Hudson Taylor Sees The Light.

Hudson Taylor had 18 very successful preaching tours in the vicinity of Shanghai China starting in 1855. During his early days of his Christian experience he had many failures, disappointment and struggles.

This is his famous letter that he wrote to his sister, Amelia on October, 1869 telling her about his eyes being opened to the truth of Christ that changed him forever.

You may have read this before but please examine this letter carefully to see the secrets of what he saw. Pray that your eyes will be opened to see what Hudson Taylor saw.

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My own dear sister - So many thanks for your long dear letter . . . I do not think you have written me such a letter since we have been in China. I know it is with you as with me - you cannot, not you will not. Mind and body will not bear more than a certain amount of strain, or do more than a certain amount of work.

As to work, mine was never so plentiful, so responsible, or so difficult; but the weight and strain are all gone. The last month or more has been, perhaps, the happiest of my life; and I long to tell you a little of what the Lord has done for my soul.

I do not know how far I may be able to make myself intelligible about it, for there is nothing new or strange or wonderful - and yet, all is new! In a word: "Whereas I was blind, now I see."

--------------------He is now telling his sister of how happy he has been since he found this secret. He did make it clear that what he found was nothing new or strange, or wonderful but he experienced newness because he had been living in the dark concerning this existing truth. This is very important to know. He was blind to this truth. He did not make the truth exist or do anything to make the truth real. Once he saw this truth it was easy for him to experience it and enjoy it.--------------------

Perhaps I shall make myself more clear if I go back a little. Well, Dearie, my mind has been greatly exercised for the past six or eight months, feeling the need personally, and for our Mission, of more holiness, life and power in our souls. But personal need stood first and was the greatest. I felt the ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation - but all was without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.

--------------------Here we see that Hudson's own experience with Christ fell short the Holiness, power that was demand and promised by God. He confessed ingratitude and the sin of not being closer to God. He prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation but he found that all this did not help at all. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of his sin oppressed him.--------------------

I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions, often very wearing, would cause me to forget Him. Then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin, failure, and lack of power. To will was indeed present with me, but how to perform, I found not.

--------------------He knew that abiding in Christ would solve this dilemma but he could not abide. He had determined not to take his eyes from Christ for a moment, but he failed miserably. He found he could not control his own very thoughts. He wanted desperately to experience holiness but found no acceptable outward performance. --------------------

Then came the question, "Is there no rescue? Must it be like this till the end - constant conflict and, instead of victory, too often defeat?" How, too, could I preach with sincerity that to those who receive Jesus, "to them gave He power to become the sons of God, " (i.e. God-like) when it was not so in my experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting very low. I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it.


--------------------He had the desire to be God-like but he found he had absolutely no power against sin. He hated sin with a passion but even with this haltered for sin he found nothing to ever conqueror it.--------------------

I felt I was a child of God; His Spirit in my heart would cry, in spite of all, "Abba, Father", but to rise to my privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless. I thought that holiness was to be gradually attained by a diligent use of the means of grace. I felt that there was nothing I so much desired in this world, nothing I so much needed. But the more I pursued and strove after holiness, the more it eluded my grasp, till hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that perhaps to make heaven the sweeter, God would not give it to us in this life.

--------------------God was stripping from his own independence. He saw he was utterly powerless to grow in grace or to become holy by using the means of grace.--------------------

I do not think I was striving to attain it in my own strength. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength and sometimes I almost believed He would keep and uphold me. But on looking back in the evening, there was sin and failure to confess and mourn before God.

--------------------When he prayed to God for help and strength he still had to confess total failure and despair.--------------------

I would not give you the impression that this was the daily experience of all those long, weary months, but it tended to be a too frequent state of soul and I almost ended up in despair. And yet, never did Christ seem more precious a Savior who could and would save such a sinner! And sometimes there were seasons not only of peace but of joy in the Lord. But they were fleeting and at best there was a sad lack of power. Oh, how good the Lord has been in bringing this conflict to an end!

--------------------He knew that he had no power but the Lord was using all of this to bring this conflict to an end forever.--------------------

All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out. He was rich, but I was poor; He was strong, but I was weak. I knew full well that there was in the vine, in the root, the stem, abundant fatness; but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question.

As gradually the light dawned on me, I saw that faith was the only prerequisite to laying hold of His fullness and making it my own. But I had not this faith . . . I strove for it, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior - my helplessness and guilt seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! Unbelief was, I felt, the damning sin of the world - yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it did not come. What was I to do?

--------------------He saw the victory, the holiness, the power and all the fullness in Christ. He knew that the solution was in Christ so he kept on trying to somehow acquire it. He did everything he knew to make it his own but again he only found more failure and disappointment. He saw that it was his sin of unbelief that was the root cause of all his other sins. Then, he found out that he could not even believe. He tried and prayed to believe but no faith came. He was utterly, and completely hopeless.--------------------

When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never seen it before. McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote (I quote from memory): "But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One."

As I read I saw it all! "If we believe not, He remains faithful." I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed) that He had said, "I will never leave you." "Ah, here is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For has He not promised to abide with me - never to leave me, never to fail me?" And Dearie, He never will!

--------------------When he read this, his eyes were opened to the truth that had already existed. "But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One. If we believe not, He remains faithful”. This was the secret of what he saw that he had never realized before. He saw that God in Christ had already given him the faith and the belief that was required. God had placed Him in Christ and that he just rest in God's faithfulness to keep him there.--------------------

But this was not all He showed me, nor one half. As I thought of the vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured directly into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the sap, the fullness, out of Him. I saw not only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine now I see is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit; and Jesus is not only that; He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for, or needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.

Oh, my dear sister, it is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and the left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves? Again, think of this bearing on prayer. Could a bank clerk say to a customer, "It was only your hand that wrote that check, not you," or "I cannot pay this sum to your hand, but only to yourself?" No more can your prayers, or mine, be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus (i.e. not in your own name, or even for the sake of Jesus, but on the ground that we are His, His members) so long as we keep within the extent of Christ's credit - a considerably wide limit!

If we ask anything unscriptural or not in accordance with the will of God, Christ Himself could not do that; but "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."

The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no difference where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient.

It matters little to my servant whether I send him to buy a few dollars worth of things or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; or in positions of great difficulty, much grace; or in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? There is no fear that His resources will be unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.

All this springs from the believers oneness with Christ. And since Christ is now living in my heart by faith, how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you instead of writing about it.

I am no better than before (in one sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be); but I am dead and buried with Christ - yes, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me, and "the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

I now believe that I am dead to sin. God reckons me so, and tells me to reckon myself so. He knows best. All my past experiences may have shown that it was not so; but I dare not say it is not, when He says it is. I feel and know that old things have passed away. I am as capable of sinning as ever, but Christ is realized as present as never before. He cannot sin; and He can keep me from sinning.

I am sorry to have to confess it, but I cannot say that since I have seen this light I have not sinned; but I do feel there was no need to have done so. And further - walking more in the light, my conscience has been more tender; sin has been instantly seen, confessed, pardoned; and peace and joy (with humility) instantly restored; with one exception, when for several hours peace and joy did not return - from lack, as I had to learn, of full confession, and from some attempt to justify self.

Faith, I now see, is "the substance of things hoped for" and not mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward forms of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance; you can feed on substance. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (i.e. faith in His word of promise) is power indeed, is life indeed. And Christ and sin will not dwell together; nor can we experience His presence with love of the world or carefulness about "many things."

And now I must close. I have not said half I would like to say if I had more time. May God give you the grace to lay hold on these blessed truths. Do not let us continue to say, in effect, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down from above." In other words, do not let us consider Him as far off when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body.

Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as only for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonor to our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for serving the Lord is Christ.

Your own affectionate brother,

J. HUDSON TAYLOR

Maybe you have struggles and despairs in your own life similar to Hudson's. You may in the dark concerning the truth of what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you. The Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see that you can not even believe or trust. It is not about you or your effort. It is all about what God has already accomplished for you and in you.

The GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit made a Covenant together which is an irrevocable commitment which CAN NOT be broken under any circumstance. This Covenant was not made with mankind it was made between God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ before the world was created.

You did not and could not have any part of it. You are just the recipient and participant of this Covenant. You really have no part to keep other than to just enjoy what He has already accomplished for you. There is no other way possible! God has provided the only solution once and for all. Any attempt you make to fix the unfixable is not only sin but is totally impossible.

Now the truth of the Gospel message is that God has already provided the only solution possible for sin and mankind's condition once and for all. God Himself has forever placed you in Christ before the world was created. He did everything necessary for your total and complete salvation. You do need to understand that God has already accomplished of this for and in you before the world was created.

There is absolutely nothing left out or lacking. He has done it all. There is nothing left that can ever be done. He has not only done all that ever could be done in you and for you. He has even taken the responsibility of your obedience to Him forever by keeping you in His love.

Now as a result what God has already accomplished for you, your old sinful self was crucified with Christ and that you no longer live. Your old sinful self has died, and you no longer have a life. You have received His all-sufficient Life in exchange for you old corrupt self. Now the Christian life isn't yours to live. God does not depend on you to live His Life for Him. He knows that it impossible for you to live His life, so He gave you His life. You do not live for Him - He lives for you.

When you hear this message of the gospel of what God has already done in you and for you, the Holy Spirit beings to open your eyes to this existing reality.

Romans 1:16, "For I am 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."

This message of the Gospel of the finished work of God in Christ is the only possible message that contains the power of God for total and complete salvation for mankind. No other message contains the power of God to bring about perfect and continual obedience.

As the Holy Spirit shows you THE FINISHED WORK you will experience God's gift of repentance giving you the ability to trust and embrace His obedience causing you to turn away for your unbelief and your own dead works. Now this is the ONLY obedience possible.

You do have His Life. You are In Him and He will never leave you of forsake you. If you are unfaithful God will remain faithful to you. God will keep you by his Love. You can NOT keep yourself.

God remains faithful to you no mater what. When you see this truth and recognize that you are in NOW in perfect union by what God in Christ had already accomplished, you can rest and your joy will flow. This is the secret of true rest. You thought it depended on your ability to be faithful to Him and have striven in vain to rest in Him. Now you see that God has promised to abide with and in you. He will never leave you or will never fail you.

Now you can give up all own efforts, struggles and striving in the attempt to be faithful. It is impossible for you to be faithful. IT IS NOT UP YOU!!! God Himself has placed you in Christ and you do abide in Him.

"The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no difference where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient."
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Excellent article! Thank you for posting it.

"I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He is able to carry out His will..."

Dear Jesus
May we all remain resting in You
Teach us this rest, increase our faith
For Your glory alone
Amen

"Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as only for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonor to our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for serving the Lord is Christ."

Amen! Thank you for posting this. The testimony of the saints is a constant encouragement. I for one needed to hear this, and it has come at the right time.

May God ever bless His own dearest children. God bless you all.

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Jamie Adam

I wonder why there is so much resistance to the second work of grace....

Quote: All this springs from the believers oneness with Christ. And since Christ is now living in my heart by faith, how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you instead of writing about it.

Hudson Taylor is saying that until this point Christ was not living in his heart by faith...

Quote: I now believe that I am dead to sin. God reckons me so, and tells me to reckon myself so. He knows best. All my past experiences may have shown that it was not so; but I dare not say it is not, when He says it is.

Up until this point he did not believe he was dead to sin and that all his past experiences should that it was not so...

IT IS FINISHED but the Holys Spirit's work in you is not...

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Colin Murray

I believe that this post is from " The Spiritual Secret of Hudson Taylor." This is an excellent book and I would urge all Christians to read it.

In this letter that Hudson Taylor wrote to his sister, I believe he is describing the Romans 7, Romans 8 struggle. I believe every Christian who walks the narrow path must come along this , the narrowest part of the path. In my 21 years as a Christian, I have seen others in various stages of the journey through these two chapters, this great truth revealed by the Holy Spirit. Unfortunatly, I have seen many Christians settle down and make a virtue out of " Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death." To stay in this place is to live a life-time of struggle.

Then I have met the few who have gloriously burst through into Romans 8. " There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." This who are stuck in Romans 7 will take the last part of that sentence to justify remaining in Romans 7. Yet those whose eyes have been opened to the glorious truth of who they are in Christ, are gloriously released from the agonizing strugggle and failiure and futility of Romans 7............brother Frank

Frank you shared:I have seen others in various stages of the journey through these two chapters, this great truth revealed by the Holy Spirit.

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I realize for a time now that I am one who struggles in between these two chapters in the way you have described. At times feeling like I am such a wretch because of the sin I still at times struggle with and then there are other times when I know in HIM that I have been set free from a particular area of sin in my life. On some level I still struggle with the Catholic tradition of wanting to be good enough, thinking if I could just do the "right" things....it is all so futile, I know but it comes back up every now and again. Then there are other times when my faith just soars and I know with out any doubts that HE has forgiven me, that I am HIS. If I could only hold on to those moments. I know its all about HIM and nothing to do with me and yet deep down inside there is a part of me that feels like I hold back...like there is something I am not fully grasped yet. Its there just beyond my understanding. I often wonder if I make things to difficult with out realizing? Perhaps I allow self an excuse to continue in some area of sin in my life...

Anyway I have studied Romans and there are times when I feel lost in those chapters you mentioned. Some day I hope to find some fellow believers who would like to study the book of Romans chapter by chapter. Allowing me to ask questions and hear what the Lord has shown them. I do so long to know what the Lord lays upon the hearts of fellow believers from this book...

In the meantime I pray and seek for understanding and know God is faithful, I trust HIM and know HE will help me break through to the next chapter in this journey HE has be on....

God Bless
mj

HI Maryjane, I always love your honesty. Transparancy is a work of the Holy Spirit. There is very little guile in the chidren of the Lord. MJ, it is the thrust of our lives that count. Not moments of sin or defeat, but what is the thrust of our lives? Do we hunger and thirst after Him, do we walk in freedom and occasionaly stumble? Or, do we continually stumble with moments of freedom? Its an important question. I feel like I know your answer sister, but for others they must ask themselves that question, what is the thrust of their lives. I have written much about this subject because it is so important. Here is one of them below, it is called "There is therfore now no condemnation." ............brother Frank

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?


Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit……………………………..

Listen to what brother Matthew Henry has to say about Romans 8:1……….



“I. The apostle here begins with one signal privilege of true Christians, and describes the character of those to whom it belongs: There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, Rom_8:1. This is his triumph after that melancholy complaint and conflict in the foregoing chapter – sin remaining, disturbing, vexing, but, blessed be God, not ruining. The complaint he takes to himself, but humbly transfers the comfort with himself to all true believers, who are all interested in it. 1. It is the unspeakable privilege and comfort of all those that are in Christ Jesus that there is therefore now no condemnation to them. He does not say, “There is no accusation against them,” for this there is; but the accusation is thrown out, and the indictment quashed. He does not say, “There is nothing in them that deserves condemnation,” for this there is, and they see it, and own it, and mourn over it, and condemn themselves for it; but it shall not be their ruin. He does not say, “There is no cross, no affliction to them or no displeasure in the affliction,” for this there may be; but no condemnation. They may be chastened of the Lord, but not condemned with the world. Now this arises from their being in Christ Jesus; by virtue of their union with him through faith they are thus secured. They are in Christ Jesus, as in their city of refuge, and so are protected from the avenger of blood. He is their advocate, and brings them off. There is therefore no condemnation, because they are interested in the satisfaction that Christ by dying , made to the law. In Christ, God does not only not condemn them, but is well pleased with them, Mat_17:5. 2. It is the undoubted character of all those who are so in Christ Jesus as to be freed from condemnation that they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Observe, The character is given from their walk, not from any one particular act, but from their course and way. And the great question is this, What is the principle of the walk, the flesh or the spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? Which of these do we mind, for which of these do we make provision, by which of these are we governed, which of these do we take part with? “…………


So brothers and sisters, by which of these are we governed? By which of these do we walk in? Do we walk in the path of grace? Or do we continue to walk in the path of condemnation? We are free men indeed. This army of prayer warriors that Christ is raising up is not an army of slaves to sin, but an army of freed slaves. Freed from the power of sin. Freed from the destruction of corruption. We are free to sing the glories of the Living God in a world that is dying. Just as the slaves that threw of their shackles and followed Spartacus and struck terror into the heart of the Roman Empire, we are so much more than them, for we did not throw of our own shackles, they were taken from us. And by no mere man, but the man Christ Jesus. He delivered us by the bloody battle field of Calvary.

Yes brothers and sisters, we must stand before the cross and look up. Up there is the victory, up there is the triumph up there my God and yours blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.Having stripped rulers and authorities, He made a show of them publicly, triumphing over them in it. (col 2:14-15) As we look up there, we turn from our own sin, we do not run from it. We look up and see our sin upon the cross in the form of Jesus. And as we gaze up, we see our sin defeated as our Saviour cries out “Father , Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And as we look up, we hear the final death blow and destruction of our sin “It is finished.”

If we will be warriors and march in that glorious army of the redeemed ,then brothers and sisters, come away from “Oh wretched man that I am.” Come away and walk in the glorious light of Calvary, of freedom. We look at our sin and in our audacity we struggle to overcome it and this becomes the thrust of our lives. And amazingly we are often proud of this, proud to be missing in action. Proud to be absent without official leave. Proud that we live in an eternal struggle against sin, proud that we are not like the wicked world. Proud that we have a conscience and do not sleep well at night. We choose to dwell under condemnation, we choose to allow the enemy to control our lives , we choose to remain silent because the accuser of the brethren whispers in our ears “you are nothing but a wretched man, look at yourself, look in the mirror, cast your eyes upon your sin and see that you are worthless in this battle.” No brothers and sisters, look to Jesus, not to yourself. Look up, look up, look up and see your freedom. If we listen to the enemy of our souls, the accuser , the condemner, then we nullify Calvary in our lives and take ourselves out of the battle.

The Lord says “Look to me, I am the author and the finisher of your faith.” Shall we begin in the Spirit and attempt to finish this journey in the flesh? Brothers and sisters, if you would join this ancient army, this army that was and is and is to come, if you would march in lockstep with Gideon and with David and with Joshua, if you would run towards Goliath, if you would take on ten thousand and slay them all, if you would kneel down in the arena of life as the lions approach, if you would take your place with the heroes of faith then it is high time that we take our eyes of of ourselves and look up.

God in heaven, our Heavenly Father has said “Yea, I have set my King on My holy hill, on Zion. I will declare the decree of Jehovah. He has said to me you are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I shall give the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.” The work is the Lord’s brothers and sisters, we are His army and we have been called to fight. Joshua was commissioned to take the land. David declares “I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.”

And the Prophet Micah says “Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of Rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil. Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. He has shown you oh man, what is good. And what does Jehovah require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Brothers and sisters, when I look up I see humility. I see my Lord humbled and naked for the whole world to see. Nothing hidden. When I look up I see justice. I see sin condemned. Oh brothers and sisters when I look up I see mercy . Mercy for me, mercy for me, mercy for me. I do not see my own condemnation, I see my Jesus. Yes, I see Jesus. There is therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Oh what a glorious freedom. Free indeed, free indeed , free indeed. Free indeed to stand and fight. To battle even unto death, with my fellow freed men. I pray today that those whom the Son has set free will push the doors of their captivity of wretchedness, that they would realize their freedom, that they would reckon their freedom and walk out of their cells into the glorious sunlight of no condemnation and join the Lord’s army in these the final days of the battle, one more battle in the war that is already won.

Why would we chose to stay in our cells after being freed? Why would we not choose to walk in the power of the Spirit, the power of the Spirit that Peter and Stephen walked in? Is it because we are afraid of the confrontation? Directly after Pentecost Peter confronts the crowd. By the power of the Spirit of God he now speaks. He is not denying Jesus, He is confessing Jesus with great boldness and his words cause them to be “stabbed in the heart.” This phrase, in the Greek means to penetrate, to violently agitate, to pierce. You see brothers and sisters, if we walk in the Spirit like Peter did, like Stephen did, we will be used in the front lines of the battle . Yet many of us have no desire to be in the front line of the battle. It is much safer to remain in our cells of wretchedness and introspection. On the front lines there is no neutral place.

It is victory or it is death. Do we really want to live that kind of life. Can we stand before the living God , right now , and say, yes Lord we are willing? It was victory for Peter as he saw 3000 added that day, it was victory for Stephen as he spoke and in Acts 7 we are told that his audience were “cut to the heart.” The time , brothers and sisters, has come for us to arise and stab men in the heart and see men saved or to cut to the heart and be stoned. We have no time left for neutrality. Do we really want this power? Do we really want this power? If we do, if we truly want this last day revival, this modern day reformation ,then you ask, what must we do, let us look and see what brother Stephen did…..

Act 7:55 But being full of the Holy Spirit, looking up intently into Heaven, he saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Act 7:56 And he said, Behold, I see Heaven opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, who was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And kneeling down, he cried with a loud voice, Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Brothers and sisters, it is time for us to look up. Let us gaze upon Jesus and let our gaze be uninterrupted. Let us look intently into heaven and we will see the Glory of God come down. Oh Lord let your glory fall upon the sleeping church.

I recnetly came across this testimony from a man called Derek Prince...

You see, there’s a lot of difference between having your sins forgiven which is wonderful and having the rebel executed. For instance, when I grew up in church as a boy, every Sunday morning we went to church and we confessed our sins. We really didn’t have any option, everybody did it. And I somehow walked out of the church wondering or hoping maybe something would happen. But I knew full well that during the next week I would be committing the same sins that I’d already confessed. And I came to wonder whether it was better to confess them and go on doing them or not confess them. But you see, that’s just a form of religion. That’s not the message of the gospel because God not merely deals with the past. That’s wonderful to have your past forgiven, it’s tremendous. But it still doesn’t solve your problem if there’s a rebel living inside you. Why? Because the rebel will cause you to go on doing rebellious acts. So the provision of God is not merely to forgive us of the past, but it’s the execution of the rebel inside me.

Now God made this vivid to me personally many years ago now. I was for about eight years the pastor of a small Pentecostal congregation in the center of London, England. And some people who know me today would find it hard to believe this, but we conducted open air services three times every week in the center of London at a place that’s known as Speaker’s Corner, Marble Arch. And that was where we got our fish. We went out and fished for sinners, brought them in. And we saw over the years hundreds of sinners saved through those meetings at Speaker’s Corner.

But one night during this period I had a very vivid dream. And in my dream I saw a typical open air meeting. A circle of people standing around and a man in the middle preaching. And as I watched the man and listened to him I said to myself, “What he’s preaching is pretty good.” But there was something I didn’t like about the man. It was like he was hunchbacked and he had a club foot and altogether he looked crooked. So I woke up and I thought, “I wonder what that meant,” and dismissed it. But about two weeks later I had the same dream again. So this time I said to myself, “God must be trying to tell me something. I wonder who the man is?” And it was like the Holy Spirit said to me what Nathan said to David, “thou art the man.”

And it opened up to me a completely new aspect of salvation. I was soundly saved by most standards, baptized in the Spirit, serving the Lord, but there was something in me that was crooked and unacceptable to God. It was the old man. I didn’t have any gospel understanding of God’s program for the old man. I had to find my way through these things.

Well, about the same time Easter was coming on and because of the Easter season somehow I had in my mind a mental image of the hill of Golgotha [or Calvary] and the three crosses on it. But the middle cross was much taller than the other two. And it was like the Holy Spirit put me through an examination. He said, “Now tell me, for whom was the middle cross made?” But it was as if he said, “Be careful before you answer.” So I stopped and thought and I said, “It was made for Barabbas.” And he said, “That’s right.” Because it really was not made for Jesus. Do you understand? Barabbas was due to be executed. But he was released at the last moment, Jesus took his place. So then he said, “But Jesus took the place of Barabbas.” I said, “That’s right.” Then the Holy Spirit said, “But I thought Jesus took your place?” I said, “Yes, that’s right.” Then he said, “You must be Barabbas.”
And at that point I saw it. I never try to argue with people about that, it’s a revelation. But I saw that I was the criminal for whom the cross was made. It was exactly to my measure. It was appropriate for me. But Jesus took my place.

That made it so vivid to me, God’s program for dealing with the old man. This is quite distinct from the forgiveness of sin. The forgiveness of sins is wonderful but you’re never going to have a life of victory or real fruitfulness as long as that old rebel is still alive inside you. God’s provision is the execution of the rebel. God’s mercy is the execution took place when Jesus died. Our old man was crucified with him. The Old King James says “is crucified” which is the perfect tense. But the more correct translation is “was crucified.” It’s a simple past tense, it’s an actual, historical fact that took place. This doesn’t matter whether we know it or believe it, it’s true. But knowing it and believing it is going to change you and me. So that’s the negative side. “Our old man was crucified that the new man might come to life in us.” That’s the exchange from the old man to the new man.

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Colin Murray

It’s a simple past tense, it’s an actual, historical fact that took place. This doesn’t matter whether we know it or believe it, it’s true. But knowing it and believing it is going to change you and me. So that’s the negative side. "Our old man was crucified that the new man might come to life in us." That’s the exchange from the old man to the new man.

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Hudson Taylor was the person who came up with the phrase "The Exchanged Life."

Victory is a past tense event with a present tense reality. Your Adamic nature is gone and He has taken it away. Your old rotten, wicked, deceitful heart was taken away and replaced (exchanged) with Christ’s own heart. Now you have a 100% clean heart containing His Divine Nature which includes His Faith, Love and Fear.

This is what is called the exchanged life because God takes your life and freely gives you Christ's Life instead of yours. Your old sinful self was crucified with Christ and you no longer live. You have died, and no longer have a life. You have received His all-sufficient Life in exchange for you old corrupt self. Now the Christian life isn't yours to live. God does not depend on you to live His Life for Him. He knows that it impossible for you to live His Life, so you experienced His life when you were born again. You do not live for Him - He lives for you.

It is extremely important to see and understand what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you.

Col. 2:2, “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;”

Pray that your eyes will be opened to see the reality of Christ in you – The hope of glory.