I call your attention this morning, dear friends to Paul's words in 2 Cor. 6:11-16. "O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections. Now for a recompense in the same (I speak as unto my children) be ye also enlarged. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, 'I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God and they shall be my people.'

Our text is more especially found in the latter part of the 13th verse, "Be ye also enlarged." We have come to see that God, in His providence and grace, has determined that a part of the human race shall undergo a change of nature; that they shall lay aside their earthly nature for a heavenly nature; that they shall sacrifice human prospects for divine prospects. We remember how this thought is emphasized in 2 Pet. 1:4, "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be partakers of the divine nature." But as we have come to understand the Word of God we find that while the Heavenly Father is inviting everyone who is willing to consecrate himself unto death to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, to become a partaker of the glorious divine nature, we also find that only a part of that company will really attain that to which they were invited or called. As we look into our Bible we find among the followers of Jesus Christ a great division is brought to our attention, which division is referred to in many Bible statements. You remember, for instance, how the distinction is noted where we read of those who "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." Another class also followed Him, but they did not follow as far as these, they did not follow as heartily, they did not [PE392] follow as thoroughly. You remember that Jesus spoke of one class as a little flock, saying, "Fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In the book of Revelation we read of that other company. The Revelator says, "I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and peoples, and kindred and tongues."

We find that both the little flock and the great multitude are to undergo a change of nature; both are to be heavenly beings; both are to leave the human nature for the spiritual. That the great multitude does not refer to the earthly class is evident from the statement of this passage, which is somewhat different in the Greek. There it reads, "I saw a great multitude OUT OF every nation, and tribe and people, and tongue." Like the little flock, these had once been a part of the world but were chosen "out of the world." They had sacrificed the earthly nature and the earthly hopes in return for the heavenly prospects, and the heavenly possessions. Jesus referred to these two classes when He spoke of one as foolish virgins, and of the other as wise virgins. We believe the majority of those within the sound of our voice this morning are among those who have made such a consecration. We anticipate your interests and expectations are not earthward, but heavenward, and anything that will assist you to make your calling and election sure to the heavenly conditions will be desirable.

We recognize that this change of nature is a gradual thing. When the Lord first begins to draw us we are not heavenly-we are earthly, and if at the moment of consecration the Lord were to take us to Heaven we would be unfit for that condition. We sometimes illustrate the matter in this way. Suppose, for instance, God was going to turn a dog into a man. Of course we do not expect He will to that. It is a rather ridiculous illustration, but it will serve the purpose. Suppose the Lord was going to transform a dog into a man. Suppose that dog dropped dead, and in that moment God took the dog's intelligence, his inclinations, his instinct, from the dog's body and put them into a man's body, and thus the dog became a man. This would be turning the dog into a man, yet not in reality. He would look like a man, but he would still have the inclinations, and instincts and appetites of a dog. He would be a man in appearance, but in feelings he would be a dog. In consequence he would want to do the things that dogs do. If he went down the street and saw two dogs quarreling over a bone he would join in the fight and try to get the bone. He would not be fit to be a man, because he would still have the canine qualities. So if, at the moment of consecration, God would take a man to heaven and give him a spirit body, he would look like a spirit being but he would be a human being still. He [PE393] would look like the heavenly hosts, but he would want to act like those on earth. To look like a heavenly being, but act like an earthly one, would be as incongruous as to look like a man but act like a dog.

How would God do it? I suppose God would begin by changing the mind of that dog. He would begin to work in the mind of that dog a transformation, that the qualities of his mind might become more like those of a man. Every day that dog would become more like a man in his thoughts. Of course he would not look at all like a man from outward appearance; he would still have the dog's body. But in his mind human qualities were beginning to form; he was beginning to look at things from a human standpoint. Of course, the more human the dog's mind would become, the more out of place would he be in the dog's body. He would want to do things like a man but he could not. He might say, "I am tired of growling and barking; I wish I could talk. His mind would wish to talk like a man, but his body would still be inclined to bark like a dog. The more this transformation proceeded the more uncomfortable the creature would be. Others would not recognize what was taking place, except that the dog was not acting as he used to do. People would say, "He does not act like a dog; he acts so dignified; I am afraid of that dog-we had better shoot him." They did not understand that this dog was becoming a man. Suppose the dog's mind becomes more and more human until it is a human as a man's mind, and then the dog dies, and God takes the god's mind and puts it into a human body. Now there is nothing dog about him; he is entirely human. He had got rid of the dog's mind gradually, and now he has god rid of the dog body instantly, and has now the body and mind of a man. How glad he would be that the transformation was complete.

We believe this illustrates the condition of the consecrated. When we make a consecration to the Lord we have a human body, and a spiritual mind. The God begins to transform the human mind. He leaves the body as human as ever. He merely begins to change the mind from human to spiritual. That is why the apostle says, "We serve the Lord in newness of mind." That is why he says such are spiritually minded. That is why he says in Rom. 12:2, "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of you mind." Thus we understand the Christian's mind is day by day becoming less human and more spiritual; less earthly and more heavenly. The more spiritual a man's mind becomes the more out of place he feels on earth; the more he longs for the heavenly conditions. There are many things the Christian wants to do but cannot, because he has a spiritual mind to will with, but an earthly body to do with. That is why the apostle says, "We cannot do the things that we would." This produces the warfare, the conflict, [PE394] as the apostle says, "The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary, one to another." People think that man is as much man as ever, but they say, "He does not act as he.used to; we believe he has gone crazy over religion. He does not take the pleasure in life that he formerly did." They do not understand that he has a new mind; his mind is being transformed, and he is becoming more spiritual. As the transformation continues the mind becomes more and more spiritual, until by and by that mind is as spiritual as that of any of the heavenly hosts. Then God takes the spiritual mind out of the human body and in the resurrection puts it into a spiritual body. Now he is altogether spiritual. He has not human mind, for he got rid of that gradually by being transformed. Neither has he a human body, for he got rid of that instantly. He is now ready to live on a higher plane; to honor and glorify God with a nature far beyond the human.

Now, while we find God is thus granting to a part of the human race a change of nature, as we have already said, there is going to be a great difference among those who receive that change of nature. There are some who are represented as receiving a change of nature, not only to the heavenly, but to the divine nature. They will be joint heirs with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But while the great company will finally have their minds so transformed that they will be ready for a change of nature; so that they may have these minds put into a spirit body, they will not be joint heirs with the Lord Jesus. They will more nearly be joint heirs with the angels. The little flock will have a position that will correspond with the position of the Lord Himself.

The proposition that concerns us is the difference between these tow classes. Why has the Lord made this distinction? Is it an arbitrary arrangement with Him? What is the distinction between the little flock and the great multitude? What distinguishes between those who will be on the throne, and those who will stand before the throne? What differentiates between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins?

Some will say, "I suppose there is a difference in their consecration. I imagine the consecration of the little flock has been more thorough than the consecration of the great multitude." We say, no; it will take just as thorough consecration to get into one class as to get into the other. It means to either a complete consecration, even unto death. It means a complete surrender of the earthly interests, with all that this involves, in either case. It will not require any more of consecration to get into the little flock than to get into the great company; none can get into the great company with any less consecration that will bring others to a place in the little flock.

Some will say, "possibly the difference lies in the ability of the two [PE395] classes. Probably those composing the little flock had greater ability, and as a result they could accomplish more than those who will be of the great multitude class." We answer, No. The Bible indicates that in many respects ability has been a draw-back to the consecrated. Many have been unwilling to consecrate because of their ability. They have been proud of their ability; they have trusted in their ability. So the Bible says, "not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called." If the having of ability has kept many from making a consecration, we can rest assured that after coming to consecration ability will keep a great many from making their calling and election sure. I am sure, when the Lord's faithful ones are made up we will find a far larger number of able ones in the great company class than in the little flock.

Some will say, "possibly the difference is this: Those of the great multitude class have made more mistakes; possibly they have stumbled more frequently than those who will be of the little flock." Again I answer, No. I believe, on the contrary that not one soul will fail to gain a crown in the kingdom class because of the mistakes he has made. I believe there will be some in the little flock who have made more mistakes and greater mistakes than many of those in the great multitude, etc. I am afraid many will fail to win out in the race because they have not made many mistakes. The fact that they have blundered less frequently may have made them proud and self-sufficient. On the other hand, many in the little flock will be of those who have made greater mistakes, and this has kept them in a humble condition of mind, and thus helped them to make their calling and election sure. So that will not be the difference. What will be the difference?

The apostle in our text was writing of enlargement. He says to the Corinthians, "Our mouth is open unto you; our heart is enlarged." He says, "Ye are not straitened in us." In other words, he is speaking antithetically. We are enlarged. You are not straitened in us; it is something in your own affections. "O, ye Corinthians, we beseech you as if you were our children, Be ye enlarged." Let us inquire what this means. What did the Apostle mean when he exhorted them to be enlarged? What is the nature of this enlargement?

We reply, in the first place, it means enlargement of faith, enlargement of loyalty, enlargement of love, enlargement of all the Christian graces. Among those who have given their lives to the service of the Master are some in whom an enlargement has taken place which has not taken place in others. Take the matter of zeal as an illustration. Some of the Lord's people do not want much zeal. They are afraid their zeal will become too great. Consequently their inclination is to hold back and smother their zeal, for fear it will burn as brightly as did the Master's. [PE396] We find this along various lines. For instance in the matter of circulating the truths which we have come to see in God's Word. A brother will write to the Tabernacle for some of the literature. He says, "Please send me 500 copies of the Bible Students Monthly to distribute in my neighborhood." He feels it will be very humiliating to do this; it will be very hard, but he must do something to satisfy his conscience. He only wants 500, and he will be so glad when they are out. By and by the parcel arrives. Instead of 500 their are 5,000 copies. "There" he says, "that is just the way; here they have sent me 5,000 instead of 500; how will I ever put them all out?" He did not have much zeal. We want to get into such attitude that when we have an experience like that we will go to the Lord in praise and say, "Lord, I thank you for this greater opportunity you have given me. I wanted to put out 500, and here you are giving me a larger privilege than I asked for. Now, Lord, help me to put out this greater number which I have received." We want to make progress along the lines of zeal.

We understand the great multitude class is a class who were eligible to a place in the little flock. They started in the proper way, and we understand that if they had continued, if they had kept going they would have obtained the prize. They did not want to be enlarged, beyond a certain point.

I can give a little illustration from my own experience. I was telling the friends some time ago of a little incident that happened on a Pennsylvania Railroad train. When the Conductor came through taking the tickets I said to him, "Captain, would you have any objection to my doing a little missionary work distributing a few of these tracts among your passengers?" He said, "No, you cannot." "O, I thought, "Why did I ask him?" Of course he might have stopped me if I had distributed them without permission, but then I would at least have had some of them circulated. Here are these people and many are going to ride a half day; perhaps there would have been nothing said; well, I have lost this opportunity. Why did I ever ask that conductor? Why didn't I distribute the tracts without asking?" Then I lifted my heart to the Lord and said, "Lord, I realize I have made a mistake. I know I should have gone right ahead. I ask you to forgive me. I know you have the power to make this conductor give me the privilege yet to do this work, even if he did refuse me. You have more power than the president of the railroad. I will not do this after being refused, for it will look bad, but if you want me to do this work you can arrange it." Shortly afterward the conductor passed me and said, "I am going into another car, and when I am in there I don't care what you do here; do what you want to."

A few years ago I would not have felt that way. I would have thought, [PE397] "I am so glad; my conscience is clear; if he had said I could distribute I would have felt that It must be done now I have done my duty." If I had stopped there; if my zeal had not gone beyond that I would have lost my crown and landed in the great company class. The question is, how much zeal do we want? Do we want our zeal enlarged to a certain degree, and then stop. It is so easy for us to draw a line around our zeal and limit it with the thought of duty. We say, "I have done my part. I do not think the Lord expects me to do more. I have done as much as sister and brother So and so."

The crown is to those who become enlarged. Some years ago I used to think that the Lord had given me the opportunities of the Pilgrim service, and that he did not expect me to distribute literature. I thought it was not my work. I feel differently about it now. No matter what I am doing, I want to do more. I am sorry that I am limited in so many ways. I am longing to receive the nature that will not be limited. But I realize that in order to receive that illimitable nature and life I must now develop a mind and spirit to fit into it. In 2 Cor. 5; the apostle tells us that if our earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He is here referring to the heavenly body. In other words, it seems to me, from certain Scriptural inferences that while we are preparing the spirit down here for the body, in heaven the body is being prepared for us. The thought is that when we have finished our course here we will not have to wait for the Lord to get a body ready for us; He will not have to hurry to get the body made quickly. The body is being developed while we are getting the spirit ready to go with it. Whatever we do to develop the spirit, there is a corresponding work going on in the preparation of the body. If today you are developing a little more zeal, the Lord makes room for it in the body. You have the regulation of the growth of that body. It depends on what is going on down here. If we are retarding the development of zeal down here, that body will not grow up there. If we hold back the development here they will hold back the work on that body. We want our zeal to grow until, in the Lord providence, we will be ready for the enlarged body.

The text does not refer only to enlargement of zeal, but also enlargement of faith. I believe as time goes on we are realizing that we have got to get more faith. Our faith must grow and develop, and as it becomes deeper and firmer the Lord grants more experiences to help along the enlargement of faith. I had an experience recently which it may do good to tell the friends about. Brother Russell has been real busy since coming to the coast. He was expected at Riverside last night. A few days ago it seemed impossible for him to reach Riverside last night. [PE398] Brother Rutherford told me I would be expected to substitute. I started at once to pray for the meeting at Riverside. I thought that the Lord wants us to work as well as to pray, so I wrote Brother Russell, stating how important it was that he come to Riverside; that the friends there had gone to a great deal of trouble and expense in making preparations and it would be disappointing if he could not come. Even last night there seemed not to be much prospect of his being there. But in the Lord's providence he came. I really believe it was a fruit of faith and prayer. It is really wonderful what we can get by faith. We cannot expect the Lord to give us these experiences if we have not the faith.

What will this mean? It will mean that we will have greater faith that the Lord makes allowances for our imperfections, and our faith will be enlarged in spite of our shortcomings and failures. I believe that takes more faith than anything else. It does not take much faith to believe that you will have the Lord's blessing when you can do a great work in His service. It does not take much faith to believe you will have the Lord's favor and approval when all things are going well. But it does take faith to keep steadfastly pressing onward when you stumble; to trust God, even when you do not have the same evidence that you are one of His servants as some others; to have faith even when you cannot trace Him. It is thus our faith becomes enlarged; it is in this way our fait h becomes strong. No matter what our experiences, or when, we will have faith to still trust, and leave matters in the Lord's hands.

But this not only means enlargement of faith. As well as enlargement of fait h and zeal it means enlargement of love. I think this is an important part of our enlargement. How much love do we lack? How may our love become enlarged? Peter asked Jesus that question. He said, "Lord, how often must I forgive my brother? Until seven times?" Jesus said, "Why Peter, not seven times, but seventy times seven," or 490 times. Peter might have said, "Master, suppose, I do forgive my brother 490 times, and then he comes to me the 491st time, I will not have to forgive him that time, will I?" I can imagine the Lord saying, "Peter, if you can get to the place where you can forgive him 490 times you can easily forgive him the 491st time. We need to be very careful that we have the Lord's spirit in large measure along this line; that our forgiveness of a brother is not merely a perfunctory matter. We should not be like a minister we knew about in Indiana. He was well known there. In the town in which he lived was a man who was not a very good character in many respects-he was always willing to do all sorts of daring things. One day when quite a crowd had gathered at a store in town he walked up to the minister and said, "Do you think you are a Christian?" The minister said, "Yes sir, I am a Christian." "Do you think you are doing [PE399] what Jesus told his followers to do?" The preacher replied that he was doing so to the best of his ability. He said, "Don't you know that Jesus told His disciples if a man would slap him on one check to turn to him the other?" The preacher said he knew that. The he said "I am going to test you," and he slapped the preacher in the face. The minister turned the other side and he slapped him on that. Then the minister said, "I have done what the Lord gave instructions to do, but He did not say what we should do after that," and he knocked the man down. There is much of that spirit in the world today-the disposition to obey in a superficial manner. Let us seek not to have a little measure of brotherly love but a large measure of brotherly love; a large measure of the spirit that prompts us to be our brother's keeper. Let us have that love to the degree that we will not want to put one stone of stumbling in the way of a brother, or do anything that might trip up a brother, or bring spiritual injury to another. If our love is enlarged we will consider these things.

How can I stumble my brother? Am I doing things that would stumble him, rather than such things as would make him stronger in his faith, stronger in his loyalty to God? I knew of a brother some time ago who was very careful to do everything scripturally, but I am afraid he does not always get the spirit of it. A brother did something against him. He went to that brother with it. The Brother would not listen to him. He took two or three other brethren and went again. The brother would not listen then. He then thought best to bring the matter before the church. There was quite a little difficulty over the matter. In speaking of it the brother said, "I followed the scriptural rule; I went to the brother and told him about his fault." It seems when he went to the brother he delivered a sort of ultimatum to him. The object in going to a brother is not to make him merely admit that he was wrong, but to encourage the spirit of love and remove the difficulty; that you may help your brother, and that you may be helped by him. How careful we must be along these lines-how particular. It should not be a matter of our own convenience or comfort, but the question should be, how can I bless my brother; where can I be a help to him? I think this enlargement takes that it, too. Be ye also enlarged. Have you just a little of the Lord's spirit, and do not want any more? Do you say, "I would not want as much of the Lord's spirit as to forgive the brother altogether who treated me that way? Of course I do not want to have any real bad, hateful feelings in my heart, but I do not want to feel too kind toward that brother." Then you do not wish to be enlarged.

We notice another lesson here. The apostle shows that the result of this enlargement will be that the Lord can have free course in them. [PE400] You will notice how he expresses it in the 16th verse, "Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them." There are two thoughts, two ideas here-I will dwell in them and walk in them. While the apostle used the usual Greek word for walk, he made it up in an original way by putting in several prefixes, so that it really means to walk round about in them. In other words, "I will dwell in them, and walk round about within them." When the Lord accepts us in consecration, He dwells in us, but He cannot walk round about in us yet. There is not room. We are filled up with everything else. The Lord might want to walk into our tongue and get us to say something to His glory, but He cannot get into it because we are so filled with fear that people will laugh at us. He may want to get into our hands and get us to hand a tract to somebody, but He cannot get in because we are so filled with the fear of men. He may want to get into our feet and have us deliver a message to someone, but He cannot get in because the feet are so full of tired feelings. He may want to get into our pocket-book and get us to spend a few dollars to glorify Him, but He cannot get in because that is mortgaged to buy an automobile. We do not mean that it would necessarily be wrong to have an automobile, for many of the brethren use their automobiles to the glory of God. We are to make room for the Lord so He may walk round about in us. We are to make room so He can walk into our tongue and use it to His glory. What is the difference if people laugh? We want to make room so He may walk into our feet. What is the difference if there is a tired feeling in our feet? Let us say, "Lord, I am tired, but I will go and do work for you in spite of my tired feelings." We want to let the Lord into our pocket-books. What difference if we had planned to spend the money in a certain way? If the Lord shows us how we can use the money more to His glory we want to use it that way. We want to let the Lord walk round about in us, as we become enlarged.

This is one respect in which we are brought out "into a large place." We read in the book of Revelation of the New Jerusalem as a picture of the church. You remember the City measured twelve thousand furlongs each way. That would cover an immense area. Suppose we divide twelve furlongs square by 144,000, how large a space would each occupy? About 13 square miles. We must be that big or we will not get into the New Jerusalem. How big are we? Two acres? We are not big enough for the New Jerusalem. Some may say, "I believe I am six or seven square miles." You are only half large enough for the New Jerusalem. Keep on enlarging more and more, and by and by you will become so big that no nature will fit you except the divine nature. If you have the zeal and earnestness that you should have you cannot be [PE401] satisfied here. If you were put into an angelic body it would not be sufficient. No nature would fit but the illimitable divine nature. That is the nature of the Lord, our Redeemer. We understand that is the reason why the Lord promises us divine bodies, and not because He arbitrarily planned that way. He gives us such experiences as are designed to develop in us a spirit that would not be fit for any other nature than that. If He were to take such a spirit and put it into an angelic body it would be like a man with a number ten foot trying to wear a number six shoe. But take a man who has not that spirit; one who says, "I have gone as far as I want to; I hope the Lord will not give me any more opportunities for service; I wish the Lord would not give me any better health because if I had better health He would expect me to do more." Put that spirit into a divine body and it would be too big. It would be like a man with a number six foot trying to wear a number ten shoe. He would wobble all around in them.

We are glad the dear Lord has made this so clear to us, and that His grace is working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. The more we think of Him the more we want to think. We want to go farther, and draw closer and closer to God. While we are content now, we can look forward with joy to that glorious time when we shall be like Him, when we shall be with Him, when we shall see Him as He is, and when we can do all that we want to do; when we can use that infinite, unsearchable, illimitable influence and power to glorify Him who doeth all things well.