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"This Ministry"

by T. Austin-Sparks

Transcribed from conference messages given in November 1957. The spoken form has been retained verbatim.

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Nature of This Ministry

Chapter 2 - A Spiritual Ministry

Chapter 3 - The Living God

Chapter 1 - The Nature of This Ministry

The second letter to the Corinthians, second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 4: "Therefore seeing we have this ministry..." those two words will be the key to our meditation and consideration this evening, and probably, if the Lord wills, for several evenings to come.

"This ministry". This ministry. As you know, we are using these few evenings for the purpose of restating and clarifying what we believe to be the Lord's meaning and purpose in the church and in our having been (by His grace and mercy) brought under His hand as a people here. It is very necessary that from time to time as the years go on and the company changes, that we keep very clearly before us that full purpose of God into which He has called us.

While we are always seeking new light and to be open to new instruction and counsel from the Lord, we must preserve the original vision and keep in line with that which has been the object of our apprehending. And it is the church's ministry - a ministry for which the church is chosen of God and for which the church is equipped by God. It is a ministry. So far as we here are concerned, we feel that the Lord has laid it very much on us to seek to be in line with the ministry of the full counsel of God. And, as things are in these times, it is very necessary that there shall be preserved a ministry amongst the Lord's people, for the Lord's people, that they shall the better be fitted with spiritual wealth and larger measures of Christ to strengthen all the Lord's people to the fulfilment of their holy vocation in this world.

Now, Paul here says, "We have this ministry". I think it is quite clear from the larger context of those words, that when he said "we", he was including the Corinthians as well as himself and his brethren who were with him in the ministry. Later, for instance, he will say: "We all with unveiled face, it is the ministry of the whole church that the apostle has in view. "This ministry" is what the Lord would have the whole church fulfil and it is of very great importance that the whole church (and that includes every one of us here this evening, while it goes far beyond), it is very important that every one of us should realise that we are called of God not only unto salvation and unto ultimate glory, but particularly unto a ministry - a ministry from the Lord for the Lord; from the Lord, unto the Lord. We have this ministry! And when the apostle says "this ministry", you notice that the whole context of this letter defines what he means by "this ministry". It is a ministry of a certain nature, character, and constitution so that, if this is true that the church is here particularly and pre-eminently to fulfil a ministry, and we are in that, we must know what that ministry is, and we must be in line with it.

The apostle first draws attention, then, to what the church is, in itself, the "we", and then he proceeds with the vocation of that church. The church is affected as to its character by its calling. If we were to clearly apprehend our calling, we should the more forcefully realise what we have got to be. The impetus, the motive, the dynamic of "being" is found in the vocation, in the calling, in what we are here for; that is, in the Divine purpose. Have you grasped that? Let me repeat that: that we shall find our inspiration to be what we ought to be, when we adequately apprehend what it is the Lord has called us for, that is, to do, because we cannot do that and fulfil the vocation unless we are of a certain kind, of a certain character - it does not just happen willy-nilly. The Lord requires a certain kind of "we" for this particular kind of ministry. That is the whole force of this letter, as you know. The apostle is seeking to show what the ministry is, and by showing that, inspiring, and encouraging, and admonishing the church to be worthy of that ministry; to be the kind of church necessary to fulfil it.

So we begin this evening to consider:-

The Nature of This Ministry

What constitutes it... there is very much to be said, and I confess to you that I am so full that I am most eager to get on; my peril will be to overrun the matter, but we will seek to confine ourselves for this little time this evening to one aspect or phase of this ministry. It is what the apostle means when he repeatedly speaks of "God's purpose". Notice that was a characteristic conception in the apostle's heart and mind. We are very familiar, for instance, with the words of Romans 8:28, the last clause of which is: "called according to His purpose". Called! According to His purpose. And again in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 9: "Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him" - that is, in Christ. Verse 11: "In whom also we were made a heritage having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His will". It is with something that the apostle terms "the purpose... the eternal purpose" in mind, that the church has its existence.

When we come to look at these Scriptures and break them up, analyse them, we find that this purpose has several aspects. Firstly, it is shown to be consummately, all-inclusively a gathering together of all things in Christ. That's the purpose: comprehensively, to gather together all things in Christ.

And then, in the second place, the purpose is to manifest, or express the fulness of Christ in, and to, this whole universe. That is "the counsel of God's will".

And then in the third place, we find that, for that, for that, God, before times eternal, chose, or elected, the church (that which is called "the church") to be the vessel for this purpose.

Look at that a little more closely, those three things. "To... (and it is put in several different ways in different translations) to sum up all things in Christ", or "to gather together all things in Christ", or again, "to re-unite all things in Christ", or, once more, "to gather up into one all things in Christ". That is the pre-eminent explanation of the Lord Jesus.

Paul was mainly interested in the eternal significance of Christ and of His vocation in the purpose of God. Therefore, there is very little indeed in Paul's writings throughout, of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus - practically nothing from His birth onward to His cross. Paul does not give us any account of the journeys of the Lord Jesus when here on earth; of His miracles; of His discourses - he says practically nothing about that whole period. If he has anything to say about the Lord Jesus in that connection, it is almost entirely about the meaning of the incarnation, that is, His self-emptying, humbling Himself and taking on Him the form of a bond-slave, and being found in fashion as a man - well, that goes back to the beginning. From there onward he has practically nothing to say until he comes to the Cross - he has a lot to say about that.

Paul is not concerned with the earthly or historic Christ; he is concerned with the eternal significance of His Person and His work. And that is very largely why he so often uses the title "Christ" and "the Christ", which is a larger title than "Jesus". He often speaks, of course, of Jesus, but Paul's great title for Him is "Christ", and "the Christ", that relates to His anointing for His vocation, to fulfil His great purpose in this universe. It is the eternal Christ that Paul is concerned with. And he it is who, in this unique, peculiar and particular way, brings us to that eternal vocation. He shows us that in those eternal counsels of God, the Son was intended to be the sum of all things, and all things to be the sum of Him: "He should fill all things", and "in all things have the pre-eminence", "in Him all things should consist" and all things in this universe should find its integrating centre and power in Christ. That was the Divine intention.

Then things proceeded, as we only too well know, to the point where the mighty determined counter to that entered into this universe. It is something with which you and I ought to be perhaps more impressed than we are, that along every line of Divine intention concerning the Lord Jesus, there is a counter movement in this universe. Did God intend and determine that in and through His Son the glory of God should be manifested in this universe? It should be glory in and by Christ Jesus; and we have a great deal of data on that matter. "Very well, then", says this counter movement, "we will make it our business to see that everything that relates to the Lord Jesus is brought into shame and dishonour". What a history there is! You cannot bring anything of the Lord Jesus in for glory without this counter movement to bring that under a reproach, into shame, into disrepute, and to thwart and frustrate the glory.

Is it the wealth, the riches of Christ and that are in Christ that are to be displayed and enjoyed? "Very well", says the counter movement, "Everything that is related to Christ, we will bring into poverty. We will counter that". And there is a lot of history in that - the poverty, poverty of what has the name of Christ on it in this world! Spiritual poverty, poorness; it is like that.

And so you follow it round the clock, and at every point where God determined something concerning His Son, you find the counter movement. And here it focuses upon this matter of "gathering together", gathering together, summing up, re-uniting, gathering into one all things in Christ. "Very well", says that counter movement, "We will make it our business to divide everything that has the name of Christ on it. We will not stop short at anything to counter that uniting movement in Christ. We'll break it up somehow!" And what a lot of history there is in that!

If the church was brought into being for that purpose, well, the enemy hasn't spared himself to spoil that purpose in the church. We come to that again in a moment, but here we find ourselves in a disintegrated and disrupted universe in every direction and in every connection; not stopping short of what is called "the church". I very carefully put it like that - what is called the church. But the purpose of God stands and His pre-determinate counsel, the counsel of His will, will eventually and ultimately be fulfilled. He will "sum up all things in Christ".

Now, you see, God is engaged deeper than our sensing and our sight, upon this matter of re-integrating in His Son. And the basic principle of this integration, this re-uniting, the basic principle is Christ Himself! If you get a hold of that, you will get past a great many difficulties. The ground of oneness is Christ Himself. Many, many things are thought to be the way to unity or the grounds of unity, but no, there is only one ground of unity, and that is Christ Himself. And where Christ is, there is, beneath and beyond whatever else may be present, there is unity. There is no doubt about it. You may have a lot that is extra, the accretions, the things that are built upon that, which are not Christ, but get away down through all that, to the fundamental reality of Christ within by new birth from above, and you've got something in common. There is the unity. Christ Himself is the Law of this new integration, but it will depend upon how much of Christ, how much manifested unity there will be. That, of course, would be a terrible indictment, wouldn't it, of very much where there is disunity amongst the Lord's people. It would say, "Well there is not enough of Christ! If only there were more of Christ... that would not be". So it resolves itself into a matter of the greatness and the fulness of Christ.

If what we have said (and all the more that lies behind it) is true, how very great Christ is; that He has the capacity for filling this universe! And those are not just words, it's not just a wild statement, it can be borne out in various ways which perhaps we ought not to take time to show this evening, except in one way.

You know, you can take any manual of any subject or subjects in human knowledge, however great may be the manual - full, and detailed, and comprehensive - and you can master it. You can master it, you can get the substance out of it, so that it is in you and you can put the manual away and have no further need to refer to it - you've got it. It may be very vastly comprehensive, but you've got it, you know all that is there. You can never do that with anything that relates to Christ! A little fragment of written ministry which you can read in fifteen or twenty minutes, like the letter (so-called) to the Ephesians, or Philippians, or Colossians, read right through in so many minutes, yet unexhausted over twenty centuries, and still deeper and fuller than all those twenty centuries have ever been able to extract from it! It relates to Christ, and it takes more than all time to comprehend Him, to fathom Him. He is still beyond us, still beyond us... vastly beyond us! He is a Universe.

He has the capacity for filling all things; He is inexhaustible, but not only in the matter of measure or degree, but in the matter of character. It is not only that He is going to fill all things, but He is going to give character to all things. And what a wonderful thing it is when the Lord Jesus gets in! The changes He makes in character! And if it is true, as we have illustrated, that He is capable of filling all time, and going beyond it as to measure, He can change this whole universe with His character. He can give a character to all things which is different, and which cannot be found in any other but Himself. We know that, we know that, that where Christ is, truly, there's something different. All the prophets of men, all their teachers, all their religions, all their philosophies (as wonderful as they may think them to be) they don't change the character. They don't make this radical, constitutional difference in men, but He does! Therefore, in Him is not only the measure, but the character of the coming universe. It will take its nature from Him. He is capable of doing that. That is the gospel, that there is not one remote figure, or point, or creature in this universe who cannot be changed by Jesus Christ, and made different. He is the measure, He is the nature, but He is also the criterion!

Everything in this universe is going eventually to be judged by Him, according to Him. Not that He sits upon a judgment seat at some time, and gathers all before Him, and passes sentence objectively - that's our mentality and thinking of the judgment. Let us understand that it is spiritual, and that all things will be judged according to the measure of Christ that is there; according to how they measure up to Him - He is the standard, He is the criterion. He is God's measuring line for everything. And with God, all things, all things are judged in this way: "What place have you given My Son? What place could you have given Him? What place did you have the opportunity of giving Him? What place did all that was given to you, make possible for Him? What's the result?" God will be righteous in His judgments. Men that have very, very little of Christ, God will be righteous if they could not have more. But, you see, the much or the little, after all, comes back to this: it is Christ, Christ who is the criterion of everything.

All that then, and so much more, is found in this first fragment of the purpose: "to sum up all things in Christ"; "to gather together all things in Christ".

Then you come to:-

The Elect Vessel

The elect vessel, that which we know by the name of "the church". What is the meaning of election after all? For it is this church that is elected, that answers to this particular and peculiar thought in the mind of God from eternity. What is the meaning of election? We have gone far wide I think, of the real answer to that question in the Word of God. If only we did realise that election is related essentially to vocation and not salvation, we'd be saved a lot of trouble.

It is "chosen according to the purpose", in relation to a vocation! It is "elect" with a meaning, and that is not just to be saved and to be got to Heaven - it's "this ministry" that governs election. "This ministry" is the ministry of something elected of God to fulfil it. Get quite clear about that, and get your minds free of other thoughts when that word "election", or "foreordination", or "predestination" rises - at once focus upon this: it is purpose that is in view, not just salvation; it is purpose.

What is the purpose of the election - that is, the nature of the election, or the meaning of election, its vocation - what is the purpose of the election? Again, the purpose of election is Christ, it is Christ! "Chosen in Him" for this very purpose of being God's vessel and vehicle for the revelation of Jesus Christ in the nations and beyond, in the heavenlies. I keep strictly, if you care to follow with the Word, I keep strictly to the Scriptures in all this. "Now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenlies, might be made manifest the manifold wisdom of God". It's in the nations and it's over the nations that this vocation is to be fulfilled - it is Christ!

We are, dear friends, chosen in Christ to reveal Christ, to manifest Christ, to show what Christ is. Then what is the demand, if this is true? It's true, the demand is found in one little phrase: "Give diligence to make your calling and election sure"! In other words, see to it that you are fulfilling this ministry; that you really are in this ministry of Christ. So "this ministry" relates to the fulness of Christ. First of all to fill its vessel, the vessel of the ministry, and then to overflow, or pass beyond the vessel, or through the vessel to the nations.

What is required for this ministry, if this is what it is? What is required for it? Well, first of all (again keeping close to the Word), it can really only be fulfilled on heavenly ground. It is absolutely essential that the church stands on heavenly ground to fulfil this ministry. It is on the ground of the heavenly Man; it is on the ground of a heavenly order, "as it is done in heaven" was the phrase used by the Lord Himself. It is on the ground of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. You see, in every way it requires heavenly ground.

Paul so constantly uses this phrase: "in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus" - "in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus". Touch the earthly and the natural man, and what happens? At once the integration changes to disintegration again. Let me put that another way: here is something that is raised up of the Lord, used of the Lord, and then man or men put their hand on it, take charge of it; begin to hold it, and use it, and govern it. What is the history of that? It is the history of all the divisions. At any rate, in most of the divisions amongst the Lord's people it can be traced to it coming down to the earthly man somewhere; the touch of the earthly man - the earthly man in the otherwise heavenly man - there are always two sides to men. When men get on to their earthly side and touch the things of God, division comes, the glory fades out, the fulness of Christ narrows down... spiritual poverty comes where there was once wealth.

You see, touch, touch the earthly man, touch the earth itself, and at once you come into this realm of breaking up, and dividing; you come down on to this earth-level of things. And it is like that. There is no oneness and integration on this earth. If you like to change the word "earth" for "the world", well alright, touch this world; let the church come into touch with this world, and what happens? It breaks up, it divides, it loses its spiritual fulness, and its glory, and its effectiveness and its registration here. And that is exactly what is happening, "Come down, come down!" And I believe, dear friends, if the letter to the Ephesians (so-called) means anything at all as it comes to its consummation, that great warfare in the heavenlies, if it means anything at all, it means this: the tremendous conflict that the church has for maintaining its heavenly position, for all these forces of evil are bent upon forcing it down. Now, is that not true to your own personal experience? Pressing down, forcing down, dragging down! It's this tremendous battle not to come down! It is essential that we maintain our heavenly ground, and not come down, if we are to fulfil this ministry.

You must keep off of all ground that is of man's making, forming, shaping and constituting, if you are going to have this fulness of Christ and minister it to His people. A suggestion like that is enough, I think without following it through. We are speaking about the ministry to which we are called, and it is an essential part of that ministry, that we do not come on to man's religious, traditional, or historical, ecclesiastical ground; we maintain a spiritual position, in the heavenlies, in Christ. And as soon as we lose that position, and become something down here: an institution, a sect, a denomination, an organization, anything down here - we lose our wealth- we'll lose our wealth and we'll lose our glory. And we'll lose our measure of Christ; we will lose everything spiritual and pass into being what so many things have become - just another thing down here amongst many things, very little different from the rest. Oh no, the church of Christ is not that! It is not that. And if we say: "Well, where shall we find this? Does Ephesians still hold good?" I verily believe, dear friends, with all my heart, that if we are in the right position, we will find there the right and full resources of Christ

Now, you say, "How is all this to be? It is all perhaps very wonderful, but it is so much beyond us. How is it to be effected?" And I don't want to be occupied with setting forth great ideas and truths and concepts, I am most concerned to solve some of the spiritual problems of this matter of spiritual fulness. I take an illustration to try and help in this matter. You see, all this that we are thinking of, "this ministry", is not going, (in the first place) to be an objective thing at all. Here you come to this second letter to the Corinthians, and you find how subjective this ministry is, we shall come to that on subsequent occasions, but "God hath shined into our hearts" It is not, first of all, an objective thing. You won't find this in the first place in an outward way, you won't find this church in an outward way, here on the earth. It's no use going about looking for this kind of church - where shall we find this kind of church which corresponds to Ephesians, and so on. No use going round looking for something objectively like that. You won't find it. You won't find it! You won't find "this ministry" in that objective way; maybe ministries which more or less approximate to this, but, it is not to be found in the objective way, in the first place. How is it to be found then?

Perhaps I can best illustrate it in this way: have you ever been inoculated? Have you ever had an injection? Well, of course it depends very much on what it is, but it is characteristic and usual with infections or inoculations, that you get a reaction; we say, "a flare-up". You have a bad time for a while. Something has been introduced into your system, that is either a deficiency in your system, a supply to a deficiency, or something that is antagonistic to what is there. And so a battle ensues, until that which has been introduced has got the mastery and subjected everything to itself and becomes the governing constituent in your system, so that the old thing, the old thing against which the injection or the inoculation was made, doesn't arise again and take the mastery - it is under.

Now, that is known to most of you as being quite true and is quite a simple illustration, but do you recognise that that is exactly what is happening in the spiritual constitution of the Lord's people? We are all defective in Christ; there is a terrible deficiency of Christ in us all isn't there? And Christ is so other than we are, so different. Really, this heavenly Man is antagonistic to this earthly man. Introduce Christ into the life and it is not long before a battle rages or some flare-up; you have a bad time, a bad time. You go through a bad time until that which has been introduced into your spiritual constitution or system gains the mastery, and that old man comes under - that other thing is made subject to Him and He becomes the dominant constituent. And that battle is over! How, in thousands of ways and connections, that is what happens.

You have an injection for this, and an injection for that, an inoculation for one thing and another - all sorts of things - these are multiplying today to such a degree that you don't know where they are going to stop; but there it is. But, you see, in our spiritual nature, constitution, there are numerous things that have got to be brought into subjection to Christ, and that never takes place without a battle. And the more of Christ that is going to come in, the greater the battles will be. There is this antagonism for a time, our nature does not take kindly to Christ! There's something in us, that while we in heart want Him, there is something in us that doesn't like Him. And it means a battle.

Now that is the sort of thing that changes, you see, the people of God; that changes the church, brings in Christ and more of Christ, and you bring in, first of all, tremendous reactions: a good deal of inward conflict and suffering, until, until He has the mastery and there is a larger measure of Christ that is dominant. I believe that is the real spiritual history of the church - it is like that; the church does go through these tremendous battles. The Lord's people go through these times of stress, and it's all (what used to be called in my young days, but the medicals won't have it now) "growing pains". It's that increase of another character, another order of things, and it never takes place easily - always a battle - related to some fuller measure of Christ.

That may explain a lot for you, but I believe that is the way in which we come to the fulness of Christ - that is the point. The way we come to the fulness of Christ is just like that; it just does not happen quietly and kindly and gently; we only come to every little extra bit of Christ through some conflict, through some stress, through some flare-up, until He gets the upper hand. It is just that.

You see, all things have got to be brought into subjection to Him. And the very word "subjection" means that there are rival forces, that there are enemy forces at work, in us. There is a lot of subduing to go on in us, but He has the power to subdue all things unto Himself. If He comes in He will do that.

Now, how then is this ministry to be fulfilled? It is by, first of all, the church, in which Christ has the largest possible place, which possesses the largest possible measure of Christ. That can only be as everything in us and in the church becomes subject to Christ. It's only another way of speaking of His Lordship, of His Headship, of His absolute mastery. It is like that. You see, it opens up the Word so much. Take one amongst them - Peter. Peter, the man who, in the first place, had the most, I think, that did not take kindly to Christ; well-meaning and all that, but he was all the time rising up in himself to oppose something of Christ: "This shall never come to Thee... this shall never be... No!" You see? Opposing Christ in himself. But this terrific battle was set up in Peter as to who was to have the mastery and I believe that mastery was gained, you know, on that morning on that shore of the sea, when Jesus said, again and again: "Lovest thou Me? Lovest thou Me? Lovest thou Me?" We have a very large measure of Christ in Peter afterward - a very large measure - but you can see the battle, the inward battle through which that man went in order to make room for Christ. And it was all along the line of absolute subjection to Christ, Christ having the mastery, being in the ascendant and those things in the man subdued to Christ, that "in all things He might have the pre-eminence". It is the way of the fulness, it is the way of "this ministry".

Oh, may the Lord go beyond what I am able to say to you, convey to you, and bring a mighty impression upon you, that we are called as, with His church, with a great purpose, which only has its beginning here in time, in this life, and will have its fulfilment, Paul says, "in the ages to come... in the ages to come... unto the ages of the ages". We are called with that purpose. The purpose is, (and to begin now, to begin now) the manifestation of the greatness of Christ; the significance and meaning of Christ. Then, if we are to make our calling and our election sure, it is a matter of Christ in all things, having the pre-eminence, the absolute mastery. All things being in subjection to Him, in us, and amongst us.

"Therefore, seeing we have this ministry..." can you go on? Perhaps you are feeling now: "Well, we will faint; it is too much!" - "We faint not..." we faint not.

The Lord fulfil all His purpose of grace in us.

Chapter 2 - A Spiritual Ministry

We are gathering our thoughts around the fragment in the second letter to the Corinthians in chapter 4 and verse 1: "Seeing we have this ministry". For our present purpose, it is necessary to read a section from chapter 3, at verse 4:

"Such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away, how shall not rather the ministration of the spirit be with glory? For if the ministration of condemnation hath glory, much rather doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily that which hath been made glorious hath not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasseth. For if that which passeth away was with glory, much more that which remaineth is in glory. Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: but their minds were hardened: for until this day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, unlifted, which veil is done away in Christ. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry..."

I'd like you just to turn to the letter to the Romans, chapter 2, verse 27: "Shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?" Verse 29: "...he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter".

Chapter 7, verse 6: "Now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were holden; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter". And to add a very familiar clause for the moment, chapter 1 of the letter to the Ephesians, verse 17: "...the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him".

Coming back to our basic fragment "this ministry", you will have noticed that what the apostle means by "this ministry" is very largely, or partly, defined and explained in the immediate context. There is a follow-on from chapter 3 with: "Therefore". Therefore... that links up with what he has been saying about Moses and the veil. And it is, I think, focussed in those words in verse 6: "also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life". That is a tremendous fragment; indeed it is the terminal point of two entirely different dispensations and economies. The phrase: "the letter" represents a past dispensation - the Mosaic economy; "the Spirit" represents the present dispensation, and the economy of Christ personally. The whole section is full of vivid contrasts between those two dispensations, and those two economies.

Paul, as you see, distinguished the difference between these two by, on the one side the glory that faded; on the other side, the glory that surpasses and abides. The glory that faded, was connected with what Paul means by "the letter"; the glory that surpasses and abides, is connected with what he calls "the Spirit". So that "this ministry" about which he is writing, and about which we are thinking, as committed to us, is resolved into one word; that is:-

Spirituality.

That word defines the nature of this present dispensation. It covers a lot of ground. It includes a lot of things, indeed, it includes everything in this dispensation in the purpose of God.

First of all, it relates to the people of God. The people of God are different in this dispensation from what they were in the past, in the dispensation of the letter, the dispensation of the law, the economy of Moses. It is the difference (and it is a very great difference) between the historical, the sacerdotal, the sacramental, the ritualistic relationship with God which obtained under Moses, and the new birth of this dispensation. There is all the difference between those two things.

That whole system of Moses, comprehensive as it was, and wonderful in many respects, containing all the vital principles of God's mind for His people, nevertheless fell short in this one tremendous thing: it fell short of new birth. It never brought about regeneration. And that's the difference where the people of God are concerned.

In that dispensation there was a people of God, but their economy was that (as I have said) of sacraments, of ritual, and all that kind of thing. In this dispensation, God has a people, but the fundamental, basic characteristic of God's people in this dispensation is that they are born from above: new birth has taken place. And that is a very great difference. You can have all the other without this; if you have this, you comprehend all the other in spirit. The other is in letter, and killeth; this is in Spirit, and maketh alive; in the first instance, by birth, by new birth. This is the Spirit which giveth life, and we know - I trust that we all know - that that is true in this initial respect: the Spirit giveth life in new birth and we are able to attest that, and put our seal to that, and say: "Well, at any rate, that bit of the Bible I know to be true!"

"The Spirit giveth life..." to a new entity, a new person, by new birth... and Paul points out here clearly, that it is the difference between two covenants: the old covenant which was of the letter and wholly outward; and the new covenant which is of the Spirit and inward. That is what he means in his references to circumcision, for instance, because that was the sign of the covenant with Abraham. But the new covenant has now been instituted and according to Jeremiah 31:31 the new covenant is, "I will write My laws in their hearts, and on their minds will I write them". The new covenant is inward whereas the old was outward.

This people, Paul argues in his various writings, this people is the people of the Spirit in this respect: that circumcision is a thing of the heart and not of the flesh, "He is a Jew who is not one outwardly, but inwardly". The difference between the dispensation of the letter and that of the Spirit is in these two covenants, that there has been something done in the heart, which is the spiritual and inward counterpart of the sign of the covenant in the old dispensation.

Again, as we so well know from Paul, where the people of God are concerned, the difference of the dispensations is that of works and of grace. We need not spend time with that, we are so familiar with it, but all this is compassed by the very first aspect of this change-over in the dispensations: it begins in relation to the people of God.

But then, it also, in the second place, relates to:-

The Holy Spirit.

There is all the difference between the Holy Spirit's presence and work in the old dispensation, and in this. That in itself is a subject for more than an hour, because you will call to mind what a lot of time and a lot of care the Lord Jesus took to make His disciples understand this great difference between the old dispensation and the new as to the Holy Spirit. His emphasis and reiteration: "in that day... in that day... in that day..." and it was invariably, "when He, the Spirit, has come..." that's the day. Well, this is "that day", and it is a tremendous change-over from, again, the outward operation of the Holy Spirit, and periodic visitations and inworkings in men by the Holy Spirit and then departing, to the Holy Spirit within abidingly - that's the feature upon which the Lord puts His emphasis: "He shall abide with you for the age... He shall be in you". Tremendous change-over! It is this that defines what Paul means by "the Spirit" as over against "the letter".

The Spirit is the Spirit of Life as different from legalism. Well, we could say that the law was given by God. If you like, we could say that it was given by the agency of the Holy Spirit; yes, but it was a legal system. Now the Holy Spirit does not work legally in that way. The Holy Spirit is now the Spirit of Life. "Legalism" is only another phrase for, "the letter, which killeth", but "the Spirit which giveth Life" is the Spirit of Life, and it is a tremendous difference between economies and dispensations.

Then, in the next place, the Spirit is:-

The Spirit of Truth and Revelation.

We have to put our quotation marks round that word "Truth", because it represents a particular and peculiar thing in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus said, "The hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth". He was making a statement about a peculiar characteristic of this dispensation. The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Revelation as differing from symbolism without understanding what it meant, and reality in the understanding of God's mind. Two different dispensations! That's tremendous! They had it all in type, figure and symbol, but it is perfectly clear that they did not understand.

I think it is a tremendous thing that Moses said about this. We have it in the book of Deuteronomy, a late statement by Moses who said: "Even to this day the Lord hath not given you eyes to see, and a spirit to understand..." after all, after all! You are in the book of Deuteronomy: you've got all the history, you've got all Exodus, you've got all Leviticus, you've got all Numbers, you have got it all, and "even to this day, hath the Lord not given you eyes to see and a spirit to understand". They had it all, but they simply saw it with natural eyes, observed it objectively; it was something like that, and they understood none of its meaning.

Now Truth, in the New Testament sense, is not just symbolism - that is not the "truth", that's only representation, that's not the Truth. It is not the true thing and Jesus was indicating that when He said to the woman of Samaria, "The hour cometh when neither in this mountain, nor at Jerusalem shall men worship God". "In the temple here in Samaria, nor in the great Temple in Jerusalem..." that is not the true thing, that is not the true thing. It may be symbol and representation, but it is only that; it is not the Truth. We have come into the dispensation of the Truth, which is that which is spiritual, and not only in symbol and in type - the dispensation of the Spirit, the dispensation of the meaning of things. The meaning of things! Yes, the meaning of all the symbols and all the types, the meaning of everything that God had foreshadowed in that objective way - we now by the Holy Spirit have come into the meaning of things. When you come into the meaning of things, you can dispense with the childhood object lessons and pictures - if you've got the reality and the meaning - that is the characteristic of this dispensation. The Spirit of Truth and of Revelation!

That's a very challenging thing, dear friends, it is a very challenging thing. It is a sweeping thing; it is almost a terrible thing. One would be tremendously misunderstood, perhaps, certainly very, very hotly taken up, if one were to apply that. If it is true that it is the spiritual and the meaning which is the true, and that is the characteristic of this dispensation, there is something terribly lacking when people cling to, or revert to an Old Testament form of representation in outward things, of ritual and sacerdotalism; all that. You have to ask this major and fundamental question: "Have they seen, after all? Do they know the Holy Spirit?" And it is just there that there is this tremendous uprise of indignation, when you use the word "revelation". Revelation... well, here it is: "That He would grant unto you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him"; Paul is only saying: "that He would grant to you to see the meaning of things - the meaning of things, and be saved from the mere outward representation of things".

Well, that is the second thing about the change-over, and you see all this is included in this phrase: "we have this ministry". We are defining "this ministry" and this is it: it is the ministry of an entirely different kind of person from those who were the people of God in the old dispensation and it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in an entirely different way, as within the life of such people, particularly and peculiarly as the Spirit of Truth and of Revelation.

In the third place, this connects with the Kingdom.

The Kingdom

In the old dispensation the ideas of the kingdom were those which were entirely temporal, earthly, and by force; by outward force - force of arms. That's the old dispensation; literally fighting with flesh and blood to establish the kingdom, a temporal kingdom, with a throne on this earth, and a political regime. "Like the other nations..." but a bit better! Certainly above them. An earthly thing... that is the Old Testament situation where the kingdom is concerned, and that whole mentality was the mentality of the people of God, then was carried over into the New Testament. And it was with that that the Lord Jesus probably had His greatest difficulties where His disciples and followers were concerned - this mentality. But this is a part of the new dispensation, and the new people, and the new Spirit: that the conception and mentality of the kingdom is entirely changed, entirely changed! In this dispensation it is not temporal, it is spiritual! That, to you, does need no emphasis, I am sure. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven, is a spiritual thing in this dispensation.

And yet... and yet, in saying that, it's set right over against some of the greatest Christian (so-called) systems, on this earth! That is the tremendous contrast between the true church of Christ, and that false one of Rome and Rome's sisters. That is a temporal thing a political thing, an earthly thing, and a thing which will be established by force of arms, if needs be - standing at nothing: persecution and crushing to establish, what it would call, the kingdom of God. But no, no! The Kingdom is not like that, not like that. It is spiritual, not temporal; it is heavenly, not earthly; it is Divine nature, not force. Divine nature: righteousness, holiness, peace, purity, and such like. The kingdom and patience of Jesus. This Kingdom is the Kingdom of the Divine nature, and oh, what a contrast it is with that other which is so hateful in its moral or immoral life (using that word in its largest sense).

Once more, this change-over, this difference between the letter and the Spirit relates in the fourth place to:-

The Church Itself.

Here, very little need be said. All that is necessary is to underline one thing: the church in this dispensation is not an institution; it is not an earthly system; it is not something national; it is not sectarian; it is not denominational, interdenominational, or undenominational. The church in this dispensation is a Person - it is Christ and it is the extension of that Person - that is the church. It is not a hierarchy at all; it is certainly not a clerisy; it is Christ! And, I said, the extension of Christ, of the Person - that is, a people, a people in whom Christ dwells, in whom Christ is Lord, and over whom Christ is Head - that people and no other, is the church. It is not a name; it's not a name - far better to avoid all names. Immediately you put names on something that is the church, you bring it to earth and divide it from all others. It's not a name, it is not a tradition. It is not a place, and it is not a form. It is a people whose basis of life and sum-total of life is Christ Himself!

The church is Christ. This church is not something that you can see in its entirety; it is not apparent. It is no use going here and there looking for it to find it. You may find a greater or lesser approximation to it here or there; but you will not find this church in fulness anywhere on this earth. But wherever you find Christ in men and women, there you have the church at least in its foundation, and the measure of the church depends upon the measure of the Christ. Well, you've heard that so often, but we are redefining "this ministry"; this ministry.

Of course, you have a very large context for all that I have just been saying. You realise, don't you, that the letter to the Romans is occupied with this. The letter to the Galatians is Paul's mighty... shall I say, "sledgehammer" on this change in dispensations. And, the letter to the Hebrews is the classic in the New Testament on this difference in economies from the Mosaic to that of Christ; from the past to the present.

Well now, we can come for a few minutes to this great illustration that the apostle takes up and uses:-

Moses and the Veil...

Which he put on his face. This is not so easy to interpret as might be thought, because Paul changes his own position on this matter, as a close observer would recognise, and he has, in so doing, created a bit of a problem. However, we tackle it. Let's analyse it.

There was a derived reflection of God's glory on the face of Moses. Now, I put that very carefully - a derived reflection of God's glory on the face of Moses - it did not come from within Moses; it was not the glory of Moses. It was borrowed glory, it was derived glory. Howbeit, it was the glory of God which he carried on his face from the Divine presence on the mountain. But the point is, to begin with, it did not come from within Moses; it came from without. But even so, being the Divine glory on his face, it was something that the natural eye of man could not endure. That is the first argument of Paul (he changes it in a minute) but note that: this derived, reflected glory, which was not inherent and intrinsic where Moses was concerned, but only mirrored glory... was something which the natural eye of man could not look upon. A veil therefore was used and in the first instance that veil became the symbol of man's visual disability as to God and His things. Do you get that? It signified that man had not the ability, the capacity, to look upon what was of God; and that veil declared that: man's inability or disability in the presence of that which was of God. The veil symbolised that.

But then, in the next place, that reflected glory faded... and this is where Paul makes the transition which creates the difficulty. It has puzzled many, and many interpretations have been given, but as the glory was fading and Moses subsequently read the Law to the people, and the glory had gone, he put a veil on so that they shouldn't see that the glory had gone! Now that's a problem, a difficulty! It's stated here, quite definitely, that he put the veil on latterly, so that they should not see that the glory had gone. So that, when the reflected glory faded, the veil took another significance: it became the means of hiding, not the presence of the glory, but the absence of it, the departure of it. Now, what does it all mean?

Well, the Law was real; it was real, it was from God. It contained the mind of God, it was not something unreal. Yes, it has in it the glory of God - the very Law itself has in it the glory of God, but... but that mind and glory of God became hidden. It became hidden. These were statements, yes, statements of the Divine mind but, because, because of a state of the people, a state of the people, there is no apprehending, indeed there is no abiding presence of the glory of the Divine mind. There was no heart revelation. There was no capacity for receiving and understanding the mind of God, therefore the glory could not be present.

Now, in principle you can see how true that is even now. If there is not the Spirit within, as the Spirit of Truth and Revelation and Life, there may be present a ministry of Truth, of the Word, of the mind of God, but there's no glory. No glory. If you, dear friends, were here tonight as a group of unsaved, unregenerate people, and I were talking to you like this, well, if I'm speaking the truth, if this is all the truth, you'd all be looking bewildered, and dark and heavy, and wondering what it is all about, and longing for the moment to come when you could go home! No glory, no response, if the Spirit is not there. There is a veil; the glory is not there though the Truth may be there, because of the state of the people. "But when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away... Now the Lord is the Spirit", and where the Spirit is Lord there is release from this condition, and the glory comes in.

I take it that as we read this evening that whole section, you in your own mind and with your own eye were underlining that word "glory, glory, glory". The difference, you see! Now Paul argues that, even today when Moses is read, the veil remains, simply because of the state of the people themselves. But we have "this ministry" - what? "God hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". "We have this ministry"! It's a ministry resultant from the in-shining, in other words, the Revelation of Christ in our hearts. It's there in the Word, but the thoughts of God were in the words that Moses spoke! The mind of God was just as much there in the Law, as it is in the New Testament! It is the mind of God - He is the same God - it emanates from the same God. It is no less truth, and meaningful, than anything subsequent - but, you see, lacking in a spiritual condition and capacity in the people, it went for nothing! The veil remains.

"When it shall turn to the Spirit..." and the Spirit is Lord, and God hath shined into the heart, the veil is gone; it is removed! A ministry of inward revelation of Jesus Christ - "we have this ministry..." This is release from "the letter" and when Paul speaks about the letter killing, he does not mean that it is not the Word of God - something less as to the Word of God - he does not mean that at all. He is not contrasting between what God said then and what God says now. He is saying that then it was "letter" in this sense: that it could only be given objectively; read to the people from the outside, but now it is revealed to the heart, and has become Life. So it is Spirit now plus the Word, or the Word plus the Spirit. Then it was "the letter" and no indwelling Spirit. Now we are released into the glory of the unveiled face of Jesus - we have this ministry.

What does it mean? What does it mean for you and for me? It should mean this: that you and I have got the meaning of things - they only had the things, we've got the meaning of them. That meaning is given to us by the Holy Spirit within... not all at once, but progressively. A mark of the Holy Spirit's abiding and of our life in the Spirit is that we are progressing in the meaning of the things of God: Life and Glory!

But it's like that, isn't it? It's like that with all of us. No matter how many times we have read it and thought we had got it and knew it, there comes a new flash and that old, old truth, that old statement, those old words... a flash, and it means to us new life, new glory - we never saw that before! That's a mark of the life in the Spirit. That is what we mean and what Paul meant by "revelation", not extra to the Word, not apart from the Word, not our private revelation, but what the Spirit Himself is teaching and showing according to the promise of the Lord Himself.

Well now, you see, this is what Paul means when he says, "made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. The letter killeth but the Spirit giveth life". "We have this ministry..." and therefore, seeing we have this ministry, even as we have obtained mercy, "we faint not". We faint not.

Dear friends, I trust that, although I have said nothing new to you, you are able to recognise, perhaps in a fresh way, if not in a new way, what it is the Lord has called us to; what the nature of our life and ministry is. May He open the eyes of our hearts, and give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Chapter 3 - The Living God

We are continuing our meditations under the general title of "This Ministry". And this evening we are going to consider "This Ministry" in the light of a fragment which occurs many times throughout the Bible, just a few of which we will look at now.

Firstly, then, in the gospel by Matthew chapter 16, it comes in that section from verse 13 to verse 20, and our words are found in Peter's answer to the Lord's question as to who they (His disciples) would say that He was, "Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God".

We pass on to the letter to the Romans chapter 9, verse 25: "As He saith also in Hosea; I will call that My people which was not My people, and her beloved which was not beloved. And it shall be that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people, there shall they be called the sons of the Living God".

The second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 5: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. If the ministration of death written and engraven on stones came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face, which glory was passing away, how shall not rather the ministration of the Spirit be with glory".

At verse 12: "Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and are not as Moses who put a veil upon his face, so that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away. Their minds were hardened, and until this very day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remaineth unlifted, which veil is taken away in Christ. But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart".

In the first letter to the Thessalonians, first letter to the Thessalonians chapter 1, at verse 9: "For they themselves report concerning us, what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned unto God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven".

In the first letter to Timothy, chapter 3, verse 14: "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly, that if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth".

The letter to the Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 22: "But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God".

And the book of the Revelation, chapter 7, verse 2: "I saw another angel ascend from the sun-rising, having the seal of the living God, and cried with a great voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of God, of our God, on their foreheads".

So you will have recognised the phrase and the title:-

The Living God.

As I have said, it's a title of the Lord which occurs many times throughout the Bible; indeed, it is found in no fewer than seventeen of the books of the Bible from the book of Deuteronomy to the book of the Revelation. It is instructive to take note of the occurrences of that phrase and of the particular connections, because it's a phrase which is used, or a title of the Lord employed, always with some special object; usually, of course, to counter or offset something which is contrary to what is represented by that title: the Living God.

When we have gathered all these references together in which these words occur, we are able to arrange them all mainly in four particular or main connections. Of course, the first is set over against paganism and heathenism - the other gods of the nations - and the title "The Living God" is that which discriminates between the gods of the heathen and of the nations, and the Lord. And quite often the title is employed in that connection, but as we proceed we find that it is also used in other connections which are even more instructive, until we come to the final usage of it, which is the most instructive.

In the second place, of course, it is set over against mere ritualism, and ceremonialism, and sacramentalism, and such things of a merely formal, outward, religious order. Over against that, the words are used: The Living God. The Living God is something more than a mere system, although that system may be related to Him, to the Lord; it can exist, as is quite clear from these connections - that whole thing can exist and be carried on, and proceeded with, and the Living God not be in evidence. There may be quite a contrast between all that and what is meant by the Living God. And it is there that the prophets come in - not against paganism and heathenism in its naked form in the nations, but against mere formalism in Israel, and there the prophets come along with their word: "The Living God..." as being something much more than all that of a merely formal religion.

But then we proceed further, and we are led by this title into another realm, this time of Christianity itself, and, to a very large extent, orthodox Christianity - the Christianity of traditionalism, of institutionalism, of sectarianism, of nominalism. You see this phrase "The Living God" is found in our New Testament. It's found being used amongst those who bear the name of "Christian", and still, it represents a contrast, even among Christians; that there can be the Christian doctrine, and the Christian practice, and the Christian order, and the Christian activity, and all that belongs to Christianity, and still the Living God is something more than all. It is used in that connection, again in a contrasting way.

If I only pick out one other fragment extra to the ones I have quoted, again from the letter to the Hebrews, and that letter was written to Christians - it was written to Christians! - and yet there is this statement: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God". A warning to Christians... with Israel's history used, as you know, as the great illustration of warning: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God..." a word to Christians, Well, that's another connection.

But then we come to the fourth, the final. And here, the Living God is at home... here everything corresponds to that very title. Here there is no clash and no contrast at all; here things are living, because they are spiritual and not merely formal or ritualistic. Here things are essentially real - they are real! Here are the heavenly things themselves, in the custodianship of the Holy Spirit. And here the title fits: The Living God, The Living God!

So it was with the Thessalonians, the setting of the phrase corresponded to the phrase itself: "Ye turned from idols to serve the living God, and to wait for His Son from glory, from heaven". We are alright now, we are on the ground; it is a happy ground for the Living God.

And, dear friends, it is this last connection which we have before us. We feel that it is what is represented by that, that the Lord has presented to us as the purpose and object of our existence, and it is to this, which we have seen in a little way, that we are committed. It is this that defines "This Ministry", it is that which corresponds to this title "The Living God", in a setting that is fitting to that name, and everything here expresses the Living God - it is the Living God who is amongst us! That is what we feel we have (as I have said) seen a little of and been drawn toward by the grace of God. It is not first a teaching, it is first the Lord Himself - the Living God! It is not first a system of practice and procedure, but it is first livingness, or Life. It is not first "the letter", but it is first "the Spirit". This is the realm in which the initiative and the abiding control is not with men, but with the Lord, with the Living God! The one supreme feature of what this means is reality.

Reality

If the phrase means anything at all "The Living God..." that means reality in every direction and every connection. It is the reality of the Lord Himself amongst His people. It is the reality of the truth which is believed, which is taught, which is accepted - the reality! It is the reality of Life - the life is real!

Now, there are three main relationships of that reality. I trust that you recognise what it is that we are seeking to say at these times. It is what we believe the Lord is really desiring to have, and I think we can say that our hearts are set upon that. And we can never be satisfied with anything other or anything less than what the Lord would really have. But, if that is so, if that is so, and we are really set upon that, and we say it is reality that we want... if that is true, then we are committed to the Holy Spirit to make things very real and keep things very real, and to deal with everything that is not real, that is artificial, that is false, that is not real.

So, the Holy Spirit is concerned with reality, and the Holy Spirit always begins His work of making things real by introducing the Cross in a very real way into things. And the first main connection of this spiritual reality is:-

The Cross.

Not just as an object; not as something external to ourselves; not as a thing, but the Cross as a present, living, potent force and law governing everything. Yes, the Cross as a working power in the hands of the Holy Spirit is the ground of reality.

If you and I, dear friends, are really set upon what God wants to have - the essential thing that His heart is set upon, the real thing - we shall find that we are brought into the presence of the operation of the Cross in the hands of the Holy Spirit. The Cross, truly on one side, is for our good and our blessing, and it works for us; there are boundless blessings in the Cross for the people of God. It is something in which to glory, as the apostle said he did. Yes, the Cross is a mighty power working for us, but the Cross will also work against us. It is just as potent against us. You see, we cannot, we cannot come into the realm of God without discovering how unsuited we are for that realm, and that something has got to be done to deal with this which is so unsuited to the Lord.

And what I am saying to you, dear friends, is this: not to give you further teaching on the Cross, but simply to point out that if you and I are really with the Lord for that which is closest to His heart, our lives will be kept very near to the Cross, and the Cross will be kept very near to our lives. We shall find that while we come into the good and blessing that the Cross provides, we also come into very strong and exact dealings with all that is contrary to the Lord, by the power of that Cross - it's a working thing.

Dr. Mabie, many years ago, long before the atomic age opened, used this phrase: the "radio-active cross" - you can't touch it without meeting something that burns you, that sears you - it's "radio-active". Well, that's a very good phrase; it's like that! The Cross is not just a doctrine; it is certainly not a wooden object to be carried round the neck. The Cross is a present and continuous force and law in the life where God is going to have things according to His mind.

The Cross is for us, but the Cross is also against us. That is an essential of reality: it is glorious on the one side, but it is terrible on the other. You cannot abide in its presence without being real with God.

We shall find that this thing is no merely formal thing, of teaching, truth and system. Here we meet something... ah... we meet the Living God in terms of the Cross of His Son. You see, the Holy Spirit does all His work, all His work on the basis of the Cross. He begins His work on the basis of the Cross, and He continues His work on the basis of the Cross, and He will finish His work on the basis of the Cross. The Living God means that the Cross of the Lord Jesus is not something in history of long ago, the Cross of the Lord Jesus is something here and now as the ground of judgment, of testing, of finding out. It is a mighty thing. That is the first connection of reality.

Now I suppose, while that sounds rather heavy and hard, you and I would rather it was like that. We don't want to be in a religion that doesn't work. We don't want to be in a Christianity that is merely formal and empty, carrying on something, going to meetings and all the rest - we want reality. We want reality, we want things to work. We want the Living God! If so, then that reality will first of all be manifested in terms of the Cross. The Cross is the first instrument of Divine reality. It's there that we first of all meet the Living God.

The second connection of reality is:-

In Resurrection.

The Living God makes Himself known to us in terms of resurrection. Resurrection is the controlling reality of the Living God and of His purpose. The whole purpose of God; listen to this: the whole purpose of God is going to be worked out, fulfilled, and realised on the basis of resurrection.

Again, while the Cross of the Lord Jesus is not only an historic act long ago, and far away... something that was enacted there at a certain place in a certain time in this world, but is continuously living; the same is true of the resurrection! Resurrection is not something that just happened, and that was the beginning and the end of it - there in that garden, in that country, at that time. No! Resurrection is the ground on which God proceeds to the realisation and fulfilment of all His purpose. This resurrection has got to become more and more progressively, the experience of His people. And He, I repeat, works on that basis.

How do you know the Living God? How shall we know the reality of things? In this way: that we again and again are brought to the place where, now but for the God who raises the dead, all is finished, that is the end! Here is another occasion for the God of resurrection to come in and save the situation, or it's all lost. That's reality! That's keeping things real, isn't it? That's bringing the resurrection right up to date. And if we could read it (and we can to some large extent) that is the history of everything that is truly of God. That is the history of the true church, the history of true spiritual life. It's just one succession of resurrections - that is a way of putting it, perhaps more correctly it should be said: a succession of experiences of the resurrection. Reality!

Well, it's terrible reality, there is something about it that, in a way, in a sense, is terrible, when you come to where Paul came, when you say: "We despaired of life, we were pressed beyond our measure". That is something terrible, but it does not stop there, "that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. We have this ministry..." says the apostle. "Seeing we have this ministry..." What ministry? Not ministry of truth about the resurrection that took place so many centuries ago, but the power of that resurrection right up to date! The resurrection, in a sense, being repeated in our experience, not once nor twice. That is the ministry; born out of that experience. You see, resurrection is the, THE seal of the Living God. The Living God! He puts His seal on things by resurrection. He put His seal upon His own Son, and attested Him: "Son by the resurrection from the dead". He puts His seal upon everything that is related to His Son, in the same way - His seal is resurrection!

Resurrection marks the beginning of everything that is of God; God begins there. God begins there. In the material creation, God began with a resurrection: out of darkness, out of death, out of chaos... resurrection from the dead. Again and again you have it illustrated for you, and when you come into the New Testament, it's just that everything takes its rise, its beginning in this dispensation, from the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. God begins everything with resurrection. And every new phase, every new phase - and this should instruct us and encourage us - every new phase finds us at the place where now it must be resurrection. And if it requires resurrection, then we may take it that there is a new phase imminent... there is some new phase of things from God in view. We should trust in God who raiseth the dead. He begins, He proceeds on the basis of resurrection. This is a constant, a continuous, and a repeated thing in the onward movement of God, but it is not just that God repeats the thing, every fresh expression of resurrection sees some increase, and some advance upon what was before. We could say that the death seems to be deeper, and if that is true, then the resurrection must be the greater.

I am trying to define for you, dear friends, a true spiritual experience and the true character of that which God wants to have: it is this that is the testimony to the Living God. What is true about the beginning of God, always in resurrection and His continuance, progressiveness, will be true, as we know from the Scripture, will be true in the consummation of everything. The last thing which sets the crown upon all the work of God will be the resurrection! Final resurrection: spiritual and physical. And of the creation again, raised as from this death of corruption. The mighty and glorious emergence! The point is, that all this, is the way in which God shows that He is the Living God. It is very real to know the Living God - it's very real.

And then, in the third and final connection, reality is found in:

The Truly Spiritual Church.

In the Cross, in Resurrection, in the truly spiritual Church. I am not now speaking of something that is called "the church", but that which is the church of the Living God - the church of the Living God. It is here... what is meant by that word, that name, that designation, that definition "the church": "the church which is His body" it is in that, if it is the true church, that the Living God is resident and is to be found there. If the Lord has here in this world anywhere, a true representation of the church, the thing that will mark that is the presence of the Lord.

That sounds very simple... perhaps it doesn't sound to be very wonderful to you. But you know, after all, that is the thing which decides and settles everything, doesn't it, as to the church? If it is true that the church is the church of the Living God, the place of His residence, then wherever that is represented, the thing which must be more dominant and real than anything else is, "The Lord is there" - the Lord is there! Whatever you may say about the people, and about this or that, you have to say: "The Lord is there! You find the Lord there; you meet the Lord there". That does determine whether it is the church of the Living God or not. Not, in the first place, again, the teaching or the practice, but the presence of the Lord. The place where He is resident! It is the place where He presides, not just as a guest, but as the Host; not as a member, but as the Head: the Lord Himself in charge, the Lord over all things. That is, according to the Word, the true church of the Living God: where the Lord is in charge.

It is a statement, wait a moment and we will try to explain it: It is the place of the Lord's jealousy. According to the Word, the Lord is jealous for His House. He is jealous for the place where His Name is. He is jealous for His dwelling place. He is jealous with a great jealousy and a great wrath, when He has anything that is the church of the Living God. There we meet the jealousy of God.

Now, dear friends, that last statement contains a very great deal that you and I must ever try to keep in mind. I am speaking about reality. Reality working in two ways; now as to the church as the House of God. If, if this does correspond and answer to this title, "the church of the Living God", then to be in that, a part of that, on the one side, carries with it many great and peculiar blessings, advantages, things which are for us; we shall find peculiar values in that House of God: peculiar values of fellowship, of relatedness, of the Lord coming to us on that ground, on that ground of His church. It will be a House of Bread; it will be a House of wealth, spiritual riches. It will be a House of encompassing and comforts - many values and many advantages, if it is the church of the Living God.

We may fall far short of the ideal, and of this truth, but this is the thing that we have always had before us; that it should be like this. And on the other side, this involves us in responsibilities. And things work here - things work here. We could say much as to history in our own experience as a people over the past thirty or more years, as we have seen the principles of the House of God sadly and seriously violated, with the most terrible consequences. Yes, it has happened, not once, nor twice, the knowledge of the truth of the House of God almost deliberately violated, with tragic results in lives. It is a big and terrible story on that side, but on the other side, what blessings, what enrichment, what good! The point is that the House of God is not a place - it's not an idea, a truth, a thing - the House of God is a terrible and yet glorious reality - a glorious reality! Would we have it otherwise?

Now, again we are challenged with this: do we want just to go to the meetings and go home, and keep on doing that sort of thing year after year and carrying on something, almost like a performance, or do we want this thing to work? Do we want it to be gloriously, and yet, if necessary, terribly real? Terribly real. Do we want that it shall be the Living God with whom we have to do? If so, it's like that. We have got to come into line with the mind of God about His House, and if we do, we come into the great values and blessings of the church of the Living God.

If... if we violate the principles of the House of God, we meet something. You see, Paul put his finger upon that at Corinth: "For this cause, many of you are sick, and some even die"! There you are: the thing was real, it was real! It is the church of the Living God. There are responsibilities resting upon us in the House of God, which is the church of the Living God. There are great blessings to be realised and to be enjoyed in the church of the Living God.

Well, it's reality, you see; reality in everything - livingness, something that works. And dear friends, we should be continually in prayer that we should be saved from something that is just empty form, just carrying on a tradition; this settling down into something that is accepted and established. But we should be kept continually on the line of reality in every way - that should be the prayer amongst us continually: "Lord, whatever it means, make it real. Whatever it costs, keep it real. Don't let us become a formal people, a people just set in a way, but keep things living, keep things real, keep things working all the time... if needs be, against what is wrong, what is false, what is evil; the uncovering of all things, that, being hidden, simply hold the Lord up, that He cannot go on with us... if it must be, uncover it. Let us have it all out in the light. Lord, be faithful; be true; be right."

Now, if you read again the early chapters of the book of the Revelation, you'll see that all that I have been saying is found there. And, "I am He that liveth... I am He that liveth... I was dead, behold I am alive for evermore, I have the keys..." the symbols of authority. And now, to the churches... it is the Living God who is bringing everything to judgment, to bless where He can bless, as things correspond to His mind; to judge with terrible judgment where things are otherwise. It's just like that. But He is there, making His mighty appeal to the churches to get into line with Himself as the One that lives! You see, it is livingness that governs everything, the livingness of the Lord. Oh, you churches, you cannot just go on as though the Lord were far away and out of touch and out of relationship, and it is all just a system of things. No! He is the Living God, right here on the spot, presenting Himself, and everything has got to be very real in the presence of the Living God.

Well, I hope that in striking the serious note (because it is a serious matter and it is a matter which brings us into the realm of very great reality) I hope that that serious side is well off-set by reminding you that if things do measure up to the meaning of this very title of the Lord, "The Living God", in the midst - if things come into line with that, it's the place of very great blessing, very great enrichment. The Living God for us is no small thing. To have His jealousy for us is no small thing. To have Him in the midst of us is no small thing.

So we have "This Ministry", the ministry of revealing, manifesting the reality of the Living God. Look again at that letter, that whole letter from which those words, "this ministry", are taken and you see how everything is living, isn't it? It's all so real, so real. May the Lord make it like that with us!

Table of Contents

Author's Rights

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Nature of This Ministry

Chapter 2 - A Spiritual Ministry

Chapter 3 - The Living God