EXTRACTS

Man has been able to corrupt and change the face of the earth, and judgment and destruction have come upon it, death and misery. What is reached by man is alas! corrupted by man. But the heavens, and the sun in its course, proclaim with bright and unvarying witness (blessed be God, beyond the reach of man’s corrupting hand), the glory of Him that made them, and Soon as the evening shades prevail,

The moon takes up the wondrous tale,

And nightly to the list’ning earth

Repeats the story of her birth;

Whilst all the stars that round her burn,

And all the planets in their turn,

Confirm the tidings as they roll,

And spread the truth from pole to pole.

* * *

For ever singing as they shine,

‘The hand that made us is divine’.

Man may have indeed perverted these witnesses of power to idolatry; but, where man does not reach, all creation still proclaims the glory of God its Creator.

J. N. Darby (‘Coll. Wrtgs.’(N.S.) Vol. 17, p.322)

Philadelphia goes on to the end. I want you to see this because the question is raised sometimes—Will the Lord sustain to the end the truth of the assembly, will He maintain it, will it be here, or must we give up faith with regard to it? Must we abandon ourselves to the alternative of trying to do the best we can under the circumstances? I think the Lord’s message to Philadelphia provides a very clear and distinct answer to that question. It encourages us in the assurance that the Lord will sustain the truth of the assembly down to the very close, so we need not give up.

J. Pellatt (‘Closing Ministry’, p.132)

There is what a man is as a vessel, for God prepares him. God has in mind what He would bring out in him. The prophets were all different. Certain ministry requires magnanimity. God will prepare and qualify a man for that. Each vessel has its own capacity. Another is needed with accuracy of mind or with physical capability, according to what God requires. A rightly regulated mind is needed for insistence on the order of the service of God. There is variety of vessels. The vessels are fitted and educated to be with God in what He is doing.

J. Taylor (N.S. Vol. 84, p.87)

If we think of what man can do, or of how he can endure, there is no stability or security at all, but if we think of the work of God, all is ordered and sure. The line of His working is as a golden chain stretching across time, but fixed at both ends in eternity. The saints are called according to purpose; they are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, glorified. Every link in the chain is absolutely unbreakable; its strength lies in God, and in His purpose of sovereign love.

C. A. Coates (‘Outline of Numbers’, p.296)

Published by F. C. Mutton, 22 Christchurch Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4QY, England Printed by C. Ellis, Billericay, Essex, England