Twelve Letters

to Young

Believers

By Edward B. Dennett

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Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Contents

Twelve Letters to Young Believers: Preface .....................5

Peace With God ..............................................................7

Our Place Before God ...................................................13

Our Place on Earth .......................................................21

e Body of Christ ........................................................29

e Lord’s Table ............................................................35

e Lord’s Supper .........................................................41

e Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst ............................... 49

e True Place of Worship ............................................57

Worship ......................................................................... 65

Ministry .........................................................................73

e Word of God ..........................................................81

Prayer.............................................................................89

Twelve Letters to Young Believers: Preface

56923

Twelve Letters to Young

Believers: Preface

ese letters to young believers are reprinted, without

alteration, from the Christian’s Friend magazine. ey were

originally written by the editor for the help of one who

had but recently been converted, and who had never the

opportunity of listening to oral teaching. But inasmuch as

the subjects of which they treat are of vital and abiding

interest they are now issued in a separate form, with the

prayer that the Lord may be pleased to bless them to the

edication of many of the lambs of His ock.

Blackheath, December, 1877.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Peace With God

56924

Peace With God

My Dear — :

You complain that you have not “settled peace,” and

that thus you are making but little progress with the truth,

or in the knowledge of the Lord. e complaint, I am sorry

to know, is by no means uncommon; but it springs from an

imperfect knowledge of the gospel, and from confounding

two dierent things. I hope therefore, with the Lord’s

blessing, to be able to help you, if you will carefully consider

what I am about to write.

Your case reminds me exactly of another that recently

came before me. “Have you peace with God?” I inquired.

e answer returned was, “Not always.” In both cases the

confusion is between the peace made, and the enjoyment

of the peace. at is, when you are happy in the Lord you

say, “Now I have peace”; but when from failure or trial you

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

are depressed and gloomy, you think that your peace is

gone. To meet this state of mind, I shall ask you to consider

attentively, what are the foundations of peace with God? It is

an immense gain to the soul when it is clearly perceived

that these lie not within, but without; for then it will

also be seen that our experiences have nothing whatever

to do with the question. Turn then with me to Romans

5:1. ere we read, “erefore being justied by faith, we

have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”; and

if we examine the connection of this scripture, we shall

at once learn the source of the peace of which it speaks.

e connection is this. After the apostle has explained

the way in which Abraham was justied before God, he

proceeds: “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that

it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall

be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our

Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our oenses,

and was raised again for our justication. erefore being

justied by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 4:23-25;

5:1).

It is very clear from this scripture that the sole foundation

of peace with God lies in the work of Christ. In fact, the

foundation having thus been laid, God declares that

everyone who believes His testimony concerning it, believes

that He in grace has come in, and made full provision for

the sinner’s salvation, believes thus in God, is justied, and

being justied has — enters upon the possession of — the

peace which has been made by the death of Christ. But

it will be observed that it is said that Christ was delivered

for our oenses, and was raised again for our justication

(Rom. 4:25). at is, the resurrection of Christ is the

abiding proof of the completion of His work, the evidence

Peace With God

that the sins for which He died, and under which He went

down into death, are gone forever — the witness therefore

that every claim that God had upon us has been fully met

and satised. For if He was delivered for our oenses,

and He has left the grave, been raised out of death, the

“oenses” under which He went down into death must be

gone, or He would still be a prisoner in the tomb. Hence

the resurrection of Christ is the distinct and emphatic

expression of God’s satisfaction with the atonement which

was made on the cross.

It is thus abundantly evident, as before said, that the

alone foundation of peace with God lies in the death of

Christ. is is repeated again and again in Scripture. us

we are said to be “justied by His blood” (Rom. 5:9); and

again, “having made peace through the blood of His cross”

(Col. 1:20). It is therefore Christ who makes peace with

God, and He has made it by His sacricial death — the

death that vindicated every claim God had upon the

sinner, met every one of His righteous requirements from

man, gloried Him in every attribute of His character; so

that God now can beseech the sinner to be reconciled to

Him (2Cor. 5:20).

Having explained this much, it follows that the one

important question for the soul is, Do I believe God’s

testimony concerning His Son, and concerning the

work He has accomplished? If there is any diculty in

answering this question, then no further progress can at

present be made. A very simple test, however, will help to

elicit the truth. On what do you rest for acceptance before

God? Is it on yourself, your own doings, or your own merits

or deservings? If so, you cannot be resting on the work of

Christ. But if you own that by nature you are hopelessly

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

undone and lost, and confess that you have no hope apart

from Christ and what He has done, then you can humbly

say, “By the grace of God I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Supposing now that you can adopt this language, then

I can tell you that you have “settled” peace with God,

that nothing can ever deprive you of it — no change, no

variety of experience; for it is your immutable, inalienable

possession. e Scripture says, “erefore being justied by

faith” (and you say you do believe), “we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Every believer — and the

moment he believes — is justied, acquitted of all charge

of guilt, and made the righteousness of God in Christ

(2Cor. 5:21); and being justied, he has peace — not peace

in himself, be it observed, but peace through our Lord Jesus

Christ; that is, the peace which now belongs to him is the

peace with God which Christ has made by His atoning

sacrice. And since it is the peace which He has made,

being thus outside of ourselves, it can never be altered, and

can never uctuate; it is as stable and as durable as the

throne of God; for, as we have seen, it is a peace which

Christ has made through the cross; and what He has thus

done can never be undone, and therefore it is an everlasting

peace. And this abiding, settled, everlasting peace is the

portion of every believer.

What you mean, then, when you complain that you

have not settled peace, is simply that you do not enjoy

settled peace, that your experience uctuates. It may be,

therefore, as well to inquire how the believer is to enjoy

constant peace in his soul. e answer is very simple. It

is by faith. If I believe God’s testimony that peace is mine

on faith in the Lord Jesus, I shall enter immediately on its

enjoyment. is may be simplied by an illustration.

Peace With God

Suppose that news is brought to you that by the will of

a deceased relative you have become the owner of a large

estate. e eect on your mind will depend entirely upon

the fact whether or not you believe what you have heard. If

you doubt the truth of the news, there will be no answering

response to it; but if, on the other hand, it is duly attested,

and you implicitly receive it, you will at once say, “e

property is mine.” So is it also in regard to peace with God.

If you believe God’s testimony that peace has been made by

the blood of Christ, no depression of feeling, no conviction

of unworthiness, no circumstances whatever, will be able to

disturb your security upon this point, because you will see

that it depends entirely upon what another has done. What

is thus needed for the enjoyment of settled peace is unwavering

repose upon the word of God.

e cause of so much uncertainty on this subject springs

mainly from looking within instead of looking without to

Christ — looking within to discover something that will

give condence that there is a real work of grace begun

in the soul, instead of looking without to perceive that

the only foundation on which a soul can rest before God

is the precious blood of Christ. e consequence is that,

perceiving the corruption, the evil of the esh, the soul

begins to doubt whether after all it has not been deceived.

Satan thus entangling the soul, plies it with doubts and

fears, in the hope of producing distrust of God, if not utter

despair. e eectual means of foiling his assaults in this

direction is to appeal to the written word. In answer to all

his evil suggestions we should reply, as our blessed Lord

did when He was tempted, “It is written,” and then we

should soon nd that nothing could disturb our enjoyment

of that peace with God which has been made by the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

precious blood of Christ, and which became ours as soon

as we believed.

is foundation question settled, now freed from self-

occupation, you will have leisure of mind and soul for

meditation upon the truth as revealed in the Scriptures.

“As a new-born babe, you will desire the sincere milk of

the word, that you may grow thereby” (1Peter 2:2); and,

moreover, if you study the word in the presence of the

Lord, you will be guided by it into ever closer intimacy

of communion with Himself, and as you trace out His

innite perfections and glories that are unfolded to us and

apprehended by the Spirit of God, your aections will be

drawn forth in ever increasing fervency, and your heart,

now satised, will overow in adoration at His feet, and

thus your complaint will be changed into a song of praise.

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Our Place Before God

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Our Place Before God

My Dear — :

I am a little anxious lest, knowing now that you have

peace with God, you should be content, and settle down,

thinking that this is all the blessing that God has provided

for you in Christ. Many fall into this snare, and thereby

never understand the place into which they are brought.

Permit me, then, to remind you that great as the blessing

is, on the enjoyment of which you have entered, it falls

innitely short of God’s thoughts and God’s desires for

you. I may be able to make this simpler if I direct your

attention again to the foundation. e foundation of all

lies in the cross of Christ; for it was there that He both

met, on our behalf, every claim of God’s holiness, and fully

gloried Him in every attribute of His character. It is to

this He Himself referred when He said, “I have gloried

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

ee on the earth: I have nished the work which ou

gavest Me to do” (John 17:4). And it is on this ground, as

having thus established a claim upon God, that He prays,

“And now, O Father, glorify ou Me with ine own self

with the glory which I had with ee before the world

was” (vs. 5). You will therefore see that God’s estimate

of the work of Christ is seen in the place which He has

accorded to Him at His own right hand. We may even

say more: that nothing less than this would have been an

adequate response to the claim which Christ had, through

His nished work, established on God. And surely nothing

less could have satised the heart of God; for who shall

even imagine His joy in intervening to raise Christ from

the dead, setting Him down at His own right hand, and

in giving “Him a name which is above every name: that

at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in

heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ

is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”? (Phil. 2: 9-11).

Observe, then, very carefully these three things: rst, that

the place now occupied by Christ in glory is the fruit of

His redemptive work; secondly, that He occupies it as

Man; and hence, thirdly, that He is there on behalf of His

own. e consequence is, that God must bring us into the

same place; that God’s glory is concerned in according to

believers the same place of acceptance before Him; yea,

that His heart delights also to acknowledge thus the work

and worthiness of His beloved Son. Every believer therefore

is before God according to the ecacy of the work of Christ,

and in all the acceptability of His Person, and thus enjoys a

position of perfect nearness, and is the object of the perfect

Our Place Before God

complacency of God; for he is brought, even now, home to

God in Christ Jesus.

I may now lead you to a few scriptures which will

abundantly substantiate the above statements. e very

next verse to that which occupied our attention in the last

letter will do much towards this. “erefore being justied

by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus

Christ”; and then the apostle proceeds: “By whom also we

have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and

rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Rom. 5:1-2). It is

thus not only peace with God that we have on believing,

but we have access also through Christ into this grace

wherein we stand, that is, we are brought into the full favor

of God — into the unclouded sunlight of His presence,

and there we can rejoice — everything being settled and

secured — in hope of the glory of God. So perfect and

so inalienable is the place into which we are brought, on

faith in Christ — on faith in Him who raised up Jesus our

Lord from the dead — that, notwithstanding the trials,

diculties and dangers of the wilderness path, we can

rejoice in the hope — in the sure and certain prospect — of

the glory of God. ere may be, as the apostle goes on to

tell us, tribulations; but if so, we can glory even in these,

“knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience,

experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not

ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our

hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” — that

love which God proved, commended toward us, in that,

while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Having

too, while we were yet enemies, been reconciled to God

by the death of His Son, much more, we are entitled to

conclude, we shall be saved — saved completely, including

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

the redemption of the body (Eph. 8:23) — by His life, the

life of the risen Saviour at the right hand of God. And not

only so, but we also joy in God, through our Lord Jesus

Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation

(see margin) (Eph. 5:3-11). us we have as our present

portion, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts; we joy

in Himself, we occupy before Him a place of perfect favor,

and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

But even this is not all. In this same epistle we are taught,

not only that our guilt is gone forever as soon as we believe

in Christ, that we are justied, but we are also shown to

be brought through the death and resurrection of Christ

into a new place altogether — a place outside of the esh,

because we are “in Christ” before God. e next section

of this epistle, commencing at verse 12 of this chapter,

and ending with chapter 8, treats of this subject. You will

thus see that, rst of all, everything is traced up either to

Adam or Christ, the two heads, the rst man Adam, and

the second man Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). e consequence

is, that every one is seen in Adam or in Christ, and I need

hardly say, whether we are in Adam or Christ, depends

upon whether or not we are believers. If through grace

we are believers, we are in Christ. is being so, there are

certain blessed results which I will briey indicate, leaving

you at your own leisure to follow out the subject.

e rst thing the apostle reminds us is, that the

very ground on which we are — the ground taken at our

baptism — shows that we profess to be dead with Christ;

and this, as is seen in Colossians 3:3, is true of all believers

before God. If you carefully read Romans 6 you will at

once see that the apostle urges our responsibility on this

foundation. Hence myself is gone from God’s sight as well

Our Place Before God

as my sins, otherwise the apostle could not say, as he does,

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto

sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord”

(Rom. 6:11).

In the next chapter he teaches that we “also are become

dead to the law through the body of Christ,” and this

prepares the way, after a discussion of the eect of the

application of the law to one who is quickened by the Spirit

of God, bringing thereby to light the constant presence of

sin in the nature and the utter contrariety between the new

nature and the old (Rom. 7:13-25), for a full statement

of the truth as to the believer. “ere is therefore,” he

proceeds to say, “now no condemnation to them which are

in Christ Jesus,” (Rom. 8:1), so complete is the deliverance,

as well as forgiveness, which we have in Christ. Nay more;

he tells us, “Ye are not in the esh, but in the Spirit, if so

be the Spirit of God dwell in you” (Rom. 8:9). He thus

shows that the believer’s standing is not in the esh, not

in the rst man Adam at all, but he is before God in a

place which is characterized as being in the Spirit; that

is, the Spirit, and not the esh, characterizes his existence

before God, because, in the death of Christ, the believer’s

evil nature also was judged; for “God sending His own Son

in the likeness of sinful esh, and for sin, condemned sin

in the esh” (Rom. 8:3). en, after pointing out further

blessed consequences of having the indwelling Spirit, he

declares that “all things must work together for good to

them that love God, to them who are the called according

to God’s purpose,” since “whom He did foreknow, He also

did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,

that He might be the rstborn among many brethren.”

He then asks the question, “If God be for us, who can be

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

against us?”, and he answers by reminding us that God, in

delivering up His Son to death for us all, has given us the

proof that He will freely give us all things. is leads him to

the triumphant conclusion that nothing can be laid to the

charge of God’s elect; that since God Himself has justied

them, none can condemn them; that since Christ has died,

and has risen again, and is even at the right hand of God

to make intercession for us, nothing can ever separate us

from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord

(Rom. 8:31-39).

Now it would be a fatal mistake for you to rest in the

fth chapter, if you would know the fullness of God’s grace,

and the wondrous character of His salvation; for, unless we

go on to the eighth chapter, we never know what is true

for us and of us before God — the complete and perfect

deliverance every believer has, though he may be ignorant

of it, in Christ. And it is of the utmost importance that you

should see that these blessings which have been indicated

are in no way connected with attainment. All that I have

pointed out is the portion (whether he knows it or not) of

every one who cries “Abba, Father,” of every babe in Christ.

But even now there is much more beyond; and if you

will turn with me to the Ephesians, I will indicate in a few

words — for I am unwilling to prolong this letter — the full

character of the believer’s place before God. Look, rst, at

the wonderful expressions in the rst chapter: “Blessed be

the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath

blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in

Christ: according as He hath chosen us in Him before the

foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without

blame before Him in love: having predestinated us unto the

adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according

Our Place Before God

to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the

glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the

Beloved” (Eph. 1:3-6). Look at each of the sentences I have

underlined, and you will see how perfect is our place before

God. For He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings; it

is His purpose that we should be holy and without blame

before Him in love; and He has made us accepted in the

Beloved.

In the next chapter we have the steps by which we have

been brought into the heavenly places. “God, who is rich

in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even

when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together

with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up

together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in

Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6). Here we are regarded as having

been dead in sins; Christ is looked upon in this epistle as

having gone down into that condition — dead, as it were,

in the place of the sinner; God, being rich in mercy, and

acting from His own heart of love, came in, in grace, and

quickened us together with Christ, and then He raised us up

together and seated us together in Christ in the heavenlies;

so that He has brought us into His own presence; and

hence our present place — our place now, even while we are

in the body — is in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Nothing

short of this expresses the fullness of His grace, or satises

His own heart.

ere is one more scripture I desire to bring before you,

and then I have done. “As He is, so are we in this world”

(1John 4:17). As Christ is at the right hand of God — the

delight and joy of God’s heart — there in all the perfectness

of His person, and in all the sweet savor of His sacrice,

so are we in this world; for we stand not in ourselves but

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

in Christ, and are therefore invested with all His own

acceptance and fragrance before God.

e Lord give us to have clearer apprehensions of the

place into which, in His unspeakable grace, we are brought

in Christ Jesus.

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Our Place on Earth

56926

Our Place on Earth

My Dear — :

In my last letter I attempted to show you our place — as

believers — before God; and now I desire to direct your

attention to our place here upon the earth; and we shall see,

I think, that this is also connected with Christ. Just, indeed,

as we are identied with Christ before God as to standing,

so also are we identied with Christ before the world. In

other words, we are put in His place down here just as

we are in Him before God; and I cannot but think that it

would be very helpful to us all to have this truth continually

before our souls. But there are two aspects of our place on

the earth, both of which are important to be understood;

the rst in relation to the world, and the second in relation

to the “camp,” that is, organized professing Christianity,

which has succeeded in this dispensation to the place of

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Judaism, as the professing witness for God. (See Rom. 11,

and compare Matt. 13.)

1. Our place in relation to the world. e Lord Jesus,

speaking to the Jews, said, “Ye are from beneath; I am

from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world”

(John 8:23). Afterward, when presenting His own

before the Father, He said, “ey are not of the world,

even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16); and you

will see that, in the section from the 14th to the 19th

verses, He essentially puts His disciples in His own

place in the world, just as in the previous paragraph

(from the 6th to the 13th verses) He puts them into

His own place before the Father. And they have His

place in the world, be it remarked, because they are

not of it, even as He was not of it; for having been

born again they are no longer of the world. Hence

He speaks continually of their having to encounter

the same hatred, and the same persecution, as befell

Himself. us, to cite an example, He says, “If the

world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it

hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would

love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I

have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world

hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you,

e servant is not greater than his lord. If they have

persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they

have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John

15:18-20). e Apostle John in like manner indicates

the utter contrast between believers and the world,

when he says, “We know that we are of God, and the

whole world lieth in wickedness” — or “the wicked

one” (1John 5:19).

But there is more than even yet appears from these

weighty scriptures. Every believer is regarded by God as

Our Place on Earth

having died and been raised together with Christ (Rom.

6; Col. 3:1-3). He has thus been brought, through the

death and resurrection of Christ, as completely, in the

view of God, out of the world, as Israel was brought out

of Egypt through the Red Sea. Hence he is no longer of

it, though he is sent back into it (John 17:18), to be for

Christ in the midst of it. Paul therefore could say, while

active in service for Christ in the world, “God forbid that

I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

by whom” (or whereby) “the world is crucied unto me,

and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14). By the cross of Christ

he saw that the world was already judged (John 12:31);

and by the application of the cross to himself he regarded

himself as dead — crucied to the world — so that there

was separation between the two as complete as death could

make it.

To sum up these teachings, then, we see that the

Christian while in the world is not of it — he is not of it

in the same sense as Christ was not of it, he belongs to

another sphere — for if any man be in Christ it is a new

creation; he has been, as already seen, brought clean out of

it through the death and resurrection of Christ. Hence he

is to be wholly separate from it; he is not to be conformed

to this world (Gal. 1:3; Rom. 12:2) in spirit, habits,

demeanor, walk; in everything he is to show that he is not

of the world. Even more, by the application of the cross he

is to hold himself as crucied to it; and there cannot be any

attraction or assimilation between two judged things. But

again, he is in the world in the place of Christ, that is, he is

in it for Christ, and as identied with Christ. Consequently

he is to witness for Christ, to walk as Christ walked (Phil.

2:15; 1John 2:6), and he must expect the same treatment

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

as Christ. Not that we look to be crucied as Christ was;

but if we are faithful we shall encounter the same spirit

in the world as He did: indeed, in proportion as we are

like Christ will be the degree of our persecution; and the

fact that believers now meet with so little hatred from the

world can only be accounted for from their being so little

separate from it.

Before I pass to the other branch of the subject, I cannot

but urge upon you the importance of breaking with every

link that connects you morally with the world. It needs but

little penetration to perceive that the spirit of the world,

worldliness, is creeping rapidly over God’s assemblies, and

vauntingly proclaiming itself even at the table of the Lord.

What dishonor, yea, what grief, to Him whose death we

are gathered to show forth! And what a call upon all the

saints to humble themselves before God, and to seek anew

for grace to be more devoted, and more separate, so that

the world itself may see that we belong to Him whom

it rejected, cast out, and crucied! How many of us have

the spirit of Paul, who desired “the fellowship of Christ’s

suerings, and to be made conformable to His death” in

the view of a gloried Christ, the object of his heart, and

the goal of all his hopes? May the Lord restore to us, and

all His beloved saints, more of this devotedness to Himself

in entire separation from the world.

2. Our place in relation to the “camp.” In the Epistle to the

Hebrews we read, “e bodies of those beasts, whose

blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest

for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus

also, that He might sanctify the people with His own

blood, suered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore

unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach”

Our Place on Earth

(Heb. 13:11-13). Two things are very evident in this

passage — the blood of the sin — oering was carried

into the sanctuary, and the bodies of the beasts which

were sacriced were burnt without the camp; and the

apostle points out that these two things have their

correspondences in the death of Christ, the antitype

indeed of these oerings. Hence we have the double

place of the believer — his place before God being in

the sanctuary, where the blood was carried; and his

place on earth being without the camp, where Christ

suered. In other words, as before explained, if we

are in Christ before God, identied with Him there

in all the savor of His own acceptance, we are also

identied with Him on earth in His place of shame,

reproach, and rejection. e place of the believer on

earth, therefore, is without the camp; as the writer of

this epistle says, “Let us go forth therefore unto Him

without the camp, bearing His reproach.”

You will perhaps ask me, What is the camp? In the

passage which I have just cited, it is clear, from the whole

connection, that it is Judaism. What, then, answers to

it now? Judaism was of God, and occupied the place of

testimony for Him on the earth. Judaism failed; and after

Pentecost, on the nal rejection of Christ in the preaching

of the apostles, was set aside, and Christianity succeeded

to its place, as is taught in Romans 11. e camp, then,

now is organized Christianity, the outward professing

church — which includes all denominations, from corrupt

Roman Catholicism to the smallest sects of Protestantism.

On what ground, you may further ask, are we called upon

to go outside of this camp? On the ground of its utter failure

as a witness for God. “He that hath an ear, let him hear what

the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2:11). is is our

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

warrant for, and, indeed, our responsibility of, measuring

all that claims to be of God by the written Word; and

testing thus all these denominations, they are all convicted

of disobedience and failure. For the believer, therefore, who

would act according to the mind of God, there remains

nothing but to take his place outside of all these, apart from

the confusion and error of this evil day, with those who are

gathered simply unto the name of Christ, in obedience to

His Word. Exodus 33 is very instructive in this connection.

When Moses came down from the mount (Ex. 32), he

found that the whole camp had fallen into idolatry, and

after returning to intercede for Israel, he came back with

“evil tidings” for the people. And he “took the tabernacle,

and pitched it without the camp, afar o from the camp,

and called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it

came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went

out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was

without the camp” (Ex. 32:7). Moses acted thus, because

he had the mind of the Lord in the presence of the failure

of the people; and hence it is that we nd in this scene a

moral picture of our own times. Let me commend it to

your careful consideration.

Enough has now been said to enable you to understand

the place of the believer on earth. On the one hand it is

to be in separation from the world, and on the other it is

without the camp. To occupy it will involve hatred from the

former, and reproach from the latter. But if so, we are but

more fully identied with our blessed Lord. In Hebrews

it is thus called, “His reproach.” May we neither shun the

one, nor be ashamed of the other; nay, may we be enabled

to rejoice when we are counted worthy to suer shame for

His name (Acts 4:41).

Our Place on Earth

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

e Body of Christ

56927

e Body of Christ

My Dear — :

ere is another question, now demanding your

attention, connected with the body of Christ. On the day

of Pentecost, an entirely new thing — in the unfolding

of the counsels of God — took place, that is, the coming

of the Holy Spirit. Up to that period, He had wrought

upon the earth; for in every past dispensation there had

been quickened souls, and “holy men of God spake as they

were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Peter 1:21); but until

the Lord Jesus was gloried at the right hand of God, the

Holy Spirit as a Person was not on the earth. is is no

new theory, but is a matter of distinct statement in the

Scriptures. us when Jesus stood and cried, on the great

day of the Feast of Tabernacles, “If any man thirst, let him

come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall ow rivers

of living water,” it is explained, that He spake this “of the

Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for

the Holy Ghost was not yet [given]; because that Jesus was

not yet gloried” (John 7:37-39). e Lord Himself spake

to the same eect: “It is expedient for you that I go away:

for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.”

(John 16:7. Compare John 14:16-17,26; 15:26.) Passing

now onward to Acts 2, we nd there the historical record

of the descent of the Spirit of God: “And when the day of

Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in

one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as

of a rushing mighty wind, and it lled all the house where

they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven

tongues like as of re, and it sat upon each of them. And

they were all lled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak

with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”

(Acts 2:1-4). us was fullled the words which the Lord

spake to His disciples after His resurrection, “Ye shall be

baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” And

again, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is

come upon you” (Acts 1:5,8).

Now it was by the descent of the Spirit that the

Church — the Church of God as found in the New

Testament — was formed; and it was formed in two aspects,

namely, as the house of God and as the body of Christ.

(See 1Tim. 3:15 and Eph. 1:22-23). It is the latter of these

two aspects which I desire to bring before you in this letter.

Two scriptures will clear our way. In Colossians 1:18 we

read, “And He is the head of the body, the Church,” in

1Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized

into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether

e Body of Christ

we be bond or free.” It thus appears that, on the day of

Pentecost, by the descent of the Holy Spirit, believers were

baptized into one body, and that thus the body of Christ

was formed.

Let me, then, now inquire of what or of whom the body

of Christ is composed. “As the body is one, and hath many

members, and all the members of that one body, being

many, are one body: so also is Christ” (1Cor. 12:12). e

term Christ, as here used, includes Christ Himself and all

the members of the body, looked at as a complete whole.

Hence the body of Christ includes Himself as the Head,

and all believers on earth who have received the indwelling

Spirit; and consequently every child of God who can cry,

“Abba, Father,” is a member of the body of Christ. e

apostle thus says, “We are members of His body, of His

esh, and of His bones” (Eph. 5:30).

is is the point I would press upon your attention; for

vast numbers of God’s beloved children are in ignorance of

this wonderful place and privilege. us, in a visit I made

some time ago to a dying believer, I said, “Do you know that

you are a member of the body of Christ?” e answer was,

“No; I never heard of that”; and I shall not soon forget the

joy that overspread that dying countenance as I unfolded

the scriptures bearing upon this subject. Let me, then, ask

you to consider what being a member of the body of Christ

involves. First, and foremost, it teaches us that we are united

to Christ — to Christ as a gloried man, at the right hand

of God. For inasmuch as He is the Head of the body, every

member is vitally and (may we not say?) organically united

to Him. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit (1Cor.

6:17). See then the vast extent of the grace of our God! It is

not only that our sins are forgiven, that we are justied by

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

faith, that we are brought into the perfect unclouded favor

of God, that we are risen with Christ, that we are seated

in Him in the heavenlies; but even, as down here upon the

earth, encompassed by weakness and inrmity, it is given

us to know that we are united to Christ in glory. We can

look up to Him where He is, and say, “We are members of

His body, of His esh, and of His bones.” How could there

be discussions upon the question, whether we may know

our safety now, if this truth were known in power? And

what strength it would give us all, in the presence of trials

or dangers, never so great, if we had this thought before our

souls, we are united to Christ? And oh, what a revelation

it gives us of the nearness and the intimacy into which we

are brought with Him! For we are made to know that we

are one with Himself, that whatever touches us touches

Him (see Acts 9:4); and therefore that we are inseparably,

indissolubly, connected with Himself forever.

Secondly, we are taught that being members of the

body of Christ, we are also members one of another; and

it is essential for us to apprehend this truth, if we would

understand the character of our relationships with all the

children of God. e same bond, then, that unites us to

Christ, unites us also to all believers; for the same Spirit

that unites us to Christ has united us also one to another.

is is what is meant by “the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:3),

that is, the unity of all the members of Christ which has

been formed on the earth by the Spirit of God.

If you will now turn with me to 1Corinthians 12, you

will see the wonderful character of our mutual relationships,

arising out of our being members one of another. You can

read the passage from verse 12 to 27 at your leisure; in the

meantime I will point out several distinctive points in its

e Body of Christ

teaching. First, it is carefully insisted upon that “the body is

not one member, but many”; and that every member has its

own place in the body. Hence the apostle asks, “If the foot

shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is

it therefore not of the body?” And he is careful to show that

the peculiar place which each has in the body is the result

of the sovereign act of God; and he is also careful to guard

us from forgetting, that while there are many members, it

is yet but one body (1Cor 12:14-20). If we had no further

instruction, what a fruitful theme for amplication. But I

will only call your attention here to two points, namely, our

obligation or responsibility to maintain the diversity of the

members (vs. 14), and secondly, the unity of the whole (vs.

29); and I venture to add that it is impossible to maintain

either the one or the other, excepting you are gathered,

apart from all denominations and human systems, to the

name of Christ outside the camp. e second thing is, that

every member of the body needs all the other members;

for “the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of

thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you”;

and he tells us that God hath thus “tempered the body

together … . that there should be no schism in the body; but that

the members should have the same care one for another” (vss.

21-25). He then reminds us that the relationship between

the members is so intimate that if “one member suer, all

the members suer with it”; and that if “one member be

honored, all the members rejoice with it” (vs. 26).

You will see from this scripture that the term “the body

of Christ” is no mere gure of speech, as is so often alleged;

but that it expresses a reality — the reality indeed of our

union with Christ, as also of our union with one another.

And I am sure that you will see that our responsibilities

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

to Christ as the Head of the body, and our responsibilities

to our fellow-members, cannot even be understood, much

less discharged, if this truth is overlooked or ignored. But,

on the other hand, when it is known, not only have we the

joy of conscious union with Christ; but we can also rejoice

in our union, our indissoluble union, with all the members

of His body in all parts of the world. It leads moreover

to very practical results. For example, if I am asked to

connect myself with any of the denominations around, I

instantly reply that I cannot do that which denies, plainly

denies, this blessed truth. “You ask me,” I should say, “to

join a certain number of Christians who agree upon certain

things; but I am united to all believers, and I need them

all, and I cannot therefore accept a ground of union which

excludes any.” Again, if it is proposed to me to unite with

a number of Christians irrespective of denominations, I

should answer, “I am a member of the body of Christ; and

I cannot therefore make any ground of union apart from

that of the body. I must be on God’s ground or upon none at

all.” Until therefore I know the truth of the body of Christ,

I cannot understand the place which the Lord would have

me to occupy upon the earth.

But I will now leave the subject for your own

consideration; for I am sure that if you search the

Scriptures, in dependence on the Lord, He will guide you

by His Spirit into His own mind respecting it. In my next

letter, God willing, I shall bring before you another subject,

closely related to this, namely, that of the Lord’s table.

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

e Lord’s Table

56928

e Lord’s Table

My Dear — :

e question of the Lord’s table is often a most

perplexing one to the child of God. Not only are there many

tables, set up on dierent grounds, around him on every

hand, but also, when he begins to inquire into the subject,

he nds almost as many theories as tables, concerning the

signicance of the supper of which he is invited to partake.

His only remedy therefore, if he desires to avoid error and

to be found in obedience to his Lord, is to turn away from

the confused voices of theologians to the clear and distinct

teaching of the Word of God. It is to this teaching I desire

to lead you in this letter.

As we might expect, there is nothing wanting on such

a subject in the Scriptures. us 1Corinthians 10 explains

the character of the table, and chaper 11 gives us the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

character of the supper, and the manner in which it should

be eaten.

First we will consider the question of the table. “e

cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of

the blood of Christ? e bread which we break, is it not the

communion of the body of Christ? For we [being] many

are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of

that one bread” (1Cor. 10:16-17). is scripture evidently

teaches two things; rst, that the loaf or “the bread” on

the table is a symbol of the body of Christ (“for we being

many are one bread, one body” — see also 1Cor. 12:13);

and secondly, that we partake of it as members of that body

(“for we are all partakers of that one bread”). As therefore

we have communion of the blood of Christ through the

wine, so also of the body of Christ through the bread,

when we partake according to the thoughts of God. e

table is thus the expression of the unity of the body of Christ;

and consequently it is only the members of that body who can be

properly gathered around it.

e “church” of England, strangely enough, agrees with

this principle; for it admits no one to its table who has

not been baptized; and it declares that every baptized one

is made “a member of Christ.” e error, you will see, lies

in attributing to baptism (as the means) what can only be

wrought by the Spirit of God. I cite this case only to show

you that the principle armed, so far from being peculiar,

is widely accepted.

Now, it is by the application of this principle that you

can decide which of all the tables around you is the Lord’s.

Test every denominational table by it, and what is the

result? You will perceive at once that no sectarian system

can have the Lord’s table, because the ground on which it

e Lord’s Table

is spread, in every case, is narrower than that of the body

of Christ. Admitting, or rather conceding for the moment,

that all its followers may be members of the body of Christ,

we should still have to say, Are there no other members

of that body outside this denomination? If there are, then

such a table, however sincerely, conscientiously, and piously

spread, is not the table of the Lord. Should it be replied,

“But we are quite willing to receive all other members of

the body of Christ,” I should have to answer, “is does not

aect the question at all; for the ground taken determines

the character of the table spread upon it; and the ground

taken in each denomination is of such a character that

many godly Christians could not have fellowship with it.”

e dissenter, for example, is shut out, for conscience sake,

from the table of the Anglican “church”; and the Anglican

is similarly excluded from the tables of dissent*; and hence,

neither in the one nor the other can the Lord’s table be

discovered, as the ground taken is other than that of the

body of Christ.

Once more, test many of the unsectarian tables by this

principle. You may perhaps tell me that you know of a place

where all denominationalism is disavowed, and where

it is taught that all Christians, and none but Christians,

should be united. Very good; but I still should have a few

questions to ask. I should inquire, Are the believers in

such a place gathered simply unto the name of Christ? Is

there liberty in the Spirit to minister by whom He wills? Is

there the exercise of godly discipline? For the Lord cannot

sanction anything which is not in accordance with the

Scriptures — anything which is unsuited to the character

1 e Church of England is often referred to in England as the

Anglican Church; all other Protestants are called dissenters.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

of His own name. If these questions could be answered

in the armative, then you might perhaps conclude, that

you had found the Lord’s table; but if not, however fair

and inviting it might seem at the rst, you would have to

reject it equally with those in the denominational systems

around.

If we add a few characteristics of the Lord’s table, it

may serve to preserve you from mistake. 1. e table must

be spread on ground outside of all denominational systems,

otherwise, as we have shown, it could not comprehend all

the members of the body of Christ. 2. e saints should

be gathered on the rst day of the week around the table.

We thus read: “Upon the rst day of the week, when the

disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7), an

undeniable proof that it was their custom. See too in John

20, how our blessed Lord, on two occasions after His

resurrection, chose the rst day of the week for presenting

Himself in the midst of His gathered disciples (vss. 19, 26),

thus consecrating (if such a word may be used) this day for

their assembling to show forth His death. 3. e purpose

of the gathering should be to break bread. I point this out,

as in many places there is a weekly table, but altogether

in subordination to other things, such as preaching. 4.

Everything in connection with the table — worship,

ministry, and discipline, must be in accordance with, and in

subjection to, the word of God. If there is a single human

regulation, on whatever ground adopted, the character

of the table is destroyed. For it is the table of the Lord;

and hence His authority alone can be recognized by His

gathered saints.

Need I add more? But there is a danger or two which I

would fain indicate. e rst is indierence. It was only the

e Lord’s Table

other day that I asked a believer if she were at the Lord’s

table. Apprehending my meaning, she replied, “It is enough

for me to know that Christ is my Saviour, and I do not

desire to trouble myself with such questions as these.” Can

anything be more sad? As if it was not of all importance

to ascertain the mind of the Lord; for surely if He has

indicated His will upon this question, it should be our joy

to discover it, and to be found in obedience to it. Another

replied in a dierent way. He said, “I am not called upon to

judge my fellow-believers, and I desire to have fellowship

with all.” “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit

saith unto the churches” (Rev. 2-3). We are thus called

upon to judge the ways of our fellow-believers — indeed of

the “churches”; to measure everything by the Word; and to

refuse all which it does not sanction, or which it condemns.

Indierence is that spirit of Laodiceanism concerning

which our Lord says, “So then because thou art lukewarm,

and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth”

(Rev. 3:16). e other danger is that of association. For

example, how many a young believer is led unwittingly into

that which is contrary to the Lord’s mind from friendly,

relative, or even spiritual associations! He is guided by the

opinions of his friends, that is, instead of the word of God;

or it may be that, having been converted or received blessing

in a particular place, he naturally desires to continue where

the blessing was received. But the question in every case

should be, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts

9:6). Otherwise he might, in the right desire, according to

the Lord’s own word, to remember Him in His death, be

found doing it in a way which is really displeasing to Him.

Warning you against these dangers, let me remind

you that it is far better to wait than to partake of the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Lord’s Supper in disobedience. Before therefore you seek

admission to the table, search the Scriptures, looking to

the Lord for guidance; “and if thine eye is single, thy whole

body shall be full of light.”

Reserving the question of the supper for another letter,

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

e Lord’s Supper

56929

e Lord’s Supper

My Dear — :

It must never be forgotten that it is possible to be at

the Lord’s Table, and yet to fail altogether in participating

in the Lord’s Supper. us the Corinthians were gathered

out to the name of Christ; they were assembled week after

week at the Lord’s Table, and yet Paul, writing to them,

says, “When ye come together therefore into one place,

this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper” (1Cor. 11:20). ey

had fallen into such disorder, through selshness, and

forgetfulness of the import of the supper, that they had

made this solemn occasion a time of feasting. What they

were eating therefore was their own, and not the Lord’s

Supper; for they had dissociated the bread and wine from

almost all connection with the body and blood of Christ.

Hence the solemn admonition, “What! have ye not houses

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

to eat and drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and

shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall

I praise you in this? I praise you not” (vs. 22). ereon, the

apostle proceeds to explain the true character of the supper,

and tells us that he had received a special communication

concerning it from the Lord. It is of importance to mark

this, because, as the apostle received this in connection

with his ministry of the body of Christ (Col. 1:24-25), and

since this is the nal communication on the subject, it is to

this scripture rather than to the gospels (which, however,

relate the institution of the supper on the passover night)

that we turn for the exposition of its meaning.

And who can fail to be struck with the wondrous grace

displayed in the opening words of this account, “at the

Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took

bread” (vs. 23). What a contrast between the heart of man,

and the heart of Christ! About to be betrayed by one of

His disciples, “He took bread: and when He had given

thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body,

which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me”

(vss. 23-24).

e bread therefore is a symbol of the body of the Lord

Jesus which was given for His own — given up to death

for them, for us, for all believers — on the cross; and when

we eat it, we are to remember Him. Attention to the word

“remember” would save from many mistakes. We remember

a thing that is past, that is, we recall it to mind. So when

we eat the bread at the Lord’s Supper, we recall the fact

that the Lord was once dead; we remember Him in that

condition — the condition of death — down into which

He went, when He bore our sins in His own body on the

tree — when He endured all the wrath that was due to us,

e Lord’s Supper

and so gloried God even about our sin. It is therefore not

Christ as He now is, but Christ as He then was, whom we

remember in the breaking of bread.

e cup also sets forth the same thing. “After the same

manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying,

is cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood: this

do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as

often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show

the Lord’s death till He come” (1Cor. 11:25-26). e wine,

then, of which we partake is an emblem of the blood of

Christ; and this in itself speaks also of death, for we cannot

think of blood, as apart from the body, except in connection

with death. Indeed, verse 26 emphasizes the truth that,

both in eating the bread and drinking the cup, we show,

announce, or proclaim, the death of the Lord. We cannot

too earnestly insist upon this, that in the Lord’s Supper we

look back to a dead Christ; that we take it in remembrance

of the fact that He once was lying dead — dead on the

cross, and dead in the sepulcher; because He not only bore

our sins, but was made sin — He who knew no sin — that

we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Note

well that it is not even a dying, but a dead Christ — not a

dying Christ, a continual repetition of His sacrice, as so

many erroneously teach, but a dead Christ; “For by one

oering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctied”

(Heb. 10:14).

is, then, is the one thought which should be before

our souls at the Lord’s table. What simplicity; but how

calculated to touch and bow our hearts in adoration before

Him, as, seated around His table, we thus commemorate

His death! For “the apostle shows us, if it is a dead Christ,

who it is that died. Impossible to nd two words, the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

bringing together of which has so important a meaning,

the death of the Lord. How many things are comprised

in that He who is called the Lord had died! What love!

what purposes! what ecacy! what results! e Lord gave

Himself up for us. We celebrate His death.”

And observe, it is “until He come.” While therefore we

look back to the cross, we are reminded of His coming in

glory to receive us unto Himself, the fruit surely of His

travail and death; and thus we can never forget that our

complete redemption, being “conformed to the image of

His Son,” is the result of the death of Christ. For the two

things, the cross and the glory, are here bound indissolubly

together.

Such then is the meaning of the supper; and, as you will

perceive, the apostle gives us very solemn warnings against

forgetfulness of its import. “Whosoever shall eat the bread,

and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty

of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine

himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that

cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and

drinketh damnation [judgment] to himself, not discerning

the Lord’s body” (vss. 27-29). ere is no question here of

being ourselves worthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper; but

what the apostle deprecates is “partaking in an unworthy

manner. Every Christian, unless some sin had excluded

him, was worthy to partake, because he was a Christian.

But a Christian might come to it without judging himself,

or appreciating as he ought, that which the supper brought

to his mind, and which Christ had connected with it. He

did not discern the Lord’s body; and he did not discern,

did not judge, the evil in himself.” And if he thus ate

and drank, he would eat judgment to himself, that is, he

e Lord’s Supper

would bring down discipline upon himself; for the Lord

judges His people, chastens them, that they should not be

condemned with the world (vs. 32). He had thus chastened

the Corinthians for their careless ways — some with

weakness, some with sickness, and some even with bodily

death (vs. 30). Hence the necessity of examining ourselves

as to the manner in which we partake of the Lord’s Supper,

and of judging everything which is thus discovered that

is unsuited to the presence of the Lord; “for if we would

judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (vs. 31), that is,

exercising self-judgment, we should not then be chastened

of the Lord.

From all that has been said, it is clear that we are not

qualied for the Lord’s table until the question of our

relationship with God is settled — until, in a word, we have

peace with God. For if I am occupied with self, with my

own state of soul, with doubts, anxieties or fears, I cannot

be occupied with the death of Christ. Much injury is

thus often done in bringing souls too soon to the table;

for, coming before they have peace with God, they look

upon the table as a means of grace; and inasmuch as the

death of Christ is brought before them, they are made, not

knowing the value of that death for themselves, wretched

and miserable. Until there is peace of conscience through

the blood, to say the least, the soul is not free, not at leisure

to contemplate the death of Christ.

Once more. When we are at the table, it is not to be

occupied with the benets which we have received through

the death of Christ. It is rather to enter, by the power of

the Spirit, into God’s thoughts concerning the death of

His beloved Son. For we are there as worshippers, and as

such inside the rent veil, and there we are engrossed with

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

the fact that God Himself was gloried in the death of

Christ; and as in fellowship with Himself, we think of

what Christ was to Him, how that He was never more

precious to Him than in that awful moment when He was

made sin, that it was for God’s glory He endured all, was

obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, then it

is with overowing hearts we are enabled by the Spirit to

pour forth our adoration and praise. Wondrous thought,

that we should thus be admitted to behold with God His

Christ brought down into the dust of death, with all God’s

waves and billows passing over Him! And as we behold we

cannot but cry, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us

from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings

and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and

dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:5-6).

We are thus at the table as givers, not as receivers;

though surely we do receive when there according to God.

But the object of our assembling is to worship, to render

the homage of our hearts to God, because we have been

redeemed through the death of His Son. And who could

describe the blessedness of the privilege of showing in this

way the Lord’s death? Gathered around Himself, with the

touching emblems of His body and blood before our eyes,

thus claiming the aections of our hearts, His love, which

the many waters could not drown, nor the oods quench,

penetrates and possesses our souls, and constrains us to

bow in willing adoration at His feet, and makes us long for

the time when we shall see Him face to face, and beholding

His glory, be with Him, and worship Him throughout the

ages of eternity.

Praying that you may be taught more and more of the

meaning of His death as set forth in the supper,

e Lord’s Supper

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

e Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst

56930

e Lord Jesus Christ in the

Midst

My Dear — :

It is very important for you to have a clear conception

of the presence of the Lord in the midst of the assembly;

but the condition on which His presence is promised

ought never to be forgotten. He has never said that He is

wherever saints are assembled; that all alike who professedly

meet for worship can reckon upon His promise. His words

are: “Where two or three are gathered together in my

name, there am I in the midst of them.” us the essential

condition is that saints should be “gathered together in His

name,” and unless this is fullled the promise clearly is not

binding.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Our rst aim then must be to explain what this condition

means. I may say that the more correct translation would

be “unto my name”; for the preposition which is rendered

“in,” is one that invariably has the signicance of “into” or

“unto.” Here therefore “unto” will be its sense. Again, it may

be needful to point out that that name is not used merely as

an appellation, but, as is usual in Scripture, is expressive of

all that Christ is in this connection. us when the Lord,

speaking before the Father of His disciples, says, “I have

declared unto them thy name, and will declare it” (John

17:26), He does not mean that He had merely revealed to

them that God also bore the name of Father; but that He

had been teaching them all that God was to them in that

relationship. Hence He adds, that He had done and would

do this, “that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may

be in them, and I in them.” What He desired therefore

was that they should both know what God was to them

as the Father, and that they should be brought into the

enjoyment of all the love which He had for them as such.

In like manner, “name” in the passage before us expresses

all that Christ is as the gloried man and Lord in the

relationship which He now sustains towards His people.

I say “which He now sustains,” for it is very evident that

these words look on to the time when He should be absent.

us in Matthew 16 He says, “I will build my church” (vs.

18), pointing on to a future time; and the passage in which

the word “name” occurs is in connection with church action

(vs. 17). Indeed, while He was upon the earth the disciples

could not be gathered to His name; for they were with

Him as their Master and Lord.

We may then take the “name” to be expressive of the

person of Christ — Himself, indeed, in all the truth of His

e Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst

person, as the risen and gloried One at the right hand

of God. It is clear therefore that Christ is the only object

that draws us together, and our center when gathered; for

the Holy Spirit will never gather believers to anything but

Christ. If anything is added — whether it be a particular

doctrine, or a particular form of church government — it

is not simply the name of Christ, and the gathering is not

according to His mind. If, for example, I agreed to meet

with certain other believers of like views, we could not

be gathered alone to the name of Christ, for something

has been added or excluded; but if I am gathered with

those who acknowledge that Christ Himself is the only

attraction, with those who own His authority as Lord,

who bow to His word, and regulate everything by it when

assembled, then the gathering would be to His name. And

only then; for where man’s authority, man’s traditions, or

man’s regulations are recognized, whatever the individual

piety of those who recognize them, the meeting cannot be

of this character.

Now it is in the midst of His people so gathered that

the Lord has promised to be. “ere am I in the midst

of them.” is very fact shows the extreme importance of

being gathered unto His name; for, as we have said, if the

condition be disregarded, we have no ground for reckoning

upon His presence. Nor is it enough to say that we fulll

the condition. e essential point is, Does the Lord

recognize it as fullled? He is the Judge, and therefore

it were presumption indeed to expect Him in our midst

if assembled according to our own thoughts — without

respect to His word. But “where two or three are gathered

together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

We know therefore that He is in the midst of such

on the authority of His own word. Not only so; but, as

if to meet us in our weakness, He has given us a sample

of the manner in which He comes into the midst of His

own. us on the evening of that rst day of the week,

when He arose from the dead, the disciples were found

assembled together (John 20:19). He had sent Mary to

His “brethren” with this message: “I ascend unto my Father,

and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John

20:17). According to Psalm 22, He thus declared God’s

name unto His brethren, and in so doing revealed that He

brought them through His death and resurrection into His

own place before God. Henceforward His God and Father

was their God and Father. ey were thus associated with

Him on resurrection ground in these relationships. is

message gathers them together unto His name; and when

thus assembled, “He came and stood in the midst, and said

unto them, Peace be unto you.” ereby He has given us an

example of the manner in which He comes into the midst

of His people, so that we might have the certainty of His

word veried to our souls.

Should any one therefore be tempted to say, Is it

possible that the Lord should be in the midst of His

people when gathered now unto His name? e doubt is

anticipated by this striking record of His presence in the

midst of His disciples on the rst day of the week. It meets,

indeed, a greater diculty and a more subtle danger. One

might be inclined in unbelief to object, if now we could

see Him with our eyes as they did, then we could receive

it. e Lord knew the weakness and the subtlety of our

poor feeble hearts, and thus in tender love has provided

for this snare. One of the disciples, omas, “was not with

e Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst

them when Jesus came. e other disciples therefore said

unto him, we have seen the Lord. But he said unto them,

Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put

my nger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand

into His side, I will not believe” (vs. 25). Eight days after,

all, including omas, were once more assembled, and,

as on the former occasion, “came Jesus, the doors being

shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

en saith He to omas” (for He had heard every word

which omas had uttered), “Reach hither thy nger, and

behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it

into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” omas,

overwhelmed by His tender grace, and the sense of his own

sinfulness, could only exclaim, “My Lord and my God.”

ereupon “Jesus saith unto him, omas, because thou

hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have

not seen, and [yet] have believed” (vss. 24-29). us the

Lord had those in view (without entering now into the

application of this scene to the conversion of the Jewish

remnant, when they shall by-and-by look on Him whom

they have pierced) who should believe through the word

of His disciples, and pronounces their greater blessedness.

And this blessedness is ours; for though we see Him not,

we believe that, according to His own word, He is in our

midst when gathered unto His name.

It should be remembered, moreover, that it is He Himself

who is in the midst — not “in spirit,” as is often said, but He

Himself; for the words are, “ere am I,” and the term “I”

expresses all that He is. Christ then — not the Holy Spirit,

but Christ — is in the midst of His gathered saints. e

Holy Spirit acts through the individual members of the

body of Christ, ministering for the edication of the saints

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

by whom He will, and dwells in the house of God; but it is

Christ, I repeat, who comes into our midst. His presence is

only apprehended by the Spirit; that is another thing. But

He is in the midst, whether apprehended or not, where two

or three are gathered unto His name. How wondrous His

condescension and grace!

Never forget therefore that it is around the Lord

Himself that we are gathered. If there be only two — for

His words are, “Where two or three are gathered together

in my name” — there He is in the midst of them. As soon

as two are thus met, they can rejoice in the knowledge

that the Lord is there. Our faith may be weak, and our

apprehension feeble, but the fact of His presence remains;

for it is not dependent upon our feelings or experiences,

but solely upon our being gathered unto His name. How

could we forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as

the manner of some is (Heb. 10:25), if we remembered that

the Lord is the center of the assembly; that He is as truly in

our midst as with the disciples on the rst resurrection day?

For why was omas absent on that rst occasion? Because

he did not believe in the resurrection of his Lord, he did not

expect His presence. So now, if any absent themselves (I do

not speak of those whom the Lord detains by aiction,

duty, or other circumstances) from the assembly, it can

only be because they do not really believe in the fact of the

Lord’s presence in the midst. And when assembled, what

reverence, what aection, what worship would be begotten

in our hearts, if through the power of the Spirit of God

we more fully apprehended that He who went down into

death under our sins, and has thereby redeemed us to God

by His blood, has come back out of death, and now, as the

risen and gloried One, delights to come and to lead the

e Lord Jesus Christ in the Midst

praise of His people in the midst of the congregation (Psa.

22:22).

Praying that the Lord may lead you into the power of

this truth,

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

e True Place of Worship

56931

e True Place of Worship

My Dear — :

In this letter I propose to inquire, Where is the Christian’s

place of worship? I need scarcely remind you that the term

“place of worship” abounds on every hand; and while I fully

admit that what is meant thereby is simply the place where

believers and others congregate on Lord’s days, yet it is of

the rst importance in divine things that words should not

be used which convey a wrong impression, or which falsify

the truth of God. Our only resource, therefore, is to obtain

the answer to our question from the Scriptures.

Let me, then, direct your attention to the following

passage: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter

into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living

way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil,

that is to say, His esh; and [having] an High Priest over

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

the house of God; let us draw near” (Heb. 10:19-22).

Now, we have in this scripture, to speak generally, three

things — the blood of Jesus, the rent veil, and the High

Priest (literally, the great priest) over the house of God; and

it is on the foundation of these three things that we have

the exhortation to draw near for worship. If we examine a

little the signicance of each, the answer to our question

will be unfolded.

First, then, we have boldness to enter into the holiest

by the blood of Jesus. It is evident, if you trace down the

argument of the apostle, that the blood of Jesus is brought

in as a contrast with “the blood of bulls and goats” (Heb.

10:4). Indeed, the whole point of the rst part of the

chapter is the ecacy of the former in contrast with the

impotency of the latter. e fact that the sacrices under

the old dispensation were oered year by year continually,

is adduced to prove that the worshippers were never really

purged, so as to have no more conscience of sins; for in

the repetition of the sacrices there was a remembrance

again made of sins every year (vss. 1-3). And the reason

of this was that “it is not possible that the blood of bulls

and goats should take away sin” (vs. 4). us the multitude

of sacrices of all kinds did but demonstrate their utter

powerlessness, though appointed by God in view of the

One Sacrice which was thereby foreshadowed.

Having then shown this, the apostle now brings out in

sharpest contrast the value of the sacrice of Christ (read

carefully from the 5th to the 14th verses); and he sums it

up, and states it, in one sentence: “By one oering He hath

perfected forever them that are sanctied.” e oerings

under the law never made the worshippers perfect. By

one oering Christ has perfected us forever. is truth is

e True Place of Worship

so vast and comprehensive that it needs to be meditated

upon again and again, in order in any measure to be

apprehended. For it implies, not only that I have now no

more conscience of sins — if I am under the value of the

sacrice of Christ — but also that I never need have any

more conscience of sins in the aspect here presented; that

through the ecacy of that precious blood I have a title

now, and ever shall have a title, to the presence of God; that

nothing, in short, can ever deprive me of the place which

it gives me in His own immediate presence; for by one

oering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctied.

rough that sacrice therefore I have received a perpetual

qualication for access to God.

e second thing is the rent veil. e blood of Christ

has given us the title to approach; and in the next place we

have “a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for

us, through the veil, that is to say, His esh.” Here again we

have a contrast with the old dispensation. us in chapter

9 we read: “Into the second” (that is, into the holy of holies,

behind the veil) “went the high priest alone once every year,

not without blood, which he oered for himself, and for

the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost thus signifying,

that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest,

while as the rst tabernacle was yet standing” (Heb. 9:7-

9). e people were therefore entirely excluded; and this

was because, as we have seen, it was not possible that the

blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. It would

consequently have been certain death, by the judgment of

God, had any one beside the high priest ventured inside

that awful veil (Lev. 16:1-2; Num. 15-16). But no sooner

was the sacrice of Christ consummated than the veil

was rent from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51); for by His

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

death He gloried God in every attribute of His character

concerning the question of sin, and by that one oering

perfected forever them that are sanctied, and the veil was

therefore rent to signify that the way was now made open

into the holiest of all. “For that which rent the veil in order

to admit us has likewise put away the sin which shut us

out.” It is thus now the privilege of every believer, on the

ground of the ecacy of the sacrice of Christ, to enter at

all times into the holiest of all — he has boldness to do so

by the blood of Jesus.

But there is a third thing indicated, which may be briey

noticed before calling your attention to the full consequence

of these blessed truths, namely, “an high priest over the

house of God.” And where is our high priest? “Every priest

standeth daily ministering and oering oftentimes the

same sacrices, which can never take away sins: but this

Man, after He had oered one sacrice for sins, forever sat

down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting

till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one oering

He hath perfected forever them that are sanctied” (Heb.

9:11-14). We thus learn that our High Priest is seated at

the right hand of God, and that this attitude is owing to

the fact that His sacricial work has been accomplished;

and hence His presence in heaven is a witness and a proof

of the abiding ecacy of His work, and consequently a

perpetual encouragement to His people to enter boldly

into the holiest of all — inside the rent veil.

Such are the three immense facts — the blood of Jesus,

the rent veil, and the high priest over the house of God,

to which the Holy Spirit directs our attention before

exhorting us to draw near (Heb. 9:22). And the place to

which we are invited to approach, or into which we are

e True Place of Worship

urged to enter, is the holiest — the holy of holies. at is

the place which was typied by the holy of holies in the

tabernacle in the wilderness, the place into which Christ,

as our Representative and Forerunner, has already entered

(Heb. 4:14; 6:19-20). Our place of worship therefore is in the

immediate presence of God, the scene of the ministry on our

behalf of Christ, as the High Priest. True, we are down

here on the earth as strangers and pilgrims when we think

of priesthood. But this earth can never be the scene of our

worship; for we have “boldness to enter into the holiest

by the blood of Jesus,” and there alone can worship be

rendered or accepted. Nay; if I would do homage even to

the King, I must go to the place where he sits in state to

receive it. Much more, if I would worship God I must do so

in the place where He sits on His throne, and into which,

for this very purpose, He has, in His ineable grace, given

me a title to enter at all times through the precious blood

of Christ. ere above, therefore, inside the rent veil, in His

own immediate presence, and in no other place, must His

people worship. And what a marvelous privilege it is, what

inexpressible grace, which He has bestowed upon us that

we should enjoy constant liberty of access before Him to

bow there in adoration and praise!

“Within the holiest of all,

Cleansed by His precious blood,

Before the throne we prostrate fall,

And worship ee, O God!”

Having this truth clearly before us, you will see, I am

sure, that to speak of a place of worship on earth would tend

to obscure the teaching of Scripture and to undermine our

privileges. I do not forget that in many cases, as I have said,

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

very little is meant by the phrase; but, on the other hand,

in many others it means a great deal, and begets the idea of

sacred and consecrated buildings. e Jews had a “worldly

sanctuary” (Heb. 9:1), one that was erected by divine

direction, and according to a divine commandment. But

to erect a “sanctuary,” or a “holy” building, now, is to take

Jewish ground, and to ignore the fact that “we have such an

High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of

the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and

of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man.”

ere cannot therefore be a place of worship on earth;

and to call a building by such a name is, unconsciously as

it may be done, to overlook, to use no stronger word, the

believer’s place and privilege, and to misrepresent the truth

of Christianity.

It may be necessary to allude to one more point, namely,

that all believers alike have the same privilege of access into

the holiest. e Scriptures, or rather the Scriptures that

deal with church truth, know nothing of a sacred order

of men, as distinct from their fellow believers, who enjoy

special privileges, with a title to approach God on behalf of

others. All believers are alike priests, and all therefore have

the same qualication for access to God as worshippers.

e passage we have alluded to in the Hebrews 10:19-22

is decisive upon this question. Mark its terms: “Having

therefore, brethren.” All alike are addressed, and all are

reminded that they have boldness to enter into the holiest

by the blood of Jesus. Again the apostle says: “Let us draw

near” — associating himself with all whom he addresses;

because, in truth, he and they alike were on the same footing

before God as to worship. It is especially necessary to hold

fast this truth in this day of revival of sacerdotalism and its

e True Place of Worship

superstitious claims. e two things are connected. If you

have an earthly place of worship, you must also have an

order of priests; and these two things combined constitute

a denial of Christianity. Hence it is incumbent upon us to

contend earnestly for the truth once delivered to the saints.

But we must not be content with the doctrine on the

subject. e question for our souls is, Do we know what

it is to draw near, to worship in, the holiest? I would press

this point very solemnly; for nothing short of this will

satisfy the heart of Him by whose precious blood it is we

have received such an unspeakable privilege. Let us then be

satised with nothing less than the enjoyment of it. If we

had seen Aaron, on the day of atonement, lifting the sacred

veil to enter into the awful presence of a holy God, we

should have been impressed not only with the solemnity

of the act, but also with the wonderful position of favor

and nearness to God which he occupied by virtue of his

priesthood. All believers now are in that position. May we

then know increasingly what it is to be found inside the

rent veil, that we may apprehend more fully the ecacy of

that one oering which has brought us into God’s presence

without a spot upon us, and without a veil between.

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Worship

56932

Worship

My Dear — :

Having considered the question, Where is our place of

worship? We may now proceed to that of worship itself.

e Scriptures are very full of instruction upon this subject;

and yet, I venture to say, there is scarcely one concerning

which there is so much indierence, and even ignorance,

amongst professing Christians. I might even go further,

and arm, that its real character is scarcely understood

by believers outside of those who are gathered out to the

name of Christ. I do not mean, of course, that there are not

individuals in all denominations whose joy it is to be found

in adoration before God; such have ever existed throughout

the history of the church. But what I contend is, that the

collective worship of the saints — or what it is to worship

in the assembly — is almost utterly unknown in any of the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

many denominations of Christendom. For example, in a

book, which has obtained a very wide circulation, written

by one of the most popular preachers of the day, it is said,

in the discussion of this very subject, that listening to

sermons is one of the highest forms of worship. e writer

supports this extraordinary statement by the allegation that

preaching tends to beget the exercise of the holiest desires

and aspirations of the soul. at the presentation of truth

may lead to worship no one could deny; but a child would

easily perceive the dierence between the act of worship

and listening to the truth. In preaching — if indeed it be

God’s truth that is being delivered — the servant comes

with a message from God to those who listen; in worship,

saints are led into the presence of God to present their

adoration and praise. e two things are therefore of an

entirely and essentially dierent character.

Nor is prayer worship. is will at once be seen if I say

that a suppliant is not a worshipper. us if I go to the

King with a petition, I am presented before him in that

character; but if I am admitted into his presence to render

homage, I am no longer a petitioner. So when I unite with

other believers in prayer and intercession, we are before

God as those who are seeking special blessings; but when

we bow before Him in worship, we give rather than receive;

we are before Him wanting nothing, but with full hearts

overowing in adoration at His feet.

anksgiving is very intimately connected with, if

not of the essence of, worship. For thanksgiving is the

consequence of blessings received, whether in providence

or in redemption. e sense of God’s goodness and grace

in thus ministering to us, in blessing us with all spiritual

blessings in heavenly places in Christ, constrains us to pour

Worship

out our thanksgivings in His presence; and then, necessarily,

we are led to reect upon the character and attributes of

the God who thus delights to surround us with the tokens

of His love and care; and consequently thanksgiving passes

over into worship.

But in worship — considered in and by itself, in the

proper signicance of the act — we lose sight of ourselves

and our blessings, and are occupied with what God is in

Himself, and what He is for us as revealed in Christ. Led by

the Holy Spirit, we rise above ourselves, and contemplate

God in all His varied attributes and glories (for while

“no man hath seen God at any time, the only-begotten

Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared

Him.” John 1:18); and, overwhelmed by the display of His

holiness, majesty, love, mercy, and grace, we cannot but

bow at His feet, as we render, in and through our Lord

Jesus Christ, the homage of our hearts.

is will be seen more clearly if we turn to the teaching

of the Scriptures. e woman of Samaria questioned our

Lord concerning this subject, or rather as to the place of

worship; and in His reply, He vouchsafed to go far beyond

the limits of her question. “Jesus saith unto her, Woman,

believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this

mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye

worship ye know not what: we know what we worship:

for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now

is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in

spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship

Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must

worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24). In the

rst place, our Lord here plainly teaches that there would

be henceforward no special place of worship on earth.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Jerusalem had been the sacred place where the temple of

God had stood — the place to which His people wended

year by year from all parts of the land. (See Psalm 122.)

But together with the rejection of Christ, their house,

hitherto the house of God, was left unto them desolate

(Matt. 23:37-39); and never since that time has there been

a material house of God upon earth. e Church is now

the habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:22); and

our place of worship (as seen in the last letter) is now inside

the rent veil, in the immediate presence of God.

Secondly, He tells us who can be worshippers — those

who shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; and

such the Father was seeking. at is, only believers, only

those whom God in His grace was seeking, such as this

woman of Samaria, whom He sought and found in

the Person of the Son, and whom He would bring into

relationship with Himself as His children; such, and such

alone, could worship the Father in spirit and in truth. e

apostle arms the same thing when he says, “We are the

circumcision, who worship God in the spirit” (or, as many

read, who worship by the Spirit of God), “and rejoice

in Christ Jesus, and have no condence in the esh,” all

evident characteristics of believers. Indeed, as the epistle

to the Hebrews teaches (see chap. 10), it is impossible for

any to approach God until their sins are gone from His

sight; and again, without faith (Heb. 11:6); and once more,

inasmuch as none but believers have the Spirit of God (see

Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:6), none other can worship in spirit,

or by the Spirit of God.

But evident as is this truth, and accepted widely as it

is in theory, it needs to be enforced again and again; for,

as a matter of fact, in the current “public worship” which

Worship

obtains on every side, all distinction between believers

and unbelievers is either ignored or obliterated. All alike,

whether saved or unsaved, are invited to unite in the

same prayers, and in the same songs of praise, in utter

forgetfulness of these plain words, that it is only the “true

worshippers” who can worship the Father in spirit and in

truth.

irdly, the Lord denes the character of worship. It

must be “in spirit and in truth.” “Now to worship ‘in spirit’

is to worship according to the true nature of God, and in

the power of that communion which the Spirit of God

gives. Spiritual worship is thus in contrast with the forms

and ceremonies, and all the religiousness of which the esh

is capable. To worship God ‘in truth’ is to worship Him

according to the revelation which He has given of Himself.

e Samaritans worshipped God neither in spirit nor in

truth. e Jews worshipped God in truth, so far as this

can be said of a revelation which was imperfect; but they

worshipped Him in no respect in spirit. Now to worship

God, both are needful. He is to be worshipped according

to the true revelation of Himself (that is, ‘in truth’), and

according to His nature (that is, ‘in spirit’).”

But the revelation of God to us is in the Person, and

connected with the work of Christ; for all that God is has

been manifested in and through the cross. e death of

Christ is therefore the foundation of all Christian worship;

for it is by the ecacy of His precious blood that we are

qualied to enter into the presence of God, and inasmuch

as that death is the revelation to us of all that God is, of His

majesty, His holiness, His truth, His grace, and His love,

it is through the contemplation of that wondrous sacrice

that our hearts, wrought upon by the Spirit of God, are

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

led out in adoration and praise. us worship is connected

in a very special way with the Lord’s table, because it is

when we are gathered around it, as members of the body of

Christ, that we show forth His death. To quote once more

the words of another, “It is impossible to separate true

spiritual worship and communion from the perfect oering

of Christ to God. e moment our worship separates itself

from its ecacy, and the consciousness of that innite

acceptance of Jesus before the Father, it becomes carnal,

and either a form or delight of the esh.”

is is the secret of the degeneration of worship in

Christendom; for wherever the Lord’s Table has lost its

true character or place, the spring and motive of worship

are obscured. For what are we specially reminded of at the

table of the Lord? It is His death; and it is in that death

we are enabled to see what God is for us, and what Christ

is to God, as well as the innite ecacy of His sacrice

in bringing us without a spot into God’s immediate

presence — in the light as He is in the light. e grace, the

eternal love of God, and the grace and the unquenchable

love of Christ, are alike displayed to our souls, as we

remember the One who gloried God in His death on

the cross, where He bore our sins; and having boldness to

enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, we bow and worship

before God, as we sing —

“O God! ou now hast gloried

y holy, blest, eternal Son;

e Nazarene, the Crucied,

Now sits exalted on y throne!

To Him in faith we cry aloud,

Worthy art ou, O Lamb of God.”

Worship

Leaving you to trace out the subject from the hints we

have given,

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Ministry

56933

Ministry

My Dear — :

It is a most remarkable fact, that the ministry which

obtains among the “churches” of Christendom has not even

a show of justication from the word of God. Search as

closely as you may, from the time of the Church of God was

constituted until the close of the inspired record, you will

not nd a trace of the “one-man” ministry. Apostles, elders

or bishops, deacons, pastors and teachers, and evangelists

are mentioned; but there is no indication of anything to

correspond with the ministers and preachers of the present

day. For all the denominations of Christendom — with one

or two unimportant exceptions — agree in their theory of

the ministry. One man is, as a rule, appointed to take the

charge or oversight of a “church” and congregation; and

he is expected to teach, to preach the gospel, and to be a

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

pastor. In short, he is expected to unite in himself the oce

of an elder, and the gifts of a pastor and teacher, and of an

evangelist. It will thus often happen that one man will have

the sole and continued charge of the same congregation for

twenty, thirty, or forty years; and it cannot be denied that

professing Christians love to have it so.

But the question is, Is this practice scriptural? Bear with

me a little, while I seek to answer this question from the

word of God. I need scarcely remind you that our blessed

Lord appointed apostles during His earthly sojourn; and

that, after His resurrection and ascension, He appeared to

Saul, and also chose and made him in an especial way the

apostle of the Gentiles. (See Acts 9; 22; 26; 1Cor. 15.)

Now the apostles, as all confess, had a peculiar and an

unique place — having been endowed with extraordinary

gifts and authority — and they never had successors. I shall

not detain you long upon this point, as apart from the

Romish and Anglican Churches (at least in the West) this

statement would be generally accepted. Two Scriptures

will therefore suce. Peter, writing to the believers of

his own nation — ”the strangers scattered throughout

Pontus” — says, “I will endeavor” (that is, by writing

the epistle) “that ye may be able after my decease to have

these things always in remembrance” (2Peter 1:15). He

thus commits them in the future to the guidance (not of

apostolic successors, but) of the written word. Paul, in like

manner, addressing the elders of the Church in Ephesus,

and warning them of their coming diculties and dangers,

says, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to

the word of His grace” (Acts 20:32). e two great apostles

therefore — one of the circumcision, and the other of the

uncircumcision, agree in this — that they alike declare that

Ministry

the resource of the Church, after they should have passed

away, would be in the word of God. It is thus clear that

they could not have contemplated successors to their oce.

e next oce in order will be that of bishops or elders.

I say bishops or elders, because in fact they are but two

names for the same oce. is is proved beyond dispute

from Acts 20. We there read that Paul sent for “the elders

of the church” (vs. 17). In speaking to them, he terms them

“overseers” (vs. 28), that is, bishops (ἐπιςκόπονς). Well,

these are never found alone. e Church at Ephesus, in

the passage before us, had more than one. Paul called

the “elders” of the Church. So too in Acts 14:23, Paul

and Barnabas “ordained them elders in every city.” In the

Epistle to the Philippians also we read of “the bishops and

deacons” (Phil. 1:1; see also Acts 15:23; Titus 1:5).

Passing now to the gifts, as distinguished from oce,

we come to “pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). I have put

the two together because, in fact, they are so linked in the

Scriptures, and linked in so close a way in the passage just

cited, as to indicate that they may be united in the same

person. Are these, then, ever found alone, having the charge

of a congregation? So far from this being the case, we are

told that “there were in the Church that was at Antioch

certain prophets and teachers,” and the names of no less

than ve are given (Acts 13:1).

Should it, however, be thought that the cases of Timothy

and Titus are evidence on the other side, a moment’s

consideration will dispel the illusion. Titus is told plainly

that he was left in Crete to “set in order the things that were

wanting, and to ordain elders in every city” (Titus 1:5); and

Timothy is directed as to the qualications of such (1Tim.

3), and expressly told “to lay hands suddenly on no man”

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

(1Tim. 5:22), that is, to appoint them to oce. Nothing

therefore can be plainer than that these two, Timothy

and Titus, were acting as delegates of the apostle, and as

such exercised a general supervision, and had authority to

appoint suited men to the oce of bishops and deacons;

an authority employed, be it remarked, by individuals, not

by churches, and which was never exercised but by the

apostles, or, as in the case before us, by their delegates,

and which was never transmitted to any successors, and

consequently lapsed with the death of the apostles.

One other gift remains to be noticed — that of the

evangelist (Eph. 4:11). It comes after “prophets,” but we

have reserved it because of its character. As the name

imports, the work of an evangelist is to preach the gospel;

and hence the object of his ministry is not the Church, but

the world. Our Lord Himself describes the responsibility

of the evangelist when He commands His apostles, “Go ye

into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”

(Mark 16:15). To conne him therefore in his service to a

single congregation, or even a single town or city, would

be to ignore the object of the gift. Hence Paul, speaking

of himself in this character, says, “I am debtor both to the

Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the

unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the

gospel to you that are at Rome also” (Rom. 1:14-15).

e question then recurs, What is the true character

of ministry according to the word of God? In the rst

place, it ows from Christ at the right hand of God, as

the Head of the Church. He is its source. “But unto every

one of us is given grace according to the measure of the

gift of Christ. Wherefore He saith, When He ascended

up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto

Ministry

men … And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets;

and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for

the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,

for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in

the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of

God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of

the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:7-13). is aords us a most

important principle. e gifts were not bestowed upon

the Church, but upon men for the benet of the Church.

Hence those who have received them are responsible for

their exercise, not to the Church, but to the Lord. It is

impossible therefore for the Church to appoint pastors

and teachers, or any of the gifts named, seeing indeed that

the responsibility of the Church is to receive the ministry

of every one who has been qualied by the Lord for its

edication. Even as the apostolic oce of Paul, so a gift is

“not of men, neither by man” (Gal. 1:1), but it is from the

risen Christ.

ere is another truth of equal moment, namely, that

the gifts can only be properly exercised in the power of

the Holy Spirit. e presence of the Holy Spirit is the

distinctive characteristic of this dispensation. He dwells in

the house of God — the Church, and He dwells in believers

(John 7:39; 14:16-17; Acts 2; Rom. 8:15-16; 1Cor. 6:19;

2Cor. 6:16; Eph. 1:13; 2:22). Hence when believers are

gathered together, as 1Corinthians 12 to 14 teaches. He

acts sovereignly in and through the members of the body

of Christ according to their gift: “For to one is given by

the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of

knowledge by the same Spirit … But all these worketh that

one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally

as He will” (1Cor. 12:8-11). Any human arrangement for

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

ministry therefore in the assembly is not only inconsistent

with this truth, but it utterly ignores the prerogative of the

Spirit of God to minister by whom He will. Surely a most

solemn thing, and not to be lightly thought of; and yet,

alas, how common! Nay more, so entirely is the presence of

the Holy Spirit forgotten, that man’s authority, and man’s

claims, are substituted, justied, and accepted by the mass

of professing Christians.

You will be careful to observe that what the Scripture

teaches is not that all have liberty to minister, but that there

should be liberty to the Holy Spirit to minister by whom

He may please. ere is a wide dierence between the two

things. e rst would be democracy, than which there

is nothing more alien from the mind of God; the second

involves the maintenance of the Lordship of Christ in the

power of the Spirit, the subjection of all the members of

the body to the Head, and complete dependence upon the

guidance and wisdom of the Spirit of God. In the rst, man

is prominent; in the second, Christ is owned as supreme.

While asserting these cardinal principles of ministry, we

must be careful to recollect that all true ministry must be in

subjection to, and in accordance with, the word of God. is

clearly follows from the instructions in 1Corinthians 14.

e apostle indeed gives directions concerning the exercise

of the gifts, and afterward says, “If any man think himself

to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that

the things that I write unto you are the commandments

of the Lord” (vs. 37). e assembly is thus entitled, nay,

responsible, to judge whether the thing ministered is

according to truth (1Cor. 14:29), and to reject everything

that does not answer to the test. It is not left therefore at

the mercy of willful men, but is furnished with a safeguard

Ministry

sucient to hold in check and to rebuke all that savors of

the esh, and not of the Spirit.

Another thing may be added. After dealing with the

question of gifts, and pointing out that even their exercise

are utterly valueless without charity (love) (1Cor. 12; 13),

the apostle teaches that the object of their exercise is the

edication of the assembly (1Cor. 14:3-5). How beautiful

are the ways of God! Gathered by the Spirit around the

person of our Lord at His table, to show forth His death,

He leads our hearts out in adoration and praise, and then

He ministers to us from God through various members

of the body of Christ. ere is thus a double action of the

Spirit. He enables us to oer the sacrices of praise to God;

and mindful of our need, He gives the word of wisdom, or

knowledge, or exhortation, as our state may require.

But I have reached the limits of my letter. You will,

however, be able to trace out the subject for yourself, and

thus discover whether what has been advanced is according

to the word of God. “Prove all things; hold fast that which

is good” (1ess. 5:21).

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

P.S. In addition to the scriptures cited, read Rom. 12:4-

8 and 1Peter 4:10-11.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

e Word of God

56934

e Word of God

My Dear — :

It is impossible to lay too much stress upon the

importance and value of the Word of God. Love for it,

indeed, should be a characteristic of every believer; and it

were not too much to say that our growth in grace, and

in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

is largely connected with it. Take for example Psalm 119,

and you will see how it is bound up with every phase of

the spiritual life of the psalmist. Some of his expressions

might well humble us, as they reveal to us the place the

Word occupied in his aections. He says, “I will delight

myself in y statutes: I will not forget y Word,” again,

“y testimonies also are my delight and my counselors,”

and again, “I will delight myself in y commandments,

which I have loved” (Psalm 119:16, 24, 47). In still

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

stronger language he exclaims, “O how love I y law! it

is my meditation all the day,” and once more, “I love y

commandments above gold; yea, above ne gold” (Psalm

119:97, 127). Job, in like manner says, “I have esteemed the

words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job

23:12). And from that time to this the same characteristic

has ever been found in all earnest, devout, and spiritual

minds. I propose then to bring before you in this letter

some of the many aspects in which the Word of God is

presented, in relation to the believer.

1. It is the instrumentality of the new birth. “Of His own

will begat He us with the Word of truth.” (James

1:18). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but

of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth

and abideth forever” (1Peter 1:23). Our Lord teaches

the same truth when He says that “a man must be

born of water and the Spirit” (John 3); for water is a

well-known symbol of the Word.

2. As it is the instrumentality of the new birth, so is it

also the proper aliment for the new nature. Peter thus

says: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of

the Word, that ye may grow thereby,” (many copies

add, “up to salvation”); “if so be ye have tasted that

the Lord is gracious” (1Peter 2:2-3). Again we are

told that “man doth not live by bread only, but by

every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of

the Lord doth man live” (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). e

Word therefore is the suited food and sustenance

for the spiritual life, the means of our nourishment

and strength in Christ, as we journey on through

the wilderness, waiting for the Lord’s return, or to

depart and be with Himself, which is far better. I say

in Christ, because, as you know, Christ Himself is

our food, both as the manna and the old corn of the

e Word of God

land, and indeed, to go further back, as the lamb roast

with re (Ex. 12); but then it is only in the word of

God that He is unfolded to us thus in these several

characters. If we would collect the manna for our

daily use, we have to roam through the gospels and

epistles, where we nd Him especially presented to us

in this aspect — as a humbled Christ in incarnation;

and then, if I would feed upon Him as the old corn

of the land, upon a gloried Christ, I am led to the

epistles (for example, Col. 3; Phil. 3), which present

Him as such to our souls. e Scriptures therefore are

the green pastures into which the Good Shepherd

would lead His ock.

3. It is our only guide. “y Word is a lamp unto my feet,

and a light unto my path” (Psa. 119:105). So, when

Joshua was about to lead Israel into Canaan, the

Lord said unto him, “Only be thou strong and very

courageous that thou mayest observe to do according

to all the law, which Moses My servant commanded

thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the

left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou

goest. is book of the law shall not depart out of

thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and

night, that thou mayest observe to do according to

all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make

thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good

success” (Josh. 1:7-8). So in the New Testament, as

well as in the Old, the Word of God is everywhere

indicated as our only guide as we pass through this

tangled scene.

“Pillar of re, through watches dark,

And radiant cloud by day;

When waves would whelm our tossing bark,

Our anchor and our stay.”

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

(See Acts 20:32; 2ess. 3:14; 2Tim. 3:15-17; 2Peter

1:15; 1John 2:27; Jude 3)

4. It is our means of defense against the temptations and

wiles of Satan; hence it is called the sword of the

Spirit (Eph. 6:17). We thus see in the temptation of

our blessed Lord that it was His only weapon. To

all the allurements which Satan presented to His

soul — and he assailed Him through every avenue

of approach, and in every character — He replied,

“It is written.” From rst to last, He never expressed

a thought of His own, but rested for His defense

entirely and alone upon the Word of God. Satan

consequently was utterly powerless; he could not

advance a single step; but, defeated at every point,

he had to retire baed and overcome. And he is as

powerless today as then, when encountered in the

same way. He cannot touch an obedient, dependent

man. Would that every young believer, indeed all,

whether young or old, might always bear it in mind!

5. It is the only standard of doctrine or practice. We have

therefore to test everything presented to us by the

Word. us in the letters to the seven churches we

nd in every case, “He that hath an ear, let him hear

what the Spirit saith to the churches.” ey and

their practices were alike to be measured by this

infallible standard. In like manner, the Apostle Paul

continually reminds those to whom he writes of their

responsibility of gauging everything by what he had

taught. (See, for example, Gal. 1:8-9; 1Cor. 15:1-11;

2ess. 2:15; 3:14.)

6. It is the means of our practical holiness. Our Lord

thus prays, when He presented His own before the

Father: “Sanctify them through y truth: y Word

is truth” (John 17:17). It is only indeed by constant

e Word of God

application of the Word to ourselves, our walk, and

our ways, that we are increasingly separated from evil;

just as it is by the application of the Word through

the Spirit that the Lord, as our Advocate with the

Father, washes the feet of His own. is is the work

which He in His grace has undertaken for us; but

we must never forget the responsibility on our side

of continually judging ourselves by the Word in the

presence of God. How many a trial and chastening

would be spared us if we were more faithful in this

particular!

“For if we would judge ourselves, we should not

be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31). us the psalmist asks,

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” And the

answer is, “By taking heed thereto according to y Word”

(Psa. 119:9). Again he says, “By the word of y lips I have

kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Psa. 17:4). For

it is only from the Scripture that we learn the will of God;

and by the application of the Word in the power of the

Spirit we are separated, on the one side, from that which

is contrary to His mind, and we are brought, on the other,

into conformity with it; and this being a constant process,

we are ever attaining increasing holiness, the perfection of

which is only found in the gloried Christ at God’s right

hand.

7. Last of all, I would remind you of the value which the

Lord sets upon obedience to the Word. Take, for

instance, the familiar scripture, “If any man love Me,

he will keep My Word: and My Father will love him,

and We will come unto him, and make our abode

with him” (John 14:23). See how large a blessing is

made dependent upon our keeping His Word; for

it should never be overlooked that the love of the

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

Father in this passage, and the Father and the Son

coming to make their abode with us, are entirely

conditional. Again, in the next chapter, He says, “If ye

keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love;

even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and

abide in His love” (John 15:10). Once more, not to

multiply citations, at the very close of the inspired

record He says, “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is

he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this

book” (Rev. 22:7). us He not only expects us to

prize and treasure up the communications which He

has deigned to make to us; but He also counts upon

our hearts to delight in obedience to every Word that

has proceeded out of His mouth; yea, He has made

obedience to be the highest expression of our love. “If

ye love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

From this rapid outline of some of the uses, and some of

our responsibilities in respect of the Word of God, you will

at least recognize its supreme importance to the believer.

Allow me, then, to make one or two practical observations

which may be helpful to you and other young Christians.

First of all, you will see the necessity of being familiar with

the Scriptures. For instance, I could not repel a temptation,

as the Saviour did, unless I were acquainted with the

scripture wherewith to meet it. In like manner, there might

be many cases in which I should be led astray simply from

not knowing that the Lord had revealed His mind in His

Word. One of the rst obligations, therefore, of the believer

is to study the Word of God. “My son, if thou wilt receive

my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that

thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart

to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and

liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her

e Word of God

as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then

shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and nd the

knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His

mouth cometh knowledge and understanding” (Prov. 2:1-

6). In this spirit you must search and systematically study

the Scriptures, if you would be “throughly furnished unto

all good works” (2Tim. 3:17). I do not say, Read no other

book; but I do say, Make the Bible your chief companion,

and conne yourself as much as possible to those books

which help you to understand it; for it should be the chief

aim of every believer to be thoroughly conversant with the

mind and will of God. Secondly, let me counsel you, if you

read much, to meditate more. “e slothful man roasteth

not that which he took in hunting” (Prov. 12:27). He nds

his pleasure in the chase, and once nding, obtaining, he is

satised. It is thus with many in reading the Word. eir

delight is in the acquisition of truth; and in this they rest,

and thereby lose the blessing. In the scripture already cited,

the Lord said to Joshua, “is book of the law shall not

depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein

day and night” (See also Psa. 1:2; 119:97; Prov. 22:17-18;

1Tim. 4:15). For it is in meditation in the presence of the

Lord that the sweetness, beauty, and power of the Word

are unfolded to us. Never, therefore, lose an opportunity

for meditation on the scripture you may read. And, lastly,

always remember your entire dependence upon the Spirit

of God for the understanding of the Word. “For what man

knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which

is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but

the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of

the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

know the things that are freely given to us of God” (1Cor.

2:11-12).

If you thus read the Scriptures, you will be led daily

into increasing acquaintance with the truth, and thereby

be drawn into closer fellowship with the Father and His

Son Jesus Christ.

Believe me, dear — ,

Yours aectionately in Christ,

E. D.

Prayer

56935

Prayer

My Dear — :

ere remains only one other subject to bring before

you in this present series of letters. In the last I directed you

to the importance of the Word of God, and now I desire

to speak of prayer and its connection with the spiritual

life. ese two — the Word of God and prayer — are ever

conjoined. It was so in the blessed activities of the life of

our Lord. After a long day of ministry we nd such a record

as this, “And He withdrew Himself into the wilderness,

and prayed”; and again, “It came to pass in those days, that

He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all

night in prayer to God” (Luke 5:16; 6:12). So, too, when

the diculty arose in the Pentecostal church concerning

the distribution of the oerings of the saints, the apostle

said, “It is not reason that we should leave the Word of

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

God, and serve tables … We will give ourselves continually

to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:2-4).

Paul likewise unites the two things in his description of the

whole armor of God; for no sooner has he said, “And take

the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which

is the Word of God,” than he adds, “Praying always with

all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17-18).

We have, moreover, direct exhortations to prayer; as for

example, “Continuing instant in prayer”; “Pray without

ceasing” (Rom. 12:12; 1ess. 5:17. See also Luke 18). And

if you read the introductory parts of Paul’s epistles you will

see how he embodied his own exhortations. As you trace his

path, as recorded for us in the Acts, you would think that he

never did anything else than preach; but if you read these

parts of the epistles you would almost think that he never

did anything else than pray. Approximating to the example

of our blessed Lord in his unwearied labors, he found, yea,

he learned, the need of constant waiting upon God. In like

manner, prayer is a necessity for every child of God. For we

are in ourselves weak and helpless, entirely dependent; and

prayer is but the expression of our dependence on Him to

whom we pray. Dependent upon God for everything, our

very needs urge us into His presence; and having liberty of

access through Christ, because of the place we occupy, and

because of the relationship we enjoy, we “come boldly unto

the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and nd

grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

1. Our Lord teaches what should be, so to speak, the

manner of our prayers. Speaking to His disciples

of the time when He should be absent from them,

He says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that

will I do,” and again, “If ye shall ask anything in My

Prayer

name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14). Two things are

here involved. e name of Christ is our warrant to

come before God, before the Father, reminding us

that our title of approach is in Christ alone. And

surely this gives us condence. If we were to think

only of ourselves, our failures and unworthiness,

we should never venture into God’s presence; but

when our eyes are directed to Christ, what He is in

Himself, what He is to God, and what He is to us,

and remembering that we appear before God in all

His innite acceptability, we are made to understand

that God delights in us — in our approach, in our

cries and prayers. We thus are encouraged to draw

near to God, and to pour out our hearts before Him

in every time of trial or need.

But asking in the name of Christ is more than having

a title through His name; it is, indeed, to appear before

God with all the value and authority of that name. If, for

example, I go to a bank and present a check, I ask for the

value of the check in the name of him by whom it is drawn.

So when I appear before God in the name of Christ, I

present my supplications in all the value of that name

to God. Hence it is that our Lord says, “If ye shall ask

anything in My name, I will do it,” because, indeed, it is

the joy of the heart of God to grant every request that is so

preferred. e promise is absolute, without any limitation;

for the simple reason that nothing could be asked in the

name of Christ which was not in accordance with the will

of God. For we could not use His name for any request

which was not begotten in our hearts by His own Spirit.

2. In the next chapter our Lord gives us further teaching

on the same subject. “If ye abide in Me, and My words

abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

done unto you” (John 15:7). We may connect with

this another scripture: “And this is the condence that

we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according

to His will, He heareth us” (1John 5:14). Here it

is according to the will of God, thereby excluding

everything which is not of this character. But our

Lord says, “What ye will”; and this brings before us

a very important aspect of prayer. In this case it is

conditional: “If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in

you”; that is, abiding in Christ, ever remembering our

dependence upon Him for everything, that without

Him we can do nothing; and His words abiding in us,

molding us after His own mind, forming Himself in

us, we of necessity express His own thoughts and His

own desires, and consequently “what we will” must,

in such a case, be “according to His will.” It will be

seen, at the same time, that the power of our prayers

depends upon our spiritual condition. is is an

unfailing principle. It is stated by John: “If our heart

condemn us not, [then] have we condence toward

God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him,

because we keep His commandments, and do those

things that are pleasing in His sight” (1John 3:21-

22). James also tells us, “e eectual fervent prayer

of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). is

is of all importance; for neglecting our spiritual state,

and thereby losing present communion with God,

our prayers become cold and lifeless, degenerate into

a repetition of known truths or old phrases, and thus,

losing all signicance, pass over into dead forms. e

words are uttered to satisfy conscience; but expressing

no heart-felt needs, and no outgoings of soul after

God, they nd no response, and bring down no

blessing. Beware of such a state, which is often the

commencement of the backslider’s path, and which,

Prayer

unless checked by the grace of God, will land the soul

in open shame and dishonor to the name of Christ.

3. e uses of prayer are manifold. In the rst place,

the Lord has associated us with Himself in all His

own desires. Yea, our fellowship is with the Father,

and with His Son Jesus Christ (1John 1:3). God

therefore counts upon our love to have fellowship

with all that is dear to His own heart. He has made

His interests ours; and consequently He would have

us enter into and make these the object of our prayers.

What a privilege! To be permitted to range through

all His purposes as revealed to us in the Word; to

watch with delight their unfoldings; to behold them

all centering in, and radiating from, the person of His

Christ, as well as bringing back a revenue of glory to

His name! Truly if we are enabled to enter at all into

this wondrous position, by the power of the Spirit,

we shall lack neither subject for, nor motive to, prayer.

en, too, we may express in prayer all the manifold

needs of our own souls. “Be careful for nothing; but in

everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace

of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your

hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). is

word is the more remarkable from the fact that it is found

in the very chapter in which the apostle assures us, “My

God shall supply all your need according to His riches in

glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19). Still, notwithstanding

this blessed condence, God would have us, with all the

freedom of children, to make known to Him our requests;

and though He does not promise to grant them in every

case, He yet assures us that His peace shall guard our hearts.

It is in this way, indeed, that condence is established in

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

our intercourse with God, that the priceless habit is formed

of having no reserves with Him, and that intimacy of

communion is cultivated. It is in accordance with this that

the psalmist cries, “Trust in Him at all times; ye people,

pour out your heart before Him” (Psa. 62:8); and that Peter

says, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for

you” (1Peter 5:7).

4. It should be added that the word of God lays great stress

upon the connection of faith with prayer. Our Lord

says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray,

believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them”

(Mark 11:24). James also, after his exhortation to ask

wisdom of God, says, “Let him ask in faith, nothing

wavering” (James 1:6); and again, he tells us that “the

prayer of faith shall save the sick” (James 5:15). So

too in the Hebrews we read, that “without faith it is

impossible to please Him: for he that cometh,” that is,

draws near “to God must believe that He is, and that

He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”

(Heb. 11:6). is is easy to understand; for surely

God has a right to count upon our condence in His

love, our trust in His character, and our belief in His

word, since He has so fully revealed Himself to us

in the person of His Son. To doubt, therefore, as we

approach Him, would be to dishonor His name. And

just as He counts upon our condence and faith, He

would have us count upon His faithfulness and love.

As our blessed Lord reminds His disciples, “Your

Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before

ye ask Him” (Matt. 6:8). And as Paul teaches us, “He

that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up

for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give

us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). us the gift of His own

Son, inasmuch as it was His greatest gift, and the

Prayer

most perfect pledge of His love, is the foundation

on which we may rest in the full assurance that He

not only will not withhold any good thing from us,

but that He will delight to bless us according to His

own heart, and according to His own knowledge of

our need.

5. Once more, all true prayer must be in and by the Holy

Spirit. (See Rom. 8:26-27; Phil. 3:3; Jude 20). Indeed,

He is the power for prayer, as He is for every activity

of the spiritual life. We are thus utterly dependent

upon the Lord Jesus for access to God, upon the

Holy Spirit for power to pray, and upon God for the

blessings we seek. To His name be all the praise!

But I will not pursue the subject further. You will, however,

permit me to urge upon you perseverance in prayer. Rules on

such a subject — as to mes and frequency — we have no

right to make or impose. Sll of one thing be very sure — you

cannot be too much in prayer. And if you dwell in the

presence of God, you will nd both the heart and occasion

for prayer. Our responsibility is to pray without ceasing,

always maintaining uninterruptedly the consciousness of

dependence, and our need of divine grace. Thus we shall be

always cast upon God, always enjoy liberty of heart in His

presence, and consequently be always nding, in the constant

recepon of mercies, grace and blessing, in answer to our

cries, new themes for thanksgiving and praise.

Believe me dear, — ,

Yours aeconately in Christ,

E. D.

Twelve Letters to Young Believers

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