Abide with me! fast falls the eventide

The Lord's word here was quite deep; He spoke not only of manifesting Himself but also of making an abode with His believers. We may have experienced the Lord's manifestation, but we rarely sense the Lord's making an abode with us. There was once a British brother named Henry F. Lyte, who died in his thirties. Before his death he wrote a hymn based on his experience. The first stanza says, "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;/ The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!" (Hymns, #370). All those who love the Lord, follow the Lord, and live by the Lord's words have the same feeling and echo the voice from the heart of this author. We surely love the Lord's abiding with us. The Lord's manifestation is temporary, but the Lord's abiding is constant. Genesis 18 records Abraham's experience of God's manifesting Himself to him. Although God's manifestation was precious, it was only temporary; God did not abide in Abraham. Today we can experience not only the Lord's manifestation but also His abiding with us. The Lord and the Father will make an abode with us, and this abode will be a place for both the Lord and us to dwell.

Hymns, #693, "He faileth not, for He is God," is not that suitable because the train of thought in this hymn does not match our subject. Hymns, #437, "Hast thou heard Him, seen Him, known Him," is also inappropriate because the feeling of this hymn is very high. In the fellowship meeting, which does not have a particular subject, we should not use hymns that have a specific subject. Hymns, #720, "God hath not promised skies always blue, / Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through," is not suitable. This is a good hymn to sing to comfort those who have suffered a domestic misfortune. Hymns, #370, "Abide with me! fast falls the eventide," is not suitable. If we sing this hymn to enjoy the Lord's presence when the sun is setting, it would be quite good. Or if someone is dying, we can sing this hymn with his or her family.

The fourth step in escaping the fall is to know the frailty of man. Enosh is another interesting name in Genesis 4. Enosh means "frail, mortal man." This implies that to escape from walking on the path of the fall, we need to know the frailty of man. We need to know that man is nothing and can break, just as a glass cup breaks easily. This is frailty. Man is frail. Some people do not know themselves. They think that they are smart, wise, and strong, when in fact they have nothing of which to boast. When a car hits a man, he is as fragile as a glass cup. When he is infected with tuberculosis, he must lie down. He may even die from tuberculosis. Man's life is frail. Man's name is Abel, but man's name is also Enosh. Abel means that man is vain, but Enosh means that man is frail. People who dream about their life should wake up. Man is not strong. Man will collapse when he is sick, and he will die if a car hits him. A wife can collapse when she is mad at her husband. She can even get ulcers because of her anger. A person can live to be one hundred years at most. The Chinese say that few can live to the age of seventy. Being fifty years old is not yet the twilight hour, but it is already four o'clock in the afternoon. Some people are at eight or nine o'clock in the evening. There is a hymn that says, "Swift to its close ebbs our life's little day" (Hymns, #370, stanza 2). People must wake up from their dreams, because human life is vain and frail. In order to escape the fall, we must realize the meaning of human life. Those who continue in the fall do not know their own human life. In chapter 4 those who were delivered out of the fall knew that human life is vain and frail.