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good measure too, being taken by our beloved brother. Our

beloved brother, who is now with Christ, was a father and this

is what we miss. But the Lord Jesus says, “He that has seen

me has seen the Father”. There is what was there in

substantial expression. What Jesus was, of course, gave

character to what He said and what He did, and so it was in

principle with our beloved brother; it was what he was

substantially which gave character to what he said and what

he did.

So I just leave this, beloved, because of the word of Paul, “not

many fathers”. May we take it on; may it be that, particularly

those of us who are older (although fathers are not all old

men), take on this feature so that there may be that found

among us in fatherly love and care which was found in our

beloved brother. And as to those of us who are younger, who

would in humility take the place of having known him as a

father, and thus of being his sons, let us seek grace and help

from the Lord Jesus, and from the Holy Spirit, like one who

could say, “I was a son unto my father”, Proverbs 4: 3. May

those of us who have felt the fatherly influence of our beloved

brother now come forward as worthy of having known such a

one and, in the grace of Christ and in dependence on the Holy

Spirit, be found here as filling up the place which we feel has

been left at this time. May the Lord help us in it for His name’s

sake.