“THE LIGHT OF LIFE” 

“And, behold, the Glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters: and the earth shined with His Glory.  And the Glory of the Lord came into the House by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.  And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the Glory of the Lord filled the House”. (Ezek. 43:2,4-5) 

“Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the House: and I looked, and, behold, the Glory of the Lord filled the House of the Lord: and I fell upon my face”. (Ezek. 44:4)

“Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the House; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the House eastward: for the forefront of the House stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the House, at the south side of the Altar”. (Ezek. 47:1)

“In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men”. (John 1:4)

“Again therefore Jesus spake unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of Life”. (John 8:12)

“Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto you, except one be born from above, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”. (John 3:3) 
 
“While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world”. (John 9:5)

“Now there were certain Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast: these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip comes and follows Andrew: Andrew comes,  and Philip, and they tell Jesus. And Jesus answers them saying, the hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abides by itself alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit”. (John 12:20-24)

“I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believes  in Me should not abide in the darkness”. (John 12:46)

“...in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the Light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the Image of God, should not dawn upon them”. (2.Cor.4:4)  

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of Him: having the eyes of your understanding
enlightened, that you may know what is the Hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His Power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of the Strength of His might...”. (Eph.1:17-19)

“The Light of Life!” 

Now, before coming to a closer consideration of this matter of ‘the Light of Life’, may I just ask a simple but very direct question?  
 
Can we all say with ‘truth of heart’ that we are really concerned to be in ‘God’s Purpose’; - to know what that ‘Purpose’ is and to be found in it? 

Listen, everything depends upon whether we have such a 
concern. 

It is a ‘practical matter’. 

It should immediately swing us clear of just being interested in ‘Truth’ and increasing our knowledge or information about ‘Spiritual things’. 

As we look into ‘our own hearts’ at this moment, and let us do so, each one of us, can we really say that there is a genuine and strong desire to be in ‘the Purpose’, ‘the great Eternal Purpose of God’? 

Are we prepared to commit ourselves to ‘the Lord’ in relation to that in an utter transaction, by which we now have an understanding with ‘Him’ that ‘He’ will stop at nothing so far as we are concerned to secure us in ‘His Eternal Purpose’, whatever it may cost? 

As ‘the Lord’s people’, are we ready to just pause and face that, and get right into line with ‘God’s End’? 

Of course, I know that some of you are there, and that for you there is not much need of exercise about it, but it is quite likely there are some who have taken things pretty much for granted. 

That is to say, they are ‘Christians’, they are ‘Believers’, they belong to ‘the Lord’, they are saved, they have put their ‘Faith in Christ’, they have had association with ‘Christian Institutions and Matters’ for so long, perhaps even from Infancy. 

It is to such I make this appeal at the outset. 

Here in ‘God’s Word’ that very phrase is used repeatedly -  “According to His Eternal Purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus:...” (Eph.3:11)

Is that the thing which stands foremost on our horizon or is it something remote, dim, in the background? 

Listen, I press this, because we must have something upon which to work. 

‘God’ must have something upon which to work, and if that is ‘the position’, then we can go on, and there will be a drawing out of ‘Revelation’ as to the purpose and the way of it. 

But unless we are in some quite positive ‘position’ and attitude’ about it, you will hear a lot of things said and they will simply be things said, more or less of account to you. 

“The Purpose of God” 

Well now, given that there is that concern, at least in some measure, which justifies our going on, we ask, what is ‘the Purpose of God’? 

What is ‘God’s End’? 

And I think it can be put in one way amongst others.

We can say that ‘God’s Purpose’ is that there shall come a time when ‘He’ has a vessel in which and through which ‘His Glory’ shines forth to this universe.  
 
We see that intimated in the case of ‘the New Jerusalem’, coming down from ‘God’ out of ‘Heaven’, having ‘the Glory of God’, her Light like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal. (Rev.21:2,11)

Notice: “Having the Glory of God”! 

That is ‘the End’ which ‘God’ has in view for a people; - to be in a ‘Spiritual sense’ to ‘His’ universe of spiritual intelligences what the sun is to this universe; - that the very nations shall walk in the light thereof; - no need of sun, no need of moon,  for there is no night; - and that is only saying that ‘God’ wills to have a people ‘full of Light’, ‘the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God’.   

That is ‘the End’, and ‘God’ begins to move toward that ‘End’ immediatly a ‘Child of His’ is ‘born from above’; for that very ‘birth’, a ‘new birth from above’, is the scattering of 
the darkness and the breaking in of ‘the Light’. 

All along our way in ‘the School of Christ’, ‘the Holy Spirit’ is engaged upon this ‘one thing’, to lead us more and more into “The Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Jesus Christ”, that it shall be true in our case that “The Path of the Just is as the shining Light which shines more and more unto the perfect Day”. (2.Cor.4:6; Prov.4:18)   

You know, a lot of people have thought - and, thinking so, have been disappointed - that that means it is going to get easier and easier, brighter and brighter, the more cheerful as we go on.  
 
But it does not work out that way, does it? 

I do not see it to be true in the circumstances and outward conditions of ‘Saints’ anywhere at any time.  
 
For them the path does not become brighter and brighter  outwardly.  

But if we are really moving under ‘the Holy Spirit’s ‘Government’, we can say with the strongest affirmation, that in an inward way ‘the Light’ is growing.    

‘The path’ is growing brighter and brighter; we are seeing and seeing. 

That is ‘God’s Purpose’; until the time comes when there is no darkness at all, and no shadow at all, and no mist at all, but all is Light, perfect Light: we see not through a glass  darkly, but face to face, we know even as we are known. (1.Cor.13:12)   

That is ‘God’s Purpose’ put in a certain way.  
 
Well, let me ask, does that interest you?  
 
Are you concerned with that?  
 
Of course, that has a ‘Crisis’, and that has its beginning, and that is a ‘process’ in ‘Spiritual Life’ with a glorious climax in Rapture.

But what I am especially concerned with now is ‘the Process’.

We shall have to touch on ‘the Crisis’ at the beginning, but it is ‘the Process’ that is really my present concern.
  
We read in Ezekiel about ‘the Glory of the Lord’ coming and filling the House, and we have been seeing in previous  meditations that ‘the Lord Jesus’ is ‘the House’.

He is the great ‘Bethel of God’ on whom the Angels ascend and descend, in whom ‘God’ is found, in whom God speaks  (the place of ‘the Oracle’), in whom is ‘the Divine Authority’, ‘the final Word’.  
 
‘He’ is ‘the House’, and ‘the Glory of the Lord Himself’, ‘the Light of God’ is ‘in Him’. 

“The Place of the Shekinah Glory” 

Looking backward at that ‘Tabernacle’ or ‘the Temple of Old’ where ‘the Shekinah Glory’ (i.e.,the manifestation of ‘the Presence of God’) was found, we notice that that ‘Light’, that ‘Glory’ which linked ‘Heaven’ and ‘Earth’ like a ladder, had its expression in ‘the Most Holy Place’. 

You know that in ‘the Holy of Holies’, everything was curtained around and over, excluding every bit of ‘natural light’, so that ‘the Place’ entered into apart from ‘the Shekinah Glory’, would have been ‘black darkness’, without ‘Light’ at all;  but entered into as it was while ‘the Glory’ rested upon it, it was all ‘Light’, it was all ‘Divine Light’, ‘Heavenly Light’, ‘the Light of God’.  
 
And that ‘Most Holy Place’ sets forth ‘the Inner Life’ of ‘the Lord Jesus’, ‘His Spirit’ where ‘God’ is found, ‘the Light from Heaven’, ‘the Light’ of what ‘God’ is ‘in Him’. 

‘He’ is ‘the Most Holy Place’, ‘His Spirit’ is ‘the Most Holy Place’, in ‘the Holy House of God’, and it was there in that ‘Most Holy Place’ where ‘the Light of the Glory’ was, that ‘God’ said ‘He’ would commune with ‘His People’ through their ‘Representative’. 

“I will commune with you above the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim”. (Ex.25:22)

‘The place of communion’ - “I will commune”.  
 
What a wonderful word - “Commune”.  

There is nothing hard, nothing terrible, nothing fearful about that.  

“I will commune with you”. 

This is ‘mutual communing’. 

The very word itself dismisses anything that is one-sided. 

It is ‘mutual’! 

It is ‘the Place’ where ‘God’ speaks; in ‘the Communion God speaks’, makes ‘Himself’ known.  
 
It is ‘the Place of speaking’. 

It is called ‘the Place of the Oracle’, ‘the Place of the speaking’; and that is ‘the Propitiatory’, ‘the Mercy Seat’, and that is all ‘the Lord Jesus’. 

‘He’, we are told, has been set forth by ‘God’ to be a Propitiatory, (i.e.,Reconciliator, Rom.3:25), and ‘in Him’ ‘God’ communes with ‘His People’.  

‘In Him’ ‘God’ speaks to and with ‘His People’.

But the underlining must be of those words “In Him”, for there is no ‘Communion with God’, no Communion of God, no speaking to be heard, no meeting at all, except ‘in Christ’. 

Notice: that would be a place of death and destruction for 
‘the natural man’: therefore the terrible warnings given about coming into that Place without the right equipment, the symbolic equipment which spoke of ‘the natural man’ having been altogether set aside and another, a ‘Heavenly Man’ having enfolded him as with ‘Heavenly Robes’, ‘the Robes of Righteousness’. 

Only so dare he enter into that ‘Place’: otherwise it was “Lest he die...”. 

If you want to know exactly how that works out, come over to ‘the New Testament’ and take up the story of ‘the journey of Saul of Tarsus to Damascus’. 

He says, “At midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun...and when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me,...Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” (Acts 26:13-14)

Then you will remember how they lifted him up and led him into the city, because he was without sight. 

It was by ‘the Mercy of God’, that he was without sight only for ‘three days’ and ‘three nights’.  
 
‘God’ commissioned ‘Ananias’ to go and visit that blinded man, and say to him, “Jesus, who appeared unto you in the way which you came, has sent me, that you may receive your sight”. (Acts 9:10-17)

‘Saul of Tarsus’ would otherwise have been a blind man to the end of his life. 

That is the effect of a ‘natural man’ encountering ‘the Glory of God’ in ‘the Face of Jesus Christ’. (2.Cor.4:6)

It is ‘destruction’! 

There is no place for the ‘natural man’ in ‘the Presence of that Light’; - it would be ‘death’. 

But in John 8 we have those words, “The Light of Life”, over against ‘the darkness of death’.  

Well, ‘in Christ Jesus’ the ‘natural man’ is regarded as having been entirely put away. 

There is no place for him there. 

“No Place for the Natural Man”  

That means that ‘the natural man’ cannot come into ‘the Light’, nor can he come into ‘God’s great Purpose’ and be found in that ‘House’ full of ‘the Glory of God’, that vessel through which ‘He’ is going to manifest that ‘Glory’ to ‘His Universe’.  
 
‘The natural man’ cannot come in there: and when we speak about ‘the natural man’, we are not just referring to ‘the unsaved man’, i.e., the man who has never come to ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’.

We are speaking about the man whom ‘God’ has reckoned as being put aside altogether. 

Now, ‘the Apostle Paul’ had to speak to ‘the Corinthian Believers’ along these lines. 

They were ‘converted people’, ‘saved people’, but they were enarmored, (i.e., fascinated), with this world’s wisdom, knowledge, and the power that comes by it, and their disposition or inclination was to try to seek to take hold of ‘Divine things’ and analyze them and investigate them, and probe into them along the lines of natural wisdom and understanding, - ‘philosophy’, ‘the philosophy and wisdom of this world’. 

And so they were bringing ‘the natural man’ to bear upon ‘Divine things’, and ‘the Apostle’ wrote to them, and in their own language he said, “Now the man of soul” (not the unregenerate man, not the man who has never had a transaction with ‘the Lord Jesus’ on the basis of ‘His Atoning Work for Salvation’; no, not that man but ‘the soulical man’) “The man of the soul receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them”. (1.Cor.2:14)

The man of the ‘Psuche’, that is ‘the natural man’.  
 
One of the newest of our ‘Sciences’ is “Psychology”, ‘the Science of the soul’: and what is “Psychology”? 

It has to do with ‘the mind of man’; - it is ‘the Science of man’s mind’; - and here is the Word now - I am paraphrasing  this because this is exactly what it means - “Now the science of the mind can never receive the things of the Spirit of God, neither can it know them”. 

Notice: this man is very clever, very intellectual, very highly trained, with all his ‘natural senses’ brought to a high state of development and acuteness, yet this man is outside when it comes to knowing ‘the things of God’; he cannot, he is outside. 

You see, even for the first glimmer of ‘the Knowledge of God’ a ‘Miracle’ has to be wrought, by which blind eyes which never have seen are given Sight, and by which Light comes as by a ‘flash of Revelation’, so that it can be said, “Blessed are you ...for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but My Father who is in Heaven”. (Matt.16:17)

Listen, this is stating a ‘tremendous fact’.  

Every bit of real ‘Light’ which is in the direction of that ‘ultimate Effulgence’, the revealing of ‘the Glory of God’ in us and through us, every bit of it is ‘in Christ Jesus’, and can only be had ‘in Him’ on the basis of ‘the natural man’ having been altogether put outside, put away, and a ‘New Man’ having been brought into being with a ‘new set of the Spiritual faculties’: so that ‘Nicodemus’, the best product of 
‘the religious school’ of his day and of his world, is told,  “Except one be born anew (or from above), he cannot see,...” 
(John 3:3)

Notice: He cannot see. 

Well, it resolves itself into this, that to know even the first letters of ‘the Divine Alphabet’ we must be ‘in Christ’, and every bit that follows is a matter of ‘Learning Christ’, knowing what it means to be ‘in Christ. 

We shall continue next week, Lord willing.

Last Sunday, as we took up this matter of “The Light of Life”, we started out with a simple, but direct question: 

Are we really concerned to be in ‘God’s Purpose’, to know what that ‘Purpose’ is, and to be found in it?  

Are we prepared to commit ourselves to ‘the Lord’ in relation to that ‘Purpose’ that ‘He’ will stand at nothing to secure us in ‘His Eternal Purpose’, whatever it may cost? 

‘God’s Purpose’ being that there shall come a time when ‘He’ has a vessel in which and through which ‘His Glory’ shines forth to this Universe. 

Notice: ‘God’ wills to have a people ‘full of Light’, ‘the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God’. 

We considered ‘the Place’ of ‘the Shekinah Glory’ (i.e.,the manifestation of the Presence of God), and noticed that in ‘the Holy of Holies’, where ‘the Shekinah Glory’ was found, everything was curtained, excluding every bit of ‘natural light’ i.e., apart from ‘the Divine Light’, ‘the Heavenly  Light’, ‘the Light of God’, everything was ‘black darkness’, without any ‘Light’ at all. 

And so we concluded last Sunday by stating that ‘in Christ Jesus’, who is ‘the true Holy of Holies’, - ‘the natural man’ is excluded, - he is regarded as having been entirely put away,
for there is ‘no place’ for ‘the natural man’, and I trust, we have clearly seen this. 

Now as we continue, we want to find out: 

“How we get the Light of Life” 

(A) ‘The Crisis’ - 

That brings us to this ‘question’. 

What is ‘the way into Christ’, or how do we get ‘the Light of Life’?  
 
Well, the answer is, of course, briefly, to have ‘the Light’ we have to have ‘the Life’. 

And this ‘Light’ is ‘the Light of Life’. 

It is the product of ‘Life’. 

All ‘Divine Light’, ‘true Light’ from ‘God’, is ‘Living Light’. 

It is never theoretical Light, mere doctrinal Light, it is ‘Living Light’. 

And how do we get this ‘Light of Life’? 

Well, we have these ‘two things’ brought very much before us in this ‘Gospel by John’, namely, ‘Christ in us’, and we ‘in Christ’.

‘The Lord’ has given us a beautiful illustration of what that means, and the illustration we have read in Chapter 12. 

What is it to be ‘in Christ’? 

What is it to have ‘Christ in us’? 

What is it to be ‘in the Life’ and ‘in the Light? 

What is it to have ‘the Light’ and ‘the Life in us’?  

Well, here it is: 

There is ‘Life’ in that ‘grain of wheat’, but it is just ‘one single grain’. 

I want to get ‘the Life’ that is in that single grain into a whole host of grains, enough grains to cover the earth. 

How shall I do it? 

Well, ‘the Lord’ says, put it into the ground: let it fall into the  earth and die; let it fall into the dark earth, and let the earth cover it over. 

What happens? 

It immediately begins to disintegrate, to fall apart, to yield itself up, as to its own individual and personal life alone. 

Presently a shoot begins to break through the earth and up the stalk comes, and eventually there is an ear, a heavy ear of ‘grains of wheat’; and if I could actually see life and look into those ‘grains of wheat’, I should see that life which was in ‘the one’ is in ‘every one’ of them. 

Then I sow that ear, be it ‘one hundred grains’ I sow, and I get ‘ten thousand’; and I sow them again, and they are multiplied a ‘hundredfold’, and so on until the earth is full; and if I could look with a magnifying glass into every one of those ‘millions and millions of grains’, and life was something visible to the eye, I should see that that same ‘original life’ was ‘the life’ of every one of them. 

That is ‘the answer’! 

How does this ‘Life’ get into us, ‘the Light of Life’?  
 
‘The Lord Jesus’ says that ‘death’ must take place, a ‘death’ to what we are in ourselves, a ‘death’ to our own life, a ‘death’ to ‘the life’ apart from ‘Him’. 

We must go down with ‘Him’ into ‘death’, and there, under the act of ‘the Spirit of God’ in ‘Union with Christ’ buried, there is a transmission of ‘His Life’ to us, and ‘He’, coming up no longer merely as a ‘single grain of wheat’, comes up ‘manifold’ in ‘every one of us’. 

It is ‘the miracle’ that is going on every year in ‘the natural realm’, and it is just exactly the principle by which ‘the Lord’ gets into us.  

Do you see the necessity of our ceasing to have a ‘life’ apart from ‘the Lord’, the necessity of our letting that ‘life’ of ours go absolutely? 

Well, that is a ‘crisis’ at the beginning, a ‘real crisis’. 

Sooner or later, it has to be a ‘crisis’.  

Of course, some may say, I have not had that ‘crisis’. 

For me becoming a ‘Christian’ was a very, very simple thing. 

As a child, I was simply taught, or at some time I simply expressed my ‘personal Faith’ in ‘the Lord Jesus’ in some way, and from that time I belonged to ‘the Lord’; - I am a ‘Christian’!  
 
Now let me ask, ‘Is your path a shining light growing brighter and brighter unto the perfect day’? (Prov.4:18)

Are you moving on in ‘the growing Fulness’ of ‘the Revelation of the Lord Jesus’? 

Are you? 

Do you have an ‘open Heaven’? 

Is ‘God in Christ’ revealing ‘Himself’ to you in ever ‘greater Wonder and Fulness’? 

Is ‘He’? 

I am not saying that you do not belong to ‘the Lord Jesus’, but I am saying to you that the unalterable basis of an ‘open Heaven’ is a ‘grave’, and a ‘crisis’ at which you come to an end of your own ‘Self-life’.

It is ‘the crisis’ of real experiential ‘Identification with Christ’ in ‘His death’, not now for your sins, but as you. 

Your ‘open Heaven’ depends upon that. 

It is a ‘crisis’!  
 
And so with not ‘one’ or ‘two’ but with ‘many’ this has been ‘the way’. 

‘The Truth’ is this, that they were ‘the Lord’s children’; - they knew ‘Christ’, they were saved, they had no doubt about that; but then the time came when ‘the Lord’, ‘the Light of Life’,  showed to them that ‘He’ not only died to bear their sins in ‘His Body’ on ‘the Cross’, but ‘He Himself’ represented them in the whole total of their ‘natural life’, to put it aside. 

It was ‘the man’, and not only ‘his sins’, that went to ‘the Cross’. 

That ‘man’ is you, that ‘man’ is me, and many, after years of being ‘Christians’, have come to that tremendous ‘crisis’ of ‘Identification with Christ’ as ‘men’, as ‘women’, as a part of ‘the Human Race’; not only as ‘sinners’, but as a part of a ‘race’; ‘natural men’, not ‘unregenerate’, but ‘natural men’, all that we are in our ‘natural life’. 

Many have come to that ‘crisis’, and from that time everything has been on a vast, a vaster scale than ever before in ‘the Christian life’. 

There has been ‘the open Heaven’, ‘the enlarged vision’, ‘the Light of Life’ in a far ‘greater way’. 

How does it come about? 

Just like that, and that ‘crisis’ is a ‘crisis’ for us all. 

If you have not had that ‘crisis’, you ask ‘the Lord’ about it. 

But mark it well, if you are going to have ‘the transaction’ with ‘the Lord’, you are asking for something, you are asking for ‘trouble’. 

Let us look at that ‘grain of wheat’.  
 
When it has fallen into the ground, look at what happens to it. 

Do you think it is pleasant? 

What is happening? 

It is losing its ‘own identity’. 

You cannot recognize it. 

Take it out and have a look at it. 

Is this that lovely little ‘grain of wheat’ I put into ‘the ground’?  
 
What an ‘ugly thing’ it has become! 

It has lost all its ‘own identity’, lost its ‘own cohesiveness’; -    it is all falling to pieces.  
 
How ugly! 

Yes, that is what ‘death’ does. 

This ‘Death of Christ’ as it is wrought in us breaks up all our own ‘natural life’.   
 
It scatters it, pulls it to pieces, takes all its beauty away.  
 
We begin to discover that, after all, there is nothing in us but corruption. 

That is ‘the Truth’. 

Falling apart, we are losing all that beauty that was there from the ‘natural’ point of view, perhaps, as men saw it. 

It is no pleasant thing to fall into the ground and die.

That is what happens. 

“But if it die...” - “If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him”. (Rom.6:8)

We shall share ‘His Life’, and then a new form is given, a ‘New Life’; not ours, but His. 

It is a ‘crisis’! 

Please, hear me, - I do urge upon you to have ‘real dealings’ with ‘the Lord’ about this matter. 

But if you do expect what I have said, expect that you are going to fall to pieces, - expect that the beauty you thought was there will be altogether marred; - expect to discover that you are far more corrupt than ever you thought you were; - expect that ‘the Lord’ will bring you to a place where you cry, “Woe is me for I am undone!” (Isa.6:5)

But then ‘the Blessing’ that will come will just be this - “O Lord, the best thing that can happen for me is that I shall die!” 

And ‘the Lord’ will say, that is exactly what ‘I’ have been working at, ‘I’ cannot glorify that ‘corruption’. 

“This corruptible must put on incorruption” (1.Cor.15:53), and that incorruption is ‘the germ’ of that ‘Divine Life’ in the seed which yields its own life up, that is transmitted from ‘Him’. 

‘God’ is not going to glorify this ‘Humanity’. 

‘He’ is going to make us like ‘Christ’s glorious Body’. 

That is far too deep and too much ahead, but my point is that there has to be this ‘crisis’, if we are coming to ‘the Glory’, - ‘God’s End’. 

(B) ‘The Process’ -

Then there is going to be a ‘Process’. 

‘The Lord Jesus’ said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross daily, and follow me,” (Luke 9:23), and in so saying ‘He’ was not wrong ‘in principle’. 

That ‘the Cross’ is something taken up or entered into once for all is true, as to ‘the crisis’ in which we say, ‘Lord I  accept once for all what the Cross means’!

But we are going to find, that after ‘the crisis’, ‘the all- inclusive crisis’, day by day ‘the Cross’ has to be adhered to, and ‘the Cross’ is working out in those afflictions and sufferings which ‘the Lord’ is allowing to come upon, or even bringing into ‘the Life of His people’. 

‘He’ has put you into a difficult situation in ‘His Sovereignty’: a difficult home, business, physical situation, a difficult situation with some relation. 

Oh listen, that is the outworking of ‘the Cross’ in your experience, in order to make a way for ‘the Lord Jesus’ to have a ‘larger place’. 

It is going to make a way for ‘His Patience’, ‘the Endurance of Christ’, for ‘the Love of Christ. 

It is going to make a way for ‘Him’: and you have not to go to your knees every morning and say, ‘Oh, Lord, get me out of this home, get me out of this business, get me out of this difficulty’! - You are to say instead, ‘Lord, if this is ‘the Cross’ in its expression for me today, I take it up today’. 

Facing ‘the situation’ like that, you will find there is ‘strength’, there is ‘victory’, the co-operation of ‘the Lord’, and there is ‘fruit’ and not ‘barrenness’. 

It is in that sense that ‘the Lord’ was right ‘in principle’ in making ‘the Cross’ a ‘daily experience’.

“Whosoever does not bear his own cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14:27) - one of ‘My taught ones’, one ‘learning Me’!     

So that the taking up of this difficulty, whatever it be, day by day, is the very way in which I am ‘learning Christ’, and it is ‘the Process of Light’, ‘the Light of Life’ coming to know, coming to see, coming into fullness. 

You and I can never ‘see’ and ‘know’ apart from ‘the Cross’. 

‘The Cross’ has to clear the ground of this ‘natural life’. 

‘The Lord’ knows what we would do if ‘He’ lifted away ‘the Cross’ from us every day. 

I wonder what we would do. 

It may not just be ‘the later New Testament phraseology’ or way of putting it to speak of ‘our daily Cross’, bearing ‘my Cross’ daily.

The principle may more truely be that it is ‘the Cross’ which is given to ‘Him’ and becomes mine daily. 

That may be true, but it just works out this way. 

Now if ‘the Lord’ lifted that which is ‘the expression of the Cross’ for us day by day and took it off our shoulders, it would not be for ‘our good’. 

It would at once clear the way for the uprising of ‘the natural life’. 

You can always see that when people begin to get a bit of relief from ‘trial’.  
 
How they throw their weight about!

They get on stilts, they are looking down on you; - you are wrong, they are right.  
 
Pride, Self-sufficiency, all comes up. 

Well, then, what about ‘Paul’? 

Listen, I look up to ‘Paul’ as a ‘Giant’ spiritually.  

And yet, ‘Paul’, ‘Spiritual Giant’ that he was, humbly confessed that ‘the Lord’ sent him, not allowed, a ‘messenger of Satan’ to buffet him, a stake through his flesh, lest he should be exalted above measure. (2.Cor.12:7)

Yes, ‘Spiritual Giants’ can exalt themselves if ‘the Lord’ does not see to it and take precautions, and in order to keep the way of ‘the great Revelation’ open and clear, that it might grow and grow, ‘the Lord’ said, ‘Paul’, I must keep you down very low, very much under limitation; - it is the only way: - immediately you begin to get up, ‘Paul’, you are going to limit ‘the Light’, to spoil ‘the Revelation’. 

Well, there is ‘the Principle’. 

‘The Light of Life’. 

It is ‘His Life’: and so again ‘the Apostle’ says, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body” (2.Cor.4:10).

‘His life’ is what we need, and with ‘the Life’ comes ‘the Light’.  

It is ‘Light by Life’.   

There is no other real ‘Divine Light’, only that which comes out of ‘His Life’ within us, and it is ‘His Death’ wrought in us that clears the way for ‘His Life’. 

Well, I must close there. 

See again ‘God’s End’; - Light, Glory, the Fulness coming in. 

It is ‘in Christ’. 

The measure of ‘the Light’, the measure of ‘the Glory’, is going to be ‘the measure of Christ’, and ‘the measure of Christ’ is going to depend entirely upon what space ‘the Lord’ can find for ‘Himself’ in us; and, for space to be made for ‘Him’, we must come to the place where the utterness of the setting aside of ‘the Self-life’ has been accomplished: and that takes a whole ‘Lifetime’. 

But, Thank God! - There is ‘the glorious climax’, when ‘He’ shall come to be gloryfied in ‘His Saints’ and to be marvelled at in all them that believe. (2.Thess.1:10)

Marvelled at! - Having the “Glory of God”! 

May something of ‘the Light’ of that ‘Glory’ fall upon our hearts now to encourage and comfort us in the way, to strengthen our hearts to go on in ‘the Knowledge of His Son’, for ‘His Name’s sake’.