The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. IIIMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
The Assembly of God. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. III
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
We may be asked, "Where will you find all this down here?" Ah! this is
the question. It is one thing to present a _beau ideal_ on paper, and
another thing to realize it in the midst of error, failure, and
infirmity. Through mercy, some of us have tasted, at times, a little of
this blessedness. We have occasionally enjoyed moments of heaven upon
earth. Oh, for more of it! May the Lord, in His great mercy, raise the
tone of the assemblies everywhere! May He greatly enlarge our capacity
for more profound communion and spiritual worship! May He enable us so
to walk, in private life, from day to day so as to judge ourselves and
our ways in His holy presence, that at least we may not prove a lump of
lead or a waster to any of God's assemblies.
And then, even though we may not be able to reach in experience the true
expression of the assembly, yet let us never be satisfied with anything
less. Let us honestly aim at the loftiest standard, and earnestly pray
to be lifted up thereto. As to the _ground_ of God's assembly, we should
hold it with jealous tenacity, and never consent for an hour to occupy
any other. As to the tone and character of an assembly, they may and
will vary immensely, and will depend upon the faith and spirituality of
those gathered. Where the tone of things is felt to be low,--when
meetings are felt to be unprofitable--where things are said and done
repeatedly which are felt by the spiritual to be wholly out of place,
let all who feel it wait on God--wait continually--wait believingly--and
He will assuredly hear and answer. In this way the very trials and
exercises which are peculiar to an assembly will have the happy effect
of casting us more immediately upon Him, and thus the eater will yield
meat, and the strong sweetness. We must count upon trials and
difficulties in any expression of the assembly, just because it is _the_
right and divine way for God's people on earth. The devil will put forth
every effort to drive us from that true and holy ground. He will try the
patience, try the temper, hurt the feelings, cause offence in nameless
and numberless ways--anything and everything to make us forsake the true
ground of the assembly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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