EXTRACT – THE CIRCLE OF FELLOWSHIP

May we look, first of all, at what appears to have originally characterised the company of those who were privileged to be identified with the Lord Jesus Christ during His absence from this world. It will be seen, as we proceed, that what this company was at the first, so it is, in principle, at this moment. Failure and confusion have made no difference in the Lord's thoughts as to His own company here, and therefore those who seek to be true to Him can count fully, and without reserve, upon His faithfulness.

Now the reader hardly needs to be reminded that Christ has not yet entered upon His rights here. Whatever may be the thoughts and purposes of God concerning Him, it is only too evident that, for the present, He has no place here except in the hearts of His own. It is this fact which gives such a depth of meaning to a passage which, perhaps, has not received the attention it deserves: “For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come”, 1 Cor 11:26. We may have occasion to look a little more at this later on, but we may just say now that it throws great light upon the Christian's position, as far as this world is concerned. Why is it that we announce His death? Why not His life, or His resurrection, or His glory? The simple answer of the believer is that He to whom our hearts are now so closely attached has been refused and cast out here, and that just as death meant for the blessed Lord the closing-up of all His links with this world (for the world, as such, never saw Him again after His death) so, for those who are identified with Him, the associations which once we cherished and cultivated here have no longer any hold upon us. His death has severed the ties which once bound us here.

This great fact, when accepted, leads to much thought and exercise, but the true heart is not afraid of it; for, in His death, we see not only that which closed up for us everything here, but also that which opens the door to all that lies beyond. That which is really life is reached through death. It may seem difficult to apprehend this at first, but it no longer presents any difficulty when we remember that every blessing for the Christian is connected with Christ where He now is in the resurrection-scene, and not with Him where He was before His death. It is this fact which gives stability and joy to the soul. May every reader be led more and more into the knowledge of it.

Page 1 of “Notes on the Breaking of Bread”

T. Willey, Malvern, 1900

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