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WHAT WE HAVE COME TO (1)

JT The assumption is that the brethren know the Scriptures comparatively well, especially the epistle to the Hebrews written by Paul, as we suppose. We are supposed to know our Bibles. We have come to look into the Bible and these remarks are made so that we may have exercise about it, each one of us, brothers and sisters, so that we may hear, and hearing we may understand. If we do not understand, we can ask again.

The first positive thing is mount Zion. It is thought that we should consider a little the earlier verses because they refer to what we have not come to. We have not come to the mount that could be touched; it is not what is visible. That is to say, “Ye have not come to the mount that might be touched and was all on fire, and to obscurity, and darkness, and tempest, and trumpet’s sound, and voice of words; which they that heard, excusing themselves, declined the word being addressed to them any more, (for they were not able to bear what was enjoined. And if a beast should touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and, so fearful was the sight, Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and full of trembling)”. These verses refer to what we have not come to. They are terrible verses, and they remind us of what we all were liable to — the judgment of God. These are negative thoughts. I thought it well to call attention to them first so that we might have the background of the verses before us of which we shall speak later. There are eight things mentioned in the verses before us that we shall take up later.

SMcC ^[p. 117] I think what you have said is interesting. The solemnity that is in these verses seems to be stressed throughout the epistle.

JT Of course, we are to bear in mind that it is a christian epistle. The first chapter is glorious, “God having spoken in many parts and in many ways formerly to the fathers in the prophets, at the end of these days has spoken to us in the person of the Son”. The word is literally ‘in Son’. God in Son — God Himself speaking, so that it is a wonderful epistle in that sense. It is a christian epistle and yet these verses found in this chapter are terrible verses, really. In the same chapter it says, “our God is a consuming fire”. And we would think solemnly of all that because it is a terrible background, but at the same time he is reminding us of the wonderfulness of what belongs to us in Christ, what we are in Christ.

SMcC It really, as you say, throws into relief the glory of the system that is centred in Christ in that way in heaven, does it not?

ANW Would it be right to say that mount Sinai is defined but not named, whereas mount Zion is named and not defined? Would it be according to your thought for us that we should learn to define mount Zion for ourselves?

JT Sinai is the mount that could be touched — it is physical and visible, whereas Christianity is not that. It is not visible or physical, it is spiritual and unseen.

ANW I thought it was striking that it was not named, but defined with all those terrible features, whereas mount Zion is just named and you are suggesting what it would mean to us.

JT You might say you get it in history, what could be touched, but when you come to mount Zion you cannot get it from history; it is not what ^[p. 118] men are acquainted with, really, but it is the subject of our conversation.

HB Deuteronomy 4, in relation to the mount Sinai, would show that there were darkness, clouds and obscurity. Yet behind that it says, “the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven”. In man after the flesh there was that which hindered the heart of heaven being fully known, but now it is known in mount Zion, in christianity.

JT The heart of heaven — I think it is well to mention clearly what is said. The heart of heaven — a rare expression, should be emphasised, for it is a wonderful expression and belongs to the economy.

SMcC What does mount Zion convey to you in relation to christianity? Does it convey a different thought from what it was before?

JT I wonder if we have dwelt enough on the negative side before we come to mount Zion, whether we all understand what is meant by the negative side contained in verses 18 to 21.

JWD “Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and full of trembling”. Would you bring that into practical experience in any sense now?

JT It is a question of what souls go through in the presence of God. Many go through experiences and they feel they are lost and are overcome. So that it is hard to say what may be said about these earlier verses, these negative verses. We are to search ourselves as to what we are going through in our souls, whether we are going through anything like this, and then we shall see the blessedness of mount Zion.

ASC It says in regard of mount Sinai, “obscurity, and darkness, and tempest, and trumpet’s sound, and voice of words; which they that heard, excusing themselves, declined”. Would you help us on that?

JT It is intended to impress us with the enormity of sin. The more we judge it, the more we shall ^[p. 119] enjoy the blessedness of forgiveness and the presence of the Spirit, who gives us the consciousness of forgiveness.

ASC The word was addressed to them, but they excused themselves from it, not taking on the matter.

JT That is true, bringing out what we are and the enormity of sin, and whether we are judging things fully and coming into christianity, conscious of forgiveness of sins, and the Spirit of God, and having a place in the assembly.

SMcC Is there a link in Romans 7, in the man going through that experience in which the law bears upon him, with the negative side in this chapter?

JT That is so. “O wretched man that I am!”. Why does it say that? That is what I have in mind, as to what the law really implies and how we are to be delivered from it. “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?”. Then he says, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. He got deliverance. If we have not, we should search our hearts. We come thousands of miles to be here and we want to get something. If we are going on with things which are not according to christianity, we want to get rid of them and go on with things which bring us to full christianity. “O wretched man that I am!”. Then the answer, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Then he says further, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”. That is christianity. “But with the flesh sin’s law”, a true confession.

ANW In verse 20 the writer interposes, “for they were not able to bear what was enjoined”. Would the Spirit’s coming mean we are empowered to bear what is enjoined?

JT That is what mount Zion means. It is a new principle like the constitution of this country. A new principle — mount Sinai was an old one.

VCL ^[p. 120] Did Paul himself understand something of this principle of the enormity of sin in the three days when he neither ate nor drank?

JT I am glad you brought that up — what Paul went through in those three days and three nights.

VCL Afterward he stood up and “preached Jesus that he is the Son of God”. Was that like coming to mount Zion?

JT That shows how the truth laid hold of his soul. He “preached Jesus that he is Son of God”. Mount Zion implies the Son of God, for it is the answer to all with which we are dealing here.

JMcK Does Exodus 20 help as to bringing the matter of sin before the people? They said to Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die. And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before you, that ye sin not”.

JT So that they trembled. The whole position was somewhat modified, but we need much more than that as we come into full christianity. That is to say, we need new birth, forgiveness, the Spirit, and all that enters into the blessedness of the Spirit. We need to understand that we must be born anew, which is the first thing we get in John 3: “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”.

JMcK So that is the basis of God’s work in our souls as He cleanses us.

JT That is the basic thought, in the beginning, for the believer. He sees the kingdom.

EGMcA ‘Enjoined’ is the word in the latter part of verse 20, “they were not able to bear what was enjoined”. That is an obligation, whereas, mount Zion is a spiritual privilege to which we have come.

JT Quite so, it is just a question of where we are. Some of us have come thousands of miles and it is a joy to see so many here in Chicago. One has ^[p. 121] known it for fifty years and one is thankful for what is here today, but the question is what we have come for. Are we here to contribute, and are we ready to receive the truth? Because that is the point, to get the good out of these meetings. “Ye shall know the truth”, it says, “and the truth shall set you free”.

ANW Is there something to be said about the mediator? The mediator himself has to say, “I am exceedingly afraid and full of trembling”.

JT Of course that mediator was not Christ. Christ is our Mediator, “The mediator of God and men ... the man Christ Jesus”. Moses was not that.

ANW I only thought much depended upon our Mediator in that way positively. This shows that even Moses, acquainted with the presence of God Himself, was afraid. It shows what the position involved.

JT In the denominations around us, it is a question whether the idea of the Mediator is known at all. It is “the man Christ Jesus”, the Man with feelings, governed by love and grace peculiarly. The idea of mount Zion is grace, or more accurately, mercy. It is the extension of mercy to men with all that flows from that.

BW Should not the truth be clear to us and not obscure? Is the negative side here helpful in that way, for often times we are not clear about the truth?

JT Quite so. What is ministered and conveyed in our Bible readings, is to be the truth and our relations are to be in love, love governing us and love in the truth, too. That is the gospel, really, the gospel worked out in Paul’s ministry, especially Romans which is the basic idea of the gospel.

JWD Why does Paul bring in the terror of the Lord in the section that deals with the judgment seat of Christ?

JT Why not? There is so much looseness, even among ourselves, and how much looseness there is ^[p. 122] abroad among nominal Christians! The terror of the Lord is introduced because God is not mocked and we are to be serious. How much looseness and worldliness there is! Indeed, in coming to a meeting like this, if we have nothing before us but a good time and travel, it is a solemn thing to come and have the word of God opened up to us. Are we ready for it? Are we open to receive the truth? It says, “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”. We should expect that at a meeting like this.

JWD So that woven into the curtains of the tabernacle were the cherubim, a symbol of divine government. Should we take account of the cherubim?

JT Very good, it is a symbol. It is not a question of what it is literally but of what the symbol means.

JWD Would the idea of the cherubim indicate that God’s government protects what is so precious, so glorious in Christ? So in coming to these meetings we have before us the positive things, but also the cherubim. The idea of the cherubim has to be faced, too.

JT It is a question of the government of God. The seraphim are more holiness, but they go together.

WHC Is the thought of the cherubim involved in the chastening in the previous portion of this chapter? Why does this portion come just here in this chapter?

JT Very good. A remarkable thing that it should be brought in, especially that our God is a consuming fire. Not God simply, but our God, the Christian’s God. If we want to be faithful with men, we are not hiding it.

SMcC What you have been saying is most important as bearing on our coming to these meetings,

^[p. 123] because if worldliness is allowed in our minds and ways we shall not have the truth, shall we?

JT That is just what I am thinking about. These terms cherubim and seraphim are symbols. What are they symbols of? We have to make an application of what a symbol means.

ANW Burning is attached to both of them. The first mention of the cherubim is, “He set the Cherubim, and the flame of the flashing sword”.

JT That is government. A remarkable thing that it should come so early in the history of man. Satan had come into the order of things that God had set up and that is a solemn thing. God intended to deal with evil at once.

CCT In speaking about coming to these meetings, we would not have in our minds excusing ourselves and declining the word.

JT It is a very good thing to accuse yourself, but to excuse yourself when it is a question of sin is not good.

EGMcA Is the passage referred to, “Our God is a consuming fire”, to check us that we might not think too lightly of mount Zion and what it is in the ways of God?

JT We are not to take mercy too lightly.

HB Would a word in Isaiah help? “To this man will I look: to the afflicted and contrite in spirit, and who trembleth at my word”.

JT Trembleth, that is very good.

JWD “And great fear came upon all the assembly”. Do you think we are often conscious of that?

JT You refer to Ananias and Sapphira with whom God dealt so severely? “Great fear came upon all”. If we are solemnised by the judgment of God, it helps us.

JMcK Does Romans 6 bear upon this? “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid”.

JT Just so. “God forbid”. That is a good phrase to notice.

EGMcA You suggested a very beautiful contrast between Moses as mediator, who exceedingly trembled and feared, and Christ our Mediator full of sympathy. Would you open that up? We might have in our minds that the Mediator is someone austere. I was thinking of what you said in your prayer, referring to Corinthians, “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, the greatness of the Person in whose face that is seen, so that we might enter more into the good of Christ as Mediator.

JT Mr. Darby once said, What is lovable in me is not of me, but of God. What is lovable in any one of us is of God. It is not mere niceness. We need more than niceness, we need righteousness and holiness.

EGMcA That brings in Christ as the Mediator in sympathy and tenderness, does it not?

ANW There must be a reason why it was the skin of the face of Moses that shone, not exactly the face, but the skin of his face.

JT Very good, but it is a deeper matter in Christ, very beautiful, too, the face of Jesus Christ.

ASB Would the beginning of the chapter help us in this regard? It says, “laying aside every weight, and sin which so easily entangles us” and “looking stedfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith”, and, later, the Father’s chastening of sons is in order “to the partaking of his holiness”.

JT “Leader and completer of faith”. The Originator of faith. So that the thing is to see what Christianity really is, and what it really is seen in Christ personally, the face of Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ, really.

ASB What you said earlier in regard to the end of the chapter, “Our God is a consuming fire”, is what I was thinking of. Holiness has been subjected ^[p. 125] to the fire and its perfection brought out. All that is connected with the beginning.

JT Nothing else will do, but what can be tested by the fire. You cannot let anything pass except that. Every sacrifice was by fire, too.

AGL Is there much around us that corresponds with mount Sinai, its obscurity and darkness, and do we need deliverance from that to arrive at mount Zion in our own souls?

JT Yes, especially the young people, for they do not tell us what is really going on. God has patience with us and pities us. That is a condition that can be rectified by the truth. The Lord said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”. There is a remedy for it. These meetings are that we might apply the truth.

AGL So that if we have come by way of mount Zion, we are not afraid to come to God the Judge of all.

JT We shall come to that, please God, the Judge of all. It is an elevated thought, the top, so to speak, in dealing with the matter.

WMcK In 2 Corinthians 4 which was already mentioned, it says “God ... who has shone in our hearts”. Does that involve what we have here, that we come clearly and definitely into the knowledge of God?

JT Very good. “For the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. That is Christianity, really. What we have come to; that is what we are trying to aim at now. Mount Zion is what we have come to actually. It should be felt in a meeting like this that we have come to these things, these characteristics.

JMcK Would you say that as we come to mount Zion the sense of mercy fills our souls with the knowledge of the greatness of the love of God, for we do not deserve it, deserving judgment instead?

^[p. 126] That would enable us, especially the young, to be firmly founded in the truth you are developing.

JT So that referring again to verse 22, “Ye”, meaning the Hebrew christians, “have come to mount Zion”. That is the first thing; the next is “the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem”. We will have to try to confine ourselves to mount Zion now because it is one of the greatest things; it is foundational and belongs to the system we are connected with. The system is that we have a High Priest in heaven who is touched by the feelings of our infirmities and then we have a Priest on earth. The Spirit of God is not called a priest, but He is here nevertheless in a priestly way to aid us in our infirmities and to add His help to our weaknesses.

FHLC Does the scripture you quoted from, John 8: 34 - 36, connect with our chapter? “Verily, verily, I say to you, Every one that practises sin is the bondman of sin. Now the bondman abides not in the house for ever, the son abides for ever. If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”.

JT Quite so. The Son expresses the full thought of christianity. The Lord Jesus as the Son of God expresses the whole matter of liberty, involving the Holy Spirit too. The “therefore ...” is a matter of sequence, “If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”. The Corinthians were not abiding in that. Some of us were quoting a dear brother who is now with the Lord, He spoke about beautiful things and among them was the Man of John 8, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.

SMcC You made a very interesting remark as to the Spirit being here in a priestly way. Would you say a little more about that? Does that fit in with the service suggested in Romans 8, interceding?

JT I would think so. Of course, as I was saying, the Spirit is not called a priest, but the Lord Jesus is. The idea of priesthood is in Christ, in Christ as ^[p. 127] Man; it is not a question of the Spirit by Himself, but Christ as Man. But at the same time the Spirit takes on priestly service because He adds His help to our weaknesses, and He is sympathetic with us in our weaknesses. I am sure you would agree with that, it is a very beautiful thing to have before us, that Christ is in heaven and the Spirit down here, not on the earth simply, but in the assembly, for that is where He is.

SMcC That is excellent, showing how the position is maintained here below, equal to what is on high.

ANW Is it too early to ask how far the Spirit’s service as a Paraclete goes in relation to our individual matters?

JT I think it goes a long way. He deals with matters in relation to us in a spiritual sense. I would not say He looks after us in our ordinary affairs in our families. I would not want to say much about that. He goes a long way as a Paraclete. The word refers to Him as alongside of us so as to take care of our interests, truly to take care of the interests of Christ. He looks after everything.

ANW It says, “in things relating to God”, in Hebrews 5. Would that govern the service of the blessed Spirit?

JT I suppose that is right.

ANW It is the spiritual side.

JT There is much needed as to the truth of the gospel being presented to us. The priestly attitude of the Lord Jesus above is to take care of all our interests. He is above and the Spirit is here in the assembly to care for all that relates to God.

JMcK Is it your thought that in the preaching of the gospel the idea of mercy should be stressed?

JT I think that. Mr. Darby refers invariably to grace, but I think mount Zion is more accurately mercy. Mercy is extended to us in our need, in the ^[p. 128] direness of our need as men and women in this world.

JMcK So that mercy is really sovereign, from God Himself.

JT I am sure.

JWD Would that be the basis of the Spirit making intercession? Why can He make intercession?

JT Do you mean the basis of redemption? I think that is the basis for everything. Therefore the Lord Jesus became Man to make everything perfect, so that salvation should be complete; all that relates to the salvation of men should be complete.

SMcC It says in Romans 8: 27, “But he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for saints according to God”. Do you understand that to mean that He is maintaining here the blessedness of what is on high, where Christ is interceding in the presence of God for us?

JT I would say just that. Romans 8 is so full in that sense. The number of times the Spirit is mentioned is remarkable, probably thirteen or fourteen times, and it is to bring out the volume of spiritual power resulting from the presence of the Spirit Himself here on earth where we are. He makes intercession according to God for the saints.

JK “The Spirit joins also its help”, is in connection with prayer, is it not?

JT Just so, “Joins also its help to our weakness” is how it reads.

JK “The Spirit joins also its help to our weakness; for we do not know what we should pray for as is fitting, but the Spirit itself makes intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered”.

JT I think that is very precious, and especially important for the young people — there are a good many here — so that they may get the good of the ^[p. 129] gospel. The time is ebbing out; we are almost into the millennium, but it will not be nearly so great a time as this is. This is the greatest time, the greatest dispensation. It is the longest, but we cannot tell how much longer it will be, but it looks as if it is very near the finish.

ASC We get the psalmist’s apprehension of mount Zion in Psalm 48, “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King”. Is that for our encouragement now?

JT Just so. David comes into all of this very much and especially in that passage you quoted, for David is the author or editor of the Psalms; not that he wrote all of them, but I would say he was probably the editor. In any event, he had a great deal to do with them, being called the sweet psalmist of Israel. The word ‘sweet’ would imply what the grace of Christ is in the Psalms and one psalm may be cited peculiarly. In speaking of the ark, he says, “We heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood”. That means that he was a boy, maybe, when he heard of it at Ephratah, which was very likely where he was born. He says, “We heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood”, showing how real he was as a young man or boy.

HB The same psalm goes on to speak about God choosing mount Zion and says, “I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy ones with bread”.

ABM'N Does the thought of the kingdom enter into what you have been saying?

JT That is really what we are dwelling on, so we have spoken about new birth, which is basic to all that has been said. In John 3 it says, “Except any one be born anew he cannot see the kingdom of God”. See the kingdom — that is a real question ^[p. 130] for everybody, whether he sees the kingdom. Then the next thing in that same chapter is, “Except any one be born of water and of Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. These are real basic matters as to the kingdom. And what we are saying now is of the highest importance. The question is, Are we all getting what the kingdom really means, the kingdom of God? It says, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

ANW The summing up of the matter in chapter 12 is, “Wherefore let us, receiving a kingdom not to be shaken”.

JT Receiving it, not seeing it, or entering into it, but receiving it. That is another thing, a beautiful thought. It is a question of inquiring whether we see, or enter into, or receive the kingdom of God, a kingdom which cannot be shaken.

AGL Does the thought of the constitution of christianity enter into that?

JT I think it does. These items are all basic to what we are saying now because it is what is constitutional, whether we have seen the kingdom or entered into the kingdom or received the kingdom which cannot be moved; let us “have grace, by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear”. We have come here many times and our dear brethren have prepared for us. We have come long distances and we do not want to come for nothing.

EFC Is it important that we see that mount Zion is the place of rich divine provision? It says, “On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. I was thinking of the geographical setting and whether we understand the rich provision in the word of God and the sacrificial work of Christ, and the mercy of God as Abraham and David proved it in ^[p. 131] type.

JT What you are saying now reverts to Abraham, to the mount of Jehovah, not mount Zion or Sinai, but the mount of Jehovah which was very near mount Zion. “On the mount of Jehovah will be provided”. It is very near, but it is mount Zion where things are fully provided for us.

JWD Is not the idea of a right secured to us seen in mount Zion, an inalienable right connected with christianity? I am referring to John 1, “to them gave he the right to be children of God”. Mount Zion represents the constitution, the right of every christian to be in its glory and liberty. Mount Zion really constitutes the right of everyone of us to this.

JT You are alluding to John 1. Now let us allude to the end of this epistle in regard to the word ‘right’. It says in chapter 13: 10, “We have an altar of which they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle; for of those beasts whose blood is carried as sacrifices for sin into the holy of holies by the high priest, of these the bodies are burned outside the camp. Wherefore also Jesus, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered without the gate, therefore let us go forth to him without the camp, bearing his reproach, for we have not here an abiding city, but we seek the coming one”. I think these two scriptures are well to keep before us, what christians have a right to, that God has given us that right. We have no right to anything as natural men, whereas mount Zion refers to what we do get and what we have in the Spirit and what christianity implies.

SMcC Would the answer in the believers be seen in Revelation 22 in the washing of the robes, that they may have the moral right? There is a moral answer to the right that is presented to the believer, “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life”. It is established ^[p. 132] on a moral basis on our part showing that we surely realise what we are dealing with in mount Zion.

JT The idea of right, so that all these passages surely ought to help us as to christianity.

WHC Is verse 28, “Wherefore let us, receiving a kingdom not to be shaken, have grace, by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear”, in the apostle’s mind that we should move forward? There is to be power seen in us.

JT I think so. The apostle, undoubtedly Paul, would endeavour to get the Hebrew christians into the reality of christianity and we should go forward into it.

EGMcA I would like to refer once more to your reference to the Spirit of God moving here in a priestly way, as it seems to me all that has been said since greatly helps if we take account of it. If I do not know how to pray, the Spirit helps. And the fact that it says our infirmities without designating them shows it includes them all in connection with the mind of God. That is a wonderfully encouraging word in regard to the Spirit here at the present time.

JT Very good. It reminds us of the continuance of divine service, what brethren are going on with. And there is no doubt that in what we are going on with, God is helping us, and the first day of the week is the day in which we enter on divine service. We usually have three meetings, the first for the breaking of bread and it is alluded to in 1 Corinthians 11: 17. The apostle says that he came to the assembly, but there were certain things that he could not praise them about. At the same time he did praise them about other things, but what he did not praise them about was when they came together, they failed in what belonged to the assembly. There are peculiar joys that enter into the first day of the week when we come together. So I will read a verse or two in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 17. “But in prescribing to ^[p. 133] you on this which I now enter on, I do not praise, namely, that ye come together, not for the better, but for the worse. For first, when ye come together in assembly, I hear there exist divisions among you, and I partly give credit to it. For there must also be sects among you, that the approved may become manifest among you. When ye come therefore together into one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper. For each one in eating takes his own supper before others, and one is hungry and another drinks to excess. Have ye not then houses for eating and drinking? or do ye despise the assembly of God, and put to shame them who have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this point I do not praise”. Now, he says, I am going to tell you what is proper, “For I received from the Lord, that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread, and having given thanks broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you, this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after having supped, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do, as often as ye shall drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye announce the death of the Lord, until he come. So that whosoever shall eat the bread, or drink the cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty in respect of the body and of the blood of the Lord”, and so forth, I thought it was an important matter that we should come to it intelligently and we should see how the Lord is looking on what we are doing on the first day of the week, and we should see how much there is in it for God and for the service of the Lord Jesus. I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring forward these facts, so that the truth of the assembly should be with us thoroughly on the first day of the week so that we should continue in it, increase in it, and that the numbers ^[p. 134] should increase and not diminish, but increase and not be divided by sectarianism. I have suggested all that I have said, dear brethren, because the time is pretty well up now and I think we should take to heart what is going on at the present time and what we have part in so that we should continue in it and increase in it.

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