Basic HTML Version
Faithfulness in Social Meeting
125
the bottom of this, that God and angels witnessed the testimonies of
the saints and were well pleased and glorified by their being repeated
weekly. The Lord loves simplicity and humility, but He is displeased
and angels are grieved when professed heirs of God and joint heirs
with Jesus suffer precious time to run to waste in their meetings.
If the brethren and sisters were in the place they should be, they
would not be at a loss to find something to say in honor of Jesus,
who hung upon Calvary’s cross for their sins. If they would cherish
more of a realizing sense of the condescension of God in giving His
only beloved Son to die a sacrifice for our sins and transgressions,
and of the sufferings and anguish of Jesus to make a way of escape
for guilty man, that he might receive pardon and live, they would be
[116]
more ready to extol and magnify Jesus. They could not hold their
peace, but with thankfulness and gratitude would talk of His glory
and tell of His power. And blessings from God would rest upon them
by so doing. Even if the same story were repeated, God would be
glorified. The angel showed me those who ceased not day nor night
to cry, “Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” “Continued repetition,”
said the angel, “yet God is glorified by it.” Although we may tell the
same story over and over, it honors God, and shows that we are not
unmindful of His goodness and mercies to us.
I saw that the nominal churches have fallen; that coldness and
death reign in their midst. If they would follow the Word of God, it
would humble them. But they get above the work of the Lord. It is
too humiliating for them to repeat the same simple story of God’s
goodness when they meet together, and they study to get something
new, something great, and to have their words exact to the ear and
pleasing to man, and God’s Spirit leaves them. When we follow
the humble Bible way, we shall have the movings of the Spirit of
God. All will be in sweet harmony if we follow the humble channel
of truth, depending wholly upon God, and there will be no danger
of being affected by the evil angels. It is when souls get above the
Spirit of God, moving in their own strength, that the angels cease
watching over them, and they are left to the buffetings of Satan.
Duties are laid down in God’s Word, the performance of which
will keep the people of God humble and separate from the world, and
from backsliding, like the nominal churches. The washing of feet and
partaking of the Lord’s supper should be more frequently practiced.