“THE THINGS WHICH JESUS DID”
I desire simply to convey some impression of the glory of what is being wrought out in the saints at the present time, how every circumstance of our lives is used of God to further the working out of a great and glorious matter. John tells us there are many other things which Jesus did. They have not been placed on record, and he says here that “if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the “world itself would contain the books written”. We may rest assured, beloved brethren, that God is not going to lose sight of them; they are too precious to be lost sight of. What is being formed now, and every one of us has a part in it, is the vessel in which all that Jesus did will come out in display, for the reason that as we move and are held under the influence of Christ we do, in the circumstances in which we find ourselves, the things that He did. He will not influence one of His own to do anything out of keeping with the things He did, and we may rest assured, as we are held and formed under the influence of Christ, the things that He did, so precious in the sight of God, will come into expression, and God will order the circumstances of our lives, however simple in outward appearance, in order that some of the things Jesus did may come into expression by us as formed under the influence of Christ.
We have heard more than once reference to the spirit of Christ as marking our dear brother and sister, and I would commend it to us all, to abide in Christ and to learn from Him. The gospels record much that we can learn in detail, but the influence of Christ is a living thing, and the Spirit would hold us and form us under that influence. There will be something, as we are thus held, that comes into expression as some of the things that Jesus did. In result the heavenly city, as composed of all the saints, will be the great vessel in which the things that Jesus did will come into glorious display. How precious they are! Things that the world take no account of, things one by one, not one to be missed! It is encouraging to us all. There may be things that are great and attract attention, and other things out of sight, except to God, but if they are things in character as Jesus did them, as the result of our abiding under the influence of Christ, there is a glory attaching to them that God greatly values, and He will see that all will be fitted together as God alone can do it. When the holy city comes down out of heaven from God, it will be a perfect expression of Christ, in myriads of saints fitted together perfectly, with nothing superfluous and nothing lacking. So the exercises and circumstances of the saints have that in view, among other things, that there should be the formation of that vessel, that the things that Jesus did should come out in glorious display.
So we are greatly encouraged in the sense of this, and may we all remember, above all things, that the great thing is to keep near the Lord and allow the Spirit to form us after Christ, so that, under His influence, the things He would do will be done by us. If the things that Jesus did were written one by one, the world could not contain them, but the immensity of the holy city is great enough to express them.
PUTNEY
1951
From Words of Grace and Comfort
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