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#1.
(concluded).
p. 111
A--That is to say, whether we feel led, or whether we are scarcely awake to the new life,
that leading is ours, ours until we reach the Father's home.
B--Yes, and the second lesson is that the Lord's will is that He should dwell with His
people, that there should be communion, that there should be access and willing service,
and with this is connected the second reference to the cloud and the fire. To "feel led" in
the true sense indicates a very close fellowship, and all that fellowship includes, such as
walking in the light, and the cleansing from sin.
There are two other points connected with this type that we ought to notice. What
would you say the pillar of cloud symbolized?
A--I should say it symbolized the presence of the Lord: "And He said, My presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest . . . . . If Thy presence go not with me, carry us
not up hence" (Exod. 33: 14, 15).
B--Conscious enjoyment of the presence of God, then, seems to be a necessary
accompaniment to feeling led. Do you notice anything else that is a comfort?
A--I cannot say that I do at the moment.
B--It seems to me to be a very gracious provision that the evidence of the Lord's
presence was made to fit the circumstance. By day it was a cloud, by night a fire. Had
the presence not been visible at all, or only visible by day, the fact would have remained,
but see how the Lord condescends to cheer and comfort so that at night as well as by day
His children may have the assurance that He is with them and leading them on. It was
not only rendered visible at all times, but the last words of Exod. 40: record that it was
with Israel "throughout all their journeys".