You will find our text this afternoon in Heb 10:25: "Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

This is Kingdom Day, and the subject we have chosen bears a very vital relationship to the subject of the kingdom. When our heavenly Father brought into existence the first of all his intelligent creation, there he also brought into existence his kingdom-the kingdom of God. Prior to that time there was not one soul in all of this universe that could look up to God as King; there was not one in all the universe to whom God could look down upon as his subject. God had no kingdom yet; he controlled the illimitable space that composes our universe, but there was not one subject; the essentials for a kingdom had not yet come into existence; but when God brought into existence the first begotten one, there the kingdom of God had its beginning. The realm covered all space, the subject was that one being who was brought into existence.

As the myriads of angelic beings were brought into existence, it meant a further increase in the subjects of God's great kingdom, and when finally this earth was created it simply meant an improvement of a part of God's realm. When man was created it meant the beginning and existence of a new race of subjects to look up to the great Creator King. We all recall how six thousand years ago there was a conspiracy among the subjects of this wonderful King. We remember how one of these angelic subjects rebelled and conspired against the one who is responsible for his very existence. You remember how that conspiracy involved the members of our race, and the result was a rebellion against the authority of the Almighty. We are quite sure that divine power could have put down that rebellion against his law immediately, but for some reason, and no doubt a good reason, the great King did not do so; he permitted this rebellion to still continue. We have seen some of the [PE260] reasons why he has allowed this awful rebellion. Among other things it has helped us to realize the necessity for the great King; for six thousand years man has been without his rightful King. God has allowed the earth to continue in its rebellious state, and look at the conditions that exist; look at the sickness, sorrow, suffering and death. Think of the earthquakes and the cyclones; think of the many things that mar the planet on which we live. We recall that all of these things are because this earth has been taken out of the hand of its proper King, because there is rebellion here, because the usurper has stepped in. But the Word of God informs us that this Kingdom is to be restored to earth.

We are not to get the thought that in some future time the Lord Jesus is going to create the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has existed uninterruptedly since it first came into existence, but we are to get the thought that while there was a time when the kingdom of God reached to every corner of our universe, when for a short time it then included the earth, and its few inhabitants, yet the time is going to come when God's kingdom will come again, when God's kingdom will once more take control of this earth, and when God's will shall be done on earth once more as perfectly and thoroughly as it has been done all the time in heaven.

We remember that the Lord Jesus Christ in his various messages especially referred to the coming of that kingdom. He told us to pray for it, saying, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is done in heaven." We remember how he told us also that that kingdom was to be expected at his second advent. In the 19th chapter of Luke, 11th and 12th verses, we remember the statement that Jesus spake this parable unto them, because they were nigh unto Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear, and he said, "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a nobleman traveling into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return." He would give up the thought that he had to go away for some purpose, and that he was sometime coming back to establish that kingdom.

We remember the same thought expressed in his statement to Pilate-" My kingdom is not of this world," giving us to understand that when this world terminated, when that new world, that new order of things, has been ushered in, then would be the time for his kingdom; and the Scriptures show us when the time had fully arrived for the Lord Jesus Christ to exercise his kingly office and authority, that he would exercise that power and that authority to bring this earth and its inhabitants back into thorough and perfect subjection to the great king of all. The Scriptures tell us how he was to reign until he had put all things under him, and the Scriptures say that when all things have been put under him [PE261] then Jesus will deliver up the kingdom to the Father, the one that did put all things under him in connection with the great plan that the Father had arranged, and then the heavenly Father should once more occupy his rightful place in the hearts and minds of the human race.

But what has been going on during this interval between this first advent of our Savior and his second advent? The Lord Jesus spoke 1800 years ago about the kingdom of God coming nigh and so on. What did he mean by such a statement? We recognize as we carefully scrutinize the Scripture statement that he did not mean he established the kingdom 1800 years ago, but he meant that by an especial arrangement, a special privilege of having a special place in the wonderful kingdom, was to be offered to a certain class; that those who had been willing to take up their cross and follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ have been recognized as citizens of the kingdom; they are not actually in the kingdom, the kingdom is in Heaven and they are on earth, but their hearts, their minds, their affections are in the kingdom of God, and the consequence is they can say with Paul, "Our citizenship is in heaven."

But why did the Lord make that special arrangement? Because it was the divine intention that those who would prove to be faithful subjects of the kingdom, even while the king was actually absent from them, those who would be true to him in spite of all the allurements, besetments and obstacles of this life, that those were going to have a share with Jesus on his throne in the kingdom; as the Savior himself said, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcome and am set down with my Father in his throne."

And we again hear our Savior expressing the same thought in Luke 12:32, "Fear not little flock for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." These are what other Scriptures call "Heirs of the Kingdom"-heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ in that glorious kingdom hope, a share with Jesus in bringing this earth back to the estate which has been lost because of that conspiracy against the great king.

Now, dear friends, I thought this afternoon that nothing would be more appropriate than to tell you something about certain essential things you and I want in order to get the place that is offered us in this wonderful kingdom. There is not one exhortation in the Word of God that is in vain; there is not one suggestion made to you and to me but what there must be some very important reason for that suggestion-some reason why we ought to heed it, some reason why we should act on it; so this afternoon we have chosen a text which you and I will have to respect, and which we will have to act upon if we are going to have [PE262] place among that kingly class-that class that together with our Redeemer are to do that marvelous work.

Did you ever notice the connection between our text and the verse that follows it? It reads like this: "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much more as ye see the day approaching. For if ye sin willfully after ye have received a knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin" It seems to me that there is a most astounding connection between those two verses, as though the Apostle would give us the thought that in that especial time, in the period when we begin to see the day approaching more clearly than ever before, the time would be reached when communion and fellowship with the people of God would be more essential than it had been before, and if we would ignore and neglect that privilege there would be great danger that the final results might be the loss of everything.

You will notice, too, the Apostle uses the word "forsake" here. He did not say, "Do not ignore the assembling of yourselves together." If you and I have never met with the people of God, and knew nothing of the blessing and benefits of that fellowship, the Lord would never have made the statement quite so strong; and you and I would not be quite so well able to discern the necessity or value of meeting with the people of God. But the thought is, if you have once tasted of this blessing, if you have once enjoyed this fellowship, if you have once participated in this communion, now do not forsake it; never give it up; forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is.

Now we are going to devote ourselves to considering why you and I should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Why is this made such an important matter? Why does the Apostle lay such stress on it? Why should you and I be so careful about meeting with the children of God? Well, the first answer to the question, and it seems to me the simplest answer, would be this; you and I should do this thing on the basis of faith, because the Lord says so, even if we could not see one single benefit to be derived, even if we could not see one single advantage to be gained; the very fact the Lord said so ought to settle the whole matter, and we should say, "Lord, I respect your Word; you have said it, and I am going to abide by that."

I think there is not the confident faith in many of the statements of the Word of God, even among some of his children, that there ought to be. Do you remember the fait h that Abraham had? Do you remember the time when God came to Abraham and said to him, "Abraham, leave thine own house, and thy father's house and come out into this land that I will show you?" Do you remember how Abraham never [PE262] stopped to question the wisdom of God's advice? He did not say, "Well, Lord, your desire is clear to me, but I cannot see why you want me to go out there? Don't you think, Lord, this is a pretty good place where I am living? Why cannot I stay here and serve you? How is that land that you want me to go out into? Is it a pretty good land for farming purposes? Do you think I would be able to raise a crop to support myself and my family? And do you think I could keep my cattle and my sheep out there?" He did not say one word. God told Abraham to go, and he was ready to go. Even when he got there he found nothing but a barren wilderness. Dear friends, that was faith, and that is the faith that you and I want to have. And we want to be careful that we do not have merely the credulous kind of faith, in a misinterpreted scripture; we want to be sure we have the true thought in a subject, and when we have got the truth then we want to act on it, whether we can see the reason or necessity for it or not. And that is the way with this passage. When we find the advice in the Word of God that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, then when we find the people that have God's spirit, when we find the people who give evidence of living close to the Lord, then, whether you find the measure of profit in associating with them you expect or not, you should meet with them, because God has said so.

Some might say, "Well, but do not situations alter the matter?" I am sure if there is no one in your neighborhood who does give evidence of having love for God and his Truth, then of course matters would be altered, but even in that case you would have to hold fellowship in your mind and heart with the people of God, even though visible fellowship was impossible. But if you are located where there is a company of God's children, then your course is clear from that statement. Sometimes we are likely to follow the course that was followed by Balak. You remember how back in Numbers, twenty-sixth chapter, we read about Balak. You remember how that king sent for Balaam to come and curse the people of Israel. When the prophet arrived at the appointed place the one who had sent for him showed him the hosts of Israel and said, "Now Balaam, curse these people, I want them cursed." And Balaam said, "I will have to find out what the Lord says about it." And you remember how he built seven altars and sacrifices were offered up, and you remember he received the Lord's message, and he spoke out and said, "Blessed are the people of Israel, etc." Then Balak said, "Why Balaam, I sent for you to curse these people and now you bless them; I do not want them blessed, whatever you do. You have followed just the opposite course from what I intended. Come look at these people from this place, maybe the Lord will give you a different message. So they built more altars and [PE264] offered further sacrifices, and Balaam went away to get a further message from the Lord, and he came back, and it was the blessing that God intended for the people of Israel. Again you remember how that ruler was distressed to think that Balaam had delivered a favorable message for his enemies. He said, "Well, Balaam, come over here and see what kind of a message you will get from this position." And again you will remember the message was one of blessing. How peculiar that that poor man Balak thought God's message would be different if it was viewed from a different standpoint! It was the same message, whether from here, or from there. So let us all be very careful we do not follow the course of that heathen king. I am afraid that there are some of the Lord's people who say, "Well, I know the Scriptures say we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but now I will look at things from this standpoint; I have some trials and some obstacles in the way, now don't you think I am justified in not meeting with the little company at our place?"

"Sister, the Lord said forsake not the assembling of yourselves together."

"But now wait, I want to show you from this standpoint: I live quite a ways from the meeting, and I have not the very best of health. Now don't you think I would be justified in staying home and not assembling with the Lord's people?"

"The Lord has said, Sister, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. It does not matter how you view it, the matter is settled." Let us not be of that class that are seeking some excuse that they may not have to act on what God has advised, but let us be of the class that are determined to overcome every obstacle in order to adhere to the advice and abide by the suggestions God has made. I think it is a dangerous thing when we get into the position where we want some excuse for ignoring the Word of God. I believe that Satan realizes our weaknesses along that line and he knows how to take advantage of them. It seems as if the devil has a big excuse department, and if anybody wants any excuse for anything-anything that would be contrary to the Word of God, he will get the excuse up for them. And you won't have to send him a very explicit order for it; you will not have to write out an order for it, "Devil & Co. Please send me ten excuses so I won't have to go out into the volunteer work this morning." No, indeed! All you have to do is to have a half a wish in your heart that you do not have to go out tomorrow, and he will send you a box of excuses right away. And you will probably think, Well, do you suppose I would use any excuses the devil manufactured? Not at all. Here he has sent a whole box of them. I will look them over and see what kind of excuses he sent."

"The idea! Did he think I would use that excuse? It is nonsense. I [PE265] would not think of using such an excuse-away with it!"

"Let me see the next one."

"Why, who would use an excuse like that? I would be the greatest kind of dunce to act on an excuse of that kind. Why, the devil could not catch me with any of his excuses. I am beyond all of that."

"Now, look at the next one."

"Well, that is a poor sort of an excuse, I would be a poor kind of a Christian to use that excuse."

"Let me see the next one."

"Well, there is an appointment with Mr. Smith-yes, that is right; yes, I did tell Mr. Smith some morning I would come around; tomorrow morning is about as good as any. I don't know, I think maybe it will be my duty togo around there tomorrow. I do not like to miss the volunteer work tomorrow morning either; couldn't I put off going to see Mr. Smith until some other time? Not so very well. I think I will just have to not go out with the brethren this time; I will call them up on the phone and let them know I cannot go out in the volunteer work tomorrow morning."

Dear friends, I think that is the method the devil often takes with us. If he finds in your heart or in my heart the least inclination to ignore the admonition of the Lord, he will find some way of taking advantage of that inclination, and you and I are going to be trapped.

When we find any statement in the Word of God as to the course we should follow, settle it right there, "God says it thus and I will do it, I do not care how much it costs or does not cost."

Many might say, "Well, there is not very much danger along those lines." Dear friends, the probabilities are that there is more danger to some of us than we would realize. I was at a place only a few weeks ago where there is a brother and his wife. They were connected with one of the most prominent classes in the United States; they had been associated with that class for fifteen years; I suppose the friends all around that neighborhood knew them, they were considered loyal Christian characters. A few years ago they moved to a town where there were only five or six friends who were very deeply interested, but they did not even inquire where the meetings were held or anything else. There that little class was struggling along in spite of opposition, trying to edify one another, and that brother and sister for nearly five years never met with the class until just a short time ago. Now, if we are inclined to neglect any admonitions of the Lord's Word, Satan will find some way of using that admonition to trip us up, and stumble us, and we do not know what the final results might be.

So if you have enjoyed this season of fellowship and communion [PE266] here, when you get to your home keep this text before your minds and forsake not the assembling of yourselves together. There may not be as many in the little company at your home as there have been gathered in this auditorium, but it is a company of God's children, just as much as this is a company of the children of God.

But not there is a second reason why you and I do not want to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and that is because where God's people are there God is, and where the church is there the head of the church is. The Savior himself says, "Where two or three are met together in my name there will I be."

It would be absurd for any of God's children to gather together without the Lord being present if they really are his children. How absurd to think of someone coming to these meetings and leaving their head at home? Indeed if they come they have to bring their head with them. If you are one of the children of God, and if Jesus is your head, if you have given up your own head, your own will, to do the will of your Master, then wherever you go your Master goes; and you will say, "Where there is a company under the control of the Spirit of the Master there I want to be; I want to be where he is, and I know he is there in a special and peculiar sense over and above what he is with me when I am alone in connection with my daily employment."

But there is still another reason why we do not want to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We realize that these are the people who love to talk about the things that we love to talk about; they love to dwell on the topics that are dearest to our hearts. If we are amongst the people of the world, and if all our interests and all our desires are along worldly lines, then we would rather go where our neighbors go-we would rather go to places of amusement, we would rather go to places that would to some degree benefit us along worldly lines; and if your heart has been given to the Lord you want to go to the place where these things are talked about that you are most deeply interested in, the things of the Lord, where his will is in control. And yet this does not mean that when the people of God meet together they always do confine their discussions and conversations to the subject that means the most to them. Let us be careful all along that line. When we meet with the Lord's people let us keep our minds focused on the things of the Lord; let us keep our hearts centered upon spiritual matters. And you might squander the Lord's time in talking about the things that do not profit you as respects the edification of the new creature.

I think it is very much like the Jewish Tabernacle. You know how when you went into the Holy if you would look up there on that curtain overhead you could see all of those figures of cherubim wrought [PE267] in needle work. To me that illustrates the way you and I, when we are in that condition, begotten of God's Holy Spirit, as we look up we see God's providences, we see his wisdom, his love, his power and his justice, and by the eye of faith we behold the very angels as ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the people of God.

Do you remember when the high priest, or the under priests either, were in the Holy, if they looked up they could see these angels, these cherubim, everywhere on that curtain wrought with needle work? But suppose instead of looking up, the priest just looked down, and kept his eyes on the earth, what would he see? Nothing but dirt, just ground. You remember there was no special floor made in that Tabernacle, it just stood on the earth. We can see the purpose, we see the appropriateness of the picture; it gives us the thought that even though you and I have been begotten of God's Holy Spirit, even though we have been brought to the place where we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, yet we have to keep our eyes up, as it were-lift up our heads. On the contrary, if we are looking down in the worldly direction we will see earthly things; we will just see dirt, nothing but dirt.

I am aware, dear friends, that we cannot talk about spiritual things to everybody. When you meet with the members of your family who have not given themselves to the Lord, and when you meet your neighbors who are not inclined in spiritual directions, you have got to give some thought and attention, and devote some part of your conversation to the things that they can appreciate, but when you meet with the people of God it is different; they meet together to talk about the things that will help them toward the kingdom, help them to make their calling and election sure, things that will give them an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Some time ago I remember I had to give a little rebuke to two brothers along this line. We were visiting a certain place in the West, and it was probably a half an hour before meeting time, the friends had begun to meet together and these two brethren had been among the Indians and knew quite a little bit about talking Choctaw, and they got to talking about that, and they were telling about the different words they remembered, and the peculiar expressions in the language, and the rest of us of course could not interrupt them very well and we kept still while they discussed this matter of talking Choctaw. After they had been talking probably a quarter of an hour on the subject, I do not know just how long, I felt it was my duty to say something. I said, "Well, brethren, do you know that the Bible refers to us talking Choctaw?"

"No," one brother remarked, "I do not think the Bible says anything about it." [PE268]

"Yes," I said, "there is a verse in the Bible that refers to speaking Choctaw."

"Why," he says, "where is it found?"

"In the third chapter of Philippians."

"What does it say; I don't remember anything like that?"

I said, "I will tell you what it says, -"Forgetting the things that are behind." Now I think there are a good many subjects that come under that head, and you and I want to learn to set our affections on the things above and forget those things that are behind. We want to seek the things that will edify, and especially let us beware of boastfulness along these lines I find so often we are inclined to cultivate a little boastful spirit, we like to talk about the different people we have engaged in conversation, and how we have downed them in our argument, and how they could not answer us, how we were able to cover them with confusion, etc. Dear friends, I think it would be well for us if we would not talk quite so much along those lines. We do not want to have that boastful spirit that will go around boasting of the victories gained, or anything of that kind. We do not want to merely pull the faith of others down, we want to build their faith up in the right direction. So I would suggest that we talk more along the line that would draw us towards the Lord, and less along the lines that would draw us away from the Lord.

But there is another reason why I do not think we should forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and that is because in meeting with the people of God we will find grace and strength to prepare us for the hard experiences that are coming. You recall that in 2 Cor. 12:9 the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, uttered these words: "My grace is sufficient for you." Now do not get the wrong thought; do not get the idea that the Lord meant by that that you always would have grace sufficient for every trial. He did not mean that at all. I will show you what he did mean. It may be possible some of the Lord's people have found themselves in trials sometimes, and they have had to confess that they did not have grace enough. They said, "Oh, I know if I had sufficiency of grace I could bear this trial better than I do. There is something wrong; the Lord said his grace would be sufficient, but it is not." Has the Lord broken the promise? Not at all. Here is the thought: The Lord promised he will supply sufficient grace, but you and I, in order to make use of that supply, we will have to go to the source of supply in the right way, as it were. You have come to this convention; how do you know but what God has arranged that in this convention you might obtain grace to prepare you for trials you are going to have next December? The Lord may realize there are trials coming on you that you dream not of, and the Lord is getting you ready for those trials. How many have said, "Oh, [PE269] I can see now when I look back that the Lord was preparing me for these awful experiences; I could not have endured it if he had not made me ready for it. Now I can see how these experiences that have happened to me in the last few months were really getting me ready for that awful ordeal through which I have just gone. And so we see the Lord is getting us ready for the trials that are coming.

Now then in your little home gatherings, as you go to the meetings there week after week, the Lord is supplying you with grace. He said that his grace would be sufficient, and that is the way he has of giving you that grace. But suppose you say to yourself, "Well, I know the Lord has told me I should not forsake the assembling of myself with you people-I know that, but it is a long distance to the meeting place, and I do not like the brethren altogether there. I think some of them have very peculiar and eccentric ways about them, and I just think I will not go; I will stay at home." What is the result? You are not obtaining the grace that you needed for the trial when it comes and the consequence is when the trial arises, you will be lacking-but not because God failed in the keeping of his word; God has done his part, he is supplying the grace, but you just as much as told him, "Lord, I know there is grace at that meeting, but I do not want it that way; you have just got to inject the grace into me; that is the way I want it." Dear friends, we cannot afford to miss one single opportunity for service, or one single opportunity that is reasonable and proper for us to make use of in connection with associating with those who love the Lord, without it being to our detriment spiritually, so that some trial will come and we will be unprepared for that trial. So I say, we want to be ready for those trials coming; we want to have that preparation of heart and mind that will enable us to pass through trials victoriously, and that is the reason why we do not wish to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

But now, dear friends, there is another thought there. We want to meet with the people of God because we recognize these are the people we are going to spend eternity with; we want to get acquainted beforehand. If you are one of the faithful followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I am one of those who may prove true to him, then we will be among those who will have to be associated through all the boundless ages of the future. I feel, therefore, that if I am at all unwilling to associate with you today, if I feel that I would rather hold aloof from the people of God, that I would rather spend my time in business associations or ways of worldly pleasure, the consequence of that would be that I would be unfit to spend those ages of eternity in your company, and in the company of others that are making their calling and election sure.

But now we are coming down to the points I wanted to lay the more [PE270] especial stress upon. We want to heed the admonition of our text, and we do not want to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, because in assembling with the people of God, they help us, and we are able to help them. Do they help us? They certainly do if our heart is in the right attitude. But I think this, that the trouble with many may be they do not consider this matter of how we can obtain help from our brethren and sisters to the extent we should, and the result is we do not obtain the help that we otherwise might. In coming to this convention what was your motive? What was your object? Did you suppose for instance that you would be of wonderful help to the people of God? You did not expect you would get any especial help, they would not say anything you did not know; you thought you were pretty well posted, pretty well up on the Scripture, but you had some wonderful things you wanted to tell some of those that you converse with here. If that was the spirit in which you came, then to the extent you entertained that inclination, that spirit, to that extent you have lost a blessing; but if on the other hand you came here in a teachable attitude, with a desire to learn-not merely to learn something new, but to learn something that will draw you closer to the Lord, then I know you will go away spiritually enriched, you will go away feeling as though you were nearer to your Lord than you ever have been before.

I think that it is not the new things we are after; that is one of the evidences that we are babes in Christ, I think. You know there seems to me to be quite a number of ways of determining those who are babes in Christ. The Scriptures speak about babes in Christ and strong men in the Lord. It says, "Milk belongs unto babes, and strong meat belongs to them who are of full age, who have their senses exercised to discern between good and evil." There are other ways of distinguishing between the babes and those who are strong in the Lord. You know one peculiarity about babes is the extent to which they cry; they are more inclined to cry than those who are older. And, I think it is the same with spiritual babes! When I go to a home and find some brother that is crying the whole time I am there-he is crying because they did not elect him elder of the class, he is crying because he has such a hard time to get along, he is crying because he has farther to go to meeting than most of the others, and he is crying because of this thing and because of that thing-I generally think, "Now there is one of the Lord's babes, I can tell it by the way he cries; I hope some day he will grow up and be a strong man in the Lord."

But there is another thing that is characteristic of babies and children generally. You will notice that a person advanced in years can generally pay attention to one thing, and stick to that one thing for some [PE271] time; but I have noticed in regard to little children you have to all the time be doing something new to amuse them; you must amuse them one way for two or three minutes, then you have to do something else; and then they want to do something else; and the person who can most frequently change from one form to another of amusing a child, and who has the greatest variety of new things that will amuse him, is the one that the child seems to like the best.

I think that is the way along spiritual lines. If we are in the attitude where we simply want something new, where we come to the conventions not to hear about brotherly love, and not to hear about patience, and not to have our spirit of zeal encouraged, and not to be impressed with the glories of the kingdom so much, but we come to hear something new, something that has never been said before, something that will just make our blood tingle to hear, because of its novelty, then we realize that we will also go away to some extent disappointed, because that is not the Lord's purpose. It is not the Lord's intention that his people should be built up and strengthened by the amount of new things that should be said, but on the other hand it is the frequent reiteration of the old things that is likely to strengthen us and to enable us to make our calling and election sure. So now when you go to your little home meetings and you find that the brother who took the leading part in that meeting never has anything very original to say, and you find that the other friends in the class seem to have very little novelty in their statements, then, dear friends, the fault is not with the class, the fault is with you; you are not in the proper attitude. Just think, if we are one of those faithful ones who will be united with our Lord in the ages to come, what is going to be your work and my work? Will we have all of that thousand years for something new to say to the world every day? I think not. It seems to me that when the world comes up from the tomb in the age to follow, if we are one of that honored company associated with our Lord, we will have to repeat the plan just so many times that if you do not love it very dearly you will get tired of it then; and that is why the Lord is not going to have one in that class who does not love the "old, old story" so dearly that he can sing it from the heart; and "those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest."

Take the Berean studies, for instance: I find that there are brethren and sisters who sometimes go to a Berean study and they only half listen. Brother so and so says something, and they think of something else; they know that brother never says anything new; then another brother speaks up, and they pay a little attention to what he is saying, because they know already what he is going to say. And [PE272] consequently when the meeting is over they think it is strange they do not get much benefit from the meeting. The fact is this, that not one of God's children says anything but what you will find some profit, some benefit, in what he says. Take the Berean study: one brother makes a statement, and if you had paid attention to what that brother said, instead of allowing the spirit of pride to make you feel you knew it already, and did not have anything to learn from him, the probabilities are there is a little point in what that brother may have said that might have impressed itself in your mind, and it would have done you good; it would have been refreshing; you knew it, only it would have been impressed a little more deeply than it was before. Then you listened to the next brother, and he made a statement and you would probably see a connection between what he said and what that other brother said that was specially helpful; and the third brother would follow with a little statement, and there would be some helpful point in what he said that would fit in with the statement made by the other, and when the meeting was all over you would say, "Was not it a profitable meeting we had today? Oh, how much benefit I received, how much help I derived from this little Berean study!" Now, dear friends, let us remember that frequently it is pride that causes us to be inattentive when another is speaking. Let us keep in mind that there is no one who has the Spirit of God but what he can benefit and help us to some extent, in some way.

I often think of the statement where Paul told the church that they had ten thousand instructors in Christ-that though they had ten thousand instructors-he seemed to speak of it as an actual fact, as though that were the case. What did he mean by that? I will give you this thought: possibly at that time there may have been about ten thousand consecrated believers, as far as the Apostle Paul would judge, and he wanted this number to realize that every consecrated child of God was in a position to some extent to be an instructor. I will have to say that I have gotten an indescribable measure of benefit from just observing the conduct, the speech and the deportment of those I come in contact with in my travels over the country. I give a great many discourses which if the friends knew it are simply made up of the little things I have observed in those with whom I have come in contact.

Again, let us remember we cannot only learn from others, and instruct others by the words that are spoken, but by our example, by the deeds we perform. I think a great many must fail to appreciate what examples we ought to be. We often say, "Well, you must not take me for an example." But, dear friends, if you claim to be a consecrated Christian you ought to be an example-you must be an example; to be a Christian means to be an example; not an example of perfection, but an [PE273] example of what the grace of God can do. Do you mean to say you have been under the influence of God's grace for five years or ten years or fifteen years, and yet the Lord has done nothing in your life that ought to be an example, a benefit, a blessing to those who come in contact with you? It would be something to be very much ashamed of, if we would have to say that we have resisted the influences of God's spirit to such a degree that we are not an example of what the Lord can do at all-even though the Lord has thus been dealing with us so long. And then remember when we talk about the example we ought to set, and the life that we ought to live, do not think of that as the example you should set when you are at a convention. Indeed if we are living epistles, as we ought to be in our homes, we will be careful there just as truly as anywhere else. But sometimes even friends who are very careful how they act amongst others when they are in a public place, when it comes to their own home it is rather a matter of indifference to them. You cannot help but sometimes observe it. I remember I was in one home not very many hundred miles from here, and there was a little sister there who was in many respects a grand consecrated character. Her husband did not make very much religious profession at all, but I will never forget the impression made upon me. At the table, for instance, if I would ask for a thing that sister would go to any amount of trouble to have it at my plate right on the instant; if her husband asked for anything she did not seem to care whether she heard him or not; he would have to wait until the thing got around to him. If I asked a question, she would take ten minutes to explain and tell me all about how to get to the post office, or whatever it was; if her husband asked her a question she would cut him off in such a snappy sort of way that it made me wonder why he ever wanted to ask her anything much. I could not help but realize that sister was not showing the spirit the Lord desired in his people, and I could not help but think if possibly I stayed at that home for six months she would not be quite so beautiful in her treatment of me as she had been in the few days I was there.

Now, dear friends, let us be careful along those lines. Let us remember that we can just put it on when we have company for a day or two, but what we really are, and what is actually in our hearts, manifests itself by the daily lives we live in our home, and amongst those with whom we are accustomed to associate day after day.

This matter of example is a very important thing, and yet at the same time remember that we can set an example to others on very simple lines, in ordinary things, that will have an influence over them in very important matters. For instance, suppose in your class you find there [PE274] is a lack of thoughtfulness; for instance when the song service is going on there is some brother or sister that has no song book; nobody ever seems to think of looking around to see whether others have hymn books or not; the rest of you sing and this one is allowed to sit there without an opportunity to look on a book at all. Now that would be an indication that there was a lack of consideration, and a measure of selfishness probably, amongst the friends. But if that is the case you ought to keep the thought in your mind that you are partly to blame for it, because if you set the proper example, it does not matter who you are, you might be a very unimportant personage apparently, and yet at the same time your influence in helping to overcome that condition would be valuable. For instance, you meet with that class, and when the song service begins you look around and see a brother without a book, and you would immediately hand your book to that one; probably nothing would be thought of it-it would just be a simple little act that would not have been thought of at all, but the next time you were at a meeting you did the same thing; and the result would be that by and by the members of the class would notice those things, and they would begin to see the spirit of consideration in you, and you would begin to find them doing likewise; and the first thing you knew there would be such a spirit of considerate unselfishness in that class that it would do anybody's heart good to meet with them. So then, if the little company with whom you meet is not in the condition you think it ought to be, do not blame them but begin to blame yourself, and think, "Should not I set a different example? Should not I have been showing a different spirit, and in doing so would it not be found a benefit to the other members of this class?"

I want to say a word here, too, along another line. Let us remember that our influence will count for most in proportion to the thorough spirit of humility we possess. We find the man or woman who tries to put themselves forward, to make themselves conspicuous, will injure their influence to that extent, I would say that especially with regard to the elders of the various classes. If a brother is permitted to occupy the position of an elder, it seems to me he ought to perform the duties that devolve on an elder in a spirit that is so permeated with humility that others would get a blessing from his service, and yet at the same time would hardly be aware of the fact that he was the elder of the class.

I have been in a class where it seemed to be the special ambition on the part of the elder to let everybody know he was the elder. I have been in classes where I had not been there but a very short time until all the elders would have notified me they were the elders of the class, [PE275] and how long they had been elders, etc. Now, one might say, "Well, there was not anything wrong in that, they wanted you to be informed on the subject." Yes, but I am afraid that sometimes there have been indications which, while I could not judge, have made me somewhat suspicious that there was a little different spirit there. I remember one class where I went where they all seemed to be fairly humble, but there was one brother that I am afraid-well, wanted to be a little prominent, to be rather conspicuous, and I remember at first this brother went ahead and opened the meeting, and at the second meeting the same brother took charge of the meeting, and just before the third meeting began I said, "Brother, who will open the meeting this morning?"-Sunday morning it was.

He said, "I think I will, Brother Barton."

"Well, are there any other elders in the class, brother?"

"Oh, yes, we have four elders."

"Well," I said, "suppose brother, you take your turns; I think it looks much nicer if all the elders take their turns in matters of this kind. Suppose you have one of the other brethren open the meeting this morning."

"Well, Brother Barton, I know they will not want to do it; they put it off on me, and tell me I ought to do it; I know they will refuse."

"Well," I said, "you go and ask them anyhow."

He went to one of the brothers and asked him if he would open the meeting. The brother apparently refused, and this brother came back to me and said, "He tells me he would rather I would open the meeting, he does not want to do it."

I said, "Wait, I will go and speak to him."

I said, "Brother, you are one of the elders of this class?"

"Yes."

"Well now, could not you open the meeting this morning?"

"Well, but I think Brother So and So could probably do it much better."

"Well, but brother, I think if the class elected you as one of the elders it would be proper for you to take your turn."

"Well, if you think so, it will be all right."

That brother opened the meeting, and I got another brother to open another meeting, and a third brother the next meeting, and I think if I am not mistaken possibly all the elders of the class had a turn in opening those meetings before the conclusion of our visit.

Now the thought is this: These brethren apparently had the spirit of humility, but there was one brother that was too willing that he should be prominent. He ought to have impressed on the minds of the others the fact that they had a work to do, too; they had an opportunity, according to the Lord's voice as expressed through the class; and I would [PE276] suggest that brethren who are elders of the classes be especially careful that they do not assume too much of the responsibilities and ignore the other elders in the class. And where there is only one elder, how careful that brother ought to be!

I know one class, a grand, noble little class too, and the brother who is elder of this class serves them very faithfully, they think a great deal of him, but the time came when that brother found it was possible for him to go into the colporteur work, so he had to bid the friends goodbye and he went away. And he told me he learned several months after he had gone into the colporteur work that not a single meeting had been held by that class since he had left. They depended so upon him, they looked to him to such an extent that when the time came for him to leave, the class immediately went to pieces. The brother said, "I was frightened to think that I had not used my position any more faithfully than that, but allowed all the responsibility to be put on me, whereas I ought to have been helping to develop some of the other brethren; so I gave up the colporteur work and went back to that class. There are now four or five elders, and it would not hurt the class if I would leave." Brother, what is your position in regard to this? Do you have to admit that you have been rather assuming a little too much, so that the class largely depends on you, and there would be a great trial on the class if you should leave? Or, on the other hand, have you been showing there was no selfishness in your heart by doing everything in your power to help develop the other brethren, so that the class, if you were taken away, would be able to get along very nicely in every respect without you? Maybe the others will not have quite the same ability, but at the same time you have done your part toward helping them along those lines.

Another thing: the elder that exerts the greatest influence over the class is the elder who performs the duties developing upon him in such a way the others would hardly know he was a elder. He does not feel boastful about the matter, he does not have much inclination to put himself forward. I remember one class where some of the sisters told me of a trial they were having. They said there were sick friends in that town, and they felt inclined to visit some of those sick friends, and one of the sisters said to one of them, "Here, you have no right to visit that sick person at all; you are not one of the deaconesses." It seemed to me that was an awful spirit to manifest; that was a terrible state to get into. We want a spirit of unselfishness, the spirit that seeketh not her own. We often sing, "Oh to be nothing, nothing," but do we mean it when we sing it ? We have got to mean it if we get into the kingdom. We have got to be one of the class that can sing from the heart, "None of self, but all of thee." I thought of that in connection with a little [PE277] illustration awhile ago that seemed so refreshing in a way. The thought was, how this world is passing through a night. The Bible says, "Weeping may endure for a night"-this great night of sin and darkness and trouble, this night of sorrow, but you know how it is after night as you look up you see the stars shining; there is one over here, and a little one over there, and there is a large constellation here. So in this great night of sin, God's people have been like the stars that have been shining. I trust you are one of the stars that has been shining in the night time in your neighborhood. I am thankful that scattered all over the earth the Lord has these stars, his bright ones, that have been shining. Then we came to know what a star was. You know there was a day when they did not understand astronomy quite as well as we do today and back in that time they had a thought that stars were just holes in the floor of heaven, and that the light twinkled in the star was simply the light of Heaven shining through the knotholes in the floor. And this thought presented itself-that is exactly what we have to be. We have to be holes through which the light of Heaven shines. What is a hole? If anybody should ask me what a hole is, I would answer that to my understanding a hole is nothing with something substantial put around it. So if you and I get to the place where we become nothing, and God puts his substantial goodness and grace and love and wisdom around us, then we will be holes through which the light of Heaven will shine. Then we can exert the most helpful influence on our brethren, and they can exert the most helpful influence on us too. So we do not want to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, because we have not only opportunities to be built up ourselves, but to assist in the building up of the Body of Christ.

Now there is another reason why we must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and that is because in meeting with the people of God we find especially helpful opportunities for spiritual development. We do not find the same opportunities out in the world, and one reason is this: that you and I come in contact with the people of the world and when they show the wrong spirit we do not wonder at that. We say, those people have not made any great profession; they have not professed to be the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we could not expect anything better; you would have to expect that unkind word; but when we come to the people of God we do expect something better, and the consequence is, when we find that the Lord's people are imperfect, when we find that they sometimes do things we would rather they should not do, and they sometimes say things we would rather they should not say, it helps to develop in us a larger measure of spirituality, a larger measure of the graces of the Holy Spirit than [PE278] would possibly have been developed in us if it had been a worldly person that had treated us that way.

I think we are all inclined to expect too much of the people of God. We realize we are in the flesh, and we know that as long as we are in the flesh we are imperfect, we all have our failings; but we are thankful that the failings and imperfections and blemishes are not of the new nature, but the old nature-not in the hearts but rather in the flesh. And I think if we would keep that in mind we would be ready to make greater allowances for those who we come in contact with; we would have great allowances for our dear brethren and sisters when they do something that is not altogether to our liking.

I remember the words of the Apostle Paul in Rom. 15:24. He told us about the journey he hoped to make to Spain, and he said he expected he would go by way of Rome, and he would stop and visit the Roman brethren for awhile, and he said he hoped that when he met those brethren in Rome he would be somewhat filled with them. That is the way the King James version reads. One of the translations makes it a little clearer-he hoped he would be partly satisfied with them. What! Did the apostle expect to be partly satisfied with the brethren at Rome? Did he not expect to be entirely satisfied? No. Why, he was not entirely satisfied with himself, so how could he be entirely satisfied with them? I know I have been acquainted with myself a great deal longer than I have been acquainted with you, and I know I have had opportunities to understand my motives better than I could possibly understand your motives, because I can not read your hearts, and I know furthermore I have had plenty of time to get accustomed to my own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, and so on, while I have not had much opportunity to get acquainted with yours. It must be so then, that if after all of these years I am not satisfied with myself, how can I possibly be satisfied with you? I know that in you there are things I do not like; if I do not know what they are it is simply because I have not been with you long enough. If you and I could live under the same roof for about six months probably I would know something about your weaknesses, and probably you would know something about mine; and therefore the thing for us to do is to not cultivate the spirit that would readily find fault because a brother is weak, but rather the spirit which seeks to be strengthened and benefited and helped by the weaknesses of the brethren. How can these weaknesses help us? By developing in us more of the spirit of patience, of compassion, etc.-the spirit that would make allowances for that brother.

I heard of one case I thought illustrated it very well. A certain brother was on his way to one of the conventions; he got on the train; there [PE279] was quite a company going to the convention, and he went through one of the coaches talking to a number of friends there, and he sat down beside another brother to talk to him, and he said he was on the most disagreeable brethren he had ever met; he did not like his ways; he did not like his way of talking, he did not like some of his manners, etc., and the consequence was the brother terminated that conversation in a very short time and got up and said to himself, "Well, I pity the poor brother, but I would not want to be with him during the convention." And he said he had taken a few steps when the thought came to him, "Look here; that is the very brother that will give you an opportunity to humble yourself. Do you think the Lord has accepted him, and now you can turn your back on him? It is your duty to show a better spirit than that toward that brother." He said he went back and sat down beside that brother and talked to him for quite a while, and at last said to him, "Brother, have you sent in to have a room assigned to you at the convention?"

"No, I did not; I thought I would find a room that I could get after I arrived; I did not send in any word at all."

"Well," this other brother said, "that is the way with me; I never sent in for a room at all; suppose you and I go together and take a room between us?"

And the brother said when they got to the convention they got a groom together, and the greatest part of the convention to him was the communion with that disagreeable brother. He said he would not have missed it for all the world. He was blessed and benefited and strengthened by his contact with him in the time they spent together.

Now, that is the way with us. If we meet with those who seem to show some disagreeable traits, the thing is not to run away from them, but to look at the new nature; do not look at the old nature; we cannot see much of the new nature, but it is there. We have got to think of that one as walking after the Spirit rather than what we see of the flesh.

I think it is often like it is in our visits to some homes in the winter time. Sometimes we go into a house and there is a babe there, and the mother is very proud of it, and she wants you to see the little babe, and the babe when brought out is all wrapped up in blankets, and you hardly see how you are going to see it at all; but by and by you see a little place there, a little hole between the blankets, and you look through it and can see a corner of the baby's nose, and the mother says, "don't you think he is the image of his father?" "I cannot see enough of him to tell, but I suppose he is." That is the way with God's people. They are all the image of the Father, only you must not expect to see too much of the image; that image is wrapped in a blanket of flesh, as it were, [PE280] and you and I want to be among that class that will not think of one another according to the flesh, but remember how the apostle says, "We know no man henceforth after the flesh."

Dear Friends, let us not then forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Let us be among those who appreciate fully this opportunity for communion. May the Lord bless us as we go from this great gathering to the little gatherings where we are located. May the seasons we have enjoyed here together strengthen us in the Spirit of the Lord, so that when we go to that little company, that company will be strengthened and helped, not merely by what we are able to say, but by the spirit we show, the life we live; and if this convention has lifted us to a little higher plane that we have been on before, our suggestion is, stay on that plane; do not go back to the old plane-indeed, do not stay on that higher plane, but try to go to a still higher one, until by and by in God's providence, having enjoyed the blessings of these little gatherings, we may all be prepared and fitted for a place in the great gathering we hope to share with our Lord and master.