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  WRITINGS OF A C DIXON
  by A.C. Dixon
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A collection of theological writings, sermons, and essays by A.C. Dixon,
compiled for study and devotional reading.

  Chapters: 37

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. 01.00. Person and Ministry of Holy Spirit
    2. 01.01.     Introduction
    3. 01.02.     Address of Welcome (Wilson)
    4. 01.03.     The Holy Spirit the Revealer of Christ (Bishop)
    5. 01.04.     Enduement of the Spirit (Grammar)
    6. 01.05.     Spirit's Threfold Conviction (Boardman)
    7. 01.06.     Address (Babcock)
    8. 01.07.     Spirit of Sonship (Erdman)
    9. 01.08.     Heavenly Unction (Munhall)
   10. 01.09.     Grieving Tempting Resisting Spirit (Morrow)
   11. 01.10.     Spirit for Worship and Witnessing (Stearns)
   12. 01.11.     Spirit in Agreement with Word (Erdman)
   13. 01.12.     Holy Spirit and Christian (Ellis)
   14. 01.13.     Spirit of Prophesy (Nicholson)
   15. 02.00. THROUGH NIGHT TO MORNING
   16. 02.00.2.     e-Sword Preface
   17. 02.00.3.     Table Of Contents
   18. 02.00.4.     Author's Preface
   19. 02.01.     JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING
   20. 02.02.     GOING ON TO PERFECTION
   21. 02.03.     ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD
   22. 02.04.     GOOD CHEER FOR LITTLE FAITH
   23. 02.05.     SALVATION
   24. 02.06.     SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST
   25. 02.07.     SAVING FAITH
   26. 02.08.     HOPE FOR BACKSLIDERS
   27. 02.09.     THE WORLD'S ONLY NEED
   28. 02.10.     HOW TO PRAY
   29. 02.11.     RAISING DRY BONES
   30. 02.12.     THE YOUNG CONVERT'S VISION
   31. 02.13.     ETERNAL LIFE
   32. 02.14.     FRIENDSHIP-LOVE
   33. 02.15.     A TRIUNE WORLD
   34. 02.16.     SALT
   35. 02.17.     "PRAISE YE THE LORD"
   36. 02.18.     GRACE
   37. 02.19.     COMFORT FOR SHUT-INS

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  CHAPTER 1: 01.00. PERSON AND MINISTRY OF HOLY SPIRIT
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THE PERSON AND MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

EDITED BY A. C. DIXON, Pastor of the Immanuel Baptist Church Baltimore, MD.

Published by Wharton, Barron & Co., 10 E. Fayette St., Baltimore, MD.

Copyright, 1890, by WHARTON, BARBON & CO. The J. B. Rodgen Printing Co.,

MN. SlitbStf www.archive.org/details/personministryof00dixoiala

EXPLANATORY.

WHILE the writer was evangelizing in Europe, he received a letter from his
friend, A. C. Dixon, of Baltimore, requesting his help in organizing and
supervising a Conference in that city. On my return home Mr. Dixon visited me,
and together we sketched the programme of the subjects, nominated speakers, and
arranged concerning dates and details. On Mr. Dixon’s return to Baltimore he
consulted with the pastors, who, with him, formed a committee to prosecute the
work in the city. To this earnest committee is due, under God, the great success
which crowned the Convention. The pleasant task of correspondence with speakers
and adjustment of subjects fell to my lot, as on other similar occasions. Many
brethren, originally appointed to present the subjects, were detained in various
ways, but others cheerfully undertook the office of teacher. The promise, " Them
that honour Me I will honour," sustained our faith, and God permitted our ears
to hear marvelous things throughout this four days’ meeting. The following is
the text of the circular letter, which explains itself:

Bible Schools, Christian Conventions, and Theological Conferences have been
multiplying themselves, of late years, throughout this and other lands. The
result has been a revived interest in Bible Study, and a more Scriptural method
of preaching and teaching the Divine Word on the part of pastors, evangelists,
and other fellow-laborers.

Many of these Conferences and Conventions have been of a special character,
notably those held in New York and Chicago for the consideration of Prophetic
Themes, and that held in Philadelphia for the vindication of Bible Inspiration.

It is now thought best to hold a Four Days’ Meeting in the City of Baltimore,
where THE GLORIOUS PERSON AND MANIFOLD MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT shall form
the subject of teaching. The invitation comes from a number of Pastors who
cordially invite their fellow-Christians of every name to assemble with them
during the four days commencing with Tuesday, October 29th. Many of the speakers
who took part in previous Conferences, in addition to well-known Pastors and
Seminary Professors, will present carefully prepared addresses on this vital
theme. That there is a tendency to practically ignore the Presence and Ministry
of the Spirit in the professing church is painfully noticeable. To warn against
this declension and to recall believers to a more practical recognition of His
presence and relations to the church, and the world, is the object aimed at in
thus calling together the disciples of our Lord. Carnality in the church or in
the individual can only be met and overcome by an increase of, and an intensity
of the Holy Spirit’s Ministry in our midst. The Conference will be
inter-denominational, and an expression of the vital union of believers with one
another in Jesus Christ.

Names of speakers, hours of sessions, and place of meeting will be duly
announced.

GEO. C. NEEDHAM, A. C. DIXON, On behalf of Committee. JOHN F. PULLEN, Treasurer,
12 East Fayette Street. The Convention was held in the Mt. Vernon Place M. E.
Church, Baltimore, and the attendance upon all the sessions was very large. Its
four days were days of heaven upon earth. At one time no less than one hundred
ministers requested prayer for the fullness of the Holy Ghost. Appeals have come
from other cities for like Conferences, but as yet we have been too much
occupied with evangelistic labors to comply with the request. We purpose, D. V.,
when opportunity offers, to multiply such meetings for the consideration and
elucidation of this great theme The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.

Mr. Dixon, in editing the book, has thought it best to publish the addresses
just as they were furnished by the speakers. Such repetitions as have occurred
are necessary to a full understanding of the subject in hand. They are now sent
forth in the present form with much prayer that the gift of power through the
indwelling of the Spirit may rest upon every reader.

GEO. C. NEEDHAM.

ELIM COTTAGE, MANX-HESTEB-BY-THE-SEA, MASS.

CONTENTS.

I. Introduction By A. C. Dixon.

II. Address of Welcome By Bishop A. W. Wilson.

III. The Holy Spirit the Revealer of Christ By.Rev. George S. Bishop, D.D.

IV. The Enduement of the Spirit By Rev. Julius E. Grammar, D.D.

V. The Spirit’s Threefold Conviction By Rev. George Dana Boardman, D.D., LL.D.

VI. Address by Rev. M. D. Babcock VII. The Spirit of Sonship By Rev. W. J.
Erdman.

VIII. The Heavenly Unction By Rev. L. W. Munhall, D.D.

IX. Grieving, Tempting, Resisting the Spirit . By Rev. James Morrow, D.D.

X. The Spirit for Worship and Witnessing. By Rev. D. M. Stearns.

XI. The Spirit in Agreement with the Word. By Rev W. J. Erdman.

XII. The Holy Spirit and the Christian By Rev. F. M. Ellis, D.D.

XIII. The Spirit of Prophecy By Bishop W. R. Nicholson, D.D.


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  CHAPTER 2: 01.01.     INTRODUCTION
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I. INTRODUCTION. BY A. C. DIXON. THE Spirit of God came on the day of Pentecost,
as the rushing mighty wind and the tongues of flame; and from that day to this
he has been with his people. We sometimes pray that he may be poured out upon
us; let us rather strive to realize that he is already with us, and what we need
is to appropriate this ever present power. He is not weaker to-day, and stronger
to-morrow, but " the same yesterday, to-day and forever." Omnipotence dwelling
with his people, ready to work through them. The practical question, then, is,
How can this ever present personal power be appropriated? Through a threefold
channel.

1. We read in Hebrews 11:1-40, the muster-roll of God’s mighty ones. The secret
of their power was FAITH. "According to your faith be it unto you," is a law
never to be changed. Faith is the connecting wire between the battery of God’s
power and the hearts of men. We look at the swift current of Niagara Falls and
strive to imagine what a force it would be, if utilized in manufacture or in
generating electricity. God’s power is like the Niagara current, always the
same, to be turned for the accomplishment of his purpose by the channels of
Christian faith. When New York harbor was to be deepened, a mine of dynamite was
placed beneath it; the engineer took his little daughter, and told her to place
her finger upon the knob, and by the weight of her hand the electric current was
made to flash under the channel and shake al] New York by the explosion. The
engineer might have touched that knob himself; but it was his wish that his
child should do it. God could do without our help, but it is his desire and plan
that his people by the touch of faith should let loose his omnipotence.

2. But hand in hand with faith must go the WORD. The Spirit uses his own sword,
the "Word of God;" and when we substitute our words for his, we substitute
weakness for strength. "Where the word of a king is, there is power."
Ecclesiastes 8:4. " The voice of the Lord is powerful." Psalms 29:4. We are as
Aaron, taking the words of God and delivering them to the people. Our words may
be like the sheet lightning, beautiful and grand, but sheet lightning never
strikes anything. God’s Word is the forked flash that strikes down the towers of
sin. Our words are, at the best, only unconfined steam, making fog and
confusion; God’s Word is the steam within the cylinder that drives the piston
and carries forward his work.

"A brilliant operation that is," said a French physician; " I have performed it
many a time." " How many patients lived?" asked an inquirer. "Oh, they all
died," replied the boastful physician; " but the operation was very brilliant."
We perform brilliant oratorical operations, giving our words which kill to the
people, when we ought to be giving God’s Word, which imparts life. " Get thee
unto the house of Israel/’ said the Lord to Ezekiel, "and speak ye my words unto
them." He obeyed, and Israel trembled. Let us heed the same command, and the
people will be moved.

3. There must also be character. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout
the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward him." 2 Chronicles 16:9. Care little for reputation, what men may
think of us; care everything for character, what God thinks of us. He is looking
for the man whose heart is perfect TOWARD HIM. Peter’s reputation was not the
best. He was associated in the minds of the people with that denial and cursing
at the trial of his Master; but Peter’s character was all right; he had wept in
penitence and repented of his sin. The relation between him and God was such
that He filled him with his Spirit and used him powerfully.

HINDRANCES.

1. Sin. "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalms
66:18.

2. Satisfaction. We are weak, because contented to be weak. The old man, who,
after twenty years of labor, thanked God that one soul had been saved through
his work, was somewhat to blame. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion! " The
Lord Almighty is present, ready to work through our faith, his Word and a good
character; and if he does not work powerfully, it is our fault.

3. Unbelief. Can Omnipotence be resisted? Not by any combination of wicked men
or demons. But one thing can limit the Holy One of Israel. Doubt is the water
which quenches the fire of the Spirit is the glass which intercepts the current
of his power. Jesus, who had opened the eyes of the blind, walked upon the
water, fed the five thousand and raised the dead, stood helpless, the hands of
his power shackled by the unbelief of those about him. “Why could not we cast
him out?" asked the disciples. "Because of your unbelief," said the Saviour; not
because my power is absent, but because the channel through which that power
flows has been clogged.

4. Ignorance. “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God,"
Matthew 22:29; and we are the Sadducees of to-day in that respect. We are not
powerful, because we have not in mind and heart the Word, with which the Spirit
works. We need, however, more than knowledge of the truth; we need to have God’s
message. By the close study of the Scriptures, let us learn God’s truth; by
looking to him in prayer for guidance, let us seek the appropriate truth; and
the man who comes before a congregation, not simply with the strength of truth,
but, what is more, with the conviction that he is proclaiming God’s message, is
truly powerful.

5. Pride and Vanity. We are PROUD of what we have we are VAIN of what we think
we have, but are mistaken. We may have learning, a commanding presence, a
logical mind, good voice, popularity and be proud of it; and that pride is our
weakness. But we should specially guard against spiritual vanity. The fact that
God has used us in doing something may not be so complimentary after all, for he
can use a worm to thresh a mountain. He takes “the weak things to confound the
mighty, and the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are," 1
Corinthians 1:27; and, if through you he has threshed a mountain, it is only
proof that you may be a worm. The tendency in us to crave the praise of men
should be watched. “How can ye believe," said Christ, " who receive honor one of
another, and seek not the honor which cometh from God only?" John 5:44.

6. False Expectations. We expect to feel strong; we desire a consciousness of
God’s presence; we wish to shake ourselves Samson-like, and realize that there
is might in our sermons, in our manner, in our words. We forget that he "giveth
power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength; "
that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness; " When I am weak, then I am
strong." The Spirit’s work is not to show himself to us. “He shall not speak of
himself, but will take the things of mine and show them unto you." His office is
to lift up a crucified Christ. He teaches us the lesson of hiding self behind
the cross. Now, if it was his plan to show himself, we should always feel his
presence; but as he works invisibly, we must simply rest on the promise of God,
and whatever be our "liberty" or "unction" expect him to be present.

We mistake when we expect that one blessing will insure another. The disciples
were filled on the day of Pentecost for that special work; for another work a
few days afterward they were filled again; and for every work there must be a
new infilling of the Holy Spirit. Our work is never run by momentum. We are apt
to think that, if we give a church or an enterprise a good send-off, it will
certainly continue. The power that started it must be applied every day and
hour.

HOW TO GAIN THIS POWER. By God’s help let us remove the obstacles just
mentioned. Are we living in sin? Turn from it. Are we satisfied with weakness?
Beg God for dissatisfaction. Have we unbelief? "Have faith in God." Are we full
of pride or vanity? Seek God’s message, and ask him to humble us under his
mighty hand. Have we false expectations? Let us expect the power from the right
source, and yield our wills and plans to God. But above all LET US WAIT UPON GOD
IN PRAYER. In the rush of a busy life we are tempted to dispense with times of
secret devotion. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up on wings as eagles." Isaiah 40:31. Our power is in proportion to
our inner isolation from the world. Put a man on a glass stool, and you can fill
him with electricity until the sparks will fly from all parts of his body. Place
him on the earth, and the current passes off. The current of God’s power does
not fill us, because we are too close to the earth its vanities, its pleasures,
its ambitions. Some one may call you in modern slang "a religious crank." Be
willing to seem a crank. I saw that the steamboat in the storm the other night
was moved against wind and wave by turning of a crank. A crank with an engine a
hold of it can move things. Some people are so smooth, and straight, and prim,
that it seems God cannot get hold of them. The Lord send us men who are willing
to be peculiar and distinct to be " cranks," indeed, so that he may powerfully
wield them for his glory.

“Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high."
Luke 24:49. Let us cease to tarry, waiting for the coming of the Spirit. He is
here. But tarry much with him in communion. A man to be strong must eat and
breathe. Study and digest the Word. Inhale freely this heavenly atmosphere and
you will become mighty. We have heard of the traveler rubbing the frozen comrade
amid the snows of Switzerland until his own blood began to circulate, and we
tell cold Christians to go out and try to save somebody else; thus they will get
warmed up. That may be true; but the great heart of Jesus is a furnace heat that
can warm us and fit us for activity; keep close to it in prayer and the study of
his Word, and you will go forth "endued with power from on high."


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  CHAPTER 3: 01.02.     ADDRESS OF WELCOME (WILSON)
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II. ADDRESS OF WELCOME. BY BISHOP A. W. WILSON. A MORE grave and momentous theme
for consideration could not be presented than is contained in the subject of
this Conference. In the later days of his incarnate life, when it was more than
ever needful that his disciples should be provided against possible defect and
failure in the ministry committed to them, our Lord kept in their thought and
fixed their hope upon the Holy Spirit, the promise of which he had received from
the Father. He would take of the things of Christ and show them to them. He was
to be the teacher and guide into all truth, and bring to their remembrance all
things that the Lord had said. When they should stand before the rulers of this
world he would teach them what they should say. They should receive power after
that the Holy Spirit should come upon them. When the Lord’s bodily presence was
taken from them they waited until " they were all filled with the Holy Ghost"
before entering upon their ministry, and at the Spirit’s dictation , on the day
of Pentecost, they spake in the manifold tongues of earth the wonderful works of
God. From that hour they thought only of the guidance of the Spirit, and gave
implicit obedience to his command; and each decisive movement of the church was
made under the impulse and at the word of the Holy Ghost. Witness the
consecration of the church’s property, when Levi in person of Joses, a Levite,
gave not the tithe, but the whole, to the service of Christ, and Ananias and
Sapphira were smitten to death for having " lied unto the Holy Ghost; " the
ministry of Philip to the eunuch of Ethiopia, of Peter to Cornelius; and the
separation of Saul and Barnabas for the missionary work to which the Spirit
called them. The Acts of the Apostles are but the acts of the Holy Spirit.

Looking at the large place filled by the Spirit and the emphasis laid upon his
work, in the utterances of our Lord, and in the early history of the church, it
is somewhat surprising that so little stress is laid upon his ministry in these
last days. May not much of our weakness and many of our failures be attributed
to our ingenious efforts to find substitutes for his personal agency?

We are warned in the terms of the notice of this Conference of the dangers to
which the church of God is exposed by neglect of the person and power of the
Holy Spirit, and are invited to a prayerful discussion of the third person of
the blessed Trinity, and meditation upon his functions in relation to the
church, the individual believer and the world. It is intended to be, not merely
a theological or speculative discussion, but practical, making prominent the
experience of the Spirit’s work in all aspects of it. It ought to be a
Conference very bountiful in results in individual religious life and in the
work of the churches. To these ends let us give our earnest attention and direct
our prayers.


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  CHAPTER 4: 01.03.     THE HOLY SPIRIT THE REVEALER OF CHRIST (BISHOP)
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III. THE HOLY SPIRIT THE REVEALER OF CHRIST. BY GEORGE S. BISHOP, D.D.

WE are living in the Dispensation of the Spirit. What does that mean?

It means that we are living on a higher plane than ever has been occupied
before. We gather this 1. From a comparison of this Dispensation with others
that have preceded it.

True religion is more widely disseminated in this than it has been in any
preceding Dispensation. Not only so, but more people, in proportion to the mass
of professors of religion are truly spiritual, and spirituality in these has
risen to a higher point than ever before that is, it has been more intelligent,
consistent, ardent, aggressive and victorious. We know, for instance, that
proportionally there are more Christians now in the world than there were in the
time of the Judges that they will average better, and that they have a more
forceful influence than had the early Hebrew tribes. We know, too, that the same
fact bears out in a comparison of later results with those of our Saviour’s
personal ministry. We know that he has more followers now than he had when he
was on earth that intelligence has reached a higher point than it did, even
under his teaching, and that Christian effort has been followed by more
surprising and more permanent effects.

2. We know that this Dispensation is an advance, because God himself is advance
progress. He never goes backward. God known as Diety, comes to be known as Deity
in human flesh, and then this Deity, so brought near to us seen, touched and
handled is known again, "not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

3. The same fact is clear from the structure of Scripture. The Old Testament is
the Lock Christ is the Key to the lock then the Holy Ghost is the Hand on the
key, without which the mystery of godliness had never been opened. Christ is the
Revealer of God, and the Holy Ghost is the Revealer of Christ. "No man can say
that Jesus is Jehovah, but by the Holy Ghost." These things go to make evident
that we are living on a higher plane of light, responsibility, motive and action
i.e., <k in a most signal sense," in the realm of the Spirit, and

4. The whole historic development of man looked at in the line of the plan of
redemption is clearly enough in this upward direction. The work of God is from
matter toward spirit. The child leaves his playthings behind, and comes to
despise them. The college student turns his back on the pleasures and games of
his boyhood. The professional man has forgotten the rivalries of college life as
narrow as its walls; and the mellowed and matured philosopher "lives already
amid the peace and the power of invisible scenes," and draws from above and
beyond him the springs of incentive and action. The same principle holds
throughout nature. Time and again our attention is drawn to the fact that there
is an invisible world, and that that invisible world bears down upon and
overpowers the visible. That Thought and Feeling and Volition are stronger than
Substance and Quality and Force, and that from within what is unseen and
supersensible and supernatural flow the "upper springs” of all inferior energy
and action. That though principles, like Faith and Hope, and Love and
Righteousness, like Mind and Heart and Will, are imperceptible, intangible and "
hid within the Veil," yet not the smallest work of the obscurest worker nor the
grandest enterprise of the most powerful syndicate or Caesar, but is the effect
of their impetus. And so powerfully does this conviction rule mankind that not
an individual but at times, and in moral crises, runs back of all second causes
and stands subdued and solemnized before such facts as Conscience Force of Will
an overruling Providence Remorse and the straight plummet-line that falls before
the Unseen Holiest of all Eternal Righteousness. All which points upward to the
Holy Ghost and emphasizes it that we are living in the Dispensation of the
Spirit, and that we are moved, most of all, by powers above us, not only, but as
never before, by the power of the Spirit, and that we must look to be led by the
light, and vitalized for the great work of God by the GRACE of the Spirit that
in fine " like holy John of Patmos, we are to BE " in this Day of the Lord in
the Spirit.

5. But we are not left to gather up an inference from observation, nor
speculation, nor from logic. “Our Saviour Himself now assures us, that if we
believe in him we shall do greater works than even those which HE performed on
earth, and that we shall do them precisely because he goes to the Father." This
he explains by saying that it is expedient for us that he should go away, for
unless he does go away the Comforter will not come; but if he shall go he will
send him.

"And when he, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will convince the world of sin. He
will guide you the Church into all truth. He shall glorify Me, i.e., make Me to
you through you, Glorious. The Holy Ghost will fill the world through the Church
with a revelation of God, in My Person, such as never has been seen nor known
before." That focalizes our attention on three points.

I. The one essential to salvation is the Revelation of Christ. "He shall glorify
ME!"

II. The Holy Ghost alone can reveal him. "HE shall glorify Me."

III. The ulterior and special Object of the Spirit’s revelation is God’s glory
in the face of Jesus Christ. "He shall GLORIFY make Me glorious!"

I. The one essential to salvation is the revelation of Christ.

How essential this is may be gathered from Reason, from Conscience and from the
light of the Scriptures. From Reason. Nowhere, outside the radius of
Christianity, is there either- holiness or peace. Look at Africa. Look at China.
Look at Hindostan. My dear friend, Bishop Fowler, of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, who has been traveling, as some of you know, of late in those countries,
gave me a description impossible here to repeat, it was so terribly revolting.
Even then, he said he had not touched the bottom facts.

He who knows anything of the history of moral light knows that it has followed,
as its centre, the planting of the cross of Christ that just as races have
receded from the light of God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, so they have
sunken to a brutish level, and have died in the distractions of an utter unrest.
But not only Reason, Conscience affirms the same truth. Conscience, in every
man, says:" You are guilty! You are a sinner! You are condemned! God is holy. He
cannot acquit. He must punish! "

Conscience, whatever modern thought may say however it may strive to cheat us
cries, " Eternal Justice is Eternal Fact, and God is just; and How can justice
clear the guilty? " and to this cry of conscience is no answer but in Christ and
in the sacrifice of Christ. And these deductions of our reason and pure
Conscience are confirmed by Scripture. The first thing that confronts us in the
Bible, after the record of Creation, is a guilty man, and the whole Book goes on
to deal with guilt, not as an accident, but as the one great fact on which are
based all other facts of the remedial system.

If there is nothing to be saved from if there are no parties to be reconciled
if, without reconciliation, there can be pardon, and peace, and comfort, and
heaven, then what is our business as ambassadors for Christ and what is the
Gospel? The Gospel is an overture to the LOST then men are lost. The Gospel is
good tidings of SALVATION; then there is a way of Salvation. The Gospel is the
presentation of a Saviour; then, without that Saviour, men no matter who they
may be perish.

So, the Bible not only represents it, but it says so. [The first main
characteristic of the Gospel is that it affirms.

Every thing else questions. Speculation questions. Superstition questions.
Higher Criticism the men who write such books as "Whither" put them always in
the form of a question. Infidelity is an interrogation point. The adversaries of
the cross of Christ assert nothing, but they question everything. They will not
lay down a proposition nor define their opinions. They dare not, for they know
that the square, blunt blow of unsophisticated truth will at once demolish their
light and fantastic fabrics of falsehood; therefore they skirmish, and cavil,
and dodge, and suggest, and propose " certain questions." Now the Bible affirms.
On this point does the Bible affirm? It does. It comes straight out and says:
Apart from the knowledge of Christ there is no Salvation.

"We are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness." "Without the shedding
of Blood there is no remission!" "Neither is there Salvation in any other, for
there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be
saved." Thus is our first point established the one essential to Salvation is
the revelation of Christ.

II. The Holy Ghost is the only revealer of Christ. He alone makes Christ
glorious. The Holy Ghost has given us all the knowledge that we have of Jesus
Christ. Where do we get that knowledge? How do we know that there is such a
thing as a Saviour? From the Bible. Outside the covers of this book there is not
a hint of a Christ. And whence came the Bible? It was inspired. Who inspired it?
God, the Holy Ghost. Not only so but, with the Bible in our hands, how can we
know anything of Christ, save as the Spirit reveals him?

"The letter killeth," says the Apostle. It is so. The letter killed in the Old
Testament. Of what avail were miracles? Were all theophanies? Visions of angels?
All shocks on the senses? Of none whatever. Miracle never changed any man.
Appearances like that of the Angels to Abraham like that of the Burning Bush, or
the wheels of Ezekiel, or the Fire that came down on Elijah’s altar at Carmel,
never changed any man, except as with them, went a supernatural light and voice.

Abraham saw Christ’s day. How did he see it? By illumination by the Holy Ghost.
Moses recognized God at Horeb. How? By the fire? No, but by God speaking out of
the midst of the bush. Ezekiel was transformed at Chebar. How? By the wheels?
No, but " the Spirit," he says, " entered in me." Israel was to be revived under
Elijah. How? By the wind? By the earthquake? By the fire? By any sensible and
ocular demonstration? No; but by the still small voice. That was the lesson
taught to the prophet. The same fact comes out in the New Testament. How many
saw Christ touched Christ said they believed on Christ in the flesh, who never
went beyond impressions of their outward senses. We are often tempted to think
that if we could have lived when Christ lived we should have found it easier to
be Christians. It is a mistake. What makes a Christian is the Spiritual
apprehension of Christ, and the Holy Ghost alone can reveal him.

He alone did it in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is full of Christ as
full as the New is. See how, in preaching Christ the apostles quote the Old
Testament.

Luther used to say he could tell whether the Church was gaining or losing
life-power by the study or neglect of the Hebrew. Why did he say it? Because the
study of Hebrew means the Old Testament, and because the Old Testament is the
casket which contains Christ. The New Testament is the key to the Old, but when
we have a key, we do not turn our backs upon the lock, and laugh away the lock
we open it. The Old Testament is full of Christ. Take Psalms 22:1-31, where he
cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " Take Isaiah 53:1-12 :" He
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities." Take the
Levitical Sacrifices -’How without these could we explain the Atonement?

Yet only a few who read them under the Old Dispensation, saw Christ in these
Scriptures and why? Because they needed more than the most perfect description.
They needed light on the light. They needed, like David, to have their eyes
opened to see wondrous things out of God’s law.

They needed, like Simeon and Anna, in the temple, to have something more than
had other spectators. Something more than the mere presentation of Christ.
Something which should make them take him in their arms and exclaim, “Mine eyes
have seen thy salvation!" The same thing is true of the New Testament. It is, of
course, full of Christ and nothing but Christ and yet, in the gospels, when
Christ himself was living and walking among them, we may say of most, as it Is
said of the disciples, who were journeying to Emmaus "Their eyes were holden
that they should not know him."

St. Peter in Matthew 16:23 responds in answer to the question of Jesus, "Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." But how does he say it? He says it,
not in his senses, but like a man transfigured, by a fire that burns in him and
out of him in a new flash of fact as well as expression " Blessed art thou,
Simon BarJona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee; but my Father
which is in heaven."

Thomas, in John 20:28, cries out in a rapture, “My Lord and my God! " He sees
and he adores the Deity of Christ. From the most incredulous of the eleven he
comes to be their leader, and by appropriating faith to confess and to claim the
Lord Jesus as God.

He does this without ever putting Christ to the test that he had laid down for
himself. He does it unexpectedly, suddenly.

How often do we lay down tests anticipating how the Lord shall come to us. He
must come this way or that way, by a convulsion, by a vision, by some recognized
demonstration or else we must refuse credence. “Except I shall put my finger
into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side, I will not
believe."

If you will look back at the chapter, you will find it a blank as to any
handling of Jesus, such as Thomas proposed. Instead of this, is a silence a
check. The GODHEAD COMES IN a more than human majesty clothed a more than human
glory enhaloed the mysterious Person who thus unexpectedly revealed himself to
Thomas and repeated, as out of eternity to him, the very thoughts of his heart.

Thomas saw a man before him with a great wound gaping in his side, more than
enough to have caused any death. He saw that wound bleeding, yet the man living
and speaking speaking his own words which none could have known beside an
omnipresent, invisible Listener, and Thomas cried instinctively, " My Lord and
my God! " How did he do it? By illumination. Because the Spirit taught him to
cry. Because, all at once, in Christ’s light, he saw light. The Holy Ghost
reveals Christ. He glorifies Christ. Notice. He does not create Christ; he shows
him.

Christ is all the while there. A person is in a dark room. You cannot see the
person; you do not know he is there. Then some one brings in a candle and you
see the person revealed touched with all the radiance of the candle, brighter in
outline, more distinct and glorious in feature for the very darkness against
which he stands. When we were sailing in the Grecian Archipelago we came, at
dawn of day, to the Island of Rhodes. At first we saw only a grey indistinctness
the shapeless outline of vast rocks rising out of the water. Then as the sun
came up, how glorious! There lay the harbor once bestridden by the famous
Colossus, the sapphire ripplings of the water touched with rose and gold the
ships, the flappings of their sails stirred lightly by the morning breeze. There
stretched away the green fields and the mountains round which poetry had thrown
her charm; midway in the perspective rose the ancient castellated ramparts of
the fortress of the Knights of St. John, all flashing, glowing, burning, touched
and " transfigured by the ministry of light." “That which doth make manifest is
light." The Holy Ghost is the only revealer of Jesus. And the Holy Ghost
glorifies Christ or reveals him in his true glory now, as he could not possibly
do were Christ present.

One thing: it was necessary that Christ should go away in order that the power
of a natural, carnal, earthly influence might be broken. The apostles loved
Christ too much, as the carnal loves the carnal. They limited his power as
Martha did when she’said: "If Thou meaning his bodily presence hadst been here,
my brother had not died." That is the error of Rome with her crucifixes, her
Mass and her sensuous ecstacies. Read the memoirs of Santa Teresa and of St.
John of the Cross, and you will find the love they express for the Saviour is
sensuous carnal. There is something lurid about it. You are afraid of it.

It was necessary that that sort of thing should be broken that there should come
an experience, which, permit me to say it, should emancipate Christ should burst
the tomb and the grave-clothes, and set him Infinite, Omnipresent, Omnipotent,
Heavenly working above, as ever in, and through his church an experience like
that of St. Paul when he says:" Yea, though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." We only know him as the Spirit
reveals him.

You have known a man by his clothes by his face now you come to know him by his
CHARACTER. Something reveals him in his abilities, in his integrity, in his
truth, as your friend. Then, whether he be present or absent, you can say, " I
know him. I can count on him now as never before." The Holy Ghost reveals
Christ. But let us come closer; the ulterior and special object of the Spirit’s
revelation is God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. That is our III. Point.
“He shall glorify " " Make me GLORIOUS."

St. Paul expands our Saviour’s statement in these words:" For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The Apostle
institutes a wondrous parallel with the original creation. Indulge me while I
press that parallel in its out-starting facts.

"And God said, ’Let there be light/ and there was light" a luminous but
undefined Aurora like that of Northern climes in winter, when objects are
apparent, indeed, but not glorified. Then, on the fourth day the Sun rose oil
this Earth. What a change! What a glorious transfiguration of the material
Earth, when the Sun rose upon it in splendor! On the fourth day the Sun rose.
What a fact! How everything on earth was touched and changed by this! Let us try
to conceive the difference between the first three days and the fourth, when the
Sun rose in his splendor; and then let us try to take in the stupendousness of
the parallel made by St. Paul. The world without Christ, or Christ in twilight
beneath the dawn-line of the Old Testament beneath the histories, and types, and
prophecies beneath the horizon of an Arctic winter, and then, and all at once,
and forever, the Sun of Righteousness in visible perfection of his glory the
Mystery of Godliness the Dayspring from on high!

“God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts" creation is the prelude and the prophecy of a yet higher and more
sublime irradiation " to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the
face of Jesus Christ." The statement of this point, involves, of course, three.
That there is such a thing as the knowledge of the glory of God that this
knowledge is unfolded in the face of Jesus Christ, and that it comes by a Divine
in-shining.

1. The knowledge of the glory of God. If God be God, he is glorious, for glory
is manifested excellence, and God is most excellent, and cannot be hid. The
glory of God is not only his greatness, but the equipoise of his character.
Satan is great, i. e., in faculties, but he is in no wise glorious, but infamous
because of the defect of his character. Michael, the arch-angel, originally no
greater than Satan, and perhaps not so great, is more glorious because of the
perfection the balance of his character.

God’s glory is the equipoise of his attributes. With him no where is there too
much no where a deficit.

"A God o’er all consummate, absolute, Full-orbed, in his whole world of rays
complete."

All heresy starts from the centre, i. e., by unpivotting God, by disturbing the
balance of the Divine attributes, by making God lop-sided, by contending for
power to the exclusion of rectitude, or for sovereignty, to the exclusion of
self-consistency; or for justice, to the exclusion of mercy, or for mercy to the
prejudice of justice.

God unsupported, unsuspended, self-sufficient is an Orb at rest ponderibus
Libratus Suis, equally balanced every way by his own weight. There is no more
power in God than there is righteousness, and no more sovereignty than
self-restraint.

It is because God is balanced and must balance that he is what he is, and no
conscience, however clouded say or think whatsoever it please can ever be at
peace until it sees Eternal God himself at peace. A God onesided, careened and
tilted by the overponderance of any attribute a God at war with himself, like a
sun on fire devoured by mutually contending flames, were an object of horror
fitted only to drive to distraction. Such a God were it not a mental
contradiction to try to conceive him could never give peace.

It is important to put emphasis upon the fact before us, because the effort of
to-day is to destroy the balance of the attributes of God to posit it that
justice, for example and in measurement, and in adjustment everything comes back
to the straight line that justice in God is a merely optional attribute.

"How can God," says one of our modern Theologians,* "How can God be free if he
be the slave of his own justice? "

* Author of "Whither." As well ask, "How can I be free if I cannot rid myself of
my back-bone? I am the slave, then, of my back-bone. But how can I be a man and
have no back-bone? " For God to be free from his justice would be for him to be
free from himself as moral, " and therefore immoral for justice is simply
looking on things as they are, and treating them accordingly, and to deny this
is to deny rectitude, and to deny rectitude is to deny God and make him immoral.

"God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, Wisdom,
Power, Holiness." Holiness consisting, and in that order of "justice, goodness
and truth." Not goodness first, as if God were mere lawless, reckless
good-nature, but justice first and yet, not justice only, but equally goodness,
because he trues i.e., is truth.

Ho wean you improve on the told definition? It came to Sir Harry Vane on his
knees, while praying for light. Did he not get the light? Outside of the
Scripture, what ever has come so near to direct inspiration?

Throw away your Theology nay, throw away your Bible, and, in the light of common
sense alone, how can you make " love " and by love, of course, is meant love to
lost sinners how can you make that any more than the old definition has made it
without making it unholy, bad and wicked love? ^What sort of a love is that
which has been severed from holiness, justice and goodness?

Justice optional! What should we think of a man to whom it were optional to be
just, or to be unjust?

What should we think of our courts if it were conceded that judges might rule as
they pleased no matter what the evidence no matter how glaring the facts? The
moral grandeur of God is his balance, his poise, that he rights himself. "Shall
not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

2. The glory of God then, as it stands revealed in vast concentric haloes,
circles upon circles of immeasurable excellence is at its brightest spot its
centre and when focalized and gathered to one burning point, nothing more,
nothing less than CONCILIATION OF JUSTICE AND GRACE. "How can God be just and
justify the guilty? " lies at the root of the Gospel. The answer to that
question is the Gospel, and Christ on the cross is its sum.

Christ on the cross, not Christ in pre-existence, transcending thought as is the
mystery of everlasting generation.

Christ on the cross, not Christ incarnate, in the wondrous constitution of his
Person web- work as it is, and master-piece of all the attributes of God
combined as if the sun should come down out of heaven and shine in, and through
some creature making it forever a sun-creature. Not Christ, a babe, in glory
streaming from the manger. Not Christ when twelve years old, the fair Divinity
but softly breaking through his youthful form and gesture as he stands
questioning the doctors and unveiling the Messiah of the Scriptures in such wise
as to anticipate his whole commission and to make rejection of him from that
moment, the unpardonable sin. Not Christ again in all the grand kaleidoscopic
aspects of his ministry, as miracles spring up beneath his footsteps like fresh
flowers. Not Christ in any, nor in all, these revelations, glorious as they are,
but still subordinate, but Christ upon the tree.

Christ on the cross, his visage marred more than any man’s, bore witness to
God’s truth. It was there the vision of God’s glory shone the brightest "in the
face of Jesus," stamped with Divinity and stained with blood.

It was there seen that God would not swerve that sin must be punished. It was
also seen that God would punish sin by punishing himself that the whole united
Godhead would suffer the Father in giving his Son from his bosom the Son in
agonies of blood and death the Holy Ghost in joint participation of co-equal
sufferings, and in the grieving to which he submits before God would, in any
wise, clear the guilty.

Christ on the cross bore our guilt. As a race we lay crushed beneath it. Imagine
a weight like that lifted and borne by one helpless Man a weight that all the
Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim and Powers could not have raised by one united and
stupendous straining! Yet he raised it, and not only so, he, the mighty
ScapeGoat of iniquities, bore it away to a land uninhabited sought for, it
cannot be found.

What is the upshot of this? The upshot is that from the instant you and I look
away to Christ as our Substitute; we are eternally saved.

"The guilt of twice ten thousand sins one offering takes away."

"If Christ has my discharge procured And freely in my place endured, The whole
of wrath Divine, Payment God cannot twice demand, First, at my bleeding Surety’s
hand And then again at mine."

"Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ," not through our moralities, nor feelings, nor ceremonies, but
alone and solely through him. Is not that glorious f Bursts there not a glory
from that torn flesh which hangs and writhes upon those ragged nails, which
challenges all suns to rival it in splendor? Is not here God’s glory focalized,
as it swings low and kisses even your and my horizon? When we were at the North
Cape, at midnight, a French gentleman took out a sun-glass and burned a hole in
his hat with it. Low as the sun was, he was still clothed with all his burning
power. So is it with our Saviour on the cross. "For though he was crucified
through weakness, yet he liveth " there, yes there, he liveth and for you and me
he liveth " liveth by the power of God."

“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ."

3d. This glory hath inshined that is the third point. It hath shined not
historically not in the face of a physical Christ, although these, of course,
are included; but through the veil on the heart. Christ’s glory to mere worldly
men is a veiled glory; " the veil says the apostle, “is upon their heart." That
veil has been rent not from our side from God’s side. Not from the bottom where
we could take hold you and I could not rend any Veil; but from the top where God
can take hold to the bottom. Christ, full length, appears; let down as a Saviour
for sinners let down where we are, at our last and our lowest let down where we
can take hold; and God says, "Take hold! I have rent I have split down the
Veil."

God hath "shined in" not into the world only, that is not enough could not be,
for " the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."

Into believing hearts God hath shined. It is not simply knowledge, but it is the
light of the knowledge. It is not Church instruction, but heart-work interior
regeneration. "When it pleased God," says Paul, " to reveal His Son within me,
immediately I took no conference with flesh and blood."

How then, do we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ?

One way, by Faith. Faith is the great opened eye of the soul. We believe God
speaking in His Word. We believe that Jesus is God. We believe, and see it in
new light, that in extremis, in salvation, highest angel equally with highest
man avails not. Only God upon the tree can answer God upon the throne.

Another way --the light shines in is by the Witness of the Spirit. What is that
witness if not a supernatural spiritual emphasis put on the assurances and
promises of God, which makes them true to us without a question?

"The Holy Spirit also testifies unto us," says St. Paul, in Hebrews 10:15,
"Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." The Spirit bears with
the Word, his assurance, IN on the soul. I have not only heard Christ’s
doctrine, but I have his voice speaking within me.

"The Spirit answers to the Blood, And tells me I am born of God."

Nothing like this to give peace! It comforts now, amid all sins, all tumults,
all perplexities, and it will comfort when the head lies on its last pillow, and
can turn and look no where else. A third way Light shines in is by
Consciousness. Consciousness of breathing goes with breathing. Consciousness of
walking goes with walking. Consciousness of life and vigor goes with power. A
man full of the Holy Ghost knows what he is full of, and that he is not empty.
He knows that his light is not darkness that his joy is not despair, and that
his power is something other and more than physical elation or physical energy.

"Can he not, through some interior eye which we know not, and for which we have
no name, pour into us the radiance of his own infinite glory, though he be the
king invisible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see?" Can he not manifest himself
to the eye of interior consciousness with a distinctness of spiritual presence
as satisfying as that which his bodily form gave to the external vision of his
disciples? Can he not pour floods on floods of inundating life upon us until
lifted, floated we shall move like the resistless waves in might of spiritual
power?

He can! he can! We know it. We have felt it, and the voice of yearning
irrepressible, has turned it into prayer.

"Refining Fire! go through my heart, Illuminate my soul, Scatter thy life in
every part, And sanctify the whole." This Revelation of Christ by the Spirit is
what the WORLD needs is dying for " When he shall come to you he shall convince
the world of sin." This Revelation of Christ -fresh revelation I mean,
satisfying our souls, filling, flooding enlarging us with the light, and the
love, and the joy, and the strength of the Lord is what we need, my Brethren.
What you and I need if we would save a dying world. In other words, we need the
Baptism of the Holy Ghost, that we may see Christ and preach Christ. The reason
why we do not get on have little enlargement is the lack of this Baptism. And
the reason why we lack this Baptism is, that we do not, as we ought, believe in
it. We look on Pentecost as a stereotype. It stands for us the monument of what
was once a living benediction, but is dead. The Holy Ghost is as it were,
mummified in the Church. He is mechanical, in our conception, latent. He is
being carried under our decent ceremonials as the dead emperor Numidian was
carried, in his closed litter, into the battle.

Few of us, I fear, are praying as our fathers prayed. " Breathe from the four
winds, O BREATH! " in the conviction that the Church’s power is the direct
impingement of the supernatural that it is afflatus from on high or else our
gilded congregations are but bleaching bones. And because we do not believe in
the Baptism of the Holy Ghost we do not ask for it. We look on men like
Whitefield and Carvosso, Brainerd and Edwards, Bramwell and Spurgeon, Cecil and
McCheyne as unapproachable examples, and so our sermons drag, and Sunday-school
instructions drag, and evangelism drags and life drags.

What we want is A FRESH REVELATION OF CHRIST. As dear McCheyne says, " Christ
for me! that’s ever new, that’s ever glorious." Revivals of religion will begin
again, my Brethren, when ministers go back to the A. B. C. of the Gospel when
they consent to crucify their brains and preach upon the simplest texts. "It is
a faithful saying." "God so loved the world." The Spirit owns a very simple
Christ.

What we want is a FRESH REVELATION OF CHRIST. Not to see him physically, with
Huxley, nor intellectually, with the "Higher Criticism" men, but with Bunyan and
with Christmas Evans, by the Holy Ghost "To view the Lamb in his own light, Whom
angels dimly see, And gaze transported at that sight Through all eternity."

"We, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed BY THE SPIRIT
from glory to glory." Let us believe this. Let us, too, gaze until WE are
changed our ministry transfigured. Until from glory unto glory we anticipate the
beatific vision. Then, on our death-beds, if the Lord should tarry, we may say
as did the dying John Owen, when there were brought to him the last wet
proof-sheets of his immortal Book " the Glory of Christ " " some glimpses of it
I have had already, but now I am going where I shall see it as I have never seen
it in this world." I God grant the Revelation now, as flesh and blood can bear,
and afterward the far exceeding and eternal weight of glory for his dear Son’s
sake.


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  CHAPTER 5: 01.04.     ENDUEMENT OF THE SPIRIT (GRAMMAR)
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IV. "THE ENDUEMENT OF THE SPIRIT." BY REV. JULIUS E. GRAMMER, D.D. [Rector of
St. Peter’s P. E. Church, Baltimore.]

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth" Acts 1:8. was the promise of our Lord
to his church. They should receive power from on high. They should be led into
all truth. They should have the comforting assurance of his presence and of the
Paraclete. The honor put upon the Holy Spirit is so great as to lead us to
magnify his office. He is the Lord; and the Giver of Life. The children of God
are born of the Spirit, and taught by the Spirit, and led by the Spirit. We see
that he is the author of all prophecy, and the witness of Jesus, as the Son of
God, by his resurrection from the dead. He is compared to the wind, blowing
where it listeth, to show his sovereignty and his freedom. He is likened to the
fire, to show his kindling and illumining influence. He is promised to all who
ask. Without him the Apostles would have been utterly helpless. It was not by
the eloquence of an Apollos, nor by the learning of a Paul, nor by the might of
worldly force, but by the Spirit of the Lord. That Holy Spirit of Promise was to
be to the church what the Shekinah was to the temple of old; what the breath of
Heaven was in the valley of Ezskiel’s vision; what the presence and power of
Elijah’s prayer were to the dead child of the widow of Zarephath.

We see the effect of his presence,

1st. First of all in the holy boldness it gave the Apostles. They had been timid
and half-hearted. They had fled at the cross, and hid in the upper room. They
were weakened by fear of the magistrates and of worldly authority.

Peter denied his Lord, and even the Apostle John forsook him and fled. But what
a contrast on the day of Pentecost! See them before the men who had imbrued
their hands in our Saviour’s blood. That same Apostle tells them they “killed
the Prince of life." He bids them " Repent, and be baptized." He is no longer
tempted to deny or desert, but he lifts up the standard of the Lord. Surely this
is a great contrast. Their courage is more than a match for the most menacing
foes. They are not abashed by the scourge of the magistrates, or the dangers of
persecution. They appeal to God and are not afraid of men. So it has been in the
history of every true prophet endued with the Holy Ghost. See Moses before
Pharaoh; Elijah before Ahab. See John the Baptist, with the energy of the Holy
Ghost from his birth, and as a great preacher standing before Herod. See Paul
before Felix and the world’s proudest skeptics. See Chrysostom before Eudoxia,
and Basil before Valens; and Luther before the Diet of Worms, and Knox before
Mary of Scots, and Cranmer, at the fires of Smithfield. You see how full the
Holy Spirit filled the hearts of these brave and devoted men, that they should
not fear the face of man. And surely that is the need of the church to-day. We
shrink from the challenge of giant forms of evil which menace the life of the
soul. We need to-day that enduement of boldness which shall teach us to say,
“Let no man’s heart fail him." Yes, that hopeful courage which shall confront
the mountains of defiant evil that they may become a plain before Zerubbabel.
Isaiah was “very bold" as he stretched forth his hand all the day long to a
gain-saying people.

Surely the want of courage is the want of the Spirit; and when that enduement
possesses the soul it can say as did Deborah, " O my soul, thou hast trodden
down strength."

“Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of the prancings, the prancings of
their mighty ones." “Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."

2d. Again, the enduement of the Spirit taught men to depend upon the word. The
great instrument of spiritual conquest is the Bible, which is "the sword of the
Spirit." "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe."

St. Paul, writing to Timothy, in the midst of prevailing Gnosticism and error,
urges him, "Preach the word, in season and out of season." It is the word which
is "the seed." It is the word of God which is quick and powerful, sharper than
any two-edged sword. It is mighty through God to the pulling down of the
strongholds of sin. Where the Bible is most read, studied and preached; where
its light has shone, there the vital and saving power of Christianity has been
most felt. God honors his word. The Scriptures are given by inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, and are profitable for instruction in righteousness, that the man of
God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. Jesus said, “Search the
Scriptures." Out of them he taught the disciples and made their hearts burn
within them by the way. The great commission is, “Go preach my Gospel." Preach
the word; not tradition; not speculation; not philosophy or rationalism, not the
theories of men.

St. Paul said, " The Gospel which I delivered to you is the same also that I
received, how Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he
rose again, according to the Scriptures."

You see how our Lord appealed to them, for he said: What saith the Scriptures? "
You see how the prophet directs us “to the law and the testimony." A ministry
which subordinates the pulpit, dishonors the divinely appointed means of the
world’s conversion and sanctification.

We are born again of "the incorruptible seed," even the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. "My word," says God, "shall accomplish that
whereunto I send it." And under the influence of that we see the revolutions
which have been wrought in society. We see the wilderness changed into a garden
and the habitations of cruelty into the abodes of peace.

Surely it is the pulpit which has made Scotland, England and America what they
are to-day. It is an open and free Bible which has saved Germany from the
condition of Italy, Spain, Austria and South America. It is to a free church, a
free conscience, a free education, and above all, to a free Bible that under God
we are to ascribe the present condition of Protestant Christendom. That eminent
painter, Kaulbach, has magnificently portrayed the period of the Reformation. As
the climax of the thought preceding and growing out of it, he has gathered into
a group the representative men of the world before and after that great era.
There is Columbus, with his charts, the discoverer of the new world, where the
Bible has won its proudest victories. There is Sir Isaac Newton, with his globe
and his "Principia; " Sir Isaac Barrow, with his ponderous tomes on the " Pope’s
Supremacy; " Sir Francis Bacon, with his " Novum Organum; " Dante, the poet of
the Reformation, with his " Divina Commedia; " Shakespeare, with his immortal
Dramas; Guttenberg, with his printing press, and, in the midst of them all,
Martin Luther, with his open Bible lifted to reflect the glory of God, and to
shed the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in his wings. The
lesson of such a great painting is clearly this:" The entrance of thy word, O
Lord, giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple."

"Brethren," says the Apostle, "pray for us, that the word of God may have free
course and be glorified."

3d. Again, we see the enduement of the Holy Spirit in keeping the Apostles, and
their true successors, loyal to their commission.

They preached Christ. In Corinth, with its luxury and rich commerce, St. Paul
determined to know nothing but " Jesus Christ, and him crucified" In Athens,
with its sculptured monuments and its temples of imposing grandeur, he preached
" Jesus and the resurrection’’ 1 In Ephesus, with its witchcraft and magic, "
fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many
that believed came and confessed and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which
used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men:
and they counted the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver,
so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." In Rome, “where," as Tacitus
said, "everything vile came," the Apostle says he was not” ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." “Christ first, Christ
midst, Christ last," was the theme of Apostolic preaching. It was not
ecclesiasticism; it was not ceremonialism; it was not to confront the opposition
of "science, falsely so called;” it was not "profane and vain babblings." IT WAS
CHRIST. We see this characterized their preaching everywhere. As Philip preached
to the treasurer of the queen of Candace, it was "Jesus" and his sacrifice. The
Holy Spirit blessed it and the chamberlain "went on his way rejoicing."

"Unto me," says the Apostle, "is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Jesus said, "He shall take of
mine and show it unto you." "He shall glorify Me."

4th. Again we see the enduement of the Spirit in the exercise of a faith which
depended upon the power of God.

“Who is Paul? " says the Apostle, and " who is Apollos? but ministers by whom ye
believed." The sovereignty and grace of the Holy Spirit were not confined to men
of learning or eloquence. The humblest witness for Christ might become an
instrument of untold good. An Aquila and a Priscilla could teach even an Apollos
" the way of the Lord more perfectly." The most obscure servants of Christ have
been raised up for his work, to show that the weak things are often chosen to
confound the mighty, and "things which are not "to bring " to naught things that
are; that no flesh shall glory in his presence." And certainly we have lived to
witness that in our time. We have seen an Evangelist, with no equipment of
scholarly attainments, with none of the polish and erudition either of the
theologian or the cultured orator, moving multitudes and calling them to Christ,
as no minister, possibly, of modern times. Can any one doubt that it is “the
finger of God; " that it is the power of the Spirit; that it is the power of
Elias and John the Baptist and of the Lord himself, illustrating the enduring
wealth of his promise, "Cease ye from man." Remember the record which is given
in The Acts, " Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived
that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

We emphasize this, not that we would discourage learning, but to show how God,
the Holy Spirit, uses men of low degree often to do such a work so as to magnify
his Grace. We find Peter and John, as well as Paul and Apollos, able ministers
of the New Testament; and clothed with a wisdom above the world, yet never
having been taught. Certainly we have great reason to rejoice in all the
contributions of a profound erudition to the wealth of the Church’s literature.
We see many great names in the mighty host of stars which Jesus holds in his
right hand; but we see among the brightest of them those who were best known,
because " They were wise to turn many to righteousness." They were poor, yet
made many rich. They had nothing, and yet they possessed all things.

5th. Nor should we forget to notice the enduement of the Spirit in its
world-embracing zeal.

"They went everywhere, preaching the word." No Jewish exclusiveness confined
them to the house of Israel. The house of Cornelius was admitted as a sharer in
those benefits. St. Peter says, "The promise is unto you, and your children, and
to all that are afar off." They saw that the middle wall of partition was broken
down. They went " far hence to the Gentiles," and to the utmost bounds of the
earth. Not only to Philippi, but to Rome, and not to Rome only, but into all the
world. The Spirit of God while it recognizes all distinctions of government and
of administrations, secular and sacred, at the same time it teaches us that the
whole world is guilty before God, and in need of the common salvation. And while
men talk of " Catholicity," let us learn from the Spirit that he is a catholic
who loves God and his neighbor, who loves Christ and his Gospel. He is a
catholic who learns, under the enduement of the Spirit, to realize that there is
neither Jew nor Gentile, Bond nor Free, Greek nor Barbarian, in the light of the
Gospel; but all are "One in Christ." This is the Charity which rejoices in the
Truth: which makes Christ Head and teaches that all we are brethren. The whole
Spirit of the Gospel is opposed to proselytism. It seeks not to build up party,
or sect, or hierarchy, but to add to the followers of Christ. "He shall glorify
Me;" not schools of thought, not the monuments of the world’s wisdom and
philosophy; not organizations, or ecclesiastical Shibboleths, but Christ; Christ
as Saviour, Teacher, King.

St. Paul said he was "all things to all men" (without the compromise of any
principle) u that by all means he might save some." And when we catch that
motive and the true meaning of that principle, we have the Spirit of Christ. The
reigning desire of the Church is for unity. And according to the measure, in
which we have that love and loyalty to Christ, will we "love all those who love
him." Surely there is a volume of truth in that passage of the Apostle, "Some,
indeed, preach Christ, even of envy and strife; and some also of good will. The
one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to
my bonds. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the
gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence or in truth,
Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know
that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in
nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also
Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death."

What better attainment can we hope, and labor, and pray for than such a spirit?
The nearer we are to Christ the nearer we are to each other. The nearer to the
Head, the more we shall say, as John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I must
decrease." " Not I" says the Apostle Paul, " but Christ that dwelleth in me."

If there is any meaning in our coming together, it is that we may have that
zeal, which is according to knowledge, that faith which worketh by love, and
that love which prays for the peace and prosperity of the City of God. Let our
citizenship be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that we stand fast in one
spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.


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  CHAPTER 6: 01.05.     SPIRIT'S THREFOLD CONVICTION (BOARDMAN)
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V. THE SPIRIT’S THREEFOLD CONVICTION. BY GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN, D.D., I,L.D.

"When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go
to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this
world is judged." John 16:8-11. This pregnant paragraph sets forth the three
chief *- offices of the Paraclete in his relations to men in this seen. When he
is come, he will convict the world, first, in respect of sin, because they
believe not on Christ; in other words, the Spirit is to bring to the world the
conviction that there is such a thing as sin, and that sin consists in the
refusal to believe on Jesus Christ. The Spirit is to convict the world,
secondly, in respect of righteousness, because Jesus has gone to the Father, and
we behold him no more; in other words, the Spirit is to bring to the world the
conviction that there is such a thing as righteousness, and that righteousness
consists in Christ’s incarnate career, as demonstrated by his return to heaven.
The Spirit is to convict the world, thirdly, in respect of judgment, because the
prince of this world hath been judged; in other words, the Spirit is to bring to
the world the conviction that there is such a thing as judgment, and that
judgment consists in the triumph through Christ of righteousness over sin. In
this paragraph, therefore, is compacted an outline of man’s guilt, Christ’s
righteousness and Jesus’ final victory over Satan; that is to say, a compendious
moral history of the world from the Eden that has been to the Eden that is to
be. And now let us ponder the profound paragraph in detail.

I. The Spirit’s Conviction of Sin. And first, the Spirit’s Conviction of Sin:"
Of sin, became they believe not on me."

1. This is not society’s definition of sin: according to society, sin means
crime, vice, immorality. Neither is it the philosopher’s definition of sin:
according to the philosopher, sin means misdirection, abuse, disease. Neither is
it the theologian’s definition of sin: according to the theologian, sin means
transgression of God’s law, coming short of God’s glory, hereditary guilt. But
it is Christ’s definition of sin: according to Christ, sin means unbelief on
himself, unbelief in Jesus as the Christ and Son and Image and Revealer of the
Father. "’Of sin, because they believe not on me." And this is sin indeed. For
the Word made flesh is Immanuel, God-with-us. To disbelieve on Jesus, then, is
to disbelieve on Deity himself. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father (1 John 2:23). Christlessness in a Christian land is atheism. Sin,
therefore, became a new thing when Jesus came into the world. Recall what he
himself had just said: " If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not
had sin: but now they have no excuse for their sin." (John 15:22.) Therefore it
is that disbelief on Christ is the sin of sins, ay, sin itself.

2. Observe now that of this sin of sins the Spirit is the sole convicter. When
he is come, he will convict the world in respect of sin, because they believe
not on Jesus. And no other power can. The preacher cannot do it; conscience
cannot do it; even holy scripture cannot do it. Remember the difference between
sins and sin. A jury may convict me of crimes: conscience may convict me of
sins. But no power less than the Holy Spirit can convict me of sin. No barb but
his can pierce to the root of my nature; no flash but his can show me to myself
as a ruined sinner. And the argument he wields in convicting me of sin is this
very fact that I do not believe on Jesus. Calvary, not Siuaj, is the Spirit’s
mightiest artillery. Listen to Jehovah’s word through his prophet Zechariah:

I will pour upon the house of David, And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The
spirit of grace and of supplication; And they shall look unto him whom they have
pierced:And they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, And
shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
Zechariah 12:10.

Thus it was on the day of Pentecost, when Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,
charged on his hearers the crime of the crucifixion so boldly that they were
pierced to the heart, and cried, "What shall we do?" And so also it has ever
been the experience of every consciously awakened sinner. He feels that John
Newton echoes his own experience when he confesses:

I saw One hanging on a tree, In agony and blood, Who fixed his languid eyes on
me, As near the cross I stood.

Sure, never till my latest breath, Can I forget that look: It seemed to charge
me with his death, Though not a word he spoke. My conscience felt and owned the
guilt, And plunged me in despair; I saw my sins his blood had spilt, And helped
to nail him there.

JOHN NEWTON. But what avails it to be convicted of sin, unless at the same time
we are also convicted that there is somewhere righteousness, and that this
righteousness can be made available to ourselves?

II. The Spirit’s Conviction of Righteousness. And so we pass, secondly, to the
Spirit’s conviction of Righteousness: "When he is come, he will convict the
world in respect of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me
no more."

1. " Of righteousness." What is this righteousness of which our Lord here
speaks? Whose righteousness is it? (a) Certainly not the world’s. For the world
is quite swift enough to detect its own merits. No Holy Spirit does it need to
convince it of its own virtues. A very Narcissus it is, seeing everywhere the
reflection of its own beauties and worshipping itself. But let us look at this
matter a little more deeply, noting what the world’s conception of righteousness
really is. The clearest and loftiest phase of righteousness among an educated,
thinking people will be found, one would suppose, in the object selected as the
main purpose or end of life. What then is the object which we Americans set
before ourselves as the goal of life? Is it righteousness clearly and
distinctively righteousness? Or is it something less unworldly, to which
righteousness is made tributary in way of means to end? Is not success the
principal thing which we Americans set before us, the grand motto which we give
our children when we send them forth into the world; success in trade, in
politics, in literature, in society? True, we admire and value righteousness.
But why do we admire it? Because it is righteousness? Or because, in a
civilized, well-ordered community, righteousness is one of the conditions of
success? Do we not, practically speaking, secretly feel that Thomas Carlyle has
hit the truth when in his " Heroes and Hero-Worship " he virtually tells us,
Success is virtue; might makes right? Let righteousness but stand in the way of
success, and let the choice lie between the two; and then see which the world
will choose. Yes, the world crucified, and, were he to return, would virtually
crucify again, the only absolutely righteous One the world has ever seen.

(6) Whose then is the righteousness the conviction of which the Spirit is to
bring to the world? Evidently Christ’s righteousness. The antithesis is
manifestly between the world’s sin " In respect of sin, because they believe not
on me " and Christ’s righteousness " In respect of righteousness, because I go
to the Father, and ye behold me no more." But what part or element of Christ’s
righteousness is the righteousness of which he here speaks? Evidently,
righteousness in the general, complete sense of the word; the sum total of all
that God requires; the righteousness of a perfect character. In other words, the
righteousness of which the Lord here speaks is the righteousness which was
incarnated in his own blessed person and career and character and work. And of
this righteousness Christ’s departure and present invisibility are both the
illustration and the proof:" Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and
ye behold me no more."

2. "Because I go to the Father." This going to the Father involves several
profound things. First, it involves Christ’s own death. We ourselves often speak
in a similar way: for example, we speak of a dying saint as one who is going
home, and, when the last throe is over, we exclaim, " Home at last! " And why
did Jesus Christ die, and so go home? Just because he was righteous, and lived
in a world which did not believe on him. His very righteousness crucified him.

Again: This going to the Father involves Christ’s resurrection. And why was
Jesus Christ raised from the dead? Just because he was righteous: he was
declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead (Rom.
1:4). What though his own righteousness had slain him? His own righteousness
also raised him. Once more: This going to the Father involves Christ’s ascension
and heavenly enthronement. And why was Jesus Christ exalted to the right hand of
the Majesty on high? Just because he was righteous; his exaltation being the
reward of his incarnate obedience. Listen to a classic paragraph, the pivotal
word of which is the conjunction " wherefore:"

Christ Jesus, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality
with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a
servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the
cross: WHEREFORE also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which
is above every name; that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things
in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Php
2:6-11.

What though Christ’s very righteousness had crucified him? Christ’s very
righteousness also raised him from the dead, and exalted him to the right hand
of the Father Almighty. Thus Christ’s going to the Father was both a revelation
and a demonstration of Christ’s righteousness.

3. "And ye no longer behold me." Why did not the risen Lord remain on earth? Why
is he not here now, to be a terror to his foes, a comfort to his friends? We
behold him no more in order that we may the better understand what righteousness
truly is. For righteousness is not a bulk so many inches cubic; not a weight so
many pounds avoirdupois. Righteousness is a quality, a character. This is one of
the reasons why it was expedient for us that Jesus should go away and the
Paraclete come; such an exchange gave us a universal and spiritual Saviour
instead of a local and bodily one.

Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that
have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29. In other words, the visible
Jesus gives way to the invisible Christ, in order that we may the more easily
discern and perfectly appreciate what righteousness truly is:" Of righteousness,
because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more."

4. And of this righteousness the Holy Spirit is the sole convicter:" When he is
come, he will convict the world in respect of righteousness." And precisely here
it is that the world needs conviction. What its conception of righteousness is
we have already seen. It may also be admitted that the world does in a certain
sense admire Christ’s character. Few eulogies are more eloquent, so far as
language goes, than the eulogies which eminent unbelievers have pronounced on
the Nazarene. But admiration is one thing: loyalty is another thing. There is a
tremendous difference between aesthetic admiration and practical devotion;
between assent to Christ’s teaching and consent with Christ’s character. And
what the world needs is to have such a profound conviction of Christ’s personal)
conspicuous, distinctive righteousness as to yearn for it, crying, O Jehovah, be
thou my righteousness (Jeremiah 22:6). And this conviction no power but the
Paraclete can effect. Conscience cannot do it: all that conscience can do is to
reproach and terrify; conscience brings us no divine pardoner, justifier,
redeemer. The Bible cannot do it: all that the Bible can do is to set before us
right and wrong, heaven and hell; the Bible plants in our hearts no Lord our
Righteousness. The means of grace Sundays, preaching, sacraments, prayer cannot
do it: all that the means of grace can do is to acquaint us with duty; means of
grace do not make us actual sharers in Christ’s righteousness. Only one power
can do it: it is the promised Paraclete. Listen to St. Paul:

I give you to understand, that no man speaking in the Spirit of God saith, Jesus
is anathema: and no man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. 1
Corinthians 12:3. When Jesus was in the region of Csesarea Philippi, he asked
his disciples, saying: Who do men say that I the Son of man am? Peter answered
and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and
said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah: for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:13-17.

No; neither civilization, nor education, nor philosophy, nor Sunday-school, nor
preaching, nor revival effort, nor Bible, can convict us of righteousness. No
power can effect this but the Holy Spirit:" When he is come, he will convict the
world concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no
more."

III. The Spirit’s Conviction of Judgment. But what avails it to be convicted of
righteousness, unless at the same time we are convicted that righteousness will
be victorious? And so we pass, thirdly, to the Spirit’s conviction of Judgment:"
When he is come, he will convict the world in respect of judgment, because the
prince of this world hath been judged."

1. " The prince of this world" If you ask me why Satan was allowed to enter this
world and usurp its throne, my only answer is this: I do not know. Here is one
of those secret things which belong to Jehovah our God (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Where Holy Scripture is silent, there let me be silent also. Of one thing,
however, I am only too sure. Satan is the prince of this world. A usurped
principality though it is, the principality is nevertheless his. See how he
lords it over man’s moral nature, as disclosed in the various religions of the
world. Look, for example, at the world’s idolatries; at its Apis, its Baal, its
Dagon, its Mithras, its Siva. Look at the Greek and Roman mythologies:

"Gay religions full of pomp and gold, And devils to adore for deities." John
Milton.

Or, to keep within our own land, look at the idolatry of second causes, the
worship of antecedent and consequent, the adoration of the powers of nature.
What is materialism but a sort of sublimated fetichism? Ay, it is to these and
such as these that cultivated Americans shout, " These be thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." (Exodus 32:4). Again: See how
Satan lords it over man’s psychical nature over the capacities and affections
and desires of men, instigating to all passions of pride and selfishness and
ambition and hate and lust. Once more: See how Satan lords it over man’s bodily
nature, driving his thorns in the flesh to buffet us; bringing disease and pain
and death and grave. In fine, look at this world as it actually is; its crimes,
frauds, robberies, hates, falsehoods, perfidies, oppressions, cruelties,
sensualities, blasphemies; its griefs and woes and deaths: look at all these and
similar instigations and works of the devil, and tell me, Is not Satan the
prince of this world? Aye, "The trail of the serpent is over them all." Thomas
Moore.

2. But is this to be so always? God be praised, no! for the prince of this world
hath been judged. To us indeed Christ’s judgment of Satan seems to be a process
still going on. But this is only because we are finite: for this idea of
process, or succession in time, is one of the tokens of human weakness. But to
the eye of the Son of God the overthrow of Satan was a single act, and an act
already accomplished. In like manner, on the return of the Seventy, he had
exclaimed, " I .beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." (Luke 10:17). To
his piercing vision he had already seen Satan falling a fall sudden, swift,
flashing, profound, as the thunderbolt. But how was this judgment on Satan
effected?

(a) To answer, first, in a general way: it was effected by the incarnation. To
this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the
devil (1 John 3:8). The incarnation itself was a judgment. Accordingly, Milton,
in the burst of a true poet’s inspiration, represents the downfall of Satan’s
empire and the birth of Bethlehem’s Babe as simultaneous:

" From this happy day The old dragon, underground, In straiter limits bound, Not
half so far casts his usurped sway: And, wroth to see his kingdom fail, Swindges
the scaly horror of his folded tail."

Hymn on the Nativity.

(6) But to give a more particular answer: Satan was judged by Christ’s own
death. Accordingly, a few days before, Jesus exclaimed:’ ’ The hour is come,
that the Son of man should be glorified. . . . Now is the judgment of this
world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out: and I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. This he said, signifying by what
manner of death he should die " (John 12:28-33).

Observe the sharp contrasts: On the one hand, the prince of this world; on the
other hand, the Son of man: On the one hand, the prince of this world cast out;
on the other hand, the Son of man casting him out. Observe, also, the
significant notation of time:" The hour is now come; now is the judgment of this
world; now shall the prince of the world be cast out." It is as though the Lord
had said:" Now is the crisis of this world: in the lifting up of myself on the
cross it is about to appear whether this world belongs to Satan or to the Son of
man; whether he is its prince or I. We know how the crisis was decided.
Messiah’s heel, bruised for the moment on Golgotha, in the very fact of its
being bruised, crushed eternally the dragon’s head (Genesis 3:15). And so "
crisis " swept into "judgment." The prince of the world was judged; and so
condemned. The Son of God, through his own death, brought to nought him who had
the power of death, that is, the devil (Hebrews 2:14). Henceforth the world
changed ownership. There, in the very act of being uplifted from the earth,
while as yet his life-blood was ebbing, he despoiled the principalities and the
powers, making a show of them openly, triumphing over them, nailing them to his
cross (Colossians 2:14-15). The prince of this world was judged. And in this act
of dying the parable of the Stronger than the strong was fulfilled: When the
strong man, fully armed, guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace; but
when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, and bind him, he
taketh from him his whole armor, wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
Luke 11:21-22.

Thus the vision of Patmos was realized:

There was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the
dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels; and they prevailed not, neither
was their place found any more in heaven; and the great dragon was cast down,
the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the
whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with
him. And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and
the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and
night. And they overcame because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Revelation 12:7-12.

Thus the last book of the Bible declares fulfilled the doom which the first book
of the Bible pronounced on Satan while yet in Eden:

I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;
he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:1-5.

3. And this judgment on Satan is a judgment of which the world needs to be
convicted: and this, not merely in way of intellectual apprehension, but,
especially and emphatically, in way of moral conviction.

(a) Thus each Christian needs]this conviction for himself. For he is exposed to
a thousand discouragements: for example, the sense of infirmity, the enigma of
delays and disappointments and adversities, the prevalence of iniquity, the
enmity of Satan himself. Verily he does not yet see all things subjected to
Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:8). Hence he needs the saving power of hope (Romans
8:24). He needs the conviction that Christ’s grace within him is omnipotent;
that the life in Jesus will not be a failure; that the Christian’s victory, if
he holds steadfast, is a matter of certainty. It is not enough then, that he has
it as a theological article that Satan has been judged: what he needs is to have
this fact inwrought as a moral conviction into the depths of his own experience
and consciousness. What he needs is to be sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of God’s own
possession, unto the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:14).

(6) And as each Christian needs this conviction for himself in order to his own
salvation and victory, so does the Church of the Lamb need it in order to her
own going forth and battling under inspiration of assured triumph. What she
needs is the certain conviction that the Church’s triumph is a foregone
conclusion in the divine mind; that in virtue of her joint-heirship with Jesus
Christ (Romans 8:17), the appointed heir of all things (Hebrews 1:3), she will
share his sovereignty, even already owning this world by a sort of reversionary
right; that the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High (Daniel
7:27). What she needs is the absolute conviction that the prince of this world
has been judged.

4. But how shall this conviction be wrought? By no power less than the Holy
Spirit. When he is come, he will convict the world concerning judgment, because
the prince of this world has been judged. Conscience cannot work this
conviction:all that conscience can do is to make us aware that we are under
Satan’s power. Neither can philosophy work this conviction:all that philosophy
does is to try to make us believe that there is not, and never has been, any
Satan at all; that hell is only the obverse side of heaven, or " heaven seen in
a side-light." The philosopher does, indeed, talk of a golden age. But what kind
of a golden age is it? An age when all that is now anomalous and discordant and
monstrous shall give way to universal law and order and beauty; in brief, when
the p world shall develop into a Godless paradise, from which Satan and Jesus
shall be alike aliens. Whereas the true Golden Age is when the reign of Satan
shall be confessedly supplanted by the reign of Jesus; when the whole earth
shall become the paradise of his grace; when his righteousness, permeating all
life, spiritual, mental, emotional, corporeal, shall mantle the world from pole
to pole, and his infinite beauty girdle it as with a celestial zone. And the
conviction that this shall be the final issue can be wrought by no power but the
Holy Paraclete. No man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit (1
Corinthians 12:3). Nor are signs wanting that the final rout of the powers of
darkness is approaching. In this mustering of the anti-Christian forces under
the marshalship of unbelief; in this hurrying to and fro of principalities and
powers; in these commingling banners and gleaming spears and trumpet-clangs; in
the very fact of this Convention being summoned to ponder the office of the
blessed Paraclete; in all this I think we are permitted to read signs that the
God of peace shall bruise Satan under our feet shortly (Romans 16:20).

Such is the Lord’s promise of the Spirit’s threefold Conviction.

Review. In reviewing our paragraph, observe the order of the Spirit’s process.
The first thing that we sinners need is to be convicted of sin. To whom little
is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luke 7:47). No sense of sin, no conscious
need of Saviour. But vain is the Spirit’s conviction of sin, unless at the same
time he convicts us concerning Christ’s righteousness, and that his
righteousness may become ours. This, in fact, is a frequent trouble with a
convicted sinner. Jesus Christ seems to him a distant, intangible abstraction, a
glittering phantom, a veritable ignis fatuus receding as he advances. It is
needful then that the Spirit should show us to ourselves; it is no less needful
that the Spirit should also show to us Jesus Christ. But vain is the Spirit’s
conviction of righteousness, unless at the same time he convicts us concerning
the certain victory of righteousness over sin; the righteousness being in fact
the stately bridge whereon we pass from the devil’s bondage to the Christian’s
victory. And to be convicted of these three things sin, righteousness, judgment
as the Holy Spirit alone shows them to us, is to know the essence of
Christianity, nay, to enter into the possession of it. Verily, it was expedient
for us that Jesus should go away, that so the Paraclete might come (John 16:7).


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  CHAPTER 7: 01.06.     ADDRESS (BABCOCK)
========================================================================

VI. ADDRESS. BY REV. M. D. BABCOCK.

ONE of the most conspicuous marks of the believer who has heard and obeyed the
words:" Be filled with the Spirit," is the spontaneity of Christian life and
service. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes the difference between the
positive and the negative Christian between the one able to give and the one who
can only receive between the one bearing much fruit and the one with little else
than leaves. There are Christians whose testimony can be extracted from them,
but it is a painful, and sometimes perilous operation. There are Christians who
cannot help but testify whose words, whose deeds, whose methods, whose manners
tell plainly whose they are and whom they serve. The difference is the
indwelling Spirit. We can hardly discern the light of some who profess and call
themselves Christians. The very shadow of others has healing and blessing in it.

It is the difference between the disciple in the dark at the world’s fire, away
from his Master, disowning and disgracing him, and the Apostle filled with the
Holy Ghost, following in the Master’s footsteps, speaking fearlessly for him,
dying, but not denying. It is the difference between Sinai and Calvary; between
the whip of conscience and the cords of love; between fear and faith; between
reluctance and readiness; between " must I? " and " may I? " The Christian who
claims the promise and realizes the possibility of the Holy Spirit’s abiding
presence, can prove all this to himself and others. What is it but the
fulfillment of Christ’s words:" He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water? " " But this spake he
of the Spirit whom they that believe on him should receive."

Receiving the Spirit, welcoming the Spirit, and then what? Spontaneity! " Rivers
living waters Flowing! " Not wells from which water can be pumped, but springs
that flow by their own force and freedom. Not old accumulated stagnant
experience, but new life, new love, new testimony, " a new song " every day. Not
a Christian who can be goaded into speaking a word for his Lord, but one who
loves to speak who witnesses because he cannot help it who sings, " "Pis joy,
not duty, to speak his beauty; " whose heart keeps overflowing because fed from
an unfailing fountain.

" Shall flow! " Spiritual spontaneity. Its finest issue is the Christian’s
unconscious power his unrealized influence. Nothing in our life is so subtle,
yet so immeasurably potent. It depends utterly on the abiding presence of the
Holy Spirit to direct our unplanned words our tin thought deeds; to develop the
Christ life within us, and to bring out we know not how the likeness of our Lord
in us.

Christian art represents Jesus and the holiest of his followers with a circle of
light about their heads, like the shining of the face of Moses, though he wist
not that it was shining. So about the person, radiating from the life of the
Christian, in whose heart the Spirit abides, there is that unmistakable
atmosphere of light that evident mind of Christ that divine something we call
unconscious Christian influence which undermines the unbeliever’s doubts, which
confirms his half realized convictions. He cannot account for it, except by
acknowledging that this man has been with Jesus.

It is the final test of genuineness the fragrance of the flower the flavor of
the fruit. It is vital, not artificial spiritual, not mechanical. It is the
product of living, the aroma, the aureola that tells that here the Spirit of God
dwells.

Said a famous English courtier, of who was for a time in the home of Fenelon, "
If I stay here longer this man will make a Christian of me in spite of myself."
This is the outflow of spiritual life. This is the fulfilled promise " rivers of
living waters." This is the life that men cannot question the power they cannot
escape the testimony they cannot gainsay. Would you then witness for God even
when you did not know you were seen or heard unconsciously " setting to your
seal that God is true? " Would you so live that men and women, yes, and
children, will find it easier to do right when you are with them and harder to
do wrong when you are with them? Open your heart to the Holy Spirit. Obey the
words, " Be filled with the Spirit." Do you say this is not for me? You are
mistaken. It is not the exalted privilege of the exceptional Christian. It is
the plain duty of the every-day Christian. It is not a question of natural
endowment, but of spiritual enduement; not a question of birth and education,
but of willingness, of plain obedience. "Be filled with the Spirit." Are you
willing to obey, to say, " Holy Spirit come into my heart show me everything
that is wrong, cast out every idol, possess me wholly, teach me, lead me, use
me, as thou wilt? " Are you willing to offer, nay, to urge that prayer till it
is answered and take the consequences?


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  CHAPTER 8: 01.07.     SPIRIT OF SONSHIP (ERDMAN)
========================================================================

VII. THE SPIRIT OF SONSHIP. BY W. J. ERDMAN, ASHEVILLE, N. C. The characteristic
name of the Holy Spirit in three epistles of Paul, is " the Spirit of adoption."
The title of this address is, however, " the Spirit of Sonship," for the word
"adoption" in common use does not express the full truth of the Sonship of
believers in Christ. The word is found only in Romans 8:15, Romans 8:23; Romans
9:4; Galatians 4:5, Ephesians 1:5. It signifies the placing in the state of a
Son, of one already a child in the family; it is a name contrasting the
condition of a child who has attained his majority with that of one who is a
minor. Christians do not enter twice into the family of God, once by being born
again and a second time by adoption understood in its usual sense. " Sonship "
relates not to nature, but to legal standing; it comes not through regeneration,
but through redemption; for it believers in God in olden time and the disciples
of Christ had to wait until the Son of God redeemed them; and then the Spirit of
God was poured out at Pentecost, not to make believers Sons, but because they
had become Sons through redemption; once though children they were minors, now
they became Sons, and received the Spirit of Sonship. In brief, Sonship, though
ever since redemption inseparable from justification, does in the order of
salvation succeed justification. In Romans 5:1 justification precedes the "
grace " of Sonship in Romans 5:2. The " access " or " introduction " is of the
justified into the presence of God as Father; and it is through Christ and by
the Spirit. Compare " access " in Romans 5:2, Ephesians 2:18, Ephesians 3:12.
All this truth is obscured by the inconsistent renderings of the Authorized
Version, which translates in Ephesians 1:5, " adoption of children" and in the
other passages " adoption of sons." " Children " is not the equivalent of " Sons
" in these scriptures. The importance too of this discrimination is to be
magnified because many Christians, by calling themselves only " children of
God," remain ignorant of the distinctive high dignity to which they are called
and in which they now stand as Sons of God. As a proof of these statements, the
following facts may be considered:

I. The gifts and acts of the Holy Spirit were alike in kind before and after the
day of Pentecost. The Spirit was in the world when John the Baptist announced
the future baptism. He himself was full of the Spirit. And of old the Spirit was
the author of all spiritual life and power, Psalms 143:10. and gifts of wisdom
and government, of teaching and preaching; the working of miracles and the
conviction of sinners, Micah 3:8, all betokened the presence of the Spirit in
the old dispensation.

What then was meant by the promise of John and of Jesus?

II. In the heart of the prophetic Scriptures five promises of a future gift of
the Holy Spirit are found, and these are repeated in substance and in literal
phrase by the Lord Jesus.

1 . The Spirit was to be " poured on all flesh," Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:33; 2. To
be "poured on all thirsty," Isaiah 44:3, John 7:37-39; 3. To be " poured from on
high," Isaiah 32:15, Luke 24:49; that "from on high " contained the whole
mystery of a suffering and exalted Messiah, for sin must first be put away,
captivity led captive before the Gift could be bestowed; the Chrism of glory
could come only from the pierced hands of the glorified Christ; the Rock must
first be smitten before the Water could flow; 4. To be " within " believers in a
more permanent and interior dwelling, Ezekiel 36:27, John 14:17, John 23. 5. To
be "forever" with them; Is. 56:21, John 14:16. In these passages the " pouring,"
and " on all flesh," and the " from on high " and other phrases are all in
significant contrast, and mark a difference between the Old and the New
Dispensation. The unfulfilled context of these predictions also prove the
promises themselves await a future and exhaustive fulfilment in the experience
of Israel, whom God has not forever cast away, Romans 11:1-2, Romans 11:12,
Romans 11:15, Romans 11:25-26.

III. But it is as the Spirit of Sonship that the Gift receives the
characteristic name. He was to be given more abundantly, " poured; " but
specifically unto believers as redeemed Sons of God, unto children who had
attained their majority, and as heirs now entitled to receive the inheritance,
and who do now receive the Spirit of Sonship as the first fruits and earnest of
the inheritance of the Son of God.

It is this marvellous dignity of a Sonship in glory like that of our Lord Jesus,
with all its attendant blessings and privileges, service and rewards, sufferings
and glories, that imparts to the Pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit its
peculiar character and distinguishes it from all previous bestowments in the old
dispensation. The minors, i.e., the word " children," in Galatians 4:1-7, are
now of full age; the "born ones," the bairns, words significant of nature, kind,
kin, in the writings of John 1:12-13, John 3:1-3, rather than of dignity and
office, are now Sons of God; the new name "Father," the Son of God, came to
declare, John 17:26, was now made known in inseparable association with the new
name "brethren," John 20:17, and the inspired interval of silence between Psalms
22:21 and the remaining part, in which interval came the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus, is now broken by the rapturous greeting of "the
first-born of many brethren," Romans 8:29. " Go to my brethren and say unto them
I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." John
20:17. Not before redemption had been accomplished and confirmed by resurrection
could Jesus call his disciples " Brethren," and not until the Spirit of Sonship
had been given could they say " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ." The mighty Breath of Pentecost symbolized by the breathing of Jesus
upon his disciples on the evening of his resurrection foretold their service not
as servants merely, but as Sons. The pouring of the One Gift was not only for
acts of service (and acts imply " power ") but also for " renewing," Titus
3:5-6; (the pouring on Paul and Titus was not at Pentecost, yet the same word
poured is used, so pointing back to Pentecost as the time when the Spirit was
given once for all to dwell with the Church); the Spirit was evermore to deepen
and develop their spiritual life and nature as children and Sons, to manifest
the life eternal as light and love, the life of the Father and the Son lived and
developed in this relationship of Sons of God, and also to equip them for
ministry with manifold gifts. To each He was given for life eternal; and all as
one Body, as one Son (Galatians 3:28; " Ye are all one Son in Christ Jesus; "
see Galatians 3:26 also where " children " should be translated Sons), were
baptized by the One Spirit, and so incorporated as " The Christ," 1 Corinthians
12:12-13, " the Son of God, the perfect Man," Ephesians 4:12-13, the Heir,
Galatians 3:16, Galatians 3:19, the Seed, the Isaac, Romans 4:16-25, the risen
from the dead, Romans 1:4, Php 3:11, Luke 20:34-36.

IV. The Spirit as uniting believers with the risen and glorified Son of God
works in these three departments of Christian life and experience; the work of
faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1
Thessalonians 1:3.

" The work of faith " pertains to the realization and experience of salvation
and its fruits in all holy virtues and excellencies, Php 2:12, Php 1:9-11, but
it is wrought out only by faith and the indwelling Spirit of the Son of God, " I
in you," John 17:26,*Galatians 2:20.

’ The labor of love " pertains to all service and toil of ministry to fellow
believers and to the world, but it is done by the indwelling Spirit of him who
is the Vine, and said " I will do it." John 15:7, John 14:13.

" The patience of hope " pertains to all the sufferings, trials and persecutions
endured by believers in patient waiting for the Son of God from heaven, 1
Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 2:12, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10, and the
consummation of Sonship in the redemption of the body, Romans 8:23, Romans 8:19;
but the patience is to become a joy, 1 Peter 5:11, because the sufferings are
really those of the Head through the Body; "Why persecutest thou Me?" Acts
9:4-5.

Jesus is indeed the Word, the Verbum, the Verb of life, service and suffering;
the to Be, to Do, to Suffer and infinite in all.

Too much has "the Church," "the Body of Christ," lost this consciousness of
oneness with the Son of God in glory; too little have Christian life and service
and suffering felt the power and comfort of the mighty, quickening Spirit of
God; may this great truth of what we are as Sons of God once again become a
vivid reality to us and in us, through the indwelling Spirit of Christ.


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  CHAPTER 9: 01.08.     HEAVENLY UNCTION (MUNHALL)
========================================================================

VIII. THE HEAVENLY UNCTION. BY W. B. MUNHAIJ,, D.D. THE word " Unction " occurs
but once in the authorized version, 1 John 2:20. It is from the same Greek word
that is rendered " Anointing " in 1 John 2:20, Chrisma. It does not occur in the
Revised Version, but is rendered anointing uniformly. The word anoint usually
means " To smear." Here, however, "Unction" or "Anointing" means "Rubbing in."
It is the same when Jesus is spoken of as Anointed for his work and ministry. "
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good tidings
to the poor," etc. (Luke 4:18). "For of a truth in this city against thy holy
servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint," etc. (Acts 4:27). " Therefore, God, thy
God, hath anointed thee," etc. (Hebrews 1:9). The word rendered "Anointed" and
"Didst anoint" in those passages is Chrio, which signifies " To rub." It is the
same where Paul said, " Now he that stablisheth us with you in Christ, and
anointed us, is God "(2 Corinthians 1:21).

Jesus said, " When he is come he will guide you into all truth; " and, " Ye
shall receive power (Dunamis) when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; " and, "
But tarry ye in the city until ye be clothed with power (Dunamis) from on high.
On the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit clothed the Disciples with power, and
imparted unto them knowledge, so that they were qualified to proclaim Jesus and
the resurrection with ability and boldness. What they received at that time was
" Rubbed in." To what shall we liken these things by way of contrast? Enduement,
is like unto ripening fruit. Unction, the mellowing process by which the ripe
fruit is made luscious.

Euduement gave them knowledge and courage. Unction, gentleness, patience,
meekness, goodness all the graces of the Spirit, so that, while like their
Master, they spake the word with authority and boldness, they were also like him
in temper and spirit loving, sympathetic and of a very great compassion.

Since Christ received the " Heavenly Unction," and the Disciples were not
qualified for service and testimony until they were likewise furnished, how ever
can we expect to accomplish anything to the glory and praise of him who bought
us, without like furnishing.

Let us see what is the teaching of the Word. First, John 6:63 and John 15:5
teach that man is incapable of doing anything acceptable unto God of himself. "
Nothing " is the word used in both passages to indicate the utter inability of
the natural man to quicken or bear fruit.

Second, Ephesians 2:10 and Php 2:12-13, teach that God has, nevertheless, chosen
man as the Agent through and by whom he accomplishes his purposes in grace. An
evolution is here taught. Also an involution. God works in and then we are to
work out. This is the true evolution. Only God can make something out of
nothing. " But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of
the power may be of God and not of us."

Third. Is this Anointing for Disciples now? is it for us? In Luke 24:49 it is
denominated " The promise of my Father," and the Disciples were commanded to "
Tarry in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high." This promise
was made good to them on the Day of Pentecost, and we all know what marvelous
results followed. But some say that this " Promise of my Father " was only for
that company in that " Jerusalem chamber." But, in Acts 10:45-46 and Acts 11:15
we learn that eight years later it was made good to the infant Gentile Church in
Csesarea, in the house of Cornelius, and was attended with similar signs and
wonders. The same was also true in the experience of the infant Church of
Ephesus twenty-two years later, as seen in Acts 19:6. In John 7:38-39 we find
that Jesus said, " In the last day, that great day of the feast," " He that
believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water, but this spake he of the Spirit whom they that believed on him
should receive." "He that believeth on me." As certainly for one Disciple as
another. " But this spake he of the Spirit whom they that believed on him should
receive." As truly for us as for the Disciples in Jerusalem, Csesarea and
Ephesus. If they who waited upon his ministry and were personally associated
with him in his work, and witnessed his " many mighty works," were not qualified
for the service and work to which they were sent, until they received the "
Heavenly Unction; " aye, if he himself must needs be anointed to his ministry,
how ever can we, who at the best are " nothiug," hope to accomplish anything in
his service without like enduenient? Unless this "Promise of my Father" is also
for us, we go to war at our own charges, and our efforts are but the energy of
the flesh. But the " Promise of my Father," in part fulfilled on the Day of
Pentecost, is found in Joel 2:28-29. Peter quoted it to those who mocked, and
declared that the signs and wonders they saw were in fulfillment of this
Scripture. That promise was only fulfilled in part ON the Day of Pentecost. It
reaches on to the times of this dispensation, as the context clearly shows. But
it is to be noticed that the Spirit is to be poured out "upon all flesh." That
"sons and daughters," " old men " and " young men," " servants and . . .
handmaids" are the subjects of his enduement. Surely, therefore, this Unction is
for all. " For we are God’s fellow-workers."

Fourth. How may we, the Disciples of Jesus, receive the Anointing? In 2 Kings
2:1-15, we have the story of the translation of Elijah and the spiritual
anointing of Elisha. It will serve to illustrate the lesson of this hour to us.
Elijah was a type of Christ. Elisha in many ways typified Disciples. Elijah was
about to be translated. Elisha knew it. He had a definite desire. Before it
could be realized he must be tested. If we have a definite desire for the
anointing, that is surely promised us, and without which we can do nothing, we
shall first be tested. Christ met us at Gilgal and justified us from our sins,
rolled away our reproach. This is what he did at the other Gilgal for poor
Israel. Gilgal means circle. Many converted ones are lodged at Gilgal, and we
can all stay there if we so elect. Their thoughts and testimony all circle
around the hour and fact of their conversion to God. They make no progress in
spiritual things, and, of course, never touch the secret of God’s power with
men. If we elect to tarry at Gilgal we are at liberty to do so. But I trust
that, like Elisha, we will press onward. And so we come to Bethel. Bethel means
" House of God." Jacob fleeing from his wronged brother’s presence stopped here
for a night, and God opened heaven to him in a vision. There are many Disciples
resting and dreaming at Bethel. They say, " Are you not saved? Have you not
mansions in heaven awaiting you?

O Come, let us Sit, and sing ourselves away To everlasting bliss.’ " In
testimony meetings they tell of their conversion and then grow eloquent in their
descriptions of the heavenly mansions. We may stop here if we so elect, and
engage in like contemplation. Let us press on down to Jericho. Jericho was the
City of " Palm Trees." It lay in the low, hot, dusty plain of the Jordan, about
850 feet below the level of the sea. The umbrageous palm invited the hot, weary,
foot-worn traveler to rest. Why not tarry here? Many have yielded. They are they
who spend their time time chiefly in telling of their attainments, how they have
the " rest of faith " have no fret or worry, but undisturbed repose, and appear
to have little or no concern for the multitudes who are hurrying down to death.
They will leave a soul-saving work for a testimony meeting, where they talk of
their attainments, and give vent to their censoriousness by criticising those
who are not willing to loiter with them under the Palms, and who will not
pronounce their shibboleth. Such are not truly sanctified. In order that we may
be sanctified, truly and personally, it is necessary to get beyond Jordan. So
with God’s help we press onward to the dark river. Jordan means death and
judgment. Jesus "died for our sins," he was judged for us " He suffered for
sins, the just, for the unjust." The dark surging billows rolled over him. Will
we pass beyond? We are to reckon ourselves " to be dead indeed unto sin "
(Romans 6:11). We are to believe on him. " For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10:4), that judgment may be
passed by us. And so we take our place, separated from all entangling alliances,
unto God, and then we are in a position to ask for the fulfilment of the "
Promise of my Father." Oh, that, as thus separated, we may " ask without
wavering! "

Elisha saw Elijah caught up into heaven. The Disciples saw Jesus taken up into
Heaven. We are to look in the same direction. It is the living Christ that has
power and authority. What is the matter with the Roman Catholic Church? She has
a dead Christ, and consequently is in much darkness and superstition. Every
cross and wayside shrine; every horrible pieta; every painting of Christ, of any
note, almost, in Catholic countries; every sign of the cross these all tell of a
dead Christ. The darkest picture this world ever looked upon was Golgotha’s
tragic cross. The heavens robed themselves in midnight mourning and bowed
themselves to the earth and wept. The rocks, in their dumb grief, burst in
sunder because their Creator was put to death by the cruel hands of those whom
he came to save and bless. If there were nothing more than this, if the seal
that was placed upon the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea had remained unbroken we
would be without hope death would be to us an unbroken sleep. The cross,
self-considered, possesses no potentiality whatever to save and deliver for " If
Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; ... ye are yet in your sins. Then
they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished " (1 Corinthians 15:14-18).
But when we view this darkest picture in the glowing background splendors of his
resurrection from the dead, it glows with life, light and beauty. Paul said, "It
pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
to reveal his Son in me "(Galatians 1:15-16). The Anointing of the Holy One, is
the revelation of the living Christ in the heart and life of the believer by the
Holy Spirit. When a Disciple yields himself utterly to God separates himself
wholly from the world, so that he can truthfully say, " The world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world," and thus takes his true place, according to the
standing God gives him in Christ Jesus; and, then with unquestioning faith looks
away to the living, mediating Christ, and asks the Father, in Jesus’ name, to
make good his promise, it will most surely be granted.

We all rejoice in the tens of thousands of Church organizations in the world;
for their educated and eloquent Pastors; for their millions of members, with
their culture, social influence and vast wealth; for the vast machinery of these
Churches their multiplied and ever-increasing agencies and ministries of good;
and all their great power. But, all of these and this cannot convict or convert
a single sinner. God has written all over everything that is possible to human
strength the word Nothing. All these agencies can be used of God to the
accomplishing of his purposes of grace, but he alone can give life and power and
blessing. Let us be careful that we don’t have " Confidence in the flesh "
making the agencies, means and that which otherwise is possible to us, humanly
speaking, the end, rather than which God has ordained to an end; and anointed by
him, and having all confidence in him, we can go forward from " Conquering and
to conquer " one chasing " A thousand and two putting ten thousand to flight; "
" Mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: 01.09.     GRIEVING TEMPTING RESISTING SPIRIT (MORROW)
========================================================================

IX. GRIEVING, TEMPTING, RESISTING THE SPIRIT. BY JAMES MORROW, D.D. Secretary of
Pennsylvania Bible Society. BY this theme we are brought into practical aspects
of the Christian life. Elsewhere we have been taught what the Holy Spirit does
to us; here we consider what we may do to him. The terms " Grieving, Tempting,
Resisting," although not synonymous, mutually involve or touch each other. Nice
distinctions are not here attempted.

Let it be noted thoughtfully that the Holy Spirit may be grieved, tempted,
resisted. This proves at once his personality and his capability of grief, with
our capacity for grieving him.

If this were not a Bible commonplace " familiar in our mouths as household words
" it would startle us to-day as a very remarkable utterance. To find out the
full wealth of this familiar teaching we must restore it to its original lustre.
As scholars, with the feather of their pen, brush away the dust from long buried
monuments, let us sweep away the dust from our old, perhaps dead beliefs on this
subject. That the Holy Spirit may be grieved, tempted, resisted by us is a
remarkable truth, because it is so unlike the ordinary opinion of men regarding
him. If they think of him at all, it is of One apart from the world in which
they dwell and remote from the world within their own thinking minds or
throbbing hearts. Yet he works on the souls of men all men by a most potent
influence. They may not be conscious ol his action, nor distinguish clearly his
enlightenment warning or judging, approving or condemning from the voice of
conscience or the judgment of pure reason. Yet he occupies his place within "
Man soul," and performs his peculiar work. There is a parallelism to this in the
natural world. We know electricity rather from its effects than from its nature.
The ebb and flow of tides reveal the influence of the moon without telling us
the " why " and " wherefore " of its law. So is it in the world of mind and the
action of the Holy Spirit. We know the result called salvation, and trace it
truthfully to the energizing cause, when we ascribe it to the Holy Spirit.

Doubtless in this great work there is concurrent action between the soul of man
and the Spirit of God. He strove with the man, and the man yielded. He convinced
the sinner of his guilt, and the penitent one from ruin’s brink cried, " Lord
Jesus, save." He took of the things of Christ, and showed them to the soul ready
to die as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and when the trusting
heart appropriated the infinite merits of the Lord Jesus it was the Holy Spirit
that hastened with the assurance of pardon and inspired the rejoicing believer
to sing My God is reconciled, His pardoning voice I hear, He owns we for his
child, I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh, And Father, Abba
Father, cry.

It is needful to remember, in proclaiming the necessity of the Spirit’s work,
the related truth of the dependence and activity of the soul of man. As in the
days when the Lord Jesus spake to the fishermen of Galilee and said, " Follow me
" and they left all and followed him; so now, when the Spirit of Jesus says "
Come," the docile believer gladly obeys. In the Kingdom of grace under which we
live the Holy Spirit is the Administrator of Redemption. In his administration
he uses the Scriptures. Inspired by himself he employs these, both for the
conviction of the sinner and the sanctification of the saint. The Scriptures are
truth. As such it might be supposed that they would win the approval and
accomplish the salvation of man as other truth makes its way into human minds;
changing beliefs, forming opinions, creating convictions or widening the mental
horizon. But this is not the case.

Teachers of mathematics rely solely and properly on the adaptation of their
truth to the minds of the students and depend upon the unaided powers of the
mind to accept and act upon such truth. They are right, and they have their
reward. But teachers of Christianity encounter difficulties and obstacles in
human nature utterly unknown to teachers of other truth. Not merely ignorance,
but pride, self-righteousness, prejudice, unconcern, and even hatred of the
truth meet the preacher of the gospel at the threshold of every human heart.
Although he knows that the truth, as it is in Jesus, is certain as that of the
multiplication table, and that it is adapted to the universal needs of humanity,
as the key is fitted to the lock, still his only hope of success is in the Holy
Spirit. For he alone can snap the withes of pride, prejudice and hatred, which
mathematical truth does not encounter. He creates the hunger and then supplies
the food. He brings the news of salvation in the words of Scripture to the mind,
and also operates upon and within the mind. He takes the Bible truth, and with
that conveys the grace necessary to its reception. When men are not obedient to
their heavenly calling the Spirit is grieved, tempted or resisted. He is grieved
when they resist his pleadings. He would flood their souls with ineffable light,
but they love darkness rather than light. He would fire their hearts with a
divine enthusiasm, but they quench that heavenly flame. Then their perceptions
of truth and duty become blunted and their affections, towards God and man,
benumbed.

Thus to resist God, reveals a tremendous force in human nature. But
responsibility hinges here and the dread fact must be stated. The Holy Spirit is
sovereign and free in his gracious influences and we are free to follow or to
fail, to yield or to resist, to hearken or to harden, to fan the flame of
gracious desire or to quench the fire of holy love. When we are asked how men
may grieve or tempt or resist the Spirit, the answer is clear and Biblical.

I. BY DENYING HIS PERSONALITY AND DISHONORING HIS OFFICES.

We ought, as a convention and as churches, to be jealous for the Personality and
Divinity of the Holy Ghost. The doubters and deniers are outspoken and blatant.
While we are meeting in Baltimore the Unitarians are assembled in Philadelphia.
Listening to them concerning Jesus, we can but wail out, with Mary of Magdala, "
They have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him." While we
proclaim the Personality and Divinity of the Spirit they seem to be in the state
of those who said, " We have not so much as heard if there be any Holy Ghost."
Doubt is in the air and gathering like a thunder cloud it makes itself heard.
When unbelief conspires men of faith tnust combine. Let us send forth from this
Convention a trumpet blast, loud and clear, on this cardinal doctrine of our
holy religion and of the word of God.*

* It was in answer to this appeal that the resolution was passed at the closing
session of the Convention. Many disciples simultaneously felt the point and
propriety of such witness bearing. May he who is thus honored accept the devout
tribute to his Person and his Work. The Scriptures proclaim and we, believe,
that the Holy Spirit is not the mere personification of a divine attribute, but
the Third Person of the ever blessed Trinity. To deny that is to grieve him. As
the Administrator of redemption he takes the place that the Lord Jesus himself
occupied during his earthly life. The departure of the Christ was the condition
of the Spirit’s advent. Jesus said, " I will pray the Father and he shall give
you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever," (John 14:16).
"Comforter" parakaletos, i.e., one called to the side of another, a helper, as
an attorney to his client. Jesus, the first Comforter, is thus succeeded by the
Holy Spirit. What Jesus was to those who followed him over the acres "of
Immanuel’s Land," the Holy Spirit is to all those who should hereafter believe
on his name. Did Jesus convince men of sin? So does now the Holy Spirit. To deny
that is to resist him. Did Jesus guide men in their quest of truth? So does the
Holy Spirit, all who in later days search for it as for hid treasure. There is
no tablet like a loving memory and no chronicler like the Holy Ghost. He brought
all things to the recollection of the first disciples and he is with the
followers of Jesus still. To deny that is to grieve him. Did Jesus say to a poor
sufferer, whose name we shall never know, " Son, thy sins be forgiven thee? " So
does the Holy Spirit now to those who conscious of their need take Jesus as
their Saviour. To deny that is to tempt him.

Further, let us not forget that Jesus said that the other Comforter was to abide
with us forever. He has not been withdrawn from his church. We need not pray for
his coming as if he had departed. Let us rather ask for manifestations of his
presence and power, believing that he is near and able and willing to fulfil his
promise to fill us and seal us and guide us into all truth.

Closer still to the heart of Scripture on this great theme, let us examine
Ephesians 4:25-30, for an epitome of sins in the practical life, and where we
have the key-note of this address. Please turn to your Bibles and read and long
after these days of holy convocation are over, read the words again. They are
the Holy Ghost’s. " Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let not
the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devil. Let him that
stole steal no more:but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing
which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of
edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

Look at these sins one by one:

1. Falsehood. To speak the truth is due to all men, as well as to God, but here
it is urged as necessary to the perfect brotherhood within the circle of the
church. Wilful misstatements, polite lies, half truths, which are ever the
blackest of lies all these are breaches upon mutual confidence among believers.
They are more; they grieve the Holy Spirit of God. All paltering with truth in a
double sense", that keeps the word of promise to the ear, but breaks it to the
hope, is an offence in Heaven.

2. Wrath. The text quoted shows us that there is a possible anger without sin.
The flashing out of the pure and liberty-loving soul against cruelty, lies and
foulness, is just and right and Christian. Such resentment against evil is
needful in our resistance of it. But anger to be righteous must be brief. As the
corruption of the best is the worst, so justifiable indignation, when brooded
over or " nursed to be kept warm," becomes an injury to the soul. It acts like
acid on steel it stains the white radiance, it mars the placid surface. Then the
Spirit is grieved, for such a one gives place to the devil, who finds an
opportunity when and where we least expect him as Bunyan, in the allegory, tells
of a by-path to hell hard by the gate of heaven.

3. Stealing. This warning against a crime seems out of place in an address to
believers. Perhaps it is spoken of, that its counterpart in self-sacrifice might
be enforced. Stealing is not here shown to be a wrong committed against society
that goes without saying but because it is opposed to the proper treatment of
our brothers in Christ. It saps the foundations of the perfeet home life whether
it be the robbing of property or the filching of reputation. Beware of the
latter in the church of God. It grieves the Spirit for it wrongs and injures
those for whom Christ died.

3. lt Corrupt speech" (Revised Version). The word sapros translated corrupt
means rotten. This is the only place in the New Testament where it is used
metaphorically. In Ephesians 5:4 it is described at length as " Filthiness " or
the talking without necessity of foul and evil things. In studying medicine or
even literature professionally, one must learn everything about everything,
however malodorous. But to speak of such things unnecessarily, " Dabbling a
shameless hand with shameful jest," shows the prurient taste and grieves the
pure and Holy Spirit.

" Foolish talking," the talking of fools, i.e., the wicked. This is the Bible
meaning of the word and must not be understood as referring to the babbling of
imbeciles or idiots. It is God who describes the man as a fool, who says in his
heart, " There is no God." We are to avoid the speech of those who, in the name
of science falsely so called, would banish God from the universe he has made as
well as the speech of those who in profanity or oath, take the name of God in
vain. All such speech is corrupt and grieves the Holy Spirit.

" Jesting." Perhaps this is the form of corrupt speech to which many amongst
ourselves are most prone. It may be the polished wit, neither gross nor vulgar,
which spares nothing, however sacred, that may raise the vacant laugh. It seizes
upon Holy Scripture as fitting game for ribaldry or pun. It is not guilty
perhaps of the double entendre that pales the cheek of an innocent girl, and it
abjures the coarse, simply because it lacks elegance. But nevertheless it cuts
deep into the purity and peace of the soul and it makes impossible all profit
from Scriptures that have been travestied. Never jest with the Bible or the
spiritual meaning will be lost to you forever.

" Don’t quote the Bible to me," said a dying man recently. " I have linked every
part of it with a jest and that I cannot forget."

. Oh, the sins of speech of which we have been guilty! The desire to shine in
conversation, to be entertaining to friends, to avoid the dullness seen in
others, these have hurried, even good men, into ignoble levity or impiety. Let
us here to-day, brethren, vow not to do it and not to listen to it.

Palsy hurts ourselves, and diphtheria is dangerous to the community, but impure
speech injures alike speaker and hearer. For such conduct and for the habits of
mind from which it springs we are responsible. Levity over sacred things grows
on what it feeds, and grieves the Spirit of God. Cavilling at Bible teaching,
through intellectual pride, engenders self-will and prevents the progress won
only by devout docility, and thus the Spirit of God is resisted. Then this light
grows dim and the altar fires burn low. Can we know within ourselves when the
Spirit is grieved? Certainly. The signs of the backslider appear and " the
consolations of God are small."

Prayer becomes Formed. Private devotions are feeble; family worship is cold or
altogether disused. Look at the heap of ashes, white and dead, on the hearth of
many Christian homes. They are the burnt-out relics of a once living altar fire,
and tell their sad story of the decay of faith. The heathen priest defended his
having an idol in his house, as well as in the temple, because he lived there
chiefly and needed the presence of the protector. So do we, and we may know the
Spirit is tempted when we rely on occasional services in the sanctuary and
disregard the quiet hours of devotion at home. The Bible is Neglected. The Holy
Spirit inspired the book, and he that allows it to become dust -covered on a
remote shelf has the evidence in himself of the Spirit’s grief and of his own
deterioration. For t this grief it must be remembered does not arise so much
from the offence against himself as from the wrong and injury to ourselves. It
mars his plan for our sanctification. As the loving wife or mother grieves over
the moral decline of son or husband through strong drink, the sin of youth, or
avarice, the sin of age, so the Holy Spirit mourns over man’s loss of purity and
power. The fine promise of spring is unfulfilled in autumn. Profession ends in
failure. Slowly but surely the blight falls.

It is the little rift within the lute That by and by will make the music mute;
Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit That, rotting inward, slowly moulders
all. The fish in the Mammoth Cave are a sad sight eyeless, for they are in a
world of darkness but immeasurably sadder are human souls that are blind in a
world of light self-blinded, for they have quenched the fire and the light of
life within their own immortal natures by neglect of duties, or through
worldliness and God-forgetfulness.

There is an evident evil among believers that must grieve the Spirit, even
although they may desire to honor him, in limiting his operations to one course
or method. Many of God’s children, like Col. Gardiner, can tell the day and
hour, the place and circumstances when they were born of God. They sing of the
happy day when Jesus washed their sins away with a most definite memory of the
inquiry-room where they sat, or of the altar at which they knelt, when " being
justified by faith they had peace with God." Others, like the sainted Baxter,
had no such experience. Gently as the sunlight breaks upon a sleeping world came
the sweet influences of grace upon their youthful hearts. They know they love
the Lord, but they do not remember when or where they entered into the kingdom.
Let both classes beware. " The Spirit is not straitened " (Micah 2:7). To chalk
off a definite line for the Spirit’s manifold operations on the diversified
character and conditions of men is a pernicious intruding of man within the
realm of God. It has also the effect, when believed, of producing despondency in
some minds and of creating a lack of charity in others. The very diversity of
operation shows the divinity. As we discover in nature an exuberant fulness and
variety, and see in this the inexhaustible wealth of resources used by our
Heavenly Father in Creation and Providence, so in the copiousness of grace, in
the absence of restriction to one mode of operation, we discover the same divine
richness an opulent abundance of treasury equalled by an infinite variety of
mode. Let, then, our Colonel Gardiners, " stopped in a moment in their mad
career," respect the Richard Baxters who, in another way, came to the Saviour,
and let not the Baxters reason from the way in which they were saved that that
is the only way; and by criticism or assertion attempt to decry the Spirit’s
work in the sudden and startling conversion of men like Gardiner.

Two more evils appear in our modern Church life. One is in the hot-house culture
of revived monasticism, where the highest perfection is supposed to be secured
by Asceticism. The Church of Rome in teaching what she calls the Saviour’s "
Counsels of Perfection," claims that these chastity, poverty and obedience are
only intended for a few favorites of Heaven. The application of the term "a
religious" to monk or nun, interdicts the great mass of her followers from the
hope of Christian perfection, lowers motherhood and fatherhood, and makes the
religion of common things less attractive or possible. This evil is nearer home
than Rome. Let us watch most prayerfully and carefully the " Deaconness " and
kindred movements in our common Protestantism, lest they leave the Scriptural
foundation on which they rest and glide downward to monasticism.

" We need not bid for cloistered cell Our neighbor and our work farewell, Or try
to wind ourselves too high For sinful man beneath the sky.

4. The simple round, the common task, Will furnish all we ought to ask, Room to
deny ourselves a road To bring us daily nearer God."

Live amidst suffering men and spend your strength in helpful work. If men and
women will thus learn to do the common things of life in a religious spirit if
they will open their eyes and recognize God’s nearness to them and his help in
the household duty, the office care or factory toil, they will cease grieving
the Holy Spirit. My final word is upon grieving the Spirit in our failure of
duty to our brother-man. We have often heard that " Man’s inhumanity to man
makes countless myriads mourn." It does more. It grieves the Holy Spirit. We who
love the Lord are in the world for his sake, that we may witness for him; for
our own sake, that we may grow in grace and be disciplined through suffering and
work; but we are also here/or our brother’s sake. No man, out of Christ, knows
his own nature or his own worth. He does not know his danger. How then is this
wide fringe of immortal men lying around the Churches to be reached and rescued?
Not by pastors only, but by every believer becoming a missionary. When we
realize that the Holy Spirit has burnt into our heart of hearts the conviction
that we are in the world for the world’s sake, and, taking up the cross, speak
to those we know or meet on the claims of Christ, on their relation to Eternity,
on their own worth, estimated by the death of Jesus on the cross; then
multitudes will be converted to God. " I will pour water upon him that is
thirsty " that is, the believer, conscious of his need, and knowing the source
of supply; " And floods upon the dry ground " that is, the mass of thoughtless
and prayerless men reached when the Church is revived. Have you received a
refreshing draught of the water of life? Then speak to others of Christ and the
great salvation, and the energizing Spirit will accompany the word spoken in
love. If men do not know their own worth we need not wonder that the world puts
a low estimate upon the .poor man. " What is he worth? " means money, not mental
capacity or spiritual possibility. "What does he know," intellectual
acquirement, not gifts of grace or soul -furnishing. Here the Church is being
dominated by the world. Pray that our eyes may be opened to see the possible
angel concealed in the sinner, as Augelo saw his great statue within the block
of marble. Having faith in the Holy Ghost, let us have faith in man. We can look
upon the most depraved without despair, for they have a Saviour, and can be
renewed by the Holy Spirit. As the father saved his money, about to be thrown in
the fire by his thoughtless child, who knew not its value, let us rescue the
perishing. "It is not the will of our Father in heaven that one of these little
ones should perish." His providence will give an opportunity and his Spirit a
blessing. As but a moment ago the lighted gas burnt low, and this beautiful
church, where once my rarely gifted friend, Thomas Guard preached the words of
life, seemed gloomy and dull, and you could not read the Holy Book, but at the
touch of an unseen janitor’s hand, bright jets of flame flashed forth, and we
now can see the glory of the fretted roof and the storied windows, or note the
thoughtful faces of the devout worshippers. So may it be with ourselves and with
our churches! We do not pray for more machinery, as this sacred place did not,
an hour ago, need more gas fixtures. We have enough of church machinery. We pray
for more power. Come, Holy Spirit, come! Clothe thy ministers with
righteousness. Breathe into every heart thine own divine afflatus. Fill every
service and agency with thy supreme and qualifying energy. Let an unction of the
Holy One rest upon the people and the grieving, resisting and tempting of the
Spirit of God shall cease.


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  CHAPTER 11: 01.10.     SPIRIT FOR WORSHIP AND WITNESSING (STEARNS)
========================================================================

X. THE SPIRIT FOR WORSHIP AND WITNESSING. BY D. M. STEARNS, SCRANTON, PA. AS we
consider the lack of real spiritual worship of God on the part of such
multitudes of his professed people, and the " no worship at all " of the greater
multitudes outside the church, the true worshipper is led to ask:" Will the time
ever come when in all the world God shall be worshipped in spirit and in truth?
" Assurance of success is to many a great inspiration, and if we can become
fully persuaded that this time shall surely come, and that we shall see it, it
may nerve us to seek more whole-heartedly for ourselves and others to be filled
with the Spirit, that in this present time we may earnestly contend for true
spiritual worship and testimony, standing resolutely apart from all dead forms
and ceremonies^ while we wait for, and seek to hasten, the dawn of a better
dispensation than that in which we now live. If Abraham was enabled to wait more
patiently by looking for the city which hath foundations; if Moses was enabled
to turn away from all the attractions of Egypt’s glory by getting his eyes and
heart fixed on the recompense of the reward; if our Lord Jesus himself, " for
the joy that was set before him, endured the cross;" we have the best of
precedents to encourage ourselves by contemplating the grand consummation which
is sure to come. Let us listen then for a few moments to the Spirit’s own
testimony as to what he will yet accomplish on our earth. "All the ends of the
world shall remember, and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship- before thee: for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and he is the
governor among the nations." "All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing
unto thee; they shall sing to thy name." " Yea, all kings shall fall down before
him; all nations shall serve him." "All nations whom thou hast made shall come
and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name." "And it shall come
to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another,
shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." "And it shall come
to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against
Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of
Hosts, and to keep the feast of Tabernacles." " Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy Name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and
worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest " (Psalms 22:27-28;
Psalms 66:4; Psalms 72:11; Psalms 86:9; Isaiah 66:23; Zechariah 14:16;
Revelation 15:4). If the question be asked "When shall these things be?" the
Spirit, through Joel, plainly says that it will be after Jehovah has returned to
dwell in the midst of Israel, that they may never again be ashamed, then will he
pour out his Spirit upon all flesh; and that which had a germinant fulfilment at
Pentecost shall have a complete and worldwide fulfilment when the kingdom shall
be the Lord’s. If it be asked "Who shall live when God doeth this?" the answer
is " You who now hear these words if by faith in Christ Jesus and in the power
of the Spirit you are a true worshipper of the Father."

It will help us in our worship now if we can form some idea of what worship will
be in those days, and it we can get some light upon what true worship really is.
Listen then to Seraphim and Cherubim, types of the most exalted portion of our
redeemed humanity, the Church, the Body of Christ. " I saw the Lord sitting upon
a Throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the Temple. Above it stood
the Seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with
twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another
and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his
Glory." "And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him, and
they were full of eyes within:and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy,
Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is, and is to come. And when those
living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne,
who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him
that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast
their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power:for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created." (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4:8-11.) In these visions
of Isaiah and John we see and hear true worship. The object of worship is a
person, not a principle, or a creed, or a sect; not even an angel or an
archangel; but the Lord himself whom alone they exalt. The ground of worship is,
" Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; and hast made us unto our God Kings
and Priests." The consummation is, "And we shall reign on the earth." The Power
is seen in the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the
seven Spirits of God, or the Spirit in his sevenfold fulness. (Revelation
5:9-10; Revelation 4:5.) As to the worshippers, they do not boast of what they
are, but cover their faces (indicating their characters) with their wings; they
do not boast of what they have done, their Christian conduct or walk (indicated
by the feet) but cover their feet also with their wings; and with one accord
they vie with each other, as they cast their crowns before him, in extolling the
Lord of Hosts, the Lord God Almighty, whose glory is the fulness of the whole
earth.

Let us now descend from these glorious heights, this far-reaching mount of
Transfiguration, and consider how we may worship and witness while we contend
with the world, the flesh and the devil. Let us listen to the weary, lonely man,
the God-man, God manifest in the flesh, the revealer of the Father, as he sits
on Jacob’s well and talks with the woman of Samaria. She being convinced of sin
by the Spirit in him, seeks to evade the issue by bringing up the question of
the place of worship; as if to-day one should say, well, it may be all true, but
I do not believe as you do, I am a Catholic, or I am a Methodist, or a Baptist,
or a Presbyterian, or an Episcopalian, you worship in your way and I’ll worship
in mine. Jesus replied that place or externals was nothing, but the heart
everything; for the Father seeketh true worshippers, who shall worship in Spirit
and in Truth. The woman had spoken of " Jacob our father " and of " our
fathers," but Jesus speaks of " The Fattier" who alone is to be worshipped.
While God is spoken of as " Father," a few times in the Old Testament, as in
Psalms 89:26; Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8, it remained for Jesus to reveal him as
such, that as such we might worship him. It is the name by which we were first
taught to address him, but how little we know of the fulness of the meaning of
this beautiful name, and therefore how poor our worship. It is the name found in
the first and last recorded utterances of Jesus, " Wist ye not that I must be
about my Father’s business?" " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit "
(Luke 2:49; Luke 23:46); and it is the name first on his lips after his
resurrection, when he says to Mary " Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to
my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father,
and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17.) In his discourse
and prayer on the night of his betrayal and arrest he uses the name about fifty
times, saying among other things " He that hath seen me hath seen the Father I
am in the Father and the Father in me at that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father, and ye in me, and I in you." If we more fully realized our relationship
to God as his children by faith in Christ Jesus, and his relationship to us as
our Father who art in Heaven, then would our worship, both in public and
private, be more real and more acceptable to him. This can be brought about only
by the Holy Spirit. " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God ... ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father." (Romans 8:14-15.) In over fifty of the 170 places where the Hebrew word
for " worship " is found in the Old Testament, it is translated as " bow self
down," and in this we have the whole hindrance to salvation, or life and
service, or true worship. In the matter of the salvation of a sinner what is so
great a hindrance as the mind of the flesh which is enmity against God; is not
subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, can be: but takes pride in its own
fancied righteousness, all of which is in God’s sight only as filthy rags
(Romans 8:7; Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6). When the sinner has been enabled by the
enlightening Spirit to see his filthiness and to renounce it, accepting in its
place the spotless robe of the righteousness of God in Christ, what hinders the
abundant life and service which every Christian ought to manifest, so much as
this same self or flesh which remaining in the believer seeks to be pitied and
pampered: and the believer instead of denying self, and mortifying the deeds of
the body, putting off the old man, is, alas, too oft inclined to pity self
(Matthew 16:22 marg.) instead of reckoning it dead (Romans 6:11; Romans 8:13;
Matthew 16:24; 2 Corinthians 4:11). Then as to worship, the difficulty is,
confidence in the flesh, which is directly opposed to worshipping God in the
Spirit and rejoicing in Christ Jesus (Php 3:3). They that are in the flesh
cannot please God. No flesh shall glory in his presence. He that glorieth must
glory in the Lord (Romans 8:8; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31).

We have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ that we may yield
ourselves fully unto him for his service, that by true worship and faithful
testimony we may glorify God and win people to him as he has revealed himself in
Jesus Christ. This we cannot do; we are not sufficient for these things, but our
sufficiency is of God who gives unto us the Holy Spirit to this end. He says, "
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth
in you?" " What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own; for ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God’s? " " Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be
my people" (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). Then
he adds, " Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the
Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you, and will be a Father
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." This
is the only place in the New Testament outside the book of Revelation where we
find the name " Almighty; " and its use here is most interesting and
instructive, and right in the line of our subject. The name " Almighty "
signifies literally " the breasted one " (Shaddai); and reveals God to us as the
all-sufficient pourer forth of all temporal and spiritual blessings. It is first
found in Genesis 17:1, after a blank in Abram’s history of thirteen years
because of his reliance on the flesh instead of on the all-sufficient Jehovah.
Then Jehovah comes to him saying, " I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and
be thou perfect (or upright, or sincere)." Then is his name changed from Abram
(exalted father) to Abraham (father of a multitude). The middle letter of
Elohim, and the principal letter of Jehovah, God’s great name, is inserted in
Abram’s name, as if to indicate that God in him would now cause him to be
fruitful. Of the less than sixty times that the name " Almighty " is found in
the whole Bible, it is found more than half the number (31 times) in the book of
Job; where we have the history of a servant of God, thoroughly emptied of
himself; and thus ceasing to think anything of himself, and leaning on the
sufficiency of the Almighty pourer forth, everything is literally doubled to
him. Oh, how fruitful our worship and testimony would be, and how glorifying to
God, if we would only separate ourselves from all filthiuess of the flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1); and thus
allowing our Almighty Father to prove himself our sufficiency, how gloriously he
would show to the world that such Christians are indeed his sons and daughters;
and how he would delight to show forth his power in them and on their behalf.

We must remember that there can be no acceptable worship or testimony apart from
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, or the sacrifices which, before he came,
pointed forward to his; for " without shedding of blood is no remission "
(Hebrews 9:22), and the unsaved cannot worship God. In the offerings of Cain and
Abel there was a foreshadowing of all future worshippers and their methods.
Those who do not see their guilt and their need of a substitute come as Cain
came, bringing the best they have, well satisfied with themselves; but there is
no worship, for there is no atonement, and their offerings, however beautiful,
are not accepted by God. Those who like Abel see their guilt, and come in humble
reliance upon the Lamb slain for them, rejoicing in the blood that’ was shed for
their sins, as they sing, "Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to thy cross I
cling."

These are acceptable worshippers. In our public worship our services consist of
Praise, Prayer, Preaching and an Offering, and the Spirit has not left us
without guidance in reference to each part. " I will pray with the Spirit, and I
will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit and I will
sing with the understanding also. ... I had rather speak five words with my
understanding, that I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an
unknown tongue." " They read in the book, in the law of God distinctly, and gave
the sense, and caused them to understand the reading" (1 Corinthians 14:15, 1
Corinthians 14:19; Nehemiah 8:8). Here are the Spirit’s own directions for the
worship of God, and if we are to worship in Spirit it must be in submission to
the Spirit’s guidance. All must be done that all may be benefited and all take
part in the worship. We will suppose that those who lead the praise of the
congregation are Christian men and women, for otherwise they have no right to
any such place, inasmuch as the unsaved cannot worship:" They that are in the
flesh cannot please God " (Romans 8:8) now if they sing that which the
congregation cannot take part in, where is the worship on the part of the
congregation? Then when the minister prays, if the congregation do not in their
hearts endorse every petition, where is the prayer on their part? And as to the
preaching, if it is not simple enough for the most unlearned to receive, where
is the benefit? When we sing let us sing only what we mean with our whole
hearts, for is it not as sinful to sing a lie as to tell a lie? When we pray let
us ask for what we really want for God’s glory, and expect to receive it. And
when we speak let us hear the word at God’s mouth and give them warning from
him; or when we hear let us desire to hear only what God has to say to us and
not the opinions of men. As to the offering, which is as much a part of the
worship as the prayer or praise or preaching, here is the Spirit’s guidance. "
Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not
grudgingly or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.’ " Of every man
that giveth it willingly with his heart shall ye take my offering " (2
Corinthians 9:7; Exodus 25:2). Let me think of myself as an individual
worshipper, whether in pulpit or pew, what is my aim, what my motive? The only
proper aim is to glorify God, to exalt him, to make him known; the motive, the
love of Christ constraining; the motto, "Unto him who loved me and washed me
from my sins in his own blood " (Revelation 1:5); the power, his Spirit who
dwelleth in me. I go to the house of God, persistently shutting out the world
and worldly things, that I may praise him, talk with him, hear him talk to me,
and thus commune with him. Is it time to sing? then I am to sing with my whole
heart unto the Lord. Is it time to pray? then I am to make my soul’s desire
known to him with thanksgiving. Is it time to speak or hear? then I am to speak
his word, or watch to see what he (not the speaker) will say unto me or in me.
Is it time for the offering? then I am to give unto him with a willing and
grateful heart, such an offering as I would not be ashamed to place in his own
hand; he knowing what he has given to me, how much I am reserving for myself,
and how much* I ought cheerfully to give unto him. In all this there is not the
slightest room for the flesh, or for the praise of man; it is from beginning to
end, " Unto him," because of his love to me, and in the power of his Spirit.
This, and nothing less than this, is, as far as I can learn from the Scriptures,
worshipping the Father in Spirit and in Truth. In reference to witnessing, we
must look unto him who is " the Amen, the faithful and true witness "
(Revelation 3:14), whose life was the light of men. He who was the Light of the
world says to us who believe in him, " Ye are the light of the world." We are to
walk as he walked, to reproduce his life in these mortal bodies. As there can be
no life or light without something being consumed, so we must be willing to
present our bodies a living sacrifice that the Spirit may consume us with
earnest desire for the glory of God. Not our own will or pleasure or glory, but
in all things the will, the pleasure, the glory of God. With such lives we shall
be qualified to speak of him, and be bearers of the glad tidings of the kingdom
to others who have not yet heard the gospel. A witness must be able to say, " J
know," " I am fully persuaded," " I speak that which I know and testify that
which I have seen " (2 Timothy 1:12; Romans 4:21; John 3:11; 1 John 1:1-3), and
he must be ready also to lay down his life for the truth, to be a u martyr," for
such is the word for " witness " (Revelation 2:13). Jesus testified of the
necessity of being born from above; the necessity of being willing to forsake
all for him; the necessity of being willing to suffer with him, denying self and
bearing the cross daily; the ’ necessity of living here for the sake of the good
we may do in his Name, separating ourselves from the world. He taught that at
death the believer goes out into conscious happiness, the unbeliever into
conscious torment, and that there is no possibility of exchanging places after
death, that the ungodly dying in their sins cannot reach the place of the blest.
He taught that we are not rewarded for our works at death, but at the
resurrection of the just. He taught that he will come again in power and great
glory, and that then will be the restoration and redemption of Israel. He taught
us to watch constantly for his return, expecting him any hour. If we are to be
his witnesses, filled with his Spirit, we must continue to reiterate all that he
taught, not omitting a single truth. He did not teach that his coming meant
death, or that the kingdom is the church, and that the kingdom has come: but he
did teach that his coming meant " not to die," and that the kingdom is postponed
till his return (John 21:22-23; Luke 19:11-15). From all this we can see that to
worship God in Spirit and Truth, and to be a faithful witness, requires more
power than mortal man was ever possessed of, and were it not that the power for
this life and testimony is placed by God within reach of all we might well
despair of ever attaining to it. " Tarry until ye be endued with power from on
high:" " Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and
ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8), were some of his last
words to those who had been with him for three years; and if they needed this
power who had seen him face to face and had already wrought miracles in his
name, how much more do we? To show how ready he is to bestow this gift he has
said, " If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
"(Luke 11:13).

If any should still ask, " How may I obtain it? " I should say, Importunately
seek it with your whole heart for his glory, and not for any selfish end; be
willing to be emptied and cleansed that he may fill you, and if you fear you are
not willing, ask him to make you willing:remember that it is written, " We who
live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of
Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11), and
therefore take delight in every opportunity to mortify the flesh. Cling in
helplessness as Jacob with his thigh out of joint clung to the mighty One. Watch
as intently as Elisha watched Elijah before they were separated. When any one
thus seeks with the whole heart to be filled with the Holy Spirit for the Glory
of God they shall surely be filled; learn to worship God in Spirit and Truth,
and become faithful witnesses.

Let no one say, It is not for me, or It will cost too much; you are not your
own, and you are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18); if you
refuse, you are disobedient and the loss you will never know till it is too late
to regain it. Let each one say, " I am thine, Lord." " I yield fully unto thee."
" Make me a vessel meet for thy service." Take the blessing by faith and go
forth in his Name.


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  CHAPTER 12: 01.11.     SPIRIT IN AGREEMENT WITH WORD (ERDMAN)
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XI. THE SPIRIT IN AGREEMENT WITH THE WORD.

W. J. ERDMAN. THE so-called Christian world is full of religious "views,"
vagaries of doctrine, revelations and interpretations, all professedly received
from the Spirit of God; is there any test whereby to decide the reality of the
Spirit’s presence and action? In answer, the subject is at present limited to
the relation of the Spirit to the Word, as to doctrine, morals, and leading in
life and service.

It is evident, from a comparison of the two exhortations, each allied to a
similar context, " Be filled with the Spirit," Ephesians 5:18, and, "Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly," Colossians 3:16, that neither the Spirit
alone, nor the Word alone is enough. The Spirit, however, with but little truth
in the knowledge of the believer is effective in life and in service, while much
truth yea, all truth, without the Spirit, remains but a dead letter. True is the
warning and greatly to be heeded concerning the danger of "traffic in unfelt
truth." The Spirit enlightens to understand the Word; the Word tests the
professed action of the Spirit. The gift of " discerning of spirits" must now be
substituted by the knowledge of the Word; an Aquila and Priscilla may take aside
and expound unto an eloquent Apollos the way of God more perfectly.

I. AS TO DOCTRINE. a. How to test all teaching: Christ Jesus the touchstone. 1
Corinthians 12:3, negatively, " No man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth
Jesus accursed" (anathema), a deceiver, an impostor, one who justly was put to
death for blasphemous claims of divinity and Messiahship; positively, " And no
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." This Scripture
decides concerning the truth of much religious teaching and experience of the
present day. It is stated again in 1 John 4:1-3, which gives the key to 1 John
2:20, 1 John 2:27. The readers of this epistle had the Holy Spirit, indeed, not
to dispense with the teaching of John, or of any inspired or enlightened man,
but in order to understand what John wrote, even that the historic Jesus was
none other than the Life Eternal. Tn him as such they were to abide, and as such
to know they had received the unction from the Holy One; the Spirit, the all
illumining oil from Christ. Not so to abide in Christ, but to go forward,
progress (not transgress 2 John 1:9), was the characteristic of deceivers
anti-christs; and what a test of teaching is this word "progresses" in this
present time of progressive," "broad," "liberal" theology.

6. How to learn the true teaching: Jesus illustrates the Spirit’s method and law
of learning.

Compare concerning the sufferings, death, burial and resurrection of Christ the
word " teach " in Mark 8:31 and ’shew" in’ Matthew 16:21. Jesus brought together
predictions and types of the Old Testament, pointing them out, and so taught the
disciples. Paul’s " proving " in Acts 9:22 signifies a demonstrating, a proving
by joining together the old Scriptures concerning the Messiah, and so arriving
at the infallible conclusion. The much-praised Baconian, inductive method, is no
new thing; the Bible is always ahead. Compare also " the opening and alledging "
of Acts 17:3. To this method of study, to this concentering of all scattered
rays into a focus, the Spirit of God has promised his presence and guidance:" In
thy light we shall see light." And the word " guide " show the way, or lead in
the way found but twice in the New Testament, gives an additional hint. Jesus
said of the Spirit, " He will guide you into or in all the truth " i. e.,
concerning himself, the Truth, John 16:21, and the illustration is given in
Philip, when the Eunuch of Ethiopia replied, " How can I, except some man should
guide me? " Acts 8:26-40. No word has been of such a help in the study of the
Bible as the word "again," found in Matthew 4:7, where Jesus answers the Devil’s
quotation of Scripture with, " It is written again." That word holds the
balances of divine truth; it is the corrective of all theory; it is the clinch
of all statement. Suppose a certain doctrine to be provable by seven texts. One
man knowing only four may indeed have hold of the doctrine, but it will be in
disproportioned shape; even six will set forth a defective statement; all seven
are needed to present the truth in full and rounded form.

Another danger besetting the study and application of the Word is the insertion
into the text or collection of passages of some unwarranted inference or
conclusion in the interest of some supposed lack of harmony or consistence of
teaching. It is better to wait until the harmony is created by the Spirit in his
own marvellous way.

How many have made shipwreck of the faith by mistaking certain fanciful,
visionary "signs" and hallucinations as the work and suggestion of the Holy
Spirit of Truth.

M. AS TO MORALS. The Spirit never leads one to transgress fundamental law. He
never urges one or suggests to one to commit murder, theft, adultery, to offer
up human sacrifices, to steal or borrow money never intending to repay until
such time as the Spirit again may suggest, to be allied to "affinities" and
"spiritual wives;" no matter what seeming signs and wonders, or visions and
voices may appear to attest all. The Spirit of God is holy, and his fruit holy,
Galatians 5:18.

III. AS TO LEADING IN DAILY LIFE AND SERVICE.

There is no " Urim and Thummim " now; no voices and visions external to
instruct; only suggestions and convictions internal. But no rule can one lay
down for others. Each has his own secret with the Lord, and it is best not
always, if ever, to say to others, The Lord led me; the Lord sent me. The Lord
has too often thereby been charged with folly. The Word, and often also common
sense, must confirm and verify the secret suggestion. There do come times and
occasions when it is most meet to declare how the Lord led one, but silence also
has its times.

1. No one should try to run the experiences of others into the mould of his own.
The very presence of the Spirit is not manifested in all and through all alike.
To some, as Mr. Finney himself said, the Spirit’s coming or manifestation is
like the slowly opening dawn, to others like a burst of sunlight through rifted
clouds at noonday; to some like the gentle dew, to others like a storm and
tempest of rain. The pouring of the love of God into our hearts as Father is
often, if not always, ’ the first or positive manifestation of the Spirit; it is
precedent to or at least concomitant with " the enduement of power."

2. The Spirit controls events, and therefore desires us to "redeem the time,"
Ephesians 5:16, i. e., study opportunities for ministry, monopolize occasions,
"make a corner " of times and providences.

All this implies not a passive, inert condition of soul, but one pliant,
adjustable, quick-turning like Cherubim.

3. The Spirit, for one earnest, willing and ready to serve, prepares for service
in our ordinary work and daily routine of duty. One does not need to be on the
rack of inquiry where and what to do. The annals of Christian ministry abound in
illustrations of this truth.

4. The Spirit will bring to remembrance ordinary and extraordinary things, if so
the need be. But note, it says, " Bring to remembrance" The preacher who
declares all that is necessary is to "open the mouth and the Lord will fill it,"
sooner or later will learn to his sorrow that the Lord fills the mouth out of
the head, and not out of the fist.

" Perspiration is not inspiration." " Exposition is sometimes imposition." Said
a theological teacher to a student who talked of dropping certain studies and
taking a " short-cut " to the ministry, " Young man, how much ignorance do you
suppose it takes to make a minister?"

4. Last of all, in order to be sure of the correctness of convictions concerning
duties and affairs domestic or public, or in regard to the assurance of answers
to prayer, it is not only necessary to try them by the Word, by providences, by
common sense, by the experience of other Christians, but especially is necessary
an equipoise of mind, a self-emptiedness of heart an equipoise which is the
result of a willingness to have the will of God done either way. The soul must
settle down to a waveless calm, and so clearly reflect the mind of God. Such
equipoise and mirroring of soul are certainly implied, as well as the inflowing
power of fruitful service, in the words, " If ye abide in me and my words abide
in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." John 15:7.

More than all, how full of comfort the Word, that when we know not what we
should pray for as we ought, the Spirit takes up the case and makes intercession
according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-28.


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  CHAPTER 13: 01.12.     HOLY SPIRIT AND CHRISTIAN (ELLIS)
========================================================================

XII. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHRISTIAN.

F. M. SIXIS, D.D. THE fact that "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" " the promise
of the Father " and " Special gift of the Son " -follows the " new birth " which
Jesus, in his conversation with Nicodemus, explained as being " born of the
Spirit," and furthermore, that such terms as " Baptized with the Holy Spirit," "
The Holy Spirit fell on them," " The Holy Spirit came," " Receive ye the Holy
Spirit," " The power of the Holy Spirit," The fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
etc., are only applied to believers in Christ, unite to invest with more than
ordinary interest the topic assigned me "THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE CHRISTIAN."

While the general statement of this topic might warrant a wide range of
treatment, it will be our aim, as far as possible, to confine ourselves to a
strictly Scriptural treatment of it. In this discussion we shall confine
ourselves to the New Testament; and in our quotations shall use the " new
version " using the terms " Holy Spirit " rather than the terms " Holy Ghost "
as we believe this better expresses the original. The tide of modern thought,
that has so long swept about the person and work of Christ, seems, on its
return, to be becoming more concerned with the person and work of the Holy
Spirit. From the Christ, " the organ of external revelation," attention is being
turned to the Holy Spirit " the organ of internal revelation." From the Advocate
for us, who is with the Father, Christians are earnestly asking to know more of
the advocate with us, who is here among us.

Whatever opinions may have place in our minds as to the meaning and application
of the words of the Baptist:" He that cometh after me is mightier than I. . . He
shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire " we are all agreed that
there is, at least, an implied promise in these words of a richer blessing and a
far larger equipment for service than that enjoyed by average Christians to-day.

If the statement of Bishop Hopkins be accepted as the true interpretation of the
Baptist’s meaning that " those who are baptized with the Holy Spirit are, as it
were, plunged into the heavenly flame, whose searching energy devours all their
dross, tin and base alloy," then certainly we may conclude that too many, who
have a place in our Churches, like the disciples at Ephesus, " have not so much
as heard whether there be any Holy Spirit" (Acts 19:2). And especially are we
thus impressed when we call to mind our Lord’s promise, " ye shall receive power
when the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). If an endowment of power be
inseparable from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then surely the confessed and
lamentable absence of such power among us ought to occasion the most serious
concern upon the part of all who have "named the name of the Lord." In no age,
possibly, have Christian Churches been so well equipped for effective service
for Christ as they are now. Like marvelous structures of ingenious machinery,
our churches stand forth endowed with wealth, enriched with education, culture
and social influence possessing splendid church edifices, elaborate magic and
rituals, sound in creeds, confessions and covenants. And yet, alas! these
numerous and admirable channels carry but driveling streams of that divine
energy that made the early churches such centres of evangelizing power when they
were composed of disciples whose faith stood not in " the words which man’s
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth." The crying need of the age
is not more of such churches, or more or better appliances, but a universal
baptism of the Holy Spirit. Were this given, the church could, with her present
resources, give the gospel to the world within the next decade.

It goes without saying, therefore, that the relation of the Holy Spirit to the
Christian is a most vital and important one. For it is to such as are taught by
the Spirit to discern things spiritual that the Christ is revealed, and to such
only. If, e.g., it had been revealed to Simeon that " he should not see death
until he had seen the Lord’s Christ " (Luke 2:26), it was because before that "
the Holy Spirit was upon him." The promise of Jesus that God would bestow the
gift of the Holy Spirit could not be more freely made indeed, he places the
Father under obligations of love, greater than that of parental affection, to do
so.

" If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him" (Luke
11:13; John 7:37-39). If, then, we are without this blessed endowment, it is
certainly not because the Father is unwilling to grant it. It must be because we
do not ask for it. Or if we ask, because we ask amiss.

While the gifts of the Holy Spirit may fall upon the church at large, as the
sunshine falls upon the plain, after all these gifts emphasize the personal duty
and responsibility of believers as that sunlight burnishes and beautifies each
separate object on the wide plain. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, however, are
not the monopoly of ordained teachers, nor the special trust of the few gifted
ones, but the priceless gift of God to believers as such. On the evening of the
day on which our Lord rose from the dead, when he had met his disciples, and had
shown them his hands and his side, u the disciples were glad when they saw the
Lord; Jesus, therefore, said unto them again, Peace be unto you; as the Father
hath sent me, even so send I you, and when he had said this, he breathed on
them, and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit." (John 20:20, John 20:23.)
Thus Jesus recognized, in his gift, no official claim or ecclesiastical
superiority. " He breathed on them " the disciples. So also on the day of
Pentecost, when " they were all together in one place," the descending Spirit "
sat upon each of them, and they were all fitted with the Holy Spirit, and began
to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." (Acts 2:1-4.) Nor was
this fulfillment of "the promise of the Father" confined to those from " the
upper room " for even to those who, " pricked in the heart," cried out " what
shall we do? " Peter replied, " Repent ye, and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38.) And later on, when Peter and John,
being dismissed from the Sanhedrim, had related to " the company of the
disciples" what the chief priests and elders had said unto them, the record is "
when they had prayed the place was shaken wherein they had gathered together,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God
with boldness." (Acts 4:31.) On another occasion, when before the council,
Peter, on behalf of the disciples, bore this testimony " We are witnesses of
these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to all them that
obey him" (Acts 5:32.) After this, when persecution had scattered abroad the
church at Jerusalem (" except the Apostles "), and the disciples went about
preaching the word, Philip went down to the City of Samaria, and so preached
Christ there that " the multitudes gave heed to his testimony," and " the city
was filled with joy." The news of this wonderful work soon reached the Apostles
at Jerusalem, and they sent Peter and John down to Samaria, "who, when they were
come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. . . . s
then laid they their hands on them, and they (the Samaritans) received the Holy
Spirit" (Acts 8:18). By the laying on of Ananias’ hands Saul received the Holy
Spirit.

Peter testifies respecting Cornelius and his household, " As I began to speak
the Holy Spirit fell on them, even as on us at the beginning" (Acts 11:15). This
statement he reiterates before the Apostles and brethren at Jerusalem {Acts
15:8-9). So also Paul bestowed the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the "twelve
brethren" whom he found at Ephesus. (Acts 19:6.)

Thus upon those who " believed the testimony of God to his Son " was this gift
of the Holy Spirit given and that, too, not for the comfort and happiness of
those who thus received it, but for witness testimony service.

God makes no gifts to us, much less does he give us the Holy Spirit to be a mere
selfish luxury. The Spirit’s gift is one of life and power, and these are for
use, and not for personal gratification merely. With the privileges of this gift
comes the most solemn and responsible ordination God has ever given to man. No
qualification is so important or more practical to the Christian as this gift of
the Holy Spirit.

Looking forward to those coming days of trial, when brother would deliver
brother to death, when parents should betray children and children would
persecute parents, Jesus said:" When they lead you to judgment and deliver you
jip, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak, but whatsoever shall be
given you in that hour, that speak ye, for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy
Spirit." (Mark 12:11; Luke 12:11-12.) For the full assurance and illustration of
this promise of the Master we have but to turn to that marvelous "gospel of the
Holy Spirit," the book of the "Acts of the Apostles."

These relations of the Holy Spirit to the early Christians are sufficient to
illustrate what his relations are to Christians of all ages. In applying what
has been said to the subject in hand let us consider I. What the Holy Spirit is
to the Christian.

1. Without the Holy Spirit a Christian would be an impossibility. The Apostle
lays down as unquestionable this statement:" Wherefore I give you to understand
that no man speaking in the spirit of God saith Jesus is anathema, and no man
can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Spirit " (1 Corinthians 12:13). This
test of the absolute need of the Holy Spirit, even in the full confession of
Jesus Christ, applied to the Corinthian Christians no more fully than it does to
Christians now. This statement of Paul is thus reaffirmed by John:" Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God " (1 John 4:2). The Holy Spirit came into the
world, not only " to glorify Christ," but to manifest himself in those who "
honor the Son even as they honor the Father." I need not say this question is
not one of physical ability, but one of honest, loving loyalty to Jesus Christ
as Master and Lord. It is not the creed or ordinance that makes the Christian.
We are Christians just so far as we love, serve and honor the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we can do this only as we are taught and aided by the Holy Spirit.

" Every good gift and every perfect gift," says James, " is from above." Further
on he says, " Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth " (James 2:18).
Referring to the influence of the word in regeneration, Paul says, " Knowing,
brethren, beloved of God, your election, how that our gospel came not unto you
in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance;
even as ye know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you, for your
sake, and ye became imitators of us and the Lord; having received the Word in
much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit " (1 Thessalonians 1:5-6). If
further proof be needed of this essential relation of the Holy Spirit to the
Christian, as the Quickener of those " dead in trespasses and sins," and hence
of the fact that, apart from the Holy Spirit, the Christian life would be
impossible, we have it in the following exhaustive summary. After showing what
man is as a subject of the " powers of darkness," before he is made u meet to be
partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light," the Apostle says, " But
when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man appeared, not by
works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy
he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy
Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
that being justified by his grace we might be made heirs according to the hope
of eternal life " (Titus 3:4-7).

Jesus said to Nicodemus, " Except a man be born anew he cannot see the kingdom
of God." This our Lord explains thus:" That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit ’’ (John 3:36). The necessity of
being born of the Spirit to enter upon a spiritual life is as necessary as
natural birth is for entrance into the natural life.

2. As Christians we have our access to God by the Holy Spirit.

While it is said that we who were once afar off were brought nigh " in the blood
of Christ," it is also said, " Through him (i. e., Christ) " we have our access
in one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). The death of Christ gave to
all, Jew and Gentile alike, audience with a reconciled Father, through the
merits of Christ. Jesus Christ is the only name whereby we can be saved, because
no man can come unto the Father except through him. To the Christ who presents
us to God, we must be presented by the Holy Spirit.

" Through Christ we bring our message to the Father by the Spirit’s aid." " For
the Spirit helpeth our infirmity, for we know not how to pray as we ought, but
the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be
uttered, and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for us according to the will of God "
(Romans 8:26).

If the petitions we bring to the Father, through the Son, are acceptable,
therefore, they must voice the intercession of the Holy Spirit. " The searcher
of hearts " must find in our prayers the mind of the Spirit, for he only can "
make intercession according to the will of God." On the other hand, prayer in
the Holy Spirit will not be denied by the Father. Jude exhorts us, in these
words, " But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most ’holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life " (Romans 8:20-21).

We may not translate " infirmity " into such terms as " indifference," " known
sin," and the like, and expect the " help " of the Holy Spirit in our
intercession and prayers. He dwells not where he is not wanted. If he teaches us
" how to pray," if he reveals unto us the things of the Christ, and thus makes
known to us the will of God, we must not grieve him by an habitual neglect of
the word of God, for the Holy Spirit honors the Christ by honoring his word
through that divine word the divine Spirit reaches the Christian. In such things
as hinder those who earnestly and honestly seek God’s will in his word, the Holy
Spirit will give his aid. But he nowhere promises his help to those who refuse
compliance with the terms on which he offers his help.

3. Consider the Spirit’s relation to the Christian as a witness. He does not
bear witness to the Christian oj his conversion. The word bears that witness.
But the Spirit does bear witness to the believer’s adoption or Sonship. The
gospel is not a " message of bondage to fear," but a revelation of the liberty
and heirship of believers as the sons and daughters of God. To this testimony of
the word the Holy Spirit adds his blessed witness.

" For ye have received," says Paul, " the spirit of adoption, whereby ye cry,
Abba Father, the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children
of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ" (Romans 8:15-17).

Again, the Holy Spirit also witnesses to the presence of the Christ in the
believer. " Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he gave us"
(1 John 3:24). And again, "Hereby know we that we abide in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit" (1 John 4:13). So fully was the Apostle
Paul given up to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that he submitted his
conscience to his leading. He never said that he was to be followed in anything,
because he was conscientious in what he said or did. What does he say? listen, "
I say the truth in Christ; I lie not, my conscience bearing witness with me in
the Holy Spirit " (Romans 9:1). Such a conscience, thus enlightened and in
harmony with the truth in Christ, and with the witness of the Holy Spirit, any
Christian may follow. But before we pronounce upon the accuracy of the decisions
of our conscience, let us be sure that our conscience is in accord with the "
truth in Christ," and the Holy Spirit’s infallible witness.

Only as the Christian has the witness of the Spirit to his adoption as a son of
God will the kingdom of God be anything more than " eating and drinking,
ordinances and ceremonies, rights and works," and become what it really is, "
Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit "(Romans 14:17).

These are the fruit of the Spirit in Christian living that give forth the
fragrance of grace here, and will ripen eventually in the kingdom of Christ’s
glory.

4. Let us dwell a moment on the relation of the Holy Spirit to the believer as
"the Comforter," thus further showing what he is to the Christian. The sending
of the Comforter was to be more than a compensation for the departure of Jesus.
True, they were not to be left " desolate." " If I go not away the Comforter
will not come unto you, but if I go away I will send him unto you" (John 16:7).
Christ was still to be nearer them even than he could be by his personal
presence; for his personal presence was limited to locality. Whereas when the
Comforter came he would not be restricted by any such limitation. " Wherever two
or three were met in his name," there would he be " in the midst of them." He
was to " abide with them forever " as " the Spirit of Truth." " Moreover," said
Jesus, ".the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my
name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things
that I have said unto you" (John 14:16-26). As the divine presence was the glory
of the Temple of old, so of these regenerated disciples, who were to be the
Temples of the Holy Spirit, their glory would be his indwelling. If the
manifestation of the divine glory of the Old Temple was awful and glorious in
its outward revelations, the manifestation of the divine Paraclete, in the
disciples of Christ, was to be much more glorious in his inner teachings and
blessed consolations. Hence Jesus said, " It is expedient for you that I go
away." We therefore undervalue these words of our Lord when we suppose that the
time of his personal presence among his disciples was the most favored period of
the Church’s history. This was not as our Lord thought; on the contrary, he
himself taught us to look for the Comforter’s administration as an advance upon
his ministry; and as being a greater blessing to his people than that of his
personal companionship with them. "Greater things than these shall ye do because
I go unto the Father." The Comforter was more than an emanation from the Father,
or an indefinable influence; he is more than a principle of spiritual life in
believers; he is a living person, and hence we may not degrade him into a mere
abstraction or influence, even though these misconceptions of his divine
personality be dignified by such terms as " the enthusiasm of humanity" He is
the divine Spirit of Truth leading the believer into all truth the Holy Spirit
producing in those whom he leads the fruit of holiness: ln a word, the fruit of
the Spirit which " is in all goodness and righteousness and truth " (Ephesians
5:9). The word never confounds " the fruit of the Spirit " with " the works of
the flesh ""fruit " belongs to the Spirit: "works" to the flesh. We need to have
a care, therefore, in our thought of the personality of the Holy Spirit lest we
lose sight of his person in vague ideas of him that maintain a place in our
minds by means of terms the most general and indefinite. So also we need to have
definite ideas of his specific work as well as of his person. It is the Holy
Spirit who imparts spiritual life, quickens and sustains it who gives strength,
implants hope, grants liberty; testifies to and glorifies the Christ; leads,
guides, teaches, comforts, sanctifies, supports and sustains the believer. As
Christ is the foundation of faith, and the source of all merit, so the Holy
Spirit is the fountain of all spiritual life. Until he imparts to the soul
spiritual life, we are incapable of the exercise of that faith that lays hold on
the person and work of Christ for justification and eternal life.

After quoting Isaiah as saying, " Things which the eye saw not, and ear heard
not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared
for those who loved him," Paul adds these words, " But unto us God revealed them
through the Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God " (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). This is certainly an advance upon the revelation
of Christ’s ministry what Jesus taught the Holy Spirit makes to be’ understood.
Indeed, the advent of the Holy Spirit is the final and most glorious
manifestation of God that will be granted the world, or the Church, until his
dispensation will be superseded by the Second Advent of our Lord as the " King
of Saints." When the care of the Churches so weighed upon the great apostle of
the Gentiles as to press him to his knees upon the cold stone floor of his Roman
prison when his heart was bleeding at the thought of the trials of their faith,
with hands that moved slowly because of the chains that bound them, he traced in
letters of cheer and instruction, such words as these, punctuated by his tears,
" For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father . . . that he would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, that ye may be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in the inward man " (Ephesians 3:14-16). Such was the help
which the apostle sought from the Comforter for his brethren. Such is the
comfort we all need, and this help the Comforter has for us also.

Thus the Christian who is chosen " according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:2), who enters the kingdom of God by being "
born of the Spirit," and who is ’’washed, sanctified and justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God " (1 Corinthians 6:11),
must, "through the Spirit, by faith, wait for the hope of the righteous "
(Galatians 5:5).

Having considered what the Holy Spirit is to the Christian, let us II. Consider
what the Holy Spirit does for the Christian.

Being, by the grace of God, made partakers of the Holy Spirit, we become the
special objects of the Holy Spirit’s love, care and culture. And since our love
for God, and God’s love for us, are in a sense reciprocal for " we love him
because he first loved us," and because " God is love," and because " he that
abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16) the Holy Spirit,
who first awakens, also develops this love for God in us; " because," says Paul,
" the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit
which was given unto us " (Romans 5:5). As an illustration of this, you may
remember how Epaphras refreshed Paul when he declared unto him " the love in the
Spirit " of the brethren at Colosse. The influence of the Holy Spirit in thus
awakening in us the highest possible form of love, is absolutely indispensable.
Grant that the natural affections are the soil out of which this love of the
Christian for God is produced. Yet, such a love can be grown out of such a soil
only as it is quickened by the warmth and showers of the Spirit’s influence.
Natural affections may be the ties that bind into a society unity, individuals,
families and tribes; but the love that binds us to God and his Son is the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. In natures such as ours the love of God is an exotic, it
must not only be planted in our hearts, but also sustained there by the Holy
Spirit’s personal care. But again, the Holy Spirit is also the dispenser of the
Christian’s joy, peace and hope in the service of the Christ. Hear the Apostle,
as he prays for his brethren at Rome " Now the God of hope fill you with joy and
peace in believing that ye may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit"
(Romans 15:13). The same blessed Spirit that quickened the Ephesian believers
the same "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" which made the Apostle " free from the
law of sin and death" this same Spirit quickens, emancipates and enfranchises
every Christian who is made a Son of God. The eighth of Romans is the Magna
Charta of every enfranchised believer who " walks not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit." The Apostle insists that " if the Spirit of God dwells in us," that
such " are not in the .flesh" And while he boldly affirms:" If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" he as boldly declares that " as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God " (Romans 8:14).

It is not, therefore, by one or two acts good or bad that the Christian is to be
judged, but by the consistency and character of his life. " Enoch walked with
God " thus our walk must be the evidence to the world that we are led by the
Spirit.

There are acts in the lives of unregenerate men and women that are worthy of all
commendation. So in the lives of Christians there may be, unfortunately, acts as
unchristian as the sin of David or the denial of Peter, or, to quote old
Swinnock " Sheep may fall into the mire; but swine love day and night to wallow
in it." Yes, a Christian may stumble and fall, but he is soon up again, and
following the leading of the Spirit. His heart temples the Holy Spirit, his life
is a redeemed one, and his living will show this as true, nevertheless, that he
is dead to the law that he has been crucified with Christ, and risen with him to
that new life which he lives; and " yet no longer I," as Paul says, " but Christ
liveth in me, and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith the
faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me "
(Galatians 2:20).

One other service of the Holy Spirit to the Christian I linger a moment to
simply mention -- After saying that the end of the believer’s faith is " the
praise of the glory of Christ," the Apostle adds:" In whom having also believed,
ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest of our inheritance
unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory "
(Ephesians 1:13-14). This sealing of the believer, you observe, follows his
acceptance of the gospel of salvation. But the seal of the Spirit is also the
earnest of the inheritance which the Christ, by his death, acquired for the
believer, or, in other words, is the divine guarantee of its ultimate
possession. But in the mean time, by his indwelling power, the Holy Spirit
renews, sanctifies, leads, keeps and comforts the heir, thus preparing him for
that inheritance which Christ has secured to him.

" He that established! us with you in Christ," says Paul, " and anointed us, is
God; who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts "
(2 Corinthians 1:21-22). As the preceding sealing was for security, so the
preceding " anointing " was for service. If Christians are a sealed people, they
are also a devoted people. As the sealing makes him safe in this inheritance, so
the earnest guarantees to him the ultimate realization of the hope he has in
Jesus Christ. " For he that hath wrought us for this Very thing is God, who gave
unto us the earnest of the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 6:5).

However diverse or various may be the gifts of God’s people, they have one
common origin " the same Spirit" or, however different the manifestations of the
Spirit may be to different persons, the end is the same: "to profit withal"

Having thus indicated 1 what the Holy Spirit is to the Christian, and 2 what he
does for the Christian, let us inquire III. What the Christian is to the Holy
Spirit. From what has been said it is evident that redeemed men and women are
not their own, and furthermore, that they are the special subjects of the Holy
Spirit’s love and guidance. ’ What the Apostle said of the Ephesian believers is
just as true of believers now: "Ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye
are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built
upon the foundation of Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth
into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for a
habitation of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:19-22). As believers we are each a
part of the household of God, members of the redeemed family; and as such the
Holy Spirit evidently regards us. But again " Know ye not that your bodies are
the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have from God? and ye
are not your own, for ye were bought with a price; glorify God, therefore, in
your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Now, in so far as the Holy Spirit appreciates the value of the price paid for
our redemption, may we not infer that to that degree will the purchase of that
infinite price be precious in his .sight? Our acceptance of Christ carries with
it not only our devotion to his service, but likewise our submission to the love
and guidance of the Holy Spirit. If Ananias, who kept back part of the price of
his land, " lied unto the Holy Spirit/’ what shall be thought of the sin of him
who, having devoted himself and all he has to God, takes it back in part or in
whole, that he may, as James says, "spend it in his pleasures?" Brethren, when
we call to mind the fact that as believers we are " the epistles of Christ,
written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God" (2 Corinthians
3:3), ’’What manner of persons ought we to be in all holy living and godliness?
" (2 Peter 3:11). In closing, allow mention to be made of some lessons suggested
by this imperfect discussion.

1. Every visitation of the Holy Spirit and every gift of his grace should be
prayerfully cherished and encouraged.

"That good thing which was committed unto thee, guard through the Holy Spirit
which dwelleth in us " (2 Timothy 1:14). " Stir up the gift of God, which is in
thee, by the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). If such exhortations were
appropriate to Timothy, surely we ought to take heed to this grace which has
been bestowed upon us also. And even more appropriate to us, and to our times,
certainly, are these words of Paul to his "Son in the gospel," that breathe for
his welfare a concern so affectionate and earnest:"O Timothy, guard that which
is committed to thee, turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of
the knowledge which is falsely so called; which some professing have erred
concerning the faith " (1 Timothy 6:20-21).

2. If we would be guided by the Holy Spirit, we must " walk in the Spirit" and
to do this we must " live in the Spirit."

Such a life is inseparable from conflict: For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh." It is impossible that it be otherwise,
" for these " (i.e., the flesh and the Spirit) " are contrary the one to the
other" (Galatians 5:7). We can choose which of these two lives shall be ours,
and we must choose and we do choose we can’t live both lives. Alas, that so few
find and so many seem not to learn that conformity to the world is rebellion
against the Holy Spirit! Alas for Christianity that more Christians are not
transformed (or literally), transfigured by the Holy Spirit’s indwelling! Say
what we will, the love of the world and the pride of life and the lusts of the
flesh will be cast out of us only as we are " filled with the Spirit."

3. Let us understand our duties to the Holy Spirit and faithfully perform them
as in the fear of God. " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom ye were
sealed unto the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30). Need I say that these words
of caution and command demand our most prayerful and constant attention?

"We need the use of no pessimistic spectacles to see in our own lives, and in
the lives of many Christians about us, too much that must and does grieve the
Holy Spirit of God. Nor would I be overstating a truth which, doubtless, they
feel most deeply who live most closely to God, were I to add, that until the
living of Christians is more fully submitted to the leading of the Holy Spirit
we shall look and labor in vain for such a revival in the churches as our needs
demand. Let us remember these words, " God hath called us not for uncleanness,
but in sanctification; therefore, he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God
" (1 Thessalonians 4:7-8). Sins, even in Christians, may change their dress and
their names, and yet be just as hateful to God. Under the deception of " prudent
economy " we may disguise a covetousness as odious in God’s sight as the
grossest idolatry. Under the masks of business, or social duties, we may hide a
worldliness as despicable as paganism. And under the pretence of church
benevolence we may bring into the church of God entertainments that wound our
Lord in the house of his friends. Before the Holy Spirit can fill us, or our
churches, much must be scourged from the temples of our hearts and sanctuaries.
It is not the kind of sin that grieves the Holy Spirit; sin of any kind must
grieve him who is himself the essence of holiness.

Again, we are warned:"Quench not the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). As the fire
on the altar may be so neglected and covered up as to be left to smoulder amid
ashes that hide its heat and light, so may we quench the Holy Spirit in our
hearts. " Whatever/’ said Dr. C. S. Robinson, " the Holy Spirit prompts a true
Christian to do for the glory of God, he allures him to do in a modest way, and
with a disposition of indescribable tenderness." Mackay makes this distinction,
"Resist " is the word applied to the unconverted; " Grieve " is that applied to
the individual Christian; "Quench" is that which has reference to the saints
when gathered together waiting on the Spirit. This may be correct; and yet the
individual may quench the presence of the Holy Spirit in his soul by his neglect
and sins, as well as grieve him by such things. The warning of the Apostolic
Seer has long since become history. Looking back from these " latter days," we
painfully realize the truth of what he said to Timothy:" The Spirit saith
expressly that in the latter times some shall fall away from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men
that speak lies; branded in their own consciences as with a hot iron; forbidding
to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God created to be received
with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth " (1 Timothy 4:1-3.)
The word of God not only thus smites the pretensions of spiritualism and the
presumptions of Romanism, but, at the same time, exposes the open and disguised
designs of many another tendency of our times to oppose or corrupt " the faith "
which was " once for all delivered unto the saints." Let us not forget that we
are to contend for and defend "the faith of Jesus," but in doing so let us also
remember that, after all, the best possible defence that can be made is being
made by those whose lives most closely imitate the life of Jesus Christ our
Lord. The tongue of the Christian and of the Church is still the old and
unanswerable " tongue of flame "

" If ye then were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God: set your affections on things
that are above; not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died and your
life is hid with Christ in God " (Colossians 3:1-3). And " insomuch as you are
partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory,
also, ye may rejoice with exceeding joy. If ye are reproached for the name of
Christ blessed are ye; because the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God resteth
upon you" (1 Peter 4:13-14). On the day of Pentecost, said William Arthur:"
Christianity faced the world a new religion, without a history, without a
priesthood, a college, without a people without a portion; . . . her tongue of
fire was her sole instrument of aggression." But, my brethren, how is it now?
Now, besides having the complete canon of God’s inspired word, we have almost
everything else except " the tongue of fire." This inspired word needs inspired
men to preach it. The churches need the old pentecostal power for worship and
witness, and the energy of the Holy Spirit to make her methods of work
effective. Believers need the Holy Spirit, enshrined in the indwelling word,
abiding in them, that the divine word, aflame with the light and life of the
Holy Spirit, may transfigure them, and, through them, quicken from the death of
sin to eternal life them that are lost.

Finally, brethren:" The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Amen.


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  CHAPTER 14: 01.13.     SPIRIT OF PROPHESY (NICHOLSON)
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XIII. THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. BY BISHOP W. R. NICHOLSON, D.D. THE subject
assigned me is The Spirit of Prophecy. Shall we take this to mean the
characteristic qualities of prophecy, as when we speak of the spirit of a book?
Or shall we understand that the Holy Spirit is meant? Practically what is the
difference? If we investigate the characteristics of prophecy, it is no other
than the work of the Holy Spirit we shall be considering, since he, the author
of prophecy, has made it just what it is. On the other hand, if we fix attention
directly on the Holy Spirit as self-revealed in prophecy, the qualities of his
work therein are what must be examined. The difference is not material.
Forasmuch, however, as the object in view of this conference is to identify,
venerate and glorify the Holy Spirit, I shall interpret our subject as if it
read, The Holy Spirit as he is in Prophecy.

Prophecy, as here used, must have the meaning it bears in common parlance
predictive prophecy. Since, if not thus restricted, it includes every subject in
the Bible; the prophets having been teachers of the whole revealed will of God.
With closer accuracy, then, we read our subject thus, The Holy Spirit as he is
in Predictive Prophecy.

I shall not stop to prove that the predictions of the Bible are genuine
miraculous previsions of the future. The wealth of proof on that point no drafts
of infidelity can diminish. That truth I assume and lay down as a postulate.
Neither shall I waste our time in adducing proof of the Holy Spirit being the
author of those predictions. The Bible, with authority, ascribes them to him,
and common sense decides that no human sagacity could so have foreseen the
future. This also we start from as a postulate. And now with the miraculous
predictions of the Spirit before us, our concern is reverently to study him
therein; learning something of his prophetic revelations and of our consequent
obligations, and how we may become yet more enriched in Christian experience. In
the first place, the Holy Spirit in prophecy means that we shall understand him.
This remark has much the look of a truism; for why, otherwise, should he speak
to us at all? But it has been called in question. It is the key to our subject;
and certainly, for the honor of the Holy Spirit, we are in duty bound to settle
this question one way or the other. The Spirit in prophecy means to be
understood. Some difficulties there are, of course, in the interpreting of
prophecy. We cannot always make sure of a particular application, nor of a
particular chronological relation. But we can make sure, almost without
exception, of the main fact predicted. And is it not just the same as regards
the Gospel itself? That " by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all sinned," is a plain
statement of fact, and we receive it; but is there nothing in it that is not
understood? Who can thoroughly explain the Federal Headship of Adam? That Jesus
Christ " bore our sins in his own body," and made expiation of sin, is a
declaration clear as light, and we receive it; but is there nothing in it that
is not understood? Who can convert into a sunbeam the inscrutable philosophy of
the Federal Headship of the Second Adam? And also here and there in
non-prophetic Scripture are there not even statements that are confessedly
obscure? But who is so presumptuous as to turn rare difficulties into universal
objections, and thence to infer that all Scripture is not understandable? Let
prophecy be fairly dealt with. If there be the devoutly desirous mind, if pains
be taken to ascertain the grammatical common sense of words and sentences, and
to compare Scripture with Scripture, if there be patience, and perseverance, and
the prostration of the will at the feet of God’s will,’ ( then one shall as
surely know, in the main, the prophetic mind of the Spirit, as that the Spirit
has so expressed his mind at all. All this, however, is no more than the Gospel
itself requires in order to its being understood. As in the Gospel, so in
prophecy, the Spirit speaks on purpose to be understood. He himself describes it
as "a lamp shining in a dark place;" but what sort of a light is that by which
we cannot see? He calls it " a sure word of prophecy:" but how do words assure
us if they give us not their meaning? " Ye do well/’ he says, " that ye take
heed to it:" but how can we heed what we cannot think of? The Holy Spirit even
shows us that his own honor is involved in our being able to understand his
predictions:no prophecy, says he, ever came by the will of man, but men spake
from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost, and therefore it is that prophecy is as
a light in a dark place that is, is not a darkening of counsel by words without
knowledge (2 Peter 1:19-21). He expressly tells us the purpose of predictive
prophecy:"to show to his servants the things which must come to pass"
(Revelation 1:1); but what kind of a showing is that which does not show at all?
He pronounces a special blessing upon those " who read and hear the words of the
prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein " (Revelation 1:3); but
how can he bless our reading and hearing what we cannot know, and how^ shall we
keep what we have not got? So obvious is it that the Spirit’s predictions are a
reflection of his own mind to our minds, and that his use of prophetic language
is fraught with a Divine frankness and perspicuity.

Moreover, his providence in the past is a historic demonstration. Refer to any
prophecy fulfilled. Lay alongside Deuteronomy 28:1-68 the history of the Jews
1500 years afterwards, more than 3000 years afterwards, and did ever mirror give
back more accurately the face of the beholder, than the actual sufferings of
that people the very words of the Spirit in their plain grammatical sense? He
called Cyrus by name more than 150 years before his birth, and said that he
would open before him the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron,
that he might deliver the elect people from Babylon, and say to Jerusalem, Thou
shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid; and did not the
identical Cyrus appear on the stage of action at the proper time, and were not
the things foretold done to the very letter? When, in words so many, in oracles
so lofty, all along the ages so vast, the Spirit had pre-written the life and
doings of Messiah, did ever pen of history record more exactly events of the
past than pen of prediction events of the future? Even the least events were
minutely measured by the words of prediction, and were such an answer to the
words as is a river to each little crook in the channel; the thirty pieces of
silver, the spitting, the scourging, the thirst, the vinegar, and all the rest,
being as strictly in occurrence as they had been in prediction. Statements, too,
that might well have seemed inadvertences in the use of words as that Messiah
should die as a malefactor and a slave, an object of hatred, a butt of ridicule,
and yet that he should have honorable burial were accomplished in every word.
And, O wonderful! the Virgin Motherhood did that prediction mean just what it
expressed? A virgin mother! Impossible. Against all experience, against
creation’s laws. And learned conceit wags its head, mouthing the criticism,
Figurative, Mystical. Ah, but the Holy Spirit had said it, and in the simplest,
frankest way possible; and when, 700 years afterwards, the time had come, a
virgin mother Mary WAS. Can demonstration go further, that the Spirit means us
to interpret his predictions according to the established usage of language? But
you say, There are figures of speech in prophecy. Yes, and do not yourselves
abound in the use of figures? Are they not the current speech of daily life?
When the Holy Spirit predicted that the future Messiah would say, " Many bulls
have compassed Me," " Dogs have compassed Me," are not the figures instantly
detected and clearly interpreted? When Cyrus is represented as addressing
Jerusalem and the temple, is not the meaning self-evident? And if, in any
instance, it be doubtful whether there be a figure, a patient examination of the
connection will generally be satisfactory. But you say, the symbols of prophecy
they at least are riddles insolvable. Well, look at the Colossus of Daniel the
metallic image. The prophecy itself interprets it. And so it is with many
symbols. When, however, symbols are left unexplained, not seldom a comparison of
Scripture with Scripture will make them plain; the symbolic interpretations
given, so many and various, being examples of interpretation, and, besides, what
is foreshown in symbol being foretold in other forms elsewhere. Patience,
perseverance and humility will rarely fail to bring you in contact with the
essential fact in the symbol, and advance your instruction in righteousness. And
now shall we embrace that obnoxious dictum, that unfulfilled prophecy can be
understood, even in the main, only after the fulfillment? Does the Holy Spirit
say so? Where? Just the contrary, as we have seen. It is expressly unfulfilled
prophecy that he characterizes as a lamp shining in a dark place; that he
declares to be for the purpose of showing his servants things to come. Nor is
there a single accomplished prediction whose words have not been grammatically
realized. Only take the terms of prophecy in their obvious sense, and you cannot
but rightly anticipate the events, although the fulfillment is ahead of you.
When we read, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will put the tribes of Ephraim
with Judah, and will gather the children of Israel from among the nations
whither they have gone, and will bring them into their own land, and make them
one nation in the land, and they shall walk in My judgments, and shall dwell in
the land that I gave to Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt, they and their
children and their children’s children forever, yea, I will be their God and
they shall be My people, and My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them
forevermore (Ezekiel 37:1-28); do not the words absolutely shut off all
interpretations save one? When God said to David, I will make thee a house, and
thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever (2 Samuel 7:1-29), I
will not lie to David (Psalms 89:1-52), I will set up thy seed after thee, which
shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom and the throne
of his kingdom forever (2 Samuel 7:1-29), of the increase of his government and
peace no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and justice even forever (Isaiah 9:1-21); are not the
words a very sunshine in their clearness? And when the Spirit lets us hear the
angel Gabriel assuring Mary that her virgin-born should have the throne of his
father David (Luke 1:1-80), and writes for us two gene-, alogies of Jesus, whose
united testimony is a redundancy of proof that he is that offspring of David to
whom was bequeathed David’s kingdom, and when the Spirit adds that Jesus is as a
nobleman gone into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return,
and that upon his return he will build again the tabernacle of David, which is
fallen down, and that the Son of man, having come in his glory, shall then sit
upon the throne of his glory (Luke 19:1-48); Matthew 25:1-46; Acts 15:1-41; is
there a human intelligence that does not instantly see what these communications
naturally and irrepressibly mean? And by the fact of the literal fulfillment of
every predicted circumstance of Messiah’s first coming, does not the Holy Spirit
protest against the taking in a non-natural sense what he says of the kingdom to
be set up at Messiah’s second coming? It is David’s throne, David’s kingdom, the
Christ is to occupy. This does not refer to Christ’s blessed reign in our
hearts, for never did David so reign; nor to the Son of God’s reign in the third
heaven, for never did David so reign. The language of the prediction demands
that he, the virgin-born, whose name is The Mighty God, shall visibly reign on
the earth as David’s lineal successor, only incomparably more gloriously; that
he shall reign as a man, yet in his majesty as God, with judgment and justice,
in purity and holiness, in love and blessedness. When we read that there shall
be a new earth and a new atmosphere (2 Peter 3:1-18),. so glorious that the
former, the present visible creation, shall not be remembered nor come into mind
(Isaiah 65:17); that there shall still be nations dwelling- on the earth after
the stupendous conflagration foretold by Isaiah and Peter; that the fire shall
be for perdition of ungodly men, which perdition shall be inflicted upon certain
multitudes, while yet there shall be those that escape (Isaiah 66:19); that the
risen saints, having returned with their Lord, shall be associated with him as
kings and priests for the benefit of the nations, and with him shall rule the
nations (Revelation 1:6; Revelation 2:26; Revelation 3:21); that the animal
creation shall be so adapted to the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,
the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox
(Isaiah 11:1-16) can you imagine a greater explicitness of statement? Does the
Spirit not speak as meaning to be understood? But you say. I have always thought
of that tremendous conflagration as sweeping away from the earth all the
inhabitants. Whence, then, did you get the thought? Not from what the Spirit
tells you; for he declares the very opposite. But you continue, It is absurd to
construe literally the statement that the lion shall eat straw like the ox; it
is contradictory of the lion’s nature. Well, if it is figurative, what does the
figure signify? To find out this were like hunting for the lost pleiad, and
would require the telescopic vision of a superhuman mind. Against the lion’s
nature? Yes, and it is against the nature of a virgin to bear a son; but the
Holy Spirit once said that so it should be, and so it was. But you say again,
What mistakes students of prophecy are constantly making with regard to the date
of the Lord’s coming. Have their mistakes come, then, from simply being guided
by the words of the Spirit? On the contrary, his express words are, " It is not
for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own
power." Signs of the coming are given us, but the date is hidden. Comparatively
few, however, are the students of prophecy who are so unwarrantably betrayed
into such mistakes. In fine, the Spirit’s expressed purpose is to show us things
to come. His predictions are obvious ideas, for he bids us give heed to them.
His predictions are light, for so he names them. His predictions are
grammatically simple and clear, for so his providence has demonstrated them. If,
then, we have no interest in prophecy, we dishonor the Holy Spirit. If we take
no pains to understand what he has been at so much pains to cause us to
understand, we fail so far forth to put ourselves in communication with him.
And, saith the Lord, " Them that honor Me I will honor." The intelligible mind
of the Spirit is the spirit of prophecy. In the second place, the Holy Spirit in
prophecy gives us a great deal to understand. In fact he crowds the Bible with
his prophetic communications. And, by the way, the abundauce of them is further
confirmation of their explicitness; for why should they be so immensely many,
if, for the most part, we cannot understand them? Does the Spirit pleasure
himself at puzzling us with enigmas? a cynical pleasure long drawn out. But to
the point before us.

Certainly he is graciously revealed in his other teachings. His adorable
relations in the Godhead his office as the Comforter ’his ministration of
salvation to individual souls, in all this he is the very and wonderful love of
God. And yet to himself all this has not seemed to be enough. He would instruct
us as to the future," and more and more enrich us with his own thoughts and
purposes. And that his prophecies are so very many, illustrates how important to
us he regards them as being. The proportion of prophecy in the Bible is
enormous. Excluding the merely historical parts, the predictions occupy perhaps
two-thirds of Scripture; and if also we exclude the predictions that have been
fulfilled, those yet to be fulfilled are, as to the remainder of Scripture iii
preponderating proportion. Now this is a remarkable status of the. Word of God.
We might have argued that the truths of personal salvation must have the
precedence in amount of space. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit has argued that
saving truth is as the foundation, prophetic truth as the superstructure; that
the constituent parts of a superstructure, like the bricks in a building, are to
the stones of the foundation as many to one; and that just as a foundation
without its superstructure serves not its purpose, so saving truth without the
prophetic truth is in an imperfect condition, being detached from its proper
development. The exceeding proportion of prophecy in Scripture, then, is a most
instructive fact. What stores of sacred learning the Spirit has thus been
treasuring up for us! So that if it seem not to us that, for our highest
Christian wellbeing, we are dependent, in no small degree, on so large an array
of Scripture, we are no less than at war with the mind of the Spirit.

What variety of subjects, too, within this wide range of unfulfilled prophecy!
Nations, empires, individuals; judgments, blessings, glory; doctrines,
experiences; the dappled history of the Church along this dispensation; the
restoration of Israel; the great apostasy with its truculent aspect; the rise,
character, development, and overthrow of the imperial Antichrist; the Christ as
coming again, his Epiphany and Parousia; the judgment of the nations, the
judgment of Christendom; the First Resurrection; the risen saints joint kings
and priests with their Lord; the kingdom established, the throne of the great
King earth’s central splendor; the supreme effusion of the Holy Spirit; earth’s
renewal, the world’s millennial blessedness; the final outbreak of rebellion,
the final subjugation, the sudden, complete, everlasting eradication of evil;
the kingdom of the Christ, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, one
kingdom, in unquestioned sovereignty; the tabernacle of God on earth, God
dwelling with men, no more death, neither sorrow, nor any more pain. An
immensity of interests. Momentous subjects all. Verily a vast deal concerning
the future the Spirit has given us to understand.

Now wherefore? Because in this fore-written history of the times to come, our
own personal interests, as Christians, are illustrated and enforced. Our souls
are touched on every side. Our knowledge is increased; not a vague generality of
knowledge, like as that we shall be happy hereafter, but. knowledge made up of
many facts, bristling all over with salient points; and knowledge is power. Our
historic instinct is gratified; for as in the history of the past we have an
intellectual pleasure in noticing how the principles of human action, as
exemplified in events, have been characterized as good or bad, so in this
predictive history of the future, what high mental satisfaction in observing the
consummate results of the very principles now at work and influencing mankind.

We see that ultimate is the consecutiveness of sin and perdition, of godliness
and glory; and we expand into the sublime thought, that God’s universe is one
organic whole in the interest of truth, and law, and justice, and righteousness,
and love. Our feelings with regard to the great hereafter are illumined,
stimulated, intensified; for as, like a panorama, these tremendous events are
acting before us in prophetic vision, the greatness of the scenes is thrown back
upon ourselves, for we shall be there, and we are lifted into the majesty of
conviction, and the glow of self-respect. Meanwhile all present things take on a
subdued look, the world’s businesses, excitements, and friendships lie low,
comparatively, in our estimation. We are breathing a purer air. Our trust in
God’s providence is quickened and enlarged; for in these ultimate events, as
being the harvest of the ages, we see how minute must be now his observation of
men, and yet how all-comprehending the sweep of his plan, and we warm into
acquiescence in the present sovereign control of affairs. Our appreciation of
the whole Bible is promoted; for even its non-prophetic revelations, in the
light of this predicted future, shoot forth into charming display. This effect
was produced by certain predictions already accomplished: there, for instance,
was God’s revelation of the Levitical Ritual; it was prediction that vindicated
the Divine wisdom therein, and made consummate both priest and victim in him who
should be wounded for our transgressions. And so as to predictions yet to be
accomplished. How poor were the significance of Israel’s calling as a peculiar
people, except for prediction exalting them into the children of the Better
Covenant, into the radiating centre of the world’s salvation, into a predominant
position among the peoples of the ages to come! What, to us, were the value of
God’s revelation, that David should be king, did not prediction reveal his
appointment therein to be type and earnest of the Messianic King? That the blood
of Jesus Christ cleauseth from all sin is a most gracious revelation; but it is
prediction that designates the far-reaching magnificent consequences of that
cleansing, making the grandeur of result answer back to the grandeur of cause
(the atonement), and lighting up the truth with a noontide of splendor. That the
believer is one with Christ, as the branch with the vine, is a Divine assurance
most grateful; but prediction is the arithmetic of its preciousness, and sums it
up in a far more exceeding and eternal wealth of glory

Yes, the Blessed Holy Spirit has good reasons for the abundance of his
predictions. He knows our needs, and his benevolent mind sympathizes with us. No
wonder that his prophecies loom within the Bible horizon in Alpine proportions.
No wonder that from Genesis to Apocalypse they stud the expanse of revelation
like stars in the sky, and make of the Bible a luminous whole. No wonder that
here and there, again and again, they shine like the sun in the heavens, turning
night into day, melting winter into summer, vivifying truth with foliage and
color and fruit. No wonder that out of the bubbling spring of the Protevangelium
the woman’s promised seed on and on, all the way to the gorgeous vision of the
New Jerusalem, they have flowed like a fertilizing Nile, meeting indeed in their
course with many a cataract of calamity foretold, but watering the deserts of
human thought, and causing sorrowing souls to blossom like the rose.

If, then, we turn away from earnest, humble, patient, devout study of prophecy,
slighting the wonderful things which the Spirit has given us to understand,
substituting there for our own guesses and worldly prejudices, are we not
contemning his wisdom, are we not grieving his love? And if we find ourselves
bemoaning a lack of spiritual power, and that our churches, like the fig tree in
Gospel story, while putting forth leaves of outward prosperity, are yet without
fruit, would the cause be far to seek? For if the Bible of the Spirit is a lamp
to our feet, the prophecies of the Spirit are the brightness of its flame; if
the Bible of the Spirit is a tower into which the righteous runneth and is safe,
the prophecies of the Spirit are at once the massiveness and the loftiness of
the tower. The instructive mind of the Spirit is the spirit of prophecy.

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit in prophecy is pre-eminently a witness for Christ.

It is his own declaration that " the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
prophecy." He does indeed bear witness to Christ in the non-prophetic
Scriptures; as in the law of God, in the truth of the Atonement, in
justification by faith, and otherwise. In the prophetic Scriptures, however, not
only is all this essentially included, but the Christly testimony is more; more
in bulk, since the predictions are so numerous, more in completeness, since the
predictions are the unfolding of the final issue. For what were salvation
without its consummation? Somewhat of a torso a decapitated blessing; a present
good, yet partial, because without a delineated future. The Christ is but
defectively revealed, except he is seen in the advancing final results of his
work. A prophetic witness to Christ the Holy Spirit has been from the beginning.
Doubly so in the Old Testament, wherein his predictions embraced both comings of
Christ; singly so in the New Testament, wherein his predictions are limited to
the returning Christ; but wherein, in attitude intent, and with index finger, he
is evermore pointing us onward to the Christly glories, and with voice urging us
to utmost devotion in hastening the day of God. His predictive testimony to
Jesus is what the Spirit loves to maintain. The Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of
"the Spirit. But the Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of the kingdom; for he told
his disciples that to preach the kingdom of God was that for which he was sent
(Luke 4:43), and accordingly, as it is said, he did go everywhere preaching the
Gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23). Now what Jesus preached the Spirit
preaches, for he had the Spirit without ^measure. The Gospel of the Spirit is
the Gospel of the kingdom. It was the delight of Jesus’ heart, it is the delight
of the Spirit’s heart.

What, then, is the Gospel of the kingdom? The Gospel of repentance, faith,
forgiveness, acceptance, eternal life, is not that it? Yes, but also it is more.
Personal salvation from sin, reconciliation with God, is indeed essential to
one’s entrance into the kingdom; for the kingdom, in the person of the great
King, is grounded on his redemptive sufferings and priestly functions. But just
as the Saviour’s expiation of sin is itself not the kingdom, so the believer’s
personal salvation is itself not the same as his investiture with the kingdom.
Every saved man is sure of the kingdom; but his being saved and his having the
kingdom, while linked together as cause and effect, are two distinct things. The
Gospel of the kingdom is the good tidings of the kingdom; and while in those
good tidings is included the Gospel of salvation by faith in the atoning
Saviour, they are also our assurance of the perfection of that Gospel; they are
the ultimate expression of the efficacy of redemption, the fulness of the
Spirit’s statement of salvation, the glory of the Saviour at the highest point
of conception. This is what the Spirit in prophecy is so actively engaged in
testifying of Christ. He works to lift our eyes up and away from that inadequate
view of the Saviour, that the church is his kingdom. Instead, he fastens
attention to the nobleman’s return from the far country, bringing his kingdom
with him, as the transcendent expression of Christ. He commemorates to us the
Thessalonian believers, who, having " turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God," did then complete their Christian position by taking the
attitude of " waiting for his Son from heaven." Thus two-fold is the purpose of
his predictive testimony to Christ: first, to teach us, and prompt us to, a yet
greater and worthier honoring of the Saviour, both as to the efficacy of his
saving work and as to the final consummation of his triumph as Saviour; and
secondly, thereby to bring us into a more complete expression of experience and
character. Hence the pains the Spirit is at to make the Gospel of the kingdom
attractive; sketching that scene of royalty in such colors as to the
appreciative eye are vivid realizations; representing the King in his beauty,
around him the risen saints crowned and enthroned, earth at her jubilee,
holiness ruling the world, and Jesus, the Lamb of God, the glory of it all. Not
to study the Spirit in prophecy, therefore, is so far forth not to study Christ.
Nor are we fully in communion with the Spirit, if, in defiance of his teachings,
we are yielding to that worldly notion, so prevalent in the church, of social
progress gradually dissolving in universal blessedness, and so we are not
yearning for and expecting that Epiphany from heaven, the miraculous
introduction into the earth of the kingdom of God. Oh, there is a thrilling
sense of redemption in the prophecies. When Jesus, in the way to Emmaus,
expounded the predictions concerning himself, the hearts of the disciples burned
within them; and when the Holy Spirit, whose own was the burning power of those
words of Jesus, speaks to us of that same Jesus in the sublime oracles of the
future, what a blaze of power should be in our hearts! The Christly mind of the
Spirit is the spirit of prophecy.

Fourthly, the Holy Spirit in prophecy glorifies himself.

It is the prerogative of Deity to make a display of the Divine glory. As the
Father asserts his Eternal Majesty, and the Son, while yet in submission to his
Filial relation, asserts his equality with the Father, so the Third Person of
the adorable Trinity, while yet in submission to his Processional relation,
asserts his equality with both the Father and the Son. Not otherwise could the
Eternal Three in One enter into communication with men; and it were a forfeiture
of the Divine character of the Spirit’s revelations, if he himself were hidden
in them out of sight. It is what we should have anticipated, then, that his
sublime oracles of the future would have upon them the impress of his own
Personal glory.

We find, accordingly, that he does assert himself in prophecy with a surpassing
solemnity. " The blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whosoever
shall speak against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven, neither in this age,
nor in that which is to come." This warning was spoken by the Lord Jesus in
honor of the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit himself inspired the evangelist to
write it. Now there is a prediction in it; for in addition to its being said,
that the man committing that sin shall never be forgiven, either in this age or
in the age to come, it is of course implied that if there shall be one
committing that sin in the age to come (and the Scripture is express that there
will be more or less of sin in the millennial age), he shall not be forgiven. So
much of a prophetic word is in it, and it is the Spirit’s solemn assertion, in
connection with the age to come, of his own Eternal Majesty, his adorable
sacredness, and of how indispensable, in the salvation of men, his power shall
continue to be. But he further asserts it with a surpassing sublimity. What
wonderful works of grace he prophetically ascribes to himself. True, every word
-of the present salvation is the Spirit’s self-assertion of his glory; but
nowhere else, as in the Gospel of the kingdom, is his self-assertion so
glorious. What a wonder it were, if a whole nation, without the exception of a
single individual, were converted to God. But that very marvel of Almighty power
and grace is no dream. His own predictions claim that he will pour upon the seed
of Israel the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look on him whom
they pierced, and shall mourn as one mourneth for an only son (Zechariah 12:10);
and he will put his law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts, and
none shall say to another, know the Lord, for they shall know him from the least
of them to the greatest of them, and their iniquity shall be forgiven, and their
sin be remembered no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34); and they shall inherit the land
forever, the branch of his planting, the work of his hands, that he may be
glorified (Isaiah 60:21). Yet what is a whole nation’s conversion to God, as
compared with that of a world? when Israel’s light shall flood the globe, and
kings shall come to the brightness of her rising (Isaiah 60:1-22), and all
peoples, made willing in the day of his power, shall remember and turn to the
Lord, the skies pouring down righteousness, salvation growing up from the earth,
the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (Psalms 22:27;
Isaiah 45:8; Isaiah 32:17). Nor is this all. For as once the Spirit moved upon
the dark face of the deep, and there was light, so, his predictions assure us,
he will again move upon what he calls this groaning creation; and at his touch,
" the mountains skipping like rams, and the little hills like lambs," all things
shall become readjusted, creation’s groans be hushed, earth appear in a new
garniture of beauty, beasts of the field and fowls of heaven and creeping things
of the ground transformed, neither carnivorous beast nor poisonous creature
desecrating God’s world for evermore, and we, though now so opaque in person and
character, shall brighten over the laughing earth into a light like unto a stone
most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal (Romans 8:1-39; Hosea
2:1-23; Isaiah 11:1-16; Revelation 21:1-27).

Now what transcendent works of the Spirit. Topmost achievements of his grace and
power. And has he told us of them without designing to win us into a larger
appreciation of his preciousness to us, and thereby to promote our worshipful
reverence of him? These prophetic splendors, as though a mere background, do but
project into view the seraphic intensity of the trinal ascription, Holy, Holy,
Holy! The adorable mind of the Spirit is the spirit of prophecy.

Fifthly, the Holy Spirit in prophecy is the minister of righteousness. As in
precept, doctrine, exhortation, so in prediction, his purpose is to draw us away
from sin, and advance us in righteous living. The one pervading theme of his
prophecies is Christ; every one of them, if not directly, then indirectly,
referring to him. And what but Christ is the power of righteousness? Any event
seen to be connected with him, even if distantly, is a stream of holy influence;
just as the woman felt his health-giving virtue while yet touching but the hem
of his garment. - Read the harrowing prophecy, still in process of fulfillment,
of the calamities of the Jews, and does not the cheek tingle at that continuous
doom of unchristianness? Witness the prophecy of the Four Great Monarchies, and
while you see beforehand that gigantic image ground to powder, and are in the
midst of the confused dust of gold and silver and brass and iron and clay, you
stand aghast at the devouring jealousy of a Holy God when Christ is rejected.
But in his direct prophecies of Christ how signally the Spirit serves the cause
of righteousness. Forewarning us of yet fiercer conflicts with the world-rulers
of this darkness, the spiritual armies of wickedness, he averts unhappy
forebodings, and magnifies the free grace of the Gospel as the power for
service, by assuring us that the great dragon, the old serpent, called the Devil
and Satan, the people of God shall overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the
word of their testimony. Picturing the peeled and suffering Jews looking upon
him Whom they pierced, he makes us see that they become all righteous by the
blood that cleanseth. Arraying before us the Ancient of days sitting, his
garment white as snow, the hair of his head like pure wool, his throne fiery
flames, his wheels burning fire, he shows us the Son of man coming, coming to
the Ancient of days, coming with the clouds of heaven, giving the wicked nations
to the burning flame, receiving dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all
peoples and languages should serve him; and we turn with horror from the
atheistic sentiments now so threatening among the nations, and clasp the faith
of Christ as our only refuge from ungodliness and anarchy and perdition. He
writes down for us that word of Jesus, "Behold, I come quickly," and associates
with it the prophecy:" He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still,
and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still, and he that is righteous,
let him do righteousness still; " and we see that character at the last is a
fixture, projecting itself into the eternal state, and we think of the only
force that betimes can revolutionize character the blood that takes away sin,
the faith in Christ that works by love.

Moreover, what express emphasis the Spirit puts upon prophecy in its bearing on
a holy life. Does he warn against the loss of the soul? " The Son of man shall
come in the glory of his Father with his angels." Does he speak of subduing the
lusts of the flesh? " When Christ, your life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory." Does he command sobriety of life? "Yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." Does he
exhort us to patience in the midst of sufferings? "The coming of the Lord
draweth nigh." In fine, would he have us deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and
live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world? "Looking for that
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ."

Now the predominant sin of the church is love of the world. It invades our
thoughts, supplies our motives, captivates our affections, damages our religious
service; rules in our families, is the keynote of our social arrangements;
deadens the spirituality of deacons, elders and vestrymen, poisons the
meditations of the preacher, robs the sermon of its unction, shuts off the
congregation from the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Against it the
Spirit warns. But precept and exhortation are not enough. We need vividness of
impression. We need to SEE the working out of worldly principles and methods. It
is the Spirit’s prophecies that supply this need. His brilliant coloring of the
world’s approaching catastrophe, his panorama of the final disasters of our
boasted civilization, his startling prevision of the miraculousness of the
introduction of God’s kingdom into the earth these are the teachings that break
the spell of the enchanter, and for the sleepiness of mere hearsay substitute
the very sight of the roaring lion of the tribe of Judah. Worldliness cannot
live in the prophetic fires of the Second Coming.

Thus is it that prophecy is pre-eminently the ministry of righteousness. And it
is largely because of the neglect of it, largely because the Spirit’s
fore-written history of events to come is unstudied, unthought of, unknown, that
Christians’ lives are so far away from Gospel living, and the churches are cold
and formal. The holy mind of the Spirit is the spirit of prophecy. In the next
place, the Holy Spirit in prophecy is the Minister of joy.

Certainly he is the Spirit of joy outside the prophecies. But all the joy of
present salvation is not sufficient for our wants. So the Spirit himself has
decided, since, by reason of his itemized predictions, he multiplies the joy.
Certainly we can trust God, though we see not a step before us. Yet knowledge is
good. The specifying of one’s blessednesses is an enhancement of the
blessedness. Hence the size of the Bible; including so many things solely for
the purpose of amplifying our sensibilities.

One joy of prophecy is that of knowing God’s plan as to the varying fortunes of
the Gospel. What are now the Gospel’s circumstances in Christendom? With an eye
to its spiritual power, do we see it in the ascendant? The facts are the other
way. Multiform denials of the faith. The very basic elements of salvation
rejected, contemned, ridiculed, even in high places of the professing church
itself. The disproportion in Christendom as regards a personal profession of the
Gospel enormous. Certainly there are more true Christians in the world to-day
than ever before; but also there are more people in the world than ever before,
and the disproportion is as huge as ever. And as regards the minority making the
profession the ratio of spiritual reality to unreality microscopic; a minority
within a minority. A tiny lump of sugar in a gallon of coffee. And has it not
always been so? The three thousand at Pentecost, in itself a magnificent
triumph, was but a minim out of the myriads in Jerusalem that day. And to-day
more than a billion of mankind know nothing of the saving virtue of the Lord
Jesus. Whence is our comfort as regards the destiny of the Gospel? If you point
to Japan, and say, Behold, a mighty nation getting ready to proclaim
Christianity as the national religion, at once the bluff fact strikes us in the
face that they are fascinated by the material prosperity of Christendom; and
obtrusive is the inference, as is that of a theorem in geometry, that, having
nationally adopted Christianity, they will only have become like the other
so-called Christian nations. Or if you say, In spite of this outlook, we have
the word of our God that the Gospel shall ultimately prevail, I answer, Yes,
even a general assurance from God we clasp to our hearts. But how much more
assuring it would be, if God were so good as to lay before us his plan for the
future of the Gospel. And God has been so good. We learn from the prophecies
that the state of things around us is just what was foretold from the beginning;
and also, as to what is yet before the church, that atheism and blasphemy and
moral corruption will be holding high carnival at the time of the Lord’s coming,
and the Antichrist, the Colossus of falsehood and crime, shall then be at the
acme of his imperial sway; but that then him, the man of sin, the son of
perdition, the lawless one, the Lord Jesus shall destroy by the Epiphany of his
coming.

Then shall Christ reign, putting all enemies under his feet, and the succession
of the redeemed be as the dewdrops daily issuing from the womb of the morning.

Pessimism, you say? No, not pessimism, but optimism of the most effective kind.
While recognizing what is patent to every eye, the never-diminishing numerical
majority against the Gospel, we yet know God’s plan, and we triumph in the
assurance of the all-conquering Epiphany of Jesus out of heaven.

Here, then, is history written before. We see the mile-posts of the future.
Trees in the great black forests are notched to blaze the way of the coming
jubilee of the Gospel. Things are not at loose ends. God’s purpose is fixed, his
eye watchful, his hand over all. It is our joy of specific knowledge; the joy of
particularized assurance; a balm for depression, a cordial for our fears.
Accordingly, in times of persecution, the Church has always found her refuge in
prophecy. With the early Christians ill their conflicts with pagan Rome, with
the Waldenses in their conflicts with papal Rome, the very service-book, the
vade mecum, was the Apocalypse. A joy it is to be apprised beforehand of the
course of events leading on 10 victory. We have but to stand in our place, and
give our testimony. God will take care of his Gospel.

Another joy of prophecy is that of anticipating completed redemption. What is
completed redemption? The salvation of a soul is that not redemption? Yes, and
glorious indeed; still only partial redemption. A whole world of saved sinners,
is that not redemption? Yes, and yet more glorious; still only partial
redemption. The advancement of all saved sinners to the honors and the glories
with which the boundless God may 11 the eternal state, is that not redemption?
Yes, and more and more glorious; still only partial redemption. For are we to
consider man apart from his home? How incongruous, if a drunkard were reformed,
and elevated to respectability and dignity, while yet his home were left in the
disgraceful condition inflicted by his drunkenness; the house still infested
with filth and disorder, the window panes shattered and ragged, the fences
broken down, the garden overrun with weeds, unkempt and uncared for. What is
home? Is there a forlorner wretch than the man without a home? Now has not earth
been fitted up as the home of mankind? When God expended upon it his six days’
creation work, arranging it, furnishing it, making it very good, did he mean it
for only a temporary abiding place? And when sin came, did it strike the
inhabitants only? Didn’t it wrench and impair the frame of creation? Even the
atmosphere was worsened; for now it made necessary to man the wearing of
clothing. In his Edenic state the esthetics of his soul were inconceivably
higher, purer, sweeter, so that the clothing, which is now so much an expression
of the beautiful, would have been in that superior condition of being an
impertinence, a smear; his conceptions of fitness and beauty being so far above
the present possibilities of culture, as a Raphael’s Madonna the daub of a
Hottentot. Man fell not only from holiness into sin, but also, and by
consequence, from the heaven of the science of the beautiful into a beggary of
thought and feeling. And the point is, that the chill, piercing winds of winter,
themselves the result of man’s sin, and making clothing a necessity, are ever
reminding him of this downward transition, as though they were a sort of human
conscience, and themselves a part of the human self. Milton stated it none too
strongly:

" Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works,
gave signs of woe That all was lost." And now when redemption came, did it
stretch forth the uplifting hand to the inhabitant alone, and not also to the
home? Besides, forasmuch as the scenes of inconceivable beauty that draped the
unfalleu earth were what touched into consummate action the pure aesthetics of
unfallen man, it follows that the restitution of earth to at least its original
beauty is a condition precedent to regaining for man his lost sense of the
beautiful. The redemption of man himself takes along with it the redemption of
the earth. Not till then will redemption have been completely realized. And this
is what the Spirit in prophecy authorizes us to anticipate. The creation, he
says, groaning and travailing in pain together until now, is waiting, in earnest
expectation, for the manifestation of the sons of God; having been made subject
to vanity in hope that itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans
8:19-22). Thus the inhabitants and their home: the one the reflection of the
glorious freedom of the other. So fixed and sure is this purpose of God, the
earth and its atmosphere are represented as thrilling with hope, and stretching
out the neck in longing to catch the dawning of the day of regeneration. That
deliverance will be somewhat as when the worm has become a butterfly: so much
more beautiful now than before. Crisp and delightful as is often now our morning
air, and charming as are so many landscapes, the earth then shall be so far
superior to what it is now. Matter, which ranges from iron ore or granite rock
to the imponderable ether pervading the universe, is capable, by the
manipulation of God, of taking on a heavenly magnificence. Matter the Eternal
Son of God took into personal union with himself, and lo! with a brightness
above that of the midday sun it dazzled to blindness Saul of Tarsus. Matter,
sown in corruption, shall be raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor, shall be
raised in glory; sown in weakness, shall be raised in power; sown an animal
body, shall be raised a body with Divine life from the Spirit. And then " the
light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun
shall be seven-fold " (Isaiah 30:26). And yet " the moon shall be confounded and
the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Ziou, and before
his ancients gloriously " (Isaiah 24:23). And so " we look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Peter 3:13). That will be
redemption completed.

Now is not this a joy of anticipation congenial to the human soul? next to that
of friendship with God, the greatest joy conceivable? Says Dr. Chalmers, in his
sermon on the new heavens and the new earth, To think of our future locality as
" a lofty aerial region, where the inmates float in ether, or are mysteriously
suspended upon nothing, where every vestige of materialism, is done away,
certainly tends to abate the interest with which we might otherwise look to the
perspective that is on the other side of the grave." " It altogether holds out,"
he continues, "a warmer and more alluring picture of the elysium that awaits us;
when told, that there will be ground to walk upon, beauty to delight the eye,
music to regale the ear, smiles that play on the human countenance, accents of
kindness that fall in soft and soothing melody from the human voice." It only
needs that matter shall be clarified of the evil effects of man’s sin, to bring
it into heavenly harmony with heavenly man, and to make the earth a heavenly
seat of the kingdom of heaven for which we are praying. O joy that warms the
heart, that contents us to bear the whips and stings of suffering, that makes
heavenly-mindedness attractive! The joyous mind of the Spirit is the spirit of
prophecy.

Finally, the Holy Spirit in prophecy is the promoter of Christian foreign
missions. In one of his most important oracles he foretells that " this Gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations, and then shall the end come." Not when the Gospel shall have been truly
received by all nations, but when it shall have been preached as a witness to
them; not when the world shall have been converted, but when it shall have been
evangelized. The nearer, then, we are to that great objective point, the
evangelizing of all nations, the nearer we are to the end of this world-age;
nearer to that revelation of glory, of which the scene on the Mount of
Transfiguration was the earnest and demonstration. Not universal success in
converting men, but universal activity in calling them to conversion is the
crisis of the world’s history.

Now what a motive is this for the urgency of aggressive Christian work. The
Church’s business is to testify the Gospel " whether men will hear, or whether
they will forbear." Her success is to be measured, not by the number of her
converts, but by the extent and thoroughness of her testimony, and by her taking
out of the nations a people for his name (a very little flock it may be), Acts
15:14. And grand success it is, even though her converts be not more than as one
grain of wheat in a bushel of chaff; for merely by her spread of the Gospel
message she is hastening on the day of the Lord. The heathen may reject the
missionary’s good tidings in as large numbers as do the evangelized masses of
Christendom. The churches at home may grow worldly, the tares everywhere
luxuriant, the goats multiplying faster than the sheep. Churchmen may call in
question the claims of world -evangelization, and, by statistical figures, which
are said, by a grim sarcasm, not to lie, prove to their own satisfaction that
missions are a failure. In heathendom, as in Christendom, pride may deify the
human intellect; science, so-called, may wag its cerberus heads at the crucified
Jesus, and philosophy, perverted, with its Briareus arms, essay to unseat the
Lord God Almighty. Discouragement may cloud the prospect to those true-hearted
stewards of the Gospel who, unfortunately for themselves, are dwelling in the
low valley of unprophetic Christian thought. But to the workers on the mountain
top of prophecy, how farreaching the view, what a horizon of triumph; for when,
by God’s blessing, in spite of indifference or ridicule, the faithful shall have
testified the message amongst all peoples, the Lord Jesus himself shall take
care of the rest. He will come, he will come! His arrows shall be sharp in the
heart of the King’s enemies; going forth conquering and to conquer on behalf of
truth and meekness and righteousness. And how much the sanctified enthusiasm of
this prophetic prospect has had to do with the progress and achievement of
foreign missions may be seen in such names as Marty n, Wolf, Heber, Gutzlaff,
Bettleheim, Duff, J. Hudson Taylor and his 300 missionaries in China, Guinness,
Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftsbury (clarum and venerabile nomen), and others:men,
whether in foreign lands, or workers at home for the cause, hot with missionary
zeal, and students of prophecy, sympathizers with the mind of the Spirit. But
why speak of lesser names? The greatest missionary of the Christian ages, he who
dwelt with rapture on creation’s hope of the manifestation of the sons of God;
who did not believe that Christian culture and civilization would gradually
develop into the millennium, but emphasized the predicted falling away in the
professing church, and the perilous times in the last days; who was ever looking
for the Epiphany of the Lord’s presence, and the miraculous introduction of his
kingdom; what were his labors as a foreign missionary? From the falling of the
scales off his eyes at Damascus, till he sat behind the grated windows of Nero’s
prison; whether journeying in deserts, traversing seas, beaten with stones,
clanking his chains; whether on the beach at Miletus, or scaling Mount Olympus,
or on Mars’ Hill, or in a Philippian prison; who can compare with him as to work
done and difficulties encountered? At that marvelous recital forced from him by
his detractors " In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons
more frequent, in deaths oft; of the Jews five times received I forty stripes
save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in
perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and
nakedness " can we help exclaiming with Erskine in the British Parliament, "
Great God, what a salary for a faithful minister! " But his love of Christ and
his prophetic faith bore him onward. And triumphantly he carried the Gospel of
the kingdom from Antioch to Illyricum, from the Euxine to the pillars of
Hercules; and in less than a quarter of a century he had evangelized twenty
nations, besides the islands of Cyprus and Crete. The missionary mind of the
Spirit is the spirit of prophecy.

Look back now over this rapid sketch. The spirit of prophecy is a composite of
characteristics, Divine and human, a focus of excellencies; for like a
sun-glass, prophecy converges to a point the Spirit’s rays of light and heat,
and sets the soul aflame. The intelligible mind of the Spirit, the instructive
mind of the Spirit, the Christly mind of the Spirit, the adorable mind of the
Spirit, the holy mind of the Spirit, the joyous mind of the Spirit, the
missionary mind of the Spirit, these are the spirit of prophecy. Take away what
of the Holy Spirit prophecy gives us, and, comparatively, how little we should
know of him. Would we have a livelier enjoyment of his fellowship? O Blessed
Spirit of God, who art thyself our patient, gentle, untiring Companion and
Friend, by day and by night, without whom never a spiritual consolation felt,
never a duty well done, never a trial sweetly borne, never a triumph in death,
and by whom not seldom we are rapt into a speechless pleasure of worship, can it
be, by this love of thine, that we have the heart to slight what thou hast been
at pains to teach us? We hear thee say, " He that hath my Word, let him speak my
Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? " With bowed heads and smitten
hearts, reverently, lovingly we answer thee, Amen and Amen!


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  CHAPTER 15: 02.00. THROUGH NIGHT TO MORNING
========================================================================

THROUGH NIGHT TO MORNING by A. C. Dixon, B.A., D.D.

AUTHOR OF "The Glories of the Cross," "Back to the Bible,"

"The Bright Side of Life," "The Bright Side of Death,"

"Christian Character," Etc.

Printed for THE GOSPEL HOUR, INC. Greenville, S.C. no Copyright date The Gospel
Hour, Inc., Greenville, South Carolina edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer
~ out-of-print and in the public domain ~ No Evidence of a Current Copyright for
the Printed Book Found

During online Internet searches of the Library of Congress database in
Washington D.C., performed on 6-11-2005, no evidence of a current copyright was
found for this publication.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 16: 02.00.2.     E-SWORD PREFACE
========================================================================

Preface As an e-Sword user, and a resource creator, I always try to find quality
works I believe will be beneficial to others in their studies. I hope this fits
that description, and that all who use this module will find it to be a
blessing. To Dr. David S. Thomason, Ed Sandlin, and Pamela Marshall, Thank You
for all of your help in proofscanning, I couldn’t do it without you all. A
special thanks to Virgil Butts from Baptist Bible Believers for providing the
text. To see this book and many other wonderful Fundamental Christian works,
check out his website. http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/ Your Brother In
Christ, Jason L. Briggs


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 17: 02.00.3.     TABLE OF CONTENTS
========================================================================

TABLE OF CONTENTS

01. JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalms 30:5).

02. GOING ON TO PERFECTION

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection: not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and
of faith towards God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and
of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:1-2).

03. ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

04. GOOD CHEER FOR LITTLE FAITH

"Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

05. SALVATION

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house"
(Acts 16:30-31).

06. SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by
Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

07. SAVING FAITH

"Thy faith hath saved thee" (Luke 18:42).

08. HOPE FOR BACKSLIDERS

"I will heal their backslidings" (Hosea 14:4).

09. THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED

"I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

10. HOW TO PRAY

"After this manner therefore pray ye" (Matthew 6:9).

11. RAISING DRY BONES

"And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord
God, Thou knowest" (Ezekiel 37:3).

12. THE YOUNG CONVERT’S VISION

"Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision"
(Acts 26:19).

13. ETERNAL LIFE

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36).

14. FRIENDSHIP-LOVE

"Covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way"
(1 Corinthians 12:31).

15. A TRIUNE WORLD

"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the
kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

16. SALT

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and
to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13).

17. HALLELUJAH

"Praise ye the Lord" (Psalms 146:1).

18. GRACE

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in
time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

19. COMFORT FOR SHUT-INS

"The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance
of the Gospel." (Php 1:12).


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  CHAPTER 18: 02.00.4.     AUTHOR'S PREFACE
========================================================================

PREFACE THE object of this volume of Gospel talks is to win souls to CHRIST and
to edify Christians. May the GOD who blessed them in delivery continue to bless
them in this form, is my earnest prayer.

A. C. Dixon


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 19: 02.01.     JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING
========================================================================

SERMON ONE -

JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalms 30:5).

EVERY day of twenty-four hours is made up of the daylight and the twilight, the
night and the morning. In the winter the nights are long, the days are short;
hence the gloom and the cold. In the summer the days are long, the nights are
short; hence the flowers in bloom, the birds in song, and the beauty of nature.

With some Christians it is winter-long nights with short days, much darkness and
cold. With others it is summer-long days and short nights, with the bloom of
flowers, and the song of birds, and beauty all about them. But with all
Christians every night is followed by its morning, whether it be the long night
of winter or the short night of summer.

We want, first of all, to

LOOK AT THE NIGHT,

and then at the morning; to inquire what makes the night, and then what gives
the morning. What is it that changes sadness into gladness, the gloom into the
gleam?

There are many things that make the night. The guilt of sin is a dark night.
When Bunyan’s Pilgrim realized that he was living in a city to be destroyed, he
had happiness in nothing. And when you began to realize that the condemnation of
GOD’s righteous law was upon you, it was a dark night. The dread of temptation,
the fear of to-morrow, the consciousness of failure, the experience of
backsliding, and the sense of utter helplessness that comes with them, may make
a sort of perpetual night.

A very dark night with some is the knowledge of sin in others. And when there
goes with the knowledge a consciousness that we are responsible for the sin -
some example of ours, some neglect of ours, or perhaps some sin of ours, makes
us responsible for the sin that has blasted other lives - the night grows
darker.

There is also the night of doubt. The darkest day in the lives of the Apostles
was, I think, the day between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, when they
were in doubt as to what was to be the issue.

They were crouching in the shadow. There was not a song that day. I am afraid
there was not a prayer. It was a day of darkness. Their Lord was in the
sepulchre. His enemies had prevailed against Him, and the disciples seemed to be
on the defeated side. There comes to many a Christian this experience of doubt
as to the fundamentals - it may be doubt as to the Lord Himself, doubt as to the
word of promise and prophecy, doubt as to your confidence in your Christian
character, the imperfections of which you have seen so frequently; then is
created a night of doubt.

Sometimes there is a sunset at noonday caused by sudden calamity. The Titanic
goes down in mid-ocean and all the world is in a night of calamity. Thousands of
people are affected by it. Homes are darkened, communities are in mourning.
There comes into your life some great disaster. You find yourself standing in
the midst of wrecks that you cannot repair, and the night creeps over your soul.

There is the night of bereavement in the death of loved ones - the shadow of
death. And it is harder sometimes to walk through the shadow than through the
reality - immensely easier to die than to see others die. The shadow of
bereavement settles down upon the home.

The night of affliction may be upon us in the midst of it all. Bodily ailments,
physical pain, infirmity, inability to work, even to worship, nervousness - all
sorts of imaginary forebodings. It is pronounced incurable, and then comes a
sort of permanent midnight.

I have rehearsed these things that make up the night, in order that we may turn
our vision to what gives the morning, and the proposition of my sermon is this

THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS A MORNING TO EVERY NIGHT.

Let us look at the night of sin. The mercy of GOD may seem to have a glimmer of
morning in it.

You realize that you are a lost sinner, and that GOD is merciful. But the mercy
of GOD suggests His justice; the love of GOD is linked with His holiness.
Meditating simply upon the mercy of GOD will never give a day-dawn to the night
of sin’s guilt. It is dawn when you realize that mercy and justice have both
been satisfied, righteousness and holiness have been met, and that GOD now can
remain GOD, occupying His throne of righteousness and at the same time be
merciful unto the guilty. It was when you caught a glimpse of JESUS CHRIST as
the Guiltbearer that the night of sin began to dawn into day. It is not the fact
of the Atonement, great as that is, that brings light, but the living CHRIST
with the marks of the Cross upon His person abiding with you.

John the Baptist said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world," then those disciples caught a vision of CHRIST as Sinbearer. We are told
"they... abode with Him"; the Lamb of GOD Who bore their sins is sitting by them
and holding sweet fellowship with them.

There comes a day-dawn to the night of temptation. You have a temper you cannot
control. It has given you some nights of gloom and sadness. You have an appetite
that your will cannot subdue, and you have been suffering as the result of
defeat. You have tendencies in your nature that you have not been able to
master, and the defeat that has followed each time has been a night to your
soul.

What is the day-dawn to that night? It is the realization that the living Lord
JESUS CHRIST is greater than your temper, greater than your appetite, greater
than all the powers of sin that work in your members. If you trust JESUS CHRIST,
He will give you the victory every day: Let your weakness be linked with His
power, and there will come a day-dawn at once.

Thomas had his night of doubts. He was in midnight gloom. And how did he get rid
of it? By a course of arguing? By a syllogism? Did he just put together
encouraging things and draw conclusions from them? Perhaps there was that kind
of arguing in his mind, but the thing that drove the night from Thomas was the
vision of CHRIST bearing the marks of the Cross. "My Lord and my God," was the
response of his heart, and the night was gone; the day had appeared in its
glory.

As to the night of calamities, you can get a gleam, perhaps, from argument. John
B. Gough said, when he went down to the Crystal Palace on his first visit to
England, he was overwhelmed by the glory of the pyrotechnics. "It was a
magnificent display," he said, "on a very dark night." But presently it all
sank, the air was filled with bad odours, and he looked out upon gloom. "At that
moment," he said, "I took a glance at the heavens, and there I saw the stars in
their glory. I said, "Thank God for His stars; there is no pyrotechnic display
about them." There is greater glory in the stars than in fireworks.

Baron Humboldt, when in South America, experienced his first earthquake. He
said, "The house near me tumbled to pieces; the earth was reeling like a drunken
man." He looked out on the ocean and it had receded; the ships were thrown on
the beach. He said, "This earth, which I thought was stable, is all in motion;
it seems to be in convulsions." Then he looked up at the sky. It smiled in quiet
and gave him a peaceful heart, as he thought of the permanence of the heavens.

Yes, that is true; there are some things that abide while the earthly things are
crumbling, tottering and passing away. But arguing thus is not like having with
you the One Who holds the stars in His hand, and has made His personal pledge to
you that He is going to see you through.

The Lord JESUS CHRIST Himself, in any calamity, is more than argument. I have
gone to see Christian people after they had lost their fortunes. One man of
wealth, because of a new invention which spoiled his business, found himself
reduced to poverty. That man was not in the night: he was happy and radiant,
because he had a better consciousness of CHRIST’s presence. He said, "I never
knew what it was to have JESUS as all in all until I found myself reduced almost
to beggary, and began to count up my riches in CHRIST. I was a millionaire in
Him and did not know it."

He had to move down to a small, insignificant street, but he took CHRIST with
him, and he knew Him better down there than he did on the Avenue in the midst of
wealth.

When you come to afflictions, the fact that GOD can heal the body is a glimmer
of dawn. The best picture Tissot painted is the one which represents JESUS
coming along the highway, and a long string of people are sitting by the road,
this one with a crutch, that one with his bed, and every one of them indicating
that they are ill and waiting for His appearance. Behind Him there is no one
sitting by the wayside; all are restored to health, and running across the
fields, going home.

Where JESUS CHRIST has come they have all gotten well; His touch has healed
every one of them.

He can heal the afflicted, for He is GOD the Healer. But suppose He does not
heal? Then the glad hope that by and by, in the new order of things in Heaven,
there will be no disease and all sickness shall have disappeared, gives a glad
gleam of the dawn. We can quote the promise, "All things work together for good
to them that love God," and our heart sings for joy as we quote it. But the
day-dawn does not grow very much brighter.

Dr. Wallace, the scientist, has asserted that the very existence of the fertile
portions of this earth depends upon its deserts; that if we had no desert of
Sahara there would not be a vineyard within a thousand miles. The vineyard on
the hillside is dependent on the desert. The scientist says that it is the
particles which come from the desert, floating in the air, that makes the clouds
and rain possible; and if you remove the desert, you remove the fertility.

Whether that be scientific truth or not, it is certainly true that what we call
the desert places of life, the times when we have to keep quiet; when there is
no strength for money-making or for active duty, but we must just be still and
wait upon GOD; such times of quiet prepare us for the times of activity: the
desert gives the fertility.

The night makes the morning. The morning comes and drives away the night, it is
true, but GOD knows how to make the night produce the morning. Jesus said, "Your
sorrow shall be turned into joy." Your sorrow shall be transmuted into joy. And
certain it is that the darkness of Bedford Jail made the morning dawn of
Pilgrim’s Progress. It was out of the darkness of the jail the allegory came
that has gone over the world and down the ages.

It was the darkness of Wartburg Castle, into which Luther was thrust, that made
the light of the German translation of the Bible. It is the darkness of Calvary,
with its broken heart and its sin-bearing, that makes the light of salvation and
of Heaven.

GOD knows how to make the morning out of the night. He can touch the black
charcoal into diamonds. He knows how to speak and the darkness becomes light.
The very affliction that would drag you down lifts you up; the things that are
weights become wings. That which, if you could, you would have prevented lifts
you up to Heaven.

When Sir William Russell was on the way to the scaffold, he took his watch out
of his pocket and handed it to the physician who waited upon him, as he said,
"Will you kindly take my timepiece and keep it; I have no more use for it; I am
now dealing with eternity." With us Time is slipping away; eternity is coming.
And it is the presence of CHRIST which fits the Christian to deal with eternity.

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."
Why? Because I will meet my loved ones by and by? Because the separation is very
brief? Yes, but the principal reason is, Because "THOU ART WITH ME. Thy rod and
Thy staff they comfort me." The SHEPHERD is with us, and joy comes through His
presence. As we deal with eternity, JESUS CHRIST, the everlasting GOD, is the
only One Who can make the day-dawn.

Shall I apply this a little more widely? The world is in a night. The darkness
in the Egypt of unbelief about us is growing deeper and darker, while the light
in the Goshen of faith is growing brighter and brighter. Our faces are towards
the morning. The Bride of CHRIST is being made ready; the Church is being called
out. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his
sheaves with him."

The time of sowing and of growing may be the time of shadows. We may sow in the
winter in anticipation of spring. We may sow in the cold and the fog, looking
for the harvest in GOD’s own time. It is ours to go ahead with the sowing,
though tears may water the seed. By and by the harvest song and the harvest
home.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Whatever be the night of your weeping, look forward to the morning. Better than
that, have the morning now, for THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN HIS FULNESS IS THE
MORNING.


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  CHAPTER 20: 02.02.     GOING ON TO PERFECTION
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SERMON TWO -

GOING ON TO PERFECTION

"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and
of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands, and
of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Hebrews 6:1-2).

THE house in its building leaves the foundation without forsaking it. The book
in its writing leaves the alphabet without forsaking it. The anthem in its
making leaves the scale without forsaking it. The foundation remains an
essential part of the house, the alphabet an essential part of the book, and the
scale an essential part of the anthem. So the Christian, in "[going] on unto
perfection," leaves some of the first principles without forsaking them. Though
in a sense he has risen above and passed beyond them, he carries them with him
as an essential part of his life and character.

Some of these fundamental principles, which we are to leave without forsaking,
are given in the text, and it is our purpose to consider them.

FOUNDATIONAL EXPERIENCE

A foundational experience is in the words, "repentance from dead works."

It is not repentance from sin. Sin is not a dead work, but rather a work that
kills. It is the assassin which by slow poison or dagger thrust murders the
soul. A dead work is a work upon the merit of which one depends for salvation
apart from JESUS CHRIST. It is dead because it is separated from the source of
all spiritual life. The man who depends upon his character as the ground of
justification before GOD, while he declares that he has no need of an atoning
Saviour, is relying upon a dead work - dead because it is a character without
the life of GOD in it.

The man who depends upon salvation through baptism or any other external
ordinance, is trusting to a dead work. The "fruit of the Spirit" grows upon the
tree of grace. Dead works are like wax fruits manufactured and hung upon a tree.
They look like fruit, but are not, because they lack the life of the tree. They
are mere imitations of life.

Max Miller declares that the difference between Christianity and all other
religions is in the fact that Christianity saves by grace, and all other
religions seek to save by works.

- Salvation by grace humbles the soul, while salvation by works glorifies self.
- In salvation by works "Christ, and Him crucified" is displaced by man and him
glorified. - Salvation by grace produces live, luscious fruit; salvation by
works produces only dead, tasteless imitations of fruit. Even the fruits of the
Spirit become dead works, if depended upon for salvation.

"Love, joy, [and] peace," as fruits upon the tree of life, are alive and good,
but "love, joy, [and] peace," depended upon as our ground of justification
before GOD, are dead works.

Church membership as the expression of CHRIST’s life within us is living fruit,
but Church membership as a basis for salvation is a dead work.

FOUNDATIONAL ATTITUDE

A foundational attitude of soul is in the words, "faith toward God." It is the
opposite of "faith toward works." There can be no growth without this soul
attitude toward GOD. As well try to make a plant grow that never turns its
leaves towards the sun. As well seek the development of animal life without the
light.

It is more than faith towards truth. One may believe that the Bible is the Word
of GOD without trusting GOD for salvation.

One may even believe in the Deity of CHRIST without trusting CHRIST as Saviour.

One may believe in salvation by grace without appropriating grace for his own
salvation.

It is said that Michael Angelo looked up at the domes of buildings so much that
he acquired the upward look wherever he went. GOD give us the habit of the
upward look toward Himself, and then upward growth toward perfection will be
more rapid.

FOUNDATIONAL DISPOSITION

A foundational disposition is in the words, "the doctrine of baptisms."

There may be reference to the ceremonial washings of the Jews or to Christian
baptism, perhaps to both, but the underlying meaning is the same in each case.
The Jews practised ceremonial washings because they believed that GOD commanded
them. The Christians practised baptism because CHRIST commanded it. The
disposition of the soul was the same in both cases, though the disposition of
the Christian marked a higher type of spirituality than the disposition of the
Jew. In both cases, however, that disposition could be defined as the spirit of
obedience.

It was a desire to please One Whose authority they acknowledged.

This disposition is essential to Christian growth. Indeed, it is essential to
Christianity itself. No one who lacks it is a Christian. CHRIST was obedient
unto death, and, if we have not the Spirit of CHRIST, we are none of His.

This disposition, for the lack of knowledge, may show itself in mistaken ways.
It may fail to do the exact thing that CHRIST commanded, and yet may not be
excused for ignorance when knowledge is in reach; but the disposition to
obedience in the soul is more important than the outward act. A mother told her
children to go into the garden and gather some flowers. The happy laughter which
came from the garden was proof that the disposition to obey imposed no burden.
Two of the children came into the house with their hands full of roses, but one
little half-witted boy, who heard his mother’s request, came in with his hands
full of weeds and sticks which he had gathered. There were no flowers among
them, and yet the mother forgot the bright children with the flowers, while she
took the half-witted boy into her lap and kissed him and praised him for what he
had done.

In act he had disobeyed, but in disposition he was obedient. It was the
disposition that counted with the mother as she took the handful of weeds and
sticks and arranged them for a place on the table beside the flowers. If, in
ignorance, we bring only weeds and sticks, while others bring their flowers, He
will not despise the disposition which prompts the act.

FOUNDATIONAL FAITH

A foundational faith is in the words, "resurrection of the dead." Both words in
the Greek are without the article and indicate a "resurrection of dead things,"
whether souls, bodies, or institutions.

It is fundamental that a Christian believe in resurrection, which means the
power of GOD to give life to the dead. Of course he believes in the resurrection
of JESUS CHRIST. His Lord was crucified, dead and buried, and rose from the dead
on the third day according to the Scriptures. The very body that was laid away
in weakness came forth in power. Of course the Christian believes in the
resurrection of his own body. The plants that spring up from the soil, budding
and blooming above the grave of his loved ones in the springtime, are to him
symbolic of the fact that the dead who are in their graves shall hear the voice
of the Son of GOD and shall come forth.

There are dead souls all about us, and the soul dead to GOD can be made to pass
from death unto life through "the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who
believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in
Christ, when He raised Him from the dead."

In other words, the resurrection power of GOD is ready to co-operate with our
faith in raising dead souls to life.

Faith in this resurrection power is essential to success in winning souls to
CHRIST. There are no hard cases. GOD can raise to life one dead soul as easily
as another. There may be degrees of life, but there are no degrees of death.
Every corpse is equally dead. Lazarus was no more dead the fourth day than he
was the moment after the breath left his body. Every bone in Ezekiel’s vision
was equally dead, and it was, therefore, as impossible to raise one as another.
But when, in response to Ezekiel’s prayer, the breath of GOD came upon them,
they were all equally capable of resurrection. The miracle-working
resurrection-power of GOD is the one thing needed in order to bring about the
salvation of the wickedest man or woman in the world.

FOUNDATIONAL EQUIPMENT

A foundational equipment is in the words, "laying on of hands."

Beyond doubt this refers to the enduement of the HOLY SPIRIT. The Apostles laid
their hands on people and they received the HOLY SPIRIT. What relation the
laying on of hands had to the imparting of the HOLY SPIRIT we are not told. It
may have been the method by which the miraculous gift of the Spirit was imparted
to others, or it may have been in recognition of the fact that the HOLY SPIRIT
was already given.

As to whether anyone to-day has the power to impart the HOLY SPIRIT to another
we do not know. If it be true, then our difficulty is in finding the person or
persons who have such power. There are those who claim the power by virtue of
their official position, but their credentials are not satisfactory to some of
us. However, we need not spend time in seeking to learn whether or not one may
impart the HOLY SPIRIT to another after we have learned, on the authority of
GOD’s Word, that every Christian may receive the HOLY SPIRIT for himself.

The ceremony of imparting may, with reason, give way to the act of receiving.
JESUS said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them
that ask Him." Here the HOLY SPIRIT is offered for the asking. James wrote, "Ye
have not, because ye ask not."

It was while the Apostles were at prayer that the HOLY SPIRIT came upon them at
Pentecost, not while they were laying hands on each other. As JESUS CHRIST is
the gift of God for salvation, so the HOLY SPIRIT is the gift for power. For
power in service it is foundational and fundamental that we pray for the gift of
the HOLY SPIRIT and receive the gift by faith.

FOUNDATIONAL EXPECTATION

A foundational expectation is in the words, "eternal judgment."

"Judgment" may mean a decree for us or against us, though its usual meaning is a
decree of condemnation. Judgment for the penitent believer is eternal, and
judgment against the impenitent unbeliever is eternal.

Certainly there is no teaching that either decree will be revoked after death.

But what has my faith in eternal salvation for the righteous, and eternal
condemnation for the wicked, to do with the perfection of Christian character?
Much every way. The man who believes that the destinies of men are not settled
in this life, but that they will have another chance after death, lacks
incentive to earnestness in living or working for the salvation of others. If I
can repent in the future, why not eat, drink and be merry here, if I feel so
inclined? If my friends may be saved after death, why should I be earnestly
concerned about them now?

The doctrine of future restoration is paralysis to Christian earnestness, while
it is an opiate for the conscience of the man who wants to live in sin. It is
index to a shallow surface view of sin and holiness. It would comfort with a
false hope some whose loved ones have lived and died in unbelief at the risk of
damning thousands who ought to repent and turn to GOD to-day.

FOUNDATIONAL NECESSITY

A foundational necessity is, by fair inference, at the bottom of all this. It is
a two-fold necessity:

First, if we would "go on unto perfection" we must have these elemental and
essential things.

- We must have an experience of salvation by grace; - we must live with the
attitude of faith toward GOD; - we must have the disposition to obedience; - we
must be endued with the HOLY SPIRIT; - we must exercise faith in the
resurrection power of GOD; - and we must be influenced by the expectation of
eternal judgment for saints and against sinners.

Let us see to it that we have this foundation before we try to build; this
alphabet before we try to write a literature of Christian life; this musical
scale before we seek to compose the songs of life.

A second necessity is, that, having the foundation, the alphabet, the scale, we
should begin at once and persevere in erecting the building, writing the
literature, composing the songs.

More than twenty-five years ago the foundation of a great Cathedral was laid in
Brooklyn, and the foundation, covered with grass, was still there without a
building, when I saw it last, suggestive of failure to every passer-by.

- Some children have learned their alphabet and then refused to study, their
ignorance and illiteracy a reproach to them and their parents. - Some have
learned the musical scale and then ceased their efforts, willing to remain
ignorant of music.

Is our experience like a foundation without a superstructure? like a book all
alphabet and no literature? like a musical composition all scale and no
harmonies? Hear the command, "Let us go on unto perfection." Run toward the
goal. If you cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, creep or crawl - but "go on."
Begin with what you are and have. Do not wait for more before you begin to seek
the best.

An artist spent years looking for a piece of wood out of which to carve an
image, and, after searching the country for it, he found just what he needed,
hard, smooth and finegrained, lying neglected in his own home yard.

A farmer’s son in America went to College and studied mining engineering. He was
offered a position at a salary of 25 dollars a week, but he refused, saying that
he intended gaining a fortune by discovering a rich mine. He went west and
worked for years in search of his rich mine, with an income of less than 25
dollars a week, and returned home discouraged, to find that his younger brother,
sitting one day on a stone in the shade of a tree, noticed that in the stone
there were some little white particles unlike the rest of it. He had the stone
tested and found that it was an index to a great silver mine on the old farm,
which enriched the family.

Let us begin where we are, with the commonplaces of life, and seek to make out
of them the best we can.

Do not make the mistake of gazing at the stars a million miles away and falling
into the ditch at your feet. Do not forget the stars, but look out for the
ditch. In its gravelly bottom may be a fortune for you. The stars will keep. We
may reach them best by way of the ditch. I would not "hitch my wagon to a star,"
for stars were not made to guide or hold wagons, but I would try to make my old
wagon the star wagon of the neighbourhood. Use commonplace things for GOD.
Invest your own common everyday life for His glory, and see if He does not pay
interest in your transfigured character.

As Christians should begin at once with what they have, and "go on unto
perfection," so every sinner should begin at once with what he has and become a
Christian. He can make a beginning with his sins. If he is honest, he will not
have to go far to find them. Make an inventory of them before GOD and ask Him to
forgive for the sake of CHRIST. You may not know much about CHRIST. Perhaps you
have been taught to believe that He is not divine. I will not stop to argue with
you, though I think the argument strong enough to convince an unbiased mind.

Begin on the sure foundation that you are a sinner and need salvation. Then
confess your sins to GOD and accept the CHRIST you know as the Sin-bearer. He
will do the rest. I promise you that if you will make an honest confession of
your sin and accept the CHRIST you know as Saviour, you will then have revealed
to you the full-orbed CHRIST as He is.

A Pastor in New York urged an intellectual but dissipated man in his parish to
become a Christian.

The man replied, "I cannot believe in the inspiration of the Bible, in the deity
of CHRIST, or in prayer."

"Do you believe in your own sins?" asked the Pastor.

"Oh, yes," replied the honest soul, "there is no doubt about my being a sinner,
and sometimes I am in hell."

"Are you willing to bring your sins to CHRIST for forgiveness and let Him,
whatever you think of Him, take your guilt?"

"But," he said, "I can’t believe in the inspiration of the Bible, in the deity
of CHRIST, or in prayer."

"Just now," persisted the Pastor, "I am not asking you to believe these things.
You know you are a sinner, and in sin there is a taste of hell. Now I offer you
JESUS CHRIST as your Saviour from sin. Will you accept Him as such, and leave
all questions that puzzle you for future solution?"

The man went to his home and that night he accepted the CHRIST he knew as his
Saviour, and came to the meeting the next night to tell the people the joy of
forgiveness that was in his soul. After several days of joyful testimony which
led others to CHRIST, the Pastor gently said, "What do you think now of the
deity of CHRIST? "

"Such a Saviour," he replied, with great emotion, "must be divine; if He were
not divine He could not have done what He has done for me."

And there was no difficulty then about believing in the inspiration of the Bible
and in prayer. Like the blind man, he knew little of CHRIST, but one thing he
did know, that, whereas he was blind, now he could see. Come, with your guilt of
sin to the CHRIST you know, and receive Him as your Saviour. It will not be long
before He will reveal Himself to you in His fulness.


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  CHAPTER 21: 02.03.     ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD
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SERMON THREE -

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).

WE have in this Scripture a certainty, a mystery, a limitation and a definition.

The certainty is that "we know." This was true, not only of Paul, the Apostle,
the great missionary to the Gentiles, miraculously converted on the way to
Damascus, and commissioned of GOD to a world-wide work, but of the humblest
Christian in the Church at Rome. "We know." Every Christian may know.

The mystery is in the words, "All things work together for good." It is a
mystery in two senses. In a Biblical sense, first, for a mystery in the New
Testament is something hitherto unrevealed. The "mystery of the Gospel" does not
mean that it is something hard to be understood, but that it is something not
yet revealed. But in the other sense these words are mysterious. It is no
mystery that "all things work," for there is activity enough about us; the
mystery is that all things should work together, for they do not seem to be
doing so. It looks as if some things were dashing with other things. And more
mysterious still, that all things should be working together for good! But it is
true. The mystery of the revelation should make us accept the mystery of the
fact. It is true, because GOD says it. "We know," because He has revealed it.

But there is a limitation in the words "To them that love God." All things do
not work together for good to people who will not love GOD.

There is a definition in the words, "To them who are the called according to His
purpose." That defines those who love GOD. If you want to know whether you are
called, ask yourself, "Do I love GOD?" If you do, you are among the elect.

But our present subject is the certainty of it, and we shall keep strictly to
the record, for all we know about it is in that. If I should try to tell you
something I know apart from that, it would be ignorance undiluted.

"We know." And Paul gives three reasons, in the words that follow, why he knows
"that all things work together for good to them that love GOD."

1. Because GOD’s purpose concerning us is from eternity to eternity. 2. Because
GOD’s care for us is assured through the death of JESUS CHRIST. 3. Because GOD’s
salvation of us is permanent and perpetual, through the death, resurrection,
ascension and intercession of our Lord.

"We know that all things work together for good": every Christian’s life has,
therefore, a bright side. No matter how dark the side that is turned to you, the
Godward side is bright.

I. Let us look at the first reason, "We know that all things work together for
good," because GOD’s PURPOSE CONCERNING US IS FROM ETERNITY TO ETERNITY, from
eternity past to eternity future

What is GOD’s purpose? It is very clearly revealed. "For whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might
be the firstborn among many brethren." That is the purpose towards which all
things are working together for our good. What GOD has in view is our conformity
to the image of JESUS CHRIST, and He is going to bring that about through
prosperity, through adversity, through sickness, through health, through
failure, through success, through darkness, through light, through joy, and
through sorrow.

The great purpose of GOD towards which He is bringing every Christian is not a
temporary happiness, but conformity to the image of JESUS CHRIST, and all things
are working towards that great consummation.

His purpose, also, is that CHRIST shall be preeminent in a great family. It is
conformity "to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many
brethren." First of all, that there may be "many brethren"; His purpose is to
have a great many people born from above, a large spiritual family. He is not
satisfied with the salvation of a few. And among these "many brethren," the
multitude of the saved, JESUS CHRIST shall have the pre-eminence.

He is to be the firstborn. The firstborn among the Hebrews had all the authority
and most of the wealth and prestige. When Esau sold his birthright, he sold the
most valuable thing in his possession. GOD’s purpose in conforming us to the
image of CHRIST, is that CHRIST may have the pre-eminence in His family - a
family preeminence, not exaltation merely as the Creator and Ruler of the
Universe.

JESUS CHRIST is as the Elder Brother in the midst of the royal family. GOD’s
great purpose is to make CHRIST pre-eminent in a great family of His own
spiritual children.

How does He do that? By linking eternity past with eternity future. "Whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate. . . whom He did predestinate, them He also
called: and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them
He also glorified." Eternity past - foreknowledge, predestination; eternity
future - conformity to CHRIST, preeminence in the midst of the brethren,
expressed in the word "glorified."

In the eternity past He foreknew and He predestinated; He predestinated with a
view to conformity to CHRIST, and to the pre-eminence of CHRIST in His great
royal family. Between these two great facts of eternity past and eternity future
is the calling and the justification of His people.

In the building of Brooklyn Bridge, which links Brooklyn with Manhattan Island
in the great City of New York, there were first erected on the New York side,
down by the edge of the river, two granite shafts, perhaps a hundred and fifty
feet in length. On the Brooklyn side, down near the river, there were two more
granite shafts running down for the foundation, perhaps seventy-five feet
underground. The constructor of the bridge was killed, and his own daughter had
to complete the structure, as she was the only one who understood his plans.
From these great foundations the two granite shafts, that are linked together,
rise up, pointing towards the clouds, and from the top of each one of these
granite shafts, on the Brooklyn side and on the New York side, there is
suspended an immense wire cable, that is linked in the ground a quarter of a
mile beyond the bridge, perhaps, fastened to the granite rock underneath. These
great wire cables, at least a foot in diameter, swing from the top of these
granite buttresses across the river and hanging down from these wire cables are
rods of iron which support the bridge.

These rods of iron, about a foot apart, and securely fastened, hold up the
bridge. After the bridge was finished, all the traffic that could be put upon it
did not seem to depress these iron cables one-tenth of an inch.

The tramcars went across it, and the great lumbering wagons; the elevated trains
ran over it. Any amount of weight could be suspended in the middle of the
bridge, right over the river, hanging upon these great iron cables, fastened
with buttresses on each side, linked with granite underneath.

Something like that swings between eternity past and eternity future. Yonder in
eternity past are the great granite buttresses of GOD’s foreknowledge and
predestination. We cannot understand it, but the fact is revealed that in
eternity past there is GOD’s foreknowledge and predestination; and yonder in
eternity future is conformity to the image of CHRIST and His pre-eminence in the
midst of His brethren. And swinging from those great granite shafts in eternity
past and eternity future is GOD’s calling and GOD’s justification; and all the
weight of salvation, the guilt of sin and burdens of earth, swing from these
great cables of GOD’s purpose in calling and justification. It is a solid
bridge. All the earthquakes of time can never shake it down. They cannot shake
the buttresses of GOD’s foreknowledge and predestination; they cannot shake the
buttresses of GOD’s great purpose, to conform His people to the image of CHRIST,
and to give Him the pre-eminence. GOD’s calling and justification are the cables
that swing between the eternities. And salvation, with all that pertains to it,
hangs from these cables, buttressed on one side by eternity past and on the
other by eternity future.

II. In the second place, "we know that all things work together for good"
because GOD’S CARE FOR US IS ASSURED THROUGH THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST

"If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His Own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?" GOD’s care for us is assured through the death of JESUS CHRIST.

- If GOD be for us, no matter if the devil is against us; GOD is greater than
the devil. - If GOD be for us, it matters nothing if all the powers of darkness
be against us; He is greater than all of the forces of evil. - If GOD be for us,
why bother about those against us?

But the question is, Am I certain that GOD is for us? Now, listen! "He that
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" - is He not for us?
"Will He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Does not the greater
include the less? If He spared not CHRIST, but delivered Him up, will He spare
anything?

Note these two expressions. One of them describes a home scene. GOD sent JESUS
from home, the "Father’s house," from the heights of glory. He loved us well
enough not to spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. That takes us
to the shadow of the cedars, to the buffeting, to the scourging, to the mock
trial, to the cross-bearing and the sinking under it, to the hill outside the
gate, when the hands were nailed, and He, uplifted between Heaven and earth, was
delivered up to the Roman cross. "He that spared not His own Son" - yes, sent
Him from Heaven, and, when He came to earth, delivered Him up - did not permit
the angels to rescue Him - will He not with Him freely give us all things?

If He spared not Heaven’s best, will He spare the best of earth? If He delivered
Jesus up for us all, will He not deliver up the very best that He has for us
all? So that Paul could say, "we know that all things work together for good,"
because GOD’s care for us is assured through the death of CHRIST. The fact that
He spared not CHRIST, that He delivered up CHRIST to suffering, is an argument
that "all things work together for good."

His care for us will never be exhausted; it will never cease. The giving up of
JESUS is proof of the fact that He will make all things else work together for
our good, towards conformity to His image and towards His pre-eminence among
many brethren.

III. In the third place, GOD’s SALVATION OF US IS PERMANENT AND PERPETUAL
through the death, resurrection, ascension and intercession of CHRIST

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of GOD’s elect? It is God that
justifieth." It is, therefore, permanent; there is no appeal from that decision.
The Supreme Court of the Universe has given its decision. "It is God that
justifieth," and justification remains.

But what else? "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, Who is
even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us." "Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died." So that GOD’s justification is based
on the death of CHRIST; and GOD, Who is the highest authority, has pronounced us
just on the merit of CHRIST; and that death of CHRIST has been confirmed by His
resurrection, by His ascension and by His intercession.

"Who shall lay anything to the charge of GOD’s elect? It is God that
justifieth." That is permanent and complete. It is the cable which swings
between the eternities. There is no flaw in it. No condemnation, no guilt before
GOD, but justification on the ground of the perfect righteousness of CHRIST.
Now, what about it? That complete justification is projected into eternity, is
carried into Heaven. "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,
Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us."
Risen again, at the right hand of GOD, on the throne of the universe.

He "also maketh intercession." Calling and Justification will endure from
eternity to eternity. It is supported by the living CHRIST, CHRIST on the throne
at the right hand of the Father; and the living CHRIST on the throne will see to
it that complete and permanent justification stands throughout eternity. He will
see to it that the cables of His calling and justification, which swing from
eternity past to eternity future, will never break.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 22: 02.04.     GOOD CHEER FOR LITTLE FAITH
========================================================================

SERMON FOUR -

GOOD CHEER FOR LITTLE FAITH

"Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24).

THOSE of you who have seen the "Transfiguration" of Raphael, were doubtless
struck with what seemed to be a mistake on the part of the artist. CHRIST, with
the Apostles, is on the mount, and at the same time a group of bewildered
disciples, with the distressed father and the maniac son, are at the foot of the
mountain. The two scenes were about twenty-four hours apart, and the distance
was too great to see from one to the other; and yet Raphael has expressed his
thought.

He wished to place in contrast the glory of the Transfiguration and that scene
of suffering, bewilderment and unbelief. Our Mounts of Transfiguration are close
to our Gethsemanes. Often the time of victory is near the time of defeat;
victory to-day, defeat to-morrow.

Weak faith struggling out into victory is the thought of the text and context,
and it is my purpose to speak, first, on the Test of Faith, and, secondly, on
the Power of Little Faith.

It is a comfort to know what little faith has done, and that other people famed
for usefulness sometimes have little faith. It comforts us to find weak faith in
others who have been blessed. We see ourselves reflected in them; if they came
out all right, doubtless, we shall too.

THE TESTING OF LITTLE FAITH

This father’s weak faith was tested, first of all, by the scepticism of open
opponents. The scribes were asking the disciples hard questions. Every question
was a dagger.

They had failed to cast out the devil; and whenever a Christian fails to do
something he ought to do, depend upon it, the world will ply him with questions.
The disciples were put to shame by the scribes in the presence of the multitude.

Little faith was tested, again, by the weakness of the disciples. Theirs was
weakness where there ought to have been strength. The father had brought his
maniac boy believing that the disciples could cast out the devil. They had tried
and failed. And when a man finds weakness in a Church where he expects strength,
he is apt to turn away in disgust. The Church cannot afford to be weak; it
cannot afford not to cast out devils. A weak Church is a standing argument
against Christianity. When souls are not converted, and Christians are not built
up, when the powers of evil are not made to tremble and crumble, it is a
standing argument against the Gospel.

His weak faith was also tested by the conditions JESUS imposed. He was conscious
that he had not much faith, and now JESUS said, "All things are possible to him
that believeth." His little faith said, Lord, "if Thou canst." But JESUS
replied, "If thou canst!" "The condition is not upon Me, but upon you. I have
the power to do it; what you need is to fulfil the condition; and, unless you
have faith, it cannot be done."

The weakness of the disciples was caused by their lack of faith. The great
principle that JESUS drew from their failure we ought never to forget: "This
kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer." Their failure was in their lack
of faith, and now JESUS imposes on this man the condition of implicit trust:
"All things are possible to him that believeth."

Little faith is just strong enough to pray, "Help Thou mine unbelief." Thank GOD
when you have faith enough to pray for faith. It is not of the heroic kind; it
is not the kind that attracts the attention of angels and causes men to wonder,
as CHRIST wondered at the faith of the centurion; but if you have faith enough
to pray for faith, it is encouraging.

But faith was further tested by the obstacles increasing. Doubtless it was a
good day with his boy yesterday. "To-day our boy feels better, and I will take
him to the CHRIST," the father said to his wife that morning. In the excitement
of the occasion the attack of epilepsy comes on, the boy falls and wallows,
foaming at the mouth. The father stands there in despair, while the child gets
worse instead of better. The presence of these unbelieving disciples just seems
to stir the demon within him; and when he comes into the presence of JESUS and
JESUS speaks the word, it does not cure him, but strikes him down as dead. Often
that is the case.

The obstacles grow greater and greater. Nevertheless, the father prays, Lord,
"have compassion on us, and help us." He had enough faith to say "Lord." When
little faith can crown JESUS CHRIST as Lord, it is mighty.

Put yourself under the mastery of CHRIST and little faith will do more than
great instrumentalities.

THE POWER OF LITTLE FAITH

Little faith had power to come to JESUS, power to turn from sources of failure
to a higher source of strength, power to give up the help that the disciples
might bring, and go where help is certain. I know a few people whose faith has
been wrecked because they would not turn from some Christians in whom they had
lost confidence. They could not turn from them to JESUS.

My dear friend, if the Church is not what you think it ought to be, come
directly to CHRIST. If Christians do not live as you think they ought to live,
turn from them to JESUS. If you have been trying to get CHRIST to save your boy,
or your friend, and seeking through the Church that help which never comes, do
not let your faith be wrecked; turn from human sources unto JESUS CHRIST who can
help you. This father turned to CHRIST with his boy, - and JESUS said, "Bring
him unto Me." I can see the father going for the son, taking him by the hand,
and leading him to JESUS. The next step you need to take is to bring your loved
one to JESUS. Bring the burden of your soul to Him and say, "Lord, I don’t know
how to pray; I don’t understand much about theology, and the Bible is a
mysterious Book to me, but I have a broken heart. I just throw myself at Thy
feet; Lord, MASTER, give me the desire of my soul."

The father stood by and quietly listened to the voice of CHRIST. CHRIST said to
the demon, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter
no more into him." And then it tore him. The time of liberty may be just after
the time of greatest thraldom. The darkest hour may be just before day, and even
when our friends are getting worse, it may indicate that GOD has some great
blessing in store for them. The devil is doing what he can to tear them; he
knows the time of deliverance is near. If the father could have looked a little
ahead, and anticipated what JESUS was going to do, the very suffering of his boy
might have made him joyful, because it would have indicated that the power which
made him suffer was going to be overcome, and JESUS CHRIST would be Conqueror.

The word of CHRIST has a potency that the devil cannot overcome, and little
faith believing the word of CHRIST has great power.

An earnest city missionary in New York was passing through the tram-cars going
down to Fulton Ferry, distributing a little card:

"When tempted, when in despair, when sick, when dying, look to JESUS."

One of these cards fell into the hands of a passenger on the car, who read it.
As the man who gave it to him started out of the car, the passenger followed and
said, "Friend, let me speak a word to you. I have just buried my wife and two
children, and I have been unfortunate in business. Life is a blank to me; it is
as dark as midnight. I was on my way to Fulton Ferry, thinking I would end it
all down there in the river; but that little card you put on my lap has given me
hope."

Little faith, just born, had gained the victory through CHRIST.

One of the leading anarchists in Paris took sick and went to the McCall
dispensary for medicine. The physicians in charge learned who he was. One day
the physician said to a friend, "We are doing that fellow’s body some good.
Cannot GOD save him?" Then two or three Christian men and women came together
for prayer and asked the Lord to help them say a word that would save that
anarchist.

He was a man who had been banished from Paris; and coming back under police
surveillance, was allowed to live there on condition that he would show himself
in a certain place once every twenty-four hours. The police kept a watch upon
him constantly. The next day, in giving the medicine, one of the physicians
spoke to him about CHRIST the Saviour, and was surprised to see his hardened
face grow serious. The anarchist made no reply, but was invited to return. When
it was found that he was approachable, the physician made an appointment and had
quite a long conversation with him, in which he urged upon him JESUS CHRIST as
the sinner’s friend.

That man became a missionary in the city of Paris. He sometimes stands before
his former friends and preaches to them JESUS, while they curse and laugh and
shake their fists in his face; but humbly and patiently he works on. Through the
physicians of the dispensary the ban of the police was removed and he was given
liberty. Ah, friend, GOD can do it. JESUS CHRIST through His word and even
little faith can accomplish wonders, and if little faith can do so much, what
can great faith do? Trust in CHRIST without a tremor; believe in His power and
love without an interrogation point.

This brings me to say, finally, that the result of little faith, exercised and
followed, is often very great joy. There was not much joy, I think, to those
disciples. They came and said, "Why could not we cast him out?" "This kind can
come forth by nothing, but by prayer," replied JESUS. "You disciples were
feeling rather strong in yourselves, you did not keep your eye upon me; you got
out of contact with the source of power; you failed to trust GOD and ask Him to
help you; My Name had become a sort of magic word to you, and you thought that
just the pronouncing of that Name would cast out the devil; you lost hold upon
Omnipotence. You were weak because you were too strong. You were helpless
because you failed to realize your helplessness."

The curtain drops. Between the lines GOD sometimes writes as large as in the
letter. Can you picture the scene as that father goes home with his once lunatic
boy, now cured? The boy afflicted from childhood, falling into the fire and into
the water, the care of the mother and all the family at home, now walking by his
father’s side in perfect health.

He says, "Father, I feel so different, I have no symptoms of disease. My nerves
are all restored. I am a new man. JESUS CHRIST did it. Oh, what a Saviour! What
a GOD He is!" And that night around the family altar how the voice trembled in
prayer and praise. A happy home. Discord there before, now music; bitterness
there once, now sweetness; a sort of pandemonium once, now a little vestibule of
Heaven. That is what JESUS loved to do. He can turn a hell into Heaven. He can
take a heart as black as ink and make it whiter than snow. Ask Him to do it for
your friends. Little faith shall conquer. Let little faith pray for itself - let
little faith accept CHRIST as Lord; let little faith persist, and the blessing
will certainly come.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 23: 02.05.     SALVATION
========================================================================

SERMON FIVE -

SALVATION

"WHAT must I do to be saved?" Not reformed, for Christianity is neither form nor
reform, but a life deeper than both. It is not education, though that is
important. It is not civilization, though that, too, is important. Indeed,
reformation, education and civilization without salvation is damnation.

"What must I do to be saved?" It is a personal matter. We are not saved in
companies, but one at a time. It is the personal relation between you and GOD
that brings salvation. "What must I do?" Ask that question for yourself, and not
for your neighbour; and then hear the answer to the question: "What is
salvation?" It may be described as a Historic Fact, a Sudden Experience and a
Gradual Process.

I. A HISTORIC FACT

Salvation, first of all, is a great historic fact. You cannot add to it, and you
cannot take from it. JESUS CHRIST came down from Heaven; was born of a virgin;
grew into youth and manhood; preached and worked miracles; died upon the Cross;
rose from the dead, and ascended to glory. Whether you believe it or not, it is
true. And it is just as true if you reject it as if you accept it. You may say
that the sun does not shine, but it shines all the same. CHRIST was Son of Man
and Son of GOD, GOD incarnate.

The resurrection of JESUS CHRIST is the best established fact in history. I know
that JESUS CHRIST died and rose from the dead better than I know that Napoleon
Bonaparte died on the island of St. Helena. I know it better than that George
Washington was the first President of the United States. The proof in favour of
the Deity of CHRIST, founded upon His claims, His character and His works, is so
overwhelming, that the man who knows the proof and will not accept JESUS CHRIST
as Divine, does violence to his reason.

"And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they
said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house"
(Acts 16:30-31).

And the proof in favour of the Inspiration of the Bible - that it is literature
written at the command of GOD, under the guidance of GOD, and preserved by the
providential care of GOD, is so overwhelming that the man who knows the proof
and does not believe it, does violence to his reason. When you hear a man call
himself a Rationalist, because he rejects the Deity of JESUS and the Inspiration
of the Bible, put him down as an irrationalist. The historic CHRIST, with all
the Bible claims for Him, is the Mont Blanc of all mountain-peak facts of
history.

II. A SUDDEN EXPERIENCE

Salvation, a great historic fact, becomes in him who receives it a sudden
experience.

If you do not accept the fact, it is nothing to you. If you reject the fact, you
cut yourself off from it. The bakery may have bread enough for everybody in the
city, but only those who eat have their hunger satisfied. The reservoir may
contain sufficient water to supply all the city, but only those who drink have
their thirst quenched.

The Atonement of JESUS CHRIST is sufficient for all the world, but it is
efficient only for those who believe. It has in it merit enough for the
salvation of this lost race, but GOD’s provision is that only those who accept
CHRIST - only those who are willing to be saved by His atoning blood - are saved
at all.

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." With some people it
is a very distinct, sudden experience. That is the case usually with wicked men
and women. They can tell you frequently the very minute when the light dawned -
when they were born from above. I have a dozen friends of that kind. I think in
all my attendance at the Water Street Mission in New York, I never heard a man
or woman give an experience that did not give the exact time - and most of them
the very minute - when they were converted.

I can see the face of the dear old man - he has entered the Glory now - who
stood up the first time I attended the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. His
face was beaming with joy, and with watch in hand, he said, "Six years, seven
months, fifteen days, four hours and six minutes ago I was converted, sitting
right in this very place." He had it down to the minute. The Superintendent
said, "He came in drunk that night. We told him about JESUS, and he went out
sober, rejoicing in salvation; and he has been sober ever since. We always keep
that seat reserved for him, because he likes to sit in the place where he
accepted JESUS as his Saviour." That man knew when the shackles fell; he knew
when the darkness disappeared; when JESUS revealed Himself as a Saviour, mighty
to save from drink.

Other people have an experience not so definite, but just as real. This
Philippian jailer had an exciting experience. He was shaken out of his bed at
night by an earthquake. He was in danger of being executed in place of the
prisoners, should they escape. In the midst of all this excitement he met Paul,
and asked, "What must I do to be saved?"

Another man is sitting in his chariot, quietly reading the Book of Isaiah. There
is no earthquake, no excitement. A traveller comes along and is invited to take
a seat in the chariot. The invitation is accepted. The traveller explains the
Scriptures. The Eunuch accepts JESUS as his Saviour. It was a very quiet
transaction. There was no trembling, and yet he was just as much converted as
the jailer.

There are some people who like earthquakes; they will not have a religion
without an earthquake. And there are other people who cannot endure earthquakes;
they want quiet, with no excitement. They prefer not to be converted in a
Revival. Some have said to me, "I would like to be a Christian, but I do not
like this excitement. I want to be converted quietly." Some of them have been
having a quiet time all their lives.

If anybody wants a good quiet place to be converted in, there are many such
places in this city! The jailer was saved in the midst of excitement. The eunuch
was saved in the midst of the chariot ride. It matters not whether you are
trembling in an earthquake of excitement, or in the quiet of a chariot ride; but
what does matter is that you turn from sin to JESUS CHRIST as your Saviour.

Salvation is a sudden experience. Negatively the Bible calls it repentance;
positively, faith. But there is no genuine repentance without saving faith; and
there is no saving faith without genuine repentance.

What is repentance? Just rub off all theological terms, and repentance is sorrow
for sin which leads one to take GOD’s side against sin in the name of CHRIST.
You have been fighting GOD on the side of your sin; now just change sides and
begin to fight sin on the side of GOD in the name of JESUS, and you have
repented. That is what David did.

When the prophet said, "You have sinned," he said, "Lord, forgive me"; and after
that he fought sin on the side of GOD. But Saul did not. When the prophet said,
"You have sinned," he made some sort of apology for it, and took sin’s side
against GOD; and the result of it all was that he died a suicide on the
battlefield. Every soul that takes the side of sin against GOD will be a suicide
for time and eternity.

There is much good time wasted arguing as to which comes first, repentance or
faith. A Bible Conference discussed that question for nearly three hours. They
just filled the air with fog, blue fog, London fog; and when they got through,
there was more fog than when they started! As well argue, if John Jones comes in
at that door, who comes in first, John or Jones. Like the Siamese twins, true
repentance and saving faith are so joined together that, if you cut them apart,
you kill both.

III. A GRADUAL PROCESS

Salvation, a great historic fact, and a sudden experience, now becomes a gradual
process.

When you are born again you begin to grow. When you surrender to JESUS CHRIST,
the yoke of bondage gives place to the yoke of liberty.

The new birth is not a process but "a crisis with a view to a process." John M.
Wood was walking down Water Street, New York City, in delirium tremens with the
sixth dismissal from the United States Navy in his pocket, on the charge of
chronic alcoholism, without a penny or a friend in the world. He was making his
way to the East river, bent on suicide, when he saw a light across the street
shining through a transom above a door, and with that light came the strains of
the familiar hymn:

"There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, And sinners
plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains."

He stopped and said to himself, "That’s the song my mother used to sing when I
was a youngster. I will go over and see who is singing it before I kill myself."

He went over and found himself in the Jerry MacAulay Rescue Mission. Jerry was
talking to them about JESUS, Who, he declared, could save a river pirate,
criminal and drunkard like himself. In his direct way Jerry said, "If you mean
business, boys, there is hope for you." "Into my blurred mind," said John M.
Wood, "came a little ray of hope, and I said, If that is so, I will try it."

He knelt down. Jerry whispered to him some words of promise, and he rose up a
new man in CHRIST JESUS. I have heard him thrill great crowds as he said, "I
staggered up to the Cross of CHRIST; the blood fell on me and washed me whiter
than snow."

General O. O. Howard fought more battles and won more victories than any other
General, of the great American Civil War. He was victorious in sixty-four
battles, without a single defeat. While I was preaching to the soldiers at Tampa
during the Spanish-American War, General Howard came down to assist in the work.
One evening, in an address to about three thousand soldiers, he said: "Forty-one
years ago, in old Fort Brook, just two miles from this tabernacle, I surrendered
to the Lord JESUS CHRIST. Every soldier knows what it means to surrender. Well,
I surrendered to JESUS, and I have been following Him as my General ever since,
and He is the best General that ever led an army.

At the close of a Sunday evening sermon the preacher said, "If there is anyone
here who wants to be a Christian, come forward, and we will pray for you." Some
fifteen or twenty went forward and knelt down at the altar. Just behind me were
two officers from Fort Brook, in their regimentals, and they were greatly
amused; they were having some fun at the expense of the mourners. That made me
mad. I said, "I would rather be up there with those mourners than back here with
these mockers." So I went up and knelt down with ’the mourners.’ The only reason
I did so was because I was angry at those officers.

I wanted to show them that I did not like their mocking. After a little while
the preacher came, and kneeling beside me told me about the CHRIST of my mother
and father; and when I arose from that altar, I was determined to be a
Christian. I walked down the aisle with military bearing, and went to my
barracks’ room at old Fort Brook. I got out my Bible, that I had not seen for
months, and laying it on the old table knelt before it. As I read it, I
surrendered to the Lord JESUS CHRIST. There came a peace and a joy into my soul
I never had before. I got up and walked the room, saying, ’Glory to GOD!
Salvation through JESUS! Salvation complete!’ I did not sleep a wink that night.
I felt that it would be a loss of time to sleep; and I spent the whole night
reading my Bible, praying and praising GOD."

The next morning an officer met him on the way to breakfast and said, "Howard, I
hear you have turned pious," to which he replied, "I don’t care, if I have; I’m
not ashamed of it!" The officer said, "If you will come around to my room, I can
show you a hundred mistakes in the Bible." Howard said, "There’s one thing you
cannot show me, and that is that last night at nine o’clock, I didn’t surrender
to the Lord JESUS CHRIST, since which time I have been so happy that I couldn’t
sleep. Show me that!" The officer shut his mouth, opened his eyes, and went on.
When you get a man to open his eyes and shut his mouth, there is hope for him.
It is when he shuts his eyes and opens his mouth that he discourages you.

Another officer said, "I hear you have turned Christian, Howard. There is a lot
of superstition in Christianity. I can talk you out of it in fifteen minutes."
Howard said, "You cannot talk me out of the fact that last night I surrendered
to JESUS CHRIST and have been so happy that I couldn’t sleep." This officer also
shut his mouth, opened his eyes, and passed on.

General Howard began at once to pray that GOD would give him every soul in Fort
Brook; and before they broke camp, every one in the Fort had become a Christian
except one. This one three years later, on a battlefield in Virginia, said to
General Howard, "Down there at old Fort Brook you got something I wanted; I wish
I had it!" "I preached to him JESUS," said General Howard, "and he accepted Him
as his personal Saviour." In less than two weeks a shell burst near him, and he
went into the Glory.

Yonder, a poor drunkard, blear-eyed, friendless and penniless kneels down at the
old bench in the Jerry MacAulay Mission, and passes a crisis - the crisis of
taking GOD’s side against sin - accepts JESUS as his Redeemer, and begins the
process of growth in grace. And yonder at Tampa, a clean young soldier from a
Christian home, kneeling beside the old table in the barracks’ room, passes the
crisis - the very same crisis - accepts JESUS CHRIST as his personal Saviour and
begins the process of growth in grace.

Will you not pass the crisis by accepting JESUS CHRIST as your personal Saviour
and begin at once the process of growth in grace.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 24: 02.06.     SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST
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SERMON SIX -

SALVATION TO THE UTTERMOST

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto GOD by
Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).

WHEN in the writings of Paul you find the word "wherefore," you may know that it
is a legitimate conclusion. Paul had a logical mind and he never drew a great
conclusion from insufficient premises. The "wherefore" of this text brings
before us the resurrection of JESUS.

Human priests fill their offices for a while, and then die and pass their duties
over to another, but JESUS rose from the dead and continues to live. The
resurrection is the key stone in the arch of salvation; remove that and
everything is wrecked.

In the battle of Waterloo there was a stone house which Napoleon Bonaparte
declared was the key to the situation. Time and again he threw the weight of his
forces against that point, but they were repulsed with loss. If that stone house
could have been taken, Waterloo might have meant victory for the French. If
Satan and his infidel forces could disprove the resurrection of JESUS, it would
mean victory for the powers of darkness.

But the resurrection stands out as a fact, like the sun in the heavens. Because
He rose from the dead, He lives, and His life is our assurance of salvation.

Every word in this text is weighty, and if we emphasize one word at a time, the
fulness of its meaning will appear. Wherefore HE is able. Write HE in capital
letters. It means a personal Saviour. No it, however big or important, can save
a soul.

- The Church has its place, but it is not a Saviour. - Morality has its place,
but it cannot save. - Prayer has its place, but of itself it is not a saving
power.

HE is able, and He needs no help. Let weakness lie limp upon His shoulder, and
He will carry it safely home. JESUS is our personal friend.

- He has a mind that thinks for us, - He has a heart that throbs with love for
us, - He has a hand that is ready to help us.

This personal relation draws and wins.

A woman missionary in a city prison declares that she had been preaching to the
convicts for years without seeing a convert. She stood before them and
proclaimed the Word, leaving it to GOD to bless. Though she saw no result, she
continued this public proclamation.

While she went on a visit to Europe, another woman took her place. She was a
timid, modest, shrinking little body, who felt that she had no ability for
public speaking, but she asked the Warden for the privilege of visiting the
criminals in their cells. The privilege was granted, and within a few weeks she
had won three of the worst characters to CHRIST and a better life. It was done
by personal contact.

JESUS did not remain in Heaven and simply send down a public proclamation of
salvation. He came to earth, put Himself in touch with suffering humanity, wept
with those that wept and rejoiced with those that rejoiced. "The Word was made
flesh," and people can understand the Word made flesh better than when it is
simply uttered in abstract sentences.

Wherefore He IS able. There is here an everlasting present. GOD was in creation
and history; He will be in future judgment and glory, but we believe "that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." We have not to
go back to history or into the future to find Him. He is "Emmanuel, GOD with
us."

He is always in speaking distance.

- In the silent solitude of an African forest Henry M. Stanley prayed, and GOD
heard and helped. - When Livingstone was alone dying upon his knees, in the
African hut, GOD was present to comfort. - When John G. Paton was surrounded by
howling savages, some of them pointing their guns at his breast, he looked up to
this ever-present GOD, and found protection. - Roger Williams, wandering through
the forests of New England, was guided by his Father’s hand.

There is no place, nor time, nor condition from which GOD can be banished.

Wherefore He is ABLE. Who can measure the ability of CHRIST?

- He touches, and leprosy departs; - He touches again, and sight is restored; -
He speaks, and the deaf hear; - He speaks again, and the dead are raised.

At the marriage feast

"The conscious water saw its Lord and blushed."

He says, "Peace be still," and the storm ceases. At His word devils surrender.
Rebuked by the majesty of His presence the mob recoils. Truly He is able. Our
weakness, therefore, is the argument for trusting Him. His ability shines out
through our inability.

While Private Darby, a Confederate soldier, was lying on the battlefield at
Sharpsburg, he handed his Bible to a tall man who came along, and asked him to
please send it to his mother, whose address he would find on the fly-leaf.

"No," said the tall man, "my dear boy, we will nurse you into health, and you
shall take the Bible to your mother yourself." That tall man was Abraham
Lincoln, who had the authority to order others to give the best attention to the
wounded soldier, and in due time he was well enough to travel home. Private
Darby had given himself up to die, but Abraham Lincoln secured his recovery. And
every sinner who gives himself up to die may be cured by the Great Physician if
he is willing to commit his case completely into His hands.

Sin has many phases, but no phase of it can prevail against the ability of
CHRIST, if the sinner is willing that this ability should be exercised in GOD’s
way.

Wherefore He is able to SAVE.

Others may instruct and reform: only JESUS can save. His personality, His
presence, His ability, are all pledged for our salvation. The word "save"
implies sin.

- It has wrecked us, and we need to be saved from the wreck. - It has polluted
us, and we need to be saved from the pollution. - It has afflicted us, and we
must be saved from its malady. - It has brought us into condemnation, and we
must be saved from its guilt.

There is special encouragement for the sinner to confess that he is guilty,
polluted, diseased.

- The confession of disease ensures the cure, for then the Great Physician will
undertake. - The confession of defilement ensures cleansing, for then the Blood
will be applied. - The confession of guilt ensures pardon, for it is written,
"if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive."

I have read of a man who was on trial for his life. The king sent him a pardon;
which he kept in his pocket while the trial proceeded. Witnesses were examined,
lawyers made their pleas, and the man was found guilty. Judge and jury were
surprised at his calm demeanour during the trial. He looked as if he were
indifferent to the whole proceeding. His calmness was explained when, after the
verdict of guilty, he drew from his pocket a pardon from the king. He could
afford to be calm when he had the pardon in his pocket.

And so every sinner can afford to plead guilty, because GOD has promised a
pardon the moment a confession is made.

"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the UTTERMOST." There is no case too
bad for Him to reach. There is no stain so fixed that He cannot wash it out.
There is no life so wrecked that He cannot reconstruct it.

- John B. Gough, the drunken sot, is saved to the uttermost, and becomes a
channel of salvation to thousands.

- Jerry Macauley, the river pirate, is saved to the uttermost, and by a
consecrated life wins others to life.

- Saul of Tarsus, cruel in spirit but feeling that he is doing right in killing
Christians, is saved to the uttermost.

- John Newton, the slave trader, is saved to the uttermost

- John Bunyan, the swearing tinker, is saved to the uttermost.

"He is able also to save THEM to the uttermost THAT COME UNTO GOD."

"Them... that come unto God" suggests a definition of salvation. Salvation means
coming to GOD. While Agnosticism stands at the gate and shouts, "you cannot know
God," the Christian presses his way into the very presence of GOD. He sees the
light of His countenance, he hears His words of promise, he feels the touch of
His loving sympathy, he receives from GOD the grace to help in every time of
need.

THROUGH HIM gives the way of approach to GOD. No sinner needs an introduction to
JESUS. He is always approachable. We come to Him just as we are, and He presents
us as we ought to be before the Father.

It is said that the Prince of Wales met a little girl in front of the palace,
crying, and on asking what was the matter, she said she wanted to see the Queen.
The Prince kindly took her by the hand, and led her past the guards into the
presence of the Queen. Through him she was introduced to royalty, and, if anyone
really desires to see GOD, JESUS will lead him into His presence.

It is a comfort to remember that we can approach the humanity of CHRIST, and
through that humanity reach Divinity.

GOD did not need to become a man in order that He might sympathize with us, but
He did need to become a man in order that we might know that He sympathizes with
us.

- He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, - He was tempted as we are
tempted, - He suffered as we suffer, and that in our consciousness brings Him
closer to us.

The reason for His ability to save to the uttermost is clearly given in the
words, "Seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."

CHRIST died, but He is not dead, and the image of a dead CHRIST is not a true
object of worship. No dead CHRIST now exists. He lives, and the purpose of His
life is to make intercession for His people.

"Five bleeding wounds He bears, Received on Calvary, They pour effectual
prayers, And strongly plead for me, Forgive him, O forgive, they cry, Nor let
the ransomed sinner die."

JESUS lives to see that the purpose of His death shall be carried out.

A man in Auburn prison, New York, was ministered to daily by his daughter, who
lived near the prison just for the purpose of waiting on her unfortunate father.
She supplied him with food and everything that the prison authorities would
allow. So JESUS, our living intercessor, is always ready to help us if we will
gratefully receive His loving ministry.

To cut ourselves off by unbelief from the intercession of CHRIST is soul
suicide.

An Italian nobleman, it is reported, buried one of his enemies alive by building
a brick wall around him and over him, shutting out all air and light. Horrible,
you say. Yes, truly, but not so horrible as to see a man burying himself alive
by building up day after day a wall of sin and indifference around himself until
the sunlight of truth and the air of grace have been forever shut out from his
soul. Such suicide is inexcusable!

I beg of you cease to lay another brick upon this wall of indifference and sin
about you. Come to GOD through CHRIST, link yourself with the living Saviour,
and He will then be responsible for your salvation.

In a remote part of Scotland there is a stone bridge across a mountain stream.
On the arch of the bridge are written the words, "GOD and me." The traveller
very naturally asks what that means, and he is told that years ago a young lady,
in crossing this stream, came very nearly being drowned. In her danger she vowed
that if GOD spared her life she would build a bridge across that stream, and she
had written on the arch the words, "GOD and me." It was her monument to GOD’s
care and power. She simply linked herself with GOD. So friend, link yourself
with GOD through CHRIST, and your life will be a monument to His glory.


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  CHAPTER 25: 02.07.     SAVING FAITH
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SERMON SEVEN -

SAVING FAITH

"Thy faith hath saved thee" (Luke 18:42).

FAITH is the channel of blessing from GOD to man, just as faith is the channel
of blessing from physician to patient, from government to subject, and from
parent to child.

- If the patient has no faith in the physician, his remedies will do little
good. - If a citizen has no faith in the Government, he is apt to resist its
authority, and cut himself off from its blessings. - If the child has no faith
in the parent, there is little chance of the parent’s moulding the child’s
character for good.

Everything that is worth saving is saved by faith. Take away faith in the
Government, in the family, in the bank, in the railroad corporation, in the
Church, and these institutions will fall to pieces of their own weight. Faith is
the cement that binds their parts together.

Now GOD applies this universal principle to the realm of salvation. We are saved
by faith. Without our faith GOD can be neither Physician, Father nor King.
Unbelief destroys the channel of blessing. Let us study the faith of Bartimeus
and we shall see the kind of faith that saves.

I. It is a faith that realizes its true condition

Bartimeus was a beggar and blind. He had doubtless known better days. The fact
that his father Timeus is mentioned suggests that his family may have been one
of note. He might have come to CHRIST and commended himself on the ground of his
former wealth and position in society.

He might have said, "It is true that I am a beggar, but I am not one of the
common beggars; there is good blood in my veins. I am proud of my ancestors."

There was no masquerading in false finery. He came in the rags of a beggar; he
made a beggar’s plea. He was willing to confess what he was.

And until the sinner has that sort of faith in himself, he is not apt to have
saving faith in CHRIST. While he comes excusing his sin, or apologizing for it,
he need not expect salvation. When a real sinner meets the real Saviour the
result is real salvation. There is no use in covering the rags with a sham cloak
of hypocrisy. GOD can see through it.

"Just as I am without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that
Thou bid’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of GOD, I come.

"Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea,
all I need in Thee to find, O Lamb of GOD, I come."

Matthew tells us there were two blind men. Bartimeus only is mentioned by Mark
and Luke, because he was the one whom everybody knew. He had a fellowship of
suffering with his more obscure brother. It is to his credit, however, that he
did not organize a blind man’s club for the preservation and propagation of
blindness. Such things exist to-day. I heard not long ago of an infidel club.
That means, of course, that some men who are blind to GOD and His truth have
organized for the purpose of cultivating blindness and shutting out the light
from themselves and others. They are poor blind beggars and proud of it. It is a
pitiful sight. CHRIST can do nothing for them until they begin to desire a
better condition and come to Him for healing.

II. It is a faith that inquires

Bartimeus heard the stir that CHRIST was making among the people. There was a
crowd surging along the highway after Him. Hearing the multitudes pass by he
asked what it meant.

The multitude then, as now, are interested in JESUS. "The common people heard
Him gladly." When the real CHRIST appears among the people, they are not
indifferent to His claims. The real JESUS sympathizes with the weak and the
oppressed. When such a Saviour is preached in the pulpit, the people come to
hear Him.

He has made a stir in the world. If we will listen we can hear in history the
tramp of the multitude that follow Him. In the literary world His name inspires
the best poetry and prose. In the world of commerce He is felt. When Carey went
to India, there was not a grammar of the language. When Morrison went to China,
he found no helps for the study of their difficult tongue.

Missionaries of the cross were the only ones who would take the time, and give
their strength to mastering difficult languages in order that they might convey
to the people the message of salvation through CHRIST. As a result, the nations
of the world are now joined in commercial relations as never before.

In the world of fine art the name of JESUS has inspired the finest paintings,
the sweetest music, and the grandest architecture. When Haydn was old, he
attended a concert at which his own masterpiece, "The Creation," was sung. It
begins, you know, with a representation of chaos and darkness, by grating sounds
and some discordant notes; then "Let there be light" bursts upon the audience in
a very cyclone of melody.

When this point was reached, the old musician, unable to contain his feelings,
arose and pointed upward, as if to say, "That came from GOD." So the masters of
music, painting, and architecture may point to CHRIST as the Author of their
highest inspirations.

Every battle for the liberation of the oppressed, every institution for the
education of the orphan, every movement for the protection of the weak against
the strong, means that JESUS is still in the world rousing the people to noble
endeavour.

The state of mind which leads one to inquire the reason of this, and to
investigate the claims of CHRIST, is a mark of strength. To sit by the highway
of time with stolid indifference to such a world movement is not to one’s
credit. What CHRIST is doing in the world to-day should arouse a spirit of
inquiry, and make all who are blind to His Deity ask questions, and seek to
answer them by searching investigation. The result of such inquiry will be the
confirmation of His claims.

III. It is a faith that prays

"Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me." He pleads no merit; he recognizes
guilt somewhere. Whether his blindness was a result of sin we know not, but he
knew that he was a sinner at heart.

- The spirit that makes light of sin fosters blindness of soul. - The spirit
that confesses sin shows true nobility.

To acknowledge a fault, and seek to correct it, is an honour; to hide it, that
we may foster it, is a shame.

"Jesus stood." The cry of the penitent soul stops Him.

I can imagine Him paying little attention to a triumphal procession entering the
gates of the city with bands of music and rich trophies. He cares little for
such gew-gaws of earth, but He is as sensitive to the cry of a penitent soul as
a mother’s heart is to the cry of her child. A broken heart always has the right
of way to JESUS.

Everything else, however important, is laid aside while He attends to the cry
for mercy. Let no penitent sinner feel that the GOD Who has the care of the
universe is too busy to look after his case.

IV. It is a faith that fights its way to success

It was a sad fact that the disciples of JESUS sometimes failed to show His
spirit of sympathy.

They told the blind man to hold his peace, but "he cried so much the more. Thou
Son of David, have mercy on me."

He would not be silenced; his need was too great. The followers of JESUS should
be careful not to hinder rather than help seekers after sight.

But indifference may be a quiet rebuke which says, "Hold [your] peace."

A thoughtless criticism of the sermon may have the same effect. These chilling
words might have driven away a less courageous soul than Bartimeus, but his
sense of deepest need made him stand his ground and fight his way. Those who
would come to JESUS must sometimes press through no little opposition. Where the
hand of encouragement should be given the word of rebuke is sometimes spoken.

Bartimeus had assurance that JESUS wanted him, and that was enough to make him
brave against all opposers.

"I’ll go to JESUS though my sins Like a mountain rose, I know His courts, I’ll
enter in, Whatever may oppose."

V. It is a faith that expresses its great need

JESUS said, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?"

He might have replied, "Give me some money, Lord, that I may be relieved for
several days, at least, from begging; give me a home and friends to take care of
me." No, no, Bartimeus was wiser than that.

He knew that his deepest need was not money, or clothing, or shelter, but sight.
His poverty was the result of his blindness, and if the blindness can be cured,
everything else might be remedied.

Prayer is need packed till it takes fire.

Our deepest needs should be satisfied first.

- You need an education? Seek it, but not until your soul has been brought into
right relations with GOD. - You need money? Make it, but not until you have
secured the riches of grace in CHRIST JESUS.

Let not the good hinder the best. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness: and all these things shall be added." May GOD save us from the
illusion that if we seek successfully these things, the kingdom of GOD shall be
added. Let us put first what GOD has put first. Soul-sight is our deepest need.
May we be satisfied with nothing less than the best that CHRIST can give us.

VI. It became a faith that followed JESUS

He may have had a wife and children in some humble home, and his heart yearned
to look into their faces, but CHRIST Who had given him sight was so attractive
that he could not leave Him; he must gaze into His loving countenance and use
the new eyes he had received in beholding His beauty.

I have heard of a man who had lost his sight, and it was restored by an eminent
physician. After several days in a dark room, the man’s wife and children were
brought in, and he looked into their faces for the first time in years, and then
he exclaimed, "Oh, where is the man who gave me my sight; his face should have
been the first upon which I looked."

Thus felt Bartimeus.

CHRIST was to him all and in all. To be with Him was his delight, to hear His
voice his joy, and now forever to do His will his highest ambition.

VII. Such a faith glorified JESUS

The word does not mean that he followed along the way shouting Hallelujah and
singing. It has in it the idea of showing forth the excellence of another.

Bartimeus, when he met his old friends, told them of what JESUS had done for him
and could not say enough in His praise. I can see him approaching a group on the
street corner and pointing to the Master across the way as he says, "There is
the Man who gave me my new eyes; let us go and worship Him together."

And he was such a man as CHRIST could afford to take with Him as a sample of His
gracious work. The new eyes spoke for themselves. Does our following CHRIST
really glorify Him? Are we such samples of grace that others looking upon us are
reminded of our Lord?


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  CHAPTER 26: 02.08.     HOPE FOR BACKSLIDERS
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SERMON EIGHT -

HOPE FOR BACKSLIDERS

"I will heal their backsliding" (Hosea 14:4).

THE Book of Hosea is GOD’s message to the backslider. Follow the name of Ephraim
through the book, and you will see the experience of an impenitent backslider.
He is

1. GOD-FORSAKEN. "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone" (Hosea 4:17). What
can GOD do for a man who will not confess and forsake his sin, except just let
him alone? And to be let alone of GOD, while sin works in us its direful
results, is a pitiable state.

2. DESOLATE. "Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke" (Hosea 5:9).
Without GOD the backslider’s condition becomes desolate indeed, and loving
rebuke, which he resents, increases the desolation.

3. OPPRESSED. "Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment" (Hosea 5:11).
Desolation becomes oppression. Emptiness becomes burden. The judgments of GOD,
if they lead to repentance, will bless us, but if we resent them, they will
break us. When we violate law, physical or moral, we do not break the law so
much as it breaks us.

4. FALSE. "They commit falsehood" (Hosea 7:1). "Ephraim compasseth me about with
lies" (Hosea 11:12). The backslider’s life is apt to be a living lie. He tries
to appear happy, when he is really miserable. He poses for a good man, when he
knows he is bad. Hypocrisy becomes a habit with him.

5. INCONSISTENT. "Ephraim is a cake not turned" (Hosea 7:8). He is overdone on
one side and underdone on the other. On the side of formal ritualistic
observance he is apt to be overdone; on the side of genuine, solid, Christian
living he is underdone. The backslider often tries to make up for his lack of
piety by excess of religious form. His songs and responses on Sunday may be
loud, while his living during the week is low. He "is a cake not turned," burnt
on one side and raw on the other.

6. FOOLISH AND COWARDLY. "Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart"
(Hosea 7:11). The dove is a symbol of gentleness, and the backslider, though he
may be gentle, is certain to be silly. He will talk and act foolishly. The
language of Zion on his lips sounds silly; it lacks the ring of reality. His
prayers are without heart, and when he is asked to do something for CHRIST, he
is too cowardly to undertake it.

7. SELFISH. "[Ephraim] is an empty vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself"
(Hosea 10:1). Like the vine that bears no clusters of grapes for others, but
keeps all its life of root and branch simply to add to its own length and leaf,
the backslider holds his own, and builds up only himself. He seeks his own
profit and pleasure. He uses his money in advancing his own interest. He begins
to talk against foreign missions, because he cannot see the good of sending men
and money to the heathen while there is so much need at home. He is afraid that
somebody will get something out of him. He hates collections, because they bring
nothing to him, but are an attempt to gather fruit from the empty vine of his
stingy soul. Not what can I give, but what can I get? is the question he asks of
everything he sees. He begins to be a Dead Sea taking in a Jordan of blessing
and holding it without an outlet. The result is emptiness, for not a living
thing thrives in the waters of his selfish life.

8. UNSATISFIED. "Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind"
(Hosea 12:1). The backslider misuses the gifts of GOD. Wind is good as breath,
but bad as food. If he would breathe it, he would be invigorated, but his eating
fills him with emptiness and distress. So the gifts of GOD received gratefully
and used rightly will bless and satisfy us, but received without gratitude and
used only upon self, they do not satisfy the soul. And the backslider turns from
the solid food of GOD’ s Word to the wind of light literature; from the
satisfying manna of truth to the east wind of fiction.

He ceases to relish the table of the Lord, spread Sunday after Sunday in the
sanctuary, while he feeds upon the wind of the theatre during the week. He
neglects the strengthening meat of GOD’s service, and runs after the east wind
of the dance and the card party. If he is not poisoned by the malaria in it, he
soon becomes a weak, emaciated invalid, because his soul has been starved by the
lack of nourishment. He is a spiritual suicide.

9. VAINGLORIOUS. "When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself" (Hosea
13:1). The backslider has lost the steady accent of faith. His voice trembles
with fear. He begins to doubt everything and everybody. The sound of the wind
upon which he feeds frightens him. He is restless at church, at the theatre and
dance. He fits nowhere. But he must brace up and assert himself. He becomes
self-conscious, and soon swells with vanity. He magnifies the self-element in
religion. His motto is "that if a man does not esteem himself very highly, no
one else will esteem him."

The trembling doubter has developed into a boastful Pharisee. He quits praying,
for "Why should a man of so much importance be all the time begging GOD to help
him? GOD helps those who help themselves." The inflation of self has at last
well nigh excluded GOD from his life. The knowledge that puffs up has banished
the love that builds up. He has become a walking, talking capital I.

For such a backslider there is no hope, so long as he is impenitent, but hope
dawns the moment he returns to GOD, and confesses his sin. "O, Israel, return
unto the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you
words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive
us graciously" (Hosea 14:1-2). After such a full confession, without excuse or
palliation, GOD begins to deal with His penitent child in the most gracious and
tender manner:

1. HE HEALS. "I will heal their backsliding" (Hosea 14:4). There are two kinds
of healing. One has to do with wounds, the other with disease. Some soldiers on
campaign need the healing of wounds; others of disease; and still others, sick
and wounded, need both kinds of healing. Sin treats some as the robbers on the
way from Jerusalem to Jericho treated the traveller. It cuts and bruises,
leaving them half dead. They are surprised, overtaken in a fault. Almost before
they know it they were attacked and hurt. They need the treatment of the good
Samaritan, who took the wounded man in hand and cared for him until his wounds
were healed. With other backsliders sin is a deep-seated disease, and needs
constitutional treatment.

Blessed fact it is that JESUS CHRIST is surgeon for the wounded, and physician
for the diseased. His blood is equally good for wound and disease. We need not
stop to discuss the different methods of treatment. The fact that healing is
possible is the thing which interests us now, and we can safely leave the
methods to the physician into whose hands we have placed our case.

2. HE LOVES. "I will love them freely." The word "freely" means that He loves of
Himself, not because He sees traits of character that call forth His love, but
just because He cannot help it. It is His nature. The backslider is apt to be
discouraged by the thought that GOD does not love him, because by his sins he
has made himself so unlovely.

It is true that a backslider is an unlovely character, but, take heart, GOD does
not love you because you are lovely, but because He is loving. The spring of
love is not in you, but in Himself. He is a fountain of love, and fountains, you
know, do not have to be induced to flow. The water is sent forth by an inner
force. When the water must be drawn, it has ceased to be a fountain. Backsliding
brother, bring the empty vessel of your penitent soul beneath the overflowing
fountain of GOD’s infinite love, and be filled with His fulness.

3. HE DRAWS NEAR. "I will be as the dew unto Israel" (Hosea 14:5). The dew does
its work by gentle contact, and it is quiet in its working. There is no sound of
saw or hammer. GOD is as the lion against those who refuse to repent. He is as
the dew unto every penitent soul, reviving weak and struggling life. "But," says
the backslider, "I am in the dark, I have no comfort." Yes, but remember, the
dew does its work in the dark. It distils in the night. In the night of your
penitent grief let GOD deal with you in gentleness and love. This gentle dealing
in the dark will prepare you for His coming as the morning, when your soul will
be filled with the light of the sun of righteousness.

4. HE GIVES GROWTH. "He shall grow as the lily." The lily grows rapidly. And
when a backslider has truly repented, he may grow in grace with great rapidity.
While living in sin he has not grown a particle. He has been stunted and
withered. But with a consciousness of being healed, and loved freely, and now
enveloped in GOD’s care as the plant is enveloped in the refreshing dew, he
cannot help growing like the lily.

5. HE GIVES STABILITY. "He shall... cast forth his roots like Lebanon." The lily
is frail. You can break it or uproot it with your finger. But not so with the
cedar of Lebanon. Its roots go deep into the earth, and wrap themselves around
the rocks. It can stand in the face of the storm, and defy its fury. So the
penitent backslider, while he grows rapidly like the lily, will become stable
like the cedar. He fell because he lacked stability, but his sad experience has
taught him not to rely at all upon his own strength, while he leans with all his
weight upon the strength of GOD. Peter, by his unhappy fall at the trial of
CHRIST, was cured of all boasting; he never fell again. He has now become truly
a rock in his resistance of evil. David’s fall was shameful, but his recovery
was complete, and he never fell again. He grew like the lily, and was as strong
as a cedar in Lebanon.

6. HE MAKES HIM BEAUTIFUL. "His beauty shall be as the olive tree" (Hosea 14:6).
The beauty of the lily is in its delicate texture and colouring. A touch or blot
will mar it, and once marred it can never be restored.

The backslider need not expect to recover the virgin beauty of the lily which he
had before sin blurred and bruised him. The scars of sin will remain even after
the wound has been healed.

The olive tree, on the other hand, may not be in itself beautiful. It is often
gnarled and crooked. Its beauty is chiefly in its fruitfulness. When the tree is
full of olives you forget the unsightliness of its trunk and branches, while you
gaze at the beauty of its fruit. So the penitent backslider, while he mourns the
loss of the lily’s beauty, may rejoice in the beauty of the olive’s
fruitfulness.

As Peter thought of his shameful backsliding, he doubtless strove to be more
fruitful. He may have preached better at Pentecost as he thought of his swearing
at the trial of JESUS, because he wished to make amends for the harm he had
done. David, after his broken-hearted penitence, bore the fruit of the
Fifty-first Psalm.

May GOD help us to make up for the loss of lily beauty by the beauty of olive
fruitfulness.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 27: 02.09.     THE WORLD'S ONLY NEED
========================================================================

SERMON NINE -

THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED

"I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

THOUGH Paul’s first vision was of the glorified CHRIST, he did not glory in the
glorified.

In the light of the glorified, he came back to the crucified for his glorying.
So that in his letter to the Galatians he can say, "God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I am aware that this text is sometimes explained in the light of local
limitations, that at Corinth Paul is determined not to know anything "save Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified," though he might know other things elsewhere. But
will you bear with me as we consider this subject - "Christ, and Him crucified,"
the world’s only need, in all ages and all countries.

Leonardo da Vinci took a friend to criticize his masterpiece of the "Last
Supper," and the remark of the friend was: "The most striking thing in the
picture is the cup." The artist took his brush and wiped out the cup, as he
said, "Nothing in my painting shall attract more attention than the face of my
Master."

Such was Paul’s thought and theology.

My subject, therefore, is "Christ, and Him crucified," the world’s only need for
salvation, for propagation, for civilization, for glorification.

I. "Christ, and Him crucified," THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED FOR SALVATION

We need, first of all, to define the word, if we can. It is too deep, too broad,
and too high for accurate definition, but we may touch the fringes of it, and
receive blessing in the touch. What is meant by "Christ, and Him crucified?"

CHRIST said "I am... the Truth," and it is the nature of truth to defend itself.
It bears a sword - "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God," and its
mission is to use the sword. But "Christ, and Him crucified" means incarnate
truth forgetting to defend itself, as it gives itself in sacrificial service.

CHRIST is Light, and it is the nature of light to display itself; but "Christ,
and Him crucified" means light refusing to display itself, while it gives itself
for those in darkness - light willing to be obscured that others may have sight
and light.

CHRIST is Life, and it is the nature of life to protect itself; and when that
goes too far, it is cowardice; but "Christ, and Him crucified" means life
forgetting to protect itself, as with sacrificial spirit it gives itself for the
dead in trespasses and sins.

CHRIST is Power, and it is the nature of power to exert itself; but "Christ, and
Him crucified" means power restraining itself, holding itself back, refusing to
exert itself, in order that it may give itself for the weak and the helpless.

CHRIST is Holiness, and it is the nature of holiness to cultivate itself; but
"Christ, and Him crucified" means holiness not caring to cultivate itself while
it gives itself in sacrificial spirit.

CHRIST is Wisdom, and it is the nature of wisdom to admire itself; but "Christ,
and Him crucified" means wisdom forgetting to admire itself while it gives
itself for the foolish and the ignorant.

CHRIST is Love, and it is the nature of love to enjoy itself; but "Christ, and
Him crucified" means love refusing to enjoy, love assuming burdens, love willing
to bear pain, love giving itself in sacrificial spirit for the unlovely and the
ugly.

Sum all this up, and we have a partial definition of the meaning of "Christ, and
Him crucified" - sacrificial truth, sacrificial light, sacrificial life,
sacrificial power, sacrificial holiness, sacrificial wisdom, sacrificial love -
all incarnate in Christ; "Christ, and Him crucified," Heaven’s best for earth’s
worst. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me."

Truth, as it defends itself, may not be attractive. The sword-point is not apt
to attract. Light, as it displays itself, is not apt to be attractive. Life, as
it protects itself, and Holiness as it cultivates itself, are not so attractive.
Power, as it exerts itself, may be attractive or not. Wisdom, as it admires
itself, and Love, as it enjoys itself, are not most attractive.

It is the sacrificial spirit that makes truth, light, life, power, wisdom,
holiness, and love attractive. "I, if I be lifted up... will draw . . . This He
said, signifying what death He should die." Not the CHRIST of truth and light,
not the CHRIST to be admired, not the CHRIST of power, not the CHRIST of love
that merely enjoys itself in self-complacency, but the CHRIST who gives Himself,
is the CHRIST that attracts.

"Christ, and Him crucified," is the world’s only need for salvation. Did you
ever feel the sense of sin’s guilt, and have the consciousness that in "Christ,
and Him crucified" there is forgiveness, there is justification? Forgiveness and
justification will attract the guilty.

II. "Christ, and Him crucified," THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED FOR PROPAGATION

"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Philip, coming to CHRIST, said, "There
are some Greeks who would like to see Thee." Did the Lord JESUS reply, "Bring
them along; I will be glad for your Greek friends to see Me?"

With an abruptness that at first is surprising, He said, "The hour is come when
the Son of man should be glorified. . . . Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone." "Philip, if your Greek friends see Me now,
they will not see JESUS; they will see the Son of man and the Son of GOD, the
God-Man, the perfection of humanity and Deity; but the only way to see JESUS is
to behold Him in the process of dying. Except a grain of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone; and herein, Philip, is the process of
propagation."

It is by the process of dying that the wheat multiplies, and it is by the
process of CHRIST’s dying that CHRIST multiplies. You are Christians, not by the
life of JESUS, but by the death of JESUS: "Christ, and Him crucified" - the
dying grain of wheat, with a view to the harvest; and just as that principle is
incarnate in the Christian life, missionary enterprise results in converts.

Just look at it for a moment. Truth with the sword - does that make many
converts? It gratifies some Christians to see the preacher in the arena. We like
to see a conflict, and it may be needed for the defence of the truth; "Earnestly
contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

It may be needed for the strengthening of faith; but truth on the altar makes
more converts than truth in the arena. Truth ablaze for GOD, with sacrificial
spirit, will multiply converts, while the flourishing sword may simply confuse
and antagonise.

Then, light displaying itself - does that attract and multiply converts? What is
light?

Geologists tell us that during the carboniferous era there were great forests -
forests taking in the light from the sun into leaf and limb, trunk and root; and
then there came revolutions by which these forests were buried under the ground,
and by processes of heat and pressure the coal-beds were formed.

We dig out the coal, and put it through a process of combustion. That liberates
the light which was conserved from the sun, and locked up in the black coal,
during the centuries.

How does CHRIST become the Light? Through the sermon on the Mount? Nay, verily.
Through the parables and the miracles? No; they are but reflections of the
Light. It is by the process of combustion on the altar. Out from the altar fires
of Calvary there comes the Light that was conserved from Heaven, and the Spirit
turns to Christians and says, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."

It is by the process of combustion that the Christian becomes light. "I am the
Light of the world." "Ye are the light of the world," said JESUS.

I remember in my early ministry preaching a sermon from that text on "Christians
as Reflectors of Light," and it is possible to make some nice points. The
reflectors must be at the right angle, and the dust must be kept off, and so
forth; but it was a cold sermon; reflection is a cold process.

You cannot raise a crop by moonlight; you must have the rays directly from the
sun. It does not say that Christians are reflectors of light, but "Ye are the
light," the light that is made by the process of combustion while upon the altar
of GOD.

As CHRIST became Light through death, we become light by the sacrificial spirit.

The great mission of Satan is unveiled by Paul, when he says, "Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light." The Mission of Satan is to give light; he
displays light; and if by giving light - scientific light, philosophic light,
theological light, any sort of light - he can satisfy men without the light of
"Christ, and Him crucified," he has accomplished his purpose.

Light made by the process of sacrifice is the need of the world for the
propagation of the Gospel.

So also with life. It is life sacrificed that multiplies converts. The
missionary who safely guards his health and his income, his home, his family,
and his luxuries, will not make many converts. The missionary who simply tries
to live in the best way possible will not multiply converts. It is the
missionary on the altar, the missionary ablaze, the missionary with Calvary in
his heart, that multiplies converts. Life that merely protects itself has no
power of propagation.

As that is true of light and life, so it is with holiness. It is well to
cultivate holiness, and I presume Holiness Conventions are good in their way.
They enable us to study the principles of holiness, and they make us a trifle
more holy as we feed upon the truths that reveal Biblical holiness, but I do not
remember ever having heard of a Holiness Convention where there were many
converts.

The mere cultivation of holiness, somehow, does not propagate.

Holiness on the altar, holiness ready to be consumed, holiness active for GOD,
is the power that propagates. Be ye perfect, be ye holy, as GOD is holy. Be it,
but be careful not to say it. Let your wife find it out, and as soon as she
finds it out she will gossip it all over the town. Everybody will soon know
about it.

The sun does not ring a bell and say, "I am shining!" It just shines. And it is
holiness that is ablaze, forgetful of itself in its own cultivation, that
propagates the Gospel and multiplies converts.

Power can compel without convincing; can drive without persuading. But it is
power on the altar, power being consumed for the sake of the weak - in other
words, it is "Christ, and Him crucified."

If the twelve legions of angels had come, they could have destroyed His enemies,
but there would have been no propagation, no multiplication. It was holding back
the twelve legions of angels - the grain of wheat dying - which brought the
harvest.

So, certainly, with wisdom and love. Love refusing to enjoy, love giving itself
out, thus becoming so attractive that it almost mesmerizes. The most repulsive
scene of this world was witnessed just outside the gate - three men hanging on a
cross apiece; and One in the centre, with the marred face, the clotted blood,
and the broken heart.

I would go across a continent to keep from seeing it. The tragedy of the
crucifixion is awfully repulsive, but underneath the tragedy there is a
fascination, there is a beauty, there is an attraction, that holds me against
all counter-attractions.

I was on a battle-field some time ago, and I confess that the description of
that battle almost curdled my blood. It was such terrible carnage; I will not
harrow your feelings by repeating it. And yet in the midst of that scene of
carnage is a monument reaching up towards the clouds. Did they build that to
carnage? No, they built it to the deeper meaning; they built it to the
sacrificial spirit that was manifested in that battle. You may walk the streets
of London, and you will find, with scarcely an exception, that the monuments you
see were built not to external repulsions, but to the deeper meaning of the
Cross, self-sacrifice for the good of others.

III. "Christ, and Him crucified" is THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED FOR CIVILIZATION

Civilization is made up of truth, light, life, holiness - spell it
"righteousness" if you will - power, wisdom and love. You will find civilization
in pagan lands with a large measure of truth defending itself, light displaying
itself, life protecting itself, power exerting itself, holiness cultivating
itself, wisdom admiring itself, and love enjoying itself; but only in Christian
civilization do you find the high type manifested by the spirit of "Christ, and
Him crucified."

If everybody in England and her Colonies would receive "Christ, and Him
crucified," with all which that means, you would settle every public problem
that perplexes statesmen to-day.

You would settle the divorce problem in a week, because if every husband loved
his wife well enough to die for her, and every wife loved her husband well
enough to die for him, the divorce lawyer would have to retire from business.

You would settle the war problem in less than a week. If everybody loved
everybody else well enough to die for them, they would not kill them.

"Christ, and Him crucified" would settle the Capital and Labour problem in ten
minutes. If every employer loved every employee well enough to die for him, and
every employee loved every employer well enough to die for him, we should never
have another strike.

If everybody accepted and loved "Christ, and Him crucified," it would settle the
drink problem. If everybody loved everybody else well enough to die for them,
they would not kill them with drink.

"Christ, and Him crucified" would settle every problem that perplexes the public
mind.

"Christ, and Him crucified" is the solution of politics, economics,
statesmanship, and religion.

- Let our universities crown Him, and learning will have the right relation to
everything else in Heaven and earth. - Let our business men crown Him, and
commerce will have the right relation to everything else. - Let the home crown
Him, and it will be a vestibule of Heaven.

IV. Finally, "Christ, and Him crucified" is THE WORLD’S ONLY NEED FOR
GLORIFICATION

There is a civilization beyond anything we have attained. We have a description
of it in the book of Revelation.

A Redeemed Municipality coming down out of Heaven, "prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband." No tears, no heart-break, no sin, no cemeteries. It is a city
with streets, and order, and law, and life and glory. We call it Heaven, and you
will agree with me that it is the climax of civilization.

Now, let us go through the gates ajar; listen a moment, and look while we
listen. John says, "I beheld... in the midst of the throne... a Lamb as it had
been slain." Then he goes on to say, "I heard the voice of many angels . . .
saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power,
and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

That makes Heaven - the enthronement of CHRIST and Him crucified; the
enthronement of truth, light, power, holiness, wisdom and love in the person of
CHRIST - all sacrificial - and that is the opposite to hell.

The living CHRIST with the marks of the cross enthroned makes Heaven.

In Heaven as He rules and reigns, all the redeemed and the angels give Him His
due. "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain"; and the Standard of Worth in Heaven is
"Christ, and Him crucified." If John should meet Paul on the streets of glory,
and say, "Paul, how much do you think Peter is worth?" Paul would not think of
gold, for they pave the streets with it there; he would think, "How much is
Peter like the slain Lamb, like CHRIST and Him crucified?" The standard of
character in glory, in this perfect civilization, is "Christ, and Him
crucified."

Sacrificial truth, light, life, power, holiness, wisdom, and love, still
incarnate, ruling in the glory. Shall we wait for it? I am glad that we are
going to Heaven, but I am more glad that Heaven can come to us, and just as
"Christ, and Him crucified," is preached and received, we have the building up
of Heaven’s civilization on earth.

Not only the imparting of GOD’s salvation, and the method of propagation, and
the civilization that is here, but the glorification of civilization itself is
"Christ, and Him crucified," enthroned, mastering the minds, hearts, pleasures,
and businesses of men, while we wait for the coming of the King in glory, when
the reserves shall be called out for the final charge and victory.

While we wait for the day-dawn, let us seek to establish Heaven’s civilization
in our own hearts, in our churches, in our land, in our world, and Heaven will
have come to us before we go to Heaven.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 28: 02.10.     HOW TO PRAY
========================================================================

SERMON TEN -

HOW TO PRAY

"After this manner therefore pray ye" (Matthew 6:9).

LUKE tells us that as JESUS was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one
of His disciples said unto Him, "Lord, teach us to pray."

This disciple had heard JESUS preach, but he did not feel like saying, "Lord,
teach us to preach." He could learn to preach by studying the methods of the
Master. But there was something about the praying of JESUS which made the
disciple feel that he did not know how to pray; that he had never prayed, and
that he could not learn by listening even to the Master as He prayed.

There is a profound something about prayer which never lies on the surface. To
learn it, one must go to the depths of the soul and climb to the heights of GOD.
The importance of it cannot be over-estimated.

Luther’s motto gives us the secret of success along all lines: "To have prayed
well is to have studied well."

To have prayed well is to have preached well, to have written well, to have
worked well, to have resisted well, to have lived well and to have died well.
Prayer is the key to success. Not to pray is to fail. To pray aright is never to
fail.

How infinitely important, then, that we should know how to pray; and CHRIST
tells us how.

1. PRAY GENUINELY

"When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are." The word
"hypocrite" means primarily "a play actor." In prayer, do not act a part. It is
not saying a form of words in a certain posture of body. Seriousness can be
simulated.

An actor can play a serious part. Earnestness can be simulated. An actor can
play an earnest part. Even tears can be simulated. But there is no playing the
part of genuineness. Make-believe genuineness is impossible, for genuineness has
to do with the inner reality. Genuineness is character, that GOD sees, and in it
there is no acting a part before GOD. He sees through all pretence. In prayer be
genuine, for you are dealing with GOD. Prayer is a personal transaction between
the soul and GOD.

II. PRAY SECRETLY

"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door,
pray to thy Father which is in secret." "When thou prayest" means literally,
"Whenever thou prayest."

Let all thy praying be in thy closet with the door shut; everything and
everybody shut out except GOD and you. "Pray to thy Father which is in secret,"
and then the answer will be no secret. It will be known that GOD answers prayer.

Does this mean that I shut myself up in some private room to pray? Yes, you can
do that, and ought to do it as often as possible. But entering a room and
locking the door does not always mean mental privacy. A thousand things may
follow and so occupy our attention that we shall not pray at all.

Our form of words will be but an actor’s part. Pretending to be occupied with
GOD, we are really occupied with things that distract us. And in the presence of
others, even of a great congregation, the public prayer may be so occupied with
GOD as to be a personal, private transaction with Him.

Even in the presence of others we may enter into the closet and shut the door to
all distractions while we pray to "[our] Father which is in secret."

All real prayer is private, GOD the only auditor. The presence of the audience
may suggest praise and petition, but the prayer is not a dealing with the
audience at all, but only with GOD.

In preaching we speak to the people for GOD, and in public prayer we speak to
GOD for the people. Yet no real prayer is public in the consciousness of him who
prays. The actor in prayer "[loves] to pray standing in the synagogues, and in
the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."

JESUS says, "They have their reward." They will be seen of men, and that is all
they will get. Men will call them very religious, and perhaps praise their
prayers as eloquent, but GOD pays no attention to them. If they would receive
from GOD, they must come to Him so filled with desire for His favour that they
are oblivious to the praise or blame of men.

Prayer may be public or private, but it must always be secret in the sense that
it is a personal transaction between the soul and GOD. Even if a thousand people
should join in the same prayer, only those would really pray who deal personally
with GOD. There are no proxies in prayer. We pray for one another, but not
instead of one another. I may intercede for you, but I cannot do your praying
for you. To do so would be to curse rather than to bless you.

The meaning of the Greek word translated "closet" is very suggestive. It’s
primary meaning is "storehouse" or "barn," a place where valuables are kept. It
is the word JESUS uses in Luke 12:24, when He speaks of the ravens not laying up
in storehouse or barn.

It is the word "storehouse" in the Septuagint of Deuteronomy 28:8 : "The Lord
shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses." It is the word
translated "barn" in Proverbs 3:10 : "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty."

The idea of secrecy came out of the fact that men usually store their valuables
in a secret place, and the word came to mean an inner chamber, because the
wealthy often had such a secret room in their houses for the storing of
valuables. "When thou prayest," says JESUS, "enter thou into thy secret treasure
chamber."

The place of real prayer is the Christian’s treasure chamber. He is there in the
midst of the treasures of grace which GOD has given him, and it is there that
GOD enriches him more and more; but in the secret place of the Most High where
He dwells, he is rich in love, joy, peace, and all the fruit of the Spirit.

In the conservatory, where flowers and fruits are cultivated, there is no
winter. The snow may fly on the outside, and cold winds may blow, but inside
there is summer warmth. The place of prayer is the conservatory of the soul,
lighted by Heaven’s light and warmed by Heaven’s warmth, and adorned with
Heaven’s beauty.

III. PRAY DEFINITELY

"When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do; for they think that
they shall be heard for their much speaking." "Use vain repetitions" is one word
in the Greek, and means primarily "to stammer."

The stammerer repeats his words in a meaningless way; and in prayer we are not
to do that, GOD wants us to express our needs in a clear, intelligent manner.

Saying prayers over and over and counting our beads so as to keep account of the
number of times, has no merit. That is the way the heathen do, but JESUS says,
"Be not ye therefore like unto them."

The heathen think they must gain their GOD’s attention and make an impression
upon him in behalf of their petitions. Not so our GOD, for He knows what we have
need of before we ask Him. The asking is for our sakes, that our faith and love
and hope may be exercised and strengthened.

IV. PRAY FRATERNALLY

"Our Father." We have seen that real prayer, though public, is secret, in that
it deals with GOD alone; and now it appears that even solitary prayer should be
social. We are so united in family ties to all Christians that one of us cannot
suffer without all suffering, and none of us can rejoice without all rejoicing.
A blessing upon one is, therefore, a blessing upon all, and a curse upon one is
a curse upon all.

"I," "me," and "my" do not appear in this prayer; while "we," "us" and "our"
occur nine times.

The phrase "in Heaven" is worthy of our study. To the Jewish and Oriental mind
there were three heavens.

- The first was the region of air and cloud where winds blow, thunder peals and
lightnings flash. - The second Heaven was the region of sun, moon and stars -
the sidereal heavens, vaster to our vision since the telescope was invented. -
The third Heaven to which Paul was caught up, whether in the body or out of it
he could not tell (2 Corinthians 12:2) was the region of GOD’s throne and glory,
the home of the angels.

Now, "Our Father" is in all these heavens. He rules supreme. Astrologers taught
that the stars ruled over the destinies of men: to be born under an evil star
was a very bad omen; the moon struck people with madness. "Our Father" is the
GOD of the sun, moon and stars. He is great enough to fill the infinitude of
space. Because we are under His care, the sun shall not smite us by day, nor the
moon by night. Sun, moon and stars are obedient servants, doing His will. "Our
Father" also rules in the elements of air and clouds.

There is a "Prince of the power of the air." He is a rebellious prince, usurping
a portion of our Father’s dominions; but we are not afraid of him. Wind, cloud,
cold and heat, thunder and lightning are the messengers of GOD. The devout Jew
listened for his Father’s voice in the thunder and saw the flash of His eyes in
lightning; and he was not afraid.

"GOD moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps
in the sea, And rides upon the storm."

V. PRAY REVERENTLY

"Hallowed be Thy name." Though children, crying familiarly "Abba, Father," we
must not forget to be reverent. The pious Jew had such reverence for the name of
Jehovah that he never pronounced it. It lost its vowel points by disuse, so that
Hebrew scholars differ to-day as to how it ought to be pronounced. Let no word
pass our lips which in any way takes the name of GOD in vain.

VI. PRAY LOYALLY AND HOPEFULLY

"Thy kingdom come." Our Father is a King, and while we are permitted to be
lovingly familiar, we must be loyally true. Disloyalty to the king is treason.
The King came to earth and they rejected Him. The Church has its mission between
the rejected King and the coming kingdom. At some time, perhaps soon, the King
will return to set up His kingdom. It is our business to make ready for His
return and welcome Him when He comes.

His kingdom has many provinces. It may be that this earth is the only province
in His vast dominion of planets and stars that is in rebellion against Him. When
the rebellion began in Eden centuries ago, the King might have used His power in
destroying the rebels, and at any time since then He might have sent His legions
of angels for their destruction or forced subjection. But His love prompted Him
to another course. His purpose is to conquer by His love. He would storm the
citadel of our hearts by the power of Gethsemane and Calvary.

It is said of a great General that he expressed his purpose to destroy all his
enemies; but when he had captured the opposing army he forgave them and sent
them home to their families. When asked why he did not keep his word, he
replied, "I have destroyed all my enemies; they are now my friends." GOD would
destroy all His enemies by making them His friends, by the power of His
forgiving love in JESUS CHRIST.

While we pray for the coming of the King in His glory, it is our duty and
privilege to let Him come in His grace. Let us crown Him in the province of our
hearts and lives. "Make JESUS King" was the telegram sent by the Japanese
Christian Endeavourers to a great World’s Convention, and it is ours to heed
that request. "Thy kingdom come."

CHRIST enthroned in every department of my being, intellectual, moral, spiritual
and physical. I would crown Him in the realm of religion, business, education,
politics and pleasure.

VII. PRAY SUBMISSIVELY AND AGGRESSIVELY

"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." "Heaven" is here singular, and
evidently refers to the highest Heaven, where GOD reigns in righteousness. In
Heaven the will of GOD is done perfectly and joyfully; there is no resistance.
His will is law, and it is never violated. Such is the standard we should have
before us, and we should be satisfied with nothing less. This spirit will make
us foreign missionaries and send us with the Gospel to the uttermost parts of
the earth. It will also make us home missionaries, sending us into the alleys
and avenues wherever we can find a soul in rebellion against GOD.

VIII. PRAY DEPENDENTLY

"Give us this day our daily bread." "This day," of course, refers to time. But
the word "daily," which occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, has in it no
thought of time. It means "needed," "necessary." "Give us daily the food that is
necessary for us, not only in quantity, but also in quality." It is a prayer
that we may have the wisdom to eat the right kind of food, in the right way, at
the right time. More people are hurt by gormandizing than by fasting.

- The day labourer can pray this prayer, for a certain kind of food is necessary
for the strengthening of his body for his manual toil. - The writer, who sits at
his desk, should pray this prayer, for he needs another kind of food for his
nerves and brain. - The millionaire can pray this prayer, for he needs wisdom
that he may eat just the food he needs.

While a certain millionaire was in poor health, it is said that he carried with
him in his travels a specialist, to tell him what proportion of milk and
biscuits he should eat. His millions could furnish an abundance of food, but
special wisdom was required as to quality and quantity.

This prayer is, therefore, as appropriate for the man with a large bank account
as for the man who walks the street not knowing where his next meal is to come
from. It is also a prayer for the housekeeper and the cook, that they may have
skill and wisdom in selecting and preparing the food that is necessary for the
family.

IX. PRAY PENITENTLY

"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The word translated "debt"
means "that which is justly or legally due." An overdue obligation is a sin.

It is not a sin to borrow or give your note promising to pay at a certain time.
We really "owe no man anything" until the time for payment has arrived. But the
moment an obligation becomes due we must pay it, or ask forgiveness of the
creditor.

To let an obligation run on unadjusted is to live in sin. This applies to rent,
grocer’s bills, millinery bills, and all other debts of individuals or Churches.
To neglect or refuse to pay a debt that is due is a sin to be confessed to the
creditor.

Our sins against GOD are all debts overdue, and we are bankrupt. We owe ten
thousand talents and have not a penny to pay. It is a debt to the justice of
GOD; and the love of GOD in JESUS CHRIST makes full payment for all who will
confess their sins and gratefully accept the payment.

X. PRAY CAUTIOUSLY

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [the Evil One]." We
should make no spectacular display of courage. "A fence at the top of the
precipice is better than a hospital at the bottom." We should keep as far from
danger as possible.

Better use our strength in doing good than in resisting evil. But if, with all
our caution, we fall into the snare of the devil and are caught in the meshes of
his wiles, there is One able to deliver. Call to Him and He will come to your
rescue. He will make a way of escape.

Let us close where we began. "Lord, teach us to pray." Not how to pray, though,
as we have seen, He does teach us how. Nor what to pray, though He does teach us
what. We know how to pray and what to pray better than we pray. "Lord, teach us
to PRAY."

We are tempted to let other good things displace prayer: hours, days and weeks
for other things, and only minutes for prayer. Knowing how and what is not
sufficient. We must take time to do it, for GOD works in answer to prayer, and
GOD at work is our greatest need.


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  CHAPTER 29: 02.11.     RAISING DRY BONES
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SERMON ELEVEN -

RAISING DRY BONES

"And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord
God, thou knowest." (Ezekiel 37:3).

A DRY bone is a proof of extinct life, for bones are made only in living
organ­isms. Israel as a nation was once a living organism full of the life of
GOD. But Israel sinned, and then came decay with disinte­gration, until now
Israel has become like a valley of dry bones scattered over the earth. Man,
created in the image of GOD, was a living organism filled with the life of GOD,
but man sinned, and then came decay with disinte­gration which has made the
world a valley of bones. Now there is no process known to science by which a dry
bone can be suddenly changed into a living organism. When, therefore, GOD asked
the prophet, "Can these bones live?" the prophet was compelled to refer the
question back to GOD for an answer. "O Lord God, Thou and Thou alone knowest. If
these bones are ever made to live, Thou wilt have to tell us how." And in this
chapter GOD answers the question as to how dry bones of all ages may be made to
live.

THE PROPHET’S PREPARATION

In the first place, those commissioned to raise dry bones must have a special
prepara­tion.

This preparation is twofold:

One must see a vision of GOD and receive the touch of GOD.

In the first chapter of Ezekiel’s pro­phecy we are told that he saw visions of
GOD! He saw wings with human hands under them; a vision of the divine and human
- the wing everywhere symbolizes divinity and the hand, humanity - the divine
controlling the human, for the wings moved the hands. He saw winged creatures
with:

- the face of a man symbol­izing intelligence, - the face of a lion symbol­izing
courage, - the face of an ox symbolizing patience, - and the face of an eagle
symbolizing aspiration,

all under control of the divine wings. The need of every prophet of GOD is that
his intelligence, courage, patience and aspiration shall be linked with GOD and
be completely controlled by Him.

In this vision Ezekiel feels the touch of GOD. "The hand of the Lord was upon
me." The hand of the Lord symbolizes His power, and to be under His hand is to
be endued with His power. The Spirit of GOD is in every Christian for life, but
every Christian is not under GOD’s hand for power.

The prophet responds to the touch of GOD and goes where He leads. "The hand of
the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me
down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones." He was willing to be
led by the Lord’s hand into the valley of bones. The temptation is for us to
seek the garden with its flowers rather than the valley with its bones.

The prophet also responds, when GOD’s hand sets him down in the midst of the
bones.

Dwelling with the bones is more trying than just going to them on a temporary
mission. To have bones for neighbours and companions may not be pleasant. We
have a taste for the company of living people. But unless we are ready to
respond to the hand of GOD which would lead us to the bones and make us dwell
among them, we are not prepared for the work of raising them to life.

The work cannot be done at a distance. The millions who throng the streets,
crowd the theatres, drink in saloons and revel in dance halls, shunning the
church as they would the pest house, cannot be reached by the pastor in his
study making eloquent sermons for his cultured congregation, nor by the
Christians who meet in parlours, halls and churches for fellowship and Bible
study.

Thank GOD for the men and women who gladly respond to the hand of GOD leading
them to the most sinful and hopeless.

THE TEST OF FAITH

Three things severely tested the prophet’s faith.

1. The bones were very many. The valley was white with them. To reach them all
by personal effort was impossible. And yet the multitude of the bones did not
cause the faith of the prophet to fail, for his eyes were upon GOD and he
believed that GOD was equal to such a task. As we look at millions unreached by
the gospel, we may be appalled, but the eye of faith sees GOD still equal to the
great work of reaching and saving. No difficulty can surpass His resources.

2. The bones were very dry. There was no sign of life. Their dryness was
positive proof of death. We are apt to classify people as hopeful and hopeless.
We are hopeful for the child raised in the Christian family and taught in the
Sunday school. We are hope­ful for the amiable woman, cultured and refined, who
takes an interest in Church affairs. But the poor drunken, shiftless tramp, the
hardened criminal, the outcast harlot and the blatant anarchist, we are apt to
regard as hopeless dry bones, if we take our eyes from our GOD of infinite power
and love.

If Ezekiel had kept looking at the great number of very dry bones, he might have
said, "There is no use trying to raise them to life." But though Ezekiel was
willing to face the facts and would not deny the difficulties, he did not look
to the bones for assurance of faith. He trusted GOD Who made the men whose bones
were before him and Who could, by the fiat of His will, remake them. To the man
whose faith is in GOD alone the hopeless becomes hopeful.

3. The prophet was told to do a very foolish thing. It is foolish to speak to a
deaf man, more foolish to speak to a dead man, and it is the climax of folly to
speak to a bone so lifeless and formless as not to be classified as man at all.
But Ezekiel was willing to appear a fool to the worldly wise. And it is by the
foolish­ness of preaching that men are to be saved.

THE MEANS USED

The man of GOD spoke the Word of GOD in the power of the Spirit of GOD. Ezekiel
was a man of GOD in that he was right with GOD and completely under GOD’s
control. It is well to be a man of learning, a man of position, a man of means,
a man of eloquence, but it is a thousand times better to be a man of GOD.

But the Word of GOD must be spoken by the man of GOD. The prophet spoke to the
bones exactly what GOD told him. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, we have the purpose of
the Scriptures: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [God-breathed],
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works."

The man of GOD has the whole Bible from which to draw equipment for every good
work.

But he must be a man of prayer, depend­ing upon the Spirit of GOD to use the
Word. The prophet was commanded to call upon the breath of GOD to breathe upon
the valley of bones, and, while he spoke GOD’s Word, GOD’s invisible power moved
upon the valley.

Every worker in the valley of bones needs these qualifications. He must be a man
of GOD, a man of the Bible and a man of prayer. He must keep right with GOD and
speak the Word of GOD, while he trusts the Spirit of GOD. No valley of bones can
resist a man of this kind.

THE PROCESS

The prophet spake directly to the bones. There was no manipulation. There was no
preparing the bones to receive GOD’s Word. He did not try by human wisdom to
articulate the bones and cover them with artificial flesh, before he spoke to
them and called upon GOD to move upon them. He knew that bones have no power to
receive or re­tain life. And yet while he spoke, there was a noise; bone came to
his bone. The shak­ing was bone-noise. It was the rattle of death and not the
voice of life. Thus dry bones often move and make a deathly noise under the
breath of GOD.

When a husband for whom his wife has been praying begins to be especially mean
and cruel, I expect him to be converted soon. It is the bones touched by the
breath of GOD and the noise is made by the resistance of his evil heart.

When a man for whom I have been praying gets mad and swears at me when I speak
to him about his soul, I confidently expect to see him converted in a few days.
The bones are moving under the breath of GOD and the rattling is made by the
resistance of his will.

A minister in Boston, that city of cultured bones, told us in the ministers’
meeting, as he discussed the workings of his settle­ment-house, that his workers
were not expected to speak of GOD or CHRIST. Some of the children had brutal
drunkards for fathers, and, if you spoke to them of the fatherhood of GOD, they
would think of GOD as like their beastly fathers. So you must go down and live
with your families amongst these people and teach them what a true loving father
is. Then you can teach them the fatherhood of GOD and they will understand it.

When the speaker was asked if CHRIST Who said, "He that hath seen Me hath seen
the Father," did not reveal the fatherhood of GOD better than any earthly father
could, and whether, there­fore, the preaching of CHRIST to children with brutal
parents would not at once reveal to them what loving fatherhood meant?

He seemed puzzled for a reply. What could he say except that he had set aside
GOD’s process of revealing His fatherhood and had put in its place a little
scheme of his own? His scheme would require years to work and then prove a
failure. In the meantime, children are dying without a knowledge of GOD, while
others are growing up as heathen in their relation to GOD.

One day of teaching CHRIST to these children of the slums will do more to reveal
to them the meaning of the fatherhood of GOD than a decade of looking at the
life of any man who lives and shows his faults, as well as his virtues, in their
midst. What every dry bone of the valley needs, first of all, is a touch of the
breath of GOD. Knowledge of Greek, Latin, French, German, music, mathematics and
science leaves spiritual dry bones just as they were. It is the lack of the
knowledge of GOD that makes them dry, and nothing but the knowledge of GOD can
restore them to life. And this brings us to

THE PURPOSE OF THE VISION

"Ye shall know that I am the Lord." Twice this purpose is given. Israel herself
shall know that I am the Lord, when they shall see that I have raised the valley
of scattered bones into an army of living men. There "stood up upon their feet,
an exceeding great army." Not a great mob like the bones in confusion, but an
organized army.

An army carries with it the idea of organiza­tion, obedience to orders and
leadership under a general. The scattered dry bones of Israel shall become again
a living national organism, and the effect of this transformation shall be to
make other nations acknowledge the Lord.

The best books now extant on the evidences of Christianity are the living
epistles, "known and read of all men," who were once moral and spiritual dry
bones, but who are now alive and battling in the army of CHRIST.

When in Boston a young man asked me for a book that would confirm his faith. I
told him to go to the Men’s meeting on Sunday afternoon and listen for half an
hour to the testimony of those who had been drunkards and criminals and are now
sober, honest, happy husbands and fathers, with the joy of Heaven in their faces
and the music of Heaven in their voices. One live Lazarus is worth forty
ser­mons on the resurrection. Let not the number nor the dryness of the bones
appall us. With the vision of GOD before us and the touch of GOD upon us, let us
speak to them the Word of GOD while we trust the GOD of omnipotent power to give
them life, and we shall not be disappointed.


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  CHAPTER 30: 02.12.     THE YOUNG CONVERT'S VISION
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SERMON TWELVE -

THE YOUNG CONVERT’S VISION

"Whereupon, O King Agrippa. I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision"
(Acts 26:19).

WHEN Paul saw the glorified CHRIST, he asked, "Who art thou, Lord?" The question
implies much ignorance. Paul does not fully know the glorious Being Who stands
before him, but he is certain of one thing, that He is his Master, as the word
"Lord" implies. There was such a kingly majesty in the face and form of CHRIST
that there was no mistaking His lordship. The mighty Saul of Tarsus saw at a
glance that he had met the One to Whom he could give his allegi­ance as King, to
rule his life.

And yet Paul in after years did not glory in the glorified CHRIST whom he saw on
the Damascus road. He wrote to the Corinthians, "I am determined not to know any
thing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified," and to the Galatians, "God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Back of the glory which shone above the brightness of the noonday sun he saw a
greater glory in the self-sacrificing love of the Son of GOD as manifested in
His dying for a lost world. The glory of the cross outshines the glory of the
crown. CHRIST wears the Creator’s crown, but the Saviour’s crown is brighter
than the Creator’s crown.

The new creation by which man is restored to GOD’s image cost GOD immensely more
than the old creation by which all worlds were made. By the fiat of His will
worlds were created, but it took His heart’s blood to save sinners. We have not
had the vision of Paul, with the visible light and the audible voice from
Heaven, but, if we are Christians, we have had the same kind of vision.

We have, by the eye of faith, seen CHRIST as Lord, and we have acknowledged His
supremacy as King in our lives. A study, therefore, of the purpose of this
vision gives GOD’s pur­pose in each of our lives. In this purpose there are
eight things and in the fulfilment there are three.

May the Spirit of GOD help us to profit by their consideration.

I. THE PURPOSE OF THE VISION

The first object of CHRIST in this vision was to make Paul a co-worker with
Himself. "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a minister."
This word "minis­ter" means an "under-rower," one who sat with his
fellow-oarsmen in front of the cap­tain of the vessel and took the oarstroke
from him. As they all struck with him, they of course struck together, and the
boat moved forward with the combined force of their strokes.

CHRIST would make of each one of us an under-rower who takes the stroke from Him
in all things:

- We do what He commands. - We go where He sends. - We speak what He wishes. -
We will be what He wants us to be. - His will is our law. - His pleasure is our
joy.

He is to-day seeking the lost, and He would have us seek them with Him. He is
shepherding the Lambs, and He wants our co-operation. Is He leading the battle
against the powers of darkness? He expects us to take part. Is He opening the
doors in Pagan lands for the entrance of missionaries? He expects us to enter
and tell the heathen of His love.

The second object of CHRIST in this vision was to make Paul a witness for Him.

"To make thee a witness of these things which thou hast seen and of those things
in the which I will appear unto thee." The "these things" were great and
glorious. There was in them a view of the glorified CHRIST. But Paul was not to
be content with "these things," however glorious. He was to look for "those
things" in which CHRIST was to appear to him again. And many a vision of the
CHRIST as Saviour, Helper, Guide, Friend and Deliverer did Paul have in the
years that followed.

So while we enjoy "these things" which come at conversion in the first vision of
CHRIST as Saviour and Lord, we should expect "those things" in which He will
appear to us more glorious and precious as the years go by.

In persecu­tions, in perils of sea and land, in imprison­ments and scourgings,
Paul had new visions of CHRIST as all-sufficient Saviour and Helper. Let us,
therefore, not shrink from the difficult, the dangerous or the painful, if
CHRIST wants us to go through them, for He will be with us, and in all "those
things" reveal Himself to us in ever-increasing preciousness and glory.

John Bunyan said that he could pray for a darker, damper dungeon, because, as
his physical discomforts increased, his spiritual comforts and joys were
multiplied. We saw the Matterhorn, the most imposing mountain I have ever seen,
from many angles, and every view was sublime, but our best view was from the
depths of a deep gorge where we stood among the shadows and looked up at its
sun-bathed, majestic height. And our best visions of CHRIST are often from the
deep, dark gorge of some great sorrow from which we look up through our tears.

The third object of the vision was to give Paul complete liberty with a view to
better service.

"Delivering thee from the people and from the nations unto whom now I send
thee." Paul was a Jew and in bondage to Jewish prejudice. His kinsmen according
to the flesh were Jews, and he loved them. They honoured him with promotion to
member­ship in the great court of the Sanhedrim. He shared with them their
hatred of Christianity and was joining with them in vigorous attempts to destroy
it.

Now CHRIST delivers Paul from the Jews, and there is more in that than
deliverance from their courts and jails. It means deliver­ance from their
spirit, their sins and their pre­judices, as well as from fear of their power or
desire for their favour.

Patriotism has its place, though it is to blame for many desolating wars and
often fosters a spirit of national selfishness. When patriot­ism leads us to
love our country because it stands for institutions which make for the
betterment of the people, it is good; but when patriotism displaces humanity and
seeks to enslave the world for the glory of a small part of its population, it
is a monstrous evil. Christianity, promoted by the spirit of the "Son of Man,"
is world-wide in its patriotism. It seeks the salvation of all men, regardless
of colour, speech and residence. Paul was de­livered from the narrow tribal
spirit of the Jew, that he might love all alike and work for the salvation of
all.

After he was de­livered from the Jews and the nations, CHRIST sent him forth
with His evangel to them. Here is a principle which may be applied to all
spheres. We must be delivered from people before we are ready to preach the
gospel to them. You cannot reach the drunkard by drinking with him, nor the
swearer by swear­ing with him, nor the profligate by sinning with him, nor the
worldling by playing cards, going to the theatre and dancing with him. After
CHRIST has delivered us from our set, then He sends us back to them with the
gospel. The drowning man is in no condition to save other drowning men.

The fourth object of the vision was to equip Paul for giving sight to the blind.

"To open their eyes." How we pity people who have lost their sight! An audience
of blind people, as I have seen them in the chapels of their institutions, is a
pathetic spectacle. To be able to restore their sight, that they may see the
sun, the flowers, the stars and the faces of their friends, is a gift to be
coveted.

But CHRIST sends us on even a higher mission than that. To be blind to GOD and
truth and Heaven is worse than to be blind to the sun, the stars and the faces
of friends. Soul-blindness is more pitiful than physical blind­ness. Every
Christian is sent forth as a sight restorer. He has a remedy which can open
blind eyes toward GOD and truth and Heaven.

The fifth object of the vision was to enable Paul to give light and the love of
it.

"To turn from darkness to light." Light is no good to us without sight, and
sight is no good without light. Our first work is to give sight and then light.

The sixth object of the vision was to enable Paul to turn people from
counterfeit light to true light.

"To turn from the power of Satan unto God," Satan in this age is a messenger of
light. He desires that his followers shall be ministers of righteousness. The
tradi­tional Devil with horns and forked tail, snort­ing fire, is not found in
the Bible. He is subtle and wily. His mission is to give all sorts of light with
the purpose of satisfying men without Him who said, "I am the light of the
world." His subtlest wile is seen in his counterfeiting light. Every counterfeit
has a basis of reality. If you take a shilling and gild it, you might pass it
for a sovereign. It is still worth a shilling. The counterfeit consists in
passing it for more than it is worth.

- Morality is a good thing - real light; the wile of the Devil is to gild it
with a false value and counterfeit it by passing it for salvation. - Character
is good - ­real light; the wile of the Devil consists in gild­ing it with a
false value and thus counterfeit it by passing it for salvation without CHRIST.
- Education is good - real light; the wile of the Devil consists in gilding it
with a false claim and thus counterfeit it by passing it for salvation.

Our libraries are full of good books, which contain real light; the Devil’s wile
consists in gilding them with a false value by claiming for them equal
inspiration with the Bible and thus counterfeit them by passing them for more
than they are worth.

- The ordinances of the Church are good, and carry with them spiritual truth,
which is real light; the Devil’s wile consists in gilding them with a false
value and passing them as a channel or substitute for regeneration. - The Church
is good, a real light in the world; the Devil’s wile consists in gilding it with
a fictitious importance and thus counterfeit it by claiming Church membership as
all that is needed for salvation.

The human Christ stands out the most perfect character in his­tory, filling the
world with ethical and intellect­ual light; the wile of the Devil is in gilding
even this perfect CHRIST with a false claim that a human Christ as our example
is all we need and thus counterfeit even the human Christ by claiming Him as a
Saviour without the offence of the cross.

Even the cross is counterfeited by gilding it with the false claim that it was
only an incident in the career of a good man who died a martyr to his mission.

Paul was commissioned to turn men from this counterfeit light, produced by the
wiles of Satan, to the true GOD in CHRIST JESUS, and such is the commission GOD
gives to the humblest Christian in the world.

The seventh object of the vision was to authorize Paul to offer to all people
forgiveness of sins.

"That they may receive for­giveness of sins." I heard a foreign missionary say
that he never met a pagan who did not have a sense of sin’s guilt, though they
were often mistaken as to the nature of sin. The whole world lieth in guilt, and
it is our glorious mission to tell them that through CHRIST there is
forgiveness.

The sin question may be settled and we may get rid of the guilt and pollution of
sin with its accom­panying lashing conscience and sense of defilement. The
greatest day in my life was the day I settled the sin question by getting right
with GOD through JESUS CHRIST, and it is my glorious privilege to tell others
how they too may have their greatest day.

It was a privilege for Mr. Moody to take the governor’s pardon to a prisoner in
the States’ prison, and to see his joy when it was announced to him; but a
greater privilege it is to take to men, shackled by sin and behind the prison
bars of their own evil habits, the forgiveness of GOD, which carries with it
liberty and the power to remain free.

The eighth object of the vision was to enable Paul to enrich all who would
accept his message.

"Inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith that is in me."
Sanctifica­tion carries with it separation from the world with its sin and
godlessness. It means giving up everything which GOD does not approve. But is
that impoverishment? Far from it; for it means also a separation unto all that
is good.

The heir to the throne of England is separated from a good many things, but he
is separated unto more. This inheritance is described by the Apostle Peter as
"incorrupt­ible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for
you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time."

It was Paul’s mission to go over the world and offer to everybody through CHRIST
the honour, wealth and power which comes with being a child of GOD. No statesman
or philanthropist who might have the resources of all the millionaires at his
command can so enrich the people as the humble mission worker who offers to them
all the riches of grace and glory in CHRIST JESUS.

II. THE FULFILLMENT

Paul began at once the realization of the vision. He says, "I showed first unto
them in Damascus."

He began right where he was, in the place where he expected to perse­cute
Christians. Then he went to Jerusalem, then out into Judea, and then to the
utter­most parts of the earth. If you have accepted CHRIST as Saviour and Lord,
begin right where you are to witness for Him. Tell those with whom you have
sinned of the Saviour Who has given you sight and light and joy.

Then tell others, till, if possible, you have made the ends of the earth hear
your story. They may turn upon you as they did upon Paul, but, if you are
faithful, some will re­ceive your witness, and the joy of winning just one soul
to CHRIST is a foretaste of Heaven.

In fulfilling this vision Paul insisted upon just three things.

1. Repentance. He showed that they should repent. They must change their minds,
which means immensely more than changing their opinions. There must be a change
in the whole mental attitude toward sin and GOD. They must take GOD’s side
against sin and fight sin on the side of God till complete victory is gained.

2. Faith and Allegiance. He showed that they should turn to GOD. Turning from
sin is reformation. Turning from sin to CHRIST is regeneration. It is another
way of saying, "Ye must be born again."

3. Faithfulness. He showed that they must do works meet for repentance. Not
works like fruit hung upon a dead tree, as some pagans hang fruit upon trees
planted on the graves of their dead. But it must be fruit that grows upon the
live tree of a truly penitent, regenerated soul. It means works which flow from
repentance and prove that we have repented. It is not works which save us, but
works are done because we are saved. Good works are the stream, not the
fountain; the fruit, not the tree.

He brought about repentance, turning to GOD and doing works meet for repentance
by preaching the death and resurrection of JESUS CHRIST.

"I continue unto this day witnessing to both small and great none other things
than Moses and the prophets did say should come, that Christ should suffer and
that He should be the first that should rise from the dead and should show light
unto the people and to the nations."

If we would induce men to repent, we must break their hearts with GOD’s love, by
telling them how CHRIST, GOD manifest in the flesh, died for them and rose from
the dead. Thus He became "light unto the people and to the nations." The mere
human Christ, however pure, wise and powerful, is not the light of the world.

CHRIST became light for the soul by the sacrifice of Himself upon the Cross. He
said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." As the
traveller lost in the darkness is drawn towards the light which appears in the
distance, so the soul lost in the darkness of sin is drawn to­wards the uplifted
CHRIST.

A look to Him gives even sight to the blind. Do I speak to one who is blind to
CHRIST? Will you not turn your face toward Calvary and receive your sight, that
from this time on you may walk in the light? Let CHRIST open your eyes, that you
may see the beauties and glories of the Spiritual world.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 31: 02.13.     ETERNAL LIFE
========================================================================

SERMON THIRTEEN -

ETERNAL LIFE

"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and be that believeth not
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:36).

CHRISTIANITY IS LIFE. Every man ought to have a creed, for a creed is the
definite expression of one’s belief. A man who believes nothing is nothing, for
as he thinketh so is he. Character is made by creed. But the mere holding of a
creed is not eternal life. A creed is like the basket that holds the fruit. If
we eat the fruit we shall be benefited, but we should not try to eat the basket.
Re­ceive into your heart the truth that is in your creed, but do not be
satisfied with the mere external statement of the truth.

Every church has two classes of members; one may be com­pared to trees, the
other to posts. The tree grows and bears leaf, flower, and fruit. The post rots.

The Church member that has the life of GOD in him is "a tree planted by the
rivers of water, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper." A church member that has not the life of GOD is a post that begins to
decay the very day after he has been planted in the church, and the pastor is
pained by having to watch the process of decay week after week.

It is a life that appropriates. The life in the tree appropriates the sunlight,
heat, and moisture. The life in the soul appropriates the light of GOD’s truth,
the warmth of His love, and the sustenance of His grace.

It is the nature of life also to expel. Abundant life throws off the germs of
disease. People who are vigorous in body can live in malarious districts without
shaking with chills, while the weak in body become ill. If we are filled with
the life of GOD it will throw off the disease of sin, and we can move amid the
malarious atmo­sphere of earth without contracting its diseases.

Life moves. JESUS went about doing good, and if we have in us His life, we too
will go about doing good. If we are not moved in that direction, it is good
proof that we have no spiritual life. Dormant life is not sufficient.

Life asleep resembles death, and for all practical purposes a cemetery is as
good as a dormitory. A church asleep is as useless as a dead church. A Christian
asleep is a standing reproach to Christianity. He had better be dead, pro­vided
he died while he was wide awake in his spiritual life, for being dead he will
continue to speak for the glory of GOD, but if he remains alive and asleep, he
will continue to speak against the cause of CHRIST.

A French dramatist read his latest production to a circle of critics, and while
he was reading one of the critics fell asleep. The reader stopped long enough to
say, "How can you criticize my production, and you sound asleep?"

"I submit," said the critic, rubbing his eyes, "that sleep is a criti­cism."

And so it is. If Christianity means anything, it means everything, and a
sleeping Christian is a perpetual argument against Christianity. When you talk
to sleeping Chris­tians, they sometimes talk in their sleep, walk in their
sleep, and fight in their sleep. One half of our church quarrels is the result
of spiritual somnambulism, pastor and people fighting in their sleep.

If they were wide awake, they would be at the work of soul winning rather than
contending with each other.

EVERLASTING LIFE IS A PRESENT POSSES­SION. "He that believeth on the Son, HATH
everlasting life." Not will have, but he has it now. Whatever is meant by
eternal life is a present possession. Eternal life is not therefore mere
immortality; it is not simply continuity of existence. In the 17th chapter of
John and 3rd verse JESUS gives us a clear definition of it: "This is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom
thou hast sent."

Eternal life is knowing GOD through JESUS CHRIST.

Eternal death, therefore, is not knowing GOD through JESUS CHRIST.

A man may exist in this world without knowing GOD, and he may continue to exist
in the world to come without knowing GOD.

Some people believe that eternal death is annihilation. They fall into that
error because they have assumed that eternal life is simply eternal existence,
whereas according to this definition of JESUS eternal life is knowing GOD, and
therefore the opposite of it must be eternal death, which is ignorance of GOD.

I can imagine a piece of steel existing a million years, but it will be just as
dead then as it is now. A corpse exists: people who are dead in sins exist: and
the death of the body will not hinder its existence.

ETERNAL LIFE IS RECEIVED THROUGH BELIEVING ON THE SON OF GOD. "He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life."

It is not believing about the Son. One may believe a hundred things about CHRIST
without believing on CHRIST. He may believe that there was such a historic
character, that the record of Him in the Bible is true, without de­pending on
CHRIST for his salvation.

I believe many things about Gladstone, Disraeli and Abraham Lincoln, but I am
not conscious just now of depending on them for anything. I can believe a score
of things about the steam­ship Olympic, her length, her breadth, her ton­nage,
the number of engines and boilers, the material out of which she is made. That
is one thing, but when I get on board the Olympic for a trip to America, that is
quite another thing.

In the first case I am believing things about the Olympic, in the second case I
have com­mitted myself to the Olympic for a voyage. Believing about CHRIST is
one thing, commit­ting yourself to CHRIST for the voyage to Heaven is another
thing. The little word ON is the link that binds us to the Son of GOD for
salvation. To believe ON Him is to know GOD, and that knowledge is eternal life.

The second part of our text contains

A DISAGREEABLE AND THEREFORE A NEGLECTED TRUTH. "He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

The word "believeth" here is not the same as the word "believeth" in the
previous sentence. It has in it the root of the English word apathy. It means,
therefore, he that makes himself apathetic, hardens himself against the Son of
GOD, shall not see life.

My friend, are you conscious of that mental process? As JESUS CHRIST is
presented to you, and your conscience is quickened, do you resist the drawings
of the Spirit toward Him?

If so, you are in fearful danger. You are among those who make themselves hard
against the Son of GOD, and the decree is that you shall not see life. This
hardening process may con­tinue until all avenues of approach are cut off, and
you are given up to hardness of heart.

Not to believe on the Son of GOD is to turn from the light into the darkness, to
refuse life and accept death. On such a person "the wrath of God abideth."

"The wrath of God" is a terrible expression, and it remains terrible, after we
have modified it by every thought which has been revealed con­cerning GOD.

- It is the wrath of the Lamb, and a more terrific wrath was never known. - It
is the wrath of virtue against vice, - It is the wrath of chastity against
unchastity, - It is the wrath of meekness against brutality, - It is the wrath
of gentleness against cruelty, - It is the wrath of righteousness against sin, -
It is the wrath of love against hatred.

All who refuse the life of GOD must suffer the wrath of GOD, and eternal death
is that state of the future in which the wrath of GOD abideth.

"He that believeth not is condemned already"; judg­ment has gone against him, he
is now under the wrath of GOD, and death will not remove that wrath. GOD has
made life possible by revealing Himself in CHRIST. The way of life by faith in
CHRIST is so plain that a little child can under­stand it. There is no good
reason for refusing, but when a man does refuse, all that GOD can do is to let
the judgment abide upon him.

The son of a Presbyterian preacher in America was arrested, charged with treason
because he belonged to the "ku-klux clan." He was tried, convicted, and sent to
the States Prison. His aged father, eminent for his learning and Chris­tian
character, circulated a petition and secured hundreds of signatures, urging
President Grant to pardon the boy for the sake of his parents.

The father took the petition to Washington, presented it to President Grant, who
gave the pardon.

The old man received it and hastened to the train. On his arrival at the prison
he was shown by the Warden into the cell where his boy was imprisoned. Standing
with his hand upon the grated door he said, "John, I have good news. I have a
pardon from President Grant, and you can now go home with me and see your mother
before she dies," But the son made no response.

"Do you understand me, John?" the father con­tinued, "Here’s a pardon for you."

"I am sorry, father," said the ungrateful boy, "to give you pain, but I cannot
accept it. I have decided not to be brought under oblig­ation to this political
administration, and I will serve out my time."

The old man’s father-­heart was almost broken; he fell against the grating, and
would have sunk upon the floor if he had not been caught by the friendly hand of
the Warden, who carried him to a cot, where he lay half unconscious for a while.
When he came to himself he rose, and staggered again to the grated door with the
pardon nervously clutched between his fingers, and with tears in his voice and
eyes he continued to plead with his son to go home with him, but the son
per­sisted in refusing, and the father had to return without him. Now what did
President Grant do? Did he order the officials to drive that man out of his
cell, in spite of his refusal to accept the pardon? He acted more wisely.

He simply let the sentence of the court abide; the man remained under
condemnation. I come to you from the High Court of Heaven with a pardon written
in the Blood of CHRIST, and standing before the grated door of your sin I offer
you liberty in the name of JESUS.

Will you receive it, or will you reject it? If you receive it, you are free; if
you reject it, the wrath of GOD abides. GOD cannot do otherwise than let the
sentence of justice remain.

One of the saddest pictures in history is given us in the account of the
destruction of the Bastile in Paris. That old prison had become so infamous in
the estimation of the people that they decided to raze it to the ground. "Down
with the Bastile," was the cry of the multitude, and against it they went with
all manner of implements. Finally the door was broken open, and the prisoners
were released.

In a dark inner cell was found a man who had been there 40 years. When it was
announced to him that he was free, he refused to accept his liberty. He had
begun to regard that dark cell as his home, and he stood in the door to fight
away those who would take him into the bright sunlight and fresh air. He
resisted them with the ferocity of a tiger. So it is with some who are in the
dark cell of their own guilt.

It is made possible for them to be saved; liberty is offered through CHRIST, but
they stand in the door of their cell and fight against every effort to release
them. GOD yearns to save them from its darkness and thraldom, but if they will
not be saved, He can only let them remain in the condition they have chosen.

Let us glance once more from the dark picture of the last part of the text, to
the bright picture of the first part. "He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life." This life means liberty, it means joy, it means character.
"Believe on the Son, I beseech you, and live."


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 32: 02.14.     FRIENDSHIP-LOVE
========================================================================

SERMON FOURTEEN -

FRIENDSHIP-LOVE

"Covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way"
(1 Corinthians 12:31).

THE German proverb, "The good is enemy of the best," may have been suggested by
this text, for it certainly intimates that we may lose much by being content
simply with the good, when that contentment with the good satisfies us without
the best. Now, the way of special gifts is good - the way of the apostleship,
the way of prophecy, speaking GOD’s word in GOD’s power, the way of teach­ing,
the way of miracles, of helps, the way of government, the way of tongues. These
are good, but not the best.

Better than the gift is the grace beneath the gift, and we have in the 13th
chapter of I Corinthians the unfolding of the queen of all graces - love. "I
show unto you a more excellent way."

The chapter divides into three clear-cut divi­sions.

- The first three verses give us love in character building, - forming the
individual verses four to seven give us love in making society, forming the
community, - and from the eighth verse through the thirteenth we have love
making Heaven, forming the individual and society.

(1) Love building character; (2) Love building society; (3) Love building
Heaven.

TWO KINDS OF LOVE

There are two kinds of love in the New Testament - what Dr. Trumbull calls
"longing-love" and "friend­ship-love."

A longing-love seeks the object loved, and the ministry of that object. It is
the love most common in the family. Friend­ship-love is independent of
possession and ministry. It is the love that ministers without seeking for
ministry in return. It is the love that desires to serve without the least
desire for service - a love that lays itself on the altar for another, and does
not even wish that the other should serve in return.

CHRIST used both of these words in His con­versation with Peter. "Lovest thou
Me?"

The first word is friendship-love. "Do you love Me so well that you don’t care
whether I love you or not? Do you love Me so well that you will minister without
any thought of mutual ministry? Do you love Me as GOD loves?"

When Peter replied, he did not use that word. He used the weaker word - the
"longing-love" word. "Thou knowest that I love Thee - as a man loves a man. I
cannot say to Thee that I love, as GOD loves, but I love Thee with the family
longing-love."

In the last question, JESUS drops down to Peter’s word, and says, "Peter, do you
really love Me with a longing-love, with a selfish love?" Then Peter was grieved
that the Lord should intimate that he did not love Him even with a selfish love.
He evidently dropped down to Peter’s level that He might lift His disciple up to
His own level.

In this chapter there is just one word used, and that is friendship-love. Dr.
Trumbull so translates it as a love that does not seek for ministry; a love that
exists without a particle of selfishness; a love that would serve GOD and go to
perdition rather than not serve Him ; a love that waits upon others and does not
request others to wait upon it. Now this is a height which may be far above us,
and yet we will find that this kind of love really exists in human relations.

FRIENDSHIP-LOVE BUILDS CHARACTER

Let us study it now in character building. There are six things enumerated in
the first three verses that are important in character building. Ecstatic joy!
That is important. Speaking with tongues is not to be despised. Remember the
distinction between speaking "with other tongues," as on the Day of Pentecost,
and "speaking with tongues," as at Corinth?

On the day of Pentecost they spoke "with other tongues" and people of different
languages understood them; but at Corinth in "speaking with tongues" nobody
understood them, and they did not understand themselves. It was simply ecstatic
joyful Glory!

"Hallelujah," feelings that they could not express, and hence great confusion,
like noises from an instrument that could not be understood. Paul says, "When
outsiders come in and hear that sort of thing, they will say that you are crazy
and you will have to interpret to them what it means, or they will go off and
say you are fools." And he says, "I would rather speak five words in a language
that somebody can understand than ten thousand in tongues, simply ecstatic
ex­pressions that are good, to be sure, but are not profitable to others."

The speaking with tongues simply edifies the man that speaks. It is a spiritual
tonic, but it does not help anybody else. It may drift into a sort of selfish
spiritual enjoyment. And he says, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels; though I have all the ecstasy of earth and Heaven; though I have such a
joy in me that I could not express it even if I were an angel - I would be just
as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal if I did not have love - the love that
seeks the good of some one else."

Speaking for GOD in a language that people can understand is very useful. That
is prophesying; and yet Paul says, "Though I have the gift of prophecy, and have
not this friendship-love, I am nothing."

Speak­ing for GOD will not make character with­out love. You can go as a
messenger and speak the truth, but you will be empty of character without love.
You may go further and have all knowledge and understand all mysteries, so that
you will be a very intelligent prophet, and you may have the ability to speak it
forth; but if you have not unselfish love, you do not make character, you are
nothing.

You may have acting faith - a faith that will remove a mountain - faith as a
grain of mustard seed will do that, and you may use it and move the mountain,
but, if you have not unselfish love, you do not make character. Faith that moves
a mountain does not make character without love.

More than that, you may be so liberal that you give all your goods to feed the
poor. Some people can be liberal and yet not love anybody but themselves, and in
their very liberality they satisfy selfish­ness, the opposite of
friendship-love. They give their goods to feed the poor for the praise of the
rich and the poor. They may have a motive that has not a tinge of
friendship-love in it. Though you have that kind of liberality which will lead
you to give everything you have to the feeding of the poor, it does not make
character, "it profits you nothing."

You may have a conscientiousness that will take you to the stake. You may
believe the truth so firmly that you are willing to die for it, and yet if you
have not unselfish love, you will not make character.

Now it is well for us to look up to GOD and ask the question, "Have I ever had
the ex­perience of an unselfish love?" "Am I con­tent with a faith that works, a
faith that is liberal, a faith that uses knowledge, a faith that speaks for GOD,
a faith that sometimes gets ecstatic and shouts? ’Hallelujah’? Am I content with
a working Christian­ity without unselfish love?"

If so, I am not letting GOD build character as He would. When friendship-love
that seeks nothing of anybody, not even of GOD, but is willing to serve without
reward, gets hold of you, you will begin to be something. You will be
trans­figured.

FRIENDSHIP-LOVE BUILDS SOCIETY

Let us see, in the next place, how this unselfish love builds society. There are
fifteen things that it does for society. It makes character for the individual;
it does fifteen things for the community. "It suffers long and is kind."

It suffers for its object and suffers on account of its object, and yet is kind.
It is possible for a selfish love to serve another and be kind, but it takes
more than a selfish love to suffer on account of another and be kind. The mother
can suffer for the child because she loves it and expects something to come of
it, but when she begins to suffer on account of the child’s wickedness and the
disappointment that the child has brought, it is harder to be kind.

It is kindness that cements society, and if you do not love people well enough
to be kind when you suffer on account of them, you have not yet tasted of GOD’s
unselfish love. If you are kind simply because you are selfish and you want
their kindness and you would like to keep in favour with them, you have not
entered upon the outskirts of this friendship-love.

There is an oriental legend that tells of an Arab sheik who was very popular
with his people, and the crowd followed him shouting his praises. One day in the
middle of the street he stopped and picking up a stone he flung it into the
crowd and struck one of them. Then they scattered with curses. He said, "A
friendship that will not bear stones is no friend­ship at all. A friendship that
will not stand up and be hit is not worth having," and he went off disgusted
with the crowd. A friendship-love will stand stones, will endure suffering, will
welcome criticism and be all the stronger on account of it.

"Friendship-love envieth not." Envy is im­possible to it. Envy is jealousy of
what others have. It is a desire to possess what others have. It is wishing
either that they did not have it or that you had it as well. Now, love that
seeks nothing but simply the good of its object, that does not ask any return,
cannot envy. That love has no hand to receive; it desires only to give.

When you get into your heart a real friendship-love for another, you will not
envy that other’s position. You will be willing for that friend to make you a
stepping­stone toward high position.

Love of this kind does not get proud. It is "not puffed up." It is gentle; it is
courteous. Courtesy is simply unselfishness at work. What makes gentlemen and
gentlewomen is simply unselfishness. What makes us courteous is the desire to
make others happy without seeking happiness for ourselves.

"Seeketh not her own. Is not easily pro­voked." Never speaks a cross word; is so
anxious not to hurt the feelings of others that it is willing to have its own
feelings hurt.

"Thinketh no evil" That does not mean never thinks of sin, but thinketh no evil
in the sense of criticism, has no eyes for imperfections. "Rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things. Believeth all things;
hopeth all things; endureth all things."

Has that love ever appeared in human flesh? It was the kind of love that
Jonathan and David had. The moment Jonathan saw David his heart became knitted
to him, and though he was his rival to the throne, he did everything he could to
advance his interests. There was no envy, no selfishness. Jonathan and David
lived for each other.

In the case of Ruth, Orpah and Naomi, we find the two kinds of love illustrated.
Orpah was told by Naomi if she went with her she could not give her anything.
Orpah kissed Naomi and went home. But Ruth clung to her mother-in-law. She said,
"I am willing to give myself for thee." She would rather be with her and serve
her than have the service of all other people in the world. Orpah went home to
take care of herself, and Ruth accom­panied Naomi to take care of her. That was
friendship-love.

There is an ancient story of three friends - ­one of them very poor and the
other two very rich. The poor man, Endamidas, on his death bed made his will. He
willed to one of his rich friends the care of his mother as long as she lived,
and he willed to the other rich friend the care of his daughter and her
endowment with a marriage portion.

When the community heard of that will, they smiled and said, "A lunatic has
died, who has willed to his friends the care of his poor relatives." But when
Chasixenus heard of it, he said, "Where does that mother live?" And he went and
brought her into his home and kept her in comfort until she died. When Asetheus
heard of the will, he said, "Where is the daughter of my friend?" And he went
and brought her to his home. His own daughter and she were married on the same
day and were given the same amount of dowry. And when JESUS CHRIST commits
something to us like that, we purpose to do it, not because Heaven will come to
us for it, but just because we are His friends and we have experienced some of
this friendship-love. Abraham was the "friend of God," He was willing to give
himself and his son and everything he had entirely to GOD.

Humboldt was very happily married. When his wife was taken sick, the doctor said
perhaps she would die, and Humboldt went off into his room to meditate and pray.
He tells us that in the quiet he almost decided to commit suicide. His one
thought was that she might need him on the other side. He walked the floor,
speak­ing to himself. "She may need me." She got well, and he ministered to her,
careless about her ministry to him. That is friendship­-love.

FRIENDSHIP-LOVE MAKES HEAVEN. With the character building of the individual and
the society building of the community, we have an intimation of what is coming
by and bye in the Heaven building, which begins with the eighth verse.

"Love never fails." These other things have their mission. Prophecy will do its
work. Faith. and hope abide, but the one thing that makes Heaven what it is, is
friendship-love. It is the willingness to help others, not wanting to be helped.
It is the desire to bless others and not craving a blessing. It is the love that
lays itself upon the altar.

If you will glance through the past, you will find that the great epochs of
history have been made by friendship-love like this. It was the friendship of
Knox and Calvin, Luther and Melanchthon that made the Reformation possi­ble. It
was John Wesley and his friends that made the Wesleyan movement what it was.
When William of Orange was sick with the smallpox, William Bentinck sat by his
side and ministered, and after three or four weeks of suffering, William, Prince
of Orange, said, "If my friend has had an hour’s sleep, I knew it not. When I
was awake, he was there. When I wanted, he ministered." When the king was dying,
he asked, "Where is Bentinck?" And when Bentinck came and sat by his side the
king was too weak to talk; he just took his hand and pressed it and kissed it,
and laid it on his breast and went into eternity. It was the recognition of a
friendship that did not ask for something, but just ministered because it loved.

Dr. George Truett of Dallas, Texas, in a sermon some time ago, said: "If a man
comes to me and I see in that man the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and he asks me for my
last coat, I ought to take it off and give it to him."

There was a wise man in that congre­gation who wrote to Dr. Truett during the
week and said: "You made a foolish remark last Sunday, and I hope when you quiet
down and come to your senses, you will be able to apologize for it before people
who have some sense. You said if CHRIST asked you for your last coat, you would
give it to Him. GOD does not ask us to be fools."

Dr. Truett rose before the congregation the Sunday following, with that letter
in his hand and said: "I am not in the habit of reading anonymous letters, but
this one is an exception," and he read it through. He said, "I do want to
apologize to this intelligent congregation. I said last Sunday that if JESUS
asked me for my coat, I ought to give it to Him. What I wish to say now is that
if JESUS should ask me, not for my coat, but for my life, I ought to give it up
to Him without a moment’s hesitation. He died for me, and I ought to be willing
to die for Him." Oh, for a friendship-love that simply looks up and loves and
does not reach out and grasp.

Dr. Truett holds summer Missions among the cowboys of the West, and in his
audience one day there was a rich ranchman. The sermon was on the love of
CHRIST, and the privilege of stewardship - all we have and are at the disposal
of our Master. GOD gripped the heart of the rich old ranchman, gave him in a
vision of CHRIST what he ought to be and what he ought to do. At the close of
the service he came up to Dr. Truett and said:

"I would like to see you awhile. Let us walk out together." They walked till
they came to an over-hanging rock. They sat down, and the ranchman pointed to
the fields about them as he said: "I thought I owned all this property. Ten
thousand cattle are grazing yonder, and I thought this morning that they were
mine. Here are fifty thousand acres that I thought this morning belonged to me.
I have somehow been feeling I was rich, but since GOD got hold of me this
morning I have told Him that the cattle are His and the ranch is His an
everything I have is His."

Friend­ship-love for CHRIST was beginning to bear fruit in his soul, making
character, fitting him for better citizenship, and giving a foretaste of Heaven.

When we have yielded to the spell of the love which prompted the Son of GOD to
die for us on the Cross, we, too, will place upon His altar all we are and have.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 33: 02.15.     A TRIUNE WORLD
========================================================================

SERMON FIFTEEN - A TRIUNE WORLD "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s
good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32)

THREE worlds are packed into these few words, the world of the Shepherd, the
world of the Father, and the world of the King. It is a triune world, for the
same GOD is Shep­herd, Father, and King. Out of these three worlds have come to
me four triplets of truth, which I would like to pass on to you. A TRIPLET OF
SPHERES

First of all, a triplet of spheres: The sphere of the sheep, the sphere of the
child, and the sphere of the subject. The word which defines the sphere of the
sheep is dependence; the word which defines the sphere of the child is love; and
the word which defines the sphere of the subject is loyalty. The sheep is
utterly dependent upon the shepherd for supplies, safety, and guidance. The
Twenty-third Psalm is the unfolding of this dependence. "The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He
leadeth me beside the still waters." With such a Shepherd, the sheep has every
need supplied. There is need of rest in repose, and GOD gives it by making us
lie down. The sheep are rather frisky; they sometimes prefer to gambol over the
fields; but the Shepherd, in His loving wisdom, often compels us to lie down and
be quiet, and when His hand is upon us for such quiet repose, it is always in
green pastures. Then there is need of rest in activity. "He leadeth me beside
the still waters" - rest in movement, as we follow the Shepherd.

There is, however, a more intimate relation between the child and the father
than between the sheep and the shepherd, and that relation is expressed by the
word "love." The father loves the children while the children love the father
and each other. The ideal home is the haven and Heaven of love. The
subject-citizen is under all circumstances loyal to his king, ready to give up
his life, if need be, in his defence.

Scholars tell us that there are three words in the Greek which are translated
"minister" in the English Bible. The first word means a private servant, who
waits upon his master, eager to do his bidding. The second word means an
official servant, who represents the Government at the Court of another nation.
The third word, which Paul delighted in using, means an under-rower. The figure
is taken from the ancient trireme, in which the captain, standing before the
oarsmen, gave them the stroke; and as they struck with him, they, of course,
struck with each other. Paul’s ambition was to be an under-rower to CHRIST, to
take the stroke from Him, to find out what He was doing in the world, and then
come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. So a loyal subject in the
Kingdom of CHRIST takes the stroke from his King. He looks to Him for guidance,
and is ready to go at His command. If we find that our King is leading a great
campaign for the evangelization of the world, we should take the stroke from Him
and join in the campaign.

If He is leading for total abstinence and the destruction of the liquor traffic,
we gladly take the stroke from Him again, and follow His leadership. "Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?" is the attitude of mind in every loyal citizen. A
TRIPLET OF RELATIONS

We have next a triplet of relations. The relation between the sheep and the
shepherd is expressed by the word ownership. The sheep belongs to the shepherd;
it is his property, and therefore safe. An old Negro man in America was asked
whether he felt secure in his hope of Heaven. He replied, "I have my doubts and
fears, and many troubles, but when the devil gets after me, I simply go to my
Master and say: ’Lord, you had better look after your property,’ and He always
does it!" Paul rejoiced in the fact that he was a bond-servant of the Lord JESUS
CHRIST. He was glad to recognize His owner­ship, because he had been redeemed,
"not with corruptible things, as silver and gold," "but with the precious Blood
of Christ." With this ownership should go possession.

"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them." He has the
sheep, but he has lost it. He owns it, but he does not possess it. It is quite
possible to own what you do not possess, and to possess what you do not own. I
am quite sure that I own ten or a dozen umbrellas in London, while I possess
only one or two. Some time ago I owned a good overcoat, but some one came into
my study and took it out. I still own it, but he possesses it. It is possible
for GOD to own us, while the devil possesses us. The ideal Christian is the man
who recognizes the ownership of CHRIST and realizes His full possession through
the HOLY SPIRIT. The word which expresses the relation be­tween the child and
the father is kinship. The sheep is not akin to the shepherd; it has not the
shepherd’s nature. But the Christian has been born from above; he has become a
par­taker of the Divine nature. "As many as re­ceived Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God." "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Christ." The word which expresses the relation be­tween the subject
and the king is citizenship, a citizenship which extends beyond the bounds of
earth. Paul gloried in the fact that he was a citizen of Heaven. But his
citizenship in Heaven made him all the more conscientious in using his
citizenship on earth. We pity the man who has no better citizenship than England
or America can give him, good as that is. He is called in CHRIST not only to a
citizen­ship which is world-wide, but universal, taking in both earth and
Heaven. A TRIPLET OF UNITIES

We come, in the third place, to a triplet of unities. In the flock of sheep
there is a unity simply of assembly. They go to­gether as they follow their
shepherd. The sheep in his nature is gregarious. I can think of nothing more
pathetic than a lone sheep on the mountain side, unless it be a lone Christian,
who refuses to join the Church, and seeks to build up a Christian character, and
do the work of his Master with­out association with his brethren. In the unity
of the family there is fellowship and co-operation. Every member of the family
works with every other member for the good of all. This co-operation is based
upon kinship, a very much deeper thing than simply the gregarious spirit. Sheep
herd together, but they do not live together in any co-operative way. In some
great emergency, caused by danger, as in a cyclone, the sheep may herd even with
other animals. I remember seeing in my boyhood the picture, in the old Family
Bible, of a group of men, women, children, sheep, lions, and tigers herded
together on the top of a hill, trying to escape the waters of the Flood. Each
one was so intent on self-preserv­ation that it did not regard the presence of
the others. Such miscellaneous herding, however, is not the ideal in the
Christian Church. There must be a unity of spirit, of nature, of kinship, if
there is to be real fellowship and co-operation. In the unity of the kingdom
there is organism. Of course there is organization, but a kingdom is a real
organic unity, which expresses itself in various organizations. This organic
unity comes from recognizing the king as head, while every citizen is obedient.
Our Lord JESUS CHRIST is the Head of the body of which we are members, and every
member in healthy con­dition is obedient to the will of the Head. The spirit of
democracy is in the air, which is both the hope and the menace of the age; the
hope, if it ripens into a democratic theocracy, in which CHRIST is enthroned; a
menace, if it rots into a democratic anarchy, in which liberty is licence.

Let it be remembered that a New Testament Church is not a democracy, but a
theocracy, in which JESUS CHRIST is King and every member a loyal subject.
Heaven is that; and the nearest Heaven on earth of which I know is a true Church
of CHRIST that realizes this ideal. A TRIPLET OF NEEDS In the fourth place, we
have a triplet of needs. The greatest need of the sheep is courage. "Fear not,
little flock." The sheep is the most cowardly animal alive. When it is badly
frightened, it is not even brave enough to run, but stands and trembles. When it
seeks to escape danger it is apt to run into some corner where its foe can
easily reach it. It is both cowardly and silly. It is not courage to fight,
however, which the sheep needs, for it has no weapons of offence or defence. Its
need is courage to depend, to trust, to commit itself unreservedly to the
guidance and protection of the shepherd.

Such is the primary need of the Christian. When he realizes that he has no
strength in himself, but all his help must come from GOD, and then has the
courage to commit himself unreservedly to GOD’s grace and power, he becomes
invincible.

Weakness always appeals to noble strength. Hence Paul could say, "When I am
weak, then am I strong," for his strength was in GOD. He could even rejoice in
weakness, that the power of CHRIST might rest upon him. A friend of mine in
America was very fond of the chase, and lived in a country where the woods
abounded with wild deer. One morning, as he was walking across his field, he
heard the sound of hounds in the distance, and as they approached, looking
through the cracks of a high fence, he saw a little fawn, very wearied, its
tongue hanging out, and its sides lathered with foam. The little thing had just
strength enough to leap over the fence, and stood there for a moment, with its
great liquid eyes, gazing about in a frightened manner. When it saw a hound leap
over the fence not far away, its first impulse seemed to cause it to run again,
but instead of running away, it came and fell down in a heap at the feet of my
friend. He said: - "I stood there and fought dogs for nearly half an hour. I
just felt that all the dogs in that county could not capture the little fawn
after its weakness had appealed to my strength." So the Christian’s weakness
appeals to the strength of GOD. Time was when, chased by the hounds of my sins,
I was full of fear. I am not ashamed to say now that I was afraid of hell, which
my father preached because he believed the Bible to be true and accepted the
testimony of His Lord. Bewildered and weary, I stood, not knowing which way to
fly, until I caught a vision of JESUS CHRIST on the cross, dying and rising from
the dead. With a sense of utter helplessness, I fell at His feet, and His
Omnipotence, linked with His love, has pro­tected me ever since.

If you had gone to that southern farm, ten or twelve months afterward, you would
have found a beautiful deer playing with the children on the lawn, for my
friend, after he had beaten off the hounds, took the fawn on his shoulder and
carried it home, to make it a pet in the family. Yes, and our Shepherd taketh
the sheep on His shoulders, limp weakness resting, without holding on or even
able to hold out, upon the shoulders of Omnipotent love.

GOD’s strongest saints realize their weakness, and appeal to Him for strength.
As Charles H. Spurgeon passed through the door one Sun­day morning back of the
pulpit in the Taber­nacle, and saw the great crowd of people, he was overheard
saying, "O GOD, help!" Strong as he was, he realized that he was insufficient
for so great a task as preaching the gospel in power, unless GOD should be his
Helper. The appeal of weakness to Omnipotent strength was never unheeded.

What the child in the family needs is the father’s approval. "It is the Father’s
good pleasure." Revel a moment in that phrase, "good pleasure." The motive and
mission of the ideal child is to please the Father in all things. By and by we
shall hear the Master say: "Well done!" Then Heaven will begin. Why not please
Him now, that we may hear His "Well done!" here, and have a bit of Heaven enter
us before we enter Heaven? A few weeks ago I was called upon to perform a very
sad duty. There came a cablegram from Richmond, Virginia, which read, "Dr.
Hatcher dead. Paralysis. Break the news gently to Edith. Get address through
Cook’s Agency." After some searching I found the young lady, a bright, cheery,
musical girl, over here pursuing her studies. When I broke the news to her as
gently as I could, it broke her heart, and she said to me through her tears:

"The ambition of all us children has ever been to secure father’s smile. We were
always happy in having him pleased with what we said or did." Happy father, with
such chil­dren! And happy children, when they are conscious of pleasing such a
father! Happy the Christian who, as he obeys his Father, can hear Him say even
now, "This is My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased." He does not need
golden streets for his Heaven. He can have Heaven in the murky, foggy streets of
London, with the music of the celestial harps in his soul. The need of the
citizen in CHRIST’s Kingdom is receptivity. "It is your Father’s good pleasure
to give." He would, therefore, have us possess capacity to receive. He would
give us a Kingdom, even before the King shall appear in His glory to set up His
Kingdom on earth. "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven."

They, of course, belong to the Kingdom, but, better than that, the Kingdom
belongs to them. Its authority, its prestige, its glory are theirs. The
firstborn in the Jewish family had almost everything in the way of wealth and
honour, as is the case to a large extent in Great Britain. But we read in the
Letter to the Hebrews: "Ye are come. . . to the general assembly and church of
the firstborn, which are written in Heaven." In GOD’s family all children are
firstborn. Every one can have the best, and GOD wishes us to receive the very
best that He can give us. All the pro­phecies and the promises of the Word are
ours. We need to remember that this Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The
constitution was not wrung from the King by force of arms, as is often the case
with the constitutions of earthly governments; but the King has given us, out of
His abounding wisdom and love, of His own free will, the Constitution of His
King­dom, which we call the Bible. The HOLY SPIRIT, Who is, in a sense, the
Vicegerent of the King, is the Interpreter of this constitution. We are loyal to
the King only in proportion as we are loyal to the constitution which He has
given us. In closing, I bring to you a challenge from our Shepherd, Father, and
King. "Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall
not be room enough to receive it." The direct reference is to the giving of
tithes, setting apart one-­tenth of our income to the work of the Lord; and
there are accumulations in the hands of Christians that need to be purified by
such giving. The principle, however, which underlies this challenge is: "Do what
I ask you to do, and then I will do what you ask Me. Hear My prayers, and I will
hear yours. Obey Me, and I will obey you. "Go out into the highways and hedges,
and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled. Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature; and lo, I am with you."

Now, we are not expected to do GOD’s part, nor must we expect Him to do ours. I
heard once, in Baltimore, in a noon meeting, a very impudent prayer. A good
brother prayed thus: "O Lord, go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain
the people to come in!" GOD had told him to go, and he impudently turns and
tells GOD to go Himself! Our King ex­pects us to do what He tells us, if we are
to have Him do what we ask. "Take ye away the stone." Back of that stone, which
ought to be removed, lies the dead Lazarus, waiting to hear the voice of the Son
of GOD; but the stone must first be removed before the resur­rection will take
place. May we have grace to accept this challenge from GOD, bring our­selves and
all we have to His altar, and then expect Him to empty Heaven upon earth. It is
a loving threat that He will give us another Flood, not to drown, but to lift us
above the highest mountains of earth’s difficulties. May we do our part, and GOD
will do His.


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  CHAPTER 34: 02.16.     SALT
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SERMON SIXTEEN -

SALT

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and
to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). IN literature, ancient and
modern, common salt has a prominent place.

It was re­garded by some nations not only as precious, but sacred. The ancient
Germans gathered for worship in the salt district, and regarded that as a good
place for building their temples. They sometimes waged war over their salt
springs. Homer sings of "divine" salt; Plato said it was a "substance dear to
the gods." In Persia the word for "traitor" means" untrue to salt," and in
Arabia friends are those "between whom there is salt." In Abyssinia and Tibet
cakes of salt are used to-day for money.

Salt in the Bible is the symbol of character. "Ye are the salt of the earth."
Not what you say or do, but your own personality, yourself, your character, is
salt. "Have salt in yourselves," said JESUS; that is, have character. "Every one
shall be salted with fire," which, being interpreted, means that the character
of every Christian shall be made by a fiery process. The process of salt-making
suggests the pro­cess of character making.

All salt seems to have come from the ocean. The rock salt de­posits were
gradually made by the evaporation of bodies of water caused by the ocean’s
over­flow during times of convulsion; and our characters come from the infinite
ocean - fulness of GOD. We get what we are from JESUS CHRIST. Under the wind of
the Spirit Christian graces are crystallized, and we become the salt of the
earth.

SALT PRESERVES

GOD made with His people a "covenant of salt," which means that the covenant
would be preserved; could not be destroyed. A verse in Daniel indicates that
every newborn child was rubbed with salt, symbolizing that the parents should
now put about that child influences that will preserve its character. Salt even
preserves dead things.

It prevents decay; and it is the salt of Chris­tian character that keeps from
putrefaction the things in earth that are spiritually dead. What would
infidelity in its literature and its advocates be to-day but for the influence
of Christianity? The civilization of to-day is preserved from putrefaction by
the salt of Christian influence.

GOD said to Lot that He would preserve Sodom if He could find ten grains of salt
in it; and our cities steeped in wickedness are to-day preserved because more
than ten righteous men can be found in them. And salt pre­serves living things.
Animal life can scarcely exist without it.

Lieutenant Herndon says, that in crossing the continent of South America, his
horses and cattle died of starvation while they were eating the rich green
grass, because his supply of salt was exhausted. They would lie down, too weak
to walk, and die while nipping the grass. So Christian character preserves the
living Church and the living truth. The Bible is the foundation of the Church,
but there is another sense in which the Church is the pillar and ground of the
truth. Without Christian character, or the Word put into flesh and bones and
life, the world will not believe the Bible. They do not read it except as it is
translated into Christian living.

SALT FLAVOURS The Irish boy’s definition of salt is a good one. "Salt is the
thing that makes taties taste bad if you do not put it on them." And Christian
character is the thing that makes everything taste bad if it is absent.

I have heard a story which illustrates this point from the children. A King
asked his three daughters how much they loved him. Two of them replied that they
loved him better than all the gold and silver in the world. The youngest one
said she loved him better than salt. The king was not pleased with her an­swer,
as he thought salt was not very palat­able. But the cook, overhearing the
remark, put no salt in anything for breakfast next morning, and the meal was so
insipid that the king could not enjoy it. He then saw the force of his
daughter’s remark. She loved him so well that nothing was good without him.

Christian character makes doctrine, work, and worship palatable. Some of the
doctrines of the Bible are against the depraved taste of humanity. In order to
make the people re­ceive them, you must salt them with a good character, and
however good your doctrine, unless it is flavoured by good living, the people
will not swallow it. So with work. I remem­ber a man who could talk well in the
prayer meeting, quoting scripture with great fluency. But nobody wanted to hear
that man talk. His first sentence chilled the company; and, before he finished,
you felt you were in the arctic region without a buffalo robe. The teeth of your
soul would chatter. The trouble with the man was that nobody had any confidence
in his character. He was known to be crooked in business, loose in his living,
and all his talk was tasteless, if not nauseating.

I remember another man who was a driver of a coal cart, and sometimes did not
take the pains to wash the dust from his neck before coming to prayer meeting;
but when he rose to testify, the people were glad to listen. He broke grammar
while he broke hearts. They knew that back of his stammering speech there was a
good character, and it gave flavour to his words. So with worship. Your devout
attitude on Sunday will not impress for good your friends, unless you have
salted that worship with a good character during the week. A gentleman in
Brooklyn sitting in the gallery of one of our churches, saw a man who had
cheated him in a trade, passing the basket for the collection. He learned that
this man was an official in the church, and though he liked the pastor’s
preaching, he declared that he could not attend the service. The prominent
presence of the dishonest man in the church made everything else tasteless. Our
best words and deeds, un­less salted with good character, pass for nothing, or
make against the cause we love. ITS INGREDIENTS

Let us inquire, next, what are the ingre­dients of this salt? Common salt is
made of sodium and chlorine, but this uncommon salt of character is made of
several ingredients. It is composed of purity, reality, conviction, and
enthusiasm.

Purity. The sight of sin in the Christian is unsavoury. The world knows that
JESUS was pure, and that He taught doctrines of purity. His blood cleanseth from
all sin, and unless there is shown purity of life no one will accept our claim
that we are genuine followers of the pure and holy One.

Reality. This cold, calculating world soon detects a sham. We need to be careful
not to profess too much or too little. A preacher said in a convention, some
time ago, that he was absolutely dead to sin, the flesh and the world. It was a
high claim. It startled some of his friends. The next day this preacher was
ignored, as he thought, by the leader of the convention, and he left and went
home in a fit of anger. Everybody at once saw the differ­ence between his
profession and his possession, what he claimed and what he was, and all he might
say after that would lack salt to give it flavour.

Victor Hugo was the friend of Napo­leon III, because Napoleon III had said to
him, "Washington had virtue, while Napoleon I. had genius. I am not a genius,
but I can be an honest man." Victor Hugo, however, de­clares that he soon saw a
wide gulf between this profession of honesty and the reality in his life. He
therefore broke friendship with him and wrote against him. And we need to be
just as careful not to pro­fess less than we have. If you abuse yourself too
much, and refuse to testify for CHRIST when you ought, your lack of profession
will make all you say unsavoury. The safe course is to make our boast in the
Lord: let us talk not about what we are, and what we have done, but of what
CHRIST is, and what He has done, and when you talk about Him you cannot be
extravagant. All the superlatives of the lan­guage fail to express the
worthiness of our Lord JESUS CHRIST.

Conviction. It is expected that a Christian will believe something. He is not to
drift in every current, or be driven by every wind of doctrine. He must know how
to stand, and that he may stand he must have convictions of doctrine and right.

I read an article in the Forum on a prominent New York politician. The writer
said that this politician had every­thing in the way of knowledge, brilliancy,
and ability; he simply lacked character; was de­pendent upon circumstances; was
a sort of india-rubber ball that could be pressed into any shape; a jelly fish
without backbone. The result of the election proved that the people had no taste
for such a man as that.

Enthusiasm. But a most important ele­ment in the salt of character is
enthusiasm.

Everybody knows that if Christianity is any­thing it is everything. If it is
true it should command the best we have. Enthusiasm at white heat, Dr. Cuyler
says, should be the normal state of the Christian. Hot water is palatable, ice
is agreeable to the taste, but tepid water nauseates.

GOD therefore says, "because thou art neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out
of my mouth." Lukewarmness in Christian work makes our religion very
unpalatable.

One of the most pathetic scenes in history is the execution of Sir Thomas Moore.
As he was passing between soldiers from his cell in the tower to the beheading
block in the court, a woman was seen to rush from the crowd, and as the soldiers
saw her sad face, they instinct­ively parted, and let her pass through. Hanging
upon the neck of the condemned man, she could simply cry with tears, "My father,
my father."

After several minutes of affectionate embrace she tore herself away, and started
out of the court, but soon dashed back, and hung again upon the neck of her
beloved father. The rough soldiers stood silent and wept. Every­body felt that
such a demonstration of love was appropriate, that there was no fanaticism in
it.

It was just how an affectionate daughter ought to feel towards her beloved but
now disgraced father. And if such enthusiasm of love may exist towards an
earthly father how much greater the enthusiasm toward the Father in Heaven, Who
gave His Only Begotten Son that we may be saved from death, and toward the Son
who sacrificed Himself for us.

Let us remember, however, that salt can pre­serve and flavour only by contact.
The world must be made to feel the force of Christian character. This comes by
our being in the world but not of it. Salt loses its quality when mixed with
some other ingredients. So we may become so mixed with worldly designs and plans
and people that we fail by contact with them to give them the right flavour of
our religion. The salt has lost its savour, and the world comes in contact with
in a most con­temptuous way by casting it upon the ground and trampling it under
foot.

Some professing Christians are good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden
under foot of men. Sin, the lack of reality, conviction or enthusiasm, has
mingled with the salt and taken away its saltness. ITS SELF-CONSERVING POWER

Finally, salt conserves itself. Geologists tell us that in every geological era
except the Silurian, there were deposits of salt, and, as we dig down through
the earth, we come to these strata which have been lying there well preserved
for thousands of years. So Christian character conserves itself for the future
ages.

Abel being dead yet speaketh. His character is a stratum of rock salt which
still gives flavour to the faith he held and the work he did. A good woman who
heard Spencer H. Cone, of New York, preach for thirty years, re­membered but
little Mr. Cone said, but she could not forget him; his character was ever
making her life savoury.

David Brainerd lived but a short while, but his Christian char­acter is still
preserved, and has been the inspira­tion which sent many a man to the mission
field. The Bible is made up of stratum after stratum of this rock salt of
character conserved for the preservation of all that is good in us to-day.

Sir William Napier, walking near his country place one day, met a little peasant
girl who was crying. She had broken her pitcher and spilt the milk she was
carrying for her father’s dinner. She said, "I am afraid to go to him now, for I
am sure that he will beat me."

Sir William felt in his pockets for some change. with which she might buy
another pitcher and milk, but as he did not have any, he promised to meet the
child there at a certain hour in the afternoon and supply her little wants. When
he returned home he found an invitation from a prominent gentleman, asking him
to dine with some distinguished persons at his house the very hour that he was
to meet the child. The question now was, shall I keep my word with this
insignificant peasant girl, or shall I go where it will be for my interest and
delight?

He said, "she trusted me so, I cannot deceive her," and he therefore wrote a
note declining the invitation to the great dinner. This inci­dent in the life of
Sir William Napier has made not a few honest men. As we come upon "in reading
his biography we feel that we have struck a stratum of the rock salt of
integrity. It is savoury, and we delight to praise his character and imitate him
in this. An old tar who was dying on ship board said to his mate, I can think of
only one verse of the Bible and that gives me no comfort, "The soul that sinneth
it shall die."

He asked, "Are there any other verses that will help a fel­low to die better
than this?" But the mate could not think of any. "Go and bring little Ben," said
the dying tar, "he is fresh from his home and mother; perhaps he can remember
something."

Little Ben was brought, and, opening his Bible, he put his finger on the leaf
where was written in a woman’s hand these words: "The blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanseth us from all sin." "That is what I want," said the dying sailor; it
is good to have come straight from home and mother, and to remember what she has
taught us from the Bible. That mother’s character was conserved in the life of
her boy. Are we so living that, after we have gone, we shall leave a stratum of
rock salt that will help preserve all who come in contact with it and make
savoury to them the doctrines we hold, the gospel we preach, and the CHRIST we
love?

Sinner, would you have your character like salt that preserves and gives
flavour? Take CHRIST into your heart and let him rule your life.


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  CHAPTER 35: 02.17.     "PRAISE YE THE LORD"
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SERMON SEVENTEEN - "PRAISE YE THE LORD"

"Praise ye the Lord" (Psalms 146:1). THE word "Hallelujah," which is trans­lated
"Praise ye the Lord," occurs, as I have counted, twenty-four times in the Book
of Psalms, and four times in the nine­teenth chapter of Revelation, making
twenty-­eight times altogether in the Bible. In the Psalms it is the Hallelujah
of earth, and in Revelation it is the Hallelujah of Heaven. It is a word which
cannot be translated by one word into any other language, and is, there­fore,
transferred. It is about the same in Greek, Latin, German, French, Italian,
Dutch and English. It looks as if all nations were practising for the Hallelujah
chorus of Heaven.

There are six Hallelujahs. Let us pass them in review.

I. THE HALLELUJAH OF NATURE The first use of the word is at the close of Psalm .
This Psalm is a fine poem on nature. It begins by calling on the soul to bless
GOD, and then ascribes to GOD the greatness, honour and majesty which a study of
nature suggests to a religious mind. The light is GOD’s garment. The Heaven is
the canopy which He has spread, and the foundations of the ocean were laid by
Him. He makes the clouds His chariot and rides upon the wings of the wind. The
thunder is His voice. He makes the springs which water bird and beast. The grass
for the cattle, the trees for the nesting birds, the hills for the wild goats
and the rocks for the conies are the expressions of His love and wisdom.

He made the laws which govern the sun and moon. Even the darkness serves a
benevo­lent purpose. In the midst of this beautiful scene man It goeth forth to
his labour until the evening.

Then the Psalmist poet turns to the ocean, "this great and wide sea, wherein are
things creeping innumerable," with the ships on its surface and the monsters
playing in its depths. GOD gives life and sustenance to all these. The study of
nature fills the Psalmist with praise to GOD.

He says, "My meditation of Him shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord."
There is no conflict between the two books GOD has written for us, the Book of
Nature and the Book of Revelation. GOD reveals Himself in both.

- The naturalist who does not see GOD in His works simply shuts his eyes and
refuses to see.

- An agnostic is one who chooses blindness rather than sight.

Every­thing in earth and sea and sky proclaims a GOD. Over the door of the great
museum of McGill University in Montreal Sir William Dawson wrote the
twenty-fourth verse of this Psalm, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works: In
wisdom hast Thou made them all." Sir William was a scientist, but he did not
allow scientific prejudice to blind the eyes of his soul.

II. THE HALLELUJAH OF PROVIDENCE

Psalms 105:1-45, which also closes with "Praise ye the Lord," deals with the
history of Israel, and the Psalmist sees the footprints of GOD in history as
well as in nature.

- It was GOD Who covenanted with Abraham, "made oath unto Isaac," and "confirmed
the same to Jacob."

- It was GOD Who protected His people when they "were but few in number."

- It was GOD Who "called for a famine upon the land" when prosperity had caused
them to forget His laws.

- It was GOD Who sent Joseph into Egypt, and then Moses as the deliverer of His
people.

- It was GOD Who sent the darkness and turned their water into blood.

- It was GOD Who spread a cloud over them for a cover­ing and gave them "fire to
give light in the night."

- It was GOD Who "opened the rock" and quenched their thirst. The Psalmist
closes this review of GOD’s providential dealings with a "Praise ye the Lord."
With some it is easier to see GOD in nature than in providence. Jacob could
praise GOD for grass and trees and stars, but when Joseph was taken he said,
"All these things are against me." On another occasion the Psalm­ist did not
feel like praising and he refused to shout "Hallelujah" with his lips when his
heart did not prompt it. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul," he exclaims, "and
why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in GOD; for I will yet praise Him."

I do not feel like praising now, but I will hope for the time to come when I
will praise Him. Indeed I will praise GOD that I will yet praise Him.

There is no kind of experience in which a Christian has a right to refuse to
praise GOD, for "all things work together for good to them that love God."

- Praise GOD in the dark, for He maketh the light to shine out of darkness.

- Praise GOD for sorrow, for JESUS said, "Your sorrow shall be turned into joy."

- Praise GOD for clouds, for it is upon the clouds that GOD shows His rainbow of
love.

- Praise GOD for the furnace, for it is in the fire that the Son of Man delights
to walk with you, and when you come out you will find that only your bonds have
been burned.

He who obeys the command, "Rejoice in the Lord," has a Hallelujah in his soul
every minute of the day and night.

III. THE HALLELUJAH OF GRACE The 106th Psalm begins and closes with "Praise ye
the Lord," and the key-note of its contents is in the first verse, "Give thanks
unto the Lord, for His mercy endureth for ever."

He prays, "O visit me with Thy salvation," and he makes confession of sin: "We
have sinned with our fathers; we have committed iniquity, we have done
wickedly." Then follows a recountal of GOD’s merciful dealings with His people
in spite of their sins. "He remembered for them His covenant and repented
according to the multitude of His mercies." The saved sinner can sing this
"Praise ye the Lord" of mercy more loudly and sweetly than any other. And GOD’s
mercy fills him with song because His justice has been satisfied in JESUS
CHRIST. Mercy can now rejoice against judg­ment because judgment has been met
and mercy made possible through the atoning sacrifice of CHRIST.

"Hallelujah for the cross" is the song of the redeemed. It comes to us from
Heaven and will return with us to Heaven.

IV. THE HALLELUJAH OF PRAISE The hallelujahs of nature, providence and grace
continue to the end, but the works of GOD recede while GOD Himself is more
clearly seen.

- After "Praise ye the Lord" in Psalms 111:1-10 ; come the words, "I will praise
the Lord with my whole heart."

- After "Praise ye the Lord" in Psalms 112:1-10 : "Blessed is the man that
feareth the Lord."

- After "Praise ye the Lord" in Psalms 113:1-9 : "Praise, O ye servants of the
Lord, praise the name of the Lord." And as the Hallelujahs increase toward the
end of the book GOD alone is the object of praise.

- In Psalms 146:1-10; "Praise ye the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul."

- In Psalms 147:1-20 : "Praise ye the Lord, for it is good to sing praises unto
our God."

- In Psalms 148:1-14 : "Praise ye the Lord, Praise ye the Lord from the
heavens." And the Psalmist calls the roll of the Hallelujah choir consisting of
angels, sun, moon and stars; the heavens, "the dragons and all deeps," fire and
hail, snow and vapours, strong wind, mountain and hills, trees, beasts and
cattle, creeping things and flying fowl, men and maidens, old men and children.
"Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is excellent." In
Psalms 149:1-9 : "Praise ye the Lord: Sing unto the Lord a new song," as if
thought and words were failing him to express his praise to GOD. And the climax
comes in the last verse of the last Psalm, "Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord."

GOD is greater and more worthy of praise than are His works in nature,
providence and grace.

V. THE HALLELUJAH OF JUDGMENT This appears in Revelation 19:1-2, "Alleluia;
Salvation and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God, for true and
righteous are His judgments; for He hath judged the great whore, which did
corrupt the earth with her fornication . . . And again they said Allelujah. And
her smoke rose up forever and ever." The Hallelujah of judgment seems to shock
senti­mental natures who cannot endure the thought that GOD could allow anyone
to go to hell. And yet anyone with a spark of nobility of character must rejoice
over the apprehension and punishment of certain criminals. When the papers
published the fact that a young man entered a large room in Buffalo, New York,
and stood in line with those who were receiving the greetings of President
McKinley, that he might murder the man who was ready to greet him with kindness,
some theologians in New England, who had been preaching that there was no hell.
were frank enough to confess that there ought to be a hell for at least one man
for McKinley and his murderer ought not to be together in the same place. For
such men to escape hell unless they repent. would be cause for everlasting
regret. The smoke of their tor­ment satisfies the sense of justice which every
righteous soul has. For them to escape punishment would make a discordant note
in GOD’s universe. The Hallelujah of judgment is the response of noble natures
to the justice of the retribution which comes upon those who wreck the character
and destroy the happiness of others.

VI. THE HALLELUJAH OF SOVEREIGNTY "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth" (Revelation 19:6).

"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, Yet the scaffold
sways the future, and behind the dim unknown Standeth GOD within the shadow,
keeping watch above His own."

GOD seems to be dethroned. but He is not. The fact that He does not strike
monsters of iniquity in human shape dead is proof that He is merciful.

- When, therefore. I read in the press of the orgies of those who lie in wait
for the innocent and seek their destruction. I say, "Hallelujah! GOD is
merciful."

- And when I read that some monster has been over­taken by retribution, I say
with equal emphasis - "Hallelujah, God is just."

- When I hear a blasphemer revile GOD and the Bible. I say, "Hallelujah, God is
merciful or he would be smitten dumb"; and when I hear the same man - yet not
the same, because he has been transformed by grace, praising GOD for redemp­tion
through the Blood of CHRIST, I say, "Halle­lujah! Hallelujah, for the Lord GOD
Omnipo­tent reigneth."


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 36: 02.18.     GRACE
========================================================================

SERMON EIGHTEEN -

GRACE

"Seeing then that we have a Great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our pro­fession."

"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16) As a party of
us went through the Tower of London our guide took us first into the dungeons
with their darkness and gruesome memories. Here Guy Fawkes was tortured; there
Anne Askew was broken on the wheel, and there again Sir Walter Raleigh was
in­carcerated for twelve years. Around the dingy, damp walls are the rusty iron
staples to which miserable prisoners were chained.

Out of this gloomy, gruesome place we were led into the fresh air and then into
the jewel room where the crown jewels and other precious stones sparkled in the
sunlight. The gloom of the dungeons made the jewel room all the brighter.

I confess to a similar experience in the study of this chapter. Verses and are a
trifle gruesome. "The sharp two edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of
soul and spirit, joints and marrow," does gruesome work and the experience it
gives us is not pleasant. It is the surgeon’s knife faithfully applied without
the deadening influence of an anesthetic. Even the comfort received from the
sword’s bending back the neck of evil and flaying it alive is not of the
soothing kind.

However, we now come out of these grue­some memories into the jewel room, full
of light and sparkling gems. It is the throne room of Grace in which are the
crown jewels which we may not only view but possess. They are seven in number
and each one of us may have them all.

ACCESS TO GOD’s POWER

I. The first crown jewel in this diadem of grace is the fact that we HAVE ACCESS
TO GOD’s POWER. A throne means power. Back of it stand the army and navy ready
to sup­port its claims. Back of it are all the wealth and prestige of the realm.
Back of it is the life of every patriotic citizen. Back of it are all the
alliances with friendly powers. The throne of grace means that GOD is now ruling
in the power of His love and we have access to that power. Righteousness,
justice, holiness all combine in CHRIST to support the claim of grace.

STEADFASTNESS IN CONFESSION The second crown jewel in the diadem of grace is OUR
STEADFASTNESS OF CONFESSION. "Let us hold fast our profession." When one has
just accepted CHRIST as Saviour and feels the peace of forgiveness and the joy
of recon­ciliation, it is easy to confess Him before men. We would like to tell
all the world that we trust and love Him. But after the ardour of the first
experience has lost its freshness, the danger is that we lose our steadfastness
in confession. The lamp is lighted, but it is under a bushel. The flag is in
camp, but not in the breeze. We are doing business, but the sign over the door
has fallen down and we have neglected to replace it. The tree is alive, but it
has no leaves.

SYMPATHY WITH WEAKNESSES The third crown jewel in the diadem of grace is
SYMPATHY WITH WEAKNESSES, JESUS, our High Priest, is touched with a feeling of
our infirmities and His grace enables us to be touched with a feeling of each
other’s infirmities.

CHRIST is not a mere official doing business for us. Our weaknesses move His
compassion.

Note the difference between infirmity and sin:

- Infirmity is the weakness of a good thing like weak faith, weak love, weak
hope, weak body.

- Sin is always and everywhere an evil, not to sympathize with but to destroy.

CHRIST is not touched with a feeling of our sins. He bore them in His own body
on the tree and they broke His heart with their crushing weight of guilt and
pollution. He was mani­fested to destroy the works of the devil. Against all sin
and sinful tendencies He bears the drawn sword. There is no truce in the battle
between darkness and light, disease and health, sin and holiness, death and
life. In the sphere of right and wrong CHRIST is re­lentless against wrong. In
the realm of law, justice burns with righteous indignation, while in the realm
of love, mercy melts with tenderest pity.

Through the atoning sacrifice of CHRIST, justice and mercy unite in making the
throne of grace. GOD can now be merciful to sinners without the sacrifice of
justice.

It is joy for us to be touched with the feeling of another’s strength. This fact
accounts for hero worship. We are mastered by the force of our hero’s character
or achievements. What we call personal magnetism is more than anything else the
response of our nature to strength in another. It is not so easy to be touched
with a feeling of weaknesses in others. Their weaknesses repel, if they do not
disgust us. To pity may be to despise and then to turn away from.

SINLESS TEMPTATION The next crown jewel of grace is SINLESS TEMPTATION. CHRIST
"was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin." He Who bore the guilt of
sin for us also endured the temptation of the Devil for us. He died that we
might live, and he conquered that we might conquer. He met the adversary with
the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of GOD, the same sword, true and
tried, which He gives to us.

COURAGE TOWARD GOD The fifth crown jewel is COURAGE TOWARD GOD. "Let us come
boldly," that is, with liberty of speech. We sometimes lose our liberty of
speech to men and we realize that we lost our testimony. But losing our liberty
of speech toward GOD means that our prayer life has declined.

We need to be bold before GOD in asking all He has promised. "Whatsoever ye
desire when ye pray believe that ye receive it and ye shall have it." "If ye
shall ask anything in My name I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son."

- Do you desire health that you may with it glorify GOD? Ask for it.

- Do you desire suc­cess that you may glorify GOD? Ask for it.

"My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus." Is your need great? Boldly ask for a full supply. Is your need little?
Be just as bold in asking for its supply. It is easier to lose our liberty of
speech in praying for little things than for great. "All your need" covers
everything.

If liberty of speech in public prayer remain after liberty of speech in private
prayer has departed, it is formal, hollow and powerless. The secret prayer life
is the source of the public prayer life. If the fountain dries up, the stream
will cease to flow. Our courage to pray depends upon our realization of the fact
that "CHRIST EVER LIVETH TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR US" Our prayers ever need His
intercession. He is our daysman.

He takes our prayers and makes them presentable to the Father. A little child
went into the garden to gather a bouquet of flowers for mother. When mother
received them, the flowers were mixed with weeds and some trash. But mother’s
skilful fingers soon removed the unsightly things and made the bouquet fit for a
place on the table in the parlour. Our holiest acts of devotion need the touch
of CHRIST to remove the selfishness, insincerity and coldness which are apt to
be there. But He knows how to take our prayers and make them what they ought to
be.

WILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE MERCY A sixth crown jewel in the diadem of grace is a
WILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE MERCY. "That we may obtain mercy." A learned man who had
received honorary titles wrote after his own name when he signed it "S. S,"
which he said meant" Sinner Saved."

We are quite ready to receive honours but receiving mercy carries with it the
suggestion of sin which is dishonour, and the proud heart shrinks from the
confession of sin which receiving mercy implies. A king visited a prison and
told the jailer that he wished to signalize his visit by giving at least one
per­son his liberty. So he went round to all the cells and asked each prisoner
why he was in jail. They all asserted their innocence of crime and blamed others
for their misfortunes.

Finally he came to a poor down-cast fellow who said, "I was guilty of the crime
for which I was committed and I am getting my just deserts." "That is the man,"
said the king, "I wish to liberate. He will do to trust with liberty." All the
rest were willing to receive a favour from the king, but only this one was in an
attitude of mind to receive his mercy.

"Only a sinner saved by grace" is not all there is of Christian experience, but
it is the foundation on which everything else is built. There can be nothing
else without it. The consciousness that all we receive of GOD is mercy and not
merit is humiliating and only the power of GOD’s grace can make us willing to
acknowledge it.

It is through CHRIST, our High Priest and Intercessor, that mercy flows to us
all the time.

He died that we might live and He lives that we may not die. "Reconciled to God
by the death of His Son, we are saved by His life" "Because He lives, we shall
live also."

SEASONABLE SUPPLY The seventh crown jewel in the diadem of grace is SEASONABLE
SUPPLY. "That we may find grace to help in time of need." That we may find grace
unto seasonable help, just the help we need, no more, no less, at the right
time. We need grace, not only enough, but at the right time and administered in
the right way. In walk­ing with GOD, we do not need grace for one big step, but,
as in walking with a friend in the street, we need grace for a little step at a
time.

- For breathing we need only one breath at a time.

- For food we need one meal at a time.

- For living we need just one heart beat at a time.

THROUGH CHRIST AS OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST WE RECEIVE ALL THESE CROWN JEWELS OF
GRACE Through Him we receive the Spirit of power.

It was after His death, resurrection and ascension that the Spirit came at
Pentecost and endued the church with power. And it is through the death,
resurrection and ascension of CHRIST that the Spirit endues us to-day with
power. "The Spirit was not yet" because CHRIST was not yet glorified. When we
give CHRIST the place of honour that is His due, the HOLY SPIRIT will work
through us.

Through CHRIST, our living High Priest, we can hold fast our profession.

He even said to His disciples, "When you are brought be­fore magistrates, take
no thought what you shall say." He promises to be with them and tell them at the
time what to say. As High Priest He represents us in Heaven and re­presents GOD
on earth. The HOLY SPIRIT is His own spiritual self dwelling with His people.

There is a legend that the Apostle Peter was fleeing from the persecution in
Rome when CHRIST met him and said, "Peter, I am going back into the city to die,
again." Whereupon Peter turned round and went back with Him. There is doubtless
no truth in the legend, but there is a great truth sug­gested by it. When Peter
was called upon to die and requested that he might be crucified with his head
downwards, since he was not worthy to die like his Lord, it was CHRIST in him
dying again and thus helping him to hold fast his confession. In the picture
"CHRIST or Diana?" you see the beautiful young woman to whom friends are
appealing and begging her to offer incense to the heathen goddess, but you can
see from the firm yet peaceful expression of her face that the living CHRIST is
with her, making it possible for her to hold fast her confession.

Through CHRIST as our living High Priest we receive the crown jewel of sympathy
with the weaknesses of others.

"I live," says Paul, "yet not I but Christ liveth in me." CHRIST who lives in me
will love in me, and when I am tempted to despise the weak or become harsh
toward the weakness of others, I say "O Thou, Who art touched with a feeling of
my infirmities, let Thy heart of tender sympathy rule in my heart so prone to
selfishness. Push out my heart of stone, O CHRIST, with Thy heart of flesh. Weep
Thine own sympathy through my eyes and move my hand through Thy compassion."

Through the living CHRIST as High Priest I may be tempted and endure without
sin.

CHRIST, Who was tempted in all points as I am, knows that I am tempted in all
points as He was, and He knows how to make a way of escape.

He Who conquered Satan once can conquer him again, and when I am tempted by
Satan, I will turn him over to his Master. When I do so, the victory is won
before the battle is begun, for the Devil knows better than to meet his
Conqueror in conflict again. If the flesh assails me, I turn to CHRIST, not to
help me in the battle, but to fight for me.

Ancient wars were decided by duels, as in the case of David and Goliath. So are
all my battles to be duels between my enemy and CHRIST. And not only Satan, but
every enemy of my soul, is a con­quered foe.

CHRIST was tempted in all points as we are, and the fact that He remained
with­out sin proves that He conquered in all points. He holds to-day the right
of conquest over every enemy that attacks my soul. Conquered foes are
weak-hearted. When light appears, darkness disappears. When CHRIST appears, all
the powers of darkness flee. By faith let the living CHRIST fight your battles
and you will never lose a victory.

Through the living CHRIST I have courage toward GOD.

CHRIST knows how to pray. When the disciples heard Him pray, they felt that they
had never prayed before or heard anyone else pray. So they came with the prayer,
"Lord, teach us to pray."

- At His baptism, with the open heavens above Him, He prayed.

- On the Mount of Transfiguration, with gleams of Heaven’s glory about Him, He
prayed.

- In the Garden, being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly.

I desire to live the prayer life - to pray without ceasing. How can I do it? In
the press of work and weari­ness that follows I am apt to forget or neglect. I,
therefore, invite Thee, Thou living, ever­wakeful, watchful, prayerful CHRIST to
live Thy prayer life in me. Pray through me when Heaven opens from above, as at
Thy baptism, or hell from beneath, as in the Garden.

Thou knowest how to mingle petition and praise in due proportion. Fill this
body, Thy temple, with the incense of praise and let Thine Own self-sacrificing
soul express Itself through my soul.

Through the living CHRIST we are willing to receive mercy.

If the vision of the living CHRIST is before us all the time, there will be no
lack of conviction of sin. It is when we look at imperfect, deformed men that we
become pharisaical and think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

Comparing ourselves with others, we may feel that we are better than others, but
when we compare ourselves with CHRIST, the cry of the publican, "God be merciful
to me, a sinner," is the only prayer that can express our feelings. A perpetual
vision of CHRIST compels us to walk humbly before GOD.

Through the living CHRIST we find seasonable help. How seasonable He was in
dealing with His disciples. He gave them truth only as they could bear it.

- When they needed rebuke, He was faithful enough to give it.

- When they were in sorrow, He spoke just the words of comfort they needed.

- When they were perplexed, He gave them guidance.

- When they were depressed, He gave them en­couragement.

- When Peter had sinned, He gave him the look that he needed to break his heart
and send him out to weep over his sin! And now that Peter has repented, He says,
"Go tell my disciples AND PETER," mentioning his name lest he might think that
now he is no disciple at all.

Thy work, not mine, O CHRIST, Speaks gladness to my heart.

It tells me all is done;

It bids my fear depart.

Thy tears, not mine, O CHRIST, Have wept my guilt away And turned this night of
mine Into a blessed day.

Thy wounds, not mine, O CHRIST, Can heal my bruised soul;

Thy stripes, not mine, contain The balm that makes me whole.

Thy death, not mine, O CHRIST, Has paid the ransom due. A thousand deaths like
mine Would have been all too few.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 37: 02.19.     COMFORT FOR SHUT-INS
========================================================================

SERMON NINETEEN - COMFORT FOR SHUT-INS "The things which happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the. gospel." (Php 1:12) "THE things
which happened" unto Paul in this connection refer to his im­prisonment.

He is in a Roman gaol, chained to a soldier. He calls them his "bonds," and what
he means to say is this, "All that I have lost in this imprisonment - loss of
liberty, loss of apparent opportunity, loss of comfort - ­is gain." There is
gain in loss, under all circumstances, to men like the Apostle Paul.

Then he proceeds to enumerate the things in which loss is real gain.

First of all, he tells us that there is a gain of widening influence:

"So that my bonds became manifest in Christ" throughout the whole praetorian
guard, and to all the rest. "My limitation became expansion, my imprisonment was
my intro­duction, my bonds were the ticket of admission to the guard of Caesar’s
palace, and but for my bonds I would not have had the opportunity of preaching
the Gospel as I have."

Paul knew that under other conditions his bonds gave him the opportunity of
preaching to Agrippa, until he said, "Almost thou per­suadest me to become a
Christian." His bonds gave him the opportunity of preaching to Felix, who
trembled as he heard of right­eousness, temperance and judgment to come. His
bonds gave him the opportunity of preach­ing on board the ship, when the captain
and the crew needed his words of good cheer. His bonds gave him the opportunity
of going to Rome, for if he had been at liberty he might not have gone to Rome
quite so soon.

It was the bonds that took him to the place where, above all others, he desired
to preach the Gospel.

So, also, our limitations may become our opportunities.

John Bunyan’s imprisonment liberated his mind, and gave us The Pilgrim’s
Progress, The Holy War, and Grace Abounding. All down the years he has been
speaking for CHRIST, and will continue to do so until the Lord comes. But for
the imprisonment in Bedford Gaol, John Bunyan would have been too busy to have
written The Pilgrim’s Progress as well as he did; I think it would have shown
some marks of haste.

He would have been far too busy to have written The Holy War, better in some
respects than The Pilgrim’s Progress; too busy to write Grace Abound­ing to the
Chief of Sinners. So that the bonds at Bedford Gaol liberated John Bunyan and
gave him to the world.

Several years ago a friend in New York said to me, "Have you ever visited Bella
Cook?" I said I had not, but I had read her book, Rifted Clouds, and my heart
had been comforted. "Well," he said, "let us go and see her."

We went into one of the most thickly populated portions of that great, busy
city; we went through a public-house into a rear garden, and there in the midst
of that space was a little one-story brick building, which looked out of place.
It was not built with reference to anything surrounding it; everything
surrounding it had been built in reference to it. I went into the room, and
there lay upon a bed of suffering a calm, quiet, beautiful face.

Bella Cook had not been outside that room for over forty years. The City of New
York had built around her little brick cottage out in the field. The radiance of
Heaven was on her face, the music of Heaven was in her voice, as she told us of
the love of CHRIST, the sweet fellowship she had with Him every day; and from
that afflicted saint in the little brick cottage have gone out streams of
blessing to all the world. The poor come to her. She gives away a hundred and
seventy-five turkeys at Christmas.

People of means delight to give her the funds with which to bless the poor, and
she is very careful about the investment. As I went back through the
public-house, somehow I felt as if I were going out of Heaven through hell to
get back to the street.

There was a little bit of Heaven’s territory in that brick cottage. I asked her
if she had prayed to get well. "Yes," she said, "telling GOD to do as He pleased
about it. A man who believes in faith healing came around to tell me that I was
committing sin by not getting well. I told him that he ­could talk that out with
GOD, for I had left it all with Him; and if He wants me to keep in this little
brick cottage until I go into the glory, I am perfectly willing." Her limitation
was the expansion of her influence.

There are some birds that sing beautifully in the cage, and there are other
birds that just beat out their lives against the bars of the cage; they cannot
understand the limitation. When GOD in His providence puts us in the cage, let
us learn to sing. It is better for the birds in the cage, and better for the
birds outside, and better for the people who look into the cage, that we should
sing rather than beat against the bars; and the singing will open the door more
readily than beating the bars.

Joseph’s imprisonment was his enlargement.

Richard Baxter did more for CHRIST in his invalid chamber than in the pulpit,
for it was in the invalid chamber that Baxter’s Saint’s Everlasting Rest was
written and sent out to bless the world. Our bonds may be for the furtherance of
the Gospel; and if you realize that you are in bonds - limitations that you
would like to break, things that seem to con­tract your influence - look up to
GOD and ask Him to adjust you to the bonds, if need be.

Rejoice in the bonds, if they come from Him; and if you love Him you can be
certain that they do, by permission or direct intervention. But always believe
that what we call limita­tion may be our greatest opportunity for service.

Again, there is great gain through this loss in the encouragement of those who
are too diffident and tearful to speak out. Read verse :

"And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much
more bold to speak the word without fear." Some of us are only tremblingly bold,
but they were "more abundantly bold" through the bonds of Paul. "Why," they
said, "if Paul is brave enough to be true, and go to gaol, and be happy in
prison, we will stand for CHRIST, we will proclaim the truth, we will be
faithful, inspired by his faithful­ness."

You remember how the king, walking on the outside of the fiery furnace, looked
in and saw with the three Hebrew princes One like unto the Son of Man walking
with them in the midst of the fire; and when people on the outside can look and
see the Son of Man walking with us in the fire, they will take knowledge of us
that we are with JESUS.

Paul was in the fire; his bonds made a sort of fire to his soul, and those
tempted, diffident Christians on the outside were made abundantly bold to speak
without fear. But for the encouragement that came through Paul’s bonds, they
might have been faithful, but fearful at the same time. Now there came an
abundance of courage that took away their tremor and gave their voices
steadiness, emphasis and power as they spoke for their Master.

I would like you to give my compliments to all the invalid Christians you know,
who cannot come to the great congregation, and who think that they are very
useless, if not worthless, because shut up in their rooms of suffering.

I wish you would tell them that they can be the most useful Christians in the
world.

First, useful in dealing with GOD. Paul in prison dealt with GOD, and as he
dealt with GOD he touched the people about him, and made them courageous. These
invalid Christians are the real priests of the Church. There is but one High
Priest, the Lord JESUS CHRIST, and He intercedes for us continually, but we have
many intercessors on earth, and these Christians who are kept within doors, tied
by their bonds in fellowship with the Lord, intercede for the pastor, for the
Church and for the people. To them GOD listens, and they move the community, and
move the world, because they move GOD by prayer. A pastor went round visiting
his flock after a great revival that had shaken the com­munity, in which scores
and hundreds had been converted. It came - so suddenly, that he said, "This is a
breath from Heaven; this is the act of a sovereign GOD, and we thank Him for
it." But in the course of his visits, as he stood by the side of one of his
invalid members, he noticed on the bed a crumpled, soiled piece of paper, with a
list of names, and marks opposite the names. He wondered what it meant, and she
explained it. She said, "Pastor, for years I have had a list of the unsaved
people I know, and as I can do nothing else, I have just spent the time praying
GOD to save them; and when the revival broke out, and friends came in and told
me that So-and-So was saved, I just checked the name off. And, pastor, there is
scarcely one left; they are nearly all checked off."

There was the place of power, in the bonds, in the prison of infirmity, dealing
with GOD, and GOD working in answer to her prayer, encouraging the pastor and
everybody else, making them bolder through her ministry of intercession.

There is gain also, through this loss, in safety.

Read Php 1:19 :"I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer
and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." Notice that little phrase, "the
supply of the Spirit."

Through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST I am safe for
time and for eternity. My bonds make me safer. The Roman gaol means that I can
be executed to-morrow. My head might fall by the sword, but your prayer and the
supply of the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST gives me safety."

I am sure the word "salvation" here has the full meaning of "safety" without
doing violence to it - safety for eternity, safety in body, and spiritual
safety. All this comes through prayer and "the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ." That is, we will have safety to stand for GOD wherever we are in this
world until the day that GOD decides to call us home! And then our work will be
finished, so what need we remain here a day longer?

What we need for any sort of bonds is the supply of the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST.
If we have the Spirit of JESUS CHRIST that rejoices in suffering for others,
that rejoices in oppor­tunities of bearing burdens, that is willing to take the
Cross and be nailed to it for the salvation of a lost world, we are ready for
any bonds that may come, and we are safe - no safety more complete.

I see here, again, the gain of a greater CHRIST.

Note Php 1:20 : "As always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body,
whether it be by life or by death."

How can CHRIST be magnified? The word "magnified" means to make greater. Is He
not as great as He can be? Is there any power by which the CHRIST we love and
worship can be magnified? I am certain that I have a greater CHRIST to-day than
I had in the little country meeting­house when I first got the vision of the
Sin­bearer. I am certain that CHRIST is greater to my heart and soul than He was
five years ago. CHRIST becomes greater as the vision grows brighter.

I have been through the British Museum many times, and I have looked at this
statue and that relic from Syria, Babylon and Nineveh, but I never really saw
them till a few months ago, when I went with an expert who has published a book
on the subject; and as I stood before the pieces of statuary that I thought I
knew, I found in five minutes that I scarcely knew anything. That piece of
statuary grew in my mind to something greater; it meant more. That picture meant
more. So it is through the bonds, many a time, that CHRIST becomes greater to
me. A Saviour? Yes, and the great Saviour has become greater as a Sympathizer, a
Friend Who can whisper to you in the quiet when it is dark, and make you strong.
Paul through his bonds had a greater CHRIST because of a clearer vision. The
gain which Paul had above every other gain in his loss of liberty, and in the
experience that came to him, was that he was completely surrendered to the
living CHRIST. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

"No matter whether I live or die, if I have life in CHRIST. If I live in the
Roman prison, it is a greater CHRIST; if I die, it is greater still. I am not
simply living for CHRIST; I am living CHRIST. Take CHRIST out of my life and you
have taken life. There is no life to me without CHRIST."

It is in a damp, dark dungeon that Paul is speaking, and I have seen the place.
That one spot I was certain about, that Mamertine prison in Rome, near the forum
of Augustus. The solid granite floor, with the circular aperture in the centre,
through which evidently the Apostle was lowered into the dungeon beneath. Not a
window, not an aperture for light or ventilation! There, down in the third story
beneath the ground, without a ray of light from the sun in the heavens, Paul was
living.

"For me to live is Christ," he said; and there in the limitations of that dark,
damp dungeon, truly he was living.

- Living is not walking about;

- living is not preaching;

- living is not making money;

- living is not doing what you please;

- living is CHRIST.

- living is CHRIST!

- living is CHRIST!!

- living is CHRIST!!!

"I would like to depart and be with Christ, which is far better," he said, "but
it is more needful for you, just now, that I stay; so, whatever GOD wills, is my
will. This dark dungeon is GOD’s will, and I am happy. I can sing in the dark,
and my soul is flooded with light while I sing. I have no choice; I have no
will. I have come to the place where GOD’s desires are my desires, GOD’s purpose
is my purpose, GOD’s plan my plan; and whatever He wants me to do, to live or to
die, I am ready." That was the Apostle Paul. May we be like him, and then CHRIST
will be magnified in us, whether by life or death.

~ end of book ~


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/writings-of-a-c-dixon/
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