These notes were taken down by a hearer at a Fellowship Meeting at Dingwall Communion in February 1962. The “question” given out was from Matthew 28:5, “And the Angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.” Marks were asked of those who seek Jesus and Him crucified, as distinguished from those who profess to do so and yet by their walk and conversation make void their profession and clearly show that they do not fear the Lord.
Edward Morrison, Harris:—
It is because we hope that Jesus will meet with us that we came to the Communion in Dingwall. The women came to the sepulchre because they had a knowledge of the Lord previous to this, and because their souls were united to Him. A mark of these people is that they fear that He will not meet with them. Their eye is on Him, and they have the promise, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” There were two parties at the sepulchre, the women and the enemies of His Glory. The Angel gave a demonstration of his power in order to open the way for the women to fulfill their desire. We believe there are a few present who fear that the Saviour who was crucified for them, and who went to the grave for them, and who ascended up on high for them, will not meet with them. Yet should it not please him to meet with them today they have the promise, “And thou, in time convenient, bestow’st on them their food.” They long for His coming, that they may hear His voice in their soul. They know His voice when they hear it. They are a people who wait on the Lord for deliverance. Their prayer today is, “Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning.” Their eye is to Him who hideth not His face from the house of Jacob. The Lord fulfills his promise, “He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” (Isaiah 40:29). They find themselves weak and slow in seeking, and their prayer is, “Hold up my goings, Lord, me guide in those thy paths divine, So that my footsteps may not slide out of those ways of thine.” They oft times have darkness in going through the wilderness of this world, but, “Unto the upright light doth rise, though he in darkness be.” They desire His coming so that they may hear His words of greeting. He died for them; He rose from the dead for them, and ascended upon high for them. “Simon, son of Jones, lovest thou me?” When their hearts burn within them, they are prepared to give their oath that they do, and to say with Peter, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” They feel ashamed of how little they do for Him, who went through the furnace, and unto the grave for them, in their room and stead. They love to hear of His righteousness, “And thine own righteousness, ev’n thine, alone I will record.” They delight to wait upon Him and so go from strength to strength. They commit their body and soul to Him. They hear Him say, “I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God.” They feel themselves very unlike those who fear the Lord. They say with Ruth, “Though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens.” They marvel that He loves such as they, and say, “What shall I render to the Lord, for all His gifts to me?” They love to be in the company of the flock, for they love to see the image of God in them. Christ, even now, is not without friends, whom He will love unto the end.
Robert Watt, Inverness —
The Angel of the Lord knew that the women had come to seek Jesus. Those who seek Jesus will find Him. His people seek Him in the hope of finding Him, but they have no hope apart from God’s Word. They are not ignorant of Satan’s devices. They know they must be born again. They are certain they must be regenerated, that the power of the Holy Spirit must take possession of them. They wonder at the mercy of God to them while they were on the broad way. The power of the Holy Spirit led them to seek Jesus, and when they found Him they were not pleased with themselves, but they were pleased with Him. “Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” They could sing of the Lord’s mercy in that day. That day was a special day for them. They are different from the world. They fear what is in their own hearts, but they fear the Lord, and “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another.” They fear because they do not fear Him enough, for they are a strange mixture. They believe that Christ was nailed to the tree for them. He is the propitiation for their sins. “He took them from a fearful pit, and from the miry clay” and they will sing a song of praise to Him throughout the endless ages of Eternity. They fear Him because they love Him, and hate sin. They can say “By the grace of God I am what I am.” It is true that every believer meets with Christ, who sends His Holy Spirit to reveal to them the awfulness of sin. The good seed is sown in their hearts and they become new creatures. They seek a heavenly inheritance. They seek the way to Zion with their faces thitherward. They spread their troubles before the Lord, and not before men. Tell the Lord your troubles. They love the brethren, and they love the ministers of Christ. They love either a good law sermon or a good gospel sermon. They rejoice because there are still left with us those who preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. They know that He is risen to give repentance to Israel. They know something of Christ as they have seen Him by faith — faith which is the gift of God and appropriates Christ. A child of God is a converted sinner, who exercises faith on the finished work of Christ. They hope for a better resurrection. The anchor of their soul is entered within the veil. They are ashamed of themselves, yet they know the hope of His people — “My hope is placed in thee.”
NOTE — Edward Morrison, Harris, and Robert Watt, Inverness, were dear men of God who indeed sought Jesus; and are now with Jesus beholding His glory, in heaven. — Editor.