EXTRACT

The line between righteousness and lawlessness is clearly marked out in the path of Christ, so He is anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows; the fellows too are anointed; we can say, we are privileged to say, We are His companions—the house of God is down here.

We are brought into the place of companions of Christ, and what is the effect? We get all impulse from Christ, we are indebted to Him for all impulse; if we get love in His circle we get it in Christ. The great weakness at the present time is that so many do not recognise His circle. We find love there and gladness prevailing. He gives the impulse to both these. He is pre-eminent; there too we discern between good and evil—“have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil”; we are not influenced by the fear or favour of man—these two are very dangerous to a saint.

We want to be controlled by the word of God, that is, by Christ. We want to have the appreciation of Christ, that is the way. He loved righteousness and He hated lawlessness, and we appreciate these things in Him. It is not imitation that will do it, it is appreciation of Christ, and that leads to affection; then we seek to walk in His path. We must not yield to the lawlessness that is in the world; the path is clearly marked out for us, for He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. We shall follow in Christ’s path as we .appreciate Him, and then we shall be more truly His companions.

F. E. Raven (Vol. 16, pp.271, 272)

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