EXTRACT

I would remark as to the young, that the work of God in them will always show itself in outward smallness, the Lord Himself being the example for us, from the outset of our spiritual history. We are told that in youthfulness He was in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, not seeking out persons of His own age, but in the midst of the doctors. The young would do well to follow that as an example; and whilst not specially accrediting the doctors of Jerusalem, the suggestion is that they were persons who had knowledge; and at that stage of the Lord’s life such an attitude was seemly. He sat in the midst of them. He was not teaching them as yet.

It is well that the young people should learn how to sit in the midst of those who know more than they; not that that applies to our Lord, because He is a divine Person, but as an example He was sitting there, both hearing and asking questions. That is another important thing, because you may hear many things that are not quite clear to you, and it is well to ask questions. He sat there as the instructed, as He had referred to Himself in spirit in Isaiah 50. He was given the tongue of the instructed that He might speak a word to him that was weary, and then His ear was opened as the instructed. Such was the wonderful stoop of our Lord in becoming Man. His attitude was perfectly right and seemly in every stage of His blessed life here on earth. He both heard and asked questions. I am only referring to the Lord as an example. Understanding is a feature of the work of God in us, it implies ability to take in the thoughts presented. I speak to the young, that you may see how you are brought into this and learn how to be at the Lord’s disposal at all times. There is a beautiful word in 2 Samuel 23: 8 about David’s mighty men, their names are given, they belonged to him, they were part of his great realm, his kingdom, and one feature was that he had them. “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had”. The position is that they were at his disposal. J. Taylor (Vol. 39 pp.1, 2)

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