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That is the kind of Man we need to seek the company of, the

kind of Man that is acceptable to heaven and the kind of Man

that is filling heaven at this very moment. He is filling it with

joy. It says in Romans 6: 10, “but in that he lives, he lives to

God”. It is a wonderful matter for me to think of that. And,

beloved, He has just gone ahead of us. Very soon, where He

is we also shall be. He has gone into heaven ahead of us, our

great Forerunner. His words were,

“I go to prepare you a place; and if I go and shall prepare you

a place, I am coming again and shall receive you to myself,

that where I am ye also may be”.

Very soon He will come and He will receive us to Himself. How

precious that is! He will not merely receive us to heaven. I

think the suggestion of that would be too remote, but He says,

“I ... shall receive you to myself”, John 14: 3. I think that gives

a key to the longings of the heart of the Lord Jesus. He longs

for our company, and I think that He would attract us into His

company. That is one’s desire in this brief moment, to

encourage and entice the hearts of the brethren to seek

increasingly the company of our Lord Jesus. I said that Mr.

Stoney’s ministry is testing, but he said, ‘Learn the Man of the

gospels’. Follow Him! If you want to know the kind of Man that

is up there, read the gospels. Listen to Him talking; look at Him

walking; see those actions of love, the display of God’s love in

a Man. Drink it in, learn His company in that way in your

reading of the Scriptures. That is a wonderful matter! Do you

read them formally? Read them livingly, especially the

gospels. The gospels would put you in touch with the footsteps

of a Man whose every step was taken in the light of the

counsels of God, whose every action was aimed and

calculated to glorify God, whose every suggestion brought out

God’s grace to man. Oh, what a Person!