was placed on the great toe of the right foot, indicating the whole walk of the servants of God. I think it is unnecessary for us to go further than that. I only call you back to that selection of passages at the head of this chapter, and there are many more about the walk of the believer.

And there is that great inclusive word to the Colossians: "If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:1-3). There is the great divide of the Cross between earth and heaven. Union with the risen, ascended Lord does mean that there is set up inside the believer, and inside the Church when it is according to the Lord's mind, a faculty for discerning and perceiving what is and what is not of the Lord; what belongs to this new realm and what does not belong to it; and the development of that faculty is the way of the Church's increasing spiritual life and power, as it is of the individual's.

[Shammu]

The Washing of One Another's Feet

Then, finally, as to this matter of feet-washing. "Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." We do not take this literally; we know that the whole thing here is symbolical. But there it is something that we ought to do. "We also ought to wash one another's feet." What does it mean?

It is a picture again. "Brethren... if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Gal. 6:1). It is the spirit of meekness helping the one who has become touched, tainted, or overtaken in the way. This one is in the way, and there creeps up something to corrupt or pollute, and overtakes him; his feet are caught. Now, "ye which are spiritual," wash his feet, help him out of that, help him to get free. I think we more often point out the dirt than wash it off. We are far more ready to criticize our brother for his fault or faults than to set ourselves to help him to get rid of them. Washing of the feet surely does just mean making it our humble business, in all lowliness and meekness, knowing our own frailty and weakness, to help to remove that which we see as a defect, a fault, a wrong, an evil, in our brother.

Well, that covers a lot of ground, and I am not going to stay longer with this matter of feet-washing, but it is something that the Lord has said is to be a ministry in the Church, if the Church is to be kept in purity; something that we have to do. It is what Paul calls "speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) - in love being faithful with one another. That is feet-washing. It may sometimes be hot water, it may sometimes need a little caustic - but the balm of love must be there.

Have we established our statement as to the immense importance and power of meekness? If I were to go back and underline anything that has been said, I think I should underline mainly that part about spiritual sensitiveness to the touch of that which has in it the power of death and disintegration. It comes so subtly, just a suggestion. We have only to hint at something about a fellow-believer, about another Christian, and it becomes something which works and grows. The enemy just looks for the slightest thing like that, to build it up, and before long that which was only a hint or a suggestion about them has involved their whole life in a black cloud, and they become suspect and wholly unclean, and you begin to avoid them. It is only one of the many ways in which you and I are called upon to be sensitive to dust, to dirt. We are moving in a very unclean world, naturally and spiritually. It is so easy for us to be affected, and we must have this sensitiveness to dirt to get rid of it in order to maintain a healthy living body.

One of the books which perhaps has, by way of illustration, helped me most in this whole realm of spiritual sensitiveness, is The Life of Lord Lister. It is the story of the man who was largely responsible for that whole science of antiseptics, the great warfare against the deadly microbe. What a story it is! And the story opens with the battle that he had to wage, and what a battle was waged against him! You could hardly imagine a surgeon coming in to perform a major operation in an old dirty coat that he had been wearing doing all sorts of other things, then going from that operation, with all its blood on him, to perform another one, and so on. We are not surprised that the hospitals themselves were scenes of more mortality than the outside world. What a battle! His whole theory was laughed at, scorned, ridiculed. He had to fight this battle through, but it was won.

We know today the importance of washing. The Lord Jesus knew all about it; they did not know. This greater than Lister knew all about that counterpart, that antitype, of contamination, when He, coming into a universe impregnated with these evil germs working death and havoc, said, "We must wash up before we touch anything." So He said to the Church, as the first thing upon a resurrection-ascension basis: "Let us get down to wash the point of contact with this world, and break that contact, get clean and clear of it." Our whole vocation and testimony hangs upon that.