DECEMBER 6TH, 1898

DECEMBER 6TH, 1898

DEAR —, — ... The great thing is to be prepared for the divine effect of the truth to be made good in us by the Spirit. Much ministry is lost upon us, as to any practical result,

^[p. 13] because we are not prepared to be detached from things here, so as to be simply here for Christ. And the preparation for this is to come personally under the influence of the blessed attractiveness of Christ. When we sit down under His shadow with great delight, everything else becomes so small, and loses its hold upon our hearts ...

The meaning of the expression, “Though he were Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered”, is that according to His dignity as Son it was His place to command. Obedience was, as it were, a new quality of perfection in Him. Obedience is what is proper to the creature, but the Son has learned it in coming here as Man, and He has learned it, not in circumstances where obedience might be easy, but in a position where obedience involved suffering even unto death. We have to learn obedience because we are originally so disobedient. He had to learn it because it had ever been His to command.

I take the assembly’s “crown” to be the knowledge of the love of Christ, Ephesians 3: 19. This precious “crown” — so long lost through the unfaithfulness and worldliness of the church — is given back in grace to a remnant at the end, and to those who are thus singularly favoured by the Lord, the warning is addressed — “Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown”. ‘I have given you jewels of priceless value’, says the Lord, ‘even that rare and inestimable gift — the knowledge of My love which surpasseth knowledge — now beware lest any thief robs you of so precious a treasure!’ With much love from us both in the Lord,

December 6th, 1898.