AUGUST 27TH, 1943
AUGUST 27TH, 1943
[p. 322] BELOVED BROTHER, — ... I realise deeply that all is of grace, whether it be the favour of serving, or the favour of being supported and encouraged in the service by the fellowship of the beloved saints. Please give my warm love in the Lord to the dear brethren, and my hearty thanks for their gift, and the interest and care which it expresses. I am sure that it is all the outcome of their love to the Lord’s Name, and this is very precious in His sight. It is, indeed, a comfort to me to be thus thought of, though at the same time, it makes me conscious how little I have been able to do to serve those who have been called by God into such a wonderful portion in Christ. But the love of the brethren stimulates the desire to be more available, and more spiritually competent, as a vessel of service, while accepting the limitations which necessarily are experienced when one gets beyond fourscore years. One would wish to be more mature in the service even if what is done is much reduced in quantity. The harvest is still great, and the workmen comparatively few, and much remains to be done in a short time, for we cannot contemplate the assembly remaining here much longer. Every moment is precious, in view of every man being presented perfect in Christ, and this was the end for which Paul toiled, combating according to God’s working which worked in him in power. How impossible it is for such an end to be reached save by divine power, and this casts us wholly upon God, and especially so at the end of a dispensation marked by the greatest failure. But 2 Timothy is full of encouragement even for the difficult times of the last days, so that we may lift up our heads as having received from God the Spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion.
The dear brethren walking with us here have all been preserved from personal injury, and there is an encouraging sense of the Lord’s grace and support in the midst of frailty in the earthen vessels.
With much love in the Lord,
Yours affectionately in Him,
August 27th, 1943.