In submitting to my brethren in Christ the notes of lectures, on the blessing conferred by the Lord in the midst of His own gathered to His name, I desire to awaken interest in this great subject, assured that it is as we know Him, "Son over his own" [God's] "house", that we in every detail correspond to His pleasure here.
May every reader of these notes be not only helped by them, but may he learn much more from the Lord for himself. "Unto you that hear shall more be given".
J. B. STONEY
THE LORD'S PRESENCE AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS
"For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them", Matthew 18: 20.
It may appear to some, that this is a very elementary subject, but it is a subject which I trust we shall see is of great magnitude; and in fact, the more we learn of it, the more we shall see how little we do know, but we shall long to know it more.
I propose to look at the fact of the Lord's presence, though I cannot go much into detail, but I hope, if the Lord permit, to go on with the subject, and to point out the marks connected with His presence. But I desire to confine myself this evening, to what His presence is. It is a fact. You may not think it necessary to insist on this, but I feel assured that it is; because though I have no doubt that, thank God, many have faith that He is actually present yet, the mass of believers have only a conviction that it is so - and conviction is not faith. There are three classes which generally compose the assembly meetings: those who have faith and who enjoy His presence; those with conviction, who believe the truth and who would not go anywhere else; and those there from imitation. The two latter do not hinder the Lord's presence, only the first enjoy His presence. To enjoy it is a very different thing from being merely convinced that it is the right way. Though I cannot, this evening, dwell upon the character of the company He comes to, subsequently I hope to do so. I confine myself this evening to His actual presence, and I must try to explain why it is necessary to consider this elementary subject.
I do not know any subject that is more misunderstood or commonly adopted than this very subject. I was in a place lately where there were five meetings, and they all assumed to be on the ground of this verse, yet they were each opposed to the other; there was no inter-communion. Well, there must be something radically defective in the meaning given to this passage to admit of such a state of things, and all I have to say is, we must learn what the right meaning is. This principle I get in Timothy, in the last days. When the apostle has gone - in times that were unknown to the apostle, Timothy was to stand, and he was to battle with the magicians of that day. What was the attempt of the magicians? To neutralise the power of God by imitating it. And what was Timothy to do? He was to "continue"; but "their" [the magicians of the day] "folly shall be made manifest unto all men". We do not at once overthrow the magicians of this day; no, what we have to do is to stand. "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of". Moses did not retreat when he saw the magicians working. He went on and prospered. You have to learn and be assured that you know His presence, and that you have the marks which accompany His presence. I hope to present consecutively the marks or guard of His presence which are known to those gathered to His name, and which are proof positive that you have His presence. There can be nothing more definite than that He is in the midst of them. The very words are used in Luke 24: 36, "in the midst of them". Now the first thing I dwell on is the fact that He is really present; and I cannot for myself conceive anything greater than the actuality of His presence.
What can I speak of greater than that? What can I present to a young believer greater than the simple fact - I can conduct you to a spot where you will actually know the presence of your Saviour? I can understand a young believer saying, Well if I had to go fifty miles, I would go. What could delight his heart more than to be actually in the presence of his Saviour? Well, it is a fact; because some might think it an action of the Spirit of God. No doubt, if you had not the Spirit of God you could not recognise His presence; and if there were not the Spirit of God, there would be no communication between you and Christ. And remember, it is not the presence of Jesus as He was in humiliation, but as He is in glory, that He comes into the midst of His gathered people. A greater thing could not be on earth. He comes here - here, where He was rejected, in all the moral dignity of the heavenly atmosphere, the Lord in glory. "Where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them". It was to the disciples who knew His presence, He said this; they knew very well what His presence was, though then they only knew Him as the meek and lowly One. I turn to a passage in the Old Testament to look at it in type - for it is only brought out in its great living reality now - but if you look at the type, the ark of the covenant and the cherubim of glory, they typify the presence of the Lord.
I turn to the passage merely to show that there was a type, for if there was a type you may be sure that the antitype is greater. "And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the LORD their God", Exodus 29: 45-46. I could turn to many passages, but I trust you will search them out, because it is easy to find out references in connection with God dwelling among His people. The word that is called "dwell" there, in the popular translation of the Old Testament is, "I fix my name there"; it is not simply dwelling. It is not any point of learning, but it is interesting to understand, that in the Septuagint, which, to the Jew, was very much what the English translation is to us, they expressed that "dwelling" by "His name there". But I go outside revelation now, to ascertain the opinion of the people of Israel or their teachers about it. They adopted a word which is common amongst us, though it is not found in the Bible, and that is 'the Shekinah'.
Now the word Shekinah simply comes from dwelling; that is the derivation of the word, but they attached to it something else, some glorious manifestation. I only give you those two as showing you what an idea was connected with the type. Every believer can come into His presence, he has a right to come into the holiest of all; and in the holiest of all was the ark of the covenant, the type of our Lord Jesus Christ, and God said, "There will I meet with you". Now the antitype to that is the presence of the Lord in the midst of His own, gathered together to His name. There was only one ark of the covenant. It could not be with Israel and Judah too. Jeroboam set up calves in Dan and at Bethel to wile away the hearts of the people from the place where God had set His name. I do not dwell on this, I desire this evening to confine myself to the solemn blessedness of the fact - The Lord of glory in the midst of His own assembly. With Israel it was a cloud of glory, for us the Lord of glory. "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office", Exodus 29: 43-44. "And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle", Exodus 40: 33-34. Moses had seen in the mount - a figure of the true, the heavenly; and when he had set it up, the cloud of glory filled it. Now in heavenly dignity the Lord comes into the midst. He could not come in an earthly order. The tabernacle was a heavenly thing in the midst of Israel. Now I trust further on to be able to show you that, when the Lord was rejected here, He said, I will have My assembly - mark the word 'my' - I lay great stress upon the word 'my'. That gives it all its character. How could it be His assembly if He were not there?
"The assembly of the living God", it is called in another place; "living", I believe, because He is there in His activity. And that assembly will be an impregnable fortress upon the earth. Some will tell you it is all broken up; but His assembly is impregnable; it is very plain and very strong language, but there it is, it is impregnable, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it". That is not in heaven at all, it is on earth. And, therefore, when He speaks of all the evil in this world, speaking of how the kingdom of heaven fails here among men, He says, My treasure is there. I only allude to that to show, that at no moment in the history of the church, though you may speak of its being dismantled, and of its carved work being broken down with axes and hammers, yet you never can set aside the fact, that the power of the Lord is connected with it, that He abides faithful. You may not abide faithful, that is very likely, a great many have not, but He does. That is a great matter. Where was the breakdown in Israel? With Aaron and his sons. Where? just as they were going into the holiest; in the very brightest spot. And what then? Aaron's sons were reduced to two; but they had the high priest with them, and though reduced to two, we may have the Lord; we have still the One who will stand by His own and maintain His own according to His pleasure, while the assembly is here. But that I only dwell on to show that the presence remains with the two or three. I have brought before you what I hope you all admit, and I trust we may know it more sensibly. I often ask myself the question, Am I going really to meet the Lord? What an effect it would have upon us all!
In the Old Testament we find, when the Lord appeared there was a sensible effect. Man was appalled. I do not believe that is the effect now, the flesh is not recognised now at all. The Lord's presence is only known to faith, and therefore something morally beyond the flesh. In the same way with the Holy Spirit - the world seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him. He is known only to faith. Little as I do know Him, there we are, this is something greater than the type. Now I trust I have made it plain to you all, that we have something greater than the type. If I asked the youngest child in the whole company of Israel, Do you know God is dwelling here? He would say, Yes, there is the tabernacle and the cloud dwelling on it. Now surely you will admit, that the antitype is greater than the type.
We are come to the fulfilment of the word of God. There is not a single thing that is gone before according to the purpose of God, that you do not find now established in full vigour in the blessed Lord whom we represent here. You admit, I trust, the reality of His presence, that is all I want. In Luke 24: 36, and in John 20: 19, you get a pattern of it. I do not think you get the thing fully, but you get a pattern of the Lord in the midst of them. "The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord", He "came and stood in the midst". The Lord Jesus Christ takes His own place in the midst of His assembly. "My assembly", and He says, "Peace be unto you"; not a cloud. This is introductory. I desire that we should all pray to understand this better. Now I think this is settled, and I go on to the characteristics; I trust I shall have your prayers.
I am quite surprised that any soul should think that he was not doing service by praying, for it is wonderful how the answer comes, and thus the Lord encourages us. I have found that, if I went on praying, the Lord would surely answer. I say this, that we might co-operate with one another. Now turn to Hebrews 8: 1, 2, "Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: 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".
"A minister of the sanctuary" should be of "the holy places"; it is plural, therefore it means the holiest - "which the Lord pitched and not man". And who were associated with the high priest there? Aaron's sons. And we are of Christ, priests with Him in the holiest - in that sense, Christ's sons. The Lord is actually there, and in heavenly order. The imitation of the thing only proves there is a great reality. People do not counterfeit farthings, they counterfeit sovereigns. Now tonight I dwell on the characteristics of His presence; and the next time, on the marks. I say this just to give you an idea of the difference between what I call the marks and the characteristics of His presence - the presence of the Lord of glory, and that He cannot be with two companies opposed to each other.
This evening I prove to you that He is present, and give you the characteristics which prove it. On another occasion, I will show you the marks which prove that you have been there. The thing is so great; you could not be there without being affected by it, without being conscious of the effects - not one of them only, or some of them, but all of them. Well, there is nothing plainer, I think it will commend itself to every one here, and I need not detain you much upon it, though it is a most interesting subject.
1. The first is that in His presence you have not a cloud; if there is a cloud you do not enjoy His presence and, the lack of this enfeebles our worship meetings, you are occupied with your state, you are not enjoying His presence, you are occupied with the effect of light.
Every believer knows what it is; he is not conscientious if he does not. It is just like a person who is preparing to be presented to some great personage - he must get himself ready, and by the very light of the place - if I may use such a figure - he looks in the mirror to see if he is all right. And if you watch meetings with any interest, you will find as a rule that it is state that occupies us first, we are not yet quite ready for the presence. And very often you find at our meetings the breaking of bread is put off to an indefinite period, simply because there has been no preparation, no readiness for it; the happier we are, the more earnestly we shall seek it. The breaking of bread should characterise the whole week. Every one true hearted knows that that is the thing he longs for; he feels, I am in the place where He is, and the first thing I do is to call to mind what that blessed One suffered to bring me to this wonderful place, where He is Himself; and I am so happy, so without a cloud, so restful in His presence, that I really lend myself heartily to call Him to mind, and His death sets me in this unclouded bliss. Now you see how it is. You are without a spot - you must be, or you could not be there.
He is the minister of the holy places; you could not be there without holiness. There is not a shade. I am as clear as if I were in heaven. I press upon you the reality of this. "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me". A greater thing to us, beloved friends, than the cloud of glory on the tabernacle. That was to the natural sight, this to the spiritual sight; by faith we see Him. Turn to Joshua 5: 10-11. There you get the type of the Lord's supper, and of the Lord's supper on heavenly ground, and you must be in the Spirit to touch heavenly things. If you are not in unclouded bliss in the presence of your Saviour in glory, you cannot remember Him. I call Him to mind who brought me to this unclouded blessedness by His own work - so at ease in His presence that I dwell on His death. To many the Lord's supper is only as the Passover in Egypt; that was appropriation, and let me tell you, appropriation is not remembrance. But that is not all. "And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover", Joshua 5: 11. "The morrow", means a new phase, you turn over, as it were, a new leaf: you have dwelt upon what He went through; that is, the Passover; now, you are feeding on the One who went through it all. In John 20, when He came in, He said, "Peace be unto you". You could not enjoy His presence without it. If you really understand it, you would be deeply affected by His presence.
The Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst of His own, on that earth where He was crucified; He has gone down into His garden to eat His pleasant fruits; He has gone to be in the midst of those gathered to His name, that He may delight His heart with those around Him for whom He died - that is the wonder of the thing - where with wicked hands He was crucified and slain. The Passover in Egypt is the appropriation of the benefit of Christ's work. It hinders our worship meetings when you are occupied with the benefits that Christ wrought for you by His death, instead of dwelling upon what He went through to procure the wonderful blessedness which you enjoy in His presence. The fact that the disciples knew very well what His presence was makes it very definite. Nothing could make up for it; if all the angels were to come, it would not make up for it; the presence of the Holy Spirit would not make up for it; it was His presence they knew.
It is not the same thing to an individual as it is in the assembly, though the Lord in a peculiar way does manifest Himself to His servants - Paul, for instance. What I dwell on is - and it is a great characteristic - that there is not a shade of distance between Him and me, there is no one's presence in which I so thoroughly rest, One who knows me entirely, and who has removed everything that would cause the slightest shade between Him and me. You are at perfect rest then. And without it how could you draw near to Him? Could there be a cloud between Him and you, in heaven? Neither should there be in this room. If there is a cloud you cannot remember Him, so in Luke 24, before the Lord took His place in the assembly, He settled with Peter. A person going to an earthly court, could not go but in court trim, he would not gain admission otherwise; he could not be allowed in; it would be the height of presumption to attempt it. In Christendom there is a week's preparation before going to the sacrament, and though I do not approve the way it is done, I do approve the principle and object of it. Why is the breaking of bread often delayed in our meetings? The preparation is going on; we are not ready. Coming into Christ's assembly, you come not only as saved, but as a living stone, a constituent part of His assembly. I trust it is plain thus far, first, that Christ is actually present in our midst, more so a great deal than ever the type was; and the sense of it to our hearts no one can tell.
Here I am worried and fretted with all the varieties of this antagonistic scene, and it is not that I come to a tabernacle that has come down from heaven, and where all things are heavenly, but I am come into the presence of One, who has brought a heavenly atmosphere with Him, so that I am in heavenly influence; as the Psalmist could say, I long to see Thee so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Think of such language! Do you know anything about it? Thank God that we have even tasted of it. I feel how very little I do, still I am here to enjoy the presence of the Lord, to be in another sphere, to be shut out of everything worldly, to breathe a heavenly atmosphere; there is not a disturbance. A person may be prevented by illness - I feel very much what a mercy it is not to be hindered from coming to the Lord's presence - but some say, Cannot you have it in your own room? Yes. But you cannot have it in the same way, because, when the Lord meets you in your own room, it is with relation to what you need; when you meet with Him in His assembly, you meet Him in relation to His interests. I hope I make it clear. It is worth your bearing it in mind. When He comes to me, and He does come to us, thank the Lord, He leaves none of us, He supplies to me what I require. But when I meet Him in God's house I meet Him in relation to His own interests. And hence He propounds, as you find in Psalm 22, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee". I am introduced into a new thing, a new region. The things of the Father are then made known. Well, now, that is the first characteristic of His presence, and I trust that it will be accepted by every one of you. I press it, that if you do not enjoy His presence without a cloud - and you cannot enjoy it if you have a cloud - you cannot know what His presence is.
Saul of Tarsus spent three days without eating or drinking. Doubtless he was learning what Christ went through for him, and he tells us, it pleased God to reveal His Son in him. What joy to his heart along the road to taste of His presence! We have not it in its fulness yet, but we taste of it. And if you were to depart from this world, what would you have? You would have it without a break; but you have tasted of it already, you have to do with Him. Then you read in Joshua 3, "This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee". I believe the soul has the sense of the Lord in such a distinct way, that He is sufficient, and everything here put aside. The beginning is the whole point; begin rightly and there is no fear of you.
2. Now if you accept the first characteristic, it is very easy to go to the second. And the second characteristic is, that you are in heavenly trim.
You belong to a new scene, to a new order of things, you are heavenly. How could you get in at all, unless you are of that new sphere? And that sphere is heaven.
3. The third characteristic is you are at home. You are a son in the Father's house, a son in this new sphere; at home.
All you have is there, you have nothing here, no property here; what you have here, you will lose. You have no title to it. Use what you have for the Lord here, and then, by-and-by, you will be recompensed.
4. The fourth characteristic is you are beside yourself. Now do not think that this is transcendentalism. I say, it is of immense moment to understand this effect, and it is a characteristic of His presence that cannot be assumed. It cannot be imitated. And it is a fact,
"To God I am beside myself"; I am apart from everything of man, that is what it is. It is to me one of the greatest characteristics. I forget everything but Himself; my greatest mercy, forgotten; my greatest sorrow, forgotten! How can I be at home there, and be in any way connected morally with the man, a sinner? Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of it, he was entranced - in an ecstasy, though people do not like the word 'ecstasy', but it is the word translated elsewhere, "I was in a trance". A person asks me, How do you know you are in the Lord's presence? I say I have lost sight of everything but Himself. How long did it last? I do not know, it might last a minute; but it is a great thing to get the sense of it, because the sense of it proves the verity. One minute proves the reality, though I do not want to limit you to one minute. If I could get every one in this room to say, I know that is true, that is all I ask; it is positively true, I am lost to everything else. It is like the queen of Sheba, there was no spirit left in her. How could it be otherwise? You see, it is not that you feel that you have lost anything, but the remarkable nature of it is this, that you are quite surprised how a great many things you considered absolutely necessary to you, in His presence are not so at all. One may say, But do you mean to tell me that I could do without food and raiment? I do not say that; but I say that, when you are happy in the presence of the Lord, you do not think of earthly things as necessary. Was the queen of Sheba thinking of her place in Abyssinia, or of her jewels? She had lost sight of them all. Did she feel it a privation? Not a bit, she had no privation. That is what I want the heart to get hold of; no privation whatever, but on the contrary, I found the sufficiency of the Lord, and instead of feeling I had a privation, I never was so happy. It was not that she was merely absorbed, but so sensible of the bliss she was in, that she breaks forth in acknowledgments, this is another characteristic. This characteristic necessarily follows on your being beside yourself, but I must turn your attention to it a little more. If you are really beside yourself, and find you do not want anything, your cup is full and flowing over, you cannot contain yourself, you must worship. Worship is the outflow of a full cup. What could you do? You could not keep silent. It is not that a brother gives out a hymn to raise the meeting; not at all. I say, get into the presence of the Lord. When you are in the enjoyment of His presence, lost in all the blessedness into which you are brought, your heart is so filled that you cannot restrain yourselves. Some may say, Must we express it out loud? The Lord may tell one of you to express it out loud; but you must take care that if He does not tell you to express it out loud, you are out of order to do so. He has His chosen vessels or instruments for that purpose, but you must not suppose that those who do not express it out loud do not worship.
5. I am speaking of the characteristics of the Lord's presence. I have spoken of four, I am now dwelling on the fifth, which I have no doubt every one who has been in it knows, and that is, that I am so sensible of the blessedness that I am in, that I worship the Father.
How blessed He must be to bless me in this way! It is not looking for blessing, it is not praying, it is adoration, I break forth in acknowledgments; Christ leads me to the Father. I am now in a new region, and in this new sphere all is heavenly, made so by His own presence. I am presenting to you deep realities. For example, take the prodigal son. You have fed on the fatted calf, and now what do you do? I bless the Father, and therefore I read, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" "The Father seeketh such to worship him". It is the delight of the heart to adore the One who has blessed me so much. At the Lord's supper there are two parts: first, I recall Him in what He went through; second, I am listening to Himself. Turn to Psalm 22, there are two volumes in it, the first ends at verse 21. Twenty-one verses recount His sufferings. Then verse 22 introduces a new thing, the present thing, "I will declare thy name unto my brethren". Where? "In the midst of the congregation will I sing praise unto thee". That shows you He is there. The apostle translates this in Hebrews, "In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee". This is all experimental; it is not teaching at all. I might as well say to a man, If the sun were up, what would happen? There would be light. It is experimental. The next characteristic that I desire to bring before you, will very easily occur to you, it is a larger one than any I have named.
We have His actual presence, and the first thing is you find there is not a cloud. He has now made you sensible there is not a shade between Him and you. He has removed all Himself, and you are delighted. Well then, you are beside yourself. And then you worship. Now what next?
6. The sixth characteristic or effect of His presence is that you are edified. Now I think this very important, because I see some who read the Bible a great deal, but with no result. They enjoy the word greatly, but they are not edified. I do not think anything edifies but the Lord Himself. I will give you a very simple scripture for it - Luke 24.
Familiar passages always help much. The better you know a scripture, the more it yields you. The greatest exposition that ever was, the two disciples listened to, and you would expect great results from it. No. Only their hearts burned within them; it did not produce any change in their course, they said, It is too late to go any farther, and they asked Him in. He went in, and He was known to them in breaking of bread, it was the figure of His own death, a fitting opportunity for Him to reveal Himself, and what then? They must go to Jerusalem - eight miles off, though it was too late to go any farther a few minutes ago. "And they rose up the same hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them". See, what an effect! Mark, that same hour they rose up and returned to Jerusalem, and what had produced it? His presence! The impression I have is, that if one only reads the word and one does not realise the presence of the Lord, he is like one with plenty of ore; silver, or gold, or whatever it is, he does not know what to do with it, he has no mould. The presence of the Lord fashions me. He is the mould; I am changed. Many a man has a great deal of Bible knowledge, like a lot of ore, but he has not a mould and it is no use. Let him see the Lord, that will make all the difference; He will put it into shape, his ore is of use now. A child learns manners at home; he is shaped by those he is with. The presence of the Lord produces conformity to His mind, and that alone. I have read much of the Bible, but can I say to myself, You are a transcript of the word? "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only". It is beholding of the Lord's glory that has the effect upon me. You get a sample in Philippians 4. But how do you get "the peace of God"? When you are near Him. You get the peace of God from Himself; and that is the moral effect of the word. I am transformed - metamorphosed - into the same image. One might say, I was at the meeting, and there was not much said, but I really found the Lord there and I gained much from His presence - that is edification.
Edification is building up; any builder would say, to add brick to brick. Love edifies. Knowledge puffs up. I have no doubt you were eating of the corn of the land. How could you be in His company, and not be affected by it? What is moral weight? A man who is really walking with the Lord, if he comes into your room, you know he has an effect upon you, and he is only a reflection of the Lord's glory. It is like the moon's light from the sun. The Lord chooses His servants to minister. It is not simply the word uttered that edifies, many a soul is edified without ministry. It is not that I make little of ministry, because I have no doubt that ministry produces an effect; the secrets of the heart are made manifest. But what I dwell on is that, if a person enjoys the presence of Christ, he does not leave the room as he came into it; he is edified, he has acquired something of Christ. Like those two disciples going to Emmaus, they were made very intelligent in the scriptures about the Lord, but when they saw Himself, they went to Jerusalem. He never told them to go, but they went the same way that He went, and while they were telling the tale, how He was seen and known of them in the breaking of bread, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them. A greater thing. His presence at Emmaus put them in communion, they went the road He did. They had seen Him. Like a bee, if it gets any honey it goes to the hive with it, a wasp would eat it. People say, Oh! I can enjoy the Lord in my room. Very likely. But that is not the same thing as knowing Him in His assembly. I believe we have very little sense of His assembly. The queen of Sheba went to king Solomon; and not king Solomon to the queen of Sheba.
7. The seventh characteristic is, where the presence of the Lord is, there is power.
There are plenty of insubordinate spirits, and you always find that the bad spirits are always ready to help any bad spirit, but they are kept in check. How? The Lord's presence kept them silent. I have seen it in discipline meetings, they will often talk wildly after a meeting is over, but why did they not talk while it was going on? They could not. The power of the Lord's presence held them in check, and you could not have His presence without it. What I insist on is - the actuality of His presence. On the next occasion I hope to dwell on the character and responsibility of those who compose His assembly. I need not say any more now.
The Lord lead our hearts to enter into the reality of coming together in the name of the Lord. The Lord grant that we may pray more about it, and we shall long to be gathered to His name and obtain the blessing which flows from it.
