I think that we might see that, of the grounds on which we are laid aside, the governmental thought is one side only; another side is certainly that the radiancy of the knowledge of the glory of God should shine forth from the earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:6). And that light in the soul, which shines out, is acquired, in the main, through pressure, sacrifice and surrender.
But then it is also allowed and produced in the house of God for its influence, for we who are active would be very different in our spirits if we did not come from time to time and put ourselves under the influence of those on whom the Lord puts His finger of pressure. I do not know how it is with you younger ones here, but I do certainly commend to you to count it a privilege and seek the opportunity to get close in with those whom the Lord is laying pressure upon; you will learn God in witnessing the way in which He enables them to bear suffering, to learn, to pray, and to carry the exercises of the assembly in their hearts. For instance, a beloved sister, whom many of us know, passed away a short time ago. She was 97 years of age. For almost 80 years of that time she was absolutely stone deaf, and a good part of the time after that laid aside. It was a choice privilege to go and talk with that dear child of God. Among the last things that she said, and which she also wrote to me, was, “My education is not yet complete!” But she contributed to the education in the spirits of countless numbers of the children of God, whom she carried in her spirit of prayer. Every concern that was going on in a broad way in the house of God came to her, and she had a thought and judgment upon it all. The value of a woman like that is just simply inestimable. Of her it could be said, “In pressure Thou hast enlarged me.” The poem that she wrote, “The Cloud and the Argument,” showed how a young soul in her teens could take things up with God that, afterward, in intense pressure, she maintained for eighty long years.
When a brother said to another dear soul, recently taken home, “Why do you think the Lord leaves you here so long?” she replied, “Oh, that is easy to answer. He leaves me here to pray.” That dear soul was bright in her faculties and 103 years old when she went home recently.
What can we do without such things among us? Take the company of the Lord’s people here; if you have not among you those who are the subjects of the pressure of the Lord in these ways, you are impoverished. If you have them, look upon them as a source of spiritual wealth. Regard them as assets of the greatest value. You do not know how much you are supported by the prayers and the spirits of those who are the prisoners of the Lord in this way — suffering in body, in spirit, in infirmities, and so forth.