PRAISE
Psalms 148, 149 & 150
MJW Reference was made this morning to the hymn -
God manifest in flesh, O wonder of His
universe!
(Hymn
400)
It is because of that wonderful movement which our hymn describes
that God will see to it that every created thing -
and certainly every man - will acknowledge the greatness of Jesus. It is because of the wonder of what
happened in the Word coming to make God known, and coming into conditions of
flesh and blood in order to die. This
has led me to this thought of response, of which there was a great deal this
morning. I selected these scriptures
because they are some of the high points in God’s activities, beginning with
the creation when He founded the earth and had the response: “When the morning
stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy””. Is that not a beautiful reference; God had
those who were sympathetic with what He did?
What it must have meant to His heart when He thought of all that He was
going to achieve in the creation! It
has been said that the creation is the sphere of God’s purpose. So we need to include in our thoughts the
greatness of what creation involves. It
obviously involves the heavens and the earth; and those are the areas where God
has operated and where He will get His response. Heaven and earth will be in unison as a result of the wonderful
things that He has done. So we could
perhaps start off with the creation, and what caused these morning stars to
respond in the way they did.
DC We
were reading in Luke 1 last week and what we get there when Zacharias comes in,
“of the course of Abia””, v 5.
There is a connection with 1 Chronicles where you get the fulness of
lsrael’s response, but there is a link back to that here. Exodus 15 is the beginning of Israel‘s
response - because it is response.
You have the song of Moses, but it is the song of Miriam here. It is a response to that song of Moses.
MJW That is exactly
what I had in mind. We have the
creation; and then the response flowing to God; and then we have the people
that are delivered from Egypt and the response then from the subjective side (I
did not read what Moses said). Then we
have the high point in Israel with the house filled and the priests not able to
stand. That response must have been
very wonderful. David established the
service of song, but Solomon was privileged to complete the house and all the
glory that attached to that. Then we
have the incoming of the Lord Jesus - what a wonderful moment - and this
heavenly host fully in accord with it!
How thrilling it is!
I read about the lonely “grain of wheat”” because everything
that God has done has depended on redemption.
How touching it is that the Lord should use that expression,
particularly when the Greeks came: “Except the grain of wheat falling into the
ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit””.
I read in Hebrews because we have
often been shown that in Hebrews we have the Apostle, who comes out from God,
and we have the High Priest, involving what goes back to God from Christ and
from man. We have often been reminded
that the response is equal to the revelation.
Christ was the Apostle; but there is response, because of Christ in His
priestly capacity having the breastplate and the shoulder-pieces, with the
saints on His heart and on His shoulders.
He goes in to God with the saints there, but it is because He is
there, as well as the saints, that the response is equal to the revelation.
And then I read in Ephesians 3 because you get that mighty
section at the end of the chapter where it is glory to God in the assembly,
that unique vessel fitted peculiarly to serve God.
DC In
the scripture that says, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of
God shouted for joy””, how far do you think they had any
knowledge of the purpose of God? They
could take account of creation, but could they take account of what God is
going to do in Christ and then in the assembly even at those very beginnings?
MJW When
God starts to work in the creation, He makes the expanse. It is an index to His thoughts and the
extensiveness of them. I like the
thought that the creation had in view the whole extent of the thoughts of God
involving His pleasure and His purpose.
Did they know His heart, and what would flow out of it? The morning stars “sang“, but the sons of
God “shouted“. Ours is a much greater
privilege because we can sing as knowing something about redemption. And we love singing, do we not?
WMP So
immediately in Genesis 1 He brings in the thought of the “great lights“, v
16. That would link with our brother’s
suggestion for us this morning, the supreme place that Christ has. God does not wait to introduce that thought,
does He?
MJW That
is beautiful, and all the result of the sun shining. We know that photosynthesis happens because the sun shines; and
if the glory of Christ shines, it operates mightily, does it not?
WMP Psalm
19 says, “and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof””, v 6.
MJW It
is “heat”” there. Why is it “heat“?
WMP Well,
it would be beneficial for us, do you think?
It is connected with the thought of blessing, and maybe fruitfulness
too, leading to what is responsive.
MJW I am
sure that is true, but it has often surprised me because in the east the sun is
very powerful and they do hide from it; so I have often wondered about that
scripture. I am not trying to
contradict what you are saying because the great light - lovely, is it not? -
is for fructifying power, inspiring power, all that will come to light for
God. But do you have any more thoughts
about the heat?
WMP I
was thinking of our brother’s thanksgiving this morning in suggesting how
creation is introduced as a platform for God to develop these wonderful
thoughts in His purpose. Maybe he has
more in mind about that.
JAS I
enjoyed taking part this morning. It is
a wonderful thing to have part in this response. These sons of God must have had feelings as to what God was now
putting in motion, shall we say? I think there was something there that they
knew of them. They realised something
of the heart of God that was beginning to operate with a view to securing a
full answer for Himself.
MJW Well,
that is beautiful, to trace it to the heart of God; because I suppose the more
that is known of God, the more can be understood about the scope and
blessedness of what would flow from that heart, those ‘deep affections‘, as one
of our brothers referred to this morning.
I enjoyed what you said because at the end of the meeting we had a
number of references to ‘universal adoration‘.
There is a universal response.
That is why I read the Psalm because you get that sense there. I know it is limited there because it is
Israel, but it has in mind that all these creatures, and all these instruments,
all join in; and it gives me an impression of the whole creation joining in
this response to God. It is a
wonderfully exultant note, is it not? I
think it is the closest I can get to thinking of the ascription of universal
response.
JAS From
the very beginnings of God’s workings, right through to the eternal day, what
an accumulation there will be of the knowledge of Himself and of His ways. It really touches our hearts; it goes beyond
our minds.
MJW I
liked what you said that they knew something about God’s heart, but what has
come from it!
DMC So
what we touched this morning was not local; it was universal.
MJW Very
good. I am sure that is important. When do you feel that we started touching
that, because the breaking of bread is in the wilderness, is it not?
DMC I
think the Lord Jesus takes up His place as the Minister of the sanctuary, and
touches a chord in our hearts which leads a response in the power of the
Spirit. And it is a wonderful thing
that God is satisfied with what Christ has secured in the saints. We are just a small part of it, but,
nevertheless, in a sense, we are unlimited.
MJW That
is why I like the thought of the response being equal to the revelation,
because it must involve Him as
on the side of the response. He leads
in it, and He goes in to God as representative - but not just representative -
of all the people He has secured through His death. He has them all with Him.
I think that is wonderful. Do
you notice as the meeting goes on how you forget yourself and just join
in? A wonderful change takes place,
does it not, when the Lord comes in?
JB Does
the thought of “all the sons of God”” bring in what is universal? There is nothing partial in what is said
there: “all the sons of God””.
MJW That
is very interesting. “All the sons of
God””: that is
beautiful. It reminds me of Hebrews
when the writer speaks of the things we have come to. We must not forget the angelic host because they must feel for
God, and one of the things he speaks of is “the universal gathering””, Heb 12: 23. I love that. Is that “all the sons of God””? What a thought that is: “myriads of angels”” - “all the sons of God
shouted“.
RJC Is
the intent of every divine activity to bring out a response from the hearts of
His creature? God has moved from His
own side towards man, but the answer now is from man towards God. I was just thinking of divine activities, as
was quoted this morning: “Let my son go, that he may serve me””, Exod 4: 23. God has ever desired a response from
man. Sin came in, but He has taken
advantage of the very incoming of sin to bring out His own resources, to have
an answer to Himself, do you think?
MJW I
do. He used the very fact of sin coming
in to produce in man a moral condition whereby he can know God. It is wonderful to understand that God is
good and hates evil, but the coming in of sin was used to give that capacity to
man. He turned it all to account. I love the thought that you suggest of God
starting it all. When He went into the
garden (Gen 3: 8), He was looking for fruit, was He not? He did not find any, but He is finding it
now.
PRM So
there came a time when “people began to call on the name of Jehovah””, Gen 4: 26. It comes in after the incoming of Enosh
whose name speaks of ‘man, as weak, mortal’, see footnote. It begins from that lowly basis but through
the grace of God and His love and mercy, it widens out in response to God. Man begins in weakness, I suppose, but as
coming before God in our weakness, we learn His grace and His mercy and all He
has provided for us which would draw out response from our hearts.
MJW That
is good. So we proved something of the
Father’s Spirit strengthening us inwardly, as the hymn says:
The realms of bliss to scan
(Hymn 442)
We do feel our weakness but that is a good thing. It is like the witnesses in Revelation: God set them on their feet, chap 11: 11. We need that, and maybe when young brothers take part, it is a bit of an ordeal, when there are about twenty three brothers there, and you feel your weakness, but then God can turn that to account.
DMC We
have the reference in Jude as to Enoch, “Behold, the Lord has come amidst his
holy myriads””, v 14.
Is that really a universal idea?
That is not weakness there.
MJW No,
it certainly is not. What does that
Psalm say? “He goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing seed for scattering; he cometh again with rejoicing, bearing his
sheaves””, Ps 126: 6. This is like that; He brings them to
God. This is the fruit of what He has
secured. It is like Joseph forgetting
“all my toil, and all my father‘s house“, and there is a response in ‘double
fruitfulness‘ for God, Gen 41: 51.
BWB So
in Psalm 48 it is “According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise””, v 10. Do you think the progressive unfolding of the
name of God into the fullest way in which we know it now is all calculated to
fill out the service of praise? There
is some link with John 4: 22 too: “we worship what we know””, do you think?
MJW Very
good.
BWB In a
right sense, you are familiar with the One you are speaking to, and do you
think that promotes the outflow of spiritual liberty? And the more we know God, the better we will be able to speak to
Him about His attributes and His love and His fulness and so on.
MJW Well,
I say this with respect, but it is lovely to hear an older person speak to God,
and see the result of years of experience in the knowledge of God and the
richness that flows. I like what you
say about the unfolding of the greatness of God, because the scriptures we have
read show exactly what you have said, the unfolding of the names of God, and
they are very wonderful. We ought to
feel the privilege of the fact that God has been revealed. “We worship what we know””, and we could never
know God otherwise, could we? Job had a
remarkable knowledge of God from creation, but he did not know what we know.
AB Miriam
sets something on here. It says, “And
Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambour in her hand, and
all the women went out after her””, as if she is setting something on. The footnote refers to the ‘dance choirs’,
something that is beginning to widen out.
Would that be something that we would be interested in?
MJW What
Miriam did set something on, and I found that right through the meeting this
morning there was that suggestion of response.
I was struck with all the hymns we had at the end to the Father and to
God - ‘eternity’s serene employ‘, Hymn 116.
I should love to be able to highlight them, because there was a theme
that ran through right from the suggestion that our brother gave in his
word. That is right, I am sure. A word is very valuable, and I think often
people are a little afraid to give one; but if you have an impression and you
feel it is of the Lord, give it,
because while you may feel feeble in giving it there may be
suggestions in it that can be developed infinitely. You may feel you have not really enlarged it as you would like
to.
AB That
is right. I am just trying to catch your
thoughts. Are you suggesting that the
physical creation leads us to appreciate what God has in the new creation,
which is far better?
MJW I
was not, but thank you! Thank you for
your thoughts.
AB God
“spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast””, Ps 33: 9. That is the order of creation which is of
God, and it is that in which His purposes have been worked out. But God has greater things than what is
physical and what is material; what is spiritual is far better.
MJW Well,
that is good. I see the line of your
thoughts. I think a lead taken by
somebody is most important. If the Lord
gives the word, then the matter needs to be expanded, however feeble you may
feel in giving it out. It may not
necessarily be in a word. It may be in
a thanksgiving, and it often is; or it could be in a hymn.
The Spirit strikes the chord
(Hymn 142)
- the hymn says, does it not?
DJR In
the Psalms that you read, everybody is brought in: “Let everything that hath
breath praise Jah”” (Ps 150: 6), but prior to that there are a
number of different vehicles of praise.
MJW Exactly. That is what impressed me. I suppose what the psalmist brings in there
is literal: so if we apply it spiritually, how rich it is. You get the expression “the abundance of the
seas””, Deut 33: 19. I do not know whether every representative
of creation is there in that Psalm.
Will that actually take place, the sun and moon praising? They were involved in the bowing down to
Joseph. What do you think about the
literality of that, or do you think it is just figurative?
DC We
get “The heavens declare the glory of God””, Ps 19: 1. It is not quite the same thought as this;
this is a further thought. “The heavens
declare””, so man can take
account of it. So that man is
inexcusable, because “the heavens declare the glory of God””, but this is a further
thought. It is response from creation.
MJW I
think it is wonderful. You get in
Revelation the living creatures.
Creation will have its own part in responding to God.
WMP That
is the order in Revelation, that there is response in relation to creation, but
chapter 5 brings in “a Lamb standing, as slain””, v 6. That brings in redemption, and how full and
complete that thought is: “thou … hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, out of
every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation“, v 9. You might say there could not be anything
more universal than that: “every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation“.
MJW Thank
you. That is beautiful. And you have the twenty-four elders. You have the experience that is drawn from
different dispensations there in activity round the throne. So you have the twenty-four elders, and you
have the living creatures, and you have that little Lamb in the midst of the
throne. It is a wonderful picture.
DMC We
had a number of references this morning to the many families. That is a wonderful thing too, the many
families, of which we are the nearest.
That is a very blessed thing, is it not?
MJW It
is a very blessed thing; and I love to think of some of the circumstances out
of which those families will be secured.
In the great tribulation, the awful time that there will be, there will
be many secured. I think it speaks of a
company “which no one could number”” (Rev 7: 9), that come out of the great
tribulation, probably as a family, that will yield for God. Will that not be a sweet touch?
DMC There
is what is special for the saints of the assembly, “I go to prepare you a place””, John 14: 2. That is distinct for the assembly, is it
not?
“I am coming
again and shall receive you to myself””, v 3.
MJW It
is beautiful: “that where I am ye also may be””. The saints are taken to where He is. We have the same thought in relation to the
assembly: Isaac is not brought back to the bride; the bride is taken to Isaac,
Gen 24.
DWS When
the Lord comes in, He wants us to be with Him where He is. He comes to us, but not to go on with us
where we are. He is gracious, but He
wants us to go and move with Him into a place where He is the Centre.
MJW There
was a reference this morning to the bride in the royal apartments, Ps 45:13,
note. That is where we go: the royal
apartments. I would love to get a
richer impression of that, the place where Christ is in glory.
RJC Miriam’s
response is an answer to the redemptive work of God, bringing His children out
of Egypt, taking them through the Red Sea: “The horse and his rider hath he
thrown into the sea“, Exod 15: 21.
There is an answer to that in Miriam and those with her, do you
think? So every divine activity has an
answer to it.
MJW Divine victory was referred to this morning.
Evil’s challenge, long permitted -
Met by Thy supremacy.
One of the most wonderful things that has ever happened is redemption, and there is a response from it, and it is immediate. But why do you speak of Miriam in the way you do?
RJC As
has been said, there is a real deep appreciation of God’s activities in
redemption. It is a very deep response,
is it not, in the appreciation of God’s activities in bringing His people out
of bondage into liberty?
It takes you
right through: “Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of
thine inheritance””, Exod 15: 17. It takes you right through to the presence of God, and the
enjoyment of what there is in the divine presence for the people, do you think?
MJW That
is beautiful. It links again with what
was said about the sons of God getting a view of the whole expanse. I love that: “Thou shalt bring them in, and
plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance””. It a whole view! Is that the view from Pisgah, Deut 34: 1?
RJC Moses
saw it all.
MJW Exactly. Think of God showing him. Poor Moses did not go in then, but God
showed him. I should love to have heard
what He said, showing him the whole scope of the land.
RH I
just wondered in connection with what has already been said about the thought
of “Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron“. She knew what to do.
There is a certain intelligence that marked her in what she did. She “took the tambour in her hand, and all
the women went out after her with tambours and with dances””. She knew how to act. Would that suggest that there should be
intelligence with us in order to respond and to move in relation to the
headship of Christ in the service of God?
MJW It
is good to bring in what is prophetic because we often link what is prophetic
with what is negative, but if a brother gives a word or says anything in his
thanksgiving or in a hymn, it may be a prophetic touch; and, priestly
intelligence is such a valuable thing.
How God loves it! It is the
result of formation, is it not? The
priest in the Old Testament links with spirituality in the New.
RH Sometimes
we are hardly conscious of how we are in the service of God. We are not occupied, as it were, with our
own place in it, but under the headship of Christ - under His blessed touch and
under the control of the Spirit, we are able to function in God’s service. Christ is the One that we make everything
of, but we have this link with Him. I
wondered whether the thought of “Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron”” suggests that there
was this close link so that all the women were able to do what she did.
MJW I
think that is a very beautiful suggestion.
CE At
the time of the tabernacle being constructed, it says “every one whose heart
moved him””, Exod 35: 21. They had been inspired in bringing in gold, and there was so much
that they had to be stopped. We
experienced that this morning.
MJW I
thought that. Who did the
stopping? It is important what you
raise because how do we end the meeting?
How do we know when to end the meeting?
We need, in a collective way, to be sensitive as to when the Lord goes
out. It is not up to one brother to
close it.
CE We
have to do with heavenly things. We are
dealing with real things, and the Spirit would help us to close as well as to
open. Someone has said that it does
require us to be sensitive spiritually to detect when to close, and there are
times when we have failed, but I would say generally we do know when to
close. This morning was superlative and
we kept going and it was something that was real in our hearts, something that
we all enjoyed.
MJW Absolutely,
and what I was interested to notice was that Mr Darby obviously observed that,
in response to God, there are high points, and then as it were low points, and
then high points again. If you look at
the hymn, The Endless Song, you get a
spiritual sense there of a point of power, and then perhaps a lull, but then
another point of power; and I noticed that this morning. You might have thought the meeting had
ended, but if there is more power, it continues and it continues in power, and
then you can say that the Lord has left, that is what we look for, whether He
has left.
BWB According
to the word to Philadelphia, there will come a time when we “shall go no more
at all out””, Rev 3: 12. Do you think we should in a sense make way for that? As you say, it is not for us to close the
meeting. There will come a time when it
will not close. That should not be out
of our minds, or out of our hearts, but I think if you are restful, the Lord gives
a fairly clear indication that the summit has been reached, and perhaps we have
not enough strength for any more.
MJW Well,
that is very, very helpful.
WMP Where
you read in Chronicles, “the priests could not enter””; so what is official
is not in view at all, is it? It is
really a spiritual experience. In order
to have a spiritual experience, what do we require?
MJW Well,
we need the Spirit: and “that which is born of the Spirit" which "is
spirit””, John 3: 6. Is that not important in anyone that takes
part, that new birth has taken place, and, more than that, they are born of
God? “That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit””: it is like God, spirit. “God is a spirit“, John 4: 24.
DMC Do
you think the hymns generally carry the saints? It is like the waves of the ocean. We often find here locally that our meetings end with a lot of
hymns and we find that that is a very rich response.
MJW You
are very good singers too. Music is a
vehicle; it is a form of transport. The
spiritual sphere is so wonderful.
Spiritual things are real. There
is a difference between what we experience and what we anticipate - it will
be actual when we are there.
AB As
to what we were saying about Miriam, she is setting something on. I was thinking about the service of song and
how important it is. Linking with what
our brother said about waves, the Lord Jesus in Hebrews 2 is referred to as
saying, “in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises. And again, I will trust in him””, v 12, 13.
MJW “And
again, Behold, I and the children which God has given me””.
AB It
is as much as to say that there is another wave. Would that be fair?
MJW Excellent.
IEP I
was just wondering whether finally there will be a response in relation to
every detail of what God has done. We
had the sense of variety in the response, and we respond in relation to what we
know. I was thinking that God really
does everything in view of response and praise and glory to Himself. So He will not have done anything that will
not finally have a response from someone in that great song that will continue through
eternity, do you think?
MJW I do. Do you not think the judgment seat of Christ
will make us realise this, as the hymn says:
With
Him look back on all the way;
To
learn the meaning, at His hand,
Of
every deed in every day!
Think of that!
Clearer than ever shall we see
The
grace which God our Saviour showed
(Hymn 299)
Do you not think that all the things that God has done, and the detail
of it in our lives, will be clear to us then?
How much richer will the praise be then, do you think? I am sure you have more in your mind as to
that, but I often think of that as being “then I shall know according as I also
have been known””, 1 Cor 13: 12.
IEP I
was not even just limiting it as to what might be subjective, but also the
great objective things that God has set before us. We were speaking about the creation; the great detail of that,
which mankind does not know and so cannot give God glory for. Perhaps these sons
of God understood the creation better than we do; but whenever it comes to the
spiritual realm, the Spirit will unveil and make these things all known, so
that everything will result in response to God, do you think?
MJW I
do. Do you think that is how the
eternal day will be filled out?
IEP It
will be always fresh, will it not?
MJW Wonderful!
Perpetual freshness marks th’ eternal
day,
Abiding
peace, joy ne’er to fade away
(Hymn 173)
WC In
these Psalms which you have read almost every verse is “Praise””, or “Let them praise””. Do you think that, in the eternal day, while
there will be something from the assembly which is formed, some of these
praises which come into this Psalm will come from other families? I was just thinking from what we enjoyed
this morning as to what there will be in the assembly eternally, in the eternal
response, but there will be these other families, do you think, which will
praise?
MJW I
think that is right. I think the
assembly is a vessel that has been formed by the Lord Jesus in order to
praise. You cannot think of a more
fruitful, blessed Man than Him, can you?
The vessel that He has formed and He has built will take character from
Him. You might say the potential in the
assembly through the Spirit’s indwelling is immense. It is not infinite, but it is immense, and eternity will be
filled, will it not?
DC In
connection with what our brother has been saying about the response being equal
to the revelation, do you think we get some touch of that from what you read in
Luke: “Glory to God in the highest””? So
we have earlier revelations of God; you have Almighty God; and you have
Jehovah; but as soon as we come into the fringes of this dispensation, when
there is a heavenly Man brought into view, it is “Glory to God in the highest””, do you think?
MJW Well,
that is why I think the remark that was made about the creation being the area
for working out the purpose of God is so important because, while there is what
is above what is created which the Lord has entered, there are the created
heavens. We do not know much about
them, but I think there is glory to God there. Stephen looked into heaven and he saw a Man there; Jerusalem was
no longer the centre, now heaven was the centre, and a Man in it. Wonderful!
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good pleasure in men””.
DC Do
you think the response is connected with progressive relationship as well; so
you have Almighty God, you have Jehovah, the covenant names; but in this
dispensation there is sonship so there is a greater response from that. When you come to Revelation, it is
tabernacling with men, chap 21: 3. It
is an intimate relationship for men.
There will be a response involved in that, do you think?
We have been taught that sonship is the nearest relationship, but the tabernacle is a close idea and God tabernacling with men is His final thought.
MJW That
is beautiful. It is like John 1: 14
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us”” (see note ‘c’ - lit,
‘tabernacled’). Think of the thirty
three and a half years of Jesus being here.
There was no hurry. It was wonderful,
and that gives a clue, does it, to the closeness and the intimacy of that
wonderful day when God can get so close, and even wipe tears away? Wonderful!
DWS Does
it suggest perfect harmony between God and His creature?
MJW It
is good to the musical ear that there is harmony, and harmony is of God, is it
not? I think it reflects the
Creator. He has created harmony, and He
is going to have it in His universe.
Heaven and earth will no longer be alienated. That is another interesting thing. In Psalm 19 that you referred to, it says, “Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge””, v 2. That is response. It is almost as though they say, ‘Have you heard about this?’ and
‘Have you heard about this?’ There are
fresh glories opening up.
DMC The
sisters add to the harmony and to the response that is going out in the service
of praise.
MJW What
an essential part they fill.
DMC The
singing would be the poorer without the sisters.
MJW I am
sure the fact their voices are unbroken, whereas men’s voices are broken, is
all part of God’s creatorial skill to get a range of sound.
DC There
is more to it than just the sisters’ voices.
They very much are a part of and support what the brothers are able to
give voice to, and they carry in their thoughts and their hearts what the
brothers give voice to, would you say?
MJW Absolutely. Who are the ones that stood by the
cross? Who are the ones that followed
the Lord? They were the women, were
they not? It shows the quality of what
is in a woman. Although it may be
silent in the assembly, it is there and it is essential.
RH Really
the sisters rely upon the brothers to function, do they not? I just thought how necessary it is that we
keep sight of Christ. Would it be the
secret of buoyancy in God’s service that we keep sight of Christ?
MJW That is very
fine.
RH Otherwise
there would be many troughs.
MJW There
was nothing wrong with the lulls I mentioned, because in that hymn of Mr
Darby’s there seems to be a wave of power.
RH It
is just that we cannot go anywhere without Him.
MJW No we
cannot. You look at the sea from your
window and you see the waves and the troughs, and you enjoy both, seaman that
you are.
JB You
referred to harmony in 2 Chronicles, “when the trumpeters and singers were as
one, to make one voice to be heard … then the house … was filled””, chap 5: 13.
MJW Exactly. Did God not enjoy that? “As one””: it was like that this
morning, was it not?
Warrenpoint
1st May 2010