11 - CHAPTER 9: REAL VICTORY AND FALSE
REAL VICTORY AND ITS COUNTERFEIT The Victorious Life is simply a life fully surrendered to God, with Christ dwelling within and in complete control-a life in which the only desire is to bring glory to Jesus Christ. It is the only truly happy life, yet Christians refuse to enter in, lest their lives should be made miserable! THE JOY OF PERFECT TRUST But is it a life filled with "crosses"? That is the idea that many Christians have-that where there is the choice between things agreeable and disagreeable, the unpleasant one must, of course, be chosen! Can we find anything of this in the Bible? Paul is never tired of talking about the wonderful joy in his life. "Rejoice evermore!" "In everything give thanks." Yet what hardship and bitter persecution were his lot! If you love God and fully trust Him, the place in which you are is the happiest place in which you can possibly be; and the work you are doing is the very best for you. Of course, God may move you elsewhere or give you other work. That can be left to Him. But let Him be glorified in us NOW.
Crosses? Nowhere in the Bible do we read of crosses. Yet when our plans are upset, or the weather "spoils" our day, or sickness or bereavement alters our prospects, we are apt to say sadly (or cheerfully), "Well, I suppose this is my cross for today." It may not be murmuring, but merely what we call "resignation." There should be no such word as "resignation" in the vocabulary of the Christian. If God has complete control over us, nothing can happen contrary to His will. And is not His will the very best for us? Instead of resignation there should be glad acceptance. The feeling of our hearts should ever be, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God!" (Psalms 40:8 thew:8 thew:8). There can be no such thing as disappointment in the life of a man really living the Victorious Life. "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me," (John 4:34) said our Lord. Can we say the same? When we are transformed by the renewing of our mind, we shall prove every day that God’s will is good and perfect; shall it not therefore be acceptable? (Romans 12:2.) How eagerly, how joyfully we should embrace it! Believers are nowhere called upon to bear crosses.
TAKING UP THE CROSS
We know, however, that Jesus Christ said: "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24); "Whosoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27). It is, then, our duty to take up the cross, but not to carry crosses. There is one cross for every one and for every day.
If you had seen a man in our Lord’s day carrying a cross, you would know that it meant death to someone- probably for the man himself. The cross is always a sign of death. Before anyone can really follow Christ-really be a disciple, that is, a learner-he must be dead with Christ and risen with Him. That is what Paul meant when he said, "I have been crucified with Christ: yet I live, yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20). Someone has said, "It is one thing to be saved from the penalty of sin; it is another thing to follow Christ."
Dr. Griffith Thomas says that some Christians are monstrosities. They are no more like Christ twenty years after their conversion than they were when they began the Christian life. They are not "learning" of Him. They have not taken up the cross: have not been crucified with Christ. "The taking up of the cross is the end of crosses and the beginning of discipleship," said Mr. C. G. Trumbull. Do let us get hold of this fact: that our Lord wishes us always to be full of joy-always, everywhere, under all circumstances. A gloomy, miserable-looking Christian stood outside a mission. "Will you come into our service tonight?" he asked of a passer-by. The stranger gave him one swift glance, and replied (as he hurried off), "No, thank you! I’ve troubles enough of my own!" Are we surprised? A life of Victory is a life of Trust; and must be always full of Joy. Such a life glorifies Christ.
WHAT REAL VICTORY MEANS But let us be quite clear as to what the Victorious Life is. For the devil does all he can to entice us to accept a counterfeit Victory-that is, a "victory" which we think we are getting ourselves by our own efforts.
Take the question of bad temper or irritability. Many Christians pride themselves on the fact that they exercise such self-control that their temper "never gets the better of them." By this they mean that they never SHOW it. Now the Victorious Life is not one which merely makes our outward actions right. It is a life, which gives victory in the inner realm of the heart, so that our very desires are right. To want to do wrongful things and to restrain from doing them is not real victory. The wonderful thing is that God takes the "want to" out of our very hearts, and we long only to do His will. No doubt most of our readers have heard the story of the old Quaker lady who apparently never lost her temper. Under the most trying circumstances she was quite unruffled. A friend once commented on this, and said to her, "I cannot for the life of me understand how you always keep so delightfully sweet. Why, if the things happened to me which happen to you, I should just boil over with rage; but YOU never do." The old Quaker lady quietly replied, "Perhaps I do not boil over, my dear, but thou dost not know what boiling is going on inside." Now that is not victory.
There is no victory in keeping our sinful feelings from expressing themselves. We may do that simply because we are ashamed to let others know how sinful we are. Moreover, it does not require the grace of God to enable a man to hide his temper. A shop assistant in a drapery establishment will do that all day long -- or he might lose his job. A business man will do it to get an order. A "gentleman" will do it to avoid "bad form." A Society lady does it for social reasons. But this is not the Victorious Life. WHEN THE MIRACLE HAPPENS An American speaker tells the following story to illustrate real victory. A lady missionary who had surrendered all to Christ but had never looked to Him for complete victory, found her temper not improved by the Tropics. She was much distressed about her failures, and her struggles against them seemed in vain. However, a friend showed her that there was victory through simple faith in Christ, and she claimed this victory as a gift from God. Writing to this friend some time afterwards, she told of the wonderful thing that had happened in her spiritual life. "I wanted to write to you at first, but I was afraid it would not last," said she. "But it has lasted. Do you know that for three months not only have I not once slammed the door in the face of any of these stupid Indian servants that used to get on my nerves so, but I have not wanted to-not once." Now that is victory.
We must recognise it as a miracle. No good resolutions, no will power, can alter our likes and dislikes. But God can. He can take away from us all desire to do sinful things.
Bad temper is not the only sin of Christian people, and many Christians have the sweetest of dispositions. The best test of all is in the matter of love. Do we love our "enemies"-those who despitefully use us or persecute us? Do we nevertheless love them? "If you want him to love you, you must knock him down," said a worker to the writer, speaking about a friend. What is your first feeling when men injure you or oppose you? Is it a spontaneous outflowing of love towards them? Or do we first find it necessary to shoot up an urgent, earnest prayer that we MAY love them, and may not feel resentment? Do we eagerly welcome opposition, unkindness, rudeness, discourtesy (and suchlike) towards us, as opportunities of showing that the love of Christ is filling our hearts? It is in small matters that we are tested.
UNDER THE LOVE OF CHRIST
How often we hear earnest Christian people saying, "I cannot love the unlovable." No; it is humanly impossible for human love to do this. We cannot make ourselves love another. Human love is kindled only by what it thinks is loveable. The love of God-Christ’s love-embraces all and sees everyone to be loveable. When Christ dwells richly in our hearts, we shall love even our enemies. There is victory when "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts" (Romans 5:5), to the expulsion of all unlove-then and then only. There we have a definition of real victory.
FACTS THAT HELP LOVE At first such a thing seems beyond our highest hopes. Many regard it as an impossibility. So it is to man. But with God this thing is possible. It is a miracle, and God works miracles every day. Fellow-Christian, do not give up the idea of living the Victorious Life because it seems impossible to you. Just yield yourself to Christ, and trust Him to work in you both to will and to do His good pleasure (Php 2:13).
Many reply that their faith is not strong enough. Why, faith the size of a grain of mustard seed is enough if you will exercise it. May we give you two FACTS to help your love and faith?
Remember that:
1. The Lord Jesus dearly loves all those whom we might regard as unlovable: loves them every bit as much as He loves us. Can we not see them with the eyes of Christ? "Do not be afraid of me, mum," said a filthy, wild-looking tramp to a lady who crossed the road to avoid meeting him. "Do not be afraid of me, mum. My mother was a woman." "Do not refuse to love me," the unlovable might exclaim. "The Lord Jesus LOVES ME."
2. The most unlovable person-the most loathsome and repulsive creature- becomes loveable even in OUR eyes when the love of God is shed abroad in HIS heart. If you really want to love him, pray earnestly for him and try to save his soul. If he is a Christian-but "nastily saved," as the Lancashire man put it-pray that he may get the Victorious Life; send him this book and continue in prayer. The writer has had the joy of pointing to Christ as their Saviour most revolting men and women, in whom every vestige of beauty appeared to be stamped out by drunkenness and vice. He has met them a week after, new creatures in Christ Jesus. A miraculous transformation has taken place in an incredibly short time. Is he-she- unlovable in your eyes? Then just think what that one may become when the love of God reaches him or her.
LIBERATING THE ANGEL
Michael Angelo lingered before a rough block of marble so long that his companion remonstrated. In reply, Michael Angelo said with enthusiasm, "There’s an angel in that block and I’m going to liberate him!" Ah, what unbounding love would manifest itself in us towards the most unlovable-the most vile-if only we saw what they might become, and in our enthusiasm for souls we cried out, "There’s the image of Christ-marred, scarred, well-nigh obliterated-in that dear fellow, and I’m going to make that man conscious of it." A fable declares that a gallant prince kissed a serpent and it became a lovely princess. Fact shows us that when "kissed" by love, the vilest may become beautiful; the "serpent" become a saint.
"What are the outward and visible signs of the Victorious Life?" asked a young evangelist of the writer. The answer to that question would describe real victory. Briefly we would say. Everything contrary to love is expelled from the heart and life. Read the closing words of Chapter Three, and you will see what Divine LOVE can do-or rather, what LOVE DOES in scores and hundreds of lives. It drives out impatience, unkindness, jealousy, envy, boasting, self-assertion, pride, folly, selfishness, self-seeking, anger, irritability, bad temper, fretfulness, malice, uncharitable remarks, complaining, censoriousness, despair, anxiety, despondency, backbiting, repeating damaging information even if it is true.
ALL THESE WE CALL RESPECTABLE SINS-or ever refuse to regard them as sins at all! God help us! So long as any of these-even one of these-remains, there is no victory for us. When a fully surrendered Christian looks in simple faith to Christ and asks Him to fill the whole heart, HE, CHRIST, who is love, "perfect love," banishes every one of these vile "respectable" sins, which we have been regarding as LITTLE sins, but which mar our work and hinder our usefulness. Are we willing to allow the Lord Jesus to do this for us?