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clothing and other necessities of life. The "natural" is placed over against the spiritual,
for the spiritual is supernatural and is enjoyed on resurrection ground.
In complete contrast with the spiritual blessings of the mystery, are the "carnal" or
"natural" blessings of the law.
"Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field . . . . . blessed
shall be thy basket and thy store . . . . . the Lord shall command the blessing upon thee
in thy storehouses . . . . . the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods . . . . ."
(Deut. 28: 1-13).
"Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in His ways. For thou shalt
eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy
wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house, thy children shall be like olive
trees round about thy table" (Psa. 128: 1-3).
How completely opposite all this is from the experience of the believer under the
dispensation of grace. Like Paul, he may know what it is to suffer need, to be in want,
to know what it is to be continually in trouble. He will have no guarantee of a settled
dwelling place, he has no promise of special protection during periods of danger, his
"basket and store" may show impoverishment, while the ungodly may appear to prosper.
It would be foolish to assess a man's spiritual worth to-day by the size of his bank
balance, or the weight of his watch chain. Eph. 1: 3 does not speak of daily bread, of
dwelling place, of home comforts or of business success, it visualizes a new plane, the
spiritual, which is on resurrection ground. The earnest of our inheritance is not a bunch
of grapes as it was when the spies returned with the grapes of Eschol, neither are our
enemies men of flesh and blood, but spiritual foes.
The individual believer, like the rest of mankind must needs find the means of living
and provide things honest in the sight of all men, but these come to him as the blessings
of the wilderness. They are no more "spiritual blessings" than the "manna" of the
wilderness was the fruit of the land of promise. A member of the one body may be rich
or poor, sick or well, troubled or tranquil, but such conditions have no reference to "every
blessing that is spiritual" for two reasons, i.e., their nature and their sphere.
This second reason refers of course to the words "in heavenly places" but this subject
must occupy our attention when next we meet.