"THEN they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." Mal. iii, 16. The subject of faithfulness in meeting is one of vital interest to me, and one which has a bearing upon every disciple of the Lord. Without attending on the means of grace, we wither and die, or become mere skeletons in the ranks of the Lord. We are now living in a day when God is calling on us as in thunder tones to arise and be free; to rally around the Lord's standard, and be valiant soldiers in his cause. The Devil never made so strong efforts to oppose and hinder the true work of God as at this moment; and the certain knowledge of this startling fact should move us to such diligence in his cause, as will enable us to triumph over all our adversaries. And God, in his particular mercy, has told us just how this may be done. By the pen of his servant Paul he says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." Heb. x, 25. Here is an inspired delineation of certain Christian duties; duties which if properly discharged, will make us strong in the Lord and the power of his might. And one of them is faithfulness in the prayer and social meeting. Then according to this injunction, as the church behold the day of the Lord approaching they are to exhort each other in view of it. The pen of inspiration has much to say on the point of bearing the cross in meeting, for those who fail here do not prosper in spiritual things. Those who bear a continual cross in meeting, are generally living epistles and the lively stones in God's temple. The Devil, our adversary, is aware of this, and so tries to discourage in the good work of overcoming "by the word of our testimony." Many, he keeps back solely through fear; he operates most powerfully on the organ of fear to close their mouths when they should praise and glorify God. But the word says, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love and power and of a sound mind. I think very many members in the church suffer a great loss because they hold back, and wait, and do not take a part in the social meeting. Here is the place where all get strength who do their duty; and the word of God furnishes an excuse for no one. We all have at least "one talent," or else we are not responsible for our actions in the sight of God. But it will never do to hide our one talent, as though we were ashamed of it, because we have not got five or ten. No, God will require this talent by and by with usury; but what a sad account will some have to give who have hid their Lord's money, and made no improvement of the ability he has given them. In the social meeting we are often required to move from principle, and not altogether by feeling. Christ's followers are to toil on in the footsteps of their Master. He bore his cross; we are to do likewise. He did not carry the rugged piece of wood to the place of the skull because he felt like it, or because he esteemed it a privilege; no, it was duty, and we who are left behind to fill up the suffering part of the crucified One, should think of this. Oftentimes we hear it remarked, "The forepart of the meeting was interesting, but the last end was not so good." Now why is this? It is simply because in the beginning of the meeting the brethren took hold and did their duty and God blessed; but others, who then should have moved forward held back, and the fire went down. When we all learn to do our duty promptly in the conference meeting, whether we feel like it or not, then we shall see "good days," and the meeting will be all forepart. I have often felt to pity those who were backward in the house of the Lord; they evidently suffer in two21ways: from the arrows of God's conviction on the one hand, and by the Devil's holding his thumb on the organ of fear on the other. If those who suffer in this way would learn wisdom by their experience, they might avoid this cross-fire, and feast on the milk and honey of the sanctuary with their brethren. Christian believers are often compared to soldiers, but camp life is not always pleasant to the military man; neither is it to us who are tenting out till we go to a city that hath foundations. It is not always a privilege for the soldier to march out on the field of battle and confront a mortal foe; nor is it a privilege for the Christian warrior to combat with the prince and power of the air. The man of war springs at the blast of the bugle, and the man of God must move at the watch-word of the Spirit. Let us all remember that we are God's witnesses, and ever be ready to testify of his daily and weekly mercies.
G. W. A.