If brethren are devoted and unworldly, then there is a testimony. Mere knowledge of truth does not bring [blessing].
The great thing is to be constantly near Christ where the soul is kept in peace. When it is thus, and the sense of love, then our service may flow from this dwelling with Him and carry the stamp of it. How did Christ reveal the Father? “The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” He declared Him and could declare Him, as in the present sense of the love of which He was the object and which He enjoyed in His bosom. He was perfect, and we are failing servants, but that is the only way of all carrying the unction of His presence.
J. N. Darby